Dear Boyfriend: Thank you for a perfect Valentine’s Day Dear Wolf Pack Girls: Thank you for a fun Atlantic City weekend Dear slot machine: I’m breaking up with you. sometimes you should try giving instead of taking. Dear shoulder: I think you need to try harder to heal. I am repeating my mantra “time and rest heal everything” but damn you hurt 🙁
OK so despite dropping some $$ in the slots and dealing with this ongoing shoulder pain I sure did have a fun weekend. Probably because it was filled with an abundance of delicious food…so let’s discuss: First, was the Valentine’s dinner that my sweetie cooked. He made stuffed artichokes, crab stuffed, bacon wrapped filet mignon, roasted potatoes and sautéed asparagus and mushrooms. I watched him cook everything so I know he didn’t sneak in the gourmet meal from somewhere. Oh and he even hand dipped chocolate strawberries for me. I guess he likes me just a smidge. Tee Hee. And then of course I made my famous apple crisp which we had with ice cream. Heavenly. Haven’t mentioned it lately, or maybe I have….I’M.JUST.SO.LUCKY!
I am loved!
We’ve been getting lots of snow. It snowed a few inches on Saturday. Duncan isn’t sure if he loves it as much as he did a few weeks ago.
Hi folks. Hope you had a great weekend. I spent it up in West Dover, Vermont.
As one of my Christmas presents Mr. SOTSS got us a lovely bed and breakfast ski weekend trip. He’s such a great travel companion and thoughtful gift giver too. This was our first road trip without our furry kids. While it was hard leaving them behind we really enjoyed ourselves.
almost 170 years in business!
A good sign that there are fireplaces inside…YAY!
We arrived in the late afternoon on Friday to the The West Dover Inn. The Inn was established in 1846 with just 3 guest rooms and has remained in business ever since. They have since expanded to 11 rooms. After checking in to our room we went for dinner at The Roadhouse, a local establishment just a few miles away. They served homemade bread that arrived at the table nice and warm. And they also served homemade apple crisp which we both had for dessert. Any place that specializes in homemade carbs….yeah I don’t even need to finish this sentence.
Apple Crisp!
It had been snowing most of the day and night and really set the mood for what a ski weekend in Vermont should feel like. After dinner we went to the bar at our Inn to listen to some live music and have a drink. And their bar recently got a makeover too. It was quite crowded and lively.
I don’t even know how to tell you all about my merry little Christmas without this post becoming a novel. So I’ll save you all the details and just tell you some of the highlights.
1. I have spent the last 14 Christmas Eve’s with my dear friend Sue and her Italian family celebrating Christmas Eve the way the Italians do with a Seven Fishes dinner. (well this year was 6 but who’s counting?)
Tilapia and shrimp oregonata
Pasta with white clam sauce and calamari
“baccala” codfish salad
Sue’s mom, who is 91 years old and currently undergoing chemo for pancreatic cancer, and her 89 year old aunt, remarked at the dinner table about how they forgot to have fun these last 30 years! That really struck a chord with me. I live my days to their fullest and don’t EVER want to forget to have fun.
Somewhere in between the fish dishes and the conversation we watched some classic I Love Lucy episodes and Duncan and his girlfriend Lucy got matching Santa toys.
Duncan and Lucy with their matching toys
Duncan and his new santa toy
I love Lucy!
I don’t know if next Christmas Eve will be the same but I know that this one will remain so meaningful to me. My prayers and thoughts will be with Susan’s mom as she continues to work at living…..even at 91. She isn’t ready to go yet! God bless her.
a warm candle light, a fragrant holiday wreath and festive flowers really decorated our evening.
2. I don’t want to get all mushy gushy about the boy here, but let’s just say I spent some quality time with him and I am JUST.SO.HAPPY!! This awesome running vest was one of many sweet, thoughtful gifts he gave me.
Nike Aeroloft 800 Running Vest
Little does he know I didn’t need anything for Christmas. He sure is my gift. The vest packs into the back pocket and has a hand strap so you can easily run with it if you decide you’re getting too warm. I can’t wait to try it out. But I’m trying to stick to my plan and not run for a couple weeks. #SoHARDToDo. He also got me this awesome tripod for my iPhone.
Joby GripTight GorillaPod Stand
Joby GripTight stand
I love that I can wrap it around things like tree branches vs a traditional tripod that can only be placed on a flat surface. Here’s to some new running pose pics for my blog for 2015!
3. This sunset.
Sunset 12/26
After spending 3 days away from home visiting with friends, family and the boy I got to see this beautiful sunset just before arriving back home last night.
Today is all about cleaning and enjoying the unseasonably warm temps later with a nice long walk with Duncan. You know, quality time…..because Duncan hardly gets that. LOL!
And the winner of the Luna Bar giveaway is:
Luna Bar Giveaway winner!
LeeAnn I am sending you an email requesting your mailing address so we can get that box of bars to ya. Congrats!
QUESTION: How was everyone’s holiday? Any meaningful moments for you? Any great gifts? Running gifts? Favorite gift?
I have been taking an annual road trip with the doodle for one long weekend a year at this rental house in Cape May, New Jersey for the past 5 years (except for last year).
The backyard is one of Duncan’s favorite things about the house. I love the porches.
I found it on Bringfido.com when I was looking for a pet friendly place and road trip destination for me and the doodle back in 2010.
This is how Duncan travels. 2+ hours in this exact position. I’m so lucky!
I love it here! And especially this time of year. It’s empty. The dogs are allowed almost everywhere and there are lots of scenic options for running too. I also love the colder weather. It’s been colder than normal for this time of year. It even got below freezing last night (31F).
I arrived on Thursday afternoon and settled in while preparing a lovely dinner. The boyfriend and his doodle dog Chester came down in the evening to join Duncan and I.
Shrimp and pasta. Every now and again I actually cook!
And then there was a lot of relaxing.
the boys!
Friday morning we took the dogs to the beach. Chester and his person played football with an indestructible destructible Nerf ball and Duncan just enjoyed the fresh, and might I add COLD air.
Touchdown!
Waiting for the ball
Out of bounds!
Perfectly Coiffed doodle!
in dessert terms they would be a blondie and a brownie
After a little bit of shopping and a couple more meals, the boyfriend and Chester headed home.
Yesterday was another gorgeous crisp Autumn day. Rather than return to the beach, I took Duncan to the Cold Spring Bike Path for a 3.5 mile walk and we enjoyed the last of the Fall Foliage.
Cold Spring Bike Path
It’s a 3 mile stretch and is just a quarter mile walk from my rental house. After our walk, I dropped him home and set out on the same route for a run. Since I knew it was flat and mainly away from traffic and traffic lights I went out faster than norm.
I’m still trying to work out some kinks with the knee and a few other tight spots but 3-4 miles seems to be my sweet spot for distance right now. No pain occurs during these shorter runs. So I figure I might as well try and run faster knowing my mileage each week is a lot lighter. Come January I’ll start building back up my base for marathon training.
Later on in the afternoon I took Duncan to a unique spot known as Cox Hall Creek.
Cox Hall Creek WMA
It is a 253-acre state wildlife management area that used to be a golf course. So all the paved paths that the golf carts used to ride on are still there but there’s just the most majestic jungle of greenery and wildlife all around you. A friend that used to live in the area told me about it and I’m glad I had a chance to spend some time there. Duncan loved it too. Lots of scents to track.
Today we went for a short walk and now I’m packing up the car to head home. It’s been really relaxing and just what I needed. Before you know it Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here and life will be quite hectic.
He loves looking out the french doors.
Do you have a place you go to every year at the same time of year? What season do you go there?
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