The 311: Burn Calories, Not Electricity

New York City has a creative health department and an admirable phone line. I think I have mentioned 311 before; it's the 'everything number' for this city. Need to report a leaky fire hydrant? 311. Curious about a building project? 311. Want to know when trash pick up is? 311. So I was pretty thrilled when I saw this article about free signs you can request through the number.

This brilliant little ad reminds us that taking the stairs each day can add up to better health throughout the year.

When I called, the woman asked how many I wanted and I said 10. She said I could get two English and two Spanish of the fancy laminated kind, which I gladly accepted. Then I went out of town and came home to a 15 pound box on my desk. They must have sent 100 of those darn signs.

Our building manager generously put two in our lobby for me, but I needed to get rid of the rest so I took them to our community board meeting last week. They went like hot cakes and I felt great about the potential to spread the wellness cheer throughout our neighborhood.

Now if only I could get my husband and friends to listen...

A Community Kitchen

I became a manager almost a year ago and I still wonder how to do it well. Projects are one thing, but managing people - that's a whole different issue. Fortunately for me I have the best staff a gal could ask for.

Traveling to Seattle is a fairly regular occurrence these days. While in town I try my best at team building, but really our activities tend to reflect my interests. After their first day in training we got tea and manicures.

This month I invited the staff to join me at Seattle Pacific University's Community Kitchen. We quickly realized that a community kitchen isn't necessarily about learning to cook, it is actually cooking. For some reason I imagined showing up to student chefs preparing and serving us tasty appetizers. Instead we rolled up our sleeves, put on our hairnets and started chopping beets and onions with the others. Just like our daily work, we weren't sure what to do when we started, but in the end we came out with some great results:

Chocolate cake made with garbanzo beans? I'll take two!

Delicious dal leftovers for lunch tomorrow? Gladly.

As it turns out community kitchens are everywhere. Bronx, you up for some neighborly cooking?

Brewing at Home

Dominic acquired several new additions for our household this Christmas. If you weren't familiar with his hobby you might wonder where these items belong. Sometimes they're in the bathroom:

Other times I've found them soaking in a warm bath in the kitchen sink:

Most likely though, you'll find them actively fermenting in the bedroom. We'll call these accessories 'hops', 'malts' and 'bottles'. That's right, Dom's turned into a homebrewer. In my opinion, brewing beer at home is more than a hobby. In hobbies there's a lot of room for mistakes. I don't know many people, however, willing to give two month's worth of patience, money and energy towards 5 gallons of bad-tasting beer. I knew I had to call in the experts in order to make this investment - and my new home decor - worthwhile.

Enter Black Dragon Brewery & Homebrew Supply and brother Josh. Dominic definitely would have struggled to succeed without them. First, I needed to purchase the right starter materials. That's where Heather helped the most. She organized my materials, packed my kit and made sure everything arrived from it's cross country journey in one piece. Josh was a lifesaver too. He added the 'flava' to a basic starter kit. He put the boogie in Dom's Boogie Down Brown Ale. I think the brothers spent three hours walking through the entire brew process one night on Skype. It was pretty endearing. Anything for family time I always say.

Dominic took notes from Josh on his computer. He spent the entire brewing process checking his actions step-by-step. Good thing we have a small kitchen:

I donated my kitchen utensils and pot to Dominic for this brew. I didn't know he would need my pantyhose too.

After a warm bath the malt was ready to join the grain-steeped, disinfected water for a swim. Let the stirring begin:

I'm not sure what he's looking for, but every week Dominic would check to make sure gravity was working:
Beer gets messy, but homebrewers have a cute name for gross leftovers at the bottom of the barrel: chub. Dominic had to make a transfer or two through a syphoning process where he created a suction to eliminate as much chub as possible. Gravity seems to help out a lot in the brewing process:

It looks like beer, it bubbles like beer, but will it taste like beer?

While Dominic got the kit for Christmas, he actually got a Brooklyn homebrew tour for his birthday. Mid-brew, he and a friend took a day to try out the work of some local homebrewers:

In a matter of weeks it was time for the batch to get a little sweeter (i.e. carbonated) and move into individual bottles. Good thing we had been collecting everyone's bottles at IPED parties all semester:

There you have it! Homebrewing by Sarah!

I don't drink beer, but I can say that when taken to parties that Boogie Down Brown gets consumed. We've even had requests for more. As of today Dominic has started his second batch - an amber ale. Look for future posts on this topic from the brewster himself. I haven't the slightest idea what I'm talking about here.

