kodak moment for sure.

so i have to say i was a lil Olympic obsessed this year but really, who wasnt. You had Phelps, the girls gymnastic team, a lil bit of scandal, and lots of victories for team USA!
Below are some incredible shots by photographer Doug Mills for the Times... what a way to capture history!

award day!

OMG i got my first blog award. thank you so much MMM you are so sweet! it literally made my day. even though i have a stat counter so i technically know people read my blog, it's nice to know people actually enjoy my tales!

Apparently, when you are nominated for this award, there are a few rules that go along with it. They are as follows:

1. Put the logo on your blog
here it is. check!

2. Add a link to the person who awarded you

MMM check!

3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs AND 4. Add links to those blogs on yours

5. Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs

I nominate:
1) Sassy Molassy
2) twentysomething and clueless
3) perks of being a jap
4) pigtown-design
5) may i nap now
6) josh and josh
7) ashley's closet

For the Diamond Award here is the pretty diamond you receive!

I nominate:

1. the mrs preppy
2. hearts and crafts
3. clevelands a plum
4. connecticut charm
5. i hate greenbeans
6. magnolia mama
7. making mommy hot

Congratulations to my 14 favorite bloggers!!!!! and thank you again MMM for my award!

PS I would love to give an award to Kicking the Job Habit but that would require her to blog more... wink wink ;)

iphone enters the publishing world

what? a magazine just for iphone users.... that is ludacris!

Patrick McMullan to Launch iPhone ‘Magazine’

Patrick McMullan, noted nightlife photographer for New York magazine among other publications, is set to launch PMc, a luxury fashion “magazine” formatted exclusively for Apple’s iPhone.

PMc, a joint venture with Hot Phone Hit Factory, will feature McMullan’s photos and articles by writers including Nanny Diaries co-author Nicola Kraus and novelist Molly Jong-Fast.

Calling it “the first of its kind,” the bimonthly will be distributed via iTunes for 99 cents per issue. Content will be refreshed daily in order to give readers “an inside look into the glamorous world of Patrick McMullan and his peers.”

It may be a first for the iPhone, but not for other trendy portable devices. Earlier this year, Tribune Media Services, the content syndication and licensing division of Chicago-based Tribune Company, launched a pair of magazines exclusively for Amazon’s Kindle.

my saturday spent on the BQE

okay so i am going to start off this blog by admitting im a geek! this way, when you read the following & are snickering... at least you can say you were forewarned!

this week i have been car-sitting* for JCrew while she is in Savannah. throughout the week i just had to move it from side to side to accommodate alternate side of the street parking. but come Saturday... i was shopping bound! I went to the Target plaza... and for the first time didnt have to hold back on shopping for the dreaded lugging of stuff back to the train. this time i could shop til my credit cards content & throw it all in the car.... Oh, how i forgot this small luxury - how quickly one forgets when you move to the city.

i went to the Afaze {for just one more purse}, Toys R Us {for Wii games}, Michaels {for some baking and craft materials}, the discount store {broom & water bottles}.... and then the mecca of all..... THE BIG GROCERY STORE!!!! the super, only found in the suburbs style, need a car to access, amazing, tons of new brands, fresh produce, and FANTASTIC sales, grocery store!!!!! i haven't been this excited about grocery shopping since i first started driving, when i literally was excited to do anything b.c it meant driving!

i stocked up on groceries like it was the apocalypse or something. they had so many extra WW foods that my pitiful Key Food looks even worse to me now. Fresh Direct is great, but even their stock is limited in WW & healthy products. and then after filling my cart to the top, i rolled it right over the the elevator, hit 2R for roof & pushed the cart all the way to the car. after piling it all into the trunk i let out a tiny squeeeee!!!! b.c seriously this is AWESOME! i got in the car & drove home. no breaking my back trying to carry as many bags as possible, plus 3 more, all the way home trying to navigate the bags, my purse, opening the gate, fumbling with the keys, getting the screen door open just enough so that it doesn't slam on me as im opening the front door.

usually i am unsuccessful about this & it slams into my elbow knocking my keys onto the floor & making my landlords dog bark even louder at me. when i bend down to pick up the keys the bags drop, stuff falls out of my purse, and the door hits my tush. this reoccurring scene is very unpleasant to watch.

but not this time. oh no!!!
this time, i drove up, casually walked over to open the gate & all doors, and then 4 bags at a time brought, them inside

it was bliss.

absolute wonderful incredible bliss.

you know how you dont miss something until you dont have it anymore... i miss my car more than ever right now....

so im goonna go sulk :( nite y'all!

