New and Improved!!

This month has been very special for me so far. I have done two things that I never thought I'd ever do. I joined a gym a couple of weeks ago and this morning I started a diet. Surprisingly, I feel pretty good about both and am ready to embrace a new me. I'm admitting that right now I need a little extra help in these areas. Professional help. The gym is one that I pass every day on my way to and from work. I get that extra added guilt of it's not out of my way so why not go? Plus they have a ton of options, two gyms, pools, water parks (with adult slides), every machine you can imagine and over 200 classes. Surely after all that I can find something to entertain myself and enough variety to keep me coming back. However, with all this gym going and traffic dodging to get home at a decent time I started missing my meal planning time and dinner prep. I like to have plans and menus to help keep me sane and organized. So that I didn't get overwhelmed with picking meals and charting what would be needed I thought it might be best to start a diet. After all, what good is they gym if I'm not reducing my calories as well? All the headway I've made at the gym could disappear on the way home if I stop at Wendy's for dinner. Introducing the Flat Belly Diet:



The Flat Belly Diet was appealing for several reasons. It was really cheap and on sale at Costco, my friend at work had started it and was already seeing results, it's only 28 days long (I can do anything for only one month, right?) and the food was already portioned and counted for me. All I have to do is read the book, pick the recipes that sound good and away I go. No counting calories (every meal is already 400 calories), no worries! Now I just make my menu at the beginning of the week, go grocery shopping and I'm all set. It's such a relief to have that weight off my shoulders. Now I go to the gym and enjoy my me time there.

It's only been two weeks since all this started and I haven't lost any weight yet but I already feel stronger and more confident. I'm actually having fun at the thought of accomplishing my personal goals. This is going to be my year! Check back in after a month to see how it goes!

Weekend Getaway Part 2

Last weekend was the makeup trip for the botched surprise attempt to join Jorge's surprise party. I went to Maryland to visit and just hang out in general. We had a blast all weekend long eating all my favorite foods and catching up on all the latest news with my favorite people! My whirlwind round of things not to be missed in DC go a little something like this...

Friday afternoon Happy Hour at Ziki Japanese Steak House for $1.50 domestics and the freshest sushi. Then the Friday Night Contra dance at Glen Echo. (I missed this one this time around but it still makes my list). Saturday afternoon head to the Red Velvet Cupcakery for slightly expensive but totally worth it, mouth watering cupcakes. Then to Thai Tanium for drunken noodles or green curry. Throw in a metro ride to anywhere (if Cincy only had a metro I would proclaim it perfect, alas it does not) and visits with old friends to complete the journey.


That's me on the metro with Flat Stanley. I showed him around town and photographed our journey as a work project. (He's a character from a 60's children's book).

Yes, I do realize that a good half of my list consists of food items but I can't help it, I'm a foodie! Plus I think these places in particular are tied to happy memories of times past that seem like only yesterday when the site is revisited. It's kind of like when you were a child and your mother wore a certain scent of perfume. After you've grown up but smell that scent somewhere else, it will always make you feel warm and fuzzy because you think of your mother.

For everyone who was worried about the weather during my travels I wanted to let you know that you were right. It did snow on Friday night but it didn't start until 9pm and there was no accumulation. There was however an alarming amount of snow piled up in the parking lots leftover from the past couple of weeks. My favorite one is seen below, to help you with scale someone has convienently left a few shopping carts in the snow pile: