Home from NY!

We had a wonderful Christmas with my family on Long Island.  No snow and the temps were mild!  Yay!  Santa was very good to me this year too!  He left me a gorgeous pair of diamond earrings and took 1 lb with him up the chimney!  It just doesn't get better than that!

For those of you who follow my daughter Mallory's blog, I.Run.For.Cookies, you know that she adopted litte Diesel recently.  Well, let me tell you, I love him!  He is adorable and I can't wait for his uncle Brutus to meet him!  Here is a picture of me with my new Grand-Furbaby Diesel.  Please note I am sick again :(, felt lousy with no make-up on but don't worry, I'm wearing my new bling for the plane ride home!

We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day with my sister.  It was nice being all together.  Mallory had us over for dinner at her new house that is conveniently located on the other side of my BFF Mo's house where we stayed!  Very nice decorating Mal!  It was nice seeing her and Kevin really settling in to married life in a nice new place.  We also had dinner with them the last night we were there with Kevin's parents.  Very nice.  We also got to spend some one-on-one time with Jordan and her boyfriend Kyle by going out to lunch with them.  I feel like we got to know him a little better so thats a plus!  She is my baby-girl after all!

I have to say that this whole year has really been full of a lot that we are all grateful for.  Mallory and Kevin were married in March, actually on my sister and Jimmy's wedding anniversary and my niece Elayna had a spectacular Sweet 16 party in November.  The bottom line is, we are still a family and if anything, the bond we all share is even stronger.  We feel the absence of my dad and Jimmy all the time but we are really starting to feel their presence still here with us.  That is a blessing.

Secret Santa is Secret No More

Thank you Stacey!  I love my new Cuddle Duds...I will be getting use out of them in New York for sure! Brutus will be putting those Jingle Bells to use as his just recently bit the dust after 4 years.  He rings them when he wants to go out and he has been lost these past few days not having something to ring!  Thank you again!  This truly was a great gift, including the Sleeve friendly mini-wine glass and exercise machine.  I will be using that also in NY as I'm not going to the gym!

Have a Merry Christmas Santa!

Seriously? Next Sunday?

Wow...Christmas really snuck up on me this year!  Thankfully, I am finished with shopping and now I just have to wrap the few gifts that I will be taking on the plane on Wednesday.  I've shipped some gifts directly to my sisters house for my daughter Jordan whose birthday is also on Wednesday so at least they will be waiting for me to wrap while I am there.

I had to go out and buy a new winter jacket for me to wear while in NY as my old one is really just too big.  Thankfully I hit a nice sale at Macy's and had a 25% off coupon!  Yea!  The jacket was originally $199 and had been marked down quite a few times to $89 and I got it for $66 or something.  Very plain, Michael Kors.  Perfect!  

We went to a few Christmas parties, one last Saturday and than one last night.  The following are a few pictures from those parties.  Please excuse me for wearing the same tank top as I just fell in love with it and had to get my monies worth.  I was the only one who knew it was the same as there were different people at each party!  Also, the second picture shows my new haircut.  Its much shorter than what it was and I love it!

Actually, let me clarify last nights 'party'.   We never actually made it to the party but we did make it to the hospital!  The plan was to go to our friends house to meet up than we were going to a restaurant for an early dinner and then we'd be stopping by a party at our friends Golf Club.  Well, we made it to their house and the restaurant but never made it to the party.  

As many of my friends know, I am not much of a drinker.  Steve always says "one drink, I can feel it; two drinks anyone can".  Well, at their house I had a glass of very good tasting Champagne.  I was also drinking it on a tummy that hadn't eaten anything but a hard boiled egg at 10 that morning!  Ok, so it went right to my head.  We proceeded to the restaurant where it was Happy Hour and I ordered a Merlot which came in a carafe as it was  2 for 1 drinks.  I was obligated to drink most of it, right?  Next thing I know, I was munching on some Chipotle' Grilled Shrimp.  Delish!  Next thing I knew, my feet were itching like crazy and my shoes were suddenly too tight.  Yep....you guessed.  I was having an allergic reaction to the combo of the shrimp and the RED wine!  This happened to me about 15 years ago and I've never mixed red wine with any type of seafood.  My doctor told me some people are allergic to the combo of some enzyme in the seafood and the red wine.   I've had seafood numerous times since and red wine but never together.  Oops!

Anyway, we went to the hospital and after waiting about 45 minutes and not being seen I wanted to leave and just go to CVS for some Benedryl.  Luckily, the reaction was not as bad as the first time.  I actually had trouble breathing and had to have a shot of Adrenylin that time.  This time it really was mostly my feet and my hands had started to tingle.  Steve and my friends agreed to take me to CVS but I promised them that if I felt it was getting worse we'd go back to the hospital.  I took two giant swigs of liquid Benedryl, we dropped our friends off at their home and went home.  I was in bed by 7:30 and slept until 7 a.m. today!

Do I know how to party or what?

