Inaugural Girls Weekend Boston 2012

Memorial Day weekend was...wait for it...legendary! So much so that it's taken to me till today to recover and be able to sit down and blog about it. I was exhausted. Plus I had 92 loads of laundry to do.

About a month ago my best friend Cory asked if she could come visit with her daughter Abby, age 3. Love Jetblue for it's cheap flights between Boston and Buffalo...that is something I will definitely miss when we move next year. So then I was talking to another of our best friends from high school, Katie, and she wanted to come visit with her daughter Madison, age 5. She was able to find a cheap flight on Spirit Airlines (I had never even heard of Spirit lol) and our plans were set. Of course I wanted to keep Katie's visit a surprise for Cory, but Katie was too excited and put it on Facebook immediately that she was coming. And of course I immediately got a text from Cory saying please tell her that Katie was coming the same weekend as her. lol

The big weekend was finally upon us. I picked Cory and Abby up at the airport Friday at 4:30pm. Of course driving there I noticed all the traffic building up in the return direction. Yay rush hour! The traffic gods were smiling upon us because it was clear when we left the airport and we made it back in record time. Katie and Madison took the red eye and I got up at 5:15am Saturday morning to pick them up at 6am. You know you love someone when you get up at 5:15am to pick them up from the airport.

After a sugar filled breakfast of the best muffins ever and copious amounts of coffee we headed into Boston for some sight seeing. Cory believed we saw all of Boston, but we didn't even venture out of the Quincy Market/North End areas. We enjoyed a Quincy Market picnic lunch in Christopher Columbus park, followed by walking, harbor seals at the aquarium, Mike's Pastry...oh, and the rudest waitress I have ever encountered. Paul got to play babysitter, along with a large group of homeless people, in the park while we went and grabbed lunch.

We wanted to stop at the Bell and Hand for a beer, but it was super crowded so we went into The Point instead. We found a table in the corner and were able to get strollers of sleeping kids tucked in around us. The waitress came over to take our order and seemed immediately put out. She was so rude that I will A) never go back there, B) asked to speak to a manager. They didn't have one there, but I did tell another employee that when your waitress complains she didn't get a tip you can tell her that my tip is to be nicer to her customers. And for the first time IN MY LIFE I didn't leave a tip and no one else did either.

After that we headed towards Mike's Pastry and then home. Yum, yum, yum. After Mike's Pastry we stopped by the fire station. Abby was asked if she wanted to get in the truck and she said no, but I was all over it! They even let me turn on the lights and sirens!

I made Mexican for dinner and then it was on to wine. I also got to go to the Abby and Madison school of hair design.

Sunday was sleeping in...well, for those of us that don't have kids that get up at 6:30am. Emma doesn't really get weekends. Katie and I went to get delicious donuts and coffee (always with the coffee). We then got ready for a cook out. Paul was on dog poop patrol and I cleaned off, for the second time--stupid pollen, the tables and chairs. We filled up the kiddie pool for the kids and then guests started arriving.

What happens when 3 friends from high school who haven't seen each other in a long time start drinking wine outdoors? Redneck slip and slide of course! Followed by a dip in our pool. haha

Sunday night we sat around the fire and reminisced. Oh and we also drunk dialed our friend Amanda back in Florida. I'm sure she appreciated that.

After staying up much too late and having to get up much too early, Monday morning we headed back into Boston. Katie was obsessed with riding the subway, among the list of 900 other things she wanted to do while she was here, so we took the subway to the Children's Museum. Look at our big girl riding the subway like a pro!

Emma loved the 0-3 play area, as did Paul, and we stayed there pretty much the entire time while Katie and Cory explored the rest of the museum with their kids. Everyone was exhausted and fell asleep as soon as we left the museum. Well, the kids did at least. I felt like I could have.

After the Children's Museum we stopped by the Cheers bar for some cocktails and appetizers and to fortify ourselves for the walk back to the car...why, oh why, did I wear flip flops and a dress? The breeze was a little chilly and flip flops are NOT made for long walks. It was Memorial Day and they had a beautiful display in honor of the fallen soldiers from MA. It was truly breathtaking to see so many flags and there were tons of people out taking pictures.

