Writing for Eco-Chick and Out-of-Town Adventures

I know things have been quiet over here, but I've not been sleeping! I'm writing for Eco-Chick this summer.

 Puerto Rico’s La Chiwinha: An Ethical, Global Gathering Place in San Juan

Incredible Video Shows How Regular People Respond to the Real Story Behind Cheap Clothes

How Does Eating Organically Effect Your Toxin Load? Profoundly, Swedish Test Finds. 

Sustainable Summer Sandals at Every Price Point

Swing by to take a peek.

Also, be on the lookout for a recap from my recent trip to Puerto Rico.

Barbecue at Inwood Hill Park

This post is over a week late, but let's pretend it just happened. It was my (almost) birthday last weekend, so we took advantage of the extra day off to squeeze in some celebration.

I've often lamented that one of the biggest sacrifices of city-dwelling is the lack of private outdoor space, or enjoyable outdoor space in general. NYC has some gorgeous parks, but no warm-weather afternoon is complete for me without a grill. Last summer I picked up a collapsible, portable charcoal grill at an end-of-the-season sale at Duane Reade for appx $15 and didn't have the opportunity to use it. 

When you're travelling to grill, at-home prep is key. We spread out our grocery store haul and got to work. 

 Cute aprons and big knives help. Say 'hey' to my dinosaur in the background!

I scrubbed some Idaho potatoes and sliced them 3/4 of the way through and rubbed with some olive oil and sea salt. Wrap these babies up in some foil and they're ready to be tossed on the grill. 

Cucumbers and yellow squash got the Adobo con Sazon and olive oil treatment. The eggplant took a balsamic bath.

We live pretty close by, but since we were schlepping all our gear, we took the A to 207th (you can also take the 1). There are a few delis and a Rite Aid plus a coffee shop nearby, so if you forget anything, you're covered.  We walked uphill from the station to the park, entering near the baseball fields and walking around them (head to the right, past the playground and the big field) and made our way back to the peninsula where the grilling happens (and also where the theatre in Inwood Park is performed). If you get lost, just follow the smoke and the loud music. 

Finding the perfect spot is key. We walked all the way down to the tip of the peninsula to enjoy a sliver of privacy (depending on which direction you faced). Be forewarned- Inwood Hill Park is a party park. Huge gatherings of people, young and old, celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, graduations or just the weekend with soccer games and grills full of meat and blasting music. It doesn't bother me at all, but know that you won't be whispering sweet nothings into your picnic partner's ear because they probably won't hear you.

Tiny grill performed like a champion and the adorable vintage beverage suitcase my mom got Jorge for Easter served it's purpose perfectly!

That's not a wine bottle peeking out, because you totally shouldn't sneak wine at a park, and there definitely were not a million bajillion other people drinking out of curious containers...

The steak nearly brought me to tears. 

 The grilled veggies and corn held their own.

 And I ate half my body weight in food.

 It was a gorgeous night- perfect weather, delicious food.

We finished up with some fro-yo at VS Berry on Broadway near the train station. A perfect pre-birthday celebration!

Do you have a grill at home?
What's your go to outdoor summer meal?

Biking Across the Border (to Jersey)

Sundays are often the only day the fella and I can spend any real, relaxed, unhampered QT together because of our hectic and oft-conflicting schedules. Though I often take the spinning class he teaches, we rarely have enough time to take our bikes out together, so we jumped at the chance to ride out of Manhattan and spend the day cruising. Destination- Nyack.

40 miles, we're coming for ya. #cycling #NYC #nyack #bicycle

A photo posted by @keeliesheridan on May 17, 2015 at 8:40am PDT

This was my first time riding a bike across the GWB, and I found it pretty horrifically stressful. The bridge was packed, the lane is insanely narrow and shared with pedestrians and I'm not the world's most technically proficient rider, so you do the math. We made it across and started heading up 9W when our plans were quickly dashed.

The Gran Fondo was happening and 9W was closed TO EVERYONE (including bicycles that were not registered for the race). A police officer at the barricade cautioned us against a few of the side roads that could re-route us to Nyack. "Full of potholes. Insanely steep." He was probably just trying to avoid congestion in Nyack and deter more riders, but it worked. 

Yelp to the rescue- we scouted out nearby towns with lots of talked about restaurants and then veered off course. 

We spotted the outdoor seating at Simply Vietnamese and our minds were made up.

We each ordered a Vietnamese iced coffee. There is no doubt in my mind that if I do well in this life, I'll be reincarnated as one of these in the next. I drank A LOT of this stuff when I was in Vietnam. Read about that love affair here, here and here.

We split a Pork Bahn Mi sandwich and Lemongrass Chicken. I was expecting something grilled, but the curried, peanutty dish we received was pretty tasty. 

Food makes my boyfriend smile. Always.

We hopped back on our bikes and cruised down Dean Dr. to Englewood, where I had heard tell of Cupcakes by Carousel. 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup and Snowball. Awwwww yeah.

Washed it all down with some amino-y fruit punch-y thing (BLAH) and we headed back to Manhattan. The delightful downhill rides betrayed us on the return- the hills were punishing and even though we only ended up doing 25 miles, it felt like a whole lot more.

Trainer Jorge recommends you treat yourself to the following stretches after a nice long bike ride.

Important questions:

-Ladies (or anyone)- do you wear underwear under your padded shorts? I didn't... and I regretted it.

-What is the absolute most padding I can get in a bike short? Because seriously, ow.

Limeade and Sweaty Runs

My students at the Brooklyn Apple Academy organized a Limeade Sale yesterday in Prospect Park to benefit relief efforts in Nepal. 

They also accepted tips for the ice fund (which fund them getting ices from the park vendor). We had an intricate discussion about full disclosure of funds and how important it is that customers can decide where their money goes. 