My weight has been holding steady at 142, some days dipping to 141 and occasionally to 143 but it always settles at 142.  I am very happy to be maintaining, especially during the holiday season.  

This will probably be the last time I post before Christmas.  We will be spending the holiday with our family on Long Island and are leaving bright and early this Wednesday.  I wish you all a wonderful Holiday and will check back in as soon as I can!

Drs Appointment today - Edited with Pics!!!

I had an appointment with my surgeon today and I was so scared he was going to say he didn't need to see me again! Well, he wants me back in 6 months instead! I'm so happy. I love going there. The best part was that I weighed 143 lbs wearing jeans no less! He is so happy with my progress. In a gazillion years, I never would have thought that I would be at this weight or feel this great. It's taken me 21 months, slow losers take heed, the weight comes off! My body wanted to hang on to every ounce I've lost, believe me!

Unfortunately, the trip to my doctor usually takes 1.5 hrs to get there but this morning it took 4 hrs. Major accident shut down all lanes on i95. I am sure there were fatalities. I kept thinking about the families of those involved in the accident and kept thinking about my life on may 11, 2010. Getting that call. I will never forget the pain. Lucky for me, it was my husband on the other end of the phone giving me the horrific news. I cannot imagine being told by a stranger that your father and brother in law were killed. I will certainly keep these unknown people in my prayers.

Speaking of family, we are heading up to Long Island next Wednesday and will be there until 12/27. I cannot wait! I am also excited about coming up again in January and going to the boob brunch on the 21st! Both of my gorgeous daughters will be coming with me too. They are very excited to meet some of my blogland friends.

My work Christmas party is tonite and I am bringing baked ziti. problem is, it's 2:40 pm and we have to be there by 5 and it's not made! I'm not even home yet from drs. Sauce is made so as soon as I walk in the door, I gotta get a big pot of water on to boil to make the pasta. Once that is done, throwing it all together should be easy. I should have enough time to bake it, change and make it there on time. I made these adorable homemade marshmello s'mores last night ( i will post a picture later) to bring as I did not bake any cookies this year. Hmmmm....wonder if there is any correlation between that and seeing 141 on my scale this morning? Thought to ponder.

Wish me luck with my Ziti marathon....should be home in a few minutes.

Ziti was in the oven at 3:45...will be out at 4:30 and packed up for a road trip!

Is the Universe telling us something?

In September, when Steve went to Las Vegas with his friend, he came home sick.  In October, I came home from Chicago with Pneumonia.  Well, we got home from Vegas on Friday and guess what?  Steve is sick.  Again.  Poor guy woke up with a fever and chills.  It was so painful for me to have to keep pushing him so that we made our plane and than our connection.    Thankfully, he is feeling a little better now.

I do want to note that we also had a trip to New York in November and neither one of us got sick.  Hmmmm....maybe we are just meant to go there?  Something to think about.

While we were there we had a really good time.  It was a very laid back trip for us.  The reason for the trip was so Steve could do this car-thing in the dessert.  He was scheduled to do it in September but rain washed those plans away!  The day he went to do it, I did some retail therapy at the Fashion Mall which is right across the street from the Wynn where we were staying.  I got a few things.  Not much though because I didn't want to carry it home.

Our first night there we ate at the hotel at their ode to New York-style deli, Zu Zu Crackers.  I ordered the 1/2 sandwich and soup.  It was a cream of tomato and it was delish.  I only had a few spoonfuls and gave the rest to Steve.  My sandwich choice was a Rueben.    I had 1 bite of the full sandwich, grilled rye bread and everything in all its glory and than just picked at the meat.  Steve ate the rest.  Truly, he should weigh 400 lbs by now!  The next night we went to Maggiano's where he had Chicken Parm and I just ordered the grilled chicken and roasted pepper flatbread appetizer.  I had a little piece of that and a bite of his chicken plus a forkful or two of salad.  We also ordered a dessert sampler.  NY Cheesecake, Tiramisu, Apple Crosada, Creme Brule' and chocolate mouse cake.  We ate the Apple Crosada with vanilla ice cream at the restaurant and took the rest back to the Wynn because I had no room in my tummy!  I am not proud to say that I tasted every single one!  Our last night there we ate at Mario Batali's restaurant, Otto Pizzeria.  We ordered one individual pizza to share, they are huge!  and a salad.  I ate one piece of pizza and Steve ate the rest.

                                                                      

Dessert anyone?

At the Venetians Winter Wonderland

There was nothing that I wanted to eat that I couldn't.  What a change from the last time I was in LV when I still had my band.  Back in those days, I could always count on being too tight because of flying. I used to get so frustrated because I couldn't eat!   I am so thankful that I do not have to worry about that anymore.  My restriction never changes.  It is always just there.  I am also delighted that I managed to lose a pound while there too!  I guess its true what they say:  What you eat in Las Vegas, stays in Las Vegas.  Oh? Thats not what they say?  Who knew?

Except for the fact that my honey came home sick, we really had a great time!