I'm Hungry

So one of the things that happens when you run a race is that they have professional photographers all over the course taking your photo.

They have nice cameras which really show a lot of details. 

Too much details. 

We got an email from the race photographer on Monday evening with all the photos that we were in. There were a few dozen and we each went to our separate computer and looked at our individual photos.

Our photos were bad. Real bad. Mine were really really bad. So bad that I cried. 

We both came to the hard conclusion that we could stand to lose a few pounds. It really took the wind out of my sails. I mean 36 hours prior I had finished a marathon, but after seeing those photos, I got really bummed out. 

It also just so happened that Monday night when we received the race photos, we were in the middle of watching the documentary 'Forks Over Knives' on Netflix. 

In case you don't know, this movie highlights the importance of having a plant based diet (veganism) using scientific arguments on the health benefits that occur once you remove dairy and meat from your diet. I won't get into the details at all because I am not an expert but I definitely recommend that you watch the movie to learn more about it. 

It is powerful but not 'in your face.'

When I was in fourth grade I became a vegetarian and did so for about five years (minus the occasional bacon indulgence here and there. I had a weakness!). In tenth grade I started eating meat again. Once I hit college, I went vegetarian for about a year and then turned to veganism. I was a vegan for about a year, ate meat for a year, became vegan again for about two years, went vegetarian for two years, then ate meat for the last 1.5 years. 

To say that my relationship with animal products is off/on again is an understatement. 

After watching the movie 'Forks over Knives' with my husband though on Monday, we both came to the conclusion together that we needed to adopt more of a plant based diet. We need to get healthy, lose weight and get control of our future.

We are doing it together and I am excited about that.

We are slowly easing into this. We have some dairy in the house we need to eat still and some meat in the freezer we need to cook. We are planning on doing one meal a week with the meat until we use it all up and basically limit our dairy intake by a lot as we slowly get rid of our cheese/eggs/butter. I am most likely going to go full-on vegan once we use up all the dairy and meat, while my husband will be fairly plant based, but still enjoy the occasional burger :)

We will see how this goes and we are really excited about doing this together (probably me more than him though. He just got a new grill for his birthday two weeks ago and grilling vegetables on it isn't quite the same as grilling meat).

So expect some vegan recipes to come your way during the next few months. I actually did a guest post on Kate's blog last week, Scathingly Brillant, about one of my favorite vegan dishes to make (total coinecende). 

Check out Scathingly Brillant (here) to see how I make a yummy Pakistani Dahl.

All in all, I definitely want to eat some bacon right now.

High Five For Friday!!

Happy Friday everyone! It's the 'official' birthday weekend of the husband so instead of doing things I think he might enjoy (aka sumo wrestling), we are doing things he will actually enjoy (aka drinking a lot and eating food that is really bad for us).

So I am linking up with Lauren to share some of my five favorite things today...

one.

photo by Ryan Russell

If you live in the Atlanta area, you most likely have experienced the awesomeness that is 'The Vortex.'

My husband loves it for its extensive beer menu and double coronary burger (half pound sirloin patty, topped with two fried eggs, six slices of American cheese, eight slices of bacon and is served between two grilled cheeses which serve as the buns).

I am much more delicate and enjoy it for its fried pickles and yokohana burger (pineapple slice, jack cheese and teriyaki glaze).

I am definitely going to be unladylike and will unbutton my pants about half way during the meal.

two.

Picked up some of these bad boys outside of Wal-mart today.

There is really no point in arguing that these are the best. Hands down.

PS....anyone else notice inflation? I mean, I'm addicted to them like crack, so the $3.50 price tag isn't holding me back, but can I say I remember the good old days when they were $2.00 a box?

three.

Tomorrow night we are going to an Improv show with some friends. We had a blast when we went about a month ago, so I am really looking forward to hearing more about drunk sharks and giggling to really bad Obama impersonations.

four.

Someone got their birthday present today!

My mom and stepdad got JE a grill for his birthday so he spent the evening building it and grilling cheddar-wursts on it for us. He absolutely loves it and is currently reading about grilling tips online while I write this.

Please excuse the mess - we were grill building.

five. 

Tomorrow my favorite yarn store in Atlanta is having a 20% off EVERYTHING sale!! Also, the first 50 people get a free gift. 

