day 3: things that make me uncomfortable

my interpretation of "uncomfortable" for today's challenge post translates directly to "awkward."

1. basically every aspect of this video. poor baby...she didn't stand a chance. come on, that open-mouth hip wiggling? the penguin dance stance? i can barely watch it myself. my personal favorite cringe-worthy spot is where johnny spins her away at the very end and just bounces on her (right around 1:23). sorry, baby, the dancing was even too awkward for groin-thrusting-johnny.

2. when you see someone you know wave and you wave back. then you realize they were not looking at you at all, rather, they were saying hello to the person behind you. this situation makes me want to crawl under a rock.

3. when you try to give the "high five" to someone and they totally do not reciprocate and you are "left hanging." the discomfort is especially terrible when you're surrounded by a group of people. neat.

4. this one's a double whammy. it's soooo uncomfortable when you see someone and they don't remember you. add insult to injury when they make it known that they don't remember you and you make it known that you clearly know them. second one, it's super awkward when you think someone's about to ask you to do something (go on a date, hang out, etc.) and they're not.

these are just a few situations that make me suuuuuper uncomfortable. what about you? what makes you cringe??

later lovelies!

day 2: "weight watcher" survival skills

day 2 of the blog-everyday-in-may challenge is officially underway! today's topic requires me to educate you on something that i know a lot about or am good at. now, i'm definitely not trying to claim to be any type of fitness and nutrition guru, but i absolutely can shed some light on how to survive weight watchers (or any diet in general). 

you may or may not know that over the last few years, i've struggled with my weight. now, i'm a pretty confident gal, and i believe that women are all beautiful, no matter their size, (cue dove's beauty campaign here) however, i also understand that when i am carrying some extra weight, i don't feel as good as i do when the weight's not there. i have personally found a lot of success with the weight watcher program. as a person who eats to resolve any situation (happy, sad, stressed, anxious, etc.), weight watchers allows me to be mindful of what i am putting in my mouth at all times. if you are looking to drop some pounds, give weight watchers a shot, and when you do, take these survival skills, pack them into your brain, and never forget them. they'll save you so much stress (i hope!). 

1. don't drink your points (or calories) away. you aren't given many points, so you have to learn to make them stretch throughout the day. one way to totally screw yourself is to waste points on non-filling things like juices (which super high in sugar and carbs) and non-diet sodas. For example, an 8 oz. glass of simply orange orange juice is a whoppin' 3 points! when you only have 26 points each day like me, 3 points is a lot to waste on something you drink. this also (unfortunately) applies to alcohol. i've basically stopped drinking altogether simply because it's annoying to have to a) count points when you're trying to have fun when you're out with your friends; b) let's be serious--after a couple of drinks, you just aren't worried about how many points you've consumed, and then you're back at square one. needless to say, drinking, while it does cause lots of fun, it also causes killer headaches, nausea, and hangovers that make me want to scarf all the greasy goodness i can find. never good when you're on "the watch."

2. restaurant food is pretty much always bad for you. the sooner your realize that, the less frustrated you will be. when you can, just stick to cooking your own food. now, i know what you're thinking..."rachel, it's impossible to not eat out." you're pretty much right. our society makes food not only the center of our lives (there's an entire tv network devoted to it!!), but it also is one of the more social aspects of life. i mean, when was the last time someone said, "hey! it's been a long time since we've hung out! let's go for a jog!" yeah right. it's always "let's grab drinks!" or "how about dinner?" this can be really challenging, but i've learned the best way to combat it, is to plan, plan, plan. if you know you're going to be going out to eat, check out the restaurant's menu online and decide what you're going to eat hours in advance. it sounds crazy, but going in with your mind already made up makes a huge difference.

3. the healthiest choice isn't always the most obvious one. this is somewhat of an extension of #2. when you sit down to order, i'm sure your eyes immediately go to the "salads" section of the menu and think you're home free. not always a good thing. take chili's, for example. the quesadilla explosion salad has an astounding 1360 calories, 88 grams of fat, and 87 grams of carbs (!!!!!!!!!!!). even the santa fe chicken salad rings in with 680 calories, 46 grams of fat, and 36 grams of carbs! at chili's you can get the classic sirloin, rice, and steamed broccoli with garlic butter (yum!) for a total of 520 calories, 19 grams of fat, and 51 grams of carbs. HUGE DIFFERENCE!!!!

4. track, track, track! write down everything you eat with the points plus value it has. here's where you have to get a little psycho (and that's totally okay!). make it a game! see how much food you can actually consume and still make your points last. if you aren't writing down what you're putting in your mouth, there's not possible way you can know exactly how much you are eating. i was just floored when i first started tracking. it definitely makes you mindful of not only what you're eating, but also how much you were eating beforehand. 

