So, we had a great weekend. We joined a group of very good friends Saturday night to celebrate our friend Rav's 40th birthday party (it was a SURPRISE!!!) at the Four Seasons in Budapest. Very swanky, fantastic food, lots of laughs, dancing with the stars, a good band (someone please remind me what the name of the band was). All in all, just a fantastic evening. It's memories like those that make it so hard for us to think about moving back to the US. We miss our families and lots of things all-American, but at the end of the day we would probably never find friends or a life there like we have here.

Here's a great shot of Erika and I (one of my very dear BFF's). This is pre-cocktail, so I'm looking rather composed. I won't post the photos from the end of the evening; they aren't really that bad, but a few hours on the dance floor will reek havoc on anyone's hair.

I'm the one on the left :) And now, I must share the most wonderful news - the dress I'm wearing, that's Erika's dress. And that, my dear friends, is a first - me borrowing a dress from her. She's shrinking like crazy too (we're both on the warpath to obliterate that post-children poundage), so we decided that maybe the next time I'll get to borrow one size smaller. We should now digress a bit and pay homage to my new BFF, http://www.weightwatchers.com/ You may remember that I started on this mission back in January. I've fallen off the wagon about ten times since then, but I keep getting back on. I started at 190 pounds of lovin' back then, and just hit 170.5 this morning. The official weigh-in takes place every Monday morning, first thing, after I go to the bathroom of course, and wearing only my birthday suit. Is this too much information? I'm just picturing my mom's face as she reads, saying "why does she always have to share so much?" Anyway, I saw the funniest comic/drawing when we were in France of a woman standing on the scale, all of her accoutrements (glasses, earrings, etc..) strewn on the floor around her. There she is, praying for a miracle, holding a big chunk of her hair in one hand and a pair of scissors in the other, ready to take any measure necessary to get results. Pretty much sums it up, I think. No complaints, it's much easier to take it off now than to wait another ten or fifteen years. Let me add that I'm not going for the Heidi Klum body here folks, just trying to get back to the Misses department. A size 12 works for me.

Here's a shot of the princess, having her daily Nutella sandwich. She loves the stuff. Doubt there's a drop of anything nutritious in it, but the Magyar kids eat it like crazy and they don't seem to be worse for it. I'm a hazelnut person myself, but it's definitely not on my list of approved foods at the moment.

Keira had her first dance class on Saturday at the Dance Craze Academy. She loved it, although after about an hour she'd had enough. Her teacher decided in the end that they will have an hour and a half each week, with games/coloring thrown in to give them a break. She really dug it, which kind of surprised me. She is definitely 100% girly girl. Here are some shots that my friend Wendy took of her. She's in the class with Wendy's daughter Bailey and one of her two 'best friends', Mia (we are waiting patiently for Sonia to come back to Budapest so she can dance with us too). It amazes me that even at this age girls start to form those really special friendships, very different from boys the same age.

Thanks for those great photos, Wendy. I took my camera but left the memory card at home, very clever indeed. Will definitely have to make a scrapbook page of these, another 'first' to be documented.

Scrapbooking is now officially back in session here at Chez McGann on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Hoping for a few new members, although I like having smaller groups and just having it two days a week. Wish I could get the Hungarians on board, but they don't really seem to have the fever like Americans. I also wish I could get myself organized to get more of my own projects done. Never enough hours in the day. Of course, I end up spreading myself a bit thin with all of my other projects. I'm knee deep in a new cross stitch project (which according to my dear friend Curt makes me an old lady) and just signed up for a six-week beginner's quilting class. Following in my mommy's footsteps here - the motto goes something like: 'he who dies with the most unfinished projects wins' :)

Well, should probably close for now and go prepare for the events of tomorrow. Hope everyone has a great week. xoxo.