Thanks to CH Cycles and the longer daylight hours, my newly-repaired bike and I have been taking an evening spin around the park and falling right back in love. Nighttime bike rides in Brooklyn are one of life’s sweetest pleasures, and it’s one of the best ways I’ve found to relax after a long day at the office. Using gmap-pedometer.com, I’ve discovered a couple of great 7 to 8-mile loops from my house through the park and back, and it’s been blissful. Plus, I just realized this past week that I can actually use that site to track my rides and workouts — I’m hooked!

I thought I’d share a few recent Instagram photos from my nighttime bike rides and I can’t wait to take more this week. If you ever want to go on a nighttime ride / photo outing, let me know! It’s even more fun with friends.

I never thought I’d have the guts to ride a bike in New York City. The first few times Matt and Peter brought up the idea that I should get my own set of wheels, I totally brushed them off. There was no way I could re-learn a skill I’d not practiced for 15 years AND navigate the city streets AND not get hit and killed by a car. No way. But slowly and surely they convinced me that it was hands-down the way to commute. It’s (often) faster than the subway. It’s wonderful exercise. And you get to see so much of Brooklyn you’d never otherwise see! Okay, okay. So I bought a bike.

My very first ride in Brooklyn was to get from the bike shop in Bay Ridge to my place in the Slope. It was six miles of pure heaven. Shortly thereafter, I was pedaling 10+, 15+, 20+ miles to get to Coney Island and Plumb Beach and Dead Horse Bay. I began commuting to DUMBO a few times a week. Matt and Peter and I had good times in the freight elevator. I loved my bicycle so much.

And then my back tire kept going kaput. After several unsuccessful repairs, I gave up. We moved to the new house and I got a new job in the city. I resigned myself to a boring commute on the 5 train. No fresh air in my face or burn in my legs. And my bike stayed broken all of last year. But once the warmer weather started showing up this year, I could only think about one thing: getting back on the saddle. I am so, so happy. Check out some of these feel-good Flickr faves while I plot my first ride back.

“Sears,” by Joel Zimmer:

“Deer in Headlights,” by LaToya Moore:

“Peugot Bike,” by Shawn Hoke and “Brooklyn Heights Bicycles,” by Joanna Pan:

“Bicycle Man,” by Leighton Gleicher:

“Low Rider,” by David Pexton:

“Big Brother,” by Michael Pearce:

Untitled, by Joanna Pan:

This tape includes nine of my favorite new tracks from Brooklyn bands, many of which I’ve had the chance to see live this year. Turn up your speakers, dance around the house (or at your desk), and hope you enjoy!

Find me over on 8tracks as jillysp and check out my previous mix here. I’d love to hear your mixes too!

A couple of months ago, we decided to go to the Big Island and blast through a boatload of credit card points we’ve racked up over the years. We’ve been to Hawaii once before, on a trip I won at a tech conference (!), and managed to see Oahu, Kauai, and Maui on a whirlwind tour. This time, we stuck it out on one island and I’m so glad we did — the landscapes are so diverse and raw and beautiful, and I feel like we could’ve spent a month there and not seen everything.

On a whim, I only booked the first four nights of our trip before we left and decided to chance the rest. I used to travel that way quite a bit, not knowing where I would end up next. That spirit has taken me to some of my most memorable destinations — to the south of Sweden, to remote beach towns in Goa, to Casablanca and Marrakesh, to a tiny town on the Italian Riviera where I hung out with old men playing bocce ball during a train strike.

It seems I’ve become much more of a control freak over the years because the thought of NOT KNOWING EVERY MINUTE of our itinerary was making me crazy. My inner dialogue was more of a screaming match, and my blank Google calendar taunted me every day. WHAT WERE WE GOING TO DO?! In the end, I chilled out, did my research, and felt at peace with a little ‘planned’ spontaneity. Plus, I ordered this book. It’s AWESOME.

