When your day starts off like this it’s probably not going to be a good day right??
A Flooded Sometimes Healthy Kitchen. Oh My
This picture would be my flooded Sometimes Healthy kitchen, and this little flood is the way I started off my Sunday. You may be asking yourself, “How did you manage this one Sometimes Healthy Girl?” Well, it’s actually quite simple. You see, I was so wrapped up in writing yesterday’s race recap, that I completely forgot I was running the water in my sink to soak my blender after the previous day’s smoothie fest. 15 minutes later, I looked back at the sink to find water and suds everywhere! The blender was blocking the drain! OOPSIES!
Do you get it now? This is why I refrain from cleaning. Bad things happen every time I give it a shot. Looking back, I’m strangely proud of this little flood. I don’t think many people could accomplish the feat of flooding a sink less than 2 feet away, but I managed! Gold star please? A little absent-minded? You bet ya! That’s me for better or for worse. To know me is to love me ;-).
Anyway, needless to say, being the melodramatic person that I am, this little incident rocked my world just a bit. I knew only two people could turn this day around.
These two always cheer me up
Luckily, I was set to meet up with the brother and soon-to-be sister bear in just a couple of hours to have some fun at the annual Big Apple BBQ. If anyone knows how to whip me out of one of my “woe is me” melodramatic moods via incessant sarcasm, it’s my big brother. Before, heading out to meet them I texted a pic of the disaster to my brother so that he was fully aware of the dire circumstances. He didn’t give me the reaction I wanted, such as “You poor thing. Would you like us to drop everything to help you?” or “Wow, you really live a hard life” so I followed the text up with a phone call that went something like this:
- Jamie: Hi, did you see my text? Isn’t it just horrible? It’s sooo horrible. What should I do?
- Eric: Ummm, clean it up?
- Jamie: I know…but it’s so hard.
- Eric: Okay, would you like us to go to the BBQ without you?
- Jamie: No, but I just wanted you to be aware of how upset I am.
- Eric: Shocking.
After the phone conversation, I quickly mopped up the mess and threw on my running shoes. I decided running to the BBQ festival would be an effective way to burn off my frustration and a few calories before indulging in a bunch of delicious meaty goodness. #youknowyou’reahealthylivingbloggerwhen…
Running Therapy
The run to meet Eric and Julie was just the “therapy” that I needed. First, I stopped for a few quick seconds to squeeze in a little puppy watching action at the dog park.
Ohhhh yeah - check out the paws on that English Bulldog! And the French Bulldog? What a beauty!
Every time I take pictures at the dog park, people look at me like I’m crazy. Apparently it’s weird to take pictures of other people’s dogs…Now that I think about it, it’s not like I’d take a picture of some stranger’s baby…maybe it is odd?
And then, my Sunday Frown officially turned Upside Down as I took in the beautiful view of the East River.
How could this not cheer me up?
After 3.5 relatively quick miles, I reached Julie’s apartment, where I met my brother and Julie in a very sweaty, but sweeter state. Running makes everything better.
BBQ Sauce Makes Everything Even Better
It was a beautiful day for a giant bbq in the middle of Manhattan. The temps were mild, which made it ideal for being in a crowded place with a bunch of bbq grill smoke. Had it been hotter, this festival could have been quite the experience. Here’s the official description of the Big Apple BBQ.
” The weekend-long event occurs every June and brings together the country’s top pitmasters who cook up their award-winning food for over a 100,000 barbecue enthusiasts. Set against the beautiful backdrop of Madison Square Park, the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party attracts people from near and far to sustain and celebrate America’s authentic culinary and musical traditions.”
Sign me up! My brother told us to be prepared for lots of long lines and waiting up to an hour for an order of ribs. But, I was totally game for the wait. I figured the longer we had to wait for food, the longer I’d get to chat with two of my favorite people in the world! Such a clever girl!
