so professional

Happy to report that my eye is healing up on its own! I did jimmy up a tea bag compress to soothe it during back-to-back conference calls. So while I hope I sounded smooth and professional, this is what I looked like in reality. Ha. (Please note the broken glasses.)

nom nom

If there's one thing that's true in this world, it's that I love food. So much so that one of the mail guys at my old job used to say, "Damn, girl, you're always eating!" I also adore cooking, so I figured I'd post up some of my favorite recipes so I could have them all in one place.

* Erik didn't even realize that these vegan stuffed shells were dairy-free!
* Coconut-chocolate chip cookies are my go-to potluck dessert dish.
* Can Ina Garten do no wrong? This roast chicken is deceptively easy to make.
* The leftover chicken goes into this homey pot pie. I usually go a little easier on the butter (or use Smart Balance) and sub in almond or coconut milk.
* I bake a batch of these pillowy-soft ginger cookies every holiday.
* When I neglect grocery shopping, I whip up these salmon cakes and no one is the wiser.
* Another bare-bones pantry meal: peanut butter noodles. Dinner's ready in 10.
* Summertime means delish zucchini fritters.
* I send extras of these big, crumby blueberry muffins to Erik's office and they go crazy for them.
* For baby shower or potluck brunches, this savory breakfast casserole is a show-stopper.

eye-yah

So this is how I looked for most of the weekend. On Saturday, my eye started hurting. Half of it was red and scary-looking. Ugh. This is when I realized that, for the first time in my adult life, I was uninsured. You see, since going freelance, I've been taking my sweet time signing up for a new health insurance plan. There have been plenty of excuses--I've been busy; there's an overwhelming number of choices; the Cobra administrator lady at my crappy old company disappeared. Yes, I know this is not the smartest move for a health editor whose hobbies include surfing, biking in traffic and swimming in the Hudson. Anyway, I was a blind, whiny mess all of Sunday (since my glasses are broken. Every 5 minutes, I forced Erik to look at my eye (poor guy). But after extensive Googling, I've determined that I probably scratched my cornea. If it gets worse or shows signs of infection, I'll head to a Duane Reade clinic tomorrow. And then, after that, I've gotta get moving on this whole insurance thing. Sigh.

what do you think?

My glasses broke and, after two temporary SuperGlue fixes, I think they're finally kaput. I've been squinting around the house before bed, so it's high time that I picked up a new pair. (Let's just say I wandered into Erik's late-night business meeting in our kitchen with no pants on because I didn't spot the other guys.) Anyway, I'm in the market for a pair of tortoiseshell frames. What do we think of these two?

triathlon race recap

Here's my play-by-play of Sunday's race:

THE NIGHT BEFORE: Amanda and Anthony were so gracious to host a pasta party, so I filled up on delicious pasta, cupcakes and cookies. Yum! After our fan club left, Sarah, Amanda and I settled down for our pre-race slumber party. I conked out around 11 and slept soundly (even when Gus barked in my face, apparently). When our alarms sounded off at 3 AM, I was ready to go!

PRE-RACE: After grabbing breakfast and our gear, we hopped into our cab and whizzed past all the revelers leaving bars. It started to rain harder, and my stomach twisted. Setting up transition was hard in the rain and pitch-dark, so I covered it all with a trash bag and crossed my fingers I hadn't forgotten anything. We walked a mile to the start, where spotted Dan and Mara.

THE SWIM: The 30-minute start delay sped by in what felt like seconds and, before long, we were wishing each other luck and heading to our age group. This year, the swim started in waves (instead of one big group) so I shuffled with my fellow orange caps onto the barge. At the edge, I stared into the murky water—and then I was off! What I wasn't prepared for was the choppiness. Swimming is by far my strongest leg, but the Hudson's waves were tough. I gave up trying to sight and just kept an eye on the kayaks to make sure I didn't drift to New Jersey. Finally, the finish barge appeared, and I trotted to transition.

THE BIKE: This portion was my toughest one! The rain was still coming down, turning the roads slick and puddle-filled. That, coupled with the fact that I'd really only ridden my road bike for a few weeks, made me nervous—especially after witnessing a few crashes. I made my way to the Bronx turnaround, feeling good, and headed back. When I shifted to make my way up a tough hill, my chain popped off. Immediately images of me stranded roadside ran through my head as I hopped off to put it back on. Luckily, it was only a short delay but I was still pissed and began biking harder to catch up with everyone who passed me.

THE RUN: Right before the run, the sun decided to make an appearance and turn the course hot and humid. As soon I trotted out of T2, I knew I was in trouble. My legs knotted up and I felt like I was running through molasses. Right when I really wanted to walk, I heard Anthony's unmistakable voice cheering me on, and just as I entered Central Park, Erik's cute face popped out of a bush. As I made my way around the loop, my stomach started to ache. (This is when I cursed myself for not training more.) I walked through the water stations, but forced myself to keep running. At last! When I saw the fountain turnaround, I picked up my pace and booked it to the finish line.

AFTERWARDS: After I staggered through the recovery zone, I found Mara (who passed me on the run and looked amazing) and Amanda (who scored a super-fast PR in spite of the INSANE conditions!) with their fellas. We cheered on Sarah, who did AWESOME!!!, and spotted Heather at the finish line. And that's when I started to crash. I seriously felt like I was going to barf while we went to go pick up our bikes, and getting home was a blur. It wasn't until I shoveled in some food and took a nap when it sunk in: We did it!!! I couldn't be more proud of myself and my incredible, tough and supportive friends. I can't wait till our next race. :)

much more than lunch money

If you've been following this blog, you know that I've challenged myself to donate a week's worth of lunch money every month. But this month, I feel compelled to give much more than that. How could I turn a blind eye to the heartbreaking images of starving people in Somalia, especially as I sit here in my cozy apartment with my full tummy? Don't get me wrong. It's not fun to part with my hard-earned money, but I can't think of a more important place to spend my dollars. The hollow-eyed mothers and listless children need this cash far, far more I would ever need that dinner on the town or cute new purse. So today I encourage you to join me in doing something uncomfortable—to part with our money during this tumultuous economic time. I promise you: You won't regret it. It'll be the best thing you do all year.

I found this article on where to give particularly helpful: http://blog.charitynavigator.org/2011/07/donor-shares-question-about-famine-aid.html

[Photo credit: Flickr]

NYC triathlon #2!!!

On Sunday, I completed my second Olympic-distance triathlon: the NYC triathlon! I'll write more about the event later, but I just wanted to post my results from this and last year for posterity's sake. (I keep mixing up my running and triathlon personal bests, oops...) Even though I didn't PR, I'm super pumped and proud of myself. The conditions were just crazy -- choppy swim, rainy ride and hot, humid run -- but it was a blast, and that's the most important thing!