I know, I know. I didn't even post Weight Loss Wednesday posts. There are a few reasons for this.
1) There has literally been nothing to report. I am holding steady at -16 pounds. Not gaining, not losing. Just hangin out. I think I might have lost 1/4 pound this week but that could have been because I peed right before I weighed myself. 1/2 pound or more is what gets recorded around here, people! None of that sappy Weight Watchers stuff like "YAY! You lost .00000000000001 pounds this week! Good for you! Keep up the good work, you're doing so well!". Ugh.
2) I have, quite literally, been running around like a chicken without her head. I'm loosing track of weeks. What day is it? Where am I? What is this?
So anyway, I'm back. So here's the deal. I'm kind of sick of this plateau. It's not surprising. I knew I would plateau a few times in my weight loss journey. But it's been 4 weeks and I'm over it! I have started drinking a TON of water which is supposed to help boost your metabolism as well as flush your system of toxins (that for some reason, Diet Coke is just unable to flush. Weird.).
I started (this week) to improve my gym attendance and activity. Two of the last three gym visits have included much more than just the elliptical. My friend K80 (you know the one...) sent me a 10 week workout program that increases the intensity, as well as gives a balanced work out each day. It's 5 days a week, so it is ambitious. But I think it's great! In an effort to really jump back in the saddle and get moving, I decided to try out this work out. Day one is a program that starts off with a 7 minute cardio warm up, then moves to push ups (on a stability ball but.. HA... no.), sit ups/ crunches on a stability ball, squats, and some arm machines. So... that went... ya know... OK...
Ugh.
I made it through the warm up, 20 push ups, 60 sit ups, and 30 squats. And I died. My leg muscles started cramping and I knew that to keep going would be a mistake. I stretched out and walked... verrrrrryyyy slllloooowwwwwllllyyyy home as my cool down. I couldn't walk right for 3 days. I was sort of shocked and appalled by how weak my legs are since I am constantly walking in this city. Whatever.
But I was not deterred. When I could finally pick my feet more than one inch up off the ground, I went in and did an elliptical work out. Just to get the muscles going again.
Then I went home for the weekend. So not much in the way of working out over the weekend. But that's OK! Last night, Tuesday, I went back to the gym. I got myself into the weight room. I did some shoulder and chest presses, some vertical rows, some leg press, and then did 30 minutes on the elliptical. What can I say? I like the elliptical! I thought I'd be more sore than I am, but apparently I have more upper body strength than I was aware. I will tell you that I worked my arms to exhaustion so... I'm glad I'm not sore!
So the plan is to keep up with the water and the gym. I will probably need to work my way up to be able to successfully complete the 10 week circuit but I'm working on it!
But that doesn't feel like enough. So I went ahead and did some research and checked out some websites. This one sounded most like me. Like, each bullet point I could pretty well relate to. But I found the article a bit frustrating. Since it basically said "Hey stupid, stop eat big plates of bad stuff and get your butt back in the gym".
Yes.
Thank you.
Helpful.
Moving on.
This article was much more informative about BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) and why you reach plateaus. Basically, you've lost weight which means your body is burning less, which means even if you are cutting out extra calories to lose that weight, you have reached an equilibrium within your body. You have to throw off that equilibrium to start losing weight again. Muscle building is definitely helpful (Yay! Point for Connie for doing the right thing!), so working out with light weights can help your body to burn more calories.
It also suggests upping your protein intake, but not to overdo it. No more than 20% of your daily calories should be from protein. If I look back at the last week, my protein has gone from 16% of my daily calories up to 24.59% of my daily calories. So I should start watching that I hover at 20% or below in coming weeks. Just to make sure those extra calories aren't turning into fats or something else they shouldn't.
Shaking it up is also known to help keep your body thrown off. Apparently the trick is to actually fool your body, which is tough. Because... ya know... your brain, inside your body, is trying to trick your body from the inside... it's like some crazy double agent sci-fi stuff that is way to complex and this is probably where black holes are created. So, I guess just don't think too much and try to keep changing up your schedule and work out and what you consume.
From there the articles seemed to get a little repetitive. Yes, thank you, I realize that I should decrease calorie consumption and portion size and I should get my ass to the gym regularly and lift light weights. On one hand, I'm tired of hearing it because YES I KNOW I SHOULD WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM WHY ARE YOU BADGERING ME ABOUT IT?!
On the other hand... "ooooh... you mean MORE of the less calories and smaller portion sizes and gym. oooooooooh..."
So since I eat breakfast at the office in the mornings and I know for a fact that I am eating more than 1 cup (or less) of cereal and I have no idea how to calculate the amount of milk I put on that cereal (I dunno? Enough to saturate it? How much do we think that is?) I am going to bring a measuring cup into the office to make sure I only have the serving size. I will keep up with my gym stuff. I will fight and claw my way off this plateau. You know, if this was a REAL plateau, getting off of it would be much easier. I'd just jump, you know? And then I'd be lower? That's a terrible metaphor. It should be more like "I'm experiencing a weight loss swinging net trap. I wanna get down, but this stupid thing won't let me!"
So there's that. We're just hanging out over here on -16 pounds. Which is awesome, but I was hoping to be 9 pounds lighter within 2 weeks. So I need to get this program up and running STAT. If I can get to -20 pounds I will be quite proud of myself.
Speaking of 2 weeks, that's when I am heading to Florida with the family! I have to go get new bathing suits because the 2 that I have that I LOVE LOVE LOVE... um... don't fit me anymore? So that's an exciting shopping expedition. Oooooh, I'm gonna head on over to Victoria's Secret now to see what their bathing suit options are. Could be exciting! And on SALE!
See you tomorrow (I SWEAR) when I share with you my (very very tardy) opinions on the Casey Anthony trial. :)
The trivial happenings of my daily life and thought process...
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Weight Loss Wednesday... or... Thursday...
Hi!
I...
um...
I didn't come back yesterday like I said I would...
Sorry.
But you aren't the only one that got neglected! I accomplished not much of anything before 9pm last night, so..
Anyway, I did weigh myself. And I am sorry to say I did not lose anything last week. BUT, I also did not gain anything. I think I have hit that plateau I was talking about. And it's fine. It happens. The very beginning is super fast, and now I'm getting used to it. Time to switch things up again. My plan was to make the gym thing happen this week, but... ya know... what with all the lack of productivity happening and the preparing for the weekend, it doesn't look good for that to happen. But it's OK. Seriously! Gia leaves at 5pm on Sunday, so I will go straight to the gym after dropping her off which I think is a great plan and one that will get me back into the swing of things! Because as you know I have been out of the swing of the gym for quite some time.
No worries though, I haven't lost my motivation! People are starting to really notice the weight loss (16 pounds is quite a lot of weight. Think about a 5 pound bag of potatoes. I've lost more than 3 of those. WHAT??! That's nutty!)
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But it's pretty much in stone that I won't be making the 25 pound mark by vacation. Maybe it's because I didn't get myself that massage I kept promising myself after I lost the first 10 pounds and now myself is rebelling against myself. That's unfortunate, because myself is too broke to pay for a massage right now. But myself might be able to buy myself a new vanity or a new comforter set at that 25 pound mark! Eh? Eh? OK self, knock out those 9 more pounds! You can do it!
OK, enough with the pep talk... let's talk weekend plans!
Here's the problem.
I really like food. Like a lot. I'm a foody! I love trying new stuff, but at the same time I know what I like (which tends to be stuff not good for me. I try to make myself enjoy eating the better stuff by telling myself how good it will be to get all this extra weight off of me. It works sometimes. But other times you just really want Bailey's Cheesecake. Mmmmm. Cheesecake.....)
I digress.
I am throwing a Stella and Dot at-home party this weekend and I have a bunch of girls coming over to hang out. Stella and Dot is an adorable jewelry company, and I can't WAIT to shop! I need some new shiny things...
I also decided to take it as an option for my friends to all get together. We'll have wine (and lemonade and iced tea for those ladies who have to work), and the menu... oooooo people! The menu! It's delish! Now, not everything is Weight Loss Wednesday friendly. But I am doing little things in order to cut the fat and calories out of as many things as I can. Here's what we're having:
7 Layer Taco Dip (made with lite, low-fat sour cream and cream cheese, topped with lots of veggies and salsa)
Pasta Salad (lite homemade Italian dressing)
Sopapilla Cheesecake (made with low-fat cream cheese
Baked Brie (there is just nothing healthy about cheese and jam encased in puff pastry. But GOD that's delish!)
Baked Crab Rangoons (it's a Weight Watchers recipe, and there are only 47 calories, 1.15g. of total fat, and super low in all the other bad stuff like cholesterol and sodium per rangoon!)
