First Week of School

Madelyn had her first day of 1st Grade this week! She had a great day. She likes her teacher, Mrs. Gibson, and has several of her friends from Kindergarten in her class. They played some games, ate lunch together as a class, etc. Trey went down to take her for her first day, along with her mom, and got some great pictures. He hung around Waco for the day, picked her up in the afternoon, and took her for ice cream afterward. What a special day! I can’t believe she is in First Grade – what a big girl!! It will be only a matter of time before she has homework I can’t help with and is spouting out random fun facts and knowledge that I have never heard of!!!

Along with Madelyn starting First Grade, this week marked the start of High School for Jackie and Dani!!! Now this, I REALLY can’t believe! My girls are old enough for high school? Jackie is on the volleyball team, and is a Freshman cheerleader, and Dani is on the volleyball team. They are already so involved and active, and I know they are going to do so great. Poor Dani, though… She fell down the steps at Forever 21 in the mall, (I’ve been in that store and their floors are really slippery), and sprained her ankle really badly. She was on crutches last weekend and then of course had to start high school with a boot! So recently I was thinking – OMG, the girls will have their licenses in a year and half, and be looking at colleges in about two and half years. I just can’t believe what amazing young ladies they’ve become. Madelyn has some great examples to follow!

Go back down to check out LA, Day 2 - I added some pics!

LA, California – Day 3 (Tuesday, Aug 5)

So day 3 began in the same manner as days 1 and 2… wake up (much too early – aren’t we supposed to be sleeping in on vacation?), shower, get dressed – you know the drill. So the differences this morning than the other mornings: 1. there was some added whining about how this bed isn’t quite up to par (minor whining, but whining non the less – and from both mom and me), and 2. this morning we forgo makeup (it’s not like we are trying to impress anyone, after all!). Before we head down to Morsel’s (our new favorite little spot in the hotel) for our regular coffee / latte, and bagel and fresh fruit to split, (we don’t really want to waste any time, nor do either of us feel like sitting down for a lengthy breakfast), I called the valet for the car. The conversation goes something like this:

Sarah (all perky and happy, of course): “HI – I’d like my car brought up, please”
Valet: Sure, what’s the ticket #
Sarah: 123456 (No - that’s not really the #, but I don’t remember it now!)
Valet: Will you be checking out
Sarah: For the 100th time – NO! We’re not checking out yet!! When we check out, I’ll tell you we’re checking out damn it!

Ok – so I wasn’t really that nasty, or nasty at all, but why do they keep asking me if we’re checking out?! It was so annoying. So I just couldn’t wait to call on the day we actually were checking out and finally get to say YES, and wouldn’t you know – when we went to check out the next morning, the concierge offered to have our car pulled up for us and I didn’t even get to call!

So anyway, we get into the car, plug in Gypsy, and get ready to head to the Fashion District. Beyond just wanting to go to check it out and see what we could find, we were also on a mission to each find a cheap travel bag. You see, we over shopped just a little bit, and were both (mom more than me) worried that we wouldn’t be able to fit everything in our suitcases to go home! Well, Gypsy had just about had it with us, because this morning she decided she wasn’t up for playing. So instead of having our usual voice activated directions, we had to wing it. Luckily we’d looked at a little map the hotel gave us that showed the general vicinity of the Fashion District, and we thought we’d surely see signs once we got close, so we just went for it. And we did pretty well – only a few extra twists and turns, and we were there. It was really only a short distance from the hotel (5 – 10 minutes). Once we got there, we realized why everyone said it would be a short experience. It was kind of gross and dirty. First of all, we had to go up this HUGE ramp to park (paying $8, of course), and then walk downstairs in this dark alley-like stairwell. It made me think of a stairwell that bums would go into to pee. So we’re kind of looking at each other like – really?! But we ventured on, being sure to make note of where we parked (the last thing we needed was to get lost in this place!). First we stopped in this little costume jewelry spot where I found a great “fun” necklace for me, and a little something for Madelyn. As we went on, we found shops that had handbags (much like Sam Moon or Harwin) and suitcases / duffels. Well, Mom ended up finding 2 great leather handbags – very fun and different, lots of pockets for her, and I found 1 too. From there, the next shop had suitcases, so we each got a small bag to get all of our goodies home. We wandered from there to Santee Alley. This is where we read that all of the “unique” shopping was. Well, unique it was. We got about 1/4 of the way through and turned around to go back. It was dirty, and felt cheap, and basically every little stop had the same junk as all the others. All in all, it was pretty much a disappointment. But then again, we both got just what we wanted, and weren’t suckered into a bunch of junk we didn’t need, so maybe it wasn’t a disappointment after all! We were definitely ready to go, though!

