I used to be a runner.
In high school I was definitely an above average athlete, running varsity track & field for four years and had my fair share of blue ribbons. However, college, turning 21, and falling in love...all came and the lbs seemed to pack on. Back in high school I was one of those girls that everyone hated. I never had to watch what I ate or drank and always seemed to keep that six pack. Just thinking about it pisses me off. Well, hot damn here I am almost 24 years old and it's time to actually start eating healthy and working out regularly. This.will.suck.
About twenty minutes ago I got home from running about three miles. While it felt good, I definitely need to get my ass in gear before this wedding. Without disclosing which numbers actually appear on the scale when I step up I would love to lose around 10ish lbs by April 28th (the day of my wedding). Please bare with me while I bitch and moan about how much I hate working out and only eating lettuce.
P.S. Any comments from anyone who has ever used any sort of diet supplement/food replacement would be extremely helpful. I used slim quick for awhile a couple of years ago but didn't stick with it.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Monday, August 29, 2011
I'm in the middle of a hurricane, but how about those 8x10s?
When wedding planning first began I made a top 5 list of items I find worth spending more money on. Photography just so happened to be near the top of that list. After searching for what seemed like endless amounts of time throughout the NWI region and Chicagoland area...I had almost given up. There were too many freelance photographers who own a Nikon with a basic kit lens and ta da! Think they are a photographer. Then, there are the really talented ones, who obviously are running their own business but charge ridiculously outrages prices (such as one I wont mention who wanted 6,000 for 6 basic hours with one photographer and no picture credit). After about 2 or so straight months of searching I decided to stop my searching and go with a national chain that my sister used in her 2007 wedding. I signed up online and awaited my phone call from the sales person who was assigned to me, Lori.
When she called the conversation went something like this:
Me: "Hello?"
Lori: "Is this Susan"
Me: "Suzanne, yes who is this?" (I could write an entire post about how many times this happens to me in one day)
Lori: "Oh my god HI Suzanne this is Lori from the big photography company! HOW ARE YOUUU!?"
Me: "Um, I'm great, how are you?"
Lori: "well, I'm FANTASTIC. However, I'm on Long Island right now and Hurricane Irene is coming but oh my GOD I'm so excited to talk to you about you wedding dayyyyyyy!"
The rest of the conversation went something like that with Lori yelling into the phone about how excited she was for me and Tim (like we were best friends). I was trying my hardest not to laugh or just hang up as she was so incredibly ridiculous with her Long Island accent I could barely understand her. She went on and on about packages, deals, coupons, hurricanes, water damage, all the while yelling like she had just been picked to be a contestant on the Price is Right. There were lots of "WOOOOO!"s and "OH MY GAWD"s. Not to mention this was the afternoon before Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene was supposed to hit. I learned a lot about her plans to board up the place and stick through the wind and rain as well. This woman was nuts.
Thankfully after a few phone calls and texts, (Those were just as bad: "Suzanne, Lori from Big Picture Company, have you talked to Tim yet about the package I created?!?!?!?!") I finally signed off on the package deal. Two photographer for 10 hrs and a videographer for 6 all for the grand total of $3,500. I'd say yelling in my ear was well worth it.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
244 Days
I have 244 more days until I walk down the isle. No one told me how much there was to do, decisions to make, places to go, people to meet, and contracts to sign. When I first got engaged I did the first thing every other 21st century bride did. Logged onto theknot.com and set up my account. Not only was I completely overwhelmed but immediately understood why some brides decide to hire a wedding planner. The website (While helpful) is chalk full of pictures, ideas, tools, videos, budgets, vendors, among other things. I immediately got scared and closed the window.
After about taking 3 minutes to slow my breathing down from the mini panic attack I decided to log in again and take a look around. There were many tools at hand that I could use including my favorite (and the scariest) "To do List". I clicked here and it opened up a list that made my finger sore from scrolling down to the bottom. I'm pretty sure this list had almost 200 items for me to finish by the big day."Where is the xanax?" was my first thought?
Luckily I was able to remove some of the crazy items ("Hire your calligraphist!") and move the list down to around around 175. Ha. While going through this list I couldn't help but wonder why grooms say they don't want to help planning the wedding. I remember reading somewhere that a bride-to-be makes over 1,000 decisions before her wedding day. Tim said he wanted to have somewhat of an opinion when it came to planning, but as time has gone on, it has slowly turned it, "it's up to you". On one hand I don't mind making all of the decisions, but I would like a simple "You know,I really think we should go with the plum vs. the lilac." I know that won't happen so I sure hope that the decisions I make turn out to be the right ones. I have always had a bad habit of second guessing my decision, and I also have a very bad impulse buy problem.
I'm hoping in the next 244 days I make that list a little smaller. As of right now it reads, "134 to do, 41 done". Oy.
After about taking 3 minutes to slow my breathing down from the mini panic attack I decided to log in again and take a look around. There were many tools at hand that I could use including my favorite (and the scariest) "To do List". I clicked here and it opened up a list that made my finger sore from scrolling down to the bottom. I'm pretty sure this list had almost 200 items for me to finish by the big day."Where is the xanax?" was my first thought?
