… but I’ve got the place to myself tonight, and you know what? I feel like writing.  So let’s talk.

First, if you get a chance, go check out my friend Danielle’s new blog, Danielle Does Dallas.  You may recognize Danielle from such blog posts as this one (play the video once you get there and watch her rock out some BODYJAM).  She just moved to the big state of Texas from our sweet little corner of the world in NoVA and started a blog to keep us all updated with what’s going on in the land of big oil, big steaks and even bigger hair.  I miss her already but am delighted that she’s blogging so she won’t feel so far away.

Second, I started a new board on Pinterest called Stuff from Etsy that I neeeeeeeeeeeeeed.  If ever there was a time to start buying other peoples crafty wares, apparently the time is now.  Yes, I do need a custom monogrammed kindle cover like this one.  With my new married initials, of course:  CCL.

Third, do you recall when my dog had a cancerous tumor last summer?  We’re coming up on 9 months post op and with zero recurrence.  Saying prayers every day that it doesn’t come back.  My vet and I are on a first name basis so I know she’s in good hands.  And I spent more on Callie’s healthcare in the last 12 months than I did on my wedding dress.  That could be why we’re on a first name basis. 

Fourth, speaking of my wedding dress, it mostly fit when I had my first fitting this weekend.  It zipped no problem, but sitting was a bit out of the question.  I’m not sure what to attribute to the slight snug-ness of it… perhaps it was the salty smoked sturgeon I had the night before at The Russia House, perhaps it was some bloating attributable to that time of the month, perhaps it can be explained with the swelling and humidity of May vs. November when I bought it.  I haven’t gained any weight, and I’ve even lost some since then, so I’m not totally sure why it was snug.  Needless to say, I’m on a quest to lose 5 lbs in the next 5 weeks.  Bye bread.  See you in July.

Speaking of July, I offered to host book club in July.  I suggested The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver.  Have you read it?  Also, apparently if you are female and know how to read, it is a requirement that you should be reading Fifty Shades of Grey at this time.  At least, that’s what it seems like in my circles.  And yes, I’m reading it.  I also just finished Room and Bossypants.  I’m glad I started making time again for reading.  I am a more relaxed person when I can disconnect from electronics a bit (says the girl who reads books on her iPhone).

And lastly, I’ve learned something recently that I thought I’d share with you.  It’s definitely a lesson I wasn’t prepared to learn when I was in my 20’s.  I have learned that the people you dislike the most in your world are the ones you must try hardest to be gracious and cordial to.  The more composed and patient you can stay in the face of obNOXious and unnecessary behavior, the better you are in the end.  I had a clerk at Starbucks make a rude comment to me when I didn’t order my beverage fast enough earlier this week.  I took 3.2 seconds instead of 1.8 seconds to spit out “grande half caff whole milk latte” and apparently that was not fast enough for him.  Five years ago, I would have been offended and embarrassed by what he said to me, and it would have sat with me, eating at me all day.  But this time, I said in my head, “Oh, bless you child,” and went on my way.

And with that, it’s time to power down. 

I, myself, hadn’t typed in http://www.thechaseproject.com into a browser window in a little over a month.  I couldn’t tell you what my last post was.  Safe to say I’ve been in a whirlwind of wedding excitement over the last 30 days.  I have often thought fondly of my sweet blog and my even sweeter readers, but have not taken the time to check in with you all.  Thankfully, things are coming together and I hope to say this blogging dry spell is coming to an end!  Since my last post, the wedding invitations went out and the RSVPs are already starting to roll in.  Only 6 weeks until the big day.

So what else has been going on?

I’ve been taking a bit of a hiatus from running and more specifically, racing.  Remember way back when that I decided to do a triathlon?  Do you also recall that I am a terrible swimmer?  If you put money on this, it’s payday: Yep, I bailed.  I submitted a request for a refund, minus the {substantial} administrative fee.  Why?  Because I knew when to say when.  I decided 2012 was not the right year to learn to tackle my fears of open water swimming.  I’ve tackled a number of things this year, but the thought of learning to swim and preparing for a sport that I’m a novice to while planning a wedding and juggling everything else in my world (teaching, full-time work, volunteer commitments) was too much. 

Along with this, I actually have zero races coming up that I’m registered for.  It’s kind of a weird feeling because I’m always preparing for SOMETHING.  But for now, I’m going to scale back, enjoy the last 6 weeks as a single woman and spend some time after the wedding understanding and learning my new role as a wife.  Do I think it will be dramatically different as my role as girlfriend or fiancee?  Nope.  But I owe it to my soon-to-be-husband to take a break.  The last 11 months have been nothing short of warp speed and it will be nice just to spend some time for us to get to know us.