And as Abby and I have the same size bladder, that of a 3 year old, we had to stop at the Burger King to use the restroom.

Monday night was another late night involving lots of wine and junk food. I was sooo tired on Tuesday. Before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye. Em fell asleep in the car and she was so confused when she woke up on the way home from the airport. It was funny to watch her peaking over the side of her car seat looking around for everyone. Paul got a LOT of use out of his man cave this weekend. It actually may be the most time he's spent down there in over a year. haha It was good preparation for this fall's football season.

And I just included this pic because I think it's so cute to watch her climb in and out of her bumbo on her own now. She loves it now more than when she needed it to sit up. lol

Weekend Update: Garden & Puppies for Sale

Thursday we had 7 yards of mulch delivered. Part of the reason we wanted to get our flower beds freshly mulched was because we are having a cookout next weekend and wanted the yard to look nice. I decided to start spreading it. This was after I had already been to Stroller Strides where the theme was muffin top and back fat. I was so sore by the time I got done mulching that we had to go out to dinner. lol



Friday I did make it to the gym though and did week 2, day 3 of ease into 5k.



Saturday I got up and went to Stroller Strides and Paul got up and started mulching. I was pretty sure it was going to be an entire weekend project, but by the time I got home at 10:30 he was almost done! I put baby goose down for a nap and went outside to help. To give you some idea why I thought it'd take the entire weekend take a look at how big our front yard flower beds are! Behold!









Saturday afternoon our friend/electrician Mike came over with his girlfriend whom we had never met before. Of course she was beautiful and of course I looked and smelled like I had been sleeping outside for a week. So we're all sitting around chatting and she says how she had driven down our road the other day and saw a baby outside in a dog pen while the mom worked outside. Hi, my name is Jenn and I used a dog pen as a play pen for my daughter. We laughed so hard when I told them it was me!

Puppy anyone?



So I had decided not to do a vegetable garden this year. The past three years have been epic failures in the vegetable garden department. I have 4 raised beds and 3 summers ago my tomatoes were out of control. Two summers ago I was in my first trimester and too sick to take care of my veggies. Last summer Paul was in Afghanistan and I was home alone with the baby. Paul asked me if I was going to do a garden this year because he wanted to rip the beds up as we're moving next year. I said give me two weeks and if I haven't gotten the beds planted then you can get rid of them. Initially I thought I'd just do 2 container gardens, one with a tomato plant and 1 with strawberries.



Two weeks came and went and I had done NOTHING in the vegetable garden. Well, today I went over to our neighbors and they were getting their garden ready for planting and of course now I want a garden. So while Emma napped I went outside and prepped 2 of the beds. Plus I washed our patio furniture and raked out under the table. I was en fuego!



I came back inside and told Paul to saddle up because we were heading to Home Depot (after we stopped for ice cream...I've never seen Em use the sign for "more" more than she did for ice cream lol). We get to Home Depot and we also wanted another plant to fill in an empty spot in the flower bed. Home Depot had these cool whiskey barrels so we ended up getting 2 of those instead. Then we had to pick out flowers to fill the containers and then I thought about how my bestie Cory is coming next weekend (along with our bestie Katie). Cory is an AMAZING gardener and her yard ALWAYS looks unbelievable. She just did a big veggie garden and I knew I needed to get my act in gear and get some stuff planted! One of the whiskey barrel containers.



I already had these 2 containers done, but think they were getting too much sun so I moved them to a more shady spot which also frames our basement door. Hopefully the flowers perk up before Cory gets here! I don't want to be embarrassed! Okay, maybe I should swap the one container and propane tank aka grill brush holder.





I also had these containers done by the mud room door. You can't see the pot in the back, but it used to belong to my grandfather. It's an old cauldron and my grandfather used to plant red and yellow flowers in it and then stack wood under it so it looked like a fire. Somehow a friend of my dad's ended up with the cauldron and then last year asked if I wanted it. I was so happy that he thought of me. My grandpa was an avid gardener. When I was a little girl my grandpa owned the lot across from their house and it was entirely vegetable garden. I can remember looking for worms with my grandpa for him to put in his garden.





