Whirlwind Holiday Season...

At the F-o-u-r Seasons for a "Holiday Hop" organized by a friend.

I'll admit it.... I am EXHAUSTED from the holidays! I feel like I was running constantly in December. Between work, trying to get in to the gym and holiday parties, I had very little down time during the entire month. It was a lot of fun, but it wore me out!! Hence the lack of blogging during that time.

For Christmas, my mom came up to NYC for a ten day stay. One of the highlights was our trip out to Steve's parents' house so that she could meet his family. The three of them hit it off instantly, and we had a ball! It really went much better than I'd even dared to hope!! So, that was not only a huge relief (because while you expect the best, ya never know!), but also a lot of fun.

With Steve and a zillion others at the P--ar-k Ave-nue Tre-e Lig-h-ti-ng

At Steve's dad's annual Game Dinner (they serve game, as opposed to playing games... P.S. game is not the easiest thing for a bandster to eat....I was SO CAREFUL at that meal!)

Another highlight of the Christmas season was that the lovely Bahamas-dwelling Jessica sent me my second Sisterhood care package!!! It was full of lovely things like jeans, jackets, a cute sweater and a really adorable sun dress! My camera hasn't been working properly, so I'm having trouble uploading photos -- I hope to get it working soon so I can show you photos! That said, a few things were too big for me, so I'd love to pass them on to other bandsters -- I'll post photos as soon as I can.

My Sisterhood Package from Jessica from Island Bandit!

Another highlight of Christmas was getting to have dinner with Nora, her husband and my mother! We went to a fabulous restaurant called Gr--a-m-m-e-r-cy T-a-v-e-r-n, and Nora and Kenny brought some incredible wine from their collection for us to enjoy. It added so much to our enjoyment of the meal and that beautiful restaurant! And, it was wonderful to get to see how AMAZING Nora is looking -- she is more than 100 pounds down from the first time we met, and she just looked incredible!! It was really nice to get to meet Kenny, too. I felt like I already knew him from Nora's e-mails and blog posts, and he and my mom really hit it off, too. (Nora... I have GOT to get that photo from my mom!!)

And, finally, a group of us is getting together an NYC bandster brunch on January 21st. If you would like to go, you can e-mail me at chroniclesfrombandland (-at-) gmail (-dot-) com and I'll send you the details. Looking forward to seeing everyone!

The Mother of All Comparison Photos...

I'm constantly encouraging newbies to take a bunch of "before" photos, since I regret not having done that. I have very few full-body shots from my fattest days, and they are probably overly flattering, or I wouldn't have kept them.

Cut to yesterday... I was chatting with my sister on the phone, and she mentioned that she had come across some photos from a July 2008 (3 months pre-band) visit. I was all over that... and asked her to send me the shots she had of me that showed my size. We hit total paydirt!! At last! A real "before" photo.

July 2008 vs. December 2011

WHAT A DIFFERENCE.

I admit to you that I'm surprised to see that I was this big. I remember that day, and I remember being uncomfortable because of my size, but I don't remember actually looking like this, if that makes any sense. Anyway, I am so grateful to have this photo (and one more... I'll do another comparison soon), because it really drives home for me just how far I have been able to come with the help of my band, among other things (like this blog, all of you, boot camp, spin class, yoga, friends and family). Thank you, God.

BTW, the dress on the right is a Herve Leger bandage dress (I'm wearing one of the most body-conscious dresses ever, and I felt great!! I can assure you that the version of me in the photo on the left did not imagine I'd EVER be able to do that!). I borrowed the dress from R-e-nt the R-un-wa-y for a wedding that Steve and I went to on Saturday night. The wedding, incidentally, was a blast!

Quick update!

Wow! If I thought summer was busy ... it's only because I haven't experienced the holiday party season with Steve before! We have been out and about a lot -- and I've been making very good use of Re-n-t th-e Run-w-a-y, since I can't show up in the same dress at every event, and -- even though my size seems to be set now -- I just can't stomach buying multiple expensive long ballgowns in one season. So, that site is tiding me over until I gradually build up a collection of dresses in my size.

Here is a dress from that site that I wore to Steve's big annual Christmas dinner party last weekend. That party was a complete blast -- about 100 friends at his club for a really wonderful dinner. It definitely kicked off the Christmas season the right way!

BUT, how am I talking about Christmas parties without telling you how it went over Thanksgiving?? This was Steve's first holiday with my family, and it went really wonderfully. No big surprise, but my family all loves him, and he and my brother hit it off! I was thrilled.

With the fam at mini golf!

Thanksgiving was great -- and it was the first time I've had a family holiday where I exercised every day. On Thanksgiving, Steve, my brother, my niece and nephew, and I all ran the local Turkey trot. I wimped out and did the 2 mile run with my niece (and my brother, who is recovering from a running injury), and Steve manned up to do the 5 miler with my nephew.

Getting ready to run the Turkey trot!

The next morning, I did an hour and 1/2 spin class, and the following day, my brother, Steve, my nephew and I all went for a hike! When I got home, the scale down on the low end of my bounce-range, which was great to see. Not a bad way to come home after a great holiday of seeing my family!