On Friday afternoon I got into my car to drive home from work and got this warning. Even though the weather people were downplaying the storm all week, I had a feeling it was going to be a big one. We were supposed to have Alex’s 6th Birthday party on Sunday, but thankfully I rescheduled it earlier in the week.

We had planned on going grocery shopping on Friday afternoon, but pictures of empty shelves and ridiculous lines at the stores helped us decide that we can make do with what we have and we just stayed home and waited for the snow.

By the time we woke up on Saturday, there was already a few inches on the ground so the boys went out to shovel. It was crazy to watch how quickly the snow was accumulating and within a half hour of shoveling, you couldn’t tell that anyone had shoveled.

No snow day is complete without baking so we whipped up some Chocolate Chip Walnut cookies. They were so good (recipes to follow!)

By about 5 PM we were starting to get stir crazy, so we bundled up and headed into the blizzard. It was cool yet eerie to see the streets so empty. There was a travel restriction so there were no cars on the road and it was the first time ever that I saw one of the busiest intersections in our town completely empty.

We picked up Tommy’s brother, some pizza and headed home to make snow margaritas.

Someone on Facebook posted the idea for snow margaritas and we had to give them a try. I braved the cold and collected some fresh, white powder off of our back porch.

We made the margaritas like we usually would, but instead of ice cubes, we piled the snow into the cups to get a wonderful, slushy margarita.

By the time we woke up the next morning, the sun was shining and it was time to begin the dig out.

Alex had a blast with the other kids on our block, while the adults worked together to clear the sidewalks and dig out cars.

We were lucky enough to have our street plowed so once we dug the car out, we did not have to worry about the plow coming through and covering the car again. A lot of people in our community were not so lucky, and our little town made the news for the next two days as being forgotten by the Department of Sanitation. I love living in Queens, but so often we get overlooked when it comes to times like these. In Manhattan, all of the snow has been plowed and melted to clear the streets, while we have to waits days just to make the streets drivable!

Luckily, the weather warmed up quite a bit and a lot of the snow melted over the last two days. As much as we enjoyed the snowy weekend, I am ready for the snow mounds to melt. Parking has been horrible around here and you can’t leave the house without having to scale the mounds that are piled up almost on every corner.

Did you get snow this weekend?

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We got there soon after they opened, so the crowds were not bad. The exhibit was really cool and the dinosaurs were very lifelike. At first, Alex was a little hesitant to get close, but he warmed up the the creatures after a few minutes.

There were also a ton of activites for kids. The little man got to ride a T-Rex, go on a scavenger hunt, dig for fossils, mine for and gemstones in a cave and pan for gold.

It was a really fun was to spend a Sunday afternoon and a great educational experience for the little guy. He learned a lot of interesting facts about dinosaurs in a really fun setting. We have already been to the Museum of Natural History to see dinosaurs bones, so it was really cool the see what those bones looked like when they were still inside the dinosaurs.

What did you do this weekend? Have you seen “live” dinosaurs before?

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In my family, I am the official tour guide. When someone visits from out of town, it is a given that I will take them out on the town and show them everything that makes NYC the best city on earth. Being able to visit my favorite spots in the city in a gorgeous Chevy Impala, made my #ChevyFitTrip so much better.

The Impala was delivered to my doorstep on Friday night. My first reaction was wow, this is one good looking car. One of my neighbors was actually sitting on his stoop when the car got delivered and came over to check it out too. We were both pleasantly surprised to see how great it looked inside and out.

Alex and I had been impatiently awaiting our Impala’s arrival so that we could head out to one of our favorite places in the world – the Long Island city piers also known as Gantry Plaza State Park in Long Island City.

The park stretches along the east river and has some amazing views of the New York City skyline. It is also one of my favorite places to run and has a new adult playground with pull up bars, body weight chest presses and areas to do ab workouts. You can get a serious workout in here while taking in this gorgeous view. Or you can relax and be super lazy on the different benches and hammocks that park has.

Seriously, how can you beat this view?

Day two of our #ChevyFitTrip started off with a typical New York breakfast – bagels! Even though they aren’t the healthiest option in the city, no trip to  New York is complete without getting a huge doughy bagel with cream cheese. Our favorite bagel place is Brooklyn Bagels in Astoria. They were voted the best bagels in Queens and the line out the door everyday proves that they live up to the title. And they have cannoli cream cheese which is beyond amazing!

