Carli's Latest Blog Entry
Yesterday was my Dad’s 60th birthday party. My mom threw a get-together at the house, because he didn’t want a “party.” So, this get-together included bar-b-que, green beans, corn on the cob, spaghetti, potato salad, pasta salad, appetizers, peach cobbler, birthday cake and ice cream along with about 50 of our closest friends and family. My family does not understand the definition of an small get together. But, we had a blast! My Daddy was so happy. My sister made a beautiful DVD with photos of my Dad from infancy, to meeting my mom in college, to us growing up in Kansas City, all the way to Christmas with my niece.
There was so much food everywhere. I ate just one plate and loaded it with the corn and green beans. However, I did go overboard with the desert. I had cobbler and ice cream and cake AND ice cream. I didn’t beat myself up about it though. I am adjusting to the mindset that there is no “on plan/ off plan.” I just enjoyed my family and the food. However, I knew that today I had to make up for yesterday’s desert debacle. I packed my to-go plate with chicken and veggies only and at that for lunch today. No cake, no cobbler. This afternoon I watched “Water For Elephants,” a cute movie about a 1930s veterinarian that runs away with the circus and falls in love. Later on my little sister invited herself to my house. She wanted to play the X-box Kinect, but I really needed to walk in preparation for my half marathon in a couple months. So, we put in Leslie Sansone’s walk at home DVD. I told her that we would walk for two miles, but really I knew I wanted to walk three miles. (She is sitting next to me now as I dictate this blog post, looking at me in shock and horror, that I once again tricked her into a lengthy routine.) LOL! Anyway, she was surprised that Leslie talks through the whole routine, I told her that’s just what Chatty Cathy does. We had fun and even broke a sweat. Leslie said we were her “Sisters in Sweat.”
I was glad that my sister came over and helped me stay on track. After the workout I was hungry and cooked dinner. Still making up for yesterday, I opted to prepare a meal with just a few carbs. I made baked tilapia seasoned with roasted red pepper and garlic with a side of mixed veggies and cheese. The fish was delicious, very similar to the Parmesan encrusted tilapia recipe that I posted a while back. I’m anxious to see what the scale will say at the weight watcher meeting tomorrow. But, honestly with my new approach towards being healthy, I won’t let it impact my behavior. I’m using the scale for information, not judgment. My pants feel looser and my attitude is brighter. So regardless of what the scales says, I tracked every day for a week (except last night), got in some activity, remained positive, and got right back on plan after a relaxed night of fun. In my book, that’s success.
I had such a fun-filled weekend. Friday night was game 7 of the World Series in Major League Baseball. St. Louis was on fire! I was sitting at home alone watching the game before called my Big Little Sister and suggested that we go somewhere and watch it together. We went downtown to the Casino and watched the game on the giant projector screen. It was so much fun! After the Cardinals won, there were tons of hugs and high fives from whatever stranger was closest to you. It was crazy wild energy. We waited around for about an hour, thinking that traffic had died down. We were wrong! Traffic was still bumper to bumper and Cards fans were everywhere. They were drinking, celebrating and dancing in the street. My sister is a bit more adventurous than me and she drove right towards the stadium into the madness. We held our arms out the windows into the cool October night air and slapped high-fives to everyone that walked through the traffic. We had a blast.
The next morning, my Mom and I went to the Farmers market. She got 8 crates of strawberries for $5. Sometimes you pay almost $4 just for one at the grocery store. I bought some new spices like Lime Chipotle and re-stocked my favorite one “Soulard Grill” which tastes good in everything. My Special Friend was “Busy” and didn’t want to “commit then cancel” hmmmm…So, that evening I went to the movies with two of my good friends from high school. We saw Paranormal Activity 3. I love scary movies, and it definitely had some cringe worthy parts. But it wasn’t as good as the 1st one. I came home and fell asleep watching “Bad Teacher” with Cameron Diaz. I’m such a movie fanatic. I thought about writing a blog for movie reviews, since I usually watch at least 5 movies each week, but when would I find time to do that?
Sunday, I finally made time for the gym. Barely. My little Sister and I chatted it up for a half an hour on the elliptical machine, before heading to Wal-Mart. Silly me I decided to wait until the day before Halloween to get a costume. There was nothing left at Wal-Mart, so we headed to Target. The only thing left was a horrible bloody arm and a Monopoly board game costume. Then I saw it! One glittery white glove, sent down from the costume gods. It wasn’t even in the original packaging. I took it to the register and gave the checkout boy a “don’t mess with me look” as I handed him a pack of lace costume gloves to scan in exchange for my unwrapped MJ glove. He obliged, even though my sister said I was holding up the line. I ransacked my closet at home and pulled off a pretty Smooth Criminal look if you ask me. My “Brother from another Mother” joined me at my friend’s Halloween party about 2 hours later. We had a good time. I could have eaten a little better, drank a little less and worked out a little more, but I still had quite a fun weekend.
