[back to the roots]

I apologize for my absence lately. It's been so crazy that I feel like I  haven't had any time to blog. I don't know how people who are even busier than I am find the time to do it.

Anyways.

So life lately has been filled with girls' nights, workplace success and weight loss victories. I'm going to focus more on the last one.

Let's be honest. This blog was founded to focus on my weight loss journey yet somehow that seems to be one of the topics I never talk about anymore. I want to get back to that. Of course there will still be updates about life in general, but I want to try and incorporate more weight loss-related posts. Oh and blog more frequently. That would probably help.

Remember when I went to the Italian festival with Rachel?? When we first met up on Charles Street she squealed that it looked like I had dropped another size. I didn't believe her. I still didn't believe I was down one whole size, let alone two. So I just shrugged and said I didn't know. I mean it was possible that I had dropped another size. I just didn't see it when I looked in the mirror.

The day before the Italian festival, when we were on the beach in Delaware, Katy had made a comment about how tiny I was. I didn't believe her either.

Curiosity took over. I had to know. Was I down a size? Was the mirror lying to me, telling me that I was still pudgy? Or was this all just some sort of dream?

On Wednesday, I got an email from LOFT. That in and of itself is not unusual. But this time the email said they were having sales. Huge, massive end-of-season sales. So I went over my lunch break. I just had to know. I had to know if I really had lost another size.

I picked up clothes mostly in the size I knew I had been wearing. I was too scared. I wanted to know but I didn't want to be disappointed. I picked up a few skirts in the smaller size, rationalizing that skirts always seemed to run bigger on me than pants. I've always had very muscular thighs. Well, until I gained weight and they just turned into lumps. As a result I could frequently get away with a smaller skirt size than I could pant size.

The smaller size skirt fit perfectly.

So I went back out. I circled the sales racks. And circled. And circled. And circled. I pushed some pants around. I picked a few pairs up. I put them back. Finally I grabbed a pair in my current size and their counterparts a size smaller. It was time to face the music, if you will.

Back into the dressing room I went with the pants.

The current size were too big.

The size smaller were just right.

I sat down on the bench in the dressing room and teared up. Well first I did a happy dance. Then I teared up.

Y'all I never thought I would see this size again. I never thought I'd lose more than one pants size.

Suddenly sitting in that dressing room almost in tears I realized that I could do this. No, I realized that I was doing this. My goal finally seemed tangible. This was happening in a very real way.

I can't tell you how I did it. I don't have a diet plan for you. I don't have a list of to eat and not to eat. I don't have any of that.

But I do have this: weight loss is 98% mental. The physical action of working out and the actual eating process are only 2% of this process. The rest is all in your head.

I've learned to slow down. I eat slowly. I taste every flavor, notice every texture.

I've learned to be active. I walk home from work. I work out six days a week. I'm always going and doing something, whether by myself or with friends.

I've learned to eat only when I'm truly physically hungry. I've learned what being physically hungry feels like. I never let myself experience that before. I was constantly eating, trying to fill some void. The void remained and in fact even grew. Instead I filled fat cells.

I've learned that food is fuel. It can provide a powerful boost or it can drag you down.

I've waged war with my old thought patterns. I've defeated the sinister "truths" that I believed for years, those voices that told me I needed to eat, that those cookies would make me feel better. I defeated that voice that told me that a surface-level relationship with God was enough, that I didn't need to move any deeper because there were other things--food and clothing, namely--that would make me whole in a way He never could.

Once those thoughts were banished, the weight started melting off.

More than anything I feel free. I feel like a weight has been lifted, physically, emotionally and mentally.  I don't think about it much anymore. Sometimes the thoughts still work their way back into my brain. After all I listened to them for years. They're not going to totally disappear in a few months. The vast majority of the time though they remain silent, banished entirely from my mentality.

And that my friends, is the secret to losing weight.

It's not a diet plan.

It's not an exercise plan.

It's a shift in mentality. It's a change in how you approach every single aspect of your life. It's a humbling process.

But it is so worth it.

[pasta pasta pasta]

This weekend was super busy for yours truly.

When Rachel contacted me Wednesday about getting together over the weekend, I told her I was free on Sunday. Friday rolled around and we hadn't quite figured out what we were going to do.

Then I remembered the banners.

Let me back up.

Several weeks earlier we had taken a trip to California Tortilla over our lunch break. They were handing out foam shark hats to anyone who bought a fish taco in celebration of Shark Week, which started that Sunday. Naturally we all trooped over to CalTort to get our shark hats. On the way, we noticed a banner above Pratt Street. According to the banner, there was going to be a street festival in Little Italy to celebrate the feast of St. Gabriel.