With our bellies full, we headed over to Greenpoint, Brooklyn to another place that is a Saturday morning tradition for us – the Greenmarket. NYC is full of Farmers’ Markets, especially on the weekends, and you can find everything here from fresh fruit and veggies, to meats, cheeses, local honey, flowers and baked goods.

Once the sun began to set, we headed out to the city for a night on the town. Over the bridge we go!

Our first stop was Times Square. As a native New Yorker, we usually avoid Times Square because it is deemed a tourist spot, but seeing all the bright lights gave me a sense of wonder and maybe, just maybe, Times Square does live up to the hype. Not to mention our Chevy looked pretty sexy under all those bright lights.

Something that I found really awesome about the Impala was the interior. As it began to get dark outside, the interior had this silver stripe that would start to glow a bluish tint. It wasn’t obnoxious, but it gave the inside of the car a really cool feel.

We stopped by Madison Square Garden and Chinatown before heading back to Queens for a street fair in Astoria. Street fairs are one of the best things in NYC during the summer. They pop up all over the city and the streets are closed for vendors to come in with tons of delicious food, games and rides. If you’ve never tasted a zeppole from a NYC street fair, you have not lived!

Day three took us to Brooklyn. We started the day off at Brooklyn Bridge Park for Smorgusburg. Smorgusburg is a weekly food festival that pops up in Williamsburg on Saturdays and DUMBO on Sundays. Tons of different food vendors come out and you can get anything from crepes to wings to quinoa falafel to vegan artisan ice cream there. If you like to eat, this is a must visit place! The one in DUMBO is located in Brooklyn Bridge Park which is another amazing place in New York. Aside from having amazing views of the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan, it is another place where you can spend all day and not get bored. They have trails for bike riding (and CitiBikes that you can rent), soccer fields, basketball courts, racquetball courts and a pop-up pool in the summer months.  They also have a bunch of really cool playgrounds for kids and a gorgeous carousel.

The final stop on our #ChevyFitTrip was Coney Island. Coney Island is an iconic New York spot and a great place to release your inner child. The bright lights and screams of people on the Cyclone have to put a smile on your face. They also have a lot of new rides that have opened recently in Luna Park, including a new roller coaster called the Thunderbolt that looks like fun and a lot less scary than the Cyclone. The Cyclone was the first roller coaster I ever went on when I was around 10 years old and it scared the life out of me, not the roller coaster itself, but the way it sways and the thought that it feels like it can collapse any minute. Coney Island is also home to the New York Aquarium and a gorgeous boardwalk that was rebuilt after Hurricane Sandy. It is the perfect beach day spot!

We had an amazing weekend while driving this amazing car, and we really did not want to give it back! The car had so many great features, even little things, that just made life easier. I loved the keyless entry and start. As long as I had the keys somewhere in my purse, I could open, start, drive and close the car. I also loved that the car had a button on the driver’s side to turn on the child lock. Even though this may seem like a silly thing, we always turn on the child lock when Alex is in the car and it was nice to have the option to turn them off with a button when someone else was sitting in the back and trying to get out of the car. I also really, really liked the GPS feature. I liked that the GPS actually told you street names and that the buildings on the map were the actual buildings you see out the window. I also liked that it showed you your next turn on the little screen behind the steering wheel.  I could go on and on about what I loved in this car!

I hope you enjoyed our #ChevyFitTrip through NYC and that it gave you some ideas for you next trip here!

What places would you like to visit in NYC? What are some must-see spots in your town?

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We spent the two days out in the snow. We had snowball fights, made snow angels and sledded with other kids on our block.

We did some crafting. We made toilet paper roll monsters.

We ate some good stuff.

Pumpkin Pancakes.

Hot cocoa and Oatmeal Cranberry Dunkers. Both from Trader Joe’s.

Whole Wheat Couscous Greek Salad. (Recipe coming soon.)

I’m really not looking forward to driving tomorrow because the temps are super low, ice is everywhere and this snow isn’t going anywhere for a while. Either way, these two days were soo worth it!

Did you get any snow where you live? What are your favorite snow day activities?

