I Joined a Gym!

Almost two months ago I wrote a post proclaiming that I was going to join a gym. I never did. (Which, given the fact I took the entire month of August off from trying to lose weight, was the right financial decision I guess.)

Now that I can't justify another second of being in "celebration mode," I decided that I was going to get serious again about losing weight as of today.

***Side Note*** I originally pressed pause because I wanted to feel like I could go to the social events that were happening during orientation and the beginning of dental school. Now that Joe is fully in the swing of things (he has his first test Wednesday and will likely be studying for it all day today), it's time that I start trying to lose weight again. Plus, moving forward, my 11ish hour a day job will now have a 5 hour break because the girls will be at school. With that break in my day, I have no excuse NOT to use it to exercise ***End of Side Note***

Now that I have FINALLY lived up to the promise that I was joining a gym, I figure I can also start working toward the promise I made in my 50th blog post. That promise is one that scares me a lot: I am going to run in the Philly Oral Cancer Walk and 5k this April.

I hate running. Like, seriously hate it. But it plays such a huge role in so many of the successful weight loss stories I see, that I know I need to suck it up and try. I've started C25K a couple times and quit once I had to run more than 5 minutes in a row. While I know that program is very popular and successful, I feel like I need to start fresh with a different program.

So, since I've always said that the only reason I'd run is if I was being chased by someone wanting to kill me (and even then - let's be real - I'd just be running to the nearest hiding place), I found the most appropriate app to help me train: Zombies, Run 5k.

After all, even though Walking Dead's #1 rule for survival is, "DON'T DEAD OPEN INSIDE" ;)

Zombieland taught us that the #1 rule for survival is CARDIO!

So why not use the threat of imaginary zombies chasing me down to try to motivate me to run? It's definitely a creative take on training for a 5k.

Plus, I found this 5k last month and am dying to participate next summer (no pun intended hahaha).

Today I just did the introduction, which allowed me to go at whatever speed I wanted. Once I start the program, I think it's going to have specific times where I need to pick up the pace or else I may get eaten.

Stay tuned to see if I survive!

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Sports Date

Joe and I just completed our weekly date and now he is off watching the Notre Dame game with some new friends (go Irish!). I'd go too, if I wasn't still recovering from last night (boy do I feel old). So, instead, I'll do a re-cap of our date :)

If you recall, Joe pulled another yellow date from its jar this week. The instructions were to watch a sports movie and eat foods that you'd find in a stadium for dinner. Joe was excited because he loves sports, but I was a little bummed because I was hoping for something more active after our two previous dates involved eating and watching a movie (though having created the dates for the date jars, I only have myself to blame haha).

Despite not being as excited as I have been previous weeks, I still spent the week wondering what super classic sports flick we'd wind up watching. I was hoping Netflix would have options like Rudy, Field of Dreams, A League of Their Own, Invincible, or even Space Jam ;). Unfortunately, we were disappointed today to find that instant streaming had some pretty pathetic options in the sports category.

Oh, well.

Since we were underwhelmed by the options on Netflix (and Hulu), we decided that we would FINALLY start Friday Night Lights. I've heard forever what a great show it is, and we have talked about starting it for months and just haven't.

Not only did we start it, but we blasted through 4 episodes. I guess you could call us fans already :)

For the food portion of the evening, I made hot dogs and nachos. We also had sunflower seeds and peanuts on hand. Joe was in heaven.

We both dressed in Cardinal garb, and I wanted a pic of us but my camera won't focus right when we do the self-timer (note to self... need a remote!) and we aren't too good at selfies.

Of course, I figured out a solution when Joe was getting ready to go out. Oh, well, next time we'll know to use a mirror.

Overall, it was a fun evening. Here's to hoping our next date gets us out of the house, though :)

Hope you are all having a fun weekend!

Frat Party

So last night Joe and I did something I never did when I was in college: we went to a frat party.

The idea that there are dental fraternities surprised me, I always thought frats were an undergraduate thing. But there are, and Joe is joining one. Thankfully, they don't force you to rush ;)

The party was really fun! They had a ton of free alcohol, the place was packed, and they had beer pong set-up. I LOVE me some beer pong.

Unfortunately, I am grossly out of practice and one of our competitors was a beer pong god! He sunk almost every single shot, explaining he is good because he analyzes the X and Y axis (or something like that... I was lost after I realized he was speaking math. Darn these Ivy League smarties). This means our playing time was sadly short and we had to drink a lot of beer (apparently losers have to drink whatever beer the winners have left. So for us... that was all but three of the cups. Yum. That went well with my vodka drink and gin jello shot. Not.)

After our round, we did some mingling and I finally met a dental fiancee and wife! Yay! It was so loud in that house that we couldn't really hear each other, but at least I finally got to meet some other ladies like me. Hopefully we can hang out again and actually have a conversation that doesn't include shouting and saying "what?" dozens of times.

