2015 has been both wonderful and challenging.  As a blogger, it’s been incredibly inconsistent but as a human being, it’s been very action packed.  Instead of dwelling on not fully meeting all of the goals that I set for myself in my Goals/Resolutions/Intentions post (GoReIn2015), I’m taking a look back on some of the salient events of the past year:

January

 

I had visions of finally conquering my 13.1 (and even signed up for the inaugural Rock ‘n’ Roll Brooklyn Half in October) but my back had other plans.

This re-injury was a doosy.  It changed many of the plans I had for the year in terms of fitness.  It set the tone for some of my depression and frustration but overall, it gave me the chance to focus on building strength in more ways than one.

I never would have believed that I would not run for the entire year(!) but I did and not only did I survive, I thrived.

February

My birthday month was filled with love and fun.  Early in the month I got the chance to experience Drenched Fitness in Westlake Village with Women’s Health and along with my Ride or Die Duranie, Josie.  My injury prevented me from actually trying the favorite workout of Britney Spears but I did get to watch fellow bloggers David, Christiana and Jennifer sweat it out.  It was at this event that I also got to meet Jordan@TheBalancedBlonde, Sophie@ThePhilosophie and a new lovely Duranie pal, Candice (thank you, Lori Majewski).

February also brought some NYC to Los Angeles in the form of the Brooklyn Nets dominating the LA Lakers (we took Wild Boy to his first NBA game – which he loved) and visits from 2 Big Apple based friends including one my best friends on the planet, Sharon.

March

In March, I finally got a (sort-of) selfie with iconic Duran Duran star on the Walk of Fame. Attempting to take this by myself was mildly hilarious.  I’m forever grateful to the passerby who took pity on me and offered to take thos shot for me.  Note to self:  Bring hand sanitizer and close legs in all future photos, star or no star.  Yes, there were more events that happened in March but I decided to keep this month’s look back brief.

April

March must have been some sort of formal Duran Duran request to the universe in my favor because in April (on April Fools of all days!), I met my long time object of adoration, Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran. In case you want to re-live the memory with me, feel free to read A Duran Duran Fangirl Dream Come True. BTW, this might have been the only Goal/Resolution/Intention of 2015 to have been met.

Meeting SLB wasn’t the only highlight of the month of April though!  I also got the chance to meet and workout with soccer legend, Landon Donovan.  Watching Lindsay@FitandAwesome have her own fangirl moment so soon after my own was wonderful!

April was busy!  It was also the month that I helped moderate a blogger panel for the Better Future Moms campaign for Got Milk? with Ericka@NibblesandFeasts, Daily@DailyCurlz, Keke@FreeandForMe (Susie Nunez from the RL Public Relations is also featured in this in this photo).  As a Registered Dietitian, parent and supporter of trailblazing women, I was very honored to be a part of this campaign.  Watching and hearing myself on video though, isn’t easy.

Wild Boy turned 8 in April and to celebrate we had a Yankees themed birthday party and game truck.  Party planning usually makes me crazy but this party was nearly turn-key.  All kids and adults had a blast.

 

May

I became a non-traditional tri-athlete in May.  The Mindful Triathlon of Wanderlust 108 (a 5K, a 60 minute yoga class and a 30 minute meditation) was a fantastic way to start the month.  I was especially lucky to have experienced this day of true bliss with fellow fitness blogging friends, Carrie and Julie.

May is month that is always bittersweet for me.  It’s my anniversary month (yay!) and it’s also Mother’s Day.  Back in 2013, I shared the story of why Mother’s Day scares me (due to my mother’s mental illness) but this year I was honored to share the story of one of my good mother role models, my stepmother Michele (see photo of us above), in this collection of stories.  Don’t get me wrong, being a parent is definitely a joy that I am grateful for but it isn’t an easy role to uphold.

 

June

In June, the Better Future Moms recipients were honored at a special ceremony hosted by Got Milk?.  It was so inspiring to learn about the efforts and deeds of these great women and mothers of California.  Listening to the accomplishments of these women made me both proud to be amongst strong, dedicated and giving women and mothers but also a little like a slacker for not doing more to be a part of my community.

