Uno, Dos, Tres, Cuatro

So everyone knows I did Weight Watchers. I joined last September & lost 20 lbs. I haven't lost any weight in quite awhile, but I haven't minded so much because I haven't gained any weight either. Until now. I've gained 4 lbs. I realize 4 lbs isn't a big deal, but I know myself & 4 lbs will turn into 10 lbs virtually overnight. I've hardly worked out since we started Session, but I was hoping to maintain my weight, work out when I can, & then hit the gym hard when Session ends.

Does everyone have a Monday vs. Friday weight or it just me? I typically ignore my Monday weight & only log my Thursday or Friday weight. Well, lately my Monday weight is the same every day of the week. Not good. I've gotten pretty bad about eating out, too. John & I eat out a lot & here lately I've gone back to eating whatever I want, not necessarily ordering the healthier options. And I'm not working out. At all. Bad combination clearly.

I worked out on Monday. I intended to go after work yesterday, but ended up working late & was too tired. Tonight I won't be able to work out because of another work thing. I can go tomorrow, but can't go on Friday because I'm getting my hair cut. This is how it goes. I know I could get up early & work out before work, and I've gone that route before, but I just don't feel like it right now. Ugh, maybe I will anyway. Maybe....

I want to lose these 4 lbs, plus an additional 10-20 lbs. That will get me back down to my fighting weight. Then I'll have to find something else to bitch about.....

Happy Hump Day.

Weekend Recap

Friday night:
John & I met our new friends Jessica & Brian (also recently engaged) @ Cinco de Mayo. We had a good time talking about our upcoming nuptials & where to go on our honeymoons (I vote Mexico).

Saturday:
John & I ate lunch @ Calypso Cafe then drove around looking for somewhere to live.

Later that afternoon, I met Carolyn at her casa to get started on our Save-the-Dates & wedding invitations. Four hours later, we pretty much had decided on the Save-the-Date. Carolyn rocks! If any of you ever have stationary needs, definitely give her a call.

Saturday night:
John & I were going to see Baby Mama, but I stayed at Carolyn's too long & we missed the movie. We went to Anatolia & had dinner, then John went to Mercy Lounge & I went home & watched more episodes of The Sopranos (almost done).

Sunday:
I woke up super early & painted my nails, went to Starbucks, read the paper & watched all the Sunday AM news programs. Thought about working out, then didn't -afraid socks/tennis shoes would mess up freshly painted nails. Woke up John & went to see Baby Mama.

SIDENOTE: Baby Mama is hilarious. It's my new favorite movie. Highly recommend it.

After the movie, we were hungry, so we went to Whole Foods & ate a slice of pizza. I decided I should try & do my grocery shopping for the week while we were there. I quickly realized I am not the type of person who shops at Whole Foods. I like to shop at Kroger where I know all the brands, can find both generic & lower fat versions of almost everything I eat & get at least $5 knocked off my bill for using my Kroger Plus card. Aside from not feeling cool enough to be shopping at Whole Foods, I didn't know what anything was. And there was no pre-packaged meat. No Laura's Lean. I had to ask the "butcher" for a pound of lean ground beef. It was $8.99! I'm sorry, but that's insane.

Whole Foods, I like you & I'll still run in when I need a quick already prepared meal, but you will not be getting my weekly business. Sorry.

In closing, last night I finally watched Atonement. I liked it. I was mildly annoyed at Keira Knightley's obvious anorexia, but whatever. It was a good movie.

Reception Site Booked

We finally found a place to have our reception. We booked the Sam Davis Home in Smyrna. It's perfect. It's both indoors & out. We will all fit indoors, but I'm really hoping for nice weather so we can have guests outside as well. Plus, we'd like to set up the band and/or DJ outside. Pics here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16828091@N04/sets/72157604696968164/

So to have only been engaged for one month, I feel like we've accomplished a lot. We've booked both the church & the reception site. We've hired the wedding photographer. We've almost hired a caterer. We've started our registry. I've started trying on dresses. Our guest list is complete for the most part. My mom & I are meeting with Carolyn tomorrow to get started on our invitations & save-the-dates, etc.

