After working through the morning (lots of research for a freelance piece!), I was more than ready for a break.
My break came at 1 p.m., as I headed out the door to College Park Orthodontics to check in with my orthodontist to make sure everything was looking okay with my teeth following my treatment with Invisalign.
I wanted to have new retainers made before we move to Ocala, so I booked an appointment and was really looking forward to seeing my orthodontist again. I love her!
My orthodontist got married about a year before me, so I loved visiting her and chatting about everything wedding related during my Invisalign treatment. Then, a couple of months ago, she had a beautiful baby boy. She emailed me pictures and showed me more today and he is the cutest little guy!
My appointment went really well and I will have brand spankin’ new retainers in less than two weeks… in “passion pink.” Yes, I got to pick the color. And yes, I’m 26-years-old and picking the colors of my retainers and the flavors of the gooey stuff they put in your mouth to take the impressions for retainers still excites me.
If you happen to live in Orlando and are in need of a fantastic orthodontist, I highly recommend Dr. Williams. She has degrees from Boston College, Harvard and the University of Florida and is all-around awesome. She’s also offering a promo right now: If you sign up for Invisalign treatment with her before August 1, you get a $50 gift card to Whole Foods or Sports Authority. Sweet deal, huh?
She also offered to do a little giveaway on the blog!
Two readers will receive their choice of one $50 gift card to Whole Foods or Sports Authority, courtesy of College Park Orthodontics.
To enter this giveaway, simply comment on this post in one of two ways:
- Tell me about your experience with braces. How amazing it felt when you got your braces off, how you looked like a total toolbag in junior high because you picked neon rubber bands… Share!
or
- Tell me which celebrity you think has the best teeth. My vote is for Carrie Underwood.
I will randomly select two winners tomorrow afternoon.
Lunch
Lunch today was enjoyed en route to the orthodontist. I ate a quesadilla with apple slices and Canadian bacon in the car, so no photo was snapped.
I did snap a photo of dessert though!
After my orthodontist appointment, I stopped by a fro yo place and enjoyed a cup of white chocolate mousse, espresso, triple chocolate and Butterbeer frozen yogurt (can’t WAIT for Harry Potter tomorrow!!!) topped with peanut M&Ms, Golden Grahams, Butterfinger crumbles, yogurt pretzels, cookie dough, cheesecake and brownie bits.
The whole thing was resting in my belly within two minutes of me digging in.
And now I’m blogging away in Starbucks where I plan to spend the remainder of my afternoon.
A realtor has been showing our apartment to prospective tenants this whole week and I had to get out of there. The realtor doesn’t have a key, so I’ve had to be there for every showing and today I finally told her I’d hide her a key because I feel like I’m lying by omission as potential tenants come in and I don’t say anything about the mice. She understands how bad the situation is and I can’t believe they’re trying to rent it out when the problem is so immense.
You better believe I am asking EVERY homeowner about a history of mice before we move in somewhere in Ocala!
And I’m off!
Don’t forget to enter the giveaway! 
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I ALWAYS used sliver bands – never the colored ones because they always got so yucky-colored towards the end of the 6 weeks. And I was lucky to have my braces from about 5th grade – 8th grade, so they were off before high school 🙂
I like Jennifer Aniston’s teeth.
Never had braces during my childhood but when I first started with a stressful job in college, I started grinding my teeth 🙁 Not fun, so for while, I had to wear mouth guards until the grinding stop and after I left that stressful job.
I am in college and just finished my invisalign treatment but I’m not happy with it 🙁 My orthodontist is really nice but the communication in her office is always a little unorganized and that is frustrating. I might go back in a few more months and do some more work with her but for now I’m done! I also have jaw issues so if I wanted braces I would have to have major jaw surgery and then 3 years of braces. Not really an option because I’m going to start teaching in about 2 years!
aw, that sounds terrible. 🙁 my dad needed major jaw surgery. it was intense and he was on a liquid diet for a while. my mom even tried blending meat when he got sick of smoothies!
