President Obama has such a nice ring to it.

First of all, it is time that "Obama" is added to standard computer dictionaries so it doesn't come up on spell check.  

This is amazing in so many ways.  What an honor it is to be an American right now.

This means I'm now an ObaMarathoner, and at work I can now quit "straterigizing" and start strategizing once again.

Yesterday I missed the speech at work, but I am looking forward to downloading it on NPR and listening to it on my run tonight.

Congratulations, President Obama!

My Little Ponies

I got this set in Stockholm years ago.  I'm pretty sure I have a "thing" for things that are blue.

MoMA or AMoM... one or the other!

On my way to Niketown to run tonight, I saw the reflection of the MoMA sign and had to take a picture...

The Little Cabin in Vermont

Our little cabin... Valentine's Day/ President's Day weekend in Eden Mills, Vermont

No TV, no cell phone coverage, but a fireplace and a gourmet kitchen

We're assuming the lake will be frozen mid February, with less fall foliage

The entire slideshow is here 

Snowy Central Park on a run

I brought my camera on a run yesterday (thank you little zip-lock bag in my pocket).  Central Park, which I now know like the back of my hand was completely transformed.  Absolutely beautiful.  The only tough thing about running in snow like that is your eyes... if you wear sunglasses (yellow lenses), your eyes are protected, but they tend to fog up and you can't see anyways.  Otherwise, the snow clumps onto your lashes and eyebrows.  I think you get to a certain point though where your eyelashes are heavy enough with snow that they actually shield your eyes from the direct snowflake assault.  

Central Park entrance at Columbus Circle

Columbus Circle

Date-night details

Hasselback potatoes.  I like them because they look so cool.  

London broil marinated in Red Wine and onions, and baked at 425 deg for about 20-30 minutes.

The finished hasselback potatoes with parmesan and bread crumbs.  Also not shown is broccoli sauteed with garlic and sliced almonds.  Delicious!

Little Snow People in Central Park

I brought my camera on my run today to film a video essay for Nike.  Talk about a warm welcome from these lil' guys!

"Take my wallet!  Take whatever you want!  We're in New York City!"

They look like little bride & groom snow people. 

See the scarf? We WILL finish it soon!

Compared to another scarf.  Must be long enough to complete the "European Scarf Knot"

It needs to be just a little longer, maybe another 8-10 inches.  Then I will add the fringe.  

While I'm knitting, I like to listen to my "learn Russian podcasts."  The pattern for this scarf is super simple- cast on 40 stitches and knit two, purl two.  If you look really closely, you can see a few little places where I seem to be more successful repeating Russian words than counting my stitches.

Note, however, that success is relative, and multi-colored yarn just hides a multitude of sins. 

 До скорой встречи

Bust a move... in detail

A step-by-step visual manuel to this dance move by Serge.  Note the strong backup support here.  

The Russian Christmas Party. Too many good things going on here to count

No caption could do this picture justice.  Sergey, yellow jacket busts a move, while Serge (white shirt) cuts a rug.  I'm in the background just kind of bopping.  

This looks like a very deep moment.  Either these 2 people are plotting something sinister and scandalous, or one is learning the Russian word for "tea"

"Now... don't get too excited just yet. Wait until you see the next picture."

The fish that Serge caught was much bigger than the fish that I caught.  My fish also had leopard spots, somehow

And finally, one picture where we both look normal.