I hope everyone had an amazing December, and holiday season. I know I sure did. It was jam packed thats for sure. I have been so busy with the holidays that I didn’t even have time to blog. I am playing catch up now so I am warning you that this is an extremely long post-but there is tons of fun things inside. 
Here is a look back at some of my memorable moments in the last few weeks.
New York City
Christmas Morning my mom made a delightful breakfast for the family. This was our first Christmas not in our house. My parents just sold the house I grew up in, and this was our first Christmas in the condo. It was definitely sad not having a fire or Christmas tree, but we made the most of it. It made me realize that it doesn’t matter where you are, but who you are with that really matters. After breakfast I drove to VA to spend the other part of Christmas morning with Chris and his family. It was wonderful as well, and I wish we could have stayed longer. I didn’t get any pictures there.
Christmas Day-I didn’t take many pictures. I was just enjoying my day with the fam. We spent Christmas Day with my mom’s side of the family. We played some fun games, and enjoyed a wonderful dinner together. My grandparents weren’t able to make the trip up from Florida this year, and we really missed them.
Day After Christmas we celebrated Christmas with my dads side of the family, and my moms birthday. Happy Birthday Mom! My Aunt had us all over for dinner, and she cooked EVERYTHING herself. Didn’t take pics of the food, but it was really delicious. She did an amazing job setting everything up, and the dinner was awesome!
Chris and I had a Holiday Party at our apartment since all our friends were doing different things for New Years this year. We had tons of food, and drinks, and it was a good time. I am definitely getting into Dirty Martini’s, and made my very first one that night. SOOO good!
I had a very low-key New Years 2010, which was perfectly fine with me. It was cold and rainy out, and I didn’t feel like doing anything crazy. Chris’ family had us over for couscous, which was out of this world. We just hung out and rang in the New Year together.
The couscous was out of this world-I think I already said that, but it really was! It was couscous topped with merguez sausage, cabbage, carrots, zucchini, chicken, and lots of Mediterranean spices. It was so filling and really delicious.
No-Chris was not drunk in that picture, but I think he was about to blink, which is why his eyes look like that. And that ball was supposed to be a replica of the ball that drops in Times Square. Chris’ sister and cousin came up with the idea and made it themselves. I thought it was awesome! All in all a awesome holiday season!
Now with that being said, it’s a brand spankin’ New Year!!! A new year means a new beginning, new challenges, new struggles, new memories, and more fun times ahead. 2009 was a really great year for me. I learned so much about myself, my family, my job, and just about life in general. Each month I had something new and exciting to look forward to. Here is a look back at my 2009 even though I start blogging half way through the year.
January was memorable because my friend Kerry, who I met in LA, came to visit me in DC. Her and I had such a great time when she was here. We went out one night with my BFF Kelly, and just laughed till it hurt. Such a great time!
February was memorable because I went skiing in West Virginia with my family and Chris. I love weekends like this. No where to go, nothing to do, but ski and relax in a hot tub. Now that’s what I’m talking about.
I had a hard time remembering something that happened in March. I couldn’t think of anything. I think I was just working like crazy, and getting ready for my vacation in June.
April was memorable because my mom and dad joined Chris’ family in St. Michael’s for the St. Michael’s Food and Wine Festival. Patrice, Chris’ step-dad, did a demonstration there, and the whole experience was just so much fun. We took a boat ride, tried some wine, ate good food, and enjoyed dinner at a rustic pizza place in town. The owner and head chef of the restaurant was actually one of Patrice’s students and so of course we got the treatment.
With Chef Patrice, his family, and Spike from Top Chef at the St. Michael's Food & Wine Festival
I also got to see the Cherry Blossoms in DC for the very first time.
May is my birthday month, and I was able to convince my 4 best friends from college to come to DC and celebrate my birthday with me. They live all over the east coast (NYC, North Carolina, and Florida) so this was really special for us. I also got to celebrate my birthday three different times with friends and family. It was good times all around!
June was a fun month because Chris and I took a week vacation to the Dominican Republic. We were originally going to Cabo, but then the swine flu broke out, and we changed our trip to the Dominican Republic. Such a fun, relaxing vacation. I wish I could go back right now!
July was a life changing month for me because I started my blog. One day in June I was searching for some information online and came across Caitlin’s blog. I immediately got hooked, and started reading more and more blogs each day. It was so interesting and fascinating to me that I created my own. It has seriously been such a great experience, and I love doing it. It is something that has kept me motivated about being healthy, and excited me everyday. You can’t ask for anything better than that. Since I don’t have any pictures of me blogging, I thought I would share another memorable moment of July 2009. The 4th of July. I will always remember this 4th of July because my brother was back in town, and I love having him here. It was one of the funnest 4th of July’s I’ve ever had.
August was a really exciting month for me because I was invited by Siema Imports to go on a wine trip to Italy for work. It was one of the best, most memorable experiences of my life..hands down!
And let’s not forget Chris’ surprise birthday party that I threw.
And my cousins wedding in North Carolina.
Some of the grandkids with Grandmom and Grandpop
September was the month I ran my very first race. Like I have said many times before on the blog, I raced a lot in high school, but hadn’t raced since then. This was my first race experience outside of high school, and I was immediately addicted. I will always remember the Kensington 8K not only because it was my first race, but because my brother was able to be there (he lives in Cali) because we were celebrating my parents 35th anniversary that night. Having him there to see me race was awesome!
October was the month I ran my VERY FIRST 1/2 Marathon!!!! I didn’t only run one that month, I ran two. This was a wonderful experience that led me to sign up for a full marathon. Was I just on a running high? So nervous about that decision now!
November is memorable because it was the first time I spent Thanksgiving with out my family. Chris and I decided to make a semi non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner together, and it was truly a delicious meal, and a great day. I spent the following day with all of my family, but being able to cook with Chris and make an outstanding dinner together meant a lot to me. I know its corny, but it’s how I feel.
I think the highlight of December was my trip to New York City. Everything about it was perfect, and being there with Chris, and my family will be a memory I have forever. Of course the holidays were great, but this is something that just sticks out in my mind the most.
What an amazing year-I feel like it went by WAY too fast. I have many goals for 2010. Some of those goals are to run a marathon, learn French, be a kinder person, be less judgmental, be a little more faithful, and to be the healthiest person I can be. Those are just a few. I hope this year brings health and happiness to all. To start off my healthy new year I made a huge bowl of berries and bananas for breakfast. I cut up a banana and added raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries. I was in berry heaven.
I ate a small bowl of this with some coffee.
For lunch I made an awesome concoction of Israeli couscous, green beans, acorn squash, cranberry sauce, and fat free feta. It was as delicious as it was colorful.
For dinner Chris and I made dinner together, and we tried to make it some what special. We are celebrating our 3 year anniversary today, and so we did grilled fillet, roasted sweet potatoes, and a three bean salad. DELISH!
I made the three bean salad because I wanted to incorporate black eyed peas into the meal. My family always has these on New Years for good luck. I included green beans, kidney beans, black eyed peas, fat free feta, and Newman’s Own Organics dried cranberries, and some dried currants. I mixed all this together with a home made vinaigrette.
A wonderful anniversary dinner. Now it’s movie time. WHEW! That was a long post. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Now that I am all caught up I will be blogging more regularly. I hope everyone had a great New Years Day!!!! Let’s make this year a great one.
