Woah! How is it 6 days into the new year already? Let’s catch up! How did you ring in the new year? Anything new and exciting planned for 2016?

So the good news is I have managed to break my 10-cookie-a-day-habit but I have been satisfying my sweet tooth with these candy canes I got on the half price rack after Christmas 🙂

IMG_0211Let’s face it—I have no expectation that my sweet tooth will just disappear for 2016 so I’ll do what I can to keep it under control.

I got a new couch and it comes with a classic Sally story. So last Tuesday I met some of my high school alumni at a local bar for our annual holiday get together. It’s always fun to catch up although we keep in touch on Facebook too. I spent 4+ hours there and it was after midnight when I got home. I was expecting my new sofa to be delivered between 6:30-9:30am the following day and knew I needed to get my existing furniture out to the curb. I couldn’t exactly call someone in the middle of the night. Mr. SOTSS’s suggestion was for me to just move my existing furniture into the dining room until he was able to get over to help but I’m stubborn and a little too type A to be able to handle having the old stuff lingering for a day or more. So I just hauled a$$ and got-er-done but I took out chunks of sheetrock, pulled some muscles and bruised myself along the way.

All because I was too stubborn to wait 12 hours!

All because I was too stubborn to wait 12 hours!

But I did it! #stronglikebull #stubbornasamule

But I did it! Down 2 flights of enclosed spiral stairs #stronglikebull #stubbornasamule

There was even a moment that the love seat was literally wedged in the staircase and I couldn’t budge it loose. I almost fell apart and cried but I pulled myself together and slithered under the railing to get beneath and jiggle the love seat free. While I’m still sore and bruised a week later, it was worth it.

And the new sofa? I love it!

IMG_0111It’s big enough for Mr. SOTSS, me and BOTH dogs. This was very important to me since Chester is a big boy and hasn’t been able to fit on the sofa with us without being a “lap” dog =)

we ALL fit!

we ALL fit!

So I thought it would be fun to go month by month and share my most memorable moments of 2015. They won’t all be running related but I’m sure you don’t mind. Gonna go in reverse and start with December first so that I can tell you all about my New Year’s Eve:

DECEMBER 31—New Year’s Eve/Day

Happy New Year

Happy New Year

I spent the afternoon strolling the outlet stores with Mr. SOTSS, his girls and his mom too! We then picked up some groceries at the supermarket for dinner. The girls and I took on the important responsibility of picking out ice cream flavors and before you knew it we had whipped cream, chocolate chips, sprinkles and chocolate syrup! If there’s one thing I know it’s that you need to make ice cream sundae’s to ring in the new year. Mr. SOTSS’ mom cooked an amazing dinner (his aunt and uncle joined us for dinner too!). We then put on our party hats and waited patiently for midnight. The girls played chess and then joined me in working on one of the jigsaw puzzles that I bought them for Christmas.

Matching shirts!

Matching shirts!

The finished puzzle. All glued together and ready for hanging.

The finished puzzle. All glued together and ready for hanging.

Party animal!

Party animal!

Siblings! Always a competition =)

Siblings! Always a competition =)

On New Year’s Day we went to the movies…Mr. SOTSS took his oldest to see Star Wars and I took his youngest to see the Alvin and the Chipmunks.

IMG_0210A perfect way to end one year and start another. I’m so grateful for the wonderful friendship that has emerged between me and the girls over the last year. They are two truly amazing individuals who make me laugh so much.

November 1—NYC Marathon
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I couldn’t not pick this as my most favorite November memory. Even though I struggled I had amazing support from Mr. SOTSS and his family and saw so many other friends along the way including catching up to Lisa and running the last 3 miles to the finish with her. You can read my recap of the day here.

October 23-26 Chicago Birthday Weekend
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backwards-bean-selfie.jpg
For the second year in a row Mr. SOTSS and I celebrated my birthday with a weekend getaway. We chose Chicago for this getaway (last year was Cape Cod). We covered a lot of the “go-to” sightseeing things from strolling the magnificent mile and seeing the “bean”, to going to a Blackhawks game, running along Lakeshore Drive, eating deep dish pizza and seeing some of Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture. Here’s my recap of the weekend.

September 5-6

Of course a glorious sunset on the water.


Mr. SOTSS and I went to Long Island for Labor Day weekend to spend time with both his mom and her husband and his dad and his wife. We had a day trip to Fire Island one of the days and another day trip to Shelter Island on the other. It was a quintessential end-of-summer weekend with time spent on his dad’s sailboat and enjoyable walks along the beach.

sand, water, boardwalks, blue skies, and my honey

sand, water, boardwalks, blue skies, and my honey

You can read my recap of Labor Day weekend here.

