#8 Sell a piece of art (and realize my childhood dream, which is #28 on the 40/40 list)

#46 Scuba Diving: Continue practicing my newfound SCUBA skillz by going to the rock quarry at least once.

#52 Read the Greatest Books Ever Written (#7 on the 40/40 list): I mostly have really long ones left so out of the 10 remaining, I’m going to tackle 4 this year. As ONE of these things to read is the ENTIRE works of Shakespeare, I also want to see 2 plays performed live.

#65  Shout ‘Drinks Are on Me!’ in a Pub or Bar (#17 on the 40/40 list): I’m waiting to go my bar on a Tuesday afternoon at 3pm. I can swing buying drinks for 5 people.

#68 Save Someone’s Life (#8 on the 40/40 list): Donate 6 pints I’ve gone back and forth on this. I know they say donating blood can help save someone’s life but I guess I feel like I can’t be sure if MY blood actually saved somoene’s life. But most people seem to think this counts so let’s compromise. If I donate 5 gallons (which is 40 pints and the quickest I’d be able to accomplish that is 7 years), then can we say the likelihood of ONE of those 40 pints actually saved somebody’s life?

#84 Learn to Ski (#32 on the 40/40 list): As a hold over from the original list I had in high school, it’s high time I did something about this one.

#93.5 Get Your Name in the Ring of Honor:  I completed this goal in 2011 but I’ll have my plate unveiling this year.

Goals from my 40 Before I’m 40 List:

#1 Be Able to Do a Pull Up

#11 Learn to Rock Climb: Already have the Groupon in hand to make this happen!

#18 Watch the Top 1,001 Films: Watch 100 this year

#25 Drink All the Beers on the GQ List: Drink 20

#35 Visit all of the NC Breweries: Visit 10 this year

#36 Learn How to Ballroom Dance: Have the Groupon in hand to do this one as well! I think I’m going to try Salsa!

#37 Start Using Coupons

#38 See a Movie in a Drive-In Movie Theater: I’m putting a stipulation on this one. If they simply insist on showing family movies I’m not interested in, I’m not going to force myself to sit through some animated drivel just to check this one off. I think it would be super fantastic if they showed something like Star Wars. Could you imagine seeing that outside at a drive in movie theater? You’d really feel like you were in space!

From the Sports List:

#18 Attend a rugby game (and learn the rules): There are actually some local teams

#19 Attend a cricket game (and learn the rules): There’s actually a local league!

#24 Attend the Kentucky Derby: There is SOME talk about going this year with my good friend Jessica so hopefully this is happening this year.

Also, not officially on any lists but I’m hoping they do the “Over the Edge” event this year so that I can repel down the side of a building and I have also never been to a tea room and I want to try that out.

Think that’s enough? What’s on YOUR goals for 2012?

#1 Write a Novel:  Big FAIL on the National Novel Writing Month again. I feel like I keep coming up with excuses but seriously I just had WAY too much going on in November. I said this last year but maybe I just need to pick another month.

#11 Visit Every State:  Original goal was to go to Pennsylvania but I’m not going to complain about checking Hawaii off the list instead!

#16 Get into the Guinness World Book of Records: I haven’t donated blood all year so epic fail on that. HOWEVER…AANR didn’t try to break 2010′s Skinny Dip Record, so that still stands!

#46 Scuba Diving/#87 Conquer Your Fear:  COMPLETED! (Well, at least the SCUBA diving portion. Time will tell about whether I’ve conquered my fear of water)

#52 Read the Greatest Books Ever Written: The only one I read this year was The Master and Margarita. I spent all of my time working on the Global Challenge. But I also read Fantastic Mr. Fox, Rabbit, Run, Mildred Pierce, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and the latest Sookie book. 13 books total for the year. Not my best effort but better than most, I guess!