5. stick with it, even on the hard days. you know those days when you wake up and just want a cheeseburger? that's okay. every once in a while, you can have that cheeseburger. the key is to just not have the cheeseburger, fries, jumbo chocolate milkshake, and dessert. stick that delicious cheeseburger with a side salad and call it a day. you get to feel like you're eating the good stuff, but you aren't totally blowing it out of the water. one of my favorite quotes (that i heard from my weight watchers meeting leader) is "the time's going to pass anyway, so you might as well lose the weight, too." 

these are just a couple of little tidbits that will help you stay on top of your weight loss program. i continue to learn new things about myself and what works best for me when it comes to weight loss, but the most important thing is that i keep myself dedicated to striving to be healthy. after all, "nothing tastes as good, as healthy feels." 

until tomorrow...

Day 1: About me in 250-ish words or fewer :)

december 4, 1987

i was born december 4, 1987 in houston, tx. my parents divorced just 6 months later. mom remarried and i got a new brother and sister. at 7 years old, we moved to mt.vernon, tx, though i still split my time between there and houston. mt.vernon is where i met michael, my high school sweetheart. i seemed to always feel like a city girl stuck in a small town, so in 2006, mike and i called it quits, i graduated high school and moved to lubbock, tx, for college (wreck 'em tech!). i was super active in my sorority, chi omega, studied abroad, and interned for texas tech athletic media relations during the mike leach era. in 2007, we found out my dad had stage 4 cancer. 5 months after my college graduation in december 2009, my sweet dad passed away, and shortly thereafter, i moved to conroe, tx. april 2011 rolls around and i've got a wedding to attend. as fate would have it, michael was also in mt. vernon the same weekend. we've been together ever since. in august 2011, i quit my job and hauled ass to dallas. i started a new job as an event planner, and michael quickly moved in with me. he proposed on april 29, 2012 and we were married on march 16, 2013. life has been unexpected, but it's also been so good. we have a tiny apartment (that's never clean), a precious puppy, and overall, a pretty sweet life.

248 words! suck on that!! lol. see you tomorrow lovelies!

31 days

so i've decided that i need to get my blogging crap together. i've been doing a lot better about blogging consistently lately, but sometimes, i really find it challenging. it's quite sad that my life is so boring that i can't even find things to write about. 

jenni, over at story of my life, challenged all of her readers (sooooo many readers) to partake in a blog-every-day-in-may challenge. i have decided to formally accept the challenge and get to blogging! YOU should take part as well! 

here's the list of topics. be bold, boring, or whatever you'd like, but always blog. :)

Day 1, Wednesday: The story of your life in 250 words or less (or one paragraph... no one will be counting your words... probably)

Day 2, Thursday: Educate us on something you know alot about or are good at. Take any approach you'd like (serious and educational or funny and sarcastic)

Day 3, Friday: Things that make you uncomfortable

Day 4, Saturday: Favorite quote (from a person, from a book, etc) and why you love it

Day 5, Sunday: Publicly profess your love and devotion for one of your blogger friends. 

What makes them great? Why do you love them? If you don't have blogger friends, talk about a real-life friend or even a family member

Day 6, Monday: If you couldn't answer with your job, how would you answer the question, 'what do you do'?

Day 7, Tuesday: The thing(s) you're most afraid of

Day 8, Wednesday: A piece of advice you have for others. Anything at all.

Day 9, Thursday: A moment in your day (this can be just a photo or both a photo and words)

Day 10, Friday: Most embarrassing moment (s). Spill. 

Day 11, Saturday: Sell yourself in 10 words words or less

Day 12, Sunday: What do you miss? (a person, a thing, a place, a time of your life...)

Day 13, Monday: Issue a public apology. This can be as funny or as serious or as creative as you want it to be.

Day 14, Tuesday: Ten things that make you really happy

Day 15, Wednesday: A Day in the life (include photos from throughout your typical day - this could be "a photo an hour" if you'd like)

Day 16, Thursday: Something difficult about your "lot in life" and how you're working to overcome it

Day 17, Friday: A favorite photo of yourself and why

Day 18, Saturday: Tell a story from your childhood. Dig deep and try to be descriptive about what you remember and how you felt.

Day 19, Sunday: Five of your favorite blogs and what you love about them

Day 20, Monday: Get real. Share something you're struggling with right now.

Day 21, Tuesday: A list of links to your favorite posts in your archives

Day 22, Wednesday: Rant about something. Get up on your soapbox and tell us how you really feel. (a pet peeve, a current event, a controversial topic, something your husband or roommate or neighbor or boss does that really ticks you off)

Day 23, Thursday: Things you've learned that school won't teach you

Day 24, Friday: Your top 3 worst traits

Day 25, Saturday: Something someone told you about yourself that you'll never forget (good or bad)

Day 26, Sunday: Something you read online. Leave a link and discuss, if you'd like.

