I made new friends! C already knew them, but they're new to me so it counts. They're lovely and different and I can't wait to get to know them better.

But that's not what this post is about. It's about how I had them over for dinner and what I made.

One of my favorite people is getting in just over a month, so yesterday we threw a semi-impromptu bridal shower.

The reason the lovely bride to be looks like a pirate in the photo above is thanks to a Brazilian game wherein the bride has to guess what the gift is, and if she guesses wrong the person who gave it to her puts makeup on her. If she gets it right, the giver gets painted.

I made a Vine video of how everyone looked, it's in the tweet below.

Mel's bridal shower!!! vine.co/v/bDrDMU0puAz
— JoPickle (@jospikol) March 23, 2013

Oh and that tiny pup is Piper, Jolyn's dog, who I fully intend for Midas to fall in love with. We've already planned their wedding.

I'm five days through BFL and there were times that I didn't think I'd make it. Tomorrow is my 'free' day where I don't work out and basically eat whatever I want. So you know...I have plans for tomorrow. And yet I know that I'll probably ditch half of them because my eyes are bigger than my stomach. But that's probably a good thing.

I got an exciting package in the mail...the Eating for Life cookbook! First of all, I love cookbooks. And second of all, I think D will be really happy I ordered it (thank you, $100 Amazon gift card). Because he can only pretend excitement at chicken with rice and a veggie so many times in one week. (Although he did go nuts for lemon pepper chicken with pasta and green beans. Go figure.)

Anyway, I'm pretty excited about not planning my meals for tomorrow, and spending some quality time with myself. Because, kids, life is about to get crazy. In a good way (I hope), but still...this might be my last 'veg out and do nothing but watch chick flicks (just finished The Vow) weekend for a while.

H'ok. So.

(You should imagine me saying that the way the guy at the beginning of this video does.)

Day two of Body for Life is almost over, and it's been great so far. D has struggled with the eating plan, but I have confidence in him doing what he says he'll do.

For me, eating has been good and bad. I've stuck to the plan, but honestly there have been some meals I just haven't enjoyed. Now, that mostly has to do with things like buying a bad brand of whole wheat wraps so my turkey wrap was gross. And the fact that I'm trying to train myself to like eggs because they're so darn good for you (and easy, and fast, and cheap). Salsa has become the MVC (most valuable condiment) in my life.

In good news, I finally conquered a protein shake recipe and made a deeeelicious shake this afternoon. In case you're interested, the recipe (and by recipe, I mean vague ingredient list) is below. My problem so far is that I get really hungry between meals, but then can barely finish most of them when I start eating. I think I need to work on getting the portions right, I don't think I'm getting enough protein at each meal yet. So far, no real cravings. Occasionally a thought of something will cross my mind, but I haven't have that OMG I MUST EAT A BROWNIE RIGHT NOW feeling. So yay.

As for the workouts, yesterday was upper body. You pick two exercises for each major muscle group and basically do a pyramid workout. My weakness is definitely my chest/shoulders. I never work these areas out really, so that's where I'm sore today.

Today's workout was cardio, a 20 minute HIIT workout that I am LOVING. I really like changing up the intensity every minute or so, it makes the time fly. D was a good sport, even though he hates running.



Protein Shake
- 1 scoop vanilla protein powder (the brand I have is gross, which is why I had to add stuff)
- 1 tsp (approx.) PB2 (peanut flour)
- 1 tsp cocoa powder
- 3/4 cup milk
Shake shake shake.

Have you ever had one of those nights when you think 'I'd better write all this down so I don't forget it' but then you realize you could never put the night into words?

Yeah.

One of those nights that you thought only happened in the movies, because it doesn't seem like it's possible that in real life your date takes you to this amazing restaurant and oh by the way knows the chef who insists that he make you a three course meal and visits your table to chat so many times that you want to take him home with you so he can be your Italian grandfather. And you spend the night asking each other silly and serious questions and eating so much food you might die but it's worth it. And you even eat fish and seafood and mushrooms because how could it not be good? (And it is good, but you still aren't converted to food from the ocean.) And then he asks (as one of his questions) if you'll see him again on Friday and of course you say yes (because don't forget, this is a movie, and you always say yes in movies).

How could a night be real when your face hurts from laughing by the time you get to the door and when he kisses you goodnight you don't realize you're leaning against the doorbell and your roommate comes out and it's awkward for everyone? But you actually don't really care because these kinds of things happen in movies all the time. And your life is a movie tonight.

I was right. Words don't do it justice.

Sometimes we need those nights, to remind us that they're possible. So that on all the days when life is just life and not bookended by credits and songs, we can look back and remember that one time when...

Remember when I had my wisdom teeth removed last week? Well, I did.

It's been five days of liquids and soft foods, and I am DYING. I'm so hungry. It's really hard to feel full when you aren't chewing or eating solid food. I've been trying hard to eat well and make sure I'm getting the vitamins, etc that I need, but blending spinach into smoothies is getting kind of old. I'm sick of pudding, and ice cream, and mashed potatoes.

So, I'm making a list of all the things I would eat right now if I could:
- Cafe Rio pork quesadilla
- matzoh with butter (Alaina used to eat this in college)
- pizza
- pretzels with cream cheese
- waffles
- bacon cheeseburger on a toasted bun
- toast
- chocolate chip cookies
- cereal. many many bowls of crunchy, delicious cereal
- grilled cheese with tomato soup
- beef jerky. just because it's chewy.

