Happy Birthday Joe!

Yesterday, Joe turned 30-years-old. I took it a lot harder than he did. After all, Joe is the level-headed one in our marriage and I am the slightly dramatic one.

As a Christmas Eve baby, I tend to go a bit Birthday crazy. My parents always took painstaking measures to make my Birthday as special as possible so I wouldn't feel gypped, and I think that led to me thinking that Birthday boys and girls must be treated like kings and queen.

***Side Note*** One symptom of this craziness is capitalizing the word 'Birthday' because I think it is deserving of the honor. ***End of Side Note***

When you combine my case of Christmas Eve Baby Syndrome and the huge milestone Joe was celebrating, it should come as no surprise that I went a little overboard this year.

We started off the festivities on Sunday night by going out to dinner at a fancy steakhouse. I chose the place because they have steak au poivre (which Joe and I LOVE) and a swanky atmosphere with art deco decor, mahogany walls and lots of maritime art (thanks to our upcoming cruise, I'm into anything sea-related right now).

Dinner was DELICIOUS.

I also used it as an opportunity to give him his first present: tickets to Book of Mormon, which is coming to Philadelphia later this summer. Joe is a big South Park fan (as am I), and has been talking for a long time about wanting to see this play. The tickets were stupid expensive, especially since I decided to spring for Orchestra seats, so I did extra work to pay them off (I am so grateful to have that ability with my freelance job!).

***Side Note*** Joe and I always get nosebleed seats, but when we saw Phantom of the Opera Joe had a hard time following the story because he couldn't tell the Phantom and Raoul apart. Yes, I understand this should be impossible because the Phantom wears a mask, but that's how far away we were sitting. It was honestly hard to see he had a mask on, made more difficult by the fact that the actor playing the Phantom was kind of pasty. ***End of Side Note***

It was an excellent night, and a perfect start to Joe's Birthday festivities.

Yesterday, Joe awoke to a decorated living room and a wife willing to drive to McDonald's to get him a breakfast sandwich (I got a diet coke out of the deal, so I was happy). Joe decided the night before that he wanted to do presents in the morning before class, so we started with gifts that family and friends mailed to us and then I brought him a bag of gifts from me.

He got spoiled with some awesome gifts, like Phillies vs. Cardinals tickets from Stacey. Buster thought all the gifts were for him, so he stuck close to Joe.

Joe didn't want a party for his Birthday, so I wanted to try to figure out something special to do in honor of him turning the big 3-0. Thanks to some internet inspiration, I decided to buy him 30 presents. Though a pricey endeavor, I figured I was saving a lot of money by not throwing a party and I could do most of the shopping at Dollar Tree, Ross and other discount stores.

 Here's what he wound-up with:

1. Play tickets (not pictured)
2. $10 Kindle gift card for a book he's been wanting
3. Used PS3 game from GameStop
4. See Above
5. See Above
6. See Above
7. Tie
8. Cards Against Humanity
9. Joystick 
10. Flight simulator game
11. Men in Black 3 (got this on Black Friday for like $3)
12. Heisenberg magnet
13. Earbuds
14. Portable ping pong set
15. Walking Dead puzzle
16. Book with stats about 30-year-olds
17. Pack of his favorite pens (that I always steal)
18. Card game
19. Reeses Pieces
20. Gummy Worms
21. Gummy Bears
22. Big League Chew gum
23. Eclipse gum pack
24. Dan Brown book
25. Fun dress socks
26. Checkers
27. Board game 
28. Gadget to amplify his iPhone speaker
29. Seinfeld-related t-shirt
30. Philadelphia-related t-shirt

I was a little worried he would think 30 presents was overkill (he's very frugal), but he actually loved the idea and had a ton of fun opening his presents. If you can swing it, it's a great idea for a milestone birthday like this.

After presents, he had to get ready for class at 10. I met him on his lunch break and we went to Chipotle for lunch. That man loves him some Chipotle.

He had to go back to class for an hour (yay for not having too much class on his Birthday!), so I stayed on campus and did some work while I waited for him to be done. On our way home, we stopped by an arcade that he's been wanting to go to ever since we moved here almost a year ago.

We had SO MUCH FUN and Joe got a couple of big-ticket wins. We'll definitely have to go back more often, especially since it's across the street from the dental school.

