It's what's for dinner...

This is what you wear when it's balls hot (108.  Kill me.)  I think I left my hair down for approximately 25 seconds after leaving the house and likely broke a sweat by the time I got to my car.

I scheduled a second tasting at our reception venue which I went to yesterday. The first time around the red meat option was just ok and to be honest, we weren't that thrilled about it. We had already selected Chilean sea bass and chicken piccata as our other entrees, and were still trying to figure out what to do about a beef option.

So I went to the tasting yesterday by myself since Jonathon is out of town (it's been a month now!) This older man was hanging out in the bar area and as they served me two giant pieces of meat, he felt the need comment on the large amount of food being served to just myself. He literally asked why I was alone, stating "havent you seen that movie Bridesmaids? Shouldnt your girlfriends be here with you? Is all that food for you?" (Um, yes, I saw the movie, and why yes I do infact plan to chow down on these two large pieces of beef. By myself. Jeez.)

I tasted the filet and also a NY steak.  They were both really good and I had a hard time making a decision.  I wound up choosing the filet since it's a little fancier and we are having a formal plated dinner.  It had this red wine demi glaze drizzled on the plate with some other green sauce dotted around the rim.  Basically, it was just prettier.  If I had thought of it at the time, I wound have taken pictures there.  Instead, they gave me the leftovers to take home and after rolling around in my car for 20 minutes, this is what they looked like (in a much less classy styrofoam take out container)

Filet - (it won't really be cooked this rare)

NY steak - (I realize it looks nasty and bloody, but that's the red wine sauce that accumulated in the box.  It's more appetizing in person, I swear)

oh em geeee!

I stopped in Verizon this evening to ask a question and walked out with an iphone. How does this happen? I am super excited though to be done with my crackberry for good. It was a piece of garbage that CONSTANTLY dropped calls (but conveniently this would only happen in my apartment. Obnoxious.)

It was really crazy because I walked in this store and this guy came up to me and said "hey, I know you" and when I turned around I saw the father of one of my patients I took care of a few months back. Turns out he works at Verizon, who knew? So I just so happened to get a couple of fees waived and who am I to pass up a deal (and get rid of my POS phone)? Win win.

Ok that's all I've got. I'm boring myself as I type this. Exciting things to come on here, I promise :)

Bootcamp

This morning I went to my usual bootcamp class to find a different instructor teaching. This man also happens to be a Cirque de Soliel performer and freak of nature. What normally is an hour of getting my ass kicked but feeling relatively good turned into the longest and most torturous hour of my life. I am pretty sure I will not be able to get out of bed tomorrow.

I knew I had made a terrible mistake about 10 seconds into the class when he told us to go warm up outside. For those of you who do not live in lovely Las Vegas, let me remind you of how balls hot it is here. Today also just so happened to be the hottest day of the year reaching 108 degrees. So the idea of going outside when it was already nearly 100 at 9:30am? Not so fun. I am pretty sure I spent the entire hour complaining to complete strangers and being generally annoying. I better wake up with a flipping 6 pack.

I am pushing myself to work out harder and eat better while J is away. I want to be in good shape for the wedding and be a hot mama in Hawaii on our honeymoon, so I have been feeling pretty motivated. I was briefly contemplating taking before and after pictures to track my progress, but then I thought of how mortifying it would be to post half naked pictures of myself on the internet and changed my mind. You're welcome.

In happier news, J gets to come home a month early!!!!! So excited. Only 66 more days of this nonsense!!

And one more side note: I overheard a conversation at snobby gym this morning that I couldn't ignore and literally almost died laughing over.

Girl #1 "What do you do for a living?"

Girl #2 "I'm a stay at home girlfriend"

*I literally stared at the girl waiting for her to laugh or show some sign of this being a joke. Nope, she was serious. Only in Las Vegas would that be a legitimate profession. Clearly, I have chosen the wrong career path.

Bachelorette Rundown

If you know me, you know I'm a sucker for the Bachelor/Bachelorette. I always thought it was soooo dumb until Ali was on the Bachelor and I got sucked in. Ali and I actually went to high school together and grew up in the same small town in MA so I felt like I had to watch, if only to support a home town girl. The following season, when she was picked to be the next Bachelorette, I continued tuning in on Monday nights and now I'm hooked. I loved Ashley last season and was so excited for her to be this season's Bachelorette. I do however feel that this season is a bit ridiculous.

Which brings me to Bentley. Ohhhhhh, Bentley. You are cute, but not that cute. And every time you open your mouth you kind of ruin it. What a huge douche. I am slightly disappointed in ABC for allowing this to happen and am so embarrassed for Ashley. On the other hand, get it together lady! You have some fabulous (and beautiful) men there. Get it girl...

