After Kelsey, Taylor, Melissa, and I casually polished off a tin of Pepperidge Farm Pirouettes last night, I knew it was time to start chasing down the healthy eating and exercise train.
Before bed, I dutifully packed my breakfast and lunch for work, adding a banana for good measure. I even set out my workout clothes so that I'd be all set for the gym.
I was ready.
As I was blow drying my hair this morning and imagining how great I was going to feel once I was skinny again ("Jenna! You're getting too thin!" People would gush as I waved a dainty hand at them as if to say, "Oh, goodness! Me? You really think so?"), I suddenly remembered a very scary part of weight loss endeavors.
Yesterday marked one of the most amazing Friday nights I've ever had.
Which makes it sound like I was proposed to by my imaginary boyfriend. Or watched a sunset while drinking cocktails with friends. Or won the lottery and could finally afford a Burberry trench.
Nothing quite that dramatic occurred, but it was lovely all the same.
After work, I headed to Whole Foods where I took my time meandering around the store, inspecting different products and taking in that incredible Whole Foods scent.
I put together a supper plate and after adding a few bottles of red wine, a wedge of Meadowkaas Uniekaas Gouda (I swear that was what it was called), a loaf of garlic bread, and the most festive pumpkin cupcake to my cart, I was all set!
Once home, I put in a load of laundry while I warmed up my dinner and the garlic bread in the oven.
I changed into an oversized tshirt and worn, jersey yoga pants.
Arranging my food on a plate, I thought, "Eeeeep! This is enough for two!"
Unfortunately, since I am single, I was forced to eat it all myself.
Mwahahah.
Okay. I only was able to eat half and had to put the rest in the fridge.
I didn't even get around to this adorable cupcake!
But anyway.
After my comforting supper, I cuddled up on the couch with my new Target Threshold microplush blanket and finally had the time to read Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy.
A coworker and I went to get our copies of the novel the second day it was out, and it's been sitting on my nightstand, unread, for over a week now!
Needless to say, it was driving me quite crazy.
It's been fourteen years since the last Bridget Jones novel was released, and Mad About the Boy is appropriately set fourteen years later in 2013.
Night my friend, Kenny, jeopardized our friendship.
Bridget is a single mom trying to recover from the loss of her husband, Mark Darcy (who was KILLED by a land mine in the Sudan!), take proper care of her two children (Billy and Mabel), write a screenplay, and somehow fit in time for online dating.
I am a Bridget fan through and through. I liked that Bridget still felt like Bridget all these years later. Fielding hadn't lost Bridget's voice, and that was comforting.
Unfortunately, there were more negatives than positives for me, and this novel left me pretty disappointed. Bridget's obsession with Twitter? Annoying. The somewhat disorganized and sporadic writing structure? Very confusing. Killing off Mark Darcy? Literally cried at every single mention of him, and that is no exaggeration.
After finishing the novel around 1AM, I climbed into my cozy bed where I enjoyed the most fantastic sleep.
I slept long and well, which can be hard to come by! You often are awarded sleep of one variety and rarely both.
After a relaxing Friday night with such incredible food and a fun novel, I feel ready to tackle all of my schoolwork and chores today.
My October fun continued this week with a quick getaway to Nashville.
My cousin, a music extraordinaire, was chosen to play in the strings section for the Michael Bublé concert, and my aunt wasted no time coordinating a group of us to travel south for the Wednesday night performance.
Here are some highlights from our 24 hours in Nashville.
We nearly collided with a little, red Mazda driving in front of us during the drive down when it made a sudden stop. We were so embarrassed, we didn't want to even look over at the car when it passed by later. Except we totally did. And the driver was gorgeous.
We met our famous violinist for lunch at Noshville where I enjoyed the most perfect grilled Reuben. Our waiter was très bizarre, and we got scolded for asking or doing just about anything (such as being brazen enough to request separate checks). It was mostly funny.
Famous cousin is wearing the blue lace. The rest of us are plebeians.
Tuesday afternoon consisted of shopping in an incredibly charming area around Vanderbilt's campus. All of the shops were unique, and I seemed to find something I wanted in every single one. Each of us girls ended up purchasing a fun dress- successful shopping trip!
We stayed in a beautiful Embassy Suites where the staff took excellent care of us.
We had a smorgasbord before the concert. Champagne, beer, iced tea vodka, and wine were all in attendance as were a zillion types of appetizers.
A glimpse of the feast.
We took the hotel's shuttle to the concert. During our brief ride, we met an Australian couple on holiday!
The Michael Bublé concert was AMAZING! This was my fourth time seeing him perform, and I swear...he gets better every time! I've never experienced another artist who is so involved and interactive with his audience. My favorite song was "All You Need Is Love" during which confetti shot out of the ceiling! I am such a sucker for raining confetti.
Our cousin was on the gigantic video screens at least 7-10 times! She did such an awesome job, and we felt incredibly proud to call her our own.
I bought my mom a Lime-A-Rita during the concert. She hated it.
We went to Music Row after the concert where we met a bunch of Canadian hockey announcers. We did some dancing with them and while they were mostly nice, they were a tad creepy. It's a fine line, isn't it?
On the way home today, we stopped by McDonald's, and it was awesome.
We had such a wonderful time down in Nashville, and it was just another reminder of how blessed I am to have the strong, fun, loving family that I do.
I think it's time to plan my fifth Michael Bublé concert.
Between work, trying not to fail out of grad school (Okay- that is incredibly dramatic, but grad school is really kicking my butt), and attempting to maintain somewhat of a social life, blogging has fallen by the wayside.
