Making a big move and the last 30 days in pictures

16. June 2018 · 8 comments · Categories: running, vacation · Tags: , , , ,

Well hello again. I’ve been on vacation this past week (just a staycation) and finally took it down a notch to regroup. Coincidently, it’s been exactly a month since my last post so I figured I share a little from the last 30 days in pictures because honestly that’s how I remember my life these days….I just scroll through my phone’s camera roll :).

Aside from this past staycation week I’ve been doing lots of sign design and production 🙂

Now that the weather has been warmer, Mr. SOTSS and I have resumed our Thursday night walks to get ices. That’s rainbow cookie for me and coconut raspberry for him.

I discovered this amazing combo: Sweet and Salty Kettle Corn AND Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips. So delicious!

I ran a race! Yep, the Spring Lake 5 miler the last weekend in May. It was super hot and I thought I might die. I ran the whole race with my friend Lisa and we had a great time catching up on life. I also got to see my friend Jane. And after the race, I had brunch with Lisa, her cousin and his wife. And if it couldn’t get better than that, I got a medal and a glass. Woot!

Happy feet!

For the 2nd year Mr. SOTSS and I attended a local fundraising event called the Blue Jean Ball. Such a fun night! And with our crazy work schedules it was really nice to get out on a weeknight and relax.

Props for the props.

I picked up Chester and brought him back to my house last week and snapped this pic just before we started driving. So cute.

I also made him pose for a pic just like I do with Duncan.

Speaking of duncan poses here’s one!

and another

oh ok….one more 🙂

On the Friday before my staycation began I came home from working at Fastsigns and passed out for 2 hours. I woke up and felt like running….and so I did…at 8pm! Fresh pavement and honeysuckles…it was awesome!

Speaking of honeysuckles, I walked a whole lot during my staycation just to be around the honeysuckles….they smell soooo good!

I went hiking and these ferns stopped me in my tracks.

Ran 3 slow miles yesterday and then took this selfie. Note to self: I need more running tanks. I only have ONE!

The view on my first walk of the day today

and then a second walk this evening with Duncan

And I made my bed! This is a big deal because I am not a regular bed maker. But I need to get in the habit because tomorrow I’m listing my house for sale! That’s my big news 🙂 I’ll be moving in with Mr. SOTSS for a while before we start house hunting for something together. I’m a bit freaked out as I’ve lived my entire life (44 years) here on Staten Island and I’ll be moving to New Jersey. But considering I basically pack a duffle bag and go there every weekend anyway I guess it won’t be that big a deal. And Mr. SOTSS is a GREAT bed maker so I’ll have that to look forward to 🙂 But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t emotional about this. I bought this house less than a year after my husband died and I have been here for 18 years. It’s been my serenity. I’ll miss it. But I’m looking forward to this next chapter.

So how has your last month been? 

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popping in to say hi

15. May 2018 · 3 comments · Categories: running, Uncategorized · Tags: , , , ,

I miss blogging! Haven’t been here in a month so I just wanted to pop in and say hi. Hope you are all enjoying your Spring wherever you are located—I love that I have readers as far away as New Zealand!

Real simple, I’ll let you know how my month has been going in about 3 bullets.

  • I’ve been running 1 or 2 times a week. I’m slow but steady and have adjusted nicely to this new norm of decreased speed, duration and distance. It’s nice to have it back in my life consistently since being sidelined so much in 2017. As for races. They’ll be few and far between. I’ll be running the Spring Lake 5 (miler) in a couple of weeks and couldn’t be more excited for it. Hoping for decent weather.
  • I’ve been working all day e’ryday. Yup, not lying here. Upwards of 12ish hours daily.
  • And any remaining hours have been either eating, sleeping—or of course, walking Duncan. There were a few family highlights as well sprinkled throughout. Mr. SOTSS turned 45 and my niece turned 18. She had accepted admission at the University of Pittsburgh but only a week later found out she was also accepted to NYU’s (New York University) Applied Psychology program so she is switching gears and will be attending NYU instead. I’m a very proud aunt.

I’ll leave you with a few highlights of the last month in pictures. Now tell me some of YOUR highlights from the last 30 days!