Speaking of community, June also heralded one of my favorite fitness conferences, FitBloggin’.  I’ve written about FitBloggin in 2015, 2014, and 2013.  FitBloggin’ is a conference unlike any other that exists and it’s also a time when I get to reconnect with people like Jill, Melissa and Carrie (see May).  The four of us had the best time discovering Snapchat and Periscope together late at night during this conference.  I met all three of these women (and a number of my favorite fellow fitness bloggers) at FitBloggin’ in 2013 and couldn’t be more grateful for this event bringing such wonderful souls into my universe.

July

 

I reached a major professional milestone in July when I spoke at the 2015 IDEA World BlogFest!  Much like FitBloggin’, SweatPink’s BlogFest is also a wonderful place where health, fitness and wellness bloggers get a chance to network, sweat, learn and have fun.  However, giving a talk about nutrition to this audience was a bit nerve wracking.  I was lucky to have many friendly faces in the audience that made this hurdle a little easier to clear.

While I was delivering my talk at BlogFest, Jay and Wild Boy were attending the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Sports Awards.  Although I wanted to see my child’s face when his two favorite sports stars (Stephen Curry and Derek Jeter) were honored at the show, the reports couldn’t have been more glowing.  I’m more than grateful to a special Nickelodeon Angel for allowing Wild Boy and his Dad to experience this once in a lifetime event!

July also proved to be a preview month upon looking back now – A glimpse into #concertapalooza with 2 back to back excellent Hollywood Bowl concerts (Death Cab for Cutie an Steely Dan & Elvis Costello) and a new beginning with yoga (via the Wanderlust Hollywood opening celebration).

August

In August, the family wound up taking a semi-last minute trip to New York.  It was so great to be back in Brooklyn (thank you, Christine!).  It was great to see friends, family and take in all of the pizza, bagels, Italian ices and public transportation of the city in my heart.  Some highlights of the trip included:

• Taking Wild Boy to a baseball game at Yankee Stadium.
• A mini high school reunion hosted by by friend Anju  (complete with a multi-course home cooked Indian dinner).
• My 3rd Annual Duran Duran Appreciation Day 10K (when I walked 10K of NYC’s Summer Streets and had an epic Periscope fail trying to film parts of the journey).

After returning back to Los Angeles, Women’s Forum hosted a Sunrise Yoga Breakfast with lifestyle expert, Andrea Metcalf.  Early morning yoga with my aunt and blogger friends like Christiana and Keke made the trek to Santa Monica worth it.  I was a very bad blogger and didn’t write up this event but Christiana and Donna did (Donna even got a shot of me chatting with my Aunt at the end of the post – Thanks, Donna!).

The professional speaking gig role continued in August when I presented at Whole Foods Pasadena to a Prenatal Wellness audience with my friend Jennifer of FitForExpecting and The Family Room.  Women who are pregnant or Trying To Conceive are always receptive to nutrition information!

 

September

September was a busy but fun month!  Cigna invited me to lunch during the Disneyland Half Marathon weekend.  Learning that the food at the Grand Californian on the Disneyland grounds are locally sourced and that healthfulness was a high priority was definitely news to me.  It was nice to see fellow bloggers like Sharon, Nicole, Pattie (and Carlee not pictured) along with Mickey and friends.

I also went to my very first college football game.  My child is sports obsessed and since moving to Los Angeles, he’s aligned himself with USC.  As a treat, Jay and I decided to take Wild Boy and his friend to the opening USC game.  As someone who went to a high school and a college without a football team, this was definitely an experience!  I’m sure this won’t be the last time our family winds up at a college sporting event.

#concertapalooza kicked off in September with a bang!  Surprise Anniversary tickets from Jay to go to the Brandon Flowers show at the Wiltern wound up being a better gift than Jay expected.  Brandon was phenomenal but when he brought out Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys to do a duet of “Rent” (acoustic) and “Human”, I thought Jay might die on the spot.  My husband is a tremendous Pet Shop Boys fan and the look on his face during these songs was all I needed to make my night.

However, the fun had just begun!  Josie and I kicked off the first of 4 Duran Duran shows the very next day.  We weren’t seated especially close but we got to meet up with some fellow Duranies IRL and got to see Simon, Nick and Roger close up after the show.

