Hi there.

How are you? I’ve been running, spent some QT with Mr. SOTSS and yesterday I had an epic milkshake. Yeah, I said epic.I know the word gets overused, but I mean it. I’m not being dramatic. OK, let me back up and tell you about my week first and then we’ll get back to that milkshake.

RUNNING

I had another solid week in freelance-ville and like last week, I was able to get a few short runs in on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday and the theme for all 3 was HOT and HUMID!

HOT and sweaty…the pits don’t lie

Thursday trail run because shade was necessary

Sunday pictureless 4

RELATIONSHIPS

I ended up seeing Mr. SOTSS 4 days straight which is a lot for us unless we’re on vacation. It was lovely though. We went shopping so I could to pick out a birthday gift for his daughter, spent lots of time with the pooches, rented a movie (we saw Room—and it was really good!) and just enjoyed a whole lot of conversation. He even made me coffee in the mornings and cooked Sunday dinner for us.

The dogs fell asleep while we watched the movie. I think they were hoping we could rent the Secret Life of Pets.

After walking in the rain. Not amused

Duncan loves his “PapaG”

We’ve been together now just over 2 years. The first 3 months were truly the “get to know each other” months. Dates were once every couple of weeks and eventually we added in our every Thursday evening weekly date. Somewhere over the next month or so things really clicked and we knew this wasn’t a casual dating scenario anymore. We really complement each other so well and I’m so grateful that he is in my life, and I am in his.

I told you his smile is as big as the smiley emoticon I usually use to obscure his face.

We obviously don’t live together (we don’t even live in the same state—although we’re only 30 minutes away) but we make sure to take the time now to talk about how it will be to share a home in the future. We’re really clear with each other about things we will need, want, be willing to compromise on, etc. It sounds so silly but you can never be too prepared. I’ve lived alone since my husband died in 1999. In 2000, I purchased my home which is my haven and my pride and joy. I love having my own space and I’m not the most flexible when I’m out of my element.

Returning to my home sweet home yesterday

So I let him know that it would be imperative for me to have a separate space for my graphic design studio that would also be set up as a mini apartment for me, a place I can escape to (and hide my stash of peppermint patties so he can’t find them 🙂 . I envision it like a little cottage in the backyard with a pathway of scattered stones leading up to it. Lots of windows because I love natural light! And he will have his shop/garage where he can do his woodworking and home reno projects and work on his car. He’s volunteered to be make the beds and I’ll be the Swiffer-er! The good thing about meeting later in life is that we really have the wisdom and the determination to make a relationship work. Communication, compromise and above all mutual respect and kindness.

MILKSHAKE MADNESS
And now I’ll tell you about the milkshake that changed my life. My sister-in-law emailed me last week asking if I was going to be free yesterday because she wanted to take my niece to this restaurant in the city called Black Tap that she heard about that had some amazing milkshakes. I told her yes which meant doing some work over the weekend so I’d have the window of free time yesterday. We arrived at Black Tap about 30 minutes before they opened and there was already a line to get in. It was a short line and we were seated almost immediately after they opened. I hear that if you try and go later in the day you could wait 2 hours!

Yes that’s a chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich attached to the side of the glass like a garnish!

cookie milkshake from Black Tap

My sister in law got the black forrest shake. It was chocolate everywhere with brownies on top. Tasted very much like black forrest cake

I got the chocolate chip cookie shake. It was a vanilla milkshake with mini chocolate chips and cookie crumbles tossed in. There was also an entire ice cream sandwich attached to it. And chocolate frosting and cookie crumbs were covering the outside of the glass along the rim.

Niece got the cotton candy shake. It was a strawberry milkshake with insane amounts of sweets on top. Rock candy and lollipops and cotton candy.

My niece who now towers over me. I’m a shortie. She’s a beauty.

How cool is this shot I took of a door to the building the restaurant is in

And now I am off to my couch to work…..oh wait….I’m already there 😉

Happy Tuesday! Happy August! Happy Summer!

What’s the most epic dessert you’ve ever had?
Are you good at relationships? Can you compromise?
How have your running workouts been lately?

Hi there.

I can’t believe it’s Monday already. I had a super fun weekend which I’ll tell you about and then I’ll tell you about a few decisions I made.

Friday night after work I went to my new favorite tow path by the office for a run. I was feeling really sluggish and sore (have I mentioned that my SI joints have been stiff the last few runs?) and took it super slow.

I actually did get a focused selfie but this one just captured the moment better

I even walked a lot during the last couple of miles. It was the first time I listened to a podcast while running instead of tunes. I started listening to podcasts in the car when I’m commuting and figured I’d try it out while running. It was kinda cool so I will definitely do that again.

6 miles…done and done

Couldn’t imagine running to either of these destinations but it’s cool to think you could theoretically 🙂

Saturday, I did my usual stuff: took Duncan to the park early, did some house cleaning, shopping and then I drove to meet up with Mr. SOTSS and his girls. We saw Finding Dory which was adorable.

Good morning!

There was popcorn and candy but i didn’t snap a picture. Half of my Reese’s Pieces fell on the floor which I’m still grieving over…

Sunday morning, we all ran the Girls on the Run 5k.

corral sneaker selfie

I love, love love spending time with Mr. SOTSS’ and his girls but when the fun is a 5k it makes things even better! It was super hot so we took it easy. I enjoyed the one-on-one time I had with J, Mr. SOTSS’ newly crowned teenager.

