No Pain No Gain...This New Year

So yesterday I officially embarked on a new phase in my life: my life with a personal trainer. I've wanted one for a while, but now I finally went for it because I just don't feel like I'm getting anywhere with working out, and I've lost definition and gained weight. YUCK. I thought this was happening because I've been so busy the past few years with vet school and my internship. Plus, ever since my knees went bad, I have not been able to do things like running, which was a sure thing for me to shed weight. But now I have time to work out and I still don't see results. So I signed up with a trainer I've been eying for a while at my gym, and she's excellent so far! She's a spunky, petite Muay Thai kick boxer and personal trainer. She kicked my ass yesterday. We started with push ups, sit ups, punches and kicks using a weight bag and targets, then arms and chest. It was so painful and exhausting it was great. I could not keep up and I so wanted to stop a certain points...but she didn't back down and made me continue. I'm really excited, and hopefully this is going to pay off. I'm so sore and painful right now...the kind of post workout pain I haven't felt since pre season training for field hockey back in the day! YA! In terms of our New Year's plans, we're going to meet my sisters for dinner, then Marcus and I are headed off to Pacha for some superclub party action. Happy New Year!

Addendum: Walmartians

Okay, maybe you've seen this website, but I randomly receive emails from a previous co-worker with entertaining photos of people shopping in Walmart. And trust me, it's entertaining. Just wanted to share this site in the event you weren't enlightened.

Sore Spots and Residual Itching

Tantalizing title, right? Well don't worry it's not that bad. Since returning from Trinidad almost two weeks ago, I'm still itching my legs where I was bitten by mosquitoes...a great souvenir. And they're all scabbed up so it looks like I have a scary skin disease. And then the sore spot: the weird, large stack of plastic boxes we have sitting in our living room. The stack is over five feet high! When we moved from our vermin laden apartment to this one, we were advised to use plastic boxes to deter certain vermin from hitching a ride and setting up shop in our new apartment. Well, we have not gotten around to figuring out what to do with these things...we don't have any storage available to us in our building...but we don't want to just toss them. We did spend over $500 on these stupid things, and we could just use them again. But it's sad when you're so used to something sitting in a room, you don't remember it's there...and they've been sitting there for four months!

Trinidad in Summary

In summary, we had a good time in Trinidad. We got to see family, the sights, and we got to eat good food. I'd definitely come back for Carnival, and if I could, I'd definitely check out Tobago. So we finally headed home on a (delayed) afternoon flight back to New York City. On the plane I watched "500 Days of Summer" and "Nothing Like the Holidays"...both of which I enjoyed, the latter more of a guilty pleasure. We got home that night, and the following day I had to work. Then the crazy snowstorm hit! I think my favorite moment of that entire trip was watching the dolphins approach our boat. That was amazing. As you can see I've included an obligatory unflattering to Michelle (but seriously cute-n-cuddly Gustaf) photo. I'm always happy to be home to be with Gustaf!

Finally the Beach on Day Four!

This was beach day. We went to Maracas Beach, a popular beach on Trinidad. It was a beautiful day and there was no way you could wade and frolic in these waters...the waves were so powerful, I wished I knew how to surf. It was crazy. And crazy fun. Marcus took full advantage and was diving under the waves. Me? Well I was in some skimpy bikini, and at least the ladies can vouch for me: when waves hit, bikinis come off. And I didn't feel like playing that game every time a huge wave came my way. So I played in the big waves for a while, but then had to retire to the smaller, more bikini friendly ones. I also learned that the stray (or seemingly stray) dogs of Trinidad are picky---you'd think they'd take any food you had to offer. Well multiple times I only had peanut butter and guava jelly sandwiches, and it was a no go! They turned their noses up to it. Speaking of food, we got to experience a local favorite, and a good one! We had bake n shark sandwiches. Yummy, deep fried fish in a deep fried bread. So good. What's funny is that this beach wasn't huge, yet every 25 feet there seemed to be another bake n shark shack...literally there were 8 places for this stuff. After the beach fun, we headed back home and the in laws threw a little cocktail party. It was quite the international affair, as most of their neighbors are like them, foreigners working on the island. We met a bunch of people. Then later that night we went out with my party queen mother in law to a dance club. And yes, I danced with her to some bumping music as Marcus drank. Fun, but somewhat surreal, too...And Marcus isn't trying to vomit or anything in the photo---we're eating the bake n shark and was making faces. The food was good, trust me!