Cheesy Roasted Garlic Potato Balls (I mean. DELISH. I will have one. Or two. But that's it.)
Wrapped Pizza which has organic sauce, lots of veggies and turkey pepperoni.
Nutella Fudge (OK. I used reduced fat peanut butter and dark chocolate chips. That's as healthy as I could make this. But my girls LOVE their Nutella so I had to make it for them! Plus it was super easy.... and now it's just sitting at my house staring at me.)
Gia will be here spending the weekend as I mentioned and I can't wait for her to see the place! Flo gets back from her week at Sun Valley (don't even get me started. So jealous right now. She's been mingling with Oprah. OPRAH, people. Ugh.) on Saturday. Sunday we are doing brunch at Uva on the Upper East Side and then going from there. It's shaping up to be a pretty fun weekend! Again with the no sleep or relaxation but... I'm starting to get the feeling that I don't really like to relax. Which is unfortunate because 3 weeks from now I'll be headed to Florida for a whole LOT of relaxing!
So anyway, if you're in the NYC area and are not a creeper, come on by on Saturday for some good food and pretty jewelry! For now, I'm going to make up my final grocery list since I am headed to Trader Joes after work to pick up the last items. God I love that place... OK... bye!
I...
um...
I didn't come back yesterday like I said I would...
Sorry.
But you aren't the only one that got neglected! I accomplished not much of anything before 9pm last night, so..
Anyway, I did weigh myself. And I am sorry to say I did not lose anything last week. BUT, I also did not gain anything. I think I have hit that plateau I was talking about. And it's fine. It happens. The very beginning is super fast, and now I'm getting used to it. Time to switch things up again. My plan was to make the gym thing happen this week, but... ya know... what with all the lack of productivity happening and the preparing for the weekend, it doesn't look good for that to happen. But it's OK. Seriously! Gia leaves at 5pm on Sunday, so I will go straight to the gym after dropping her off which I think is a great plan and one that will get me back into the swing of things! Because as you know I have been out of the swing of the gym for quite some time.
No worries though, I haven't lost my motivation! People are starting to really notice the weight loss (16 pounds is quite a lot of weight. Think about a 5 pound bag of potatoes. I've lost more than 3 of those. WHAT??! That's nutty!)
OK, enough with the pep talk... let's talk weekend plans!
Here's the problem.
I really like food. Like a lot. I'm a foody! I love trying new stuff, but at the same time I know what I like (which tends to be stuff not good for me. I try to make myself enjoy eating the better stuff by telling myself how good it will be to get all this extra weight off of me. It works sometimes. But other times you just really want Bailey's Cheesecake. Mmmmm. Cheesecake.....)
I digress.
I am throwing a Stella and Dot at-home party this weekend and I have a bunch of girls coming over to hang out. Stella and Dot is an adorable jewelry company, and I can't WAIT to shop! I need some new shiny things...
I also decided to take it as an option for my friends to all get together. We'll have wine (and lemonade and iced tea for those ladies who have to work), and the menu... oooooo people! The menu! It's delish! Now, not everything is Weight Loss Wednesday friendly. But I am doing little things in order to cut the fat and calories out of as many things as I can. Here's what we're having:
7 Layer Taco Dip (made with lite, low-fat sour cream and cream cheese, topped with lots of veggies and salsa)
Pasta Salad (lite homemade Italian dressing)
Sopapilla Cheesecake (made with low-fat cream cheese
Baked Brie (there is just nothing healthy about cheese and jam encased in puff pastry. But GOD that's delish!)
Baked Crab Rangoons (it's a Weight Watchers recipe, and there are only 47 calories, 1.15g. of total fat, and super low in all the other bad stuff like cholesterol and sodium per rangoon!)
Cheesy Roasted Garlic Potato Balls (I mean. DELISH. I will have one. Or two. But that's it.)
Wrapped Pizza which has organic sauce, lots of veggies and turkey pepperoni.
Nutella Fudge (OK. I used reduced fat peanut butter and dark chocolate chips. That's as healthy as I could make this. But my girls LOVE their Nutella so I had to make it for them! Plus it was super easy.... and now it's just sitting at my house staring at me.)
Gia will be here spending the weekend as I mentioned and I can't wait for her to see the place! Flo gets back from her week at Sun Valley (don't even get me started. So jealous right now. She's been mingling with Oprah. OPRAH, people. Ugh.) on Saturday. Sunday we are doing brunch at Uva on the Upper East Side and then going from there. It's shaping up to be a pretty fun weekend! Again with the no sleep or relaxation but... I'm starting to get the feeling that I don't really like to relax. Which is unfortunate because 3 weeks from now I'll be headed to Florida for a whole LOT of relaxing!
So anyway, if you're in the NYC area and are not a creeper, come on by on Saturday for some good food and pretty jewelry! For now, I'm going to make up my final grocery list since I am headed to Trader Joes after work to pick up the last items. God I love that place... OK... bye!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
You didn't get to see any fireworks? Well YOU are in LUCK!
Yeah yeah yeah no posts, lazy blogger, blah blah blah.... CHECK OUT THE AMAZING WEEKEND I HAD PEOPLE!
OK first and foremost, I totally did not post my Weight Loss Wednesday post last week. And you're probably all "oh no, she gained back all 15 pounds and shhhhh nobody say anything because she'll cry and it'll be terrible! So let's not say anything until she brings it up...."
HA.
Gotchu.
I lost a pound last week :) YAY!!
That makes it a total of 16 pounds total!!
Which is clearly great, you know? I am not sure I'll be making my goal of a total of 25 pounds by the end of the month. Because that would mean losing 2 pounds every week, and 3 pounds one of those weeks... which... not likely. But, seriously? I am super super happy with this progress! And even better? PEOPLE ARE NOTICING!! Multiple people have mentioned that they can see a big difference which is awesome. And whether it's physical actual evidence, or simply that I have more confidence and look better in that respect, I'll take it! Still lots of work to do, but I am definitely motivated.
I think one reason I have definitely slowed down is that I have not been to the gym. I just haven't been at all. And that's terrible. Granted, I am more active in general, my body is starting to sort of get used to that. So I need to step that up. But fo real? I have been uber-busy as of late.
Speaking of... let's move on to this weekend, shall we?
I had absolutely 100% refused to make any type of plans or commitments for this long weekend. I have been completely burned out the last couple of weeks. All the traveling, and moving, and moving furniture out of windows... it's been crazy! So I didn't make plans. People asked and I would refuse. I may have been rude.
I may not have cared.
On Thursday I made plans with Ana to go to the beach at least one day over the weekend. Within two hours of making that plan, my entire weekend was jam-packed with holiday weekend festivities. Which I was a little "seriously?! What happened to sitting on the couch in PJs watching movies?" But in all fairness the stuff I planned was super fun and pretty relaxing.
So Friday I went and got my hair did. It's pretty hot. Sylys worked his magic, the heinous blond highlights are gone and I am nearly back to my natural color. I have awesome sweeping bangs and layers and.... all for only $50 more than I was expecting. Ugh. Fine. Whatever. It had to be done and I won't be coloring my hair again for like a super long time so... just haircuts from here on out. Grrrr... But yes, very very pretty!
After that I went home and waited for the lady that was buying my loveseat.
Yeah that's right. I'm selling more furniture. Only this time it's the DJ's left over stuff that he didn't feel like dealing with so now I am. Which is awesome.
Ahem.
Lady shows up at 1AM?!?!?! She shows up with her teenage daughter and a navigator. The lady doesn't even get out of the car, and asks if I can help her daughter get it downstairs.
Like.
For real?
Fine whatever get it out out out of my house.
People. This girl couldn't lift a sheet of paper if somebody had added the weight of the ink to it. It was pathetic. My roommate and I had moved it really no problem at all. I basically moved this couch down the stairs by myself. We get it out of the apartment, down the stairs, out the front door for the woman to say "OK, so here's the problem."
Bitch you better get back in that car before I throw this couch on top of your car and just let YOU deal with it. She showed up with a navigator that had a ton of crap in it and a speaker mounted in the trunk of her car.
WHAT PART OF YOU ARE BUYING AND HAULING A LOVE SEAT DID YOU NOT UNDERSTAND WOMAN?!?!
After 20 minutes of repositioning and pushing and pulling and lifting (which by the way, was all me. Because Lady couldn't lift anything thanks to having cancer and 16 surgeries and like 10 kids and she obviously needs housing from the government which they are changing which is seriously going to screw up her ability to get weaves and long fake nails and more bangles and omg over sharing) we get the couch into the car and they leave. Holy God.
To be honest, that was the only truly frustrating part of the weekend.
