The best day ever

I had a most wonderful day yesterday.

It actually started Saturday evening, when my (officially-future-but-unofficially-current) sister-in-law emailed me about going ice skating Sunday morning. She and I had talked about this before and thanks to her initiative it was finally to be realized. She picked me up Sunday morning and we headed off to Colonel Sam Smith Skating Trail, an awesome figure-8 trail in Etobicoke. During our lovely 45-minute skate, I mentioned I was picking up my wedding dress later that afternoon and that the Beau may or may not be coming with me.

It just so happened she had no other plans for the day and when the Beau opted not to go get my dress with me, she came along and we had a lovely afternoon of shopping and lunch out.

Now, I've had plenty of days like this (though this is my first with her) so what made it so special? Sure, picking up my wedding dress was pretty awesome and having the chance to show her my first choice for bridesmaids dresses (she's also in the wedding) and getting her ringing endorsement was great. And spending a few hours wandering around Michael's was wonderful too.

But what really made it the best was the informal conversations we had that, from time to time, ventured into clothing size territory. And, for the first time in a very long time, I had a conversation about clothes sizes that didn't focus on how high (boo) or low (yay) the number was or on how a little bit of weight gain was the end of the world or how certain body types are preferred over others.

And it was so refreshing!

I don't even think she realized she was doing this, but it was wonderful to spend an afternoon with a woman who is comfortable in her body; who is aware that fitness is important but who does it to make herself feel good rather than to conform to a certain ideal; who never once said anything to me to make me feel bad about myself or my clothing sizes.

I came home and gushed all this to the Beau and how it made me realize that I look good the way I am and that it's okay to want to lose weight and to get in shape but to do it for me rather than because external influences think I should and that it's no big deal what the number is on the tag as long as the clothes fit well.

He looked and me, smiling, and said, "That's what I've been telling you!"

And, yes, he has been telling me that and of course I listened to him but I never really believed it until yesterday. It's amazing how such a simple thing - an afternoon shopping with my sister-in-law - turned in to such an epiphany-filled day.

I think I just might finally be on my way to really, truly, honestly loving myself and it's a wonderful feeling.

A great big update!

Wow, so much has happened over the past 10 days! From October 26 to November 4, there have been times of extreme joy and extreme sadness; moments of frustration and moments of success; time with friends and time with family; and we even managed to move into our house.

Here's what went on:

Friday - we got the keys to the house! Such a simple act but so exciting and wonderful and full of promise. Our first home!
Dinner: Chinese food

The key to our home!

Saturday - we got into the house around 11 am. It was of course empty and the echoing caught me by surprise. All that empty space would soon be filled with our furniture, but not before we painted all kinds of awesome colours throughout. Before we could get too far with that though, the Beau proposed! Through my tears I nodded yes and he put the most beautiful ring on my finger. What an amazing day!
Dinner: Indian food

My beautiful ring!

Sunday - we had friends over and we painted and painted and painted. With their help we were able to finish the main floor and most of the basement as well as get one coat on the master bedroom. We are truly blessed with the number of people willing to offer up their weekend days to help us paint.
Dinner: pizza

The rainbow of colours now throughout our home

Monday - tragic news this day as I found out my dear cousin Becky had been hit by a car the night before and died of her injuries Monday morning. She was only 31. It was an awful day.
Dinner: frozen shepherd's pie

Tuesday - moving day! The movers arrived at 8:40 am and were done by 12:55 pm. So fast, so efficient, and we didn't do a thing. Though we discovered our queen box spring wouldn't fit up the stairs. We left that alone for the day as we needed to finish painting, though we did find a way to get it up the stairs.
Dinner: fried chicken

Wednesday - perhaps the day I was most excited for, as our couches were due to be delivered. They arrived right on time...and wouldn't fit through the front door. I was really annoyed (not at the delivery guys, just in general) but we stored the couches in our garage and plotted how we'd get them inside. We also made a trip to IKEA and bought a bed frame (among other things)...and the bed frame wouldn't fit in the car. So we tied it to the roof, using twine and cardboard roof racks and drove it home - in the rain. And we made it! Crazy. We also got the box spring upstairs by cutting the slats and folding it in half. Seriously.
Dinner: burritos

All tied down and ready to roll

The Beau working his box spring magic

Thursday - I spent the entire day in pajamas and didn't leave the house once. It was glorious. The Beau and I worked all day, emptying boxes, setting up other furniture, hanging curtains, cleaning and tidying. And slowly we could start seeing the progress being made.
Dinner: Thai food

Friday - Becky's funeral. It was the saddest day of my life. She was so vibrant and full of life, saying good-bye seemed surreal. I kept expecting to hear her voice, to ask us what we were doing because she was right there. The strength that my aunt, uncle and cousin showed that day was truly inspiring. She will be loved, and missed, always.
Dinner: Chinese food

Becky and I

Saturday - family dinner night! We had the Beau's parents, sister and brother-in-law, and brother and twin children over, along with my mom and brother. Full house for sure! Fortunately, earlier that day, we were able to remove the sliding doors at the back of the house to move in the couches. And we quickly filled those couches, and other furniture, with family and had a wonderful home-cooked meal of roast beef, potatoes, cauliflower, salad and beets. To celebrate the engagement we had sparkling wine and to celebrate the Beau's birthday we had vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream icing and crushed Oreos.
Dinner: amazing!

Making way for the couches

Sunday - the Beau's birthday! I made him brunch and we had a very relaxing day, puttering a bit around the house, watching movies, reading, and just taking it easy. It was so lovely to have a day to ourselves, to enjoy our home and be as lazy as we wanted!
Dinner: leftovers from all that take-out

So it was a crazy week, filled with so much. I didn't weigh in on Wednesday, mostly because I knew the result would be bad (so much take-out!) but also because we didn't have internet set up yet so I figured I'd just let it go for the week and get back on track this week.