Freud's Last Session

The past two weeks Dominic and I spent our Friday nights going to off-Broadway's 20 for 20. It's a pretty basic idea - show up 20 minutes beforehand, pay $20/ticket. Quite a deal.

We saw Freud's Last Session and Rent with the 20 for 20 offer. Both shows were well worth far more than we paid.

Freud's last session is a play based on the idea that C.S. Lewis and Freud could have met. In his book The Question of God, Dr. Armand M. Nicholi, Jr. writes about what the encounter could have been like. "In 1939, the year in which the play is set, Dr. Freud is at the end of a long and brilliant career and Prof. Lewis has begun to build his own. On September 3, 1939, the date of their meeting in Freud's Last Session, Dr. Freud was 83 years old to Prof. Lewis' 41. Though Lewis was half Freud's age, the clash between these two men is timeless." - Playbill.'

C.S. Lewis once wrote: "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen. Not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." By faith Dominic and I see our world. Whether on the stage or on the street.

Marketing Tip to Tip

Do you think BitGym heard about my Tip-to-Tip run? The company has created an app that "enables users to virtually travel through iconic locations around the world while on the treadmill or exercise bike".

How cool would it be to step on a boring old treadmill and find yourself moving through the streets of famous cities and landscapes? I bet I'd run faster, longer and happier with this little toy.

Maybe the company needs people to film the first person point of view footage... if so, sign me up for New York City BitGym! I'll show users a good time at the zippy 9.5 minute mile speed.

Cleansing Fast

I had this friend in the Peace Corps who I admired for his spiritual discipline. He was a devout Christian, an avid prayer and confident evangelist. The other thing he did well - and often - was fast.

I've never been one for limiting my caloric intake. I love to eat, not in a foodie type of way where I know quality, but in a 'let's get together and chat over a tasty meal' kind of way. Also, I get distracted by food, or by thinking about how it will make me feel.

Dominic and I are in a time of transition. Again. So last Saturday I thought I might try a one week fast. The problem is I made it up myself. Basically, I thought that I would limit what I ate, but I wouldn't limit the volume. What I learned is that this turned into a detox more than it led me to the Lord.

From Saturday through Friday I consumed about $40 worth of produce - and camomile tea, dried basil and dried cilantro (I don't know why, they're just my favorite herbs). There wasn't much method to my shopping. I allowed unlimited fruit including: grapes, bananas, kiwi, oranges, grapefruit, pears and apples. Then I added in the vegetables available to me at Modern Food Center: beets, red cabbage, leeks, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, mushrooms and spinach. I decided to exclude potatoes and avocados.

All week when I would feel hungry I thought it would remind me to pray, or I guess I had hoped the hunger would help remind me to pay attention to how the Lord was leading our lives. As it turns out, I wasn't able to focus at all. In fact, I slept in most days and went to bed early because I didn't have much energy. This wasn't what I had intended.

I admit the whole approach was a bit misguided, but I ended the week realizing my failure to prioritize the Lord more than usual. I was constantly thinking about myself and my life and my plans and my purpose, but very rarely did I take a hunger pang as an opportunity to pay attention to how the Lord is working, is present and does have a plan.

This morning Dominic and I listened to a sermon in which Annie Dillard was quoted:

How we spend our days is how we live our lives.

May my days be spent paying attention.

The Sunshine State

When we booked our tickets to head to Florida in January we assumed we'd be leaving a New York plastered with snow, ice, and the trash that goes uncollected during the colder months. It hasn't yet snowed here, but it was still cold enough for us to get excited to go down south for a few days and enjoy some sun. What I was most looking forward to was the chance to hang out with 3 generations of perhaps the coolest ladies ever; at the same time!

My grandma Alice from Iowa was down visiting my Aunt Annie from Illinois. (Apparently, very few people who are in Florida are actually originally from Florida.) We spent our time reading at the beach

Relaxing

collecting shells (which were everywhere! We picked up plenty of good terrarium materials).

And (especially important to Sarah) just soaking up the sun.

We also had the chance to visit this really neat place called Marco Island. Where we learned that Grandma enjoys Pina Coladas (she hadn't tried one before)

It was really special to be able to spent so much one on one time with both Grandma and Annie and hear stories about the Almquist side of the family. Grandma Alice is so sharp and told us - in great detail - all about her memories of WWII, her travels on the coasts in the 40s, and life growing up on the farm.

