Small Blog Break

Hi All!!! After tomorrow I will be off work until the 3rd!! WHOO HOO!!!

I probably won't get a chance to blog or to really read other blogs while I'm off. So I am going to take a small break.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday!

I'll see you next year!

A Great weekend (With a picture!)

This weekend was great. Super busy, but a lot of fun. It went by way too fast.

On Friday, my uncle who lives in Florida came to visit with my grandma. I hadn't seen my uncle in a while, so it was great to have them at my house. We had a nice dinner. After dinner I had to go to a Christmas party. It was fancy, which meant I was able to get all dolled up. lol. I love to dress up! The house I went to was right on the water and it had the most beautiful view of the city. So pretty. A lot of my friends from the gym was there. It was really nice to see everyone dressed up and not in gym clothes.

Saturday I got my hair cut. I had been thinking about cutting it short for a while. I decided I was finally ready to say goodbye to my hair. I printed out some pictures and went to have it done. Luckily I have the best hair stylist in the world. Seriously she is the best and I will never leave her! lol. She was so excited about me cutting my hair. She went right to town after I showed her the picture. I admit when she was cutting I was a little nervous. But excited nervous. After the cut, she colored it a nice dark brown. It was time to finally dry and see what it looks like.

I love it! It's a lot shorter than I was expecting it to be though. I'm still in a little shock that I have no hair anymore. Also I have yet to see what it looks like when I leave it naturally curly. I'm waiting for a day when I don't have to leave my house to see what it looks like.

After that I spent the day with my uncle and grandma. I am going to the cookie exchange party on Wednesday and I need to make 10 dozen cookies. I am making my grandma's recipe for the party so we made a batch together on Saturday. Then we headed down to my Aunt's house for a little. I could only stay for a couple of hours. Enough so I could eat her homemade pizza! :)

My gym was having their Christmas party that night. I got all dressed up again and was off. I had my mom drop me off because I knew I would be drinking. A lot of the people there were also at the party the night before. They all flipped about my hair!! It was a little overwhelming with all the attention. But the reaction was good and made me really happy that I went for it. The party was so much fun. I drank way too much though. I was spinning by the end of the night. My mom who is super awesome picked me up.

Sunday I spent the rest of the day baking cookies. It took a few hours but they came out great! I even bought tins to put the cookies in for each person. I can't wait to go on Wednesday and eat cookies!

Here is a picture of me from the previous weekend at my Ugly Christmas Sweater party. You can see how long my hair was then.



And here is what my hair looks like now!!

Haunted House?

Something strange happened to me last night.

I came home from the gym. Both my mom and brother weren't home. So I came in, put my dogs out, then went to take a shower. I shower in my mom's bathroom (it's nicer). Whenever I shower I turn on one light in her bedroom because it's pretty dark in there. So I turned on the light, and then went into the bathroom and took my shower.

When I finished up, I dried off, left the bathroom and turned off the bathroom light. Suddenly I realized that there was no other light on in the bedroom! I ran back into the bathroom and turn on the light. Then I crept out of the bathroom and went to the light switch. I flipped it back on and the light was working just fine. I figured that my brother must have came home and turned off the light.

I called out into the house. No one responded. Suddenly I heard the garage door opened and I was flooded with relief. Until that point I was really freaking out. My brother walks into the house and I ask him. Brian did you come in here and turn off the bedroom light? "No I just got home"

Brian I'm really serious, did you turn off this light. "Carolyn I JUST walked in the door, I haven't been home since this morning"

?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!

I freaked out. I told him that someone turned off this light! Check the house to see if someone is in here. He thought I was joking. He was like, no one is trying to break in, stop being ridiculous. I went into my room to put my PJs in. All of a sudden I started crying. lol. With all the adrenaline that was pumping through my body and being really freaked out, I couldn't help. He heard me crying and I guess felt bad. He searched every nook and cranny of the house for an intruder.

Finally he told me no one is in the house and there wasn't any doors or windows opened. So now I have no idea who turned off the light! I know for a fact that I switched it on before I went into my mom's room. The light didn't go out, someone TURNED IT OFF.

So now I've switched gears. If no one was in the house. Maybe it's a ghost? Which truthfully, freaks me out way more. I don't want to be haunted. When I told my mom the story this morning, she told me it must have been my grandpa. Quick backstory, my grandpa died in my house. So I guess if we are being haunted it would be by the person who actually died here.

Strange things have happened to my mom before, but I've never really believed her. Or there was an explanation. But now, I'm beyond freaked out. I know this probably sounds silly, but I just can't explain it. Someone effing turned off this light!

I actually had to take something last night to calm me down so I could actually sleep. If this is a spirit I really hope it leaves me alone. I don't know if I can take anymore shenanigans.

Laying Low

Things have been crazy with my lately. Next weekend will be crazy busy for me. I don't even know if I can handle it. lol. Because I knew next weekend will be filled with parties and people, I did everything I could to lay low this weekend.

On Friday, I declined an invite to hang out with a friend. I was able to watch all my shows on DVR and go to bed early for once. On Saturday I ran some errands and was able to come home and just relax. Another friend wanted me to go to the dog park, but I really just needed alone time. I savor my time alone and I have been so busy that I was getting irritable.

That evening though I went to an Ugly Christmas Sweater party. By that time I was beginning to go a little stir crazy so I was ready for a fun night out. I loved some of the sweaters people had on. Some really went all out. My favorite was this guy had a white sweatshirt that had Garfield and the dog (Oddie?) with santa's hat on them and lights around them. Then he cut out holes in the sweatshirt and poked Christmas lights through which light up with a battery pack!! Another guy wore a Christmas nightgown! Which was so funny. The party was really fun and it was good to see some friends I hadn't seen in months.

Sunday I went back into hiding. A friends wanted to hangout, but I declined and went to the movies instead. I really felt bad that I was avoiding people, but I just had the best time. lol. I saw "My Week with Marilyn". I love love Marilyn Monroe. I own so many of her movies. I loved seeing this film. Michelle Williams was a great Marilyn. I also didn't realize that this was based off a true story. I am hoping to read the memoir soon.

The movie was playing at a small independent theater. I love this place. It has only two theaters and really great seats. However the parking was a nightmare. I almost missed the beginning. The theater is in the city I live right near. There is one central parking lot there. It was packed and there were dozens of people searching for a spot. So I had to park in another lot that no one ever parks at which is really far away. But at least it saved me a headache when I had to leave.

Now I feel refreshed and I will tackle next weekend head on!! I am really looking forward to everything happening. It should be a lot of fun! But I know I will be exhausted come Monday morning.

I really love my new Mixer! (Pictures)

I am so so happy I bought my KitchenAid Mixer! I was a cooking machine this weekend! For my first use of the mixer I wanted to try something really challenging. So I attempted to make a Cheese Souffle. I know they are hard and if they don't rise that basically means you failed. lol. I was actually surprised at how easy it was to make the souffle. Using the mixer to beat the egg whites helped immensely. Final result?

Success!!! My souffle rose and it was delicious!

Here is a picture of the final product.



Sorry it's so dark. But look how high it got!

On Sunday I was bored so I decided to try something else. I made biscotti. I'm not really a fan of biscotti (which is like a sin when your Italian), but my mom has been begging me to make it for a while now. This was pretty labor intensive and took a long time to make! I wasn't sure what I was doing the whole time either. I felt lost. However the final product looks great and my mom loved them! Yay! I didn't think to take a picture though. I am planning on making chocolate biscotti soon and I will make sure to take a picture then!

