#25 Picture a day for 30 days

These challenges that require 30 days of doing something consistently?  Super hard.  I get bored and lose interest, very easily.  So this challenge - #25 Picture a day for 30 days - might seem really easy... But, in actuality, it was hard for me.

As you'll see... I did miss one day... but I made up for it at the end :)  So without further ado, 31 days of photos... 

Day 1: Tuesday, May 22

Three dozen roses!  What a special gift from my brother (in law)'s family :) :) :) (hint hint, boys!)

Day 2: Wednesday May 23

The Carolina Park in Quito is right in the flight path of the airport... and they retired an old plan and turned it in to a piece of playground equipment

Day 3: Thursday May 24

I love checking out grocery stores in foreign countries - so many amazing fruits I've never tried before!!!

Day 4: Friday, May 25

The amazing welcoming committee for my trip to the Galapagos Island :)

Day 5: Saturday, May 26

Me, Terrible Towel and Sea Lion on the beach at the Galapagos Island :)

Day 6: Sunday, May 27

Embracing life.

Day 7: Monday, May 28

Wearing a turtle shell

Day 8: Tuesday, May 29

Attempting to high five a sea lion... I got ignored :)

Day 9: Wednesday, May 30

Swimming with sea lions :)

Day 10: Thursday, May 31

oops!  missed one...


Day 11: Friday, June 1

The view from my morning flight leaving Quito, Ecuador

Day 12: Saturday, June 2

Pickled herring at a real Russian restaurant in Queens... doused in tons of mayonnaise!!!

Day 13: Sunday, June 3

I took a class to learn how to bartend... here was the crazy instructor :)

Day 14: Monday, June 4

Waiting for tacos at "The Taco Truck" - I love the curved mirrored walls, making me look super skinny hahah

Day 15: Tuesday, June 5

I love summer... I get to wear dresses and super high heels to work!

Day 16: Wednesday, June 6

Watching the Enterprise shuttle float down the Hudson River

Day 17: Thursday, June 7

Love these curious fish at my dentists office

Day 18: Friday, June 8

Hanging out with the Tedster

Day 19: Saturday, June 9

Singing "Call me maybe" with Elizabeth on the ride home from Skydiving

Day 20: Sunday, June 10

The beach at the Jersey Shore

Day 21: Monday, June 11

I accidentally destroyed my only plant, but I've been talking to it and it's coming back to life!  As is evidenced by a few green sprouts!!!

 Day 22: Tuesday, June 12

Another cute work dress... I actually got complements from several co-workers on it

Day 23: Wednesday, June 13

Ted begging for some lovin :)

Day 24: Thursday, June 14

Team Captain... I had signs to help co-workers in other buildings/floors find my desk...

Day 25: Friday, June 15 

Powering up my iPad... see, I told you it was sparkly!

Day 26: Saturday, June 16 

Getting certified to teach spin class!

Day 27: Sunday, June 17

Shrimp tacos with shredded cabbage and a yogurt cilantro sauce!

Day 28: Monday, June 18

"In a gentle way, you can shake the world." - Fortune cookie

Day 29: Tuesday, June 19

Super adorable.

Day 30: Wednesday, June 20

Clearly my favorite subject...

Day 31 (to make up for missing one photo): Thursday, June 21

Bachelorette party bling :)

So you might have gathered that I was getting a bit bored towards the end of the challenge... and ended up taking pictures of Ted (my tiny, socially-anxious cat).  Lucky for me, she's a cute subject!! 

Overall, though, it was fun.  I had to keep remembering to find fun things to take photos of... which was challenging during the week when I usually go from work to gym to home to work, etc... not too many interesting things happening, even with this amazing 30by30in3 I'm doing.

Have any of you ever done a 30 pictures in 30 days challenge?  What were your photos of, anything specific or just random like mine?  Did you like mine???  :)

#14 Hang out at the Jersey Shore

The Jersey Shore is a controversial place, thanks to the popular MTV show creatively named "Jersey Shore."  If you google "Jersey Shore", the first five entries are all about the TV series.

But, the reason why I decided to do #14 - Hang out at the Jersey Shore as one of my challenges was to prove to my non-Jersey/NYC friends that the real Jersey Shore is actually nice, and not what you see on MTV. Sure, there are plenty of Snookie, Pauly D and Situation's, but there are also a ton of normal people with families and jobs. They just happen to live near the ocean in Jersey.

