Summer Reads

I just finished reading Breaking Dawn, the fourth book of the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. It was a fun series to read, and I'm looking forward to the next book whenever it happens to come out.

So now I'm on to my next book...Salem's Lot. That's right folks. We're going from sparkly, romantic vampires to the horros of the mind of Stephen King. As a "deal" made with Sean, he agreed (during our viewing of the Twilight movie) to read the series if I can finish Salem's Lot. He claims that IF I finish it, he has a good 3 or 4 years before he needs to pick up Twilight (I am a dreadfully slow reader). So I am feeling more fueled than ever to finish it in record time, just to watch him be tortured through all the books.

I am also looking for some good summer reads. I have plenty of books here that I haven't finished, but do you have any favorites you'd like to recommend? I favor chick-lit, I'll be the first to admit. I'm looking for pure, indulgent beach-reads to get through the dog days of summer. Any suggestions will help though. Chuck those book recs at me!

What's your carbon footprint?

A friend of mine on LJ posted this quiz that reveals your carbon footprint and roughly how many earths it would take if everyone lived like me for a year. My answer?

3.4 earths.

Ugh.

Sadly, I expected it. We drive a lot. We eat meat every night. We have a lot of electronics, although we've gotten very good at shutting off lights when we're not in a room, and cutting the power to electronics when they're not in use.

So I am curious. What do you do to try to help Mother Earth?

FU Penguin

Plugging my new favorite blog to read, just because it cracks me up...Fuck You, Penguin: A Blog Where I Tell Cute Animals What's What. Check it out, you won't be disappointed.

We're about less than an hour from hitting the road up to Massachusetts. My iPod is synching and charging. I've been realizing that I don't really have a lot of my favorite music, so I've been chipping away each week, buying maybe 5 songs off iTunes. Just enough to keep it refreshed.

This week I've bought:
Adam Lambert: "One", "Feeling Good", "Black or White", "Whole Lotta Love", "The Tracks of My Tears" (even better than his live performance!), "Mad World", "Cryin'", David Cook: "Permanent" (proceeds go to cancer research), "Light On", Neil Diamond "Sweet Caroline", Dropkick Murphys: "Tessie"

Other recent favorite purchases:
OneRepublic "Apologize", Ray LaMontagne "Trouble", "You Are the Best Thing", "Hold You in My Arms"

Ok, Sean called and he's on his way home from work (poor bugger had to be in at 5 this morning), so I'm signing off. Have a glorious Memorial Day weekend, folks!

Idol Afterthoughts

I feel pretty "meh" about how things turned out this season. I adored Adam, it's no secret, but I really liked Kris and picked him fairly early on as a the underdog who might come from behind. Overall, I have two thoughts:

1) I'm glad Kris won. He needs the exposure more than Adam at this point in his life. He really is the quintessential American IDol winner - a nobody from Smalltown USA, hoping to be somebody. He's cute and a good role model for young boys and girls, and he sounds like everything else on the radio. I know this because I heard "No Boundaries" on the local pop station yesterday while picking up my iced coffee. And just an FYI - the song is equally atrocious on the radio as it was on the show. You'd think they would take a week and let the kid arrange it in his own style, but the Idol Machine wants to crank out the 'hitz'.

2)I'm glad Adam didn't win. He's had some successes in the industry already, and he's almost too good for the show. He's already polished and well on his way to being one of the more memorable contestants in Idol history, because of his uniqueness. He was the more daring contestant. And personally, he was much more fun to watch and listen to. I already bought most of his songs off iTunes, and thank GOODNESS he won't be forced to use that song as his first single. It's just. Not. Him.

So another season is done. Who knows what craziness they'll throw at us next season. They sure went out with a bang though. Between Fergie and the Black Eyed Peas, Jason Mraz, Carlos Santana, KISS, and wait - Steve Martin? It was their most epic finale show yet. Where do we go from here? We even saw 90% of Kara's body, and she's got killer abs. Will Randy strip next season for his favorite charity? There's only one way to find out, be patient and await season 9.

Oh, and I would LOVE to have Norman Gentle entertain at our wedding reception.

