Have had a lovely weekend, except for the part where my sister decided to call me and tell me everything I’m doing wrong in planning my wedding. (It’s too soon to do things, and don’t you know hydrangeas aren’t in season in November?) And then she had the nerve to call me Bridezilla. Well, it shouldn’t be surprising that she is saying this, as the first thing she said to my friends and I after she graduated from high school is “You are so high school.” (I know Paula remember this, eh?) Anyway, I won’t let it bother me, but you’d think my Matron of Honor would be more supportive of me, rather than what she is doing? And yes, I know she’s reading this.

As I said, venting aside, this was a good weekend. Friday night we hung out at the pub with our new Whole Food friends and a bunch of other people too. Before we even knew it, it was almost 2 a.m. You know that’s a good night! Saturday I went to try on dresses with Laurie and Polly. That was lots of fun. Trying on dresses is fun. I think I found the one I like best, too. Now I just have to convince my mom. Even though the wedding is a whole eleven months away.

Finished my Christmas shopping today. Now to wrap the presents and place under otherwise gift-less tree. At least I don’t have to wrap the presents for my siblings, since my mom is bringing them to California. (How would I wrap the coal for my sister, anyway?)

As my good friend Janice says, I think I have wine poisoning today.

Last night I went to the Delta Queen Christmas party. As Shelley’s date. But Shelley, due to car troubles, never even made it! That is very sad, for it was a very fun party. The wine flowed freely. Most of my old work friends were there. Good times were had. Alas, if Shelley had only been there.

And naturally, I am paying the price this morning. But that’s okay, it was totally worth it. And I think I even convinced Janice’s husband Butch to drive George and I from the church to the reception, via the ferry, in his super-ultra-very-cool old convertible sports car. It’s red. Don’t ask for more details. But it’s really cool.

Now I have to go to work. And then it’s the weekend. Wooo!

Oh yeah, and did I say that Kristina got the job she applied for? She did! She will be a lawyer, working 40 hours a week for the federal government, which means she’ll get all those fun holidays off and won’t be a workaholic! I am so happy for her, she so very much deserves this good luck. Yay!

Also, I got my ring back yesterday (yay) but then on the way home I got totally (insert your choice of curse word here. Hey, my mom reads this) by the 5 Minute Oil Change place. Do not go to 5 Minute Oil Change! They are evil!

I had better get my ring back today or I am going to be v v v upset. In 25 minutes I can start hounding the jewelry store. (Hey, they’re lucky I’m waiting until they open.) Of course, I should be careful, so that they don’t switch my diamonds with CZs. (I think that’s the jeweler’s version of spitting on your pizza. See Tuesday’s entry.)

Tonight is the Delta Queen Christmas party. Am excited to see everyone. And eat yummy free food. And to show off my ring (assuming the jewelry store doesn’t disappoint me.) I am going with Shelley, my old birthday buddy who still works there. Obviously. Yay! Can’t wait! (But talk of our birthday makes me slightly nauseous. Nothing wrong with turning thirty, it just sounds weird.)

I wish tomorrow was Christmas. Yay Christmas! I’m almost done with my Christmas shopping! Last night I went to Barnes & Noble and finished off the gift buying for some people like Mauro and George’s dad and my mom. Must get wrapping! Tree looks sort of sad without presents underneath. I’ve just been lazy.

Last night we ordered pizza for dinner. We had a coupon for buy one get one free. We ended up with three pizzas. Oh joy! I love pizza. Of course, one has anchovies on it and another has onions on it so the implications of having three large delicious pizzas in the house aren’t as bad as it may seem. But onions can be picked off (of course this is not what I told the pizza person when I called and demanded a new pizza without onions. Okay, I didn’t demand. And they probably spit on the pizza anyway, so we’re even.)

Today I am going to mail Kristina her Christmas presents. A whole 11 days before Christmas! I am really on the ball this year, even if I never did Christmas cards. And I haven’t gotten George’s dad a Christmas present yet. Nor Mauro. But other than that, am good.

Fingers crossed that mass quantities of pizza don’t have negative effect on weigh-in tomorrow. (But would like negative effect on weight, you know what I mean?)

Nothing else interesting to say. Except that we are (hopefully) having drinks with new WF friends on Saturday night, if my babysitting of adorable cousin Max doesn’t interfere. (I call them my WF friends when really they are my #1 fan friends. But I shouldn’t say that here since they might read this before Saturday.)

Am very tired today. Didn’t sleep enough last night. Dreamt of tornados. I think inspired by the fine film, “The Day After Tomorrow.” It’s a cinematic masterpiece.

Made lots of cookies last night with Regan, Melissa, and Mandy. Probably ate about sixty thousand. But worth it.