#52.1 Shakespeare Reading Challenge: Originally I was going to attempt to actually see some plays performed but my schedule never worked out. I really haven’t put any energy into this one

#52.2 Global Reading Challenge: COMPLETED! I read Winesburg, Ohio (North America), Evil Angels (Australiasia), The Good Earth (Asia), Out of Africa (Africa), The Master and Margarita (Europe), The Road (Future) and Love in the Time in Cholera (South America).

#89 Learn to Cook:  COMPLETED! (Sorry, I haven’t posted about my last 5 recipes yet. I’ll do that in the next couple of weeks).

#93.5 Get Your Name in the Ring of Honor:  COMPLETED! Planning on hosting my plate party in 2012.

#105 Krispy Kreme Challenge: COMPLETED!  Warrior Dash: COMPLETED!

Goals from my 40 Before I’m 40 List:

#6 Start Saving for Retirement: COMPLETED!

#19 Watch AFI’s 100 Best Films: COMPLETED!

#20 Sing Karaoke: COMPLETED!

#28  Sell a piece of art (and realize my childhood dream, which is #8 on the 101 list): FAIL!

#38 See a Movie in a Drive-In Movie Theater: Anytime I thought about it and had a free weekend, they weren’t showing anything I wanted to see. Pushed off to 2012.

#39 Lose 20 Pounds: COMPLETED!

Not on the list for this year’s goals but still to be noted:

• joined the Bone Marrow Registry, so between that and donating blood, I’m working on #68 Save Someone’s Life
• visited Savannah
• saw UNC play (and win) in the NCAA tournament.
• attended a Ren Faire 
• got a star named after me, which could fulfill #94 Get Something Named After Me (I’m still holding out hope for a street or a building or something.)
• While SCUBA diving in Hawaii, I saw a Sea Turtle in the wild; that’s not on the “official” list but still cool
• went to the VA Derby where I was in the top 10 finalists for the hat competition.
• visited the Biltmore Estate.
• attended a Demolition Derby,
• finally went to Rocky Horror Picture Show
  
• got into my girly side by doing a pin-up shoot.

On the official list but not planned at the beginning of the year:

• #7: Eat Exotic Foods: I ate Haggis at the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games and bugs at BugFest
• #98: Go on a Demonstration: COMPLETED!
• #22: Go up in a Hot Air Balloon: COMPLETED!

So in 2011 I completed 11 of my goals, 4 of which are from the original 101 things to do before you die list, which brings the total to 38 things completely done and 13 things partially done. Not too shabby if I do say so myself. And I’m thinking 2012 is going to be even better!

So how did you do with your goals for 2011?  What do you have planned for 2012?

On to the Demolition Derby…

I almost didn’t go to the NC State Fair this year. Although I’ve talked about my love for my fair at great length in past posts and was even a finalist for the Deep Fried Ambassador this year, it just seemed like it wasn’t in the cards for me this year. Fortunately, some friends started talking about going to the Demolition Derby, which is apparently held every year but that I have, somehow, managed to never attend.

What is it about humans that love destruction? And don’t even try to say it’s just me. I’ve been at hockey games where the crowd was worked into an animalistic frenzy during a bloody fist fight on the ice and I’m here to tell you that the cheers that went up from those Derby grandstands on Saturday were next to ecstasy. And I was yelling right along with them.

Since I’m a big fat girl and didn’t know anything about Demolition Derby, I rapid-fire asked questions of my compatriots about the rules. For those of you that have also missed out on the wonder that is Demolition Derby, this is what I got:

• The goal is to be the last “man” standing…or the last car moving in this case.
• You aren’t supposed to hit in the driver’s side. The only safety equipment the
  drivers wear is a helmet, a very small safety neck brace, and a seat belt. That’s it.
• You want to avoid hitting cars with your front end because this does damage to
  your car too! (Seems obvious, I know, but I literally asked why they didn’t ram each other more)
• CAUSE DESTRUCTION!
• Um…that’s about it

It was a lot of fun. In the first “heat,” there were 10 cars that clunked into the ring and lined up in two rows, back to back. I quickly realized that the key to being good at Demolition Derby is being able to drive backwards. (Not to mention probably a general lack of concern for safety). It was a muddy field and it was a delight to see the bald tires slip and skid, especially after a few key hits had bent the axels. Mud was flying everywhere and a couple of cars even caught on fire.