After the arcade, we ate cake and ice cream (because 30-year-olds don't have to wait until after dinner). Joe then installed his flight simulator game and I did some more work. For dinner, we had pizza from Papa John's and WAAAYYYY too much wine.

It was a great end to a great day :)

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Bye Bye Scale

Oh what a tease I am. I mention in my last post that I am a few days away from my monthly weigh-in, and then I don't bother to blog until a week after said weigh-in day. I am sure you are all dying from the anticipation ;)

Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but I only lost 0.6 pounds.

Yup. You read that right. After a MONTH of busting my butt in the gym and being very careful with food and alcohol (I honestly don't think I have ever worked so hard to lose weight in my life), I didn't even lose a whole pound.

I was livid.

Until my trainer measured me.

Then I found out I lost a TONNNNNN of inches. FIFTEEN to be exact. Here's the breakdown:

Not too shabby for four weeks :)

The measurements helped calm me down A LOT, but I can't stop thinking about the scale. My pride at getting such amazing results is constantly tempered because every time I think about the inches lost or put on an article of clothing that is looser, my brain snaps me back to that moment when I stepped on the scale and it read 195. How unfair is that when I worked so hard and EARNED the right to be proud of myself?

So I'm done. I don't care what the scale says anymore. I want to lose weight because I want to look better and I want to get stronger. People don't see my weight tattooed to my forehead when I walk down the street, they see what I physically look like. And I am kicking butt in the gym, getting stronger every single time I train.

I'm sure I'll eventually weigh myself again, but for now I don't want anything to do with the scale.

Instead, I'll just keep flexing in the mirror (my new favorite pastime) and reminding myself of this:

Source: http://bodyconsciousnessblog.com

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2000 Points!

For those of you newer to the blog, you may not know that at the beginning of the year I created a point system for myself to help keep me accountable with my health. You can read the whole post here.

The gist is that I would reward myself points for making healthy choices (exercise, drinking water, taking vitamins, flossing, etc.) and I would lose points for making unhealthy choices (drinking booze, eating sweets, etc.). In the past I have done point systems and they have helped keep me accountable, so I figured I would try it again.

There have been some tweaks here and there, but I finally arrived on 2500 as the final number of points I needed to earn my reward: new clothes for our cruise in June! I'm excited to say that as of today, I have surpassed the 2000 point mark and am less than 500 points away from a shopping spree!!!

Honestly, I wouldn't be where I am today without my trainer. As helpful as the point system can be, I was getting pretty lazy in the weeks leading up to taking the plunge and signing up for personal training. Not only that, but even if I had somehow motivated myself to exercise for points, there is no way I would be as strong as I am now... or have some of the muscle tone that is developing (and making me do double-takes in the mirror). She is amazing - and training is one of the best investments I have ever made in my life.

The hardest part about having a trainer is that I had to promise her I would only weigh myself monthly. For someone as obsessed with the scale as me, that was rough. And it also means that I have no clue what I weigh right now. At last check, I was down 12 pounds since January 1, but that was 3 weeks ago. I'll have a better idea on Monday when I get to weigh myself again :)

But even if I can't weigh myself, I see a difference in pictures:

These aren't the best comparison shots, but I didn't have many pre-point pictures where my whole face was visible. I realize looking back that I cut off part of my face in almost every single picture I have of myself. I was too embarrassed by how puffy it was getting and thought I could disguise my weight gain. Sad.

Another difference I can see is with my strength. Every single time I train, I am able to do more and push harder than the previous session. One thing I am particularly proud of is that I'm almost ready to transition into "real" push-ups (as opposed to the push-ups where you are on your knees). I remember back to doing the 30 Day Shred and how I couldn't make it through 10 push-ups even on my knees. Now I can bust out 10 knee push-ups like nobody's business :)

I am so proud of myself, and I can't wait for my shopping spree! I have a feeling that, unlike typical shopping days, this one won't involve me crying in the fitting room... unless I happen to cry tears of joy ;)

Just 53 more days until we set sail! I can't wait to see how much more progress I can make.

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Nickelodeon Date Night!

Woo hoo! We successfully completed another date.

This week's date was Nickelodeon night where we were tasked to watch all the classics.

