New post on Hendrices

Go read! And then go cook!
http://hendrices.wordpress.com/2012/07/27/hey-friends-now-make-this-lasagna-6-2/

Moving along!

Hey dudes -

although I don't think any of you are actually males.

I'm switching over to my new WordPress blog. Mostly because I needed a new blog name.

Come find me at Hendrices

Love,
Lydia

When Gill and Lydia plan a wedding, there is to be no:
Princess gowns
Coozies
Printed cocktail napkins
Favors
Veils
Bouquet toss
Garter toss
Programs
Tiered cake

When my caterer started asking me about cocktail napkins and such the other day, I almost fell out of my chair. I figured out why I'm not flipping out right now trying to get things ready - we inadvertently (in many cases) cut out half of the things that most people are working on up to the end. Tying ribbons on programs? Nope. Putting together favors? Nope. Guest hotel bags? Nope. Basically we fail at throwing together a contemporary wedding, but it's got Robins stamped all over it. Gill and I have been all about efficiency. Wine? Gill insisted on grabbing that from Trader Joe's. We're real fancy, people. I do kind of wish I had designed some kind of nerdy Star Wars cocktail napkins, but, alas, I was more concerned with ordering a new latex and PVC free yoga mat. And a bkr water bottle for Clay, because I'm obsessed with mine.

They're made of glass with a silicone sleeve and I love love love mine. No chemicals leeching into your water, and it seems to stay colder! Ava unfortunately got to the top (argh), but I ordered a replacement top when I ordered Clay's. I wish it was coming before we headed out to Portland so we could be matching little tree huggers out there, but oh well!

Somebody's getting excited...

So, I have watched a season and a half of Say Yes to the Dress in two days. I'm not exactly sitting down and glued to the show - I leave it up while I get stuff done - but still.  It gets me really excited because a) I don't have to ever shop for a dress again (and I only went to a bridal salon once - it was miserable - before  ordering several from J.Crew then picking the one that I liked best) b) I am not as crazy as any of these girls c) I will forever consider myself a badass for getting a dress a third of my budget and d) they make brides seem like really special people and weddings really important events, so it gets me all jazzed up about this event that so far I'd considered in a very pragmatic and measured manner. I've basically been screeching for the past two days.

One thing that I'm excited about is the fact that I basically have no idea how everything is going to look. I have an idea about certain elements - farm tables, ikat runners and accents (yeah, that's right, blue ikat, because my event people are awesome), and vintage string lights. But I basically let them put everything together, so I don't exactly know what everything looks like or how it will all be put together. I kind of appreciate that - especially that I didn't have to do anything related to the décor other than say, "I would like farm tables and my colors are blue and ivory." I did the event rentals through Out of Hand (who is also doing the coordinating), so basically the event design was included with the rentals at no charge. Amazing.

Blue ikat, biotches. 

And the centerpieces are supposed to be books with little julep cup arrangements similar to this:

That's right, the reception is book themed because we're nerds. 

So anyway. 11 (ahhh practically 10!) days til I'm getting married, 11 days until we go to PORTLAND and stay in the only hotel in America with a real librarian and a library. And tempurpedic mattresses. We got it for basically half off because we paid in full 8 months in advance. We are going to eat a lot of things in Portland.

Including as many of these donuts as I can stuff in my face. 

So I woke up at 2 am this morning and started almost panicking. Two weeks. We have two weeks left until the wedding. I have nothing left to do. Well, that's a lie. The lady at The Village Bakery is supposed to call me back tomorrow so I can order my cakes from her (because I'm doing assorted pies and cakes rather than a tiered cake). Other than that, transportation is arranged, a tent has been reserved in the event of rain, etc, etc, etc. Everything is done. And I have two weeks to do nothing but think about 115 people staring at me.

At my seventh birthday, my grandmother brought out the cake for everyone to sing Happy Birthday to me at the largest party I'd ever had; the whole grade was invited.  Up until this point I'd been fine, but when all eyes were officially on me, I panicked. Ran from the living room to the back of the house and hid in my room bawling.  I couldn't handle it.  So all of a sudden I'm terrified.  I have Xanax left over from the past few months, plus two more prescriptions for it on hold - I'm covered in that department. However, I don't want to be so out of it that day that I don't remember it! And then I thought of Ginny Baker in Sixteen Candles after she took her muscle relaxers. I started laughing out loud in bed, and all of a sudden everything was better? (I had also woken Clay up at 2:40 am to make him promise me the the would hold my hand. Duh.)

