Dani Dishes 12-23-13

On this episode of Dani Dishes, I need to say THANK YOU to all of the readers/viewers/followers of mine! I even had to give a shout out to a few I was able to meet in real life this past week!

Wedding Weekend

"So we are going to a wedding of someone you have never met in person" - My Wife "Yup, but we have been friends online for about three years ... so it makes total sense!" - Me

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This past weekend the wife and I took a road trip to upstate NY to attend the wonderful wedding of Suzi Storm. Suzi is someone I've had the pleasure of knowing thanks to blogging, Facebook, Twitter, Weight Watchers, etc.

When she originally invited us to her wedding, I knew I had to be there. I know it seems crazy for never having met her in person, but when you find a good connection with someone - you make the trip.

Suzi's wedding was to take place June 22nd in Cicero, NY. Quite a haul from Boston, MA. I knew flights would be pricey so driving would be our only option. Hello road trip!

Friday traffic in Boston is NO joke. It usually takes me about 10-15 minutes to get from my house to the wife's work ... on Friday, June 21 - it took me 45 minutes. NOT a good way to kick off a road trip.

I picked the wife up just about 5pm and we hit the open road for upstate NY. We were hoping to get there before midnight - factoring in a stop along the way for dinner.

Massive traffic leaving Boston that thankfully dissolved about 45 minute to an hour into the trip. Despite numerous bathroom stops - thanks water and caffeine - we pulled into the parking lot of the Holiday Inn Express in Cicero, NY at 11:15pm.

Thankfully on Saturday, for the first time in a looong time, we would be able to sleep in. Hey, no dogs to take out or a morning workout to do - I was excited for it.

Aaannnd eyes popped open at 6:45am - DAMN YOU INTERNAL CLOCK!! :P I thankfully was able to force myself back to sleep until 8am and it was all over. I headed out in search of Dunkin Donuts and hair gel (yup packing for a whopping 2 day trip and I forgot hair gel).

The wedding was starting at 12:30pm so we had plenty of time to lounge around before getting ready. We headed down to the lobby at 11:45 in preparation of the Noon shuttle. But when I got to the front desk, the woman asked the shuttle driver - who was also the breakfast chef/attendant - how to get to the venue and she had no idea.

We took this as a sign and just drove ourselves to the wedding ... which took about 6 minutes! Thanks GPS!

Now Suzi had made everything herself for the wedding with a lot of suggestions/ideas of Pinterest ... and it looked AMAZING!

Right from the moment of walking in the front door.

With no seating plan, we sat ourselves down at a table and waited to see who our new family would be. But, no one ever came. Yup, the wife and I must've smelled or something ;) because no one wanted to sit with us apparently.

Or maybe it was the fact that we were sitting at "lucky" table #13??

How awesome were the gifts? Koozie, bottle opener (hidden inside koozie), a tiny bell and a personalized guitar pick.

On the back it read: "ever thine, ever mine, ever ours"

Amazing! Wicked creative!

When you walked in there was an entire bucket of bubbles and we took quiet a few bottles, which led to much amusement as the afternoon wore on. ;)

While we waited for the ceremony to start outside behind the reception area, we grabbed a drink and took in all of Suzi's hard work!

And quickly put the koozie to good use. :P

I like Hershey kisses so we may have left them quite a few wishes! ;)

The handmade paper flowers that Suzi sweated over turned our beautifully!

I love a good bouquet!

Check out the amazing cake topper...

How cool is that?

And instead of a wedding cake - they had cupcakes!

While we were drooling over the cupcakes, it was time to head outside for the ceremony!

I had to make a pitstop beforehand to snap a pic of my outfit. We needed proof of the non-sneaker footwear. :)

I was just so excited that the dress size matched my shoe size - both size 8! Eeek! *insert happy face*

We then headed over to the gazebo-y area for the ceremony. It was nice and sunny with no chance of rain. Phew!

I could see the top of Suzi's head before she started walking down the aisle and I couldn't wait to see it all.

Radiant! Gorgeous! Glowing!

It was amazing to finally see my friend in person and in such a special way to boot!

The ceremony between Suzi and Frank was short, but sweet. You could feel the love.

And before you knew it - they were man and wife!

ROCK ON!!!

I had to make sure I snapped the pictures as I felt pressure to get them right from the whole social media world. ;) I hope I made everyone proud.

It was party time! And finally time to hug Suzi in person.

We all headed back into the reception hall and it was time to celebrate.

There was music, dancing, drinks, a buffet and cupcakes.

I HAD to go with the Guinness and Bailey's cupcake ... and it was GLORIOUS!!

