2011 coming to an end

Looks like I'll still be in New York for the beginning of 2012, but instead of spending the first few days in NYC, I'll be HOME! I can't wait to see the outdoors and stars and to breath fresh air. I am already making a list of places I want to go and see. The majority are places to camp or hike- I need to be outside. I'd climb, but my shoulder still hurts a ton. I'm seeing a doctor in Berkeley when I go back.

I've been biking to work and back, and check out my view when I go from Brooklyn to Manhattan over the bridge. You can see the Brooklyn bridge, and the lower part of the Manhattan skyline.

It's actually pretty magical, especially when it's clear outside. I'll miss that when I'm in the Bay, but I'll miss my bike more. It's to expensive to ship just for 20 days, although I'll be taking it with me over summer. Besides a cold thats bothering me right now, I don't have much to do today, so I'm off to walk around uptown. I'll be living off Kale, sweet potatoes, sugar snap peas, and pear until I get to go home.

Hope everyones holidays were great!

holidays and presents

I have so much to talk about in this post. First things first... I decided that I needed to buy myself a present. Check it out!

It's a bike! I bike to work and back, and for fun along the river. Bikes are really cool things.. because after the initial payment, its basically free transportation. Plus, its a really fun way to exercise...

In other news, I experienced the coldest weather I've ever experienced..

That was last sunday, where I had to go to work. When I left my apartment, it was 21 degrees outside, but "felt like 12" according to my computer. I was freezing- but I'm alive!!!! It hasn't snowed yet though :(

I'm working 40 hours a week until I leave in January. After that, since I was hired as a seasonal employee (winter months are busy in gyms) I'm not sure if I'm going to still work at Brooklyn Boulders. Regardless, I'll enjoy the next week and a half I have in NYC. I work 8 hour shifts, so lunch is sometimes sort of an issue. However, I figured out a way to be healthy at work, by getting a gluten free meal that doesn't take much time or effort to prepare beforehand.

This is a kale rice noodle bowl, all made by Trader Joes. The rice noodle soup bowl comes as its own package, in three flavors, and then I add kale on top of it so that there are vegetables in the soup. Really simple, and really fast. It has a lot of sodium, but really fills me up. It's pretty good in a squeeze.

I tend to put the kale in before I microwave it, so that the leaves are nice and soft when I go to eat it.

The last thing to say is; it's Hannukah!

While I'm not at home, I still lit candles the first night in an NYU dorm. Happy holidays everyone! Tomorrow I'm off to Jersey for christmas to spend time with my Jewish relatives, then back to work on the 26th.

vegan at NYU 101

As a freshman, I'm forced to have dining meal swipes, regardless of the fact that I have a kitchen in my apartment. For the first half of the semester I rarely used the dining halls, as I cooked all my own food bought at the local farmers market or at trader joes. However, I realized pretty late that I should use up my meals since they are already paid for. Therefore, for over the past month I've basically eaten out of the dining halls.

I'm used to accommodating myself to non-vegan type places though, and have come up with strategies. First meal I'll share with the community is a vegan stir fry compliments of the Weinstein dining hall.

Step 1. grab all the vegetables you want from the salad bar and put in your take out box.
Step 2. make sure to add some brown rice from the burrito station
Step 3. optional: ask for guacamole from the burrito station, and grab a handful of tortilla chips
Step 4. go home and cook stir fry to desired taste!

I used tofu, onions, spinach, baby corn, zucchini, mushrooms, bell pepper, and some sort of green bean.
I also had brown rice and added garlic salt and soyaki sauce on top. Delicious!

I also skyped with my twin and dog during the time that I cooked:

Yummy!

In other news, I got my shoulder results; and it looks like I can't climb for awhile, until I rehab it fully. I'm seeing another doctor when I go home to California in January. I'm pretty bummed, but I guess I'll have to supplement my passion with something else. I've got to go cram for finals now..

wishing..

