simmer

2009 is the year of self improvement here at chez bella blu. In December, what should have been a perfectly sexy moment between my husband and I (him snapping a phone photo of me nearly naked) turned out instead to prompt me to join a gym. I had gained about 20 lbs since our wedding day and man, I used to look a lot better naked. So join a gym we did. I've joined gyms before, but I have never been a cardio girl - more of a yoga and circuit type. However, I've never joined a gym with the idea of losing weight before - so for the past 2 months, I've been huffing and puffing on the cardio machines almost every morning at 6 AM, and I'm happy to tell you that I have lost 10 lbs so far. In another month or so, I'll have Dean take that picture again.

There's been a big shift if my eating habits as well. I'm paying attention to calories for the first time in my life. Had you told my 18-28 year old self I'd be doing this, I would have laughed my ass off and maybe even turned my nose up a bit. But something else happened recently that has stitched the lips of my 18-28 year old self. I turned 35 this week and realized that I'm just like everyone else that gets older. In my head, I am on a new planet now, with new rules. Not sure what those rules are, but I am allowing myself the flexibility to break all my old rules.

I don't usually throw birthday parties for myself, not liking that kind of attention; but I felt 35 warranted some celebration. I spent the week working out a little more and eating a little less in anticipation of the spread: a 10 lb pork loin, sweet potatoes and an Oreo Mudslide Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. And now that I think about these things, I looked up the caloric value of a piece of said cheesecake: 1,050 baby. I almost managed to eat an entire slice. :)

There was an unexpected perk of a birthday party - a gift card to my LYS. I've been stalled on the knitting front for a little while, being hugely disappointed that my last project ended up being a size too big. The gift card is going towards a sweater's worth of Noro. It's been too long since I've knitted with Noro. I'll be headed there today after the 10 inches of snow is done falling (I'm taking a snow day to stay home with Dean and the kiddos, but will take advantage of a little time to myself).

Another birthday looms large - Blu and Scarlet turn 3 next month. They're little people now, and I can't really call them babies anymore. Within months, they'll be out of diapers and sleeping in beds and that is.just.nuts. If you haven't seen it yet on fb or flickr - Blu's most recent obsession is Popping. He does this constantly, calling it his "robot dance."



Here is a video of his inspiration. It's absolutely amazing, go watch it now.