One of those normal people is my friend Kim (yup, same name), who hates taking photos, so this post will have few pictures. Kim is gorgeous and kind, one of the nicest people I've ever met, and lives in Brick, New Jersey, which is about an hour drive from Manhattan, and a few minutes away from the shore.

Kim graciously agreed to host me overnight and take me around so that I can satisfy this challenge.  To start the night, we went to the most amazing sushi restaurant ever. It's called Shogun Legend's... And the sushi is the FRESHEST most INCREDIBLY DELICIOUS and ORGASMIC sushi I've ever had in my life.

The bar, where Kim and I have our sushi dinner :)

The most orgasmic plate of sashimi- it was so delicious that we ordered a second round!

So, now you know that the Jersey Shore has some amazing food.  :)

After dinner, we head to Asbury Park to hit up Porta, a pizza place that turns in to a bar and club after hours.

At Porta, we ended up dancing for hours... I got groped by several guys, some at the same time... But it made my Jersey Shore after hours experience authentic, right?

The next morning, Kim and I headed to the beach (I forget which one), and the day turned out to be GORGEOUS.  I was happy as a pig in mud, soaking up several hours of sun, enjoying the sound of waves crashing to shore, and of course, taking a nap :)

The view from my beach chair!!!

So thatbwas my Jersey Shore experience. Food, dancing, beach. Will I go back?  Heck yeah!  It's a beach (I LOVE BEACHES), and it's only a short train ride away.  And... I ate amazing food and had a great time dancing.  But, more importantly, I also have fabulous friends at the Shore... After all, it's the people that make the Jersey Shore :)

#26 Learn how to poach an egg

I like to cook.  Well, I like to eat (reference earlier posts!).  And since I'm trying to be healthy (#20 on my list), cooking allows me to monitor the oil, butter and salt that restaurant food tends to have. Plus, I'm a good cook, so I find that I can cook better tasting food with less calories. 

I started cooking regularly when I moved to NYC after college. Which was eight years ago.  Yeah.  Eight.  And in all that time, I've never once attempted to poach an egg.  I'm good with scrambling, frying, and frittata'ing... but never poached.  Which may be surprising to some of you because I love a good Eggs Benedict.

Which is why one of the things I needed to learn how to do before I turned 30 is #26 Learn how to poach an egg.

Having no idea where to even begin, I of course turn to google.  I found several sites, but since I trust Alton Brown (of the Food Network) much more than a random person, I clicked on his youtube video, where he shows how to poach an egg in a 4 minute tutorial.  I don't know what people did before the internet... (actually I do... they used "The Joy of Cooking")

So before I make my poached eggs, I created something to put the poached eggs on. I've made Crab Cakes Benedict before, but with pan fried eggs, not poached... so this was the perfect opportunity for me to create a REAL crab cake benedict.  My recipe is at the end of this post!!

So now.  How to poach eggs, in the version as I understood it from Alton Brown: 
1. Take a large pan with at least a 2" lip and fill with 1 1/2" of water (seriously, use a ruler to measure this)
2. Bring water to 190 degrees - for my stove, that means boiling.

3. Place entire egg (yolk and white) in a small ramikin.  Do this for each egg you're poaching (each in their own ramikin).
4. Once the water temperature reaches 190 degrees, take slotted spoon and "scrape" bubbles off the bottom of the pan
5. Add 1 T white wine vinegar to water
6. Put 1 ramikin in the water and slowly let the egg "slide out".  It's important that you take your time, otherwise the yolk could separate from the whites, and thus no "pocket" forms for the poached look.  Repeat for each egg, placing the eggs in a clockwise circle to keep track of which eggs to take out first.

7. Set timer to 4 minutes and 30 seconds.  Let eggs cook, drink glass of wine:

8. Once timer goes off, use slotted spoon to take out the first egg, and place on a towel or paper towel to drain.  Repeat with all eggs in the order they were added to the water.

9. Place on dish and ENJOY!

So, that wasn't that hard in the end.  Did I have one egg yolk that separate from one egg white?  Yup I did (see above image), but that's why I made TWO poached eggs, just in case :)

The hardest parts of this exercise were cracking the eggs to not break the yolk, keeping the water temperature at 190 degrees, and sliding the eggs out just right so the yolk was not separated from the white.  Other than that, not sure why I waited so long to learn this technique???

The real test comes, of course, through the tasting. As I mentioned earlier, I needed something to put my poached eggs on.  Since I'm a huge fan of Crab cake benedict, I decided to go for my own recipe (which is adapted from a restaurant dish I tried and LOVED from a local restaurant called The Turning Point).


