NyStateOfMind

Met my friend Christina at Starbucks this afternoon. I was 10 minutes late (on purpose) and when I walked in she was already sitting down playing with her fancy IPad while her kids were eating cheesy chips and pound cake. I got my coffee and shortly after that we left Starbucks for some shopping. Bought a pair of workout pants at Annie Sez and as we walked out the doors we saw News12 pass by. My first reaction was to hide in the store until they were long gone but Christina pushed her double stroller out the door and was of course asked for an interview. The question was something about Rottweiler fights and what her input was on the subject. I stayed behind the camera guy not willing to risk being seen in TV. 
Since we don’t have cablevision we don’t get the channel that shows News12 but I’m hoping that I can look it up at work tomorrow.

I’m trying out my new workout pants tonight while shaking my butt in Zumba.

Friday was a rough day/night and when Mike woke me up at 8am Saturday morning to go get my car I was anything but happy. Grabbed whatever clothes I found on the floor and as Mike drove me to Annelie’s house where my car was parked I kept on resting my tired eyes. 20 minutes later I was back home under the covers where I stayed for the next 2 hours.
It would have been a perfect day for movies in bed and takeout food, but since it was Mike’s grandparent’s 60^th wedding anniversary this was obviously not possible. Instead I got ready and headed to an Italian restaurant where the whole family had gathered to celebrate. Way to much food and 4 hours later we left the restaurant and went back to my in-laws house for more food, champagne and gift opening. At 9pm I was so tired and my head was hurting so bad that me and Mike went home.

 
Gift to Grandparents from all the GrandChildren and Great GrandChildren

Waking up to the smell of coffee is a much better way to wake me up and on Sunday that is exactly what happened. Homemade chocolate chip pancakes with strawberries, syrup and powdered sugar (extremely healthy) was next to my hot cup of Joe when I got up. After breakfast we went to the mall to spend money we don’t have and buy stuff we don’t need. This is something I am always successful with and I came home with a pair of shoes and Mike with a videogame.



Found these shirts in Dicks Sporting Goods

Battery Park on lower Manhattan is definitely the place to be if you want to celebrate midsummer in New York.

Before we got to the city we had Swedish lunch at my friend Stina's house. Meatballs, mini potatoes, sour cream, herring and of course strawberries with whipped cream for dessert. Around 4pm we got to the city and started looking for a spot where we could spread our blankets. The park was packed with people and I was very impressed to see how many people were wearing flower reefs on their heads. The choir was singing Swedish song and the Swedish flags were blowing in the wind. It was hot and humid but the breeze from the river helped cool us all down. One of the first announcements they gave was ”it is against the law to drink alcohol beverages outside in New York so please respect the law and enjoy this day without alcohol”. You could almost hear all the Swedes laughing as they drank their beer from big red cups. Of course we all did the same thing and no one gave us a hard time about it. The Swedish folk dancers did a few dances around the Midsummer Pole and shortly after it was time for Små Groderna and all the other traditional songs/dances. If I were to guess there was probably about ten circles around the Pole and everybody was singing louder than the person next to them as we jumped around like frogs.

This was probably the best Midsummer I have had since I moved here.


             
                                        
             
             
             
             
             

Celebrated Father’s Day Sunday at my in-laws house. It was the hottest day of the month and with humidity as gross as a sauna eating outside was out of the question. My mother in law had set up a Swedish meal for starters and everybody was enjoying Swedish meatballs, lingon berry sauce, gravy, Swedish cheese, polar bread and shrimp filled croustades. I was so excited to eat some Swedish food and I couldn’t thank my mother in law enough for making this surprise for me.

After lunch we headed outside for some kickball but the heat was getting to us pretty fast and the hose, water guns and water balloons quickly became our best friends. This escalated into a huge water fight and me, Mike, my two brother in laws and our two nieces were drenched from top to bottom. So much for straightening my hair earlier. Once the humidity got so high it started raining we went inside for dessert and then drove home. Long and exhausting day.  


Kickball

Dave getting attacked

Some desserts, guess which one I brought

It been a hot and sunny week and I have spent 3 days at the beach. Tuesday me and my friend Annelie headed to Tobay Beach at 9.00am and to my surprise the beach was pretty much empty. After my last experience without sun block I had drenched myself in SPF30. I came home 3 hours later with a nice tan and no pain. Tuesday night I went for the second time to Zumba to burn a whole bunch of calories. I think I finally found an exercise that is both fun and burns fat.

Thursday I went to the North Shore Beach with my boss and her two kids. It was sunny but very windy. About a thousand kids were at the playground that is located on the beach and after eating our sandwiches we drove back home and spent the rest of the day inside.  

