Summer...sunburn...and Eddie K.

Summer has arrived, and it has been lethal thus far. Seriously, it's as if somebody flipped the "Chicago Switch," which means crappy, cold and rainy weather until June 21st, and then BAM: 90 and humid! I'm not going to complain, even if you can feel the humidity the second you step foot outside the door, and your hair instantly resembles the likes of Bozo T. Clown. (Ok fine, I am talking about me. Obviously. Both redheads, duh.)

I'm proud to report that I've officially had my first sunburn of the year. You know me; it's not summer until Kelly is the color of a king crab. In my defense, I didn't plan on being outside as long as I was. Ok...so I mowed the front lawn. And then I said to myself, "Self, you need to assemble the new bathroom corner shelf you bought this morning...outside...on the patio...in the 12pm sun with no SPF 70 on. And then you want to go in the pool post-shelf because you'll be sweating like a whore in church." So I did. It's Wednesday and my shoulders are still 10 degrees warmer than the rest of my body. Way to go genius!

In other news, Melissa and I went to Schubas Chicago to see Eddie K., the lead singer of my all-time favorite (if you honestly don't know this by now...) group LIVE do a solo acoustic performance. I'm not 100% sure, but I'm pretty confident in the fact that this was my 15th show. And to celebrate this momentous occasion, Melissa and I were FIRST in line to enter. Schubas is a very small, intimate venue. I'm guessing that there were maybe 150 people in there...tops. Regardless; we were front and center. I'm talking being able to taste the salt from Ed's sweat as it dripped off of his glistening body. Yum. As for the performance, stellar as always. I could never see them again..for the rest of my God given existence, and be happy with that being the last. It was utter perfection, and confirmed that if I have get a chance, Eddie K. is my "one." You know what I mean.

Anyhow, I've attached a video of the fabulous Eddie K. doing a rendition of "How Many Roads?" by Bob Dylan. This video is not zoomed in.

I was that close.

Perfection.

Will wonders never cease...

In my job, I deal with a force of roughly 215 technicians that repair the equipment my company manufactures and sells. Think of them as Maytag repair "people" (there are a handful of females whom occupy this role) that work on machines a tad more complicated than a washer.

So I'm talking to one of my local Chicago area "techs" and we get on the topic of a certain female in the company. She's gorgeous, blonde, tan, has a big rock on her left hand, and a handsome, rich fiance. The girl never has a hair out of place, and is the secret desire of most "average" looking women in this country. As we were chatting, I told him that I'd give my right leg to be her. With this comment, he hesitated, and I asked why.

Him: "Well, she's a beautiful woman, I'll admit. But she's a real bitch."

Me: "Really?"

Him: "Yeah, really."

Me: "Soooo, you're saying I'm a lot more fun to talk to and work with than Senorita Gorgeous Blonde?"

Him: "Oh yeah. Hands down!"

In this plastic, size 2, blonde mecca we live in, it's odd to hear a "typical" American guy make a comment like this. At the same time, it's refreshing. The day will never come in which a buxom, rubenesque woman will even be given the time of day over Barbie, but comments in passing like this one give us hope.

What do your dreams really mean?

In the past three weeks, I have been experiencing some very vivid, downright scary (and just plain odd) dreams. I was getting sick two weeks ago, and feeling very run down. Last week = sick all week. This week, better. However, my dreams have been completely crazy the entire time.

Let's take last night for example:

Dream #1) I dreamt that my best friend, her brother and mother all died on the same day. They live in Alaska, Texas, and Illinois respectively, and all died via different means. (Murdered, accident, and natural causes). It was a very frighening dream..one in which I woke up and honestly had to talk myself down and remind myself that they were all alive and well. Weird.

Dream #2) Sex dream #1. Robert Pattinson. Hot. Very real. Woke up crying when I realized it was just a dream. Definitely not worrying about that dream.

Dream #3) Sex dream #2. In this dream, I was engaged in some passionate, downright dirty activity with a man who shall remain nameless. To me, this person would be considered off limits for more reasons than just who he is...but what he is. It was still crazy hot and intense. Unexplainable. Especially for who it was.

Dream #4) Sex dream #3. This was with a female I know. Again, naming no names. But a female. Nothing like sex dream 1 & 2, but still...left me wondering where in the hell my sleeping brain conjured up this stuff.

In addition to these weirdo dreams, I have been having my normal dreams about overflowing toilets and bathroom stalls with no doors. I can't help but wonder if there is any meaning behind our dreams...I mean real meaning, and not just what dream books tell you.

Ideas?

Tomorrow is a new day.

No more sickness. No more crying. No more anger.

Tomorrow is a new day.

Clean living day 2.

For the record, I did farely well yesterday evening. Had some left over BBQ (turkey sausage, few bites of potato salad...I'm talking like 2 small bites) and some pretzels. Jonah and I split a cookie...and then went to DQ (for those of you who may not be privy, DQ is Dairy Queen, our local soft serve ice cream place, and my first job, by the way). Jonah got a peanut butter cup blizzard, and I got a box of fudge bars (50 cals each/sugar free/fat free/delicious!) I ended up taking a few more bites of his blizzard than I should have, but that's just what happens with ice cream. I won't condemn myself for it. The two of us ended up being lame and falling asleep around 9pm while watching the Sox game. (Jim Thome hit is 550th HR to bring the Sox to a 5-3 lead of Oakland...great game!)

As I got such phenominal sleep last night, I ended up sleeping through my yoga/pilates class. I feel like a royal A-Hole, as this is the 2nd one in a row I've missed...and there are only 6 classes total! I swear to myself I'll be at the last 3, and will work my ass off at them. On a good note, I came to work early and hit the treadmills here...completed just over 2 miles in 35 mins. I believe it said I burned like 376 calories...again, I doubt it. Whatever, it felt good, and I was Hells sweaty when I was done. Whoo hoo!

