Thanksgiving Prep

Last night we had quite the snow storm - I'd say we got a good 7 or 8 inches. The snow is very wet, which also means it's heavy, and it's all resulted in a big sloppy mess outside. Tonight the temps are going to drop big time, which means it will all freeze over.... should make for an interesting Thanksgiving drive. :-/

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and Andy and I will head to Buffalo to have dinner with his extended family. Before we leave I will be hitting the gym - I usually do some sort of workout the morning of Thanksgiving... it helps me feel better about eating so many calories. Well this year's prep is like none I've ever done before.

Enter Seetha!

Ok, so I texted Seetha, told her about the tasting and how I went off the wagon once I got home. She was quick to give me instructions. Tuesday: ACV (apple cider vinegar) shot in the morning, coffee, sip on juice, big salad (no meat or nuts) around 2:00pm, sip on juice the rest of the day, and another ACV shot at night. She also told me to do some yoga.

Yoga thanks to YouTube!

I did it. Not nearly as tough as my first day of juicing - probably because 1) I knew what to expect, 2) I knew it was possible since I did it before, and 3) I actually got to have a salad.... some food is better than no food!

Yum...

I also met with her yesterday in person, and was so surprised when she told me to.... do it all again the next day (being today). Two days of mostly juicing in a row?? More ACV shots??? Ugh. She did make one change, which was that I could eat breakfast as well - mostly because I told her how painful my stomach usually feels after an ACV shot on an empty stomach.

Why Seetha?? Why two days of this?? I honestly wasn't that bad! She said it had nothing to do with foods I ate in the past - this is all in preparation for Thanksgiving!! According to her, I physically won't be able to handle eating as much food on Thanksgiving as I would normally. Well well well... isn't she smart. :-)

We also talked about a plan for Thanksgiving. I'm supposed to skip all the foods I feel mediocre about, and only have the ones I really love. For herself, she said she'd skip turkey and have tons of cheesy broccoli casserole. For me? Well... I'd say my favorite part of Thanksgiving is the stuffing, so I'll definitely be having that. We also talked about Thanksgiving desserts. She had me think of what I would want most of all (I came up with carrot cake... for some reason that sounds good to me right now) and she suggested I bring a carrot cake so I could have what I really want instead of just settling with something less exciting, like pumpkin pie.

So there you have it. I'm on day two of my modified detox. So far so good - even the ACV wasn't as bad having had breakfast before (I also didn't take quite as big of a shot, which really helped too).

Additionally today, I had PT this morning. No exercises, just more work on the cyst - ultrasound, (painful) massage, and the battery powered pad again (I HATE that thing). I'm going back in a few hours for them to tape me up again, so that will at least not be painful.

As I left PT this morning I couldn't help but think about how much I feel like I'm "enduring" to make my life/health better. ACV shots, juicing, painful PT visits.... it's a lot. But I'm really proud of myself for enduring the discomfort knowing it will pay off in the long run. I hope managing my health isn't always this challenging though!

And now time for a few random things:

Thanks to Andy's persistence, we went out on Monday night and got an electric blanket. He actually doesn't use it at all, it's solely for me. I think he was just persistent about going out and getting one because he was tired of hearing me complain how cold I am all the time. It was expensive, but worth every penny. I haven't slept this well in a long time!!

Warm and Fuzzy!

My Elf4Health challenge is also going well. On Monday I unsubscribed to about 10 email lists (the challenge was to unsubscribe to 3, but I got carried away). Yesterday I went meatless... made incredibly easy since Seetha just had me juice anyway. Today's challenge is to try a new workout. I'm still debating between trying a "Core Dynamics" class that is new and/or going to a yoga class tonight. Yoga obviously isn't new, but I've never been to this specific teacher's class, so I feel like that counts. :-)

And because I probably won't post anything on here tomorrow... tomorrow's challenge is to call a friend and tell them you're thankful for them, so I will use this opportunity to tell all of YOU that I am SO SO SO very thankful for your friendship, love, and support. Happy Thanksgiving!!!

One month until Christmas!

The countdown to Christmas is officially on! It feels a little strange since we haven't even had real Thanksgiving yet, but it's the 25th, so I'm counting!! However, with the countdown on, it means things are going to kick up on the holiday celebration front - translation: food, food, food.

This weekend was no exception.

We had a press conference at Job #1 on Friday. That meant having to dress up on what should be a casual Friday (boo). It also meant standing around assorted pastries for about two hours. I resisted. 1 point for team healthy. After the press conference I ran to PT for a quick tape job.