When we arrived at the park, I was immediately overcome by the smell of rich, smoky barbeque. You should have seen the big ol’ smile on my face! It was a bit overwhelming between the lines and the people, but luckily, my big brother is good at navigating these types of things.
We walked around for a bit to take it all in and come up with some sort of plan.
Can you see the smokey air??
Can you spot Eric and Julie? Precious right?
First up, we decided hit up the ribs from Checkered Pig. Our strategy was to go with a short line that was NOT a bbq place that could be found in NYC. The ribs were only for Eric and Julie though. Sometimes Healthy Girl doesn’t do ribs. It’s not that I don’t like them. It’s just that I can’t find a way to eat them without getting bbq sauce in places it really shouldn’t be. I’m a messy eater, what can I say? You know you’re messy eater, when your friends and coworkers give you the nickname Crumbs.
What a beautiful sight - Doesn't the pic make your mouth water?
While we waited, we inhaled the smoke from the bbq ribs and caught up on everything. Topics of discussion included my dating life, or lack thereof, the blog, their wedding and my never-ending battle with pretzel-binging. To which my brother gave his automatic response, “If you’re going to eat a lot, at least pick something GOOD.” I replied that pretzels dipped in cream cheese taste like fries cooked in truffle oil to me and if he didn’t understand it, he should give them a try.
And speaking of something good…wow those ribs looked good! I almost broke my no-ribs policy. Looks like Eric and Julie enjoyed them, though! They managed to eat them with minimal bbq sauce drippage. Nicely done, you two!
This will be in the wedding video FO SURE
We also met up with my friend, Anjelica, and her fiance. When NYC has a bbq festival, you can bet some of your friends will be there.
Recycled pic of Anjelica eyeing her beloved cake pop - we forgot to take pics at the bbq 🙁
We were a bit saddened to see that Anjelica and her fiance both got twice the ribs of Eric and Julie for the same amount of money. So we decided to drown our sorrows in bbq sauce- soaked pulled pork shoulder from Ubon’s Barbeque of Yazoo. This dish is Sometimes Healthy approved because I can eat it with a fork. After only about a 30 minute wait, we were rewarded with this mouth-watering sandwich.
Come to mama.....
I dug in like a hungry pig! (no pun intended). After watching the lovebirds devour those ribs, I was ready for my bbq fix.
Little Miss Piggy!
Okay, I didn’t really eat the sandwich like that. I used a fork. It wouldn’t have been safe without utensils, as it would have ended up all over my sweaty running clothes. I must say that this was some of the best pulled-pork I’ve ever eaten. The pieces were so big, juicy and bbq-sauce infused. I feel like I really didn’t understand true pulled pork until I tried this. Nevertheless, I wanted to save room for desert so my brother and Julie finished it off. You wouldn’t know by looking at this slender couple, but they are quite the foodies. They love to experience good food, but I’m not sure where they fit it all 😉
Both of them were complaining about “BBQ baby bellies” so the desert round was only for yours truly. Sadly, the fried pies we had been looking forward to all day were sold out :-(. Will I ever again have the opportunity to try a fried pie?? Until we meet again, fried pie.
We could have had something special Fried Pie
Luckily, Blue Smoke was serving what looked to be delicious blueberry cobbler. It seemed like a long wait, but the weather was nice, and we had nowhere to be. Sadly, after waiting about 30 minutes, we were told the blueberry cobbler was running low :-(. We decided to cut our losses and head out.
On the way home, I snapped this pretty picture.
Still takes my breath away...
No matter how many times I see it, it still takes my breath away and reminds me how lucky I am to be here! Call me cheesy, I don’t care ;-).
By the time we got back to Julie’s apartment, it was already 4:30, and we were full, happy and exhausted. BBQ sauce really does make everything better! If you’d like to know how our goodbye went, please reference this post. Needless to say, per usual, I was a little sad to say good-bye (Eric lives in Washington D.C. right now).
So, I did what any NYC girl does when she’s a bit down…drowned my sorrows in 16 Handles.