By now, we were starting to get a little hungry, and needed to decide where to head to next. Whenever we asked for suggestions, several people had said to check out The Grove. So we headed there next. We plugged it into Gypsy (who was now deciding to cooperate). But you see, we didn’t have the exact address, so we put into Gypsy “Grove St.”. About 30 minutes, and towards Glendale she said, so that’s where we headed. As we were getting closer, we kept saying – this doesn’t seem quite right. But it’s what she says, so keep going. Well… sure enough we “arrived at our destination”, and it wasn’t our destination at all!! It was a neighborhood (and not a very nice one at that). We were laughing as I called Jen and said “HELP”. She, all the while laughing at us, looked up the address of The Grove for us, and gave it to us. Well, apparently it makes a difference if you put in “Grove St.” vs “THE Grove St.”. So, another 30 minutes later, and almost back where we started from, we arrived at our INTENDED destination.

When we first arrived, mom wanted to take our picture in the mirrored elevator doors. It was actually quite funny, since twice right as she was taking the picture, the doors opened. People must have thought what goofballs we were! But she finally got one...



Well you can imagine if we were hungry when we first started on this adventure, by now we were starving. We parked and headed first to find food. There is this great restaurant called The Farm (I actually remembered Lauren taking me there for brunch when I visited her, but a different location). We looked over the menu and decided this was good. It was very café like – sandwiches, burgers, salads, etc. We sat inside (again – a wait for outside table) and enjoyed a relaxing lunch together. Next up, we decided just to wander around The Grove. It was a beautiful setup – much like a village – with boutiques, stores, restaurants and lots of trees. We stopped into Barnes and Noble so mom could get my new favorite find – the Hungry Girl cookbook (GREAT investment, by the way!), and some magazines for the plane ride home tomorrow. Next stop was Nordstrom to try to find me new black flip flops (I replaced my brown ones, but was still on the mission for the black ones I wanted – no luck here).


Here is mom hanging out in the fountains at The Grove. Isn't she so cute in her hat?

So now it was getting a little hot, and we felt like we’d seen it, so off to the next adventure we go. We’d been on a mission the last few days to find a Trader Joes at some point. So we plugged that into Gypsy, and boom – one was within 2 miles of where we were. We got some good snacks for the plane, but other than that – it didn’t really live up to the hype. Next stop was to find a Payless so mom could return the tennis shoes she bought for us to work out (ha – that was funny! We walked so much during each of our days, there was NO energy left to workout!). So we plugged that into Gypsy (who was now working like a charm), and boom again – there was one within a mile of where we were. Now, with that done – what to do next?

We were supposed to go to dinner at the Ivy tonight – I’d even made reservations a month ago, but neither of us felt like getting dressed nice and messing with it, so I cancelled our reservation and we went back to the hotel to relax and pack up a little. We decided to go to dinner at The Daily Grill – a restaurant that I went to once before and remember being pretty good, and it was really close to the hotel and didn’t require us to change or get too cleaned up. Well, it ended up being just perfect for our last night. The food was DELICIOUS. We split a grilled artichoke appetizer, wedge salad, and steak with fresh broccoli. It was so yummy, cooked to perfection, and the perfect amount of food. We really enjoyed our last night together!


Here I am just enjoying out dinner together!

And finally, mom and I so loved the lobby of our hotel - there were beautiful fresh floral arrangements every day, and they smelled so good!

Addendum to "Success"

I have to add an addendum to my last blog - Success...

Actually, mom bought one of the cookbooks and I bought one (she bought the more expensive one!). She didn't know it at the time, but she was happy to support my new hobby!

XOXO to you Mom!

Success

Success to me these days is the feeling that I’m getting somewhere towards my goal.

Last week I lost 3 more lbs, and to date since the start of Weight Watchers (about a month), 8 lbs total. It hasn’t been easy, but I have to say I’ve really enjoyed the challenge and the progress. It was the most difficult while I was on vacation – it’s just so hard to eat out and try to monitor portions and ingredients. And while I was determined to do my best, I also wasn’t going to give up eating good things (by good I mean yummy, not necessarily good for me!) while I was on vacation. But I got right back into the swing of things once I got home, and it’s so nice to see it paying off!

