I thought I would give it a TRI....

Swim - 400 yds
Bike - 13 miles
Run - 3.1 miles

So...I know it sounds crazy but I've signed up for a Sprint Triathalon.
The big day is September 30th! The decision to sign up was done during a drunken St. Patty's Day conversation with all the girls (damn, those drunk ideas). But in reality, I was the one who brought it up because I really DO want to do one!
Right before I got pregnant with Tyler in 2009, I wanted to do something to challenge my body...so I did a half marathon.
This time around,  I wanted to try something different...something I had never even done before.
I can swim and I can bike... but I've never competed, nor attempted these distances before.

So here I am...in full training mode!!! 5 weeks to go!

Last Monday I did 10miles on the bike and 3miles on the treadmill, so that felt good! And Wednesday, me and the girls went to try on TRI-Suits at a specialty store in Dunwoody. (An experience I would rather forget. Yes, their made of spandex and yes, they show all the fat rolls. Let's move on).
I bought a bike and helmet and use it regularly.
And we even got a lake house for the weekend of the big event.

So all I need now is a little endurance and a lot of will power! Wish me luck...I think I'm going to need it!

August Update!!!!

Crazy times at the Trolley Crawl!!!

San Fran Fun!!!

Will's Bday Circus Party!!!

Camp NanaPapa!!!

August has certainly shaped up to be quite the fun month!!! The Sullivans ended the summer on a high note, and now it's time to get ready for fall (my favorite season).

The first week of August, Ben and I hosted our last neighbor dinner of the summer. It was great to let the kids play and spend some time catching up with everyone before we left for our BIG TRIP!!!
What big trip is that you ask???? San Francisco!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I found out shortly after I started my new job, that my one and only trip this year would be to the AANA conference is San Fran (that's American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, for anyone that's curious) to do recruitment. I thought to myself...this would be a great time to take Ben a long for the ride and get some much desired grown up time together!
We arranged to have Tyler stay with my parents, something that Tyler and Nana & Papa were SO excited about! On Wednesday 8/1 we drove to Spartanburg and dropped Tman off, and on Thursday 8/2 we were off to San Fran! We had an absolute blast!
Highlights included Muir Woods, Biking the Golden Gate to Sausalito, and Alcatraz! See pics above. We definitely enjoyed our time away and Tyler had the best time at Camp NanaPapa!!! 

After we got home from our trip we had a quiet weekend, with the highlight being our neighbor Will's 1st Bday Circus Party. Tyler's BFF Jack is Will's big brother, so Tyler, Jack, and all the neighborhood kids jumped in the bounce house for hours on end. Sunday we went to church, had a playdate at the park with Steph, Pat, Dylan, Andy, Ang and Baby Meredith and then went to Steph and Pat's for dinner and pool time for the boys!
A perfectly fun, busy, and relaxing weekend...just what the doctor ordered!

In comparison to the beginning of the month, the latter half has been more chill but just as fun. This past week, we were excited to welcome back our friend Amanda to ATL!!! Amanda moved to Chicago back in August, 2010 for work but decided that after two years, she had enough of the cold weather. Tuesday night we hosted dinner for Amanda, Steph and Pat. Beer Can chicken was on the menu, and we had a great time drinking wine and catching up!!!

But this past weekend, we kicked it up into full gear again....
Ben and I joined 5 of our other neighbors for the Roswell Trolley Crawl, and we had an absolute ball! This event has been going on in Downtown Roswell for years, and we all were excited to finally go this year!  We had cabs drop us off at Bulloch Hall where they hosted a Santa Fe style Mexican fiesta! Then we hopped on the trolley to Barrington Hall for a San Fran inspired bash. The final stop was at Smith Plantation for a South Beach/Latin themed extravaganza!!!
We partied til the break of dawn!
Tyler had his friend Kylie (our neighbor's daughter) over with our sitter and they had a slumber party! So Tyler had a great time too!
Yesterday we went to church, Tyler had a swim lesson, & I went to Triathalon clinic at my neighbor Jill's house (more on my triathalon training on another blog post).
We finished the night with a Shark week themed movie party, just the 3 of us!!!

I hope everyone had a safe and fun summer!!! I can't believe it's coming to an end....

U-S-A...U-S-A!!!

I'm sure the past week in the Sullivan house was spent just like many of yours...Olympic mania!!! 

We were very excited to debut Tyler's Olympic Shirt that Grandma got for him on her last trip to Britain.
The week leading up to Opening Ceremonies was pretty quiet. Ben had a happy hour on Monday and Tyler had his first swim lesson with his new teacher on Thursday. He can now officially blow bubbles in the water and isn't as afraid of the big pool as he used to be. He still prefers the neighborhood baby pool at this point...but hey, he's two and a half. We're not trying to train the next Michael Phelps or anything!

Friday night we watched the Opening Ceremonies at our Neighbor's The Schmidt's. Tyler and Kylie had a great time hanging out and cheering for USA & the adults got to indulge in a few alcohol bevvies!
Saturday morning, Tyler and I had a playdate with my friend Emma and her little girls Bella and Olivia! Tyler and Bella had bagels for breakfast and a load of fun playing in the basement!
Ben headed over to the O's across the street around 10am (because their real last name is just too long to write) and helped build their play yard that they had purchased for their girls.
Now we get full reign to come play whenever we want! As a thank you, they had a bbq that night and we tie dyed shirts with the kids! We had a great time!
Sunday, we had family time and pool time!
A great chill weekend! GO TEAM USA!!!!

Getting ready to Tie Dye!!!

Mommy helping Tyler make one awesome shirt! 

Tyler and Bella...Bagel Buddies

The finished playyard!!! 

Men at work! 

Sunday Morning giggles!!! 

Cleanse Thyself....

