So I'm getting a double chin, fuck it.

This weekend was entirely unexpected. My dad visited and we went to my roommate's restaurant, which was delicious. After he left in his canary yellow rental car, my good friend from high school came to visit. We hung out in my apartment for a bit before we went upstairs to hang out with my neighbors. Beer pong was interesting; instead of signing up with names, we signed up with countries. Our first countries: Finland and Haiti (the obvious choices). Round two we were Malta and the Moon.People were jealous. When my roommate came home, the three of us hung out together. Then Schmidty and I stole music until it was time to go to bed. There are some people from high school that are more than worth it to me to keep in touch with. I'm so happy that even though it's been over a year since I've seen him, and three before that, we're still a little bit in each other's lives and he was able to stay over on his way to a bike thing in Northern Jersey.

Saturday I had nothing planned. Originally I was going to travel down the parkway to Brigantine for a friend's bachelorette, but I have no money. Then, whilst eating my Lucky Charms, AP offered me a free ticket to see the Phils annihilate the Braves and further enticed me with the possibility of seeing George Michael live in concert. The couch no longer seemed as appealing.

An enjoyable walk around Independence Mall and a visit to the Liberty Bell later, we found ourselves at Citizens Bank Park. I had great seats, thanks to Stub Hub's mistake. AP and her friend (who earned serious points that day, much to my chagrin) stood nearby after disliking their cheap seats. After the Phillies won, we went back to the car. They had a couple more beers as we discussed the reality of going to the George Michael show. I was going to be extraordinarily upset if we didn't go. We got tickets for $24. To top that off, we were relocated from section 210 to section 103. I unapologetically danced for the entire two and a half hours he was fabulous on stage. Though he didn't play "I Want Your Sex," "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me," "Wake Me Up (Before You Go-Go)" or "Last Christmas," George Michael still rocked my world.
The title of my blog comes from a little chat G-Mike had with the audience about reviews of his show. I thought it was hilarious and adorable.

Love him!

And you know, I don't even feel bad that I had half a cheesesteak and a Coke. We walked a lot, and I danced my ass off. Also of note: Ally spilled beer all over the German in front of her.

Dropping the Weight

So, it turns out that I actually am fat. I'm not just big boned, chubby or a little overweight; I'm fat. I'm frustrated that I haven't seen any results yet, even though I've been eating like a saint (one Frosty does not a fat girl make). It's also been almost 20 days since my last drink and I have nothing to show for it.

Side note: I have a bottle of wine from Celia and Toby's wedding. It has an adorable picture of them on it, with their wedding date. I'm pretty sure that's an amazing reminder/symbol of my sobriety.

Back to being a fat girl. I know I shouldn't worry about what other people say, or think. However, this summer 2 people have directly commented on my weight. One parent at work (who notoriously overshares, but that's besides the point) came up to me to comment on how "beautiful" I am. She then said, "lose some weight." According to her, after I do so I will then be a "princess" and/or "the queen" of everything. The next day, one of my employees saw me in a bathing suit and mentioned how he was recently looking at my facebook pictures (creeper) and saw one from Halloween and said how "thin" I looked. The next thing he said: "What happened?"

I eat less than and healthier than most people I know. Yeah, sure I won't get heart disease in a few years. But I want to be thin!

Anyway, instead of whining about it, I'm finally taking bigger steps towards losing weight. I've joined sparkpeople.com, a free website that'll help track your nutrition, exercise, give you advice, etc. Check me out.

We'll see how it goes.

Next time on Chilly Cheeks: thunderstorms, DYFS and mothers

Sobriety

I have decided to stop drinking. Not that I ever really thought I had a problem, but I could see the potential for a problem, as detailed in some of my previous blog posts. There's a history of alcohol addiction in my family, and I've seen how ugly it can get--both in personal experience and on Dr. Drew's Celebrity Rehab.