I’ve been working out a great deal (about 4 times a week) and although I’ve NEVER been one to “enjoy” going to the gym, I’ve started to really like it!!! I can’t believe it, but I do. Sometimes it’s still hard to be motivated (it would be so much easier to sit on my touchas and watch TV), but I look forward to working out – especially my classes (favorite is Step, but I also love Water Aerobics, and just started a Kickboxing).

The other thing I’ve really been happy with latterly is trying some new recipes.

First, I have to rave about the Hungry Girl cookbook (here is the link to her website http://www.hungry-girl.com/). It is FABULOUS!!! The recipes tend to be “remakes” of traditional things to make them so much better for you. And although it isn’t a Weight Watchers thing, the Hungry Girl is affiliated and gives points values for all of her recipes. So far, I’ve tried several things I love, but especially the Fiber One “fried” chicken, and Fiber One “fried” onion rings. It’s totally like eating fried chicken and onion rings – only better and SO much better for you!

I’ve also pulled some great recipes from the Weight Watchers website. Last week I did a Honey Balsamic Chicken – only 4 points a serving and DELICIOUS! There has been some others too – some great veggie recipes to spice things up a little more, and a few chicken dishes, etc. Desserts have been fun too – I did a brownie topped with marshmallows, graham cracker and chocolate drizzle – soooo good and 2 points! I have a list of several more to get to too.

And finally, this weekend I bought 2 new cookbooks and flagged about 20 recipes in each to try in the coming weeks. I’ve narrowed down the field while shopping for cookbooks by only considering ones that have nutrition information. It’s been super helpful, and I’ve found some really yummy sounding things to try – I’ll keep you all posted!

So that’s my latest craze – I hope I can continue it. Actually, I will continue it! Wish me luck!

LA, California – Day 2 (Monday, Aug 4)

So day 2 began much like day 1... Wake up early, roll out of bed, shower, dress, head downstairs to a little cafe for coffee, bagel and fruit to go that mom and I split, and get moving because we have lots to do. And we did do a ton today!

Here are few pictures of us outside of the hotel, waiting for our car. The day must begin with a few smiles!




First, we headed to Hollywood. I can't even type the word without hearing mom in my ear singing "Hollywood, dun, dun, dun, dun Hollywood" over and over and over and over and over and over again! I think I actually leaned over and smacked her to stop! So, we head to Hollywood and have no problems getting there (Thank You Gypsy!). Mom read about Brooks and Dunn getting their star on the walk of fame, so we wanted to try to see that. Even though neither of us are necessarily big Brooks and Dunn fans, (I at least know some of their songs and what they look like - mom is completely clueless and keeps calling them Dunn and Brooks), we thought what a cool experience that would be. So it was supposed to happen at 11:00, and we got to Hollywood by around 9:30 - plenty of time to find out where we needed to be, right? Well, we walked, and stopped and asked, and walked some more, and stopped and asked, and walked some more. We walked over spots we'd already been 2 and 3 times. Since we had some time to kill and were still looking, we ducked into a few souvenir shops and got goodies to take home. Finally, we duck into the Gap (my good 'ole faithful) and ask a sales associate there if he knows anything about Brooks and Dunn getting their star (so far everyone we asked says "yeah - I heard something about that, but I don't know where it is"). Well, he says he thinks it's all the way down at the other end - surprise, surprise. So now it is getting really close to time and here we thought we were so ahead of the game. We book it back down to the other end of the walk of fame and sure enough, there are the barricades and people waiting.

We got there just in time (luckily not too early after all since we are in the HOT sun, with no shade, and I forgot my hat at the hotel, and you know how the sun doesn't agree with me!). Pretty soon, here comes Brooks and Dunn. You can see in these pictures we really weren't that far away. As mom is taking pictures she keeps saying - "which ones are they?" and "which one is that?". She is so funny. I'm just laughing, especially since we are surrounded by die hard fans (one lady from Australia!) who are going berserk. It turned out that Dr. Phil and his wife were doing the introduction so they were also there. She was all decked out in her boob popping Dolce and 3 inch Louboutin heels. So first we had to hear from the President of the LA Chamber of Commerce, then someone else in a similar sort of role (I can't remember), then Dr. Phil, then his wife... jeez - give us the stars already!!

At this point, I'm sweating, it's so hot, and I am so over this. So, mom and I decide - enough already. We came, we saw, we took the pictures, we're done. Oh, by the way - I almost forgot to say that about halfway through all the nobody's speeches, mom's camera battery died (forgot to charge it the night before - oops), so you can imagine we're REALLY done!

Here are a few pictures from our stardom... The grey haired guy in the middle is some big whig in the LA Chamber of Commerce - whoopty - but as you can see he is totally blocking our view! Look on either side and you can see Brooks and Dunn and the back of Dr. Phil's bald head.