Kimmy's version of The Turning Point's Crab Cake Benedict
(serves 5-6)

Ingredients
2 medium zucchini
1 bunch grape or cherry tomatoes
15-20 medium sized shrimp (I go for uncooked frozen)
5-6 slices of whole wheat bread or whole wheat English muffins
Paula Deen's crab cakes (modified - instead of ritz crackers, I used bread crumbs and/or steel cut oats, instead of dry mustard, I used dijon mustard, and instead of the flour/peanut oil, I baked on 350 for 25 minutes)
5 eggs
1 T white wine vinegar
Hollandaise sauce (I used a "healthier" version from Dukan - 1/2 cup skim milk, 2 egg yolks, 1 t dijon mustard, 2 T fresh lemon juice)


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Slice zucchinis in half, then using a mandolin, slice into 1/4" strips.  

3. Using a serrated knife, cut tomatoes in half.

4. Line baking sheet with foil, spray with Pam, add slices of zucchini and tomato, season with salt and pepper. Place in oven for 20 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, make Paula Deen's crabcake recipe, with the exceptions (noted above). Form in to 5-6 patties.

6. Remove zucchini and tomatoes from oven, move to separate plate.

7. Place crab cake patties on baking sheet and place in oven for 25 minutes.

8. Next, make Hollandaise sauce (you can use the lighter Dukan recipe or this recipe 

9. Add a tiny bit (1 T max) olive oil to pan, heat, and add shrimp, searing until browned on both sides (~2 mins each side)

10. With 10 minutes left, lightly butter the bread (each side), and pan fry.  If using English muffins, use a toaster or toaster oven to toast according to the package directions.

11. Begin poaching eggs with 5 minutes left (see above instructions).
12. Once eggs are poached, start to plate:

    - Place one piece of bread per plate.

    - On top of bread, add zucchini and tomato halves.

    - Place crab cake on top of zucchini

    - Top with poached egg

    - Add shrimp

    - Drizzle (or douse) with Hollandaise sauce.

    - Sprinkle Old Bay seasoning on top (1-2 Tsp each).

    - ENJOY.

Poaching eggs was MUCH easier than I expected.  And, of course, it always helps to have an amazing recipe to feature the poached eggs on! If you try this recipe, let me know your thoughts!

#3 Get certified in spinning

Do you ever want to do something, but you don't necessarily have a great reason for why?  To be more specific, your reason is simply "Just because," or "I just think it would be awesome", rather than a more well defined answer that is compelling, like "I want to do this because it will save the world, cure cancer, and make money grow on trees."

Yeah.  No great story behind #3 Get certified in spinning, and no real reason for why. Mainly, it's just because I wanted to.  I may never do anything with the certification, and that's just fine with me. Maybe it will come in handy one day and if it does, well that's sprinkles on the frosting on the cake :)  Maybe not. But still, I wanted to do it.

So I signed up for the 9 hour Spin Instructor Orientation workshop on spinning.com, and showed up at the gym near Times Square. The instructor for the class was Iona Passik, who has taught spinning since 1991, and who was taught spinning from spinning's creator, Johnny G.  Pretty impressive, right?

Throughout the course of the day we alternated from lectures in a classroom, where we went through the Spin Instructor's Manual, to lectures and rides in a spinning studio.  One of the main things we focused on in the morning was how to safely and properly set up the spin bike.  See, spinning bikes are completely adjustable - from the seat height, to the placement of the seat from front to back, to the handlers up or down, etc.  You need to have it properly set up, or you could injure yourself.

Fellow students in the Spin Instructor Class - I'm in the back of the room in the mirror on the far left :)

After setting our own bikes, we then hop on and start pedaling for the next hour, and go through the proper form for each of the various positions - seated flat, standing flat, standing climb, jumps, etc.  This is where I learn that I've been "standing flat" incorrectly for the past five years.  Oops. 

After the one hour "form" ride, we take a lunch break and are back in the classroom to learn four important items: how to combine different positions in to a flowing, challenging class, the importance of music, tips on being a great instructor, and finally - the importance of heart rate monitoring.  After learning all this, we had back down to the cycling studio and complete another hour long class, but this one is NOT easy... it's taught by the masterful Iona, and I'm sweating like a pig after only the warm up!!!

I learned a couple of interesting things while in Spin Instructor Class:

1. Spinning is not just a cardio workout.  It's a spiritual journey, kinda like yoga.
2. Spin music is supposed to be world / jazz music, not Top 40 music.
3. There is no yelling in spin class.  No Jillian Michael's "KEEP MOVING UNTIL YOU PUKE OR PASS OUT!".  It's about positive, zen-like reinforcement. 
4. I've been doing spinning kinda wrong for the past five years... 
5. Even if I never teach a spin class, I am so grateful that I took the class... I learned a lot about something that I thought I was "experienced" with.  

