Weight: 108 lbs

Total glasses of H20: 5

Mood: Feeling pretty awesome

Hallelujah hallelujah, Day 3 is complete! No more shakes, no more eggs and spinach for dinner, let’s just bring back the wholesome goodness of…well, food! I feel amazing to have completed this 3-day detox and I must say the benefits are pretty great. For starters I lost 2 pounds. How much of that is just water weight I’m not sure, I’ll have to wait out the next few days and see. Regardless, my appetite has shrunk a bit, my skin looks great, and most importantly this jumpstart made me determined to keep a healthy diet. Ok, ok, so I do have an engagement party to go to this weekend, which I am sure promises to be an eventful evening, but I’ll try to keep it in check. (Hey now, before you snicker away, at least I put my willpower to the test these 3 days and succeeded, what have you done lately? Yeah…didn’t think so.) All mockery aside, I highly recommend this plan, so if you are interested please email me or leave me a comment.

I have to say, it didn’t do much for my sleeping other than make me have these wacky absurd dreams. Last night was no exception although this time it wasn’t food related. I wonder just how much the lack of caffeine contributed to this bizarre dream pattern. Doubtful it has any relation, what I think happened was my LOST marathon last night before going to bed (totally engulfed in Season One, only five more to go…damn you LOST fanatics for making me Netflix this crap) got my mind doing cartwheels.

Starting weight: 110 lbs

Total glasses of H20: 8

Mood: Irritable

Wrapping up Day 1 of my 3-to-5 day Detox program and I must admit it wasn’t bad at all (yes I realize this is only Day 1). I didn’t feel hungry and I even enjoyed a mid-afternoon nap (funny enough I dreamt I was eating pretzels and totally ruined my detox plan…woke up feeling relieved it was only a dream). The sheer fact that I even got some napping in is a big deal for me since I am notorious for always being active, constantly moving and doing things, so this was a pleasant surprise. I also became a big fan of toast with almond butter and bananas (breakfast routine in this program)…delicious! Moving on to my mood. Definitely irritable today, but not because of the food, just your usual case of the Monday blues and maybe some of that irritation is due to the lack of caffeine. Apologies to the Miami drivers I honked at today.

Let’s see what tomorrow will bring… It will pose a bit of a challenge since I have a birthday gathering at night, so the mighty forces of restriction will have to come into play when saying no to alcohol.

(Hmmm I wonder what I will treat myself when this detox is over…Cheesecake, key lime pie or crème brulee come to mind. Pati, get a hold of yourself!).

And no, I’m not talking about Christmas, New Years, or my birthday. I’m talking about the greatest spectacle of live music ever – Lollapalooza! That’s right, this year marks my third anniversary of the indie festival in Grant Park and it proves to be bigger and badder than ever. In anticipation of my trip this Friday, I decided to blog a bit about my previous experiences and the bands I am looking forward to at this year’s music mecca.

2008 – flew in from Miami meeting up with my lovely ladies Andrea, Michele and Sarah Walker (who live in Chicago), having absolutely no idea of the sheer musical genius of this event. I was in for a mighty mighty treat. Highlights were unquestionably the magical sounds of Radiohead, the amazing display of orchestration from Broken Social Scene, the fun and sassy Brazilian-group CSS, The Ting Tings, Lupe Fiasco and of course Rage Against the Machine, having to stop their set a couple of times from the extremity of the crowd. Thousands of adrenaline-filled pumping bodies jumping and crunching against each other towards the stage. From far away we could feel the ground vibrating from underneath our feet.

Our little Lolla group grew in 2009, with a welcome surprise by Sara, Meli and Fran, also from Miami. Extraordinary performances by the quirky Vampire Weekend, TV on the Radio, Santigold, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Cold War Kids, Jane’s Addiction, and the infamous Snoop Dogg. Perhaps THE most amazing experience that year. And let’s just say rap is not my favorite genre, but that day I let my inner badness out. 100 degrees. Hands flying in the air. Cloud of smoke above us. And a sea of people behind us. The rest… is nuthin’ but a G thang.

And so we arrive at this year’s Lolla, all jam-packed with goodies – the best lineup I have seen thus far. I’m talking about Phoenix, The XX, The Temper Trap, Green Day, MGMT, The Strokes, Soundgarden, and much more. This year we are joined by 3 more awesome friends: Agustina, Paolo and Gaston. The Lolla craze keeps on growing! Wondering what shenanigans will cross our paths. Stay tuned.

Until then, here’s a little graphic representation I made of memorable moments from 08/09. Enjoy!