So far all of the showers have been fine, and I'm guessing that the rehearsal dinner (with both of our families it's about half the size of the wedding, yikes!) will be a good warm-up before the actual day.  But Lord, Lord, I am not looking forward to 230 eyeballs pointed in my direction, and having a week and a half (okay, I guess that makes it better) to sit in Columbia and do nothing does not help my anxiety! (Clay's required to be at school through June 5, and we're leaving the next day for Charleston). I have decided to take myself to the Nickelodeon tomorrow to see The Most Exotic Marigold Hotel (because I love Maggie Smith), and then may make some zucchini muffins (made with no refined sugar!).  I don't know who is going to eat all 12 muffins, but I sure as hell need to find something to do to keep myself busy, so if you're hungry for a zucchini muffin tomorrow afternoon or Saturday morning, let me know and we'll arrange something...

Can I just show off a little something?

That's my weight tracker from November to today. I made it down fourteen pounds, and the last eight have been ridiculous, because it started slipping off when I stopped eating processed foods / meat / refined sugar (as you can see in April/May).

I had a much higher than healthy body fat percentage, even if I didn't look big, because I ate so much sugar.  I was starting to show insulin resistance (aka a precursor to diabetes) and didn't want to have to take Metformin (a diabetes drug) on top of my anxiety meds and birth control - it just felt like too much medication.  So I cut out almost all refined sugar (so long, beloved Coke), and it started falling off like whoa. If you're losing weight, it means your insulin / blood sugar levels are normalizing, because that's one big barrier to weight loss (and a reason that a lot of women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome have difficulty losing weight).  I also watched Forks Over Knives (it's on Netflix!) a week or so ago and am toying with the idea of giving up all dairy.  Of course, I love cheese more than anything, so I may leave that in the diet, just sparingly.

In other news, we decided on our ceremony readings (including a selection from The Little Prince!) and I got a ton of things done while I was in Charleston this week.  Four weeks from today I'll be getting a ring on my finger (it's extra exciting because we didn't do an engagement ring [my call], and I can't stop trying on the band at home)!

Banana "Ice Cream"

So I've decided to go completely vegetarian and cut back on dairy - although I'm not quite to the point of eliminating it completely.  I know a lot of people have found benefits of giving up dairy (even if they're not vegetarian) for their digestive and sinus health.  Since I have such stuffy sinuses all the time, I decided it couldn't hurt. Plus, I watched Forks Over Knives and that will make you never want to touch cheese again, until you see cheese and you're like, "Oh cheese, how I love you!" because cheese tastes amazing. I think I'd miss cheese more than ice cream.

But speaking of ice cream.

My fellow Ashley Hall and Clemson graduate Mary Legare Whaley had heard about this contraption called Yonanas that blends frozen bananas into banana ice cream without adding anything.  She thought that $50 for a special banana blender was ridiculous, and so she decided to try out a frozen banana a la food processor. And guess what? It works! (Just make sure you take the peel off before you freeze the banana, because I totally forgot to and was really sad when the peel was frozen solid.) It breaks into little chunks first, then hits this point where it whips into a creamy consistency.  Mary Legare said she'd consider adding different things like peanut butter flour or vanilla extract into it, which could be pretty cool.  I've been pretty frustrated by the offerings in the grocery store - it is almost impossible to get even "whole fruit" sorbet without any added sugar - so I'm excited that I could still have a way to eat a frozen treat without any added refined sugar.  I might even try adding in raspberries or blueberries, or possibly carob chips (hippie alert)! If you want to check out Mary Legare's original post, here's the link at The Whaley Daily 

