Missing Tulum

I feel like it’s been ages since we went to Mexico, but it’s only been a month. Here are some pictures I’ve been pining over. 

Hartwood, Tulum

We had a lot of great meals in Tulum, but this was one of my favorite. I’d read about Hartwood in Bon Appetit magazine ages ago, hoping that someday I’d get the chance to go. After so much anticipation, it did not disappoint, the Mahi Mahi I ordered was incredible and Peter’s ribs were delicious as well. Even the cactus side order we had was delicious. The only problem was that we didn’t have any room for dessert. I highly suggest this place to anyone traveling to Tulum.

Here is the article from Bon Appetit and here is their slideshow. 

Tulum Ruinas

Craving some culture, Peter and I jumped on bicycles and traveled a few miles up the road to the Tulum Ruins. Upon arrival, we waited to buy tickets on a poorly organized line, in the sun, behind severely sunburnt touristas - culture! 

I don’t remember all of the history lesson we got that day, but basically, these are ruins of an city/port that is fortified by a heavy stone wall. Aristocrats, military and important people lived inside the protection of the wall, while everyone else fended for themselves on the outside. What intrigued me most about the place was the incredible beauty of the ocean, jungle, white sand, and wondering whether or not the Mayan people knew it was beautiful. Did the average person, who didn’t travel and spent their whole life living near there, know that it’s intoxicatingly gorgeous? Or would it have been everyday and mundane? Do you need to see ugly things to understand beauty better? If you are always surrounded by beauty can you be aware of it? 

Ok, done with the philosophizing, it was a fun way to spend a day; learning about the Mayans, watching tourists; riding bikes. Also, we met a mean looking iquana with no tail, we named him Peligroso. 

Suenos Tulum

Our hotel in Tulum was absolutely incredible, it’s an eco hotel, which meant no electricity during the day and no outlets in our room. At first, being disconnected seemed inconvenient, but it only helped us unwind more. We had the top floor overlooking the ocean with a little private balcony. The wind kept it cool, so cool in fact, we had to sleep under a heavy wool blanket. 

We woke up most mornings to watch the sunrise and then crawled right back into bed to nap until breakfast.  Since breakfast didn’t start until 8am - very late for us early risers - we were forced to relax… a lovely thing to do on vacation!

We highly recommend the hotel - Suenos Tulum. Not only was the room awesome, but we ate here several times for lunch and dinner and the food was phenomenal too. Also, they have a pool and lots of beach loungers. Again, our only complaints were: no outlets or wifi in our room, but you can connect and charge in the lobby. 

Crawfish Festival

So after our amazing 5k win, we headed out to a crawfish fest in Llano, Texas. I probably should’ve realized what that meant, but it wasn’t until I was knocked over by a hairy, exposed beer belly that belonged to a man with a mullet and a missing front tooth that I understood we were deep in red neck country. 

Not a problem though! Unfortunately we got there too late for crawfish, in other words, I think the people selling the crawfish were a little too toasty to bother selling them. And we high tailed it out of there soon after someone started a fight with Peter near the porta potties. 

We stopped and got some killer bbq on the way home though, so I’m not too sad that we missed out on the mudbugs. 

Texas Wildflowers

We may have missed the Bluebonnets, but we caught the tail end of the awesome wildflower season. It takes my breath away every time, thank you Lady Bird Johnson.

Bluebonnet Adventure Fest Champions

As a Christmas present to Peter, I signed us up for The Bluebonnet Adventure Fest - a 5k race near his parents house. I figured, it would 1. keep us in shape through winter and 2. give us a great excuse to come visit while all the beautiful flowers were blooming. 

We arrived in Tejas Friday night and ate our way through the day in preparation for the big event the next morning (pounding chips and salsa counts as carb loading right?). It was sort of a miserable way to start off a much needed vacation, but we hauled ourselves to Reveille Peak Ranch at 7am Saturday morning, stretched, worried and waited for the race to begin at 9am. 

Let me say this. We are in good shape, we run several times a week and workout otherwise as well; but we aren’t in GREAT shape, and we aren’t in competitive running shape. I need you to know this; you’ll understand later. 

