Summer's Over...

It's been a while since I last posted, so this will be a catch up blog post!  August was a busy, but WONDERFUL month!  I would have to say the highlight was watching my BMFF (best male friend forever), Sean Patikas-Hunter, marry his beautiful wife, Rita, aka Mrs. Patikas-Hunter :-)  

The night before the wedding, Sean calls & tells me to come over... they're celebrating his last night as a single man over at his house.  Rita was already at the hotel.  So, of course, I get there & I'm the only girl there (sometimes I think Sean forgets I'm not a guy... LOL!)  I'm used to it by now, and Sean's guy friends don't even blink when I show up.  We talked & ate & drank... around midnight the guys were going to some bar, but I recommended that Sean stay home & get some rest.  He listened (and I'm sure he appreciated it the next morning!)  The wedding was Friday, August 20th... the day was perfect.  The ceremony was beautiful... I didn't even burst into a complete cry bubble the way I normally do at weddings.  I think I had gotten out of my system earlier that day... the wedding was in the evening on a yacht in Newport Harbor.  I hadn't seen Sean all day, but a few hours before the ceremony I got a text from him which pretty much brought me to tears.  Happy tears.  By wedding time I was all cried out.  I did get a little misty when I first saw Rita, because she was so beautiful.  I remember her telling me about when she found her dress & how she knew it was perfect.  When I saw her standing with her dad... Wow... she was right.  She was a picture perfect bride.  Here are some shots from the wedding & reception:

My best friends at the wedding, aka, "Sean's Lady Crew" LOL!
Stacy, Sharon, Taufiki, LaVetta, JoLai

The happy & handsome groom, Sean

"I do..."

The wedding party

Great friends from all over the country
to celebrate Sean & Rita's big day!

With the bride... I told Sean I'm on Team Rita now! LOL!

My favorite picture: the mother/son & father/daughter dance...
What you don't see is that Rita is looking at Sean the whole time.
That is when I cried again... it was such a moment.

Okay, so remember the weight loss challenge?  I actually lost 10lbs in August!  It was a result of checking my diet & working out (like I always do.)  So I felt good going into my Labor Day weekend vacation to Florida.  I wasn't going to go crazy and eat everything in sight, but I was not going to be the snack police either.  Yes, I ate a lot of chips... they were in the beach house, and I ate them.  But I also went walking with my dad Saturday & Sunday morning... walked on the beach Saturday... and went walking twice on Tuesday in Atlanta.  Some pix from Florida:

During my beach walk...

On my morning walk with Daddy...

This is pretty much what I did... :-)

Posing at sunset...

After my walk... the water was so clear!

My suntan... which almost became a sunburn...

We left Florida on Monday & headed up to Atlanta to celebrate Kimberly's  40th birthday.  She had a t-shirt & flip flops themed BBQ, and it was a blast!  I got to see a lot of friends from college, play with my nephews & eat some DELICIOUS fried fish.  Oh yes, I enjoyed that fried fish!!!

Yes, 40 year olds double dutch!  And do pop ups!

Our last day as 39 year olds together... Miz & Biz

Auntie's baby, Zachary... my little sunshine!

I'm proud of myself for not beating myself up for snacking and eating things that I normally wouldn't eat.  It's all about moderation.  As much as I would have loved to come home, jump on the scale & weigh what I weighed when I left.... that wasn't the case.  The good news is that I didn't gain even half my weight back, and I enjoyed some great food.  Of course, I'm back on my grind now.... I have given myself a 10lb goal for September.  I can do it!

Toodles!