Side note: shark hats do strange things to people.

See what I mean?

Anyways. While texting Rachel I began to wonder when the festival was. I was in the mood to adventure a bit more, to finally relish my post-law school freedom even without leaving Baltimore. After a quick search on Google, I found out that the festival was going to be happening on Sunday. I proposed a trip to the festival. It was settled: I would meet Rachel after mass and we would head down to the festival then back up to my apartment since she wanted to see my new digs.

Mass ended and we met up along Charles Street. First we wandered around in opposite directions, trying to figure out where the other one was. But eventually we sorted that out (thank goodness for cell phones) and found each other.

When we first hit Little Italy we couldn't find the festival or any sign of it. Little Italy isn't that big so we knew it had to be somewhere nearby. I looked it up online and still couldn't find a specific location. We ended up spotting a knot of people walking in the same direction and decided to follow them. Knots of people are usually a good sign when you're looking for an event. Lo and behold, they led us straight to the festival!

After paying our $1 admission fee, we began scoping out lunch options. We were both hungry and the smell of basil, garlic, and marinara was not helping our hunger. Goodness it made me mess Italy. Walking around Little Italy definitely conjured up memories of wandering around Rome and passing the trattorias and pizzerias along the way. That smell will always be heaven to me.

We decided to wander the whole festival before making a decision. It wasn't very big so it didn't take us too long to wander. There was one table we made a stop at on our first pass: the wine table! For $3 they served you one of the four available wines. I must admit, those wines were super tasty. My favorite of the two I sampled was the lambrusco, which Rachel is drinking in this picture:

Wine in hand we kept ambling, catching up on life, whining about moving, and periodically pointing out booths that looked tasty. Once our wine was finished, we decided to get a second cup. The table next to the wine was selling meatballs and we wanted to get some of those as well. Sadly they were out of meatballs. We debated for a minute and then finally asked the vendor when they would get more. The vendor told us she didn't know and we ended up chatting with her for a little while.

Since we were both starving but didn't want to pass up the meatballs completely, we decided to share an appetizer of fried calamari from a booth across the street. We staked out a bench and sat down to eat and chat. After finishing our calamari we headed back towards the meatballs and the wine. Thankfully the meatballs were back in stock! We each snagged an order and staked out a different bench to sit and eat our meatballs at. We tried to get our first bench back but someone else had taken it. Nestled onto a bench, meatballs in hand, we chattered away and watched the festival goers.

After meatballs it was time for a little dessert. The weather took a turn for the worse and it started to rain on us as we headed off to find dessert. We opted to go to a Vaccaro's instead of getting something at the festival. Vaccaro's is a pastry shop nestled in Little Italy. They serve ah-mazing desserts. I almost sprang for a package of cookies to take home, since Italian cookies were one of my favorite treats in Italy.  I opted not to--after all, I am trying to lose weight and save some money. Plus, Vaccaro's will always be there if the lure of the cookies proves too strong.

As it turned out, we weren't the only ones trying to go to Vaccaro's: the line was out the door! While they do have tables you can sit at, the line was comprised entirely of people trying to order something to go. We squished under the awning since neither of us had umbrellas and waited for the line to move. Eventually we made it up to the counter and ordered our gelato. Rachel got amaretto and I opted for  straciatella, which is similar to chocolate chip here in America.

Gelato in hand we wandered around, trying to find a cab. Eventually we managed to hail one. And by that I mean Rachel shouted at a cab heading down the other side of the street. It worked though: he swung back around to pick us up. I showed Rachel around my new place (which I'm still totally in love with) and we swapped books. Rachel and I swap books around regularly. We're even tossing around the idea of starting a book club. Reading is one of those little pleasures that I stopped enjoying in law school. Swapping books with a friend is a lot of fun: it gives you both more options than you would normally have, plus you can discuss it with each other when you've both read it. I highly recommend finding a friend and swapping books with them!

Goodness last weekend was busy. This weekend's shaping up to be busy too. Saturday is a girls' sleepover at Rachel's new place, complete with a trip to the salon for manicures & pedicures and dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Sunday will include not only church, but also a possible bit of painting on pottery. Sometimes I think I need to slow down a bit. But then I think about how incredibly boring that would be.

Yeah I think I'll pass on the slowing down business.

[escapists]

Oh my goodness am I sunburnt. 

But oh my goodness was it worth it. Saturday was worth the last two sleepless nights. As a side note, don't burn the top of your thighs and your back at the same time. It makes sleeping, well, impossible.

But like I said, it was worth it.

Tuesday night Katy asked if I had plans. I didn't. So we started making plans for a little road trip. We were Delaware bound on Saturday!! 

Since I've been in Baltimore I haven't done too much exploring. The truth is, I got so caught up in school that my weekends were close to non-existent. But now that school is over and a dear friend and serial escapist is living less than an hour away, I have a feeling that many more trips will be happening in the future.

Our day started super early. Naturally our day also started with some Starbucks. No one should be on the road around 7:30 AM without some good coffee. 

We took backroads through Delaware, making a bathroom stop in a small town. As a bonus, I saw this beauty of a car:

I know. It's just so pretty isn't it??

After driving through endless farms, we arrived in Milton, Delaware. Milton is the home of Dogfish Head Brewery, which is a craft brewery. The tours were all full for the day. We figured we'd still hit the tasting room, even if we couldn't make a tour. The taps didn't open until 11 so we wandered around the store. When I popped out of the bathroom, Katy was talking to the guy checking people in. Turns out, she'd gotten us in to a modified tour! We didn't get the full history of Dogfish Head, but that's okay. It was my first ever brewery tour so I was excited just to get behind the scenes of how beer is brewed, even if I had to wear Crocs and ugly safety glasses in the process. 

The tour ended with a tasting. We tried four different types of beer. I have to say, I am now a huge Dogfish Head fan. I wasn't familiar with their beers before the tour. 

After the tour we traveled ten minutes down the road to Lewes Beach, where we both proceeded to lay down in the sand and conk out for about an hour and a half. After that, we sat around for another hour having some girl talk. By then it was close to three and we realized that we had only eaten an apple since breakfast. Since we had two more beaches to hit, we headed onwards to our next beach.

Rehoboth Beach was up next. It was cute, but far too crowded. We decided to skip over it and head on to Bethany Beach for an early dinner.  Bethany was darling. It definitely felt smaller and quieter than the other two beaches. We ambled the boardwalk and the beach, and finally ended up at a table overlooking the beach with mango margaritas in hand. 

After a bit more ambling around, we hopped back in the car to find a good spot to watch the sunset.  We ended up parking near a campground in a town called Land of Pleasant Living. I kid you not. And living there would certainly be pleasant living. I mean, just look at that sunset:

Beautiful, isn't it??

After that the only natural thing to do was get gelato! We headed back to Rehoboth where we encountered a massive ice cream fail. First we circled the main drag of Rehoboth. There was not a single parking spot to be found. Plus, it took forever since everybody and their brother was in Rehoboth ambling around the streets. Finally we found a spot a good hike outside of the main area. Undeterred by the distance, we parked anyways. Katy went to pay the meter and made a little discovery: the meter only took quarters. Between the two of us, we only had one quarter. We wanted gelato, but not badly enough to risk a parking ticket. Katy pulled out her phone and found a gelato spot a bit away from the main drag. We hopped back in the car and headed towards Gelato Gal. Unfortunately, we found out that Gelato Gal was on the wrong side of the road and the median wouldn't let us turn around for a while. When we got to the turnaround, we decided that we wanted gelato badly enough to turn around. It was completely worth turning around for. I had an amazing amaretto that I'm still dreaming about. Yum. 

Since it was close to 9 PM, we headed back towards Baltimore. 

Sometimes you just really need to get away for a while. And boy oh boy am I glad we did. 

[stripped down]

With more than a week under my belt in the new place, I'm really starting to fall in love with it.

When I was moving I was cranky, tired and sweaty. My iron was low (hence the 52 bruises). I had no A/C. I wasn't sleeping well. When I first moved in, I wanted to cry. The space seemed so dirty, so small, so stifling. I didn't just feel physically stifled from the heat, I felt emotionally stifled. I wanted my old apartment back.

But then I started unpacking. I got my A/C unit running. The apartment cooled off as I began to find a new home for all my odds and ends. I decorated the place, managing to hang the pieces that were the most important to me without overcrowding the walls. I was worried about that to be honest: I didn't want the walls to be completely covered but I had a handful of pieces that were extremely significant to me. 

                                                                             Source: flickr.com via Courtney on Pinterest

That's just the thing. As I settle into my new place I'm learning how much I value things. And I'm also learning just how silly that is. Because I don't need things. I don't need to hang every painting. I own far more coffee mugs than I could ever use or need. I don't need a closet overflowing with clothes or a pantry overflowing with food. 

