Dont Even Know Where To Begin...

I suck.  I fell off the blogging bandwagon.  I am still working my band but definitely need to kick it up a notch.

I feel like a bad friend to so many people.  I am hoping to rejoin the forces.

I realize that

A) Planning a wedding
B) Working beyond crazy hours
C) Planning a wedding
D) Planning a wedding

Do not make me the best blogger.  I traded in weigh in's for bouquet posts.

So I am hoping to get back on the wagon literally. It was exactly one year ago that I went to a holiday winter solstice party and a picture was taken of me.  That photo was the determining factor in getting my band.

Here is the evidence.

This was last week trying on a cute dress.  Don't mind the hideous belt the bridal consultant put on the dress.  I hate when I have better taste than a gay man.

Now - one year later and 10 months to the day...  

The bottom is the day my mom, nana, MOH and I went dress shopping. This is my nana.

So my year recap from pre-op to 10 months post surgery is:

I went from a size 24/26 wedding dress and just ordered a size 14.  Not quite the size 8 I wish I was, but I will take it.  My wedding is in April so it will probably be big by then.

I have lost 3 bra sizes and went from a DD to a D which is WONDERFUL!  They will eventually be National Geographic flapjacks but I may fix that eventually.

My ring size is a 6 from an 8
My shoe size is a 7.5 from an 8/8.5
My jeans are a 16 from a size 24
My shirts are a size L/XL from a size 2X and sometimes 3X depending on the brand

There are days I want to rip the band out and gorge out but I can honestly say it is the best thing I have ever done.

I still however know a cookie can slide ride on down or mashed potatoes filled with truffle oil piping hot are a girls best friend. I know late nite munching makes the pounds come off s-l-o-w-l-y & I know all of my wine, champagne and cocktails come with a price tag and I still have yet to give them up.

With that said, I am ok with the slow and steady and I will get there.  I need to update my weight loss but at last Mondays fill, I was at a total of 53 pounds loss. Since then I have lost at least 2 but I need to manage to keep it off.

My eyes are still way bigger than my stomach.  I put way too much on my plate and almost get depressed when it's all left.  I know what I am doing wrong so need to get on the ball.

I have missed my banded sisters and feel like an ass.  I admit that.  I hope you all forgive me!

I promise I am alive

After a crashed personal laptop - a work laptop that blocks blogger, 2 vacations and planning simultaneously my 20th high school reunion ALONE for over 125 people as well as my wedding, I have neglected my blogger friends and fallen off the sphere.

Reunion is next week, next laptop is arriving soon and I will be able to catch up on everyones world and update mine.

I miss you all and miss reading about your losses, happiness, frustrations, and more.

I just had fill #4 and I am officially down 44 pounds yesterday.   But as of today on liquids for 2 days, it is already surpassing 45#'s.   Not the quickest weight loss but I am still a foodie and drinking lots of bubbly so I am A-OK with 45 pounds since Feb.

I am in an XL and sometimes an XL petite which blows my mind.  I walk into stores and AVOID the plus section.  It's amazing.   I haven't been in a Lane Bryant since surgery and I can say that is BEAUTIFUL.

I promise to be back soon from my hiatus.

Some wedding inspiration photos I love to keep you all at bay and a recent pic at dinner which made me do a double take because I looked so different.

Miss and Love you all...  

Weekend Fun and Measurements!

First and foremost - I hope all the moms on here had a wonderful Mother's Day yesterday.

I was lucky to spend it with my mom and nana (and rest of the family).   My mom doesn't like to go out on Mothers Day because it's such a busy restaurant day and we do our "girls nights" often.   So I decided to order a few pans of amazing BBQ from a local restaurant and bring over a lot of good food.   No cooking! Easy peasy!

I brought them some gorgeous peonies and some fun gifts for them and we spent about 9 hours together which was great. We were going to have a swim day and finally get in the pool but it was overcast all day.  I instead helped me mom learn her new Iphone which she was super happy about.  She isn't very tech savvy and she wanted to know how to use it better.

The day before - on Saturday we went to yet another music festival. This one was local.  It's an annual event which draws thousands of people and a lot of great bands from all over the world.   My friends live in an amazing loft in the neighborhood so we decided to have a pre and post party at his place.   We all pitched in with the food and I brought over my panini maker and made Grilled thin chicken, green apple thin slices, triple creme brie and a roasted garlic onion jam on chiabatta and pressed them and cut them into a ton of mini sandwiches.  That along with blue cheese cole slaw, home made sangria and it was quite yummy and a blast.  We walked about 12 miles that evening at the festival and it ended around 1:30 am which we went back to his place for a post party. Post food goodies, pandora radio, bad dancing and a disco ball came out.  Too much fun!

