Spring Break - Savannah Style

Today is my last day of Spring Break. I know I know - I can't complain since most adults with real grown up jobs don't get spring break OR summer vacation anymore. I'm very lucky that I get to do what I love AND get some much needed time off in the sunshine! But, it's just SO HARD to go back after to the stresses that I know are waiting for me after such a relaxing week off.

I spent the first five days of spring break in Savannah GA with one of my very best friends, Lauren. This was the second time that I've gotten to visit Laur since she and her husband moved to the south in June. Our sorority sister Megan came along this time for her first trip to Savannah!


We spent a lot of time lounging on the beach, since all three of us are total sun lovers. Well, I might be a little more obsessive about my tan lines than Lauren and Megan... after a pretty bad burn on day one, I was the only one dumb enough not to hang out under the umbrella a little more often!


We spent two days on Tybee Island, GA. Tybee is an adorable little beach/vacation town with great little shops and some delicious dining. If you are ever in the area the Tybee Island Social Club is a MUST for dinner or lunch! I also had literally THE. BEST. ICE. CREAM. OF. MY. ENTIRE. LIFE. in Tybee. It was a small little ice cream shop near the beach and had home made everything. I went for banana pudding ice cream in a waffle cone and have been dreaming of it ever since...


In an effort to give or skin a little break from the sun, we spent a day in downtown, historic Savannah learning about the city Lauren now calls home. We took a somewhat successful trolley ride throughout the city, as the driver pointed out especially historical or interesting places. We did a lot of walking and talking and catching up. Savannah is SUCH A BEAUTIFUL CITY and it was so nice to have the entire day to just enjoy and appreciate it!

For lunch, Paula Deen's restaurant The Lady and Sons was a must do for me. Even though Paula's recipes are as far from Weight Watchers friendly as possible, it was worth it.

And she has the absolute best sweet tea I've ever had ever. I may have had upwards of four glasses during lunch....


And since Lauren is now an official Savannah resident, we didn't even have to wait in the long long long line out front! Locals are allowed make reservations, ya'll!

Hilton Head, SC is only about an hour drive from Savannah, so we decided to spend one of our beach days there. It was an incredibly nice public beach and a beautiful beach day. After working on our tan lines a little more, we headed to a hidden restaurant Lauren and her husband had found called Skull Creek Boathouse. Even though we had to wait over an hour for a table, it was totally worth it. We got to take some great photos by the water and enjoy some cold beers as we waited.


We also were able to sit outside and enjoy a beautiful sunset as we ate.


And what may have been the most worth the wait was my meal. I ordered the Lowcountry Boil, which is as commonplace in the south as blue crabs are here in Maryland. Its a pretty simple dish of seafood broth, shrimp, corn on the cob, potatoes and sausage. Simple or not, those are almost all of my favorite foods and I was hooked! I may have even made some here at home last night...


All in all, I think that was a super successful spring break! We crammed a lot of things into a short short time, but also got a lot of relaxing girl time together, which is always important to me. It's so easy to get wrapped up in our own daily dramas and forget to just stop and appreciate the world around us and especially the people in it!

I also was reminded why I have always always always loved the south so much... and became even more determined to return for good at some point in my lifetime!

Weigh In Number Two

Well, this week was a little harder. I only lost ONE measly little pound this week. At one point earlier this week (because I weight myself compulsively throughout the week instead of just waiting until Sunday like I'm supposed to) I was down THREE more pounds than last week. But, I guess it's true that the first week is a lot of water and sodium leaving your system.

This week was also SUPER hard for me. Way way way harder than the first week somehow. Here are some of my biggest challenges:

- SNACKING. I know this will pass as I get more used to the program but it's so hard! I've been religiously painting my nails recently just to have an excuse NOT to be able to use my hands to eat while I watch TV!

- SWEETS I talked about this yesterday. Sweets are my complete downfall. I LOVE THEM! Cupcakes, cookies, cakes, candy, chocolate... it's all so wonderful to me.

- CHEATING. Ok I admit it. I may be cheating this week. When you enter a food into the Weight Watchers app, there sometimes come up with multiple matches, with lots of different points values. I may sometimes just pick the lowest value option, even though I know that's probably not what I'm eating. Or, sometimes I'll fib on the portion size too. Need to get more honest!

- WORK Work has been incredibly stressful and tempting to me lately. First of all, our standardized testing ended this week. Not only did this mean added stress, it also meant that the kids brought in lots of extra food and snacks and temptations to just SIT. IN. MY. CLASSROOM. ALL. DAY. LONG. Staring at me and begging me to eat them. And, the test also brings along a celebratory pizza and ice cream party on Friday afternoon!

On top of that, I found out this week that I am almost definitely going to be moving from 3rd grade to 1st grade next year. For a number of reasons, this absolutely terrifies me. And it's causing my anxiety to sky rocket, which in the mean time means less sleep and more eating.

SIDENOTE: I would like to mention that I'm very proud to say that I only ate 2 slices a the pizza party and brought my own frozen yogurt for the ice cream party!

- BEER I love beer. Plain and simple. However, I do not like the 4-5 points it costs me for just one! Last weekend was obviously St. Patrick's Day and I may have overdid it just a bit. But it's so hard when your friends want to share a drink with you after school or on the weekend! Did I happen to mention how much I love beer by the way?

- WEEKENDS This goes along with the beer in part. However, weekends are so hard because temptations are just EVERYWHERE! If I go to the mall with my mom, I have to plan out what I'm going to eat before I go. And I obviously don't pack my lunch on the weekends, so ALL OF THE FREAKING FOOD IN THE HOUSE is just out and available to me. It's much easier at school when I can only eat what I've brought and that's it. I couldn't even run out and get something more if I wanted to!

I think that's it for now? Does anyone have any tips or suggestions for how to combat these speed bumps? They'd be much appreciated!

I need to buckle down and get it together this week. This will be my third full week on Weight Watchers. It will also be my last week before I leave for Savannah to be with one of my best best best friends Lauren for spring break! My goal is for her to see a noticeable difference in me, since she hasn't seen me in over four months. Hopefully I can get it back on track!!!!