Mohegan Sun WineFest ‘12

Ashley and I are back in NYC, and our fun weekend is over.

AND IT WAS FUN. I’ll share you with the pictures I can share and still keep my job, but let’s just say we had a really good time.

The wine festival was held in Mohegan Sun’s convention center, and it was just a bit more fun than any other convention I’ve been to before.

We picked up our wine glasses and got to work.

Why do they not come pre-filled?

Bobby Flay!

It was really crowded, but we never had to wait in line more than a few seconds for a pour.

I tried to stop for snacks wherever I saw them so that I didn’t pass out mid-wine fest. These Wicked Natural dips were really good. (Or, you know, wicked good.) The guy tried to tell us that this was the only caramel mustard dip in the world, but we saw another one today at The Black Dog. Fail, buddy.

Hydration. (In all seriousness, we took a few water breaks over the course of the day so that we didn’t die.)

As I said yesterday, there were more than 1,000 different vendors there—so there were some that I’d heard of but plenty that I hadn’t. There were also wines I’d heard of that were distributed by a larger distributor that had other lines of wine in their portfolios. For example, Bronco Wine Company owns approximately a million wines.

This White Wedding wasn’t fabulous, but it’s a cute name.

Important things I learned from Cabot. Their tomato basil cheese was AMAZING.

Um, I mostly just took pictures of wines and wineries whose names I really liked.

This Gloria Ferrer was one of my favorite sparkling wines that I tried. At one point, Anne and I got separated from the others, and Ashley thought to look for me at the booths where they had bubbly. That’s how much I love my bubbly.

The Serres wines were also really good. I enjoyed them because these Spanish wines were a little different from the California, South American and French wines we tried. I also enjoyed them because after quite a few tastes of wine, I kept trying to roll my Rs as I pronounced them. No, really. I swear I minored in Spanish.

After trying our million wines, we made a beeline for the beer rooms upstairs.

I don’t know if it was because it was late in the day and everyone had a lot to drink by then, or if the beer people were just more fun than the wine people, but we had a blast up here talking with all kinds of random people.

I thought of my college bestie, Lindsay, who lives in Hawaii, when I saw this one. I drank my weight in Longboard when I visited her in ‘10.

Lagunitas Maximus.

Shockingly, after an entire afternoon of drinking, we were exhausted. We headed back to the room for a bit to recharge our batteries before dinner…

…but dinner ended up being room service pizza because we were all so exhausted. We totally did not make our 10pm reservations at Bar Americain. Ashley and Tina fell asleep hard, but Anne and I snuck out for just a little more wine.

Thanks again to Mohegan Sun for comping our room and wine festival tickets, and thanks to my lovely friends for an awesome weekend!

What’s your favorite wine? I love sauvignon blanc and anything dry and bubbly the best. Wine’s I’m not a huge fan of: moscatos and rieslings—they’re too sweet for me.

Original Article

The Devil on My Nightstand

I love when I can blog and share my triumphs and things that I’ve overcome, but I also think it’s important for me to share the difficulty I sometimes have when it comes to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, because I never want to glorify myself or my habits.

No matter how many articles or blog posts I read about fitting a workout in before work, this will never be easy for me.

Meet my enemy.

Meet my best friend.

Every morning, my enemy starts making the most ungodly noise ever. (Ask anyone who’s ever shared a hotel room with me.)

My best friend tempts me with this soft duvet and pillows.

In my not-at-all awakeness, I smack the snooze button and vow to wake up the next time. Each time. Until it’s too late to work out.

It’s not something that I’m proud of, or that I even really do consciously, but it’s the truth.

And it happened again this morning. And yesterday morning. And the morning before that. If I don’t have after-work plans, I don’t usually try to work out in the morning, but lately I’ve been having a lot of Junior League meetings after work (our Winter Ball is coming up) and other commitments.

Remember that strength challenge? I’ve had a hard time getting to the classes, and I had to email Jaz this morning and tell her I needed to drop out. She was super-understanding, but it still sucks to have to admit defeat. I’m not a person who can continue to function on a little sleep, though, so I just couldn’t. I had to sacrifice something, and I can’t sacrifice work or Junior League.

I’m still going to train for the half-marathon (although I’m not sure if I’m still going to aim for a PR…) and still try to make myself strength train twice per week, but it’s going to be much more casual. I’ll probably download a Runner’s World Smart Coach program and loosely follow it. I’ve done the distance quite a few times before, so I really just want to have a base.

I’m trying to eat a little healthier as of late since I’ve been working out less (more on this another time), since I like maintaining my weight. And, you know, fitting into my clothes.

But sushi’s hard to give up.

Tomorrow’s another day, so I’m going to sleep right now so I can try to run tomorrow morning.

Is your alarm clock a jerk, too? How the hell does one get over this?

Original Article

Updates on All the Things

I know I’m a little behind on some updates, so here goes:

Strength/Half-Marathon Training Update

Monday: strength training—check!

Tuesday: 3-mile tempo—check!

Wednesday: 6x400s—check!

Thursday: abs class before work

Friday: rest (so good at that!)

Saturday: 5-6 mile run (I ended up moving that to Sunday because of the weather…)

Sunday: and only got 4 miles in

The check-in for this week won’t be as pretty. I’ve been burning the candle at both ends with work and Junior League, and I haven’t been doing as well with my workouts as I’d like.

Eat In More

You haven’t seen many updates because I haven’t been cooking anything new, but I made some pulled pork last night, in the easiest way possible: I put a pork butt (haha) in the slow cooker with some water, garlic and onion and let it do its thing for four hours. I put it in at 8 and set an alarm for midnight to turn it to “warm.” I brought it for lunch with some brown rice and broccoli and just had it as a sandwich when I got home tonight. You can put the BBQ sauce and all that jazz in it to cook, which I would have done if I had a full bottle, but I’m guessing putting a little less once it’s all done has gotta be at least somewhat healthier, right?

Fashion Update

I swear on my sweet, fluffy dog that one session with a stylist will not turn me into a style blogger or even someone who regularly posts her outfits, but when I put together one I like? Well, you might see it. Yesterday: black leggings, long-sleeved purple top, black knee-high boots and black boyfriend blazer, buttoned, collar popped, sleeves rolled up. Simple, but I felt good, and I loved it.

What about you? How are you doing with strength training? Any other random updates?

Original Article

One Writer’s Story

When I was little and people asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, the answer was always the same: a writer and illustrator.

I dropped the illustrator part once I got to third grade and realized that my art skills weren’t good enough to get me into the advanced art classes, but I never faltered on my desire to be a writer when I grew up.

I wrote a Thanksgiving play in fourth grade for my family to perform. I had a TV in my room, but rather than watching TV after I finished my homework, I wrote short stories and read.

Once I got to high school, I took the minimum of math and science classes required by the fine state of New Jersey and instead bulked up on my English and foreign language classes. I took Spanish, French and Russian!

This whole foreign language thing confused my career path for a bit—did I want to be a linguist? A diplomat? Something else I could do with my foreign language skills? I looked for colleges that had strong language programs, but I ultimately chose American for its Foreign Language and Communication Media program, which basically amounted to a major in print journalism and a minor in Spanish. From the first journalism class I took with the brilliant Jane Hall, I knew I wanted to pursue writing as a career when I grew up.

I’d wanted to work for Vogue growing up, but going to American, in the heart of our nation’s capital, I fell into writing about politics and fell head over heels for it. I stayed in D.C. for three years after I graduated, and I worked for Campaigns & Elections magazine, covering the business of, well, campaigns and elections. I was writing about important developments in the political industry for political insiders—and I loved it.

From a media dinner way back when.

