We pulled up at MP Taverna hoping for a seat in the garden, but our waiter, Dan, informed us that they were still working on permits and were not allowed to let people dine out there just yet. Our waiter was amazing and let Alex chose our table. He selected a table next to the big window. While we browsed the menus, Dan put Alex to work, asking him to help bring water to the table and even place our orders into the computer. Alex was thrilled and had such a blast through the whole meal.

And if the service wasn’t enough to convince us to come back, on top of it all the food was A-MAZE-ING!

We started with the Greek Antipasti. I rewrote this sentence like 10 times before deciding to say – just go and try it for yourself because my words won’t describe it properly for you anyway. A close second was – SO GOOD!

For my entree I got the Spicy Greek Paella, which was made with orzo instead of rice, Tommy got the lamb burger and Alex ordered the meatballs. All of our entrees were delicious and super hearty. I ended up bringing my paella home and finishing it for breakfast the next morning.

Even though we were full from dinner, we had promised Alex that we can go for ice cream. We decided to be adventurous again and headed over to -321 for some ice cream that is made in front of you using liquid nitrogen.

There is a menu of about 8-10 flavors, some of which are permanent and some seasonal. We chose three different flavors to try- Cookies & Creme, Milk Biscuit and Mint Chip. The ice cream was pretty good and it was really cool to see the smoke coming out of the machines as our ice cream was made. If you’re planning on stopping in, don’t be intimidated by the crowd of people. It takes a few minutes to make the ice cream and the shop is small, making it look really crowded when there is virtually no wait.

With our bellies full of Greek food and ice cream, we headed home.

What did you do this weekend?

The post Saturday Dinner [and dessert] in Williamsburg appeared first on Frolic Through Life.

This weekend was my block’s annual block party, and basically like every other year, the weather wasn’t looking good. It was cloudy, raining on and off and the forecast showed that storms were on our horizon. Luckily, a little rain can’t stop us!

Tables were set up, tarps and tents went up, and the party got started!

We jumped on the trampoline…

…and we blew bubbles. And we’re even going to be featured in the local paper! Once it got a bit darker, the dancing began, but by that point no one was thinking about taking pictures. We partied until almost 2AM, which I think is a block record. The police usually come around at midnight to shut the party down, but they never showed up.

Sunday was a pretty lazy day. We woke up, watched some Olympics and cleaned up. In the early afternoon, we set out to go to Sports Authority because I had a 20% off coupons and I really, really wanted to buy a jump rope so I could practice double unders. We had also planned at going to Brooklyn Bridge park for a walk, but the rain ruined those plans, so instead, we headed over to Greenpoint to get some ice cream.

We decided to stop at Van Leeuwen’s because it’s a place that I’ve passed by a million times, but haven’t had the chance to try.

I loved all the unique flavors they had like Cinnamon and Earl Grey Tea, but I finally decided on a Hazelnut with caramel syrup.

It was pretty darn good, but also a bit pricy. We paid $18 for three small ice creams with one topping each, so it’s definitely a once in a while type of treat.

Luckily, this guy isn’t very picky when it comes to ice cream. He prefers quantity, and loves to answer ice cream when you ask him what he wants for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

After our bellies were filled with ice cream, we headed home. Since the weather had cleared up, as it usually does as soon as we arrive home, I decided to give my new jump rope a try.

It took me a bit of practice to find my groove and the right spot on the sidewalk to jump, but once I did, I banged out 35 minutes of jump roping. While my double under record still stands at two, I was getting two in a row a lot more often than before. Baby steps!

I can’t wait for Crossfit tonight to see what else I get to learn!

What did you do this weekend? Have you ever ordered something without looking at prices, only to be surprised later? Can you do double unders?

The post Can’t Stop Us appeared first on Frolic Through Life.

I cooked up the quinoa the way I would make my regular oats. Two parts milk to one part quinoa. I added in cinnamon, apple and dried blueberries to make an incredible breakfast. The only down side is that this takes a bit of time to cook, and isn’t weekday friendly.

Luckily, this Veggie Tofu Scramble is very weekday friendly and this is why I’ve been enjoying it every morning this week.

Spinach, green peppers, tomatoes, tofu with a bit of sriracha and garlic salt scrambled together on a hot, hot skillet. If this doesn’t make you smile for the rest of the day, I don’t know what will.

Oh wait, yes I do! How about some Vegetarian Mexican Lasagna.

Just looking at these pictures makes me want to reach through the screen and grab it. It was incredible!

But what’s a good dinner without a good drink, right? We picked up this lemon juice beer from the Beer Boutique, a new beer store that opened recently in Brooklyn.

White Aphro is a Belgian style Wit Ale made with lemon peel, ginger & lavender and tasted amazing.

