2009 January 01

I spent the first day of 2009 surrounded by family having a blast at Universal Studios.

My parents rang in the New Year at City Walk the night before and had crashed at a the Royal Pacific Hotel within walking distance of the park. When I discovered my parents, aunts and uncles were planning on spending the day at Universal I invited my siblings and self along.

My Twin Bro and I met my parents for breakfast at the restaurant within the hotel.

While everyone else at the table were going for the buffet, I decided to try to limit my serving size and ordered off the menu.

I got a Belgian Waffle with Mixed Berries and Real Maple Syrup. This plate filled me right up.

We spent the remainder of the morning riding rides and walking around the park. The best part of going to theme parks is the insane amount of walking you do! Hopefully I burned all of the empty calories I ingested last night with the miles of walking we did today!

Around 2:00 my stomach was growling and I was begging for lunch. We decided to step outside the park and headed to the Hard Rock Cafe for a quick bite.

I’m not the biggest fan of generic, chain restaurants, but I was really, really hungry. They had a limited menu with limited healthy choices. It was a tough decision but I decided to order the Veggie Burger and Side Salad w/ Balsamic Vinaigrette.

The HRC Veggie Burger was a “burger” patty made of vegetables and spices, topped with Jack cheese, grilled fresh zucchini, yellow squash and Hard Rock Grilled Salsa.

The veggie burger was ok. It started off tasty, but the over spiced flavors got stronger with each bite to the point where it wasn’t even appetizing anymore. I did manage to steal a couple of my Mom’s fries.

After lunch we rode more rides and watched the Macy’s Day Parade Floats dance in the streets.

It started getting colder so we split Hot Chocolates. Yum.

I think the late night, early morning was catching up with me I started to get exhausted and decided to skip dinner and drinks with the fam and headed home. I hadn’t been home in over 24 hours and was missing my computer and bed!

When I got back I wasn’t particularly hungry, but knew I needed to eat something. For dinner I went with quick and easy.

I microwaved a sweet potato for 5 minutes then topped it with some black beans and pecan rice. It was a great combination and even though I didn’t know it at the time, was exactly what I was craving.

I am exhausted and so ready for bed. I was planning on being a lazy bum tomorrow, but the phone kept ringing and people were inviting me out left and right so it looks like another busy couple of days are a head of me.

2009 is already turning into an exciting busy time! I hope everyone else is having the same luck with the New Year!

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Sorry for the delayed post… it’s been a crazy day in Meghann World!

I was sooo excited to go out last night, it was my first time actually going out for New Years so I wanted to live it up the best I could!

Here were my 10 steps to a successful New Years Celebration:

Step 1: Start out with a Healthy Balance Meal before the crunkfest begins

I had Blacked Seared Tuna, Pecan Rice and Steamed Green Beans. I knew there would be a little drinking involved so I wanted to make sure I had a nice healthy meal in my stomach to start with.

Step 2: Eat Chocolate!

Step 3: Wear a Sparkley dress!

I LOVED wearing this dress last night! I got so many compliments on it last night, I want to wear it out every night!

Step 4: Meet up with Friends.

My Twin Bro and I met up at Caitlin’s before hand and rode down town with her Future Husband and Mother.

Step 5: Make New Friends

Many of Caitlin’s wedding party were in town and we all headed out. Even though I barely new any of them, they were very welcoming and I was so happy to bring in the New Year with all of them. All of the girls and guys were just as warm and welcoming as Caitlin, which makes for truly great friends.

Step 6: Drinks for everyone!

Let’s just say I had a quite a bit to drink last night.

You know it’s bad when I’m the one suggesting a round of shots….lol….

Step 7: A Midnight Kiss

Yes, I did get one. Even though it was very quick and meant nothing I still got a kiss!

Step 8: Have a DD!

Caitlin’s wonderful Mom drove us back to Caitlin’s apartment where my brother and I crashed for the night.

Step 9: Thank God Burger King is closed at 2am!

The little fat girl inside of me was screaming for greasy Burger King last night. Thankfully it was closed otherwise I would have happily started off 2009 with a Whopper. When we got back to the apartment and everyone else pigged out, I decided the bed was calling my name louder then my stomach and I passed out before the fridge was even opened.

Step 10: Do Not Give Drunk Caitlin you Camera!

This is the last photo I have on my camera before the dropping incident.

Let me start by saying I had the WORST luck with cameras in 2008!

I got a beautiful brand new Nikon for my 23rd birthday back in February. Two weeks later there was a leak in my boyfriend’s apartment and the camera got a little shower and died. I did not have a warranty and was leaving for Ireland the next week, so my parents bought me another camera.

I went to Ireland, had a fabulous time and took a zillion photos. When I sat on the plane on the way back to America, I went to review all the photos and could not find my camera. Someone had stolen my camera in the Dublin airport!

I bought camera #3 with my own money a couple of days later. I purchased the warranty with that camera which came in handy when a few months later the camera died mysteriously out of no where! The Geek Squad were unable to revive the camera, which led me to camera #4!

Camera #4 bit the dust last night when it hit the brick! LUCKILY my warranty still covers the new camera so I shipped it off today for repair and in the meantime will be using my Mom’s gigantic camera. I don’t know what it is but cameras and me just did not get along in 2008. Hopefully 2009 will be a better year for that!

Surprisingly, I woke up at 7am this morning, WIDE AWAKE! I could not go back to sleep for the life of me. Caitlin must have heard me stirring because she woke up and had some toast and cantaloupe with me.

My brother and I left after that and met my parents at Universal.

All in all it was a great New Years, probably the best yet. I celebrated with great friends, in a great atmosphere with lots of future stories to tell. I did not want the night to end and would love to repeat it! I hope everyone else had a fabulous New Year and I wish everyone a happy and healthy 2009!

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