My life in pictures...well, some of it.

Warped Tour
The pictures really tell the story. Awesome experience...The crowds were HUGE!!

My Endocrinologist appt.
Unfortunatly, I do not have pictures of this event. I wish I did. Because then I would blow it up and hang it on the wall and throw flaming darts at it.
Basically, it was a BIG waste of time. He had no solutions and really didn't seem alarmed with the 20 lb weight gain while dieting.... He just said I was healthy and fine. He's said that he wished he could help with people's weight problems but he can't. (???) And he said I'm doing all the right things and that my food journal was "disgustingly healthy," just sometimes THIS IS JUST HOW IT IS. He told me that as far as EVOLUTION goes (Yes, he told me about evolution) I have the BEST metabolism because during "feast and famine" times, I would have been golden. I would have been a lot better off then the thin people and I would have survived.
Yes, I am serious.
Thanks a lot, guy.
So, I guess I just go on as normal and just be fat and miserable and uncomfortable? I truly am disgusted and I can't stand my body. I can't stand my clothes. I'm spending too much money on bigger sizes and nothing looks good....I guess I just need to swallow my pride and start loving myself "as is" and accept that I just may be this size forever no matter what I do. Atleast he said I am very healthy. I'll keep counting WW points and stuff. And watch everyone else have success.

My time in NYC with Donnie and Hughes Sanders
HOW FUN WAS THIS!?!?! I landed at Laguardia around 1pm on Saturday the 13th. I took a cab to Donnie's apartment and we stores my GIANT suitcase under the staircase in his building (I wasn't carrying that honking thing up six floors! So what if everything I owned got stolen!) and we walked a few blocks to a quaint little restaurant where we ordered some brunch foods and chatted away. Might I also mention that it was 400 degrees in the city that day. NYC is like a giant grill. But it was nice and cool inside while we drank coffee and ate hash browns. And then my favorite person on earth strolls in, Donnie's brother, Hughes. I had not seen Hughes since LMC graduation in 1999! We were extrememly close the summer before my senior year in college. He lived in the Sanders Family vacation house in Banner Elk and worked. Donnie went to London and to NYC that summer for his intership with William Ivey Long so Hughes lived in the Banner Elk house and hung out with me and Denny. We three were inseperable and that may have been the most fun summer of my life. Then Hughes went away to his college, Warren Wilson, and moved on and now is going to GRADUATE school at NYU. I feel old. But it was SO WONDERFUL to see him again and he hasn't changed a bit. The way he talks, the way he listens, his sense of humour, his caring nature - all that. And it was totally refreshing and reminded me that I need to see him way more often than once every 6 years!
So, Hughes joined us for brunch and then we went back to Donnie's apartment and braved the 6 story walk-up this time. Donnie will be moving to a new place at the end of September that is on the 3rd floor - thank God!! We rode by the new place and looked at the outside and took pictures. There is a beautiful park at the end of his street where he can walk and look at trees and breathe in oxygen if he feels the need. :) Can't wait to visit again once he is there. Then we met my boss Steve, his girlfriend Jennifer, Donnie's boyfriend Scott for a very hot (air conditioner was broken!) dinner at a nice restaurant next to the theater. We fanned ourselves with our menus as we ate. After dinner, the boys left us while me, Steve, and Jennifer attended the broadway production of the Producers which was FABULOUS!! What a great show. And there is NOTHING like a broadway set. Incredible. After the show, the boys met us outside to give me back my giant suitcase and I rode back to Connecticut with Steve and Jennifer to the Marriott Hotel in Stamford where my next adventure began...

My conference in Connecticut
This conference was for FBI National Academy Grads and their families. There were classes and workshops offered for the grads; and outings for the families during the days. At nights, there were sponsored dinners and receptions. And a 24 hour hospitality suite for attendees that WE sponsored (complete with a jagermeister machine and a frozen margarita machine. I steered clear of that place!) We sponsored a large part of this conference (AKA gave them money to buy stuff) and in return we had a trade booth in the dining area for 3 days and we also conducted a workshop to teach the attendees about counterfeit and contraband and how to recognize and deal with them. It was very successful, I thought. It's not glamourous sitting at a trade booth from 7:30 am - 5pm and then attending LONG ASS company dinners where people WILL NOT SHUT UP about work....but all in all, this was the best conference I had attended. Partially because it was in Steve's hometown and he showed me all around and I got to meet his daughters and their families. And it was only an hour away from NYC....so on Wednesday of that week, Steve let me skip my trade booth duties and I hopped the train back into NYC to see my brother on the Conan O'Brien show!!!

