Saturday, June 30, 2012

today was a pink kind of day

i believe in pink. 


i believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. 

I believe in kissing. 

kissing a lot.


I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. 

I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. 



I believe that tomorrow is another day




and i believe in miracles. 

~Audrey Hepburn





Thursday, June 28, 2012

a few things i just don't understand on this friday eve:

how this bouquet of flowers can be over five hundred dollars. FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS?!?!?!




what the difference is between a size 34 x 36 and a 36 x 34 in guys pants? I am still so confused about this part of the male fashion world.. really? if you need one and they only have the other, what in the heck is wrong with trying to make it work? come on guys.

why am i not a teacher? NO SCHOOL FOR THE NEXT THREE-ish MONTHS AND a paycheck? I know, I know, this really isn't the case, but still. at about this time in the summer, I always find myself questioning my career choice.

why baby gap flats are the same price as adult gap flats? there is seriously like less than half the amount of fabric!!!!!?!?!!?!



what would it be like to eat 12,000 calories a day? Michael Phelps is getting in prime shape for the Olympics and I was reading an article about his diet. I mean, yeah, 12,000 calories is a LOT. but could you actually IMAGINE eating that many?!?!?!?!??!

I most CERTAINTLY can't grasp this tweet I saw today. 
"Would you notice if Jesus walked by? "He had no beauty to attract us to himself, nothing special in his appearance. Isa. 53:2"


happy weekend, everyone :) 

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

bellis fair battle

okaaaaay.

drew kept complaing that we were missing the olympic trials, but oh my friends.
let me tell ya.

we just went through the olympic round of guy/girl shopping EXTREME.

things drew hates:

clothes shopping
pictures
picking out wrapping paper
cutting his hair
Bellis Fair Mall
shopping in general


things that the soon-to-be mcdonalds really needed to get done:

engagment picture clothes for drew
groom and groomsmen clothes for the wedding
baby shower gift for his niece
cut his hair for said engagement photos

I thought I had a great idea. kind of like the band-aid approach. Get it all over with at once.  Everything that Drew had been complaining that he had to do and errands that he had to run blah blah blah. I had the brilliant idea of "well, while we are doing some of these things, let's just cross them allll off the list." everything drew hates in one evening, instead of like one night a week for the next month.

I thought I was brilliant.

i'll admit. it was a disaster. I was wrong. toooo much at once.

The first dressing room attendent didn't know what to say when I asked if she could bring me a stiff drink. I wasn't kidding.

We had to RUN out of the next store, because we had left the dressing room and men's suit area SUCH a mess.

So girl's sizes are confusing enough. Is it a 2,4,6 scale or a 3,5,7 scale? Petites or longs?

LET ME TELL YOU!

Guy's have TWO numbers?!?!?!?! it's like having to find two things instead of one! I would get soo excited because I would find the right size of his taaaaaalllllll friend Chris, just to realize, oh what?!?! I have to find ANOTHER number two?!? A waist size? Hopeless.

I think the workers could sense we were a bit tense too, and weren't really volunteering their help.

Snippet of a comment I am NOT proud about but it was the heat of the moment:

we had EVERY size of his groosmen except DREW'S and he was trying to tell me he couldn't squish into a little smaller waste size. pshhh. girl's do it all the time :)

Me: Drew. You have eyes too, You can look for your size on this rack just as well as I can.
Drew: Apparently I don't have good eyes.
Me: Clearly not. Those are NOT the same grays.
Drew: Clearly not. I picked you.  

it was funny. but still. we really felt that way at the moment.

ehh. well we are here. might as well add a trip to baby GAP. Hahaha. I should have stopped now, but we were just too far in.

Drew doesn't understand why any child under the age of one would ever wear shoes, and he literally almost punched the counter when the cheerful cashier informed him of our miniture baby outfit total :)

Ehh. Now that my manly man is carrying a baby gap bag and some VERY expensive slacks, I decide welllll he still needs new jeans for the photo shoot this weekend.

Off we go.

I am waiting outside the dressing room when he comes out. HOLDING all of the stuff he was supposed to show me.

He exclaims that he didn't just want to leave all his normal clothes sitting in there, so there was no logical way to show me what he was trying on.

GIRLS. HOW DO YOU EVEN ARGUE WITH THAT? I was speechless. SUCH a logical boy perspective but soooo silly.


welp. weren't done. had to get wrapping paper and then round out the Target trip by going to get some outdoor lights for the wedding that were on sale. Drew was so beyond mad at this point, he was almost acting loopy.

I stopped dead in my tracks when I realized there was a problem. They were all out of the CLEAR globes, and only had frosted left. I looked and Drew and was about to say, "WHAT SHOULD WE DO? THEY ONLY HAVE FROSTED!" when he literally gave me the funniest look I have ever seen.

I said, "hi. i am hear holding a newborn outfit that costs more than I have EVER spent on myself, with a roll of pink wrapping papper. I bought a "turquiose v-neck" because you think it will match with the dress you got for our engagement pictures.  I just spent 3 hours trying to find like 5 pairs of pants that would look good on 5 different guys and you are really going to ask me if I think we should have clear or frosted bulb lights at our wedding?"

i decided it was not the best time to bring it up :)


quick little stop at the mcdonalds food court and we were on our way.

and i didn't even tell him that he left his coke on the top of the car when we drove away :)

he deserved it :)

fine. i SO didnt want to tell him, but I wussed out and at the last second said, "WAIT YOUR POP IS THE ON THE ROOF OF THE CAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

sometimes the all-or nothing approach is NOT good. like in this case.
PLUS. i just realized he didn't get a hair-cut and we didn't pick out his wedding ring like the original plan.

i foresee another fun night in the future. hopefully with a stiff drink :)