The next day I got up and got ready to go to.... THE BEACH!!! Wooooo!!! I was meeting Ana, Miranda and Ana's friend Ryan in Union Square at 12:30. We got fresh fruit and a box of wine (which we took out of the box so it would chill on the way to the beach because we're classy like that) and headed to the beach. We ventured to Coney Island for a few reasons. 1), we felt like we definitely needed to experience it. 2) Although it was a long trip (about an hour from Union Square), it seemed easier and about $20 cheaper than Jones Beach, which we plan to visit in the future when I have actual money to spare.
You.
Guys.
OK, so the sand wasn't super great, apparently the bathrooms stunk (which I didn't know about because although we drank wine for 6 hours, we were in the sun and it just dehydrated all the liquid out of us so I never had to pee. Or maybe subconsciously I knew it would be awful so I just convinced myself that I didn't have to go...) and there was seaweed in the freezing cold water.
But we had a BLAST! We got Nathan's hot dogs! We just hung out and drank our bag-o-wine and ate fruit... it was perfect! We had a good group of people, lots to chat about (thanks to the wine I'm sure...) and just drank up the sun...
... some of us more than others...
Last weekend at my Dad's house for my brother's graduation party, I sat outside in a bathing suit for 6 hours. I got zero sun whatsoever My legs are basically mirrors, or... like... see through. They are super white is the point. Scary white. So I went with the intention of getting some color finally!
Um...
I got color...
Oh I got color alright...
My back is so red... it's like the red stripes of the flag. Especially considering that everywhere my bathing suit covered is incredibly white in comparison. I can't really roll over in my sleep. And anything touching my back including clothing, sheets, or.. like... air... just HURTS!
The best part? My roommate was gone all weekend. So I stood in the bathroom mirror and tried to twist my arms in various positions trying to smooth aloe on the top of my back. Any idea how tough that is? Especially when it feels like your skin might actually just tear apart? Or if it's not tearing, then it has turned to sandpaper and feels like it is buffing your epidermis down to the raw part? So that was fun.
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None of us exactly recall the train ride home. There are pictures that Miranda took and posted on Facebook... I don't remember having any of them taken, but I am most definitely in them. I don't remember walking home from the train. And for the love of God I have no idea how I got myself to look like this:
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But I totally did. Depending on how large that picture is, you may be able to see the very determined look on my face. Apparently picture taking with a phone is tough business after that much wine (btw: 3 girls very nearly finished a 5 liter bag-o-wine. Just saying.)
So I ventured downtown where we got everybody together. Ana was in PJs eating boneless wings and fries which I finished for her (thank GOD because all I had in my system was wine saturated fruit...), Ryan had gone to meet friends while we finished getting ourselves together (as best we could), Miranda had passed out, Ashley was ready but... well... This is what she was dealing with:
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But it's cool... Josh bounced back and was ready to go! we all got out the door at... around... 1am. Ah well... at least we made it out!
We were all heading to Polar Lounge to an event I was invited to by Hollywood Hino. It was amazing! We were all dancing like crazy people, and even when everybody I came with (Ashley, Josh, Ana and Ryan) headed out, I hung out. Basically Hino and I have talked about working together and I just wanted to get a good feel for the crowd. It was fantastic! That guy knows how to throw a party and work a room and I loved every minute! Can't wait to do it again!
At 4am, although he attempted to persuade me to keep the party going with him and 20 of his closest acquaintances at his house for the after party, I said goodnight to Hino and the DJ (whose card I really need to find since I said I'd email him...) (No, not that DJ. Different DJ.)
The next day I woke up at 12:50pm.
Yeah.
Talk about sleeping in!
But I felt really pretty good considering...
And then I realized that I had 40 minutes to get myself together and get to brunch with Bethany and Alice. I made it! WOOO!!
We went to Don Pablos on 96th street and 2nd Ave. It was delish! I had blackbean soup, mashed plantains topped with a fried egg and cheese and 2 pieces of Cuban sausage. And then the three of us split the three dessert options. Except I didn't have the flan. When I went to Spain in high school I had flan twice a day every day for 10 days. I'm kind of over flan. But the Tres Leche was amazing! And I had a really good blood orange sorbet. So so good! And you got all of this (a 3 course lunch) plus bottomless sangria (which was yummy!) for $20 per person! You just can't beat that.
It was so good, in fact, that I went home, peeled off my dress (to let my burned-to-a-crisp back breathe) and took a little nap. Because clearly sleeping until nearly 1pm just wasn't enough time.
At around 7 my friend Davine came over to borrow a bathing suit. And at 8pm I was on a crosstown bus with Miranda heading up to Morningside Heights in Harlem to stop by our friend Dwayne's BBQ.
Now, when I think BBQ, I'm thinking like maybe 30 people tops. Some sort of iPod player, one grill with some hot dogs and burgers and a bucket of sodas and beers. Maybe a table with side dishes.
We show up to a Par-Tay. Can we talk about this? There must have been 200 people there. HUGE grilling area, Hennessey everywhere (because it's not a party in Harlem with out Hennessey)... insanity! We just stopped to say hi, but only stayed for maybe 20 minutes or so. And then came home. I was so so beat. So I sat on the couch and watched some TV and relaxed.
Monday I got up (already in a good mood because YAY NO WORK TODAY!). I talked to Ana and we considered going to the Met to see the Alexander McQueen exhibit, but then promptly found out the Met is closed on Mondays. So that was a no go. So I just took it easy until about 5:45 when I headed out to Reservoir Bar on University Place between 10th and 11th streets in Union Square to visit Miranda on her first day! After that I was set to head to Brooklyn for a rooftop party where my friend Rose was going to sing. Unfortunately, before I even left Miranda, cops broke up the rooftop party. So I hung out at Miranda's place and had some food (Spinach and artichoke dip and a piece of bailey's cheesecake.) (What??) and then got word that the party had migrated to Manhattan... Hell's Kitchen to be exact. Perfect, because Brooklyn and I are really not acquaintances and I wasn't sure about venturing over there.
People.
The place we ended up was AMAZING. I got there just as the sun was setting:
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And then the fireworks started! They had 6 barges lined up along the Hudson River setting them off, and the show was fantastic! I think it went on for about 30 minutes, and I probably took 40 or more pictures, but these are my favorites.. and in case you didn't get to see fireworks this year, please allow me to play the part of your pyrotechnical person and give you the show of your lifetime!
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And these are just cell phone camera pictures so just imagine how great they looked in person!
Speaking of seeing this in person... check this out:
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These are people walking back toward Times Square to get on the subway from the West Side of the island where they were standing and watching the fireworks. And this is nothing... it turned into a steady river of people that we watched for about an hour from the 5th floor club level balcony. If you look closely behind that silver minivan, there's a hotdog and pretzel vendor just making a KILLING on these hungry swarms of people. At around 11pm they had finally subsided enough that we could try to get home. Rather than opening all entrances to foot traffic into the subways and simply stationing extra police reinforcements by the subway gates, NYC MTA decided the best idea was to filter that entire crowd of people into maybe 2 entrances leading to the subway. 2 million people + 2 entrances into public transportation = TOTAL CHAOS! But thankfully we had waited out the worst of it. I made it home around midnight. I can say it was one of the most successful 4th of July celebrations I have had in a while!
When I got home, I was settling in for bed with Puka and somebody in the neighborhood was putting off their own little fireworks, scaring the bejeezes right out of Puka. She looked like she was either ready to attack whatever was happening outside the window, or hide in her favorite closet.
But anyway, it was a really great weekend. Definitely exactly what I needed. My sunburn is starting to get a little better I think... Tonight begins the preparations for next Saturday's party (lots of food!) and tomorrow I will be back with a Weight Loss Wednesday edition... yes I'll weigh myself even though I totally ate Bailey's Cheesecake. And Spinach and Artichoke dip. It's fine.
OK first and foremost, I totally did not post my Weight Loss Wednesday post last week. And you're probably all "oh no, she gained back all 15 pounds and shhhhh nobody say anything because she'll cry and it'll be terrible! So let's not say anything until she brings it up...."
HA.
Gotchu.
I lost a pound last week :) YAY!!
That makes it a total of 16 pounds total!!
Which is clearly great, you know? I am not sure I'll be making my goal of a total of 25 pounds by the end of the month. Because that would mean losing 2 pounds every week, and 3 pounds one of those weeks... which... not likely. But, seriously? I am super super happy with this progress! And even better? PEOPLE ARE NOTICING!! Multiple people have mentioned that they can see a big difference which is awesome. And whether it's physical actual evidence, or simply that I have more confidence and look better in that respect, I'll take it! Still lots of work to do, but I am definitely motivated.
