Springtime Smoothie

Hello all!

It's been a long time between postings... again :( I apologize. Time is just flying though! Can you believe it's already May?? I have a few fun updates to give then have a refreshing and delicious smoothie recipe to share in celebration of the fantastic sunny weather that most of the country is experiencing, on and off at least.

Exciting news! I got my first (big) freelancing job last week! Redoing the site for an actor/comedian/musician who I'd met eons ago (as in during the summer) and just got into contact with me again asking if I'd still be interested in the job. Of course! I'm super excited for this chance not only because it's, like, a job but because New York is FULL of actors and dancers and bands and singers who will need sites at some point in their career and if I can get started and into that niche now... fantastic!

I met with the guy today (that sounds unprofessional... my client?) and got a starting plan and outline figured out, now I just need to buckle down and get to work! Which is really what I should be doing instead of blogging... but it's been too long since I've posted... so here I am :)

I went to pilates again on Monday. It was a rainy day, the type where you were too warm with a coat on but chilly without one. I woke up and wasn't sure I'd been going but after a perky text from Summer (having her as both my friend and my instructor works great for accountability!) I knew the class would be well worth the money and trip. Sure enough, it was a great time with Ebony and I being the only students that day. It was great with just two, although there's so much talk now in the restaurant about the classes I expect it to be blown up with people next time. Afterwards we went out for frozen yogurt, which may have cancelled out the workout, but was absolutely delicious!

I have some big events coming up that I'm also really looking forward to.  Next weekend, one of my closest friends from college is coming for a visit. One of the choirs from our college is coming out to perform at Carnegie Hall and she's coming out with them. Her dad is head of alumni relations and often travels with the choir, which works out really well for us not only in that she's able to come with them as well, but we get to tag along with them for a Broadway show and to watch their Carnegie Hall performance. Some sweet bonuses in addition to seeing my lovely Kara :)

The next weekend is my aunt's wedding so I'll be going home for that, just for a few days. I'm happy to be going back already though.

Now for this smoothie. It stemmed from a random seeming assortment of fruits I had lying around and turned into a lovely combination. This is a very sweet smoothie, I'll warn, but also refreshing light. To turn down the sweet, you could use water as the base and add some lemon juice, rather than the pre-made lemonade. I think it's a great springtime smoothie, since it's not tropical, and is aesthetically pleasing even before being blended up. It's perfect for sipping on while you're reading a book in the back yard to sneak in some outside-time.

 Grearberry Smoothie

(Grape, pear, strawberry)

1/2 cup prepared lemonade

6-7 strawberries

1/2 cup green grapes

4 oz Dole fruit cup of pears, drained (or about 1/3 cup chopped pears)

Place all ingredients in your blender in the order they're listed. Blend until smooth. You could also add ice if you prefer a slushier or colder smoothie. Pour into a pretty glass and enjoy in the sunshine! Or on a rainy day when you wish there was sunshine...

**I have a single-serving sized blender which is super handy since I'm just one person :) Just don't get thrown off by the blender being full of liquid and thinking this recipe makes a ton of drinkage. It seems to be right around 16 ounces.

Playing Catch-Up

Hello my friends!!

I know, I know, it's been too long. At first it was because nothing that interesting was happening (well except for a spray tan that left me darker than I've ever been in my life...) but don't worry, after nearly a month, I have plenty of fun happenings to report :)

I went home to Ohio for a week over Easter which was wonderful! Except for the part where I had a major cold... which quickly became laryngitis. Oh, then I had to get my wisdom teeth all removed :/ It's alright though, I'm just glad that I was home for all of that and could be taken care of by my sweet parents.

Ohio was filled with family events, church, ice cream dates with my sister, recovery, amazing home cooked meals, and a little thrift shopping. But I did, for the first time, actually miss the city and especially my friends here.

Back in New York, I jumped right back into work at Hill Country. Arriving on a Thursday afternoon (after many delays and what ended up being a 16-hour bus trip) and heading into work that night.

Last weekend I felt like I was living at HC. After working there 8 months I finally had my New Hire Orientation (a 3 1/2 hour event, it did include pastries from our sister restaurant so that made it worth it). It wouldn't have been so delayed except the last orientation was scheduled on the same day Hurricane Sandy rolled into town...

I'd taken my laptop into Manhattan and got to relax at the wonderful Birch Coffee, a new favorite spot of mine, between orientation and the time I actually went into work.

Friday morning, there was a semi-secret concert by Brad Paisley at HC. NashFM, the first country radio station in NYC has been hosting a few little events in our downstairs area and let me tell you, when I picked up the phone my first day back from Easter to hear a guest wanting to make reservations for after the Brad Paisley concert, I got pretty excited! I woke up early and headed into HC once again, and got to watch Mr. Paisley live and up close, playing for just a couple hundred people, packed into the club level of HC. What a great perk of my job, no?

I had another fun, cultural experience on Saturday. My friend Mindy is part of the company at Elisa Monte Dance which had their 32nd Anniversary Season Gala last weekend. After some schedule shuffling, Selina and I, as well as some other HCers who we saw there, were able to go out and support our girl! It was an awesome show.

I'd never been to a dance gala like that or seen much modern dance. I was in awe of the grace and synchronization of the dancers as well as the abilities and endurance of a well-trained human body.  My dance repertoire is mostly fun and I hadn't experienced pieces that held so much emotion and stirred up feelings like these did.

My latest new experience was last night -- I went to my first Broadway show!! My high school always has a senior trip to NYC (I didn't actually go on the trip my senior year, having gone to France the summer before and not having the money for both. Oh well, I thought, NYC is close enough to Ohio, I know I'll make it there someday... Little did I know that 3 years later I'd be living here!) and lucky for me, one of the chaperons is not a fan of the Broadway show part of the trip, and gave me his ticket! Yay!

Yesterday morning I found out there were two tickets up for grabs if I could find a friend who wanted to join me, so I called on Samantha who also had never been to a Broadway show! I have to admit I was a little skeptical of seeing Spider-Man: Turn Out the Lights on Broadway... I mean, it's action-packed Spider-Man! And what, now he's gonna sing? But it was great! It took me a bit to get into it but by the end I was loving and very impressed with the stunts and special effects. They stayed true to the comic book nature of the story as well as bringing in the musicality and choreography of Broadway.

It was a nice night (loving this warm, spring weather!!) and we kept it true to New York form. Grabbing dessert at Roxy Delicatessen in Times Square before hitting up the Broadway show then finishing the night by meeting up with Selina for supper (at 11 o'clock at night... we run on a different time schedule than most) in Koreatown.

I hope your last few weeks have been just as delightfully eventful as mine! And I'll really try to do better at consistency... TTFN :)