Back of my knee - I am supposed to wear this every minute of every day

I also grabbed a quick lunch at Wegmans with Sarah and got to finally hear all of the details of her marathon. 3 more points for team healthy (knee care, healthy lunch, time with friend).

Friday was also the day of the Lululemon grand opening.

Lisa, Rose, Babs, and Anna - we all have a problem...

And of course you can't buy new Lulu clothes without testing them out in a yoga class. Anna, Lisa, and I (and Kristin too!) hit up an after-work yoga class. I hadn't done yoga in a week... honestly hadn't really exercised in a week just because my week was so busy. I was glad I went, but for some reason, I just couldn't get my brain invested in the class. Oh well.

Later that night we celebrated Will's birthday over at his and Rose's house.

Birthday Boy Will

I did an excellent job of staying away from the baddies (stuck to fruit only), and also played my fair share of Dance Central... so even a little exercise. Yoga + no party baddies + Dance Central = 10,000 more points for team healthy.

Saturday - blah. Job #2. Worked out (good girl). Made an amazing dinner with Andy - paleo burgers made with bacon and jalapenos mixed into the beef. Laid on the couch watching MMA. Kind of a manly night, haha. 3 more points for team healthy (workout, dinner, downtime with Andy).

Sunday we woke up this...

First REAL snow of the year (about 4 inches)

I was a little nervous to see the snow because we had our wedding tasting scheduled for the afternoon, but thankfully they cleared the roads in time for us to make the trip out there. After much debate, our final tasting party included myself and Andy (duh), Lisa (connoisseur of lean cuisines and red wine), and Andy's mother Cindy (connoisseur of blush wines) and sister Ali (connoisseur of shellfish allergy and alcoholic grape juice). :-) 

At the tasting we tried a salad with three different dressings. While it wasn't anything to write home about, we ended up choosing the balsamic vinaigrette as that seemed like the safest (yet still classy) choice. Then the chicken dishes came out. Lisa decided that my most favorite one (grilled chicken breast with bell peppers on top) looked like a Lean Cuisine, and she was right - but it was so tasty! No one else liked it though, so that was crossed off pretty quickly. That meant it was between the tomato/mushroom chicken or the pecan crusted chicken. Lisa, Andy, and Ali all liked the tomato one. Cindy said she was torn. But I liked the pecan one best. For some reason I really did NOT like the tomato one.... so.... we're getting the pecan chicken. :-)

Then the steaks came. The sirloin steak had shrimp on top, which Ali could not eat. The shrimp was actually delicious, but smelled so strongly... the thought of a bunch of shrimp smells in the air grossed me out so I didn't really consider that one as a viable option. Then there was the strip steak with montreal butter. Who freaking cares what chicken we picked because that steak was DELICIOUS! Everyone at the tasting decided we would all order the steak on the big day. I'm already looking forward to having it again!

As for the sides, the fire roasted veggie blend and the garlic roasted potatoes won out. All in all, I think we'll have really good food for the wedding - certainly better than "average" wedding food.

At this point I figured it was time to go home. Nope! Apparently we also had to do a wine tasting. We were allowed to pick 6 wines out of..... 35! Holy cow!!! 

Ali, Cindy, and Lisa

Andy and Babs - deep in the tasting at this point

My future lady in-laws.

The wines we ended up choosing were a dry oaked Chardonnay, a semi-dry Reisling, a Vignoles (super sweet white wine), a blush (chosen by Cindy), a Cabernet Franc, and a Meritage (heavier blend of red wines). I'm so excited about all of the options we'll have - not to mention we also found out we'll have 6 to 7 of the venue's micro brews on tap. How cool! Being back at the venue and deciding on food and drink definitely made me more excited for the actual day. I think our wedding has the potential to be really fun!

We made it home from the tasting - by this point it's about 4:00pm. I'm hungry, tired, still possibly a little tipsy (I did not drive).... so what happened.... food fest. BUT! I will say, I didn't let it go too far before trying to decide what I really wanted. Turned out it was pasta with marinara and an oatmeal raisin cookie. We went to Wegmans, and I got them. And they were great (1,000,000 points to team cookies and pasta). And today.... I'm doing really well. I think listening to what I really wanted and letting myself have those things did the trick! It's a good thing too because....