We can't thank Aunt Annie enough for her hospitality and for just being awesome!

Hopefully we'll be back again real soon!

Two birthdays in Ohio

Sarah and I are so blessed to have two wonderful families... and an abundance of frequent flier miles. After celebrating Thanksgiving with the Monley clan, we repacked and headed out to The Ohio to celebrate Christmas with the Zaengers.

It was not a white Christmas, but Kathy had the house all decked out in Christmas cheer. Allan’s brother Paul and family, as well as Grandma Zaenger were in Columbus this year. This only added to all the other special Hoffer's we always get to catch up with when we visit.

The week was filled with activities like visits to the Franklin Park Conservatory where we got to see some glass blowing up close and personal. We used to love to take guests to Chihuly's Tacoma glass blowing studio/arena when we lived in Seattle, so it was fun to see it again. And at this place you were sitting right there, feeling the heat from the ovens and getting to see the detailed work of the artists.

Of course no time spent at the Zaenger house would be complete without wonderful food and hospitality. I don't have any pictures, unfortunately, but we ate well. Very well. Aunt Dee even brought by Sarah's favorite cherry cheesecake.

Kathy made us all scarves! I had been looking for a shorter scarf forever.

And to top it all off, for my birthday we got to eat bar-b-que at this super tasty place, whose name I'm forgetting. But trust me it was goooood. They had corn puddin'.

Thank you family for all your hospitality and love!

Holiday Train Show

We had heard from so many folks that, "you have to go to the Holiday Train Show at the Botanical Gardens" during the Christmas season. Living across from the Gardens has been such a blessing for us, and we have enjoyed all the shows (see previous blog posts) they've put on so far, so it was with much excitement that Sarah and I set out on a surprisingly not-so-cold friday evening.

The show is basically a gingerbread house type idea, but because it's the Botanical Gardens, everything is made out of natural products such as leaves, sticks, bark, nuts, etc. The show recreates - in uncanny detail - New York City. All the bridges and notable buildings are shot through with moving trains that run and toot around as little kids excitedly give chase, and parents anxiously attempt to keep track of them.

This is the version of the main conservatory pictured above

The Brooklyn Bridge. Notice my head at the bottom of the picture to give you an idea of the size... remember that all of this is made out of twigs and plants.

Sarah was really excited to find Teddy Roosevelt's brownstone home in midtown.

Kick up Those Heels

When Dominic and I told Aunt Dee we were moving to New York City she was thrilled. One of the first things she told us to do was see the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall. We made that happen tonight Aunt Dee. The ladies did not disappoint!

Talk about holiday cheer, this was quite the show! With high kicks and precision, dressed up as reindeer and Santas, the whole production was delightful. There was a live nativity including parading camels and donkeys (does everyone know about this but me?). Radio City was stunning.

Not one to miss out on commercial Christmas opportunities, Dominic even treated me to a bag of chestnuts roasting on an open fire before the show. I thought of you Aunt Theresa - they were delicious.

We're crossing NYC to-dos off our bucket list one at a time this year. Next up - New Year's Eve in Times Square?! Are we up for it...

Forget Santa, Rachel's Comin' To Town!

You all have one; she's that friend that'll do anything for you. That friend who could care less about distance, time zones or poor correspondence - she's there for you no matter what. For me, that gal is Rachel. Twice. Twice! Rachel has flown to NYC to spend a long weekend with Dominic and I. She's just the best.

Rachel came to town this weekend and enjoyed the Winter Merienda and the big city life at Christmastime. I spent some quality girl time enjoying shopping in the upper West side, the holiday windows along 5th Avenue and Rockefeller Center's bright tree. Thankfully, Rachel will do two things very few guests will tolerate: excessive walking and obnoxious crowds. What a friend!

We had some quality time to catch up. After several people-watching train rides, meals and skinny mochas at Starbucks we knew just about everything happening in each other's lives again. Isn't it nice when you can pick up right where you left off and pretend like you live next door again?

Window displays on 5th. Lady Liberty's wrap (above) is made out of Jelly Belly jellybeans!

I hope we showed you a good time Rach. Thank you again for making the trip!

Fordham's Winter Marienda

Each year, Fordham recognizes the graduating class of International Political Economy and Development students at a December merienda. As far as I can tell, in the Philippines a brunch or mid-morning snack is called a merienda. Here at Fordham, the rules are changed a bit and the professors, students and the dean of the graduate school gather for a formal dinner and awards ceremony.

