Pictures, with a brief explanation :)
So I've had fun the last couple of days- despite spending 5 hours every day sweating in a sauna and the next couple of days are even more promising.
Thursday night I went down to the South Street Seaport (yes, I already went there, but this was different, bear with me) for an outdoor R & B concert. Unfortunately it rained that evening and so they shut down early, just before I got there. On the brighter side (even though it was actually dark outside) the rain brought the temperature down substantially and cleared the sky so for the first time since I've been in NYC I was able to see the moon. :) I love the moon. I took some nearly-nostalgic pictures of the clipper ships that dock there (I think I must have been a sailor in my past life). Lovely really. :)
Friday we went to detox a bit early.Trust me, we had a reason. We'd been given an invitation to go to the Bronx Zoo with one of the guys from the clinic. He's a corrections officer. His name is Chris. Very friendly helpful sort of guy (when he's not throwing cold water on you in the sauna). He drove in his trail blazer.
On the way we passed the United Nations building
and the Apollo Theater
Sadly, though a local he wasn't incredibly familiar with the Zoo's hours of operation. We got there moments before it closed. We saw it
But didn't get to see it. :( Not to be deterred he (by way of consolation) took us to the mall, not just any mall, the Palisades Mall.
4 stories. Ferris Wheel. Merry-go-round. Everything from Hot Topic to Steve & Barry's to Abercrombie & Fitch. Incredible. We went shoe shopping. Found lots of shoes. None we wanted to buy, but lots of shoes none-the-less. Stopped at Sharper image. They checked out the massage chairs... for half an hour. Then Chris realized his was broken. I took pictures. :)
(Yes, for all of you who noticed or suspected... that's a Gloria Jean's coffee cup in Deborah's hand. She turned her back on her Starbucks loyalty just long enough to get a caffeine fix, but in her defense there was no Starbucks in the gargantuan mall.)
Before leaving we decided to get dinner. Of course they had options, but for Deborah the choice was easy. The Cheesecake Factory.
Everyone always thinks of Cheesecake (naturally), but their regular fare is so good. We ended up not even ordering dessert at all, let alone cheesecake. We got the appetizer sampler. and split it between the 3 of us as a meal (Chris and I also got clam chowder- possibly the best I've had in... well, probably ever- but we could have skipped that and just filled up on the appetizers). For those of you who've had it you know what I'm talking about. This "appetizer" comes on 4 plates! Yeah, like who needs a main course after that? Anyway, he took us back to Manhattan and we hit the sack almost immediately (thus why I wasn't online last night for all of you who are missing me terribly).
Today we went through our regimen like always and for all you who are curious about "what exactly we do in detox"...
Well we begin by taking Niacin (powdered, not pill, mixed in water)
yuck!
Then we exercise for about half an hour
and if Deb hasn't died we go to the sauna.
that's the fun bit (that was dripping with sarcasm for those of you who aren't good at picking up subtle hints or have never talked to me in person).
We sweat for about 4.5 hours. Non-stop. I won't go into details. Suffice it to say it's not pretty (thus the lack of pictures of this particular event even though it's a substantial part of our day).
We take vitamins. Lots of vitamins. Have you ever gotten tired of swallowing pills? I can take more than a dozen at a time without a problem, but taking pills in copious amounts so frequently, it's madness I tell you.
and finally this nasty oil & lecithin mixture. Depending on when they mix it it's either oily and gritty or thick and clumpy. Every now and then it's just right and quite tolerable, but more oft than not it's just vile.
Anyway. When we got back to the church we took a nap. Crazy how sitting in 180 degrees of heat just saps you. Then I got up to get some dinner (Thai!) and brought it back to the church including but not limited to Thai Iced Tea. I normally don't drink tea, hot, iced, or otherwise, but for Thai tea I'll make an exception. If you haven't tried it, you should. I got one for Deb too. She doesn't like Thai food, but she's all about the iced tea (smart girl that one). Anyway. While I enjoyed my Green Curry and Rice Deborah had her leftover Rattle Snake Pasta (from a few days ago at Uno's) we watched Haiku Tunnel. Not horrible, but not positively memorable either. I wouldn't watch it again, but I didn't feel like I needed to get a brain wash afterwards either. Just a waste of time. Anyway. That's about it.