This one is for Allan (I'm not sure if he even reads my blog), but he better appreciate this one - this guy was sweaty and kept trying to talk while I was trying to smile for the picture!


As we're walking back towards the Kodak Theater (home of the "red carpet"), we see along the backside of where all this hooplah was going on that there is a DSW. We duck in, (Let me sidebar really quickly to say that this DSW was HUGE - twice as big as any I've seen and with tons of great stock), and wallah - we have a perfect, air conditioned view of Brooks and Dunn getting their star. But soon, we were REALLY over seeing them pose for pictures and doing basically nothing, so I looked at some really cute handbags, and ended up finding some great Michael Kors shoes that were $100, on sale for 50% off, and with mom's $20 coupon (Thanks Mom!), I only paid $30!

It is now afternoon, and we are finished wandering Hollywood. We're now starving, and decided to head to this restaurant for lunch that my friend Jen recommended - The Alcove. She said it had a great menu - very cafe / bistro like. Sure enough, Gypsy got us there in no time, and just like Jen said - it was a very cute, quaint place with a different and very enticing menu. I ended up having a ham and cheese panini (with a not so common cheese I don't remember) and a side salad with balsamic dressing (still trying to be good). Mom had a turkey and cranberry sandwich with sweet potato fries (which of course I stole a few). It sounds easy enough, but it's difficult to accurately describe. They were made with just enough twist from a normal, boring way - and oh so yummy!! I have been finding something very interesting in our dining experiences in LA... in California, people wait for a table OUTSIDE, in Texas, people wait for a table INSIDE. Just an observation.

After lunch, we debate on what to do next. Mom is very distraught that she doesn't have a camera and even contemplates buying a disposable for the day. But of course, although we have seen 20 CVS along the way - there isn't one to be found now. We end up driving through Beverly Hills and along Rodeo Drive (at this point, we're happy to observe from the car and not have to pay to park to wander the stores we can't afford to shop in). One more thing to cross off the list - check!

As we headed back to the hotel, we came across a mall. Just what we needed, but I really was in need of some new Reef flip flops. My feet were killing me with all the walking we were doing, and my Reefs were 3 summers old, so it was time. We wandered around the mall (because we don't have malls in Texas!), and I did find a new pair of Reefs (made that change and threw my old ones away), and also stumbled across a store called Aldo where I found not 1, but 2 fabulous handbags, a pair or way cool gold sandals, and mom and I both found awesome necklaces. All in all, I spent only about $100 in the store and found some great stuff!

Back at the hotel, we decided to get a recommendation from the Concierge for dinner - something light and casual we tell her, and preferably close by. We remembered how difficult it was to find anything open in downtown at night, and we don't want to have to go far, or go fancy. So she recommended this Italian place called Zucca within a 5 minute drive and offered the hotel car to take us. We thought this was a good idea, but then we have to wait for the car to get back from taking someone else, then we'll have to call them when we're ready to be picked up and wait for them to come back. It's just not worth it and after all, that is why we rented a car. So we drive ourselves and just resound to pay for parking (did I mention you have to pay to park EVERYWHERE in LA and it's crazy expensive?!) We get to Zucca and are looking at each other like - oh no, this is so NOT what we had in mind. I felt very under dressed and it was not laid back at all. But whatever, we're already here now, so we might as well go with it (plus we already paid the $5 or $10 to park!). Mom and I split the eggplant parmigiana appetizer and a fried calamari (so not on my diet), and a margherita pizza. It was good, but NOT great, and definitely not worth the price. But oh well - at least now we're fed and can head back to the hotel to wind down and get some rest.

And we did - I think we crashed by 9:30!!!

What a guy

I have to give major kudos to my husband - he gets a star award tonight. April had dinner with a friend, so it was just the two of us for dinner. A great opportunity for me to try out one of my Weight Watchers shrimp recipes (April doesn't eat shrimp and Trey and I love it). The recipe is for "Baked Shrimp in Lemony Garlic Sauce". Sounds yummy, right?

Here is the breakdown:
1 1/4 lb shrimp
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 Tbsp light butter, melted
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3/4 tsp lemon pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper
2 Tbsp parsley

Let me preface by saying that my paper I printed on is 3-hole punched, and for some reason this recipe is the only one that I printed that the ingredients are really close to the margin. There is a hole over the "3/4" for the lemon pepper and the "1/4" for the red pepper. Also, I didn't have red pepper, so cayenne pepper should work just as well, right?