1. I had initially intended to switch to a new blog in the next few months. I set it up on Wordpress because I felt like it was time to freshen everything up. But now I'm thinking I may abandon everything altogether?! I love reading everyone else's stuff, but sometimes I feel like all that's going on in my life is dog drama and wedding stuff, and as you'll see, I am a terrible bride. 2. I looked at my Knot checklist the other day, and I had 25 items overdue. Whoops? Most of them aren't big deals, but I definitely need to get my dress hemmed. Unfortunately, it's in Charleston and I'm in Columbia. IDIOT. That's all that should need to be done to it, although now I'm petrified that it's going to be too big. Also, my MOH started asking me, "What's your first dance song going to be? What about your father-daughter dance?" and I was like, "I haven't even begun to think about that crap." I should have eloped, maybe? Details make me nauseous. 3. I started dropping the weight I THOUGHT I was trying to lose, but really was doing nothing to do so, when I started eating 80% vegetarian, no refined sugar (okay, I cheat sometimes because I don't believe in depriving yourself completely), and put an emphasis on whole, unprocessed foods. I'm not counting calories (although sometimes I plug everything into Livestrong to make sure I am getting enough), and food tastes AMAZING when you cut back on added sugar in your diet. My best friend from College, Matt, and I got to grab coffee Saturday and were vociferously discussing the evils of the food industry, pretty much preaching to whole foods gospel to everyone in Five Points. One person turned around and asked us a question. We get excited. 4. Matty is also my "representative of God" at the wedding. There is no minister that we wanted to marry us, so we broke everything down into people who are close to us. Matty and my Aunt Joanne are doing prayers and things, and Bill (who is how we met) is doing the marrying things. I think my Dad thought I was trying to have a witch doctor wedding at first, but I think I finally clarified that I wanted the people who had been a part of my spiritual journey to represent God. I have always been very confident that Jesus gave everyone equal power to do His work through the Holy Spirit, so I have no reservations about not having an ordained minister in the ceremony. I am pretty excited about it, though I'm sure old people will think I'm crazy. I careth not. Also, Matty was a missionary for a year, so that's as good as anything for me.

So I was starting to get a little frustrated with Birchbox - I've received countless nail polishes that I'll never use - when they sent the One Love Organics Skin Savior. Big win for Birchbox.

I ended up buying it for ten dollars off - still $58, GULP - but I'm obsessed with the way it mixes with mineral foundation.  So much so that, since I'm doing my own makeup for the wedding (cuz I'm a stubborn little broad that don't trust a soul with my face) I let myself buy Skin Savior.  You can use it as a cleanser (that oil-breaks-down-oil trick is key. I have stopped using all sudsy cleansers on my face and I'm totally better off that way), a moisturizer, a balm, a primer, really, anything.

Also a HUGE win from last month's Birchbox was the Miss Jessie's Quick Curls. My waves/ curls/ whatever is going on when I let my hair dry naturally has never looked so sane than when I used this.  It's got a pretty hefty price for the full size, too, $30. That may be one to save up some Birchbox points for! 

School is almost finished - I can't believe it! I want to stay in my graduate school cocoon forever. It's so cozy and safe. Not very lucrative, however. And when I finish it, I get to get married. Insane. 

Mind blowing things about bodies.

Can I tell you what I learned today?

50% of adoptive mothers that attempt to breast feed CAN. They rarely can produce enough to completely feed the baby, but can set up a tube with formula on the breast so the baby can take it in at the same time as the breast milk. You just start pumping several months before the baby comes and then your breasts can produce milk. I find this FASCINATING and AMAZING.

We had this AMAZING midwife come to our Maternal and Child Health class on Tuesday (her name is Tavish Brinton and if you are in the Midlands and find yourself pregnant I beg and urge and plead you to consider a midwife, and Tavish in particular because she is awesome) and she was talking about being a militant breastfeeder, feeding her babies every where she could. It was hilarious. She gave us cards with the laws regarding breastfeeding to keep in our wallets (Kit, I should send you a copy of the law so you can state it if anyone ever gives you trouble!). I figured I'd take one just in case I ever saw anyone harassing a breastfeeding momma in public.

I recently found out that I have polycystic ovaries and possibly polycystic ovarian syndrome, which means I'll likely be subfertile, if not infertile.

This may shock you, but I'm so totally okay with this. I called Clay after I found out and he said, "Okay, well we were planning on adopting at least one child anyway, right?" and that was that. I had irregular periods when I was younger - they would last really long and the doctor said it was likely because I hadn't actually ovulated, so I have known for a long time that I may have fertility issues. That probably helped prepare me.

This is not to say that I'm planning on having babies anytime soon - don't you worry your pretty little heads. But, I am a) madly, madly, madly passionate and in love with maternal health and reproductive rights, b) about to make a sample public health campaign for midwifery as my final project in my MCH class, and c) I know that adoption can be a grueling process and want to be as educated as possible so that when the time comes (because it will come regardless of whether I birth a child of my own or not), I'll be ready for the process.

Did I mention that adoptive mothers can sometimes breastfeed their babies? Does that not blow your mind?!
(Here's the La Leche League link in case you're curious about how this all works: "Can I Breastfeed My Adoptive Infant?")