25 Days of Crunchmas

2015 has been the fastest year in my memory and I cannot believe it is already December. This year has certainly been one of independence for me - whether by choice or circumstance - and I think in the future I will have been glad to have had this year of focusing on my own happiness and wellness.


AKA this is the positive spin I am putting on not having been able to spend Thanksgiving with my family. However, I truly did make the most of my circumstances and had a wonderful holiday weekend.

First I picked up a delicious hot chocolate from This Pie is Nuts! conveniently (dangerously) located right by my office at the Bryant Park Winter Village and headed over to see that Macy's Day Parade balloons being blown up. Then, I even did the Macy's parade itself. I figured, after a year of living in the city I would be too jaded to want to wake up at the crack of dawn and go be cold for hours waiting for the parade to start, so that I better go this year. Luck was certainly on my side as not only did I get a great spot with a ledge, but two girls came by with extra grandstand tickets and I got upgraded to a front row spot in the grandstands. Not to mention, it was a gorgeous day, in the high 40s/low 50s throughout the whole experience. In comparison to everyone's stories of misery from years past, I definitely picked a good year to do the parade.

I successfully escaped the parade for some Thanksgiving dinner justification spinning at Flywheel, which shredded my currently injured knee, but helped to offset the snacking I did while cooking my personal Thanksgiving feast. Although nothing like the real thing, I am so thankful that technology allowed me spend time with my dad's family through face-time and to join the dinner table through Skype with my mom's family. It was so nice to be able to see everyone's faces gathered AND I didn't have to help clean up. My personal thanksgiving feast turned out great, but the highlight was definitely this sweet potato pie recipe, which I made individually portioned in a cupcake tin. 'Tis still the season for sweet potatoes, so I highly recommend you give this recipe a shot. Note: I found the meringue to be wholly unnecessary, you can even cook this up without the crust for a great sweet potato casserole.



I also did Black Friday and this was the least successful part of my weekend. I started at 6:30 am and honestly do not feel like I got ANY good deals. The early morning was due to my being resigned to having to purchase a parka for the winter. I popped over to Bloomingdales when it opened, of course to find Canada Goose was not on any kind of sale and just couldn't bring myself to buy it without seeing other options. I didn't get out of Bloomingdales before I could be tricked by the Nars cosmetics lady into buying a ton of stuff to take advantage of the sale, only to come to find out it was also NOT part of the sale. At that point, with no coffee, no food and only disappointment, I cannot say that I was at my friendliest. I had intended to go hiking up north on the Hudson after picking up my parka, but of course the stores with the "other options" didn't open until 10 am. So I decided just to embrace the disaster of Black Friday, eat a crappy omelet at a lame restaurant and get all my Christmas Shopping done. I did in fact end up checking nearly everyone off my list, wrapping almost all of those presents and even purchasing a parka. The "other options" were worth the wait as I was pleased to find a parka at Artizia that was equal in quality and warmth to Canada Goose and in my opinion, much cuter. Not to mention, by sacrificing a goose on the left arm of my coat, I saved about $300. If you're in need of a warm winter coat, I highly recommend you check out the brand.



Saturday and Sunday were spent as any other weekend, with the added benefit of the Seminoles putting the Gators back in their place (2 pts lol Gators) and enjoying some delicious Spaghetti Squash Bolognese with Paleo Garlic Bread.


As evidenced by the Christmas trees and candy everywhere, Thanksgiving was just the kick-off to the holiday season. In an effort to counter-balance the inevitable increase in hot chocolates and cookies that are to be consumed, I've been encouraging myself and others to do corresponding challenges. During the month of November leading up to Thanksgiving, I did a Planksgiving challenge and convinced my mom to join me, as well as the girls at her dance studio. They had such a fun time doing it, that they  requested a Crunchmas challenge. So, in an effort to ignore more productive things I need to do, I put together a 25 Days of Crunchmas Challenge Calendar, which you can see below. Basically, every day you do ab exercises, building up your strength and repititions leading up to Christmas. I encourage you to find someone to hold you accountable and try it out. FYI Crunchmas is much easier than Planksgiving so there are really no excuses!