I have learned in life that often times our greatest strength can also be a debilitating weakness. In my life being stubborn and strong headed has gotten me to great places that defy statistics. However, on the other hand being too stubborn has caused a lot of trouble. For example, I’m repeatedly too stubborn to face the music and accept the fact that I need help and I can’t do everything alone. It seems silly to me that I need a meal plan or a fitness routine to maintain a healthy life. But, fortunately I’m learning to get out of my own way and accept the things I cannot change. I did not work out all week. I felt so tired and honestly couldn’t figure out why. Duh! *smack on the forehead* My body is not used to being so sedentary. So, I’m accepting the fact that I need some sort of program to stay on track with my workout regimen. I thought after countless races, and regularly working out for years, that I could motivate myself to work out on my own. But, I can’t, so I signed up for the Halloween 10k (6.2 Mile) race in October. Training officially starts this week. I will do my best to keep my training schedule updated and posted for you to see. I did a little laundry this morning and got my best work out buddy ready to go to the Park. It was a beautiful day, low 80s and not too much humidity. I picked a really scenic area of the park to walk. Nyah and I walked circles around the water basin with couples in love sharing paddle boats and families on picnics. It made me think of having my own family one day. I’m not in a real rush, but since I turned 30 I guess I realized that the clock is starting to tick. I’m not in a big hurry to have children, but I don’t really want to be 50 with the 10-year-old either. In between laps around the water basin we walked up the giant Hill and jogged back down while listening to my Michael Jackson mix on my iPod. It was a very leisure walk, and I took time to enjoy myself. It felt so good to be moving again. I felt refreshed instead of tired. Even though it had only been a week I realized how much fitness really is a part of my life. And, I realized how much it is actually a part of my lifestyle, and that made me smile. After about 50 minutes of walking around and up and down the hill we were finished. I went to the nail shop after I got home and showered. My Nail Tech Lee, that helped me catch the purse thief is still at home in Vietnam, so a new lady helped me. She did pretty good, so I can’t complain too much. Afterwards I had an awesome dinner with two of my friends, and then we went to see the movie “The Help
.” It was so good, it took us on journey through Jim Crow Mississippi from the black maid’s untold perspective. I think it did an amazing job of depicting America during the civil rights era and provided a stark contrast to the world we live in today where I can causually sit in a movie theater next to a White couple with a Black president running the country. We’ve come a long way baby!
Today was such a weird day. It was a freakishly beautiful spring-like day in February. My coworker friend and I went to lunch at Chavas, one of my favorite Mexican restaurants in Soulard downtown. She got to the point where she was tired of the shenanigans at the law firm where we work. For example, “spell check this document for me, or print the e-mail I just sent you and bring it to me.” She jokingly said it’s such a beautiful Friday it would be a great day to get fired, so I could go home and enjoy the rest of the day. I jokingly said you know you hate your job when… You say it’s a beautiful day to get fired. Ironically enough, this afternoon I got a text from her simply stating “God delivered me!” I knew exactly what she meant with no questions asked. This is my lunch buddy we eat together every day, and hang out for movie marathons most weekends. All I could think of was how bored I would be at work now. I can’t say all the things I’d really like to say about the firm where I work because someone could find my blog and, I have a mortgage to pay so I don’t want to be next on the chopping block.
Anyway, I thought it would be a good day to soak in the hot tub at the gym. Of course my little sister was on board to join me. We went to the gym and talked and walked a leisure 3 miles around the track. Then we put on our swimsuits and headed to the whirlpool. I turned on the bubble maker and put my foot in. It was so hot! I don’t know how my little sister stepped in with no problem. I felt like I was stepping into a pot of boiling water. I eased myself into the whirlpool as my body began to adjust the temperature. After a minute or two it started to feel good. Then I looked at the floating thermometer and it said 102°! I panicked and got ready to climb out, no wonder why felt like I was stepping into a pot of boiling water. That was until my little sister pointed to the sign stating that the whirlpool should stay at 102°. Maybe I was just a little wound up from the events of the day. I decided to use lean back and relax and enjoy. I laid my head back, It was so fantastic it felt like a water massage. After I marinated in the human sized pot for a while, I decided to try the sauna. I have access to all this nice stuff at the gym and never take advantage of it. As soon as I stepped into the sauna it felt like I walked into an oven. Is it supposed to be this hot I asked? Maybe it’s been so cold outside for so long that regular hot feels like superhot. Regardless, I could only stay in the sauna for just a few minutes before I had enough. And then I wondered why did everything remind me of the stove and the oven? Is it because I’m fat or because I like to cook? Oh well I guess it doesn’t matter. What did matter was that I felt good that I got in a quick workout and I felt extremely relaxed. I think I need a whirlpool at home. It was so nice, definitely something I will be doing again in the near future.
