this week

This week, I lost 2.4 pounds. That pretty good. I definitely wasn't expecting to lose another 6 pounds. That would be unhealthy. The first week is usually big, but then 1 to 2 pounds a week is normal. This brings my total lost to 8.6. Not bad. I can't tell the difference in the way I look yet, but I do feel better. I don't feel full and bloated all the time. What I'm most excited for is buying a new pair of jeans and a nice dress for Lauren's wedding. By October, I should be able to buy the dress I like, not the one I have to get because it's the only one that fits.

And speaking of Lauren, I find it pretty scary that people my age are getting married! I am also going to a wedding of a friend of Dan's from high school in September. I still feel too young. Sometimes I feel like I'm playing house or something. It also amazes me that I'm in Virginia living so far away from everyone I know. Occasionally I think "what am I doing here?" I never pictured myself in Virginia. The tobacco state. You can still smoke in bars and restaurants here and cigarettes only cost $3.50 (ish).

Anyway, tonight, Dan and I are going to see Spamalot. It's a Monty Python play. Then, Monday the market is only opened a half day and tuesday it's closed! I don't have any 4th of July plans yet, but I'm sure DC has some good celebrations!

Update!

Sooo...It has been 1 week since I began Jenny Craig. One week means first weigh-in. I am happy to report that I am down 6.2 pounds! Can you believe that? I am awfully proud of myself. It was particularly difficult this weekend when I was home sick watching TV. Every other commercial is about food. One for Appleby's, one for Fruit Loops, One for the new Blizzard at Dairy Queen, KFC, etc. It's crazy!
I was able to fight my way through it. The results were worth it. Next week, I'm expecting a smaller loss, but that's OK as long as I'm on the right track.

Challenge!

So, I've gained a bit of weight since I moved here. Actually I gained a bit of weight before too. I got sick of it and decided to join Jenny Craig. It's actually not bad at all. I'm not famished all the time and the food is decent. Some of it is actually good.

Today...I had my first major chanllenge! My office brought in PF Chang's for lunch. They had rice and lo mein and general gao's, lettuce wraps. All sorts of stuff that was not the best for you. I really really wanted some lo mein. It's just so good. Food, I guess, is my crack. I was able to resist though, they had a steamed veggie platter, so I had some of that and my small Jenny's turkey burger and Jenny popcorn. *sigh* I'm pleased that I was able to resist. Usually the first challenge is the hardest. I can do it! I can be bathing suit ready by the end of the summer...

Actually, that's partially what I was hoping for. My 2 year anniversary with Dan is in September (it's been that long already? Yes). Perhaps we can go away somewhere sunny.

In other news, I am currently watching the world cup of soccer. England vs. Trinidad and Tobago! Tied 0-0

Origami Master

These are some of my origami projects, a pig, bird, and 2 dinosaurs. They're pretty simple models. The orange one was a little more difficult, so I'm pretty happy with him.

Dan is Back

Dan is back from China. Jet lag made him wake up in the middle of the night for a week. Things seem to be back to normal. Although, he does not want Chinese food for a while.

He saw some cool things like the Great Wall, The Yangtze River, and the Starbucks in the Forbidden City.

My new hobby of Origami

A few weeks ago, when we went to visit the cherry blossoms, we also visited the exhibit of a Japanese artist named Hokusai at the Sackler museum. Hokusai was the guy who painted "The Wave". Anyway, that museum is the Asian art museum and in the gift shop I found some Origami books.

I didn't buy a book at first, I just looked up some diagrams on the internet. After successfully making 3 different birds and a pig, I decided to buy a book and some pretty paper. In Dan's absence I needed something to do besides watch TV. So far, I've really only made those birds and the pig. It's harder than it looks. I've tried to make a bear, but I get stuck. Hopefully I can figure it out. It's pretty neat. I of course use plain paper until I get it right, but it looks like I may be stuck with the easy birds and the pig. I do like the pig, it's cute and I had some pink paper for it.

Unfortunately Dan has the camera in China, so I can't take any pictures of my projects, but I will be sure to post them when my camera returns.

We're talkin' about China here!

So Dan is leaving for China on Saturday morning. Although I think it's kind of neat that he gets to go to China, I'm also a little jealous. After this visit, he'll only need to go to South America to have visited every continent. I don't even have a passport! The most cultured I get is Canada.

