Today was a good day...

In the words of Ice Cube, "Today was a good day." It was a damn good Saturday, but I'm not that surprised, as most of my weekends are quite enjoyable. With Thanksgiving approaching and soon after that, winter break, I am thrilled to have some days off from work. This whole work 5-days a week doing something I don't enjoy anymore is not really my thing, but I'm making do. I'm trying not to dwell on the negative, because basically, that gets me nowhere except a one-way ticket to sadness and I've been experiencing too much of that lately. Everyday, I seem to go through the motions at work and just keep moving along. I look forward to days off and weekends like crazy and when I have them, I take full advantage doing things that I really enjoy doing. Today combined so many things I enjoy and in a time that I have been struggling tremendously, it was a day I needed. It was also a day where I had a smile plastered on my face for most of it.

There were so many aspects of today that made it so good and it all started with my run and just kept snowballing from there. There were so many good aspects of today that I felt like writing about it. So, here was my happy day in a nutshell...

The run. This really set the tone for an absolutely amazing and happy morning. Even though I was up late (well late for me) last night, I was up fairly early this morning and decided that I would not do my usual Saturday West Side Highway run and instead take my legs to the streets of the city a little bit since it wouldn't be chock full of tourists quite yet. I had decided I wanted to run over to see the Christmas tree on top of the Radio City Music Hall sign. It recently went up and I was feeling highly holiday spirited so I decided I would run there to see it and also, the giant red balls across the street. Both displays are super Christmas-y and I loved them. I am sure that will not be my only time visiting it this holiday season.

I knew I was going to cut through the park to get to the west side and Central Park was just perfect. I mean, I couldn't not get in there at least once today. The temperature was just at about 45 degrees (hoody and crops for me) and the leaves were still on some of the trees, and the sky was so, so blue.

I cut out of the park at around 58th (right where the marathon leaves to get on Fifth Ave) and made my way over the 6th avenue and started running south. On my way to Radio City I passed the LOVE sculpture on 55th and there was no one around which was a first for me over there. I forgot I would pass that so it was a pleasant surprise. I quickly snapped a picture, as I was feeling some major love at the moment for what was happening, and I kept moving along my merry way. 

In a couple of blocks I was at Radio City and the balls and snapped my pics and "ooohed and ahhhed" a bit to myself, all with a huge goofy grin on my face. (I literally cannot wait until the Rockefellar Christmas tree goes up and I can run there early one morning. It was one of my favorite morning runs of all of last year!!)

From there, I decided I would head over to the Time Warner Center because their holiday star decorations are up now too. They hang giant stars that change color from the ceiling and I could stare and watch them for a while; its kind of mesmerizing. Again, I had a huge smile on my face the entire time there.

Then, I made my way back to Central Park and cut over the east side to get a glorious reservoir view since the morning was so perfect. After a glorious 5 miles, at a decently fast speed for myself, I made my way to Juice Press for my free juice. Yum yum! I chugged my Pink Punk (strawberry, pineapple, beet, and ginger) and walked back home. I was really feeling it.  This run was just so great. Everything about it made me full of happiness. Happiness that I desperately need in my life.

Weather. Um, this weather is perfect. While my Facebook feed is filled with tons of pictures of the first snowfall back home in Chicago, it was sunny and unseasonably warm here. I still haven't had to whip out my winter coat yet (but I did finally get it dry-cleaned so its ready for action).

Train Hilarity. On my way downtown, I was standing up and the guy seating in front of me was a rather large man. He was looking at a text from an equally large woman and clicked on a seductive pic she sent had him. He was zooming in on her cleavage and really studying that picture. I do not think she was wearing pants in that photo either. It took a massive amount of self-control not to laugh out loud, but I was definitely smirking and giggling a lot. He of course, was so into the texts and pics, he didn't realize others were looking on.

Five Napkin Burger. All week long, I had been craving a burger and wouldn't allow myself to get one, because, hello, fat. With my workouts stepped up this week, my body was definitely craving red meat and iron. This isn't uncommon for me. Since I knew I was going to be downtown, I decided to treat myself to Five Napkin Burger because its so delicious. A medium rare burger, Gruyere cheese, grilled onions, and rosemary aioli. So much goodness. So much so, that I barely paid the bill before I was running to the bathroom. Clearly, my body was not ready to handle such a large meal and my stomach wasn't too thrilled with me. At all. Yikes. TMI? No such thing. So, perhaps I didn't keep all those calories in?!?!?! Ha, yeah, I wish that was the case. But anyway, the meal hit the spot and was a nice treat.

Errands. I had a very successful and efficient errand running afternoon. I had my list and got shit done as per usual. My first stop was DSW because I had a $10 off coupon from them and knew I would run in and grab some socks. I mean, one can never have enough socks. And if they are basically free, than that's always better. I found a pair of Nike striped knee socks, originally $25 but on clearance for 50% off, plus my $10 off, so they cost me only like $3. A fucking steal. And they are great! Then it was off to check out the brand new mega Lululemon on 17th and 5th and it is a pretty awesome store. I wanted one (or five) of everything, but controlled myself. And continuing on my activewear tour, next was Athleta to pick up a pair of leggings I had sent to the store. They were on sale plus I had a coupon. They were too big so they had to order another size for me and to get even more of a discount, I opened an Athleta credit card (I don't know why I never have before since they get plenty of my money). With this, I will get points on purchases and $20 off my next one too. Guess I know where I'll be headed to on Black Friday. #leggingsforlife. Finally, I had to return some things that I had ordered from Old Navy. They were both too big so I had to get the smaller sizes. The store didn't have them so I just returned my stuff and went home and re-ordered them online in the size down.

TV. Finally, I was home and able to just relax around 3. I had some shows left on my DVR, there was some excellent college football on, and I plan on watching Trainwreck later tonight. Time Warner Cable has a special for half-off an OnDemand movie so you bet your ass I'm taking advantage of that. I thought that movie was great when I saw it in the theater this summer and I'm excited to see it again. Amy Schumer is my sister-from-another-mister.

So yeah, today was a good day and I was happy and that was nice. I did a lot of things that made me smile and that will continue tomorrow as well since I have a SoulCycle Survivor class lined up in the morning. Days like these make me super grateful to live in NYC and experience all it has to offer. And its a reminder that even though things continue to not be ideal for me (sigh), I can still see the bright side and enjoy life.