Toward the end of the night I had to go to the bathroom. I set my iPhone next to the sink and it promptly slid between the vanity and the wall. I couldn't reach it for the life of me and started freaking out. I ran to find Joe and shouted to him "Emergency! Emergency!" (yes, the vodka, gin, and beer had fully hit by this point). He came running after me (Lord knows what he thought was going on) and I pulled him in the bathroom and explained the predicament. He tried everything he could think to get the phone out, but nothing worked. Then I remembered that I had a tape measure in my purse (don't ask - my purse is a bottomless pit) and we used that to hook the phone and pull it. Success!

My excitement of having my phone back was short-lived, as I realized we had shut and locked the door and I could start to hear voices from outside. Fearing people were thinking Joe and I were getting it on expressing our marital love in the bathroom (after all, there were lots of yells of "its not working," "almost there," "come on come on," and even a "ya! it's coming!"), I turned off the light and bolted out of the bathroom past a line of people. Pretty sure that just made the whole thing even more suspicious.

Oh, well. People were so drunk I doubt they'll remember. Either that, or Joe will get some high fives on Monday.

We left around midnight and promptly passed out. This morning, I woke up feeling like a truck hit me. Luckily I am starting to feel better, because Joe and I have our date jar night tonight! The date he pulled is sports-themed. We are going to watch a sports movie (or two) and eat food that people eat at sporting events.

I better enjoy stuffing my face today, since tomorrow I am finally going to get back on the wagon with eating right and exercising. I am petrified that this last month of celebrating Joe starting school will have reversed all the good I did in July. If it did, I certainly deserve it...

Apartment Tour

Three months.

That's how long Joe and I have called Philly home. That's also how long it has taken for me to feel like our apartment is "ready" to have pictures taken of it for the blog.

***Side Note*** To be fully honest, nothing has changed about the apartment in at least a month, it's just been messy and I finally had a chance to do some much needed tidying up since I had the day off today ***End of Side Note***

I keep thinking that there is more that I need to do (eg: hang some curtains, get some throw pillows) before giving ya'll an apartment tour, but where I live is always a work in progress. I'm sure the day we move to our next apartment/home I'll feel like I never *finished* this one.

That said, the apartment definitely looks more complete than the last time I posted pics (from Joe's tour in April).

So, without further ado, La Casa de Brier:

***Side Note*** I clearly have NOT figured out how to use my fancy camera. Apologies in advance for the lighting issues. Adjusting the white balance would have done a world of good haha ***End of Side Note***

Kitchen/Living Room/Dining Room:

Notice my LOVE picture from this post? Also, I got that rug in the clearance section at Crate and Barrel for just $20!

Couches were found at thrift stores. The red stools were white stools that I bought on Craigslist and painted.

You can tell from this picture that we love our wine ;) and we also like to cook. Way too many gadgets to fit in the cupboards.

This is Buster's favorite spot on the couch. We call it his kitty position.

Entry:
 

I am proud of the entry because I hung that purse hanger thingy on the wall all by myself! I also painted chevron on two canvases to add a little color to the entry.

Bathroom:

Not much to say about a bathroom. But now you see where my dreaded scale is.

I love rubber duckies

Further proof

Joe's Office:

The room I've lost my hubby to. He loves having his own space. See his white coat!?

Have to have some dental stuff here. I found that pillow at Ikea and Joe painted the tooth on a canvas.

This is where you'll find Buster any time I am at work and Joe is studying

Bedroom:

See! I also have my own space :) I haven't done nearly enough crafts yet to warrant a craft area, so I'll need to step it up :)

Notice Buster's hoodie in the upper left corner? Just wait until I get some pics of him in it this winter :)

Yay! A TV in our room! We didn't have one in our last place, and we don't have cable connected now, but it is still nice for watching movies

And there you have it. Our home sweet home :)

Friend-less in Philly

Alrighty. I'm going to be a little woe-is-me today.

So far, I love almost everything about Philly (sans the traffic, liquor laws, distance to Target, and the weather). As a girl who prefers small towns or suburbs to cities (I hated living in San Francisco), I'm shocked that I could enjoy a city as much as I have this one over the last 3 months. 

But one big problem with Joe's choice of school is that the class is full of recent college graduates. Being 29 (Joe) and 27 (me) make us among the oldest in any social setting. There is one student who is 35 and I think I may have heard rumors about one or two other people close to Joe's age.

Aside from that? The class is made up of people so young they don't know who McGruff The Crime Dog is.

Seriously. Joe made a joke and referenced McGruff and all he got were blank stares.