Today is Monday - Job #1's potluck Thanksgiving lunch. Knowing I was off track the day before, and going to face a lot of food today, I started my morning with a shot of apple cider vinegar. HOLY FREAKING COW WHY DID I DO THAT AGAIN!!!! I was sick to my stomach all morning. Didn't even eat breakfast. But I think it was enough of a "punishment" that I wasn't even tempted to get anything bad from this spread...

Job #1 Thanksgiving Potluck Lunch

I brought a salad, so I knew I'd definitely have something to eat. Then I tried all of the vegetable dishes that were brought in too (plus some mixed fruit as my version of dessert).

Veggie Overload!

I noticed looking around the table how brown everyone's plates were.... turkey, gravy, stuffing, rolls, potatoes... I was very proud of my colorful plate. 

Ok enough typing - time to head home. I need to do laundry, put clothes away, make something for dinner, tackle the dishes, and do my PT exercises (ugh). 

Oh! One last thing - today I started the Elf4Health challenge. I was supposed to go "meatless" today, but with Job #1's lunch, I knew that would be hard to do. Well... not really hard, but it would generate a lot of comments I just didn't want to deal with. So I am moving my meatless day to tomorrow and instead did tomorrow's challenge today: Unsubscribe to 3 email lists you don't want anymore. I went overboard and unsubscribed to about 10. It felt good! Looking forward to a less cluttered inbox in my future. :-) 

Long Days

Is it Friday yet??

On the one hand this week is sort of flying by as I've been busy from the time I get up to the time I go to bed. On the other, I feel like I've done 8,000 things, and it's not even Friday yet... ugh.

Tuesday was typical - worked both jobs.

Yesterday (Wednesday) was pretty event heavy. Since my schedule involved more than sitting behind my desk, I tried to dress up a bit - I hate wasting a good outfit on a day when Andy won't see me, lol. So... I took a picture and sent it to him!

Still trying to get used to the ankle boot look

In the middle of Job #1, we all (almost all) had to go to a luncheon for the Arts and Cultural Council Awards. Thrilling.

Michael and Babs

Ellen, Brian, and Katy

Thankfully I was able to request that I have a starch-free lunch, which meant it was small... but at least I wasn't having to stare at starch on my plate that I couldn't have. Even though those types of things aren't my favorite, it was a nice excuse to get out of the office.

After Job #1, I headed to Job #2 to watch a presentation given by Job #1. Did you keep up? Talk about two worlds colliding. It was strange to be in #1 mode at #2, but thankfully Anna and Lisa were there which made everything 1,000 times better. :-) They even played their instruments, which was an extra special treat.

Wes, Lisa, Shannon, and Anna

This whole thing was a networking event - people were pretty chatty.... needless to say I didn't get home until 9:30 at night. Ugh.

So that makes two long days in a row, and today I'll be making it a third - PT this morning, now at Job #1, and working again at Job #2 tonight. Not excited about another late night at Job #2 but I need the extra money, plus since I'll be there I can force myself to do my leg exercises before I head home.

Speaking of my leg... PT this morning was awful. With the MRI results back, my PT guy went to town on my cyst... ultrasound, massage (very painful), followed by a battery charged pad (really weird and excruciatingly painful).

Pad on back of my knee

They put that on me and hooked me up to a torture device that charged the pad for 3 minutes. I felt like I was being stabbed my a tiny knife. It was terrible. And it still hurt once it was fully charged (I had to leave it on for two hours). I whimpered a bit once I left, then immediately called the surgeon's office to try to get this thing taken out asap. I don't want to keep going through this every time I go to PT.

Elf4Health

Hello friends, and thank you for listening to my stress freak-out yesterday.

Last night after work I had a massage (thank you Lisa and Katie for the gift certificate!). It was great, but beyond the obvious reasons why a massage is nice, I really liked it because afterwards....we talked about my knee! Apparently the massage therapist said she could feel my cyst and felt that the location of it was causing my IT band to be really tight where it connects to my knee. After thinking about it (for not all that long), I just want it out. I'll go to PT on Thursday, see what he has to say now that he'll learn there's still a cyst in there, but if everyone is on board, I'm just going to call and get it removed sooner than later. Why wait? Let's get this over with.

When I got home I put on my PJ's, ate dinner (and nothing after that - good girl), and crawled in bed at 8:30 to watch a documentary on my laptop. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

"Hungry for Change"

Everyone should watch this. You can rent it on iTunes. Please do it. I will happily watch it with you. At least while the documentary is fresh in my head, I am looking at food differently - mostly recognizing food that I would normally think of as delicious treats now as "food-like products" - high in calories, low in nutrients, and purposely created to make you crave more. Sounds kind of like drugs huh? It was a good movie - very powerful.

