Cold water = Straight hair

I finally straightened my hair. I had to. I was the second one in the shower this morning, and after Zach turned the water heater down to save money, the water's been really cold already. I was freezing by the time I was done showering. All I wanted to do was stand under a blow dryer for twenty minutes and enjoy being warm. So I did. And as much as I hate to admit it, I think I look really really good today. Oh well.

Also, I stopped with the Oil Cleansing Method. It made my skin feel awesome, but because I couldn't do it consistently, I was breaking out. The thing is, it's time consuming. It's nine o'clock, I'm tired, and I just don't want to have to do it. So then I wouldn't, would sleep in my make up, and then my face rebelled. I've been trying a super all natural cleanser and lotion from Burt's Bees, and so far I really like it.

Working at my new job has been great so far. Very challenging, which I love. The people are very nice and helpful, and the work is interesting. Couldn't ask for more! Also, I get to sit by a window - having acutal day light is so uplifting!

We have yet to start our project of watching Musicals. We're having a hard time finding the first one on our list. This is complicated by the fact that we have late fees at every movie rental place in Madison and can't find in on Netflix. Not sure how we're going to resolve this one.

Zach has band practice tonight, so I'm planning on staying late at work and then starting to organize the house a little bit. It's really looking good, but there are always more projects to do when you're a home owner!

The Great Musical Experiment

I grew up watching musicals, like, lots of musicals. I can hum the music that Eliza and the Prince danced to in My Fair Lady. I can sing every song from The King and I. When I was younger, me and my mom would decide which musical we would watch that night, not whether or not we would watch one. Because of this, it was rather surprising to me that Zach, a music major non-the-less, was severely lacking a musical film education. (side note, a song from Chicago just came on my coworker's computer) We've decided to remedy that....

I've been wanting to go as Velma Kelly for Halloween for years



We're going to go chronologically and watch all of the important musical films from the last 90 years or so. I'm really, really excited! Zach is pretty excited too, I think. I think he trusts me to pick good ones, and not make him just watch Carousel. Which brings me to the next point....there are some that we've decided to leave out due to me seeing them and hating them. I know that's not exactly fair, but I really don't want to have to watch Cats. So without further ado, here is the list:

Anything Goes	1936
Some like it Hot	1939
The Wizard of Oz	1939
Yankee Doodle Dandy	1942
Meet me in St Louis	1944
Annie Get Your Gun	1950
Singin' in the Rain	1952
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes	1953
Kiss Me, Kate	1953
Brigadoon	1954
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers	1954
Guys and Dolls	1955
Oklahoma!	1955
The King and I	1956
Damn Yankees	1958
South Pacific	1958
West Side Story	1961
The Music Man	1962
Bye Bye Birdie	1963
My Fair Lady	1964
The Sound of Music	1965
Camelot	1967
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying	1967
Thoroughly Modern Millie	1967
Hello, Dolly!	1969
Sweet Charity	1969
Fiddler on the Roof	1971
Cabaret	1972
Jesus Christ Superstar	1973
The Rocky Horror Picture Show	1975
Grease	1978
All That Jazz	1979
Victor Victoria	1982
A Chorus Line	1985
Little Shop of Horrors	1986
Cannibal! The Musical	1996
Evita	1996
Les Miserable	1998
Moulin Rouge!	2001
Chicago	2002
The Phantom of the Opera	2004
Rent	2005
Walk the Line	2005
Dreamgirls	2006
Mamma Mia!	2008

Then, as the piece de resistance, we're going to go see Wicked live! It seems like a good way to end the project - ending with one that's new and currently touring. Please let me know if there's something good I left out! There are a lot of these that I haven't seen myself, so I'm really looking forward to it. I've never actually seen Singin' in the Rain, if you can believe it!

I want to be Julie Andrews

Staying Motivated

....is really hard.

So, remember my 2012 goals? I don't feel like they're going that well. The saving money part is going alright - me and the husband have been doing a really good job of budgeting. The healthy/weight loss part, though? Not so much. The hardest part for me is staying motivated and not getting frustrated. Some background....

When I was younger (8-17) I was a figure skater. For anyone who's not a competitive figure skater, or doesn't know one, let me tell you, it's a great work out! I would go to the gym to cross train, but I didn't really have to. I was in awesome shape. Naturally I didn't realize this at the time, but that's another story. Anyway, I was athletic, yada yada yada. Then I went away to college. Surprisingly, I didn't gain the freshman fifteen. I wasn't in figure skating shape, but I walked everywhere and went to the gym to socialize with my friends. Even after graduation, when I was sitting in a lab all day, I was still in pretty good shape. As far as I can tell, this happened for two reasons: I was single and so I wanted to look skinny to meet guys, and I was generally happy in a job I liked. So then I met Zach and had a major change in lifestyle. I'm not blaming him! Not at all. It's just that I had two options: 1) Go to the gym 2) Cook dinner with my boyfriend and then watch a movie together. Come on, which would you choose? Then I took a job that I hated and started eating emotionally. I also am a firm believer that stress can cause weight gain and other problems. So that was all 20 lbs ago.

To get on with the story, over the last several months I've became obsessed with living a healthy lifestyle. My goal is not to lose weight exactly, but to create healthy habits that will stick with me, and yes, also lose some weight. This has not happened yet. Like, not one pound. I know it takes a while, but man do I wish my jeans were more comfotable! So, internet, throw me a bone here. How do I stay motivated? Have you ever made a change in lifestyle that was difficult but worth it? What are some pitfalls I should look out for? For the sake of full disclosure, I'm eating a sweet potato, and apple, some whole grain crackers and water for lunch. I didn't even touch the candy bowl outside of the office.

What to do with my time....

Nothing!