Running highlights:

This past Saturday I had 59 minutes left to Deena Kastor’s book “Let Your Mind Run” and ran until the book was finished 🙂 I highly recommend the book. As a side note, I heard her on a recent podcast episode say she didn’t run for like 4 months straight while writing the book.

The trees have been blooming like crazy here. This was another easy weekend run

There was the 7 miles I ran at the beach 3 weeks ago with a few minutes of bench sitting…. (highest distance so far this year!)

And realizing my average pace was 11:11 “make a wish” pace. Do you make a wish at 11:11? I’ve been doing this since high school.

And an after-work evening random evening run.

Working highlights:

a 12 foot x 2 foot sign we created and installed recently for a new cooking school in New Jersey

A large key that I printed, applied to foam board and hand cut for a mortgage lender

Some vinyl graphics we applied to the window above this company’s entrance

And everything in between:

My niece all ready for her next chapter. Class of ’22

Can’t forget about watching Desi win the Boston Marathon in that cold/windy/rain. Amazing!

More Spring beauty on another evening stroll with the pooch

Seriously this is a highlight. I got a new toilet seat and installed it myself. 🙂

We are representing the business in comfy fashion 🙂

As seen while walking Duncan one evening. So pretty

Evidence of the coffee i spilled on Mr. SOTSS’ birthday card. Typical Sally. I spill coffee on EVERYTHING!

Mr. SOTSS making a wish on his birthday

An afternoon jaunt to Asbury Park one weekend and a fun place for a photo op.

And of course, my daily highlight.

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Wolfe’s Run Trail 10K my missing piece sort of

15. April 2018 · 3 comments · Categories: running · Tags: , , , ,

Hi there and Happy Sunday!

I slogged through a trail 10k yesterday morning and my victory was that I didn’t quit. I ran the Wolfe’s Run Trail 10K, the third and final race in a “triple crown” series held by Complete Race Solutions here on Staten Island.

not my finest race photo but it was free and that’s always a plus. It also clearly shows that this wasn’t easy for me and that means I was working hard and that means I give myself a pat on the back. Go me!

The funny thing is that last year I ran the first two races of the series but got injured before the third so I missed out on getting my last interlocking finisher’s medal.

Last year’s 2 interlocking medals

And yesterday I got that 3rd piece but it is a totally different design for 2018 than it was for 2017 so no bueno. But even so, I still feel complete now anway. HA!

this year’s missing piece

The weather was ridiculously warm. It was in the mid 70s by 10am when the race started and my body has barely had time to acclimate to running again let alone acclimate to the warm temps.

The course was set up as two 5k loops. I kid you not that I was ready to go home after that first loop and it was so hard to talk myself into going the distance.

I finished in 1 hour and 24 minutes and honestly I don’t even care what the finish time was. I’m just happy to have completed my first race of the year.

My feet are pretty banged up. I have blisters everywhere. And there were plenty of rocks and Sweetgum tree balls that irritated my poor toes.

running over the sweetgum balls….ouchie!

The course had a nice mix of terrain including about 150 feet on the beach, some multiuse paths and then some technical trails through the woods.

running on the beach

I had to walk a whole lot. The first 5k I only walked on the inclines and on the beach until I got to the wet sand. But the second 5k? I walked some downhills too. I was THAT tired.

I’m at the far left. This was the first mile before everyone smoked me and before I totally melted in the sun 🙂

There was this one moment when I realized that I hadn’t needed to look at any of the trail markers because there was always someone in front of me but by the second 5k there was no one in front of me and that meant getting to know those little orange ribbons and yellow arrow signs in the ground real well. Hey, at least I didn’t get lost!

I enjoy the races that that Complete Race Solutions puts on for so many reasons. They’re soooo enthusiastic about what they do. They take a lot of time crafting the courses and the same group of runners seem to attend each event so I like to see familiar faces even if I only know one or two really. I love that the races are all just a few minutes from home and in parks that I frequent regularly anyway. This particular park is about 1/2 mile away from my old high school and where I’d hang out all the time with my friends. It’s also the same park that has the dog park that I used to take Duncan to daily when he was a lot younger.

