Week 5 Weigh in

Today I went for my week 5 weigh in.  I went a day early this week because tomorrow (Friday October 1) I will be otherwise occupied.  Friday morning at 10:30 is my normal weigh in time/day.
I am always excited about weigh in day because I get to turn in my completed menu from the past 7 days, get a new one and get 2 new cooler bags of food.

For the most part my menu stays the same from week to week, but will change a little bit in that I'll rotate the foods I have more than once in a week.  When I started my favorite entree meal to have was eggplant Parmesan.  By now...I hate it.  Absolutely hate it.  I've moved on to "enjoying" the burritos, the Bocca nuggets and the enchiladas. If I had to guesstimate how many almonds I ate last week, I would say around 150.  That's a lots o almonds boys and girls.  BUT, like with any trade that can be good.  At least I'm not eating 35 eggs this week.  (smile)


As I mentioned in my previous post, tomorrow is our 5th anniversary.  And with celebrating comes food. (Please note I have a furrowed brow as I write this part.)  I will have to be particularly careful tomorrow as I made only good choices.

What would you do if you were me?  Enjoy your anniversary, have a nice meal (making good decisions, I'm not talking about eating a 20 oz steak here) and some wine.....OR.....stick completely to my nutritionist approved menu?  I think either way, I'm going to have a little side of gilt for dessert.

5th Wedding Anniversary

October 1, 2010 is our 5th wedding anniversary!  It is hard to believe that we have reached this little milestone in our relationship.  One of the things that adds to my love of the crisp fall temperatures is that it reminds me of our wedding.  In Kansas the season is a good bit ahead of Memphis, none the less I embrace this time of year whole heartedly. 

Tomorrow we will spend the day together, possibly with a little road trip and end the day at our favorite Memphis eatery, Cafe 1912 and we will pretend that we were eating dinner at our absolute favorite restaurant (Balthazar, NYC).  

Here are a few photos from "the big day".  I got my dress out today and looked at it.  Isn't is amazing how we only get to spend a few hours wearing the dress of our dreams?  

I loved my dress.  The dress I wore on our wedding day was actually not the first dress I purchased.  Before Geoffrey and I got married we discussed getting married at the University Chapel at The University of Kansas, where we were students.  My first dress was purchased with a much smaller scale isle in mind.  The dress was fitted to my knees and then belled out.  Sort of "mermaid-ish" if you will. It was beaded on the top, so pretty....I loved it too.  When we figured out that we were in fact going to get married at the Cathedral, I figured out that my sweet little dress just wasn't going to do the job. 

Back to the salon to start the search over again.  This search was actually much easier.  There aren't that many options (or not then) that had a Cathedral length train on them.  Think Princess Diana length here....Well I didn't end up with quite as much train as Princess Diana but I did end up with 17' of glorious weight.  

Daddy and I going down the isle

after attaching my veil 

my maid of honor, Natalie, sporting a little Canadian bling

At the "peace" during the service.
In The Episcopal Church, you don't kiss the bride until the peace. 

This may be my favorite wedding photo.

outside some of the doors at the Cathedral
the photographers wife is hiding behind us holding my
veil and the mid section of my dress train

cutting the cake at the 1st reception

A little "sit down" after a morning of photos before the 2:30 service. 

At the 2nd reception with the Canadians.
Yes the Canadians (and me) were singing "O, Canada"

As per usual, I think everybody thinks their wedding was "the best"....and as it should be, I will join those ranks with my very own fond memories of our big day.

Thanks be to God for 5 years of wedded bliss and prayers for many more.

Wall Street 2

Wall Street: 2

Did you know that this movie made over $19 Million this weekend? Yeah, that's kind of amazing.  Not nearly as much money as they were waging over in the movie, but none the less not to shabby for the box office.