What I have is perfect. What I have is just enough. 

And I'm glad I downsized. I'm glad I moved into this apartment with its lack of storage space. Because God is teaching me a big lesson. He's breaking my attachment to possessions everyday. I'm learning how to live with less and how to be blissful at the same time. 

                                                         Source: spiritualinspiration.tumblr.com via Courtney on Pinterest

This morning on the way into work I was reading A.W. Tozer's The Pursuit of God. Tozer was discussing the story of Abraham & Isaac. I stumbled across this quote and I think it sums up what God is showing me perfectly:

"The world said, 'Abraham is rich,' but the aging patriarch only smiled. He could not explain it to them, but he knew that he owned nothing, that is real treasures were inward and eternal. There can be no doubt that this possessive clinging to things is one of the most harmful habits in the life. Because it is so natural it is rarely recognized for the evil that it is; but its outworkings are tragic." 

I don't need a big pantry or a big closet. My last apartment spoiled me and I grew too attached to various things. I was so attached to them that I couldn't see how adorable and unique my new apartment was through my sense of loss. 

The truth is, I've lost nothing. I've gained so much. I sent a big box of things home with Mom. I no longer have cable. 

But I have something so much greater. I have freedom. I have time to meditate in the morning. I have more time to read, to pray, to write. I'm more active.

                                                                 Source: traceygjones.wordpress.com via Courtney on Pinterest

Most importantly, I'm more at peace. Stripping down is such a beautiful thing. We were meant to live simply. We weren't meant to spend our lives striving after more things, greedily racing towards the next purchase & filling every nook & cranny of our homes and our lives with stuff. If something is to be enthroned in our hearts, it should be God. It should never be our things. But that was exactly what had taken up residence in my heart. I didn't realize it until I had to let go of things. I wasn't a hoarder or a compulsive shopper so I thought I was fine. But I wasn't. Something had taken over my heart, something quietly insidious. 

[old to new ep. 2: settling in]

Get excited for episode two of the moving saga! This one has PICTURES.

Okay here goes.

Monday night I slept on the sofa. Sleeping on a leather sofa with no A/C is not a comfortable experience. Sure I managed to sleep, but not consistently. I kept waking up to literally peel an arm or a leg from the leather. I also woke up around 3 AM because apparently my neck had been bent at an angle which no neck should be bent at. And it had been that way for some time because even when I sat up it stayed that way. Thankfully my neck returned to normal and I fell back asleep.

Tuesday I was back at work but not before getting a great surprise around 8:20 AM. I had been fervently hoping that the landlord would show up with my A/C unit while I was at work, mostly because we're not supposed to have pets and I really didn't want to awkwardly have to explain why despite three warnings about no pets the feathered ones had taken up residence in my apartment with me. Thankfully the landlord didn't seem to care. And yes he did see them; he commented that he used to have birds. Naturally I decided to set up the A/C unit the instant the door was closed. 9 AM start time at work be damned, I was gonna have A/C again. Somehow I still made it to work at 9. I honestly don't remember much--it was kind of a blur. I do remember taking time during a bathroom trip to count the bruises I acquired during the move.

There were 52 of them.

Fifty.

Two.

The worst of the 52 was on my knee and was the result of falling up the marble steps of my new apartment. Don't fall up steps. It hurts. A lot. And leaves giant bruises on knee caps.

Don't worry though, I shouldn't bruise so easily in the future: I'm on an iron regimen now, which I apparently desperately need.

When I got home, I was disappointed to discover that the A/C unit had done minimal in terms of cooling the place down. As it turns out, the optional window attachment was not so optional. The unit, although portable and free standing, vents hot air out the back. If a hose is not attached to carry the hot air out the window, it sort of cancels itself out. As it also turns out, the window vent attachment is a finicky creature that really requires two people to attach properly. Since I was only one person I fought with the thing myself. I sweat buckets. I swore so fiercely it would make a sailor blush. But eventually I got it hooked up and running effectively. From there I unpacked a few more boxes and decided to try out my new loft, which was clearly built for someone taller than me. Reaching the ladder to get down requires a good deal of leg stretching on my part but after about a week of doing it, I think I'm getting the hang of it.

Wednesday morning I decided the A/C was in the wrong place and needed moved to a different window. Apparently I'm just a little glutton for punishment so I fought and swore and sweated a little amore. It is not being moved again.

