“No, we are not getting married”

That was the response my three friends (Aileen, Dana, Nicole) and I gave each time we told a friend or colleague we were heading to Niagara Falls, Canada.  I never realized it was a destination for young lovers to run off and marry!

Why did we go to Niagara Falls, you ask?

Well, a few months ago, I was talking to Aileen and mentioning that I’ve never been before.  She’d gone once, with her family years before, and agreed to join me.  Nicole and Dana had never been either so it became a foursome.

We flew into Buffalo, New York on US Air, directly from LGA.  The flights were about $160 bucks each and we were on little crop dusters.  We rented a car from Buffalo and drove the 35 minutes to Niagara Falls.  We stayed on the Canada side, which we heard was much more “fun” and “exciting” than the New York side and stayed at the Doubletree hotel, which was about $135 bucks a night.

The Good

The falls were beautiful!  They are comprised of the American Falls, Horseshoe Falls and Bridal Falls.  Take the Maid of the Mist that is open until the end of October to get the best view.  Also, the time of year was beautiful.. the weather crisp, leaves turning and not a lot of crowds!

Horseshoe Falls

People at the base of American Falls

We did not get to do this, but if you ever go to Niagara Falls, you should stay in Niagara on the Lake.  It’s such a quaint little town and the food and overall atomosphere is much better than either Niagara Falls, Canada or New York

Walking around town in Niagara on the Lake

The Bad

Niagara Falls is full of overly expensive chain restaurants (we actually went to a disgusting Macaroni Grill and IHOP while we were there and spent $20 on omelets, seriously). The non-chain resturants we found were actually much more reasonable – and this is coming from a girl who lives in NYC and is willing to spend money on good food.

On the Canada side, there doesn’t seem like a lot to do and the main downtown area, seems like a depressing Atlantic City or very ghetto Las Vegas.

On Sunday, before we left, we actually drove over the border to try to eat lunch on the American side.  Needless to say, that was even scarier.  We  actually had a restaurant in mind to go to (a recommendation from a Canadian local), but it was closed down.  The rest of the town seemed too depressing and boarded up, so we turned around and just headed back to Buffalo!

The Verdict

We didn’t really expect much, so overall, we had a really good time hanging out together. Despite the sort of kitchiness, I would definitely recommend to anyone who has never been and who want to stay one or two nights.   Just do some better research on where to stay and have some places in mind about where to eat first!

The four of us on the way to Niagara on the Lake

I’m not hungry, but I want to eat…

That’s how I feel at the moment.  I miss the smell of it and the taste.  And I miss chewing.  But surprisingly, I’m not that hungry.

I’m on Juice #3 of Day 4.  Yesterday was my first day of all juice and I was pretty miserable yesterday.  It didn’t help that one of the other cleansers in my office and major foodie, (he hangs with Mario, for god’s sake) made me sit in front of the computer with him looking at food web sites and new restaurant openings for an hour.  After that I spent the next hours booking myself for food dates.  Shake Shack on Sunday with B, S and S.  Soon Dobu on Tuesday night with M, S, G, and A.  Chicken Wings at Cercle Rouge with A on Wednesday.   Everyone in the office seemed to have had delicious lunches yesterday… mac and cheese, sushi, Baba Ganoush, and I could smell it!  I’m not sure if it was the cleanse or just because I’m starving but my sense of smell was heightened.  I was pretty miserable.

I was certain I was gonna cave when I went home last night.  But, I excercised will power.  Instead, I drank my Cashew Nut Milk right when I got home (skipped the last green juice yesterday).  I took Sammy out to the park for an hour to spend time with her then went home and had some water.  After that, I went to bed… at 8.  And slept until this morning at 7 AM.  My dreams were crazy last night.  I don’t usually remember my dreams, but I had nightmares, and I woke up feeling sort of upset and sick.  And hungry and dehydrated.

So I had some hot water with lemon.  Drank the cashew nut milk that is for tomorrow night this morning and all of a sudden felt better.   Then I weighed myself and realized I also lost another pound so that’s 4.5 total.

The past few days have been a roller coaster.  It’s Friday now, Day 4 and the other 3 cleansers in my office and I are so happy to be finishing soon.  (Actually, one finished yesterday, one finishes tonight, and 2 of us finish tomorrow)!!   This hasn’t really disrupted my life that much, besides last night when I passed out so early because of lack of energy and I was so hungry.  Besides that, I’ve been able to go out with friends (drink Pellegrino instead of alcohol) and work. No intense exercising though.   I only cheated once with ½ an avocado on Day 2 and the rest of the time I felt pretty satiated.