Too much in fact that Lisa needs some MAJOR DOWN TIME for the next week or so.  I feel like I am running myself ragged and I still haven't caught up from NOLA.  No complaints tho, I have an amazing friends circle and I am super fortunate.  They were all majorly excited to toast Z & I for our engagement and everyone was oooing and awwing over my ring.  It was a nice feeling!!

So with that said - the scale is moving but slow again because I need fill #3.  I noticed weight loss kicked into gear with fill #2 and now I am back to the point I can eat a lot and eat pretty much anything so I know the weight loss made it looser.

So when it stalls,  I always like to check measurements and today I did a couple (not all of them) and I was SHOCKED.

When I started, I was at:

Date: 1/20/12 - The day I started my Pre-Op diet.

Right Arm: 16.5

Left Arm: 17

Chest: 49 (not sure if this was measured correctly)

Bra Strap: 41

Waist: 44.2

Hips: 61

Right Thigh: 32

Left Thigh: 32

Right Calf: 17.6

Left Calf: 18.6

 

DRUM ROLL PLEASE:

 

Today, I measured 4 areas and was pleasantly surprised.

 

Chest:  41

Waist: 39

Hips: 46

Right thigh: 31

 

So my problem areas such as hips have moved a bit but my thighs are not budging much AT ALL. I mean seriously, I was so much more and have only lost one inch in 4 months?? Uggg- I really need some help there.

 

I am pretty excited however to see the difference in my waist and hips. I will do the rest of the measurements later.

 

I hope everyone has a wonderful week ahead!!

BIG NEWS!

I am in recovery.

Food, Drink, Merriment Detox.

Recovery from New Orleans. 
The city stole my heart yet again.

I will start from the beginning....
We arrived late Wednesday night, checked in and went en route for some food and music.  We walked a few miles to Frenchmen Street away from the quarter a bit and stumbled upon mainly closed restaurants.  We decided to have a few cocktails and discovered an amazing old 20's Parisian inspired Jazz vibe. 

Total Heaven!

We then went to Cafe Du Monde for Beignets and Cafe Au Lait.  My first (of two the whole week) stuck episode of the evening. I was so worried I would never be able to partake again.  Low and behold, it came up and I was good to go and enjoyed a nice fluffy french doughnut. I was able to enjoy beignets not once but three times this trip. Oh do I wish I had one now!  Oh My, we were here.

For the next four days, we had tickets for Jazz Fest.  We had basically the same routine daily.  Take the shuttle to the fairgrounds, zip around the grounds for 7 hours and see as much amazing music as possible. 

At night, we would go on a hunt for great food and even greater jazz.  We had two nights at Preservation Hall which is lifechanging and a must for me, a night at Irvin Mayfields club for Los Hombres Calientes, and tons of smaller joints for local flavor.  

We packed in SO much.   I can't even describe the amount of spots and things we saw and packed into this week. 
It was much more than I ever recall and I am not a Jazz Fest Virgin or NOLA partaker in the least.

We had friends fly in from Denver and it was amazing to spend some time with them.  They have not seen me in 40 pounds and have no idea I was banded, so the first response out of their mouths were "Holy Shit, you are thin!"   THAT was a nice feeling.

So anyways - four days of MUSIC, MUSIC, MUSIC and more music.

By Monday - the fest was over and it was time for some downtime.

Zack and I took the streetcar down St. Charles to the Garden District and we walked a few miles.  We stumbled upon a beautiful park (Audubon Park) and we went inside.

This is when it gets interesting.

We are at a gorgeous old fountain with beautiful statues all around us.  Beautiful big oak trees shading us and all of a sudden... I had no idea what was happening.

Zack decides to tell me how wonderful I am, how much he loves me and pulls out a gorgeous diamond ring and asks me to marry him. 

Say What?!!  I was not expecting that!! 

So I am officially engaged! :)  I decided after 6 years, I was definitely ready! 

The rest of the day consisted of a lot of wonderful champagne toasting, great brunch, celebrations, big smiles, a chefs dinner, more music and ending an amazing week in the Crescent City.

New Orleans has always held a special place in my heart.  Now even more so!

Photo porn to follow:



Breakfast of Champions!



Before Florence & the Machine



Salsa Band - Congo Stage



Beignets - Mmmm



Down on Frenchman Street



The Goods!

Where He Proposed :)

There a ton more pics but I don't have the patience right now to post them because Blogger isn't very user friendly.   All in all, we had an amazing time, ate incredible food, saw the best music, received amazing bling and walked over 50 miles in 6 days!

