Gave ya 20

Well, here we are, faithful blog readers, 15 days away from... you know.

And I know I've left you on the edge of your seat in regards to my battle with the bulge. Last time we spoke, I was at a post-holiday weight of 154. I had started at 162, so down eight pounds, my goal was 137 -- aka 25 pounds total.

Well, I'm happy to say that I've progressed, and while I'm disappointed I'll fall short of that goal... 20 pounds lost is nothing to sneeze at!

I went to my first of five personal training sessions exactly five months ago -- in February. She took some stats at the first appointment, and we did an update today. Some changes after five months...

Weight (2/09/09): 152

Weight -- Today: 142

Difference: Ten pounds lost! It's tough, because I think when you have your heart set on a number (in my case -- 137) it's easy to feel disappointed in yourself. But every once in a while I have to say to myself, "Self, you've lost 20 pounds. That is NOT easy. Going to the gym 5-6 times a week is NOT easy." I'm also down from a tight size 10 to a super tight size six (haha) or a comfortable eight. Not too shabby.

Body Mass Index (2/09): 26.9. This was in the "overweight" zone of 25-29.9.

BMI today: 25.1. So close to "normal"!

Body Composition -- aka percentage of my body which is fat (2/09): 25.4 (this was in the moderate zone of 23.1-29.0)

Body Composition today: 22.8. This is under the header of "Optimal". 2.6% of my body fat is gone!

I tried to cobble together the best "Before and After" shots I could find.

The left is from May 25, 2008 -- the night we got engaged. The right is from June 27, 2009. I think you can tell the difference right?

This isn't going to end for me after the wedding. I really want my goal -- and beyond. 130 sounds really, really nice. And after you've lost 20 pounds, 10 or so more doesn't seem so bad, right?

For the people who like this stuff...

Some wedding things we finished up and I'm proud of. 

I'm marrying sort of  a crafty guy. He knows his way around photoshop, can handle a pair of scissors, so when  he told me he'd take care of the favors (CDs also posing as escort cards) I had faith he would produce something fantastic (just wasn't sure WHEN it would be done). Well he finally mocked up a prototype and needless to say, I'm quite proud!

The front.

The inside. The CD is laser-imprinted with some of our engagement photos and our wedding date, cool huh?

Here's the final track list, for those who are interested :)

1. Queen -- You're my Best Friend

2. Barry Louis Polisar -- All I Want is You

3. Arctic Monkeys -- Baby I'm Yours

4. Joshua Radin -- Only You (Our wedding song!)

5. Old 97's -- Question

6. Frankie Valli -- Can't Take My Eyes Off You

7. The Moths -- Wild Birds

8. Bob Dylan -- I Want You

9. Michael Jackson -- The Way You Make Me Feel

10. The Beatles -- Here, There, and Everywhere

11. Frank Sinatra -- The Way You Look Tonight

12. Jack Johnson -- Better Together

13. Alicia Keys -- No One

14. Neutral Milk Hotel -- In the Aeroplane Over The Sea

15. Marvin Gaye -- How Sweet it Is

16. US -- Can't Help Falling in Love

17. Belle & Sebastian -- Another Sunny Day

18. Al Green -- Let's Stay Together

19. Colin Hay -- I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You

20. The Beatles -- Something

21. Alanis Morissette -- Head Over Feet

22. Adam Sandler -- I Wanna Grow Old with You

23. Kenny Rodgers -- Through the Years

Also, what I like about these favors is that they have the person's name on it. So if at the end of the night, they leave them behind, I can come to their house and say "You didn't like my freaking favor?" and throw it in their face.

I think that would be good for Christmas time, don't you? No?

Other stuff done this weekend: wedding programs and menus. I can't claim any credit for the menus, which were masterminded and put together by the world's greatest Maid of Honor, Katie. The programs, also Katie's creation, were done in about 4 1/2 hours yesterday. By using materials we already had, as well as some free stuff I got on the sly, these two projects probably only cost $30? Maybe a little more for the print cartridge. They don't look super polished, but who cares? I like that comfy feel.

The terrible pics don't really do them justice, but a lot of you will see these in person in 19 days anyway!

Got this in my email the other day...

Super stoked. Yay for extended honeymoon in Fenway!

It's my bachelorette and I can drink Mountain Dew at 9 a.m. if I want to

Bachelorette party! Woooooo!

Well, I'm not really a 'woo!' girl, as the folks on 'How I met Your Mother' might say. So if you're expecting tales of drunken debauchary here, you'd probably be best served somewhere else.

I arrived in Boston around 1:30 after a haircut appointment and my first blow-dry-out in about 5 years (I really, really liked it. I miss my straight hair somedays). Before we headed out, I was made to put on the bride to be uniform.

My girl Katie sure loves her rosettes. 

Meg also surprised me with my shower gift early: my Coach bag! Love it, love it, love it.

The invitation promised some "south of the border vertical fun" which was of course, confusing, and they weren't really giving me much in the way of hints. We left Meg's around 2 and headed to one of my favorite Boston restaurants: Cactus Club! I had a feeling south of the border was related to Mexican and it was.

Oh yeah, and there was the veil.....

My bridesmaids > your bridesmaids :P

We shared a quesidilla and all got margaritas. We chatted and the girls INSISTED we get another drink before we moved to phase II of the bachelorette. Actually the conversation went something like this.

Katie: We should DEFINITELY get another round.

(Katie, Meg, Sarah giggles).

Me: What are we doing?

(Katie, Meg, Sarah giggles).

Alrighty.