I think one reason I have definitely slowed down is that I have not been to the gym. I just haven't been at all. And that's terrible. Granted, I am more active in general, my body is starting to sort of get used to that. So I need to step that up. But fo real? I have been uber-busy as of late.
Speaking of... let's move on to this weekend, shall we?
I had absolutely 100% refused to make any type of plans or commitments for this long weekend. I have been completely burned out the last couple of weeks. All the traveling, and moving, and moving furniture out of windows... it's been crazy! So I didn't make plans. People asked and I would refuse. I may have been rude.
I may not have cared.
On Thursday I made plans with Ana to go to the beach at least one day over the weekend. Within two hours of making that plan, my entire weekend was jam-packed with holiday weekend festivities. Which I was a little "seriously?! What happened to sitting on the couch in PJs watching movies?" But in all fairness the stuff I planned was super fun and pretty relaxing.
So Friday I went and got my hair did. It's pretty hot. Sylys worked his magic, the heinous blond highlights are gone and I am nearly back to my natural color. I have awesome sweeping bangs and layers and.... all for only $50 more than I was expecting. Ugh. Fine. Whatever. It had to be done and I won't be coloring my hair again for like a super long time so... just haircuts from here on out. Grrrr... But yes, very very pretty!
After that I went home and waited for the lady that was buying my loveseat.
Yeah that's right. I'm selling more furniture. Only this time it's the DJ's left over stuff that he didn't feel like dealing with so now I am. Which is awesome.
Ahem.
Lady shows up at 1AM?!?!?! She shows up with her teenage daughter and a navigator. The lady doesn't even get out of the car, and asks if I can help her daughter get it downstairs.
Like.
For real?
Fine whatever get it out out out of my house.
People. This girl couldn't lift a sheet of paper if somebody had added the weight of the ink to it. It was pathetic. My roommate and I had moved it really no problem at all. I basically moved this couch down the stairs by myself. We get it out of the apartment, down the stairs, out the front door for the woman to say "OK, so here's the problem."
Bitch you better get back in that car before I throw this couch on top of your car and just let YOU deal with it. She showed up with a navigator that had a ton of crap in it and a speaker mounted in the trunk of her car.
WHAT PART OF YOU ARE BUYING AND HAULING A LOVE SEAT DID YOU NOT UNDERSTAND WOMAN?!?!
After 20 minutes of repositioning and pushing and pulling and lifting (which by the way, was all me. Because Lady couldn't lift anything thanks to having cancer and 16 surgeries and like 10 kids and she obviously needs housing from the government which they are changing which is seriously going to screw up her ability to get weaves and long fake nails and more bangles and omg over sharing) we get the couch into the car and they leave. Holy God.
To be honest, that was the only truly frustrating part of the weekend.
The next day I got up and got ready to go to.... THE BEACH!!! Wooooo!!! I was meeting Ana, Miranda and Ana's friend Ryan in Union Square at 12:30. We got fresh fruit and a box of wine (which we took out of the box so it would chill on the way to the beach because we're classy like that) and headed to the beach. We ventured to Coney Island for a few reasons. 1), we felt like we definitely needed to experience it. 2) Although it was a long trip (about an hour from Union Square), it seemed easier and about $20 cheaper than Jones Beach, which we plan to visit in the future when I have actual money to spare.
You.
Guys.
OK, so the sand wasn't super great, apparently the bathrooms stunk (which I didn't know about because although we drank wine for 6 hours, we were in the sun and it just dehydrated all the liquid out of us so I never had to pee. Or maybe subconsciously I knew it would be awful so I just convinced myself that I didn't have to go...) and there was seaweed in the freezing cold water.
But we had a BLAST! We got Nathan's hot dogs! We just hung out and drank our bag-o-wine and ate fruit... it was perfect! We had a good group of people, lots to chat about (thanks to the wine I'm sure...) and just drank up the sun...
... some of us more than others...
Last weekend at my Dad's house for my brother's graduation party, I sat outside in a bathing suit for 6 hours. I got zero sun whatsoever My legs are basically mirrors, or... like... see through. They are super white is the point. Scary white. So I went with the intention of getting some color finally!
Um...
I got color...
Oh I got color alright...
My back is so red... it's like the red stripes of the flag. Especially considering that everywhere my bathing suit covered is incredibly white in comparison. I can't really roll over in my sleep. And anything touching my back including clothing, sheets, or.. like... air... just HURTS!
The best part? My roommate was gone all weekend. So I stood in the bathroom mirror and tried to twist my arms in various positions trying to smooth aloe on the top of my back. Any idea how tough that is? Especially when it feels like your skin might actually just tear apart? Or if it's not tearing, then it has turned to sandpaper and feels like it is buffing your epidermis down to the raw part? So that was fun.
None of us exactly recall the train ride home. There are pictures that Miranda took and posted on Facebook... I don't remember having any of them taken, but I am most definitely in them. I don't remember walking home from the train. And for the love of God I have no idea how I got myself to look like this:
So I ventured downtown where we got everybody together. Ana was in PJs eating boneless wings and fries which I finished for her (thank GOD because all I had in my system was wine saturated fruit...), Ryan had gone to meet friends while we finished getting ourselves together (as best we could), Miranda had passed out, Ashley was ready but... well... This is what she was dealing with:
We were all heading to Polar Lounge to an event I was invited to by Hollywood Hino. It was amazing! We were all dancing like crazy people, and even when everybody I came with (Ashley, Josh, Ana and Ryan) headed out, I hung out. Basically Hino and I have talked about working together and I just wanted to get a good feel for the crowd. It was fantastic! That guy knows how to throw a party and work a room and I loved every minute! Can't wait to do it again!
At 4am, although he attempted to persuade me to keep the party going with him and 20 of his closest acquaintances at his house for the after party, I said goodnight to Hino and the DJ (whose card I really need to find since I said I'd email him...) (No, not that DJ. Different DJ.)
The next day I woke up at 12:50pm.
Yeah.
Talk about sleeping in!
But I felt really pretty good considering...
And then I realized that I had 40 minutes to get myself together and get to brunch with Bethany and Alice. I made it! WOOO!!
We went to Don Pablos on 96th street and 2nd Ave. It was delish! I had blackbean soup, mashed plantains topped with a fried egg and cheese and 2 pieces of Cuban sausage. And then the three of us split the three dessert options. Except I didn't have the flan. When I went to Spain in high school I had flan twice a day every day for 10 days. I'm kind of over flan. But the Tres Leche was amazing! And I had a really good blood orange sorbet. So so good! And you got all of this (a 3 course lunch) plus bottomless sangria (which was yummy!) for $20 per person! You just can't beat that.
It was so good, in fact, that I went home, peeled off my dress (to let my burned-to-a-crisp back breathe) and took a little nap. Because clearly sleeping until nearly 1pm just wasn't enough time.
At around 7 my friend Davine came over to borrow a bathing suit. And at 8pm I was on a crosstown bus with Miranda heading up to Morningside Heights in Harlem to stop by our friend Dwayne's BBQ.
Now, when I think BBQ, I'm thinking like maybe 30 people tops. Some sort of iPod player, one grill with some hot dogs and burgers and a bucket of sodas and beers. Maybe a table with side dishes.
We show up to a Par-Tay. Can we talk about this? There must have been 200 people there. HUGE grilling area, Hennessey everywhere (because it's not a party in Harlem with out Hennessey)... insanity! We just stopped to say hi, but only stayed for maybe 20 minutes or so. And then came home. I was so so beat. So I sat on the couch and watched some TV and relaxed.
Monday I got up (already in a good mood because YAY NO WORK TODAY!). I talked to Ana and we considered going to the Met to see the Alexander McQueen exhibit, but then promptly found out the Met is closed on Mondays. So that was a no go. So I just took it easy until about 5:45 when I headed out to Reservoir Bar on University Place between 10th and 11th streets in Union Square to visit Miranda on her first day! After that I was set to head to Brooklyn for a rooftop party where my friend Rose was going to sing. Unfortunately, before I even left Miranda, cops broke up the rooftop party. So I hung out at Miranda's place and had some food (Spinach and artichoke dip and a piece of bailey's cheesecake.) (What??) and then got word that the party had migrated to Manhattan... Hell's Kitchen to be exact. Perfect, because Brooklyn and I are really not acquaintances and I wasn't sure about venturing over there.
People.
The place we ended up was AMAZING. I got there just as the sun was setting:
Speaking of seeing this in person... check this out:
When I got home, I was settling in for bed with Puka and somebody in the neighborhood was putting off their own little fireworks, scaring the bejeezes right out of Puka. She looked like she was either ready to attack whatever was happening outside the window, or hide in her favorite closet.