The things that still need to be done are the fun things: deciding on colors, picking out the bridesmaid dresses, cake vs. cupcakes, flowers, reception decor, etc. I'm trying to get as much done as I can before I start summer school in June because I'm afraid my weekends will be spent studying.

TGIF!

Easy Enchiladas

I made these enchiladas the other night & they were surprisingly good, so I thought I'd share the recipe:

Easy Enchiladas

Makes 4 Servings

2 teaspoons canola oil
1/2 lb hot Italian (turkey) sausage, casings removed
1 red bell pepper, seeded & chopped
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 cup canned stewed tomatoes
3/4 cup canned black beans, rinsed & drained
3/4 cup canned chickpeas, rinsed & drained (could use pinto beans instead)
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
Four 6" flour tortillas
1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat Monterey Jack cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 350; spray a 2-quart casserole with nonstick cooking spray. In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil. Saute the sausage & bell pepper, stirring frequently to break up the sausage, until browned, 6-8 minutes. Add the chili powder & cumin; cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in the tomatoes, beans, chickpeas & pepper. Reduce the heat & simmer 5 minutes.

2. Place the tortillas on a work surface; spoon the sausage mixture down the center of the tortillas, then roll them into cylinders. Place, seam-side down, in the baking dish; sprinkle with the cheese. Bake until heated through & the cheese is melted, 30-35 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Per serving: 404 Calories, 14 g Total Fat, 3 Saturated Fat, 49 mg Cholesterol, 1,265 mg Sodium, 48 g Total Carbohydrate, 7 g Dietary Fiber, 23 g Protein, 140 mg Calcium.
Weight Watchers POINTS per serving: 4.

Bridal Registry Hell

John & I set out on Sunday thinking we could get all of our registering done. Wrong! Little did I know that registering in 3 stores for everything you're going to possibly need for the rest of your life, can't be done in 1 day.

We went to Macy's 1st. We couldn't decide on anything & the things we knew we wanted, I wanted to register for at Bed Bath & Beyond. So we embarrassingly turned our scan gun in without having actually scanned anything. After being scolded by the bridal registry associate, we tucked our tails between our legs & left the store.

While we were in the mall, we checked out Pottery Barn & Williams Sonoma. There was nothing for us in Pottery Barn, but we saw a lot of stuff in Williams Sonoma. I think we'll probably set up a registry there later.

So we arrive at Bed Bath & Beyond, ready to scan. 3 hours later we emerge, exhausted. I don't even know what we registered for. It's all a blur. The things we knew we needed, we didn't know what brand to go with. Then there were all the things we felt like we needed, but weren't 100% sure what they did.....

John's done. He's given me clearance to go back to all the stores & register for whatever I want. I just need to take reinforcements this time. I need someone with me who knows what all those kitchen appliances do & what brands to go with.

I think later in May, before I start summer school, we're going to drive down to Atlanta & set up a registry @ Crate & Barrel. We're having trouble finding everyday plates & bedding that we like. Honestly, I just want an excuse to eat at Taqueria Del Sol again. I love you, fried chicken taco!!!

http://www.taqueriadelsol.com/lunch.htm

Don't Throw It Away!

I've been in the process of going through my closets & getting rid of everything that doesn't fit or hasn't been worn in over a year. There was a lot. I took 2 huge bags of clothes to that place in Hillsboro Village (I can never remember what it's called) & made $40. Not bad. Everything else I took to Goodwill. You can't drop stuff off at Goodwill & not go in, so we went in & I found this hilarious book called Don't Throw It Away! & this cute vintage clutch. The book is ridiculous. There's a page on how to take an old military boot & make it into a lamp (see above).

