Only Took Him 2 Months to Listen.....

I was so excited yesterday when Kurt finally decided to listen to me and buy proper running shoes! When he started working out again, I wanted to buy him. He refused and said his Adidas, which are like fashion tennies, were fine. Yea, not so much. His arches have been bothering him and his knees. Which have been issues in the past, but I am sure are made worse by running in bad shoes. He is running an average of 2 miles per day, 5 days per week. Anyway, we went to my fav place for shoes, Total Runner, in Southgate. They measured his foot, looked at the arch, etc., and had him try on about 5 pairs of shoes, including Asics, Saucony, Brooks and New Balance. He ended up liking a pair of Asics best, the Gel Evolution 6. Hooray! Purchase made. Then, since he was apparently on a shopping shoe roll (which is weird cuz Kurt never steps foot in most stores, LOL), he decided he wanted some more supportive dress shoes for work. So, we stopped at Shoe Carnival in Taylor. They had a deal, buy one pair, get one half off. He could only find one pair. I told him it's pretty much against the Lori Rules of Shopping to not take advantage of that offer, so I found a pair of heels to buy in a color I don't already own. This is sad, since I already purchased a pair of heels online today with ShoeDazzle.

I told Kurt I am going to need another shoe shelving unit built, LOL. Or maybe I should just stop buying shoes........At least I get a lot of use out of all of them with the job I have. I finally found a tailor to help me out. Found them on Craigslist of all places, but they are a legit store in Trenton called Jan's Sewing and Alterations. Took in 6 skirts and a pair of pants and they had be try them all on, pinned them, etc. and will have them back to me shortly. Super nice people. I took all the stuff in that was kinda in between stuff (stuff I have bought since I started losing weight). I was not even going to try taking in stuff from before this weight loss journey began, and will be donating most of it to charity. I kinda picked and chose what would be altered to, as if it was a skirt from Kohl's I paid $8 for, I might as well just head back to Kohl's and buy another one in the right size if I like the skirt that much. I mostly took in skirts that go with suit coats, for the nicer brands, like Tahari, Nine West, etc. I have so much crap to donate to charity now. The woman there suggested I take the stuff into a consignment shop, but, I think the charity deduction would be better for our taxes. I may list a couple things on eBay though.....

Updates

*******Took the pic above this week for my Mom. She is doing some kind of thing for my Grampa and wanted me to take this pic. I think my finger looks freakishly long in the pic. odd. I still think my name should be above Kurt's, but, since we go in order of when you joined the firm, Kurt was technically a lawyer before me. Ha.

Work hard, play hard.....seems to be our mantra. :). Had a pretty busy weekend, but worked some "fun" in there as well. Friday night, we had tickets to see Sarah Silverman at The Fillmore. I was wondering where The Fillmore was, and then I realized that it is actually the new name of the State Theatre. Never knew the name changed, I guess I don't go out again! :). Anyway, we left work a half hour early so we could go home and work out, eat dinner, and change for the show. Drove to Detroit, got there in record time so we got a drink and Kurt got popcorn and we waited for the show to start. She had two opening acts and then her act. Show was great, and it was nice to get out on a Friday night. Saturday, we worked a few hours, then I ran into town to return a shirt at TJ Maxx that I grabbed the wrong size off the rack of. Of course, the shirt was no longer there, so I just had to return it. Boo. While there, I found a really cute Calvin Klein black sweater shrug, and another black shirt to wear over tanks and stuff. Also, totally scored on the beauty rack, they had a TON of Philosophy body washes for like half off retail, so I stocked up on those. Will take a while to use, but worth it to stock up since I usually pay regular price at sephora or on the philosophy website. I started using lemon angel food cake this morning and it smells heavenly. Stopped at Ciolino's in Monroe and bought some fruits and veggies. I was craving cantaloupe, so i bought one and cut it up. Super yummy. Stopped at the mall cuz I had a coupon for Elder Beerman. Found nothing there, but decided to stop in Maurices and found a ton of stuff there I liked (see below). I also found a great dress on clearance, but cant find a pic. I am going to wear it with a black suit coat to work, but I could also wear it with my cobalt blue or black shrug.