***Side Note*** I realize that this is another date where I designed the night around sitting on the couch and eating. Is it any wonder I need a trainer? Just kidding (kind of). When I wrote these dates I tried to think of ones that wouldn't cost a lot of money since I planned for us to do one each week. Eating dinner made at home and watching TV is about as cheap as you can get. ***End of Side Note***

We figured if we were watching shows from our childhood, we should eat kiddie food. So dinosaur nuggets, tater tots and orange slices were on the menu:

And, like any children, we played with our food a little:

For dessert, Joe had the great idea to make pistachio pudding since it looks like slime (and if you've ever watched a Kids' Choice Awards, you know how much that station digs their slime). The pudding didn't turn out green enough, so I added a bit of food coloring and voilà:

As far as shows for the night, here was the line-up:

Are You Afraid of the Dark?
Legends of the Hidden Temple
What Would You Do?
Doug
Double Dare
All That
Hey Dude
Legends of the Hidden Temple
Legends of the Hidden Temple
Legends of the Hidden Temple
Legends of the Hidden Temple
Family Double Dare
Family Double Dare

If you couldn't tell, we decided that Legends of the Hidden Temple was our favorite... and we couldn't stop watching! I kept hoping a temple guard would get punched or a kid would pee his pants when a guard grabbed him. No luck on either count and I was bummed. (Does this make me a bad person?)

Family Double Dare was good too. We lucked out and saw an episode with DJ Tanner and Steve Urkel! They looked like babies! And it was hilarious to see what the fabulous 90's prizes were. I have a feeling our future children won't even be able to identify 1 out of 3 of them.

But it wasn't all good...

Honestly, I was SUPER disappointed with Are You Afraid of the Dark? (And not just because I guessed the "twist" a mile away...). It was super cheesy. The acting was terrible. The camerawork was even worse. I'd hazard a guess that every amateur video on YouTube is better produced than this show. Plus, it annoyed me that these children, *ahem* members of the Midnight Society, were allowed to go into a forest in the middle of the night and light a campfire. Where are their parents?! Where is Smokey Bear?!

I was also disappointed with What Would You Do?. Though we got to see Marc Summers slide down the pie slide, the rest of the episode was *meh.* Speaking of the pie slide, I don't understand why everyone pretends they don't want to go down it. Be real folks - you know you want to slide face first into some whipped cream. Who doesn't?!

Hey Dude wasn't much better. I LOVED that show as a kid, but Danny's "acting" was so awful that it distracted from the show. (I feel a little bad criticizing him because there are rumors the "actor" died of liver failure... but no one can confirm this because no real record exists of him after the show. I know, I am as shocked as you are that his "acting" career didn't take off.) Anyways, in this episode Ted and Brad challenged one another to a battle of the sexes (of course) and the boys and girls did a cook-off. The girls made tuna noodle casserole (WTH were they thinking?) but the judge was allergic to tuna. This forced them to choose another challenge. You know, because there is only one human being on that dude ranch who could judge. What? The only adult staffer (a.k.a. Lucy) doesn't have a refined enough palate to be your tuna noodle casserole back-up judge? At least Ted and Danny made cupcakes.

Alright - enough complaining about children's shows. I loved ALL Nick shows as a kid, and it was a blast to revisit them the other night with Joe :)

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P.S. If you ask why Salute Your Shorts wasn't viewed, it's because my dad wouldn't let me watch the show as a kid. He thought the title was dirty. At 28 I agree with him, but I still maintain that the show was perfectly fine for youngsters.

200th Post... And Mexican Fiesta Date Night

While I may have been a pretty pathetic blogger lately, on the whole I totally rock because I have officially made it to post 200!

Every time I hit one of these big milestones, I am shocked that I've kept up with this blog for so long. I'm not exactly the best at sticking with things, so the fact that I have hit "publish" 200 times is a pretty impressive feat for me. 

Speaking of poor follow-through, my goal of doing a date a week while Joe is in dental school hasn't been the most successful. So far he has been in school for 34 weeks and we've done a whopping 11 dates. For those of you who aren't math geniuses, that's a 32% success rate (don't worry - I'm not a math genius either. I used my favorite online conversion calculator). 