So somehow over the past couple of weeks I've become addicted to VH1. It all started innocently enough one recent Saturday when I got sucked into a Rock of Love II marathon. RIP, Daisy. RIP... While watching said marathon, I saw an ad for this new show called Miss Rap Supreme. I totally set TiVO up to record it & now I'm hooked. I doubt anyone else in the world has seen this show, but I love it. If you've seen it, please let me know so I won't feel so stupid for watching it. THEN this weekend I saw an ad saying that they're going to start running Best Week Ever daily. It's called Best Day Ever. Soon my entire TiVo is going to be filled with nothing but bad reality TV on VH1 & re-runs of Murphy Brown & Night Court from Nick at Night....

Wedding Website

All in a day's work:

http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/KimAndrews&JohnBaldwin

It's a work in progress. John hasn't even seen it yet, so there's undoubtedly some editing in store, but it's a start.

Roberto Spring Mix 08

My friend Rob is a mix CD master. He made numerous mix CDs for me when he lived here. Now that he's in NYC, he's making them for my BFF, Tiffany. Well, he may have outdone himself this time with Spring Mix 08. We listened to it the whole time I was in NYC & Tiffany was kind enough to mail me a copy. I've been listening to it on repeat for about 2 solid weeks now, so I thought I'd share the goodness. I put my 8 favorite tracks in Bold.

Roberto Spring Mix 08:

1) "Bellyful of Wine" Eureka Gold
2) "You're a Wolf" Sea Wolf
3) "Whole Wide World" Wreckless Eric
4) "Cannot Get, Started" Handsome Furs
5) "Fools" The Dodos
6) "Middle Tennessee" Porter Hall, Tennessee
7) "Wild Mountain Nation" Blitzen Trapper
8) "Keep Your Eyes Ahead" The Helio Sequence
9) "Learning the Lie" The Hidden Cameras
10) "Goodbye Horses" Q Lazzarus
11) "The Saddest Story Ever Told" The Magnetic Fields
12) "Red House" Wild Light
13) "White Winter Hymnal" Fleet Foxes
14) "peter oh" Eureka Gold
15) "True Love Way" Kings of Leon
16) "Commotion" The Features
17) "Born on a Train" The Magnetic Fields
18) "The Mending of the Gown" Sunset Rubdown
19) "Innocent When You Dream (Barroom)" Tom Waits

P.S. All of these songs are available on iTunes.

School's Out For..... SPRING

Last night was my last class for this semester. I'm free until June 4th. Then I'll be in summer school until Aug 10th. I'm taking Statistics in Session 1 & Information Technology in Session II. Both of these classes are rumored to be the hardest classes in the program. I'm taking them in the summer because I have the most free time in the summer. Hopefully I'm not going to regret this decision....

The wedding planning is trucking along. Tomorrow my mom & I are meeting with potential wedding photographer # 1. I really like her work & assume we'll go with her. Saturday we're going dress shopping for the 1st time. I started my period today & am pretty sure I've somehow managed to gain 150 lbs this week, so not too sure how Saturday is going to go.... Next weekend we're getting together with Carolyn to start working on the invites, save-the-dates, etc. It's all starting to come together!

Date Set!

We have a date! Saturday, November 8th at 2:30pm. I'm planning on sending out Save-the-Date cards, but go ahead & mark your calendars.

We haven't confirmed the reception site yet, but hope to later this week.

It's all coming together!

GRE

I took the GRE today. I think I passed... You get your Verbal & Math scores at the end of the test & then you get your Analytical Writing score in the mail in 10-15 days. I did average on the Verbal part, but completely bombed the Math section (expected). I think even without knowing what I made on the Analytical Writing section, I made a high enough score for TSU. At least I hope I did... Oh well, whatever, it's done. I just hope I don't have to take it again. I hate standardized tests!