Day Four: Bird Conservatory

On day three we headed up the mountains on quite a perilous little road trip with all these crazy twists and turns, and almost car accidents, to reach a wildlife center called the Asa Wright Nature Centre. We saw tons of wildlife: hummingbirds (close up feeding!), agoutis (I love these things), lizards, and tons of other native birds, plants, and trees. Apparently, bird watching is the number one tourist attraction in Trinidad---who knew?! After quietly watching a handful of exotic birds (and those cuddly agoutis) feed as we watched from a veranda, we went on a guided tour on one of the trails. It was great fun, except for the annoying New York couple who kept asking the guide annoying, repetitive questions that had nothing to do with anything...and no I wasn't talking about me and Marcus!

Day Three: Boat Trip

Agnetha booked us a private boat trip around Trinidad. It was beautiful. We toured the periphery of the island, saw Venezuela in the distance, and got dropped off at a small lagoon type beach. Having said that, if you really want a nice beach, we've been told you need to go to Tobago, which we couldn't fit into our trip. I wouldn't return to that little lagoon type beach again, because there was some litter. But anyway, in the midst of our little boat chugging through the water, we suddenly found ourselves in the middle of a bunch of dolphins! It was amazing...I've never seen wild dolphins before. They were very curious and swimming right under and next to the boat. I love dolphins!

Day Two: The City of Port of Spain

On our second day of our trip to Trinidad, we went into the city. We found very narrow city streets, tons of people, and tons of cars. My mother in law, Agnetha, had told me about a wonderful fabric store in town, so we headed there. I found beautiful African inspired cotton fabrics...I think I'll sew some pillow covers or duvet covers with them. It was so busy in that store, it wasn't funny! What else wasn't funny? How good some of the local food was...let's say by the end of the trip I developed some personal favorites...cassava pone, coconut bake, and bake n shark. Hubba hubba. Oh and can't forget to mention the ubiquitous roti!

Back to the Beginning: Family Visit, then Trinidad

So prior to our trip to Trinidad to visit Marcus' side of the family, his sister Mimmi, and her girlfriend Sara came to New York for a brief, but fun visit. Lots of good food, lots of shopping. Then at the end of their visit, Marcus and I headed to Trinidad to stay with his mom and step father. They have been living there for the past year (his step dad lives abroad in a bunch of countries for his job). We finally arrived in sunny, warm Trinidad after some drama on the plane (passengers complaining, which lead to the entire plane having to exit the plane for another...) Day one we hung out around the apartment complex's gorgeous pool and took a drive up the mountains to get some great views of the city, Port of Spain. We were also there when the in-laws had other visitors from Sweden there, so we were hanging out with them, too. The pool's nice, right?

Major Back Tracking!

AAHH!!! Finally we've uploaded some images that I've been wanting to use for my blog...so we're going to be doing a little back in time action for a short while... First: Happy Holidays! Marcus and I went to my parents' house for Christmas...good food, good people, good times. My old friend Jindallrae made it to the party, too! It was good to see her...I hadn't seen her in at least a year. Yesterday I met up with Stephen for brunch at 7A, then to watch "Broken Embraces", an Almodovar flick, at Sunshine Theatre. I had a great time because we got to catch up. It's a bummer that we both live in NYC, but we don't see each other as often as I'd like. I want to change that...Anyway, I recently bought this hat which I lovingly refer to as the "baboushka"...and here it is in all its faux fur glory! Check out the photo above! And what did Santas Marcus and Gustaf get me for Christmas??? An iPhone 3GS, baby...ya! And what am I going to give myself? Probably a personal trainer...I need it!

Gotta Check In

It's been a while since I last blogged...Marcus and I went to Trinidad to visit his parents, who live there in Port of Spain. We're in the midst of downloading the photos from the trip. It was a lot of fun. Then as soon as we got home, the big snow storm hit New York! And now Christmas is upon us! So I plan to get all my retrospective blogs in order regarding the trip as soon as possible!

Sunday Night...Monday Morning

Yesterday I met up with a friend to eat at a brunch spot in Nolita. Then that night, Marcus and I checked out the Rangers vs. Redwings game at MSG. It was fun watching with him. The home team didn't win, though. But I love hockey--whether it's field, ice, or floor hockey. Yesterday we signed up for Zipcar. And I was prompted to enter in my driver's license. I reached for it, and found that my license was expired! Augh! What did that mean??? I would have to possibly go to the dreaded DMV. We if you ever have to go to the DMV in Manhattan, I'd strongly recommend the Downtown office on Greenwich Street. I got there when they opened...and I was in and out of there in less that 30 minutes! The rest of the day I spend packing for our upcoming trip to Trinidad and Tobago, and I went to get my eyebrows threaded at a place near J&R. It was a really good place---Saifra had recommended it.