The Best of 2016

Happy New Year! Yesterday was the weirdest New Year’s Day ever. I’ve always loved New Year’s Day and the feeling of a clean slate, probably similar to most of you. But yesterday — for better or worst — just felt like another day. And an off day at that. I didn’t sleep well on New Year’s Eve, despite being in bed by 11 PM. I tossed and turned until 2 AM when I finally feel asleep (according to my Sleep Cycle app) and then I was wide awake at 6:30 AM. Ugh. I’m typically a pretty good sleeper when I’m at home, so when I don’t sleep it really throws me off.

So there I was, feeling icky and weird all day, eating lots of carbs and drinking way too much coffee, while many others are kicking off their healthy resolutions. On the one hand, I hate that I didn’t have that “clean slate” feeling, but on the other, I also love that I don’t feel the need to completely reboot my habits since it’s really just another day. I’m constantly tweaking my routine to make it healthier and easier and I’ve been in a pretty good groove for a while. It’s really all about the cumulative effect and not overthrowing and overhauling everything at once, which is a recipe for failure.

I’ve always loved recap posts but rather than highlighting the most popular blog posts of the year, I want to share the my best things of 2016 across a wide range of topics. I’m still thinking through some goals and intentions for 2017 (since I still have 364 days to figure that out) and I’ll be sure to share! Happy 2017! And farewell 2016 – you were pretty great.

Best of 2016

• Book I read: Essentialism: the Disciplined Pursuit of Less

• Cookbook: Run Fast Eat Slow

• Podcasts: Runner’s World, I’ll Have Another, and Runner’s Connect

• Movie: uh, never mind. I honestly don’t know if I watched a movie in 2016. How is that possible?

• Article: How Tech Helped Winston-Salem Quit Tobacco via Politico

• Website: Strava

• App: McRun – I used it almost every day when I was following my Strava Half Marathon training plan to make sure I was running the right paces

• TV show I binged: Friday Night Lights

• Utah trip home: introducing Tommy to my family

• Adventure Trip: a weekend at a lake house with some dear friends & Tommy + DC with my Mom + having Holly visit + girls weekend in Pinehurst with Hilary (I couldn’t pick just one!)

• Running experiences: Setting a new half marathon PR when it was completely unexpected + the running the Lands End Trail with Anna

• Crossfit experience: Doing my first-ever strict pull-up

• Disappointment (not the “best” really, but something to reflect on): not being able to run the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler with my mom (we were both injured) and losing what I thought was “my” house after hunting for a year

• Song on repeat: Parachute by Ingrid Michaelson

• Addition to my closet: a new peacoat + finally finding a brand of jeans that fits my quads (Paige Verdugo for life)

• Experience that didn’t cost anything: long walks with Maizey through downtown Winston-Salem (although, I finally invested in some comfy sneakers for walking which has been a game changer so I guess that did cost a little something)

• Tweak to my skincare: Dual Enzyme Polish

• Tweak to my makeup: Beautycounter tinted moisturizer (review here)

• Moment with Tommy: summer evenings on the driving range and leisurely dinners afterwards watching the sunset

• Recipe I made the most: Shakshuka with Feta

• Running gear update: I was going to say my Adidas Boston Boosts (game changer for my running – full review here), but the Garmin Forerunner 235 Tommy just got me is quickly becoming my favorite thing!

• Coffee shop: Twin City Hive

• New restaurant: Crafted

• Restaurant I ate at the most: Local 27101

• Maizey moment: when Tommy kept her when I was traveling for work and she got wicked sick (the runny poops) and he had to take her down 6 flights of stairs 3x in the middle of the night. Good thing he loves us.

• Tommy moment: having this one captured. I couldn’t possibly pick one moment with him that was the best, but this photo that Holly took totally captures how we feel about each other. Even after 2+ years together, I still get butterflies when I see him, he makes me laugh everyday, and I am so grateful for him in my life. (Here’s the story of how we met, if you’re newish here!) We really, really love each other and we also really, really like each other. And both are important.

And okay I was curious and looked up my most popular blog post: My body before and after a year of CrossFit. 🙂

Hope your new year is off to a great start!

P.S. The Nordstrom Half Year Sale ends today, so don’t miss it. I shared my picks and what I own that’s on sale in this blog post.