I am currently living in what's designated as Zone B (which means, roughly, that flooding is expected but will probably not be too bad, so no evacuation). I have to say, I was really unimpressed and kind of dismayed at all these PREEMPTIVE subway/bus closures. Come on, New York, it's rain and wind! Anyway, here's my little hurricane story, coming at you right in the middle of it all.

My original hurricane plan was a pretty social one. But that fell through when hurricane buddy #1 got stuck in another state. Hurricane plan #2 was the most unfortunate. This involved me going into work (I am currently working in the BRONX!) and getting stuck there overnight. They had big plans to shuttle us all in but no big plans to shuttle us out! Luckily this plan also fell through as they evacuated me before noon and I got home safely just in time to decide that I wasn't about to leave my apartment, so hurricane buddy #2 was out too (she wasn't about to leave hers either). But, as it turns out, the hurricane got a little more impressive and with 4 feet of water east of 2nd avenue, hurricane buddy #3 has no power and I am hoping will canoe/raft/kayak his way over to my place 2 blocks away.
Interestingly, as much as I thought everyone was CRAZY for going to the supermarkets and getting crates of water and stocking up on giant boxes of cereal and other non-perishables, I unwittingly stocked up myself. But that's because I walked by a grocery store in the Bronx with prices I simply couldn't turn down. All that up above for $15! This includes that giant kabocha squash (love!), bok choy, carrots, TOMATOES, zucchini, eggplant, okra and brussel sprouts. This would have definitely been at least $30-35 in the city!!


I will be feasting a la vegetarian for ever!


These are coming in handy quite a bit for the hurricane though!
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Today's "dinner at home alone, sadface" meal was sauteed eggplant and zucchini. But kids, this wasn't pretty. Tasty though!

So simple....cut up some zuc, some e-plant and put on some salt, pepper, garlic and top it all off with a really nice balsamic vinegar. I also sprinkled some nutritional yeast on there, which I think made a big difference. I'm stuffed but I don't think there were too many calories? I wonder what the scale will think tomorrow.

By the way, the new apartment doesn't lend itself well to photography :-(

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But there are a lot of things I wanted to cover in this post, all sort of related to being stuck at home while the wind rages outside.

First, my gym is closed. And honestly, at this point, I need to work out every day =( So I downloaded the much talked about p90x video. I decided to attempt an at-home workout and tired out their CardioX video (45 minutes) and also did the Ab Ripper (17 minutes).

The cardio made me break a tiny bit of a sweat but nothing to write home about...less than elliptical, definitely less than running. And I don't know how much of it to attribute to being in my apt and wearing a long sleeved shirt....

The Ab Ripper workout was just TOO DAMN HARD! That or maybe my hiatus from regular hot yoga has resulted in a really bad loss of core abdominal power! Likely the second. But now that I have the tapes, I'm going to keep doing a workout at home every now and then. I am guessing that my favorites will wind up being Plyometrics, Core/Synerystics, Yoga and Kenpro. Don't ask me what some of these actually are yet, I have no idea. It'll be like a surprise.

Also, as promised, here's a little post on the home-sweet-home situation. Very appropriate since I am stuck here for at least a good 24 hours!

As you can see, my kitchen is QUITE small. One counter top, a MINI FRIDGE!! and not a huge amount of cabinet space (these are all pretty shallow). But the bonuses are the really nice microwave and the rather modern oven that preheats like a dream (the last two places I lived in had ovens from the middle ages). But I make do, and I did buy a small cube freezer that holds all my frozen stuff. Annoyingly, the freezer portion of the mini fridge is tiny and ineffectual while the fridge portion sometimes freezes my vegetables. But only sometimes, and I can never figure out why. Grrr! To the right is my brown leather couch, which used to be my only couch when I was first starting residency, and became an axillary couch in my 1 bedroom apartment. Thankfully I never got rid of it, since it's now my primary place of sitting once again. Note the painting: this is my mom's work! She made me a Renoir! She's amazing, no?
The "bedroom area" is enough to fit a bed, couch, bookshelf and dresser. The "kitchen" area does fit a small dining room table, and that's been pretty great. The loft storage up top (see upper right!) is really nifty though. I have two large-ish closets but nothing beats being able to just toss things up into the loft. The ladder gives it a fun touch too...I think (also it's useful for hanging scarves). Another thing to note (aside from my mom's other painting, my absolute favorite) is the exposed brick walls. Man did I think those were cool. But it turns out in the summer, it's like living in a brick-oven! You know, the kind they cook pizzas in? And in the cold weather...well those bricks just turn into ice cubes! The bills are kinda high!
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But arguably, one of the coolest features is the breakfast bar! Yup, I have a little breakfast bar and these two bar stools were a holdover from the 1 bedroom apartment, where they stood, unused for a year and a half. They were never sold, even during the craigslist phase and now I am loving them. As you can see I have my laptop there and it makes it easy to watch TV while I eat and also blog!

On the right you can see that I did not decide to part from my wine bar =)

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So that's it for today's blog post! PS, I also ate an apple and a little yogurt/berry snack. I think probably this wasn't a hugely successful day, although my lunch was pretty darned light (roasted okra and brussel sprouts, also on the menu tomorrow) and my breakfast was small in anticipation of a low-cardio/low calorie burn day.

I guess now it's just going to be me, some studying and a LOT more TV. Hopefully hurricane buddy #3 will manage to make it over here.

sserenity
11/17/2012 07:53:03 pm

hi dr. jules, so glad you managed through the hurricane. cute apt, too! haven't been able to post any photos at all, but doing a little cooking. hoping things have normalized. love the bronx myself. worked there a couple of years. love how NYers come together in difficult times!

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    I'm a recent graduate from medical school and a pathology resident living in New York City. Like most girls living in the city, I've found that a lot of my social life revolves around the regular consumption of high-calorie food and alcoholic beverages. I've decided to start a blog about how I am trying to beat the bulge by eating and cooking defensively between social engagements and how even a busy girl can fit exercise into a busy life.

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