This weekend I heard that Santa would be at Petsmart and the money would be donated to charity. I just had to take my dogs. The Santa was really creepy looking, but I still love this picture! My dogs were terrified of Santa!

Here they are



I initially had no plans this weekend, but it ended up being jam packed and a lot of fun. I love weekends like this when I just went with whatever I felt like doing. It was really nice and I was still able to relax.

New PR for my 5K!

This past Sunday I did a 5K race. It was right near my home. There were 900 people running in it!! I saw so many people from high school there. It was great! The weather was beautiful. It was the mid 60s and no humidity. Definitely not weather I'm used to in NJ this time of year, but it was welcomed the day of the race.

The course was hard. Really hard. There were so many hills and the start of the race was slow because there were so many people and there was a lot of bottlenecking. Once I got going and was into a groove, I was okay though. Although after the turn around I had to run up this HUGE hill. Seriously it just never ended. lol. After that it was smooth sailing though.

When I was nearing the finish line I really picked up my speed. I knew I could beat my time if I just kept my pace.

Final time? 31:23!!!!!! I beat my last 5K by almost 2 minutes!! I can now officially say I am a 10 minute mile runner! I can't believe it! Especially for such a hard course. it's not normal to PR like that. I am so proud!

The first 5K I ever ran was only this past May and I finished in 39:55. Sunday I ran in under 32 minutes! That's 8 minutes shaved off in 6 months! I really can't believe. I never in a million years thought I could get my time under 30 minutes, but now I really feel like I will get there. And SOON!

I just can't believe I'm a runner like this. It's so surreal. Just a year ago I couldn't walk a half a mile without feeling like I would pass out, and now here I am, setting my sights on one day doing a half marathon! AHHHHH

Eating and Shopping (Two of my favorite things)

My Thanksgiving was wonderful. By Thursday my mother had calmed down and the whole house was ready for my family to invade. It was a great day with lots and lots of food. It was also the first year I didn't have to sit at the kids table! I am 27 and this has never happened. lol

I live in a ranch house. The dinning room and family are connected together. There used to be two little walls between the two rooms. Last year we knocked down the two walls and made the passage way wider. Because of this we were able to connect the dinning room table and the kids table together, so all 20 of us could sit and eat dinner as a family. It was so nice! No one missed out on any conversations.

I ate so much food though. I just couldn't stop myself. I was so full that I thought I may be sick. My mom made her famous pepperoni bread, there was spinach artichoke dip, and cheese and meats platter for our apps. Dinner we had turkey, stuffing (one with sausage, one without) sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, broccoli rabe, green beans.... oh it was delicious. Thankfully I don't like dessert, or I may have actually gotten sick. My aunt made key lime pie and pumpkin pie, my grandma made apple stroudel and there were cookies.

It was a great day. But really long. I woke up at 7:30am to go to the gym and my family didn't end up leaving until 9pm that night. I was asleep by 9:30.

Unfortunately all that food caused me to have severe heartburn. I woke up at 3:30 in pain. I took tums but they didn't help. I figured since I was up, I may as well go shopping. lol. I was so sure that it was going to be packed when I left my house. My first stop was Kohls since I live right near there. I figured I would drive by and see what the parking lot looked like, before I would even go it.

It was a ghost town. I couldn't believe it! There was maybe 8 other people in the store. It was awesome! I got so many good deals, including a gold pair of earrings that were $300 marked down to $50 bucks. I got a Kitchen Aid Mixer for only $130 (after discounts and a rebate)!!! I've been dying to get a mixer for a long time. This was a great deal! Plus with the $15 kohls cash back I got like $105 dollars to use there this weekend.

After Kohls it was still only 5:30. So I headed down to the Jersey Shore Outlets. This was a little more busy, but I had no problem parking and was in and out all the stores pretty. The only store that looked crazy was Burberry. There was a line to get into the store and the line to check out wrapped around the store. There was no way I was going in there. But I got 50% off everything at Cole Haan and since it was before 8am I got an extra 20% off my total. Ann Taylor was 50% off everything. I got the most darling coat. So many good deals. By 8am I was totally done with my black friday shopping!

I had such a good experience. Later on in the day when I was driving around I saw that kohls was a madhouse. I am so glad I went before it got really busy. Me getting hearburn was the best thing to happen to me!! lol

How was your Holiday? Did you do any shopping for Black Friday? Online or in store?

Getting Ready for Turkey Day

Things at my house are crazy. My mom is getting everything ready for Thanksgiving and is in full melt down mode.

This happens every. single. year.

We have had Thanksgiving at my house for almost 30 years. My mom goes into panic mode a week before the holiday every year. Between the cleaning and the cooking she is a mess. I try to help out as best as I can, but she makes a bigger deal out of it than it is. She always thinks there are more things to be done then there really is.

So this weekend was crazy. I had to move a ton of boxes down into the basement, countless loads of laundry, help iron and hang new curtains we bought for my room and the living room. I had to go buy the liquor, some food she forgot and a larger curtain rod for the windows.

There was window washing, floor washing, shaking out rugs, cleaning toilets. It was a lot and I was exhausted. Got in a workout just from that!!

We got a lot done though and my mom is starting to calm down a little. It's definitely a tradition I've come to expect ever year. And honestly, the holiday wouldn't be the same without it.

I have a very short work week this week, so there is a very good chance I won't blog again until next week. I hope you all have a Wonderful Thanksgiving and a great Black Friday if you shop!!!

I am very thankful for my health and happiness this year. I am so full with love this year, and so thankful to be surrounded by people I adore.

What are you thankful for?

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I'm one of those people who love to get their Christmas shopping done early. That way I can actually enjoy the holiday season once December hits. I try to be done with all my shopping by Black Friday.

Well this year I have outdone myself. As of today, November 14, I am FINISHED with my shopping!!!! Jealous? lol. I can't believe I'm done already. I even bought all my cards for everyone. I'm so ahead of the game, I'm considering wrapping all my presents next weekend! But then I may feel kinda strange. lol.

The reason why I'm done so early is because with my brother and his family living in India, I had to mail out their gifts this week, in order to ensure they would have everything by Christmas. Once I got started, I just finished with everyone else.

I am really looking forward to the holidays. I love love Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday), and I can't wait for Christmas this year. I have cousins flying in from California that I haven't seen in at least 4 years! We are having a mini family reunion. We usually have around 20 people to celebrate Christmas with, this year will be over 30! It's going to be great!

Last night I even watched Elf on TV. I love that movie and it really got me into the holiday spirit!

When do you try to get your holiday shopping done?

I love money!

This weekend I sold some gold. I had a lot of chains that were too short, broke or just never worn. I also had earrings that were missing mates or weren't really my style. I'm been pretty strapped for cash lately so I decided to try and sell it.

I was really nervous. I had no idea about the process or if I would get ripped off. I went to the place that a few of my friends sold gold to. Which made me feel better. The whole process was fascinating. They checked every single piece to see how many karats something was. They would rub it on a stone and then pour acid over it to see how many karats it was. A lot of what I brought turned out to not be gold at all. I was surprised at some of the pieces.

In the end I had one pile of 14K and another 10K. Total sum of the two?

