Hiking in the Gorge

Saturday afternoon held another first for baby Sofia. Jac, Ethan, and the kids were headed out to the Columbia Gorge to hike to a waterfall and invited us to join. We loaded a sleepy baby into the car (perfect timing for her to sleep through the whole thing!) and headed east.

The photos don't even BEGIN to do the gorge justice! The drive is so stunning and beautiful! One of my favorite parts of going to the waterfalls.

Zia on her mama's back. That blue winter suit is just too stinking adorable!

First hike as a family of 3. Sofia fussed a bit (just enough to make her mama stress about wearing her and almost crawl back in the car to head home...) but she soon feel fast asleep once we got walking. She slept the whole hike and almost the whole way back home!

I wasn't surprised to see so much more water, but I was impressed with the power of it! Way cool to see the difference in the waterfalls between the rainy and sunny seasons.

It even snowed on us through the second half of the hike! Tiny little flakes that stuck to our hair but melted away on the ground.

Ice Skating on the Sidewalks

Going to work this morning was miserable! The city was covered with ICE. Of course, since I'm up soooo early, no sidewalks had been cleared. I literally skated to work hoping not to fall and that no trees would fall on me! Another day of small turn-out at work... Kind of wish I could have stayed home too!

At least all the ice was melted by the time I was on my way home from work... Walking was a little bit easier.

Dear Neighbors,

It wasn't lightning during tonight's snow. I was just sticking my camera out the window and taking photos with my flash on high power ;) Aren't the ones of the night darkness and the glittering snow wonderful!?

I can't wait to wear my new snow boots in the snow this time around!!!

PS: In other news, a grant I applied for got funded tonight! And I was happy to get a few emails informing me that good friends helped fund it!

My Favorite Ap

I'm a little obsessed with this ap lately... Maybe too obsessed :) Something about winter and cold that makes me watch the weather pretty religiously ;)

Yesterday I was excited to see the chances of snow increase... and this morning, the severe storm watch was even better... Then tonight...

But this SEVERE WARNING is EVEN better!!

Seth thinks I'm a bit silly. He's probably right.

Is anyone else like me? Excited for snow storms on the horizon? Maybe it's just the hope for a snow day...

Cold Sunday & Carrot Cake Muffins

New York is COOOOOOLD today! That wind is bitter. I was so cold that I actually ran to go to the places I had to go to a couple times today!

Despite working most of the day, I made time this evening to try out a new recipe. I was inspired after stopping by this blog this morning... She mentioned making carrot cake, and curiosity got me looking for a good recipe. I found this one on epicurious.com. Below, I wrote out the tweaks I made to the recipe.

Added:
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground clove
vanilla
drained, crushed pineapple
substituted apple sauce and plain yogurt for the oil
substituted powdered ginger for minced ginger
substituted maple cream cheese with a maple cream that was given to me from a co-worker's hometown (This stuff is divine! Maple syrup is one of my FAVES!)

These changes came from the reviews. (Which is my favorite thing about getting recipes from sites like epicurious... LOVE seeing what people do to make the recipe better! I've also discovered how much I enjoy baking & cooking lately!)

And the outcome rating of the cupcakes: YUMMY! Seth and I both loved them (we both just downed 2 each... and I'm sure one or two more will disappear tonight!)

Next on the baking list: Homemade Banana Bread - Just need a loaf pan!

I Love When the Snow Falls Like White Feathers From the Sky

Yesterday, the views out the window were beautiful, even if the snow that fell didn't seem to stick too much (but it did stick to the trees, as you can see above!)... The best part, though, was the surprise walk to the park in the neighborhood just before the day ended... We tried catching snowflakes on our tongues the whole way there!

Snow Snow Snow

Some New Yorkers aren't very happy with the slowness of the city to get the snow taken care of... I don't think I have an opinion, other than I wish the path between the trashcan and me was cleared because my paper recycling is OVER flowing. (Not that I could probably fit it in, the paper one looks full and I am SURE they didn't stop to pick it up in the wee hours of this morning... all things considered.)

On my walk to the Coop at around 3:30 p.m. yesterday afternoon, I took a few photos... Thought it was interesting to see the progress of our hood after this storm...
Most roads were not cleared... The main avenue was and the 2 roads around the hospital were drivable (not completely cleared though). An ambulance is stuck on this road...

People were still using the roads to walk on, sled on, play on. I heard one dad ask his kid if she wanted to walk up the street or the sidewalk... Such a cool opportunity for kids to walk in the space they never get to! Of course she chose street!

Some sidewalks were completely cleared (I loved those)... Some were not so much... My toes don't love those.

There was still a but stuck on 7th Avenue. So crazy to think someone was driving that and then had to abandon it in the middle of the blizzard. Hope they didn't have far to go to get to warmth cause getting home in that blizzard couldn't have been an easy task.

Snow Art

Snow Day: A Photo Walk

Seth's Attempt

Upon waking this morning, we were greeted with a window half covered in snow (see previous post ;). It seems to have stopped snowing from the sky, but the wind is still blowing it. Luckily for me, I had no worry about getting to work, being on winter break right now (sad missed opportunity of a snow day though). Seth, on the other hand, did his usual morning get-ready, and off he went. About 5 minutes later, he's back upstairs telling me to come see how much snow we have.

The front of our house hasn't been shoveled, except what Seth started shoveling to get himself out. In spots there's a good 15 inches, up to my knees. He started shoveling and made it out to the sidewalk. The problem was that no one has really started shoveling their walks (except the one lone brownstone above). So Seth decided to shovel out to the road and just walk down the road toward the subway.


He made it. Off I sent him down the road (in his tennis shoes -- what kind of Midwesterner goes anywhere without a good pair for boots? Seth and I both have feet that are quite ill-prepared for this kind of weather! You can also see that his hands are glove-less and his head is hat-less). I'd just made it back upstairs and sat down at my computer with my warm mug of coffee when I get a call from him. He's down the block but headed back up because he forgot his wallet! When I met him in the road, he decided he needed to come up and get his hat and check his email to see if his boss sent something about working from home for the day.

All said and done, he got ahold of his boss and is saving the hassle of blowing snow, trekking through drifts in tennis shoes, and subways that aren't running and just working from home today!

Now I'm wondering what kind of adventure Aisha (a good friend from college) is in for as she boards a bus today and heads for the City! I'm hoping the snow doesn't keep her from getting here... It will definitely affect our plans - but the city is good at getting snow cleared quickly, so hopefully it won't change too much!

Lunar Eclipse

I didn't even realize there was a lunar eclipse tonight until I was reading a new blog I found (& absolutely love)... I set our alarms and out into the freezing cold night Seth and I went. I don't think I've ever seen a lunar eclipse before... it was beautiful and amazing!

Is it WINTER?!

P.S. It SNOWED a LITTLE bit last night! Enough to add it to the calendar as a day to remember for December 2010!

P.S.S. It's only 7 degrees warmer here than Anchorage, Alaska. Brrrr! Dad I'm kind of feeling the chill you do... minus the day darkness, minus the amount of snow (at least I assume you have more than a light covering there).