Playing in the Rain

The sun is shining on a bright mid-August morning, and to no one's surprise, there's again a forecast of thunderstorms. Seems to be the norm this August... lots of thunderstorm forecasts and lots of cloudy days. Yesterday certainly wasn't an exception.

I swear the sky looked green yesterday at one point during the torrential downpours. Thunder shook the house; there were many bright flashes of lightning. I got stuck in the pouring rain after picking up my pictures at Costco. The rain went from zero to high speed wipers as I turned the corner. The umbrella couldn't keep my legs from feeling like they just got out of the shower, and I was so glad I was wearing large heels so that I didn't have to sink my feet into the river that I had to cross to get from the street to the sidewalk. Flash flood warning, yes indeed.

Thunderstorms are always fun to watch from indoors... especially from behind a large window. But getting stuck in it outside, being pelted with the raindrops and shaken by the thunder... well, that's a lot less fun.

In drier fun yesterday, I was at my aunt's house in Jersey, so we got to go to Trader Joe's. I love Trader Joe's. They have these awesome pita chips with parmesan, garlic, and herb. Mmmm. Although all I could think about the whole time I was eating them with hummus (which was good, by the way), was that they would taste excellent with white bean dip. (Thanks, Fresco, for intriguing me with white bean dip!) Also picked up the usual: bags of Nasi Goreng, biryani, and chicken fried rice, other snack food (brownies and cheese crunchies). I also got this chickpea salad that looks incredibly delicious.

For lunch, we went to Baumgart's in Ridgewood. What an interesting place... looks like an ice cream parlor in the front room, and serving American diner fare, Chinese food, and sushi. Talk about fusion, and not within the recipes (like all those "New American" places). I had a salad with mixed greens, grilled chicken, goat cheese, and tomatoes. It was very good. I seem to eat a lot of salads in restaurants nowadays - am I rebelling from my overindulgent lunches over the summer which, although excellent, can only be described as decadent? I think I like the simplicity of salads... and also the fact that they feel like "clean food." (Does anyone else have this feeling - like certain foods just make you feel clean and healthy? This may warrant another post sometime.) Yum.

In other news, I'm still sore from Tuesday's muscle conditioning class. I am so out of shape... so in the past 5 days, I've done 2 days of aerobics, 1 day of muscle conditioning, and 1 day of yoga. Must get in shape now. Let's see how cardio boxing goes today. ;-)

Off to fix stuff around the house... how was your day?