Lookie at comments from yesterday’s entry! See, I told you I didn’t make up the story about Whole Foods! I am very cool.

Except when I brought my ring in to get it resized. It’s going to take until Thursday to get it done and when I got in the car after dropping it off, I cried a little. How sad/pathetic is that? (I blame the lack of sleep.) However, while at jewelry store, I saw the lady from the cheesy commercials they do. That was sorta exciting. I really should get out more.

Okay, so the most surreal thing happened today. George and I were at Whole Foods, and as we’re getting ready to leave, a girl comes up to me. She says, “I know this sounds weird, but I recognize you from your blog. Pyjammy?” Speechless, I say yes, that’s me. And she says that her male person (who was standing on the other side of me) found my blog by searching “New Orleans sucks” or “I hate New Orleans” or something like that. (All of this is paraphrased. I was in too much shock to remember every single word.) It was very, very surreal and the male person asked to see my ring he said it looked even better in person and it was just so weird and so funny and so neat that I didn’t even introduce myself or George properly or do anything much other than stand there foolishly so if you are reading this now, I apologize for not being more socially correct. And email me or leave me a comment – George and I would love to meet up again sometime, not in line at the grocery. (He suggests the Crown and Anchor. Of course.) Also girl is fellow knitter/LSMSA graduate! There is so much to talk about!

On another less surreal note, I broke my time yesterday at the race, by 26 seconds! Woo! So next year, I have to do faster than 20:56. Woo!

Also should mention the fun that we had yesterday at Mandy’s party and at the Beatles tribute night. This afternoon I’m going to make Christmas cookies with the girls. Oh and Regan gave us the most awesome brown and pink striped photo album that is absolutely perfectly perfect. Since those are my new favorite colors.

Now for a lovely Christmas picture of George and I. We are v. cheesy and look oh-so-natural in this picture. But look at the disco tree topper his mom gave me! Groovy.

Must remember for race tomorrow. Time to beat: 21:22. Cross fingers that it’s cold. And that I can run fast. Eh, it’s only two miles.

Put the tree up last night. And some lights outside, around the porch. Is very festive, even though I still am not really feeling the Christmas spirit. Perhaps after tomorrow (race which takes place around a lot of light displays, bonfire on levee, holiday party) I will be more into it. I hope.

Went to the tasting today for the reception. Yum! My mom was really pleased with it, which is the key thing (since she’s ponying up for this puppy) but it really is a great place. I was very full afterwards, though, so much so that I could only eat ice cream for dinner tonight! Bad Pam. Especially since I think I found my dress. (Shouldn’t I be saying “I FOUND MY DRESS” like it’s fate or something?) Well, I do looooove this dress I found. It’s gorgeous. I’ll post some pictures. Sure, in a year!

Anyway, Regan and I hung out all afternoon after the tasting and after my mom went back to Baton Rouge. We went to jewelry stores and tried on jewelry and to a stationery story and to another dress shop and she even tried on a bridesmaid’s dress for me. What a trooper! (She hadn’t shaved her legs, see, so it really says a lot about her that she’d do that for me. But darnit, she can fit into the samples!)

Oh yeah – weigh in – I gained a mere 1.6! That’s good. (Go back and re-read what I ate in Durham if you disagree. Then you will agree.) Am still under 180, which is my holiday goal. Will be extra good this week (ice cream excluded.)

Oh yeah also when I was at the mall this evening, an exciting thing happened…I ran into this girl I went to high school with who now lives in London (lucky lucky lucky lucky lucky) and who I last saw the last time I was in London. Very random. She’s in town visiting family with her new baby, who will grow up with a real British accent. Her child will call her “Mum”. How strange would that be? How envious am I? (Very.)

Last night I went to Curves after work and I saw the most exciting thing ever…my name on the list of top 10 losers at that location! Yes indeedy, my 12 inches and 12 lbs put me in the top ten! Very exciting. Although I don’t really think that 12 lbs and 12 inches is that much, but who am I to argue? This really is incentive to keep going, to stay on that list!

This morning as I was driving to work, I saw a yellow sign that said “A K M”, with an arrow pointing down a side street. You have no idea how badly I wanted to follow that arrow. In the past year or two, these bold signs with sometimes mysterious words or initials on them have sprung up all over the city. But none have been as exciting as the one I saw this morning. Because A K M stands for All the King’s Men, a major motion picture that is being filmed right here in New Orleans. And starring…Jude Law. Gaaa! Jude Law is filming a movie mere miles from my house! Ack! I mean, don’t you think if he gets homesick he might want to grab a pint in New Orleans’ only English pub? But George knows how I feel about Jude Law. If he sees him at the pub, he might not tell me…ha ha! This is even better than when I found out that Ewan McGregor was filming a movie in Mississippi! If only Kristie was here. She’s stalk Jude Law with me.