This past week/weekend was a lot of fun! Tyler had swim lessons on Tues and Thurs and we had neighbor dinner last Wed night. Always a good time! Friday we met our friends Melanie and Jared for dinner at El Porton...kids in tow. Tyler and Maddie had a ball as usual.

Saturday, Tyler and I hit the gym (well he hit the kids club) and the Alpharetta Farmer's Market and then Ben, Tyler and I hosted our friends Mike, Roberta, Andy, Angela, Steph and Pat at our house for Balderdash fun. Those nights never disappoint. I always end up laughing to the point of tears. Seriously, the best board game around!

Sunday Ben went water skiing on the lake with Jared, while Tyler and I had a date at the mall. We rode the merry go round, ate lunch, hit the indoor playground and shopped for a Lego Set. Best news...Tyler stayed dry in his big boy underwear and even pooped at the mall!!! (TMI, I know...but you just wait til your kid uses a public toilet for the first time). 

When Ben got home, we ended the weekend with a family trip to the pool and I made Meatball Sub Casserole for dinner (another Pinterest score).

Now onto the topic of discussion (and title of this week's blog post)...Cleanse Thyself! 

The beginning of this week was interesting to say the least. So, I don't know why (seriously I don't, so don't bother to ask) but I saw a post about a Fruit Flush Detox on Pinterest and was intrigued. Normally Cleanses, Detox, etc. don't speak to me but for some reason this did. I decided Hey it's only 3 days and I could lose 9 lbs. Let's DO THIS!!!! So I did....

I bought the $5 ebook, went to GNC and got Whey protein powder, and Psyllium Husk (it was under the Colon Cleanse section...Oh dear) and stocked up on fruit and veggies at Kroger.

Monday was my start date. I drank disgusting protein shakes all day and then had a salad for dinner...(most delicious salad EVER, more so because I hadn't eaten all day). However, Ben had a Happy Hour and I was on Tyler duty and when he got home I was WIPED OUT! No caffeine or food all day will do that to you. So I was in bed around 9pm. The second day was okay...the fruit was good and I wasn't too hungry but I started to get a headache. The headache got progressively worse, but I charged through and ate my salad for dinner. However, I was so weak that I could barely walk down the street with Ben and Tyler while Tyler biked. I was exhausted to my core, and the headache wouldn't go away. 

I weighed myself at the beginning of Day 3 and was down 2.6 lbs. Not too shabby...but nowhere near 9! So on Day 3 (when I woke up with the same headache and still physically exhausted to my core) I decided enough was enough. I QUIT!

I went to Starbucks on the way to work and dove headfirst into a reduced fat breakfast sandwich and a Grande Skinny Vanilla Latte! BEST BREAKFAST EVER!!!!

My energy after having real food in my body was off the chart. After work I picked Tyler up from school, played cars and trucks, cooked dinner, cleaned the house, did laundry, got Tyler bathed and off to bed, and then went downstairs and did the elliptical for an hour! And probably could have kept going! 

After a sushi lunch and a light dinner, my WW weigh in today was down 1lb. So a 21 lb loss total to date...which isn't too bad.

But was 1lb worth it for two days of starvation???...Absolutely not!

Lesson learned...Cleanses are for fools! Clearly I was one of them! 

Grandma and Grandpa come to town!

Grandma and Grandpa Sullivan came to visit us in Atlanta this past weekend. We had a great time showing them the city!
Highlights included: Atlanta Braves game, trip to the aquarium, & playground fun at Olympic Park!
Tyler had a great time and Mommy and Daddy even got a date night out of it too!

Weight Watchers in the Hizzy Fo Shizzy

YAY!!!

It's a great day for a weigh in! I finally broke through a 3 week plateau and was able to hit the 20 lb mark! Woot Woot!
I've officially lost 20.2lbs since March and I'm happy lady.

10 more lbs to go and I'm awarding myself a shopping spree (Ben, I hope you aren't reading this)!

Let Freedom Ring...

I hope you all had a great Independence Day! It's been a great past couple of weeks for us! Besides the heat....OH THE HEAT! Mother Nature teased us with her amazing mild May...but June has been a real bitch. I'll say it!!! (however, please for the love of GOD stop posting your car thermometer readings on Facebook...we get it...it's HOT).

The heat caused us to delay our Neighborhood backyard campout. Which was a real bummer. But hopefully we will reschedule for the fall.
In place of the campout, we had the neighbors over for dinner where I made beer can chicken (see naked bird pics above). My was it yummy! And Ben played bartender and made quite the yummy cucumber cocktail!
Tyler had a bday party at Gymboree on Sunday and we spent some serious time at the pool!

July 4th was such a great one this year! I think we started a family tradition that I hope to keep for years to come!
Ben ran the Peachtree Road Race with our neighbors Shawn, Edwin and Tatiana...meanwhile my neighbor Jill came over for a PJ breakfast with all the kids. We indulged in Bloody Mary's and video taped the kids cheering for their dads!
Then we headed to the pool where we spent most of the day. Ben was home before noon!
Around 6pm that evening we headed over near Roswell High School, where we set up picnic, the kids played and we anxiously awaited the fireworks. The fireworks were amazing, and I can't wait to go back next year!

This past weekend my sister and brother in law came to town on Friday. We took ordered pizza, went to the local ice cream parlor (yes parlor...it's an old school 1950's style shop called Scoops. We love it there).
The next morning we hit the local farmer's market before they headed home.
By lunch my friend Jannell was in town from Charleston. J-nell and I go way back to college and I was so happy she was able to come to town for the weekend!
We had local college friends Andy, Angela and Anastasia over for dinner Saturday night, hung by the pool on Sunday and hit up the local Mexican restaurant on Sunday night.
Great times were had by all!