I love love love hydrangeas and already had 1 from last year, but decided I wanted another one. So, here is a little area near our grill that now has 2 hydrangea, a new Guinea impatient, lavender, and hen & chicks.




I had some leftover flowers and a leftover hanging basket so I combined the two for a new hanging basket of flowers.

Our neighbor brought me over an avocado plant. I decided to leave it in the pot so we could bring it in in the winter and take it with us when we move next year. Please ignore the decripit and uneven staircase and bizarre concrete block wall the people before us did. Our plan is to redo that area with wood stairs and flower boxes. We really would like to do a deck, but aren't sure we want to spend the money.

And finally my vegetable garden. I planted some heirloom tomatoes and lettuce in one bed. I think there are some leftover strawberry plants from last summer in there, too. In the other bed...well, I desperately want to own a pumpkin patch some day so I planted pumpkins, cantaloupe, and watermelon. Ignore the fact that the grass is much too high and needs cut.

Last night we were in bed and asleep by 9pm. I wonder if we'll even make it till 9 tonight. Cory, eat your heart out! (okay, I really should post some pics of her yard because it still is way cooler than my yard. lol)

The Gym

I have worked out...wait for it...every day this week! I ran outside once, ran at the gym twice, and tomorrow will be my second day at Stroller Strides this week. Go me, go me, go me (with a little cabbage patch dancing going on for effect). I even used the dip and chin up machine at the gym today (I hadn't done that in over 4 years and used to love it...my arms rocked when I did it on the regular). Although I am constantly bombarded with the realization that if I don't get my eating under control I will never lose weight. For a year now I've debated going to a food addicts anonymous meeting. I have a friend who went and lost 100lbs, but she had to give up fat, flour, and wheat...no bread, no pasta, no chicken wings, no wine...only eating a very specific menu and I just don't think I have that in me. I could perform brain surgery before I could give up chicken wings and wine. Sigh.

And apparently every person I know who has lost weight recently has done so through major changes in their diet. Why are foods that taste so good so bad for me? Much like my obsession with douchebags in my late 20's it seems. Ugh.

I guess I can continue to make little changes. For example I've given up sugar in my coffee and have started using agave. That is a huge step for me! I used to be a 4 teaspoons of sugar per cup type of person so to use a couple teaspoons of agave is a big deal.

I think the next step is to add more fruits and vegetables into my diet. I really feel like we don't eat a lot of processed foods (which is part of the reason I struggle with couponing. I just don't ever buy the crap they have coupons for). I cook dinner every night (Emma has curbed our dinners out on the weekends), but there are still nights that we order in pizza (a couple times a month). I think adding a green smoothie will help me add in more fruits and vegetables to my diet and help me lose weight.

When I was finishing up week 2, day 3 of ease into 5k today all I could think was how am I going to run 2 straight minutes next week and I think a fat person ate the thin person I used to be. I used to be in such good shape. I lifeguarded, swam during my breaks, worked out, roller bladed to work, ran, walked...I was so active! And over the last 10 years it's almost like my will to care what I look like has been sucked right out of me (and yet surprisingly I met a very handsome, great man who fell in love with me). I've gotten fatter and fatter and fatter as the years have rolled on, but now that I'm a mom I don't want a fat kid. I think it's negligent when parents allow their children to eat junk food (I'm not saying we don't ever let Em try sweets) as a primary meal source or be super heavy. You are the parent. You set the example. I am Em's mom. I need to be an example of a healthy lifestyle for her and I want to be here for a long time for her.

So I am going to secretly stalk my friends who have recently lost weight and made healthy lifestyle changes and do what they do. Please encourage me. Please tell me how you've lost weight. I need the help and encouragement. I've gotten the working out down, but I need to get my eating under control.

My name is Jenn and I am an overeater. Help!