Lots of blog posts recently, mainly because I find myself sitting in side a lot; doing work, or not finding other things to do. That sounds ridiculous since I live in New York City, but all I want to do is climb really hard. This whole shoulder pain is really bringing me down in multiple ways. I'm trying to keep up a training regime of running or some form of cardio, and muscular work; but unable to participate in my favorite activity sucks a lot of motivation out of me. I don't consider myself any sort of hard-core climber, or a "serious" one; but its really what I look forward to most weeks. I'm young, just beginning my climbing career, and so far I'm loving every minute of it besides the injuries.

I find out the results of my MRI on Monday- and I'm hoping for the best. Resting my left shoulder and arm has helped the pain a lot, but if I try to use it for some sort of activity, it flares up again. Overall, I'd be content with the diagnosis of some simple physical therapy, because that means I can climb again soon. Worst case scenario would be a torn rotator cuff, which could include surgery. I'm really hoping for nothing of that sort- since I can't imagine having to cease all activity for months at a time again. Last time I had surgery on my foot I was out of commission for almost three months, and on a very tight leash for the following months. Sometimes, I still feel like I'm not back in shape from that surgery.

On another note, finals week is coming up, and I only have four more days of class. That means I've just spent the last four hours in front of my computer attempting to write a ten page paper while slowly becoming more and more stressed out. I'm ready for this semester to be done, as I feel very burnt out. I need some me time, some silence, and most of all some time to relax and not be constantly stimulated by people or work. I'll be staying in New York until January, so that I can work in Brooklyn, and can't wait to be able to explore the city without having homework looming over my head. I'm also a bit excited to live by myself in this apartment for a week or two- I need to be alone and away from over twenty 18 year-olds.

This is a somber and a bit depressing post, but that is whats going on in my life. Don't get me wrong; I'm really happy here at NYU and NYC (most of the time), and content with my decision to come here. Climbing and the quiet lifestyle I was used to back at home is something I really miss; and can't wait till I can have peace and my muscular health back.

On a good note, I am happy to say that I ran pretty hard this morning, and it felt great. I also visited Chelsea Markets for the first time, before sitting down to write. Sometimes its good to get out, and away from this dorm. As for now, I have to finish this paper before I go off to work.. but here's what I really wish for...

green.. serenity..

peace and quiet, fresh air & trees

climbing in general

the peace of warm sun (it's cold here!)

Wishing everyone who spends their time reading this a great day- I'm pretty optimistic that it'll get better in a week or two!

crispy sweet kale

I love kale. I love it in smoothies, baked in the oven, and my new favorite; half steamed, half fried.

Here's the recipe to my deliciously sweet, yet crispy kale:

1. turn on stove to medium high

2. spray heated pan with olive oil

3. place kale on pan and spray with olive oil

4. sprinkle with nutritional yeast and garlic salt (or whatever you want)

5. cover with top and let sit for 20 or so seconds

6. uncover and stir a bit

7. cover again for the same amount of time

8. stir, and if this desire consistency then take off stove and enjoy

9. if you want the kale softer, repeat until you have desire consistency

Ingredients:

-kale

-olive oil spray

-nutritional yeast
-garlic salt

Method:
1. turn on stove to medium high
2. spray heated pan with olive oil
3. place kale on pan and spray with olive oil
4. sprinkle with nutritional yeast and garlic salt (or whatever you want)
5. cover with top and let sit for 20 or so seconds
6. uncover and stir a bit
7. cover again for the same amount of time
8. stir, and if this desire consistency then take off stove and enjoy
9. if you want the kale softer, repeat until you have desire consistency

hope you enjoy!

surprise!