Wow, the vegetarian part of me just cringed at that ‘blending meat’ part… EWW lol. By the way, I haven’t been following your blog very long (~6 months) but your teeth always look good to me! Do you have before and after pics?
My sister had major jaw surgery too, and we totally put meatballs and marinara in a blender when she couldn’t stand smoothies anymore! Needless to say, it didn’t turn out well… 🙂
I had orthodontia (is that how you spell it?) work done from 4th grade until I was 16. It was brutal but now I’m so happy I had it done. It looked like an earthquake went off in my mouth before I had the work done but now I have a perfect smile! Totally worth it:)
hahahhaha i’m sorry but this made me laugh so hard. “It looked like an earthquake went off in my mouth.” LOL
Haha.. it was bad. The best part was having an expander. It’s sort of like a retainer but it’s stuck the roof of your mouth, with a ‘lock’ thing in the middle. You use a ‘key’ to turn it at night. In 5th grade I had a hole big enough to fit a straw. For some reason, this feature didn’t win me any friends.
You’re welcome for that anecdote!
My experience wasn’t too bad! I got my braces on in 6th grade and off before 8th grade promotion so I didn’t have to deal with it in high school. I had to wear a neck gear to sleep for 6 monthish which was freaking crappy….talk about drool city in the morning!!
I got lucky and never had braces, so I can’t answer the first questions, but for the second one I would have to COMPLETELY agree with you. I think Carrie Underwood has the best teeth ever! Not to mention she is just all around adorable!
I had braces when I was in junior high- talk about being a metal mouth- best of all before i had the braces put in I had to have an appliance in my mouth to stretch the roof of my mouth (an expander) needless to say that didn’t feel too great. Im so happy to have straight teeth now!
I must admit – I never had braces! I know I am extremely lucky and I will be forever grateful that I didn’t have to go through that. Definitely agree with you too about the Carrie Underwood!
I had braces twice….lucky me!
The first time, the awful (painful) wire braces from 10-14, and since every 14 year old reeeeally wants to wear a retainer, got Invisalign last year to re-straighten my teeth. Getting Invisalign as an adult is definitely a great decision…I paid, so, I was responsible. I now wear my retainer (i wish it was passion pink) nightly.
aww I love when I get along with my doctors and dentists – nothing better!
I had braces from 12 – 15 years old – ugh. Still have the back bar on bottom and 3 brackets on top (on back) – flossing sucks. LOL It wasn’t too bad – but I did HATE the rubberbands!
Great giveaway! I want that starbucks – must find one in the airport!
WOW that is incredibly unethical that they’re showing the apartment to potential renters without eliminating your “little friends.” I would totally be sabotaging those showings if I were you – I would want someone to do the same for me!
Oh and for my entry to the contest – I think Halle Berry has fabulous teeth. Not sure if they’re real or not, but they’re white and straight!
I KNOW!!! it was driving me insane. i don’t know how it’s legal let alone ethical.
How come you aren’t speaking up? I feel like I would… in the most polite way possible, of course.
I got my braces put on the terrible day of September 11, 2011. Not only did our nation experience turmoil, but so did my mouth.
God bless America!
I had braces from sophomore year to the beginning of my senior year. I was so happy I was able to get them off before taking my senior pictures! I recently just went to the orthodontist because my retainers no longer fit. Guess that will happen when you don’t wear them for years! Doh!
I had 7 years of braces but they were TOTALLY worth it! My mouth was very overcrowded but now I love my smile.
I used to love getting my bands changed for holidays, orange for Halloween, red and green for Christmas, pink for valentine’s, ect
My favorite celebrity teeth = Madonna’s. Gotta love someone who can rock a gap in their front teeth!
(P.S. – I had braces when I was 12… def added to the awkwardness that all 12-14 year old girls go through. Luckily, I got em off right before high school!)
I had braces from 7th grade until junior year of high school! I hated it! Especially the rubber bands!