Tonight for dinner I'm going to attempt to make this shepard's pie recipe that Katie, aka Panda Parables, made for me & John a couple weeks ago. It was soooo good! Hopefully I can pull it off. I've never made mashed potatoes before & I don't have a mixer, but I feel confident, ha ha. Mental note: register for mixer.

Engagement Ring

I got my engagement ring today!!! It's so pretty. I can't believe it's mine. I can't stop looking down at my hand. I went straight to the salon & got my nails done. Let the viewing begin!

I hate you, David Archuleta

Yeah, that's right. I watch American Idol. It combines two of my favorite past times: music & judging people.

So I just watched this week's episodes & am highly disappointed that Michael Johns got voted off. Did everyone miss the episode where Krissy Lee Cook said she spent an entire year living as a dog? Oh yeah, she said it. Apparently when she was 7 she walked on all fours & barked like a dog for a year. You can't make this stuff up.

So the dog-girl is still on, but Micheal Johns is off? I don't get it. And David Archuleta? Don't even get me started....

American Idol, you better kick off someone truly bad next week or I may have to cancel my Tivo Season Pass. Consider yourself warned.

On a non-American Idol note, but still TV-related.... Did anyone watch 30 Rock the other night? MILF Island? OMG, I'm still laughing. God bless Tina Fey.

Church? Check.

We've finally decided on a place to get married: St. Edward's. It's the church I grew up in. We met with them last night & it's a go. Unfortunately, October was booked, so it'll be either November 1st or November 8th. I'll know for sure next week. Yay!

Now we just have to figure out where to have the reception. The owner of the farm we looked at was hesitant to let us use his farm in November, but we'll see. If that doesn't work out, we'll find something else. I'm not too terribly worried about finding a place for the reception.

I still don't have my engagement ring. The jeweler said it would take 2 & 1/2 - 3 weeks. Tuesday was the 2 week mark. I REALLY want that ring. John said he'd call today & check on it.

Also, I've been told that I need to get started on my/our registry. Apparently showers & lunches are already being planned. So crazy! I've only been engaged 2 & 1/2 weeks! Whatever. I'll take it. I love shopping & I love getting presents. It's a win-win. I really need to spend this weekend studying for the GRE since I take it on Monday, but maybe a quick trip to Target or West Elm to set up our registry won't hurt....

Yay! Wedding!

Wedding Planning, Week 3

The wedding planning is chugging along. Last Sunday we went & checked out a farm where we may possibly have our wedding and/or reception. The owners of the farm were going to check their fall calendar & get back to us with dates & prices. We haven't heard back from them yet, but hopefully we will soon.

Tonight we're meeting with the church I used to attend to talk about getting married there. I guess we'll know whether or not that's an option after our meeting tonight. I called a bunch of local churches last week, but they all either wanted us to join or didn't call me back. I feel like if we're going to use a church, it might as well be the church I grew up in. We'll see how it goes tonight.

In other news, I'm taking the GRE on Monday. I've been studying all week. I'm doing fine on the practice tests so far, but I haven't started working on the math yet. I'm horrible at math. I'll probably spend most of this weekend studying. Fun times.

Ahhh, Monday

Ridiculous things I did today:
1) bought this on Amazon.com
2) converted 12-week Buff Bride program into Word doc, then put into 3-ring binder
3) ate "dippin chicken" from cafeteria, then got mad b/c remembered leftover ravioli in fridge
4) bought & ate 1/4 lb of yogurt covered pretzels from Peanut Shop to compensate for bad lunch choice

Productive things I did today:
1) read one chapter of GRE study book
2) power-walked around neighborhood for 45 minutes

Well, better luck tomorrow productivity.....

Mule Day!

We went to Mule Day with Carolyn & David on Saturday. We got there early & watched the parade, which we missed last year. The parade was fun, but we were all inadequately dressed for the cool weather. We pretty much froze to death. After the parade, we went to the fairgrounds to see the mules & eat fair food. I ate sausage & peppers, John ate a Philly cheese steak & Carolyn ate a hot dog. Round 2: I had a chocolate fried pie, John had a kettle korn on the cob & Carolyn had deep fried Oreos. Sooooo good!