In the end, the decision to play it by ear turned out incredibly well. After our first four nights at a VRBO house in South Kona, our spontaneity earned us a ridiculously low price on an oceanview room at a swanky resort (thanks, Hotwire!) and a last-minute opening at a lovely private house on the Kohala Coast. There were black sand beaches, green sand beaches, volcanoes, sunsets and humu­humu­nuku­nuku­āpuaʻa. We drank freshly-roasted and locally-grown Kona coffee every morning watching the geckos, tasted tropical fruits and veggies I’ve never even heard of before, and grilled dinner nearly every night at home. And OH! the snorkeling.

Of course there were a few bumps along the road as we both tried to relax into vacation mode and re-learn how to spend 24/7 with each other. The trip gave me a lot of time to think about my health, my creative projects, and our (stalled) renovation. It made me want to work less and play more. To spend more time with friends and family. To watch less television and get off the internet. To read and to write more. To make big checklists and cross things off, things I’ve wanted to do for a long time.

This vacation was a much-needed opportunity to begin thinking about how to recalibrate the balance in my life. At certain times during the past year, I’ve felt like I’m in a crazy workaholic spiral, which is not healthy for my body or my mind. It’s time to reconnect, to create, to turn off the distractions and get moving.

Thinking is only the beginning. Now it’s time to get off the couch and DO.

Check out a few of my favorite shots from the walk and have a lovely week!

“Out of Reach,” by Barry Yanowitz:

“Panorama, Pond, Japanese Garden,” by Chris Kreussling at Flatbush Gardener:

Untitled, by Michael Pearce and “Ents”, by Chris Kreussling at Flatbush Gardener:

Untitled, by Michael Pearce:

Instagram snapshots, by Adam Lerner:

Untitled, by Michael Pearce:

Panorama of the expansion site for the Native Flora Garden, by Chris Kreussling at Flatbush Gardener:

… and though he couldn’t make it to this meet-up, I couldn’t help but include Shawn Hoke‘s lovely photo from the garden this week! Brooklyn is for lovers, indeed.

I was inspired to get moving since I’d just ordered Gayla Trail‘s entire catalog of books. I’ve been a longtime fan of her blog You Grow Girl, but new book, Easy Growing, was published last month and features loads and loads of great ideas on growing edible herbs and flowers. And of course it got me hyperventilating for summertime. Can. not. wait.

Another gardening book I recently grabbed was Fern Richardson’s Small-Space Container Gardens. I’ve been reading her Life on the Balcony blog for a couple of years now and look forward to digging in this weekend — especially since Marie Viljoen’s terrace is on the front cover. (Why hello, Don Estorbo!)

It makes me so happy to support the work of the blogs I read. Awesome work, ladies!

To get myself in gear and start planning for this year, I dredged up some late-season photos from last summer. One golden fall afternoon before that freak snowstorm flattened all our hard work, I took my Mamiya out for a spin to enjoy the zinnias and coleus, Montauk daisies and sedum that were all in bloom.

I can’t wait for this view again.

I just can’t get enough of these California colors.

While the NYT article focuses on his portraits of prostitutes in Hunts Point up in the Bronx (which is link bait, if you ask me), he’s actually been doing a much larger series on addiction within that community. You can see the broader selection from this series here. Marie Viljoen from 66 Square Feet has also written a moving account of a recent trip she took with Arnade up to the Bronx that’s well worth the read.

For more of his work, please see his excellent series on The Pigeon Keepers of Bushwick, Barbershop Brooklyn, and lots more over on Flickr. So gratifying to see Arnade get recognition for the consistently thought-provoking and moving work he does.

Fast forward a few months and I finally got to see footage of their impromptu session, which I am excited to share. Capybara’s new album Dave Drusky was released last week on Amazon & iTunes and they performed and recorded several songs from the new LP IN MY HOUSE. So proud. Enjoy!

CAPYBARA / Neighbor Crimes / CMJ 2011 (Brooklyn, NY)

Untitled, by Barry Yanowitz:

“Revolutionary,” by EYENOWRITE:

“Lost Liberty,” by Stephane Missier:

“The World is..” by Eleazar Teodoro and “New Year’s Dawn,” by Marc Dalio:

“Fog Bank,” by Jane Kratochvil:

“Crown Heights Promenade,” by Shawn Hoke:

“Sucked,” by Jonathan Percy: