An Update for a Princess

I've been back in VA for four days.  It has snowed twice.  TWICE.  I'm more than a little over it.  Partially because it has interfered with plans that I've made, and keeps me from going really anywhere.  


But apart from the snow, the break's been good so far.  Productive, if not socially exciting.  I've had a couple of check-up appointments at a couple of doctors.  My dentist even gave my teeth an A-plus!


One thing that this break has been excellent for is running.  I've officially started my half marathon training.  Its about time too!  I meant to start it forever ago, but life got in the way.  Now I have so much time on my hands, running for 2 hours isn't as hard to fit into my schedule as it was just last week.  Not that I've run for 2 hour or anything.


No on Tuesday I ran with my running buddy, Kat (who I'm running the half with).  We ran two miles out and ran two miles back for a 4 mile long run.  I felt fantastic.  I actually can't remember the last time I felt that good while I was running.  I felt like I could have done another two miles.  But that's another adventure for another day.


I managed to do another three yesterday but I let myself take today off because of an early appointment that I had.  But I am looking forward to hitting the road again tomorrow.  Granted its been cold.  And its supposed to be cold for a while longer, but I don't really mind running in the cold, but that too is another story for another day.

First Semester In Review

My first semester of law school is over and done.  I'm considering it a success because I'm still breathing.  I'll reevaluate when my grades are released next month.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with how the semester went.  It turns out that law school Andrea is a heck of a lot more responsible than undergrad Andrea.  I had perfect attendance this semester.  The most class I missed was 5 minutes one day when I got stuck in some crazy, weird, unexpected traffic. 

I also did all of my reading for the whole semester.  If it wasn't 100% finished before class, it was 100% finished before I went to bed that night.  

The two papers I had to write this semester?  I had fully completed drafts days before they were due, giving me more time than I knew what to do with for editing (turns out when you have that much time to edit, you wind up practically re-writing said paper at least 2 times).

Even though I am really proud of how I managed more school work than I knew existed, I'm equally proud of how I managed to take care of myself.  When I was in undergrad, I ate all of my stress.  That's why I left UVA a full 30 pounds heavier than I started.  I'm proud to say I survived my first semester without gaining an ounce!  I also made sure I slept, ate well, and exercised.  

The most important thing is that I know I can do it.  But until I have to do it again I'm going to sit back, relax and enjoy having the next few weeks off.

Movie Time!

When I was little, my family had a tradition that we would each pick our favorite Christmas movie and watch one a weekend between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.

I love Christmas movies.  They make me cry happy tears.

Here are five of my favorite Christmas movies, in no particular order.  If you've never seen one of them, you should ASAP.  Because I promise you, its awesome.


1.  Elf (2003)

Buddy, a human raised by the elves working for Santa, leaves the North Pole and heads to the big city to meet his dad, who is on the naughty list.  Hilarity ensues as Buddy navigates New York City and teaches his newfound family the meaning of Christmas.

Not much of a tear-jerker, but I promise you'll laugh out loud!

2.  A Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

I love this movie more than I can say.  As in, I can, and do watch this movie at least ten times between turkey day and Christmas.  It features my favorites, the Muppets, and it is SO TRUE to the book (as are most Muppet book to film adaptations, but that's another story for another day).  Besides what can be more Christmasy than the redemption of Ebenezer Scrooge?

This movie is funny and heartwarming.

3.  Its a Wonderful Life (1946)

My dad's favorite, and the movie that is guaranteed to make me cry.  Its simply a classic.  I don't think my words can adequately do justice to this film.  Watch it and you'll understand.

4.  A Christmas Story (1983)

Christmas is funny.  If you don't believe me, watch as Ralphie plans and plots to get an Official Red Ryder BB Gun for Christmas.  Its on TBS for 24 hours starting on Christmas Eve.

5.  Home Alone (1990)

Macaulay Culkin before he got weird.  I actually don't watch this one every year, but have been dying to see it this Christmas.

Kevin Arnold gets left home alone when his family goes to Paris for Christmas.  Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern are bumbling burglars trying to break into the Arnold house (which is absolutely stunning by the way).

That's all for now!  Happy movie watching!

Happy Race-iversary!

Today's the one year anniversary of the first 5K I ever ran.  It was the Jingle Bell 5K on ODU's campus.  If I weren't 500 miles away, I'd be running it again this year.  If it weren't the middle of exams, I'd be running the Jingle Bell 5K that is going on here today.  But c'est la vie...maybe next year.

Anyways, my first 5K was a disaster.

In September of 2009 I had this brilliant idea that I should start running.  I went online and found this awesome program, Couch to 5k, that promised to take me from sitting on my couch to successfully finishing a 5K in 9 weeks.  I followed the program religiously and finished the program just a few days before my 5K, but when it was race day, I wasn't ready.

For one thing it was 35 degrees outside.  And raining.  I didn't stretch properly beforehand.  Approximately three minutes into the race I was soaked to the bone and my calf cramped like a champ.  It was a struggle and it took me 46 (yes 46) minutes, but I crossed the finish line.

At first I was embarrassed by my lackluster finish, but thankfully I didn't let my embarrassment stop me.  Thankfully when I started running, I started running with my friend Kathryn.  She encouraged me to sign up for a 5 mile run in March which kept me running.

Now a year later, I can't believe how far I've come.  I've got several races under my belt.  I run several times a week now and I actually enjoy it.  My legs are more toned.  I can run faster.  And longer.  I ran a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day this year, another 5K.  And I amazed myself when a friend asked if I'd been training and I said, well its just three miles.  Last year at this time, three miles seemed like an eternity.  Now its a nice break in my day.

Running has changed my life in other ways too.  I've made it me time.  Just a couple of hours out of my week, but its time where I don't have to talk to anyone, or think about anything.  Sometimes my mind wanders and I don't think about much of anything at all.  Other times I'm focused and running helps me solve some of life's problems.  Currently, its saving me from law school.  Nothing takes care of my stress like a 30 minute run.

Right now I *should* be training for a half marathon that I signed up for in February.  Even though I haven't really had the chance to put in the miles I know I should be I do find myself pounding the pavement at least three times a week.  I've gotten significantly faster even though I'm still not speedy.  But the other day I did run my 5k loop in 33 minutes.  A significant improvement from my first 5k.

Running is one thing that I do purely for myself.  I do what I can when I can.  I don't care what other people think of my running habits or ability.  I don't care how I look when I run but rather I focus on how I feel during and after my runs.  And that's usually pretty empowered.

If you're reading this and thinking about starting a running program: DO IT!  It is honestly one of the best things that I've done for myself in a long, long time.  Its changed my life.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow I take my first law school final.

Today I am a complete ball of nerves.

In two weeks from today, I'll be on my way home to my dear family and friends for a whole month of visiting, relaxation, slurpees, and non-legal reading.  But before I can pack my things and make my trip I need to get through what is surely going to be 11 of the most stressful days of my life.

To ease my stress just a little, I'm thinking about Christmas, my most favorite time of year.  In no particular order, here are a few of the reasons why I LOVE CHRISTMAS:

1.  Christmas trees!  This is how the tree usually looks at my parents' house:

2.  Paper Snowflakes!  I've loved making these pretty much my entire life.  I still make them every year and put them in the windows.  I think I might wait until I'm back home this year...I don't know if SC is quite ready for that particular brand of Andrea-crazy...

3.  Christmas cookies!  Sadly, I don't have any pictures of Christmas cookies I've made in years past.  That's just because they're so good, they're gone by the time I can grab my camera!

I'm Here!

But I'm buried under a pile of books!


School has been keeping me extra busy lately, but I did get to enjoy a fantastic fall break back home.  And since I basically took four days off, its time to pay the reaper.  So now I'm buried under a double stack of books.


That's why my posting's been less than sporadic.  But its all worth it.  One day I'm going to be a kick-ass attorney and I'll have a paralegal who can write my blog for me! :)

Happy Day!

I haven't really had a lot of time to blog lately, but today's a special day so I wanted to make an exception.


Because today is this girl's birthday:

Thankfully neither one of us looks like that anymore.  Also, very thankfully, that's the only middle school picture I have that's survived.


Since the moment I met her, Meredith's been my best friend.  


All through middle and high school, we had more sleep overs than I can even possibly count.  We played soccer together, baked chocolate chip cookies together, went shopping together, and kept our favorite Mexican restaurant El Loro's in business together.  


We even went to prom together:

We were able to stay friends even though we went to rival colleges together:

Our friendship has always been really special to me.  Meredith's loved me even though I don't think she really understands my love of these men:

Or my love of this one:

Even though we can both agree on the awesomeness of this one:

and no, I don't mean Daniel Radcliffe

My family taught Meredith the proper way to decorate a cake:

And hers taught me that maybe (just maybe) hiking isn't a form of physical punishment:

I don't think Meredith has any idea how much I love her.  She's my best friend and my sister.  I hope she has the wonderful day that she deserves.  Even though I can't celebrate with her today, I can't wait to celebrate with her later this week!


