Dear Monday

Dear (sunny) Monday, I'm so happy you're sunny but I wish the weekend could have lasted just a little bit longer.

Dear Hunter Mountain, you were a BLAST to snowboard on this past weekend. It was a great first time going snowboarding on the East Coast and I look forward to see you again in two weeks with Elina.

Dear restaurant week, had no plans for you before it started and now I have 2 this week! Excited to check out Fig & Olive and Abboccato.

Dear family, I miss you bunches, looks like you guys had a blast whale watching this weekend. Hope to see you all soon!

Dear body, I'm sorry I beat you up snowboarding this weekend, but we've got all week to recover.

Dear school, I'm glad the 6 week winter session is over, that did me over physically - I'm beat!

Dear Valentine's Day, you weren't as lonely as I thought it would be. I got to celebrate with my awesome single friends.

Dear Portland, I can't wait to visit you again soon after all these years. Can't wait to see my best friend Mandy.

Dear San Francisco/Sacramento, I plan to visit again in May and I can't wait! Need to decide if I should visit Cinco de Mayo weekend again or Bay to Breakers.

Dear blog, now that school is over I promise to get back to writing.

Dear running, see above. I miss being more active.

2014 is Here with a Bang

It's been awhile since I have written last for many reasons, the largest ones being work and going to night school 5 days a week (yikes!). Now that this winter session is coming to an end I am excited to only be going to class 2 days a week like I did in the fall. This will give me some of my nights back to hang with friends, relax and plan activities I have been talking about doing. On my list so far: another paint night, a night at a piano bar, go to spin, yoga or Pilates workout classes, get back to the gym on a more regular basis and find the time to decorate my apartment more. Any other ideas? Throw them at me.

Balls & Dolls

 Although I've been busy with work and school, I've managed to play in a bowling league, catch up with friends who I haven't seen in ages, go to birthday parties, see Avenue Q for the first time, spend time in Astoria with my roommate and friends who live there, win $50 at Super Bowl, spend a weekend with my cousin and just enjoy the winter while it's here. Check out some snapshots!

My roommate Raquel & I at Astoria Brewhouse

I'm so ready for Spring to be here although not just yet as I will finally be going snowboarding for the 1st (and 2nd) time here on the East Coast starting next weekend and two weeks after that. Let's hope I can remember everything! Stayed tuned for another update when school has slowed down :)

New Years Resolutions

Looking back on my New Years resolutions for 2013  I would say I completed most of them fairly well.
Personally:

• Run additional 5K's, ideally I would like to run one a month for the year. This was definitely accomplished. 42+ miles later, I feel happier, healthier, stronger and more determined to start what I accomplish. Who knows what 2014 will bring for me in terms of running but can't wait to get started. 
• Pay off personal credit card debt. This was an up and down roller coaster this year especially with starting school in September. With much determination I am debt free starting 2014 off right.
• Double my savings - once credit card debt is paid off and weddings are booked I hope to be adding more to my savings, something that is always on the list. This wasn't accomplished but I did manage to add to my savings account this year and plan to continue to do so more this year.
• Volunteer - I have tried this many ways so this year I am trying something different. I managed to volunteer sporatically throughout the year between work and volunteering at the Brooklyn Marathon. I plan to continue this in 2014. 
• Cook more meals at home/for friends - I feel like I don't do this enough so here's to dinner parties to come! Well I definitely cooked more at home this year due to school and with everything else going on I wasn't able to cook for friends like I wanted. Here's to making that happen this year.

Work:

• Maintain a strong work ethic and dedication to my position and the department. I would say I definitely accomplished this year as I always put hard work and determination into my job and all that it entails.
• Hopefully get promoted to a salaried position within the company. This didn't happen this year due to changes in management so this is definitely a goal for 2014.
• Go back to school and get a degree that will further my opportunities in Environmental, Health and Safety. I started school again in September and if everything works out like I have planned I will hold a certificate in my hands June 2015.

Now what to do for 2014? Keep an eye out!

Goodbye 2013

I can't believe another year has already come to a close. It feels like just yesterday that December started and I was looking forward to heading home for the holidays. Between Santa Con, birthdays, celebrating the holidays at work and a fun ugly holiday sweater party at my friend Greg's house, I stumbled upon the last day of work.

Finally I made it to sunny California to spend the holidays at home with family and to catch up with friends I haven't seen in over a year. I lucked out and had goregous 70-80 degree weather all week, got to spend time in Big Bear as well as run many errands I needed to finish before year's end. Check out some photos!