Wednesday after work I decided to hang up the metal rods that hold some of my pots, pans and spices. They were originally a decorative feature at the old place, but at this place they're a necessity due to my aforementioned lack of cabinet space. I've had to get really creative to make everything fit. Since I have a built-in bookshelf, I've turned my old bookshelf into a bar. The closet also doubles as a happy crap (read: holiday decorations) and linen closet. The thing that was once my nightstand also doubles as extra curtain storage. Everything pulls double duty that can. But I digress.

So there I was, hanging my metal rods. I get the pots & pans one all screwed into the wall. I put every single pot/pan hanger on it. I hang one pan. I hang a pot. I hang another pan. I hang a second pot.

CRASH.

The whole thing, pots, pans, hooks, rod and screws comes crashing to the floor. I look back and forth between the gaping holes in my wall and the jumbled mess of metal at my feet and think, well that's not how I envisioned this working. I picked up the whole affair and set it on the table to be dealt with another day. It stayed there until Saturday.

Thursday was a rough day at work so I did a whole lot of nothing when I got home. Well, I watched the Olympic so that was something. I had already unpacked everything though. The only thing I had left to do was clean and hang up artwork. Even though Friday was a better day, I didn't do much other than go for a run after work.

Saturday was a different story. I was busy as a bee on Saturday. I scrubbed. I decorated. I got those darn racks hung up in the kitchen. How you ask? Wall anchors. Those little plastic buggers are life savers. I'm proud to report that when I left for work this morning, the racks hadn't so much as budged since I anchored them in on Saturday.

Since I'm all out of things to say, after the jump are some pictures taken with Ginger of the new place. Stay tuned for REAL pictures. Eventually. And by eventually I mean when I do a bit more closet rearranging and can access my good camera.

[old to new ep. 1: the move]

Moving.

It's a nightmare.

Let me tell you a little story about my experience last weekend.

All week I had carefully planned. I had a schedule. I stuck to my schedule. I had help lined up. I had a plan. Everything was going to run smoothly. 

It didn't run smoothly. Not even a little bit. 

Friday night Mom insisted I book a Uhaul. So I did. I went to sleep, hoping my friend's fiance would be willing to drive it for me. After all, I'm not very good at driving a sedan so I can't imagine driving a 10' Uhaul would end well for yours truly. 

The next morning I woke up, packed the last few things, got breakfast at Starbucks and settled in to wait. 

Then the texts started.

One friend was stuck in traffic. The other two were sick. 

Super. 

Eventually the stuck in traffic friend arrived. We chatted for a few minutes and then retrieved the Uhaul from one of Balimore's less-than-pleasant neighborhoods. After handing over my debit card and receiving the only instructions regarding the truck (return it with the same level of gas that it has right now), we were off. 

Turns out, Uhauls are surprisingly easy to drive. So I bounced and bumped my way home, trying to not hit anything, flip the Uhaul or leave Katy stranded at a stoplight. God bless my ability to multitask.  We parked the truck and began loading things up. 

The first to go was my sofa. Then we filled the truck with lots of boxes. It took for-e-v-e-r. Back & forth and back & forth we went, carrying stacks of boxes down the elevator and into the truck out back.   Then back up the elevator we went for another load. We settled into a good rhythm but the truck never seemed to get any fuller and the pile in the living room never seemed to get any smaller. Eventually the truck finally filled up and we ran the first load over.

We struggled a load up the stairs (oh the joys of living in a second floor walkup). Then we went for another load. Some guys around our age were loitering on the front steps. We talked to them. Their friend had just moved in and was sorting out an issue with BGE. They had nothing to do so naturally they volunteered to help us move boxes.  Because that's what everyone does. Totally kidding. Very few people do that.

We took a lunch break at Chipotle then got back to work. The boys were wonderfully, saintly little helpers so I didn't have the heart to tell them that just dumping things willy-nilly in the new place wasn't quite what I had in mind. And when I say willy-nilly I mean it: I walked in with some boxes and one of my armchairs was on its side in the middle of the room. I shrugged, added my box to the chaos and went for another load. I'd rather have willy-nilly help than no help at all. Unfortunately everything wouldn't fit in the second load so we got as much of the big stuff as we could before the truck had to be returned to its sketchy home.

I got the truck back into the lot at 3:58 PM. It was due back at 4. Not that the grizzled old man who checked me in seemed to care. Finally, Mom and Kara called to say they were in DC. So we went back to my old apartment to shower. Why not the new place? Well, two reasons. First, there was still no A/C in the new apartment. Second, the former tenant took the shower rod. WHO DOES THAT? Who takes a shower rod?! Since I still had a shower rod at the old place, I found the shower curtain along with a change of clothes and brought them back over to the old place.