I was delighted to see that of these 10 cars, 2 were female drivers. Awesome!

There were three “heats” and the whole thing only lasted about 1.5 hours. And given the event and where it was, I’ve definitely had my fill of seeing Confederate flags for the next five years. But I’m glad I went!

So have YOU ever been to a Demolition Derby? Would you get in and be a derby driver?

#1 Write a Novel:  Nada, yet. Big plans to do the National Novel Writing Month in November.

#11 Visit Every State:  Managed to cross Hawaii off the list.

#16 Get into the Guinness World Book of Records: I haven’t donated blood all year so epic fail on that. Plus, I bought the Record Book for last year because I thought I’d be in it for the Skinny Dip but it wasn’t included. It doesn’t mean I’m not in it, it just means the Skinny Dip record is in the BIG official books that Libraries get, not the fun little one available for simple people like me.

#46 Scuba Diving/#87 Conquer Your Fear:  COMPLETED! (Well, at least the SCUBA diving portion. Time will tell about whether I’ve conquered my fear of water)

#52 Read the Greatest Books Ever Written: I spent all summer on The Master and Margarita but I’ve mostly been working on the Global Challenge. I’ve also read Fantastic Mr. Fox, Rabbit, Run, Mildred Pierce, and the latest Sookie book. I’m really not doing very well with reading this year compared to my last few years.

#52.1 Shakespeare Reading Challenge: Originally I was going to attempt to actually see some plays performed but my scheduled never worked out. I really haven’t put any energy into this one

#52.2 Global Reading Challenge: So far I’ve read Winesburg, Ohio (North America), Evil Angels (Australiasia), The Good Earth (Asia), Out of Africa (Africa), The Master and Margarita (Europe), and The Road (Future). All that’s left is Love in the Time in Cholera (South America), which I’m currently reading.

#89 Learn to Cook:  I was working toward 52 recipes this year and I’m currently up to 47.

#93.5 Get Your Name in the Ring of Honor:  COMPLETED this one too! We’re planning the “plate party” as we speak.

#105 Krispy Kreme Challenge: COMPLETED!  Warrior Dash: COMPLETED!

Goals from my 40 Before I’m 40 List:

#6 Start Saving for Retirement: COMPLETED!

#19 Watch AFI’s 100 Best Films: I only have Shane and Intolerance left.

#20 Sing Karaoke: COMPLETED!

#28  Sell a piece of art (and realize my childhood dream, which is #8 on the 101 list): Nada, so far.

#38 See a Movie in a Drive-In Movie Theater: I’ve been making excuses on this one. Anytime I’ve been free, the Drive-In movie theater closest to us wasn’t showing something I wanted to see. Hopefully the stars will align and I’ll get both a free weekend and a good movie.

#39 Lose 20 Pounds: COMPLETED!

Not on the list for this year’s goals but I also joined the Bone Marrow Registry, so between that and donating blood, I’m working on #68 Save Someone’s Life. I visited Savannah and I saw UNC play (and win) in the NCAA tournament. We went to a Ren Faire and I also got a star named after me, which could fulfill #94 Get Something Named After Me (I’m still holding out hope for a street or a building or something.) Also, while SCUBA diving in Hawaii, I saw a Sea Turtle in the wild; that’s not on the “official” list but still cool.

We went to the VA Derby where I was in the top 10 finalists for the hat competition. I ate Haggis at the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games and bugs at BugFest (both part of #7 on the 101 list). I went on a demonstration (#98), Hot Air Ballooning! (#22 on the 101 list) and visited the Biltmore Estate.

So how are you doing with your goals for 2011?  Only 3 more months until 2012!