But anyway, it was a really great weekend. Definitely exactly what I needed. My sunburn is starting to get a little better I think... Tonight begins the preparations for next Saturday's party (lots of food!) and tomorrow I will be back with a Weight Loss Wednesday edition... yes I'll weigh myself even though I totally ate Bailey's Cheesecake. And Spinach and Artichoke dip. It's fine.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Dear DirecTV, You Suck.
Hello there from summer cold ville.
That's right. I got it. I got the summer cold. And let me tell you... it blows. Literally. I had to stop by Duane Read and actually pick up some tissues. It's cool though... a few more rounds of Duane Read Daytime/Nighttime relief and I should be good to go! I hope...
I determined that the reason I got this summer cold is that... dudes... I have been running non-stop for months! If I'm not traveling on the weekends, then I'm moving, or painting, or apartment hunting, or unpacking. It just never ends! My body just decided it was time to put on the breaks, and since being incessantly tired, unfocused and late for work wasn't enough to do it, she decided to go and get herself sick. "HA" she said. " Try working through the horrendous summer cold!" She knew I couldn't. I left work 2 hours early to go home and sleep and pound myself with meds. I feel much better and actually completely rested.
I better be 100% by this weekend as I am traveling. Yes, again. I'm going back to Hershey for the weekend as my baby brother, Scott, is having a graduation party. Don't even get me started. Kid is huge. I remember holding him when he was a new born. The kid now towers over me and is all muscle bound and wants to be a cop and WHERE DID MY BABY BROTHER GO?! But it's fine.
Last weekend I painted. MY GOD, I painted. I painted like nobody ever painted before. Friday after work I went to Home Depot and spent $130 on all things paint related. I got a step ladder. I got paint, and a paint tray, and paint rollers and paint brushes and painters tape and a laser level. I'm exhausted just thinking about it. I chose Bleached Denim as the paint color. It's basically a dusty blue color. My inspiration for this room was my mom and step-dad's house. Both in their last house and the house they are currently in they used a really cool technique. I think the way they did it was they used flat paint and painted the entire surface that same color. Then they taped off equal sized stripes vertically on the wall and every other one was painted with a high-gloss finish. When you remove the tape, the wall looks two toned even though it's only actually one tone. It creates a really cool effect kind of like this:
So instead of doing that same thing, I did much thicker horizontal stripes. They were each about a foot wide. Also, to save myself a gallon of paint, I bought one gallon of high gloss and one gallon of flat paint, both in the Bleached Denim color. I know this saved me about $30, but dudes. It was exhausting! First on Friday night I taped off the living room. I had to be careful to tape outside of the boarder line for every other stripe so that I could paint the full stripe in high gloss (if that makes any sense) before moving the tape so that I could paint the full stripe of the flat paint. Believe me. by 1am my head was swimming and I was exhausted! But I powered through... to 3:30am when I finally had the whole room taped and had the first coat of high gloss paint done.
The next morning I got up and put on the second coat. While I waited for that to dry thoroughly (the can said it would take around 4 hours, but I wasn't sure what type of humidity I was working with, I was mostly numb at this point, so I wanted to wait extra long).
This is about the time that my cold settled in. I got back from hanging out with Terri around 8 or so. I laid down and "napped" until 11pm when I got up to finish painting. I moved all the tape so that it now over-lapped the already painted stripes of high gloss paint, and painted the flat color. The flat paint dried almost immediately. I got 2 coats on super fast, but got to bed around 4am for some unknown reason. I was totally beat and not feeling great.
Of course that didn't stop me from waking up promptly at 9am out of shear excitement to see the finished product! I pulled the tape off and OHMAGAH people! It looks SOOOO cool! I will try to take a picture of it but the room it's in doesn't photograph well. We'll see if I can grab one today.
So then we tried to mount my TV to the wall.
This didn't go so well.
Actually?
It didn't go at all.
We discovered 2 things. 1) in case of fire on either side of us, we are covered as we literally have cement walls surrounding us. 2) We do not, in fact, have a power drill that can get through concrete. So now I have one single hole in my beautiful masterpiece of a wall. So sad. But reparable. We are going to ask Buzz to build us a thin table to put the TV on so that we can still have the pull out couch and TV in the same room. I'll keep you updated on that little venture...
So just when I think all the worry is over and I might just be problem free and unable to WAIT until I get a little pool time this weekend...
DirecTV rears it's ugly little shrunken head.
Bastard.
So here's the deal. It appears that I never wrote about this little snafu because I was directly in the middle of LOSING MY EVER LOVING MIND and didn't want to impact that further. Here's the back story:
In February when the DJ moved out, I had him cancel his DirecTV account and got my own. I signed a 2 year contract because my total bill for all the "regular" TV channels plus HBO and Shotime was only like $70 which is awesome. I figured I'd just take it with me when I moved and we'd be good to go.
Well.
My landlord had other plans. He didn't want a satellite dish mounted to his building. I get it, it is tacky. But now what do I do? I call DirecTV and tell them what's up. They tell me that to cancel my contract will cost me.... get this.... $20 per month that goes unused in my contract. That comes out to about $400+. HA, I say to you. There's just no way.
After multiple calls to DirecTV I find out that it is illegal for a landlord to say that you can't have a particular service (but not illegal for a company to not provide their service to certain neighborhoods AHEM I'M LOOKING AT YOU VERIZON FIOS), but that it is LEGAL for a landlord to state where a dish cannot be placed on their building.
Aha!
Me thinks we found a loophole!
So I tell my landlord the same thing. He writes up a detailed list stating that it is in following City and Fire Safety Standards and whatnot.... it was great. The technicians come out, look at the list, determine that they can't place the dish and say that they will let DirecTV know this. That I will need to contact them to get boxes to return the equipment. The plan was to contact them this week since I've been busy, and sick, and losing my mind, and moving couches out of windows.. you know... that...
Well yesterday when I left work early, guess who came home to a nice shiny BILL FROM DIRECTV?!?! UGH!
So I call today. I get on the phone with one representative and explain the situation to him. He puts me on hold for about 10 minutes and comes back and says "Ok, I'm going to transfer you so that you can set up an appointment to have the techs come back out and set up your dish."
Um.
Que?
"No no no no no you don't understand. The techs have already been out and determined that they CANNOT set up the dish. So I don't have service and my account should have been closed and I shouldn't be billed again."
"Please hold"
*Sigh*
"OK, Ma'am (I hate that.), once the techs come back out, you should have service again. So we'll just send them back out to you, waive this month's bill and start billing again once the techs have set you up."
Oh. For. The. Love. Of. Christ.
"NO. You're NOT hearing me. They cannot give me service. It's not possible. They have been out and determined it to be impossible. I do not now, nor will I ever, have DirecTV service at my new apartment. It's not happening. So I should not be billed for services not being rendered and my account should be closed."
"Please hold"
*Sigh* (plus toe tapping which he can't see through the phone, but it made me feel better)
"OK Ma'am (still not any better.), I'm going to transfer you so we can give you that credit for this past month."
"ooooooook great" anything to get off the phone with you.
Then I get an adorable little southern lady who tells me that she can issue a credit for $35 for the package deal that I have (no credit for the equipment rental, the taxes or the special channels that I had. None of which I was able to use either. But whatevs.) but that I will still have to pay the $400 cancellation fee. I explain that, given then information her company provided me with, that I should not be held responsible for that fee any longer. She "understands" but... ya know... I totally CHOSE to live in a building where the landlord doesn't like DirecTV.
Oh. Man.
You're totally right, Southern lady. It's not as though I had to make choices about my new apartment based on silly things like price, neighborhood, amenities, condition, bugs, rats... clearly the only thing that should have been on my mind when looking at apartments is "DirecTV. Show me whatever you've got that allows DirecTV. That's all I ask... I must have my DirecTV!"
...
By the way? She is the second person to mention that my choice of apartment should have been based upon DirecTV service availability.
Kill myself.
At this point I have been on the phone for nearly 35 minutes in the middle of my work day, and it's ridiculous. She finally puts me in touch with a supervisor.
I explain the situation to him as I have twice before in the last 40 minutes. After 30 seconds, the supervisor says, "I can see that you've jumped through hoops and tried everything you can to have service moved to your new location. I'm going to go ahead and waive all of this for you, and we're sorry to see you go. We hope you'll consider DirecTV in the future. Do you have any other questions?"
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!! FREEDOOOOOOMMM!!!!!!! VICTORYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I do understand that DirecTV is a business. They HAVE to make it tough to get out of contractual agreements because if it was easy then NOBODY would pay that cancellation fee and they would lose tons of money.
Unfortunately, they did not realize that they were dealing with me.
And in the end? I think the better woman won.
