Tag Archives: christmas

It’s beginning to look a lot like weight loss….

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For added effect, sing along with the accompanying music, starting at 0:28

It’s beginning to look a lot like Weight Loss
Everywhere you go
Take a look in the women’s gym
Glistening once again
With beads of sweat and stretchy pants aglow

It’s beginning to look a lot like Weight Loss
Exercise on every night
But the prettiest sight to see
Is the skinny that will be
in your own pair of jeans.

A pair of riding boots and an assortment of tropical fruits
Is the wish of Alyssa and April
Friends that will talk and go for a walk
Is the hope of April and Alyssa
And blog readers can hardly wait
For this song to be over

It’s beginning to look a lot like Weight Loss
Everywhere you go
There’s a gap in Alyssa’s jeans
One in the mall as well
The kind that doesn’t sell XXL

It’s beginning to look a lot like Weight Loss
Soon the scale will show
And the thing that will make me sing
Is the chime that you ring
Right within my iPhone (when MyFitnessPal reminds me to log in)

It’s beginning to look a lot like Weight Loss
Soon the resolutions will start
And the goal that will make me think
Is the goal of every human being
(to lose weight)…right within your heart.

You guys. I noticed it this weekend. My jeans are LOOSE. FINALLY! The scale also shows that I’m now down about 12.8 pounds since all of my medical hoopla was sort of figured out. YAY! How is it possible to lose weight during the holiday season? Well, I’ve been running every night, doing yoga when I can, and generally trying to not cram my mouth with peppermint sweets, which is no easy task considering it’s Sugar Land around here. Just wanted to quickly share that I’m finally starting to SEE and FEEL some weight loss. YAY!

photo(1)

Here’s a snap of me from this weekend, in which I can see the tiniest little hourglass starting to re-emerge from its winter coat of adipose. It’s weird – sometimes you just FEEL like you weigh less. I’m totally being lazy about the scale too – checking in when I feel like it at the gym, and for the most part, relying on my clothes to tell me how I’m doing. It’s nice. I’m being much more chill about it, and I have to admit, not stressing about it might be helping. I’m just really trying to be conscientious of moving my booty and eating less, in addition to taking all my thyroid meds and supplements.

How are you guys doing on your health journey? Fill me in! And tell me… which holiday treat tempts you most? I may or may not have indulged in Candy Cane peeps this evening… but there’s only 170 calories for three, and each is dipped in dark chocolate. It was worth it. Even if my now loose jeans are snug again tomorrow.

 

 

A merry merry christmas

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Hello everyone! Hope you had a fantastic Christmas (if ya celebrate). Matt and I celebrated Santa’s arrival by heading up to Petaluma, a little town north of San Francisco where both sets of parents live.

We woke up bright and early at 8 AM at Matt’s parents to open gifts. Santa generously gifted us with a beautiful Cuisinart juicer… which we’ve already used to make fresh orange juice, and my favorite, apple pear juice. This will be making frequent guest appearances on the blog in the next couple of weeks! Matt’s dad surprised Shirley, my mother in law, with a month long cruise to Tahiti and Fiji to kick off their retirement next year! Here she is after she opened up her gift – a mini cruise ship!

So cute!

After gifts at the Currans, we headed over to the Lofgrens to celebrate Christmas there, too. My dad made bacon egg cups – bacon cooked in a muffin pan, filled with a whole egg and baked with cheese on top. It was a protein-packed, heart attack of a breakfast – and an enjoyable one, at that. Here’s the recipe!

 After breakfast we opened gifts from the Lofgrens, and we scored all sorts of great things like a pair of calf-high boots, an adorable olive oil and vinegar cruet, underwear and cute sweaters. Everybody spoiled us – as they do every year – and despite the mountain of new stuff we got, I was reminded all day about the generosity and love that’s so abundant on both sides of our families. We are truly, truly lucky!

PRESENTS!

After gift opening was complete, we (the kids) saw the Muppets at the $3 theatre (WOCKA WOCKA!) and then we headed back to the Currans’ house for an amazing dinner of prime rib with Yorkshire pudding, creamed spinach, creamed corn and potato wedges. I made a pecan pie for dessert, and we also had some of my mom’s homemade fudge and kolacky, a Czech jam cookie. Matt’s dad is also quite the cook and I consider it a huge bonus that I married into such a food-loving family – now I’m surrounded by foodies on either side!

After dinner we headed back to the Lofgrens’ house where we had to play the annual game of Monopoly. The game started off slow for me, and I was bored within five minutes, assuming I’d be monopoly-less and broke after my second turn around the board. However… I scored $1200 from the free parking kitty, and before I knew it, I was rollin’ high – and claimed the official title of REIGNING MONOPOLY CHAMPION.

I woke up the next day with a raging stomach ache thanks to my celebratory feasting, and then it was back on the road to return to Los Angeles. I had a vacation day from work today but tomorrow it’s back to the grind. This was a wonderful Christmas holiday with both of our families, and now, with a few days left of work until the new year, I’m beginning to reflect on 2011 and think about small changes I can make in 2012. I hope you had a wonderful holiday, too – what was your favorite memory?

 

 

 

Ornament Swap

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Our petite Christmas tree with laser-eyed Leo

Hi everybody! This year I was excited to participate in my first ever “blogger ornament swap”! Laura over at Luckiest in Love was kind enough to host this, and all the bloggers who signed up were matched with other bloggers around the country. I was matched with the lovely Mandy in Milwaukee at Making the Pieces Fit – and here’s what I got from her!