I didn't have any strong feeling about any of the guys for the first couple of episodes, however I now have 2 front runners:

Constantine - You are so beautiful. And normal. And that's important I think. He is the only guy at this point who is straight forward and even said he didn't know if he has real feelings for Ashley yet but that he was open to exploring their relationship. Love. Him. Total sexpot.

Ben F. - You are so adorable. You can totally tell he's a gentleman and a romantic. He kind of comes across as asexual at times, so I'm not sure how this is going to play out, but I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt and considering it respectful when he doesn't jump all over Ashley in their one on one time (like Ryan....ugh creeper...)

An Ode to Nordy's

I have a mild obsession with Nordstrom in general and try to limit my trips there because every time I go, I find 90840398 things I want and shouldn't buy. Literally. Last summer I purchased Tory Birch Reva black flats with bluish/purplish shimmer. They are so lovely. I have barely even worn them because I serously believe they are almost too pretty to wear. (I'm weird like that...) Thus the limiting of the trips to Nordstrom...

Nordstrom Rack is the solution to this problem. The actual Nordstrom is literally on the Strip and it's obnoxious to deal with driving downtown and parking. Nordstrom Rack is off strip and closer to me. It is also affordable while still having a pretty good selection on snobby designer merchandise. Win win. I made a couple of fabulous purchases when I was there the other day which I feel the need to show off.

The shoes were originally $119 marked down to $79 on clearence for $46 with an additional 30% off sale items. They wound up being just $30!!! I am not sure what I am going to wear them with yet but I lovvve them. The aqua shirt was $17.


While Nordstrom Rack is a fun store, nothing will ever compare to the Nordstrom in San Fransisco. This was possibly the highlight of our trip there last October. Look at this place:




Literally 4 floors of shopping goodness. It rained pretty much our entire trip and look like this from our hotel room:

Nordstrom, however, was conveniently located just a few blocks away :)

I love weddings! (even when they aren't mine :)

Exciting news: one of my dearest friends is engaged! She is moving to Florida in July and they are getting married before they leave! So needless to say, I am happy to put my planning on hold to help her with her wedding (which is in TWO weeks!) I'm really excited to be in her wedding, as she will be in mine in January. She wants her bridesmaids in red and is really laid back about letting us choose our own dresses.

At first I was a little nervous about the color. It's not that I don't like red, I just down own anything red. I went shopping this afternoon and was so confused. Who knew there were so many shades of red? I have never worn a red dress in my life and had a hard time choosing between reddish-coral, orange-red, and red/almost pink shades. I purchased two dresses. One is very casual and more conservative. The other one I love but it's a little more sexy and I wasn't convinced it would be appropriate for the occasion (her family is Mormon and while they aren't doing a church wedding, I dont want to look like a ho in a room full of more conservative people!)

Dress #1

Dress #2

I emailed her the pictures and am waiting to see what she likes. I'm crossing my fingers she approves of dress #2!

I love you, I hate you

I am not a fan of Las Vegas. I am seriously counting the months until we move away (approximately 11...hopefully). While most people would argue that it's a fabulous vacation spot, they wouldn't want to LIVE here, trust me. I hate being a Debbie Downer and complaining about it, so really when people ask how I like it here I say "it's ok...." which leads me to this;

What I LOVE about Vegas:

*Lake Mead - I am fortunate to be just a 15 minute drive from this hidden gem. It's too hot now, but in the fall I lovvvve running up there.




*Hoover Dam - literally next to Lake Mead and sooo worth a visit (it's free!)

*Fancy/Snobby/Expensive restaurants - our favorite being Terzetto at M Resort. Delmonico (Emril Lagasse's Vegas steakhouse at the Venetian) is really good too

*Casino pools

(Bellagio - LOVELY, but only open to hotel guests)

(M Resort - less touristy and locals can pay $25 for the day which grants access to both the spa facailities and the pool. My very favorite way to pamper myself :)

*Free parking. Everywhere. This is a luxury after living in center city Philly and paying for parking by the effing HALF HOUR. Needless to say I got numerous parking tickets while living there...

*My fabulous snobby gym

*Our wonderful church (where we will be married In January!)

*Holiday decorations at the Venetian/Palazzo

After feeling kind of down these past couple days I've been drowning myself in my work and picking up extra shifts. I feel so fortunate to have a job that I genuinely love so spending more hours there is keeping my mind occupied. I got to snuggle some babies these past few nights and that always makes me smile.

Other things that make me smile: care packages! I received a package from my mom this week and it couldn't have come at a better time. I felt like I was in college again. She used to send me all sorts of things when I was away at school and it always made my day to get even a card from her. I am also getting together a care package for Jonathon because he's had a stressful time and deserves a pick me up too.

Here's what my mama sent me:

I am so excited to finally own a Scentsy! I've wanted one for awhile. And as for the VS bag, take a look at these lovelies...