*another thing only new yorkers understand ;)

PS JCREW... i love you!!!!! and i will car sit anytime b/c this has been FANTASTIC... aside from the whole driving in circles to find a parking spot on the street thing, and lunatics that drive in this city, and the impossible to squeeze into parking spaces b.c some idiot doesn't know how to park properly.... and the taxi drivers who think they own the road & dont have to signal when they are about to cut you off at 35mph... oh and the brooklyn-its who dont know that a stop sign literally means STOP as in dont fly through an intersection at full speed hoping everyone is waiting for you to pass, and the queens-ians who think the parking garage directions are a mere suggestion i mean just because they had engineers construct the circular gargae leaving very specific boldly painted instructions everywhere that says THIS WAY and DO NOT ENTER.... i mean they are there so people like me dont have to be so unladylike. i literally went all NY on their ass when the man {on his cell which is illegal btw} drives right towards me. HELLOOOOOOOO..... aside from all this it was lovely! and so helpful b/c i got an insane amount accomplished all thanks to your lil precious Civic!

cupcakes are my speciality

so on Saturday we celebrated JCrews 27th birthday by filling up on beer {@ the famous beer garden}, pizza {from new york's finest, Albas}, and cupcakes of course! JCrew loves peanut butter so i created these especially for her! and yes they were DELICIOUS. and no i dont know how many points they were, but if i had to guess, i say like 20! and worth every one!!!!
is your mouth watering yet?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JCREW!!!
xoxoxo

me + my texans

Proof that i talk to Southern Belle & Hello Darling way too much....

i was at work today talking to our editor in chief's assistants.... they they told i was talking with a southern accent....

me? really? naw! yer crazy!

okay, maybe a lil ;)
love you girls!

xoxo

in the grand scheme of things... its just a number

so for 7 months i worked my ass off at the gym & by doing WW. did i meet my 50lb loss goal for Southern Belle's wedding? No.

but i did lose 23lbs & gained lots of muscle tone!!! i learned how to portion my meals, was reminded the importance of eating my vegetables, and now get 2 servings of milk in daily.
i went from being able to do 11 girly push-ups in a row to being able to complete 23 real, on my toes, push-ups in a row. i went from only being able to do a girly/knees plank for a measly 20 seconds to now staying strong on a full out plank on my toes for 45 seconds. my resting heart rate dropped from 75bpm to 61bpm. i lowered my blood pressure & increased my flexibility. Overall i lost 15inches and looked hot in my wedding weekend attire!!!! ***

moral of the story... the number on the scale really means nothing!
how you feel.
how your clothes fit.
can you run up a flight of stairs w/o hyperventilating?
those are the things that really matter!

so i truck on... 23lbs down and still many more to go. but one day at a time,** i will get there.

hope all my WW peeps are staying strong! keep me posted on your weekly weigh-ins... i would love to hear how y'all are doing!

xoxo

***thanks trainer :)
**or one spinning class at a time!

im back....

okay so i took a 3 week hiatus... but fear not... IM BACK :)

life was just getting a lil too busy for my own good that blogging had to take a backseat for awhile. while i was away, Southern Belle had her wedding...yay... and it was fabulous!
the wedding weekend began on Wednesday, July 30 when JCrew, Hello Darling and I piled into a Civic with our bags full of snacks & the trunk packed (almost) to capacity! we had most of our snacks eaten before we even got out of Connecticut! Hey... i dieted for 7 months, give a girl a break :)

after a quick stop at the Portland airport to pick up Mr.HG we arrived at the Topside Inn around midnight. Oh, and PS. The Topside Inn is the BEST place to stay in Boothbay!!!! Our hosts Ed & Brian were simply divine! they whipped up tasty delights every morning {apple pancakes rock, and homemade jam.... tasty!} and took care of our every need. and this was not some tacky, frilly grandma's house style B&B.... this was a tastefully decorated home away from home.

Thursday morning we woke up and headed straight to the beach where Mr.HG wrote ' I Love HG' in the sand. aww ;)

then we grabbed lunch (we go to a lobster house-- half of us get grilled cheese... go figure!) we rushed back to get primped up for the rehearsal. The rehearsal dinner was a Maine lobster clam bake where i tried lobster & clam chowder for the first time. chowder was okay, a lil too salty for me, and the lobster... well i just prefer when my meal looks as if it wasn't ever alive. once i separated the tail from the body... i was done.*

Friday morning we woke up super early to get all prettied up! Us girls all piled into Momma Belle's room & covered the counters with loads of makeup & hair products. it was like Sephora threw up... in a pretty way :) the wedding was held in this picturesque old stone chapel that still had the original brick flooring. it was tiny & quaint & the perfect setting for Belle's Maine wedding. there was a brunch reception where we ate everything from fancy french toast to crispy cesar salad. we later set sail on a sunset boar ride around Boothbay. On the boat we had perfectly paired cupcakes & wine for refreshments! great combination :)

after the sailboat we went back to the Inn for pizza & board games and said goodbye to Mrs.and Mr.Belle... the newly married couple ;)

the Belle's left for the Bahamas.
JCrew, Darling, Mr.HG, and I left for NYC.
and 7 hours later our trip was over.

overall Maine was everything i thought it would be. small Mayberry like towns, cute houses with wraparound porches, sailboats & stores rightly named Pat's Popatorium! it was a lil too cold, and the trip was a lil too short... but other than that it was amazing. i see a coastal beach house in my future ;)

xoxo

*for anyone who has had a whole lobster before, you know what comes out... for anyone who hasnt, well you dont want to know! yuck.