So I stepped on the scale this morning. 291.4. Down 5 lbs since I returned from NYC. Not bad. We're headed in the right direction kids. One pound at a time.

Why am I totally obsessed with this video clip?

I feel like I'm 12 years old, but damn, I can't help it.



I stole this from Lauren's Bite blog...and will definitely give credit where credit is due. But let me tell you, obsessed. Ya see that V on the fab Mr. Pattinson? Ladies, you know what V I'm talking about. Quick, I need a tissue for the drool.

Jesus. Can't wait until snowy, cold November solely for the purpose of seeing this movie.

Rob Pattinson. Yum.

Makes me happy I was born female.

So far, so good.

I finally made it back to the gym this morning. Despite not wanting to leave the house and crawl back into bed after having woken up @ 3:30am, I went. Stupid me, I lost my gym ID the day I left for NYC, and seriously could not find the damned thing anywhere. I had to pay $6 to get a new one this morning; and I KNOW I'll find the original as soon as I pick up the new one. It's like the unwritten rule of losing things.

Anyhow, had a great workout this morning. It felt wonderful to take a few minutes pre-treadmill and stretch. My legs are still mega-sore from my crazy yardwork fit Saturday. Alas, the yard looks great now! So, I managed to give 50 good minutes on the treadmill this morning. I ran about 6 intervals...2 of them being inclines (one backwards) and the rest running. I made the mistake and wore a pair of pants that are not running appropriate; I almost showed every geriatric in Chicago my pale Irish cheeks! =)

In 50 mins I completed 2.6 miles and burned 464 cals. I always mentally deduct 100 calories from the equipment total, because there is simply no way I could burn that many in 50 mins. Wishful thinking.

Food today has been pretty good. However, I just finished calculating my cals for the day, and I'm at 1,328 for the day, and still need to eat dinner. Hmmm...what do you do in this instance? I guess I'll up it to 1,800. I'm sure as hell not going to starve myself; that'll just lead to trouble. Can we say 2am cookie binge?

Well, so far so good. Let's just try to make it through the evening (always my downfall) unscathed, and Tuesday should be Hells better!

It's 5 am and I'm watching weight loss infomercials.

Clearly old habits die hard in my world. Hey, it's not like I woke up with the sole intention of watching crap t.v. "Hey, let's get up at 3:30 am and stay up cause there's nothing more exciting that spending hours you could be sleeping watching male enhancement infomercials. Viva Viagra!" Damned mother nature and her incessant need to pee; ruins all sorts of plans, let me tell ya.

So here we are, June 1st 2009. This year is flying by, and I've done nothing. Let me rephrase that. I've done a great deal in life, but I've done very little towards getting healthy and continuing on my endless weight loss battle. The thing that frightens me the most is that I still have that bet with my OBGYN that I'll have lost 60lbs by my annual visit in December. Well, I've successfully managed to GAIN 16lbs this year. Jesus. How is that even possible? I know I've been crazy busy with school and work and all that jazz...but 16lbs, AND I go to the gym at least 4x/week? Insane. I blame it on getting old and my metabolism basically going down the tubes. When I lost weight the first time, I was 22 years old and constantly on my feet. Fast forward 5 years; I'm 27 and rarely move from my desk. Despite the fact that I do make it to the gym, it's simply not enough. And I'm eating crap. I can feel it in my body and mind when I eat "dirty," and that has to stop.

My mid-year revamp starts today. I'm eating clean. Sticking to 1,500 cals/day every day. I'm not going to be perfect, God knows that. But I'm going to make an effort. I'm going to get at least 30 minutes of activity every day, even if that means just mowing the lawn or going for a post dinner walk. I need to make this happen; I'm not getting any younger, and I'm killing myself at an accelerated rate by carrying all of this extra weight around. I'm dangerously close to reaching a set of #'s I vowed NEVER to return to, and I can't allow myself to cross into that abyss again. I just can't. Today is a new day people.

So let's talk #'s. By now, you're all aware that I weight a lot and I'm not afraid to discuss those #'s. When I returned from NYC last week (there will be a post about the remainder of my trip, which I'll get to this evening, promise) I stepped on the scale and had gained 6lbs. Not a huge shock. We basically ate our way through that city, despite the tremendous amount of walking we did. I also received a visit from mother nature last week, so we'll take that into account too. I stepped on the scale Saturday morning, and had gone down 4lbs since my return from vaca. 292.4. Ouch, I know. Let's count by 2's. Ready?

Saturday June 6 = 290
Saturday June 13 = 288
Saturday June 20 = 286
Saturday June 27 = 284
Saturday July 4 = 282
Saturday July 11 = 280
Saturday July 18 = 278
Saturday July 25 = 276
Saturday August 1= 274
Saturday August 8= 272
Saturday August 15= 270
Saturday August 22= 268
Saturday August 29= 266
Saturday September 5=264
Saturday September 12=262
Saturday September 19=260
Saturday September 26=258
Saturday October 3=256
Saturday October 10=254
Saturday October 17=252
Saturday October 24=250
Saturday October 31=248
Saturday November 7=246
Saturday November 14=244
Saturday November 21=242
Saturday November 28=240
Saturday December 5=238
Saturday December 12=236
Saturday December 19=234
Saturday December 26=232

So there you have it. At the rate of 2lbs/week, realistically, I can see a loss of 60lbs by the end of the year. I know that'll thrill the pants off of my OBGYN...plus I'll inherit an entirely new wardrobe. Can't argue with that!

Well, that's it people. That's the plan. I'm all for accountability, so if anybody would like to keep me in check, by all means, don't hesitate. It's now 6:02am and I'm gonna get going to the gym.

Here's to a new day, and a new me.