Yesterday John & I met my mom & sister out at a farm that we're hoping to use for our wedding and/or reception. John & I both really liked it. I think they're going to let us use it, they just had to check their fall calendar & get back to us with dates & prices. **Fingers crossed**

Sail On Hip Pain!

Does anyone else like the scent of Dolce & Gabbana's Light Blue? I used to wear it when I lived in NYC. I actually bought a bottle in Chinatown while I was there a few weeks ago, but it's not the same. The scent is right, but it's not as strong as it should be. It was probably a half empty sample bottle that they filled with water or alcohol. Anyway, I bought this new Dove bodywash @ Target last night that smells a lot like Light Blue. It's called Dove Energize -grapefruit & lemongrass scent. I used it this morning & I really like it.

I worked out last night for the 1st time in a long time. I was just going to do about 30 minutes, but as I climbed on the elliptical, Oprah came on. Did anyone else see Oprah yesterday? Her guest was a pregnant man. Yeah. Needless to say, I rode that damn elliptical for the duration of her show. I definitely needed the 60 minute work out, but my hips are killing me today. I was going to work out today too, but now I'm worried about aggravating my hips even more. I guess I could always just ride the bike. Stupid hips....

Sidebar: if you're unfamiliar with my hip saga, go here:

http://theblondemule.blogspot.com/2008/01/thursday.html

On my way to work this morning, my iPod shuffled to "Sail On" by the Commodores. I turned it up so loud I laughed at myself. I was totally jamming out to Lionel Richie. For those of you still in your twenties, enjoy your youth because this is what you have to look forward to: hip pain & light FM.

Trader Joe's, bitches!

Has everyone heard? We're getting a Trader Joe's!!! It's going into the abandoned Wild Oats bldg in Green Hills. It opens in the fall. I'm so frigging excited! You can read the story in the Tennessean here:

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080403/BUSINESS01/804030358/1003/NEWS01

I'm never leaving the West side now. I don't care if I have to live in a rented, converted garage with rent higher than most of my East side friends' mortgages. All that's left to make my grocery store dreams come true, is for someone to start carrying Pork Slap. Ahh, a girl can dream....

What a Croc!

Last night, while flipping through InStyle, I was stopped dead in my tracks by the scariest print ad I've ever seen. Crocs is advertising a new style of their popular gardening clog. I don't even know how to describe it. It's some hybrid between a mule & a flip-flop. It's got about a 2"-3" heel. And it's red. It's a red rubber high-heeled flip-flop. It's the most heinous pair of shoes I've ever seen. And I use the term "shoes" lightly. If any of you have seen this ad & thought, "hmm, those are cute". I warn you now, I WILL make fun of you.

On another note, the place were I had planned on having my wedding reception no longer rents its facilities for wedding receptions. So I'm back at square 1. I have no idea where to go from here. I've called all the "popular" places where people get married, but they're all either booked or way out of my price range. This is so frustrating!!!

Wedding Planning Melt Down, take 1

I had my first wedding planning melt down yesterday. It wasn't pretty. Thank god for Carolyn. She talked me down from the ledge. Then John took me to Nola's for that incredible steak sandwich with the fried egg. I love that sandwich, although this pattern of stress eating and not working out is not going to end well I'm afraid.... I really need to get back into the gym.

We're having trouble deciding on a place to get married. We've got plenty of ideas/options for the reception, we just can't find anywhere for the ceremony. Most of the places I called are already booked for October, which makes me think if I don't get on the ball, I'm going to lose out on November, too and where does that leave us.... A Christmas wedding?

If I can get this part squared away, I think I'll simmer down. I just want the locations confirmed and the date set. Is that so much to ask?

If anyone has location suggestions, please let me know.

Wish me luck....