Another Weekend in Dartmouth

If it feels like I just wrote about a visit to Dartmouth, you are right! I liked it so much that I invited myself back for another weekend with the Schoenings and company.

We drove down on Friday night to the promise of some seriously fresh seafood. One of Cara's friends had recently caught a giant tuna, and he invited some people over Friday night to enjoy it for dinner. We had it raw and seared...I was seriously impressed and couldn't stop eating it.

Soooo amazing. We also had some food made on the grill -- burgers, potatoes and veggies:

And lots of wine:

We had taken Cara's boyfriend's boat over to their friend's house, and then we took it over to a local bar a few hours later. I felt like I was in an alternate Dawson's Creek universe -- who takes their boat to the bar??

It was even creepier heading home in the boat once the bar closed. It was pitch black and the empty boats were freaking me out. Are you Afraid of the Dark, anyone?

We survived, and spent the night at Alex's house where we all had our own rooms! I woke up to this view out the window...

And through the glass...

Once I was up I went outside to lounge by the pool and was joined by new best friend:

He was so cuddly. I need a dog, stat.

Eventually we gobbled up some breakfast sandwiches and hopped back on the boat for a day at sea! The boat ride started off normally enough...

But once we hit Buzzards Bay it became ROUGH and there were giant waves tossing the boat around! I did not grow up on boats, so flying over waves and holding on for dear life is just not something I'm interested in doing. I started to have a bit of a panic attack and was able to find a good spot where I couldn't fly backwards off the boat. It was terrifying to say the least, and my arms/back are so sore from holding on.

It was all worth it though, because we ended up spending the day at Tarpaulin Cove, a small beautiful beach that we had practically to ourselves. We had to anchor the boat a bit of a ways out and swim to the beach. It was my first time in the ocean all summer!

I didn't take my phone with me since we were swimming (so I don't have any pictures), but this beach was amazing. There was a small lighthouse, and a farm with cows roaming free! Weird, right?

We stayed at the beach for the day and headed home around 5. The ride back was just as rough and there were moments when I was seeing my life flash before my eyes. I am such a pansy.

When we got back to the house we quickly showered and hopped in the car to drive to New Bedford (where our friend Marissa lives) for another night of amazing food and fun:

Beers by the pool

Clams and chorizo

Amazing hodgepodge plate

Cards Against Humanity + bowls of candy

Swedish Fish <3

On Sunday, we slept in a bit and woke up to another beautiful day. Cara's mom made us chocolate chip pancakes and then we took a nice walk to the "secret beach" (as they call it). After a while of walking on the roads, we cut through a trail that eventually opened up to a tiny beach. We were the only ones there, it really was a secret!

We stayed for a while collecting sea glass, then gathered up our stuff to go to another beach where we'd be celebrating Cara's mom's birthday! I brought her a a bag of home grown tomatoes as a gift, which she made some amaaazing bruschetta out of. We spent the rest of the day reading, relaxing and eating on the beach. Not a bad day if you ask me!

Speaking of reading, I finished The Silent Wife at the beach and started Into Thin Air today...kind of a random transition as these books couldn't be any different. Into Thin Air is my 23rd book of 2014. Well on my way to crushing my goal of 30 books!

Round 2

Just dropping by for a quick update. As expected, here is the email I received from the DietBet team:

Your weigh-in for Round 2 has been verified!

Unfortunately, you didn't reach your goal weight this round. But don't fret! This is just the start of a new and healthier you. You now have a great foundation to build on. Keep the momentum going in Round 3! You can still catch up and make the 10% goal.

Good luck in Round 3!

I thought that was really nice! I'm glad they added a positive note to the email instead of just saying "sorry, you suck."

But really, I don't suck. I worked really hard this month! I'm not 100% sure why the weight didn't come off as fully as expected, but I'm not worried. I'm on my way to achieving the 6 month goal and that's really what's important! Actually, what's really important is that my weight is going down, not up! 

I decided to take a "mental health day" from work today. I have never taken a sick day in my 2.5 years of working at my organization and just felt like it was necessary. I slept super late and am going to lounge around for the rest of the day. Yippee! I also just found out my boss is pregnant with twins! Insano! I'm about to sound really ridiculous, but I've never spent that much time with a pregnant person. LOL. Besides my mom I guess when I was 7-years-old. I feel like I'm going to learn a lot about being pregnant...

Oh yea, I finally finished that horrible books I was reading. I may have skimmed the last bit of it just so I could finish. Ugh. I immediately bought a new book from Amazon (The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty) and also got Gillian Flynn's Dark Places from the library. I'm going to start with Dark Places even though I'm sure it will give me crazy feelings and nightmares. At least it will be a page turner!!

Updates & Goals Check In

Eek I suck. Things have been pretty busy lately and I just haven't felt like updating. I have a very small goal of updating my food every day for the next 5 days, no matter what it is!