The final step to get my certification is to take an online exam... 50 questions... if I pass (80% required), I'm certified... and well...

I PASSED!

So I am now an official, certified spinning instructor.  I can teach a class if I want.

Or, I can just continue to take classes and enjoy my newly acquired knowledge. It's nice to learn new skills and have options.  Getting certified in spinning is something that I've wanted to do for a while, and I'm glad I finally had the opportunity to do it :)

Week TEN Update

Ten weeks.  I've been working on this challenge for TEN weeks. Count 'em.  I've completed 15 of the items on my list, and I have just 3 weeks to complete the remaining 15... way to leave it all to the last minute, Kim ;)

There are a couple of items on my list that I've done NOTHING with, so I need your help.  Help me, and get a shout out in the blog.  Here are the items:

• #6: Learn how to drive stick shift (Helen, Jon, anyone else???)
• #16: Go on a date with a fireman.  (OK, thinking about turning this one into "a man in uniform" just to open it up a bit more... but I still maintain that he needs to be single/divorced and a nice guy. Preferably cute ;) )
• #28: Learn the Single Ladies dance by Beyonce.  I can probably figure it out on my own, but if anyone already knows it and can teach it to me, I'll be grateful.  So grateful, I'll buy you margaritas.
• #30: Readers Poll: Get certified in scuba diving.  I recently found out that this actually takes a lot of time... and I didn't allot nearly enough for it.  Therefore, I am officially petitioning that I can replace this challenge with a different one.  Perhaps, do yoga in Times Square?  Or maybe attend a bachelorette party in Key West?? Any objections?  Raise them now, or forever hold your comments!

So, how'd I do this past week?  Pretty awesome, I think :)  See below for updated stats, yay!!!

#9: 30 new recipes.  2 new recipes this week for 17 out of 30!!

• Shrimp tacos with a cilantro chile lime sauce
• Poached eggs!! (stay tuned for post!)

#10: 12 total items done and blogged! New blog posts this week:

• Hire someone to do something I don't like doing
• Go Skydiving

#12: 30 hours of community service.  I completed another 15 hours this past week (for a total of 27), all due to coordinating my company's team in the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge.  Man, y'all were NEEDY this year.  300 employees in 11 different locations, and lots of work... I always say "I'm never doing this again," but I keep doing it.  This is the fourth year.  I just love organizing events!

#24: Quit something I do a lot of.  Um, yeah.  Try as I might, with all the right reasons ("You can go to the gym early in the morning!  It's better for you!  You never feel good after you snooze!"), I have not been successful in stopping my finger from pressing the snooze button... HELP!

#25: A picture a day for 30 days.  I'm ~28 days!!!  Almost done!!!

#29: Read 30 books.  Finished #12! The third and final installment of the "Shades of Grey" series.  And I'm kinda disappointed in it.  It's the same as the last two books - sex, danger, Christian and Ana fighting and making up.  Woo.  Need something new to read. Suggestions???

Awesome week... don't forget to tell me if you're interested in helping out with the above!!!

#1 Go skydiving!

I don't know why I've always wanted to go skydiving.  I just have, and it's always been on my list of things that I wanted to do one day.  Any time I've heard anyone else talk about it, I've always commented that I wanted to do it, too.  But I just never got around to doing it...

So obviously, the first thing on my list was #1 Go Skydiving!

What I found interesting is that not every one shares my excitement skydiving.  I was actually kinda shocked.  I emailed a bunch of girlfriends asking if any of them wanted to go with me, thinking that they'd all say "yes", but the majority responded with "hell no" (synopsis of the conversation).

Thank goodness my work colleague Elizabeth (we shared bone marrow together for #17 - try a new food) was enthusiastic.  What made us even more enthusiastic is that we found a groupon via Gilt City  for 50% off!  Now, most people also responded to the fact that we were going skydiving with a groupon with "Do you really want to skydive at a discount", but I had already scoped out the joint.  The groupon was just the icing on the cake!