And when it was over, I was already in bed, so I went to sleep. Hello 9 hours of sleep! I'm feeling much better today. :-)

Now onto today... each morning I check a series of blogs, one of which is The Lean Green Bean. Today she wrote about a 4 week challenge: Elf4Health.

 
That's right! I signed up! I will be someone's elf for 4 weeks - my job is to send them two emails a week, encouraging them to meet their healthy goals, sending new healthy recipes to try, it can be anything... just some sort of support. And in turn, I will have an elf assigned to me as well! There is a different challenge to accomplish each day, and they range from all sorts of things.... tracking how much water you drink, calling a friend, trying a new workout... sounds interesting! I'm most interested to see who my elf will be - I hope they are fun and inspiring and not lame. Anyone else want to join too??

Alright - that's all for now. Job #2 tonight. Then tomorrow is weigh more Wednesday. Wah waah.

Ball of Stress

10 million points to Sheena today as I've unloaded many things on her. She's helped me realize I need to stop, take a massive deep breath, and prioritize. So... I'm going to do that, and I'm going to do that here.

Breathe: IN.... and OUT.... (repeat a lot)

Stressors

1) Food Part 1 - on my own.

I could have been worse, but I definitely still struggled Saturday night and especially Sunday night this weekend. I'm doing better today and feel confident that I won't slip up again tonight.

Solution? To help this stress I will implement my new rule: No eating after 8:00pm until Thanksgiving. That's only a week and a half. I can do that. Not eating after 8 will help me go to bed earlier, and I think sleep is something that will help make all of these things seem like less of a big deal.

Food Part 2 - special events

This Wednesday I have to go to a luncheon for Job #1. That SAME night I have another event for Job #1 (which is strangely being held at Job #2) where there will be "refreshments." That's a full day of unplanned food. Sunday is our tasting, and while I'm excited for it, I know it won't be what I'd typically be eating on a Sunday at 11:30am. The very next day (Monday) is potluck Thanksgiving Lunch at Job #1. And then real Thanksgiving is on Thursday. SO MUCH.

Solution? I requested a special starch free lunch for the luncheon, so hopefully the biggest challenge will just be watching everyone else eat all the good stuff... and then that night I think I'll just focus on talking to people instead of eating, considering I should know a lot of people there. And also Job #1 potluck Thanksgiving is not real Thanksgiving... I can enjoy those foods later in the week. And as for the tasting and Thanksgiving? I'm just going to try to enjoy them without stuffing myself - those are special days so I don't want to be too restrictive.

2) Work.

On Friday, Job #1 held a meeting and told us there would be cuts (mainly moving some full time people to part time). I'd be surprised if I were one to be cut back, but you really never know I guess. They'll make the announcement in January and the cuts will be effective in May. At least that buys me time to figure out what to do if needed, but that's still just something that's eating away at me... knowing this job might not be as stable as I'd hope.

Also Job #2 is out of control. Our boss has lost it. Every day I get an email from her that is totally over the top. I feel like we're being treated with little to no respect. The expectations are impossible to meet. We're being set up for failure and scolded like children. I'm really trying hard not to get wrapped up in it but it is hard, especially when most of my friends work there, so it's next to impossible not to talk about it with each other.

Solutions for work stress? At Job #1 I'm going to make an effort to somehow seem invaluable. I don't know how to do that quite yet, but I need to figure it out. And as far as Job #2, I'm going to do my best to ignore the emails and not worry about it unless I'm on the clock.

3) House.

Ok this one is dumb, but it has to do with decorating. I got a new shower curtain (ordered it online and it came in the mail) and now I don't know what bathmats and towels work with it. I also need to decorate for Christmas (and our Christmas party we are having!), but I don't want to decorate until the house is clean. I did some good cleaning on Sunday, but there's just so much to do. And still unpacking to do. Not to mention figuring out how to decorate for Christmas - after about a week of stressing over which Christmas theme to pick, I finally settled on "Scandinavian red and white"... I got a few things at Michaels, but now they seem to clash with our burgandy area rug. Do I return them and start all over or do I just figure no one else will notice a stupid detail like that and stick with the original plan?

Solution? Either take pictures and send them to my mom to see what she thinks, and/or wait until Andy gets back to get his opinion.

4) Knee.

It hurts. My PT exercises take forever to do. My PT exercises seem to make it hurt more....