This past weekend was homecoming at my alma mater, the University of Cincinnati.
My dear roommate, Kelsey, who had knee surgery back in the summertime, was able to venture down south and brought along one of her friends, Anne. Anne's boyfriend, Zac, traveled up from Nashville, and along with Kelsey's fiance (the famous Tool-man Taylor who builds and fixes everything in our house), we had quite a fun group.
We stayed in Friday night drinking champagne and eating Chipotle.
Saturday morning, we awoke to one miserable day.
The temperature was only in the upper 30s, and it was pouring rain!
Not ideal football spectating weather.
Kelsey and Anne decided to stay home, but I wanted to at least make an appearance at the football game.
Okay. I really just wanted to wear my Kate Spade red rain boots and have people compliment them.
Taylor, Zac, and I headed over to the noontime game bundled up and ready to go. I brought along my trusty "Gustbuster" umbrella and paired with my scarf and gloves, I felt warm and comfortable.
"Excuse me! No umbrellas inside!" A security guard called out to me sharply as we went to enter the stadium. He nodded towards a huge pile of forbidden umbrellas.
WHAT? NO UMBRELLAS?
What would happen to my hair?!
Never one to disobey the law, I sadly dropped my umbrella into the heap, wondering if I would ever see my incredible Gustbuster again. I imagined someone recognizing its worth and swiping it, an evil grin across his or her face as the criminal ran into the gloomy day, perfectly protected from the rain.
Without my umbrella, I stood there watching the game, the rain pelting my head as my hair grew increasingly wet, and I grew increasingly cold.
Probably needless to say, I didn't last long.
One quarter to be exact.
I told the boys I was walking home.
As I neared the sad, sad mountain of confiscated umbrellas, I felt certain that mine would not be in the mix.
I pondered the moral code for this sort of thing- if my umbrella was stolen, did that give me the right to steal someone else's?
No, I couldn't do such a thing.
By some sort of miracle, no one had taken my umbrella! It was still there! Happy waiting for me. Hurrah!
After an afternoon spent at home warming up and drying off, our group ordered in pizza before venturing out into the much drier night.
We went to a few bars and ended out night on a very positive note.
Here is hoping for a homecoming with better weather next year!
This past weekend, before I was a criminal, I was a very happy wedding guest.
Here are some highlights from the Cleveland wedding.
I went with my friend, C, who is a tried and true amazing wedding date. He is a great dancer, always ready to fetch you another drink (more wine, please!), so much fun, and dresses up quite nicely.
For the wedding day festivities, we paired up with C's best friend and his date.
I had met C's friend before and am a huge fan, but I was totally anxious about his date. What if she was a mean girl? What if we had nothing in common? What if she hated the royal family?
Luck was on my side though because the mystery date ended up being incredible! We became fast friends and bonded over just about everything. I am genuinely sad that she and I don't live in the same city because I know we'd be total besties.
The wedding was at 1PM. I had never been to a daytime wedding before! In Cincinnati, most weddings are in the evening. Between the mass and reception, the four of us went to C's house where he grilled burgers, and we enjoyed a few drinks. It was a great afternoon!
The reception was in this really neat place with a giant dome. Servers were handing out flutes of champagne as guests walked in the door- so posh! I loved it.
By the end of the night, the two of us girls were drinking Dirty Shirley Temples and dancing to the Spice Girls and ABBA while the boys smoked cigars outside.
Everyone circled around the bride and groom at the end of the reception and sang Green Day's "Good Riddance." Very cool.
The next morning, our lovely quartet traveled to Starbucks for some much needed caffeine. Three out of the four of us ordered PSLs. I was one of them, of course.
It was such a great weekend, and I am so glad C invited me to be his wedding date.
I am already looking forward to the next time our foursome can team up!
Hands shaking and fighting back tears (big girls don't cry and all), I reached for my wallet and took out my license in addition to my car's registration.
I rolled down my passenger side window, and the police officer shone his flashlight into my car.
I had the audio book of Tina Fey's Bossypants sitting out on the seat. I hoped that made me appear likable.
He told me how fast I had been going.
I am too mortified to report that number on this blog, but let's just say I was doing some serious cruising in the fast lane.
The officer took my information and retreated back into his car as I stared at the open road ahead, contemplating the state of my life and desperately trying not to cry.
"You are an adult," I murmured to myself, "and adults do not cry."
When the officer came back, he shone his flashlight into my car once more and sighed, "Well, I have some unfortunate news for you..."
OH MY GOD. I WAS TOTALLY BEING SENT TO THE SLAMMER.
"...you got pulled over in a very expensive county. This ticket is going to be a fortune."
And it was.
$240.
But it was not going to jail, and I appreciated that.
The officer was kind to me and tried to make polite conversation as he wrote out that horrible three digit bill I now owed to the state of Ohio, but all I wanted was for him to leave so I could openly sob.
After a final lecture regarding cruise control and hitting deer, I was permitted to go.
"My parents are going to kill me!" I cried as any 23-year-old adult would.
And then...my Bluetooth changed screens.
HOME CALLING.
Oh my GOD- they already knew! They totally already knew.
"Hey Jenna! Are you back in Cincinnati yet?" my dad's cheerful voice played over the speakers.
Okay. He definitely didn't know.
I reported my transgression and very fortunately didn't receive a reprimand.
I suppose my parents thought a $240 speeding ticket was enough of a punishment.
No Kate Spade bags for me for a while. And definitely no more crazy speeding.
