Wedding Review: Reunited (in FL) and It Feels So Good

A few weekends ago, Justin and I went to the wedding of our friends, Jenn and Ian. We flew into Destin, Florida, excited to be there to celebrate their special day.  In addition, we were excited to be reunited with some of our other friends we hadn't seen in quite some time.

We got there and the weather was amazing! Too bad we would later find out that the clouds in the sky were an ominous sign of the terrible weather that was to follow.

We started our Saturday with breakfast at the Donut Hole.  I got the "diet plate" (ironic since it definitely wasn't light in any way, LOL), which consisted of sausage, biscuits and gravy. The biscuits were the right mix of crunchy and fluffy and the gravy was phenomenal.  Justin got the monster omelet that was filed with all the fixings.
 

Justin waiting for me to take the picture so he can dig in. Oops. I kinda cut off his big head.

After brunch, we managed to get in some pool time; however, we couldn't stay out too long because we had a wedding to go to!

 

I'll try to give you a brief synopsis on this lovely couple.

 

Boy and girl meet as kids.

Boy and girl go their separate ways, but reconnect in the nation's capitol.

Couple gets engaged, then Boy gets deployed to Afghanistan for a year. :(

Couple reunites which brings us to the wedding today!

 

yay!

 

Now for the eye candy. Here are some of my shots from the wedding!

Here comes the bride...

 Here comes the Joos...

The bridal party...

Exchanging their vows...

The father-daughter dance...

    

A beautiful shot of the wedding party in front of the bay. The ceremony was very personalized.  Short and sweet to boot! ;)

The first dance!

The cute penguin cake toppers...

Cutting the cake...

 But kept it classy of course...no cake shoving here...lol...

The toasts by the Maid of Honor and the Best Man...

 

 

Cheers!

 

 

Followed by dancing and plenty of drinks...

  

After the wedding, we all headed to Rum Runners, a dueling piano bar located in The Village of Baytowne Wharf (it reminded me of Downtown Disney!). This place was fairly close to our hotel. I soon realized that I was super dehydrated from all the day drinking I had done earlier, coupled with the drinking from the wedding reception. I barely drank anything (non-alcoholic that is) since we left the pool! Whoopsy! PS-for all my Cooley Law folk, this Rum Runners is related to the one in Lansing (they are part of the same chain!), who would have thought?

My public service announcement would be, "Drink lots of water when drinking in warm climates people!"

A blurry picture of Justin and I...

The wedding party was somewhere in that crowd. I was attached firmly on my barstool, LOL. The piano players gave #jennandian plenty of shout outs.

 

That was my wedding weekend in a nutshell. The day after the wedding isn't really worth mentioning because it poured down rain all day. It completely ruined any plans that we had on going to the beach or water park.  On the bright side, I had my first Publix chicken tender sandwich, yum!

Anyways, I can't believe their one year engagement has flown by, and they now are officially married. Man, how time flies! Thank you for allowing the Brioni to be part of your special day. Congratulations to #jennandian!

 

Paleo/Nutrition Challenge Reflections and My Last Meals

The Nutrition Challenge at my crossfit box ended last month, but they didn't announce the winners until last weekend.  Guess what? I tied for second place! Woohoo! Thank you everybody for your words of encouragement and support throughout those two months. It really was a challenge in every sense of the word. Let me take you through the last week of the challenge...

 

Looking for some new inspiration, we found a paleo friendly recipe in of all places, a Rachael Ray cookbook. Justin found a recipe for "Pork Chops Slathered in Mustard Butter with Bacon-Braised Napa." We didn't have any napa cabbage, or any cabbage for that matter, so we just sauteed the onions and raisins. 

It still turned out good with our improvisation!

Justin later made another version of this recipe using apples which was good as well!

As we were traveling to NYC one weekend, I found a way to eat paleo at Chik-fil-a. While I looked longingly at the spicy chicken sandwich and waffle fries, I had to settle for the grilled chicken bites and a side of fruit salad...definitely not as good :(

But for every meal that wasn't as good, there was always a delicious paleo meal around the corner. You can't go wrong with baked chicken with a side of sweet potato and greens. Tasty and nutritious!