Solution? Tell the PT guy on Thursday which exercises make it hurt and find alternatives. I also met with Vinny this morning and he showed me a good circuit I can do to build up my legs. Honestly, I think I'll probably follow what Vinny has set up for me more than PT. I hope that's not a bad decision...

The end. (not really but the other things are so trivial, they aren't worth writing about.... either that or I don't want you to realize how crazy I actually am)

Anyway, moving on. My weekend wasn't very exciting (although I did go to yoga on Friday night so feel free to praise me... keep it on the modest side though since it was counteracted with two nights of food fest). Besides Friday night yoga, I spent my weekend shopping (bad girl), eating weird crap at night (weirdest concoction = a bowl of freeze-dried raspberries with chocolate pudding mixed in, eating it with a spoon like cereal), cleaning the bathroom and basement (that was good at least), and watching bad TV (we're talking QVC for hours... so bad).

Definitely not an amazing weekend for me, but the same cannot be said for Cheetah Sarah because on Sunday....

Sarah running next to her brother, Tim

... she ran her first marathon (Philadelphia) in a whopping time of 4:12:09. Incredible!!! Sarah and Tim have been using the same training program over the last 8,000 weeks and Sunday was finally the big day when they finally got to run together (Tim lives in Philly). :-) I'M SO PROUD OF YOU SARAH!!!!!!

Check out that medal!

Way to go Tim!!!

Friends - you may recognize Tim... he was one of our runners on the Seneca 7 relay! He's super fast, just like Sarah... it obviously runs (har har) in the family!

Sarah and Tim = Marathoners!!!

I am so thrilled for Sarah and can't wait for her to get back so I can hear every single tiny teeny little detail!!!! :-)

Week in Review

Before the weekend kicks off, I figure it's best to update you with what I've been up to this week.

Tuesday - Worked both jobs. That's pretty much all I remember.

Wednesday - Job #1. Pilates with Kristin - we tried a new class together and it was disappointing to say the least. I think we'll stick with our regular yoga schedule in the future. :-) Wednesday night was exciting though because Lydia sent me a file of the pictures she took! Here are my favorites!

My absolute favorite - want this to be our Save the Date pic!

My model picture, haha. Good timing wind!

Our "serious" pose - this cracks me up!

Thank you Lydia! The pictures turned out great, and I am so glad we decided to do it. :-) I'm sure we'll find many uses for them beyond our Save the Date cards.

Thursday: Both Jobs. Then "Mind Body Book Club." Job #2 just started offering this, and I thought it sounded really cool so I signed up. Well... I mean, it's ok. But the book we're supposed to read doesn't really appeal to me all that much. Plus I thought we'd do yoga as well, but really we just sat on our mats in a circle and talked. Meh. I'll still read the book and go to the discussion on it, but I don't know that I'll be sticking it out for any future books....

Friday: Knee Appointment. I got the results back from my MRI. My big bad cyst is still gone - no signs of it returning. Yay! Unfortunately I learned I also have a smaller cyst, that apparently has been there this whole time - they knew about it, but I sure didn't!! It's not inside my knee joint, rather it's wedged between my hamstring and fat. Long story short - I have to continue PT and work on rebuilding the strength in my leg. If I still have pain in 10 weeks, they will remove that cyst too. Thankfully the process for that (since it isn't inside the joint) is very easy and the recovery time should be very short. So all in all... not terrible news, but come on, can I just be done with this already?! 

This moment: Time is draaaaging. I know I should go to yoga after Job #1 today. I'm not feeling super motivated, mostly because I feel too lazy to change clothes for class. I know that is a pretty pathetic excuse. I should just do it. Feel free to praise me if I report that I went to yoga in my next post and to boo and hiss at me if I said I decided to skip. :-)

Have a good weekend!

Cold Weather = Comfort Food

Let's make this quick because I have to get to Job #2.

Monday

7am - Physical Therapy. The verdict: My "back pocket" muscle (hip/butt) on my left side (the bad knee side) is too weak, causing my knee to track improperly, resulting in pain. I now have to exercise my left butt daily.

8am - Training with Sarah and Vinny. Told Vinny the results of PT... he spent the next hour working out our hips. Sorry Sarah! Thanks for being a good sport and spending an hour of training on my rehab!!

Day - Job #1. Blah.

Night - Paleo chef extraordinaire. I made starch-free shepherd's pie.

Mashed Cauliflower Topping

Ground Beef AND Bacon. YUM.

Also at night - snow. Woke up this morning to this view out our bedroom window.

Winter is coming...

Hope you're all off to a good start of your week!

7 Weekends Until X-Mas

Time for your weekend update!

Technically before the weekend started, Andy and I had lunch on Friday over at Will and Rose's house. It was a nice treat to get out of the office for a bit. Rose looked smashing in her new apron.

Chef Vrbsky (that is Rose's last name... not a typo)

After Job #1, Kristin and I went to yoga. It seems like it's been awhile since we've been able to go to the Friday class together. It had also been a full week since I'd done any yoga period... probably why the class felt insanely hard.

Classic post-yoga pic

Our monthly meeting for Job #2 was also scheduled for Friday night. Yuck! Surprisingly it turned out to be a lot of fun as the meeting was called "Fun Fitness Friday." After 30 minutes of talking, we went to four different stations where we spent 20 minutes at each getting to know different trainers and trying out different types of activities the club has to offer. First we tried Kinesis (strength training using cables) - that was pretty familiar as Sarah and I do that a lot when we train with Vinny. The next station was with Seetha!! She had us do exercises that focused solely on our core and they were tough. After that we moved to the TRX cage. I love TRX so I was excited to do that, and I even learned some new exercises to try. My last station was the pilates reformer room. I've done pilates dvds before, and even tried some pilates mat classes, but I've never used the reformer.

Pilates Reformer Machine

We stuck with very basic movements and OH MY GOD. I'm not sure if it was because of the yoga before, or all of Seetha's core exercises, but it felt like someone had lit my lower stomach on FIRE. It was hands down without a doubt the most intense ab workout I've ever experienced. Yikes! Certainly effective. I'm glad I got to try it and wish the machine weren't so complicated/intimidating to a newby, because I'd like to try it again.

Was it ideal to have a "meeting" on a Friday night? No. Was it actually a lot of fun? Yes! Especially since Andy had a concert, so it's not like we would have been doing something better. And to top it all off, not only was all of the exercise free, I was actually getting paid to be there! Now that's my kind of workout!

Saturday was boring. I worked Job #2, took a nap, ran some errands, did a bunch of laundry, took Andy to his concert... we did get FroYo after his concert, so at least that was fun.

Sunday was much better. I started with yoga in the morning, followed by a quick meeting with Seetha. I love her. She just wanted to check to see how I was doing and weigh me (I have basically stayed the same since I weighed myself after the juice cleanse, but hey I'll take it). We also talked about Andy's upcoming trip and how I'm "aware" that I will be home alone for awhile with limitless opportunities to eat my face off. She came up with a great alternative of how I can spend my time while he's away that will keep me occupied and satisfied. I won't reveal it now but stay tuned! I've got a project to work on!!

After my meeting with Seetha I ran home and got ready for our "Save the Date" photo shoot. Our friend Lydia took our pictures - her boyfriend Ben came too, which really helped lighten the mood. It was freezing cold outside, but otherwise I think it went well. I hope so at least! We should at least have some pretty fall foliage in the background.

Pretty tree

And what, of all things in the world, would you think a lovey dovey photo shoot would inspire you to do? Play laser tag, of course!

Ben and Lydia picked up our friend Will and we headed off to Laser Quest. We played two games - there were a lot of little kids in the first game who all decided to gang up on the adults (us)... not cool. I took no prisoners.

Hard to see but I came in 2nd place!

We stayed for another round - all of the little kids left (yes!), so it was just the five of us. SO fun. Throw out those rules of no running and no offensive language. We had a great time!

Will and Andy - ready for battle

The rest of our Sunday was low key. Andy and I made some dinner and went to bed early. All in all, a pretty good weekend. :-)

MRI + Late Night Shopping

Last night after work I had my MRI.

Didn't think I'd see this place again so soon...

Back in the gown - wah waaah

This MRI was much better than my last one... mostly because I knew what to expect, plus my knee didn't hurt nearly as bad as the time before. This time I also did not have music (no reggae, haha). I didn't realize how much the music helped mask the sound of the MRI. That thing is LOUD. If you ever want an example of what an MRI sounds like, call me... I'd be happy to demonstrate. Or call my dad. He's also very good at making MRI noises. :-)

After the MRI, I headed home to make dinner... "paleo" stuffed peppers (I put a sprinkle of cheese on top, so they weren't quite completely paleo - but they were most definitely starch free). Then I rushed out the door to meet Lisa and Rose because... we were going late night shopping!!!!