Guess it's time to start planning a wedding!!

Jazz, Beignets and a Haunted City

Life has been and is still crazy busy.

With that said I am excited to have the next two days to relax, exercise and have some downtime!

Because after those 2 days..... the party begins!

On Wednesday evening after work, we are flying into

New Orleans for Jazz Fest.

Lots of incredible music on the agenda and I am beyond ready for it :)

We will be there Wednesday evening for dinner

Thursday - 2nd weekend fest starts

Friday - MANY friends flying in from all over the country for 2nd day of fest

Saturday - Third day of fest

Sunday - Fourth & Closing of 2012 fest

Monday & Tuesday - Playing tourist!

I used to go every year and then stopped when that bitch Katrina hit.  This will be my first time back in the Crescent City since then and my heart is heavy with anticipation!!

NOLA is one of my favorite cities in the world.  I have always felt a big draw there.

Funny thing is... I have been on a massive genealogy dig lately and JUST discovered last week I actually have a big connection to the big easy.  I had NO idea.  Fun for me! 

Beyond that - Lots of fun restaurants & bars planned and a TON of walking to offset those calories.

We are staying a few days after fest to enjoy the city and have some touristy downtime as well.

I prepacked all my new summer dresses, fedoras, summer floppy hats and sandals and can't wait!! 

Last time I was at fest, I was BIG. Like Super Chub!  I am SO scanning those photos when I get back and doing a side-by-side!!!

On the weight loss front - things are going pretty well! This new fill brought me a few pounds down finally and I definitely have restriction. I can still pretty much eat most everything but in much smaller amounts. It is nice to get full off a few bites. I am still overcooking and over ordering so I really need to adjust.  I can't seem to wrap my head around the fact that so little will fill me up.

As of today I am at 225.  When I started, I was at 258.  When I met Z, I was 216 and I am excited to be at the weight when I met him SOON and then get down to Onederland hopefully soon after.

Not sure if I will post before leaving - but if not - Happy Losing Everyone and see you on the flip side!!

“New Orleans food is as delicious as the less criminal forms of sin.”
― Mark Twain

Things are Changing!

For the good....!!

After Chicago, I kicked it into food detox a bit.   (Notice I didn't say wine detox)

Lots of events still going on so I will recap.

We flew back Monday night around midnight. By the time we were home it was after 1am. I came back to a BUSY work week. Luckily I telecommute so I hung out in my pajamas all of Tuesday. I offer no apologies for it.  I was so tired I am not even sure I showered that day.  ha

Wednesday was much of the same but the fog was lifting.

Thursday was Fill #2.  I went to see Dr. Quack Quack.  He said he was pleased with my weight loss since my first fill. I explained I had zero restriction and needed some.  Be careful what you ask for ;)

I still debated him on protein and food.  He is still sticking to me not needing protein.  He said ALL food is bad except green leafy veggies.  He also said the purpose of the band is to eat the size of my hand worth and so it doesn't matter what is going in.  He said lean protein wasn't any better than fattier protein.

What the?   Seriously.. I argued with him and just wanted my fill so I could get the hell out of there.

I was on liquid for that day and mushies on Friday. 

Friday is a slacker work day for me usually.  My work hours are super easy and since I am at home, I admit I usually slip out pretty early.  I met my bestie for lunch at an amazing new restaurant which is Vietnamese and French.   Gorgeous inside, food from heaven.  I ordered lobster bisque and egg salad on croissant.  It was really the only mushy until I noticed the specials said quiche.  Thanks server lady for mentioning that.  I ate the egg salad and may have stolen a bite from that beautiful toasted croissant.  

After that, I went on a shopping trip with her.  She kept telling me to try clothes on in the regular section.  There is no way I told her... I am still in plus sizes. 

She convinced me.  I am HAPPY to say I walked out with one gorgeous, make my girls look fantastic new summer navy and white maxi dress, one really pretty shirt and two casual sun dresses for my upcoming trip to New Orleans.

Well the dresses have stretch but I don't care!  They were all XL - Woo hoo!  The top has NO stretch and fit beautiful as well.  Also XL.  They were all INC from Macy's so it's nice to have better selections that aren't upstairs in the back of the store behind the kids department because no one wants to see fat ladies buy clothes. 

After that, we went to the V inoy H otel (which is that gorgeous hotel I went to back for the Bachlorette Party). I love to pretend I am on vacation and people watch.  I ordered some champagne and a salmon salad.  I think I was either eating too quick or too big of a bite and not paying attention and I then got super stuck and had to go to the restroom to bring it all up.