Oh! P.S. I signed up for a 5 Mile St. Patricks day Race today! Not a 5K …5 MILES!
I’m not in Kansas anymore! Well technically, I live in Missouri, but right now I’m in Los Angeles, California, which is definitely not like Kansas or Missouri. Most days the temperature is in the low 70′s and I’m here on a much needed vacation. I am relaxing and having a blast. My flight landed shortly after Noon, and my Hollywood Aunt picked me up from the airport. We had lunch at Casa Vega, a Mexican restaurant with a mean oven baked burrito. Then I went to buy some new hair weave. I’m not scared to talk about my hair weave, but please don’t just ask random black girls if their hair is a weave, LOL! Anyway, the lady I bought it from has her own makeup line and does makeup and eyebrows for celebrities. While I was there, she hand blended some foundation to match my skin tone. It looks amazing! Finding good makeup for chocolate brown skin like mine can be a challenge. It was such a fun process to watch, you never think of how much work it takes to make stuff, when you just buy it at the counter. I’m glad my Auntie bought it for me, because I’m not ballin’ like that!
Later my Aunt and I took a brisk walk around a neighborhood park. My iPod was dead from listening to it on the plane, so I couldn’t track the exact distance. My Aunt kept calling it “exercise” and y’all know that’s like a curse word for me. I never call it exercise. It’s walking, running, training, working out, getting in activity, anything but dreaded exercise.
That evening we went to dinner with her best friend Leslie who you probably know as, Stanley from the hit show “The Office”, and her friend Stepp Stewart who you probably saw teaching a New Year’s dance “exercise” routine on Dr. Oz’s show on Wednesday. It was so fun schmoozing with celebs, their lifestyle is so different. Random strangers come up and want autographs and pictures while you eat. It’s weird because they’re just family to me….but, I’m reminded of their celebrity status when I see people “secretly” debate on which friend is bold enough to come up to the table and ask for a picture. Anyway we ate salad and some fantastic pizza from little Italian cafe called Caioti. It was a fantastic start to my vacation! 
Today, I went and got a pedicure, she did such a good job, and she hand painted a flower on my big toe as a “souvenir.”
Then I went shopping. I had so much fun, I love shopping. I got a “little black dress” regularly priced $80 for only $15 bucks. Then we went to the movies to see “The Fighter.” But not just any movie theater. It was really fancy dancy. Huge plush recliner chairs, a full menu, cocktails and waiter with a call button. Now THAT’s how you watch a movie. I didn’t want to leave when it was over. We shopped some more at the local Pasadena shops. Pampering, shopping deals, and a great movie at a swank theater…I couldn’t have asked for a better day. Well, I didn’t walk today, but I hope to squeeze in another walk tomorrow.
Having Fun in the California Sun!
Carli
There was so much food everywhere. I ate just one plate and loaded it with the corn and green beans. However, I did go overboard with the desert. I had cobbler and ice cream and cake AND ice cream. I didn’t beat myself up about it though. I am adjusting to the mindset that there is no “on plan/ off plan.” I just enjoyed my family and the food. However, I knew that today I had to make up for yesterday’s desert debacle. I packed my to-go plate with chicken and veggies only and at that for lunch today. No cake, no cobbler. This afternoon I watched “Water For Elephants,” a cute movie about a 1930s veterinarian that runs away with the circus and falls in love. Later on my little sister invited herself to my house. She wanted to play the X-box Kinect, but I really needed to walk in preparation for my half marathon in a couple months. So, we put in Leslie Sansone’s walk at home DVD. I told her that we would walk for two miles, but really I knew I wanted to walk three miles. (She is sitting next to me now as I dictate this blog post, looking at me in shock and horror, that I once again tricked her into a lengthy routine.) LOL! Anyway, she was surprised that Leslie talks through the whole routine, I told her that’s just what Chatty Cathy does. We had fun and even broke a sweat. Leslie said we were her “Sisters in Sweat.” 