$700!!!!!!!!

I was in shock!! I couldn't believe how much I got for it! the 14K I got $550 for and the 10K $150. They paid me in cash to. Which was crazy. I went right to the bank to deposit it.

This $700 helps me out so much. My credit card is officially paid off and now I have money to buy the rest of my Christmas gifts. I should have some left over to spend in Italy too! WHOO HOOO.

Also ironically, my car battery died yesterday, so that money came in real handy when buying a new battery! lol

Have you ever sold jewelry before?

Happy Halloween!!!

I am trying to not stuff myself with candy all day!

Because of the snow this weekend, I didn't get to go to Fright Fest at Six Flags like I had planned. Which really bummed me out. I did however go see Paranormal Activity 3. While it was suspensful and scared me, the ending made no sense! I was furious with that ending!! NOTHING was explained. So annoying.

I hope you had better halloween plans! Did any of you dess up and go out?

I took a break from eating right and working out last week and I felt like total crap. It's crazy how my body craves working out and clean food now. I literally cannot go back to my old lifestyle.

Which is a good thing, but I miss being able to pig out sometimes. Although when I got on the scale I was not happy. At all. UGHH

Hopefully the few pounds I gained will quickly come off. Next week my gym is having a individual challenge. The person who loses the most weight over 6 weeks, and completes certain tasks wins $1,000!!! I am going to try my hardest to win!

I decided for the almost 6 weeks of the challenge I will not have any cheat meals, besides Thanksgiving. I really think I can do this! Wish me luck!

Didn't get muddy this weekend...

For months I had been looking forward to my mud run. I was all set. I had my compression gear and had been training pretty intensely for it. I was beyond nervous, but also so excited to push myself to the limits.

Then Friday afternoon, at like 3:30, it's postponed.

I was PISSED!!!!! I may have also cried a little bit.

The township that the event was supposed to be held in, is apparently known for pulling stunts like this. At the last minute, the decided to change the insurance policy for the event and demanded that each runner be insured for a million dollars, and with over 1,000 runners signed up, that would mean a billion dollar policy. Something that the people holding the event couldn't do.

I understand that there has to be insurance but that's insane. Especially with the fact that every runner has to sign a waiver, that says if we get injured we can't sue!

So the event may be rescheduled for November 5th, but that's only if an agreement is reached between both parties. Which isn't looking good right now. I am so bummed out. I really wanted to do this and push myself to the limits.

There are a couple of other mud runs that are happening in the next few weeks, but most of them are sold out already. So if I am to do one, it wouldn't be for a few months or even a year! UGH! So bummed.

Fingers crossed that it gets rescheduled. Until then, I may have to make my own course. lol

Updates (one really exciting)

I'm officially going to Italy!!! OMG!!! I am so excited to go back! I found a really good rate at the hotel my brother is staying at. I feel so much better now that we will both be at the same hotel. Much easier to coordinate with each other. Hotel is booked, and I'll probably get my plane tickets next week. I am bursting I am so excited. February can't come fast enough for me now!

I had my two week check up last week for my Iron infusions. Unfortunately, my levels barely went up. I have to go back in a few weeks to see if they continue to go up. I really hope so, I do not want to have to get the infusions again. That sucked. So fingers crossed for a good check up in a few weeks.

My mud run is this Saturday. It's so close! I'm in panic mode now. I am so nervous about the race. What if I can't handle all these obstacles? I am insane. I am so nervous that I can't seem to stop eating. Seriously. All junk too. I need my body to be in tip top shape and I keep on eating sugar and sodium. UGH. The whole time I'm eating, I'm internally yelling at myself. I am such an emotional eater, especially when my anxiety acts up. At least now I recognize why I'm doing this and I do stop myself before I eat too much. I need to find another outlet for my nerves. Hopefully my 4 mile run I have planned for tonight will help calm me!

I have been so busy the past few weeks. I'm honestly not used to being so busy. I used to rarely go out. Now every weekend I have something planned. It's crazy and great, but also exhausting. I cannot wait until November when things should calm down a bit for me. At least until the holidays start up again.

Can you believe that Thanksgiving is like a month away?? Time really does seem to be flying by!! I gotta get a start on my Christmas shopping!!

Possible trip to Italy!

I've mentioned many times before that my brother lives in India. I even went to visit last January. It was an incredible experience. Thankfully my brother and his family will be moving back to the states come this summer! I am so excited at the prospect that they'll just be a few states away, rather than on the other side of the world.

I haven't seen my brother since I was in India. I got to see my Sister in law and niece over the summer. It is crazy how fast my niece is growing. They were not able to get any time to take off to visit this winter. Which meant having to wait an entire year before I got to see any of them again.

UGH.

So I looked around and found a decent plane ticket to go back to India. So I emailed them and told them I would possibly be coming for a visit. They were really excited. Then I found out that they were planning a trip to Rome for the end of February, and would I rather go there instead of India? UM YES PLEASE!

I've been to Rome before, but it was only for about 3 days. Not nearly enough time to see everything I wanted to see. Plus the prospect of seeing them again makes me so happy! They had already booked a hotel and that was way to expensive for me to get a room there. I looked around and found an AMAZING deal. Roundtrip flight and hotel for the week (and a really really nice hotel) for only $1300!! That was what my plane ticket to India was going to cost!!!

Best of all the hotel is right near the main train station and a lot of the sights. Plus it's pretty close to where my brother and his family are staying. I think. lol. Cities in Italy are very confusing.

My only problem? NO ONE will come with me! Most of my friends are teachers and they cannot take off a week during the school year. The others, can't afford it. My mom doesn't even want to go! Which is unbelievable to me. She is petrified of flying and has never travelled out of the country before.

Which means I'm probably going solo. I'm not going to let that stop me from going there, but I just wish I had a travel buddy! I know once I get there I will be fine, but I still get nervous.

Nothing has been booked yet. I'm waiting to talk to my brother on the phone to solidify planes. I really hope it works out though! I'll be bummed if it doesn't!

12 Sleeps

In 12 days I will be doing a Mud Run!! It's getting so close!!!

Right now I'm not that nervous. The few days before the race I know I will be a nervous wreck though! It's slowly starting to sink in that I'm actually doing this.

Yesterday I met with some people running the race with me and we went to a local school. We ran up and down a crazy hill. Then practiced crawling on the ground and attempt to go across the monkey bars. Most importantly, we practiced lifting each other over the monkey bars. There will be high walls that day and I wanted to make sure someone would be able to lift me up!! It was something I was really nervous about! Even though I'm the smallest I've ever been, I still have a good bit of weight to lose!

After we practiced I felt a lot more confident about the race. I felt more comfortable knowing these women are going to stay with me the whole race.

After that, I went to get my compression clothes for the race. I needed something sleek that will keep me warm. And also be able to dry fast. Which is why I had to get compression clothes. They are the most unforgiving clothes you can imagine. They show every lump and bump!! UGH! I wish I was way smaller. However I didn't look as terrible as I thought I would. Plus I know how happy I will be that I wore these the day of the race. I'm going to get muddy and very wet. I need something that will not weigh me down and keep me going! I look crazy though. lol

I can't wait for the race to happen already! I know it will be an experience to last me forever!

I did something you're told to never do!

I ordered my Bridesmaids dress a size down!!!