Guh my braces were not my friend. I had them for a year when I was 12 and another year when I was 15 (I had to wait to get them again until all my baby teeth were gone, which wasn’t till 15, and at that the last one was pulled, I’m a weirdo). It wasn’t that bad, but it seemed like EVERY time I went in there, they were training the new person and always used me as a guinea pig! I think that they knew I was to nice/shy to say anything. It was aweful.
Oh man…I had so much dental work when I was younger. I started with a jaw spreader, then a retainer, then braces – then back to a retainer. Crazy right? My favorite part of braces was getting glow-in-the-dark rubber bands. So cool. 🙂
I always used to look ahead to the upcoming holidays and match my braces elastics to the theme (pink-valentines day, red, white + blue – fourth of july) sooo nerdy but semi adorable for a middle schooler.
I would have to go with Halle Berry for best celebrity teeth! In terms of braces- lets say my obsession with chewy candy got the best of me a couple of times… and resulted in a few extra trips to the dentist
oh she DOES have fantastic teeth. i forgot about her!
Well I never had braces or a retainer and I was jealous of my friends who had them, so jealous that I would make braces out of a paperclip and gum( I’m so awesome Haha)!
For best teeth I’m going to have to say Jennifer Anniston because I adore her
I lost my retainer for my bottom teeth a week after my braces came off and I remember being so upset b/c I thought it was so cool back at 14 🙂
i can’t believe the owners aren’t going to do anything about the mice! that is disgusting!!
i’d feel the same way about lying if i was there while people were viewing… is the realtor not saying anything either? can they even do that!?!
i also had braces. got them on my junior year of high school and got them off a month before i left for college. i actually was glad i got them when i was older. my wisdom teeth never grew in so luckily i didn’t have to have teeth pulled before.
i think i took better care and didn’t have any problems with breaking things, etc. i think the worst part of it all were the spacers before the braces came on!! i couldn’t eat solid food for a good week!
I am going to see HARRY POTTER tonight!! SO excited. I wish I had eaten butterbeer fro yo today, though. LUCKY!
I had braces for 2.5 years and my teeth are like perfect now. SO grateful!! Hope I win 🙂
Nice giveaway! I have to agree with you on Carrie.. but Julia Roberts has pretty nice ones too!
I have a pretty good horror story about my braces: I got them put the day before 8th grade started. I was in SO much pain because I also had a scary big appliance in there too which made me look like a nut job with a swollen mouth, drooling every now and then. GROSS!!!!! When I got them off, my teeth felt sooo slimy at first. I could eat popcorn and chew gum again, hooray! By the time my daughter needs braces, they won’t even be making the metal kind anymore – everyone will get Invisalign!!
I had regular braces in junior high AND Invisalign. I loved Invisalign, but unfortunately I just wasn’t at a place in my life (hello, college!) where I had the discipline to wear them properly (cough cough at all), so I feel like I wasted a lot of money 🙁 I may get the “Express” version again when I have the money to spend (or if htey are running a promo).
When I had them removed mid-treatment when I studied abroad, though, they have me a permanent retainer which I LOVED. My teeth didn’t move AT ALL. Highly recommend them for someone like me who has zero discipline for braces!!!
I love Zooey Deshanel’s teeth! They are the perfect size. I have really little teeth and I always wish they were slightly bigger. I did luck out though with only 3 months of braces (for one crooked tooth).
I had braces in high school. The worst part was that I had to wear rubber bands that ran from the inside of my upper back molars to the outside of the lower back molars. This meant that there was a band running between my teeth in the back. This band was stronger than most, but it still occasionally snapped in my mouth. When that would happen, I’d usually jump out of my seat and scream right in the middle of classes, which did not contribute to my popularity.
Wow, I think it’s pretty crappy that they would rent your place out and not tell people about the mice – or they should figure out once and for all how to fix it first before putting it up for rent. It’s not fit to live in!
Hmmm . . wouldn’t you have some legal recourse if you rented a place and they had hid that from you? I think you should. It’s very shady. I feel bad for whoever moves in next. I would die!
Rachel from glee( not sure of actual name) has the best teeth!!!