The Conan O'Brien Show
So I go to the train station in Stamford on the morning of Wednesday, Aug 17 and I manage to find the right place to buy a ticket and I get on the right train with no help. Amazing! In less than an hour, I got off at Grand Central Station in the heart of NYC. That place is like a maze!! I made it out to the street where I quickly hailed a cab. I got in and said "Rockafeller Center, please." and the cabbie said "You should get out and walk. It's right there!" HAHA! I had no idea! So I got out and walked 6 blocks or so to Rockafeller where I immediately recognized Dean and Deluca from watching the Today Show every morning for the last 20 years. There was still a crowd left over from the Today Show since by this time it was only 10 am. Hughes and I had arranged to meet at Rockafeller around 10:30 am and he was SUPPOSED to have gotten there at 9:30 am to try and get audience tickets to see the Conan Show. Well, I didn't even need to call him - I literally ran into him on the street at I was rounding a corner. You don't BUMP INTO anyone in a city of 600 million, but we did! We laughed about that and then Hughes told me he had JUST gotten there - no Conan tickets for him! We walked around some and sat and talked some and then decided to get in a cab and go to Chinatown/Canal Street to look for counterfeit purses. And we saw alot of them! I didn't buy one though. I think it's kind of silly to buy something just for the name - I'd rather pick a bag I like at Wal-Mart that has all the compartments and features that I want and need! So, I bought a necklace and a watch....for $20 total....and then we headed back to Rockafeller Center for lunch before I needed to be at the NBC Studios. We ate lunch in a cafe and I had delicious Lobster Quiche (it was the special. I am NOT rich.) and Hughes had a salad. Good boy. We laughed and talked and then said good-bye as I headed to the studios and he headed home. I love you, Hughesy!
I wander into the Studios and talk to a guard who gives me my backstage pass and told me which elevator to get on. I go on up and wander around and find the green room where MCS is chilling before rehearsal. They are all trying to be mellow, but you could feel the electricity in the air. The green room had lots of food and drinks available and a television to watch the show. The cutest kid walked in the room and said hi to the boys and I was wondering who the heck he was...and come to find out, it was Max Weinberg's son, Jay. Max is the band leader/drummer for the Conan Show and he's a drum legend. Jay is 14 and was SO super sweet. He's a big fan of the band and hung out with us all day. He took me, Matt, and Tony up a couple flights to the SNL set and then to the NBC Cafeteria. And told us stories of celebrities and musicians he had met in his 14 years. He was very humble and hospitable to us. If I was 14, I'd have a big crush!
So I got to sit in the empty audience area for the rehearsals but had to watch the actual performance from the green room; which was such an experience. Talk about surreal. I was a nervous wreck by the end and actually busted into tears during the double chorus at the end of the song. It was so emotional seeing little Matt up on that screen!!
I was back on the streets of NYC at 7:30 pm, trying to find my way back to Grand Central Station. I HAD to stop in a few stores along the way, of course. I found my train with no problems and was safely back in Stamford by 8:30. I watched the airing of Conan at 12:30 am from my lonely hotel room and thanked God for one of the most amazing days of my life!
My flight left Laguardia the next day at noon and I was back in Richmond by 2pm. Back to reality.

My pampered chef party
On Sunday I had a Pampered Chef party. My friend Leslie is a relatively new consultant and she does an AWESOME job. I invited a lot of the women in my life and it was so much fun! I thoroughly enjoyed myself and I got some really get PC kitchen stuff. Maybe my new toys will inspire me to cook more! Toby hopes so. :)

My 29th Birthday
On Tuesday, I worked until noon and then I was OUT OF HERE. I decided to take 1/2 day vacation because my bosses were all out and I deserved it. I went to a new nail salon and got a manicure and pedicure...complete with a little flower on my big toe. It's so cute! I went by my 2nd home, Kohl's, and got a few things on sale. Toby and I headed out to meet my family for dinner. We ended up at Julian's and got a big table and all squeezed in. It was me, Toby, Mom, Dad, Matt, Kristen, Denny, Morgen, David, and Steve. David and Steve were last-minute attendees and I am SO GLAD they came! I enjoyed everyone's company so much and there was so much laughter. After dinner, a few of us went to see Kristen's new CUTE AS HECK apartment in the Fan and had some cake. It was a lovely birthday.
My husband got me the DVD of the first season of the Gilmore Girls (YAY YAY YAY) and a $50 certificate to Michaels for scrapbook stuff! That'll be gone this weekend. :)


Sooooooo....... Lots going on. All wonderful things. But even though they were wonderful, my routine got out of whack and we all know what happens when Stephanie's routine gets out of whack: CHAOS. I have become behind in ALOT of things; most of which is communication with my friends and updating my blog!!

My Sister-in-law's baby shower is this Saturday and on Sunday I am going to an all-day scrapbooking get-together. THis is where I hope to get SIL's present (a scrapbook! Imagine that!) completed.

After this weekend, life calms down until September 5 when Toby and I hit the road to Banner Elk for our LONG-AWAITED HONEYMOON VACATION.

Life really is good.