My Junk

I was listening to Spring Awakening, and there's a song called "My Junk". The title alone makes me laugh, because I have the sense of humor of a 15 year old boy. So listening to this song, I got to thinking about my junk (*giggle*) and my never-ending desire to simplify.

I keep telling myself I need to do a major purge. I have this fear of us becoming the people with the house that's always messy, with piles of "stuff" and who knows what lurking in every corner. I have never considered myself a "neat freak", but ever since Sean and I have moved in and the house has become our "home", I feel the need to keep it up for the sake of my sanity.

I have some projects I want to tackle in the coming weeks. I want to set up a studio area for myself for my art supplies. I want to go through the kitchen drawers and purge take-out menus and "my junk". The major thing that I've been eyeing for weeks is that corner. The corner of our office next to the computer, where things just kind of...end up. There has to be a better system.

How do you manage your junk? Any tips?

Oh, Boston, You're My Home...

Sean and I had the pleasure of taking a weekend trip home to have our engagement photos taken by our wonderful friend Kelly Anne. She has been building up her photography business, and we were honored to be her first engagement session. We hit up all of our favorite places, including under the Duxbury Beach bridge, the Scituate lighthouse, Fenway Park, the reflecting pool at the Christian Science Center, the North End and Faneuil Hall. I shared the joy that is Far Far's ice cream and Marylou's News coffee. It further solidified my feelings that we belong up there. But I won't get into that right now.

It was such a fantastic weekend, and one of my personal highlights was getting to spend time with our families, especially Miss Bailey, my 6 month old niece. I absolutely adore her, and we had not seen her since her baptism in February. It amazes me how quickly she has grown and developed a personality!

Kelly Anne has been raving about the gloriousness of Adobe Lightroom, which allows you many more photo editing options than Photoshop, so I downloaded a 30-day trial of it to see what the buzz was about. Oh my goodness, I -LOVE- it! I have spent the past two hours just fiddling around with it, and I think when my 30-day trial period is over, I will be getting this program because, well...just look! I don't even know what I'm doing! But I can't wait to learn.

Hike Pictures, As Promised

Here are some of my pictures from our hike this past weekend. I edited them in Photoshop CS2, and I'm quite happy with how they came out. Enjoy!

Design Class 101

I had my first of 6 design classes this afternoon, and I feel about 1000x better about life right now. I feel like this is going to be a great experience for me to grow as a designer. It was very refreshing to have my mind reopened to the thought process of design. I'm beginning to wonder if I've been suppressing it since college. I feel like I had forgotten the technical process of design completely. I'm very much looking forward to digging in and developing myself as a designer.

It's amazing how therapeutic art is. Just sitting there, they gave me a list of basic design statements. One of them was "Do you think of yourself as a designer? Or do you think 'I want to become a designer'." I've been holding myself back, thinking I want to be this or that. But I already am. I've just doubted myself and lost my confidence, my "mojo", from having a lack of personal creativity in my life.

It's time for me to make some changes. I miss painting, taking pictures, and working on my own creative projects. I really love it, so why not make more time for it? Life is too short to keep saying "someday" I'll have an art studio. I have an unoccupied corner in the living room I could use. I need to stock up on some new supplies, which means looking for online coupons for the overpriced supply stores.

I will post some of my work here when I can. I'm tired of this Idol and Weight Loss theme that's taken over. Maybe I'll set up an etsy shop, too. I see brides everyday on message boards looking for designers for their monograms, invitations, etc. There is a market out there. I just need to tackle it!

For now, I need food. I stupidly didn't eat much today because I was nervous about this class, and now my belly is yelling at me. More later!

Kicked in the Face!

Yes. I did it. I kicked Weight Watchers in the face.

No, I did not quit the program. On the contrary, I had my biggest loss tonight, therefore resulting in me doing a happy dance and the lady at the counter laughing (with me, not at me, right?).