I did 5.18 miles in 52 minutes yesterday (including cool-down)- this brings me up to about 10.25 miles for the week plus a spinning class.

Sweat makes me proud.

Dinners have been sweet & simple lately- myself and the fella both get home so late that we usually toss a protein into a skillet, some couscous into the microwave on carb-loading days (Far East 5 minute mixes, you complete me) and serve with some raw greens. 

 Above: a pan-seared pork chop with coconut-oil caramelized onions and a mixed green salad- so easy to make and so, so satisfying.

On mornings like this one when I don't have to teach until the afternoon, I've been whipping up some single skillet meals, like this one- Al Fresco Sundried Tomato Chicken Sausage, red peppers, bok choy, an egg (over easy) and some avocado. Veg and protein and happy fat heaven.

While catching up on computer work, I'm sniffing this intoxicating branch my fella brought me last night. We had a lilac tree in the backyard of one of the houses I lived in growing up- it was perpetually trapped in the shade of this giant pine so it grew almost parallel to the ground desperately seeking sun. Every spring and summer our house would be filled with snips and snaps from that magical little tree. It's the simple things...

I'm currently DEEEEEP into post-production for my film directing debut- Father's Day. I'll write about the process some day, but my spare time is currently gobbled up by Adobe Premiere- I've learned by watching my fellow editors and now I'm wading into the water on my own to try to speed up our post-process. I'm hoping to submit to a few festivals this fall. Fingers crossed.  

Today I'll be swinging around some kettlebells before going to teach and then meeting up with some fellow Mitchell Scholars for a drink and a bite this evening.

How have you been sweating this week?
What's your favorite lazy morning breakfast?
Have you ever taught yourself a program/ software?

We Took My Mama to See a Llama. Srsly.

My sisters and I took Momshizzle to Saratoga Springs to celebrate Mother's Day on Sunday- I was in town for a whirlwind 48 hours and we wanted to show our #1 dame a good time. 

What a mom, what a mom, what a mighty good mom... 

We swung by Ravenous Creperie for brunch. Though they don't take reservations, I called when we were on our way and the woman who answered the phone kindly placed me on the waitlist and we were able to score a table about an hour later- the timing couldn't have been better! We sat down and raised our glasses of Iced Moroccan Mint Tea and Pink Lemonade to our mommy dearest.

 My youngest sister Courtney (currently a nursing student about to be all graduated and grown) and Mama Hen. 

Myself and my middle sister, Kieren, who is currently working on a super cute family blog called Newly Wed with Shawn & Kieren. 

 I ordered the Green Mountain Crepe- local apples caramelized in pure maple syrup, Fleur de Lys  baked ham and aged white cheddar cheese topped with a maple Dijon sauce, plus a scrambled egg. Served with pomme frites and the pesto aoili (a table favorite). Heaven.  Momma got the Lumberjack and my sisters ordered the Ratatouille and Godfather's Garden. All were quite pleased. 

All of the crepes came with edible orchids- look at my cute momweasel.

I'm a little less elegant...

We strolled around, grabbed some gelato and killed time until the main event...

LLAMAS FOR MAMAS!  A reading of Is Your Mama a Llama? by Deborah Guarino at- a tremendously nostalgic story for my sisters and I- hosted at the Saratoga Springs Library.

She. Was. Pleased.

What did you do to celebrate Mother's Day? 

Have you ever read Is Your Mama A Llama?

Oh hai, game. I'm back in ya.

Apologies for not apologizing for my insanely sporadic posting habits. Life's a little wild right now, but I miss ya, blogworld. Here are a bunch of random, unrelated things. 

I spent a few months about two years doing a lot of back-to-back theatre & dance projects and slowly letting my beloved fitness routine fall by the wayside. I've not been inactive by any stretch of the imagination, but I miss the zen I feel when I make time for myself to just get sweaty.

This week: 

Monday- Runday & Bootcamp

Tuesday- Run & Kettlebells

Wednesday- Spinning

Thursday- Cardi-OH yeah. Running and Elliptical

Friday- Kettlebells, Blogilates' 5 Min Tone Arms (OUCH, gurl. ouch.)

Jammin' On:

Private Screening of Noble, about Irish activist Christina Noble, at the Bryant Park Hotel with the US Ireland Alliance. 

Official paperwork starting to come through for my upcoming year abroad! I was selected as a 2016 Mitchell Scholar and will be spending the next academic year in Dublin, Ireland getting my MFA in Theatre Directing at Trinity College/ The Lir. More info on this soon.

I've been basking in the insanely beautiful NYC spring (we sure did wait long enough).

And I took a quick break for some homemade passion fruit margaritas on Cinco de Mayo.

I've been brown-bagging a lot, lately. The days are long- this kale & guac cup kept me rockin'.

And now, I'm off to spend the weekend upstate with my family. 

Fit in Five Episode 1

Short, sweet & to the point. Concise. No frills. 

Fit in Five will offer a series of short, five-move circuits that can be done in your home with minimal equipment. 

Meet your trainer: 

Jorge Luna is ISSA and Schwinn Indoor Cycling Certified. He's been a fitness junkie for over 20 years and currently trains for befitnyc, NYC Fitness and Iowa Sports Club. 

Jorge and I worked out together last night at the beautiful befitnyc studio. Enjoy the fruits of our labor, complete with poor quality camera footage, awkward editing and me not even attempting to do my hair- because you know I keep it real. 

1. Side Plank w Lateral Raises- 15 per side

2. Mountain Climbers- 40 single count

3. Plank Single Arm Row- 10 per side

4. Step Back Lunge with Leg Raise- 15 per side

5. Burpees- 15

If you try the workout, let me know how you like it in the comments! Too hard? Too easy? We want to hear from you. 

Happy Sweating.