Better than blueberry cobbler?
Please note the blueberry/graham cracker toppings. Along with the captain crunch, cherries and fruity pebbles, I was hoping they would replicate the dessert that I missed out on earlier in the day. No such luck, but it still tasted good.
After I got home, I tried, but failed to make healthified cake pops.
Healthified Cake Pops Recipe Failure #1...more to come....
Since everything’s better with BBQ sauce, perhaps I should have poured some on to this kitchen disaster? Nope, I don’t think even BBQ sauce could save this one…
Well, if at first ya don’t succeed…I vow to conquer these cake pops and come up with a Sometimes Healthy version that doesn’t look like dog _______ (you fill in the blank).
Off to bed! Early morning at work tomorrow but ending the day with an ice cream party. I promise to give a full report of every delicious scoop.
Question:
What’s your condiment of choice? What’s one weird thing that you pour it on?
Have you ever tried to healthify cake pops? Please give this girl some tips!
Oh man, I have definitely forgotten about leaving the water running before! It is a pain to clean up! Glad the rest of your day got a little better…
I love honey mustard on everything…even sub sandwiches.
Gahh I am sorry that happened, but at least your blender and sink are super clean!? I did something like that when I was younger except involving a bath tub. I left the water running and forgot about it of course and was quickly reminded when water started to soak down into the kitchen. It’s safe to say my dad was prettyyy pissed haha
Ketchup is DEFINITELY my condiment of choice and I put it on my salads to use as a dressing 🙂 Don’t knock it until you try it!
Oh my… I think I would have cried when I saw that mess!
I love bbq sauce. My favorite dressing would be ranch and bbq sauce mixed together. So good.
It was just so ridiculous that I had to laugh (and call my brother to complain). Mmmmmmm bbq and ranch – that reminds me of this salad at the cheescake factory. Yummy!
1) The image of you eating ribs made me laugh 🙂
2) My favorite condiment is Wendy’s chili sauce in those lovely, little gold packets. I take handfuls when I go there and carry them in my purse so I can put it on everything. Yes, I have no shame.
I LOVE adorable hand-holding pictures taken candidly!
Um. I felt really creepy after seeing you write that you would never take pictures of a stranger’s baby. Because I’ve seen some to-die-for chubsters that I’ve snapped photos of. Oh man. I am awful. (I promise it only happens like once every other year, but still.) I should stop, shouldn’t I ……….
Happy to see you enjoyed the Big Apple BBQ!
(Last note: I totally thought I saw you in my morning spinning class, but realized that she just looked really similar. I definitely did a double-take, though!)
Aw too bad it wasn’t me. That would have been so exciting!! Well, it is okay to take pics of a stranger’s baby. I get it. Don’t feel weird 😉 I’m a puppy girl myself haha
I always make a bigger mess when I try to “clean” I just get distracted so easily lol.
Cleaning is sooo overrated!
hmmm, healthified cake pops. I’m not too sure about that one. Applesauce or pumpkin instead of butter/oil? Sorry about your kitchen mess! At least you got to see your bro and have some delicious BBQ – I didn’t make it to the bog apple BBQ this year and totally regret it.
Horseradish mustard is my favorite condiment – seriously try it!
Sriracha Thia hot sauce is my go-to condiment. I put it on everything – including in my tuna salad (which apparently is weird?) If you haven’t tried it – I highly recommend it. It has a little rooster on it.
Trust me, I think nothing is weird when it comes to food!
+1 to Sriracha sauce and ketchup as my go-to (over used?) condiments. I put them on everything! Eggs, salads, potatoes, mac and cheese…
Wow this Siracha sauce sounds special. I’ll have to give it a try.
You are adorable. I am OBSESSED WITH BBQ SAUCE!! LOVE ALL THE PICTURES and I would have left the mess and made billy clean it up.
Good idea, Janae! I need a Billy to clean up my messes!! 🙂
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