So here it is:

This week: -3.6
Total loss since beginning of WW: -9.4
Total loss since 1/1/09: -14.6

YES! I am in a new "decade" of pounds, so I lose a point, and my clothes are fitting better. I feel so much better than last week. I feel like I regained control of my weekends, we went out to Uno's last Thursday and I got salmon with broccoli and rice pilaf, and I had 2 trips to the gym plus hiking on Saturday. It was a great week. I just need to keep this positive thinking and forward motion going. It feels so amazing to have hit so many goals this week.

Now I get to edit my pictures from our rainy morning hiking trip, I promise I will post some as soon as I can!

Losing Weight is Expensive

I haven't even reached my halfway goal, but I can tell the next few months of losing weight will be expensive. It not only means needing new pants and shirts at some point, but undergarments, too! This became a reality today while walking to the grocery store, feeling my underoos just slipping down. Not good when you're wearing a skirt! And walking with coworkers!

I haven't noticed too much of a change "up top", except that maybe I'm challenging nature a bit and delaying the inevitable downward shift that comes with getting older and more susceptible to gravity. Do you hear me ladies?! Small boobs can be a good thing!

The one thing I'm thankful will not change drastically is my shoe size. Maybe my feet won't be as wide, but shoes are expensive! I've never been a "shoe girl", as I have never seen shoes as something to spend ridiculous amounts of money on (except for that pair of fabulous leather boots in Florence - worth every euro). I have always been more of a flip flop or barefoot gal, so perhaps that's why. If I weren't getting married in January, I'd totally wear flip flops. I would bedazzle them, of course...

I am determined to kick tonight's weigh-in in the face! Will report back later! 

A Beautiful Day to Be a Mom

Ok, I am not a mom, but if I were, I would be so happy to have a day like today. It is absolutely beautiful out, and what a blessing to bring life into the world! I have been calling my mom all day, trying to hunt her down to wish her a happy Mother's Day, and I haven't been able to catch her yet! She mentioned that she and Dad would be stopping off at Gram's house on the way home from visiting my sister's family this weekend. I've tried her cell, Gram's house, and their house; no dice. I'll keep trying!

I had quite a lovely day. Mass this morning was really nice, and I took some time to go shopping at Ann Taylor Loft and successfully found two new pretty outfits for taking pictures next weekend (I'll take any excuse to buy a new outfit!). The wonderful thing was, I was trying on mediums and the size I wore throughout most of college (before I gained another 15 pounds) and everything fit perfectly! I am feeling much more confident about my weight loss journey, and I'm feeling better and healthier each day.

I grabbed lunch at one of my favorite places in town, Chef's Table, which makes the most delicious soups. I got a cup of chicken, spinach and gorgonzola soup (which also had artichoke heart, rice and other yummy things in it), and sat and listened to a musician play some live, acoustic music. I haven't felt that relaxed in a long time.

The rest of the day has been productive. I managed to tackle the majority of the laundry in the house, and our bedroom no longer looks like a retail outlet exploded.

Life is great.

Oops!

In my whole post Monday night, I don't remember posting my weigh in results, which I promised! I had gained a pound. Nothing earth-shattering, I went to the gym last night, have watched my salt intake, and I'm already back down. Plus, it's that gloriously womanly time in the lunar cycle that transforms otherwise sane, beautiful women into crazy bloated beasts. So yeah. TMI. My bad.

Idol time!

Idol Pick

Well, the show started, so I can't fairly make picks, so how's this?

I pick Adam. For the win. End of story.

Last night was really fun, I thoroughly enjoyed watching Adam and Allison, who I have dubbed "the A-team". Kris and Danny will get record deals, fine, whatever. The other two are truly entertaining to watch.

I'm actually worried for Allison tonight though. It'll come down to her or Kris, and I don't know who has a bigger fanbase.

I need to go catch up on the DVR. Cheers!

Planting Positive Seeds

Tonight's meeting was just what I needed. Funny how that happens sometimes. The theme was learning to plant positive seeds for growth in your life. We live in a society that makes it very hard to accept compliments, acknowledge that you are good at something, and to generally reflect a positive attitude. I am guilty of this. I can be a Negative Nancy and given day, as much as I try not to be.