When I emerged from the shower, Katy was asleep on the living room floor. Mom had called while I was showering so I went to retrieve her & Kara from the pet store across the street while Katy took her shower. Dinner was at restaurant week restaurant #5 (for me): Chazz in Harbor East. It was delicious. Sadly no photos though--I was so tired & hungry that all I could think of was stuffing my face. I know, I know. But we had just moved in our defense.

Saturday night Kara and Katy headed to DC and I stayed the night with Mom in her hotel.

Sunday went about the same as Saturday. Mom and I went to the new apartment and did some arranging, getting all the furniture where we wanted it to be. Thank goodness I had her--I would not have been able to make everything fit like it does. And yes, we stood the sideways chair up on its feet. After about two hours of shoving things around the A/C-less apartment we decided it was lunch time so we went to Subway. Kristen met us at Subway and after lunch we went back to the old place to finish up there. Between Ryan, Kristen, Matt and myself we managed to get everything into the new place while Mom began cleaning the old one. Apparently the parking spaces behind the building are reserved--Matt and I were screamed at by a nameless, faceless woman for parking in her spot. So we moved the truck, unloaded the bookcase and went back for more. Once we were done, Mom and I went to Walmart and dinner while Kristen, Ryan and Matt headed home. After an hour of debate, Mom and I decided to buy a large fan at Walmart. Sure it was an extra $20 but with no A/C coming until Tuesday and lots of work to be done on Monday we decided it was worth the expense.

Given the massive amount of work still to be done and my lack of A/C, I decided to stay home from work on Monday. Sunday night I stayed with Mom in Alexandria at a fancy schmancy hotel. In fact it was a bit too fancy for us; within the first ten minutes we managed to break almost everything. Mom pulled the mini-fridge over on accident, I tried to pull the air vent off the wall thinking it was a table or a hidden ironing board and we broke the remote control. We also convinced the bellboy that we were serious wineos. That one was my fault--while he was still unloading our luggage and telling us about the amenities in the room I pulled a bottle of wine out of my purse and plunked it down on the counter. He paused his spiel and asked if we would like a corkscrew and some wine glasses. We nodded emphatically. He left and returned ten minutes later, not only with the corkscrew and glasses but also with a bucket of ice to cool off our bottle and a free glass of wine from their "wine hour" for each of us.  I decided that even though this hotel was too fancy for me I liked it a lot.

Monday morning we wandered into a deli for breakfast. When we returned to the hotel, the front desk informed us that apparently an engineer noticed that Mom's new car, Wanda, had a flat tire. Since Mom had a spare they offered to change Wanda's tire for us, also free of charge. So we went up to the room, twiddled our thumbs and waited for Wanda to be fixed. Finally Wanda's tire was changed and she was ready to go. From there it was off to make another Walmart run and get some groceries. Apparently Mom didn't think 2 jars of jam, 1 jar of peach butter and a bottle of vodka was sufficient food for the week. I think I could have made it work though.

Actually no I don't. There was no way that would work.

Anyways.

Along the way we made a pit stop to get the punctured tire patched up. Naturally I found us the most colorful place on earth. And by colorful I mean a small shack that wasn't even equipped to take credit cards. But hey, they fixed the tire properly and checked the pressure on the 4 tires still on the car. It was then off to Walmart for a new coffee pot (mine had been broken in the move) and the sketchiest groceries I've ever bought. But you know what? I was way too tired to care. So we bought about four items for me to eat that week and called it a day.

Finally we went back and loaded up the final few items at the old apartment. We said our goodbyes to the Queen Anne Belvedere and headed over to my new home. We changed into shorts and tshirts and got to work. Well, first we had lunch at Chiptole. THEN we got to work. Because food is important. And no one should work in an A/C-less apartment on an empty stomach.  Once we were fed and changed we started building various items. The day before, Mom had inadvertently discovered that what we both believed were drawers in my kitchen were actually false fronts. This discovery was made when she accidentally yanked one off to reveal...nothing. Where a drawer should have been there was just a hole. So we had bought a cute little metal cart to augment my 4 cabinets in the kitchen. Mom assembled that while I assembled my new over-the-toilet storage tower thing. It took four tries but I finally got it properly assembled. By the time I was done, Mom had finished building her cart and sanitizing the kitchen.

