Do you know what you get...

Combine 1 overworked, overstressed, overweight mommy,

With 1 awesome weekend away,

At one amazing hotel in the Innter Harbor

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With access to one amazing gym,

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With no tennis shoes in mommy's suitcase.

Know what you get???
One cranky mommy whose only source of exercise is carrying her soon-to-be-toddler around the National Aquarium.

I was thisclose to trying out a run in my bedroom slippers.

Believe me when I say we will be going back, if for no other reason than the gym access.

Closest I will ever get to a real gym membership....

With 3 pools like the one you see above, it shouldn't be too difficult to convince Techy....

Or the little guy....

They were both as enchanted with the pools as I was the treadmills.

Hello, mid-winter vacation!!!!

The Dolphin Whisperer

This weekend, we headed to Baltimore for a little R & R.
Among other things, we enjoyed a trip to the National Aquarium with Little Man.

I'll just be honest and say, I was not thrilled about taking my not-yet-1-year-old to the aquarium.

Part of me assumed this would be a wasted trip with a cranky baby.

But we got our tickets for half price and my sister (who was in town with her kids and hubby) really wanted to go.

So off we went.

And other than the fact that my arm is still sore from carrying 20+ lbs. of the little guy around for 4 hours, we had a blast! 

And I was completely surprised by how enchanted Little Man actually was with the place.

He really enjoyed the open tank with all of the sting rays. 

He kept waving at the "fishies". 

I assume it was because he believed the sting rays were waving at him.

He enjoyed some of the exhibits more than others....

But his FAVORITE, by far, was the Dolphin Show.

It was an extra that we chose to do for Sarah's kids.

But I figured that there was no way that Little Man would sit still for this show.

Boy, was I wrong.

Handy Manny & Mickey Mouse Clubhouse don't hold a candle to dolphins, apparently.

Seriously.

This kid oo'ed and ahhh'ed like a pro.

He clapped.

He cheered.

And he summoned.

At least, I think that's what this was.

It happened almost every time a dolphin jumped in the air and went back under the water.

Either he was watching the trainers and mimicking them.

Or he was trying to coax the dolphins back out of the water with his ridiculous cuteness.

Since his eyes rarely left the water, I have my doubts on his mimicking trainers.

Among the other cute things this adorable child of mine did...

Every time a dolphin swam over to the side of the tank, he began waving.

And saying, "Hi!"

And that's on top of the ridiculous clapping and "YAY"-ing that he did.

So, yeah. 

Wasted trip to the aquarium?

Not so much.

Just a Trim...

Someone may have gotten their first haircut yesterday.

And his parents may or may not have gone home to get their big new special camera to take pictures of this oh, so momentous moment.

And then, upon arrival at the salon, begun snapping pictures like it was their job.

Only to realize that said camera had no memory card in it.

That was when daddy panicked and began snapping pics with his Blackberry.

But of course, Blogger is still acting up, so I can't post those pics even if I did have them off of someone's Blackberry, which I do not.

Just thought you should look forward to seeing that as soon as I figure out how to post the pics.

So until then....

Weight Update # 10

It's official, people!!!

I am within 10 lbs. 

But since Blogger is still being a stupid-head and won't let me upload pics, you will have to go check it out on Facebook.

Yes, it's not much within 10 lbs.

But it's still within 10 lbs.

And I am proud of it.

I lost 1.4 since last week.

And I am ok with that. 

Because that means at this rate, I should be at my goal by mid-January.

Which would only be 2 weeks behind my goal.

And I would be ok with that.

No, I am no biggest loser contestant, shedding weight of some odd 5+ lbs. per week, but I also don't have as much to lose.

So, I will be content with this amount and work hard to get below 5 soon! 

Thanks for putting up with me during this time!

My Honest Opinion/AKA The Confessions of a Chapstick Addict

My Honest Opinion this week is simple.

In a nutshell:  Lipstick is for the birds.

Ok, so maybe not birds. 

Beaks kinda get in the way of lipstick...

But lipstick is most definitely not for me.

I am strictly a chapstick kinda girl.

Among my reasons for not wearing lipstick is my distinct opinion that lipstick looks unnatural in almost all cases.

And I am very much the "make it look natural" kinda girl.

Well, in all cases except for those involving padded bras and spanx. 

And maybe spray tans for a summer wedding.

But not Snooki spray tan. 

Like Jennifer Aniston spray tan.

You get my drift, right???

What I am trying to say is...

I am not the girl who wears gobs of makeup.

I try not to cake on the eyeliner/mascara.

And I certainly don't want my lips to take on the unnatural hue of anything other than the color that lips should be.

Please know, if you are a lipstick wearer, I will not judge you. 

As a matter of fact, for those of you who are daring enough to wear that classy red lip thing well, I probably envy you on a regular basis.  (This means YOU, Beyonce!)

But I could never be that person.

Because I will forever be stuck in my teens.

Wearing Lip Smackers.