Saturday night, we went to a charity fundraiser for a local Catholic elementary school. One of the clerks at court invited us, as she was helping run it and her kids go there. Anyway, we had a really nice time. The dress was casual, so I had no clue what to wear. I ended up wearing black dress pants, a new black and white striped short sleeve shirt I bought and my new CK sweater shrug, with red heels and cute jewelry. Was glad I did not wear jeans, as most people were dressed similar to me. There was a buffet, a silent auction, and a live auction. They also had music and dancing later on, but we left before that started as we were both kinda tired. Great night out though. Made a great new recipe tonight. Click here to see how to make the fabulous Chipotle Bean Burritoes (found in Food Network magazine). I slightly modified Kurt's and added mild pepper rings. I also used low fat sour cream. For mine, I used a wheat tortilla and no sour cream or cheese. Anyway, these were a hit in our household! I made mine with ahi tuna and spaghetti squash, Kurt had his with miso soup. Weird combos, I know, but we are weird with what we eat. I made Kurt two, and me one, and we had lots of leftovers for another night as I made the entire recipe instead of halving it. One of my favorite attorneys is now a Referee at the Friend of the Court where I practice all the time. I stopped in to see her on the bench this week, wearing her robe, looking all powerful and important! :). Talked her into a pic and stayed and talked for a while. Holly and I went to a Welcome Judge Hubbard party this week. Was actually pretty fun. They had a spread of food in the courtroom, decorations, etc. and we got to talk to a lot of the Judges/referees/local attys/court staff, etc. Had a nice time and Judge Mccarthy did us a favor and took a pic of us standing behind the bench. We can never take pics during court, so it was kinda fun to get the pic! :). Statrted cleaning out my closet and it's kinda embarassing how many pairs of pants i have to get rid of. I will prob donate to Good Will, unless I can figure out another good use. I also have several suits coats, and some shirts. Ugh. I mean, I am glad I lost the weight, but replenishing a huge wardrobe kinda sucks financially. I will just keep clearance and outlet shopping. Lost another 1.6 pounds this week, so still not sure if I am done losing or not. Kurt lost another 3.6 pounds and is getting really close to his goal weight. He is now thinking he may need to lose 10 more pounds than his goal weight to get his "6 pack" though, so we will see. I will be happy when he is eating meals again every night and not eating only protein shakes, yogurt and fruit/veggies. I actually LIKE cooking dinner.

Anyway, this is getting long.........Hope everyone had a nice week and an even better weekend.

Deals Galore

I decided to go outlet shopping yesterday, as I desperately need some new clothes. I headed to Birch Run, which is my fav Michigan shopping venue. Not the best outlet mall in the country, but the best in the state of MI. It is about 1 hour 45 minutes from my house. Since I waited until the last minute, none of my shopping buddies were available to go, but I thought it was prob best I went on my own anyway as I really needed to spend some time figuring out my size and trying things on and I did not want to bore anyone. Anyway, the drive there was nice. Perfect weather for driving. Got there, and headed to customer service to pick up a coupon book (free of charge with a coupon I got online and my AAA card). Also had my 30% off coupon for Banana/Old Navy/Gap that I got via email. Score! :).

First purchases were at Ann Taylor. Love the store, hate the retail prices. PERFECT Lori work store though. I find deals here every single time I go to Birch Run, and this time was the same! There were a ton of clearance racks in the back, and I started piling stuff up to try on. Got into the dressing room and all the pants were too big. AARGH. Good, but annoying. Went back out and grabbed the next size down. Ended up buying two suit coats (marked down to $8 each), one pair of pants, and a cute t-shirt, all for $50! In the retail store, just one suit coat would have been like $169! Next purchases were at Calvin Klein. I bought two tanks (purple and pink) to wear under suits, a dressy shirt for work on a clearance rack, and a cute skirt to wear on vacay (too short for court, although maybe I could wear in the office when I dont have court). On to Banana Republic. Found Kurt a sweater marked down to $4. Bought myself a grey pin striped suit and a dress shirt. Next, Dress Barn. Bought a really cute dress with a shrug, and a pair of dress pants. Overall, really productive shopping day. Since I am still dropping weight, I never want to buy a ton, but I think I am getting closer to my goals, so hopefully this stuff lasts.

Speaking of which, lost 3.6 more pounds this week! I could not believe it. And Kurt lost 4.2 pounds. I am up to 54.2 pounds lost now. And, all the skirts I bought were between sizes 4-6, and pants between 4-6 as well. Shirts medium. I love, love, love seeing results from working hard at this since September.

