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.

16 Miles - Who knew I had it in me?

Yesterday was a lovely day. I got up around 8:30 and hopped on the scale. I was up 0.4 pounds from Wednesday. What? I've been going to the gym twice a day... So, I decided I'd better hit the gym hard. I did a ton of cardio and was pretty exhausted by the end. I came home and made a huge protein smoothie with blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries.

Yes, I did drink all of that. I also had my favorite bagel sammich.

Then, my sister and I headed off to Birch Run for some serious shopping. We went to Lane Byrant, Old Navy, Fossil, Coach, and Hanes. At Lane Bryant, they were having a bra sale, Buy 2, Get 2 Free. So, I now have 4 new bras. Woot. I also got a swimsuit cover up. Aaaand, I've definitely gotten smaller - I'm in their smallest size! Partay!


Then I ran into Fossil to have them take a link out of my watch because that's a bit big now, too. And after that quick stop, we headed to Old Navy so I could use my Groupon. I got a pair of shorts and some size 14 (yay!) bermudas. And I only spent about $13. Win.


After Old Navy, we stopped in Coach to oogle at purses and then I stopped in the Hanes store quickly to see if they had any thinner bathrobes since the one I have is super thick and not really great for summer. They didn't. So, we ran to Saginaw to try their JCPenney. There, I got 3 new workout shirts, 2 new workout tank tops, (I'll probably just wear them when blading or biking), a thin bathrobe, and a new bathing suit top that is super cute.


We got home around 4. I found Bailey sleeping by the window like the little baby he is, and then I decided to suit up and hit the gym again. 

I did the elliptical interval session for 30 minutes with my high at 14 and my low at 12. The guy next to me was really pushing himself, which motivated me to keep pushing myself. When I was done, I told him I was really glad he was next to me because I'm pretty sure my speed would've been much slower if he hadn't been there. He told me he keeps his resistance low so he can go so fast (he was at 4) and that he goes for 45 minutes. That's pretty solid.


After the gym, I headed to my mom's house to see if I could find any more one-piece swimsuits that I can wear to my CardioMax class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I found three, but they're a tad worn in the bum, so I'm probably going to wear shorts over them. While there, she fed me! We had shish-ka-bobs, some veggies, and my sister made Cheddar Bay biscuits like the ones at Red Lobster. She found the recipe online. They were amazing, but I only let myself have one. I probably could easily have gobbled up a dozen.

Cheddar Bay Biscuits. DELICIOUS!

Shish-ka-bobs

My plate

After dinner, I headed to meijer and bought a bike rack for my car and I was going to test it out, but instead, I went to Allyson's house to visit with her a bit since she was home for Father's Day. We caught up for a bit and then I headed out because I was tired. It was 10:15 p.m. I'm pathetic.


This morning, I got up around 9:30 a.m. and decided to try out my bike rack and go biking on the rail trail rather than going to the gym. It took me a while to load up my bike and then I drove down to the tridge. It was a beautiful day for a bike ride!

Pretty, but very, very dirty river 

Rail trail 

My beautiful bike

I biked 16 miles, so 8 miles out and 8 miles back. Here's the mile marker for proof!

Mid 8 - 8 miles from Midland

Me sporting one of my new tank tops and the mile marker in the background

The ride out was awesome and I was loving it. The ride back was a tad more rough. I was going against the wind and my knee was really acting up. Also, I only brought one water bottle and didn't eat beforehand, so I was dehydrate and hungry - an awesome duo. Thus, it took me way longer to get back than it did to get out there, but I'm glad I did it. It was way more fun than going to the gym, that's for sure.


After my bike ride, I made a strawberry banana protein smoothie and it was huge again.

While I drank this down, I video chatted with Lisa and made lunch.

Chicken Pizza

I was starving after that bike ride as I hadn't eaten yet and so I gobbled these down in about 5 minutes. Yum! Then I gathered up my laundry to head to my mom's. And that's where I am right now. As soon as I'm able to switch my laundry, I'm going to head outside and splash around swim in the pool, but right now my mom and Malena are vacuuming it so I figured I'd take this opportunity to catch you up!


Also, check out my About Me page. I updated it a little bit. I also redid my banner (if you didn't already notice). I'll be making some more small changes soon, so keep your eyes peeled!