Towards the very end of the challenge, I think Justin started getting tired of making paleo-fied versions of meals, especially if they didn't taste quite the same. He started making separate meals. Below is when he made stir-fry for dinner. The one on the left made the traditional way with soy sauce, thickened with corn starch and the one on the right made with coconut aminos, thickened with coconut flour. 

I could definitely tell that towards the end of the challenge, I was starting to lack inspiration, especially when it came to my lunches. But no harm in keeping it simple, right?

Anyways, let me share with you some of my results from the challenge! I lost 10 lbs over the two month period.  I also lost nearly 7 inches, but the more amazing thing is how much stronger I got! Sorry, but I'm not brave enough to post my before/after pictures. Maybe I'll share them after I've lost more weight? ;) 

 

Here are my weights/reps from when I first started the challenge...

And here are my results after I completed the challenge...

This chart's notes compared the improvement in weight/reps from when I first started to the end. One thing's for sure, when it comes to running, I'm still a pretty slow ;)

Overall, I would say that participating in this challenge was a huge learning experience. One that I'm really glad I took part in. 

Winners, winners, (unbreaded) Chicken Dinners!

Photo Courtesy of CF Rubicon

Some final thoughts...

Do I currently eat paleo now? Honestly, I don't but I try to adhere to eating clean (whole foods, no chemicals) overall, and mostly choose protein/veggies over carbs when eating.

Would I do a challenge like this again? Possibly, if I need a reset my diet.  It would be similar to how someone would do a fast or a cleanse.

Women of Washington Redskins: An Evening with Coach Mike Shanahan

Did you know that the Washington Redskins has a club especially for its female fans? It's called the Women of Washington Redskins (WOW), and I just became a member not too long ago. Shortly after Memorial Day, WOW hosted a special chalk talk with Coach Mike Shanahan at Redskins Park in Ashburn. The event filled up fast, and I was glad that I signed up. I had never been to Redskins Park so I was looking forward to it!

I had to hustle after work to make the event (traffic going that way is terrible!), but I was treated to some wine and appetizers to nosh on upon my arrival. Yum!

 

Notice the sleeve. You better believe I had to rock the burgundy and gold before I came.

 

The room where the chalk talk took place was also the same room where the actual team watches game film.

They even showed a highlight reel of last season to get us pumped up!

Larry Michael from Redskins TV did the introductions. He sounds the same in person as he does on the radio!

Finally, Coach made his appearance, and he was ready to answer some questions! Excuse the blurry pictures, I was still getting the hang of the camera on my new phone. One thing that's certain is that Coach looked really sharp in his light gray suit!

The ladies asked a wide variety of questions from player specific questions to which player they should choose for their fantasy team (aka: the Alfred Morris "sleeper").  Some ladies even asked what Coach got RGIII for his wedding. It was pretty neat that he was open to answering all of our questions... 

After the Q&A session, it was time for the tour of Redskins Park!

I thought the weight room was pretty cool. Everything was emblazoned with the Redskins logo.

And look at this 150 pound dumbbell! Can you imagine a linebacker curling these? They might as well curl me! ;)

We walked by the Players' Club, which is an area exclusively for the players. No coaches, media, or visitors allowed...

Then I took some shots of the Wall of Fame.  Apparently there is a replica of this wall on the club level at FedEx Field.

Sean Taylor!

Here's a shot of where they eat. As you can see, it's a basketball court converted into a dining area.

They had several display cases in the rear the entrance of the facility. Here is Slingin' Sammy Baugh's original helmet. Can you believe how thin it is?

And of course you can't leave Redskins Park without taking a peek at the Super Bowl trophies!

Me with the trophies. Photo bombing my own picture, LOL.

Overall, it was a great experience! I had a great time at Redskins Park, and I hope WOW does more events like this in the future.