So we start the walk down Boylston street and the whole time Katie is giving me clues. (Hint: There won't be any guys there, Hint: There will only be five people in the room, Hint: I had to sign a waiver for us to do this.)

Helpful right? I went from thinking dance classes, to skydiving to who the heck knows what.

Well. I found out soon enough.

Now the pictures taken from phase II will never see the light of day. Let me just say I learned some moves that will surely have Jeff laughing at me for years to come. Also, my arms hurt. Also, I may have been wearing something that was red, white, and blue. Also, I may have gotten this certificate.

I think this is up there with a key to the city, but I'm not sure.

Suffice to say this was all a lot tamer than you're thinking it might be/could have been. And I can totally see how they make this into a workout. Basically we laughed the ENTIRE TIME, at each other, at our instructor, at the nine inch heels some of us were wearing and that even at my best attempt, I basically just looked like I was sliding down a fireman's pole. It was a blast!

After phase II, Katie said the rest of the night was basically up to me on what we wanted to do. None of us were really hungry yet (it was about 6:30 p.m.) at this point, and everyone seemed pretty wiped already! (I told you I can't hang). So I suggested we go see the 'Hangover' even though I had already seen it, two of the girls hadn't and it just seemed so appropos. 

The girls loved it, and we then went to Fajitas and Ritas for more Mexican! The fajitas at that place are soooo good. We chatted til last call and headed back to Meg for more girl chat, which I can't get enough of sometimes. I'm definitely a guy's gal, but some of the things you talk about with your girlfriends will never translate to your guy friends.

We woke up this morning and headed over to Panera for some breakfast before bidding adieu. I'm so thankful and appreciative that I have such faboosh friends/bridesmaids. I really appreciate the thought and expense that went to my 'day'. 

Thanks so much ladies!!!

Assclown of the day award goes to...

Sometimes, a status pops up on facebook to make you embarrassed to be human. 

Today is one of those days.

The sad thing is, I imagine that this kid (who I am immediately defriending for his idiocy) thought this was real clever. And apparently so did the morons who commented after him.

(Side note 1: My coworker hilariously suggested, before I defriend him, that I should post the name of the person who suggested the 'poll' as 'the next to die' and then immediately defriend him. Creepy, I like it!)

(Side note 2: Where do you get Mona from who's the boss?)

Somewhere out there.

So I have 14 people who subscribe to this blog through google reader. I have an idea of who some of you are, but I really want to know who all of you are! Anyone who writes a blog knows that comments are what keeps you going, it's nice to know that people are reading. I don't care if we don't know each other, or knew each other a million years ago and you think I might think it's weird you're reading my blog, it's not, I swear!

According to my google analytics I have about 30 visits per day. I'd like to up that number! I know right now I'm not doing a great job building interest right now with the lack of posting, but after the wedding I'm committed to making this blog more interesting. Or at least interesting. 

Looking at my map overlay, I see I am very popular in Rhode Island, South Carolina and New York, but who's my reader in Ithica? Come out with it! I also have a fairly loyal readers in Attleboro, MA, Northridge, CA, Cambridge, MA, Woburn, MA. Who's my Scranton, PA fan? Jim Halpert? 

It's also fun to look at your traffic sources and well as the google words that bring people to your blog.

The following phrases have brought people to my blog in the previous month:

Ridiculous comparisons

Strangest Facebook

"Emily and Jeff" "Engagement pictures" "July"

Dodgers thong

Foreman grill "frozen beef patties"

I gained four pounds this weekend

Movies with Emily

I can't believe he's getting married

I've had some funnier phrases in the past, but these are pretty good. Anywhoo, I demand all loyal readers respond to this post, let me know who you are!

(This is not going to work, is it?)

I pack my case, I check my face

Well, what's been going on?

I had this exchange with Jeff earlier today.

Me: "I'm at stress level nine."

(5 minutes go by)

Me: "I'm at stress level six."

Jeff: "That's good, before you were at stress level nine."

Me: "I don't remember saying that."

I think I'm having a little bit of a mental meltdown. Four hours of seating charts and crunching budgets on top of, you know, MY JOB and I'm starting to do that whole thing where you start sentences and you don't finish them. Then you forget you started them. Wedding dementia anyone?

No one wants to hear me stress about wedding planning, although I know my bride buddies can totally relate. It's really something you have to experience to "get it." I'm 32 days away and I can't believe it. 

That being said, I'm trying to fill my weekends with as much de-stress activity as possible, so I planned a surprise for Jeff last Saturday where I took him up to Manchester, New Hampshire for a New Hampshire Fisher Cats game. The cool thing about the Fisher Cat stadium is the Hilton has a patio restaurant that backs right back on to center field. So Jeff and I were able to eat a really relaxed dinner (I even treated myself to a glass of wine) and watch baseball without buying a ticket. I knew it was Jeff's ideal Saturday and I think I was right!

The obligatory Emily and Jeff shot.

Our view.

This last picture is two people who sauntered out onto the RESTAURANT PATIO in their bathrobes. I'm assuming they had come from the pool and not, you know, the shower, but we'll never know.

Sunday we went down to what I deemed 'Rhode Island's Most Overrated Restaurant" (Twin Oaks) for Father's Day lunch. Well, I ate my words because I ordered the biggest lobster roll I've ever seen (seriously, twice as big as I've ever gotten anywhere else) and it was only $13. Best. Deal. Ever.

Coming this weekend: My bachelorette. I got an invite in the mail where Katie said there would be "south of the border vertical fun." I can only imagine what that means. 

I'll try to keep it together until...