But I plan to return to blogging!  Wedding plans have taken over the free time that I usually saved for blogging, so a regular blogging schedule is high on my list of priorities for part 2, 2012.

See you soon…

1) I decided on a whim to get a pedicure on Wednesday after work.  I was talked into a manicure as well, and I made the decision to get my ring finger a different color than the rest of my hand.  I thought it was kind of playful and different and everyone else thinks I look like an idiot. Your verdict?  (Be honest, I can take it if you say I look like a 12 year old on a boring, rainy day at summer camp.)

2) I am recently obsessed with calligraphy.  I hired this gal to do my wedding invitations and now I want to learn calligraphy.  I felt like I could sit and gaze at calligraphy samples all day.  There’s a beginner class offered down the street through the Arlington County Adult Ed from early May through the week before the wedding.  I have time for that, right?  Don’t answer that.

3) Jeff and I got a movie from Netflix which is a documentary on Prohibition.  I always thought a teetotaler was a drunkard.  Like they were teetotalling all over the place like a wobbly drunk. *she waves her head back and forth like she’s wobbling around*  I was wrong.  They were the sober ones.  Good thing I generally don’t talk about teetotalers in my regular conversation cuz that would be REEALLY embarrassing.

4)  Jeff asked me today what I would do if he brought home corgi puppy.  A corgi puppy like this one he found while googling “corgi puppies” the other day.  I said, of course I wouldn’t make you take it back but we already have enough pets.  I predict a corgi puppy in my bed within the next 30 days.  

5) I signed up for a session of barre classes.  I mentioned it a while ago (here) but I actually finally signed up for a 6 week session. Why?  To build strength and flexibility in those little muscles that BODYPUMP doesn’t hit. I have no idea what to expect.   I’m built more like a gymnast than a ballerina so this should be interesting.  Speaking of which, ballerina is not a French word.  It’s Italian.  And the male version is a ballerino.  Hm.

6) I was asked to be on the “Spirit Ambassador” team at my office.  In college, I also won the “most spirited sister” award in my sorority.  Make of that what you will.

7) Also, MC Hammer turned 50 today. Make of THAT what you will.

Changing subjects, I need to clean out my freezer so I can freeze my ice cream maker tub. (You have to freeze it for 24 hours before you can make ice cream.)  Ice cream season is coming soon and I’m determined to learn how to make my own healthy ice cream.

9) I made Jeff play the “What would you do with $600,000,000?” game today.  He said he’d buy a house, travel, etc.  I would most certainly buy a new hybrid car because I just spent $60 filling up my Hyundai and felt that was entirely too much money for a tank of gas.  I would also pay for a cleaning person.  Wait. No.  I would just quit my job and take care of the cleaning myself.  And I would take calligraphy classes.  And adopt corgi puppies.

10) I’m going to see Giada speak tomorrow.   And we are going to eat dinner at America Eats Tavern. I am equally excited about both of these events. I plan to break my Lenten sacrifice and get dessert.  There. I said it.

Oh, hey!  Today is The CHASE Project’s second birthday. Happy Birthday, lil blog!  Yay!

So, I don’t have anything exciting planned for the blog’s birthday, I don’t have a giveaway (not really my thing) and I don’t have any exciting news to share.  I’ve been so busy planning the wedding that I haven’t had a lot of time to sit down and write, which is something I hope to change once all the excitement has died down!  The big day is a little less than 3 months away and as you can imagine, it’s crunch time.

I’ve managed to maintain my sanity by being really meticulous about my to-do list.  Every morning, I review my to-dos from the day before, I rewrite the tasks I didn’t complete (yes, rewrite the list of open items!) and start cranking them out.  It’s not pretty, there’s not a lot of down time for messing around in the kitchen or getting lost in a captivating novel (Hunger Games, what?) but I know when the big day arrives, I’ll be ready to go and things will be up to date at my office, too.

But I did recently get lost in a book that I want to share with you.

I’ve read most, if not all, of the “diet” books that have been on the mainstream market over the last 10 or so years.  Atkins, South Beach, Eat Clean… seriously.  All of them.   This is the first book that really talks about the hormonal effect of different kinds of foods, the hormonal effect of lack of sleep and why a preemptive snacking is good for you.  Willpower is not a tool when it comes to changing toward a healthy lifestyle.