My eating hasn't been terrible but it certainly hasn't been perfect the past few days. It would be impossible to remember everything so here's a few snapshots:

Oven baked cod (in a tinfoil packet) with veggies and garlic & chive mashed potatoes

The only picture I took from Tom's awesome bday dinner with his parents

We didn't end up eating these :( I have been scarred by my sister's oyster story and we were nervous they went bad.

Homemade pizza for dinner last night!

2013 Check-in

Professional Investments

I finally got a raise at work! It was a long process and I'm pretty proud at how I handled myself during it. Negotiating your salary is scary but it can only be easier from here. I'm really looking forward to not having to worry as much about money. Woohoo! I'm already seeing some great benefits from the raise in my work. I feel more motivated to take risks and initiative and think both me and the organization are going to benefit from it. I've also been more active in getting involved in the nonprofit community in Boston. This week alone I'm going to 3 events -- yesterday I went to a data management tool training, tomorrow afternoon I'm going to an event/auction seminar and Thursday night I'm going to another local organization's Gala. I also signed up for a development and event planning two day certification course in March. Things are going well! I've been lacking on the volunteering and need to find something that interests me. I have some ideas but need to put them into action!

Social Investments

I've done pretty well with keeping in touch with old friends/family. Not as well as I could be of course, but I have been adding e-mails and phone calls to my work calendar, which is helping. I feel like I've been really busy the last month and haven't been able to see/keep in touch with my friends in Boston as much as I would like. This is one of my most important goals for this year and I need to make it more of a priority.

Personal Investments

- Gah, I forgot I was supposed to be getting rid of my pen chewing. I haven't focused on this at all, maybe I'll start googling now..

- I haven't seen a doctor about my skin yet but I've been trying some new things. No miracle workers yet but  I'm happy I'm at least being semi-proactive on this front.

- I have a trip booked to Europe in April...yay travel plans!

- I'm a little behind on my 30 book goal for this year. I spent WAY too long forcing myself to finish "The Magicians" by Lev Grossman. I really should have just given up but I finally finished last night. Right now I'm at 4 books for the year (The Language of Flowers, The Night Circus, The Magician King, and The Age of Miracles). This morning I started reading Cutting for Stone.
- I'm also a bit behind on my 100 yelp review goal. I currently have 15 and should be at 16 or 17. Not bad!

- Fitness wise I am way behind on my goals. I don't know why I can't get myself to the gym, and I have no interest in discovering/rediscovering an activity I enjoy. It's pretty sad considering how much I loved zumba and other group fitness classes at one point. I'm also annoyed at myself because I'm paying an extra $20/month at my gym for the option of fitness classes and have yet to go to one. Ugh. Not sure where to go from here.

- I've lost a few pounds so far this year but am not ready to set any legitimate goals in stone. I think I'm scared of failing again, so having nothing solid to work toward makes it less frightening. Baby steps for now are okay with me. 

Not goals related, but this is so random. I went to the eye doctor and was given steroid drops (because my eyes suck) and every time I use them I get this crazy terrible taste in my mouth. The first time this happened I freaked out and thought I was hallucinating but a quick google search told me it's normal. SO weird.

I Must Not Tell Lies

I'm hanging out on the couch right now watching Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I love this movie. Now I want to re-read the HP series! Speaking of reading, I had my first book club meeting last night! We only spent about 15 minutes talking about The Secret Life of Ceecee Wilkes. We spent most of the time drinking wine, eating delicious snacks and getting to know each other. It was nice to meet a bunch of new girls and I never mind going over to Beacon Hill.

I decided to stop trying to force myself to read The Guernsey Literary etc. and took my sister's advice and am now reading "Auschwitz" by Miklos Nyiszly. This book is insanely disturbing but I can't put it down. I started this morning and am about halfway done. I also renewed my library card and can now take out books for free!!! I am SOO excited.

Speaking of being excited, the other day I found out the new grocery store finally set an opening date for late November! And wouldn't you know it, it was just too good to be true. On Tuesday morning the basement of the store caught on fire and they had to gut all of the walls. I think the universe doesn't want me to experience food shopping happiness. Luckily I have a nice boyfriend who took me to Whole Foods tonight because he felt bad that my dreams were crushed. I want to have one 100% healthy day tomorrow. I already packed my breakfast and lunch and will just have to figure out dinner. I can do it!!

Now it's time for a weekend update! I had a very fun, very long weekend! On Saturday, I woke up and went for a run outside because it was too beautiful to be on a treadmill. I did my final 3 minute running-1.5 minute walking workout.

I was definitely reminded that running outside is way different than on a treadmill. I found I ran faster, but struggled to keep a decent walking pace. Being outside also means I have to deal with wind in my face and the rolling Southie hills. It's important for me to get outside and run on the days I can. I want to incorporate some hills from the beginning so I won't be killed when I finally run a race.

When I got back from my run I showered and had a delightful little breakfast before packing up my things to head to Burlington for the night with Tom!

We were heading up for his friend's surprise birthday party and I did some research on where we should stop for dinner along the way. We decided on Elixer, a gem of a spot in White River Junction, VT.

I ordered my very first dirty martini (extra dirty -- which I felt ridiculous saying, kind of like how I feel asking for extra pickles at Subway) and I loved it! The bartender was so nice and gave me some delicious bleu cheese stuffed olives to go with it.

We started with some truffle fries to split, then I ordered the salmon over spaghetti squash and Tom got the barley risotto. Everything was really delicious!!

We spent the night in Burlington and hit up a few different cool spots. In the morning we went to brunch at Leunig's Bistro. I got a breakfast skillet and a meat lover's bloody mary -- complete with a VT meat stick!

Tom and I both took off work on Monday and Tuesday so we spent the next few days sleeping in, relaxing and eating lots of delicious food! We went to Charlies Sandwich Shoppe in the South End for breakfast one day, which has  been open since 1927! It was super cute but I wasn't as impressed with the breakfast as I thought I'd be. My omelette came with a side salad. Strange.

I just checked the wikipedia page and apparently as a child, Sammy Davis Jr used to tap dance in front of the restaurant for change. Cool!

We also hit up Dave's Fresh Pasta in Davis Sqauare whih has been on my yelp  bookmarks for years. I would die from overdosing on cured meats if I lived closer to Dave's. This was the italian market of my dreams. I ordered a sandwich with salami, provolone, lettuce, tomato, pickles, roasted red pepper and olive tapende. Yum!! I don't know why this picture looks so weird.

That's about it for now. Catch ya later!

Updates

Ugh. My half marathon training is a mess. For the past 7 weeks I have been exercising at least 3 times a week, but am usually only running once or twice. I just can't get in a groove, and this half marathon is quickly approaching (10 weeks away). The fact that I'm still struggling through a 3 mile run is just discouraging.

One of my main problems is that I've been going away almost every weekend of the summer. I can't get myself to run when I'm on vacation, and then I end up going 3 days without exercising and my run on Monday feels crappy. This has basically been the epitome of the last 7 weeks. I know that I NEED to be running 3 times a week in order to get back into running shape, so why can't I just do it? I guess I can just try to take it one week at a time. Here's the schedule for this week:

Monday: Gymnastics class (2 hours)
Tuesday: Run (3 miles)
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Run (6 miles)
Friday: Run (2 miles)
Saturday: Rest (in DC)
Sunday: Rest (in DC)

I'm a little nervous about gymnastics tonight because I'm still having a little neck pain. My plan is to just take advil and be careful. I really don't want to hurt myself but I want to go.

Oh, and an update on the diet coke challenge. Since I started it on July 23 I've had one diet pepsi! Woo hoo! I haven't even really been craving it which is super surprising. Hopefully I don't jinx myself now...

And an update on my 26 books of 2012 goal: I just finished book #19, Graceling by Kristin Cashore. Ugh, this was so hard to get through and took me so long to read. I just was not interested in it from the start. Thankfully I finally got through it and have moved onto #20, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. This book has some SERIOUS reviews. I'm excited about it!

Wet Wednesday

Today is Wet Wednesday. Because it won't stop raining.

I woke up with a bit of a headache today. It feels like one that's from being dehydrated, but that's impossible because I've been chugging water this week like my life depends on it. Maybe my head is just pissed off at this crappy weather we've had for what seems like forever. Is this our punishment for the mild winter?!

Zumba was fun last night. The instructor changed up a few songs last week and I HATE one of them. I don't like the choreography or the song itself. 1 out of 15 (?) songs ain't bad.

I finalllly finished the Chaos Walking Trilogy. Altogether the books were 1,632 pages. No wonder it took me so friggen long! I liked it, but I'm not sure it's truly appropriate for its "young adult" label. I still can't believe I bought all 3 books for $4 (kindle daily deal)...what a steal! This morning I started Shanghai Girls by Lisa Lee. I only read a few pages but am already intrigued. My sister got a kindle for her birthday which means we can swap books. Finally a fellow kindle owner!!

Dinner last night was some mini tacos from Trader Joe's. I just love these little babies. They're just so tasty. They don't actually look like the picture on the box, but I usually add my own cheese and pour Cholula hot sauce on them. Yum.

Lunch today was a sandwich with boar's head buffalo chicken, tomato and avocado. Some grapes on the side.

No workout tonight, giving my shins a break. I really need to buy new sneakers. I feel like it always happens that I need to buy a lot of things at once, and then I don't want to buy anything. I really need to get:
- new sneakers
- a new bra
- new workout pants (my favorite pair has finally been worn down)
- a spring jacket
- mother's day present
- dad's birthday present
- boss' birthday present

I don't know where to get a jacket from. I have this never ending problem with coats. I need a very large size to be able to button the jacket over my chest, but then look like I'm wearing a ridiculous poncho/garbage bag. Can't somebody make a cute coat for us girls with a little more going on up top? The strugglesssssss!

I bought these cute earrings today. I love them!