Thanks to a Groupon, we were able to book a flight in a Hot Air Balloon in Asheville, NC for half price. I scheduled this months ago and thought Labor Day in the mountains was the way to spend a long weekend.

We had to get up super early to meet the group by 6am. There were a good number of other people going up with us; in our balloon there were 8 total and a pilot. The other balloon was smaller, only holding 4 people and a pilot.

There’s a lot more to ballooning that I ever could have imagined! We made our way to a gas station with the pilot continuously checking technical looking equipment and gadgets and calling into aviation centers to get information about the weather, wind, cloud cover, etc. At the gas station they released two helium balloons and after staring at these for a few minutes, decided on a launch site, a church, a few miles away. Two more helium balloons were released but, based on the information of watching these two, it was decided this was not a good launch site. So we loaded up and headed to an alternative launch site, another church.

I guess I had never considered the technical aspects of hot air ballooning; I figured we’d just blow it up and we’d be off!

It took an hour to get the balloon unloaded and filled with air. The men in the group were asked to help and Alex got to assist in holding up the “envelope” (the balloon) opening while a motorized fan began to fill it with air.

Filling up the hot air balloon

After it was rather full, a few bursts of hot air made the balloon begin to rise and the basket, which had been laid on its side during this process, was righted.

Hot air into the envelope

They began filling up our balloon a good 20 minutes before they even started working on the second, smaller balloon and before ours was even done, our sister balloon was already in the air.

We were warned that the ride may take as little as 25 minutes but most take around 45 minutes and that our max altitude would be around 1,500 – 2,000 feet. We took flight, slowly climbing into the air at 500 feet a minute. We managed to hit 3,000 feet in altitude, much to the delight of our pilot.

I don’t know what I expected but I guess I’ve built up a tolerance to any kind of excitement. Perhaps I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie by this point. While the flight was certainly serene, there really wasn’t much to it. Because there was no wind, we really didn’t go anywhere; we could always see our launch site. You feel like you are floating and at no point did I even really feel like we were very high up in the air.

We spent the first 20 minutes getting to max altitude and then spent the next 45 minutes trying to find a place to land. While the pilot began the landing process, we took in the scenery.

We were in a valley with mostly residential areas; our first landing spot led us near a trailer park. Although you would think a balloon ride would be very quiet, the blowers for the hot air are actually quite loud. People came out of their houses to figure out what the noise was and, at least for two small children in their pajamas, I’m sure we made their day as we flew slowly just over their front porch.

Alas, something was wrong with this particular landing attempt and the pilot had to abort and begin again. This time we aimed for another backyard and landed gently with very little bump or noise. The ground crew, who the pilot had been talking to incessantly for the past 45 minutes in trying to figure out a landing site, were instantly on board to act as ballast. After some discussion with the home owners, the van and the trailer were backed into the yard and the team began the process of packing things up.

The whole process had taken five hours with the flight taking just over an hour. After we returned, we celebrated with a champagne toast and were given “flight certificates.” While the flight was certainly nice and I’m glad I said I’ve done it, I guess I expected something a little different. Maybe we should put jet packs on the basket so we can zoom around?

Hot Air Balloon Ride!

They attached a video camera to the outside of the balloon which will hopefully be an elapsed time video of our flight. When (if) this is posted, I’ll be sure to pass it along here.

Not having anything to do with going up in a Hot Air Balloon, I also finally made it to the Biltmore Estate after having lived in North Carolina all my life.

Jessica at the Biltmore Estate

It was nice but after hearing about it all your life, either there was no way it could live up to expectations or I had already heard about it in so much detail, there were few surprises. I did enjoy seeing the basement with all the laundry rooms, pantries and various other rooms that were required for the running of such a large estate.

So…good weekend all in all. Sometimes it’s just good to do things so that you can know for yourself and even if they didn’t meet your expectations, it’s still cool to say that you did it.

Have you ever been in a hot air balloon? What did you think? Ever been to the Biltmore Estate? Are you as gaga over it as everyone else seems to be?