So yeah, I just saved myself nearly $500 by not being passive. I'm getting $80 back from my TV mount since my walls are indestructible (which can be a god thing I guess but... not so much in this case)... For somebody that has been so financially beaten over the last few months, I'm feelin pretty darn good!
Maybe I will give baby brother some cash for graduation...... *Le sigh*....... aaaaand we've come full circle.
That's right. I got it. I got the summer cold. And let me tell you... it blows. Literally. I had to stop by Duane Read and actually pick up some tissues. It's cool though... a few more rounds of Duane Read Daytime/Nighttime relief and I should be good to go! I hope...
I determined that the reason I got this summer cold is that... dudes... I have been running non-stop for months! If I'm not traveling on the weekends, then I'm moving, or painting, or apartment hunting, or unpacking. It just never ends! My body just decided it was time to put on the breaks, and since being incessantly tired, unfocused and late for work wasn't enough to do it, she decided to go and get herself sick. "HA" she said. " Try working through the horrendous summer cold!" She knew I couldn't. I left work 2 hours early to go home and sleep and pound myself with meds. I feel much better and actually completely rested.
I better be 100% by this weekend as I am traveling. Yes, again. I'm going back to Hershey for the weekend as my baby brother, Scott, is having a graduation party. Don't even get me started. Kid is huge. I remember holding him when he was a new born. The kid now towers over me and is all muscle bound and wants to be a cop and WHERE DID MY BABY BROTHER GO?! But it's fine.
Last weekend I painted. MY GOD, I painted. I painted like nobody ever painted before. Friday after work I went to Home Depot and spent $130 on all things paint related. I got a step ladder. I got paint, and a paint tray, and paint rollers and paint brushes and painters tape and a laser level. I'm exhausted just thinking about it. I chose Bleached Denim as the paint color. It's basically a dusty blue color. My inspiration for this room was my mom and step-dad's house. Both in their last house and the house they are currently in they used a really cool technique. I think the way they did it was they used flat paint and painted the entire surface that same color. Then they taped off equal sized stripes vertically on the wall and every other one was painted with a high-gloss finish. When you remove the tape, the wall looks two toned even though it's only actually one tone. It creates a really cool effect kind of like this:
So instead of doing that same thing, I did much thicker horizontal stripes. They were each about a foot wide. Also, to save myself a gallon of paint, I bought one gallon of high gloss and one gallon of flat paint, both in the Bleached Denim color. I know this saved me about $30, but dudes. It was exhausting! First on Friday night I taped off the living room. I had to be careful to tape outside of the boarder line for every other stripe so that I could paint the full stripe in high gloss (if that makes any sense) before moving the tape so that I could paint the full stripe of the flat paint. Believe me. by 1am my head was swimming and I was exhausted! But I powered through... to 3:30am when I finally had the whole room taped and had the first coat of high gloss paint done.
The next morning I got up and put on the second coat. While I waited for that to dry thoroughly (the can said it would take around 4 hours, but I wasn't sure what type of humidity I was working with, I was mostly numb at this point, so I wanted to wait extra long).
This is about the time that my cold settled in. I got back from hanging out with Terri around 8 or so. I laid down and "napped" until 11pm when I got up to finish painting. I moved all the tape so that it now over-lapped the already painted stripes of high gloss paint, and painted the flat color. The flat paint dried almost immediately. I got 2 coats on super fast, but got to bed around 4am for some unknown reason. I was totally beat and not feeling great.
Of course that didn't stop me from waking up promptly at 9am out of shear excitement to see the finished product! I pulled the tape off and OHMAGAH people! It looks SOOOO cool! I will try to take a picture of it but the room it's in doesn't photograph well. We'll see if I can grab one today.
So then we tried to mount my TV to the wall.
This didn't go so well.
Actually?
It didn't go at all.
We discovered 2 things. 1) in case of fire on either side of us, we are covered as we literally have cement walls surrounding us. 2) We do not, in fact, have a power drill that can get through concrete. So now I have one single hole in my beautiful masterpiece of a wall. So sad. But reparable. We are going to ask Buzz to build us a thin table to put the TV on so that we can still have the pull out couch and TV in the same room. I'll keep you updated on that little venture...
So just when I think all the worry is over and I might just be problem free and unable to WAIT until I get a little pool time this weekend...
DirecTV rears it's ugly little shrunken head.
Bastard.
So here's the deal. It appears that I never wrote about this little snafu because I was directly in the middle of LOSING MY EVER LOVING MIND and didn't want to impact that further. Here's the back story:
In February when the DJ moved out, I had him cancel his DirecTV account and got my own. I signed a 2 year contract because my total bill for all the "regular" TV channels plus HBO and Shotime was only like $70 which is awesome. I figured I'd just take it with me when I moved and we'd be good to go.
Well.
My landlord had other plans. He didn't want a satellite dish mounted to his building. I get it, it is tacky. But now what do I do? I call DirecTV and tell them what's up. They tell me that to cancel my contract will cost me.... get this.... $20 per month that goes unused in my contract. That comes out to about $400+. HA, I say to you. There's just no way.
After multiple calls to DirecTV I find out that it is illegal for a landlord to say that you can't have a particular service (but not illegal for a company to not provide their service to certain neighborhoods AHEM I'M LOOKING AT YOU VERIZON FIOS), but that it is LEGAL for a landlord to state where a dish cannot be placed on their building.
Aha!
Me thinks we found a loophole!
So I tell my landlord the same thing. He writes up a detailed list stating that it is in following City and Fire Safety Standards and whatnot.... it was great. The technicians come out, look at the list, determine that they can't place the dish and say that they will let DirecTV know this. That I will need to contact them to get boxes to return the equipment. The plan was to contact them this week since I've been busy, and sick, and losing my mind, and moving couches out of windows.. you know... that...
Well yesterday when I left work early, guess who came home to a nice shiny BILL FROM DIRECTV?!?! UGH!
So I call today. I get on the phone with one representative and explain the situation to him. He puts me on hold for about 10 minutes and comes back and says "Ok, I'm going to transfer you so that you can set up an appointment to have the techs come back out and set up your dish."
Um.
Que?
"No no no no no you don't understand. The techs have already been out and determined that they CANNOT set up the dish. So I don't have service and my account should have been closed and I shouldn't be billed again."
"Please hold"
*Sigh*
"OK, Ma'am (I hate that.), once the techs come back out, you should have service again. So we'll just send them back out to you, waive this month's bill and start billing again once the techs have set you up."
Oh. For. The. Love. Of. Christ.
"NO. You're NOT hearing me. They cannot give me service. It's not possible. They have been out and determined it to be impossible. I do not now, nor will I ever, have DirecTV service at my new apartment. It's not happening. So I should not be billed for services not being rendered and my account should be closed."
"Please hold"
*Sigh* (plus toe tapping which he can't see through the phone, but it made me feel better)
"OK Ma'am (still not any better.), I'm going to transfer you so we can give you that credit for this past month."
"ooooooook great" anything to get off the phone with you.
Then I get an adorable little southern lady who tells me that she can issue a credit for $35 for the package deal that I have (no credit for the equipment rental, the taxes or the special channels that I had. None of which I was able to use either. But whatevs.) but that I will still have to pay the $400 cancellation fee. I explain that, given then information her company provided me with, that I should not be held responsible for that fee any longer. She "understands" but... ya know... I totally CHOSE to live in a building where the landlord doesn't like DirecTV.
Oh. Man.
You're totally right, Southern lady. It's not as though I had to make choices about my new apartment based on silly things like price, neighborhood, amenities, condition, bugs, rats... clearly the only thing that should have been on my mind when looking at apartments is "DirecTV. Show me whatever you've got that allows DirecTV. That's all I ask... I must have my DirecTV!"
...
By the way? She is the second person to mention that my choice of apartment should have been based upon DirecTV service availability.
Kill myself.
At this point I have been on the phone for nearly 35 minutes in the middle of my work day, and it's ridiculous. She finally puts me in touch with a supervisor.
I explain the situation to him as I have twice before in the last 40 minutes. After 30 seconds, the supervisor says, "I can see that you've jumped through hoops and tried everything you can to have service moved to your new location. I'm going to go ahead and waive all of this for you, and we're sorry to see you go. We hope you'll consider DirecTV in the future. Do you have any other questions?"
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!! FREEDOOOOOOMMM!!!!!!! VICTORYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I do understand that DirecTV is a business. They HAVE to make it tough to get out of contractual agreements because if it was easy then NOBODY would pay that cancellation fee and they would lose tons of money.
Unfortunately, they did not realize that they were dealing with me.
And in the end? I think the better woman won.
