July 4th weekend recap and Uncle Sam Cereal Giveaway Winner!

Hey all. Hope you all had a great July 4th weekend! Alright, first thing's first. I am going to announce the winner of the Uncle Sam Honey Almond cereal giveaweay courtesy Attune Foods.

I compiled the following list:

Then used random.org to generate:

Congratulations to Sofia! Please email me your mailing address at momatthebarre@gmail.com and we will get that box of cereal over to you as soon as possible!

So the weekend was pretty relaxed but highlights included:

1. Dinner at Rouge Tomate with a friend.
 
The space is gorgeous. Clean and minimalist.

The food? Phenomenal! The seasonally inspired menu is Modern American with a strong emphasis on fresh and locally sourced ingredients.

To start, we shared the Chickpea hummus with sweet pepper, house-cured olives and flat bread crisp.

Then, for my main course, I had the Grass Fed Lamb Loin, with fennel, turnip, Beldi olives, bing cherries and Greek yogurt. It was lip-smackingly good! Also, not a huge portion, which I am often afraid of whenever 'Lamb' and 'loin' are on the menu!

Yum!

For dessert, I decided on the Passion Fruit Tart with pineapple, mango, coconut and pink peppercorn. This I could probably have done without. The first few bites were heavenly but it became a little too sweet afterwards. Gorgeous presentation though, no?

A lovely evening with great food. Highly recommended if you are ever in New York!

2. Worked out on each of the three days of the Holiday weekend:
- Tried Core Fusion Sport for the first time on Saturday-which I shall review soon. I bought a $25 certificate on Gilt a few months ago for two weeks of unlimited classes at Exhale Spa. I thought it was an amazing deal! So I am looking forward to trying all this studio has to offer.
- Took a Physique 57 class on Sunday when it was pouring. I got to the studio drenched and grumpy but once we got started I fell into the groove and had a fun class! I tried a new instructor and thought she was great (thanks Brigitte!). I love Physique 57 so much.  It really is like my therapy.
-On Monday I tried Exhale's newest class, Core Fusion Bootcamp-which is also to be reviewed in the near future.

3. Spent some quality time with friends and family in the Park.
With the exception of Sunday, the weekend had some gorgeous weather and we were able to take advantage of it and spend some time in Central Park, where we caught the roller-bladers in action. Check out the guy roller-blading while balancing bottles on his head!

Ah, love New York city in the summer!

Question: How did you spend your July 4th weekend? 

"Winging It": The Five Things I Have Learned as a New Mom

You may have noticed that the word 'Mom' is in the title of my blog. You may also have noticed that I have yet to write a post related to my being a mom. I think the reason for this is that it's still not something that has really hit me. I see my beautiful boy every day and still wonder incredulously, wow, Sam, you're a mom? While it is still something I am trying to accustomize myself to I am happy to say that I have learned the following five things which have helped make the transition smoother:

1. Multi-tasking: I can now multi-task like it is nobody's business. At any one moment in time I am feeding baby Z a bottle with one hand, checking Twitter on my IPhone with the other and have a cup of coffee handy  to make a quick switch in duties. I am also (I sheepishly admit) watching a recorded episode of "The Real Housewives of New York City" but let's not dwell on that too much. I'm sure that will come up once Z starts therapy.

2. The Art of the 10-minute Nap: Those days of sleeping in are long gone. Regardless of what time I have gone to bed the night before I am up at the crack of dawn. Not by choice. I have to. That is precisely when babies decide that they would like their day to begin. To deal with this disruption in my sleep cycle I have perfected the art of the 10-minute nap. Throughout the day, I try to take a few of these, usually coinciding with when baby Z takes his (micro) naps. Not the healthiest thing in the world, sure, but it keeps me going.

3. "Me" Time: Before having a baby I was fiercely protective of my "me" time. After having a baby I am even more fiercely protective of my "me" time. Thankfully I have a husband who understands that Z is as much his child as mine and so "me time' is not so hard to negotiate!

4. Learn to say Yes: As a rule I hate asking people for favors. Even if someone volunteers their services I am known, by those close to me, to always (politely) refuse. Not the case anymore. I soon realized that I needed help and that I had better ask for it. If you are lucky enough to have friends and family that are offering to help you, don't refuse it. I have cashed in my fair share of babysitting offers from friends. You know who you are, love you guys!

5. Learn to Laugh At Myself: You can read as many books as you want, talk to as many doulas as you like, be as prepared as you think you will ever be, but something will always one-up you in the baby-game. That is okay.  I did not read any books or even prepare, as such. Not wanting to stress or overwhelm myself, I decided to 'wing' it and learn things on the fly. As you can imagine there have been some bumps along the way. One particular incident showcased my inability to properly position the rain canopy on my child's stroller. This resulted in my pushing a stroller around the Upper East side of Manhattan with the rain canopy perfectly plastered over my child's face. I noticed the looks from other moms and nannies and, cluelessly, figured they must be admiring my little guy's cute get-up. Shortly afterwards, horrified, I realized the error of my ways and swiftly rectified the situation. I got over my horror quickly though. For me the take-home message was that I will mess up, lots, and the only way to deal with it is to see the humor in it!

The hood needs to come out, people, in order for the rain canopy to function properly!

It has been 6 months but I am still learning, however, I am pleased to report that the learning curve is pretty steep, and the experience is actually a lot of fun!

Have a great July 4th holiday weekend!

Also, don't forget to enter my Uncle Sam Honey Almond cereal giveaway. I am accepting entries till Monday July 4th at 10pm EST from readers in the Continental US. I shall announce a winner on Tuesday July 5th.