The Holiday Season

This was a busy blogging holiday season for me and the one thing I didn’t spend much time talking about was what made it such a great break.

You can't go wrong with Nutella hot chocolate

You can’t go wrong with Nutella hot chocolate

We booked a last-minute trip to Atlanta to visit Josh’s brother and to see his parents who were also coming into town. We arrived early morning on Christmas Eve and left the day after Christmas. While it was a very short trip, we enjoyed spending time with the family, celebrating a belated Chanukah with everyone, running in Piedmont Park, and eating a lot of great food.

Piedmont Park on Christmas morning

Piedmont Park on Christmas morning

The next day after Atlanta, we had tickets to go see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular with my family. We were that group of adults without young children at the 9:00AM show! It was intentional, of course, to be able to see my friend, Amanda perform (she was incredible as always). After the show, Amanda brought us backstage and we saw the sets, costumes, changing rooms, and the highlight, the camels. I decided that it is no longer possible to see shows that you don’t know people in; I’m spoiled thanks to Amanda.

With Amanda and the camels

With Amanda and the camels

Later that day, we walked around a less hectic Rockefeller Center area and ate brunch at one of our favorite restaurants, Fig & Olive. I am so glad to have the chance to introduce my family to such a great dining experience and after 31 years, I think I might finally have succeeded at choosing a restaurant my mom enjoys. Even though it was busier after brunch, we did a little shopping. No trip to NYC with mom is complete without some new clothes! This was one of favorite purchases, now I just need to wear it somewhere fun and I am also so excited about my Christmas present from my parents – a new Links of London charm bracelet.

The Tree

The Tree

The next day, we made waffles for our good friends and their daughter at our apartment. It is such blast having little ones in the apartment and seeing how they react to different things each time they are here. Months ago, she was fascinated by my foam roller and now, she’s moved on to Piglet (definitely a girl who knows the way to my heart).

The bracelet looks better next to the Fuelband, huh?!?!

The bracelet looks better next to the Fuelband, huh?!?!

The rest of next week was spent relaxing and trying new things. Josh was battling a cold, so my week off wasn’t as lonely as he was home working and sick for most of the week. I went to my first Mile High Run Club class and ran my first speed workout with the Dashing Whippets Running Team. We spent New Year’s Eve making dinner and hanging out on the couch. I’m surprised we made it to midnight, though I did take a nap during the day. Friday was my first full day back at work, it felt like it was a Monday but I’m so glad it wasn’t. I’m not ready for a full week yet.

Silly family picture

Silly family picture

And finally yesterday, we hosted my dad’s side of the family for a get together at our place. We made appetizers, went out to dinner, and had dessert back here. It a great way to bring in the new year!

Now, I am prepping myself for the first full week back to work.

How did you spend your holidays?

2014: Year in Review

Wow, what a year it has been! To recap, here are some highlights of my favorite moments from 2014 (remember how much I love numbers and stats!):

Athletes to End Alzheimer's team on marathon morning

Athletes to End Alzheimer’s team on marathon morning

Running – this has certainly been a fulfilling year for running endeavors with many awesome memories with my running family.

13 completed races in distances ranging from 1-mile to marathon.

Personal records set in all distances raced.

—1,285 total miles run – that’s roughly equal to the distance from here to Kansas City 0r to Orlando and half-way back, and almost half-way to London floating in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

—More than doubled the total distance I ran in 2012, and almost 200 more miles than last year. Man, I was such a slacker back then!

—208 hours spent running – that’s more than 30 minutes a day every day for the year. What a waste of time, huh?!?

—Ran in 8 different states and 5 countries, either on a treadmill or outdoors.

—Over 50 hours spent at Local Barre and another 50+ hours spent swimming, spinning, or some other form of cross training.

—Wrote my 100th post on cindyruns.com. Thank you for being my audience 🙂

—Meeting and spending time with some amazing friends along the way.

—Raising over $1,750 for the Alzheimer’s Association, NYC Chapter.

Chicago Marathon - done!

Chicago Marathon – done!

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi

Traveling – I love traveling, near and far, and I am so lucky that we were able to spend so much of our time whether for business or pleasure in so many new and old places this year.

—Domestic: Orlando, FL; Hartford, CT; Pittsburgh, PA; Indianapolis, IN; Chicago, IL; Philadelphia, PA; Bridgehampton, NY; Atlanta, GA

—International: Abu Dhabi, UAE; Bangalore, India; Mustique, St. Vincent and the Grenadines; Dubrovnik, Croatia; Baska Voda, Croatia; Split, Croatia

—Sampling food, running, and enjoying the company of friends and family in these locations – priceless.

Old Town, Dubrovnik

Old Town, Dubrovnik

Our year would not be as wonderful if it weren’t for all the time spent with our family and friends. Thank you for a great 2014. I am looking forward to an amazing 2015!

Have a happy and healthy new year to everyone!