NYC BRUNCH DETAILS

Hi everyone,

Our March 20 brunch is turning into quite an event - we're up to 20 bandsters, both veterans and newbies. I've made a reservation for us. Please email me at catchytitlehereblog@gmail.com and I will send you the specifics.

Thanks,
Kristin

NYC BRUNCH - Need final headcount!

Hi everyone,

I'll need to call Dos Caminos and reserve a table for our March 20th brunch. We are planning a noon start.

Please let me know if you're in so I can get a solid headcount and make the reservation.

Sunday, March 20th, 12 pm
Dos Caminos

So far, I have:
Gilly
Joey
Liz
Annie
Catherine
Jenny (Life's Little Journey)
Cindylew
MLM
Vanessa (Dinnerland)
Carmen
Yana
Barbara and daughter
Read
Bonnie
Linda
Banded Mommy Angie
Stef
Susan
Colleen
Nicole
Kristen
Kristin

TOTAL: 23

Can't wait to see all of you! Conversation is always more fun over prickly pear margaritas and guacamole.

We're Baaaaack

We're back from Florida, and had a special welcome home with the most white-knuckle descent and landing I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing, thanks to crazy wind.

Last weekend I took my daughter to visit my parents in Florida while my husband took the big kids skiing in Utah with his parents, and it was glorious to see blue skies and sunshine every day. I even, according to the scale this afternoon, lost a pound. Yay for that.

I've missed reading all your blogs this week but I'll be catching up over the next few days.

Comparison Time

I've been putting off any before/current pictures because I don't know how to make them. (Jen has a great tutorial here.)

I finally got around to it. It's not full-body, but I can see some difference in my face, despite the lighting issues.

Feeling Better

Thanks for the love - the horrid swelling is gone and I'm able to eat again. Yesterday, too. Just taking it slowwww.

Nothing too exciting to report. I went to the gym again this morning, and have another appointment tomorrow at 6 am. Then on Sunday I'm off to visit my parents in Florida for the week. Looking forward to all but the traveling with a toddler part. It's never boring.

Tiiiiiight.

Yesterday I had two soft-boiled eggs for breakfast (hungry after my workout!) and some chicken for lunch. Plus some unauthorized chocolate items during the day.

When I sat down last night for dinner, I took one bite and was completely uncomfortable. My band had snapped shut again. I even had to pour my glass of wine back into the bottle because I couldn't have more than a sip. Two hours later, I was still wondering if I'd get sick, but I never did.

I figured it was temporary and I'd take it easy this morning. So I had a few small sips of my hot tea and proceeded to throw them up an hour later (making my second-grader late for school - didn't even try to explain that one to the office).

Not being able to eat for a day or so isn't the worst, but this throwing up thin liquids is so strange, and it freaks me out. I don't really know what to think about it - just a couple days ago I was wondering if I should go for a fill, but then decided to hold off because I have a lot of travel coming up and I don't want to get stuck somewhere far from my doctor's office. Now I guess I have my answer for sure - no fill needed here.

I've had a couple tiny bites of very thin soup in the last 20 minutes. We'll see how this goes.

3.15 pm update: Got some soup down. Still feels tight but it seems like it's getting better. Not a lot of fun, though; my stomach has been grumbly all day.

Ommmmmmmmm.

The only trainer available for my gym session this morning was Amanda the yoga and pilates instructor. So I spent an hour doing yoga. And you guys, that is some hard shit.

No wonder devoted yogis have such lithe, dreamy bodies. There's a lot of lengthening that goes on (zip it with the short jokes, Joey). And great stretching, and pushing of muscles. My hamstrings were sore from Friday's workout, and they got another good workout today.

I've always had terrible balance, so I'm hoping to improve my balance and flexibility with yoga once or twice a week in addition to my other workouts. Question: Do you do yoga, and how have you found it most helpful? Muscle building, flexibility, balance, general well-being...?

I have three gym appointments this week, all early morning. I am so, so not a morning person. Making the 5.30 am wakeup tolerable requires advance planning: I must lay my gym clothes out the night before; I must have my water bottle filled and in the car ready to go; I have to forgo wine the night before; and I absolutely must go to bed by 10 pm.

We had three parties yesterday - a birthday celebration for my nephews, and two Super Bowl shindigs. Would you believe I didn't have any of the double chocolate birthday cake? This is partially because I totally pigged out on the lox and cream cheese. I never would have believed I could enjoy those without a bagel, but guess what? Still good, especially with a little lemon wedge. I was having a hormonal, kind of down day, so I like to think all the omega-3s in the salmon perked me up.

The Super Bowl parties were fun, and I didn't overindulge. Someone brought a delicious app of really good egg salad on an endive leaf. I really love the idea of serving dips with endive leaves rather than crackers or chips. I fully intend to do this more often. Although I guess it wouldn't work with hot dips because the leaf would wilt and then the dip would fall off.

Here's my favorite Super Bowl ad:

Hey Endorphins! Where You Been?

I had another 6 am workout this morning. It was 12 degrees when I pulled out of the garage onto the sheet of ice that is our driveway.

Once again, I got to the gym and did what the trainer told me, chatting all the while. And then before I knew it, it was 7 am, I was sweaty and my legs were already sore. Bonus: I'd already finished a bottle and a half of water.

It's a strange feeling of relief to realize my workout is done at 7 am. There's no more, "I know I should go but I'm so tired/hungry/busy," all day long, taking up valuable space in my brain. It's done. No more thinking about it.

This is a real revelation to me, because even back in the day when I ran four or five days a week (those mid-twenties were fun years), it was always after work. I only did long runs on weekend mornings, and back then 8 am was early to me.

On the way home from the gym, I cranked the radio - you wouldn't believe how good the sound system in a minivan can be these days - and enjoyed the endorphins. It's been too long.

NYC Brunch - March 20th!

Hi everyone,

The fabulous Gilly and Joey will be hitting New York in a few weeks. We're planning a brunch at Dos Caminos on March 20th, time TBD.

Please let us know if you can come and we'll figure out reservations. Can't wait to see everyone!

Snow Days Are Killing Me

This weather, and the subsequent housebound-ness, is wreaking havoc on my eating. For one thing, we're doing lots of baking to while away the time and keep the kids busy and interested in something other than TV and video games. For another, it's just so easy to snack.

In order to minimize the damage, I'm sending all baked goods out of the house as soon as the roads are passable again. I sent a dozen and a half chocolate chip cookies to my husband's office a few days ago, and I'll do the same with the Barefoot Contessa's red velvet cupcakes we made today.

We also tried the No-Knead Bread recipe from the Sullivan Street Bakery via the NY Times. It's out of the oven but I haven't tasted it yet so can't render a final verdict.