I’ve been humbled in realizing that I don’t know a thing about how different foods and nutrients actually affect the body at the very cellular level.  Managing your hormones and how they send signals to your brain can dramatically affect how successful you are in maintaining your weight or achieving fat loss.  Not to mention, avoiding being grumpy and tired in the afternoon. 

The book goes into a lot of detail about the right foods for each type of metabolism (I’m a mixed-burner) and how what works for you may not work for someone else.  People metabolize foods differently, so working towards finding that balance for your will help you reach your goals.

I definitely think that if everybody got plenty of sleep, never got ravenously hungry and ate food that actually agreed with their body (instead of fighting with their body) we’d have many more much happier people around this world! 

So, with that, I’m off to bed to get my 8 hours.

That was a fun day.

 
(Photo courtesy Katie’s husband)

I did the Rock N Roll USA Half marathon yesterday morning and I really would loosely  define my experience as a race.  I didn’t train, (even though I said I planned to) I didn’t run fast and I was thirty minutes off my PR.  It was more like a 2+ hour happy hour with friends but instead of beer, we had Gatorade and ran 13.1 miles.  We talked and laughed the whole time, we slapped high-fives to the spectators and we most certainly didn’t stress out over our time.  It was wonderful.

I also had a few new friends on the race course or on the metro say hi because they recognized me or the blog, so if you stop by the blog because you saw me yesterday, say hi in the comments!  Yay!

Jeff is really good about finding cool stuff to do around town and this was no exception.  Port City Brewing and War Shore Oyster Co. were hosting a launch party for Port City’s new “Revival” Oyster Stout beer at Black Jack in Logan Circle.  Yes, the stout is brewed with oysters.

I opted for the Optimal Wit before I went for the stout.

War Shore Oyster Co. brought two varieties of oysters: Pungoteague Creek Oysters and Battle Creek Oysters, named for the Virginia estuaries from which they are harvested. Most notably, the Battle Creek oysters had a much higher salinity than the Pungoteague Creek oysters.  Both were amazing and delicious paired with Black Jack’s homemade sauces, including a yuzu broth, “dive sauce” made of pureed cilantro and jalapeño and classic cocktail.

They also passed around appetizers of Oysters Rockefeller, Oyster Po’ boys and Oysters Casino.  They were all most delicious.  It may or may not have had anything to do with the fact that I ran the half marathon that morning.

I learned some interesting things about oysters, about how their existence is critical for the health of the Chesapeake Bay and how it’s so important to reclaim the shells and return them to the Bay to be buried so that they can regenerate new oysters

It was a most enjoyable way to spend the afternoon!

We came home, refreshed ourselves, walked the pup and headed out to see the Psychedelic Furs in concert.  I would have taken more pictures at the show but this was my view of the stage for most of it.  When you’re 5’2”, that’s the hand you’re dealt.

It was a great show.  We were probably the youngest ones there.  I mean, Love My Way came out when I was one and I knew and loved the Psychedelic Furs way before they had songs in The Wedding Singer was a movie.  The best part was the opening band Dance for the Dying who blew my socks off!  Local DC band self-described as a “synth-driven dance-rock quartet that effortlessly fuses the joyful with the melancholy to craft infectiously catchy tunes.”  They were AWESOME.  I downloaded their songs from iTunes on the way home in the cab.

The wedding is 102 days away. Fun fact, March 15th is the 4th anniversary of our first date, which is exactly 100 days from the wedding.  Fun fact, I’m so freakin busy that I can’t seem to carve out time to blog.  So, in an effort to keep you guys from thinking I’ve fallen off the face of the planet, here’s the story of how we met, originally posted on our wedding website. Have a great Tuesday

How we met

In February 2008, we both got the hairbrained idea to give online dating a whirl. Chase was trying to figure out new ways to meet guys after a long hiatus from the dating scene, and Jeff got a free trial offer that he thought he’d use after the local bar scene proved itself time and again as the dating badlands. We were 27.

We both joined eHarmony.com the same week in mid-February and were matched within a week of joining. Chase’s first impression was, “oh he is CUTE!” Jeff’s first reaction was, “Where the heck is Cockeysville?!”

Cockeysville was far but she was too cute to pass up.

Neither of us remembers who was the first to respond, but we started talking through the website for a few weeks.  Things were going well. We graduated to corresponding via email for another few weeks and eventually decided to talk on the phone.

Chase, ever prepared, had her talking points handy – to save the conversation in case of a lull.

“Soooo, you like the Cubs, huh?”

“Tell me more about Eddie Money!”

“Immigration law sounds so interesting!”