Love you always.

A Princess on Princess Street

I unofficially kicked off my half marathon training today.  I know, I know, I was supposed to start it on Sunday.  Well it POURED for three and a half days.  STRAIGHT.  I don't even know how much rain we got, but I do know that my parents got 12 inches from the same storm.  


It was worth the wait. 


Today was 75 and beautiful.  No heat to speak of.  No humidity.  I even saw some Charlestonians wearing jackets today, it made me laugh because it was absolutely perfect weather. 


Anyway, I ran my favorite run aka the only one I really have and know that I won't get lost somewhere in the middle.  From my school, if I run straight on King St. until I hit the Battery at the very southern tip of the peninsula and head back, its a 5k.  I did just a little bit more than that today: 3.34.  


I don't have a time to give you guys because I stopped my watch at one of the traffic lights and forgot to restart it when I started running again, so my time was way faster than I know I was running.  


Running has quickly become my favorite pastime in Downtown Charleston.  Partially because its free, partially because I find it relaxing, and partially because I've never really been a "city runner" before.  


I could never run in Charlottesville, home of my alma mater, and Chesapeake is significantly not a city, so I'm enjoying the new challenges and sights that running in Charleston gives me.   There is so much more going on all around me in Charleston than in Chesapeake.  


I like the distraction.  After a long day at school and hours in the library I like to put my feet to pavement and work out my frustrations.  I don't think about Property or my Legal Memo.  Instead I window shop as I run by all the trendy stores.  I dodge around all of the people.  I look at the beautiful homes and try to imagine what it would be like to live in one of those very expensive, very historic buildings. 


Its really helping me learn the city.  Every time I go for a run I discover something new.  Like today, for the first time, I noticed that there is indeed a Princess Street in Charleston.  It also appropriately runs right next to Saks Fifth Avenue.  


I think its kind of cool that on my first run for the Princess Half Marathon I noticed Princess Street.  It also kind of made me want to live on Princess Street.  I would definitely order return address labels with tiaras on them!

Monday, Monday

Today was a really crappy day.  First it was Monday.  Second it was raining.  Third, and most importantly, I had to wear pants AND shoes.


It threw my whole day for a loop.  In the little more than a month that I've been here, I hadn't yet worn pants OR shoes.  To do both in one day was pretty scarring.  


Needless to say, it kind of ruined the rest of my day.  


I never knew that basic items of clothing could have such a huge impact on my psyche.  


AND I haven't started my unofficial half training yet.  It has thundered and lightninged ever since I decided that one yesterday.  I don't mind running in the rain, but I'd really like to avoid getting struck by lightning....


Well that's Monday for you.

New Pics

I took these on Isle of Palms on Friday.  The restaurant we were happy hour-ing at looked out over the water so I got a rare East Coast sunset over the water opportunity.

Marathon

Once upon a cold day in March I decided that I was going to start this blog as a way to help me with my ever-ongoing struggle to lose weight.  Fast forward 6 months and its downward spiraled into a chaotic mess that resembles my sleep-deprived, time crunched, overly stressed, exceptionally over caffeinated, law school absorbed, tv addicted existence.  So my b...


I don't really want this to revert back to something that focuses on what I'm eating, what I'm not eating, how many calories I've burned, how many ounces I'm up or down on any given day. Its not fun.  Plus it doesn't let me be a complete spasoid on the internet.  


But I have been doing a lot of thinking lately.  Everywhere I  look I hear all of these similies about how this or that is like a marathon.  Losing weight is a marathon, law school is like a marathon, etc.  And I think its ironic that I've signed up for my first half marathon (which is like a marathon, except it's half...) while I'm doing all of these other "like a marathon" things.  Its especially poignant because I'm unofficially starting my half marathon training today.


School is really time consuming.  Especially lately.  I have my first "memo" due on Tuesday and its more than a little consumed every spare second of my life for the past month.  Running, exercising, eating right, getting a good night's sleep, and avoiding stress eating have all taken a backseat to the nine page baby I've spent countless hours pouring over and over and over.  


But that needs to change and it's changing today.  Last week I couldn't sleep.  Like at all.  I think I got about 15 hours combined from Sunday through Wednesday.  That is way not enough for me.  I need 15 hours in 2 days, not 4.  One of my classmates said its probably because I wasn't exercising, which is probably true.  But I didn't have time to fit the gym in either.  But I know I have to make the time to get it all in.  