Specifically, Dr. Pepper Lip Smackers.

What can I say?

The stuff is simply magical! 

Not only is it tasty....

But it makes my lips look rosy without looking fake.

And soft.

Techy will vouch for the softness.

Probably to the flavor, too. 

Although, if I am wearing any type of lip gloss when he kisses me, he always tends to viciously wipe at his mouth like someone whose lips came into contact with gasoline. 

But yeah.

My point. 

It tastes good.

It looks good.

It feels good.

And it's uber cheap.

Like $1.98 at Wally-world.

And it's my fave.

Just saying.

If I had to go a day without it in my purse, I may curl up and die. 

Unless, of course, I had my second fave - Carmex - which is even cheaper.

Don't get me started on Carmex....

It's a can of worms you don't want unleashed at this time.


P.S. It should be noted that this post would have been dotted with adorably humorous pics from all over the web, but Blogger is acting up again and won't let me add any pics, so you will have to forgive me.

Helpful How-To: Gift Wrapping to Impress

Yes.

I missed HHT Wednesday, sorry about that.

Catching up a little bit....

Some of you may have seen the pic I posted last week of my early bout of gift wrapping...



 Pardon the crummy cell phone pic.

And just to keep things cohesive,
This is last year's crummy cell phone version of my gift wrapping:



Now, I don't know about you, but I personally think that taking a little extra time to provide a nicely wrapped gift plays into the gift a little bit. 

I mean, if I see a pretty gift under the tree with MY name on it, I want it just that much more....

Now, I know, you  may not be into my style of gifts.

My grandma gives gorgeous gifts in shiny paper with giant bows, and we have always LOVED it.

But my style is so much simpler.

I love the look of unadorned paper with simple, but elegant touches.

And really, it's super cheap. 

I have spent maybe $10 in wrapping supplies this year.

Because I use what I have. 

I am still using parchment paper that I bought for $3.96 at wal-mart last year.

I use ribbons and fabric from my craft closet.

I use my glue gun.

I use yarn.

This year, I did pick up some pretty snowflake cut-out ribbon just for kicks and giggles.

And I use simple tie-on tags that I got in the office supply section of Wal-Mart for $1.96

The first thing I do is wrap the gifts in the paper of my choice.

Your mommy taught you to crease all the edges, right?

Ehow*

If not, Ehow will...

It just takes a pinch!  If you go around the package after it's wrapped and just pinch the corners into a nice crease, your gift looks so much sharper.

I will admit, this is a little more difficult with gifts wrapped in parchment paper, luckily for me I happen to be a very strong pincher. 

I am a big sister.  Nuff said.  Pinching is what we do!

Next up is choosing your extra's.

This year, my fave has been burlap on my colored paper, topped with a layer or torn muslin (gotta love the frayed edge), and layers of plain red and green ribbons. 

For my parchment paper gifts, I am using strips of my colored paper, topped with strips of other decorative fabrics.

I have several different combinations of fabrics I am using this year, my favorite being this damask...

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But I am saving it for the really special gifts....
Eek!  I can't wait!  So pretty!  Can't decide if I want to use a red ribbon or a brown ribbon with it though. 

Ugh.  Decisions, decisions.

Back to the HHT....

To adhere the strips of paper, fabric, ribbons, etc. I simply use my glue gun to dab on the back of the gift and hold everything in place. 

Easy peasy! 

And I have spent practically no money on it. 

My goal was to add some pretty hand made ornaments to each gift, but since I am really cutting myself close on time this year considering I have several VERY CROWDED weekends coming up, I may not get that done.

All in all, I am excited about my gifts and I hope you are too! 

Happy wrapping all!

*It deserves noting that this paper would be much too busy for my taste.  Well, at least my CURRENT taste...

Braggin a Bit

When I started the year as a blissfully bloated new mommy, I had high aspirations of having all the weight off by the end of the year.

And I am proud to say, that it's going to be close.  A photo finish, for sure.

But it's been alot of work. 

I think I have told you before that when I had the baby I was frightfully close to 200 lbs.  I think my last weigh in at the doctor was 198. 

That was about a week after this picture.

I came home from the hospital weighing something like 185 and when I started this weightloss journey, I was at 180.

I still have fond memories of the day I my Wii made me cry....

Not to mention the woes of pregnancy arm flaps.

And may we never forget the day that Techy's boss made the blunder of the year.

But those days are behind me.

I haven't done an official weigh-in this week, but I am proud to say that I do know I am within 10 lbs. of my pre-pregnancy weight.

In the past month, I have continued to add strong runs into my workout routines, even after my race.

And I am proud to say that I have even increased my running speed.

Today's run:

VS.

The November 17's run - the last time I ran the same distance:

I shaved 40 seconds off each mile! 

That's like enough time that I could have stopped and peed!

A couple times, if I were male!   

It's the simple things in life....

Like enough time to pee.

Because it's so rare these days....