***Side Note*** The closer Joe and I get to starting a family, the more I start viewing things in terms of how long pregnancy will be. The fact that Joe has been in school 34 weeks and pregnancy is 40 weeks is absolutely mortifying. That is a very, very long time to have another human being inside my body.... and to give up wine. ***End of Side Note***

***Clarification Side Note*** No we are not starting a family soon. In fact, babymaking has been postponed. We chose a date, I accidentally spilled to several people (thanks, wine), and then we re-evaluated things. So when I say "closer to starting a family," the word "closer" only means one fewer day. You know, in the same way we are "closer" to death every day. Fun thought.***End of Clarification Side Note***

Anywhoo, we completed our eleventh date on Saturday night and it was a fun and relaxing one: a Mexican themed night! 

Of course, that meant dressing up in clothes we might wear in Mexico plus a dinner consisting of tacos and margaritas. 

The finished product

Joe thought it would be fun to put a Mexican blanket on the coffee table to make the room more festive. Buster has never gotten on the coffee table before, but apparently he figured that a table with a blanket on it is fair game to use as a chair:

While we ate, we wanted to watch a movie that takes place in Mexico. All we could think of was Nacho Libre, so we watched that (well, about half of it and I got bored and demanded requested Game of Thrones instead.)

I may not have liked the movie, but I do dig these adorable babies in Nacho Libre costumes :)

It was a fun night, and I am excited for this week's date! We've already drawn it, and it's an easy (but FUN!) one :)

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Stacey's Visit to Philly

It's springtime in Philadelphia! (finally)

I had forgotten how much I love this city thanks to the record-breaking snowfall that trapped me in our apartment for several months. But with Stacey visiting last week and the sun shining, I was able to re-visit some of my favorite places with one of my favorite people :)

Stacey arrived last Wednesday night and we promptly hit up a cheesesteak joint with Joe. Tony Luke's is still our current favorite, but it's hard to complain about eating beef piled onto roll and covered with whiz and onions.

Upon returning home, we watched some Full House (of course) and were reminded again and again that Michelle Tanner is a spoiled brat.

Seriously. Hate her.

Michelle didn't really annoy me as a kid, but now I want to smack her butt and send her to her room for, well, ever. I feel for D.J. and Stephanie, as Michelle is the clear favorite of Danny, Jesse and Joey. Frankly, who cares what Joey thinks, but if I were in that house I'd be vying much harder for Uncle Jesse's attention.

One constant and the biggest reason to watch Full House ;)

Plus, Michelle gets away with saying the most rude, smart-mouthed things ever. I can't imagine how much soap I would have ingested if I talked like her as a child. And the eye-rolling? I swear, if she rolls her eyes at an adult one more time I'll throw a shoe at my T.V. with the hope that it'll act like a voodoo doll and one (or both!) of the Olsen twins will get a swift kick.

And don't get me started on how she is always lying and stealing things. And DEFINITELY don't get me started on her getting to be princess for the day in the Disney World episodes.

What happened before part 1 of that episode ended? Oh, that's right. Bratty Michelle didn't like being called out for her rude behavior and decided to run off. This led to everyone frantically looking for her and wasting valuable ride and turkey leg time. How RUDE! Of course *SPOILER ALERT* they found her.

But I digress... ;)

On Thursday, Stacey and I decided to head to Germantown for a little shopping. I discovered this area right outside Philadelphia when my parents visited for Christmas and knew that Stacey and I needed to visit when she came. We had some lunch and hit up some shops. I scored a great deal on a couple of purses and a nautical-themed scarf that will be perfect for our cruise :)

Since quaint shops are just one side of the shopping coin, we also headed to a nearby mall for a little H&M, Charming Charlie's and LOFT action.

Friday morning we worked out with my trainer and, because that wasn't enough sweating for one day, we decided to walk to Rittenhouse Square and do some more shopping. (Rittenhouse Square is a major shopping area in Philadephia and is a few miles from my apartment.) Though my feet got tired, the weather was BEAUTIFUL and it was great to walk, chat, and buy more stuff :)

That night, we went to a restaurant called City Tavern. Although the original burnt down, the tavern was where historical figures like George Washington would drink and dine. The servers here wear historical garb and the menu includes old-fashioned recipes that the founding fathers enjoyed. Of course, I had to ask the busboy if the building was haunted. He and the waiter then went into a several minutes long historical overview of City Tavern - and it was AWESOME. As a history semi-buff I couldn't imagine a better ending to the meal, though they were both a little wish-washy on the presence of ghosts in the building :(