She did a great job researching because one of the ornaments she sent was this adorable jingle bell kitty! It looks just like Mr. Leo too, with the orange tabby stripes. Isn’t it darling?

Darling Jingle Bell Kitty Ornament

She also got me this super cute ginger bread lady resting on a little baking sheet! I don’t know if you can see it, but there’s a candy cane, starlight peppermint and a little baking spoon dangling off the edge. Perfect for me and my obsession with food! 🙂

Gingerbread lady baker!

I sent Mandy some ornaments in return – and while I desperately searched for an ornament of her favorite things, dolphins or flip flops, I couldn’t find one so settled for a pretty silver initial ornament and a few other little sparklies. However – I had an internal debate about which initial to get her, because her Twitter name is Mandy but her full name is Amanda – so, when people call me Lyssa, I figured it’s a nick name but my true initial is still an A – so Mandy got an A. Hope that’s cool, Mandy! These are the weird things I agonize over. 😉

Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas! And if you don’t celebrate Christmas, a merry day to you. Do you have a favorite ornament? You can see one of my favorites in the first picture – a little horse and carriage with our wedding photo in it that says “And they lived happily ever after – 2010”. Awwww!

 

Ugly Sweater Party

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Hi Everybody, hope you had a wonderful weekend! I did! Saturday night we had a small party with friends to celebrate the upcoming holiday season. Matt and I had been wanting to celebrate with an “Ugly sweater” party for quite some time, and this event definitely did not disappoint. All of my future parties will be themed. They must be. Themes = awesome.

People started trickling in around 7 and we grabbed a quick group shot…

Quick! Take a picture before everyone's drunk!

Later in the night we had an “Ugliest Sweater Contest”… Here are our winners!

Our Prize Winners! From L to R - Sacha and Monica, third place. Daniel and Shelley, First place. Luis, Second Place.

The amount of details in these sweaters was amazing! Shelley hand sewed lights into hers, Luis’ said “Pimpin’ Aint Easy…”

Can you see that? "Pimpin' Aint Easy"

Some of our other attendees had awesome sweaters, too.. Check out the details on Emily and Matt’s! Emily also sewed on dangly Santa embellishments and created this charming vest for her husband Matt….

Matt looks thrilled about his outfit!

We had an assortment of yummy treats… like creepy Coraline-esque ranch dip snowmen with veggies….

A snowman made out of ranch dip!

And also some delicious “Jolly Jingle Juice”…. (This stuff went FAST! People love boozy punch!)

Please ignore my focused "MUST SERVE MORE ALCOHOL" face...

And if the jingle juice wasn’t enough to warm up frozen buns and hands, we had a fire bowl going outside to add some warmth to the chilly 50 degree So Cal night (go ahead and smack me, Midwesterners and East Coasters… but 50 is freezing for the sunshine city).

Roasty Toasty by the fire

The grad school gals cut loose and relaxed for a few hours, thankful for a break from looming deadlines and mass media jargon….

Smile and say "Hegemony!"

And the happy hostess enjoyed wonderful gifts from her generous guests, like this adorable drunken reindeer wine holder from Virginia…. (I named him BUZZED BLITZEN)

Buzzed Blitzen

It was a wonderful evening having fun with friends before the insanity of finals and the usual holiday stress kicks in – but this night was a great reminder of what life’s about… the good times spent laughing with your friends. Have you ever been to an Ugly Sweater party? No?! If not… We’ll have a giant one when we have a bigger house! How many holiday parties have you been to or are you invited to this season?

Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night!

 

Weekly Weigh In #?

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Hello everybody! Hope you had a great weekend. Yesterday’s stepping on the scale brought more good news, so let’s cut to the chase… I’m down another 2.2 pounds!

 


I’ve noticed the past few weeks that my jeans have been feeling loose, but the biggest surprise was when I put on my striped Tommy Hilfiger sweater. I begged Matt for this sweater last Christmas – it has alternating stripes in shades of gray with an adorable hot pink trim around the wrists and neckline. It’s awesome, and comfortable, and wasn’t cheap. When I got it last Christmas, it hugged my jelly roll around my tummy a little more than I preferred. Yesterday I put it on and it was baggy. BAGGY!! The fabric in the tummy area actually billowed a little bit. I screamed in pleasure. Yup, it’s true. Winning the lottery? Who needs it?! Just give me some baggy clothes and I’m good. (Oh hey, Universe…I didn’t know you read my blog. I’m totally just kidding about that lottery thing. I’d totally love to win the lottery. KThxBai.)

I reflected on my weight loss today for a bit and I’ve come up with a few important things. First of all, I’m stopping when I’m full. As delicious as each handful of buttered popcorn is, the last handful tastes just the same as the first. So why keep cramming it in my mouth when I know 20 minutes later I’ll be clutching my esophagus in pain?

Second thing is, I’m back on the horse, proverbially, in terms of exercise. I got off the horse because I was on vacation, and then I got sick, and then I got lazy. But the horse gave me a swift kick in the ass I needed, and a few boxing classes and a date with Mr. Simmons later, and I’m back in the saddle. Exercise is important. It makes me feel good afterwards, it makes me feel productive, it helps me stress less, and I’m doing it for ME. Not for my work, not for my school, not for my husband, not for my cats. I’m doing it for ME. That’s a good feeling.

What’s the last thing you’ve done for yourself lately, be it a manicure, a nap, a beer, or losing weight?