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

eeeeek :)

a remember a couple weeks ago when I had finally sent in the final okay of the wedding invitation draft, and I said,

"well, no turning back now."

my co-worker turned to me and said,

"actually that's not true. Not until you have mailed them out."


welp. no turning back now then :)

Monday, June 25, 2012

Whatcha Weigh Monday?!




so i was a little depressed after last week. fell back into habits that I thought were GONE, had some old mind-sets (want to lose weight? then eat broccoli!) come back into my mind. but ya know what i learned?

maybe having eating issues and weird ideas about food is kinda likkkeeeee. herpes? well not herpes nessecarily but something like that, where you ALWAYS have it, but sometimes it just decides to rear it's ugly head. :)

lovely comparison I know, but that's all I could come up with :)


i FINALLY realized. so what if some of those thoughts come up again and some of those habits?
that doesn't mean I've made no progress in my quest for a healthy balance with food.

this week i decided to give myself a break.

what happens is that I stress over like "OH MY GOSH that cream cheese was full fat and not fat-free. Instead of what, just accepting the extra 3 grams of fat and measely 70 carbs, I let that send down a rockslide. Well psh. If I'm going by over my daily fat goal by over 3 grams, I might as well eat icecream.

When I objectively think that out or even kind of write it down, it seems so silly and I am able to kinda get over it. :)


"when walking, walk. when eating, eat"
~zen proverb

since last week was that horrendouse week, I hoped this week would be better.

down 8 pounds and now 7 pounds away from wedding goal weight.

enough of the crazy pound swings, this last bit is going to be little by little :)

Sunday, June 24, 2012

palace


“Imagine yourself as a living house.

God comes in to rebuild that house. 
At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing.
 He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. 

But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. 

What on earth is He up to?

The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. 

You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage:
 but He is building a  p a l a c e."

c.s. lewis




Saturday, June 23, 2012

life & lululemon

"picture your eventual demise. it can have an amazing effect on how you live your life."
-lululemon athletica
krislyn made this cake for one of her co-works at lulu. how freaking cute.

I always thought that quote was just a little weird and made me feel uncomfortable. I preferred the sayings that remind me to take my vitamins and make sure I drink a lot of water. much more pleasant.

that being said, i went to the doctor because my sore throat was getting worse and I feel like I was getting an ear infection or something.

Negative strep test and ears looked fine.

BUT then when I opened up my mouth and he looked at my tonsils.

There was a mini-freakout.

Apparently one tonsil was EXTREMELY swollen and was starting to MOVE.

he informed me what there is a condition where a absecess can develop behind your tonsil and when it gest bigger, it pushes your tonsil and can eventually block your airway.

UMMMM... okay then? Good thing I was in my velour sweatpants.

He wanted me to go to the ER immediately. Umm what?

Alrighty then.

Off I went with my dearest mommy. My first stay in a hospital and I am 26. Not too shabby.



the ER doctorm and both nurses were men. it was so interesting. They were very nice and very helpful and I got released with a small suitcase full of medicine. (well not really but I feel like remembering when to take them all (every 3 hours, twice a day, blah blah) is giving me a headache. If the antibiotics haven't gotten rid of the infection by tomorrow and the swelling hasn't gone down, I have to go back and get the abscess drained. Umm. that might not be so fun as my vicodin induced nap in the hospital room today.

since I was in the ER department, I had some neighbors. (remember, my FIRST time being admitted to a hospital so this was all new.)

my closest neighbor was thsi man who was broughten in by his girlfriend of 30 years less than his age (whenever they asked their relationship, she would loudly exclaim, "OTHER!"

The symptoms sounded like a heart attack and he had been having mini-strokes for the last few months. (NOTE TO SELF: IF YOU HAVE ARM/CHEST PAIN EVERY SINGLE NIGHT FOR A GOOD HOUR, PROBABLY TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR. but that is beside the point I suppose)

He was worried, his gf was worried and it was just a sad situation.

Sitting in that surprisingly comfortable hospital bed in my airy nightgown listening through the "curtain," I feel like I finally understood the meaning of that lulu quote.

One day I could be in that hospital for something a little more serious than a "peritonsillar abscess" (even though it hurts like a B! :)
I could be on the other side of that curtain, the one attached to all that beeping.

I was getting impatient after being there for 2 hours and complaining about my $100 Emergency Room copay that I was going to have to pay.

He had no insurance and were trying to figure out a plan to not lose a battle to Heart Disease.

It was the closest I had gotten to strangers absolutley flirting with death. I wanted to run out of that place and go out to lunch with my grandma. I wanted to take Jenna Mae and Megan to see that new disney princess movie. I wanted to go to the Farmer's market and get REAL food and not obsess over the amount of carbs. Heck, I wanted to go get that striped maxi shirt that I liked but it kinda made me butt look big :)

but i couldn't, as I was waiting for my precious prescriptions and I think the nurse could have easily caught me had I made a break for it.

so instead? I realized there was something I could do right then and there. It didn't cost money, I didn't need to pay plan tickets to start crossing off my list of travel bucket-list spots.

I closed my eyes (not hard because of my lovely pain meds :) and said a little prayer for the man next to me. A little prayer that when I get overwhelmed and feel like there is so much to do in life to "live it up" all that really matters is that I love on others like Jesus loves me. Even when they don't have insurance, or didn't ever take their baby aspirin or I don't even know their name.

