The End of Excess...40 days to Redemption

I am back. I think. Since February 1 I have had the marathon, recovery, plan for the wedding, go to the wedding (another four day blur), get home, work a couple of days, Mardi Gras (another four day blur).....and it is now truly time to get back on track.

While all was good times this has truly been a month of excess for me. 24 days of eating, boozing, sleeping, ...repeat. I have gained 4 pounds and my eyes may be permanently bloodshot. To recount:

Feb 1: Marathon. Finished in 4:39, had a fabulous time, waited for Kate and Lauren at the finish and passed the time by eating cookies, a subway sandwich, and drinking about 8 beers (yikes!). Full marathon story later, but first, the rest of the day...Parents were here so headed back to the Northshore where I live, about 40 minutes from New Orleans. Hit Wow! Wingery for a bathroom stop and to check it out for the Superbowl which would be on in 2 hours. Looked good, so we headed home, iced, showered, more adult beverages, headed out. Ate a wing sampler platter, cheese fries, quesedillas, brownie dessert (my mom's birthday) and other bits all washed down with a huge margarita followed by a few more beers and a 'Chalmation' (think dalmation, the dog) some huge, red, hurricane-like concoction named after the fine people of Chalmette a suburb of New Orleans. Ugh...total overkill. Headed home, had a couple MORE drinks, then bed.
Feb 2: Parents and Kate still here. Hit the Broken Egg Cafe for great eggs benedict and two mimosas. My husband took my dad to get his rental car (he had a business meeting) while mom, Kate and I went back to New Orleans for last minute shopping for them...next stop, bar for a last minute beer with Kate and a couple of quick appetizers. Drop Kate at the airport, head home, grab dad, and off to the Tap Room, where my parents try some local beers while we have MORE wings and some calamari. Head home, grab Will and off to dinner at Copeland's (where I work nights) for the best steak EVER, hot blue crab claws in italian vinegarette, and some great red wine. We take a white chocolate bread pudding and a white chocolate raspberry cheesecake (slices) to go. Sit around reading things to eachother out of The Birthday Book (basically astrology by the day you were born) and drink MORE beer.
Feb 3: Parents take off around 10. I have the whole day for vacay but had thought about going in after they left...Ahhh.....NO. I am way too sore, so instead I lounge on the couch all day eating desserts from the night before.
Feb 4-6: Catch up on work, pretty boring....
Feb 7: First Mardi Gras parade of the season for me, the Krewe Du Vieux rolls in the French Quarter. A great, really personal parade focused on sexual humor and bodily functions. Fantastic! Afterwards manage to spend $100 (that I don't have) on drinks...for just me. Several Irish Car Bombs and vodka redbulls later, I head home around 4 am...only to have to work Sunday at 10...ouch.
Feb 8: horribly hung over, beg my way out of work...ate a burger at work for lunch, go buy taco bell for dinner, sit on couch all day.
Feb 9: Crazy rush to finish work for wedding week!
Feb 10: finish work, head to salon for cut/highlight. Head to nail salon for pedicure...head to tanning booth for last tanning...head to mall for slutty bachelorette party dress...couldn't decide so bought 4! (again, with $$ I don't have!)...raced home, packed, hit the hay around 1 to get up at 5:45 (ugh) for the airport.
Feb 11: Yay! Kate's wedding week finally here! Get into Orlando at 10:30. 7 of us squeeze in the truck (believe me, it was interesting!). She shows the girls her new home, we have a couple of beers and a pizza. Head to Payless to get shoes to go with slutty B-party dress. Buy TONS of alcohol for next day's festivities. Head back, grill, drink more at house warming party. Finish wedding favors and head to bed at 3....to get up at 8:30...boo!