I'm a calmer, saner, more at peace individual if I can work out my stress by pounding the pavement.  I sleep better when I put all of my extra nervous energy into my runs or my spin classes or whatever else.  My brain works better when I give it thirty minutes or an hour to think about non-school things, even if I think about nothing at all except putting one foot in front of the other.  


On a much sadder note, I faced the music and bought a bathroom scale rather than just using the one at my gym, which I don't think is 100% accurate.  I was up a few pounds, four to be exact.  While I've had some extra life stuff going on lately (namely company in from out of town = more drinking and out to dinner more than usual), I was NOT happy to see the scale slowly but surely rising.  


And company's not an excuse to forget EVERYTHING I've EVER learned about losing weight.  Its no reason to eat when I'm not hungry just because I'm craving chocolate.  And eating not chocolate when you're craving chocolate isn't cool either.  And its way less cool when it happens at 1 AM.  


So here I am.  Starting over or at least picking up from where I left off.  Its back to basics for this girl.  Well basics and half marathon training.  Today's run: 3 miles through downtown Charleston.  Wish me luck!

The Horror! The Horror!

**** Five points if you can name that book****


Here's a hint: If I've ever had a conversation with you about books I HATE, it comes either immediately before or after Great Expectations......


Anyways that's not what this post is about.  At all.


Its about my feet.


I think my new-found/rediscovered flip flop lifestyle and my newfound/rediscovered love of running are destroying my feet.  I'll spare you the details, but its not pretty.


I need a pedicure.  Desperately.


If you'd like to help me out with that one, comment below.


And five points if you guessed Heart of Darkness


P.S. My first memo/paper/assignment is due Monday at 5.  I'm hoping some of my sanity comes back to me after I turn it in, but I'm not overly hopeful.

Check it Out

I've been playing around with some of the features on Blogger....and making some changes to this blog.

I guess you could say my site's "under construction."  The fact that I am doing any kind of web design just goes to prove how easy the new Blogger features are.  

More specifically, I've added some pages.  Even more specifically, I've added a photos page where I posted some pictures of Charleston.  I'm a point and shoot kind of gal, and it shows in the pictures, but when your subject is pretty, the pictures come out kind of pretty.  Or at least that's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

I've also added an "About Me" section, but haven't had to actually write anything "about me" yet.  So be on the look out for that.  But it won't be until at least next week. I have my first memo due on Tuesday (yikes!) and I'm still not sure I'll make it through then....

Good-bye Summer!

So I meant to post this Labor Day weekend when it was more applicable, but I had company and lots of work to do.  

So I'm posting it now, the last official day of summer.  I still have lots of work to do, and I still have company, but its different company and they're not staying with me.

This was an AWESOME summer.

My little brother graduated:

Meredith and I dominated at bocce.  Twice.

ok, so pretend we are both holding bocce balls and looking badass

Ginger made a new best friend...

...and taught her bad things, like how to jump off of the deck while running at full speed.

I went to FOUR concerts in the month of July.

I moved to Charleston...

where my new closet is literally an entire wall of my room:

And I made it all the way through the entire summer with a white pocketbook.

Summer 2010...I approve.

Sweet Friends Blog Award

Its official!  I won my first blog award thanks to my pal Julia over at Keeping Up With Goliath (a fantastic running/dog lover blog that you can check out here)!  Ironically it came in the same week that I lost two of my followers...so maybe this is a break-even week for the A List?


So these things work like this: I list ten things I like and tag ten blogs that I enjoy.  The people who write the blogs I tag will do the same thing and tag ten people and so on and so on and so on and so on.


So Ten Things I Like

1. Sleep 
2. Running
3. Rainbow sprinkles on ice cream
4. Pink highlighters
5. Clean kitchen floors (seriously anyone know how to get laminate really clean?)
6. Dogs
7. Harry Potter
8. Coffee and Today in the morning
9. Baseball
10. Going to the movies

And the ten people I tag (ok so I think the only people who might even see this are listed here...I don't get out much with 6 followers).  Hopefully you guys can do better than me! 

1. Meredith @ Budding Branches
2. Lauren @ Starfish Road
3. Garrett @ And Now for Something Completely Different
4. Chris @ Tales from the Man Cave

Flippie Floppies

I've now been living in Charleston for over a month.


With the exception of the time I spend at the gym/running, I have not worn real shoes since I moved here.  