After returning from San Diego, Jay and I went to see AC/DC at Dodger’s Stadium the following night.  We had absolutely nosebleed seats but I can honestly say that this was the loudest show I’ve ever attended.  It’s amazing that Brian Johnson and Angus Young can hear anything after shows with those decibel levels!

Josie and I also went for Round 2 of Duran at the Jimmy Kimmel show in September (not pictured).  Simon had to sing “You Kill Me With Silence” 3 times because he screwed up the lyrics.  No one in the audience minded one bit.  More time with this band present is always welcomed.

 

October

#concertapalooza continued in October.  Josie and I had what we thought were great Hollywood Bowl seats (until we realized that we were not quite as close as we had been at JKL).  It was iconic to see the band we loved at the Bowl.  Chic and Duran put on a great show!  When we went to see Duran two days later in Rancho Mirage, we never dreamed we’d be thisclose to the stage to watch them close out the West Coast part of the tour.  It was so amazing (and a very big thanks is given to some wonderful humans for making that unbelievable experience happen)!

In October, I was invited to the Shape Magazine Meet & Tweet.  It was great to see my buddies Erin and Melissa and to have people like Jennifer Widerstrom talk about motivation, a beauty panel featuring Dr. Katie Rodan (Rodan +Fields) and celebrity skin care expert Sonya Dakar and the Tone It Up Girls, Karena and Katrina discuss the power of the Social Community.  I felt that the focus of this event wasn’t geared to anyone 35 and over.  I loved the messages of women empowerment, fitness, health and entrepreneurialism but I have to say that as a 45 year old woman and parent, it was obvious that I am not the desired target market for Shape Magazine.  I’ll be interested to see if I’m invited next year.  I didn’t do a write up of this event but my blogger buddies did – here’s one from Chris@WhatIRunInto and one from Lindsay@FitandAwesome.

In October, my ROD Josie and I got to attend the premiere party for the Tower Records documentary, All Things Must Pass.  We had fun seeing a whole bunch of music greats (including getting a shot with Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles – who is the epitome of petite) but who would have known that the band playing the event (Eagles of Death Metal) would become a household name for a catastrophic and senseless tragedy in November with the Paris massacre just a few weeks later?  Every single time I see this photo of Jesse Hughes, my heart leaps into my throat at the thought of what happened in Paris.

 

November

Even though Yoga Teacher Training with Core Power Yoga began in October, it felt like it really took hold in November.  Between classes of instruction, study time and actual required yoga classes, it did really feel like all that I did was Eat, Sleep, Yoga and Repeat.  In November, I had my first collaborative yoga teaching experience to students (other than my fellow trainees) and the Duran Duran tank top that had been set aside for a special occasion made its debut.  I guess it’s no surprise that “duran” wound up being one of my most often used words on Facebook.  Thanksgiving was spent in Florida and for the first time ever, I didn’t run while visiting the ‘rents (I did go to a yoga class though).

 

December

There are so many things that happen as a year winds down that it’s difficult to capture the very last month.  Right now the frenzy of wrapping up one year and ramping up to the next makes it nearly impossible to concentrate so I’ve decided to share the secret vision board that I made back in January.

I really thought the idea of a vision board was hokey but did it for the company I kept while creating it.  However, it’s amazing how many things on this board came forth in the past year – that heart bowl (who knew I’d buy this one in March from Breakfast Criminals), Small Tweaks, Big Results (hello back injury and fitness change of plans), the Pop Idol and leather motorcycle jacket (they were there to represent Simon Le Bon but who would have thought that I would have gotten to meet him AND that he’d be wearing a leather motorcycle jacket on his 2015 tour?!?), Your Hidden Fitness Talent (Yoga Teacher Training was not on my radar in January).

The above were only some of the things that might have been manifested from my vision board.  Regardless,  I do think I’ll create a new one for 2016 and see what comes of it.  Tell me, do you believe in Vision Boards?  

 

That was my year in photos and many, many words.

I’m looking forward to this holiday season and to the New Year and hope you are too!

 

Wishing you all a wonderful and peaceful holiday and 2016!