I also finally got to spend some time with my best friend Raquel who is 5 months pregnant! It's crazy to think last time I saw her she had just gotten married and had moved. Time flies when you are away so long. But she is glowing and excited for Liliana to make her way into this world. I can't wait to meet baby Borrayo!

And with that, December 2013 is almost over. Here's to 2014 and all that is in store for me personally, professionally and emotionally.

Where Has the Time Gone?

I can't believe it is already the end of November and another Thanksgiving is shortly upon me. This time last year we were picking up the pieces from Hurricane Sandy, my cousin got married and I was seeing the Thanksgiving Day Parade for the first time live.

Since I last posted, my days have been filled with school, birthdays, cornhole league, another race, work and various other random days that fill my days.

My November race was the Running Festival of Lights/ Chanukkah Gelt 5K in Bay Ridge Brooklyn. It was a cold and windy morning to begin with, but running along the water multiplied that by 5. As I stood there with Josh and Michelle, I began to really contemplate my insanity for doing this race. But as I reminded myself I committed to this New Years resolution of a completing a race a month and was determined to finish whether I ended up running it or not. Overall, I managed to run it at a slower pace due to asthma kicking in but managed to still complete the run under 40 minutes with a gorgeous view of the Verazzano Bridge.

Cornhole was blast playing with Janssen, Nicki and my friend Stan from Zog kickball. Even with it being a small division, we managed to have fun, make friends and win bar champs!

Can't believe it's December in two days, with Thanksgiving being so late this year everything seems to be going by a lot faster. With the last month of the year upon me, I can't believe what 2013 has brought me. Stay tuned for my last race for 2013, the Placerita Canyon Holiday 5K at the Master's College in Santa Clarita California. I am so happy to be ending my new years resolution how I started it, by running a race with my sister.

October-ness

So as I had mentioned previously, I decided to run the Rock 'n' Roll Prospect Park 10K as my race for October. Between making sure my new roommate moved in succesfully, setting up new bills and my best friend Mandy coming to visit, I felt like I didn't have a ton of time to run before the race.

She's here!

Mandy came to visit for 5 days between work and my new roommate moving in. It was a crazy week leading up to her visit but I was so excited to see her here in NYC. We filled her visit here with eating, a beer garden visit, Oktoberfest at Bear Mountatin (Circle Line cruise included!), kickball, cheering on the 49ers and her birthday celebration. Hope you had a blast Mandy!

Oktoberfest with Mandy, Kevin and Janssen

After Mandy left it felt like the week flew by and before I knew it, it was race day! With a early wake up call to make the hour trek to Prospect Park, the nerves didn't set in until my bag was checked and Michelle, Janssen and I headed to our corrals. As I told them, "I'll meet you at the end, I want to finish standing strong and to run continously.. and if I make it under an hour and a half I'll be happy too." 

Pre-race... when the nerves set in.

And we were off! Having never run Prospect Park before, Janssen told me there would be some slight hills that would be tough without having run them before. I felt good and knew that possibly I would see Michelle's husband Josh sometime after the 5K mark. Nearing the 5K mark I didn't see Josh but realized he'd probably gone ahead to cheer her on. As the first exhaustion wave set in I keep reminding myself that I have gotten farther than many people who've not gotten up off the couch and run. With that and the determination to run straight through I forged ahead. As I neared the 6 mile marker I started see people who had finished the race walk by with their medals and smiles on their faces... with that I knew I had to finish strong. AND I DID :) 1 hour and 27mins later, I completed my first (and probably last) 10K!

I had to get a photo with the back drop and my medal.

San Francisco

This past weekend I went to San Francisco for Megan & Gordon's wedding at the Piedmont Community Center near Oakland. I was so thrilled to be invited for such a special event, thanks Megan! After landing, spending time with sorority sisters and picking up the wedding present, I was ready for Saturday nights festivities. It was such a blast to spend it with sorority sisters who I have seen recently and those I haven't (good to see you Megan Weber!). Here's a few highlights!

After coming back from San Francisco it was already October, crazy how time is flying this year. This week itself has been crazy with cleaning my apartment so my new roommate could move in and for when Mandy comes tonight. I'm so excited to see her and catch up on life. Also excited for the Oktoberfest event on Saturday taking the Cicle Line up the Hudson to Bear Mountain Park and all the other things we plan to do while she is here. Lets hope I can squeeze in more times to run before the 10k next Saturday!