The recipe is really easy (let me know if you want it - only 4 points). Basically, mix ingredients, pour over shrimp, bake for 10 minutes.

Well, I had almost 2 lbs of shrimp so I thought I'd close to double the recipe and have a little extra juice so I could serve over a little angel hair pasta. Makes sense, right?

So since I couldn't fully see the measurement of lemon pepper and red pepper, I guessed my best at what it looked like it was. I thought 3/4 tsp lemon pepper (check!), and 1/2 tsp red pepper (wrong!). And since, I was doubling, 1 tsp of cayenne pepper it is. Oh, I should also say that when I poured the Worcestershire sauce, it spilled over a little too, but a little extra won't really hurt anything, right?

Now the shrimp is baking great, the pasta boiling, dinner is almost ready with very little prep time. Trey takes a bite. The look on his face is priceless (did I tell you he doesn't really eat spicy food). I see the look on his face and say "it's not good, is it". He responds with an exuberant NO, and explains that there is something that just has a strong taste. So I taste it. Yep - it's the cayenne pepper. So, we get all settled at the table, and are enjoying dinner. (It's still good - just strong.) As I'm eating more, and reaching more for my drink (now mind you, I really like spicy food), I realize that it is REALLY spicy. Trey not only eats his and enjoys it (or pretends to), he gets up to get MORE!! I keep telling him I can make something else, he doesn't have to eat it, I know it's got to be way to hot for him, etc., and he says he really likes the flavor - it's just a little hot.

As he's helping me clean the kitchen, he thanks me for making dinner, says he LOVES my cooking 99 out of 100 times and so appreciates what I do for him.

What a husband!

Toothless, Part II

She's at it again! Madelyn has lost another tooth. She now has a BIG gap in the front of her mouth! The toothfairy is going to have to take out a loan pretty soon at this rate.

Check out her new smile!

LA, California – Day 1 (Sunday, Aug 3)

Yesterday was a long day! First of all, mom flew in Friday night. The timing was perfect – she landed in Orange County right as we finished up dinner and since we weren’t far from the airport, Dana dropped me off to pick up mom and our rental car. It worked out really well so that mom didn’t have to find her way to the hotel in the dark (even though I gave very thorough directions!) I was so happy to see her and to know that our girls trip was set to begin. It was hard to go to sleep because I just wanted to stay up and hang with her. But it didn’t take long for the exhaustion to set in (me from my day of work, mom from her travels).

So back to yesterday… It started with an early morning wake up – I had to get ready for work. One more day to go, and then we are on vacation – woohoo!! While I was working, mom went running all around Orange County. She went to several scrapbook stores, one in Huntington Beach where she was right on the water (great views), and of course, collected some great “California style” paper and goodies. She has to be the only person crazy enough to travel all the way from Texas to California to buy paper, punches, and scrapbook paraphernalia. Then she went to Southcoast Plaza – the premier shopping destination. She walked, and walked, and walked all around the mall. I laugh when I think of her shopping bags… scrapbook stores, Target, and Payless. All that distance for stores she has in Houston – how funny! I really thought I’d be done no later than dinner time, so after a bit, I told her to head over to St. John to pick me up. Well, that didn’t turn out to be the best move. Luckily mom is very flexible. She brought in her book and got quite a few chapters read of Story Telling (Tori Spelling’s book). It turns out, instead of being done with work around 6:00 pm like I expected, it was almost 11:00 pm!! I couldn’t believe it – but as mom always says – it is what it is. We still had the aprox 45 min drive from Irvine to Los Angeles, so on the road we went – LA here we come!!!

We arrived our hotel (thank you Gypsy – mom’s GPS – the greatest investment she ever made) close to midnight. We got checked in pretty quickly, unloaded our bags in the room, and with our tummy’s growling, headed down to the bar for a little something to eat. We ordered some food at the bar and talked about what we were going to do the next day. It was great to just be spending some good time together the two of us! With mom’s food, she got sweet potato fries – the start of her obsession for the trip.

Finally, off to bed we went. We were exhausted!

So that brings us to today…

First on the agenda was the President Reagan Library in Simi Valley. It was a bit of a drive, but a beautiful one (and easy – again thanks to Gypsy). The freeway took us right through mountains and it was amazing to see the landscape and how development is all different in the mountains versus in flat Texas. We got to the library very early (by 11:00 am), and beat the crowds. It was really perfect. There was a great short video highlighting Reagan’s path to the Whitehouse and his presidency. Short, sweet, and to the point – very well done.