August 1-2 AND August 19-23

Finally standing!

Smiling anyway despite the disappointment about my hamstring

I took two very memorable trips in the month of August. The month kicked off with destination wedding #1 in Block Island for Mr. SOTSS’ dad’s wedding and later in the month we went to Jamaica for destination wedding #2, his cousin’s wedding. I went paddleboarding for the first time in Jamaica! You can read my recap of Block Island here and Jamaica here.

July 4th weekend

The birthday girl's reaction to one of her gifts....she's not only super cute but she has the most adorable 4 year old voice.

11221852_10206980954744023_5787009635830465407_o Taking photos at Mr. SOTSS’s cousin’s daughter’s 4th birthday was a super fun day. I love taking candids. It’s special to catch those priceless expressions. And the next day I ran a local race on Staten Island. You can read my blog post about these fun events here.

June 20

Supporting Mrs. C because she deserves all the support in the world.

In the car waiting for everyone to arrive. An innocent smile before it all sank in.

For the second year in a row I joined my dear friend Lenny and his family for the Walk to Defeat ALS. I wish I could do more to help find a cure. Speaking of doing more. Check out Pickals. I’m so inspired by my friend and her husband’s powerful and positive response to his diagnosis. 

May 9
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I don’t get to spend that much one-on-one time with my niece Sarah, so it was awesome to spend the day with her in the city to celebrate her 15th birthday. We had a super delish sushi dinner, shopped around SoHo and had cookie shots!

Cheers!

Cheers!

April 10th-12 and April 26
I couldn’t choose just one for April.

How funny is that tree-hugger girl in the white dress. She's working' it for the camera.

There was the amazing weekend getaway Mr. SOTSS and I took to Baltimore and Washington DC. We saw the Cherry blossoms in peak bloom and spent time taking in all the points of interest in Baltimore including seeing an Oriole’s game and strolling around Inner Harbor.

The harbor at night

The harbor at night

The NJ marathon took place on the last Sunday of April and was so memorable for me for one very big reason. It was the first marathon Mr. SOTSS ever saw me run. He ran the half that day, went home and showered and came back in time to cheer me on at the finish. And Jane set a PR that day! I was so proud of her. You can read my recap here.

Me and Jane

Me and Jane

March 29
Speaking of Jane, we ran the Love Run half marathon in March and of course enjoyed brunch after. And Jane PR’ed at this race too! You can read my recap here.

Lookin' good!

So happy!

Pancakes the size of the plate. And yes I ate it ALL!

Pancakes the size of the plate. And yes I ate it ALL!

February

My wolf pack (Gina, Lisa and Barbara) went to the Borgata in Atlantic City for our annual birthday celebration weekend for Lisa.

Happy Birthday Lisa!

Happy Birthday Lisa!

January 30-31
At the end of January Mr. SOTSS and I had a weekend ski trip up in Vermont. It was one of my Christmas presents. We stayed at a quaint bed and breakfast and went skiing and snowmobiling.

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It was -1 degree out!

885559_10205802134794261_9063926555026348312_oMany of you know that I didn’t do so well snowmobiling and took a spill which left me with a torn rotator cuff and months of physical therapy after. Yep. I’m going skiing again at the end of this month but we’re going to snowshoe on day 2 instead of snowmobile. =) You can read my recap here.

So there you have it! So many other wonderful honorable mention moments too! Lots of amazing hikes with the dogs, the NYC Half, so many long runs with my peeps and solo, and the list goes on. I’m so blessed and grateful for all the life that I get to live. It’s hard to even remember I was unemployed for half a second in June.

Here’s to a super 2016 filled with more of the same.

5 Comments

  1. Sally love your blog! Happy New Year! I too ate my weight in cookies this past month. Wouldn’t have it any other way. Where is your family? Notice you spend alot of time with his family but never yours?

    • Cleo, I’m guessing it’s because I’ve only been dating Mr. SOTSS for a year and a half-ish and his family is still new to me? Trust me, my family is around and we get together often. I’ll try and include them more =)

  2. That new couch looks SO comfy! I honestly would do the same exact thing with the old furniture… hahaha.

  3. Love the couch! It looks so comfy. That puzzle also reminds me of the Lisa Frank stuff I had in elementary school. Good times.

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