Tomorrow we're having company. Melody & Leah are coming to visit. We're just gonna do a half day tomorrow in favor of bolstering sibling consanguinity. :) And if all goes well I may have another visitor come Monday, but that's not firm yet... still waiting for confirmation. :)
Thursday night I went down to the South Street Seaport (yes, I already went there, but this was different, bear with me) for an outdoor R & B concert. Unfortunately it rained that evening and so they shut down early, just before I got there. On the brighter side (even though it was actually dark outside) the rain brought the temperature down substantially and cleared the sky so for the first time since I've been in NYC I was able to see the moon. :) I love the moon. I took some nearly-nostalgic pictures of the clipper ships that dock there (I think I must have been a sailor in my past life). Lovely really. :)
Friday we went to detox a bit early.Trust me, we had a reason. We'd been given an invitation to go to the Bronx Zoo with one of the guys from the clinic. He's a corrections officer. His name is Chris. Very friendly helpful sort of guy (when he's not throwing cold water on you in the sauna). He drove in his trail blazer.
On the way we passed the United Nations building
and the Apollo Theater
Sadly, though a local he wasn't incredibly familiar with the Zoo's hours of operation. We got there moments before it closed. We saw it
But didn't get to see it. :( Not to be deterred he (by way of consolation) took us to the mall, not just any mall, the Palisades Mall.
4 stories. Ferris Wheel. Merry-go-round. Everything from Hot Topic to Steve & Barry's to Abercrombie & Fitch. Incredible. We went shoe shopping. Found lots of shoes. None we wanted to buy, but lots of shoes none-the-less. Stopped at Sharper image. They checked out the massage chairs... for half an hour. Then Chris realized his was broken. I took pictures. :)
(Yes, for all of you who noticed or suspected... that's a Gloria Jean's coffee cup in Deborah's hand. She turned her back on her Starbucks loyalty just long enough to get a caffeine fix, but in her defense there was no Starbucks in the gargantuan mall.)
Before leaving we decided to get dinner. Of course they had options, but for Deborah the choice was easy. The Cheesecake Factory.
Everyone always thinks of Cheesecake (naturally), but their regular fare is so good. We ended up not even ordering dessert at all, let alone cheesecake. We got the appetizer sampler. and split it between the 3 of us as a meal (Chris and I also got clam chowder- possibly the best I've had in... well, probably ever- but we could have skipped that and just filled up on the appetizers). For those of you who've had it you know what I'm talking about. This "appetizer" comes on 4 plates! Yeah, like who needs a main course after that? Anyway, he took us back to Manhattan and we hit the sack almost immediately (thus why I wasn't online last night for all of you who are missing me terribly).
Today we went through our regimen like always and for all you who are curious about "what exactly we do in detox"...
Well we begin by taking Niacin (powdered, not pill, mixed in water)
yuck!
Then we exercise for about half an hour
and if Deb hasn't died we go to the sauna.
that's the fun bit (that was dripping with sarcasm for those of you who aren't good at picking up subtle hints or have never talked to me in person).
We sweat for about 4.5 hours. Non-stop. I won't go into details. Suffice it to say it's not pretty (thus the lack of pictures of this particular event even though it's a substantial part of our day).
We take vitamins. Lots of vitamins. Have you ever gotten tired of swallowing pills? I can take more than a dozen at a time without a problem, but taking pills in copious amounts so frequently, it's madness I tell you.
and finally this nasty oil & lecithin mixture. Depending on when they mix it it's either oily and gritty or thick and clumpy. Every now and then it's just right and quite tolerable, but more oft than not it's just vile.
Anyway. When we got back to the church we took a nap. Crazy how sitting in 180 degrees of heat just saps you. Then I got up to get some dinner (Thai!) and brought it back to the church including but not limited to Thai Iced Tea. I normally don't drink tea, hot, iced, or otherwise, but for Thai tea I'll make an exception. If you haven't tried it, you should. I got one for Deb too. She doesn't like Thai food, but she's all about the iced tea (smart girl that one). Anyway. While I enjoyed my Green Curry and Rice Deborah had her leftover Rattle Snake Pasta (from a few days ago at Uno's) we watched Haiku Tunnel. Not horrible, but not positively memorable either. I wouldn't watch it again, but I didn't feel like I needed to get a brain wash afterwards either. Just a waste of time. Anyway. That's about it.
Tomorrow we're having company. Melody & Leah are coming to visit. We're just gonna do a half day tomorrow in favor of bolstering sibling consanguinity. :) And if all goes well I may have another visitor come Monday, but that's not firm yet... still waiting for confirmation. :)