Blogger's Guilt

I'm sorry for taking so much time off. Nobody tells you how ridiculous it is to move across the state. And I haven't even done it yet. I'm just prepping myself mentally. I'd like to have said "mentally and physically," but let's face it. I haven't done any packing. And now: an update!


Friday
I headed down to Ann Arbor for one last shebang (read: night o' drinking) before medical school.  I stayed with Anthony and he and I went to Jerusalem Garden for a delicious Mediterranean dinner.

Our spread included hummus, baba ganoush, fattoush and pita.

Mmm...fattoush!

My falafel and baba ganoush sandwich - delicious!

After dinner, we headed to MDen so Anthony could get a Michigan Alumni shirt and so that we could be twins!

We also got all the alcohol ready for the pregame we were having.

Eventually everyone came over and an inebriated night was had!

Jim and me - our first cute pic together! 

My favorite new teacher!

My first Irish car bomb 

Organic vodka

After our epic pregame, we headed to the club to dance. A good time was had by all, trust me. 


When we got back to Anthony's, Shelley (his roommate) insisted that we have drunk food, also known as Pizza House. So, I ended up having a milkshake and probably about oh, I don't know, four pieces of pizza. Yikes.


Saturday
Anthony and I woke up pretty early and headed to breakfast. I had a slight headache and he wasn't feeling 100% either, but alas, such is the life of a college graduate! We were, however, able to enjoy our breakfasts.

Large fruit bowl, which we split 

Anthony with his omelette

Me with mine

After breakfast, I headed home to nap and then went over to my mom's for some delicious salmon and to watch Lincoln Lawyer.

Shortly after the movie, I headed to Alicia's house to play with kittens and chat.


Sunday
My mother and I basically spent Sunday in the van. We drove to Grand Rapids to pick up my keys for my new place and to hunt for some furniture. Though we didn't find anything I needed, I did find a new entertainment center(ish) thing and some matching end tables. We ended up having dinner at Olive Garden (which is so not good for you, but oh so good!) around 5 so I was lucky my oh-so-nutritious breakfast held me until then.

Then it was back to Midland for more kitten time with Alicia with a special guest appearance by Lisa!


Monday
I had planned to wake up early and go to the gym, but I was exhausted and decided against it. Instead, I woke up at 7:30 a.m., rushed through my morning routine and made it to work at 8:05 a.m. During the morning, I did about an hour's worth of computer work and then sat around entertaining myself until lunch.


At lunch, I met up with Alicia and Lisa for Pi's, the best Chinese in Midland. I only made one trip up to the buffet and then simply sat and enjoyed the company of two of my best friends. Then it was back to work where I did hmm, let's see, um, nothing. Per usual.


After work, I met Lisa and Alicia at the community center. They were going to work out while I had my butt kicked by Mark, but then Mark invited them along. Alicia politely declined, but Lisa voluntarily worked her ass off with me. We were sweaty and struggling pretty much the entire time. And Lisa informs me that today she is walking bow-legged.


After our workout, we headed home for some steak and shrimp! The steak was just okay, but the shrimp was awesome!

And because I only have two kitchen chairs, I sat on my exercise ball, which, incidentally, is the perfect height for shoveling food into your mouth.

After dinner, Lisa and I ran to have my car checked out (my engine light came on and then went off after two days), ran to my mom's house, and then went blading/biking. Lisa rode her stepmother's bike while I bladed. We did a quick 5 mile loop and then headed back to my apartment where we met up with Alicia again.


We sat around watching tv, eating overnight oats (which, of course, weren't so overnight), and this awesome fat-free cake Lisa's stepmother gave us. It was a lovely night which ended when I kicked them out so I wouldn't die of exhaustion at work today.


Tuesday
Unfortunately, I am currently dying of exhaustion/boredom at work. There's really no point in me going to work because I have nothing to do and no one is looking to give me anything to do being that my job ends tomorrow. Meh. It's not like it's that out of the ordinary for me to spend a day doing nothing. But since I was bored and hungry, I left early for lunch. That's why I've finally got enough time to blog!


I've been feeling bad about not getting to it but there's so much to be done (and I should really be doing some of it now) before I move that I haven't even had the time to creep on other people's blogs!


Anywho, for lunch, I made my last spinach pizza. It was a tad deformed.

But, don't worry! It tasted just fine!

As for the rest of the day, I probably won't do anything of any significance at work. After work, I am going to see a table that hopefully will fit nicely in my new apartment. Then I'm off to the gym for a bit! Once I'm done getting my sweat on, Alicia and Lisa are heading over for some gnocchi and salad. What good friends they are, helping me eat all of my frozen food!


Thanks for reading! I am thinking the next few updates will be catch-up style like this, but we shall see.

Our friendship could drive a car

As promised, here is a post about the weekend. Because it was exhausting, the recap's going to be a bit on the skimpy side, but there will be lots of pictures to make up for it!