I’ve been so excited to share this post with you but I had to wait for photos from the race to become available.

We had a great time at the Warrior Dash and I would absolutely do it again. While Hurricane Irene ravaged the North Carolina Outer Banks some 300 miles away, we experienced a sunny and balmy day. We arrived a couple of hours before our start so we wandered around and took in the sights; the last 4 obstacles were set up all at the end so plenty of spectators could watch and we were actually in the minority for NOT dressing up. We saw plenty of girls in tutus, guys in superhero costumes, a splattering of spartans and vikings, and other generally random dressed up people with face paint and matching t-shirts.

We were in the 2:00 wave and with a countdown and a blast of fire, we were off! I managed to run the whole first mile and then we hit the first obstacle, which was low walls interspersed with barbed wire. Because of my infamous lack of upper body strength, I flung my leg on top of the walls and pulled myself over using my just my legs. For all six walls. Closely following that obstacle was a series of (empty) dumpsters interspersed with tires to run through. I did the same trick with my legs again, resulting in very fatigued legs!

We ran another mile back and encountered our next obstacle, which was a balance beam type structure, quickly followed by the dreaded rope wall. The wall was about 20 feet tall and had a few foot holds. I didn’t think about it; I just grabbed the first empty rope and started climbing. Nearing the top I almost looked down but realized that would probably end me so I just kept going, believing completely that I could make it over without plummeting to my death. Grabbing the rope beside mine, I carefully went over the wall and climbed down on the ladder type structure built into the wall. Of all of the obstacles, I was the most proud of myself for completing this one.

The next obstacle was a tent-like structure that had curtains of tarp throughout that blocked light, resulting in you crawling in complete darkness. Fine, but I managed to crawl right into a 2×4 that made up part of the wall. I scraped my knees too, which is probably a first since I was 10.

After that we climbed over a cargo net structure followed by a bleacher-type structure, which you climbed up and then slid down a firemen’s pole. That was followed by a slimy pond (complete with icky green film floating on top) where we climbed over submerged logs.

What remained were the four obstacles all in view of the spectators: a jungle gym type structure, a cargo net wall, fire, and the mud pit. I had forgotten to tighten up the drawstring in my shorts so after getting wet in the pond, when I jumped over the fire, my shorts almost fell off!

Jumping over fire!

I tried to rather gingerly jump into the mud but it was like quicksand and almost sucked my shoes off. I waded through the waist deep mud to get to the barbed wire. Crawling on my hands and knees through the mud, spectators were yelling at me, harassing me, saying “You aren’t a real warrior! Get on your belly and do it right!” That was a little weird but I just ignored it and kept on.

Emerging from the Mud Pit

I cleared the barbed wire and ran grinning across the finish line where they immediately adorned my neck with my Warrior Dash medal, insuring it would get terribly muddy.

(Notice I'm holding up my shorts?)

Here’s a video of the obstacle course (not done by us, of course, but gives a better impression of the obstacles I tried to describe above):

We met up with Lydia and Steve (preggo Lydia couldn’t run it, obviously, much to her chagrin) and Steve finished about 10 minutes before us (Alex and I finished in 53 minutes). We grabbed a quick, muddy group shot before heading over to try to get sprayed clean by the water trucks. It mostly just got the mud that was caked on but thanks to the wonderful red clay of the North Carolina foothills, we were stained pink.

We gulped down our free beers (my first Bud Light and I was so tired and thirsty, it was the best thing I tasted all day), Alex grabbed a quick turkey leg, and we decided to make our way to Alex’s parents, who lived nearby, to take proper showers. In his mother’s clean bathroom I peeled off my mud stained clothes and realized a veritable pile of dirt and other debris had fallen off of me! It took 3 scrubbings and I was still slightly pink.

I loved every minute of the Warrior Dash and had a blast. I would totally do it again and would hopefully even improve on my time!

What do you think? Would you do it? Have done it, or something like it? I know Stefanie has!