I remember that when I was young (little Danny's age, in fact), I really wanted to visit China because my BFF Betty Chin was Chinese and I thought her culture was so cool. At the time, I didn't realize that it was an over-populated communist country. All I knew was that everyone rode bikes. I haven't seen Betty in almost 15 years. I wonder what she's up to.

Anyway, I'm going to be alone in Virginia for 2 weeks. The thought is a little scary. Not only will I be lonely without Dan, I don't know how to get anywhere that isn't near our house or near my work. The receptionist at my work (who is mom aged) offered to give me her number in case I need anything. I think that was awfully nice of her. She's from Massachusetts too.

I hope Dan brings back some fun Chinses souvenirs. He wants to buy cheap electronics so he can sell them on Ebay.

red sox away game

Sunday afternoon, I went to Baltimore to see the Red Sox play the Orioles. I thought I'd be a minority in my Red Sox gear, but there were so many Red Sox fans there, it was almost like being at home! The chants were "let's go Red Sox" not Orioles. Go figure. We sat along the left field foul pole. A nice view to see Manny Ramirez scratch his bum for half of the game. Even with the bum scratching, a nice time was had by all. Luckily Sunday was a beautiful day. The Orioles' stadium was nice and Baltimore wasn't as gross as I thought it would be.

Cherry Blossom-tastic

Not so many years before world war II, Japan gave the US a gift of cherry blossom trees. They are the only foreign plant in the US. Several years later, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and became enemies. Still we got to keep the pretty pink trees. They bloom in Washington DC every year for about 2 weeks, so Dan and I went to see them in person.

New Haircut

I got bangs. I'm so NOW!

Mardi Gras!

I am listening to the news about Mardi Gras in New Orleans. They're wondering if it's a good idea since they city is still in shambles. Well I think it's a good idea. They need business in that city and they also need to have some happy times.
But...in the spirit of Mardi Gras, the whole purpose is to indulge before lent. I haven't really given anything up for lent successfully in a couple years. In the past it's been stuff like soda, chocolate, pastries from Starbucks. This year I've decided to give up shopping/buying stuff. Of course I'll have to buy things like food, hygene products like soap, gas for my car, etc. I'm really talking about things I don't need like a new shirt, sunglasses, shoes, books, makeup etc. No shopping for myself until after Easter.
So if I'm going to follow this, today is my day to indulge. I have to buy Dan a birthday present today since his b-day is thursday, I may just pick myself up something small too!

Lucie visits DC

This weekend Lucie visited DC. We had a nice time, mostly relaxing. We visited the outlets in Leesburg, did a little sight seeing, and saw Brad Carson from college (who lives in Quantico and is now a Marine). A good time was had by all, except that it was cold the whole weekend!

I've set up a webshots account so to see more pictures, go to

http://community.webshots.com/user/thehube02

my weekend

Today I'm slightly sad because on my way to work this morning, I noticed the beginings of a cold sore!!! These always throw me off for a few days because I feel like the cold sore overtakes my face and I can constantly feel it there. It seems like people are looking at it thinking "eew it's Herpes Girl" Damn cold sores to HELL!!!

Other than the terrible herpes on my lip, things have been going well. This weekend, we drove up to MA to get the rest of my stuff. Including the couch. It's lovely to have a couch. I really like it. I also have a book case, so my books are not spread all over the place any more. Little things like the couch, book case, pictures and stuff are making my apartment more like a home and less like a dorm room.

The ride to Boston wasn't so bad, Dan drove until just before the New York border and I drove, from New York on. The impending snow storm, however, made our journey difficult. We planned to pack the truck Saturday morning and stay until Sunday, relax and see some people. But, in order to beat the snow, we packed and turned right around. I drove Dan's car and he drove the truck with our stuff in it. Things were going well until southern Connecticut (near SHU) when it started to snow. By the time we reached New Jersey, the snow was full force! It took a total of 10 hours to get home, which we finally reached at midnight, only to wake up the next morning, shovel, then move furniture in the snow.