Cuz my time here WILL run out, hopefully not by tonsillitis :) but who knows? that little room in the ER  just was a VERY obvious reminder that as much as it may be uncomfortable to think about, we are not promised tomorrow.

i mean really though. Morbid, but so true. Think of your eventual demise... if that doesn't make you want to go do what you love and stop stressing about the little things or the last five pounds, I don't know what does.



 so it was been a very cozy first weekend of summer. Pouring rain, frozen yogurt, scrambled eggs and lots of Red-box movies. and when I swallow I seriously feel like there are razors in the back of my throat and my ear might explode. :)

thanks lulu and dr. wayne :) i learned a lesson in tonsil anatomy AND appreciation, all in one day :) all for a measley $100 copay :)

Friday, June 22, 2012

Friday Letters




dear wedding dress,

although the bridal shop said they would store you until the wedding, i wanted to bring you home. that being said, i am a liiitle scared. the lady at the bridal shop said to be sure "smells from the kitchen don't infiltrate the wedding dress."

umm. could you image if I smelt like burnt brownies or barbequed burgers the day of my wedding?


i may or may not run into my run and make sure the zipper on the dress bag is COMPLETELY zipped up and my bedroom door is closed EVERYTIME there is a smelly dinner cookin' away :)


dear sore throat,

i hate you. so much. i feel like i go to the doctor on a too-frequent basis to get a strep test. today, someone mentioned that if i keep this up, they may suggest I get my tonsils taken out. UMM. okay. I will live with you and not go to the doctor, but I still hate you.  


dear dad,

thank you sooooo much for helping so much with the wedding stuff. you are being a trooper. that being said, good choice with the extra postage that needed to go on the wedding invitations. they looked great with my lovely dovey wedding stamp :)



dear alyssa and dustin,

congratulations on your engagement guys!! So happy for you! 
PS. ummmm BEAUTIFUL rock :)



happy weekend! 




happy weekend! 

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Funny

I had a funny day.

I laughed really hard when pizza hut knew drews name before he ordered tonight.

I cried when I realized I was 7 envelopes short for wedding invitations. Also because it was almost 11 and they hAVe to get in the mail
tomorrow. And they are weird, not normal envelope dimensions. Seriously?!? Where did the envelopes go and WHY is that making me cry? I tell ya. Planning a wedding makes you do crazy things.

I laughed/cried when I tried to cut my very first pineapple and I got a little prickly thorn STUCK in my finger.

I cried when this grumpy man talked about divorce court in twenty years. cynical old man. he said that in engagement you get a diamond ring an din marriage you get suffe"ring". Why thank you sir for your insight.

I laughed when my sister said I absolutely cannot have my bridesmaids wear orange shoes.and I MUST stop texting her pictures of them. No matter how cute. No orange.

Happy Friday eve eve :)






Monday, June 18, 2012

D+


If this last week (5 days really) could have gotten a grade, I definitely would have failed.

Didn't work out since tuesday.
Didn't eat a single vegetable. Well. Does lettuce on a cheeseburger count?


oh wait. that cheeseburger isn't even mine. the clucks and fries? that was mine.

Didn't check anything off the wedding to-do list.

Didn't check anything off the lake house to-do list

But it's not even like I didn't make progress and just stayed in one place, I would have to say I LOST progress in a lot of areas.

More pounds to lose, more room to clean and things to organize BEFoRE I can move them to the lake house.

I WAS THREE POUNDS AWAY FROM WEDDING GOAL WEIGHT PEOPLE. THREE POUNDS. 

THIS MORNING AT WEIGH IN, I COULD HAVE HIT WEDDING GOAL!

ehh... let's have gelato instead. 


instead.. well. it's that lovely time of the month + stress + sodium overload + no working out + eating LOTS of food at grad parties and birthday dinners and fathers' day celebrations. (not excuses I know!)
=

like a ten pound weight gain. oh my gosh. sick. 

remember though just a feel weeks ago I gained 8 pounds and then lost it the next week just with working out for like 5 days in a row? my body is weird. :) 

In two months from TODAY I marry the man of my dreams.

and i need to get over myself, and realize that no, if i want to look like how i want to look in my wedding dress, i cannot eat out every meal.

Two months? That is crunch time people!

I think some people deal with stress by working harder and faster. Those people in college who used to procrastinate until the night before a big test to study? They claimed they worked better under pressure.

Pssshhhh.

Not this girl.

When I get stressed and anxious I just decide to shut down. And eat. And sleep. And watch TV. And those things don't even make me feel better! Vicious cycle. It's like I wanted to just give myself an MSG overload so I wouldn't have to work on my to-do list.

So I think we have officially lost it. There is a piece of driftwood drying in the dryer (don't ask!), I am working on wedding crafts with a steak knife and and my dad is depressed the US open is over.




but. i have learned something. its not gonna work to deprive myself of food except for spinach for the next two months.

it's also not going to work to loath in self-pity and continue this downward cycle.

back on track, one day at a time.

15 pounds to go in two months? who thinks i can do it? :)





Sunday, June 17, 2012











oh dear. wedding craft did not go so well.

and least it makes good smore cookin' bonfires :)

Saturday, June 16, 2012

this or that?

i detest making decisions. when i have a big decision to make, or even lots of little decisions for that matter, i go a little craaaazy.  

i knew that planning a wedding would mean a lot of decisions, but i feel like they are eating me alive.

big stainless steel bins or smaller stainless steel bins?



 big letters or smaller letters?


 these shoes for the bridesmaids?


 or these shoes?


not going with either, actually :)

now, which shade of pink?


and I KNOW it does not matter if i choose pearl, melon or bubblegum,
but in the heat of the moment (my jo-ann fabric basket hanging off my shoulder listening to love songs from the '90's playing on the store speaker systems), I CANNOT for the life of me make a decision.

i feel like i start sweating and my heart starts beating faster and then i can't think rationally.

i will say, okay. i will finish my shopping and then come back and choose a color.
doesn't help.

you would think i was deciding between quitting my job and moving to Hong Kong or going back to law school.

life changing decisions. weigh the pros and the cons. my life will be forever changed.

