A month of stuff!

WOW!  How does a month go by without a post?  I hate to say it but boy am I slacking!

The past month has been SUPER busy.  June is notoriously crazy for me every year, as almost every person I know is a Gemini or a Gemini cusp, including me.  That's right, I recently celebrated my 30th birthday!  Goodbye 20's hello to a new decade of my life.  There are no pictures from the event, however let me tell you my partner planned a party that was perfect for me.  The theme of the whole day was "A kids party for an old lady".  We started the day rollerskating for an hour and a half at Roller World, in Saugus.  I had almost every birthday party there as a child, making it a total trip down memory lane.  (I always think about Bobby Cincotta with the fork in his nose....anyone else remember that?)  After skating we had a BBQ at my mom's house.  Alex created an atmosphere of fun and relaxation, which is what I wanted.  There were goody bags (Complete with toy dinosaurs, glow bracelets, Buffy the Vampire Slayer pins, and vodka nips), stick the horn on the unicorn game, and a crafting table for people to put birthday wishes on sheets of paper.  We are going to put all the wishes on a canvas and hang them in the house.  Gotta love craft projects!

The highlight of the day was the fact that Alex surprised me by driving 45 minutes, each way, to a bakery in Salem, NH called Chatila's Bakery for a sugar-free birthday cake and sugar-free / gluten-free cheesecake.  Both were super tasty and beautiful.  I have got to say, I am a very lucky girl.

Otherwise, I have been working my tail off, going to birthday parties for my friends, going to concerts (Dave Matthews Band is ALWAYS amazing live by the way), and trying new recipes.

I made an Italian style casserole that is reminiscent of baked ziti and stuffed peppers mixed together.  Thank you again for the inspiration Michelle from The World According to Eggface.  Her creations inspire my cooking so much and give me a place to start from and then build upon.  So my "stuffed pepper casserole" was almost exactly a combination of these 2 recipes:  Un-stuffed Pepper Casserole and Shelly's Turkey Stuffed Peppers.  Make the Un-Stuffed Casserole but put mushrooms, zuccini, and summer squash into the mix.  And instead of ground Turkey, I used leftover rotisserie chicken that I cubed.  Alex LOVED this one.

She also liked this pizza I made today.  It needs a name, but for now I'm calling it


Linz's Kitchen Sink Pizza

1 Ezekiel 4:9® 6 inch Whole Grain Flour-less Tortilla 

(I got them at Hannaford's Market but you can go to their website and look up the stores that carry the brand)

2 TBLS Tomato Sauce

3 slices of deli smoked ham (HIllshire Farms)

1/4 of a cup of leftover sautéed veggies  

(I had zucchini, summer squash, onions, mushrooms and garlic left over from the above casserole)

1/4 cup shredded Cheddar/Mozzarella Cheese

1/2 a Haas Avocado

A few squirts of hot sauce (I use Red Hot but any will do)

 A light dusting of Grated Parmesan Cheese

Again, I follow the instruction that Michelle at the Eggface blog give's .  If you do exactly what she says you will throughly enjoy any food you find at her blog.  Go check it out and enjoy her ideas.

So, the nitty gritty.  I hit 210lbs yesterday.  That means I have lost 85lbs since January 18th, 2010.  (5 months for those of you who are counting)  I'm in a size 18 and have gotten rid of everything but 1/8th of my original wardrobe.  Luckily, I was a clothing hoarder and kept things that I haven't worn since college, literally. I've also been lucky enough to have a number of people in my life who have gone through their own weight journey recently who have given me clothing that they can no longer use.  This is the smallest I have been since my sophomore year at Regis College.  That was 11 years ago!  

Here is a recent picture ...

Yup, that's a red cup.  I'm pre-gaming for the Dave Matthews Band Concert.  I can handle a single alcoholic drink now which is also really, REALLY nice.  An as for my little man Luna...

He can't handle his alcohol yet either...You have got to love being a cat!