We got the kitchen and the bathroom all set up before it was time for Mom to leave. First was a trip to Subway for dinner, followed by fro-yo next door at Tutti Frutti. Given that I had planned to dine on a bowl of cereal for dinner, Subway and Tutti Frutti were a huge improvement. Mom headed back to DC to see Kara, and I finished unpacking the closet.

Sadly, I was far from done. Thankfully, the adventures would continue as I settled in. Hey, it's me we're talking about here. Goodness knows nothing in my life can go smoothly. But that's why I like it so much.

But more about that later. 

[checking in]

I just wanted to say a quick good morning and let you know that, yes, I am still alive!

This is my view when I wake up in the morning. If you look on the left hand side you'll see the top of my bookshelf! That's right, my bed is way up in the sky. I slept in my new loft for the first time last night and I love it. Love love love!

I have stories for you, stories that involve 52 bruises, a fight to the death with an A/C unit, and roping random people into helping me move.

But you're just going to have to be patient. I know, I'm mean like that. I should have photos of the new place soon since I'm almost done unpacking.  Until then, consider this a teaser and get excited for some fun stories!

[friday two-fer]

I forgot to post about Petit Louis, a/k/a restaurant week restaurant #3. I'm so sorry!!

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from Petit Louis. It was super dark and poor Ginger is just not equipped to handle such conditions. She is after all just a cellphone. But I can attempt to describe the sinfulness that is their confit de canard (or duck confit to the rest of us).

Sweet mother of mercy.

It melted. I mean, all you had to do was touch the duck with your fork and it flaked into ducky goodness. The skin was cooked to perfection. The meat was tender, juicy and all around perfect. I can't. I'm drooling right now just thinking about that duck.

In my excitement over the duck, I forgot to tell you about my appetizer! I had a cup of vichysoisse to start with (along with a glass of Bouvet-Laduby Brut Rose). The other thing I love about Petit Louis is their commitment to authenticity. Vichysoisse is a cold potato and leek soup. In most American restaurants, your appetizer soup is enormous and by the time you finish it, you're stuffed to your gills. But Petit Louis stayed true to their French roots and served a much smaller portion. In fact, it was the perfect portion of this delicious little soup.

The meal ended with an amazing chocolate mousse. I'm not normally a chocolate person, but this was amazing.

Of course I can't forget the most important part of the meal: catching up with a dear family friend. I always love my dinner dates with Kathi. She has the most interesting stories and is always getting into new adventures. It's so wonderful to spend time with someone who is so uplifting and supportive.

Last night was restaurant week restaurant #4: Roy's Hawaiian Fusion. I went with the other law clerks from my firm. We left straight from work and headed down to Harbor East. Part way there, one of the clerks got a call from our boss. Apparently he had spotted us together and wanted to know what kind of trouble we were getting into. We told him our plan and he said he would join us.

Roy's is an interesting place. They start you out with edamame instead of a bread basket.

Not that I minded one bit. The edamame is not only better for you, it was much tastier as well. There was some sort of delicious spicy, garlicky seasoning on it that just pushed it over the edge. And that Hawaiian martini wasn't too bad either!

Once our boss showed up, in a pedicab no less, he immediately ordered a round of shots for the table. I was taken completely by surprise. I guess having worked in South Korea I shouldn't be too surprised; it's normal to take shots with your boss there. But working at a law firm you don't normally expect such things.

Thankfully we went for a pineapple upside down cake shot which was delicious but not as strong as straight alcohol.

The appetizers were amazing too! Everyone at the table got the beef dumplings with a bleu cheese fondue on the plate.

They weren't greasy at all, which I loved. I love the crunch of fried food but I'm not huge on the grease. After our appetizers it was time for shot number two: a lemon drop. After shot number one, our boss decreed that the shot was too weak. He asked for something super strong. The lemon drop was stronger, but it was apparently not strong enough because he asked for something even stronger next time.

It was probably around the time I finished the lemon drop (and my martini) that I began to wonder if I would make it out the door for my run early this morning. Thankfully we got a break when our dinner showed up. I had a lemongrass crusted shrimp, served with a wasabi butter sauce and a little triangle of rice. The rice had little flecks of seaweed and sesame seeds around the outside, which goodness knows I love. The shrimp was amazingly well prepared and the wasabi butter had just the right amount of kick.

See the little rice triangle in the background? Isn't it precious?? I love that it was triangle shaped.

Finally shot number three showed up: a Washington apple for the girls, and straight Crown for the boys. Never have I ever been so thankful for mild sexism on the part of a bartender.