Tonight, Val came over for dinner. Dan is super busy with tax season and could not make it, but it was nice to see her and Lucky! :). We went to dinner at Dolce Vita, and while my meal was healthy enough, I ate way too much bread. I rarely eat out, but I cannot resist that stupid bread basket. Now, my stomach feels like lead. Ugh. Bad bread. I worked out twice today though, so hopefully it does not affect my progress. Worked some today while Kurt cleaned the house, and i got 6 more bankruptcies filed and a bunch of family law stuff done, which is great since I have court all morning tomorrow. I hate coming back to a pile of work on my desk and I cleared most of it off.

Hope everyone had a nice weekend!

Crazy Work Week

This was a crazy week. Both crazy, and insanely busy. I filed more family law cases (divorce, custody, etc) this week than I think I ever have in one week, as well as a ton of bankruptcies, and I have to file more bankruptcies online this weekend, when we work on Sunday. We had the other side on one of our divorce cases actually drive his wife to our office and sit in the parking lot. He told her to call us and tell us that they were coming in so she could fire us. She did not want to fire us. He told her if she did not, she would never see her child again. He has a lawyer, and had no business even being near my office, as I can't talk to him or deal with him. This guy is a major control freak, and has been dictating everything to her for the years of their marriage. Anyway, I told her he was NOT coming in the office, or I would be calling the Police, so he stayed in the car. I sent Megan out to take pics of him so I could show the Judge what a loon he is. Then I called his lawyer and told him to tell his client to back the hell off. Anyway, client ended up not firing us, and the Judge granted me an emergency hearing date to deal with the crazy person's behavior. we are actually concerned about our client's safety with this guy though. She cannot tear herself away from doing anything and everything the guy says, including letting him keep their baby and she is only seeing the baby if she goes over to his house and he is there. Cannot wait to argue that hearing.

Made an awesome new recipe tonight, that I slightly modified. The recipe is for Chili-Garlic Glazed Salmon. I modified and made it with ahi tuna instead, since that was what I had thawed in the frig. Also, it said to simply broil the fish, but I grilled it first, then broiled, and halved the recipe since it was just me and Kurt eating. Anyway, super good. Made it with low sodium Zatarain's Jambalaya Rice. Super yum. Kurt was a fan as well.

After work, we stopped at Dunham's as Kurt wanted to buy this Ab Coaster machine we saw last time we were there. We both kinda wanted something for our living room that we could use after a workout, while watching TV and throughout the night. I used it a bit tonight and WOW, great workout. PAIN. Great purchase. Oh, and the really nice cashier gave us 10% off, without us even asking for it! Super nice.

So, I am taking a solo trip to Birch Run tomorrow for outlet shopping. Everyone I normally go with is busy, and really, I kinda enjoy aimlessly wandering myself. I desperately need some clothing that FITS. I did get a referral to a tailor who I called today and left a message with because I am hoping some of my skirts can be saved to the suits I really like. I am so thrilled getting back to my pre-law school self and having time to think about eating right and working out again. I want to start running 5Ks again, and found one in late April near the office that I think I am going to do, it raises money for a local guidance center that a lot of our clients take their kids to. oh, and last Sunday's weigh-in, I was up to 50.2 lbs lost, which is so weird to me. I started this journey off wanting to lose like 20 lbs. I did not even know I had 50 lbs to lose.

Anyway, need to get some sleep. Hope everyone had a nice St Patrick's Day!

Long Time

So, a friend wrote me and told me I needed to update on here......My posts are really rare these days, ones with any kind of substance anyway.

I have been crazy busy with life in general, mostly in relation to WORK life. Tax season gets crazy at the firm. We are working this weekend, yet again, so hopefully, I can clear some stuff off my desk.