A good friend from college asked me to be in her wedding. I was so honored and excited that I get to be a part of her big day!!! I was also really excited to go shopping for a dress now that I'm a lot smaller. I wasn't worried that I wouldn't be able to fit into any of the sample dresses they had at the store.

This weekend I went down to Baltimore to see my friends and try on dresses. On Saturday, me, the bride and the other 2 bridesmaids were off to David's Bridal to find a dress. The bride was super awesome and told us we didn't have to get matching dresses. As long as it was in the same color, she was happy. How cool is that??

It was packed with people there. We decided to get shorter dresses since the wedding will be in June. We roamed the racks and just started pulling. Once we each had a couple of dresses we were ready to try on. I grabbed a size 14 dress, but I was worried it wouldn't zip. These dresses tend to run smaller than regular stores.

I was shocked when the dress zipped up! It fit perfectly!! Also it looked amazing! The other 2 girls didn't really like their dresses. We went on to try dress 2. Another winner for me, but I still liked the first one best. The other girls still didn't like their dress. We tried on a third. No go for all of us. The other girls decided to try on my dress. So I put mine back on and they tried one on.

We all loved it! The bride though we were doing this to please her, getting the same dress. But we all genuinely liked this dress the best. Best part? It was only $100! Yay! We were literally done in like 20 minutes. I really think that had to be the quickest bridesmaids dress shopping trip ever. lol

Now it came time to get measured and order the dresses. The 14 fit me perfectly. However I'm not done losing weight yet. I still have 20 to 30 pounds to go. The lady at the store told me they can take dresses in, but only about one size down.

Even though it makes me nervous I ordered the 12!! AHHH! This gives me even more motivation to get this last bit of weight off. I don't care how comfortable my body is at this weight, I am not DONE. I must fit into this dress!

I get the dress in early December. However I won't have to get it altered until late February/March. So my goal is to be smaller than the 12 by that date! Once I get the actual dress in the mail, I'm going to take progress photos.

For now, here is what the dress looked like in the store. It's going to be in a pretty clover green color. Also don't mind my socks. I forgot to take them off. lol.

5K in the morning and AC in the night! (Pictures)

This past weekend was crazy for me! It was nonstop from start to finish. And I loved every second of it!!

Saturday morning I woke up bright and early to run a 5K. It was my 4th one this year. I can't believe that I do 5Ks now like this! A bunch of people from my gym ran the race and we all showed up wearing shirts from our gym. It was a great sight to see. 70 plus people wearing shirts from one gym!!

I'm also happy to say that I beat my last 5K that was on Labor Day. I finished a full minute faster!!! I came in at 33:17!!!! Whoo Hooo!! I am so happy with how much I've improved with running. My very first 5K (which was just this past May) I finished in almost 40 minutes. Now I'm getting close to going under 30 minutes!! I cannot wait for that day!!!!!

Here is me starting the race



After the race, I hung out with some people from my gym at a local bar. I couldn't stay long though. I had to rush home, shower and pack because I was going to Atlantic City that night!! I met at my friend's parent house around noonish. We had a great lunch together to celebrate her birthday. Then we were off!

We stayed at Harrah's. We specifically wanted to go to the Pool Bar there. Turns out that night Snooki from the Jersey Shore was going to be there! lol. When we got to the hotel we hung out a little and gambled some. Sadly I did not come home a winner!

Soon it was time for us to get ready to go out! I bought a dress from the Missoni line from Target. It was very short for me! I was really stepping out of the box with my outfit, but I wanted to feel great!! And I did!!! I felt great and I knew I looked good! lol.

The Pool Bar was a lot of fun! We saw Snooki for about 5 seconds there though. But it didn't matter the music was good and the company was awesome. I definitely drank too much though! Also there were so many Jersey Shore wannabes there. It was a little crazy. I was surprised at how many guys were there. Way more than girls that night.



My friends and I getting ready



We saw Snooki for like 5 seconds. She said something into a Mic, which I could not understand, and then she was rushed off to a VIP area. Not to be seen again. It's crazy because she probably got paid like $30,000 to talk for one minute there.



Here she is. I have to say, she looked terrible in person!!

The rest of the night was a blur. Finished with me chowing down on curly fries before bed. lol. I never sleep in when I drink. Me and my best friend were up at 7am. Her boyfriend and our friend were still passed out. So we decided to go get breakfast and go swimming at the pool. It was so nice during the day. Swimming was great, the hot tub was even better. It was nice to just relax on the lounges though. It was funny because there was still people there from the night before passed out on the lounges! It was a great way to end my trip in AC.

How was your weekend?

1 down, 4 to go...

So my first iron infusion didn't go so well.

First I had to wait almost a half hour before seeing the doctor. Finally after that, it was time to start. My nerves were already off the charts. I started crying as soon as she brought the needles over. I felt like such a jackass, because here I am getting a simple treatment, and every other person in the room was getting chemo.

They went to put the IV in my arm, between the elbow and wrist. She put the IV in and the pain wasn't THAT bad. However after the IV was in, I starting feeling a lot of pain. Turns out I was infiltrating. Which means the saline isn't going into your veins, but the surrounding tissue and muscle. UGH. So she had to take it out and start again.

She went a little farther down my arm, stuck me with the IV, PAIN, and then almost immediately I infiltrate again. Which hurts way more than the actual needle does. Next they try my other arm. Guess what? Same thing happens.

At this point I'm in full blown meltdown. The nurse really wants to put the IV in my hand but I refuse. I am scared shitless of IVs in my hands. You would think, after 10 surgeries that I would be a pro, but it just makes it worse. The nurse also wasn't really working with me. She was annoyed at me for the fact that I have small superficial veins and she can't get a line in me. IT'S NOT MY FAULT LADY.

All of a sudden, without asking me, she puts the IV into my wrist. I swear to god I saw stars. The pain was blinding. The wrist way more painful than my hand would have been. Good to know for future reference. I totally cursed when that happened. However the IV was in and she was very happy with herself.

However I was still in a lot of pain. She's going on and on about how the wrist is delicate and the pain is normal and I'm not infiltrating. It hurts SO bad though. Finally she goes to ask another nurse for a second opinion. Surprise! I infiltrated! They take the IV out and there is a HUGE bubble on my arm from where the saline leaked out. Thankfully it wasn't the actual iron yet. Otherwise I would have a big brown stain on my arm now.

The new nurse I guess sees that I'm at my wits end. I'm about to leave and just call it a day. My nerves are shot and it hasn't even started yet. They decide to put my IV into the crook in your elbow where you usually get blood drawn from. I know that's a good vein. I've had IVs in there before. However the first nurse grouch refused because that's not normal protocol.

5th attempt is a charm and I'm finally ready for it to start. The infusion itself wasn't bad. It took almost an hour but there was no pain thankfully. Just slightly achy. I was there for over 2 hours though. I was exhausted and I cannot believe I have to do this 4 more times!

I agreed to do the next visit with the IV in my hand. I have a prescription for Emla cream which numbs your skin before hand. Hopefully I won't have the same problems again and I get out of there a lot faster. Next appointment is tomorrow so I need to be ready.

My one arm where she put the IV in my wrist is still pretty swollen and hurts a lot actually. I hope it's gone by tomorrow though.

Feeling good

Last week, I was all out of sorts. It was a crummy week from beginning to end. I was so looking for the weekend and a new week to begin.