Even though, it was a pain, it's now done and we have a couch. I've also decided I'm not moving again for a while.

a post with pictures!

finally, I have gotten around to posting pictures of my new apartment. I've been here exactly one month today and we still have no couch. The place is pretty messy because half of our stuff is not here. Everything is just scattered. Either way, here are the pictures featuring my snazzy Ikea furniture!

end of the day. my ipod is broken, so I'm off to the mall to the Apple store to see if they can fix it. When I turn it on, it shows a sad face and tells me to go get help! Oh well...

Also, tomorrow should be time for the stitches to come out. It pretty yucky looking. I hope it doesn't hurt!

I'm going home for Annabelle's b-day. I miss her and the Jack and Michael and Danny. :-)

lost

so yes, the inevitable happened. I got lost. So lost, in fact, that I ended up in MARYLAND. I was in the wrong state. I had been staying in Springfield at Dan's parent's house, but yesterday our bed came and we stayed in Alexandria for the first time. I went a different way to work. I take 495 to work. So DC is a little confusing and the highways basically make a circle around the city called the "beltway" and for a point 95 and 495 are the same. The signs said 95N/495W or 95S/495E. I figured Tyson's Corner (where I work) is north or where I live, so I went North. This was apparently wrong because I didn't recognize anything. By the time I had a place to turn around, I had crossed the Woodrow Wilson bridge into Maryland. So 495E and 95S are the same thing. Go figure. That was my lovely morning. Oh well, you learn and now I know better for monday

Here in VA

Here I am in, still at Morgan Stanley, but in Vienna VA. I'm sharing an office with a guy named Jason, who is pretty cool. He's a HUGE football fan. Virginia Tech in particular. One thing I have noticed about living in the south is that everyone loves college football. So far so good at my office. They are a little more flexible with times when I come and go. It doesn't have to be exactly 9 to 5, it can be 8 to 4 or 8:30 to 4:30, which ever I choose. They like us to stay until 4 because that is when the stock market closes, but other than that, it's OK. I like that I can leave a little earlier than before.

As for our apartment, I haven't slept there yet. The water was turned on today, and our bed won't get there until Thursday. Yesterday we made fun Target and Ikea trips. We got a table and 4 chairs for $100.00 from Ikea. I know that seems a little cheap, maybe it will fall apart, but it's fine. We'll only have it for a couple years anyway. We got pots and pans from Target, all sorts of apartment stuff. The place isn't put together at all, we have 2 more chairs and the entertainment stand for the TV to assemble. There are so many little things I need, it all adds up and gets pretty expensive.

Once the apartment gets put together, I'll take some pictures and post them here.

first post in a while!

I haven't posted here in a while, but that's OK...

I'm moving to Alexandria, Virginia in about a week. I'm very excited and nervous all at the same time. I'm excited that I will be living with Dan in a new city, but I'm nervous that I will be 500 miles away from everyone and everything I know. I'm sure it will be an adventure. I bet I'll get lost a few times and I'm nervous about that. As for friends, I'm sure I'll eventually make some, I have Dan and one girl I know from college named Alexis. We weren't very close, but we were friendly, had the same major. I've talked to her and we're going to hang out.

We've got a 2 bedroom apartment, so I'd really love visitors. I love taking people to do the touristy things, and they are also educational things in DC. I've never actually been inside the White House, so that is something I'd like to do.

It's almost the end of the day at my first job. Today was presents day, although I didn't know it was going to be. I had no presents for anyone, but people brought in tons of stuff. I feel sort of guilty, so I'm going to give things on my last day (the 30th) since I don't have time to shop tonight. Let's see...I got 2 $25 gift certificates to the Cheesecake Factory, 1 certificate to AMC movie theaters, 2 bottles of wine, a tin of gourmet hot chocolate, and a $50.00 check from one of the brokers. There was also loads of candy and sweets given to us as a department.

Now I have to go work at Bloomingdale's until 11!!!

oh yeah

i'm going to puerto rico tomorrow. i hope it's good. it better be. i need a vacation so i'm excited about that.
word.

yo!

this is my new post. annabelle and jen and jack are coming tuesday. i'm very excited because i have not seen jack yet and i have not seen annabelle walk yet.
a week from wednesday i am going to puerto rico. that should be fun. i learned a few words of spanish for my trip. i learned quiero una cerveza y donde esta el banyo. those should get me by. the end