Nope. my life will go on in prettttyyy much the same way, whether I choose the 5 inch tall wooden letters or the 7 inch tall wooden letters.





BUUUT there is one easy decision. i choose this cutie :)  

Friday, June 15, 2012

TGIF


"man is born to live, not to prepare for life"
-boris pasternak




Thursday, June 14, 2012

june 12,13,14




tuesday night SURPRISE birthday dinner in Fremont.
birthday morning in seattle . 
thursday night birthday dinner celebration #2
who likes my new iphone case? i do. 
birthday frozen yogurt #2

that being SAID, I gained at least 5 pounds over my birthday "week" and I really decided I need to do something about my gray hair.

and don't say, "oohh im sure you don't have gray hair" because I really do.

at least three strands at any given moment that are really weird and stick out HORRIBLY against my dark brown hair.

and i showed my grandma and she said, "LINDSAY!!!!!!!!" like it was my fault!!!

so do i pluck them? what do i do?!?!

not only THAT, but this birthday marks an apparent end to my 20 year run with birthday morning poems from dad and a doughnut.

drew has big shoes to fill. (and drew, i like pink sprinkled donuts.) :)





here's to 26! :)


Wednesday, June 13, 2012

well that's cheery...

i really need to start limiting my social media. :)

i woke up to this on my twitter feed this morning. 




but my friends, i am alive and well and 26 years old. 

:) 

and i had the best birthday i could have imagined. 

friends, family and lots of frozen yogurt. :)

psshh. take that TODAY Show tweet :) 

Monday, June 11, 2012

Whatcha Weigh Monday?!?




"it is possible to be both physically healthy and mentally healthy"

sometimes i feel like i forget this. so good to remember that moderation in everything is key :)

this week:

i have discovered hummus. i may have my birkenstocks soon and my linen pants :)  if i bring my little container of hummus with a big zip lock baggy of veggies, it is AMAZING how much I will snack on them throughout the day. 

i have discovered straws. water is so much more fun with a straw. seriously. try it. :) 






we had a bonfire with fun drinks (ps. use diet tonic water or sprite zero in your dranks. :) delishhh. :)
ps i read that miranda lambert makes margaritas with sprite zero, so you should too :)

i also made another revelation. if i work out more, i can eat more. 
duuuuh. but really? it's soo much easier to just go for an hour workout then have to stress about whether I can have cream cheese on my bagel. 

new running shoes make working out a liiiitle more fun too :) 

for instance? how i did this i do not know. actually i do. 
i was running to fairhaven where i was going to meet my dad at the tennis club.
his plan? i just wanted a ride home.
my plan? stop for frosties. that my friends, is what got me through the run :)
whatever it takes :)

so i had a good mix of fun and fitness, and i was a liiiiitle nervous for weigh-in this morning 

DOWN 2.4 pounds!

i'm like FOUR pounds away from wedding goal! 
i can't believe it :)



22


i have shared my birthday week with my baby sister since I was four.

one day apart, so we always had the joint birthday parties.

i used to hate it. it was so unfair.

the cake said, "happy birthday lindsay and mandy" or "l and m" if the costco cake decorator lady was running out of room.

the decorations from her special day would be left up, just interchanged with a different color ballon for mine :)

the happy birthday song?
happy birthday to you
happy birthday to you
happy birthday dear lindsayandmandymandyandlindsay= sdfkjskldfjslkdfjslkdfjskldfj
happy birthday to you

never worked. people never all agreed on the order of the names.


now? there is no one in this whole wide world that i would rather share the week with. :)

happy birthday, mandy! :)




and this year? i have been blessed to see another side of my darling sister that I had never seen before. 

i know she is amazing and smart and pretty and kind and has a heart for the Lord but..

this sister of mine, is the world's best/most on top of things/feistiest maid-of-honor you will ever meet.






hahaha. don't mess with me, or you will have to mess with her. :) 

hope you have a great day mand and we will celebrate soon! :) 
love you! 

Sunday, June 10, 2012

holler if you're ready for those summer nights




the more you know who you are and what you want, the less you let things upset you
~lost in translation 

Saturday, June 9, 2012

ConGRADS :)

wooohoooo baby sister! :)
And now you will officially surpass me in levels of education. Watch out masters degree, Mandy is coming for ya, starting next week :)

Enjoy your ONE week of summer break sista, :) I had a celebratory drink in your honor.

Friday, June 8, 2012

i feel silly even trying to post pictures of my bridal shower that my bridesmaids/friends hosted for me. 

pictures won't even do it justice. it was just PERFECT and soooo me :) wellll, besides the "lingerie theme" :) 

these are just the little pictures I snapped with my phone and camera but I didn't even get half of the amazing details or the smiling faces of the hostesses with the mostesses and the lovely guests (like katie and julie who came from seattle or jen with baby ford or my gram who had to watch her granddaughter open lingerie) that came to celebrate :) 

i think lo played photographer so hopefully i will get more to share later :) 


the brunch theme was delicious! 

evy thought so too :) 

everything was so sweet and pink :)

and don't even get me started with my sister's party favors. AMAZING. i loooove me some pink nail polish and she was so cute in passing down that fun detail to the girls :) 

took this home for a momento ;)

one of the sweet hostesses, she was SO amazing ;) 


can't stop smiling. 
:) i am so blessed. 

from the newlyweds to the 30 year marriages, my single friends and my friends with boyfriends, I am SO lucky to learn so much from these amazing ladies; both how to throw a partaaaay and how to be a better lady :) 


"whoever walks with the wise becomes wise"
proverbs 13:20


Saturday, June 30, 2012

today was a pink kind of day

i believe in pink. 


i believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. 