Its been more than five weeks of completely uninterrupted flip flop wearing.  And I don't see an end in sight.


I think I may have died and gone to heaven...


...with the exception of the vast amount of reading/writing/stress/lack of "free time" I have on a daily basis.


But for a shoe-free existence; it might just be worth it.

What blogging means to me

So yesterday I had a rare moment of free time and I posted a blog entry.  And I felt FANTASTIC!  


It got me thinking about blogging in general and what blogging means to me, and I've pretty much decided that its pretty important for me to blog and blog often.  Not because I'm deluded and think I have tons of people following me.  Or because I think people are necessarily interested in whatever I have to say about whatever's on my mind.  


But I need to do it for me.  


I have been absolutely LOVING law school (I mean as much as you can love anything you spend 18 hours a day working on while continuously feeling somewhat behind and lost and unsure of).  And I have been loving living in Charleston (seriously, its a great town...come visit, I'll take you out to lunch and then return promptly to the library in order to get my 18 hours in for the day).  


But one thing that I haven't been super crazy about is that I hardly know anyone here.  Don't get me wrong: I have met some awesome people.  And I've made some awesome friends.  But I don't know any of them well enough to let all of my crazy out.


Which is why I even have my blog in the first place.  Its where I can vent and relax and just be myself.  Its the one place on earth where I can rant and rave and not really care if people reading think that I'm overly whiney.  


I'd love to be able to promise that I'll blog everyday or even three times a week, but I know that's a lie.  I won't even try to promise that it won't be about law school, because I have a feeling that one day soon I'll be venting my frustrations with personal jurisdiction theories.  But here's a promise I can live with: I'll blog as often as I can, even if its just a sentence or two.


You know just enough to keep me grounded.  And from going totally crazy in Charleston.

The Start of Horror Season

I've blogged before about my somewhat gross obsession/addiction with TV.  But there is a sort of a parting of the ways that happens in the beginning of September.  

The beginning of September means Labor Day which means the "unofficial end" of summer (also, I wore white shorts today...fashion faux pas or ok since I don't give a shit because I live in Charleston and its constantly 87546385969743382048 degrees here?).  The "unofficial end" of summer also means the "unofficial start" of fall (how's that for some deductive reasoning?).  And apparently the unofficial start of fall marks the beginning of the most horrifying season in television advertising....previews for Halloween horror movies.

There aren't a lot of things I hate in life, but horror movies ranks pretty high on the list of things that I actually do hate in life; right after ranch dressing and the sound that alarm clocks make.  

The truth of the matter is that I hate to be scared.  And an added truth is that I scare easily.  I kind of like to blame it on my older cousin, Regina.  When I was maybe 4, we were visiting my aunt and cousins in the country that is upstate New York.  My dad and uncle went to go see whatever Dracula movie was out in theaters when my cousin asked me if I knew what Dracula was and proceeded to terrify me to my core with her 7 year old understanding of what vampires were and if they can in fact descend off of movie screens in an attempt to make my father the newest member of the undead.

Often irrational, but ever relevant, this deep seated fear has played a prevalent role in my life.  Not only do I refuse to invest anything (time or money) in pursuit of something designed to scare me (and as a result take away from my precious sleep schedule) but I'm willing to give up general social acceptance in pursuit of nightmare free nights.  Because of this I spent high school Halloween parties in the kitchen while The Exorcist played in the next room.

Which is a reason why I kind of hate the month of September...every scary movie of the year debuts in the month of October meaning that they all play their previews throughout the month of September.  Which means I spend the month of September covering my eyes during half of the commercials on TV.  And my ears.  Or else I dive for the remote and change the channel ASAP.  

As a result, my entire attention is focused on avoiding the scary commercials, which diverts my full attention from Primetime television, which I'm really not ok.

Get Ready

because I actually think I might have some time this weekend to actually blog a little bit!!!!


Just as a preview - law school is awesome.  I never thought I'd say that about something that has me studying for about 12 hours a day, but I am.  More on it later!

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Have you ever been put in what you think is a really uncomfortable situation where you really don't know what to do?  I'm living through one right now.


I don't want to say too much because this is the internet and you never know who's reading, so please forgive me for being a little guarded.


There have been a lot of changes in my life since I moved to South Carolina.  One of them, and the treatment of that change, has gotten me really upset.  I'm not really sure what to do - stand up for what I KNOW is right and intervene or keep my mouth shut in order to avoid some other equally unappealing consequences?  


