Attack of the Starburst Jelly Beans

Like seriously...these little buggers are so stinking good. So good! They're fat free, which is fine, but they are 150 calories for a quarter cup. That's nothing. That's one hand full. I've been good to just have a couple every once in a while when I sweet craving pops up. But today I had an ATTACK and ate two massive handfuls before I even looked up. I'm so bad...someone stop me from myself!

1/2 c. of Starburst Jelly Beans:6 Points (GAG!!!)
The damage...

Exciting News!

So I have some very exciting news to share! I'm in a smaller size! Those of you who know me best know I'm no fashionista. Quite the opposite really. I desperately need to go on that show "What Not to Wear" because I have the hardest time pulling an "outfit" together. I can find some pretty great pieces separately, but when it comes to shoes and jewelry and accessories, well, I fail. I just don't have that eye. I WANT that eye, but don't have it. Also, those who know me best know I have two clothing weaknesses. One is Lilly Pulitzer because I just love her over-the-top pretty pieces. LOVE. The other is: J.Crew - I just love their stuff. Pretty much any/all of it. I can't really afford most of their things when they are full price, but they have great sales! In fact, there is one going on right now. Go to their website and you get an additional 30% off sale items plus free shipping if you spend $150 after the 30% discount on sale. I didn't qualify for free shipping, but I did get some good buys! I'm buying things now that are either cotton so I can shrink them as I shrink, or easily altered so I don't have to buy a whole new wardrobe in a few months when I've hit my goal. So here's the run down of what I got:

This dress is the whole reason I discovered I had dropped yet another size. I needed a solid black dress to be in a wedding at the beach May 1. I bought it in one size based off the J.Crew sizing guides on their site. Side note - at least for me, whatever size they say you are based off your measurements, you may be able to go down a size. Anyway, it came in last week and I tried it on and it was too big! Enough so that I knew in 5 weeks when I had dropped another 7-8 pounds it would literally fall off! Yea!! So I got to buy the next size down and get this - it was on an even BETTER sale because of the extra 30%.
J.Crew Solid Embossed Lorelei Dress in Black
Original Price: $98
Sale Price: $78 Sale + Extra 30% Price: $54.60 (WOW!!!)

This dress was just too pretty/casual/comfy to pass up! It wasn't on a great sale, but I liked it too much and it will be altered easily. Purple is my latest must have color because I think it looks good with my hair color. If you want it, it isn't on sale anymore. They did a promotion last week where all dresses were 20% off, so I got it then. But check back because it may go on sale.
J.Crew Jessie Cotton Dress in Muted Grape
Original Price: $69.50
Sale Price: $55.60 (hey, this is still a good price for a J.Crew dress!)

Now on to the casual stuff! I'm really bad about only buying pieces that I can wear out to dinner or to work, etc. I am not good at finding cute yet casual pieces and I think I achieved that with this tee. I love the rosettes on it because I think they are so girly! I'm picturing it with my linen pants and J.Crew bronze thong sandals from last season...
J.Crew Tissue Rosette Bouquet Tee in White
Original Price: $48.00
Sale Price: $29.00
Sale + Extra 30% Off Price: $20.30

Finally, I just loved this bright color! My mom has always liked me in coral and I have a great brown criss-cross sweater I can transition into Spring with this under. The garland of ruffles was just too pretty to pass up! And bonus - I can wear this under a cardigan to work!
J.Crew Tissue Garland Tank in Pale Coral
Original Price: $45.00
Sale Price: $34.99
Sale + Extra 30% Off Price: $24.49

So the point of all this is not to show you my cute new clothes (although that was fun!) but to encourage you to check out the J.Crew online sale!

Sorry for the Suspense...+ Eat to Live

But I have been busy at work! Taking a brief two minutes to update the blogging world. By the way - thank you so much for all the encouraging comments, texts, emails, etc... They mean a lot!

First things first...I did weigh in Saturday and I had only lost .4, but I'm going to consider that a victory! There were several factors that could have easily influenced this number...
1. I am a WEAK HUMAN and broke down and ate some french fries last Sunday. They were so good and I didn't gorge, but I did eat them.
2. We went to a surprise Birthday party for my good friend, Teri, on Friday night and while I tried my best to be good, they just didn't have much I could eat... I did well, just a small spoon of BBQ (no bun), 4 Chick-Fil-A nuggets and half of a piece of cake.
3. I went over my weekly points by 3.5, which doesn't sound like a big number, and it really isn't, but it is an extra 210 calories on the week that I shouldn't have eaten. Again, see #1 and #2. French fries.
4. I think it is safe to assume that my main audience is female...so #3 is "the cycle". I'm never down quite as much the weigh in before "the cycle" begins.
So total loss is 11.6 after 7 weeks. Still not bad - average of 1.66 per week.

