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!