I’m really thankful. I ate a lot, drank a lot and laughed a lot. My Thanksgiving was excellent.

It had been a really long time since I’ve seen my family (total shocker, seriously) so I was really looking forward to our Thanksgiving dinner this year. This Thanksgiving dinner was particularly special because it was planned by me and my sisters for the first time EVER. Lucky for us, this was a ‘small’ Thanksgiving with only 20 people in attendance – baby steps, people. Well, us Abaoag gals don’t mess around or half-ass anything…check us out!

Flowers done by my old lady sister, Jamie.

Cooler flowers arranged by Edith (aka, mom). She’s fancy.

And more importantly…I HELPED. Yep, Thanksgiving morning I woke up, ran a miserable 6 miles and saw this:

Running right after being sick = NO BUENO. I was sniffling and couldn’t really breathe. So I failed and walked about 2 miles. Actually, it’s not a fail. I read Bald Guy Running’s latest post and so yah…it was NOT a fail. There was an attempt, I logged about 3 slow miles and listened to my body. I do plan on getting back into my normal 4-5 mile runs during the week and one distance run on Saturdays. Let’s pray for this annoying and nasty cold to go away!

I should also mention that the highlight of the run was not only the cool sky but all the hot surfers that came out to play. The swell was pretty sweet that day.

Followed by my run…I got home and cleaned (booooo), played sous chef to my baby sister and helped set up…BIG DEAL for those who don’t know me. Here’s some proof. I’m not even posing. I was really doing my thing and my mom took this picture. Let’s get serious, I would NOT usually let people snap a photo of me looking all nasty like this.

Me & my niece, Zoey.

Drinking a Boddington and checking on the turkey. Yes, THIS picture is totally posed. I didn’t put anything in the oven on Thanksgiving.

What’s the deal with the awkward place cards??? Well, Jamie took awesome and ugly close up photos of everyone one night at dinner on our family cruise. We really had no idea when those pictures would come in handy – they were such a pleasant surprise for everyone.

We sat down for dinner around 6:30PM, and continued to laugh, talk and drink until around 10:30PM. I don’t know that many families that can chill around a dinner table for 4 hours and LOVE EVERY SECOND. Talk about Thanksgiving.

Starting the baby off young! JUST KIDDING – that brat only drank apple cider, NOT my wine. I’m too greedy to share wine anyways. Also, we think our dogs are human and let them sit at the dinner table.

 

My mom and her babies. All grown up…(except Zoey).

After Thanksgiving – I decided to not eat….

And drink a lot instead. And watch a lot of college football.

(obviously, that is sarcasm. I have the appetite of linebacker – regardless of how much turkey and potatoes I ate the day before)

My best San Diego friend’s family was in town from Michigan – since she’s met all of my family…it was only suitable I met hers! Saturday morning I dragged her butt out of bed at 7AM and made her endure a lovely 2.5 mile run along the boardwalk in Pacific Beach. Cold air is so hard to breathe in…how do you east coasters do it?!? Why run so early? Well, the football games start at 9AM over here and we HAD to get to the bar and get a table. Priorities.

We watched her alma mater (Michigan) beat Ohio State and loitered in and out of the bars in Pacific Beach seeing friends and watching more football. Also, I had a lot of these…

The good thing about day drinking is that you pass out early, and wake up feeling not hungover. So what did we do? It was Sunday, so we headed to the PB Ale House and decided to try their sangria. Apparently, a glass of each wasn’t enough because we ordered a carafe of both the white and red sangria (both delicious by the way).

  

The result? Two 20 somethings giggling down the street thinking it was suitable to stop into the liquor store and pick up some 40s. The weekends are when I regress back to college. Pardon the greasy hair. I now realize that just because you’re NOT hungover doesn’t mean that you can skip a shower and not wash your hair.

Another moment of realization…I have another half marathon in about 8 weeks. So while these college-like weekends are fun, I should probably tone it down.

Random things that made me smile a lot.

1. Zoey’s new cousin!!!! My aunt and cousin got a new puppy!!!! No name yet, but its a girl and she’s an adorable lab mix. I honestly just stared at this picture for a few minutes about 10 times today.

2. My friend sent this to me. It’s the sunset from his roof in Hermosa Beach. Tough life he leads.

How do YOU cope with bad runs???

I drink a beer and cry in my bed. Ok, actually, I just have a beer and make sure to over prepare for my next run. Or, I take a break from running and go to a spin class or do another form of exercise.

What random things have you smile a lot lately?

Puppies, awesome sunsets and knowing that I have an EXCELLENT couple of weeks coming up!!!!