Friday came around and the sun was shining once again. Me and Meagan spent the day at Tobay Beach, drenched in sun block, a cooler filled with drinks and fruit and music blasting from our tiny iPod speakers. People were laying on top of each other and I was feeling a little bit claustrophobic. After the beach we got dinner at TGIF and then spent a few hours discussing everything from crime scenes to the oil spill in the Atlantic Ocean.

To round it up, it’s been a great week.

Saturday after Zumba I went home and got ready to celebrate Sweden day. Dressed in blue and yellow we headed to the Bronx and the Manhem Beach Club. Sweden day is pretty much the same as Midsummer only smaller and it has a Swedish Beauty Contest. We enjoyed a few hotdogs, ålandspankaka with lingonberry sauce and whipped cream and a whole lot of Carlsberg. We also bought a vetekrans that we have been eating the last few mornings.
After Sweden day we decided to head in to Manhattan to see our friend Justin and his band play. 10 miles and 75 minutes later we arrived downtown after driving bumper to bumper through Harlem. Turns out it was some Puerto Rico Day Weekend and thousands of people were out celebrating in the streets. By 10.30 both me and Mike were so tired that we decided to skip the show (they started playing at 11) and drive home. Long but fun day.

Spent all day Friday with my friend Meagan shopping, singing in the car, drinking sugary drinks from Starbucks and visiting our friend Jaclyn and her new baby boy. I needed a day like today with no pressure or stress just “let’s not make a plan and just do whatever pops into our heads right now”. Around 7pm Mike got home and we drove to the Greek Festival to get something to eat. Met up with some of our friends and the next 2 hours was spent listening to a live band playing Greek music while people were dancing, eating and drinking.

This morning I got up with the sun and hopped into my gym clothes and headed for something I have never done before, Zumba. One hour of loud music, crazy moves and tons of sweat. I have absolutely no coordination and I’m as stiff as a stick so it was definitely a challenge but so much fun. I think I burnt more calories in the hour I was there than I have in the last month at the gym. Can’t wait to go back.

5 years ago my doctor told me that I was allergic to dairy and the reason I was always sick was because the gallons of milk and liters of yogurt and ice cream I put in my stomach every week. The doctor put me on a dairy free diet which I have been following ever since. Like all other diets you tend to cheat once in a while and I’m no better.

A few weeks ago a few of my friends went to Cold Stone for ice cream. To me it was torture to have three people in front of me enjoying delicious ice cream while all I could do was watch. A few bites in to their treats I grabbed a spoonful, and then another one and probably also a third. I felt completely fine after. I have since then had ice cream a couple of times and even tried yogurt the other morning without getting sick. Is it possible to be allergic to something for only 5 years? Either way I am extremely happy.
This week I noticed that Cold Stone has their own names for the different sized ice cream cups.

Like it, Love it and Gotta Have It.

Pretty good names, but Mike and I came up with our own names for the cups.
Cellulites, Love handles and I'm a fat pig

Went for a nice walk down in Massapequa after dinner tonight. Mikes boss had told him about a bike/hiking path that runs along a stream all the way down to the ocean. We didn’t walk all the way to the ocean but we did a good 45 minutes. For 3 years we have lived 10 minutes from the park and never known about it. You don’t always have to go far to experience something new.


An old bridge that led to nothing


Mike looking for turtles

The sun was shining and the thermometer was rising fast to 91F as we packed our cooler with drinks, watermelon, cherries and sandwiches. Got to the beach around 9.30 and set up our umbrella and chairs close to the water. I haven’t been to Jones Beach in 5 years (unless you count the other week when we went there for a walk) and I was extremely excited to get a tan. So excited that I didn’t put on any sun block thinking that I wasn’t going to burn.
I have been to Florida and California without sun block and been fine so who would think that the New York sun would be any stronger? 4 hours later we packed up our stuff and went home. Sure enough I got color, just not the color I was hoping. I was and still am as red as a lobster. My sunburn turned into a horrible pain and even gave me a fever later on.

Lesson learned, a pail Swede on the beach definitely needs sun block.  


Almost there




You find interesting people at the beach


Our lunch




My awesome sunburn

Memorial Day Weekend flew by and I’m back to reality today. Saturday was spent in the city, found a little festival by Washington Square Park where we walked around for a while before grabbing a cab and heading down to South Street Sea Port. Me and Meg spent the first hour shopping in a cute store we found and I walked out with a shirt, a pair of shorts and a dress. Met up with the guys who were thirsty for beer and so we sat down at Heartland Brewery to satisfy their thirst. We ended up staying there for a few hours for both drinks and food. Union Square Café was also paid a visit before we got the car and drove home.


Waiting for our ride

Washington Square Park

Heartland Brewery

Sunday and Monday was spent like most Memorial Day Weekends, with BBQ. Hung out at Mike’s brother’s house for a sibling’s party on Sunday where we played Beer Pong, kubb and loaded Questions. Monday was a little more relaxed sitting on our friend’s deck enjoying the sun and a delicious BBQ.