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I had read online that a new playground opened recently in Prospect Park that used trees that fell during Hurricane Sandy as play equipment for kids, so we decided to check it out.The little man loved it and it was really fun to climb the huge branches and tree stumps. It goes to show that you don’t need fancy park equipment for a kid to have a good time!

I love Prospect Park because it is quiet, serene and makes you feel like you’ve escaped NYC, but you can walk a few minutes in any direction and hit the busy streets. We had a lot of fun exploring the less trafficked paths through the park. I was surprised to see that not all of the leaves on the trees had changed colors, but it was fun spotting the bright reds and yellows among the green.

I am definitely soaking up the warm and sunny days before it gets too cold to go on these types of adventures. I wish fall never had to end!

What’s your favorite local nature spot?

P.S. There’s a winner on my Skinny Limits Juice Cleanse giveaway! Congrats Elena!  Congrats Jesse! Send me an email at frolicthroughlife@gmail.com so we can get you set up with your cleanse!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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My Saturday began at Pedal NYC for a 30/30 class – 30 minutes spin followed by 30 minutes of TRX. It was my first time trying both spin and TRX, so I was a bit nervous. The event was hosted by my fellow Fitfluential Ambassador, Talia of Bite Size Wellness.

After getting a bit lost, I got to Pedal just in time for the spin warmup. After this spin class, I can’t wait to get to another one soon. The room was dark, the music loud and I was able to get in the zone and just follow Mr. Ray’s voice to push myself. My legs felt a bit like jello after we finished, but it was only the first half of the class.

We moved over to the TRX room where we split into two groups. While one group did the move on the TRX the other group did a move off to the side. On the TRX we did squat pulls, bicep curls and star jumps, while the people on the side did clap squats, held planks and mountain climbers.

After we were done with the TRX we went outdoors to do a few laps in the courtyard before posing for some group shots.

After the class, I rushed home, showered, grabbed some sushi and headed to the salon to get my hair cut. I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that it had been almost a year since my last haircut, but I’ve been so busy that I couldn’t find the time to get to the salon. I love my stylist and she always does an awesome job cutting my hair. I’ve never been disappointed.

After my haircut, I rushed back home to get changed and ready for the party that Tommy and I were attending that night. The party was a work function with Tommy’s coworkers, and it was held on Ellis Island! I didn’t even know that the island could be rented for events before hearing about this party. The weather was perfect for a night on the island, and we had amazing, clear views of the city all night long.

The party was a blast and it was nice getting all dressed up. Especially since the next day I would be rolling around in the mud!

How often do you get your hair cut? Where’s the coolest place you’ve been to a party?

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We started dinner with drinks. I definitely needed a drink after two days of studying. The Wasabi Margarita caught my eye right away. The margarita itself wasn’t spicy, but the glass was rimmed in sweetened wasabi which did had a bit of a kick.

We were pretty hungry going into dinner since we had only eaten breakfast that morning, so we started with some appetizers. Being a huge fan of tuna, Tommy immediately suggested the Tuna Tartare Tacos. This was probably the most interesting presentation of Tuna Tartare that I’ve ever seen. The tuna was served in a crispy shell

and topped with Wasabi Guacamole.

We also ordered the Korean Style Chicken Wings. I had read in multiple reviews that the wings were great and I since couldn’t remember the last time I had wings, it struck a major craving. The wings were spicy, but not too spicy and hit the spot. The chili flakes on them make the eating process a little messy, but wings are always messy.

We also split a sushi roll – the Smoke Stacks. Spiced tuna, avocado, kani and oshinko in marbled seaweed topped with tobiko.

Finally, for my entree I went with the Pan Roasted Chicken Breast which was marinated in Sake Teriyaki and served with a side of Chinese broccoli and pineapple fried rice. I don’t usually order chicken when we go out to eat, and I was this.close to getting the salmon, but the pineapple fried rice caught my eye and I couldn’t say no. The chicken was very moist and the teriyaki gave it a great flavor. The rice didn’t disappoint either!

Tommy went with the Soba Noodle Stir Fry with chicken.

Overall, we had a great dining experience. The food was very good, the service was decent and the views were amazing. I definitely recommend it!