I stopped eating after a few bites as it was not fun. Not dying pain but it fel like someone punched me in my chest.   By the time I was home, I was really hungry so I tried to eat again. Stuck again. 

Uggg  Like I said - Be careful what you ask for!

On Saturday we had a friends birthday dinner and I was SO worried.  I thought maybe I was too tight and I was scared.  Turns out, I was back to normal but I had MAJOR restriction. I way over ordered.  Z & I shared a cheese platter. I had a few nibbles, no bread.  Then for dinner I ordered a crab cake appetizer, small salad and grilled veggies.  I ate one crab cake and one bite of salad and I was stuffed. Waste of food. I pawned it off on everyone because it's a wonderful place and this food should NOT go to waste.

Hmm wine went down ok.  Go figure.

What really struck me after was seeing myself in photos.   Something new has decided to appear after a long dormant phase.... COLLARBONES!!!!  Wow - I was a bit shocked. It happened overnight. 

Excuse the BAD hair night - It was rainy and humid here and my hair was having a mind of it's own.

But seriously - Look at the new collarbones!!! LOL

Sunday was one of the areas biggest annual art show that gets better each year.  It's called Mainsail.  Z&I went with my great friend of many years and her new man.

He is finally growing on me. I wasn't sure at first because he is just way more introverted than I am but I enjoy him now and appreciate him more.  I think I better because I have a feeling this is going to be her husband sometime soon.

We arrived starving so Z ordered Conch fritters and grilled Mahi.  I was able to eat one conch fritter and about 4 bites of Mahi and it was perfect.  I can't believe how little gets me full! 

We walked around for about 5 hours and bought a copper sculpture for our bedroom wall and a beautiful painting from an artist from Ghana.  His work blew me away.  I can't wait to get it framed and matted and add it to the bedroom as well.   After that, we had an impromptu dinner party at my friends house.  Z&I ran to the Fresh Market and picked up Swordfish, Mixed greens, strawberries, blood orange, goat cheese and sliced almonds. She picked up 2 filets, sweet potatoes and made an off the chain orzo-chickpea salad with feta and fresh dill and garlic.  We had a really nice dinner and I was able to eat about 2 oz of fish, an oz of meat, a couple bites of the sweet potato and about 2 tablespoons of the orzo.  Full off a SMALL amount which is so nice.

Hmmm but the wine sure went down ok.   (see a trend?!) 

Anyways - it is nice to still enjoy being a foodie, still have an active lifestyle and participate in dinners with friends and feel normal while the scale moves downward. 

And lastly - the most fun NSV of the week: 

On our walk this week, I noticed my Hips and Ass shadow has decreased significantly.  Everytime the street light came on previously, I was always mortified. I was smaller up top but my hips were SO big, my shadow embarressed me when I walked next to Z.   Rediculous right??  This week it looked more "normal".

The scale jumped a bit this weekend because of the liquid and fill.  I know if I drank less wine, it would be more but it is what it is for now.  

I think my life will slow down a a bit in June. 

Week ahead:

Elvis C ostello concert and pre concert dinner with friends (tonight) Tuesday

The R ocky H orror Show in the park with friends. Picnic baskets and blankets galore on Wednesday.

& Finally a friends beach wedding on Saturday.

I am REALLY hoping to have some down time, detox and exercise on  Thursday & Friday and did so yesterday (Monday)!

Enjoy your week everyone!!!!

Chicago Part Deux

Hello my lovelies!

I realized April & May are so packed solid, it's been tough to get a blog on here more than once a week.

I wanted to finish Chicago up before I moved onto other things so it wasn't confusing and I will try and wrap it up here.

Ok last blog I ended with the first 2.5 days. 

The remaining portion of the trip consisted of The Museum of Sci ence and In dustry.  If you are in Chi-town this is a MUST.    We had such an amazing time. The building(s) are MASSIVE and it truly takes a day and a half to see the whole thing.  We packed as much as we could in.

We walked all over downtown to Millennium Park and saw the "Bean", gazed at the tulips all over the city and hit up Willis Skydeck which is the old Sears tower. I still prefer to call it the former name. We went into the CRAZY glass cubes which make you feel like you are falling or about to die and had a really great afternoon.