A store in town was doing a late night launch of the newest Vera Bradley patterns. Now, I don't really care that much about the launch, BUT there were free giveaways and a prize wheel. Sign me up!

Rose, Lisa, and I stood outside (in the rain) in hopes that we would be one of the first 30 people to get a free wristlet. Well... we were probably number 45 or so, so no wristlet for us, but we did get a free mini pouch key chain thing! I don't know what I'll use it for, but free is free! Then we stood in line to spin the prize wheel.

Lisa got a free poutine!

I got 10% off my purchase!

Rose also got a $10 gift card - nice! Then we attempted to shop. The store was really crowded so it was somewhat difficult to get around. 

Ok it doesn't look that crowded... but it was!

Rose posing in some Vera Bradley PJ bottoms

I tried some on too (I actually bought these)

We took pictures of the pajamas because there were no mirrors and we wanted to see what they looked like. I think some of the ladies thought we were weird trying them on over our clothes, but eh... too bad. Rose passed on the PJ bottoms in favor of an apron.

Photo taken while cooking up a storm!

Lisa didn't find anything that called to her, but she sweetly gave her free poutine to Rose who had been craving it all day. :-) Nothing like some 10:00pm poutine!

Rose - Le Petit Poutine's #1 Fan ;-)

I passed on the poutine because potatoes are a starch. I learned my lesson from that apple cider vinegar so I am staying on track! 

Tonight I'm working Job #2 again. My nights this week have been very busy, making the week fly by. I can't believe the end of the week is almost here! Yesssss.

Juice Cleanse

Want to tear up three times, be tired and fairly dizzy, and lose 8 pounds? Try a juice cleanse!

I met with Seetha after getting back from Chicago. I told her I needed to push a reset button. I confessed all of my horrible food sins I'd engaged in over the last two weeks (they ended up getting really bad) and that I had gained 11 pounds throughout the process. How did the wonderful Seetha handle the news? With kindness and humor, plus strict orders to stop eating food stat!

That's right. No more food for the rest of the day (Monday), plus all day Tuesday. Starting Wednesday morning (today) I was allowed to eat again - reverting back to the "no starch" rule. I was SO fine to go back to eliminating starch from my diet... in fact, I kind of like eating that way. But not eating food for over a day? Yikes. I was nervous.

Here's what I could have...

Water. Duh.

Juice. Fresh Juice. Straight from a juicer. No added anythings. Just 100% juice.

Thankfully our grocery store sells fresh juice

Tea with honey, only twice a day, on Tuesday only. Can I tell you how delicious this was? I've actually never tried putting honey in my tea before.

And...

the kicker...

3 Tablespoons of apple cider vinegar Monday night, Tuesday morning, and Tuesday night.

Bottle of Evil

See how the top of the bottle is empty? Yeah... that's because I drank it. If you have never taken a (giant) shot of apple cider vinegar before, here are some tips and what you can expect...

DO NOT BREATHE BEFORE YOU DRINK IT. I mean... it's vinegar. It smells awful. I also found it helpful to have Andy pour the shot for me so I could spend as little time with it as possible. And while he prepared it, I ran laps back and forth between our living room and dining room, giving myself an out-loud pep-talk. "Come on Larson. You've got this!" (I am dead serious... there was also some "arm pumping" involved to get myself psyched up). When it's ready, take it as fast as you can. Don't wait, because if you do, you will feel your throat start to close up on you (especially if you've already taken one and know what's about to follow). Ok, so you down it. It's a little sharp, but not completely the end of the world. But then seconds later, it's in your nose. It's coated everything. And it's disgusting. Your eyes will water. You will start burping apple cider burps. Shivers and shudders will go through your body. And no matter what you do, you will not be able to get rid of the taste. You will brush your teeth. You will use mouthwash. You will chew 4 pieces of gum (seriously). You will drink water. And then you will give up and learn to live with it. Oh and just be warned, if you spill a little in the kitchen and later walk back in and get a whiff of it, you will want to vomit. 

If I ever get the urge to eat an bakery's worth of donuts again, I will unscrew the cap of a bottle of apple cider vinegar and take a big whiff. I'm sure that will do the trick.

So! 42.5 hours later, I was allowed to eat food again this morning. 

Glorious Breakfast

Even though I'm not supposed to be weighing myself right now, I did hop on the scale this morning, just because I was so curious to see how effective (or not) my day+ of detox really was. I lost 8 pounds. Wow! That's a good lesson for me - now when the scale jumps up I can know it's probably not because I just got fat overnight. Instead it's just bloating, inflammation, and a lot of poop (sorry). 