I got my hair done on Saturday and that helped me improve my mood a lot. I love love getting my hair done. I dyed it dark brown for the fall and cut off a little over 2 inches. I felt like a new person afterward.

My weight loss has been at a bit of a standstill, so I actually tracked everything that I ate this weekend. Made good decisions and this was the first Monday in a long time that I didn't gain weight. YES!! I hope I can keep this up and have a good weigh in on Friday.

I like starting the week on the right foot. I don't feel like I need to go crazy in order to catch up!

This Wednesday is the first of my iron infusions. I've still a little scared, but now just kind of want to get the first one over with already. I'm more worried about how long it will take. I've heard that the first one can take really long time, becuase they want to make sure you don't have a bad reaction or anything. UGH. Also I asked my mom to try and come with me. That way I'll have company.

Then this weekend I'm going down to Atlantic City for my best friends birthday. At first I wasn't really looking forward to it. Mostly because of the cost. But I haven't been to AC in over a year and I'm really excited to get dressed up and go out for the night.

All in all, this is shaping up to be a pretty good week. I hope it stays that way. lol

What's your plans for the week?

Car is FINALLY fixed

My car has been finally fixed today. Cost was over $400!! YIKES! However I'm just happy to finally have my car back. It sucked being carless for almost 3 days!

Turns out I needed both front and back brakes done. My back ones were worn out. My front ones somehow were damaged and warped. Which is what was causing the scary loud noise. Which is also scary to think about. Fortunately since they were damaged my front brakes were covered by warranty!! YAY! I only have to pay for the back ones.

Since I needed new pads and rotors it was going to be expensive. So that SUCKED. On top of this, me getting my hair done this weekend (finally and I cannot reschedule again!), Atlantic city for my BFF's birthday the following weekend (which I have to go to), and going to Baltimore the weekend after that (to try on bridesmaids dresses), makes me VERY broke.

I was so close to paying off my credit card completely, but it looks as though it will take another month or so to do it. I'm really bummed about this. I was just starting to get a handle on my finances.

I'm so happy that I get paid on Friday... lol

Lots of Thoughts

This is be a little all over the place today. Thinking about too many things.

* My weekend was really nice. Went to a PBA luau that was on the beach on Saturday. The weather held out and was a really nice night!! I was upset I didn't win any prizes though. Almost every at my table did but me! Oh well. It was a great night and was much needed. Here is a picture from the day.



* Found out at work that I'm going to be getting an actual office in a few months!! Yay! I'm so excited. Right now I'm in a pretty big cubical, but it'll be nice to have an actual office with a door. And much needed privacy. I can't wait!

*On my way to work this morning, my car started to make crazy noises. Really squeaky noises and then loud rumbling kinda noise. Then it felt strange driving it. I was really scared and pulled over into a shopping center. I called my mom because I didn't know what to do. We went back and forth and finally decided to call AAA. However I really needed to get to work. I didn't want to miss a day. Thankfully I live really close to one of my friends from work. I called him up and he just happened be passing me at that moment!! He stopped and picked me up.

I was going to call AAA after work and deal with it then. However I guess my mom felt bad, she called them up and is right now waiting for them to come and look at it. I feel so bad that she left work for me!! That was so nice of her. I really hope there isn't anything really wrong with my car. With my luck though, it probably will be something.

This wasn't the best way to start the week for me. I'm in a crummy mood now! I hope things start to look up soon.

I hate waiting!

So I finally made an appoinment to see a hematologist about my low iron. I've been putting it off for a few months. I hate going to the Dr and honestly, I don't feel tired or lethargic so I didn't think me being anemic was that big of a deal. I knew deep down that I needed to get this figured out though. I was just being lazy.

Tuesday was my appoinment. It was for 4:30. They told me to get there a half hour early to fill out paperwork. Which ended up taking me a whopping 5 minutes. At 10 to 5, I am finally called back. I was happy until they took me to the room to get blood drawn. WTF??? I had NO idea I was getting blood work done. Why didn't someone tell me this?? So I had to get that done, and then the nurse weighed me and did all my stats. A little after 5 I was put into an exam room.

Where I sat waiting for 45 minutes!!! I was so cranky and annoyed. 45 minutes is just ridiculous. I was literally about to walk out the door when the doctor came in. Then she had to ask me a million questions about my history and my family history. While I was happy she was detailed, some things I didn't see any connection to why I have low iron. Then I had to get a full body exam, including a breast exam!!! again WTF? I feel like this doctor was determined to find cancer in me, to explain my blood.

Finally a half hour later she tells me I need to get IV Iron. Which is what I've known all along. I basically made this appoinment to get the ball rolling on that. I had no idea I would be there for over 2 hours! UGH. It was 6:15 by the time I got out of there. I was literally the last patient to leave. It was so late I couldn't even set up my appoinment for the IV iron. lol.

I made my appoinment today. I'm a little nervous and wary about the whole thing. I do not want to be made to wait like that again. Plus I don't know if this will even help me. Also what if I get a reaction?

Karen I know you have to get this done often. Can you shed any light on it for me??

Run like the wind

I hope you all enjoyed your Labor Day! Mine was really nice. I got to go to the beach, for probably the last time. Which makes me a little sad. I love the beach, but it's getting cold here pretty fast. I'm glad to get one more time in.

I went out with some friends on Saturday. It was really fun, but I was really surprised the place wasn't packed. There was barely anyone there it seemed. Same for the beach. I think the hurricane last week really deterred people from coming down to the shore for the weekend. Which was a shame because the weather was perfect.

On Monday, I ran a 5K race with some friends. My last 5K I ran in almost 38 minutes. For this race I really wanted to get under 37. That was my goal. The course was in Long Branch right along the beach. It was so pretty! I got to mile 1 and my time was 10:45!!! I couldn't believe it! I never ran a mile that fast before. I knew if I kept pace, I could get my time under 35. I was determined. It was so hot though, I was covered in sweat. Toward the end I really started to lose steam, and felt a little sick.

My best friend had already finished her race so she ran back and ran with me the rest of the way in!! She really kept me going! It was amazing! I was so happy to see the finish line.

My time: 34:17!!! AHHHHH I knocked almost 4 minutes off my best time! I am so freaking happy about that!! WHOO HOO!!! I can't wait to do more 5Ks and really improve my times more.

We stayed for the awards, my best friend placed 2nd in her age group, and my other friend 1st. My best friend's boyfriend was first in his age group, 7th overall. It can be really intimating to have friends who are such fast runners and have been doing it for so long. But it's also great because they give me tips, and push me to go farther than I think I can.

After the race, we went to eat at a nearby place and get our free beer for doing the race. lol. I got the most amazing sandwich there! It was a panini sourdough bread, with cheddar, bacon and sliced granny smith apples. OMG it was heaven!! It was also really expensive, but I want to have it again! Also the sweet potato fries were delightful.

It was a nice way to finish out the long weekend.

How was your weekend?

Success!!

It's September 1st. I can't believe how fast August went by though.

I'm happy to say that through shear willpower I did not purchase one single item of clothing, shoes or makeup for 6 weeks!! Holy crap!!! I am so happy that I was able to do this. I paid $1000 toward my credit card and it's almost totally paid off!! Hooray!

