Went to a bachelorette party last Friday night. We started off at LUSH Spa in the San Fernando Valley (but it's moving to Hollywood this summer) and I ran into my favorite massage therapist who had just started working there THAT night. I immediately signed up for a massage in addition to the facial I had already signed up for. We had a light dinner there, and they had even taking my food allergies into account and had wheat-free/dairy-free options available. And sangria. Lots of sangria. It was a fun evening.

Then we went to a club in Santa Monica, and I had to stop by the house to pick up the ball and chain. Nooooo, not my husband, but a real bowling ball attached to a chain that has been used at several bachelor and bachelorette parties - including Gordon's. (I didn't have to use it because I didn't have a bachelorette party!) I stopped by the house about 10:30 pm to get it out of the garage, and ran into Gordon as he was coming in. He said, "You just do NOT know how to party!" I told him that we were just picking up the ball and chain and that I wouldn't be 'too' late getting back. (Then I didn't get home until 2:30 am!) We shackled the bowling ball to my girlfriend's ankle, and put a veil on her head that had a bunch of condoms attached to it. It was definitely a bachelorette party! Several people commented on the ball and chain, and the veil - everyone loved them! We met a group of over a dozen guys who decided it was their mission to ensure that the bride-to-be (and the rest of us) had a good time. One guy said, "What happens in the club, stays in the club!" and then "EVERYBODY'S gettin' in trouble tonight!" We didn't get into any serious trouble at all (we're all well over 30 and this was a BIG night out for us!) but we did have a good time! A guy even asked me for my phone number! I held up my left hand and waved my ring and said, "Sorry!" He hadn't even noticed the rings.... It was fun, though!

The next day was the bridal shower, which was lovely and sweet. My girlfriend looked beautiful (impressive considering how much alcohol she drank the night before) and we had a great time at the shower - amazing food, and aside from the cake, wheat and dairy-free.

This week I was on "Scrubs" as an extra for about a second. It aired last night, and was fun to watch. I'll be on "Two and a Half Men" next week, probably also for about a second. I'll be in the birthday party scene.

Gordon is travelling this week on business, and the house isn't the same without him. The cats and I are at loose ends, but it is also good since I still have TONS of homework to do today and class is THIS weekend.

I thought I had more news to share, but I can't think of what it might have been....

I haven't blogged in weeks. There's been no real news, so no real reason to post. The weather is a little wintry (for SoCal) and I'm decluttering the house here and there. Threw out 6 bags of stuff last week (aside from the normal trash).

Exciting, isn't it?

We did celebrate my mother-in-law's birthday in early February and had a nice dinner at my sister-in-law's. I'm still doing well in school. Gordon is still working at his sound gigs as well as doing the attorney thing.... I've been watching the Olympics just about every night.

Still working on boosting my compliance levels with the BTD. We're trying to eat one salad as a meal each day. Gordon's lost about 5 pounds. I've lost nothing. I'm starting to get back to the gym more, but have to be careful because of my low back.

See? You haven't missed anything!

Hopefully I'll have more to report next time.

It took me a week to recover from the party. Whew.

Friday the 20th was a whirlwind of a day. I did not stop from 10 am until 1:30 am. I went to the grocery store three times (once to Whole Foods and twice to Ralph's because I forgot a few things the first time) and spent the rest of the day cooking like crazy.

The party itself was a success - people commented on how great the food was, how nice our home is, etc. All in all we had a great time celebrating Gordon's 40th birthday.

I ate something that I reacted to by puffing up like crazy. I couldn't get my rings off, my eyes were puffy as can be, and I was up about SIX pounds from the day before the party. I'm still not entirely sure WHAT it was caused by since all the food I ate was O friendly (okay I had ONE bite of wheat, but that wasn't it). I suspect it was the plain soy yogurt that I ate - it was a new brand to me, but even that had no avoids in it that I noticed.

It took a few days before my body recovered, and there are still a few things to be put away around the house, but it went really well, and Gordon enjoyed it, which is the important thing.

We've eaten most of the leftovers, but we still have a bunch of veggies left, plus olives and pickles and the like that we won't eat. I may take those over to a friend or my in-laws to get them out of our house.

Tonight our friends will come celebrate Gordon's 40th birthday. We would have done held the party the weekend of his birthday except that I was in school. And last weekend was bad because we had lots of stuff going on and Gordon was working. So it's tonight!

I've got a fairly BTD friendly menu going here. Swedish meatballs (turkey) and lamb gyro (an Alton Brown recipe from "Good Eats!"), a veggie tray, a fruit tray, a little antipasto tray of olives, pickles, artichoke hearts, sliced tomatoes and crackers (rice and rye) and cheese (sheep, goat, AND cow). There's also artichoke and olive tapenade with rice crackers.

For dessert there will be brownies, chocolate chip cookies, birthday cake and chocolate fondue with fruit and biscotti and marshmallows.

It's not totally healthy, but it should please a variety of palettes and won't be terrible for me or my hubby (he won't eat the lamb). And it is all wheat-free, except for the pita for the gyros, and I won't be eating the pitas! I'm not using dairy in any of the recipes, either. The only dairy is in the actual cheeses - I'm using plain soy or almond milk for the swedish meatballs and tzatziki sauce for the gyros.

I've thrown many small dinner parties and always paid attention to the BTD for those, but I've never thrown a party for this many people and still even partly stuck to my 'wheat, beef, dairy-free' diet. We'll see how it goes! The baked goods are fabulous - completely wheat-free mixes by a company called Pamela's Products. They DO have potato starch in them, but I figure if I'm eating baked goods I'm not too concerned with the ingredients! They are wheat (and gluten) free, and they taste fabulous. Most people I've served them too have no clue that they are wheat-free.

Alright. It's 2am, and I have a busy day ahead of me tomorrow. I'll let you all know how it turned out!

Well, yesterday was Gordon's birthday. We had a little family celebration on Sunday evening at the Napa Valley Grill over in Westwood (near UCLA). The food was wonderful! I had osso buco with risotto and spinach, and it was fabulous. So tender! And everyone else raved about the food, too.

Then we went to my mother-in-law's for cake and presents. I ate about a half a piece of cake (standard wheat stuff) and drank loads of tea - still standard for me since my crud. Gordon opened his presents and we all had a good time. There was one moment that he got so into one of his presents, he looked like he was about FOUR instead of forty! It was very cute.

Yesterday he was working at the theater all day, and didn't get home until after 11 pm. Even so, I had a lemon cake for him (again, standard wheat stuff) and I gave him my presents to him. We had a little cake, he opened his prezzies, and talked about our days. It was a nice little celebration. Happy Birthday, Gordon!

Today is my friend Julie's birthday. (Hi, Julie!) We met in fourth grade, but went to different schools, so we didn't become friends until middle school. Either way, we've known each other a LONG time. Happy birthday, Julie!

I got my final exam finished by last Wednesday night, and read it over on Thursday for errors and grammatical issues. Friday I went to see "Brokeback Mountain" with a friend of mine, and we both thought it was a beautiful movie. I think my sister-in-law said it best when she said that all we can hope for is a love that strong in our lives (no matter what kind of love it may be).

Class all weekend was hard on my body (we sit and are in tight spaces all weekend) but it is always good for my spirits. I did eat well throughout the weekend, and stuck to my BTD stuff other than the birthday cake(s). I got 100 on my final exam, and did extremely well in the course overall. Yay, me!

I am pretty much over my crud, except for a little residual coughing and drainage. It IS improving day by day, but it is taking its sweet time about it.