Behold my "something blue" wedding panties:

(I take pictures of myself in the bathroom mirror sometimes. With the flash on.)

Cannot. Sleep. I'm not sure if I am having a hard time sleeping because I'm alone in the apartment and every little noise wakes me up or if I'm just stressing. Regardless, waking up at 5am (when you work night shift!) is lame.

I feel like I am really falling behind on the wedding planning and doing things out of order. I've already started on the centerpieces and purchased my wedding ring, yet we have no photographer or florist. I am hoping to get it together these next couple of weeks and lock down all of our vendors. I also need to find a seamstress to alter my dress which I am totally dragging my feet on. I love my dress but the idea of trying it on and having it altered for whatever reason is stressing me out. It is somewhat tight and I keep telling myself I'll get it done when I tone up a little and feel more comfortable? Poor excuse.

I cancelled my 24 Hour Fitness membership last month and joined a snobby "country club gym". That's really the only way I can describe it. It's all housewives with their Gucci bags and matching tennis outfits waiting for their private tennis lessons. It's super nice and they have a huge outdoor pool, indoor lap pool, steam room and jacuzzis in addition to the tennis, racquetball and squash courts and regular gym stuff. I figured I deserved to treat myself since I am alone and have little to look forward to this summer! I am taking bootcamp classes every week and it's kicking my ass. People take it so seriously, it's kind of funny. Who thought it would be a good time to get yelled at for an hour and made to feel like a heifer in front of a group of people who also look like they're about to die?? It is definitely working though so I'll stick with it.

"to see you when I wake up, is a gift, I didn't think could be real..."

Today is better than yesterday. I am keeping busy and making goals for myself. I made a list of things that I want to accomplish/can do when I am bored and am anxious to start checking things off. I am trying to look at the next 4 months as "me time" and in exploring this idea I have come to realize I may never have time like this again. I have 4 months of living alone, no one to answer to or base my routine around. No one to share date nights with. No one to remind me of everything I tend to forget to do when left to my own devices. And while I certainly don't LIKE this, I am trying to regain some independence and remember what it was like to live the single life and not have a partner helping me out and doing his share to keep everything in order at home.

After only 2 days, I am already seeing how much Jonathon adds to my life and that really, we have created a life together. A great life. In addition, I am once again left to take out the trash and clean the bathroom - 2 chores that I despise! Once he is home, we will be married and likely never have extended time apart again (hopefully). We also are looking forward to starting a family, which only further reinforces the point about using this time for just me because this is likely the only time that I will solely be responsible for myself.

So what have I been up to? Lots of girly things! I went shopping (retail therapy 2x and its only day 2...not good!) and have been working out a lot. I also rented a girly movie last night and watched last week's episode of The Bachelorette (Bentley is obnoxious by the way). I also went to church by myself today for the first time in a very long time. I felt like mass was just for me, as the homily was all about patience and how we are a society that demands instant gratification yet we forget that God has a plan and is always with us.

I am not sure what tomorrow brings but I am going to try and enjoy it and accomplish something, no matter how big or small. I need to get past this mindset of counting down days and wishing them away. I know I am going to be ok on my own, I'm strong and I will be fine.

*This print is by Brian Andreas over at StoryPeople.com. His work is amazing and everyone (and their mother) should own at least one. Love.

Goodbyes

I just got home from dropping J off at the airport. It was hard but I tried to stay upbeat for him. He is doing this to invest in OUR future, not just his, and I am trying to be supportive and encouraging of that. He will be home in 16 weeks. The countdown has officially begun.

So I got home and sat down to send him a little email that hopefully would make him smile. When I signed into my gmail account, I noticed an email he sent me last July. I was going through some pretty big changes in my life at that time and was feeling generally anxious. I had been unhappy in my job and decided to accept a new position and while I was excited, I was fearful of the change. The following is the email that he sent me:

The Prayer of St. Francis de Sales

Be at Peace
Do not look forward in fear to the changes of life;
rather look to them with full hope as they arise.
God, whose very own you are,
will deliver you from out of them.
He has kept you hitherto,
and He will lead you safely through all things;
and when you cannot stand it,
God will bury you in his arms.

Do not fear what may happen tomorrow;
the same everlasting Father who cares for you today
will take care of you then and everyday.
He will either shield you from suffering,
or will give you unfailing strength to bear it.
Be at peace,
and put aside all anxious thoughts and imagination.

St. Francis de Sales 1567-1622

So I sent it back to him this morning, telling him to save it in HIS inbox and read it when he was feeling scared or unsettled. I know how anxious he is about being away for 4 months and essentially living out of a suitcase. I am going to miss him terribly, but am looking forward to having him back in the fall and marrying him shortly thereafter.

(I'm a sucker for a man in scrubs...)