The Beer Boutique has this crazy contraption in which they can put on-tap beer into plastic bottles that will keep for up to 6 weeks. The machine first fills the bottle with CO2 so that the beer stays carbonated and it shakes it while pouring it into the bottle. According there are only 5 machines like this in the world!

And no day is complete without dessert. Be it healthy like the watermelon I enjoyed on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

..or indulgent like the Coldstone Ice Cream Munchkin and I shared yesterday.

And since calorie-less ice cream is yet to be invented, I turn to fitness to keep myself in check!

My favorite way to burn calories is through running. If you would’ve told me two years ago that I’d be running a 10k in a few months, I would’ve laughed in your face. Until a few months ago, the extent of my running experience consisted of being a sprinter on my high school track team. Those long legs came in handy!

When I first started running for distance, it was an incredibly difficult transition for me. I started out way too fast, burned out way too quickly and ended up walking home disappointed and discouraged. I believe that this is why I wasn’t successful in my running last year and never got to race.

This year, something just clicked. I stopped running on the track which made me feel like a hamster in a wheel and I just took it at my own pace and had a good time with it. I listen to music and dance along with it while I run run on the street. I set mini-goals for myself like I want to get to the park and get a drink at the water fountain before turning around to go home. Lemme tell you, getting to said park is now a breeze, but it felt nearly impossible when I was starting out.

I am planning on running three races this year. Two of them are more for fun and one is my ‘serious’ race. I am doing the NYC Color Run on August 25th (keep an eye out on the Fitfluential blog for my recap!), the Down and Dirty Mud Run 5k and the Rock and Roll Brooklyn 10k in October. Since these are my first races ever, I’m going in with a goal of just finishing. Once I see how I do in these, I think I will be able to step up the training and work on speed, but for now I’m happy being the tortise in the race. Slow and steady wins anyway, right?

So long story short…I love to run!

What’s the best thing you ate this week? What’s you favorite way to burn off those eats?

The post Breakfast Quinoa WIAW appeared first on Frolic Through Life.

We got to the High Line in time to catch the last glimpse of the sunset.

It was our first time visiting the park and I was beyond amused by the fact that there were exposed railroad tracks that you could walk on without worrying about incoming trains.

I was more than happy to pose for a photo, especially since I had been telling Tommy that I want to go to the LIRR tracks near our house to take pictures just a day earlier. He told me that I’m crazy BTW. I have a strange fascination with train tracks, I guess.

As we wandered along the the park, we came upon a few food carts and since we didn’t have dessert, we decided to get some ices from People’s Pops.

Tommy had the Blueberry Peach pop, which was amazing, but I opted for a Rhubarb shaved ice.

And to my surprise, there was a huge block of ice which was actually shaved in front of us to make my ice. Pretty awesome!

We didn’t have a chance to walk all the way to the other end of the High Line, but I made Tommy promise me that we would come back soon before we got on the steps to go down. I can totally see us picnicking there on a sunny afternoon!

What did you do this weekend? Are there any unconventional parks in your city?

The post The High Line appeared first on Frolic Through Life.

Yesterday was the first day of Spring and we partook in some fun and yummy treats to celebrate, but let’s start at the beginning!

For breakfast, I tried out a new recipe that I saw on Jessica’s blog the other day – egg stuffed avocado.

All you do is preheat your oven to 400 degrees, scoop out some of the avocado center and crack in some eggs. Bake for 15-20 minutes and you have yourself a delish breakfast!

For lunch, I had my usual salad and I actually got to eat it at lunch time. Winning!

Lettuce, plum tomato, red bell peppers, radishes, mozzarella cheese and some chunks of smoked Canadian bacon topped with Newman’s Own Sesame Ginger dressing.

I was feeling something sweet so I broke into my British goodie stash from Lucy from the Foodie Blog Swap.

These bars are so good, I wish they sold them in the U.S.!

When I got home, I had a grapefruit. Typical.

I didn’t know what to do for dinner and my fridge was slim picking so I made a quick stir fry with broccoli, red and green bell peppers, sugar snap peas, carrots, quinoa and bacon.

The bacon was a bit on a random addition to the mix, but I saw it in the freezer and really wanted some bacon. It turned out really good and totally hit the spot.

Since it was the first day of summer, we decided to celebrate with a sweet treat. Since we don’t live near a Rita’s and couldn’t go get a free water ice, we did the next best thing – Carvel! I got my go to Carvel order, vanilla soft serve with rainbow sprinkles. Best thing in life!

Munchkin also enjoyed a kid size cup, and so did his hoodie, jeans and car seat.

I dressed Munchkin in short sleeves for the first time since the early Fall yesterday and the poor guy was so confused. He kept trying to pull down his short sleeves because he is so used to wearing long sleeves. It was pretty funny!

Have a great Wednesday! Halfway to the weekend! Woohoo!

What’s the best thing you ate today? Did you do anything special to celebrate the first day of spring?

The post First Day of Spring WIAW appeared first on Frolic Through Life.