Other results/side effects that I’ve had:

-          Dry mouth

-          No, um, “movements”

-          Lots of peeing

-          Feeling of utter euphoria

-          Feeling of utter hunger

-          Weight loss

-          Clearer skin

Things I’ve learned this week:

-          Your stomach only carries 1/5 of a cup when empty but can expand to 8 cups!

-          You should poo every time you eat (i.e. if you eat 3 x’s a day, you should go 3 x’s a day)

-          I really like fresh juices

-          There are yummy vegan and raw recipes and I crave these more right now than I do a glass of wine or meat or carbs

I have 1.5 days of juice left but am thinking of spreading these out until Sunday morning.  I have plans to go out with friends the next couple of days and would like to eat with them so am thinking of some light salads or fruit during these meals.

I’ll write a wrap up at the end of the weekend when this is all over.  And of course, after the last colonic

High-Energy

That is how I describe my mood the past two days I’ve been on the Blueprint Cleanse.

I’m on my second day of JTD (Juice Til Dinner) and starting tomorrow, Day 3, I’ll be on juices only for 3 days.  Starting the cleanse yesterday wasn’t too bad.  I tried to be good and follow the guidelines BPC sends you to prepare you for cleansing.  I cut out meat and stuck with fish for 3 days before I started.  I incorporated a lot more salads and vegetables at every meal.  The one thing I didn’t do was cut out the coffee, sugar, and alcohol until yesterday.

Day 1 went by fast.  I had my first green juice around 9 AM, followed by the PAM (pineapple, apple, mint) yum, around 11 AM.  I consumed juice #3 (another green juice) around 1 PM and #4 (the spicy lemonade, also yum) at 2:30.  At 4 PM, I had the snack.  Seriously, the PAM, spicy lemonade, and snack bars were so good.

After I had the snack, I was either on a crazy sugar high or was really feeling the benefits of the cleanse, because I felt so loopy and giddy, it was unreal.  Normally at this time, I want a salty snack or a coffee because I’m falling aslweep.  By the time I got home last night, I was pretty hungry though.  So I had the delish, raw, vegan meal BPC provided, spacing out each “course” and starting around six pm.  Surprisingly, I felt really full and satisfied pretty much all day.  I felt sort of burpy, but not really gassy most of the day and didn’t go #2 at all on Day 1.

I woke up early this morning and my tummy felt flatter even though I hadn’t gone #2 yet or even had the urge to.  I weighed myself and it seems I lost 1.5 lbs.  Nice.  I drank some green tea and rushed out of the house for an 8 AM appointment for a colonic.  When I got there, I was starving.  After a few sips of the # 1 green juice, I felt better and all hunger went away.

I was really nervous for the colonic, since I’ve never had one before.  Apparently, colon therapy is good for you and helps you to remove toxins or parasites.  It can aid in treatments for various diseases.  Also, only about 10% of Americans have normal colons (according to autopys) and colonics help to promote normalcy if you have any digestive problems at all. Also, colonics are recommended in general if you are partaking in any cleanse.  It helps to get rid of the bad and frees up room inside for digestion of all the yummy juices and raw foods we’re eating on the cleanse.

A colonic, for you newbies, is basically, where a technician or a doctor inserts a plastic tube about 1/2 an inch up your behind.  The tube has 2 branches.  One for flushing with water and one for releasing.  Basically, water is flowing in and out of your behind constantly, for about 40 minutes.  My tech, Doris was great and despite the whole experience being extremely uncomfortable, it never hurt.  <ok, if you are my friend and/or you don’t want to hear about (my) poop, then you should probably stop reading now>.   It was nuts!  It seemed like I was literally going to the bathroom or felt like I was going for 40 minutes straight, there was so much pressure.  The other thing is because she knows where the colon is shaped under my belly, she’d rub different spots to expel gas or to keep things moving along when the colon turns inside.  The whole experience ended with a massive pile of bile (from drinking alcohol) and other waste getting massaged/flushed out of me… pretty nasty.  When you’re done, they direct you to the bathroom where you sort of sit on the toilet and it all comes rushing out.  Almost like explosive diarrea.

After I was done, I was afraid I’d lose it (literally) on the subway on the way to work but I was fine.  The best thing is my tummy felt lighter and less bloated all day.  I pretty much felt amazing all day.  And as twisted as this sounds, I’m looking forward to my second colonic on Monday, to flush out everything as I finish the cleanse.

So now I’m home.  I weighed myself again when I got home and it appears I lost 2 more lbs since this morning.  I must have had 2 lbs of poop come out today

And tonight is my last day of the “food” before I start 3 days of cleansing juice only.  I do have to admit I cheated tonight and ate 1/2 an avocado when I got home (one of the BPC’s cheat foods).  I was pretty hungry when I got off the subway and I figured this is my last day of eating so I might as well go balls out.