What a weekend, though! I went to Birmingham for the day Saturday and got to visit with my very good friend, Margaret. We never see each other and it was only an hour and a half, but I had so much fun catching up with her and chatting about life.
I left her house to go to a shower I was helping host for my friend Courtland. It was so much fun to see Sorority sisters I hadn't seen in a while and visit over wine, laughter, and gifts for the bride! And I got to spend time catching up with my good friend Jessica! Oh the time we've missed...but we're catching up for sure! Everyone just picked up where we had all left off. The bride looked so happy and glowing and I am so glad I was able to do something for her. I remember this time so well before my wedding and it was a whirl wind - but so much fun!

Sunday I went with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law to the Junior League Spring Market. So fun but so tiring... It is no secret anymore that Haley is pregnant! She is due September 15, but doesn't find out the sex of the baby until April 30th. So it was driving us crazy that we couldn't buy baby clothes yet!
So I'm going to try to post more often and when I do, post what I'm eating and call it "Eat to Live", which comes from the saying "Don't live to eat, eat to live" - a dieters words to live by! The post will have recipe and/or snack ideas and (when I take one), a picture of what I'm eating with the points. I love seeing ideas from others, so here are my contributions. It is actually very easy to be on diet and still eat yummy food...the secret is PORTION CONTROL! I want to help others who read this who fell in the same "marital bliss" trap I did realize we can make ourselves healthier!

This is one of my FAVORITE snacks... Ready for this? You'll be amazed...
48 Rold Gold Pretzel Things (yes - you get 48!) - 2 Points
1 wedge of Laughing Cow Lite Original Flavor - 1 Point
TOTAL = 3 Points

Hello, 5%. You're looking mighty fine....

So I did it! I hit the 10 pound mark! Not only did I hit it...I slammed it out of the park! When I weighed in Saturday, I had lost 2.8 for the week for a grand total of 11.2 - YES! 11.2! Not only that...but I have now lost over 5% of my starting weight. Actually, I've lost 6.19% of my starting weight. Guess that gives you a clue as to where I started...oops! I didn't really ever want to reveal a "number" until I had achieved my goal...and I still won't.

I'm sitting here writing this, munching on dried cranberries. Seriously...six weeks ago, I'd be munching on cheese cubes or goldfish crackers.

In other news...the "Great Pressure" has returned. I never really blogged on this, but the "Great Pressure" is what I have deemed this pressure in my stomach. It is in my upper stomach right under my sternum and the best way I can describe it is a combination between feeling like I have the biggest burp in the world that needs to get out and being very hungry. It isn't a pain...just a pressure. The weird thing is, this is a small part of how all the weight came on in the first place...because food makes it feel a lot better. It first popped up a little over a year ago and I went to the doctor. She did blood word and everything came back fine. She just said I was stressed. Yeah...ok...who isn't? I felt like she (the doctor) was very dismissive about it. Anyway, it left in September of last year and now it came back last week and I'm so upset over it because it is so uncomfortable. Does anyone out there ever have this same thing happen?? And how do you get rid of it?? Please help!!!

Remember Where You've Been...

I didn't post yesterday. I was crazy busy at work and still am today - but need a 2 minute mental break to tell you all about my weigh-in Saturday. It isn't long, I promise...

So I told you how last weekend we were in Atlanta and I didn't make it to an ATL weigh-in center because they were too far away (and let's be honest - they were too early to be that far away) so I weighed on my mom's WW scale at home. I was THRILLED because it said I had hit the 10 pound lost mark. It was wrong. Very very wrong. I weighed at my usual WW meeting on Saturday and I've really only hit the 8.4 mark. But I'm NOT going to get discouraged and I'm still proud of myself! 8.4 pounds lost in 5 weeks is great! So c'mon people...I need encouragement because I'm still not "seeing" the loss on myself... I'm still 37.6 pounds from my goal weight. I know that sounds like an ENORMOUS amount and to the people who see me every day, they think that's too much. But I know what I weighed when I started college and that's what I want to be back to. I loved how thin and skinny I was then. I loved how I looked fabulous in a size 2/4. Even my WW leader has told me my goal weight is too thin, but I don't care. That's where I'm going to be. And maybe...if you're lucky...when I hit it I'll post a "before" and "after" bikini shot! Or...maybe not...don't want to totally gross you all out! But yes - I have taken a "before" bikini shot. It helps to get you where you're going if you can remember where you've been...