Then we moved into what we really wanted to see… the exhibit of Nancy Reagan’s wardrobe. There were dresses, suits, and gowns from all different designers that she wore during her time as First Lady. It was absolutely amazing! First of all, the condition of these pieces was pristine. I was surprised at how well they were taken care of. They looked like they had just come out of the designer’s studio. Secondly, and even more amazingly, the styles were so classic and timeless. I could see a woman wearing nearly all of them today! I was overwhelmed by how the styles seem to be so modern and clean. It was also really cool to read about all of the occasions and events for which Nancy Reagan wore the designs. Very interesting! There was a great deal that was also devoted to telling the story of how she and “Ronnie” met, fell in love, and lived. It was really neat to hear.

Next up was the exhibit of Reagan’s journey to the Whitehouse, starting from him hometown, stint in Hollywood, time as Governor, then as President. We probably spent about an hour at Nancy’s exhibit, and about 10 minutes at Ronald’s!! The most interesting part was the section on the assassination attempt. All in all – 10 – 15 minutes was good enough.

Our final destination at the library was to tour Air Force One. They have open to the public the Air Force One that was used since before Reagan and to the current President Bush. It was extremely cool to see, but I have to say I was surprised at how “not fancy” it was. I really expected more. That is not to say that it wasn’t really neat – it was. Most overwhelming is the communication ability that is set up on an airplane! The first section is devoted to phone lines and communication connections. The president can essentially talk to anyone, anywhere in the world with a secure line on an airplane. I really wonder what the new Air Force One looks like? Is it fancier than the old one – afterall, this one had been in service for over 20 years. Surely they’ve modernized it at least a little!

The last stop at the Reagan library was to see a piece of the Berlin wall that was torn down during Reagan’s presidency. It looked like a big block of cement with graffiti on it (graffiti being something we’ve been getting really used to seeing in LA). But to know how much meaning and history is behind this decorated piece of cement was remarkable.

Well you would think that would have taken us all day, but we were done with all of that by 2:00. By now were starving though, so we stopped at a nearby Chili’s for lunch and to plan the rest of the days events. We picked a good stop for lunch, because we had a fabulous waitress who gave us directions to get to great stuff for the rest day…

Next stop was the Topanga mall. We got to see where the new Neiman Marcus is being built (well is already done being built and getting ready to open). And most importantly, they had a H&M – my one criteria for shopping in CA. It is this great store – comfortable, stylish, trendy enough without being out of style in one month, and cheap! Last time I found several things there for a total bill of less than $100, and I did it again – YIPEE! Topanga also had a very interesting and odd feature… a Target in the mall! We were shocked! It was the strangest thing.

From Topanga, we drove down to Santa Monica. (Did I say THANK GOODNESS for Gypsy yet?) The Santa Monica Pier was a highly recommended stop. Thanks to some strategic driving skills, we found parking right on the beach (thankfully NOT having to walk over the high bridge to cross the Pacific Coast Highway). So, for $10 in parking, we got to be right at the pier. We wandered up and down, stopped to buy some post cards, watched a guy doing a big break dancing routine, looked down at the not crystal blue water, and within 20 minutes, we felt we'd seen it all! The water wasn't as pretty as we'd expected (not as dirty looking as Galveston, but definitely not the clear blue in Mexico or Jamaica), but it was a beautiful view. We're just not people who enjoy looking at the beach, and since we were definitely not interested in swimming in the ocean, getting sand all over us, our clothes, in our shoes - we were done. As they say (I don't really know who "they" is... we came, we saw, we left!

Since we still had some time in the day, we decided to drive along PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) towards Malibu. I remembered that there was a great restaurant right on the water that Lauren took me to during my last visit to LA, and I was pretty sure it was in Malibu and I'd remember it when I saw it. Sure enough, we arrived at Duke's, and thought it would be beautiful to have dinner on the water as the sun set. So, we valeted the car (everything in and around LA is valet - pain in the butt!), went inside, put our names on the list (45 min wait), went to the restroom, and then decided... we don't really feel like waiting 45 minutes, and we weren't very hungry for a heavy meal, so maybe let's head back to the hotel afterall. Now you know me - I'm thinking - I hope I don't have to pay the $6 valet for 10 minutes! Well, sure enough, they had already parked our car, but he gave us the keys and let us just get it out and go. So, we drove back along PCH, all the while admiring the view of the huge beach houses along the mountainside, and headed for our temporary "home". As we were beginning to find, pretty much nothing was more than 30 minutes from our hotel, so we made it back relatively quickly. We unpacked the car and took everything up to our room, and then headed out grab a quick bite to eat. Since there is NOTHING open around the hotel past 6:00 ish (downtown LA shuts down after work hours!!), we ended up across the street from our hotel at California Pizza Kitchen - service stunk, food was good and light (we shared a pizza and salad - way to keep the points down), and before long, we were back at the hotel, CRASHED!

It was a long, fun, day!

Enjoy these pics from the in the hotel and the Reagan Library...

Toothless

After much pushing, prodding, and pulling, Madelyn has lost another tooth. And even better – she pulled this one out herself! She’s been wiggling it for days. “I think it’s ready” she kept saying, “look at it”. (How many times do I have to look at it barely hanging there by a thread? It so grosses me out!!) She even asked me to pull at it today – to which I said an exuberant HECK NO! She was so proud of herself for getting it out all by herself – as she should be.

As you can see in one of these pictures, the other big one in the front is really loose too! It’s also barely hanging there – and she’s been obsessively working on that one now. It won’t be long either…

So now, the question of the day to you all… how much does the tooth fairy pay for a tooth these days? It’s been quite a discussion. As Jennifer and I were discussing this very topic, she relayed Hollie (Madelyn’s cousin) losing her first tooth. When Hollie woke up the next morning, she came running down the stairs, so excited, that she SAW the tooth fairy – she swore by it – and happily recalled that the tooth fairy wore a pink and purple dress. So, that must only mean one thing… Hollie’s dad is very fond of dressing up in girls clothes! Grammy – if you’re reading this – time to get on to Trey’s pink and purple tutu!!!

Hot, Lazy Summer Days

The rest of the week of my vacation has been filled with lazy, hot days. Thursday we took Madelyn bowling - she and I both bowled and it was tons of fun. It's been a very long time since I bowled and it was nice to get out my old ball and shoes. Madelyn got to use her very own ball that Grammy and Grandad gave her for Hannukah. She was pretty good too - much better than me. And most important, we had a good time and stayed out of the heat! Afterward, we went home where I took a nap, before going to a new step class. It was a very tough class - the instructor was nice, but really hard to follow and she didn't do step routines but once or twice and she kept moving on right when I got it down. Good thing we walked a lot in LA!

So then Friday rolled around. We spent the morning running around and then the girls (April, Mads and I) went for some good ole fashion girl relaxing - yep, you guessed it... mani's and pedi's. Trey left later in the day with the boys to the Degani's family lakehouse to do some work (water heater burst leaving a flooded mess), and all the girls (Lene, Dani, Jackie, April, Mads, and me) went to dinner at my favorite - Mi Cocina. I was really hungry when we got there (not a good thing), so I ate quite a bit of chips and salsa. Since I overdid it on that, I decided to be good and order the salad instead of what I really wanted - fajitas. Afterward, Madelyn and I went to have coffee with Ashley. We were so excited to see her and catch up!

Well that brings us to Saturday. We got up in the morning to hang a bit with the girls from the office. Jen and Alex came over to do a little creative "work" and hang out. Little did they know they'd be hanging with a 6 year old! Madelyn stuck to them like glue and just ate up all the "new" attention. In the afternoon, April and I went to they gym and took Madelyn to play in the kids land. Little did we know, the kids stuff is only open until 1 on the weekends, so we had to go back home, and instead found exercise on demand. We did 3 segments in the living room - a biggest loser cardio workout, tae bo, and walking 1 mile. It was really cool! We're going to try to do a few on most days we don't go to the gym. After that it was time to get ready for what Madelyn's been waiting weeks for... the Circus! She's been so excited for it and it was finally here. We were actually supposed to go to the 3:30 show, but since Trey was going to the lakehouse to help the boys, we tried to get our tickets switched to the later show. First I called the AAC, but they said I had to go through ticketmaster since that was where I got the tickets from. Well, before I could even call them, I mentioned it to Michael. He sent our tickets info to his guy who does his Stars tickets to see if he could help. Within a few hours, we had new tickets for the later show waiting for us at will call. Well, when we got there we found that not only has he swapped our show time, but had totally upgraded our seats. We ended up with the most perfect spot in the house!

So now it is Sunday. April, Mads and I went to the gym this morning - Madelyn to the kids playland, April and I to step class. I slept very awkwardly on my back last night and it's been really hurting me all day. After the gym, we came over to Glazer land to swim and hang out, and have been here all day. First swimming and relaxing in the hot tub (I know you're thinking in this heat - we must be looney! But it felt great on my back). April and I ran a few errands - including finding this great store just up the street that is all sugar free products. We got a few things to try, and are really excited about the potential! We've been playing on the Wii for the last few hours - I totally need to get one of these! I wasn't too happy to hear that my fitness age is 45!!!! But it's really hard on the first time to even figure out what to do. It's been lots of laughs and has some great workout potential.