When we arrived back at the hotel, we had faux celebrity siting #2 which I actually enjoyed.   I literally ran right into Brad who is on It's a Brad, Brad World.  He was Rachel Zoe's former assistant. He was hilarious and charming and staying at our hotel. We kept running into each other and actually talked a bit which was fun. He is absolutely adorable in person I must say! This is him:

Some pics from the day at the park, The Willis skydeck glass cubes and bean:

Later that evening was the main event.  We started out in one of the rooms where we had a few bottles of lovely bubbly.  We hung out there chatting and toasting for about an hour.  We then piled into a few cabs and headed out. We were there to celebrate a birthday and it was held at an absolutely incredible Italian restaurant called Francesa's on Chestnut. They had a preset menu for the party and I am so happy I waited for fill #2 after I got home because I was able to nibble on everything!  I didn't go overboard but I absolutely enjoyed it all.

We dined on beautiful salads, truffled risotto, veal medallions, roasted chicken, oven fired veggies and gorgeous tiramisu and profiteroles and oh so much vino! 

Some pics from the evening:

Pre-Party with the birthday man!

Phil, Deane, Mike & Zack.
Backstory:  The three guys were all college roomies. Zack and Mike have known each other since they were about 10.  Deane is an amazing guy and bought a huge house in Ann Arbor MI when they went to UofM so they could live "properly".  He is a really unique guy & quite damn handsome for 80! Wow!

Deanes' cousin, Lisa (Deanes' daughter) who flew in from Spain, my new friend Sandy from Oregon and my friend Ann and then moi.

Cheers, wishes and yummy desserts!

After our dinner, a jazz trio was starting there and we ended up staying there a few more hours.  The kids paid the entire bill and once it was settled we all opened up some bar tabs.  We were all in a bubbly mood so we ordered a few bottles of champagne and the rest of the party ordered up there own cocktails.  We enjoyed the company, the music and the mood. 

We finally ended up back at the hotel for an after party, an after-after party and then an after-after-after party which finally ended in our room.     4am - time to get to sleep!!

Some pics from the after(s) party... you will be able to see a slight change in peoples drunk ass faces HA.

We all awoke the next day and most people were all leaving.  We had one more day so we weren't in any rush.   We all met for the last time at the Pump Room for brunch and it was pretty delish. We said our goodbyes, exchanges some laughs and then Z and I went out for the day to explore. 

We went all over town, popping in here and there and to be honest, I can't even remember what we really did.  I will have to look thru the photos for evidence Ha!  We headed back to the hotel early enough for a quick catnap as we had dinner plans with another couple who I love and adore.  They are Z's friends from Detroit and moved to Chicago last year.  They just moved into a new gorgeous condo in Bucktown so we had dinner plans with them that evening and a chance to see their new digs. 

It was our last night and we were pretty tired by this point.   For some reason, I don't think we took ANY photos that evening which bums me out. But we had some wine at their place and caught up.  We then went to a really wonderful and quaint neighborhood restaurant called Janes in Bucktown.    

I had a Tofu and veggie burrito with an avocado sauce. Wasn't the best food in the world but it certainly wasn't the worst.  I think I just wanted something healthy by this point and saw the words Tofu and Veggies in the same sentence and jumped on it.   Everyone else had other great items.

Some pics of the restaurant:

Our friends drove us back so we wouldn't have to cab it and we called it a night.    When we woke up, we knew it was time to pack.  We almost had a tiny bit of regret for staying the extra day. We were sorta ready to be home relaxing with our puppies. When we booked the trip, we assumed we wouldn't have time to do anything because of the birthday but instead we packing in A LOT!

So after waking, we had the intention of another museum but we were a bit tired.   We ended up doing what I do best.... shopping!   After picking out some fun shoes at Nordstrom Rack and some new yoga pants and shirts at North Face, we decided to call it a day before we had to head to the airport.

The weather was pretty ugly that day. Gusts of around 45mph, some rain and just chilly to the bone.  We went to the Signature Room at the Hancock building for last cocktails and a view.

Some final pics from our last quiet day.... 

After this splurge of calories, Zack asked if I wanted a cab. Instead I wanted to walk back to the hotel which was about 3 miles. Such a lovely walkable city and the rain had subsided.

As we arrived back to the hotel and checked out, we saw our last faux celebrity for the day.  We ran into one of the Real Housewives of DC - Mary Schmidt Amons. Honestly, I remembered her face, not her name since they only had one stint.

 She drove her car there and as they packed her Louis luggage into the back, she apparently was in town for shopping.  I drooled at the MANY Gucci shopping bags amongst others.   Yes - I am nosey. But I wasn't obvious nosey. I had my shades on and we were there waiting on a cab ;)    *Le Sigh* 

And yes - I came home and LOST A POUND after all this food, champagne and sweets!  Oi Vey - I <3 my band!!

More pics if you care to see:  Chicago Pictures