I think I need to do this more often. However my closet is in a sad state of affairs. There are seriously NO CLOTHES. IT's all hangers. Every time I've gone down a size, I've gotten rid of my clothes that are too big. It's feels great to do it. However not being able to buy any clothes that fit this past month was HARD.

Alreay today I've ordered clothes online from Macy's, The Limited and The Loft!! I went a little crazy!! lol. I also got a pair of rain boots that were 50% off from Kate Spade. I seriously went to town. But I honestly needed it.

I am however not buying ANY summer clothes. Everything that I've purchased is for the fall. I literally own one single sweater right now. I have a feeling it's going to get cold quick this year. I need to be prepared!

Also since I am still losing weight, everything that I'm buying is on sale/I have a pretty awesome coupon. My Limited stuff I got was 40% off and free shipping. The Macy's stuff, 50% off, free shipping again plus a 20 dollar off coupon! The Loft stuff was 40% off and free shipping. Rain boots 50% off!

I am becoming a pretty awesome bargain shopper. lol. This weekend I also plan on hitting some labor day sales. They are the best!

I just love buying clothes now! I have so many options to choose from!

All Good

I am really lucky. My home was barely affected by the hurricane!!

I would say 95% of my town is currently without power. I am one of the lucky 5% that never lost power!! My basement which tends to flood got no water either!

A tree in my backyard fell down, but fell away from the house and didn't hit anything.

I know how lucky we are. I know so many people whose houses are currently flooded and have been without power for over 24 hours now! A few friends have stopped by to escape their houses for a little. I'm glad I can help in any little way.

I am at work. Most people seemed to have called out though. One of the roads I normally take is completely flooded out. I will have to take a different route this week, but I don't mind.

I'm actually happy to just be out of my house. I was going stir crazy! I was stuck there from Saturday afternoon to this morning.

I can't wait until things start to go back to normal!

Mud Run (I think I'm crazy)

Last November, a bunch of people from my gym did a Tough Mudder. It was a 12 mile obstacle course, through water, mud, the forest and FIRE! I was no where near the shape you had to be to do such a race. But it was one of the coolest things I've ever watched! Since that day, I've known I wanted to do a mud run. An obstacle course like that! I just had to get myself strong enough to complete such a task.

Well I feel like I'm almost there! I feel confident enough that I can complete a crazy run like that. So a few friends from my gym and I signed up for a mud run on October 22!!! EEEK!!! I am so nervous already!

It's called MudmanX (they are on Facebook if you want to check it out) and it's a 5 mile obstacle course here in NJ. 5 miles is a lot. I've NEVER ran for 5 miles before. Throw in crazy obstacles and getting soaked with water and mud.... I think I need to be committed. lol.

I have a little less than 2 months to really train for this. I really do think by October, I will be able to do this! I may not be the fastest, but all I care about is finishing! I want to be one of those people who can do crazy athletic things like this. I want to maybe inspire someone to go after this, like I was when I first watched people do it.

So even though I am scared Sh*tless right now, I'm going to use that fear to push me and make me stronger!!!

I can't wait to tell you all about it in October!

Oh Hey there!

I didn't mean to disappear like that. Last week was just totally crazy. Work was crazy busy, plus I had visitors. Which meant little time on the computer. I missed you all!!! I hate not being able to catch up on blogs!

Here's a quick recap of what I've been up to.

Spent some time with my niece and sister in law before they headed back to India. It will probably be a full year until I get to see them again. Sad face. I am going to miss my niece SO MUCH. She is just the cutest kid and has the best personality.

I saw Wicked on Broadway with my SIL. I LOVED it!!!! I have been wanting to see the musical forever. It totally lived up to my expectations. We had lunch at the Stardust Diner (a total tourist trap) but it was really fun! Then followed it up with the musical. It was a matinee but the theater was completely packed! I'll admit, I got a little teary eyed at the very end! Highly recommend it!

Friday, I saw Ke$ha in concert. I don't really care for her or her music, but it was still a lot of fun. We got cheap lawn seats and there was a good group of us. It POURED though. I had a poncho and I was still soaking wet. Good thing for the beers I drank. It helped me not care about it. lol. At the end of the concert, my feet were caked with mud and confetti! lol. It was still really fun though.

Sunday I went to visit my grandma to celebrate her 89th birthday. There is just no slowing this woman down. She's 89 and in better shape than most people. It was a great day celebrating and lots of good food!!



How cute is she????

Well that sums up my week last week!! Now back to regular programming.

Busy Week

I am so excited to see my niece when I get home from work today! I am going to be so sad when she and my sister in law go back to India on Thursday. I probably won't see them for a YEAR! UGH. I hate that they live so far away. I wanted to try and go back to India in January again, but I don't believe I will have the days or the money for it.

I am taking off work tomorrow and Wednesday to try and spend as much time as possible with them. I wish it could have been the whole week, but I don't have the days to take off work. Plus we are crazy busy this time a year and it's frowned upon to take off!

So I'll take when I can. I hope you all have a great week!!

I've lost 100 pounds!

As of last Friday, I have officially lost 100 pounds!! In less than a year!!

Mid July of last year I really starting to hit the gym and watch what I ate. I was too embarrassed to weigh myself yet though. It wasn't until August 22nd that I bit the bullet and weighed myself. The number 289. Sadly, it was probably like 10 pounds higher the month before. However 289 was going to be my official starting point.

I was miserable. I didn't realize how sad and lethargic I was. I can honestly say I am a totally different person now!






Before pictures that still hurt for me to look at sometimes. These were not taken by me. I always made sure to cut off the bottom half of pictures because I hated my stomach. These were from other people who didn't do that.



I'm 20 pounds down in this picture. Even just losing those 20 pounds I was carrying myself differently. I had so much more energy and I was starting to be more confident in myself. Hitting that 20 pounds lost, I knew I could do this! There was no backing away now!



Here I am in India and over 50 pounds down! This is when I really saw a difference in how I looked. I couldn't believe what a difference 50 pounds made! I felt amazing on that trip. I was comfortable in my plane seat. A total first. I didn't feel like I was crushing the person sitting next to me. I was able to walk around for hours and not get tired. It was amazing.



I couldn't believe this picture when I saw it! I thought I looked so tiny! I I'm almost 80 pounds down here. My body was really starting to transform. I still struggle with when I look in the mirror, but looking at pictures I could see the difference. The smile alone, you can tell how freaking happy I was now.



This is me 90 pounds down and in ONEderland!! That was the best night ever. The best birthday. My gym took me out for a night of celebration and I enjoyed every second of it! The outfit I wore was totally out of my comfort zone, but I felt hot that night!



This is me about 2 pounds from being officially 100 pounds lost. It's also the first time I though I looked good in a bathing suit!! I am just so much more confident now. I love myself and that's the biggest thing. I am HEALTHY now. This weight loss is just a bonus. I feel great inside and out!



Here is a picture of the jeans I was wearing in one of my before photos! !!! I cannot believe how big they are now!



Size 24 jeans vs my now size 14 jeans!! EEEK!!!!

I am just so happy I can burst!!! I am setting my next goal to be 160, my goal weight, by Thanksgiving. I've come this far, I KNOW I will get there now. There is no stopping me!!!

YIPPEE!!!!

Tightening my purse strings

I've said this many times before... I love online shopping!! Lately though it's been really out of control. I was ordering something at least once a week! Two weeks ago, I spent over $200 at Nordstrom (hello anniversary sale)and almost $300 at Bloomingdales. I bought both of those within days of each other. Cut to me having a panic attack and slight buyers remorse. That was WAY too much money!