I believe in kissing. 

kissing a lot.


I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. 

I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. 



I believe that tomorrow is another day




and i believe in miracles. 

~Audrey Hepburn





Thursday, June 28, 2012

a few things i just don't understand on this friday eve:

how this bouquet of flowers can be over five hundred dollars. FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS?!?!?!




what the difference is between a size 34 x 36 and a 36 x 34 in guys pants? I am still so confused about this part of the male fashion world.. really? if you need one and they only have the other, what in the heck is wrong with trying to make it work? come on guys.

why am i not a teacher? NO SCHOOL FOR THE NEXT THREE-ish MONTHS AND a paycheck? I know, I know, this really isn't the case, but still. at about this time in the summer, I always find myself questioning my career choice.

why baby gap flats are the same price as adult gap flats? there is seriously like less than half the amount of fabric!!!!!?!?!!?!



what would it be like to eat 12,000 calories a day? Michael Phelps is getting in prime shape for the Olympics and I was reading an article about his diet. I mean, yeah, 12,000 calories is a LOT. but could you actually IMAGINE eating that many?!?!?!?!??!

I most CERTAINTLY can't grasp this tweet I saw today. 
"Would you notice if Jesus walked by? "He had no beauty to attract us to himself, nothing special in his appearance. Isa. 53:2"


happy weekend, everyone :) 

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

bellis fair battle

okaaaaay.

drew kept complaing that we were missing the olympic trials, but oh my friends.
let me tell ya.

we just went through the olympic round of guy/girl shopping EXTREME.

things drew hates:

clothes shopping
pictures
picking out wrapping paper
cutting his hair
Bellis Fair Mall
shopping in general


things that the soon-to-be mcdonalds really needed to get done:

engagment picture clothes for drew
groom and groomsmen clothes for the wedding
baby shower gift for his niece
cut his hair for said engagement photos

I thought I had a great idea. kind of like the band-aid approach. Get it all over with at once.  Everything that Drew had been complaining that he had to do and errands that he had to run blah blah blah. I had the brilliant idea of "well, while we are doing some of these things, let's just cross them allll off the list." everything drew hates in one evening, instead of like one night a week for the next month.

I thought I was brilliant.

i'll admit. it was a disaster. I was wrong. toooo much at once.

The first dressing room attendent didn't know what to say when I asked if she could bring me a stiff drink. I wasn't kidding.

We had to RUN out of the next store, because we had left the dressing room and men's suit area SUCH a mess.

So girl's sizes are confusing enough. Is it a 2,4,6 scale or a 3,5,7 scale? Petites or longs?

LET ME TELL YOU!

Guy's have TWO numbers?!?!?!?! it's like having to find two things instead of one! I would get soo excited because I would find the right size of his taaaaaalllllll friend Chris, just to realize, oh what?!?! I have to find ANOTHER number two?!? A waist size? Hopeless.

I think the workers could sense we were a bit tense too, and weren't really volunteering their help.

Snippet of a comment I am NOT proud about but it was the heat of the moment:

we had EVERY size of his groosmen except DREW'S and he was trying to tell me he couldn't squish into a little smaller waste size. pshhh. girl's do it all the time :)

Me: Drew. You have eyes too, You can look for your size on this rack just as well as I can.
Drew: Apparently I don't have good eyes.
Me: Clearly not. Those are NOT the same grays.
Drew: Clearly not. I picked you.  

it was funny. but still. we really felt that way at the moment.

ehh. well we are here. might as well add a trip to baby GAP. Hahaha. I should have stopped now, but we were just too far in.

Drew doesn't understand why any child under the age of one would ever wear shoes, and he literally almost punched the counter when the cheerful cashier informed him of our miniture baby outfit total :)

Ehh. Now that my manly man is carrying a baby gap bag and some VERY expensive slacks, I decide welllll he still needs new jeans for the photo shoot this weekend.

Off we go.

I am waiting outside the dressing room when he comes out. HOLDING all of the stuff he was supposed to show me.

He exclaims that he didn't just want to leave all his normal clothes sitting in there, so there was no logical way to show me what he was trying on.

GIRLS. HOW DO YOU EVEN ARGUE WITH THAT? I was speechless. SUCH a logical boy perspective but soooo silly.


welp. weren't done. had to get wrapping paper and then round out the Target trip by going to get some outdoor lights for the wedding that were on sale. Drew was so beyond mad at this point, he was almost acting loopy.

I stopped dead in my tracks when I realized there was a problem. They were all out of the CLEAR globes, and only had frosted left. I looked and Drew and was about to say, "WHAT SHOULD WE DO? THEY ONLY HAVE FROSTED!" when he literally gave me the funniest look I have ever seen.

I said, "hi. i am hear holding a newborn outfit that costs more than I have EVER spent on myself, with a roll of pink wrapping papper. I bought a "turquiose v-neck" because you think it will match with the dress you got for our engagement pictures.  I just spent 3 hours trying to find like 5 pairs of pants that would look good on 5 different guys and you are really going to ask me if I think we should have clear or frosted bulb lights at our wedding?"

i decided it was not the best time to bring it up :)


quick little stop at the mcdonalds food court and we were on our way.

and i didn't even tell him that he left his coke on the top of the car when we drove away :)

he deserved it :)

fine. i SO didnt want to tell him, but I wussed out and at the last second said, "WAIT YOUR POP IS THE ON THE ROOF OF THE CAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

sometimes the all-or nothing approach is NOT good. like in this case.
PLUS. i just realized he didn't get a hair-cut and we didn't pick out his wedding ring like the original plan.

i foresee another fun night in the future. hopefully with a stiff drink :)