So that's all for now. I'll start posting about mom and my trip to California soon. In the meantime, enjoy these pics from the Circus!

going back in time

I bet you all are wondering where in the world I've been! Well... here I am! It's been a crazy and fun filled 2 weeks since I last posted. We returned home from Blanco (minus Madelyn of course), and went right back into the work routine. Then I left for California - first for work, then for vacation. I returned home - tired - and having had a fantastic time with mom, to get right back into things. The last few days have been spent entertaining a 6 year old (NOT an easy thing to do), and trying to find the energy to do anything in this heat is not easily done.

So, in an effort to keep you all intrigued and wanting for more (and to keep me from trying to recap it all in one big post), I'm going to update our California trip one day at a time, as if it's happening now. I would have updated while we were there - if the internet access hadn't been $6.95 for every 15 minutes at the hotel!!! But before I even get to California, I have to update the beginning of last week before I left.

So, here goes...

Monday, July 28
It's been one week on Weight Watchers, and today I weighed in with 2.5 lbs loss!! (I bet you all were thinking I would reveal what the scale actually said - no such luck! You only get to know the loss (or gains) as they happen). When I looked at the #s on the scale I felt:
1. Happy - progress! You have to start somewhere, right? And at least I'm moving in the right direction
2. Proud - progress! It's hard to follow a diet or eating plan - any plan. I felt proud that I stuck to it pretty well and had at least a little something to show for it.
3. Regret - that I didn't pay more attention to this a long time ago. I think I gained a great deal of weight in the past year while I was being diagnosed and going through my illness. But as much as I would like to blame the weight gain on the steroids, I can't. Sure, I think they are a part of it - causing me to be hungry and eating a lot more, but if I had watched it, I could have been eating better and doing things to counter the effect.
4. Longing - for the days of being a size 0 or 2, eating whatever I wanted, never having to work out to work it off... you know the drill. Oh to be young again!

Well, all these things combined, I guess I just have to go with mom's favorite motto... "It is what it is". All I can do now is keep it up and get back to where I want and should be. My first goal is total loss of about 20 lbs. Then once I reach that I'll re goal myself to lose a little more.

Oh - I almost forgot... I am SUPER excited about my new cookbook - Hungry Girl. It has some fabulous recipes for meals, sides, desserts, and snacks - all things that you really want and can't have - only now you can have! She works a lot with WW, so all of the recipes have points values making it very easy to keep track of. So today I went to the grocery store and got TONS of ingredients to try out some of the recipes (ouch - eating healthy is expensive!). Tonight April and I made our first Hungry Girl (HG) recipe - chocolate brownie cupcakes. I fondly refer to them as my "poo cupcakes". You can imagine what they look like. But luckily I don't judge a book by its cover because once we tasted these cupcakes - they are YUMMY! At 4 points for one, it's not too bad of a value. And I can easily eat half and be satisfied.

Wednesday, July 29
The last 2 days have been packed! First of all - Madelyn is having a fantastic time at Grammy and Grandads. She had her 2nd horseback riding lesson today (her first one on Monday). Something tells me that by next summer, she is going to be an expert! There is nothing that kid can't and won't do! I so admire her bravery and determination. Some would even call it stubbornness (this she gets from her dad). Yesterday I tried another HG recipe - mini pepperoni pizza. It was very yummy, very filling, and only 4 points!! Topped it off with 1/4 of my poo cupcake, and I was full!

Today was busy busy busy. Trying to wrap things up at work before I leave tomorrow. It's really difficult to do regular work stuff while in market, so I try to get as much done as possible beforehand. Then I'm on vacation for a little over a week, so it's going to be 2 1/2 weeks before I'm actually back in the office. And this is our last week of our year, and we are down to the wire to making our financial plan. It is all coming down to the last few days (how stressful!). So, after work, April and I went to step class - I have to get as much working out in as I can before I leave and am on vacation. Then we got home and made dinner - more HG recipes. Talk about YUMMY! We made Fiber One Fried Chicken (actually baked chicken with a "fried" crust), and Butternut Squash French Fries. They were both DELICIOUS - and only 7 points! I am really enjoying this cookbook. Now, I'm off to pack (I so hate packing), and then I have to get some sleep since the alarm will go off at 4:45 am!