The Canadian and I have been making plans for weeks to go see this movie.  In the final stages of preparation this week we checked out what theaters the movie would be playing at in the Memphis area. We have two "go to" theaters, The Paradiso and Studio on the Square.  As it would happen, it was playing at neither.  (Why, can you tell me?)  My handy IPhone App told me that it was playing at 3 theaters in town.  Long story short, we went to ALL 3 of them!  Seriously.  The first theater we went to, in Memphis off of Summer was to be at approximately 2:30.  We showed up, not playing at that theater.
So we went to on to option #2, even further from our burrow of town.  Arrived to that theater for a 3:45 showing and the theater absolutely REEKED! Awful.  Miserable.  Perhaps worst smell you could imagine. The theater seats were so yucky, I was almost afraid to sit my own self down in the chair.  After "checking" in on my Facebook app we decided immediately to get out of Dodge.  We were able to get a ticket refund and back to the parking lot we went with sore noses to try to reroute our plans.
Now on to option #3...27 miles from option #2. We had 37 minutes to get there.  ON the road we go, and to the theater we arrive. Finally, a theater that was playing the movie, and actually smelled like a movie theater. Success.  All of this happened even before the movie started, I was starting to think perhaps it wasn't meant to be.

On an unrelated subject, one of the most difficult things about being on this medical study is going out in public.  That sounds weird but it is very true.  The temptations of eating/drinking items off of my dietitian preselected list is very difficult.  The movie theater was perhaps the worst possible place to go.  The smell of movie theater popcorn is absolutely excruciating. But after the wild goose chase, our arrival at the theater only allowed us time to find our seats, no time to stand in a line.  (Thanks be to God.)

On to the movie.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS MOVIE.
END OF STORY.

Here is one of the reasons why....

In the opening scene of the movie you see Carey Mulligan in Shia LaBeouf's fabulous NYC penthouse apartment.  I must admit seeing this apartment made my heart beat a little faster. This fabulous character (the apartment) had many good scenes during the movie...all of which I loved despite what was actually happening in the movie plot. Am I a home decor junky? Yup. All the way.

The photos of this beautiful apartment are from an article based on the real estate listing.  "What, let me grab my checkbook" you say....yes the apartment has recently been up for grabs.  If you plan to purchase this love nest with over 3300 sq. feet (on the first floor alone) of luxury living space.  You're going to need that $19 mill raked in from opening weekend to make that check good!

(Images via Google search)

Oh-Canada/Canadians

I've watched my share of HGTV in the past 10 years...early on it was in hopes that I would one day have my own space (other than a dorm room) to decorate.  Then I looked to it for cues about (what not to do) decorating my first apartments...then the Dow-Ward's first house...to our  downtown Memphis apartment, and now to our "my big fat Greek wedding" house.  All of these spaces have been very different.  One thing I'm now very aware of is purchasing pieces that could someday live in another space.  Early on, my plan was just to round up enough seating to accommodate a few fannies. Now, it's about the shape, the size, the style, the fabric, yadda, yadda, yadda.

One of the shows I've enjoyed watching on my computer is an oldie (season 2) but goodie...in addition to that I can even sometimes get the hubbs to watch with me....the show is none other than "Sarah's House"a show made and filmed in " O-Canada", the homeland of the hubbs. 

Season 2 is my favorite so far...mostly because of the interior decor she used.  I also liked season 3 but because of the exterior of the house.  Yet, another point to check out when you look at her web page!  Now as per season 2, check out these drool worthy preview photos!

If those bathrooms don't make you smile, 

I don't know what will!  They're beautiful!

The beautiful after photos of the living room. 

You simply  must check this out!

Photography Outing

Today my photography class at Memphis Theological Seminary went on a little photo outing.  We spent approximately 3 hours turfing though what is massive Elmwood Cemetery. Thank the sweet lord that we started at 8 am and not at noon.  (P.S. It is still HOT in Memphis)

When I got home I immediately started sifting through my photos.  I took about 250 photos, and have already been able to narrow it down to approximately 20.  The trouble is that I have to narrow it down even more as I am to turn in 8-10 photos for this assignment...Yes after spending hours walking and snapping away, now I have to narrow it down? "Geez", she exclaims with a sigh.