Look, I am not ageist at all. In fact, I love the idea of being "class mom" and baking cookies, giving advice, etc. for/to these whippersnappers. And, despite being younger than us, everyone I've met in Joe's class is super sweet and welcoming. They are such an amazing group of people and I feel blessed that Joe will be surrounded by them for the next 4 years.

The only reason I am so bummed about the age of the students in his class (aside from the references they don't get... poor McGruff) is because that means very few (as in maybe just one?) of them are married. I've been reading blogs of other dental school wives and it seems like they have this cute little network of other women whose husbands are going through the same thing.

I'm already getting lonely, and know it's about to get much, much worse. I need friends, and just don't have them yet (unless you count the 4 & 5 year-olds I nanny). I always assumed that I'd meet wives/fiancees/gf's of dental students and that would be the way I made my Philly friends.

I am starting to think I need a plan B.

So what is your advice? How do adult women make friends?

I can't count on making work friends because I may have to continue nannying with the way the job market is in Philly. Even if I do eventually find an office job, who says there will be people my age or that they will even WANT to make a new friend?

Do I just accept the fact that Buster is going to be my Philly BFF?

While I love him to pieces, he's not interested in eating ice cream and watching Sex & the City

Movie Review: You're Next

It's been over a month since my first movie review (shame on me!), so I figured that while Joe studied this weekend I would hit up the theater and check out You're Next.

Yes, I realize I've done two reviews and both have been about scary movies, but I warned ya'll in advance. I love this genre. Slashers, especially, hold a special place in my heart because I wrote my college thesis on them.

Yup! You read that right.

Thanks to the flexibility of being a Communications major, my thesis was on gender portrayal in slasher films. Although the most obvious approach would be to analyze the portrayal of women in these movies, I went a different route and looked at how male characters are handled. I think I proved that slashers suck for all characters involved, not just females. (And, if anything, men are actually treated worse. Don't believe me? I'll e-mail you a copy of my paper.)

It's been a while since I've seen a good slasher film, so I was eager to see You're Next; especially since it's gotten generally positive reviews. Here's mine:

You're Next 
7 stars out of 10

You're Next - it's basically Home Alone remade with more violence, a high body count, extra bad guys, and boobs. Oh! And Kevin is now played by a chick with an Australian accent. Sorry Macaulay.

The movie begins with a family gathering at their secluded vacation home for an anniversary celebration. Despite the trailer leading you to believe they are all one, big, happy family - they aren't. (Heck, there's more discord than when the McCallisters were getting ready for their trip to Paris.)

Things don't improve at the dinner table. As a fight over the appropriateness of a professor banging his TA erupts, one member of the group notices something outside the window and decides to investigate.

Oops, wrong choice buddy. This IS a slasher movie after all.

After death #1, the rest of the family finds themselves being hunted by men in animal masks. While the odds seem stacked against them, they do have one person in the house who seems to know a thing or two about fighting back...

I had a really hard time deciding on a score for this movie and finally landed on 7 out of 10. It was well done in a lot of ways - the acting was solid (for a horror movie), the deaths generally creative, there were a few laughs, and I was surprised by a couple twists of the plot. I am glad I saw it.

That said, it's not a movie that I will probably watch again and I wish I had waited to rent it from Redbox (actually, if I had watched this at home by myself with the lights out, I probably would have liked it more). I think my biggest issue is that I didn't feel invested AT ALL in the characters. In fact, my only feelings toward most of them were varying degrees of dislike. When someone dies in a horror movie, usually I feel something. I didn't in this one. I'd say I am becoming desensitized, but other scary movies recently haven't elicited this non-response.

I do have to admit it got me somewhat scared. When I came home I had to get our laundry out of the dryer. Problem is, the dryer is in the basement and you have to go through this spooky door to get to it:

Let's just say no one has ever run in and out of a basement so quick without dropping a single sock ;)

Christmas Date

Another week, another date from our date jars!

This week we figured we had time for a yellow date. Joe reached in and pulled out another one I was excited about: Christmas night! The idea was that we'd take some of our favorite parts of Christmas and enjoy them - the music, cookies, food, movies, etc. I wanted to buy ugly sweaters from a thrift store, but I worked 50+ hours this week and didn't have the time to shop (let alone wash them). Instead, we settled on wearing red and green.

***Side Note*** After last week's Scattergories date and this week's Christmas date, I hope Joe doesn't get a dud next week. We are definitely starting off with some of the really fun ones. ***End of Side Note***

We started our date by grocery and Christmas present shopping. This ended up taking FOR-EV-ER, but Joe made the point that it was fitting since shopping around Christmastime is always a headache. That's my cup-half-full hubby for ya :)

I didn't originally plan that we'd exchange gifts, but COME ON - it wouldn't have felt like Christmas without presents. Since we are being careful with money, we decided to go to Dollar Tree and buy 3 or 4 things for the other person. It was a blast hunting through the store trying to avoid each other. Honestly, I'd consider doing something similar for our real Christmas gifts this year.