Of course, the Earth may not want me running this race. I got to feel my very first earthquake yesterday. Also, you may not have heard, but we have Hurricane Irene heading our way that may either cancel or postpone the race. (Although, if I ran the Warrior Dash in a hurricane, how bad ass would that be?!) We’ll see!

They’ve posted info about the course and we should expect 12 obstacles:

1. After running a pretty good distance, we reach the first obstacle, which is a “teeter-totter” type challenge
2. It doesn’t seem too daunting but climbing through a darkened tunnel could be a little disconcerting
3. After a bit of running, 3rd challenge is climbing through tangled ropes
4. A little more running, 4th obstacle is climbing over cargo nets
5. I like this one: the 5th obstacle is climbing over junk cars (fun!)
6. Then I get to rappel down into a ravine (Yay for rappelling!)
7. This one will take upper body strength: climbing over a wall covered in cargo nets
8. Finally time to get wet, I get to trudge through waist deep water and over logs
9. Now that I’m wet, what better thing to do than climb up and down hay bales and get hay stuck all over me?
10. And to really challenge my weak spaghetti arms, I finally have to climb over a wall and just drop down to the bottom. If I wimp out over anything, this will be it.
11. My favorite obstacle: jumping over fire!
12. And to end, I finally get dirty by crawling under barbed wire through mud

EDIT: As of Thursday, August 25th, they completely re-hauled the course. So ignore everything I just said and click here to see the obstacles: http://warriordash.com/register2011_carolinas.php

I’m getting pretty excited and can’t wait for the great photo ops. This is one of the more adventurous things I’ve done in a while and I’m ready to get my adrenaline going!

(I actually wrote this post 3 weeks ago when I was at 19 pounds. REALLY frustrating sitting at 19 pounds lost when 20 is your goal).

As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve always had a pretty good self-image. I was active when younger and through to college and have irregularly continued to go to the gym as an adult. It didn’t bother me much to see the scale climb slowly over the years because I remained the same dress size so I didn’t consider my weight gain to be that significant. I was happy and healthy and that’s all I was concerned with.

Starting with the new year, I realized my clothes were getting a little tighter. I chalked it up to “winter weight” and the fact that after having trained for the marathon last year, I was simply still in the habit of eating like a distance runner. My knees still bothered me a bit so working out wasn’t the immediate solution and I had never really had to think about what I put into my body before so any attempts at diet changes were half-hearted at best.

The weight continued to pack on and the number on the scale reached new heights: 163.4. After seeing photos of myself singing Karaoke at my birthday in April, I finally made a decision: I was going to get serious about losing weight.

After announcing it here and asking for suggestions from you guys, I decided to try Weight Watchers. In the beginning, there were more failures than successes. I would try to stick to the points but I was still so hungry! I ended up having to forgo my precious Dr. Pepper (a very costly 4 points) and substituted coffee with Splenda for my daily caffeine fix. (I allow myself one Dr. Pepper on Saturdays and Sundays and it’s one of the best parts of my week).

Things that I thought were “good” for me weren’t as great as I originally thought (a favorite trail mix was 7 points per serving!) so it took me about a month to figure out what I could eat and what I really had to skip. I started grocery shopping a bit more to stock the house with fresh produce (Most veggies and fruits are 0 points) and began cooking Weight Watcher recipes (which has helped me towards my other goal of 52 recipes this year).

Some weeks I lost. Some weeks I gained. Some weeks there were no changes at all. And for the first 6 weeks it was really frustrating. I had lost 9 pounds which was right on schedule for the amount of weight I needed to lose (1-2 pounds a week) but I still pined for pizza, Bojangles, donuts, and all the other wonderful things I really couldn’t have. (You can but after a couple of weeks of burning through all of my weekly points AND activity points through indulgences, I really wasn’t getting anywhere).

