Heating up!

Just when I thought it was safe to assume summer was going easy on us, it got hot. Like REAL hot. The Summer Social at SGP was spared the hot weather this year, thankfully. We had a really nice turn out with lots of people and delicious cocktails, and made some cash for the park which made me feel like all my efforts had not been in vain.  But sure enough, just days later, the index rose and kept going up. We managed to see the Minions movie and run around Central Park with ice cream to keep cool.  Samarra even came for a late afternoon visit to the park to say howdy. It was great seeing her again and our conversations about where we'll all be in a few years time left a lot to ponder.  But by the time Nacho finished his training in Atlanta and flew home, we were cranking up the oven we call New York City. Since we knew we had Bix and Riley's party in the afternoon, our first order of business was to hit House of Inasal in Woodside for a Filipino lunch. Several Sunnymom friends have been recommending it and the bright color of the ube ice cream sandwich was a definite point of interest. So we gave it a shot and I'm glad we did. Elisa tried almost everything including the fried pork rolls called lumpia, the chicken empanadas, the sweet pork sausage served with rice, as well as my marinated chicken breast which she kept going back for. It all tasted great. Nacho asked for a really authentic pork dish and the waiter didn't hesitate. So he got the pork belly, ears and liver with chopped onion and peppers. Um, yeah...smelled okay, but I didn't try it. The next day we felt equally adventurous and thought it would be fun to hit Astoria Pool on the hottest day of the year so far. Why exactly? Well, I suppose it was a good idea, but everyone else in Western Queens had the same thought. It took over an hour just to get to admitted to the locker rooms! Yes, we were the fools that stayed in line. But hey, by that time we had committed ourselves and the girls to swimming and so it felt like we couldn't turn back. I'll even say it was worth it for the 2 hours we managed to relax and cool off. Because when it's hot as Hades, all that matters is that you dip your body in liquid that's cooler than the air. And it was. It might have smelled vaguely like a port-o-potty in places, but who cares, right? We are urban dwellers after all and we do what we have to in order to survive. Speaking of, I think we might need a new A/C unit...