losing it

weight, that is!!

I've lost somewhere around 9 pounds since Memorial Day. I know this isn't a crazy amazing triumph given that it's been over a month, but I think I'm doing it the right way - just being healthier. I'm exercising much much more, and continuing to eat as healthy as I can, so it's just working. I'm really pleased. I'm wearing a dress today that I've never really liked on myself. It's amazing what a little 9 pounds will do! I want to keep losing, nice and slow like this. I finally had a few people who don't see me every day notice that I looked thinner. That was a great feeling :) Because I knew they could notice when I had gotten a little more plump and were too nice to say anything (thank god. i would have lost it). :)

I just feel better. At least through my constant struggle with weight, I now know what works for me. EXERCISE. If I don't do it, I gain weight. If I do it, I lose weight. It's a very simple equation for me. Thank goodness. It could be a lot worse. It's just a matter of actually doing it. But I've been doing pretty good so far, so we'll see. July 24th is my "due date" for this little health train. I go to the beach the following week, and that day is the day I get this awesome full body lymphatic drainage cellulite reduction treatment thingy done, so I really wanted it to pay off when I got it. So my goal was to try and get in as best (realistic) shape as possible by July 24th, just in time for my treatment and the beach trip. I'll keep you posted on my progress!

The trip home to MD was amazing. So relaxing, perfect weather (mid 70's with an insane cool breeze) and I did everything on my goal list (see below post). Watching fireworks on the chesapeake bay from a yacht was the perfect way to spend my 4th. Got drunk and dropped my sister's camera, so didn't get as many pictures as I had hoped, but hopefully we can salvage some. We'll see. Prob. will be a while.

Anyway, that's all for now. I'm going to a Bunco night with some of my old college girlfriends tomorrow, so that should be exciting! I've never played, so hopefully I won't suck :)

i'm going home. :)

home to MD for the weekend. my mini-holiday begins in nineteen minutes. i can't wait.

priorities (in no particular order):

smiling
breathing (slowly and with purpose)
sunshine on my bod.
alcohol - ok that's a pretty high priority, i mean really....
the chesapeake bay (sigh!)
family
water.
a yacht. yes. be j.
jewell (the doggie)
relaxation
happy.

happy america day.

how can you not love this face?

She's totally a human. I just know it. :-)

My mom sent me this in an email this morning...it made me so homesick! I want to be in Maryland, with the snow, and my mom, and my home, and my dog.... wah. Freaking ugly rainy Tennessee winters... Why don't you just get like 10 degrees colder!!?? please!!

Great lunch today - a fab treat: Bongo Java Cafe O'Lait and a cup (very small, but it did the job) of their black bean chili and a slice of fab hearty wheat grainy whatever toast. (avec butter, of course!!) I can't be good all the time!
The chili was very very good, and I will be getting it again. So healthy! Who needs tons of ground bif in their chili?
Usually, me. but not today!

no resolutions.

After the holiday pudge has packed on, my jeans are barely zip-able, and I feel like a whale, I have decided to get back on my health train. I had done pretty well up until Jamaica. By that trip, I ate whatever I wanted, and it totally got me back into my bad habits.... I'm not calling it a New Year's resolution, because we all know those never work. It's just continuing what I started a while back, and knowingly let slip during the holidays.

The holidays were fabulous... lots of rest and relaxation, lots of family (which I was very happy about) and LOTS of driving...ugh! But actually, the driving was not too bad this year - my sister helps the journeys go by pretty quickly! Lots of eating, and lots of wine.. mmm..... lots of my mom's from scratch bread (wowza) and oysters....and stuffing... I love Christmas. NYE was back in Nashville, very fun and very expensive-o. But worth it. I can be an old fart when I'm an old fart, right? I better get out and celebrate while I still feel like it! So yeah, great holiday. I need to put some pictures up on this dang thing!! Dang! Nothing better than the Atlantic Ocean in the dead of winter.... it's beautiful!