It was a good challenge and interesting experience, but Lord knows I don't want to do that again anytime soon! 

Now I'm off to get my MRI. Good luck knee!

Sheena's Wedding

I'm back from my big trip to Chicago. I'm exhausted and disgustingly fat (11 pounds heavier to be exact), but I had a great time and I'm so glad that I got to be a part of Sheena's big day.

I flew in on Halloween night - took a train ride from the airport, and thankfully Sheena was able to pick me up at the train and take me to the AirBNB. Sheena looked amazing. So happy and healthy - just radiant. I remember thinking Nicole looked the exact same way when I saw her for the first time for her wedding weekend... I only hope I will look half as lovely as those two did.

My AirBNB turned out to be great. Some of the conveniences of a hotel would have been nice, but the price couldn't be beat, and it certainly had a lot more "style" than a hotel room would have had.

Living Room

Kitchen

My bedroom

The first morning started bright and early - Sheena picked me up at 7:00am and we went to a heated yoga class. The actual class wasn't that challenging, but I'm glad we went (even though that was about the only healthy thing I did for myself that weekend). Then it was back for a shower (hot yoga makes you very sweaty), and then off to Sheena's for Bridesmaid Brunch.

Sheena's bridesmaids were AWESOME. They were so warm and friendly and welcoming. Their attitudes definitely melted away a lot of the anxiety I was having. While having brunch, Sheena surprised us each with a card and a necklace - a locket with a special picture inside... so touching! We hung out for awhile and then it was time to get pretty.

Bridesmaids getting manicures

Sheena treated us to manicures and pedicures. Yes! It was much needed in my case, haha. After that we ran to one of the bridesmaid's apartments to get changed... then we were off to the rehearsal.

For the rehearsal, Sheena wore her grandmother's wedding dress (slightly altered). What a special thing to do, not to mention she looked great in the dress!

Sheena in her grandmother's dress

Here are more pics from the rehearsal...

Sheena helping me with my necklace...

...which was obviously the signal to ninja fight.

The rehearsal went smoothly, followed by the rehearsal dinner at a taphouse. Pizza and beer! Haven't had either of those in quite awhile! I was sad I couldn't stay out later, but I was just SO tired. Thankfully I got a ride back to my place, and fell in bed - another busy day was ahead of me!

We've made it to wedding day!!!!!!!!! Things kicked off at 10:00am with hair appointments. Sheena's theme was 1960's so there was some serious back combing involved to get lots of height.

My hair style

Sheena, all done up!

After hair we headed to Sheena's hotel room to keep getting ready - makeup, snacks, champagne, and getting dressed! Once the bridesmaids were ready, we were off to the venue to get Sheena in her dress.

Bridesmaids Ally, Jenn, and Kelly helping the bride

Once she was dressed it was time for pictures! I really appreciated getting pictures out of the way - that way we were all actually able to enjoy the party!

Sheena helping Jason with his boutonniere 

Here are more pictures of hanging out before the ceremony:

Bride and Groom w/Sheena's Parents

Bridesmaid Babs drinking champagne from a can

Bridesmaid Ashely w/flower girl Emily

Babs and Sheena

The ceremony was great. Their officiant was wonderful, the personal vows were so sweet, and just like that, they were married! Let the party begin!!! Cocktail hour had delicious hand-passed appetizers. I actually had a lot of fun catching up with people I went to school with - from 3rd grade through college and every stage in between - it was like a school reunion with only the people you actually liked, haha. Perfect! It's amazing what a good job Sheena has done staying in touch with people from so many different stages of life.

After cocktail hour we were back up in the ceremony space, which was transformed into a beautiful reception space.

Reception

Time for dinner, toasts, and dancing!

Jenn and Sheena - dinner time!

Sorry I don't have anymore pictures of the festivities. I was too busy dancing (and helping Sheena pee) to take pictures. ;-)

I finally left a little after midnight, thankfully able to share a cab with some friends. By the time I got packed and in bed, I was only able to get a few short hours of sleep before heading off to the airport. I didn't take my bridesmaid hair down before going to the airport.... they actually patted down my hair when I went through security!!! It's a good think I waited until I got back, because when I did take down my hair, it looked like this.......

Scary Hair

And on that note, I'll sign off! Sheena's wedding was perfect - she was so happy, looked so beautiful, and everyone had a great time. I'm sad it's over for her, but if anything, it has made me even more excited for my own!