In early 2008, I was depressed and ready to change my life. I left my job and moved to New Jersey and moved in with my parents for three months while I got my feet back on the ground. I’d always wanted to work for magazines, and save for a few exceptions, there’s no other place to do that than NYC, home to all the major publishing houses.

I sent my resume to any opening I could find at Hearst, Conde Nast, Meredith, you name it. A friend from D.C. set me up for a coffee with a friend of his from New York magazine, a place I would have died to work for—until this editor told me I’d be qualified for an internship.

Wait, what? I was 25 years old, and I’d written cover and feature stories for a national magazine. I’d edited a network of websites in the early primary states. (R.I.P., C&E State Network.) I had three years of solid magazine experience and a few years of good internships.

Right. At a trade magazine, he told me.

It was then that I realized that my dreams of working for a sexy, glossy magazine, a magazine that I’d find on a newsstand, might have to be edited, just a bit.

I took a job at a legal magazine, covering intellectual property law. I covered a lot of copyright issues, which, of course, involve media, and I was genuinely interested in this job—until I got laid off.

Within two weeks, I was working for another magazine at the company, covering legal technology. I was significantly less interested in this, and this is also when I decided to start to change my life.

Thumbs up for life changes.

I started losing weight, and I started this blog.

I knew when I started a blog, I wanted to do it right. I wanted to put my all into it. I’d started several blogs before this one, but my heart wasn’t in it, and I never stuck with them, but now I know that’s because I just didn’t find something that ignited a passion inside of me like health and fitness have.

I love writing for you guys, but here is another 2012 resolution of mine: to write more, and for a larger audience.

My job is tremendously fulfilling, and I love it, but I also miss being published. I’ve written for Glamour.com, WomansDay.com, and LearnVest.com, (in addition to serving on staff for Campaigns & Elections, IP Law & Business and Law Technology News, where I wrote quite a lot) and I want to add to that list in 2012. I want to continue to bring that passion for health, fitness, nutrition and running to more people.

One more thing. 2012 is also the year I finish my book proposal.

Original Article

I’m Almost 29, and I Still Can’t Dress Myself

Yesterday was an interesting day.

Around the holidays, I spied a deal for a session with a stylist on Gilt City and bought it.

I remember Beth writing a post a few months ago about working with a stylist for an article Washingtonian was writing about her. Her results were adorable, and I remember thinking how cool it was, so when I saw this deal with Sarah, I was psyched.

Growing up, I was absolutely obsessed with fashion. I wanted to work for Vogue when I grew up. I really wanted to win Best Dressed in high school. I loved clothes and putting them together and putting together cute outfits.

Then I went to college and packed on 50 pounds and shopping became something I HATED, especially with other people. I’d hear my friends talking about how the 4s or 6s were too big, and I wanted to punch them. Or cry. Until I moved to NYC, most of my clothes were from Banana Republic or Ann Taylor. The clothes there were nice, but safe. They fit fine (fitting well was something I thought was more than I could ask at the time), and I didn’t stand out at all, which was perfect. I was unhappy with how I looked, and I didn’t want people to notice my clothes, because then they’d notice my zaftig body.

Look at this plain, boring, awful stripe-y dress, and please don’t look at the bangs or my sunburned arms.

I remember in early 2008, when I was feeling at my lowest, going shopping with my old roommate Jen. We went to Century 21, and I tried on a pair of Seven jeans. They were a size 32 or 33—whatever the biggest size Sevens come in—and they only sort of fit. I was going to buy them anyway but was living at home without a job at the time and didn’t really have an extra $100 for jeans that barely fit. I walked outside, sat down and started bawling at the fact that I couldn’t even fit into the biggest size these jeans came in.

When I moved to NYC, I knew I wanted to change my style but didn’t experiment much because I was still uncomfortable with my body. Once I lost weight, I did start experimenting a ton with clothes. I have everything from bright Lilly Pulitzer dresses to long black t-shirts with zebras (truth.) in my closet, but I don’t know much about what looks good on me.