Feb 12:up early, decorate teh 15 passenger van we will be using to shuttle these 12 wild ladies around in...haha! Found this hilarious car/limo decorating set with all sorts of funny things including mudflaps with glitter fringe stating "On the Prowl" and all sorts of other stuff. After morning errands and trying to figure out how to get 12 girls suitcases into a luggage compartment meant for 2 we hit the road back to Orlando. Get to our condo at 12, and it is an absolute oasis. It was so beautiful (for $162 a night anyway!), spacious and right near the pool. We park the chick mobile and head to lay in the sun, have some drinks and get ready for our night on the town in the stretch Hummer. By 5 we head back for massive showering and hair drying, and slutty dresses donned head out. We hit a restaurant first, where our bachelorette is a little too enthusiastic. She polishes off two glasses of champagne in the limo, a couple of red stripes, an applemartini, a glass of wine and a lemondrop shot. By the time we get to Blue Martini, a really fun bar, she is done. We had free drink coupons there and she makes us leave! Waa! Next stop is Howl at the Moon, a Piano Bar, and we grab Kate's sister as our fake Bachelorette. It is only 10:30 so there is no way we are going home yet. At 24 and single, Meg loves this and jumps in head first. She enters the bar swinging the veil around her head and we are onstage in about two seconds after I turn in a request for 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun'. To make an Already Too Long Story a little shorter, we stay here for the rest of the night and finally pass out around 3:30. To AGAIN wake up at 8:30. Casualties of the night: I drunken bachelorette, one zero alcohol tolerance friend (we're talking two sips...it's an enzyme thing), one barfing in the limo (and her bed!) bartender friend (pathetic, really) and one puking outside the condo friend. All said and done 16 girls, two passed out, two puked. Not too bad! Myself and one other bridesmaid were of course the last ones standing!
Feb 13: WE hit the van for the two hour drive north to Gainesville, location of the wedding. Stop at Dunkin Donuts on the way, only to have the clerk be annoyed we are ordering bagels. Seriously. She was like, 'Really? Another bagel?'...and I'm thinking, how do you work at Dunkin Donuts if you hate making breakfast food!! We get up there just in time to hit Bath Junkie for the bridesmaid party. Here Kate has arranged for us all to make a bath scrub, a spray lotion and another item of our choosing. We pick the scents and colors while munching on wine and cheese and getting hand exfoliations. Very relaxing and much fun. I picked Coconut banana for my scrub (light yellow), pomengranate-persimmon-tangerine for my spray lotion and regular massage oil for the third. After this we head to the church rehearsal and then back for the rehearsal dinner at her aunt's house (which is huge- she had seating for 80!). All in all much fun even though we were exhausted! We ate a ton of chicken parmesan and drank beer, finally heading back to the hotel bar for one last drink. Actually made it to bed by 12!...alarm off: 7 am.
Feb 14: Wedding Day! We hit the hair salon by 9 to start getting done up. Hair and makeup (and of course wine!) Until 11:30, then off for pictures. More wine, lots of pics, more wine, wedding ceremony, champagne, wedding dinner and reception....more drinks...hotel bar....more drinks...hotel suite with the bride...more drinks...bed at 4...WHAT????
Feb 15: Drive back, try to survive...grill out More DRinks??? Fly home...
Feb 16-18: Try to catch up on work....boring :)
Feb 19: Muses Parade. My new favorite! Every throw was great, the crowd was fun, we had daquiris, beers, drinks...gawd what is this trend???
Feb 20:Orpheus Parade here on the northshore. Discovered a new place to hang out! And it's cheap, yay! Went to bed early to prepare for long long day planned for Saturday.
Feb 21: Got up and showered at 7 to get ready for three Mardi Gras Parades down in New Orleans. Grabbed the cooler, champagne, oj, sangria and fruit to put in it and snacks. Headed to Erin's to get ready. Lots of glitter and fake eyelashes involved. Headed down at 9 (thankfully friends Jeff and Jon had staked us out a spot at 7 am!!). Broke out the mimosas first, then hit sangria...the third parade is pretty much a blur. We grilled, drank, caught beads, it was a fantastic day.
Feb 22-today: recovery. Sleep sleep sleep catch up on work...catch up on blog!

So yeah. That has basically been the short version (believe it or not) of my month. Next post will document in photos. Total drinks consumed 15,387,722 (give or take a couple). Total hours slept: 10.6 Total calories consumed: 1,567,970,564,369...Total Runs: 1 (but at least it was 26.2 miles!).

Next up, pics of all this. Then a Plan. a new one.... Oh yeah, and no more drinking as though I have gills....or eating as if I am in some sort of contest....at least for Lent, even though I'm not even Catholic!