So far, I have no regrets at all about starting this thing.  If I feel half as great on Saturday as I do today, then it will all be worth it.

The Blueprint

What do you think about when you hear the word “cleanse”?  I think the word cleanse has connotations of being washed clean and purified.  And that is what I intend to do over the next week, starting June 1.

I jumped on the cleanse bandwagon, when my friend Scott said he was going to cleanse for a few days before heading to the beach in June.  He sent me the link to the cleanse he was thinking about… one that his friends have done in the past, called the Blueprint Cleanse.

I did some research on the site and on the internet in general.  Cleansing is recommended as part of a regular heath routine to promote well being, inside and out. It is supposed to rid your body of impurities and repair your immune system.  It’s also recommended if you’ve gone on a recent binge of food/alcohol and to get you back on track (like I have the past few weeks)!

I myself am planning to ease into a 5 day cleanse by doing a partial juice/food cleanse for 2 days (Juice til Dinner), and then a Foundation cleanse for 3 days.  The Blueprint site mentions that “A three-day Cleanse helps the body rid itself of old built up matter and cleanses the blood. A five-day Cleanse starts the process of rebuilding and healing the immune system.”

To prepare for the cleanse, my friends and I are going to get Colonics of course.  Some folks that have had colonics say they’re the most amazing (although uncomfortable) thing they’ve done in a while.  We do this prior to cleansing so you get a jump start on washing out the built up matter in your digestive system making the intestines free to absorb all the vitamins and nutrients you’ll get in your juices..

I’m really actually excited to start this cleanse.  I’m looking forward to increased energy, fresher skin, and maybe even dropping a few pounds.  I plan to chronicle the next week of the cleanse for any of you who are interested in reading about it or trying it on your own.

30 Minutes

I am sitting in my office with 3o minutes to spare.  I am thinking about all the things I have to do over the next 9 days before I move back to New York City.  And I am getting excited…actually, VERY excited!  Although my “to do” list seems really overwhelming.

If you know me in person or just read my blog from time to time, you know that I have an affinity towards New York City.  I just love it and it’s inexplicable.  I moved there originally in September 2002 to go to NYU for grad school.  I remember saying goodbye to my parents and siblings at the airport and thinking, “whoa, I’m really doing this!” I sat by a nice man on the flight and chatted with him the whole way there on the red eye.  When I arrived in NYC, I had 2 suitcases, was 22 years old and felt like I was the youngest person in the world.  Coming from California, NYC naturally felt scary and overwhelming and it took me a while to settle in properly.  I had major homesickness and felt grossly under dressed and poor wherever I went.  The first night I went out in the big city, I actually only withdrew $40 from the ATM and felt like that was a lot of money… I spent twice that amount that night alone!  That first year was tough, but it was Spring (my favorite time of year in NYC) and it clicked for me that I LOVED New York.  I would stay in NYC for the summer, work and enjoy the city.

That love affair was not a short stint.  It lasted a long time, but 4 years after I moved to New York, I felt a pull home to California.  I missed my parents and family…. and I would actually get jealous when my sisters would call me and say they spent the weekend together.  It wasn’t fair, I was so far away!  So, after a bunch of volleying in my head, I decided one night when I was laying in bed and on the phone with my boyfriend (at the time) that I would go home, get a new job, save money and be close to family.  That was the “right” decision.  Stop being selfish and move home already.  My parent’s were ecstatic!  But the decision brought me to tears.  I don’t know if it was because I was happy or excited, or what.  It was a really emotional decision for me.

Two short months later, after Craig’s Lister’s bought all my furniture, I was packed and ready to move “home” to California.  Two suitcases later and a flight later when I arrived in San Francisco it didn’t feel right.  This didn’t feel like home.

So, I’ve been here in San Francisco ever since.  I’ve had two jobs… one with the State and one with a major consultancy.   I’ve lived in 3 different apartments and have re-furnished twice.  I’ve traveled all over the world and have almost tripled my first starting salary.  I’ve been close to home and have rekindled friendships with friends from middle school, high school, and college.   I’ve also met new friends and had romantic relationships, happy, sad, good and bad.

And just as abruptly as I decided to move back to California in 2006, almost 4 years later, I’ve come full circle and am moving back to New York.  I won’t feel like the youngest girl in NYC anymore, I’ll be an experienced woman this time moving back as a newly minted 30 year old.  I do have another new job… one that requires less travel and will allow me to be home in NYC most of the time.   I’ll be going home to my old hood – the Upper West Side in a new apartment.

The past 3 years in San Fran were not wasted though… it was a great time, I had some great experiences and made a lot of wonderful memories.   And now I know SF and the Golden State will always be my second home.