This is where "all y'all" come in.  I am have posted 19 photos, and I want you to tell me which ones "speak" to you.  Yes, some of them are similar (I spent a lot of time in a few particular areas) but that is what makes it even harder to decide which ones I like.  I'm curious which ones YOU like!

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All photos taken by ME, please do not steal them unless you ask first.  (Not that you would, I mean come on, who wants creepy cemetery photos hanging around?)

A few of the + in my life.

I have a file on my desktop that is labeled "likes".  When I look in the folder, I see that many photos of fun times in my life, travels, fabrics I like, home decor inspiration that I want to remember, etc.  While, I won't recite all of those items, I thought I would share a small version of those items in a list.



+ garden stools
+ animal hide rugs (I try to pretend they died of natural causes)
+ teaching music lessons
+ bonsai trees (although I can never keep them alive)
+ throw pillows
+ books with pretty covers
+ door stops
+ travel photos
+ french doors
+ blackout curtain fabric
+ mirrors
+ friendly people
+ celebrating the high points in life
+ singing in choirs
+ chandelier shades
+ payday
+ Starbucks drinks
+ White VWs
+ beach sand in between my toes
+ evening walks with the hubbs
+ when my monthly Elle Decor arrives
+ cupcakes
+ Balthazar, NYC
+ going to school
+ road trips
+ mani/pedis
+ Bravo channel
+ my parents and brother
+ trips to "O-Canada"
+ Kansas Jayhawks
+ MoMA
+ brick sidewalks
+ arborvitae trees
+ HANDSOME, my nearest and dearest 4 legged friend
+ flea markets

LAST, but CERTAINLY not LEAST....
+ Geoffrey

7 photos that ROCK

I really like the green ottoman and the very tall white walls.
I think there is a nice counterbalance between the white walls and the yellow curtains. 

Great table, very similar to the one we currently have.

ALL of it! I absolutely love all of the items in this picture. 

This photo is another view of the room from the previous photos.  I really like this silver chair, it's super different. I also really like the console. It is much like something one might find from World's Away.  Does anybody know where to get one of those pigs? They're awesome.

This is a photo that causes me to be slightly puzzled. There's a lot going on in this room.  What I like is the ottoman, and the leopard chair that is behind it.  And let's be serious, the size of this dressing room is amazing.  Who wouldn't love to have this room to get dressed in every morning? 

This is another room I think is absolutely beautiful.
The white walls are vibrantly balanced by the curtains and pillows. 

This bed is really different isn't it? Not something you can pick up at the ol' Pottery Barn, that's for sure.  None the less I really like the magenta wall with the orange bed.  Very sharp, and an innovative idea for a girls room. 

These 7 photos come from the home of Nanette Lepore. Can you imagine living in this house? There are parts of all 7 of these photos that I adore. There are also parts of these 7 photos that I am puzzled by. None the less, the adoration outweighs the puzzlement. 

Yawn....it's now time for the inevitable Sunday afternoon nap. 

(photos via google images)

End of week 3.

Today was the end of week 3.  Once again it was time to face the metric scales! I have learned that I like seeing my weight much better when it is in metric, it makes this diet thing seem effortless.  But then I remember that I have to multiply that number as 1 kilogram is 2.2 pounds. Regardless, it was another good week and the total weight loss for this week was 5 pounds.

This week my food was quite tasty.  I had eggs, fixed in various ways, lots of Zone bars, Mahi-Mahi/Tuna/Salmon burgers with whole wheat buns, etc. 

Tonight, this is what I had for dinner....

2 cups of broccoli 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Zone Bar

This is probably my favorite dinner entree so far, Cheese and Vegetable Enchiladas

My personal assistant is finally getting used to this diet change, as it has been a change for all of us.  He seems to be on the bandwagon now.  We do have to do a few things to appease his little furry self. 

The house got cleaned this week, and now Handsome has once again taken
his place on top of the table.  He claims he is  staking the territory for all of "cat-dom"...but mostly for himself. 

And....Handsome has officially requested a chair in the kitchen, the chances of
getting your tail stepped on are far less when you're in your "high chair".