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

eeeeek :)

a remember a couple weeks ago when I had finally sent in the final okay of the wedding invitation draft, and I said,

"well, no turning back now."

my co-worker turned to me and said,

"actually that's not true. Not until you have mailed them out."


welp. no turning back now then :)

Monday, June 25, 2012

Whatcha Weigh Monday?!




so i was a little depressed after last week. fell back into habits that I thought were GONE, had some old mind-sets (want to lose weight? then eat broccoli!) come back into my mind. but ya know what i learned?

maybe having eating issues and weird ideas about food is kinda likkkeeeee. herpes? well not herpes nessecarily but something like that, where you ALWAYS have it, but sometimes it just decides to rear it's ugly head. :)

lovely comparison I know, but that's all I could come up with :)


i FINALLY realized. so what if some of those thoughts come up again and some of those habits?
that doesn't mean I've made no progress in my quest for a healthy balance with food.

this week i decided to give myself a break.

what happens is that I stress over like "OH MY GOSH that cream cheese was full fat and not fat-free. Instead of what, just accepting the extra 3 grams of fat and measely 70 carbs, I let that send down a rockslide. Well psh. If I'm going by over my daily fat goal by over 3 grams, I might as well eat icecream.

When I objectively think that out or even kind of write it down, it seems so silly and I am able to kinda get over it. :)


"when walking, walk. when eating, eat"
~zen proverb

since last week was that horrendouse week, I hoped this week would be better.

down 8 pounds and now 7 pounds away from wedding goal weight.

enough of the crazy pound swings, this last bit is going to be little by little :)

Sunday, June 24, 2012

palace


“Imagine yourself as a living house.

God comes in to rebuild that house. 
At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing.
 He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. 

But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. 

What on earth is He up to?

The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. 

You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage:
 but He is building a  p a l a c e."

c.s. lewis




Saturday, June 23, 2012

life & lululemon

"picture your eventual demise. it can have an amazing effect on how you live your life."
-lululemon athletica
krislyn made this cake for one of her co-works at lulu. how freaking cute.

I always thought that quote was just a little weird and made me feel uncomfortable. I preferred the sayings that remind me to take my vitamins and make sure I drink a lot of water. much more pleasant.

that being said, i went to the doctor because my sore throat was getting worse and I feel like I was getting an ear infection or something.

Negative strep test and ears looked fine.

BUT then when I opened up my mouth and he looked at my tonsils.

There was a mini-freakout.

Apparently one tonsil was EXTREMELY swollen and was starting to MOVE.

he informed me what there is a condition where a absecess can develop behind your tonsil and when it gest bigger, it pushes your tonsil and can eventually block your airway.

UMMMM... okay then? Good thing I was in my velour sweatpants.

He wanted me to go to the ER immediately. Umm what?

Alrighty then.

Off I went with my dearest mommy. My first stay in a hospital and I am 26. Not too shabby.



the ER doctorm and both nurses were men. it was so interesting. They were very nice and very helpful and I got released with a small suitcase full of medicine. (well not really but I feel like remembering when to take them all (every 3 hours, twice a day, blah blah) is giving me a headache. If the antibiotics haven't gotten rid of the infection by tomorrow and the swelling hasn't gone down, I have to go back and get the abscess drained. Umm. that might not be so fun as my vicodin induced nap in the hospital room today.

since I was in the ER department, I had some neighbors. (remember, my FIRST time being admitted to a hospital so this was all new.)

my closest neighbor was thsi man who was broughten in by his girlfriend of 30 years less than his age (whenever they asked their relationship, she would loudly exclaim, "OTHER!"

The symptoms sounded like a heart attack and he had been having mini-strokes for the last few months. (NOTE TO SELF: IF YOU HAVE ARM/CHEST PAIN EVERY SINGLE NIGHT FOR A GOOD HOUR, PROBABLY TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR. but that is beside the point I suppose)

He was worried, his gf was worried and it was just a sad situation.

Sitting in that surprisingly comfortable hospital bed in my airy nightgown listening through the "curtain," I feel like I finally understood the meaning of that lulu quote.

One day I could be in that hospital for something a little more serious than a "peritonsillar abscess" (even though it hurts like a B! :)
I could be on the other side of that curtain, the one attached to all that beeping.

I was getting impatient after being there for 2 hours and complaining about my $100 Emergency Room copay that I was going to have to pay.

He had no insurance and were trying to figure out a plan to not lose a battle to Heart Disease.

It was the closest I had gotten to strangers absolutley flirting with death. I wanted to run out of that place and go out to lunch with my grandma. I wanted to take Jenna Mae and Megan to see that new disney princess movie. I wanted to go to the Farmer's market and get REAL food and not obsess over the amount of carbs. Heck, I wanted to go get that striped maxi shirt that I liked but it kinda made me butt look big :)

but i couldn't, as I was waiting for my precious prescriptions and I think the nurse could have easily caught me had I made a break for it.

so instead? I realized there was something I could do right then and there. It didn't cost money, I didn't need to pay plan tickets to start crossing off my list of travel bucket-list spots.

I closed my eyes (not hard because of my lovely pain meds :) and said a little prayer for the man next to me. A little prayer that when I get overwhelmed and feel like there is so much to do in life to "live it up" all that really matters is that I love on others like Jesus loves me. Even when they don't have insurance, or didn't ever take their baby aspirin or I don't even know their name.