My last drink was on July 5, 2008. It was Cel's wedding. I had fun, I didn't embarrass myself. I remember everything and regret nothing. But it was a beautiful wedding and a fun reception; there was no need for me to be drunk to enjoy it.

Today is July 21, meaning I've been sober for 16 days. I've been to parties and galas without experiencing the slightest temptation. I easily could have had a glass of champagne, but my suspicion that I was starting to have a problem developed from my inability to just have one. It would have to be two, most likely even more.

I'm also trying to lose weight. And let's face it, if it comes down to either a cookie or a beer--you know I'm going to have the cookie.

The Dark Knight

Go see it.







Now.

Bright Green Bridesmaids

Let me preface by saying how much fun I had this weekend. Allow me to continue by saying it was also the most absurd and ridiculous experience of my twenties.

I arrived in Jacksonville, FL and got a ride to Brunswick, GA by one of the groomsmen. Immediately I was putting out wine bottles and tying ribbons around napkins at the Old City Hall. Later that night was a low country broil, hosted by family...or friends...or family friends. I don't know, these southern families are huge. The wine was a plenty, I made some German friends (Verena, with whom I'm now obsessed--she's more fabulous than I'll ever be), and then it was time for the groom's bachelor party. The ladies and I went out to the bar, but not before I had a costume change with LeftRight. She brought an extra dress in case she got hot; after I spilled an entire glass of red wine on my skirt, I convinced her to give me the dress she was wearing and put on the one in her purse. We went to the bar and I got Verena what I said was a fancy American drink: Vodka sprite. Well done me. On the walk back to the beach house to crash the boys' party, we stopped at a gas station where I bought some sort of slurpee concoction and stole a Tinkerbell lipgloss thing. Or maybe I paid for it, I really couldn't tell you. All I know that it was in my purse the next morning when I woke up. Naked. Next to the groom.

No, no, no, nothing happened. Celcel the natural was in between us throughout the night, also naked, but that's a usual occurrence. We slept on the floor in our panties, and Toby the groom joined us later into the night. I just think it's funny to say that I woke up topless next to the groom the day before his wedding.

Friday was the bridesmaids luncheon, which was lovely. Also, delicious. Friday afternoon was the rehearsal, then the rehearsal dinner which was a giant BBQ in Cel's backyard. After that, as it was the 4th, we celebrated our nation's independence. Three water taxis took everyone out onto the water, so that we could watch the fireworks from St. Simons, Jekyll, Sea Island and Brunswick all at once. Had I not felt like death, I'm sure I would have been more fun. I enjoyed myself though; I had the thought while I was on board how grateful I am to be able to do such cool things. I also had the thought: "Remember to blog about this."

We stayed in the world's coolest bed & breakfast. My room was in the attic, it was so me. I lucked out and had it to myself the whole weekend, which consisted of much needed repose from all the mayhem of the wedding. I wanted to move into that room. For whatever reason, my whole life I wanted an attic bedroom like that. Maybe I read too many books about orphans becoming princesses, etc.

The wedding went well, except that I took out my lip stud and the hole closed up. I bought a retainer, but it looked even more absurd than a metal thing hanging off my face. For the best, I suppose. AP said to me today, "I like it, because now I'm looking at you and not the lip ring." Thanks, AP. As a side note, she's been really good about making me feel pretty after 2 people have commented on my weight in the past week.

As this blog title suggests, the bridesmaids were indeed bright green. We didn't look as awful as we expected, rather kind of cute. Towards the end of the evening, the mother of the bride said to me "someone likes their dress!" because I was still wearing mine a few hours after everyone had changed into more comfortable clothes. I drunkenly replied, "well it's not like I'll ever wear this again, might as well get some use out of it!"

There's so much more to this weekend, I don't even know where to begin. This is a sufficient start. Let's just say that I broke at least two hearts, fell in love with a man and his son, and peed myself laughing about the drunken misadventures of LeftRight.