It's glorious. I thought that I would be itching for things to do now that I have time off of work, but it turns out that I can be pretty content laying around the house. Today I:
Got up at 9:30
Cleaned a little, showered and watched Tangled. That brought me up to 2:30
Took a nap
Watched Dr. Oz and snacked on popcorn
And here we are! :)

I usually feel best when I'm busy and doing lots of things, but I'm really enjoying this. I had plans today to clean, go get coffee, and then go to one of the outdoor rinks and skate, but that all sounded hard. I'm guessing after resting so much I'm going to want to be more productive tomorrow and Friday, but I'm not going to try and accomplish anything or push it. I think I just need a rest!

Zach should be home shortly and we're going to go for a long walk and then out to dinner. In order to get married at The Madison Club we had to become members. We haven't gone there yet this month, so tonight we're going out to dinner.

Evie and Theresa appreciate the fine art of being lazy

Our Wedding October 1st, 2011

It's been almost four months, but I wanted to do a wedding recap. It was such a wonderful day, made all the more wonderful by all the people that we were able to share it with, that I wanted to take the time to actually write about it. Also, I'm a glutton for our wedding pictures, and would love to post more. :)

The Rehearsal and Rehearsal Dinner

I've never been so nervous! Okay, that's not true. I was pretty nervous, though. The day started off great. Me and Zach went out for breakfast, then my friends Sarah and Matt, and their adorable daughter Isla met us at our apartment. The guys left and us three girls went to the salon to meet up with everyone else and get our nails done.

Post getting our nails done, I had all of the girls come back to our apartment for a nice Thank You Brunch where we could chill and eat and I could give them gifts before the rehearsal. Huge mistake. I got way overwhelmed. I really didn't want to be playing hostess, but felt like I needed to. Then I realized that, oh, right, I haven't packed anything. I was crabby and hadn't eaten enough. I brought my friend Sarah into the bedroom for a minute to tell her that I needed to leave, so she provided a convenient excuse and we left and went to the Nitty Gritty to chat and eat some cheese curds. Much better!

Then the rehearsal. Again, I think I was a lot more stressed out about things than I had realized, and a bagel, some cheese curds, and a glass of wine are not a days worth of food. I was nervous and crabby. I tried to hide it, and I think I did an okay job. My Aunt Vicki, our wonderful Minister, make the practice a lot of fun, which certainly helped put me at ease. 

After the rehearsal we all went over to Erin's Snug Irish Pub on the East side for the Rehearsal Dinner. Yum! I love their food! We had a beautiful private room with a fireplace, and that waitstaff was helpful and made everything wonderful. I was starving and thirsty and super crabby, so the first thing I did was eat two rolls with cinnamon butter and drink two full glasses of water with no ice. Much better! We had a good time, but I was still pretty drained. All I kept thinking about was how I didn't want to stay in a hotel with just a friend or by myself. I wanted to stay with Zach! We were living together after all, let's not kid ourselves. I talked to him to see how he felt about it and thankfully he agreed. We both would just feel so much more at ease if we could get a good nights sleep the night before, and that meant being together. 

At the Rehearsal Dinner

 I'm giving a speech thanking Zach's family and friends. To me, though, I look like I'm saying "What's the deal with this guy...?"

The big day!

Staying together the night before was a great decision for us. I woke up refreshed, excited, and super super happy.  We woke up around 8 and while Zach got dressed and showered, I ordered room service. The guys were all going to have brunch while us girls got dolled up, so I needed to eat! Some yummy berries, oatmeal, tea and a muffin made a fantastic wedding day breakfast. 

We got our hair and makeup done at Julia Grace Salon in Madison. They were wonderful! I can't say enough good things about them. This was honestly one of my favorite parts of the day. Getting to be pampered with all my favorite people (well, except my Mom and Joanna who were elsewhere...), drink coffee, laugh and relax. It was heaven! 

Then it was off to the church! I drove myself and got blast Nicki Minaj and be super squealy in the car. It was seriously high pitched. At this point I was pumped. I was so super excited and all the nerves from the night before were completely gone. 

Joanna lacing me up!

Then it was time for the first look:

After the first look, which I highly recommend, we were able to take pictures before the ceremony started.

 It was when we went back into the church before the ceremony that I really started to get nervous! This was it! I had a big dose of stage fright, so Ellen, knowing me very well, put on ABBA for us to dance around to. Worked like a charm.

Then it was time! :D 

 

 Married! :D 

The Reception

After the ceremony we took more pictures before heading over to The Madison Club. Again, I cannot possibly express how nice everything was. It was perfect. Perfect. I wouldn't have changed a thing. Everyone was so helpful, the place looked beautiful, and everything ran smoothly. I really couldn't have asked for anything more. 

The Madison Club:

Our First Dance:

My dance with my Dad:

Zach and his Mom:

 Note to Self: 100 people are watching you. Don't forget this and stuff cake into your own mouth.

Dinner was delicious, and the toasts were hilarious and sweet. My dad gave the first one and thanked everyone and talked about how hard it was to give me away, but how much he liked Zach. 

My Godfather, My Uncle Mark, gave the blessing. (Catholics represent!)

Then after dinner Steve, the Best Man, gave his toast. He talked about what makes a good marriage, and how when he asked Zach that question he gave a one word answer "Helen". Awwww.....(Steve is how me and Zach know each other. A very appropriate Best Man!)

 My sister was the Maid of Honor and her speech made me crack up. She talked about some of the things I used to talk about when I would imagine my wedding. It was really funny. 

Then it was time to get down!

It was really the most amazing day ever. It was over way too soon!

I have to thank my parents for all of their help, they were fantastic! So were Zach's parents, all of our friends, and really anyone who was there that day. But especially I have the thank my new husband who makes my life so wonderful.