Cuz my time here WILL run out, hopefully not by tonsillitis :) but who knows? that little room in the ER  just was a VERY obvious reminder that as much as it may be uncomfortable to think about, we are not promised tomorrow.

i mean really though. Morbid, but so true. Think of your eventual demise... if that doesn't make you want to go do what you love and stop stressing about the little things or the last five pounds, I don't know what does.



 so it was been a very cozy first weekend of summer. Pouring rain, frozen yogurt, scrambled eggs and lots of Red-box movies. and when I swallow I seriously feel like there are razors in the back of my throat and my ear might explode. :)

thanks lulu and dr. wayne :) i learned a lesson in tonsil anatomy AND appreciation, all in one day :) all for a measley $100 copay :)

Friday, June 22, 2012

Friday Letters




dear wedding dress,

although the bridal shop said they would store you until the wedding, i wanted to bring you home. that being said, i am a liiitle scared. the lady at the bridal shop said to be sure "smells from the kitchen don't infiltrate the wedding dress."

umm. could you image if I smelt like burnt brownies or barbequed burgers the day of my wedding?


i may or may not run into my run and make sure the zipper on the dress bag is COMPLETELY zipped up and my bedroom door is closed EVERYTIME there is a smelly dinner cookin' away :)


dear sore throat,

i hate you. so much. i feel like i go to the doctor on a too-frequent basis to get a strep test. today, someone mentioned that if i keep this up, they may suggest I get my tonsils taken out. UMM. okay. I will live with you and not go to the doctor, but I still hate you.  


dear dad,

thank you sooooo much for helping so much with the wedding stuff. you are being a trooper. that being said, good choice with the extra postage that needed to go on the wedding invitations. they looked great with my lovely dovey wedding stamp :)



dear alyssa and dustin,

congratulations on your engagement guys!! So happy for you! 
PS. ummmm BEAUTIFUL rock :)



happy weekend! 




happy weekend! 

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Funny

I had a funny day.

I laughed really hard when pizza hut knew drews name before he ordered tonight.

I cried when I realized I was 7 envelopes short for wedding invitations. Also because it was almost 11 and they hAVe to get in the mail
tomorrow. And they are weird, not normal envelope dimensions. Seriously?!? Where did the envelopes go and WHY is that making me cry? I tell ya. Planning a wedding makes you do crazy things.

I laughed/cried when I tried to cut my very first pineapple and I got a little prickly thorn STUCK in my finger.

I cried when this grumpy man talked about divorce court in twenty years. cynical old man. he said that in engagement you get a diamond ring an din marriage you get suffe"ring". Why thank you sir for your insight.

I laughed when my sister said I absolutely cannot have my bridesmaids wear orange shoes.and I MUST stop texting her pictures of them. No matter how cute. No orange.

Happy Friday eve eve :)






Monday, June 18, 2012

D+


If this last week (5 days really) could have gotten a grade, I definitely would have failed.

Didn't work out since tuesday.
Didn't eat a single vegetable. Well. Does lettuce on a cheeseburger count?


oh wait. that cheeseburger isn't even mine. the clucks and fries? that was mine.

Didn't check anything off the wedding to-do list.

Didn't check anything off the lake house to-do list

But it's not even like I didn't make progress and just stayed in one place, I would have to say I LOST progress in a lot of areas.

More pounds to lose, more room to clean and things to organize BEFoRE I can move them to the lake house.

I WAS THREE POUNDS AWAY FROM WEDDING GOAL WEIGHT PEOPLE. THREE POUNDS. 

THIS MORNING AT WEIGH IN, I COULD HAVE HIT WEDDING GOAL!

ehh... let's have gelato instead. 


instead.. well. it's that lovely time of the month + stress + sodium overload + no working out + eating LOTS of food at grad parties and birthday dinners and fathers' day celebrations. (not excuses I know!)
=

like a ten pound weight gain. oh my gosh. sick. 

remember though just a feel weeks ago I gained 8 pounds and then lost it the next week just with working out for like 5 days in a row? my body is weird. :) 

In two months from TODAY I marry the man of my dreams.

and i need to get over myself, and realize that no, if i want to look like how i want to look in my wedding dress, i cannot eat out every meal.

Two months? That is crunch time people!

I think some people deal with stress by working harder and faster. Those people in college who used to procrastinate until the night before a big test to study? They claimed they worked better under pressure.

Pssshhhh.

Not this girl.

When I get stressed and anxious I just decide to shut down. And eat. And sleep. And watch TV. And those things don't even make me feel better! Vicious cycle. It's like I wanted to just give myself an MSG overload so I wouldn't have to work on my to-do list.

So I think we have officially lost it. There is a piece of driftwood drying in the dryer (don't ask!), I am working on wedding crafts with a steak knife and and my dad is depressed the US open is over.




but. i have learned something. its not gonna work to deprive myself of food except for spinach for the next two months.

it's also not going to work to loath in self-pity and continue this downward cycle.

back on track, one day at a time.

15 pounds to go in two months? who thinks i can do it? :)





Sunday, June 17, 2012











oh dear. wedding craft did not go so well.

and least it makes good smore cookin' bonfires :)

Saturday, June 16, 2012

this or that?

i detest making decisions. when i have a big decision to make, or even lots of little decisions for that matter, i go a little craaaazy.  

i knew that planning a wedding would mean a lot of decisions, but i feel like they are eating me alive.

big stainless steel bins or smaller stainless steel bins?



 big letters or smaller letters?


 these shoes for the bridesmaids?


 or these shoes?


not going with either, actually :)

now, which shade of pink?


and I KNOW it does not matter if i choose pearl, melon or bubblegum,
but in the heat of the moment (my jo-ann fabric basket hanging off my shoulder listening to love songs from the '90's playing on the store speaker systems), I CANNOT for the life of me make a decision.

i feel like i start sweating and my heart starts beating faster and then i can't think rationally.

i will say, okay. i will finish my shopping and then come back and choose a color.
doesn't help.

you would think i was deciding between quitting my job and moving to Hong Kong or going back to law school.

life changing decisions. weigh the pros and the cons. my life will be forever changed.