We decided we were ready to meet in person. Nevermind that we lived 70 miles apart. And that he had professed his love for the music of Eddie Money.  Since we lived on opposite ends of two metropolises, we figured it was fair to meet somewhere equidistant between the two. Halfway between Arlington, VA and the ends of the earth Cockeysville, is an outlet mall complex with plenty of things to do: movies, Dave & Buster’s, restaurants and shopping. Oh, and Medieval Times.

Chase recommended Medieval Times with feigned ardor.

Jeff: “I’ll call your bluff. Let’s go to Medieval Times.”

Chase: “No bluff here! I’ll go!”

Yes, Medieval Times. Like this clip:

The phrase “Red knight’s goin’ down! Down down down!” rang through our heads all night.

We went to the dinner and tournament and talked about things such as our love for pop culture from the 80′s (Saved by the Bell) and spending much of our undergraduate years involved in greek life. Chase barely ate dinner and our Black & White knight lost in the first round. And somehow Jeff got 5 more desserts than anyone else in our row.

Jeff recanted the story of the last time he went to Medieval Times as a young kid, he really wanted a wooden sword souvenir. But his Dad balked at the price. “I could make one at home which would be so much better, son.” But the years passed and Jeff never got his sword.

So on this, his first since return to Medieval Times, he finally got his souvenir sword.

After our jousting tournament, we wandered down the way to one of the restaurants to have a couple beers and chat. We kept talking, sharing stories, and getting to know one another. At one point in conversation, Chase said, “I don’t know why you’re single. I don’t know why someone else hasn’t snatched you up.”

Jeff replied, “I was just thinking the same thing.”

The mandatory closing time came, so we paid our tab and departed but neither of us wanted to leave. We actually had stayed so late that we ended up locked inside the mall. We wandered in circles until we found a door that was open.

It had just started to rain so we quickly scurried to Chase’s car, even though Jeff was parked across the way. We sat in the car and talked for a few more hours and shared our first kiss. It was 4 in the morning until we finally said goodbye.

I (Chase) could say without a doubt that I knew back on March 15th, 2008 (ok 16th since it was 4am) that this was it for me. I hung up my dating spikes and cancelled my eHarmony account the next day. And if probed, Jeff will confess he knew I was the one immediately.

Our very own Happily Ever After.

If there’s one thing about the LiveFit plan that you have to commit to it’s egg whites.  Egg whites all day every day.  If you’re allergic to them, or don’t like them, then the LiveFit plan totally won’t work for you.

Fortunate for me, I love them and I’ve learned to enjoy them in many different ways.   Fried in non-stick spray, scrambled with veggies and seasonings and hard boiled.

There’s an old family story from when I was about 12 years old… I asked my oldest sister (then about 17) how to boil eggs.  She said, “Oh it’s super easy… Just bring the water to a boil and let it go for about 5 or 7 minutes.”

I said, “But when do you add the eggs?”

Clearly I’ve come a long way.

Only recently have I found the FOOLPROOF way to boil eggs without overcooking them (and getting that gray sheen on the outside of the yolks).

1. Fill a pot with cold water and add eggs.  Make sure there is enough water so that all eggs are fully submerged.  
2. Bring eggs and water to a boil and let boil for 2 minutes exactly. 
3. Remove from the heat and let sit for an additional 10 minutes. 
4. Once the 10 minutes is up, remove the eggs from the hot water and immediately cool down by submerging in cold water, or running cold water over the pot of eggs. 
5. Let come to room temperature (about 15 – 20 minutes) and peel.  Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

I’ve heard that “older” eggs are easier to peel than “fresh” eggs but the rate at which I go through eggs in my house, none of them ever get a chance to get “old”.  I’ve heard stories of people eating raw egg whites (the kind that come in a milk carton) because they’re pasteurized, but there’s a part of me that just doesn’t trust the food industry.  They might be fine, but I’m just a little too weirded out by them.  This is not to say that I don’t love a good over easy fried egg.  Runny yolks make me swoon. It’s just the drinking of raw egg whites that gives me the heeby-jeebies.

The interesting thing about eggs is that the yolks actually contain some of the whole egg’s protein; it’s not just contained in the whites.  But the yolk is also where the saturated fat is, so, you pick and choose accordingly. 

Do you like eggs?  What’s your favorite way to prepare them?

I’m off to the beach this weekend!   Annual outlet shopping trip.  If you’re around this weekend, follow me on Twitter or Instagram (user name Carberrie) because I might need help picking things out in the dressing room and I trust you all implicitly with my wardrobe.

Happy Weekend!

I took progress photo this morning because it’s March 1 and another month has passed, so I wanted to see how my progress looked.