My Grama went into the hospital last Saturday night as well, so I spent part of Sunday at the hospital. They don't really know what is wrong with her, first they were thinking pneumonia (which was ruled out, I think), then a hernia, then some kind of issues with her sugar levels (she is diabetic). Hospitals drive me bonkers though, it seems like they never really know what is going on which drives me insane. Anyway, as of yesterday, she was still in there being "figured out", so if she is still there, I will go visit again this weekend in between working. After visiting her, I stopped at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, since I was right near there in Ann Arbor. I had never been to Whole Foods before, and OMG, total Lori store. Kinda pricey though, and coming from someone who never really pays attention to the price of food, this is saying something. It was fun to wander around the store though, and I picked up a few things. One thing I am loving is the mahi burgers I bought. Super good. I eat salmon burgers all the time, but had never seen mahi burgers in a store. I also bought feta spinach sole, and that was super yummy as well. I am liking everything I bought there so far. Oh, a refried black beans thing in a can--super good. Great store. I will be going back for sure when I am in the area of one of their stores.

Went out to eat with friends last Saturday night and had rock lobster tails, which were awesome. I have not had lobster in forever, and it was super good. Had middle eastern food last night with my friend, nancy, and that was awesome as well. Oh how I heart lentil soup............Had dinner with Rebecca last Friday at an awesome hole in the wall mexican place called Angelina's. Awesome food, and chips and salsa were great. I got really sick afterwards though, I think the dairy from the ice cream killed me. Boo. My body is weird lately with all the healthy eating, certain things just affect me. Super nice to see Rebecca though, and she got all dressed up for me! OK, not really, she was going to a party afterwards.....haha. Had lunch the next day with my friends Holly and Angela and ended up not eating because I was still feeling weird from the night before. Was nice to see them and catch up though. :).

Oh, we booked my bday trip! :). I wanted to go someplace super relaxing. That was my one requirement, I wanted a beach I could walk down, relax on, as well as other things to do, and something I could get a good deal on, with not a super long flight. I ended up booking Puerto Rico. Cannot wait. I for sure want to explore and take pics in San Juan, go to the beach, hike in the jungle.........Try some Puerto Rican cuisine. We are staying at this resort called El Conquistador Resort in an ocean view upgraded room. I booked through American Airlines vacations, using air miles, and we paid under $1000 for our airfare AND upgraded room for 5 nights. Score! So weird to be going someplace I don't need my passport for! Cannot wait. Wish it was like tomorrow........Need to get on booking our San Diego flights too for April.

Megan, one of my assistants at work, got engaged! We were all super happy for her. Her ring is gorgeous and she was totally surprised by the proposal. Yay for Megan!

I'm now down 46.8 pounds. It's so awesome having Kurt down there working out with me. He's lost about 10 pounds since he started as well, but he only wants to lose about 12 more. His blood pressure is way down since he started as well, which is AMAZING and why he lost the weight in the first place. I started looking into some classes to take, I would love to incorporate something else into my workouts, but soooo many places have most of their stuff during the day. Seriously, how many people have all this time during the workday to go work out? I am going to call the old studio I worked out at and see if they are still there, I would love to get back into combat kickboxing.

A great new snack I discovered last time at the grocery store: Quaker Caramel Corn Rice Cakes. I did not even think I liked rice cakes, but these are super good. Highly recommend. :).

Anyway, I am exhausted and am thrilled tomorrow is Friday and the end of the workweek. Yay. Off to bed, and I will try to post more often.

Since Everyone Else Is Posting It.....

A. Age: 33

B. Bed size: King

C. Chore you dislike: Pretty much all of them. The worst? Floors/mopping.

D. Dogs: I have three who I love to pieces.

E. Essential start to your day: Shower

F. Favorite color: cobalt blue

G. Gold or silver: Gold, but I truly like both

H. Height: 5'8

I. Instruments you play(ed): clarinet. some oboe.

J. Job title: Attorney/Business Owner

K. Kids: My pets

L. Live: Every day like it's your last

M. Mom’s name: Terry

N. Nicknames: Lor, counselor, freak, loser, dork

O. Overnight hospital stays: Zero

P. Pet peeves: Oh.....so many. Let's choose one. People who drive in the fast lane, slowly.

Q. Quote from a movie: "Let's ALL go!" (Legally Blonde)
R. Righty or lefty: Righty

S. Siblings: One sister. One stepbrother.

T. Time you wake up: during the week, around 715 AM. Weekends, around 830 AM

U. Underwear: Thongs.

W. What makes you run late: my husband. traffic.

X. X-rays you’ve had: teeth

Y. Yummy food you make: fish tacos

Z. Zoo animal favorites: Monkeys of any sort.