However when the packages came, they were just to pretty to return!!



Hello my new favorite shoe for the fall.

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Hello shoes I will rarely be able to wear... lol



Hello new fav pair of shades!!



This was my favorite purchase of all!!! It is just so damn pretty!!! I am obsessed with it!!!!

These purchases happen about 2 weeks ago when they were on sale. Still expensive, but at least on sale...

Since that week, I've decided NO shopping at all until September 1. Online or in store. That means, no clothes, shoes, accessories or makeup. I will only buy essentials like food or soap if I need too.

So far, it hasn't been terrible. When it's slow at work, it's been a little rougher, because I usually kill time by looking at websites. I just need to find other ways to keep me occupied. I know I can do this though!

The good thing is I don't really need anything. I have enough summer stuff to keep me happy. Come September 1st, I will be able to buy clothes again, but they must be for the fall!! I literally have not one item of clothing that will fit me for the cooler months. They are all too big! (YAY) I will not allow myself to be tempted to pick up last minute summer deals. Fall and Winter allowed ONLY!

I'm hoping this month off from shopping, will allow my to pay off my credit card finally. Every time I get close, I seem to splurge like this. Come Mid September it should be totally paid off. Then my plan is to pay it off in full every month from then on.

I'll give you an update on how successful I was come September 1!

I'm back! With pictures!

I'm finally back after a much needed few days off. I had a great week spending time with my niece and family. It was great, but also exhausting!!! I feel like I need another day to sleep! lol.

One of the days last week I took my niece to the beach. It was the first time she had ever seen the ocean. She loved it!! It was a great day. It was my mom, me, my aunt, two cousins and my niece. We had so much gear because of my niece! But once we got settled, we enjoyed the day!



In her little bathing suit!



Playing in the water!



Me and my cousins

After the beach, we went back to my Aunts showered and had some lunch. Then we headed to the boardwalk! (It was a really long day). My niece was able to go on some of the rides. It was so cute to watch her.



Loving the boats.



Hated the fishy. lol

It was the nicest day! I had a blast, but we were all exhausted afterwards. My niece even slept in the next day!! The rest of the week, I took her swimming a few more times at people's pools. The kid just loves the water! I am so happy about that. I can't wait until she's old enough to learn how to swim!

Now it's back to reality. I woke up at 5:30 in the morning yesterday to drive down to Maryland with my mother to drop off my niece to her mother. We met about halfway between each other. It was a long drive and I was so sleepy. My niece will be in Virginia for the next two weeks and then she'll be back up in NJ for a few days before taking back off for India. I will be so sad when she leaves. I probably won't get to see her until next summer! I hate that they live so far away.

Weekend Snapshot

This weekend was a blast!! I had so much fun with my friends who came up to visit! It was just what I needed.

Friday I saw Harry Potter and I may or may not have cried during it. lol. It was great!!!

Saturday spent the day at the beach, playing in the ocean. Afterwards my friend had a BBQ and some drinks. Where I played flip cup terribly. Then we went out for the night and I danced my butt off!! It was so much fun!

Sunday we went back to the beach for a few hours. I was sad to have my friends leave, but so happy they made the trip up the NJ. Plus I wasn't too sad, because I have my niece to play with for the rest of the week!!

Seriously, I can't even take how cute she is!



Enjoying some yummy pasta!

Now I just have to make it through work tomorrow and I get the rest of the week off!

Longest week ever

Always around this time a year I get antsy. I just need a break from work and relax!! It seems everything and everyone is getting on my last nerve. I hate being snippy like it. I try to go on vacation to recharge my batteries but that just wasn't in the cards for me this year. Instead I'm doing a mini staycation next week!

First up this weekend two friends from college are coming up to visit. My BFF's friends from college are also coming down for the weekend. In total there will be about 15 people! I cannot wait to see everyone! My bff friends are my friends too. We've gotten to know each other really well over the years. Last year we had a similar gathering and it was a blast. I hope this will be a repeat.

Most people aren't coming down until Saturday. One girl is coming Friday and the plan is to go see the Harry Potter movie together. Which has been our little tradition together.Saturday will be beach all day, followed by a BBQ and then going out for the night. Sunday if we are up for it, we'll hopefully go to the beach for a few hours before everyone heads home.

Then I have to work Monday and Tuesday. Boo. Then I'm off Wednesday through Friday! My niece will be back up for the week. I can't wait to spend time with her. I plan on taking her to the beach for the very first time. I also plan on taking her to this kiddie water park that's nearby. She just loves the water. Which is amazing for someone who's just 13 months!

Hopefully this weekend and those few days off will be just what I need! Until then, I'm counting down the days and hours until Friday!

Weekend Snapshot*

My view from the beach this weekend!

*Do you like this weekend snapshot thing? This is the second time I've done it. I think it's a good alternative to just recapping my weekends, which can seem redundant sometimes I think.

I can see the finish line!

Since my birthday, I've been indulging a little too much with food than I would like. Even though I've lost a lot of weight, I'm not quite where I want to be yet. I would like to lose about another 40 pounds. It's frustrating to basically lose a whole person and still have to lose more weight!

To get myself back on track I've set up some mini goals to hit. The first is to lose 20 pounds by September 10. Me and three other women at my gym came up with this together. We figured it was a decent period of time and September 10 is the date of a local PBA beach party that we are all going to. So the party would be our reward for a job well done. Well my trainers found out about our pact and ran with it. Now there are I think 12 of us doing this 20 pound challenge. Whoever loses 20 pounds first, the gym will buy our ticket for the party! Now that's some really good motivation! Plus it actually boggles my mind that when I lose this 20 pounds, I'll be smaller than when I was a senior/junior in high school!!

I would like to hit my goal weight, by Thanksgiving. Which means if all goes according to plan, I will need to lose about 18 pounds after September 10. I know I can do this! I just need to buckle down again and stop going out so much! The past few weekends I've been going out way to much and drinking more than I should be. I've become a social butterfly since losing all this weight! lol. While I love that I have a much more active social life, I need to find a balance.

Now my only problem is I don't have a reward for when I finally reach my goal weight by Thanksgiving. I'm thinking it needs to be something big! I mean it has to be! By Thanksgiving if all goes according to plan, I'll have lost almost 140 pounds!

Here's what I've been thinking about what I should do.

1. A trip somewhere with friends. I've never been to Vegas and I'm dying to so that would be the first place I'd want to go.

2. A new tattoo. I really want to get a tattoo of a Phoenix. I love the symbolism of rising from the ashes.

3. A huge shopping spree (like $1000 worth) ala "What not to wear" style.

What do you think? Do you have any other ideas?? What would you do?

Snapshot of my weekend

This pretty much sums up my weekend. Lots of sun and fun. One day at the pool with my pups and the next day I was at the beach all day. It was the perfect lounge in the sun weekend.

Bonus, I got very little sunburn!! SCORE!

I love long weekends

I hope everyone had a great weekend!! Mine was great. A nice little break from my normal routine.

Saturday I participated in a bar crawl. It was a little insane. It started at one and I didn't go home until 10 that night!! NINE hours. I was dying toward the end and there were so many people there older than me that kept on going! I can't handle that. I had one drink at each place, and at some I shared with a friend. Other people were downing like 3 drinks at each bar! CRAZY! It was really fun but a whole lot of walking. We covered over 3 miles of bars. lol.