Before I knew it, it was 5pm and time for the reception to end. But not the party!!

We took a quick detour back to the hotel to relax for a quick hour and for the wife to change into more comfy clothes and for me to put the hair up and grab a Sparkly Soul headband.

Then it was time to meet the crew for the after party at a local bar, Cooper's. It was a little joint with a deck that overlooked the lake.

It was great to chat with Suzi, Frank and some of their other friends/family in a more intimate setting after the craziness of a reception. :)

About 8pm it was time for us to say goodbye and head somewhere to catch the Bruins-Blackhawks playoff game. (I was not happy with the outcome, but had actually fallen asleep before the end)

We successfully slept in until 9am on Sunday - WIN! We decided to check out the local Cracker Barrel for breakfast since I had never been there. Yeah not my cup of tea!

Then we decided to check out Syracuse a little before getting back on the road to Boston. So we drove around Syracuse and checked out the University before heading to a local brewery for a tasting.

Middle Ages Brewing

It was a great little detour with some delicious beers. You were able to sample 7 different brews for free!

Of course we walked out with a sample 12-pack and a pint glass. :P

Since it was close to 1pm it was time to hit the road since we really wanted to be homy by 6pm.

Thankfully the trip back home wasn't too eventful and we hit minimal traffic.

Overall, it was one AMAZING weekend. We both needed a tiny break from life and it was exactly what we wanted. It was an honor to be part of Suzi's special day and I can't wait to figure out when we will see each other again!

Dani Dishes 6-24-13

On this episode of Dani Dishes, I thank social media for the friends that have come into my life, joining Suzi Storm on her special wedding day and heading to Fitbloggin this week! Product Of The Week Jolly Time Popcorn -- http://www.jollytime.com/products/pop_corn/view?object=525

Thunder Thighs No More...

On November 16 I went to Lululemon to purchase a pair of Wunder Under pants I had promised myself after completing the marathon. Well I tried them on and all I could look at were my thighs and I said out loud to myself: "Hello! Thunder Thighs." I'm sure the people in the other dressing rooms were thoroughly confused by this little outburst.

After posting the picture on Social Media...

... friends far and wide commented and said they had no idea what I was seeing.

How could they not?? I mean look at those thighs jumping out of the pants! I had gone out of my comfort zone and tried on a blue/grey pattern instead of going with the normal slimming black option.

But as the responses came in one after another, friends continuously used the words - lean, strong, muscular and fit - to describe the thighs above.

Interesting.

While sitting in my car in the mall parking lot reading the comments (see don't Tweet, Facebook or Instagram while driving!), I asked myself: "What legs were they looking at?" I really just didn't see it!

So I put the phone away, headed to my first Pure Barre class and let the comments/compliments from Twitter and Instagram resonate. But in my subconscious I was coming to grips with the fact that those Wunder Under Pants I pined for just weren't for me.

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Over the next 10 days or so, things changed.

Ever so slightly.

With each activity I did, another one of those pesky compliments from my friends/followers jumped back out.

* I took the stairs to one of my Weight Watchers meetings a little bit faster than usual. My mind thought: "Wow, this seems easier than the last time I made this trek. Those Pure Barre classes are really paying off.

Muscles.

* I set a PR in The 18th Annual Framingham Turkey Trot Classic 5k on a course I found rather challenging. Okay, I wasn't ready for any hills and there were some. :P I thought to myself: "Something is changing in my body. Those Spin classes are really working to strengthen my legs. Go cross training."

Thighs.

* With each Pure Barre class, the exercises were getting slightly more doable. But since the exercises were being done in front of a mirror, I could actually catch a glimpse of their transformation. The "burning" in my legs was paying off. The Brain said to me: "Look at those strong legs in the mirror. THOSE belong to you."

Fit.

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My girl Nazalee on Twitter immediately pulled out the big guns. A campaign that Nike featured about how the phrase Thunder Thighs is actually a compliment.

(Feel free to click on the image above for a better look or check out the ad here)

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So over those two weeks, the little tweets/instagram messages from November 16 were breaking out of my subconscious and starting to break down through the self-negativity!

But the tweet I got that finally made the mental change was short and simple: "I see a pair of strong legs that just dominated a marathon."

Truth ... but I had to change my mindset to see that!

On November 28 I went back to the store and purchased those pants and now wear them proudly!!

Even in public! :)

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So moral of this little story?

Simple.

We need to be as positive with ourselves as we are with others!!

And of course wipe the phrase "Thunder Thighs" from the vocabulary! ;)