Last but not least was a strawberry guava tart with a side of pistachio ice cream. You know it's funny. My whole life I thought pistachio ice cream would be salty and unpleasant. It's my dad's favorite and it always baffled me that he liked it so much. Turns out, pistachio ice cream is not even a little bit salty. Instead it's pure deliciousness. So was the tart.

After dinner, our boss had to run to a meting but we decided to stay out a little longer. We headed across the street to James Joyce where it conveniently happened to be ladies' night meaning that all cocktails were only $5. Don't worry--I only had one Irish punch. We chatted about work, life and the Olympics for a bit before finally getting tired and calling it a night. After all, we did have to be at work at 9 AM the next morning.

And yes I did make it out the door for that run this morning :).

[the list]

Since I didn't do anything interesting last night, I thought instead I would share a list of things that I'm enjoying in my life right now.

1. Bump app.
iPhone users, get Bump! It's the easiest way to move photos from your phone to your computer. And let's be honest, since I boxed up my camera over a week ago in a fit of blinding packing fury I've been taking all my photos with Ginger. I KNOW. I'm terrible. But like I said: blinding packing fury. I wasn't really thinking and before I knew it, my Canon was in a box and that box was nestled amongst so many other bags and boxes in a way that makes it near impossible to access.

Anyways. Back to Bump.

Screen shot of the app on Ginger

Bump has this feature that allows you to "bump" photos to your computer. You select them in the app, then go to https://bu.mp on your computer. Gently tap your phone on the spacebar and then click connect on your phone once the phone and computer find each other. And voila! Your cell phone photos are now on your computer! You can download all of them, grab the link to the Bump gallery or share them on Facebook. Super simple.

2. Packing.
Okay so maybe I'm not actually enjoying this one so much. Take yesterday for example. I've made myself a schedule for this move. If I adhere to my schedule I will have a stress free move. Well maybe not stress free. But as close to stress free as I can get. Yesterday the LAST thing I wanted to do was pack. Sadly that was all I had planned for the day. I had to get it done: with plans to go to restaurant week today and tomorrow and the big move on Saturday it's crucial that I stay on track. So I turned on the Olympics and got to work. And by got to work, I meant angrily tossed things around, pouting like a 5 year old about how I did NOT want to pack another thing. Nevertheless I did pack more things...

...including Mugsy. Poor Mugsy's been buried in boxes for a week now. He's none too pleased with his new arrangement but I keep telling him it's only temporary. Turns out Beta fish don't really listen that well.

3. Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer
Last night I wanted to read a little something before bed. But like my Canon, all my books had already been packed away. Thankfully my Kindle (seriously I would be so lost without technology) has yet to be packed. I browsed the selection of books already on it and came across Pursuit of God. I started reading it again. I'm only one chapter in but I can already tell this is going to be a good read.

4. Baylor.
Yup. Just Baylor in general. We've been EVERYWHERE lately. RGIII is in a Subway commercial. A Baylor sweatshirt was one of the featured schools in an ad (see the picture below). Three years ago, Baylor was popular but not really outside of Texas and the surrounding states. Seven years ago, people looked at me like I was crazy when I told them I would be attending Baylor in the fall. But now, no matter where in this country I am people know Baylor. We've come a long way in a short amount of time and I must say, I am proud to be a Baylor Bear!

5. Cleaning out my fridge.
While this may not sound fun, it actually has proven to be quite entertaining. Since I'm moving on Saturday I decided against buying more groceries last week. Instead, I'm trying to eat my way through what I have left. Turns out, this requires a great deal of creativity. There's something challenging about trying to take leftover ingredients and turn them into a meal. This morning I brought stewed cherries, baked ricotta and homemade bread to work for breakfast. So yummy!

6. Finding ways to keep things fresh.
Okay so this one requires a bit of explaining and doesn't have a picture. First though, I have a confession. I cancelled my Weight Watchers account. I feel sad about the loss, but right now I need to be focused on saving money; I'll be taking two months off from work to study for the Bar so I need to pinch some pennies in preparation. I kind of feel like a squirrel getting ready for winter. I decided to take a different approach to weight loss. Right now I'm focusing on not only what I eat, but when I eat it. I know it sounds weird. But I have this tendency to snack constantly. By recording what time I eat something, I'm becoming more aware of the fact that maybe I'm not really physically hungry. Maybe I'm just bored. For example, thirty minutes after lunch I probably don't need anything else to eat. It's making me far more cognizant of my eating habits, which I believe is absolutely crucial to weight loss. Plus it's just fun to devise new ways to go about things :)

Enjoy the Olympics tonight and I'll be back tomorrow with another restaurant week post!