July 4th Weekend

I had a great 4th of July weekend in Austin, Texas, visiting with my best friend and her sister and brother-in-law (Christi & Mike, who are both friends of mine from college as well). This is the third year in a row that I've spent the 4th at Christi and Mike's house, and I really had a wonderful time! We basically spent the whole weekend floating in the pool, chatting, laughing and having some very nice wine!

Here is a link to my post from last year's 4th of July trip. I've only lost 31 pounds since this time last year, but it's really made a big difference. Here is a comparison shot:

What I love about the photo on the left is that, even though I have 30+ more pounds on me, I was still down almost 50 pounds then, and I felt fantastic. The bathing suit I was wearing is a 14 or a 16, and I liked it so much that I actually bought the exact same one (shown at right) in a size 10 this year! (It sits a bit too low without the straps on. . . but who wants strap lines?!)

I also made plans during this trip to catch up with my friend David, who was a good friend in high school and lives in Austin with his wife and small son. I felt ready to catch up with old friends last year (after avoiding this during the years when I was heaviest), but the timing didn't work with our other plans. It was great to see David and to find that he's still someone I would pick for a friend. It was interesting to find out that our interests had grown in similar areas (food, wine, travel) as we've gotten older and that we still have so much in common.

I hope you all had a great 4th!