My favorite gift is a Diana F+ camera my mom got me!! LOVE! check it out... I'm getting my first roll developed soon so I will be posting some pics from that...if they turn out!! It's tricky!!

So, since I'm back on the health train, I might as well blog about fun things I find that are healthy and also enjoyable. I'm currently enjoying a winter delights (or something) salad. It came in a bag, and I really like it! It's mostly lettuce (butter lettuce, which I actually like!) and a little bit of almonds, dried somethings (some sort of berry) and then a little bit of bleu cheese crumbles (OMG!) in a white balsamic vinagrette. Tres yum. I'm pairing it with a healthy choice minestrone soup. Nice hearty, healthy winter meal! I also stocked up on Edamame at the grocery, so I'm back to that craze. We'll see how long it lasts. Something has to happen to these five pounds of hibernation-ready flab.

:)

home is where the mom is

So, went back to the fab state of MD this weekend, and I've decided, it's the most fucking gorgeous place in the WAYOLD!! (said in a new york accent, here's to you aunt charmaine.)

It's beautiful. It's peaceful. It's fun. Why did I leave again? Oh yea, no music biz in good ole' South County (lovingly referred to as SoCo by the locals). I am glad I don't "live" there, but I love visiting. I just wish it could be for more than a few days.

First things first. I inherited a camera from my mum. She gave me her childhood Kokak Brownie Hawkeye, an amazing old box camera which was made from the late 40's through the early 60's. it's OLD. but i love it. and, i think it still works. Here's what it looks like!!

I love it. I can't wait to get a bulb and some film and take some rad medium format photos!

Other things that happened this weekend included....lots of eating (mmmm it was all so delish) lots of drinking (too much) and some good friend-seeing and mom-visiting. Overall, besides the heinous hangover I had on Sunday, it was a great trip. Mom and I layed out by the pool, or, in the pool rather, ALL DAY on Sunday. Literally, for about 6 hours. It was so nice. We talked, laughed, and she tried to nurse me back to health with homemade miami vices (for those of you who don't know, a miami vice is 1/2 strawberry daquri and 1/2 pina colada. mmmm). I first turned her on to them in Jamaica two years ago and she's been hooked ever since. It's the perfect combo of both - not too much of either. Love them.....

Sidenote: I am eating the most amazing chicken salad sandwich right now and for this reason I will never, ever, become a vegetarian.

So yea, the weekend was great. I'm glad to be back, with the exception that I'm kind of Tennessee-d out right now. Don't get me wrong, I love it here. But I need an actual vacation. Like being away from work when I should be at work and everyone else is at work. Not just a weekend home. Next week I'm going to Ormond Beach, FL for 5 days with my mom, sis, my aunt and her two kids (our age). It's our yearly trip to see our Grandparents who live there, and it's always filled with lots of daquiris and food and SUN. So I can't wait. Get the hell away from the office for a while. Nice. Hopefully when I get back, I won't be so hateful. I'm pretty hateful right now.

I turn 25 on August 8th. I'm really excited. I love birthdays. Presents aside, it's getting to be with the people I love and knowing that they love me that makes birthdays amazing. I always feel so lucky to have the friends that I have on my birthday. I feel that in my 25 years on this earth, I've done a lot of good things. I've done a LOT of not-so good things, but I have a great family, fabulous boyfriend who gets me through the day, great friends, and a good job. Wait, great job. It's stressful as hell sometimes, but I am really lucky. Lucky lucky lucky.

warm fuzzies.

my backyard, below.... sigh.

And my Jewell....she makes me smile.

recent favorite foodadges and teeth

It's been a while since a Muggins food review, so here you are:



These are foodages I'm into right now: :-)



1) Kikkoman Corporation - Instant Tofu Miso Soup. TIME OUT. Why when I google this item does it come up on Amazon.com? Why does Amazon sell MISO SOUP? They need to stick to books. For realz.



Anyway, venting aside... I love this soup. Just add some boiling h2O, and you're good to go! It's dang close to the restaurant quality. MMMM.. *hint - I usually use two packs because one is just not enough. I found mine at Kroger in the international food section!