Plus, no one was noticing. I wasn’t losing weight to get compliments but it’s reassuring and motivating to have people notice and comment on your hard work. Apparently, I wasn’t losing it in my face and as I was still the same size/wearing the same clothes (albeit slightly more loose fitting ones), so no one could really tell I had lost weight. (As you can tell from the “Before and After” photo below, you actually really can’t tell that much difference. Twenty pounds sounds like a lot but apparently I had it to lose).

It wasn’t until I hit below 150 and sustained it for a week or so that I really started feeling good about myself. I hadn’t been below 150 since the food poisoning incident in New Orleans in January 2007…and suffice to say, no one wants to lose weight that way. For a sustained amount of time, I hadn’t been below 150 since 2005. People started noticing and my stomach had finally shrunk-I was finally full from my daily points.

When I started Weight Watchers, I also began attending Zumba classes at my gym. I’m not really a big class person and even though I had heard a lot of good things about Zumba, I had put off going for the longest time because I worry too much about not doing the moves “right.” It was really tough those first few weeks; the class moves super fast and I felt like I’d never get the hang of the routines. When I was going left, everyone else was going right. I’d go up, everyone else was down.

But, after awhile, I started to feel more comfortable and once I kinda knew the routines, then I could really focus on working out, rather than doing it “right.” Now, it’s a killer workout that I both look forward to and dread the two times a week I go.

Technically, when I put this on the list, losing 20 pounds meant I’d get down to 140 and I still intend to. Actually, I think I’m going to keep going until 135. It is not my intent to try to be skinny; I hate when people lose too much weight and they look strange, like the skin is pulled too tight over their bones, but I was 130 when I graduated from college and I wasn’t skinny then.

Complaints that I can’t really have:

1. I’ve lost enough weight that a lot of my clothes really don’t fit anymore. I’m not interested in purchasing a brand new wardrobe and I like the clothes I have. I’m thinking I may just have to get some of my nicer clothes (my dress pants, some blouses, etc) taken in.
2. My stomach has shrunk so much so that even when I do have a delicious meal I’d like to enjoy, like some Eastern NC pork barbecue, I can’t eat much before I get full.
3. When I do eat yummy foods like Krispy Kreme donuts, they don’t taste as good anymore. I feel yucky after having eaten them and instantly regret choosing the fattening, sugary food rather than the healthier alternative.
4. I worry about how I’m supposed to maintain this. I don’t think going back to the way I ate before is the answer although I feel that I probably can re-introduce daily Dr. Peppers and a couple of trips to Bojangles every month. I’ll have to do some research.

But I’m happy. I really didn’t know if I’d be able to lose weight; it seemed like such an impossible thing. And now that I have, I’m just so proud of myself for pushing through, saying no to the office donuts and choosing salad when everyone else is eating pasta.

What are your thoughts about diets and exercise? What success stories do you have that you’d like to share?

Apparently there is an event happening in Raleigh, NC called Over the Edge that is a fundraiser for the Special Olympics North Carolina. On October 1st, participants that have raised at least $1,000 will rappel 32 stories off the Wachovia Capitol Center Building on Fayetteville Street in downtown Raleigh. I can’t do this because 1) I am hosting a baby shower that day and b) I am only finding out about it now and I don’t have time to raise $1,000. But you bet your sweet bippy that I’m doing this next year.

I’ve heard about events like this and I’ve even known some other life listers who have done it but I didn’t realize we had an event like it here. How bad ass is this?! To rappel off the side of a “skyscraper”! (don’t laugh, it’s the tallest building we have in Raleigh).

Activities

Here in Raleigh, we’re 2 hours from the beach and 3 hours from the mountains so if that’s your thing, both are great. However, if you want to stay in town, there are plenty of lakes for recreation. Lydia and Steve have a boat and on the Saturday Jes was in town, we went out on Jordan Lake. As soon as we put in, I heard a strange squawk and looked to see what bird made the noise. I immediately spotted a Bald Eagle and pointed him out to the rest of the group. I got out the binoculars and watched him for awhile perched upon a dead tree. Even if I had seen one before, it’s still an impressive sight to behold.