You best believe I am going to be there at opening and will not hesitate to throw the elbows to any old lady that gets in my way. 

Just kidding. 

(not really).

I hope you all have a great weekend!! Eat some girl scout cookies for me!

~With Love, Ashlee~

Semi-Naked Sweaty Men

If I had asked my husband, 'Hey Honey, do you want to celebrate your birthday by having sweat tossed onto you while watching two almost naked men wrestle around?' 

I assume the answer would have been 'no, not really.'

I had stumbled upon a LivingSocial deal about a month ago which advertised a package including a sumo competition, sushi dinner and sake tasting. 

If those three things don't spell out, 'Hooray, I'm turning 30!' then .... I'm confused. 

Sunday morning after a month of secrecry, I spill the beans to my husband that we are going to go watch a sumo competition. After a lot of confused laughter, the excitement set in. Then like the true pupil he is...he began studying and read all morning about sumo culture, rules and fun facts. 

 

The event took place at the Opera house in downtown Atlanta. Nothing spells sumo competition like opera house. 

 

When we got to our seats, we were greeted with edamane and sake.  

My personal favorite was the Bonzai Bunny Blueberry Sake.

 We also got a pamphlet on sumo wrestling with all the US Sumo association sumo wrestlers and their stats. No trading cards though :(

 (sidenote: Did you know that there are female sumo wrestlers?? And I weigh more than a lot of them?????)

 Oh did I mention that I paid extra so we were VIP. That meant we got sit front row, center. Only feet away from the ring. 

The two men that we got to watch were Byamba and Kelly Gneiting. 

Byamba is from Mongolia and has been the World Sumo Champion three times and Kelly is from Idaho and has been the US Sumo Champion four times. 

Their stats - Byamba is 27 years old, 6'1" and 365 lbs. Kelly is 42 years old, 6'0" and 420 lbs. 

(Byamba left, Kelly right)

While they sumo wrestled, we ate sushi, drank sake and I was delighted to be a handed a cupcake when I had consumed my daily quota of raw fish.

Here's a video I took of their last match of the evening...

And lastly, afterwards we got to do a meet and greet with them.

Note to self: next time you get your picture taken with a sumo wrestler, do a thumbs up.

Colorado friends, I just looked at the LivingSocial website and the tour is heading to Denver April 27th and 28th. 

Jump on it!

Decisions, Decisions

I need your help with a big decision guys. I need your opinions on which new wedding ring I should get. Before I show off the rocks though, a little bit of a back story....

My husband and I were living in Richmond, VA, working 100+ hours a week on the presidential campaign and couldn't rub two pennies together. We slept on an air mattress for 8 months until we could finally afford a bed (my mom's best friend actually sent us a new air mattress in the mail at one point because ours had a slow leak and we couldn't spend the $30 for a new one). 

We were a little bit poor.

One night as we were going to bed, my husband (then boyfriend) asked me what I wanted for Christmas that year. I told him that I wanted a sewing machine. I asked him what he wanted, and he said that he wanted to be engaged by Christmas. 

Can I just tell you that the silence that followed was deafening. I then turned to him and said...'Are you proposing to me?' He responded with, 'Yeah....I guess I am.' I told him to turn on the lights then, because if he was going to propose, I at least wanted to be able to look at him. 

Despite its awkward beginning, we both got all sentimental and sappy and it turned out to be very sweet. The next day, I made him call my parents and ask for permission/tell them he proposed already. 

The problem was though, he didn't have a ring since a) it was so impromptu, b) we were very, very poor. 

It was about three months later when my mom and I went to Kohls and I bought a Vera Wang ring with CZ stones and it was sterling silver plated. I think it was about $40.

 **Vera Wang ring from Kohls**

It was very pretty, but not built to last. The sterling silver plating wore off, so the base metal was always against my skin. I am very delicate, and got a bad allergic reaction from my ring. So no more Vera Wang ring. 

After a few months of looking and asking for a new ring, I finally was able to buy one from an awesome etsy seller, onegarnetgirl. It was simple, beautiful, understated and pure sterling silver. Hooray!!

 source

Well after three years, I need a new ring. My ring accidentally broke (easy to fix, but caused it to became loose) and fell off my finger. I can't find it anywhere, so I have been wearing my plain wedding band until I get a new one. 