She ran through every sprinkler! It was HOT out.

I have only known her for a little over a year and a half but it’s amazing how much she’s grown in that short time (in height and in maturity). I enjoyed listening to her 7th grade life stories as we ran the miles. We finished in about 41 minutes and then met up with the other half. Mr. SOTSS and his other daughter K finished in about 35 or 36 minutes I think.

Then it was home to shower quick and head over to my brother’s house for a Father’s day BBQ/birthday celebration for my newphew who turned 18!

Duncan loves him.

With no races until October, I’ve made a few decisions for the summer. I’ve gained a few pounds in the last few months and I’m feeling physically and emotionally weighed down by it lately. So I’m going to try super hard to clean up my eating habits and try and lose 7-10 pounds by Labor Day and I’m also going to scale back a bit on my running and try and do more non running things. My body needs a change for a bit. I’m hoping that I’ll do some more biking and walking. And I’m going to try and find some way to stick with a strength workout each week too. Yesterday I did a baseline on planks and pushups. Well I could only do 1 pushup and hold a plank for 30 seconds. Hard to remember the days when I could hold a plank for 2 minutes or bust out 10 pushups. So now that I’ve put this out there I’m hoping it’ll help me stick to it. I’ll report back maybe at the halfway point or maybe just at the beginning of September.

Well, my lunch hour is almost up so I’ve gotta wrap this up.

Hope you all had a great weekend and that your week is off to a good start!

Do you like to tell the world when you make plans to try and change a bad habit or lose weight or shoot for a PR or do you like to keep it to yourself?

Sweating out the small stuff and solitude with the ‘suckles

Happy Saturday!

I had a week with a whole lotta ups and downs. I knew all week that I was going to run after work on Friday at that park (Colonial Park) near my office that I discovered the first week I worked. But I didn’t expect to run more than 3 miles. I ended up running 10K because I was enjoying the solitude and those honeysuckles so much.

Honeysuckles!

I wanted to run on the DnR (Delaware and Raritan) Canal Tow Path that both Mr. SOTSS and Meesh mentioned. I didn’t find the entrance right away so I ended up running along a couple of roads with absolutely no sidewalk or shoulder. It was stressful and I had to stop and literally jump into the woods to avoid getting hit by a car a few times. Then I ended up on a quiet block when all of a sudden a dog ran out to the front of his yard and then toward me. He was not on a leash. Holy F! I was scared out of my mind. I just turned in the opposite direction and ran super fast and sure enough after a few minutes I stumbled upon one of the entrances to the tow path! Thank god.

Finally found an entrance

Hi!

It was smooth sailing after that and about 3 miles in is where I saw that there was a connection to the park via a cute little bridge. SO MUCH SAFER! HA! I cannot wait to run a bunch more times along this tow path every Friday.

When self timer shots go wrong

I cannot tell you how much I needed that hour + of time alone. I’ve been struggling to be heard lately and It’s been making me feel pretty crappy. And sometimes, because I’m so super open and honest with how I feel it makes people uncomfortable and defensive. I’ll just keep it at that. 😉 I loved the tow path because other than maybe a couple of bike riders and one or two other runners it was literally all mine! I could hear the birds chirping and the sound of my feet striking the ground.

With each stride I felt more and more Zen. I saw a few chipmunks and a deer too. I think I could have run 10 or more miles but I had to get home to Duncan.

There are over 70 miles to cover

When my run was over I celebrated with my free donut that I got earlier in the day.

#NationalDonutDay

Dunkin Donuts was giving out a free donut with beverage purchase because yesterday was National Donut Day. And then I returned my beloved running car magnets to “Forest” now that he’s back from the autobody shop.

I came home to my doodles and just chilled out for the rest of the night.

Did you say it’s Friday?!

His before and after from his latest grooming. I love his versatile looks 🙂

Random doodling during a meeting at work

OK I better go be productive now. It’s already after 10am and I’ve been up since 7am doing nothing but watching TV and blogging….

Happy Weekend!

Doing anything fun this weekend?

Hi. I’m back from a 4-day weekend getaway in the Adirondacks.

Mr SOTSS and I (and Duncan and Chester too!) took a road trip.

my lap-mate

Chester napping in the back

Since we had the dogs (and since I get hangry if I don’t stop to eat during any drive more than 3 hours) we stopped in Kingston, NY on the drive up for a little lunch. We spotted this great spot with outdoor seating which was perfect since we had the dogs in tow.

We arrived at the Trout House Village Resort in the late afternoon. It’s on the northern part of Lake George in Hague, NY and offers many individual log cabins, as well as a more traditional inn. Pet friendly too! We stayed in one of the log cabins called the “Ethan Allen Patio”.

Our digs

at the park adjacent to the resort

Being silly at the park 🙂

Duncan loves benches

After getting the car unpacked and walking the dogs, we headed up to Ticonderoga (about 15 min away) to the WalMart for some groceries to stock the cabin which had a full kitchen. And we saw not one but 2 different rainbows!

One of our favorite walking destinations was this little park on the lake

Rainbow 1

Rainbow 2

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