2) Weight Watchers Double Chocolate Muffins! They are amazing!!!


3) I'm sure you all have tried Morningstar products, but I really love the spicy black bean patties! I ate mine today on a whole wheat English muffin, a little bit of cheddar cheese, some light mayo and it was DELISH! Mmmmm I wish I had like 10 more. And it is REALLY filling. Of course, I did just have my ww muffin for dessert, so maybe that's why I'm so full. Those things are HUGE! :)


Well, that's it for my food review.... just love to spread the love of food. Also, check out Hungry Girl for a great guac recipe. Looks tasty and quite healthy!

So, back to life. I'm "moved" into my new place. Right now, my new home is full of boxes. Some full of total crap that needs to just be thrown away, and some full of things that I have NO idea where they're going to go. My roommate swears that I've been married before because I have so many things, it looks like they are all wedding gifts. HA! No, it's just my mother and her goals of making me domesticated some day. I think I'm less domesticated now than I was in college, believe it or not. I don't want to cook, I've gone back to eating frozen meals (for the most part) and never wanting to do anything "home-y."


I just noticed something funny. While spell checking this email (because I just KNEW I had spelled "domesticated" wrong, but I didn't) I noticed that this spellchecker doesn't recognize the word "google." How ridiculous is that? Oh, I also spell ridiculous wrong. Every. Single. Time. But yea, don't you have to sign in with a google account to use this blogger? I just find it ironic.

So yea, back to life. Other than the insane move and dealing with both crazy landlords at once, life is hectic! Effing hectic! Helping my amazing friends Steph and Amber with wedding stuff (which makes me never want to get married!), work, annoying co-workers, yard-sale-ing, attempting to see my bf on a semi-regular basis....it's been busy!

Oh, and I'd like to give a thank you to Emo Mul, for always keeping me on track in our conversations, and I really wish she was here helping me type this blog, because I realized I tangen-ted all over the place.

Oh, one more thing. Answer me this: I'm guessing it's because I grind my teeth to death in my sleep, but I constantly have dreams where my teeth are getting yanked out, or I'm missing teeth, but it's always my molars, never my front teeth. My dreams are very realistic, always in color, always very sensory.. like I can feel the pain or smell the smells, etc. Last night, I could feel the whole in my gums where my teeth once were. Isn't that strange? I wake up and I feel around a little bit and realize I still have teeth!
Any dream analyzers out there have any answers??

:-) fin.

Sounds delish. Mimosas??

The weekend in a nutshell.

What a waste of rediculously expensive champagne. Totally Meg and Mom style. It was so nice to be home. Mom and her broken leg were just fine. The dog got fat because of her steriods she's on for cancer :( But she's still fabulous! I got my fill of crab, oysters, clams, shrimp all in two days. Amazing. Besides the return plane ride from Hates, it was a great weekend!

Brief summation of the plane ride home: two EXTREMELY loud, rude, foreigners literally yelling at each other the entire flight home in some highly obnixious language. And I'm not exaggerating. They were LOUD. Did they REALIZE it was a 10pm flight and NO ONE around them could sleep? Note - I probably would have found them very interesting and cool had they not been seated directly behind me while I was attempting to sleep. Also, there was the "loud, huffy-puffy" woman sitting next to me who couldn't seem to move without making some sort of huffy-puffy sound. DROVE ME FRIGGIN crazy. She kept coughing into the Sky Mall magazine - all I could think about was how many of those I thumb through. Never again.... Also, whoever the hell kept farting around me. Probably one of the highly annoying people I was surrounded by. I had my iPod cranked to full blast and could not overpower the babble or the huffy puff. Needless to say, I wasn't in the best of moods last night when I got home. Poor Cordie.

home-to-be

some photos. I can't WAIT! I'm too embarrased to put up the picture of my room because the furniture is just so bad in there, and the pics aren't very good. i'll put some up once i have taken over. :-)