I woke up on New Year’s Day and decided I’d have Harry & David’s Moose Munch for breakfast. It just somehow felt like the right choice. I’ve got 364 more days to choose something healthier right?!

moose munch

breakfast of champions…starting the year off right  on my own terms.

After breakfast I waited for this guy to get up…

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We stayed out late on New Year’s Eve. He and his two pals Angus and Lu went a little overboard with the champagne treats.

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please give us more!

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hey! it’s midnight…give us those treats!

This New Years Eve celebration is for the dogs

This New Years Eve celebration is for the dogs

It was a fun night. Humans had a good time too! We put champagne in shot glasses for some reason. #champagneflutesareoverrated

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So finally when the dog woke up, we went for a walk. We saw Bambi!

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Then I left Duncan at home and headed to my aunt’s house for her annual New Year’s Day party. She’s 86 years old now and I didn’t want to skip out on this as I’ve done in the past (it’s mainly her friends). I got to drive a different way than usual so I took a pic of the Verrazano Bridge from a different angle than I usually do. (I have a weird affinity for the Verrazano Bridge if you didn’t know).

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My aunt had lots of fresh daisies in vases on the table.

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Her mom, my grandmother, Dorothy had been given the nickname “Dashing Daisy” from my grandpa. She always had a ton of energy and zipped around. I love the nickname and since I always felt closest to her as far as grandparents went I like to think I carry on her legacy….”Dashing” is nicely covered by my running, and “Daisy”….well, this is my Jeep spare tire cover…

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The sweetest things that my aunt had at the party were the dessert table…

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homemade italian cheesecake, homemade rum cake and a few other pastries that were delish

And this cardboard “resolutions” sign-in board…

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As I said, my aunt is 86 and many of the guests were seniors. Really? One man wrote that he wanted his wife to regain her sight! I hope everyone’s wishes and dreams do come true.

This morning as I was getting ready to go for a run I realized that I couldn’t find my favorite black running hat that I wore just a few days ago…

favorite black hat

favorite black hat

So I grabbed a substitute that I didn’t love but figured I needed to get out the door and didn’t have all day to continue the search.

black hat substitute

black hat substitute but the same vest lol!

There’s just something about favorites—hats, capris, socks, scarves, jeans….Next time I’ll just buy 7 of each of my favorites! (PS: I found my hat….it was in the dog’s toybox and it wasn’t his fault. I was straightening up before my friend was coming over and scooped up all his toys scattered on the floor and the hat must have been on the floor too and they all ended up getting dumped in the toybox. It was funny because initially I blamed the poor dog. Then I remembered.)

I covered 4.35 miles according to my Garmin….but lately mr. watch has been locking its satellite in the wrong spot. I start at my house and finish at my house yet at looking at the maps of my last few runs, clearly it thinks i’m starting a few blocks from my house.

mystery

I have lots of benchmarks along the route. I know it’s .3 miles to get to the main road and it’s exactly 1 mile when I get to the overpass that crosses the highway. Everytime I looked at my watch at these spots they were .06 off. It’s not the end of the world. I mean what’s the difference between 4.35 or 4.41? But I do wish I can fix it. #OCDwithnumbersrunner.

As for my new Brooks Ghost sneakers…..I still am unsure how I feel. It’s only the 2nd time wearing them. They definitely don’t suck, I just was hoping to feel like I had more spring in my step. I kept a 10 min mile pace which after using this training pace calculator, seems to be what my tempo pace should be as I begin marathon training…

pacesSpeaking of marathon training, mine begins next week!!! AHHHH!! I’m so excited and nervous. I hope my goals aren’t to out there. Meanwhile I found out that I won a special VIP package so I’ll get reserved parking and “upscale fare” in the VIP tent before and after the race. Hey, that’ll be my consolation if I don’t reach my PR goal of 4:40.

OK, off to batten down the hatches….we’re expecting a blizzard here in NYC. Hope your year is off to a great start.

Question: How was your New Year’s Eve? What did you do? Anyone eat something crazier than Moose Munch for their first breakfast of 2014?