Also the last bar we were at was outside on the bar and we got to see fireworks that were happening in another town over. It was the best view! That was a really nice ending of a long day.

It was a great day. Sunday I had plans on going to the beach, so I was a little upset when I woke up to pouring rain. However it was also kinda nice that it was raining. I was able to just chill out at home and not be pressured to go out. I needed a good rest day. Monday was still pretty cloudy, but the afternoon was great and I spent the day by my friends pool.

I am crazy pale right now. I usually have a little tan by now, so I'm not used to this. lol. I know the sun is bad for me, but I need a little color. I'm hoping that the weather is good this weekend and I can finally head to the beach. I live 10 minutes away and haven't been able to go once yet!

How was your long weekend? Catch any fireworks or sun?

Best. Birthday. Ever

Well my birthday isn't until tomorrow, but I had the best birthday weekend!!! I made my goal of getting under 200 by my birthday, so it was a double celebration!

On Saturday I went to my gym and met up with my friends that were going to celebrate with me. I made a speech about how much I've changed and how different I am from last year. I basically bawled my eyes out. lol. Then it was time to party!!!



One of my friends made me this big jug of Malibu Bay Breezes!!!



My trainer ordered a stretch HUMMER to take us out to the bar. I have never had someone do something like this for me before. I was so excited and felt so loved!!!!



This was my crew for the evening. I was so touched that so many people wanted to come and celebrate my birthday with me. I've never had people make a big deal about my birthday before. It felt wonderful.



The inside of the hummer!



Me and my Best friend. Getting out drink on. lol



Having a blast. Please not the glow sticks in my shirt! lol.



We went to this bar called the Colorado Cafe. It was so much fun!! They had a mechanical bull!



It was so much fun but really hard! I fell off a bunch of times!



YEE HAW!!!!!



It was a great night. I had a blast!!!! This is something that I will always remember and keep close to my heart. What an amazing party!!!!!

Short Week!

I am so happy. Today is my Friday!! Whoo hoo!!!!

With my sister in law and niece in town, I really wanted to take a few days off to spend time with them. I am so looking forward to just being able to relax at home. I always feel like when you go away somewhere on vacation, you need another few days to recover when you get home! lol. So it'll be nice to be able to sleep in and just do whatever I please.

This week is going to be pretty awesome. Spending time with my family tomorrow and Friday and then on Saturday is my big birthday bash!!! I just know I'll hit my goal by then. I can't wait! We are going to this like country western bar that is in northern jersey. There is a mechanical bull! Something I've always wanted to do! Plus my gym ordered a car service so no one has to worry about driving.

I've never had a big birthday thing like this thrown for me before. It really feels amazing to have people care about me like this and throw me a party like this! I am the luckiest person!

I won't be blogging until Monday or Tuesday probably. But I will hopefully have pictures to share with you all!!! Have a great week!!

So excited!!!!

I just found out today that my sister in law and niece are coming to the states this Tuesday!!!! I am so excited to see them! I haven't seen my niece since I was in India in February. I can't wait to see how much bigger she is!!

My sister in law has to do some training in DC in July. Initially she was just coming to the US when her training starts and was then going to spend a few days with us in August before flying back. However her boss is making her take her vacation time now. She was trying to save it, so her and my brother could take the time off together. However it wasn't approved and she will be spending almost 2 months here now.

While I'm bummed she couldn't take the time off with my brother and that I don't get to see him, I'm really happy I get to spend more time with my niece!!! They'll be spending a week with us now, then in July my mom is going to take my niece for a week while my SIL has to work. Then we get another week in August!

I can't contain my excitement that in just a few days I get to give my niece the biggest hug!!

New and exciting opportunities

I told you all a few weeks ago that there were some big changes happening at my job. At the time though I couldn't really get into what was happening. I am a semi private blogger. I post pictures of myself on here and use my real first name. Sometimes that makes me uber paranoid that someone in real life will find me.

I love my job and never ever want to put myself in jeopardy. Anyway it's more or less public now, so I feel like it's okay to talk about it. A little...

The company I work out has many divisions. TV, Books, clothing company, websites, and advertising and marketing. I work under the advertising part. Last year the whole company was bought by a HUGE company. Nothing changed from day to day. Not even our name.

We found out a while ago that this new company thought that my department wasn't very important. We didn't make enough money to make a blip on their radar. They only wanted the big big money makers. So our head VP started looking around for potential buyers. It was pretty stressful for them. You could totally tell. Their entire demeanor changed and things were so tense at work. Everyone was nervous and walking on eggshells. We didn't want to lose our jobs. We LOVE this place.

Luckily we did find someone to buy us!! The great thing is almost everyone got to keep their jobs and nothing is really changing day to day wise. We are getting a new name and logo, and it will be announced publicly in the next few weeks.

Since it's happened it's like everyone took a huge sigh of relief. The atmosphere has been totally different and everyone is much more happier! The only con that has happen is my insurance went up. We went from a company of about 800 employees to only now 150. So my copay and deductible rose. As did the monthly amount taken out of my check. Thankfully it isn't too bad though. They really did their best to give us the same benefits we had without costing an arm and a leg.

I was initially really worried about my position. Now though things are turning around and it looks like in the upcoming months there will be new and exciting opportunities for me. I hope I can show them my worth and that I can do a great job if I get more responsibility. Fingers crossed!!

My Second 5K!

Yesterday I participated in my second 5K race. My best friend's school that she works at was having a 5K to raise some money. My friend is an amazing runner and she's been wanting me to run a race with her for a long time. Here was my chance.

A few people from my gym came along too which was great. I was very nervous though. More than I was last time. There was only about 80 people doing the race and I had a feeling that I was going to be last. Everyone else looked in much better shape than me.

Plus my friends that were there are all really good runners and have been doing this since high school. That didn't really help my self esteem. But I shrugged those feelings away and realized that at least I'm doing this race! This time last year there was no way I would have been able to!!

Off we went on the race. They said the course was flat, but they lied. It was pretty hilly!! Also the way it was set up, you had to loop around a few times. It was pretty discouraging to see all my friends pass me on their way back! But I kept pushing forward. Two of my gym buddies stayed with me thankfully, which really kept me going!

By the third mile I was dragging. I wanted to walk it in so bad. There were people stationed along the way with water and to tell you where to go. One of them made a nasty comment to me about how a dog nearby was running faster than me!! WHAT AN ASSHOLE!!! At least I was running the race!! Why would someone even say that to me! Ugh I was so mad!!

Then all of a sudden my best friend came running toward me and ran with me the whole way in!! Seeing her come after me to cheer me on was amazing. It really pepped me up and gave me enough energy to push through and finish strong!

I finished in 37:56. Almost two full minutes off my last 5K!! Which I couldn't believe. I felt awful during most of the race, I had no idea that I was doing so much better pace wise!!

I ended up finishing 3rd to last, but at least it wasn't last!! I'm very happy with my time and at how much I have been improving with running. One day I know I'll get under 35 minutes and be able to run the whole thing!

After the race my friend had a BBQ at her house. It was nice to hang out with my friends and eat some yummy food!! My friend finished 3rd overall, and her boyfriend won the race! I need to start running with them more often! lol