When we got home, I immediately turned on a Pandora Christmas station and started baking. Growing up, spritz cookies were a staple in our house around the holidays, so they were the obvious choice:

Please excuse the filthy kitchen. I am a messy cook.

While I was baking, Joe wrapped his presents for me and surprised me by creating a "fire" out of tissue paper and a fan. (We have Vornado fans which are designed to work sitting on their backs or upright.) I absolutely loved it! We don't have a fireplace, and celebrating by a fire feels so Christmassy to me.

Dinner was absolutely delicious. In my family, we celebrate Christmas with risotto (we're Italian). Since Joe was disappointed we did ribs instead of risotto for our "R" Scattergories date last week, it was the perfect main course.

Joe made the risotto, and I made the green beans. Being the disaster in the kitchen that I am, I royally screwed up and they turned out looking more like over-cooked asparagus. (The recipe called for simmering the green beans for 25 minutes after having cooked them for a short time on medium heat. I never turned the heat down. Oops.)

Nevertheless, the green beans were DELICIOUS and I can't wait to try them again so I can see what they taste like when not cooked to mush. Here's the recipe in case you are interested. Oh - and now that I am looking at it again I realized I never added the herbs or the pepper. I really need cooking lessons haha.

After dinner, it was time for presents!

The first present Joe opened were these toothbrushes that don't need toothpaste or water. Perfect for his backpack or glove compartment.

My first present was a pack of hair ties. I am always running out even though I've probably bought a million.

Buster even liked them. (Actually, he likes anything from Dollar Tree. Must be the smell. Weird dog haha).

Joe's next gift was a head massager. I knew he'd like it, but he pretty much lost his S.

I even got an, "I've always wanted one of these!" and "Dollar for dollar this might be the best gift I've ever gotten!" out of him. For $1, not too shabby ;)

He was doing this the rest of the night. Seriously.

My next gift was a sweet snapband kit. You can see that I am pretty pumped. We had just talked about liking snapbands as kids (those bands you hit against your wrist that close into a bracelet) and this kit came with some fun sequins. I'm totes going to bling this thing out!

And do you see the blur from Buster's tail wagging? He was also very excited.

Next, Joe opened a flick football set. I figured he could have it on his desk and play with it when he was studying. He was excited, and said he'll flick a field goal when he makes a breakthrough.

My final present was a movie with John Stamos in it. Haven't heard of it before, but I'll watch anything with Mr. Stamos. Anything. If he was paint drying on a wall, I'd watch and proclaim, "Have mercy!"
 

I wondered how they could sell DVDs for $1, and then noticed this sticker on the back:

Is there a ghost in this picture? WTH is that green orb???

Gotta love the phrasing ;) I'd say they were being pretty assumptive with the "enjoyed" part, but let's be real. It has John Stamos in it. I am sure it was thoroughly enjoyed.

Joe's final gift was a puzzle. I am always looking for puzzles that look fun, and so many are of stupid things and are really terrible pictures. Example: chances are I probably don't want to do a puzzle of a lighthouse. But if said lighthouse was a particularly awesome image (or had John Stamos peeking out of the window), then it would be worth buying. But no. It's a totally amateur shot of a particularly boring lighthouse on a hill with dead grass and no water visible.

***Side Note*** Disney puzzles are the exception. There's no such thing as a bad Disney puzzle. But unfortunately those usually have about 50 pieces. ***End of Side Note***

So when I found a football stadium puzzle, I felt like I hit the jackpot. Joe loves football and it should be pretty tough to do with the crowd and sky.

After presents, we watched Jingle All The Way and then three Christmas episodes of Full House. I was always under the impression that sitcoms ALWAYS have a holiday episode every year, but when trying to find Christmas episodes of shows we like, I realized that they rarely do more than a couple. During the 8 seasons of Full House, for example, they only had 3 Christmas shows. There was such a large break between the first and the second that Becky and Jesse had their first kiss in the first. By the second? Nicky and Alex were about 2.

Also, DJ was dating Steve. Ahhh, Steve. I had such a crush on him.

***Side Note*** On the topic of Steve, I told the girls I nanny that Steve is the same person who voiced Aladdin and it blew their minds. Then I told them that the actresses who play Michelle are 6 months younger than me and their minds were further blown. See parents? That's the type of education I can provide for your children ;) ***End of Side Note***

We never got to the egg nog we planned to make from scratch, because we both passed out fell asleep on the couch. Maybe we can do our make-up rummy game from last week's date while drinking egg nog.

I guess making it through 100% of our date next week is a good goal ;) Can't wait to see what we will be doing!