One thing I did notice was how much work we did and how much we were moving, up and down stairs, throughout the house, walking through stores. The only time I sat down was if a job required me to sit down. But because we didn't have a kitchen set up for awhile and didn't get groceries for awhile, we at terribly. It's ironic, isn't it? Moving is a time when you're so busy and working so much that your body would benefit most from healthy meals but with so much going on, ordering in was just easier and faster.

But now that we're in the new place and well on our way to getting settled, we're also ready to get back to healthy eating and fitter lifestyles. One bonus is that after eating so much take-out, we definitely want home cooked meals for the next while!

I'll let you know how it goes on Wednesday and I'll post more pictures of the house, as we finish the rooms.

Long weekend fun

And what a fun long weekend it was! Even with a Tuesday print deadline, I didn't have to work on Monday so I was able to take full advantage of three whole days of time off! And it was glorious.

It all started Friday night.  I finished work at 8:30 pm, giving me enough time to hit up the LCBO and buy some delicious perfect-for-the-long-weekend beer. I grabbed a six-pack of Flying Monkeys Smashbomb Atomic IPA, a six-pack of Amsterdam's Boneshaker IPA and two bottles of Trafalgar Ales & Meads Irish Ale. The Smashbomb I'd had before but on draft, not bottled; I'm happy to say it's just as delicious when bottled. It's got a nice hoppiness to it but nothing too strong; it's rather delicious. The Boneshaker was a new one for the Beau and I and it was also really good, but very hoppy. It's the kind of beer you drink when you want one or two, or that you start with before switching to something a bit lighter. The Irish Ale was also really good, but more my Beau's speed than mine. So Friday night we tucked in with some beers and started watching Shutter Island. The Beau fell asleep before the end but it didn't matter - it was on Netflix so we just paused it until the next day. I love me some Netflix.

Saturday morning dawned warm and sunny and beautiful. I had been meaning to go bathing suit shopping for awhile and figured there was no time like the Saturday of a long weekend. While that may sound crazy, I was shopping in the 'burbs; Sherway Gardens was incredibly non-busy for a long weekend Saturday, which was perfect.

I had my mind set on getting a tankini for the summer. I'm not quite confident enough in my tummy to rock a bikini but I've also had trouble finding a one-piece that fits well, being long-torsoed. We're also planning a canoe trip this summer and I thought a tankini would be perfect for that: able to wear a bathing suit to keep cool and minimally dressed but also make it easy to pee in the woods. Now bathing suit shopping has never been a favourite activity of mine but I persevered and managed to buy two suits! There are bottoms that go with these, but they're just black (and I couldn't figure out a good way to hang them below the tops, so there you go).

Saturday night we finished Shutter Island (good movie, but works better as a book), then finally watched The Muppets, which as all kinds of amazing. I love me some Jason Segel. We also watched Chronicle, which is amazing and you should all go watch it right now. Right now!

Sunday brought with it a family outing to a Blue Jays game! It was a blazing hot day but lots of sunscreen made it okay. That and the foot-long, peameal-and-cheddar-cheese-topped hot dog I had. We lasted until the seventh inning when the nephews were ready to go (being toddlers, they did very well!) and the Beau and I were ready for some shade. We came home, showered and settled in for more TV & movies: The Killing (which is finally getting good but barely holding my interest) and  Bram Stoker's Dracula (which does not hold up 20 years later, though Keanu Reeves is hilarious).

Which brings us to Monday. We had planned to head to High Park but opted to stick closer to home and hit up the Discover Trails and parks near Old Mill. Even though we didn't have a view of Grenadier Pond, it was still beautiful and peaceful. We spread out a blanket, got into some snacks and read our books. Around us, people walked, biked, ran, played with their kids and relaxed like us. It was a wonderful way to wrap up the weekend.

The whole weekend was made all the more relaxing because we stayed in the city. The siren song of cottage country rang loud, but we opted to make minimal plans (our only commitment was the baseball game) and just do whatever we felt like for three days. We slept in, watched movies, drank beer, got LOTS of vitamin D, ate delicious food and enjoyed being with each other. It was perfect.

Happy Easter!

Did you have a good Easter weekend? We did!

The Beau and I spent it with my family, in my lovely little hometown. Family time with my family is always...interesting. Being from a small town sometimes means people have small minds and the off-colour comments that are made are disturbing but, alas, there is no changing some of my family members, so I've become adept at tuning them out. The Beau, on the other hand, is still shocked at some of the words that are used. It's a good thing we only spend about three days a year with these folk; they are good-hearted, well-meaning, inviting, sharing, friendly people, just far from politically correct.

We also did some projects for my Momma, which also came with a bit of drama. Let's face it, though, anything done with my Momma comes with a bit of drama. But we got through it and had a wonderful turkey dinner and all ended well. Though I'm going to work on my own attitude to help make weekends with Momma a bit smoother.

I also decided I would backtrack and enter my points for the weekend. I'm now without any extra weekly points as well as down to only 1 extra activity point - it was definitely a good food weekend! I'm a little worried because I have work dinner tonight and tomorrow night but I'm going to do my absolute best to eat well. Some work dinners are easier than others; when it's Thai or Chinese, I just load up on veggies. When it's Indian or pizza, the choices are much harder. I really don't want to have two gaining weeks in a row, which is definitely helpful when I feel my self-control is waning.

Regardless of family drama or overeating, it was wonderful to see so many family members and to spend time with those I care about. Next weekend we're off to see the Beau's family!