Saturday was our Reading Terminal Market day and I shared one of the best sandwiches I have ever eaten with Stacey. Seriously - if you are a food fan (and, really, who isn't?), you MUST go to Reading Terminal Market if you visit Philadelphia. Grab a sandwich from DiNic's (I recommend the hand-cut beef brisket with sharp provolone) and finish up with an Amish donut for dessert :)

Photo credit

After Reading, we chilled out at home and watched Tangled. Well, Joe and Stacey watched and I dozed - shopping and eating had worn me out ;)

That night, we went to a Phillies game. Honestly, I'm not a big baseball fan and the game was BORING, but it was still fun to hang out with Joe and Stacey. The weather was also nice, and I enjoyed soaking up the sun and fresh air. We ended up leaving a little early and watched some Toddlers and Tiaras when we got home. It's not a true visit with Stacey unless we watch a guilty pleasure TLC show.

Sunday we did a little more shopping (this time with Joe!) and then we brought Stacey to the airport.

Thus ended Stacey's visit to Philly - but I'm sure she'll be back soon :)

What didn't end is my marathon of Full House viewing. I've been watching it daily since she left, and my feeling on Michelle aren't changing in the slightest.

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Weigh-In Day!

Per my trainer's request, I've ceased my weekly weigh-ins and promised that I will only weigh myself every month or so. This is hard for me, as sometimes the difference between me saying "yes" or "no" to some fat-filled snack is knowing that I am weighing myself in the morning.

I do have to say, it's been freeing to forget about the number for a while and to just focus on changing my diet and exercising more, but it also builds up the actual weigh-in because so much time has passed and a big number is expected (by me, at least).

I last weighed myself about 3 weeks ago, and this morning I had the okay from my trainer to weigh-in so we could see where I am at. To be honest, I didn't expect much. This weekend was quite depressing as I tried on clothes that fit in the not-too-distant past but would barely (if that) zip now. I pictured my fat hanging over my Lucky Brand skinny jeans that I retired on the first leg of our road trip last year, but had served me faithfully in the months leading up to that trip. I know what I weighed then, and if the pants weren't fitting now I was undoubtedly going to be in for some bad news on the scale.

Prepared for the worst, I didn't even bother bringing my cell phone into the bathroom so I could take a picture of the scale. But I wish I had, because when I stepped on it I saw 195.8 flash before my eyes.

UNDER 200! SCOOOORRREEEEE!!!!!

And not just under 200 - almost halfway to the 180's!

PLUS that means that I have lost a total of 12 pounds since January 1. I know that is very slow going, but it's a solid loss and I am thrilled to be back in onederland.

I still don't get the jeans thing. I KNOW these pants fit better when I was this weight before. But I seem to be losing from my face and limbs much more quickly than my middle (unlike previous weight-loss where it was almost like someone pricked me with a needle and I deflated all over like a balloon). This isn't a terrible thing, because when summer comes I can disguise a middle with a dress. And it won't be long before my tummy is forever shot thanks to pregnancy anyway. But I hate that I still only have one pair of jeans that fit.... and that those jeans are about to fall apart in certain places thanks to some good old fashioned thigh-rubbing.

I'm not going to dwell too much, though. After all, my trainer thinks it is realistic for me to lose about 2 pounds a week from now until the cruise. If that happens, I'll be around 175 for Bermuda! Frankly, if I can just be in the 170's as we pull out of the port, I'll be so happy!

Now I just have to focus on continuing to earn points so I can buy a new wardrobe for the cruise :)

I won't lie, I have maybe bought a dress (or two) that I am saving for the cruise. Hey - sometimes deals are too good to pass up ;) But I have promised myself that I can't wear them until the cruise and if I don't get all my points, I have to return them.

My bestie Stacey flies into Philly tomorrow for a few days, and I am sure that we'll be getting our shopping on (in addition to watching copious amounts of Full House). Though I hate to buy another pair at my current size, maybe I should try to find some in-betweener jeans. After all, I don't want a wardrobe malfunction.

And I am sure some of you are sick and tired of hearing about weight. Heck, I am sick and tired of talking about it. But life is pretty boring right now.

Can't wait for Stacey to come spice it up for the next 4 days :)

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