I never posted a picture of my surprise from this post, so here you go;

;)

DC Part 2

Saturday night Dad and I went out to a restaurant called busboys and poets which was almost as delicious as the previous night. After a bit of a wait, we were seated. The restaurant itself was very noisy, energetic, and alive. After a quiet day in a very quiet city, it was different and interesting. I ordered the vegan pizza, and my dad got catfish. This pizza was seriously the best pizza I've ever had. I would take a train to Washington just to order this. The pizza included a whole wheat crust, garlic and olive oil sauce, daiya cheese, vegan pepperoni, onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms.

After dinner, we went back to the hotel, and I did more homework; yay college.

The next morning we got up, had breakfast, and took the subway over to the Lincoln Memorial.

Next up was the Korean War Memorial and the Martin Luther King Memorial. The MLK memorial was definitely one of my favorite things to see this weekend. It was well done, looked awesome, and really sent a powerful message.

After those memorials we walked through the mall to the Holocaust Museum. On the way we saw some other monuments;

After the museum my Dad grabbed lunch, we went back to the hotel, then we both had to leave to go back to NYC for me, and Cali for him.

Overall, this trip was awesome. I love DC- and I'm glad I went for the first time. I saw really historical awesome stuff, and ate good food. Now that I'm back in NYC it's time to focus on finals and get ready for winter break.

DC Part 1

For the past day I've been in Washington DC with my Dad, exploring and learning about our country's history. I've never been to this city, and its one heck of a place. So far I've seen the white house, the washington monument, the capitol building, the library of congress, a procession of obama driving somewhere, and a lot of delicious food.
I got here on Friday pretty late, after taking a train from NYC. After arriving at the hotel, I took a run towards the white house, and then circled the washington monument. It was a pretty historical run, as far as I'm concerned. Our hotel is amazingly big- and has a full kitchen.

After I showered, Dad appeared; so we went to a vegan place near our hotel for dinner. The restaurant is called cafe green and was absolutely delicious. Disclaimer- this is all my own opinion, Cafe Green doesn't even know I'm posting this review. We had an appetizer, and split two entrees and a side. Our entrees were mac and kale, which was gluten free mac and cheese in some vegan cheese sauce, and lemon sauteed kale. So delicious- especially since I LOVE kale. The other entree was some sort of korean bowl, with brown rice, more kale, sweet potato noodles, and a scallion soy sauce. Both entrees were gluten free, except the soy sauce. My dad and I both agreed that the sweet potato noodles were out of this world! For dessert I picked up a bag of kettle corn, since I was craving salty and sweet.
This morning (Saturday) we got up, had breakfast in the hotel, then set off on a day of tourist attractions.

First stop was the library of congress and the capitol building. We only went inside the visitors section of the library of congress, but it was interesting. We read about the beginning of the declaration of independence, the constitution, and the bill of rights. I think I learned more from that half hour tour than I did my entire american history class in high school.

After that quick stroll we went to the newseum, which is a museum about news. We spent almost five hours in the museum, learning about all types of interesting things. It was a really neat interactive museum, probably the best I've ever been to. At one part you could see almost all of Pennsylvania Ave, by going outside on an observation type deck.

After that we walked towards the international spy museum. On the way we saw a holiday market, and decided to walk through it. The spy museum was pretty interesting, although nothing compared to the newseum. The information was really different, and seeing all of the actual spy equipment was awesome.

By that point, I was pretty hungry, so we went to a chain place near the spy museum. This place was called teaism and was actually really delicious. I got two sides; green beans, and a sweet potato salad. My dad got an oatmeal cookie that he said was absolutely delicious. My food was also very good, but nothing compared to what else I purchased at the restaurant.

This, my friends, is the best chocolate I've ever eaten. Thats a lot coming from me, since I really usually don't like chocolate. The only reason I picked up this expensive chocolate bar was because I love peppermint, and I thought it might taste like peppermint bark. Oh man, this is so delicious. I can't even begin to describe how delicious it is!!!! When given the chance, I say spend the money and get it.

Now I'm doing homework before we are off to dinner, tomorrow I believe we're visiting Lincoln, and maybe seeing another museum before I'm back to NYC!