Day 27, Monday: A letter to your readers

Day 28, Tuesday: Only pictures

Day 29, Wednesday: Five songs or pieces of music that speak to you or bring back memories. Use Grooveshark or YouTube to include them in the post

Day 30, Thursday: React to this term: Letting Go

Day 31, Friday: A vivid memory

loving this right now

you guys have to hear my new fav jam. i'm absolutely looooooooving paolo nutini right now.  i went to my go-to "relax" playlist on spotify  earlier and realized that i just HAD to share this guy with the other 5 people that read my blog. anyway, he's so good and the epitome of easy listening and relaxing. 

enjoy, friends, and if you feel like it, follow me on spotify!

boston

is there ever really a way to explain terror or tragedy? there never seems to be a shortage of situations like columbine, the oklahoma city bombings, 9/11, the virginia tech shootings, and in this particular instance, the boston bombings. time will eventually tell the "who," "what," "when," and "where" for every aspect of this disaster, but i find it hard to believe that anyone, especially myself, will ever be able to explain the "why." the one thing i cling to when i see madness like this, is that there is hope for mankind. 

a blogger that i follow, jenni, shard the quote below. sometimes, someone else just says exactly what you can not figure out how to say. 

patton oswalt nailed it. 

"Boston. Fucking horrible. 

I remember, when 9/11 went down, my reaction was, 'Well, I've had it with humanity.'

But I was wrong. I don't know what's going to be revealed to be behind all of this mayhem. One human insect or a poisonous mass of broken sociopaths. 

But here's what I DO know. If it's one person or a HUNDRED people, that number is not even a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a percent of the population on this planet. You watch the videos of the carnage and there are people running TOWARDS the destruction to help out. (Thanks FAKE Gallery founder and owner Paul Kozlowski for pointing this out to me). This is a giant planet and we're lucky to live on it but there are prices and penalties incurred for the daily miracle of existence. One of them is, every once in awhile, the wiring of a tiny sliver of the species gets snarled and they're pointed towards darkness. 

But the vast majority stands against that darkness and, like white blood cells attacking a virus, they dilute and weaken and eventually wash away the evil doers and, more importantly, the damage they wreak. This is beyond religion or creed or nation. We would not be here if humanity were inherently evil. We'd have eaten ourselves alive long ago. 

So when you spot violence, or bigotry, or intolerance or fear or just garden-variety misogyny, hatred or ignorance, just look it in the eye and think, 'The good outnumber you, and we always will.'"

-patton oswalt

wicked

you guys. my mind is officially blown. 

michael has always told me that wicked is his favorite musical. ever. surprised that michael is even a fan of musicals? you shouldn't be. he was quite the thespian growing up, actually. truth be told, he went to state in one act play NOT one, NOT two, NOT three, but FOUR years in a row! he even had the lead role our senior year! (class of '06--holla!) anyway, he always told me what a great show it was, but i've never had the opportunity to see it. a few months ago, i found out that the broadway show was going on a national tour and would be making a stop in dallas. could it be fate? i think so. to my dismay, though, the tickets practically sold out as soon as they went on sale (at least the ones i could afford). 

earlier this week, my friend, jennifer, text me and said she had an extra ticket to see the show in fair park, and asked if i wanted to join. my answer? ummmm....heck yeah! jennifer's boss has season tickets to the music hall at fair park, and had already seen wicked, so he passed the tickets along to her. and THEN she invited me!!! score!!!!! 

so last night, me, jennifer, her roommate, tara, and tara's mom, all loaded up and headed to fair park. we stopped and enjoyed the quaintest little pizza place--pizza lounge! we got a couple of different personal pizzas and salads (and wine, of course!) and shared. i seriously recommend the hawaiian...it's sweet and savory, with the perfect amount of sauce. also check out the pear and gorgonzola salad. de-lish! i've always been afraid to try gorgonzola cheese because i was afraid i wouldn't like it (have i mentioned that i eat like a 5 year old?), but i was pleasantly surprised. the pears were sweet and delicious and the pear-vinaigrette was top-notch. you will not be disappointed with this place. 

so! we ate dinner and headed to the theatre. tara and her mom made their way to their seats, and jennifer and i headed to our. one word: WOW! we seriously had some of the best seats in the house--8th row, center section. it really doesn't get much better than that. obviously, you aren't allowed to take pictures during the show, but i did sneak a quick pic of the stage prior to the show's start. 

look at that crazy dragon! yikes!

me and jenny-boo before the show started.

you guys, if you ever have the chance to see this show, you have GOT to! i would go into a full synopsis of the plot, but don't want to ruin it for anyone. in a nutshell, wicked is somewhat of a prequel to the wizard of oz. it's the life story of both witches from the story, and explains how "the good witch" and "the wicked witch" became good and wicked. it was phenomenal. 

go see it! you won't regret it!

added bonus? the show featured one of the songs that we sang at chi omega's pref night at tech. PC '06, you know what i'm talkin' about. check it out...

later gators! xoxo