Nope. my life will go on in prettttyyy much the same way, whether I choose the 5 inch tall wooden letters or the 7 inch tall wooden letters.





BUUUT there is one easy decision. i choose this cutie :)  

Friday, June 15, 2012

TGIF


"man is born to live, not to prepare for life"
-boris pasternak




Thursday, June 14, 2012

june 12,13,14




tuesday night SURPRISE birthday dinner in Fremont.
birthday morning in seattle . 
thursday night birthday dinner celebration #2
who likes my new iphone case? i do. 
birthday frozen yogurt #2

that being SAID, I gained at least 5 pounds over my birthday "week" and I really decided I need to do something about my gray hair.

and don't say, "oohh im sure you don't have gray hair" because I really do.

at least three strands at any given moment that are really weird and stick out HORRIBLY against my dark brown hair.

and i showed my grandma and she said, "LINDSAY!!!!!!!!" like it was my fault!!!

so do i pluck them? what do i do?!?!

not only THAT, but this birthday marks an apparent end to my 20 year run with birthday morning poems from dad and a doughnut.

drew has big shoes to fill. (and drew, i like pink sprinkled donuts.) :)





here's to 26! :)


Wednesday, June 13, 2012

well that's cheery...

i really need to start limiting my social media. :)

i woke up to this on my twitter feed this morning. 




but my friends, i am alive and well and 26 years old. 

:) 

and i had the best birthday i could have imagined. 

friends, family and lots of frozen yogurt. :)

psshh. take that TODAY Show tweet :) 

Monday, June 11, 2012

Whatcha Weigh Monday?!?




"it is possible to be both physically healthy and mentally healthy"

sometimes i feel like i forget this. so good to remember that moderation in everything is key :)

this week:

i have discovered hummus. i may have my birkenstocks soon and my linen pants :)  if i bring my little container of hummus with a big zip lock baggy of veggies, it is AMAZING how much I will snack on them throughout the day. 

i have discovered straws. water is so much more fun with a straw. seriously. try it. :) 






we had a bonfire with fun drinks (ps. use diet tonic water or sprite zero in your dranks. :) delishhh. :)
ps i read that miranda lambert makes margaritas with sprite zero, so you should too :)

i also made another revelation. if i work out more, i can eat more. 
duuuuh. but really? it's soo much easier to just go for an hour workout then have to stress about whether I can have cream cheese on my bagel. 

new running shoes make working out a liiiitle more fun too :) 

for instance? how i did this i do not know. actually i do. 
i was running to fairhaven where i was going to meet my dad at the tennis club.
his plan? i just wanted a ride home.
my plan? stop for frosties. that my friends, is what got me through the run :)
whatever it takes :)

so i had a good mix of fun and fitness, and i was a liiiiitle nervous for weigh-in this morning 

DOWN 2.4 pounds!

i'm like FOUR pounds away from wedding goal! 
i can't believe it :)



22


i have shared my birthday week with my baby sister since I was four.

one day apart, so we always had the joint birthday parties.

i used to hate it. it was so unfair.

the cake said, "happy birthday lindsay and mandy" or "l and m" if the costco cake decorator lady was running out of room.

the decorations from her special day would be left up, just interchanged with a different color ballon for mine :)

the happy birthday song?
happy birthday to you
happy birthday to you
happy birthday dear lindsayandmandymandyandlindsay= sdfkjskldfjslkdfjslkdfjskldfj
happy birthday to you

never worked. people never all agreed on the order of the names.


now? there is no one in this whole wide world that i would rather share the week with. :)

happy birthday, mandy! :)




and this year? i have been blessed to see another side of my darling sister that I had never seen before. 

i know she is amazing and smart and pretty and kind and has a heart for the Lord but..

this sister of mine, is the world's best/most on top of things/feistiest maid-of-honor you will ever meet.






hahaha. don't mess with me, or you will have to mess with her. :) 

hope you have a great day mand and we will celebrate soon! :) 
love you! 

Sunday, June 10, 2012

holler if you're ready for those summer nights




the more you know who you are and what you want, the less you let things upset you
~lost in translation 

Saturday, June 9, 2012

ConGRADS :)

wooohoooo baby sister! :)
And now you will officially surpass me in levels of education. Watch out masters degree, Mandy is coming for ya, starting next week :)

Enjoy your ONE week of summer break sista, :) I had a celebratory drink in your honor.

Friday, June 8, 2012

i feel silly even trying to post pictures of my bridal shower that my bridesmaids/friends hosted for me. 

pictures won't even do it justice. it was just PERFECT and soooo me :) wellll, besides the "lingerie theme" :) 

these are just the little pictures I snapped with my phone and camera but I didn't even get half of the amazing details or the smiling faces of the hostesses with the mostesses and the lovely guests (like katie and julie who came from seattle or jen with baby ford or my gram who had to watch her granddaughter open lingerie) that came to celebrate :) 

i think lo played photographer so hopefully i will get more to share later :) 


the brunch theme was delicious! 

evy thought so too :) 

everything was so sweet and pink :)

and don't even get me started with my sister's party favors. AMAZING. i loooove me some pink nail polish and she was so cute in passing down that fun detail to the girls :) 

took this home for a momento ;)

one of the sweet hostesses, she was SO amazing ;) 


can't stop smiling. 
:) i am so blessed. 

from the newlyweds to the 30 year marriages, my single friends and my friends with boyfriends, I am SO lucky to learn so much from these amazing ladies; both how to throw a partaaaay and how to be a better lady :) 


"whoever walks with the wise becomes wise"
proverbs 13:20