I know the obvious answer is stand up for what's right, but how about this: the subject's been brought up a few times, I've said my piece, and it still hasn't changed.  What do I do now?  Take it to the next level?  Accept that its not going to change and learn to deal with it?  


Again, my apologies for being so guarded.  Its an unpleasant/difficult situation that I needed to talk out.  Hopefully I'll know what to do soon.  Well I guess hopefully I'll find the courage to do what I know I need to do soon.  

Since I have a couple of minutes....

I am going to take advantage of what I know will be a very infrequent moment of free time and dedicate it to you my dear readers.  


Today was my first day of law school.  And I can honestly say, that I really think this is where I'm supposed to be.  There's something about it that I kind of love even though I'm only two classes in.  I can't quite put my finger on it, but its seriously awesome.


I even have a new favorite word already: tortfeasor!  Its the person who commits a tort.  The definition isn't totally cool, but tortfeasor sounds pretty sweet.  


I'm slowly getting to know Charleston and my classmates.  Except I did have my first run in with a palmetto bug (read: COCKROACH) at the laundry room in my apartment complex the other night.  


I've also made kind of an important decision about a completely non-law school related aspect of my life.  I think I'm going to cancel my Weight Watchers membership and use that money to pay for a nicer gym membership.  I don't have the time to go to a meeting and in all honesty I haven't been tracking (or not with any serious commitment anyways).  The gym at my complex works in a pinch but doesn't offer any classes which were my favorite thing about my gym at home.  I'm still trying to weigh my options with this one, but I think that is probably what I'll wind up doing.  


Anyways I thought I'd have a lot of time to write, but I made the stupid decision of sitting in my bed while writing this, which means that I am struggling to keep my eyes open at all.  


More as soon as I can.  This law school thing is pretty time consuming, so please forgive me for just jotting down a few lines when I can!

Adventures in South Cackalacky

I've now officially lived in South Carolina for exactly one week.  


It has been a crazy, crazy week.  At the risk of sounding really whiny and somewhat stupid, I'm going to say it: moving is hard!


I drove down last Friday with my parents.  I signed a lease and unloaded a van full of my stuff.  Then we unpacked all of that stuff and built furniture all weekend.  Luckily, my aunt lives less than a half an hour away, so we stayed at her place the entire weekend so we actually had beds to sleep in rather than just sleeping on the floor of my new apartment.


Since I've been in South Carolina:


I have spoken to my parents approximately 30 times.  They left Monday morning and they haven't called yet today.  They call a lot more frequently than they ever did when I was in college.  But feel free to infer what you will from that...


I got pulled over for the first time.  Sunday afternoon I took my dad into Charleston to see the school and we had lunch at a nearby restaurant.  As we were leaving I apparently ran a red light.  I say apparently, but I'm sure I really did.  One thing I've learned about Charleston is that the traffic lights are typically on the side of the street, not in plain sight (so if you're ever driving in Charleston, be careful and pay attention).  Anyways the cop was really nice and let me off with a warning because of my VA plates.  So thank you officer!






My cousin Kerry gave me a silly bandz....I would now fit in in middle school.

I have practically stopped eating healthy and exercising.  This is not good.  I NEED to find a Weight Watchers meeting and face the scale.  I know I'm going to be upset with how much weight I've gained in the past couple of weeks, but hopefully that will jumpstart my weight loss motivation.  I've come so far, I can't give up now.


I've had a lovely, lovely breakout of adult acne since I've moved down here.  I'm not sure if its because of the stress or the heat/sweat factor or the fact that I've eaten practically nothing besides grease since I've moved down here, but this is seriously the worst my face has looked since I was about 14.  I'm hoping beyond all hope that eating healthier will help it clear up, or at least that if I drink more water it will clear up, and clear up quickly.


Orientation starts tomorrow and I'm really excited about it.  I've always been kind of geeky and have always loved the first day of school.  I think it has something to do with all the new school supplies.  I'm also pretty psyched to meet all of my new classmates. 

oooohhhh

I'm Alive!

Just in case any of you are out there reading and wondering or are named Meredith and coincidentally also are my best friend, I am, in fact, alive and well.


The move to South Cackalacky went really well.  I'm still unpacking and am attempting to fully settle into a new apartment (and a new state) in about five days.  Its been a chaotic, hellish, exhausting week.  


I'll write more as soon as I'm able!