We enjoyed ourselves on the lake for a few hours but then unfortunately had boat problems and had to call for a tow. Jes got burned while we waited for the tow but we still had a great day.

If you don’t have access to a friend’s boat, there are always plenty of accessible sandy beaches for swimming and camping at our local lakes: Jordan, Falls, and Kerr.

Sports

Depending on the time of year you visit, maybe you should check out the Carolina Mudcats. I grew up watching this minor league baseball team and it’s a fun time to be had. Muddy the Mudcat is the best mascot in all of sports and it’s an inexpensive way to spend your time with $11 box seat tickets and Thirsty Thursday $2 beers.

Me and Jes at Mudcats game

The Durham Bulls are obviously pretty well known and they’re great too. But it’s a different atmosphere over there: a little more corporate and a little more cosmopolitan. The Carolina Mudcats tend to attract more families and are seemingly just a little more laid back.

If you find yourself here during the winter months, try the Carolina Hurricanes. For an NHL team, you can still get tickets for around $30.

Food

You can’t visit NC without having pork barbecue. There are places in Raleigh that are good. I’m personally a fan of Cooper’s Barbecue and The Pit has been on the Food Network numerous times. But for my money, the best barbecue is Parker’s which is actually in Wilson, NC, about an hour east of Raleigh. We made our way here on Sunday just after the Church crowd and I think Jes was quite taken with both the facility and the servers. One can imagine not much has changed since 1946; the wood chairs and formica tables are attended by a male-only wait staff that wear jeans, white short sleeve button ups with long waist aprons and paper hats. When I was teen, these boys were complete eye candy as they hustled back and forth with their huge serving trays heaped with plates but I think they must hire them younger than they used to…;)

On Monday I took Jes down to a great place to eat ice cream at my fave place Sunni Sky’s. This is technically not in Raleigh either but in a small town called Angier, about 45 minutes southeast of Raleigh. But so worth the drive. All the ice cream is homemade and you can taste the difference. Their best known flavor is called “Cold Sweat” which is very HOT ice cream that has been featured nationally on Good Morning America and the Food Network. They are very generous with their free samples and compared to the likes of Baskin Robbins, you get a lot of ice cream for not a lot of price. My fave is Strawberry Cheesecake that has huge pieces of strawberry and chunks of cheesecake.

Nightlife

I’ve spoken ad naseum about Flying Saucer so I won’t talk much more about my beloved beer pub but it was obviously a priority to take Jes there and we managed to, twice. On Friday night we parked back at Flying Saucer and took the R Line, which is a free downtown bus, to Solas bar, which has a great patio area (it’s also has a unique dance floor as it’s made of glass and girls in little short skirts tend to dance, given the diners below a bit of a show). Unfortunately, although I had made reservations, they neglected to tell me a private party was scheduled so we altered our plans to stay in the “Glenwood South” area and ate at Armadillo Grill (which has the distinction of being where Alex and I had our first date).

After dinner we took the R Line back to Flying Saucer and the “Warehouse” district for a quick drink with Alex before heading down the block to Legend’s for the Drag Show. I had been once before but Jes had never been to a drag show and I thought it was wonderful so we made sure to include it in the itinerary. Plus, Legend’s is one of the best dance clubs in Raleigh and one of the nicest, so if you are interested in a great place to dance, this is a good bet.

Something I only recently discovered that I wish I had taken Jes to when she was here was the Boylan Bridge Brew Pub. Hands down, it grants the best view of downtown Raleigh than any other place you could go. There is dining inside but with a large patio and this view, why would you want to?

Raleigh as seen from the patio of Boylan Bridge Brew Pub

This is obviously not a complete list of all the things you could do in Raleigh but I thought we got a lot done in our short four days, especially mixing in doing nothing all day Sunday but watch movies.

What do you love about your town? What’s your fave thing to do or place to eat?