I’m secretly wanting to run the NJ Half in 2 weeks but I know I won’t be ready. So my next race will be in about 6 weeks when I run the Spring Lake 5 miler. I’m hoping to get stronger in the next 6 weeks. But hope is where I’ll leave it. 🙂

In non-running news Duncan is still doing the usual….

like a siamese twin.

morning nap in the warmth of the sunshine

And I’m trying not to cut myself as much at work but that’s not going so well. I usually have 3 bandaged fingers by the week’s end. LOL. It’s not just the blade that I cut myself with. The edges of the backing paper to the adhesive vinyl are so sharp I’ve ended up with paper cuts that are so deep. The thumb is my most recent self-inflicted wound.

 

So what have you been up to? Anyone running Boston tomorrow?
Do you prefer running in the heat or in the cold? Signed up for any races?

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An “I can do hard things road trip” and new business venture

24. March 2018 · 6 comments · Categories: running, Uncategorized · Tags: , , ,

Hi there.

Happy Spring. Here in New York City we got a big dump of snow thanks to Nor’ Easter Toby. But it has mostly melted.

at the beginning of the storm

at the beginning of the storm

the morning after the storm

the morning after the storm

I got back at the beginning of the week from being away for 17 days. Away from home, away from Duncan. Needless to say it was tough. But it was for something very exciting…

Mr. SOTSS is opening a business. It’s a franchise called FASTSIGNS.

Welcome to FASTSIGNS :)

Welcome to FASTSIGNS 🙂

Basically a business that creates visual communications like signage for other businesses. In addition to traditional signage there is digital signage now added to the mix and even vehicle wraps. When Mr. SOTSS made the decision to do this I immediately jumped on board because I knew I could help him design the signs. He was really excited about the production part of it (actually building the signs). So this seemed like a great combo. This has been in the works for well over a year now and over that span it became clear that he, as the franchise owner, would be busy with many tasks at first, including the very important task of sales and that the production part is really more a dual role for the graphic designer…moi. I knew this would be a challenge for me, and as I learned while we were away, challenge is an understatement.

Let me back up for a minute and tell you about the trip which was to the corporate headquarters of FASTSIGNS, in Dallas, Texas. We had to complete a 2 week intensive training.

a little bag of snacks was given to each of us to help us get through the training weeks. And a BIG BINDER that was full of info by the time we left

a little bag of snacks was given to each of us to help us get through the training weeks. And a BIG BINDER that was full of info by the time we left

We set out back on March 2nd on a drive that would ultimately land us in Dallas, We were originally going to take our dogs which is why we opted to drive. We also thought it would be fun to see a bit of the country as we traveled (I think we covered 15 states total—New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansa, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Virginia, Maryland).

I insisted on taking photos of each state. If I was driving then Mr. SOTSS took the photo

I insisted on taking photos of each state. If I was driving then Mr. SOTSS took the photo

We ended up not bringing the dogs (HARD THINGS #1: Leaving my dog for 17 days! and HARD THINGS #2: Leaving my home for 17 days when I’d never been away for longer than 8 days before.)

We started the drive through a snow storm and the first 6 hours of the trip were very stressful for us but more so for me. I legit had a panic attack in the car and asked if we could pull over. And so we found a WalMart and he got new windshield wipers and I took a few deep breaths. HARD THINGS #3 was definitely getting through the snow storm. There was an 18-wheeler trying to make it up a hill on the Interstate and kept rolling back. We were the vehicle directly behind it.

But after that we were smooth sailing and made it to Ohio where we slept for the night.

Happy road trip AFTER the storm

Happy road trip AFTER the storm

The next day we drove through Kentucky and into Tennessee and when we got to Nashville we walked around for a few hours.

Hi, from Nashville

Hi, from Nashville

nashville-cashmuseum

music-row

 

silly timer-camera stuff

silly timer-camera stuff

sweet treat stop at Goo Goo Shop

sweet treat stop at Goo Goo Shop

Hi, from Nashville

Hi, from Nashville

nashville-cashmuseum music-row

More »

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