Friday
I got up early(ish) and worked out before heading to pick up my bestie Lisa at the Detroit airport. We have been friends since we were 8-years-old. That's 16 years of friendship. That's right, our friendship could drive a car if it were a person. Crazy!

We immediately went to lunch because we were starving and decided on Applebee's.

My meal: shrimp and spinach salad with french onion soup

Lisa's meal: Shrimp pasta of some sort

After lunch, we headed to Auburn Hills to check into our hotel. It was awesome, but a tad confusing because of the toilet:

Not only could you adjust the seat warmth, but there was a bidet for both the "front" and "rear." Neither of us were brave (or drunk) enough to try it. We'll leave it for the Europeans.

Our sweet suite

After checking in, I showed Lisa the two dresses I'd brought with me so she could help me decide. I had bought one offline way back in December for the company party, but bought it too small so I couldn't even zip it way back then. Now, I was thinking I'd try again, but I needed Lisa's help because the straps are a bit prohibitive when it comes to zipping yourself up. The other I wore in a wedding last year. Neither fit quite right. The blue one that I bought offline was a bit tight in the bust and the one I wore last year was much too big. So, we tried shopping a bit but didn't find anything before we had to go pick up Anna for dinner and Harry Potter!


For dinner, we headed to the Rainforest Café because Lisa had never been to one.

Anna

Lisa 

My clam chowda

My massive sandwich (I only ate half)

Then we headed to see Harry Potter in IMAX 3D. Woot, woot! Sexy glasses time!

We took Anna home and then attempted to go work out, but the equipment in the gym was a tad worn out. We did our best but then decided to go hang out in the hot tub because that's definitely a workout ;-)

Saturday
I woke up around 7:00 a.m. and started calling local gyms to see how much a drop-in session would cost. The answer: $20. So, around 8:00, Lisa got up and we went down to the crappy fitness area and worked out as best we could. I did some heart rate cycling on the treadmill and Lisa was on the elliptical.

Pumped to work out!

After our workout, we headed to the continental breakfast and then went upstairs to shower and get ready for the day. Around 10:00 a.m., we headed to Dress Barn so I could try to find a new dress for the wedding the day of the wedding. The dress from last year was a size 18, so I thought I'd try things in a 16. Turns out I needed a 14. Woooooot! What a confidence boost!


On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at Border's to check out their sales since they're closing. Lisa got a few books and I got my very first cookbook:

There were quite a few other cookbooks that caught my eye, but when each recipe required 20 ingredients (of which I'd have about 4), I decided to keep it simple. Plus, with med school, I figured this would be a good fit.


When we were back at the hotel, we did the girly things: painted our toes and nails while watching Superstar, a movie neither of us had seen in forever.

Once we were beautified and ready to go, we took the hotel shuttle to the ceremony and witnessed Ed and Liz get married. The ceremony was awesome and Liz looked amazing.

Waiting for the ceremony 

Liz in her amazing dress 

The newlyweds

After the ceremony, we headed to the pub nearby (where everyone from the wedding went) and had some empty calories drinks and some spinach and artichoke dip while we waited for the reception.

Then, it was on to the reception where we took some pictures and ate more!

Awesome door handles 

So you know, Lisa requested this photo 

Lisa and I looking good

Table 6 Awesome

My appetizer plate

By the time dinner rolled around, I wasn't very hungry. So, I had a tomato, some chicken with sauce and a bite of the beef (it wasn't very good).

Lisa enjoying her food

Me pumped to eat mine, too!

After dinner, the dancing began and a good time was had by all. Here's some proof:

Ryan putting the garter on "Kinley" 

Ryan got it pretty high up there :-)

Wedding party doing the alligator 

Dancing on my own...

We headed back to the hotel and my knees were aching pretty badly. Eight hours in heels + dancing + osteoarthritis = pain. So, I sat in the shower for a bit and let the water loosen up my knees. Then I took plenty of ibuprofen and called it a night.


Sunday
Lisa woke up before me and when I finally got up at 9:20 a.m., we headed downstairs for breakfast and congratulated the newlyweds again. Then, I coaxed Lisa into going down to the hot tub with me so I could soak my poor, battered knees.


We packed up our things and were checked out by noon and headed to go see Captain America. Awesome movie. I highly recommend it.


After Captain Hottie America, we headed to Whole Foods in Troy for lunch and a bit of shopping. I got some quinoa oats, some regular oatmeal, some chia seeds, some salad dressing, some Luna protein bars and a salad for lunch.


Then it was time to say goodbye and take Lisa to the airport. The good news is that she'll be back soon! Pwhew!


After I dropped off Lisa, I went to Plymouth to meet up with Anthony for some dinner.

Anthony with his crab cake sandwich

My appetizer feast: clam chowder and crab-stuffed mushrooms

After dinner, we walked around downtown Plymouth and took "senior pictures."

Fountain of youth!

Awesome-looking toy store 

My senior picture

Anthony's senior picture is better

Then I drove my exhausted butt home and now I'm off to bed so I can get up for a nice workout tomorrow as my knees prevented me from doing anything today.