So much to celebrate, part 2!

As I said on my last post, the end of this year has been chock full of lots of celebration!  In continuation...

December 24th:   Had a lovely brunch with Jen H.  We've been friends since Mrs. Carlin's 4th grade class and whether it's been a day or a year in between seeing each other, it always feels like just yesterday. 

Adrian and I ran a couple errands afterwards and got some last minute Christmas gifts.  I didn't do a dedicated workout because I felt like I really just needed to recover from the wedding, I was so exhausted.  We met up with Evan, Jen, and Alex for a little Christmas Eve dinner and gift exchange at Olive Garden in Newark.  It was great despite the fact that the service was atrocious.   Like...some of the worst service I've ever experienced.  The waitress messed up several different orders, kept blaming the kitchen for everything (I HATE it when servers do this, huge client experience pet peeve), and worst of all encouraged us to tip her well despite all the mistakes.  No bueno....  After dinner, we headed back to Jen and Evan's place for marshmallows by the fireplace and games- more good times! We stayed until I was literally almost falling asleep.  Good times!

Christmas:  Another BUSY day!  I started off the morning with Insanity Pure Cardio because I knew there was going to be some MAJOR food being eaten.  And there was for sure.... We started with some time at Adrian's parent's place and watched most of "A Christmas Story."  It just wouldn't be Christmas without seeing at least some of that hilarious movie!  We then headed over to the Hughes' place for lunch and a pink elephant style secret Santa gift exchange.  It was such a blast!  This was when Adrian wanted to exchange gifts- he likes an audience in his own words.  And frankly, he deserves one- he is awesome at making Christmas and my birthday special each year.  Somehow he truly makes each day it's own event, which is tough to do with them being only 4 days apart.

For Christmas this year- we are going to see Tom Hanks' (one of my favorite actors) Broadway debut in "Lucky Guy" in March!! I can't wait! And he also gave me one of the most beautiful rings I've ever seen....

Pretty butterflies!

I've been on the hunt for a beautiful, feminine, understated elegant butterfly ring to use as an anchor.  I've been struggling to find one that fit into all those categories and be wearable everyday and with any outfit.  Somehow he found a beautiful and perfect ring!  The butterfly is symbolic to me in many ways but primarily it symbolizes transformation.  Over the past 3 years or so I have transformed my body by losing over 255 lbs, but more than that, I have transformed the way I see myself from the inside out and that's even more important and critical to my health and happiness.

I gave Adrian an autographed Cal Ripken Jr. baseball from the 1983 World Series and some baseball cards to go along with it.  He loved it! :) We finished up the day with a nice turkey dinner at the farm and more desserts.  Lots of good family time all the way around and one of the most relaxed, happiest Christmas' I can remember in a long time. films.

Dec 26-28:  These days kinda blended together with lots of workouts, some errands and chores around the house, and 2 trips to the movies.   We saw Les Miserables in Newark with Jen C on Thursday.  It was an incredible movie and well worth seeing in the theaters!  Then in true vacation fashion, we saw Django: Unchained on Friday in White Marsh with Evan and Jen.  It was totally awesome in a different way.  I think I enjoyed it more because I'm not a big musical fan but they were both great.

December 29th- BIRTHDAY!  Totally awesome day of course!  Started off the day with Shaun T with Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs.  Over an hour of sweaty, hard fun with mr. hotness himself.   After cleaning up and brunch time- Adrian wanted to shower me with gifts, which I was all too happy to oblige him! ;)  Adrian went WAY above and beyond the normal call of duty this year! He started off with this awesome container symbolizing my weight loss journey- with one paper clip in it for every pound I've lost on my journey! So it was filled with 260 paperclips!! And he decorated the jar with puppy stickers and colorful markers. Rad!

"Triumphant Colleen"

"Weight Loss"

Then the big tamale of all gifts... An incredible day at the spa together!!  This actually took place the next day, on the 30th and was the most romantic and relaxing experience of my life.  We had a private suite with a big soaking Jacuzzi tub complete with serene music, candles, and rose pedals everywhere.  After the tub, we then had an hour long couples massage followed by a delicious light lunch and more soaking in the tub.  I finished the experience out with a lounge in their relaxation lounge, nice and comfy by the fire.  Then I sat in the steam room for a bit and sweated any remaining toxins from my body.  It was a life altering experience and we were very impressed by the beauty, luxury, and professionalism of the spa.  I highly recommend Robert Andrew Spa!

Saturday night we had a blast out at La Tolteca with friends to celebrate my birthday, and then headed to Roonies in Wilmington to chill for a bit and then some DANCING!   No birthday is complete without some dancing, in my humble opinion.  We got home pretty late, so it was good that the main thing on the list for the next day was the spa.  Mmmm spa....