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Moving on, Spring has finally arrived in New York and we have been soaking it up. On Monday morning, I got an e-mail from my professor saying that class was canceled. It was like a first day of Spring miracle (even though it wasn’t actually the first day of Spring)! I texted Tommy and we made plans for a picnic and baseball at the piers. We grabbed takeout from our fav place, San Loco, and headed down to the piers. I got my usual Guaco Taco, a hard shell taco wrapped in a soft shell with guac in between. So good, if you’re a guac addict like myself.

The boys quickly ate and headed off to play ball. It is so fun to watch Munchkin and Tommy play together, and I think I can’t say he’s a baby anymore.

He looked like such a boy running around in the grass, catching and throwing the ball. I’m not sure when this happened. I’m pretty sure he just learned to walk, like five minutes ago. Since I still had my second class on Monday, we had to cut our game a bit short, but it was an amazing way to spend the afternoon.

On Tuesday, I got to spend the day outdoors, once again. I headed to Crossfit, while my guys headed to the park down the block from the box. Since we all have been having cabin fever cooped up in the box, we spent basically our whole WOD outdoors. We started out with tire flips and Continental bar deadlifts and finished off with burpees, kettlebell swings and sprints.

I’m still getting over a pretty yucky cold, so the WOD was extra challenging, but it felt so good to run around outside in the sun.

It also helped that I had my guys there cheering me on at the end – so motivating!

The temps are supposed to be dropping again today after last night’s thunderstorms, but it was great to get a little taste of summer. Then again, at this point, anything is better than snow!

How’s the weather in your area? Have you gotten a taste of summer yet?

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We had a ton of fun visiting all of the animals. We also went over to the Children’s Zoo where you get to feed the farm animals. While Munchkin was busy feeding the sheep when the llama in the same pen got a little peeved and tried to eat his hat instead. That, or he was just a fan of Angry Birds and wanted a sweet looking hat.

After the zoo, we were all pooped. We headed home and all took a nap, which is highly uncommon for me. I woke up feeling refreshed and hungry. When my two gentlemen finally awoke, we decided on Chai for dinner. Chai recently opened up in Williamsburg and was filled to the brim when we got there. There was a bit of a wait, but we got to sit next to a little reflecting pool with super cute decor. Munchkin kept trying to blow out the candles which kept him occupied for a long time, since they were battery powered.

We knew what appetizers we wanted as

soon as we were seated because we had looked at a menu while we were waiting. I went for the Thai crab cakes with lemongrass mayo and Tommy opted for the Crispy Spring Rolls with homemade plum sauce. Both apps were spot on, and I really enjoyed the flavor that the lemongrass mayo gave to the crab cakes. I also enjoyed a drink, whose name I cannot remember, nor find on their website, but it was tequila with champagne. It was strong but very tasty, and made me a little giggly.

For my entree I got the Vegetarian Duck with Mushrooms in Garlic Sauce. I usually go for noodle dishes when we go for Thai, but I was very pleased that I decided to try something new. The sauce was delicious, and the “duck” tasted just like the real thing.

Another plus of Chai was the price-tag. We all enjoyed our meals and drinks and the prices were very reasonable. Chai will definitely be thrown into our rotation of dinner places, but I think we will be frequenting it during off peak times to avoid the wait.

What did you do this weekend? What’s the last new restaurant you tried?

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On Wednesday, we headed to the city to see the Christmas Tree in Rockefeller Center.

Rockefeller Center kind of hold a special place in Tommy and my hearts because over two years ago, Tommy asked me to be his girlfriend on the Top of the Rock, overlooking the big tree being put up.

We’ve visited the tree every year since, and every year we get out of the subway and I lead us in the wrong direction. It’s kind of a tradition now, a tradition that proves I lack a sense of direction.

I love all the decorations that get put up all over the city. These huge red ornaments are one of my favs and we check them out each year too.

Last year, we went on a search for the best Christmas lights display in NYC and found a really cool looking house in Whitestone. This year, we went to check out the Dyker Heights Christmas Lights, and they blew last year’s display out.of.the.water!

There were blocks of houses decked out to the nines, with every house having something completely different from all the others.

There were also people dressed up as different characters. Alex loved the reindeer!

We had an absolute blast.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas!

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