Ahh, Monday. I love this week, having Wednesday off. Is very exciting. My mom’s coming in so we can taste the food at the reception place and then put down a deposit. Can’t wait. Because I like to eat. Mmmm. Speaking of, my trip to Durham was great. I say “speaking of” because I ate a lot of really good food. You wouldn’t necessarily think of Durham, North Carolina as a city with great restaurants, but it really has some good ones. When I got there on Thursday, we ate dinner at a Greek restaurant. Oh, there was the grazing platter that we all shared with stuffed grape leaves, fried (Greek) cheese, hummus and other dips, and calamari (blech) and other yumminess. And then I had the lamb steak. (Oh dear God.) And then dessert. (Hey, who am I to turn down free pumpkin cheesecake?) So after that, I thought, I can’t possibly eat like this every day, can I?

Oh yes, I can. Friday morning was breakfast in my room (toast, cereal, fruit – okay, I’m being healthy!) but then lunch…oh, lunch. We were tasting the hotel’s food that is going to be served at a banquet, and let me tell you, this is not your average chicken or fish or pasta you get at most hotel banquets. Oh no…I had the following:
– Pumpkin Soup with cinnamon/coriander creme freche
– Venison pate with some exotic jelly
– Salad (finally, something recognizable! Not that I’m complaining.)
– Macadamia-nut-encrusted scallops with a sweet potato souffle and vanilla beurre blanc
– some chocolate cake with gooey center

Yes. That was lunch. Fancy and so friggin’ delicious. I really thought I would pop after that. But I knew we had another meal coming up in a few hours. Gaa! And all I could do is go back to the meeting room and let it digest.

Dinner. Ahh, dinner. Aside from the fact that they left me at the hotel and I had to take a taxi to the restaurant, it was an incredible meal. By the time I got there, everyone else was eating their entrees but they’d saved me a bit of all of the appetizers (guilt can be a great thing) including some pate and some other things that were too fancy for me to remember but were very delicious. I had the grouper (look! grilled fish!) but of course it had some fattening and beautifully deliciously scruptious sauce. And for dessert…oh, dessert! Gingerbread and apple bread pudding with spicy caramel sauce and a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream. Daaang!

So yeah. Back to the hotel. Try sleeping with a tummy full of all that food! I’m sure all million calories were just waaaiting to turn into fat, but you know, it was all free and it was all in good company, and it was all worth it. So what if I gain two or three (okay, or six) pounds this week? I love food. It was worth it. I’m not likely to eat that well again (for free) for a very long time.

Yesterday George and I went and saw the Incredibles. It was great, of course, but not a kid’s movie! I mean, do you want children to see kids getting shot at? Hmmm. It was really suspenseful, too. (I’m a wuss, though.) If it wasn’t animated, it wouldn’t have been rated PG, I’m sure. But what do I know?

Oh yeah, we also registered at Bed Bath & Beyond yesterday. Ooh, that was fun! My sister convinced me we should just register at one place right now. So yeah, if anyone wants to get me the Kitchen Aid stand mixer for Christmas, feel free…ha ha!

Woo hoo! Only .4 gained this week! That hardly even counts! Unbelievable. I thought I’d gain this week just to balance out last week’s big loss, not to mention the eating frenzies that went on all week long. Uh oh. Maybe it’ll be next week. Well, I’ll just have to be super good this week. There aren’t any Christmas parties or anything, just my trip to Durham. That might be a bit tricky since I’m probably eating out every meal, but there won’t be time for snacking, I’ll bet. (I know that one meal will involve scallops and chocolate fondue and strawberries – not at the same time.) Anyway, I know the hotel has a fitness facility, so I will just have to bring my running clothes to use it.

Dance class went pretty well last night. I didn’t screw up too bad. And it is now officially too late to participate in this year’s recital, so now no one can bug me about it anymore. (Listen, those who think I should be in it this year – I SUCK!) Maybe next year. Plus, I don’t think I’m physically (or mentally) ready to put on a tight costume in front of an auditorium full of people. No thanks.

Dangit! I knew I forgot something really, really, really big! It was the visit from the Blattels!! The uber-cool and rock-god-like Mike, the chic and sophisticated Debbie, and the child prodigies Christian and Rehn (the poor child whose name is spelled incorrectly, but that Debbie, while chic and sophisticated, is also very very stubborn.) Oh, what a visit!

Actually, I may sound like I’m jesting (see Mike’s comment from yesterday’s post) but it really was good to see them. And not just so I could show off my sparkly ring yet again. Oh no. So that the next time we go to Houston we can stay at their house. IKEA, here I come… (only kidding, Mike.)