December 30th-  The spa was the main focus.  Afterwards we were so beat that we ran some errands to keep awake because if we had headed home it would have been straight to bed for a nap.  Which was good that we didn't because that night the family got together with Kate and Imad at the farm to celebrate their anniversary (Dec 30th), my parents anniversary (Dec 28th), and my birthday.  I told you there is too many things to celebrate in my family at the end of the year! We had a nice dinner and played a fun game of "Apples to Apples" after cutting into this incredible cake that Kate and Imad created, it was train, complete with railroad tracks and little rocks! So creative, and very tasty!

It's a train cake made of fondant!

December 31st:  New Years Eve!  Party time! We had a good time at Thea and Nigel's party, played some games, and ate too much food.  Somebody had made muddy buddy... If you have never had this, I caution you from it because it is like CRACK.  It is probably one of my favorite foods on the planet and it's addicting and hard to just eat a small amount.  For that reason I haven't eaten it for years.  I hope I keep away from it for another couple years because I think I ate enough last night to tide me over that long.....so delicious and addicting and it makes me lose all senses completely except the desire to eat lots of it!

 Muddy Buddy

What an amazing 2 weeks of celebrating to end a great 2012!! Happy New Year and I hope you were able to thoroughly enjoy the holiday season!

So much to celebrate, part 1!

What an amazing past few days!  There has been SO much to celebrate, especially with my wonderful sister getting married to Michael!

The progression went something like this....

December 21st-  Fun "end of the year" party- aka the world is still turning party at Bill's.  Oodles of fun, especially playing many rounds of Catch Phrase, lots of good conversation, and some tasty chili dip. Yumm

December 22nd-  Was able to get in a nice hour long stationary bike workout at the gym before heading into Newark for manicures with the bridesmaids! It was a lot of fun and we all got lovely french manicures.  We then headed to the church for the rehearsal which went quite well.  I drove with Molly, Brianne's roommate, who is a really sweet girl and I'm glad I had the opportunity to get to know her a little better.  Adrian was hanging out with a friend so, he met up with us for the rehearsal dinner.

It was an amazing rehearsal dinner- really well put together by Michael's parents! It was held at Deer Park Tavern in Newark and we were all super impressed with the food and how well it was decorated and put together.  Here's a few pretty pictures from the event...

The happy couple!

The family

Soon to be sisters!

December 23rd- WEDDING DAY!!!  It was simply amazing.  I could write several entries about this day but instead a quick summary....it was wonderful to see two people so genuinely and joyously in love proclaim their love publicly.  I'm so proud of both of them for putting this all together, it was such a beautiful wedding and I felt blessed to be a part of it as the matron of honor.   We started off the day with some great up-dos at a salon in Newark, and then had a blast getting all gussied up at the church and ready for the big moment when they would say I do.  Here are some pictures to better illustrate the day....

Everyone looks so lovely! :)

The kiss!

So happy!

She got him!

Cousin love!

With the happy couple!

With Jen C

With my mom and Suzie, Mike's mom

Dancing the night away!

So much family fun and dancing!

Adrian and I after all the festivities!

And since I've adequately photo bombed you for the night....I will update more later.

Adrian for the win!

My husband has always been very supportive of my weight loss and he showed everyone just how awesome he is today :D

I was back at my usual Wednesday evening weight watcher meeting tonight after reaching my 200 lb loss mark last Monday in Fairfield. It was great to reach the goal, obviously, but it didn't feel as real until I told Joni, my awesome leader. She is the reason why I keep going to Wednesday night meetings even though with my schedule Monday nights would be easier. Her and the entire crew there- Carol, Judy, and Pam are fantastic too and always make me feel great weighing in no matter what the scale says. The whole dynamic of the group that goes to the meeting is so fun and it just doesn't feel the same without everyone there. Joni has said it before and she is so right. That's why you have to try out different meetings if you don't feel like you
"click" with your leader or group.


So....we are finishing up the meeting and Joni said she had a special activity and needs a helper and she asks me to come up front and sit down....and then proceeds to put a crown on my head and hand me a wand with a 200 star on it. I was in shock...it was a big celebration for me and my weight loss!! She gave a me a huge hug and when I turned around, there was ADRIAN with a beautiful vase of flowers and balloons!!! I couldn't believe it, I almost started crying I was so happy. Then she opened the floor for people to acknowledge how I have motivated them and ask me questions. It was awesome!! The ww team gave me an awesome ww power food cookbook with messages and signatures from everyone, including Mr. Bill (a previous receptionist). I love weight watchers and my husband is awesome! :) He emailed my leader so they could organize this whole thing- so fantastic! I'm so blessed to have so many supportive people in my life. Just earlier today I was feeling stressed and my sister was of course supportive and fantastic, as always. And I have so many other friends and family members that have been supportive of me the whole time. Much love! <3