Carolina on my Mind, Virginia in my Heart

On Friday, I am starting the next big adventure of my life.  I'm leaving my homestate and moving to a brand new place for the first time in my adult life.  I can hardly believe that this time next week I might be blogging while sitting in my new apartment in Charleston, South Carolina rather than in the living room of my parents house in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Or that next Thursday, I'll be starting law school.  How crazy is that?  I have a feeling that the next few years of my life are going to be Legally Blonde-esque - I'm not following a boy to law school, but I do feel comfortable using legal jargon in every day life, and I hope to find myself along the way.

Its been kind of a big to-do that I'm leaving.  Even though its been building for months, this week has been crazy.  My parents threw me a going away party on Friday, which was really fun (I'll post pictures soon). 

I'm really looking forward to having a fresh start.  I literally know 5 people who live there (my aunt and uncle and three cousins), so I'm excited to get to meet entirely new people and experience new things.

As dumb as this may sound, I got so caught up in the excitement of moving, that I kind of forgot that I was going to have to say good-bye to pretty much everyone I know.  And I also kind of forgot that there are things that I really love about my hometown.  Things I am going to miss.  People and places and things that my life has revolved around for nearly as long as I can remember. 

Good-byes are hard.  And I'm not good at them.  In fact, I just realized that I've been medicating/numbing myself with a huge amount of carbs.  People say good-bye in a lot of ways:

1. The ladies I work with planned a trip to visit me for a week in South Carolina.
2. My parents worry (and consequently get me worried) about a myriad of issues from parking passes to student loan rates.
3. My dog sits by the door of my room watching me pack, where, I think, she is trying to find the place where she can stow away and live with me.
4. My brother acts like nothing is going on.  But he's leaving for school in a few weeks as well.
5. Most of my friends want to spend some quality time together.  Seriously my social calendar has been off the hook for the past couple of weeks.
6. My best friend Meredith, well she's already made me cry, I have a feeling that our dinner tomorrow is going to quickly collapse into Cryfest 2010.  
7. My aunt who lives in Charleston "likes" everything I write on Facebook about moving down south (oh wait, she's more of a hello than a good-bye).

The fact that all of these people want to say good-bye to me makes me feel so loved and so special.  


I have a few more ruminations to share about the emotional and physical whirlwind that is moving, but I'll spare you for now.  Plus it will give me something else to post about later this week.  So I'll leave you here: 


For right now, I've got Carolina on my mind.  But for now and for always Virginia will be in my heart.

Book Review: Charlie St. Cloud

Last week I was strolling through the book aisle at Target when I saw this:

Next thing I know, I'm at the register with this paperback in my basket.  I'm going to be honest with you: I couldn't resist the man-candy.  He's the reason I bought the book (I had the best looking paperback at the pool!).  I mean really, look at those eyes!

Yes, the entire reason I picked up this book is because Zac Efron is on the cover (AND he's in the movie that's debuting this weekend!!!!  I think I might have to check that one out!).  This is the first time that my hormones have dictated my reading selection.

This book was much better than I had expected.  Granted Zac's face wasn't featured on every page, but it was a pretty good read, even if it wasn't well-illustrated.  


Basically when they're young, Charlie St. Cloud and his brother Sam are in an awful car accident.  Sam dies, but Charlie learns that he can still communicate with his brother who is on "the other side."  This connection with Sam supersedes everything else in Charlies life.  Then he meets Tess and everything changes.


It kind of reminded me of a Nicholas Sparks book without all of the nauseating, lovey-dovey, vomit inducing, soul mate crap.  Well there was a little bit of that, but it was toned down.  I never once wanted to vom while reading this book.  It wasn't something I'd typically pick up, but it was a pretty decent beach read.


And I WILL be seeing this movie.  But that might have something to do with this: 

or this

yummmmmmm.......

But who knows?  At least now I know there is a plot to the movie, even if the delicious man candy featured above distracts me from it....

Weekly Weigh In and Some Food for Thought

So this week I got what was coming to me.  I gained just over two pounds.  Which isn't great, at all, but I honestly think I needed the reality check.  


Sometimes you need the scale to go up just as a reminder that you if you do eat or drink anything in sight you will see it on the scale.  Now all I need to do is take that realization and apply it to the rest of my week.  Goodbye beer, hello fruit.


I'm still down 26 pounds, so I'm not going to let this gain upset me or set me back - I'm back now and stronger than ever.


On a related note, I've been having some big problems lately with body image.  I know, deep down, that I look way different today than I did two years ago when I first started this weight loss adventure.  But I still feel as heavy and, well fat, as ever (I hate to have to use the f-word).  