Left – December 5, 2011
Center – Jan 30, 2012
Right – March 1, 2012

So, what these photos tell me is that February was not the month in which I made the most (read: any) progress.  And I pretty much knew that myself.  I was sick for the better part of a week in the early part of the month and then I struggled to find my mojo again until the end of the month.  I also discovered Pedro & Vinny’s which are pretty much the most delicious burritos in Arlington.  Throw Valentine’s Day and Super Bowl in there and it was a short yet ineffective fat-loss month.

So, what this tells me is that I’m stalled and I know it’s because of pushing the envelope of the plan too much.  Taking too many short cuts and too many side steps.  Which I know I have a tendency to do. (Do you do this too?)

But these pictures are eye opening and for that I am grateful!  I will get back in the kitchen and continue to prep my food and get myself back on track. 

One thing I do know is that I can do a lot more pushups on my toes than I could ever before.  So that’s awesome.

One of my healthy swap secrets I learned back when I was doing Weight Watchers was Shirataki noodles in place of pasta.

I had sort of forgotten about them for a little while because they don’t sell them at my go-to Giant grocery store.  But on a whim one evening recently, I went to Harris Teeter instead of Giant and bought a couple bags.  Harris Teeter also carries Gino’s East frozen pizzas, which wholly pleases my dear Chicago boy.

You will find shirataki noodles in the produce aisle, near where the tofu and guacamole and fresh salsas and stuff are. 

The thing that’s most fascinating about shirataki noodles is that they are so low in calorie and make a great alternative to traditional pasta noodles. 

There are two servings per bag and the main ingredient is water. But the thing to know is that they largely function like noodles!  They’re sort of bland in that tofu sort of way and they just adopt whatever flavor you put on them!

BUT YOU HAVE TO KNOW:

You really have to follow the directions on the back. 

When opening the bag, do not take a big inhale of the noodles.  They smell something like between rotten vegetables and my dog’s breath.  Do not inhale.  Instead, dump them straight into a collander, run cold water over them and move them around with your fingers.

Then, microwave for 1 minute.

Then repeat the rinsing step until there is no aroma to the noodles. 

Then, pat them dry with a paper towel and cook, season, sauce as necessary!  I enjoyed mine for lunch today with steamed snow peas and teriyaki sauce.

I still do not totally understand how on earth they manage to be so low in calorie and macronutrient (and so high in stinkiness) but I guess when the first ingredient on the list is water (and the second ingredient is coagulated soymilk), that’s where it comes from.

I hear you can use them for whatever pasta dishes you like, but I’ve only ever tried them in asian dishes.  Have you ever tried shirataki noodles?  Are you a fan?

I spent an otherwise beautiful Sunday in the gym all day today.  From 9am to 4pm I was there, earning continuing education credits for my AFAA Group Exercise certification.  I earned a certificate to teach a class called PiYo Strength which is a Yoga/Pilates fusion class for athleticism and agility.  And what that means is there’s definitely no “ommmmmm” and most certainly no savasana and hardly any breaks.  I really liked it!

It’s sort of a yoga meets barre meets killer abs class.  I confess that I couldn’t take all the intermediate options today.  My abductors had different plans for the afternoon.

It’s not dissimilar from my adored Les Mills programs (BODYPUMP, BODYATTACK, RPM) in that you get lessons every few months and you learn the choreography and the routine to the music.  But that’s sort of where the similarities end.  There’s no launch, you don’t have to use the music they give you and you sort of only have to loosely follow the choreography.  As a matter of fact, you don’t even have to use “fitness” music.  You can use whatever you want as long as it suits the environment.  This can be loosely interpreted that you can use ANY music you want. 

A few years ago, I had this idea of doing a class called Angry Yoga.  (Hear me out.) So many times I’ve been to a yoga class and the music is all quiet and relaxing and peaceful but my legs and shoulders feel like I want to die.  The connection of my body to the music was all wrong.  I was supposed to be feeling centered and calm and my legs and arms were just screaming.  Hence, Angry Yoga.  The class would be a soul-crushing power yoga class set to hip-hop and rock and rap music and the sensation in my body would match the intensity of the music.  The only flaw?  I’m not certified to teach Yoga.  And any organization who would certify me would probably look down upon my Angry Yoga concept because it’s totally not at the core of the teachings of yoga.

So here I have this opportunity to do a leg-shaking, sweat-dripping yoga pilates fusion class (again, loosely interpreted to mean) TO WHATEVER MUSIC I WANT.   I could totally make it Angry PiYo if I want.

Would you take a yoga class set to rock/rap music?