We lined up, Peter’s parents joyously cheering on the sidelines, a 5k, a 10k and an adventure race started at the same time. The gun sounded and we took off. Quickly, Peter was out of sight; we ran up hills, through woods, on poorly maintained trails, through streams, over boulders, on single tracked paths cutting through fields of rocks. This was not like running in Brooklyn and I felt like dying before the first mile marker. Still, the crowds thinned out and soon I noticed that not so many folks were on my heels. At a half mile left I kicked up the pace, but was still very disappointed in my time as I crossed the finish line. Oh well, I thought, at least it’s over. 

As soon as I finished Peter’s mother ran up and hugged me.

“You are the first female through!” she said. No way, impossible, she must’ve missed the others, but she continued “and Peter was the first male!” 
“Huh?” I stammered, trying not to puke or faint. 
“Yes, look at the monitor.” She said as she brought me over to the live results on a computer screen. 

This is how I found out I had won my first (and most likely only) 5k. About an hour later we were awarded some sweet medals and $100 gift certificates to Runtex. Hilarious. Awesome. Typical Rosch. 

And so, lesson learned, winning is all about choosing the right race and not necessarily about being very good. 

Thank you to Peter’s parents for being there, taking pictures and telling us we won. 

The past month

Has been insane. But we made a bunch of stuff, ate good food and looked good doing it. 

Spring is Springing

“When living in a concrete jungle, one must escape and commune with nature at every possible chance. Reviving the soul by breathing in fresh air is the only way to survive a miserable city existence.”  - unknown

Our view disappeared

We have an incredible view of the Williamsburg bridge from our apartment, but some days it gets so foggy we can’t see anything. It’s exciting. 

Dun Dun*

Despite mediocre to bad acting, terrible writing, and morally reprehensible themes, Peter and I love Law and Order SVU. I don’t want character development - I want entertainment. I don’t care about production value and believablility, I want lowest common denominator garbage that neatly wraps up and doesn’t leave me hanging. 

Of course, we aren’t the only ones; our friends Julia and Reid love it too (although Reid strays into Law and Order Criminal Intent as well). To celebrate our mutual love of trashy tv we had dinner together, the only requirement was that everyone had to dress up like their favorite character. 

I was DNA evidence, Julia was a victim and Reid was Robert Goren. We all looked good, but Peter took the cake, as Casey Novak. He’s a handsome lady, or a pretty man, either way, he looked better in my skirt than I do. Check out the pictures below. 

Thank you to my friends and husband for indulging my ridiculous dress up ideas. *Also, if you get the title, you are invited to the next dinner. 

Bluebonnets

My mother-in-law just called with news that the Bluebonnets are coming out in full-force this spring. Because of the drought, last year’s showing was last than stellar. This year though, she assured me, is going to be awesome. I had always thought that fields of wildflowers were a myth - thought up by L. Frank Baum for the Wizard of Oz; but then I visited Texas in April 2010 (the picture above is from then). 

The history of the Texas wildflower is quite interesting, read more about it here. Can’t wait to get down there!

The World’s Saddest Cat

Getting back to NYC from LA meant two things, missing Peter and Target!! Luckily, Target was extra, extra cuddly when I arrived. Not only was she cuddly but she was also really vocal. Like super vocal. Like impossible to sleep vocal. Kind of annoyingly vocal. Strangely, she was also really keen on escaping the apartment every time I opened the door. Not to mention, she was doing funny things with her butt in the air. 

Being the nervous cat Mom I am, I immediately jumped on the interweb and googled all of these things in a thousand different ways. No matter how I searched though, I got the same result, Target was in heat. So, being the responsible cat Mom I am, she was neutered yesterday, and now she is the saddest cat in the world. 

She has to wear this e-collar for 7 days! She hates it. The “e” stands for Elizabethan!

Last Day in LA

I had to go home - get back to work - while Peter stayed in California for another week. To celebrate the sun and warmth one last day, we spent as much time outside as possible, borrowing bikes from our hotel and riding along the ocean until our legs were jelly. We made it about 20 miles before our stomachs demanded lunch. 

Starving (and a slightly cranky), we made our way to Fred Segal in Santa Monica and ate at Umami Burger. Luckily we arrived a little before noon and were able to find a perfect seat in the sun. Fifteen minutes later it was a zoo, but by then our food had arrived and we were in Umami heaven.