And I’d like to thank…

This post is long overdue considering my 20th high school reunion (go, JFK Titans!) was last October. It was a whirlwind trip—fly to the Bay Area Friday afternoon and return Sunday night. But it was oh, so fun.

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I stayed with Kelly, one of my dearest childhood friends and partner in honors-class crime. Along with some great reminiscing, we cheered at her daughter’s soccer game, ate at a fabulous local bagel shop, got manicures, helped her kids get ready for a Halloween party (I pumped up the volume on Ursula’s hair), and chatted as if it had only been days since high school graduation.

Three or four days, not closer to 7,500.

Of course, there was some serious prep work before my high school reunion. I had to do three important things:

• Secure a dress.
• Whiten my teeth.
• Lose a few pounds and tone up the body.

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After hours—and I mean hours—of searching for a dress, I finally found one thanks to an Anne Klein sale online. Though it was a final sale item, I did my research and knew I could sell it on eBay for the purchase price so I totally went for it. And I totally loved it. Unfortunately it didn’t fit as snugly as I would’ve liked and I needed to find a seriously good tailor.

Thanks to a recommendation from my friend @Tekwani on Twitter and a 5-star rating on Yelp, I took that Anne Klein beauty to D’Antii tailoring in downtown Salt Lake City. The space was super cool, the service was awesome and the dress? Absolutely perfect—a hard thing considering she took in the entire side of the dress.

Thank you, D’Antii. And thank you, Spanx, for helping smooth any unwanted lines due to the clingy nature of that fabric.

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Next up? The teeth. Thanks to the wear and tear of everyday Diet Coke drinking use, my teeth needed a little whitening. This is where Dr. Kelly Faddis comes in, our dentist since we moved here over 12 years ago. Also the result of a recommendation, Dr. Faddis is awesome. He has only a couple dental assistants because he does all the work himself.

Dr. Faddis inspects, cleans, flosses AND provides entertainment via flat screen TVs on the ceiling. His assistants take the x-rays and pass the instruments . . . and that’s about it. Did I mention he is super into forensics and often called in as an expert to determine stuff about dead people? Yeah, he’s that cool.

Dr. Faddis set me up with some pretty intense whitening gel and flexible trays that didn’t push the gel over my gums. That stuff can wreak havoc with my gum line. After just a couple weeks they were the right kind of white (i.e., a couple shades below celebrity white).

Thank you, Dr. Faddis, for making my smile look younger than its 38 years . . . kind of like this:

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Last but not least, the whole tone-up-the-body thing. Though I’m in much better shape than I was 20 years ago, I wanted to look my most fabulous. After seeing my friend Jill looking all fit and fierce thanks to some LeanMoms program she kept chatting about on Facebook, I entered a contest and won a 12-week meal and fitness plan.

I spent the next 8 weeks (okay, only 2 weeks on the meal plan because I’m a rebel like that) focusing on more weight training and HIIT (high-intensity interval training) to improve my muscle tone and lose body fat and inches. And it worked. When all was said and done, I accomplished all three of those goals.  Having a fabulous LeanMoms support group on Facebook totally helped.

Thank you, Lacy Arnold and LeanMoms, for helping me rock that Anne Klein dress and sport some muscle while busting a few moves on the dance floor.

And no, I won’t show you the before and afters but I will show you a couple more awesome snapshots from the reunion.

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Of course the award for Best Photo of the Night—aka What Exactly Was I Doing on the Dance Floor?—goes to this baby right here:

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Thank you, Allan V., for the reunion photos. I couldn’t have written this post without you and your trusty camera. And Peter? Thank you for being my dance partner. Good times, my friend. Good times.

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