Sarah came over yesterday, and I was terrified before she even walked in. I knew she was going to rip my closet to shreds, and I knew that was what I paid her for, but I was still nervous.

She walked in and after talking for a minute or two, we went into my bedroom, and she started pulling apart my closet and having me try clothes on. That first second when I realized I’d just met her and realized I was going to have to get naked in front of her was only slightly awkward.

I told her that I definitely preferred classic and preppy styles, but that I wanted to dress with a little more of an edge.

Below are some of the outfits she put together for me, and why they worked on my body type.

This is my favorite outfit. It’s a Ralph Lauren plaid top that I have with ruffles down the front with jeggings and black suede booties. I always felt that this shirt was too tight, and usually wore it under a cardigan, but Sarah encouraged me to belt it, and I LOVE this look. It looks very put-together to me, and I felt so much more confidence, immediately.

A black wool houndstooth skirt with a black long-sleeved top and cardigan. My before for this outfit would have been a slightly loose sweater on top, not tucked in, but Sarah encouraged me to show off my waist. I’m most self-conscious about my mid-section, since I definitely accumulate weight there, but she convinced me I had a great waist that I needed to show off. I mean, she is the professional…

A J. Crew blouse with a black skirt and a belt. She encouraged me to wear more belts, too, to accentuate my waist and told me never to buy low-waist jeans—they don’t flatter many people.

Same skirt, different top. This top is actually longer and looser, but she told me to tuck it in/pull it up, because the long tops do nothing for me. As you can see, I’m pulling this in the back to make it tighter. I wish it actually fit like this now. Sarah said she just wasn’t a fan of this top because she didn’t like sequins, to which I say suck it. If loving sequins is wrong, I don’t want to be right.

I felt so incredibly self-concious in this, but she convinced me that the cardigan worked, that I do not actually have a muffin top, and that this sweater shows off my curves.

For blazers, she told me to pop the collar, button up and roll the sleeves up.

I had a lot of fun with this look, too—it’s kind of different from how I usually dress, but I loved it. I felt so New York, instead of the girl from NJ who lived in DC for seven years. I’m wearing a plain black shift, the sweater is actually Sarah’s (at multiple points, she actually gave me the shirt off her back to try on) and the boots are the same suede booties above.

Again, I’m holding this dress in—she loved the style but thought the drop waist wasn’t flattering, and that I should have it tailored like this to raise the waist.

Here, I have my sweater slightly tucked into my jeans and my dog sniffing at my feet. (The rest of the time she was here, he hid under my bed.) Again, she thinks I should wear things that are slightly shorter and hit at my waist, and tops with either a v-neck, like this, or a scoop neck.

This one’s blurry, but she told me to always button my blazers and wear big necklaces like this.

This was how my bed looked by the time she left, which only made me panic a bit. Emily had stopped by and kept me company while I put them all away because she’s the most awesome friend ever.

So, the big takeaways from this experience:

• I buy clothes because they are pretty, not necessarily because they fit me well. This is such a holdover from being overweight. If I could close something or put it on a top without getting 9,200 rolls in my stomach, it fit. I have a lot more options now, and I need to take advantage of this and get stuff that mostly fits me.
• Shorter shirts, less leggings, less prints, more timeless stuff.
• Button stuff up.
• I can wear tighter things than I think I can. Especially tops. For blouse-type tops, I end up going for looser ones subconsciously so that they can fit my chest, too.
• I definitely don’t see myself as overweight any more, but I don’t think I see the same body that others see. Putting together outfits that really flatter my body helped with that.
• Sarah was pretty awesome, but I’m not ready to drop the $5K on a brand new wardrobe that she suggested. Surprising, I know.
• She also wanted me to throw out a lot of clothes. As I’m sort of a packrat, and recently got some of them tailored, I’m just not ready to do that yet.

Would you ever work with a stylist? If your body’s changed, has your style? What’s your style like?

Original Article