So on Saturday, June 9, 2012, Elizabeth and I woke up early and drove (in Elizabeth's amazing Audi convertible to Skydive Jersey:

Elizabeth and I driving in her convertible :)

Skydive Jersey is located at Alexandria Field in Pittstown, NJ:

We arrived, parked, and got driven to the Skydive Jersey offices in a golf cart:

We then watch a video on the safety harness, and sign a four page legal document... one of provisions on that document was acknowledging that I could be injured or killed...  Not too comforting, but at the same time, so many more have gone before me and were fine... so what did I have to lose?

Elizabeth signing her life away :)

I also noticed that they sold cute t-shirts like the following:

So after signing our life away, we get harnessed up.  And everything else happens so quickly.  Tall, gorgeous Chuck (my instructor) says "Let's go!" and we walk over to the airplane.

Elizabeth and her instructor climb in first, and then I climb in, followed by my instructor Chuck.  Now, this plane is not what I imagined it would be.  I was envisioning it being bigger, and thought we would be sitting on little benches along the side of the plane and then having to jump out (I've seen way too many spy / war movies, apparently).  But no... it is a tiny plane, and the five of us (there is a pilot, after all) are scrunched close together.

So we're in the plane, and we start taxiing to the runway, and meanwhile, I'm starting to get nervous.  I mean, I'm in a tiny plane, and I'm about to jump out of it.  There is no way out.  Not that I was looking for one, but still... 

The longest part of the trip was actually the flight - it took about 10 minutes or so to reach 10,000 feet, and then my instructor starts telling me what I need to know.  Now I'm getting nervous...

...and then all the sudden, he opens the door to the plane, which is, by the way, literally right next to me.  So I manage a "Gah!!!" sound and my instructor puts one foot on the little ledge (OUTSIDE THE PLANE!), and tells me to put my feet on the ledge.  I grab hold to the side of the plane through the open door, say "AHHH!" one more time, put my left foot out, say "OH MY GOD WHAT AM I DOING!", and then my place my right foot on to the ledge.

Now, Chuck (my instructor) takes his good ole time (it seemed like hours) doing some final preparations. One of the things he told me earlier is that he will do the jumping for me, so I just have to get out on the ledge and he'll take it from there. All I have to do is keep my head pressed back on to his right shoulder so I don't smash him in the face with the back of my skull.

And then, after waiting for what seemed like forever, we're falling ("plummeting to the Earth" is how one friend described it).  I immediately go from being nervous to having the time of my life (as is evidenced by this picture:

We fall for about 45 seconds before Chuck (my instructor) pulls the cord to release our parachute.  It was such an incredible experience falling at 120 mph.  I didn't even think about the fact that we were "plummeting to the Earth"... I just felt the adrenaline pumping through me, and I LOVED IT.

Too soon, the parachute opens and we slow down to start to float to earth...

While we're floating in the air, Chuck (my instructor) does donuts so we spin around in circles.

Six minutes later, we're maneuvering our way towards our landing site... and I lift my legs up, and we scoot in on our bums.  I high five Chuck, and Elizabeth and I hug and excitedly talk about how much fun we just had...

Watch my skydive journey here!!!

After we landed, we took a photo together.  The plane that took us up is in the background!!

Would I do it again?  In a heartbeat.  If any of you want to go, I'm there with you.  Diving through the sky, falling to earth, and then gliding through the air, breathing and observing, was just too incredible for words. For me, the scariest part was working my way out of the plane... but now that I've done it once, I think I'll be much less scared the next time! 

Now, my family knew that this was on my list... but I didn't tell them the date that I would be jumping. Right after we safely returned to earth, I called both my Mom and Dad to tell them the good news.  My Dad chuckled (in relief) and told whomever he was with "My daughter just jumped out of a perfectly good plane!", and my Mom (who I had talked to the previous night) scolded me for not telling her I was going to be doing this.  She then admitted that she was glad I had not told her, as she would have been worrying the entire time. :)

After our skydiving adventure, Elizabeth and I went to a local Jersey winery, Alba, and sampled the wines.

The most delicious red raspberry dessert wine... I could drink the entire bottle in one sitting... so yum!

Elizabeth brought cheese, veggies and dip for our lunch after wine tasting

This was one of the most fun days I've had in a long while... from riding in a convertible, singing at the top of our lungs, to SKYDIVING, to wine tasting... this was such a perfect day.  Thank you, Elizabeth, for going with me and celebrating my birthday in such style!!!

Elizabeth and I singing along to Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call me maybe"

Highly recommend skydiving to each and all of you.  In fact, everyone gets a discounted rate for the rest of 2012 as my referral, so let me know and I can hook you up!!!  It was safe, and it was just so much fun.  And, Chuck (my instructor), why don't you call me, maybe?  :) :) :)