Happy 3 year anniversary to me and NYC!

Ho. Ly. Shit.
I have lived in New York City for exactly three years (plus a few days now). Is anyone else as shocked and surprised as I am?! Not to say that I thought I'd have left by now (maybe some of you thought I would have. Ha! Joke's on you!) I just can't believe that it's already been three years.

Time has absolutely flown by. If I'm being perfectly honest, it feels more like 5 years.
Let's recap a bit and relive some of my "for better or for worse" New York City moments...

Number of neighborhoods I lived in: 5
Number of roommates I've lived with (total): 11*/12 if you count Beefcake ;)*not including the entire Brownings staff for the summer of '11 & '12
Number of jobs I've had: 4
Number of best friends I've made who have moved back home: 4 (sad face)
Number of times I've been mugged: 0 (yay! go me! not all my friends can say the same...)
Number of celebrities I've seen: 20+ (I think I'm forgetting about a few)

I know it's kind of silly, but each year, I like to do something to celebrate the anniversary. My first year, I went out with some of my teammates to 123 Burgers Shots Beers, it was all very last minute, thrown together, but a fun evening none the less. Last year, for my second anniversary, I was "living" in Southampton working for the gym. I don't even remember if I did anything, but I don't think I did. Something about not actually being in the city... it didn't feel right.
But this year, I wanted to make sure that the occasion was celebrated. And it seemed only fitting to spend it with the person who has been in on this crazy journey with me since day 1, my great friend from high school and old roommate, Alaina. About 9 months to a year before my feet landed on the streets of NYC, I called Alaina and said something like "I know in high school, you talked a lot about wanting to move to NYC... Do you think you'd still wanna do that? Yes? Great. Let's go!"

It also seemed to make the most sense to spend this day with one of the greatest friends I have had the honor of making since I moved here, and her supremely amazing husband, Tanya and Danny. Tanya and I met through "ladies who brunch" meetup and have been best friends ever since.

I asked them all to meet me in Central Park's Sheep's Meadow and that I'd be there with pizza from my favorite pizza joint and champagne. We spent the afternoon indulging in said goodies along with the fresh meats and cheeses, cheesecake and berries that my "party guests" brought with them. Before it was time to part ways, I ended up hopping on Danny's bike for my first official bike ride in NYC! (yes, I own my own bike, but I've never ridden it IN the city)
After letting all of the food settle and a quick catnap I decided to get off my lazy butt and get in a sunset run, even though I had come to terms with taking a rest day.

And I'm so happy I did. It ended up being a beautiful run and I got to explore new areas of Riverside Park that I'd never been to before!

All in all I'd say that my 3rd NYC anniversary was a success.
Thank you to everyone that I've met here who have helped write a piece of each page of this crazy story. I've been told that NYC has a notorious "three year itch" so I'm eager to see what the next year brings along and what will happen for me in the next three years.

Pssssst! Did you notice that my blog got a little face lift? It's still currently under construction, but will become more and more solidified in the coming year. I now have TABS! You can browse through even more parts of my life by clicking on each of them. Definitely take a look at the "health coach" tab in the near future as that tab will surely see some significant growth :D

February in review

February 2013: Results

• Run at least 75 miles This did not work out as planned, but only because I got bronchitis the last week of Feb :( I ended up completing 67.42 miles. Had I completed all of the runs I had mapped out for myself, I would have ended up over my goal. This really bummed me out, but I guess it's better that I get sick now, than the week before the race!

• Go to yoga at least twice Nope! Didn't even go once :(
• Take my scheduled cross training days seriously: actually do a full set of weights Frankly, I do not do well with creating my own workouts. I love working out, but I love it more when someone else is telling me what to do. I still did cross training about 2 days/week, I just know I didn't workout to my full abilities, for a number of different excuses: my gym is always packed and mostly full of men who stare at me (I'm also usually the only white/blond woman/person in my gym); I love cardio and have a hard time jumping off the machines to move on to the weights; etc. etc. etc....
• Eat sweet & sour candy peaches from work no more than twice/week I did alright with this, except for the week of Valentine’s Day… there was ridiculous amount of treats in the office and once I start, I can’t stop!

• Bring (healthy) lunch to work at least 4 times/week This is something I was already doing, but I wanted to make sure I stuck with it, and I did!! There were a couple of days that I just stuffed my face with unhealthy snacks from our kitchen, but I would say for the most part, I did well with this and will continue to do so :)

• Get checked for skin cancer This is something I’ve had on my mental to-do list for a very long time. I love the sun, and I love going tanning. Yes, I am aware of how bad this is for me. No, I do not plan to change my tanning ways anytime soon. (sorry I'm not sorry) Thankfully, my skin checked out good! I do plan to continue going back once a year to get checked.

• Hold at least a 1 minute plank no less than twice/week I actually did better with this than I anticipated! If I'm being honest, I probably only averaged once/week; but I did notice them getting slightly easier by the end of the month. But I put a huge emphasis on "slightly"...
• Go to at least 1 spin class CHECK!!! Not only that, but it was theeeeeee best spin class I have EVER taken! Come back in a few days to read my review of this amazing class!
• Find someone to run at least 1/2 of my long runs with me I didn't even bother asking anyone (other than my friend Rachael, who is running the half marathon with me). Last year, I needed the help towards the end of my training. This year? Not so much! I'm trying my hardest, to run in new areas of the city that I've never been to before, which is really keeping me entertained throughout my runs :)
• Do at least 1 thing I could only do in NYC CHECK!! I went to the Museum of the City of New York! It wasn’t the best museum I’ve ever been to. I also didn’t realize that there was a 3rd floor and ended up having to rush through it because I had somewhere to be. I think I’ll go back sometime, to see if the exhibits change, and to look longer on the 3rd floor.

I really enjoyed doing this for myself and would like to continue to keep posting my goals for each month. I mean, who says that goals should only be something we have January 1st?! That being said, check back March 1st, for a new list of goals I've set for myself.

*** Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone that has taken the time to read this blog lately. It's definitely keeping me inspired to write and post more often! ***

 

Goals (continued)

As promised, here is a list of the goals I have set for myself for the next month. I will do an update after the month is over to let you know how I did (and to keep myself accountable)!

February 2013

• Run at least 75 miles
• Go to yoga at least twice
• Take my scheduled cross training days seriously: actually do a full set of weights
• Eat sweet & sour candy peaches from work no more than twice/week
• Bring (healthy) lunch to work at least 4 times/week
• Get checked for skin cancer
• Hold at least a 1 minute plank no less than twice/week
• Go to at least 1 spin class
• Find someone to run at least 1/2 of my long runs with me
• Do at least 1 thing I could only do in NYC

So there you have it folks! Some of these things have already been mapped out for me to do for a while now, or I've already been doing them, I just want to make sure that I keep up with them. I'm a very competitive person, and hold myself at a higher standard than probably anyone else does- so I'm really hoping that by having this in writing, and ONLINE, I'll actually stick to it!