Be prepared readers, as our dear friend Elizabeth commented after the event, "Dominic won IPED!"

Dominic was inducted into Sigma Iota Rho, the Honor Society for International Studies. He was also inducted into the Ancient Order of the Silver Kalabaw for his studies in the Philippines last January. What was most impressive, however, is Dominic also received the Maria Carmella Dela Rosa Oliveros Award for earning a high pass on all four of his comprehensive exams and the Matteo Ricci Award for Academic Excellence! Way to go Dominic!

Here are three things I didn't know about Matteo Ricci before the Merienda:

1. Ricci was a missionary in China in the 1500s: He wrote The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven arguing that Confucianism and Christianity are similar in many ways. He used this idea as a missionary to convert Chinese men who were educated in Confucianism and the Chinese classics.
2. Ricci was an intelligent man: He was one of the first Western scholars to master Chinese script and Classical Chinese. He was a skilled mathematician and cartographer.
3. His current title is Servant of God. In the Catholic Church, this title designates someone who is being investigated by the Church for possibly being recognized as a saint.

The night is also a time for students to award their peers with superlatives. These fun certificates are meant to bring out the personality and lighthearted humor among the classmates. Dominic's superlative - a testimony to his leadership and charisma I'm sure - was:

Dominic: Most likely to serenade the crowd with a Katy Perry song when he's inaugurated as the 45th President of the U.S.

Now... where to hang that plaque?

The Millennium Network

I have a great friend from the Peace Corps who works for the Clinton Foundation. She generously invited me to be her date to this year's Millennium Network fundraiser. I wasn't sure how I'd be holding up after the red-eye back from Seattle, but who passes up the opportunity to spend time downtown with a great friend and former U.S. president?

Between the free drinks, movie star, rock band, Chelsea and Bill I didn't know what to do with myself. It was quite the event and a neat chance to meet some fascinating people like the Talk to Me Guy Bill who happens to be my friend's boss. He sure had some stories to tell!

I hear the night was a success (based on the mailing list I ended up on the next day). "More than 1,000 young professionals and philanthropists coming together at Terminal 5 to support the life-changing work of the Clinton Foundation."

It was neat to learn from Clinton himself how he and the foundation have encouraged world leaders to make Commitments to Action to improve schools, agriculture, energy efficiency, health and small business development around the world. It was endearing to hear Chelsea talk so lovingly of the father she admires. He might have looked older, but he sure is busy these days.

After they finished speaking the Fray got up to perform.

You might have heard their song on the radio before:

Thank you for the invitation Jenny! You're too kind.

T & P Turkey Trot 2011

Not to be outdone by the Run To Feed the Hungry or the Turkey Trail Trot, our family decided to establish the first annual T & P Turkey Trot this year. We take our Thanksgiving Day runs just about as seriously as we take eating Thanksgiving dinner - or giving thanks for that matter:

Preparing to gallop with gratitude through the streets of Woodland:

T (Tom) and P (Peg) themselves oversaw the inaugural event. Marilyn, our race commissioner, took her responsibilities seriously:
Even our race cheerleaders were enthusiastic despite the early, wet morning:

As we jogged, Nate, Lina and Dominic showed Katie, Mark and I how great it is to grow up in Woodland. From the courts where Dominic learned his jumpshot past the school where Lina practiced gymnastics, we peeked through the fense of the family's first house and came down the lane in front of Josh's house for a water break.

We returned to T & P's for quick showers, Katie's homemade apple muffins and packing. We had to get two babies, eight pumpkin pies, two pecan pies, a chocolate pudding pie and enough alcohol for 70 into the caravan to San Francisco. Thanksgiving was hosted at Goat Hill Pizza thanks to Aunt Karen and Uncle Mike this year.

We arrived just in time to catch cousin Elyse putting the finishing touches on the biggest pot of stuffing I've ever seen. Will 42 celery stalks and 15 onions make a big enough batch for the whole clan?



It did!

It was a real blessing to look around a full resturant and realize the entire crowd was family and friends:

Here are my pies in all their glory:

We enjoyed a post-dinner walk up Petrero Hill to burn off all that delicious stuffing. One of Erika's triplets, baby Declan, and I became fast friends.

Would you imagine that despite the crowd there was enough food left over for people to stock up their own refrigerators? John made out pretty well:

Our cups runneth over. Thank you for the hospitality family!