Memorial Day Weekend Adventures

Had a pretty relaxing weekend. I got up pretty early on Saturday, Sunday and Monday and got to enjoy the nice weather. On Saturday, I got up around 7:30AM, and used some leftover rosemary, dill & parsley to make Baked Eggs. Ever since I learned about Baked Eggs a year ago, when i saw them on a cooking show, I became obsessed with them and looked for them everywhere. For those of you who aren't familiar with this dish, bascially, it's 2-4 eggs broken into a gratin dish with a little bit of butter and heavy cream and then topped with things like herbs, cheese or vegetables or even sauce, and then finally broiled under an oven flame for a few minutes. Now, I've only seen Baked Eggs served at one restaurant at this place, Cafe Ronda. I went there on a brunch date with someone and was very pleasantly surprised to see Baked Eggs on the menu. Wow, I thought to myself. FINALLY, I found a restaurant that served them. I think that was probably the best brunch I've ever had.

After breakfast on Saturday, I went to go play tennis at Riverside Park & 119th street. It was a little annoying because there were still puddles on the courts which didn't dry all that much for the rest of our hour while me and my friend hit. I like the courts up there because they're hard court and there isn't as much hoopla as there is over at Central Park, not to mention the Central Park Tennis Center Nazis who work there and the countless MEAN Senior Citizens who seem to live there.

I came home after tennis and put down my stuff and then went to the gym to do this 15 min stretch class at Equinox Columbus Circle. My flexibility is pathetic. I can barely touch my toes when I stretch my calves, and I'm trying to improve it. I've thought about trying yoga, but like with anything new, I'm a little apprehensive since I don't know what I'm doing. And then also, I think, what do I wear to a yoga class?

After the gym, I went running along the W. Side Highway to go down to the Farmer's Market at Union Square, combining two of my most favorite things to do. I love running on the W. Side Highway next to the water and it's a straight line path which is nice too. But Saturday, the path along the W. Side Highway was crazy busy because of the Memorial Day Crowds. I kept having to detour across the street and fight the crowds, who that day seemed to be a little white-trashy, to get through my run. And I guess all of the Fleet Week boys were actually far away from their ships exploring Manhattan, since I saw like all of two guys that day.

I got down to the Farmer's Market at the end of my two mile run, but the market was kind of a bust. The farmers didn't yet have the really interesting summer veggies yet, and there weren't any of the usual interesting hippie people to observe. It was actually kind of empty. I guess a lot of people were away for the holiday this weekend. I did get some red onions and some potatoes to stock up, and I also bought a bag of my favorite salad green, Mizuna, which is this slightly spicy and crisp green that's popular in Japan. I always get some when I go down to the market.

I did more of the same on Sunday and Monday. But I didn't go out at all any evening this past weekend, despite my intense curiousity about a secret Fleet Week party that I've always wondered about, but apparently I'm not cool enough to know about it. I went to bed pretty early every night and got up fairly early, like around 7:30 or 8AM every day. It was a nice pattern to fall back on over the weekend. And I only wish I could be out of the house by that time on a workday. But I have a bad habit of waking up around 8:30 or 9 on weekdays and then working from home for a couple of hours and then finally rolling into the office around 11. Luckily, my company doesn't really mind that I do this, but it would be nice to get into the office on time. I complained about this to a friend of mine and said, "I seem to have no problem getting up early on weekends, but not on weekdays.

My friend responded, "It's probably because you get so much rest during the week."