I still find myself constantly comparing myself and evaluating the way I look in respect to others.  I can always tell you if I'm the fattest person in the room and always wonder who else notices when its me.  I'm always paying attention to how I'm sitting or standing - does one position make my tummy look big, do my thighs look enormous, do I have a muffin top?


I hate that I still feel this way.  I always thought that once the weight came off, a lot of these issues would have gone away.  But I'm still dealing with them, and having a harder time coping with them.  If anyone out there has any advice in dealing with body image, send it my way, because I'm so sick of constantly feeling overweight and inadequate.

Concert Week In Review

Five days.  Three shows.  One epic week.  


Concert Week Twenty-Ten came to a close Tuesday night with Dave Matthews Band. 


The whole week was exciting and exhilarating and fun and EXHAUSTING!  Seriously I am getting too old for all of these late nights so close together.  It was awesome.  Exhausting as it was, I'd definitely do it again.  


I wanted to come up with a way to rate and review each concert, so I've come up with a totally scientific way to succinctly review each one.


Jack Johnson: To the Sea Tour, June 16th, Virginia Beach Amphitheater

Level of fanness before (scale of one to ten): Five - I always enjoyed his music, but didn't own any of his CDs and I had never seen him before in concert


Favorite song(s) played (yes or no): Yes.  All of the songs I knew from the radio, stuff I liked from his new CD, and "Banana Pancakes"


Cuteness factor of my outfit:  Way cute.  Purple tank top with a denim skirt


Weather: Probably the best of the whole week.  Not too hot, not too humid


Impressions of artist: Interacted with the audience, wore normal clothes***


Highlight of event: The fact that it was girl's night.  Had a blast with the girls.  I got to act silly and laughed a lot.***


Level of fanness after (scale of one to ten): 6.5, I have definitely listened to his music more in the past week, and would buy new stuff from him.

Me and the girls rocking out to the musical stylings of Jack Johnson

***I may or may not have had too much to drink before and during the show (as evidenced by my beer eyes in the above picture); so whatever I said about this show may need to be taken with a grain of salt...whatever, I had a blast!

John Mayer: Battleground Studios Tour, June 18th, Virginia Beach Amphitheater

Level of fanness before (scale of one to ten): 7.5 - I had (and loved) all of his albums, loved him, knew all of his music by heart (ok, so maybe closer to an 8) but had only seen him one other time in concert (at the concert for VA Tech in Blacksburg, VA)

Favorite song(s) played (yes or no): Most, but not all.  But I liked and knew a lot more of his music.  Plus: he played "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room."  Minus: he didn't play "The Heart of Life" or "Gravity."  I guess I'll have to see him again......

Cuteness factor of my outfit:  Cute, but not as cute as for Jack.  Denim skirt (same one, so shoot me) and navy blue tank top.  I was having an awesome hair day though.

Weather:  Warmer than Jack with a little more humidity.  My hair looked like crud by the time the show was over, but C'est la vie....

Impressions of artist: Talked to the audience a lot, which I liked.  Turns out he was kind of weird, which was kind of weird.  Also he wore man-pris (that is capris for men) which majorly counts against him.

Highlight of event: That I got to see John Mayer.  I had a great time and he was awesome.  I would DEFINITELY go see him again!

Level of fanness after (scale of one to ten): Solid 8.

Me and my friend before...I was having a BEAUTIFUL hair day!

Really John?  Man-pris?!?

That's more like it!

Dave Matthew's Band: Summer Tour, June 20th, Virginia Beach Amphitheater

Level of fanness before (scale of one to ten): 4.5 to 5-ish, knew his stuff from the radio, but not much else; saw him with John Mayer at Tech, but we actually left early.

Favorite song(s) played (yes or no): Yes!  He actually played "Everyday" which I seriously still love just because I've always loved the music video where the fat guy goes around hugging everyone he meets

Cuteness factor of my outfit:  Cutest one of the three.  New blue dress, but I was constantly worried about my tummy and how it looked in the dress.

Weather:  Hot.  Too hot.  And humid.  Too humid.  Made my hair wilt like someone on a summer day (oh wait, that's EXACTLY what happened!)

Impressions of artist: Friendly, but not overly so.  I think he knew his audience, and played crowd pleasers, but it also helps that this wasn't an album tour.

Highlight of event: It was an awesome night.  I had a great time and would definitely do it again.

Level of fanness after (scale of one to ten): 5-ish.

So that's my recap of a week highlighting the men in my life: Jack, John and Dave!