So yeah, I just saved myself nearly $500 by not being passive. I'm getting $80 back from my TV mount since my walls are indestructible (which can be a god thing I guess but... not so much in this case)... For somebody that has been so financially beaten over the last few months, I'm feelin pretty darn good!
Maybe I will give baby brother some cash for graduation...... *Le sigh*....... aaaaand we've come full circle.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Weight Loss Wednesday
Ugh. Kids. Crazy week yet again. I'm pooped.
But I have stories!
OK, so you know that I went home on Friday to Hershey, PA for the RELAY FOR LIFE walk etc. So here's what happened.
Uneventful train ride home.
Hung out and walked a few laps at the relay for life. Enjoyed a snocone because it was HOTTER THAN SATAN'S TOENAILS out there! Got Subway for dinner and I found out that... my mom? Never had Subway before. I'm not entirely clear how that's possible, but... I was shocked.
They had a bunch of "themed" laps, my favorite being the Mr. Relay lap. One guy from each participating team dressed up like a woman and created "her" own persona including favorite places to shop and hobbies. My favorite was probably the girl scout, but the whole thing was hilarious! After shakin what their mamas didn't give them, they took a lap to try to collect as much money as they could. I suggested that next year somebody do a water gun/ water balloon lap because, did I mention? HOTTER THAN THE BLAZES OUT THERE!
My mom has gotten slightly lax about the whole relay thing, and let us go home to sleep. And who am I to argue against that?? So I went and thank GOD we did that because HOLY HUGE STORM BATMAN! It got so bad that they had to move the relay indoors anyway. I didn't even notice it thanks to being all snuggled in bed. We got up the next day and went back to the relay. We heard a guy talk about his battle(s) with cancer (he was diagnosed 9 different times, and had some ridiculously large number of very invasive surgeries and found out just months ago that he has it AGAIN. Ugh.), and we walked a little more.
Eventually we packed up and headed home to get ready for my cousin's graduation party. By the way: Congratulations to the Graduating Class of 2011! My baby brother is included in that group and I just couldn't be prouder!
So we hung out at my cousin's for a while where there was TONS of food and Apples to Apples which I played for the first time without it being a drinking game....
...ahem...
Then I had a minor heart attack.
OK, not really.
We had to drop my step-dad off at his class reunion since he is on the committee and he had to set up. The DJ was.... well... DJing the reunion. So we pull into the lot and I see his car. Just knowing we were within probably 50 feet of each other had my heart racing over the potential drama of it all. I threw the stuff that the DJ had left and ACTUALLY wanted back at Buzz, dove back into the car and my mom and I sped off.
Phew.
Crisis averted.
I'm ridiculous.
So no DJ sighting thank GOD! My mom told me that she cried when she said goodbye to him after the reunion. My mom gets attached. You want to feel unconditional love? Come meet the Vicki. She'll love you forever no matter what.
Seriously.
Even if you screw over her daughter.
...ahem...
SO.
Then Maria came to visit :) YAAAAAY MARIA!
And then my "diet" went to crap.
We made pizza in the oven... and added Philly cheesesteak meat to the top of it. Super delish. Super not OK for somebody/people looking to lose weight...
So then we got ready to go. The original plan had been to meet up with Dustin that night at the local bar (Shakey's... or.... now I guess it's Overtime. But it's like how the Harrisburg mall will ALWAYS be the Harrisburg East Mall to the locals. I digress...). Basically, it appears that Dustin met up with some other high school friends that don't have much of an interest in seeing Maria or myself which is just FINE. But Dustin showed up to dinner drunk (who needs a DD to get to dinner? Dustin does.), and then just got drunker as the night went on. So he didn't have a way. And of course the people he was with were completely unwilling to meet at the middle point (SHAKEY'S) so we didn't see him.
Everybody has priorities.
Maria's was getting me drunk.
Ya know. Just in case we go home to find a DJ raiding my mother's fridge or snoring in my mom's guest room.
She either wanted me to be so drunk that I didn't notice it at all, or I started some sort of odd pillow fight with him. The details were fuzzy...
... as was my vision.
ANYWAY.
The night ended up being SUPER fun and exactly what I've been needing the last few weeks. My tab was $10 (mostly because the situation I'm not telling you about that was next to me bought me at least 4 shots and maybe a long island or two? Fuzzy.)
Maria tried to get me to take a body shot off of said situation. I did not. He did.
... Still not telling you about situation....
... Don't worry! I went home without the situation (which really wouldn't have been bad if I had, but I'm a good girl... from central PA.... we... don't... do.... that... sort............. BAHAHAHA I couldn't even get that out without laughing.)
But I was not sober. I vaguely remember Sheetz. I do not remember the MTO I got. I do recall seeing CARLI!!! I do recall crying over a friend we lost this year. I do recall a fun moment in the rain in the parking lot. I do not recall the ride home. I do recall Maria waking me up in the morning to say goodbye. I do recall my mom coming into my room at 12 saying "um. Get up. Shoe shopping. Now."
And so I got up :) We went shoe shopping! It's not possible or OK to leave a shoe sale that is buy 1 get 2 free. It is also not OK to assume you are getting high quality shoes. It's kind of like the Forever21 of shoe shopping.
And then I took a nap. And then I came home.
This week... has not been busy at work. I was incredibly tempted to lie to you there and say YES, in fact, we WERE super busy, why do you ask? Oh why yes that IS why I haven't posted. The truth? Pinterest totally sucked me in over the last 2 days. Shameful.
But I really wasn't expecting much on the weight loss front this week. Really not at all. I didn't gym. I drank a lifetime supply of booze. I had Philly cheesesteak pizza for the love of Pete. (Pete was the bartender whom I have known since I was 5, in case you were wondering).
... and I was right not to expect anything.
I didn't lose anything.
BUT
I didn't gain a darn thing either which is GREAT! So I splurged this week. I didn't gym, I went out, I had a good time. No big deal. I jumped right back in the saddle after Saturday night and I'm doing great. This DOES put the pressure on for Florida because now I for real have to lose 2 pounds per week to get those last 15 pounds. But I think I can do it. I am determined not to stop! I can DO IT!
So we're holding steady at -14 pounds which is something to be proud of, you know?
I've noticed I get a lot of readers on these posts, so if you are working on your own weight loss goal, or have any encouraging thoughts please let me know! I could definitely use them!
OK, onward and upward.... I'm off to the gym!
But I have stories!
OK, so you know that I went home on Friday to Hershey, PA for the RELAY FOR LIFE walk etc. So here's what happened.
Uneventful train ride home.
Hung out and walked a few laps at the relay for life. Enjoyed a snocone because it was HOTTER THAN SATAN'S TOENAILS out there! Got Subway for dinner and I found out that... my mom? Never had Subway before. I'm not entirely clear how that's possible, but... I was shocked.
They had a bunch of "themed" laps, my favorite being the Mr. Relay lap. One guy from each participating team dressed up like a woman and created "her" own persona including favorite places to shop and hobbies. My favorite was probably the girl scout, but the whole thing was hilarious! After shakin what their mamas didn't give them, they took a lap to try to collect as much money as they could. I suggested that next year somebody do a water gun/ water balloon lap because, did I mention? HOTTER THAN THE BLAZES OUT THERE!
My mom has gotten slightly lax about the whole relay thing, and let us go home to sleep. And who am I to argue against that?? So I went and thank GOD we did that because HOLY HUGE STORM BATMAN! It got so bad that they had to move the relay indoors anyway. I didn't even notice it thanks to being all snuggled in bed. We got up the next day and went back to the relay. We heard a guy talk about his battle(s) with cancer (he was diagnosed 9 different times, and had some ridiculously large number of very invasive surgeries and found out just months ago that he has it AGAIN. Ugh.), and we walked a little more.
Eventually we packed up and headed home to get ready for my cousin's graduation party. By the way: Congratulations to the Graduating Class of 2011! My baby brother is included in that group and I just couldn't be prouder!
So we hung out at my cousin's for a while where there was TONS of food and Apples to Apples which I played for the first time without it being a drinking game....
...ahem...
Then I had a minor heart attack.
OK, not really.
We had to drop my step-dad off at his class reunion since he is on the committee and he had to set up. The DJ was.... well... DJing the reunion. So we pull into the lot and I see his car. Just knowing we were within probably 50 feet of each other had my heart racing over the potential drama of it all. I threw the stuff that the DJ had left and ACTUALLY wanted back at Buzz, dove back into the car and my mom and I sped off.
Phew.
Crisis averted.
I'm ridiculous.
So no DJ sighting thank GOD! My mom told me that she cried when she said goodbye to him after the reunion. My mom gets attached. You want to feel unconditional love? Come meet the Vicki. She'll love you forever no matter what.
Seriously.
Even if you screw over her daughter.
...ahem...