I absolutely love onegarnetgirl's designs and I want to buy from her again. Here are photos below of my top choices. They are all sterling silver and feature a white topaz stone (no diamonds for us)! 

I have a favorite, but I can't bite the bullet just yet. 

Can you please help me figure out which one I should get?

 Option #1

Option #2

 

Option #3

Option #4

 Option #5

What do you guys think?

Guess Who Is Warm and Cozy....

Thursday afternoon my husband sent me a message asking me what my dress size was. Considering that after being together for four years and never being asked this before, I was a little taken aback. After providing him with my dress size (and shoe size just in case) my mind proceeded to imagine all the glorious dresses that my husband might be getting me for Valentine's Day. He has NEVER purchased me an item of clothing or picked anything like that out for me, so I was getting pretty darn excited to see what he was buying me. 

Cue Friday afternoon when FedEx delivers a delightfully large size box to my apartment. Under strict orders from my husband, I didn't open it until he come home. I stared at the box for a few hours, my puppy dog licked it for about twenty minutes and I shaved my legs in anticipation for my new dress.

I. shaved. my. legs.

That alone should tell you how excited I was.

Finally, my husband comes in the evening and not empty-handed. He brings me Chipotle. A dress and a burrito. I was absolutely giddy.

After tearing open the box, my jaw dropped, and the first words out of my mouth were, "oh my god. Oh My God! OH MY GOD!!!"

30 seconds later I am dressed to the nines in my new outfit and shove my camera in my husband's hand. Check out my new threads....

That's right y'all. My imagined dress is actually a thick, fleece, monogrammed, hooded, pair of panda bear footie pajamas. 

"I'm sexy and I know it."

Please excuse the poor quality of photos. We were laughing so hard that we couldn't get a decent photo of me in my new outfit. These were the best of about 60 photos. 

The rest of our Valentine's Day celebration (he has law school stuff on V-Day, so we decided to celebrate Friday) consumed of me wearing an outfit that covered me literally from head to toe, spilling Chipotle all over the front of myself and watching Twin Peaks. 

FYI - Over 48 hours have passed since I received my most prized possession and it has not left my body. I haven't bathed, I have walked my dog outside in this (fake Uggs for shoes) and mostly lounged around embracing my coziness. 

Best Valentine's ever!!

PS - My husband is so stinking proud of himself for this present and wants everyone to know that.

Parking Lot Hijinks

Husband and I ventured out of the house today to do some exciting things. We went to the library, post office and bought some printer ink. Yeehaw!!

Somewhere in the middle of this, in a grocery store parking lot, a man came up to my Husband and offered to buff and polish the back fender on our Prius. About six months ago someone side swipped our car in a parking lot and drove off. They practically took off our back bumper, but with some gorilla glue, we managed to reattach it. It hasn't looked too good since. I didn't mind the dents, but it was starting to rust a little bit.

Anywho, this guy convinced my husband that he could make our fender look as good as new. He was one hell of a salesman. He told us he actually worked for the local toyota dealership, that he just 'happened' to have the tools in the back of his Cadillac Escalade and that he could make it look as good as new in 20 minutes. I just stood to the side and surveyed the parking lot while they were talking, sure as anything that some sort of raid was about to happen. He told us he was doing this to get some extra money for his kids and that all this miracle work was only going to cost us $200. Well...my husband talked this guy down to $100 and the next thing I know, this guy pulls a giant blowtorch out of his car, some spray paint and his assistant (aka - lady friend) and gets to work.

I hopped in the car to stay warm and let me husband survey the car repair situation. As I nervously looked around, I watched a giant traffic jam form in the parking lot as people just stopped driving to stare at the man with a giant blowtorch scorching our car.

Well....20 minutes later and I swear to Jebus, our fender was as good as new. No dents, no scratches and with a beautiful fresh coat of paint. My husband tipped him an extra $20 and convinced at least one other person in the parking lot to let the man fix her car.

Moral of the story: If a tall, heavy man approaches you in a parking lot with a blowtorch, bolt cutters and spray paint in a partially abandoned parking lot.....be prepared to get a great deal on car repair.