Luckily I was able to remove some of the crazy items ("Hire your calligraphist!") and move the list down to around around 175. Ha. While going through this list I couldn't help but wonder why grooms say they don't want to help planning the wedding. I remember reading somewhere that a bride-to-be makes over 1,000 decisions before her wedding day. Tim said he wanted to have somewhat of an opinion when it came to planning, but as time has gone on, it has slowly turned it, "it's up to you". On one hand I don't mind making all of the decisions, but I would like a simple "You know,I really think we should go with the plum vs. the lilac." I know that won't happen so I sure hope that the decisions I make turn out to be the right ones. I have always had a bad habit of second guessing my decision, and I also have a very bad impulse buy problem.
I'm hoping in the next 244 days I make that list a little smaller. As of right now it reads, "134 to do, 41 done". Oy.
Ruining the surprise
I always ruin the surprise.
Unfortunately Tim and I have an incredibly hard time keeping presents from each other. I am always searching high and low for Christmas, birthday, and anniversary presents. I've gone to some strange lengths to figure out what a present could be. I'm always angry with myself after the fact, but in that moment I'm like a bloodhound on the trail. I.need.to.know.
One year on my birthday I ended up figuring out that my Christmas present would be appearing in a little blue box (every girls favorite color). Now don't get me wrong I was extremely happy to receive a beautiful Tiffany's Elsa Peretti Letter S Pendant, but I'm still not sure if I pulled off acting surprised on Christmas morning. It looks like I either need to take up some acting classes or learn not to snoop. Both of which seem too incredibly difficult.
I got engaged to my fiance (Tim) around 9 months ago. It was a typical Wednesday afternoon during Winter break of our "senior" (read 5th) year at college. I had woken up in a particularly bad mood and was not ready for anyone's BS. We had plans to go out to lunch and I was dragging my feet all day. In typical girl behavior there was lots of eye rolling and short sentences because we couldn't decide where to go eat. Not that northwest Indiana has an amazing array of places to choose, but I wanted something simple and fast,and Tim wanted to go to a sit down restaurant. Those are some serious First World Pains right there.Tim continued to annoyingly ask if I was ready, and of course I wasn't.
I continued to I have the attitude of a 16 year old girl whose keys had been taken away the day after getting her drivers license while Tim asked if I was ready every 2 minutes. How dare he? Doesn't he know that I can't find anything to wear in the closet?! He ended up turning to me and handing me a book saying "Here maybe this will cheer you up". I sit down and instantly knew what was happening. In the few months prior my bloodhound like snooping skills had helped me figure out there was a ring (that I just so happened to pick out) coming my way soon. And then I had figured out that this engagement would happen before the new year while we were on break. Even though I had no idea when or how it was going to happen I knew it was coming. And that time was now. The photo alumb was filled with pictures of us, our friends, and memories from the past three years. The last photo was a picture of my engagement ring. When I looked up, tears in my eyes, there he was on his knees asking if I would marry him. Of course, after saying yes, I felt like such a brat giving him so much attitude all morning. Clearly my bad day had changed and the rest of the day turned into celebrating and calling up relatives and friends.
Not before calling Tim's best friend and finally going out to eat. At Red Robin. Talk about class.
Unfortunately Tim and I have an incredibly hard time keeping presents from each other. I am always searching high and low for Christmas, birthday, and anniversary presents. I've gone to some strange lengths to figure out what a present could be. I'm always angry with myself after the fact, but in that moment I'm like a bloodhound on the trail. I.need.to.know.
One year on my birthday I ended up figuring out that my Christmas present would be appearing in a little blue box (every girls favorite color). Now don't get me wrong I was extremely happy to receive a beautiful Tiffany's Elsa Peretti Letter S Pendant, but I'm still not sure if I pulled off acting surprised on Christmas morning. It looks like I either need to take up some acting classes or learn not to snoop. Both of which seem too incredibly difficult.
I got engaged to my fiance (Tim) around 9 months ago. It was a typical Wednesday afternoon during Winter break of our "senior" (read 5th) year at college. I had woken up in a particularly bad mood and was not ready for anyone's BS. We had plans to go out to lunch and I was dragging my feet all day. In typical girl behavior there was lots of eye rolling and short sentences because we couldn't decide where to go eat. Not that northwest Indiana has an amazing array of places to choose, but I wanted something simple and fast,and Tim wanted to go to a sit down restaurant. Those are some serious First World Pains right there.Tim continued to annoyingly ask if I was ready, and of course I wasn't.
I continued to I have the attitude of a 16 year old girl whose keys had been taken away the day after getting her drivers license while Tim asked if I was ready every 2 minutes. How dare he? Doesn't he know that I can't find anything to wear in the closet?! He ended up turning to me and handing me a book saying "Here maybe this will cheer you up". I sit down and instantly knew what was happening. In the few months prior my bloodhound like snooping skills had helped me figure out there was a ring (that I just so happened to pick out) coming my way soon. And then I had figured out that this engagement would happen before the new year while we were on break. Even though I had no idea when or how it was going to happen I knew it was coming. And that time was now. The photo alumb was filled with pictures of us, our friends, and memories from the past three years. The last photo was a picture of my engagement ring. When I looked up, tears in my eyes, there he was on his knees asking if I would marry him. Of course, after saying yes, I felt like such a brat giving him so much attitude all morning. Clearly my bad day had changed and the rest of the day turned into celebrating and calling up relatives and friends.
Not before calling Tim's best friend and finally going out to eat. At Red Robin. Talk about class.
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