Clearly, I can no longer continue my countdown of days-in-a-row that I've posted. Something had to give before The Blathering and, sadly, that was writing extra posts. Writing isn't fast enough yet and coming up with enough fodder for SIX posts to make up the days that I would be gone ended up being overwhelming. (Not to mention the likelihood of being REALLY, REALLY terrible to read.) Oh, well. Moving on. (Day one.) (Ha.)
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I WILL write a Blathering post at some point, but there are so many things in my head and so many wonderful women that I would feel terrible if I missed and I don't want to neglect any part of the trip or anyone who was there. Let's summarize for now: I met exclusively delightful people (this means ALL of the attendees) and was overjoyed to spend my time at each of The Blathering events. The Organizers truly put on a spectacular time and it's apparent that they really want to make the trip special for everyone who is there. My main roommate @mamabub is a saint for taking a chance on a person who she didn't really know and was ALSO awesome and amazing and the BEST person to be with if you witness an almost-brawl at McDonald's, causing you to order room service and stay up forever talking. THANK YOU, M.
And I'll stop there because I have four other lovely roommates, a busload of people I talked to a lot, and another busload of people I WISH I'd said more than a handful of sentences to.
I loved it, it was better than I will ever be able to describe and more to come.
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Let's talk about food.
I ate everything in Nola. I had meals between my meals and ate a significant portion of Ginger's no-longer-in-the-airport-but-also-not-at-home dinner and beignets followed by candy followed by Sucre. ETCETERA. I'm not the type of person who can go to New Orleans and worry about what they're eating. (TRUST ME. I DID NOT EVEN TRY to SEE if I WAS the type.)
Let's talk about weight.
The last few months have been a huge struggle for me weight wise. I feel completely uncomfortable in my own body and I'm pretty sure I've scared away any sort of metabolic energy I once created with nightly workouts and less meals.
I'm not sure what's so hard about this particular roadblock because I've been here before and it passes, right? Eventually the needle moves in the right direction and you feel better and more energetic? It's the same old story of not being able to muster up the right motivation and also being really, REALLY pissed off at myself for it. Planning a trip to New Orleans was complete torture for me and I didn't mention it because who wants to hear someone WHINE about a girl's vacation in a city with amazing food and they feel... fluffy? NO ONE. I don't even want to listen to myself.
Fortunately, my non-plan of gaining pounds before the trip means that I did not really gain MORE pounds , but... that doesn't really make me feel better. (Inside voice: How MUCH were you eating before that an UTTERLY GLUTONOUS weekend in a food capital does essentially nothing?) Still, I didn't want to start an unsustainable weight loss plan smack in the middle of a trip where I was meeting 59 ladies for the first time. (I am rolling my eyes at my own convenient interpretation of the rules on this one.)
I'm absolutely a stress eater. This isn't that tricky- things make me nervous and then all of a sudden I'm down one burrito, six chocolate bars and a bag of kale chips. One of my coworkers tries to coordinate her breakfast/morning water run with my work arrival and the sheer anxiety of being forced into a routine means that I now go straight to the cafe without stopping at my desk. And I buy a bagel with cream cheese as a preventative measure. THIS IS HOW I OPERATE.
Anyway. All that to say that I felt uncomfortable and body-shy and self-conscious the entire trip, but I'm going to do better.* I have a juice cleanse planned for the next week or two (anyone care to weigh in on whether I should execute before or after Thanksgiving? Waiting seems like a cop-out, buying seems like a waste of money). I have an actual juicer coming in the mail sometime soon. I'm channeling ladies like Amy and Jennie for planning walks and runs and yoga. I'm hoarding juice recipes via the generousity of my (sadly) Tokyo based uber-friend A. I'm sure it will be fine in no time.
(* It's hard NOT to say too much about the Blathering, but I should point out that although *I* was not in the most confident of moods, it was one of the only times I have been in a room full of women and not felt like I was being silently judged. REALLY. The ladies are all THAT good.)
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Some fun shots of a gate in the Garden District, New Orleans (near 7th and Magazine).
(Followed by a bonus photo of my sweet little niece. Because I think y'all will appreciate it.)