SO.
Then Maria came to visit :) YAAAAAY MARIA!
And then my "diet" went to crap.
We made pizza in the oven... and added Philly cheesesteak meat to the top of it. Super delish. Super not OK for somebody/people looking to lose weight...
So then we got ready to go. The original plan had been to meet up with Dustin that night at the local bar (Shakey's... or.... now I guess it's Overtime. But it's like how the Harrisburg mall will ALWAYS be the Harrisburg East Mall to the locals. I digress...). Basically, it appears that Dustin met up with some other high school friends that don't have much of an interest in seeing Maria or myself which is just FINE. But Dustin showed up to dinner drunk (who needs a DD to get to dinner? Dustin does.), and then just got drunker as the night went on. So he didn't have a way. And of course the people he was with were completely unwilling to meet at the middle point (SHAKEY'S) so we didn't see him.
Everybody has priorities.
Maria's was getting me drunk.
Ya know. Just in case we go home to find a DJ raiding my mother's fridge or snoring in my mom's guest room.
She either wanted me to be so drunk that I didn't notice it at all, or I started some sort of odd pillow fight with him. The details were fuzzy...
... as was my vision.
ANYWAY.
The night ended up being SUPER fun and exactly what I've been needing the last few weeks. My tab was $10 (mostly because the situation I'm not telling you about that was next to me bought me at least 4 shots and maybe a long island or two? Fuzzy.)
Maria tried to get me to take a body shot off of said situation. I did not. He did.
... Still not telling you about situation....
... Don't worry! I went home without the situation (which really wouldn't have been bad if I had, but I'm a good girl... from central PA.... we... don't... do.... that... sort............. BAHAHAHA I couldn't even get that out without laughing.)
But I was not sober. I vaguely remember Sheetz. I do not remember the MTO I got. I do recall seeing CARLI!!! I do recall crying over a friend we lost this year. I do recall a fun moment in the rain in the parking lot. I do not recall the ride home. I do recall Maria waking me up in the morning to say goodbye. I do recall my mom coming into my room at 12 saying "um. Get up. Shoe shopping. Now."
And so I got up :) We went shoe shopping! It's not possible or OK to leave a shoe sale that is buy 1 get 2 free. It is also not OK to assume you are getting high quality shoes. It's kind of like the Forever21 of shoe shopping.
And then I took a nap. And then I came home.
This week... has not been busy at work. I was incredibly tempted to lie to you there and say YES, in fact, we WERE super busy, why do you ask? Oh why yes that IS why I haven't posted. The truth? Pinterest totally sucked me in over the last 2 days. Shameful.
But I really wasn't expecting much on the weight loss front this week. Really not at all. I didn't gym. I drank a lifetime supply of booze. I had Philly cheesesteak pizza for the love of Pete. (Pete was the bartender whom I have known since I was 5, in case you were wondering).
... and I was right not to expect anything.
I didn't lose anything.
BUT
I didn't gain a darn thing either which is GREAT! So I splurged this week. I didn't gym, I went out, I had a good time. No big deal. I jumped right back in the saddle after Saturday night and I'm doing great. This DOES put the pressure on for Florida because now I for real have to lose 2 pounds per week to get those last 15 pounds. But I think I can do it. I am determined not to stop! I can DO IT!
So we're holding steady at -14 pounds which is something to be proud of, you know?
I've noticed I get a lot of readers on these posts, so if you are working on your own weight loss goal, or have any encouraging thoughts please let me know! I could definitely use them!
OK, onward and upward.... I'm off to the gym!
Friday, June 10, 2011
And we're off!
OK kids, I'm off for the weekend! Heading back to Hershey for Relay For Life/ Graduation Parties/ Drama, Drama, Drama!
If you would like to, please sponsor me HERE! Anything you can offer helps! I'd like to blow people's collective minds in the post-event fund raising since I totally SUCKED at fund raising before what with people taking my money and refusing to return it, couches that wouldn't fit out of apartments, greedy movers... ya know. THAT.
I'll give an update upon my return what with possible DJ sightings (although unlikely) and a mini high school reunion of my own. Should be an interesting weekend!
Enjoy everybody!
If you would like to, please sponsor me HERE! Anything you can offer helps! I'd like to blow people's collective minds in the post-event fund raising since I totally SUCKED at fund raising before what with people taking my money and refusing to return it, couches that wouldn't fit out of apartments, greedy movers... ya know. THAT.
I'll give an update upon my return what with possible DJ sightings (although unlikely) and a mini high school reunion of my own. Should be an interesting weekend!
Enjoy everybody!
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Weight Loss Wednesday!
I'm pretty sure my gym thinks that I have a membership solely for use of their scale. They are happy to take my $29.99 every month for that, but they still think I'm weird for it.
I will get back to the gym at some point.
I swear.
Anyway. As you've heard pretty much every week since I started this little WLW column thing... I was sure, yet again, that this was the week. The week I wouldn't lose. Or I would gain. Or I'd only lose 1/4 pound. Or god forbid I'd start a plateau. UGH! The worst! I knew it. I stripped down as far as I would dare in a new gym with lots of people in the locker room and stepped on the scale.
And yet again I was shocked into bursting pride and happiness.
DOWN 3 POUNDS, BABY!
That makes for a total loss of 14 pounds! Which is amazing! In 6 weeks I'm down 14 pounds! Geez! That's still just over my 2 pounds per week goal. My next goal is to have a total of 25 pounds gone by the end of July when we go to Florida. Which means that I have exactly 7 weeks to lose 11 pounds. I feel like this won't be a problem, but you never know. I don't want to get too over-confident.
I just need to get myself into the gym so that I'm toning while I'm losing. I don't want all that skin hanging off of me, or to still look out of shape once I've lost my total amount I am trying to lose, you know? So that's something I need to concentrate on again.
I told Maria last night that I felt like somebody was playing a trick on me. Like every time I go in to weigh myself and see that I've lost, I feel like somebody has tampered with the scale to make me think I've lost, when in fact I haven't. I don't know why a stranger at the gym would do that to me. But it seems logical because I just don't feel like I have to try hard this time.
My mom thinks it's because I finally decided that this is something I really want to do. So thanks to being superficial and a shopaholic, I'm losing weight? Does that seem a little too.... easy?.... to anybody else? I don't know. I'll take it and keep doing what I'm doing. And just hope and pray that Livestrong.com doesn't flake out on me at some point. Because so far it's been a champ!
OK, I'm sorry to cut this short but work just keeps getting so busy and yet again today I'm the only assistant in the office because, really, in 6 months, being completely alone in an office of 25 needy execs for a total of about a month and a half is COMPLETELY ACCEPTABLE! Grrrr!!
OK back to work. Have a nice heatwave!
I will get back to the gym at some point.
I swear.
Anyway. As you've heard pretty much every week since I started this little WLW column thing... I was sure, yet again, that this was the week. The week I wouldn't lose. Or I would gain. Or I'd only lose 1/4 pound. Or god forbid I'd start a plateau. UGH! The worst! I knew it. I stripped down as far as I would dare in a new gym with lots of people in the locker room and stepped on the scale.
And yet again I was shocked into bursting pride and happiness.
DOWN 3 POUNDS, BABY!
That makes for a total loss of 14 pounds! Which is amazing! In 6 weeks I'm down 14 pounds! Geez! That's still just over my 2 pounds per week goal. My next goal is to have a total of 25 pounds gone by the end of July when we go to Florida. Which means that I have exactly 7 weeks to lose 11 pounds. I feel like this won't be a problem, but you never know. I don't want to get too over-confident.
I just need to get myself into the gym so that I'm toning while I'm losing. I don't want all that skin hanging off of me, or to still look out of shape once I've lost my total amount I am trying to lose, you know? So that's something I need to concentrate on again.
I told Maria last night that I felt like somebody was playing a trick on me. Like every time I go in to weigh myself and see that I've lost, I feel like somebody has tampered with the scale to make me think I've lost, when in fact I haven't. I don't know why a stranger at the gym would do that to me. But it seems logical because I just don't feel like I have to try hard this time.
My mom thinks it's because I finally decided that this is something I really want to do. So thanks to being superficial and a shopaholic, I'm losing weight? Does that seem a little too.... easy?.... to anybody else? I don't know. I'll take it and keep doing what I'm doing. And just hope and pray that Livestrong.com doesn't flake out on me at some point. Because so far it's been a champ!
OK, I'm sorry to cut this short but work just keeps getting so busy and yet again today I'm the only assistant in the office because, really, in 6 months, being completely alone in an office of 25 needy execs for a total of about a month and a half is COMPLETELY ACCEPTABLE! Grrrr!!
OK back to work. Have a nice heatwave!
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