What I did last night

When Will and Kate set the date (in 2010), I had the following conversation with my Mom:
Mom: "So, we're going to watch the wedding, right?"
Me: "Yeah, I'll come over that night and we'll watch it live"

So yes, I was one of those people who followed every single detail about this wedding. I even read one of of the gossipy books about them. Why?? Who knows, except to say that I love everything involving British Royalty and Aristocracy. It probably has to do  with my all-time favorite book, Pride and Prejudice, plus a mixture of quality chick-Brit-fics throughout my teenage and young adult years.

So I went to my parents' house yesterday afternoon, slept from 10:30 PM until 2:00 AM, and watched basically from the time the Royal Family entered the Abbey until the Kiss(es) on the Balcony. I then slept from 6:00 AM until 10 AM this morning and drove home (and I have a final tomorrow morning, I'm that hardcore)

Here are some of my reactions from last night and today:

LOVE! That the Queen wore Yellow! Such a happy color :-)
(this coming from the girl who almost had her bridesmaids wear yellow and carried yellow daisies)

Very Princess Grace, but in the best way. Love the volume around the waist, love the hair, LOVE LOVE LOVE the tiara chosen (borrowed from the Queen). LOVED the thin blusher, LOVED the length of the train. I wondered if she would be able to keep to her own aesthetic and she totally did! The only thing I didn't like was the size of the bouquet, she could have gone bigger, but I get the impression that British traditions re: wedding flowers are different. So happy for the House of Alexander McQueen, although sad that he himself couldn't be a part of this.

LOVED that she wore a second dress for the night reception, and it's very formal yet understated.  Makes sense too since the first dress will probably end up in a museum. Plus, when you essentially have unlimited funds for your wedding, what bride wouldn't get two McQueen dresses!?

I feel for the sisters that the media is saying that Pippa stood out (what bride would want that?) but you can't ignore the obvious fact that Pip is GORGEOUS. And the little kids who made up the wedding party were adorable!! 

Pip's evening reception dress. Again, might have stolen the spotlight, but hey? she's need a rich and powerful husband now too! 

Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice - LOVED the bold style from Will's cousins, although the blue dress had a bad fit. But loved the personality in both looks  

On the balcony - it was remarkably awkward, but they looked very cute and happy.  I'm sure they're glad the public part of their celebration is over.  Time to party!  

Ripped in 30 Update

UPDATE 4/29: Obviously if you've been following my log, I had quite the break. Long story short, I had a little too much fun at the 3L Law School Gala last Friday night*, and spent two days recovering (I think I lost 3 lbs in about 3 days because of it...seriously), at which point there were some other personal issues that came up and I had to set aside my workouts for a few days to regroup and focus on finals. It didn't help either that I really didn't enjoy Week 3. But, I've watched Week 4 and I can't wait to start it tomorrow because as challenging as it looks, I love the moves! I tried to start it today but my legs were having none of it...

So, My new end date, barring another day off (which I might take if my body starts breaking), is next Thursday! I haven't yet decided for sure what to do next, but I think for the week leading up to my graduation, I'm going to mix it up and do a different JM workout each day from both videos. Then when I start bar studying, I'll start the Six Week Six Pack!

*I'm beginning to think that I just have a really sensitive stomach, but I suppose some personal accountability is always advisable.

I am halfway through Week 3, and am officially dying. Week 2 was tough because I really couldn't do some of the moves unmodified. For week 3, I can actually do all but one move unmodified, but this workout is so hard, especially on my legs and butt, that my muscles LITERALLY CANNOT FINISH. I essentially limp my way through the final 3 minutes. I hope that I can convince my body to finish better these next 3 reps, and convince my mind that I'll be able to start Week 4 on schedule next Monday. Thankfully, I'm not too sore between workouts.

I can only imagine how hard this workout would feel if I wasn't coming off of 3.5 months of intense training...

In other news, Curtis and I entered the drawing for the Nike Women's Half Marathon in San Francisco in October. You can enter until Friday, so if you're interested, let me know and I'll give you our group code. It's expensive, but you get Nike gear and a Tiffany's Necklace!

Will do a post on my DC trip soon, but I'm getting into Finals Season (which will be immediately followed by Bar studying... ack!).

Shutterfly is Awesome

I'm a huge Shutterfly user. I know many of us have our go-to website for photo printing and sharing, etc. but I just love Shutterfly. Most of my pictures are stored there, and they have great designs for Christmas cards, Valentines, etc, the print quality is excellent, and the prices are reasonable. The best part is the discounts that I get via email. Last week they offered half-off large prints, so I was finally able to order a print to fill my last IKEA frame that was still empty.

This is one of my favorite pictures from Hawaii. I think it just captured the tone of that trip so well. Plus you get a glimpse of how tanned I was, with my little toe sticking out! At some point I need to fix the mismatch between the picture and the matting, but it's fine for now. I'll probably put it on the wall of our bedroom this weekend.

Ripped in 30 - Week 1 Thoughts

(Note: feel free to skip reading these posts, I do it more for myself as a workout journal and as a way to sustain my motivation)

Coming off of a pretty intense week finishing up 30 Day Shred and doing Week 1 of Ripped in 30 has been rather strange. It's clear that Jillian's goal of Week 1 is to

1. Increase cardio endurance,
2. Begin to tone key muscle groups (core, legs, arms), and
3. introduce plyometric (jump) training
In that order.

But I ...

1. Have pretty good endurance at this point, at least for week 1
2. Have already toned these key muscle groups, so this is really just maintenance , and
3. am (suprisingly!) good at plyometrics, at least the basic moves.

So, each time I finish the first circuit (of three) and I feel bored and not very sweaty, and I think, "Maybe I should move on to Week 2 earlier??" But then, by the middle of Circuit 3, when I dripping sweat, I realize that taking a week to focus on cardio, and try and build up some endurance so that I can get through the month reasonably pain free. So, I only have 3 more workouts to go (two of which will be the same day), and am trying to get into a mindset of "this is easy because I'm now in good shape, I should enjoy my 'break!'" Plus, it didn't hurt that when Curtis did the workout with me on Saturday, he was laying on the carpet exhausted at the end, and I felt pretty good, that must say something, right?!

Pain: The good thing is, Week 1 isn't hard on my knees, so they're recovering from 30 Day Shred (My knees got really achy from that video, probably because of poor lunge form, which is improving...). The bad thing was that my lower hamstrings hurt so bad the first three days that I could barely walk down stairs...which was probably a lurking reason why I didn't do the video yesterday. But, it should be fine tomorrow and I can continue on :-).

You may remember that I hurt my foot 1 month before the wedding almost two years ago. That pain never went away completely, and varies depending on the shoes I'm wearing and the activity. Thankfully, these videos don't seem to be making it worse, which is a blessing and has really helped keep me on track. I know it sounds like I should see a doctor about it, but it's so mild and I'm so used to it now, that I'm not convinced there is much a doctor can do.

Eating: 5 days out of 7, on average, I eat quite well. Hopefully, rest, grocery shopping, and the end of the NCAA basketball tournament will help prevent further junk food dinners, and we certainly went out with a bang tonight with Pizza, bread sticks and cinnamon sticks =).