Only in New York

I'm back from NY, and I have to say... this was one of the craziest trips I've taken up there yet.

I got in at 4:00pm on Friday and immediately headed to the yoga studio.  Pre-dinner hot yoga sweat session, anyone?

While I on the subway platform, I caught a glimpse of some crazy that was at least fifty rungs higher on the crazyladder (it's science) than anything else I've seen in the city.  I took a picture, but it was hard to get a good shot with my phone's camera, so this is the best I could do:

I'm sorry it's not easy to see what's going on here.  This might help:

And if that doesn't help, I recreated the concept for you:

That actually took me a little while to make. 

Anyway, yoga was awesome, as usual.  I went to the fabulous Yoga to the People (26th St. location) and worked it hard with a few dozen other yogi souls.  It was some serious feel-good time.  Especially because I have gotten really good at doing this pose:

 Just kidding, mine looks more like this:

It's still pretty good.  The pose is called Salabhasana, "Locust Pose," and you get into it by placing your arms under your body with palms down and then rolling your weight up towards your shoulders as you lift your hips away from the floor.  It opens up your elbow joints in a way you can't even imagine and makes your heart rate sky-rocket.  Most women (according to my yoga-instructor best friend) can't get their hips up off the floor because this pose requires a lot of upper body strength.  I'm very proud of my progress in this one, so I had to take a minute to brag.  Sorry!

Okay, fast forward to Saturday morning.  I got up at the shocking hour of five o'clock in the morning and headed out to Prospect Park in Brooklyn for the NYCRuns Brrrrrooklyn Hot Chocolate 10k. 

But I wasn't running this one.  I was a volunteer!  Remember my goal of being more giving of my time by volunteering for a race every other month?  Well, I'm sticking with it.  And let me tell you, volunteering at races is so much fun.  Runners are really happy and really nice people.  They (we) appreciate when someone wishes good luck in a race and hands them water when they are pumping their way through a course.  A simple smile goes a long way with these people, so volunteering is easy and deeply rewarding.  Plus, free bagels, strawberries, grapes, and hot chocolate.  What's not to love? 

The weather.  The weather is what's not to love.  But I was in good spirits thanks to my advanced skills in bundling up (fleece pants help, too).

On Saturday night, we went to bar called Burp Castle on 7th St. and 2nd Ave.  Normally I wouldn't mention the fact that I've gone to some random bar for a quick beer, but I'm mentioning it this time because this place was weird.  The name Burp Castle is hilarious, indeed, and you might expect that with a name like that you're going to get a loud and obnoxious crowd.  Not so.  The walls are painted with pictures of Jesus and the Last Supper, and the bar maid is dressed as a monk or friar (but she's a she, I kept insisting.  I still don't get it.).  When the banter among bar patrons rises to a certain volume, the she-friar lets out a loud and controlled SHHHHHHHH.....  And everyone drops their voices back down and again.  If you are interested in good beer in weird places, you should check it out.  Click here for their website.

Sunday morning (this morning) I ran the Manhattan Half Marathon.  I want to do a separate race report about that, so I'm gonna stop right here.  I'll just say that I'm back in Princeton now, with janky legs and a very, very full sense of satisfaction.  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, too.

What did you do this weekend or what happened that put a smile on your face?