Lots of Parties, Not So Many Posts!

Hi there! I've been posting less lately, mainly because I've been so busy, between work and life in general. But, it's been a lot of fun!

It was Steve's birthday last week, so I organized a get together at a rooftop bar to celebrate. It was a gorgeous day and around 100 friends came out to celebrate. I arranged for some hors d'oeuvres and a yummy cake (yellow cake, chocolate icing), and the party went really well!

With two of my oldest and dearest friends, B and N

On the rooftop with E, B and Marjorie!

I actually wore a dress that I got from Rent the Runway. It's a Lela Rose dress that retails for about $1,200, and I was able to rent it for around $150. They let me have it in two sizes, and the 8 worked perfectly!

Unfortunately, at one point in the night, the heavens opened up, and we had a TORRENTIAL DOWNPOUR for about 15 minutes! We got absolutely soaked!! Even though there was a covered part of the roof, the rain was coming in sideways, by the bucket! Here is the birthday boy, dripping with water!

Happily, it didn't last too long and everyone got back to enjoying the terrace as soon as it ended!

On Friday, as a b-day treat, Steve and I went up to a bluegrass festival in the Catskill Mountains, then continued up to his parents' house in the Adirondacks for his dad's 70th b-day celebration. We got in some hiking, some tennis, and plenty of celebrating. I met much more of the extended family, and everyone was great.

Pre-party cocktails by the river.

Steve played guitar at the party with a friend.... just behind this hideous frog gnome that someone got his dad as a joke! All in all, life is really good. I'm so happy with Steve, and this summer has been a blast. I'm still having trouble juggling my schedule, and I've definitely been in less touch with my friends and family who live out of town than I'd prefer to be.

It's also been hard to get as much exercise as I usually do, since we're out of town every weekend. And... as of this morning, my scale is up 4.6 pounds from my maintenance norm of 148 (I'm still under my goal, but I'm closer to it than I'd like to be). So, I'm going to dial back the sweets and see what I can do to get an extra workout in. I'm actually going to stay in town this weekend (though Steve invited me out to the Hamptons) to get in some down time and my usual two workouts. I did not work this hard to get to my goal to screw it up now, especially since my band is working just fine.

Another weird thing I've noticed is that I developed an allergy or two during the last six months to a year. I seem to be allergic to my cat now, and to be allergic to a few other things. Basically, I wake up stuffed up every day. I'm wondering if this might be band-related. I had another bandster friend who (sorry.. hope you're not eating) said that she was a little phlegmy (squirm squirm...) post-band and that her doctor said it was likely band-related. I guess it doesn't go down the way it would have before? Have any of you experienced anything like this?