Bunco...for Losers...

So a lot of my friends know I play Bunco. Not just in one group...but in two! I love it - it is so much fun and a great excuse to get together with girl friends and talk, play, and drink wine. Sometimes lots of wine! The first group I joined consists of mostly girls from Arab, AL who are friends of my husband and sister-in-law. I've been friends with these girls since Jarren and I first started dating four years ago and this month will be our 15th month playing. The second group I started with Haley (sister-in-law) and Mirandy (good friend!) as a group for all Huntsville girls. I am really enjoying getting to know these girls and am hoping they will be good friends...

But... there's always a but...

...but I can't seem to WIN and it's making me CRAZY!

Quick set of notes - Bunco is played with 12 players at tables of four. The person diagonal from you (if you're at a square table) or across from you (if you're at a round table) is your "partner". You keep score together for that round. Then, you go in a circle and each take turns rolling 3 dice. You start with number 1 and each time one of the dice is rolled with a 1 on it, you count it as one point. You're trying to get to 21 points total with your partner. If you win 3 of the same number that is not a 1, it counts as 5 points and a little Bunco. If you roll 3 ones, it counts as a big Bunco and 21 points and you and your partner each get to mark a win. There's more to it, but there's the gist...it's a dice game of pure luck. No skill involved what-so-ever. Each person puts in $6 at the start of the game and at the end (we play usually 4 or 5 rounds of 1-6 so a total of 24-30 games per night), we dole up the money by the person with the most Big Buncos gets the highest amount of money, person with the most Little Buncos gets the next highest amount, person with the most Wins gets the third highest amount and the loser (person with the least of Big Buncos, Little Buncos and Wins combined) gets their $6 back.

That being said, I have now played a total of 19 times between the two groups (the new Huntsville group just played our third time last night) - 19!!! I have managed to win money a total of twice. That is two times ladies and gentleman. I have put in a total of $114 and gotten back a total of $30. Do that math. I've lost $84 playing a dice game of luck. Someone please NEVER NEVER NEVER let me EVER go to the casinos and try to gamble. Clearly I have no luck. I can't even win at being the LOSER! What is up with that??? Someone...for the love...tell me what I'm doing wrong...

Weekend Fun

I promise I'll eventually post pictures more often to my posts...when I like how I look more!

This weekend we went to Georgia to visit my family. I hate they still live there. I really think it is going to take having a baby to get my parents back to Huntsville. Sadly...we are still wanting to wait 18 month to 2 years to have a "Webblet", so my parents will remain far away. It was such a relaxing, do nothing kind of weekend and I LOVED that! And I stayed pretty much on plan. I had a few pieces of Birthday cake, but nothing to bust the diet hopefully!

I know the suspense is killing you all...but I completely overslept on Saturday and didn't make it to the weigh in center in time. The closest one to my parents house was still 20 or 30 minutes away and I guess I just needed my sleep! So hopefully when I weigh in this upcoming Saturday, it will show a 5-6 pound loss over 2 weeks! Let's keep our fingers crossed!!!

I never did a post on getting rid of the BMW, so I need to add a small blurb about that here. The BMW had been a part of my driving since March of 2006. 4 long years I drove that car...loving it at first, then liking, then annoyed by it and finally at the end, I had feelings of hate towards it. That's because any time something went wrong, it was a minimum $750 to fix it. It's like in the world of BMW, $750 means "base price". And since it was 10 years old last year, things started going wrong left and right. At trade in time on 2/23/10 (our 18 month wedding anniversary - HA!), the front window was stuck about 1/2" down and wouldn't go back up. So every time it rained, I got soaked and any time you drove over 45 mph, the wind whistled through your ears at a piercing screech level. So we cut our losses on it and took it up to Fayetteville where one of the dealerships my agency does advertising for is located. Traded it in for a 2010 Chrysler Sebring. I've never had a brand new car before and let me tell you, it is so NICE to not having anything wrong with it! Ahh...

I know this hasn't been one of my typical funny blog posts, but nothing funny really happened since I last wrote. In closing, here lies the "Beamer Baby" as I called it...may her new family love her as I used to...