Stitches are coming out in two days. I'm hoping I'll get the go-ahead to actually use my teeth at that point. Chewing is such a luxury. Can't wait!

I love Halloween. Love love love it. Costumes, candy, dancing, pumpkings, creepy movies...I love the whole thing. And I feel like this year I really managed to celebrate the whole month/week leading up to it.
Since I'm experiencing a minor case of post-Halloween depression today (sort of like finishing a book depression but amplified by sugar withdrawal) I thought I'd document all the fun I had so I can look back in a couple weeks and remember how great it was when the details start to leave me.

Halloween movies I watched:
The Canterville Ghost (I know I used to watch this when I was little but I couldn't find the version we had on Netflix, so I watched the one with Neve Campbell)
The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (with the ward after going through a corn maze)
The Craft (with Nicolas...even though he didn't think it counted as scary)
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (Sunday evening during some downtime)
Casper (once up at Heather's cabin and a second time solo as my last Halloween activity)

Halloween calories I consumed:
lots of candy
jack o lantern cookie
Hot Chocolate
Apple crisp with caramel sauce
candy corn (deserves its own listing)

Halloween activities I participated in:
walk/drive to the 'haunted' short bus up at the cabin
corn maze
costume parties (Tinkerbell one night, fullfilling a longtime dream....and a flapper the second night)

I'm trying to remind myself that my birthday and Halloween only signal the beginning of the holiday season and that I have so much to look forward to. (Mostly food.)

Adios, October.

This past weekend was the 4th of July (duh) so I decided to try my hand at a patriotic cake for a church dinner.

I started by making two red layers, one blue layer, and one white layer.

I cut the red and white layers in half horizontally, and left the blue intact.





Then I cut out 4" circles from the blue, one red layer and one white layer. I stacked them all to create the flag pattern and applied cream cheese frosting (liberally).





Sadly, the people who cut the cake at dinner didn't actually use a knife, just a pie server, so it looks pretty ragged. But I'm still happy with how it turned out. Next time I'll use better food coloring to get brighter colors, and I'd probably make the cakes from scratch instead of using a mix.

Overall, though, a success!

My mom tried to show me where they keep the towels. My parents kept all my shampoo and conditioner in the shower. And my mostly empty face wash.

It is so green there. So, so green.



Sarah came up from DC to visit. As usual, we did not take a single picture together. I was reminded how nice it is to be around someone who understands you so completely.

Seriously? So green.

We ate at (almost) all my favorite places: Seasons 52, Iron Hill Brewery, Classic Diner, Rita's, Panera, Christopher's, Riverstone...I can't even remember, but I basically ate out for most of my meals. But when I didn't....

HOME. COOKED. FOOD.

My dad ate this sandwich that was basically an entire crab, fried, between bread.



Sarah and I wandered around West Chester and visited my favorite thrift shop.

I spent almost enough time with Angela. See above re: someone who completely understands you.

TRADER JOES.

Did I mention it's very pretty there? It is.


I played the piano. And brought my guitar back to SLC. Maybe soon I'll learn to play it.

I visited my grandmother and she let me stay for an hour. And she was wise. Bopcha on love: "You have to find someone who's a good balance for you...someone who can mess up and it doesn't bother you as much as if someone else did it."

My parents watched Tangled, and when Sarah and I watched it later my dad kept popping in to tell us his favorite parts. (He liked the chameleon, and the horse that acted like a dog.)

Hours and hours spent with Rachel catching up. I'm a big fan of that girl (and the boyfriend that I finally got to meet!).

And one more just because...

Last year for Lent my officemate, Rachel, and I gave up candy (except Lifesavers). It was a hard 40 days, but I was so proud of myself for sticking with it. When it was over, I didn't even have Easter candy. Crazy, I know.

This year in an effort to test myself/support Kristy/look good in a bathing suit I've decided to give up sweets for Lent. Even though I'm not Catholic. It seems like a really good opportunity to see what I can handle, just what I'm made of. Or something.

The thing about me and vices is that I usually replace one thing with another. So I'm trying to figure out what will replace sweets in my life. It would be great if it were something like working out or doing schoolwork. It might be a very cranky 40 days...

While on the phone with my mom this past week she asked what I was eating. Not at the moment (since I don't eat on the phone) but in general. This is sort of a general concern of hers, as I imagine it is for all mothers who are thousands of miles from their children and haven't laid eyes on them in six months.

I realized I didn't know. I can tell you that I eat cereal for breakfast, but other than that, I have no idea what I eat during the week to survive. I'm pretty sure it's a lot of turkey sandwiches (I kind of have a thing for turkey sandwiches), but I couldn't really confirm that or even tell you where they come from.

So in response to that scary fact, I decided to go grocery shopping after grading some papers, in an attempt to buy real food that I would cook and eat so I don't die of scurvy. Which would suck.

But do you know what I ended up with? Nothing super helpful. Witness, below, the pathetic shopping of a single, mid-20s grad student:
-string cheese
-cinnamon rolls (in a can. I've never bought these, but they sounded appetizing.)
-milk
-cereal
-ramen
-one bag of spring mix lettuce (now sitting in the lettuce graveyard in the fridge, where other bags of lettuce go to die)
-ice cream
-cat food

Seriously, going to die of scurvy.