I thought this was a great way to cover these topics since over the weekend I planted a garden. It really hit me how I was in control of planting each flower or shrub, and how I fashioned it into something beautiful and that I nurture it with water, pulling out the weeds, and admiring it's beauty. Why can't I do that in my own life? Because most days, I'm my own worst enemy. I hold myself back with negative thoughts. I tell myself I can't do something, so why bother. The past two weekends for example: My social pigging out turned into "Well, I just don't have the willpower to not eat whatever's in front of me, so why try?" I need to start believing that I'm worth it, that my future family is worth it, to turn my lifestyle around and start making more positive decisions.

So I leave you with...A poem, pictures, and "a funny"...

Your life is your garden,
your thoughts are the seeds.
If you're life isn't awesome,
you've been watering the weeds.
-Author Unknown-

Before...

After...


In memoriam:

Whacky Weekend

So, I have two interesting animal-related highlights of the weekend that further reminded me that my life is slightly less than ordinary.

Saturday was an absurdly nice day once the sun came out, so Sean and I got some yardwork done before some friends came over. The last thing I had to do was use the weed-whacker around the edging of the yard to get what the mower couldn't reach. I wasn't even 2 minutes into what I was doing and a snake kind of flipped up out of the ground where I had just "whacked". I freaked out! I think my exact words were "You've GOT to be KIDDING ME! I killed another f***ing snake!!" Sean had been going back into the house with our friend Tek and he whipped around. Sean, for every bit that he doesn't like snakes and spiders and things that crawl and slither, he came right over and picked it up, verified that I had chopped off the damn thing's head, and tossed it in our brush pile to be disposed of. 

For the record, I killed a snake last summer the first day I went out to mow the lawn, so it's become a bit of a running joke with my family. My aunt went so far as to declare that St. Patrick "ain't got nothin' on me". 

Whacky highlight numero dos...I was singing at church this weekend, so I left the house around 4 on Saturday to get to the church early to practice. Sean called me as I was pulling into the parking lot and told me "We have a dog." Huh? Really? My first thought was "This is a mean, sick joke. He knows how badly I want a dog.", but the tone of his voice suggested he was telling the truth. It turned out that a little yorkie had wandered into our yard and was sniffing around by the trash. He didn't have any tags, so Sean coaxed him into the backyard, got him some water, and Tek hung out with the little guy so Sean could run to the grocery store in preparation for our gathering that evening. He grabbed a dog dish and some food while he was there. 

Well, I sat through Mass thinking up dog names, trying to picture the little bugger and how our lives might change if it happened that we ended up with this dog. I thought it was funny how a dog would come into our lives like that. I listened to the readings for "Good Shepherd Sunday" with a smile on my face and thoughts of puppy kisses...

I ran out of Mass as soon as I could and hopped in the car. Sean had texted me to let me know he'd taken a picture of the dog, took it around the neighborhood and he found the owners. Our neighbors down the street. They hadn't even noticed he was gone. I was relieved the dog had a home, but pretty upset that the owners had not only neglected to get tags for the thing, but didn't even notice he'd wandered off for over an hour! Our street is fairly busy, and our house is on the corner of Main St., which is very busy, they're lucky he didn't get picked up or hit by a car!

So that was my animal extravaganza of a weekend. Fate decided it was not our time for a dog (and a yorkie for that matter! Little yappers...), or at least for a stray to wander into our lives. 

Stay tuned for more adventures of being me!

Oh No....It's Monday...

I have to weigh in tonight. I have no choice. I must own up to the past two weeks. I had two very social weekends in a row, which included lots of pigging out. Add to that little to no exercise. I will be lucky if I haven't gained 5 pounds this week. I can just picture the sad eyes the WW receptionist will give me when I step on the scale. 

Ok, I'm just making this worse. 

I have slacked in the past two weeks when it has come to all things diet. I haven't tracked my points, I haven't cared. I don't like this mindset I've been in, so I am recommitting myself today to get back on track (and back on tracking) so I can reach my next goal. Hopefully I'm still beyond my 5 lb. goal, my next goal is 5% loss (4 lbs. to go).

I will be a better bloggette and actually post tonight when I get home.