This is so nice of Dr. Williams and College Park Orthodontics! Hmmm I like Eva Longoria’s teeth! But also, ditto on Carrie. I like big teeth for some reason! I kind of wish mine were bigger. Don’t ask why b/c I don’t know 😛
I’ve always liked Jennifer Aniston’s teeth. Dont’ know why but… LOL!
I never had braces during my childhood. My mother always said and pushed for me to get them (my bottom teeth are so crowded and crooked..as well as an over bite on top from sucking my thumb til I was 12) but I was a stubborn kid and said “no.” I said that mainly because I was one of those victims of extreme bullying and I really didnt need any extra things to “set it off”, ya know? But now, at age 33, I am sooo regretting it. I wish I had listened and gotten them done.
I never had braces, but I would love to try Invisalign someday if I’m able to.
I can’t believe they’re showing your apartment with such a significant mouse problem. My apt has termites, and we let our realtor/manager know, but she’s still going to be showing the apt when we move out (next week, yay!). I feel bad for the next renter(s),
Oh man, I had a retainer and braces for years! I even had to rock the head-gear for a while in my late elementry years (thankfully, not in public). By the time I was finally done with it all I was so relieved. At the end of the day though, I’d do it again, because now my teeth are super straight and I luckily got it all taken care of when everyone was going through those awkward looking years.
I also just sent your invisalign post to a friend of mine who has been thinking about it!
Haha, much like courtney above, I always matched my bands to the holidays. I also matched them to my 8th grade winter dance, and though I’d be the hottest little chicky there with my blue dress and blue bands. Sexy… kinda? Then again, in 8th grade, no real need for sex appeal.
I used to think my beau had naturally perfect teeth but was SO SHOCKED when I saw pictures of him as a kid with braces. Mine didn’t turn out quite as straight, but I still think they’re not a bad set of pearly white(ish)s!
I’ve had so much dental work done throughout my life that getting my braces off was very anticlimatic, I was still facing more dental work down the road! I will say that my least favorite part of getting my braces off was getting the impressions made for the retainers. My orthodontist didn’t pay attention and pushed back too hard on the mold and all the goopy stuff went down my throat and gagged me. HORRIBLE experience!
I didn’t get my braces until senior year of HS…yeah, that was smart! lol! Luckily I only had to wear them for 6 months and now I have a permanent retainer on top. I do remember thinking my teeth looked HUGE when I got my braces off…I guess not seeing your teeth for a while will do that. I can’t imagine what it would have been like having them longer than that!
I had my braces for six years…not even kidding. When I was 15 I went in to get my braces and they told me I still had two baby teeth so I got the pulled and they told me my teeth would be back in a year. Well now its been 7 years and one tooth just barely finished coming in, I seriously have the weirdest slowest teeth in the entire universe. Another weird fact about my teeth I had almost all of my teeth pulled out because the adult teeth were growing in behind the baby teeth and I didn’t lose a tooth until I was in 3rd grade. I loved my braces though and I would totally get them back on if I could. After 6 years they just become a part of you I guess.
Would it be wrong if I said Ames from the Bachelorette..bahahaha..
I always wanted braces, but never got them. I have really straight teeth, but some gaps…guess if it’s not broken, don’t fix it 😉
I went to Dr. Principe in Orlando and had braces from 4th grade up until the middle of 8th grade. I actually had to get braces twice because on the way out of the parking lot, after getting them on, I rubbed them and they fell off. Getting them was pretty exciting to my fourth grade self and I even got the bands in alternating purple and blue to match my outfit. Unfortunately, the second day was not as much fun and my outfit didn’t match. Nothing like being the only fourth grader with a big ole’ overbite, and braces with fluorescent blue and purple squares. “. Getting my braces off was fabulous and I couldn’t stop licking my teeth!
What an awesome giveaway!!! I think Jennifer Aniston has pretty awesome teeth…but is there anything un-gorgeous about her?? 🙂
I had braces for 3 years in high school but was able to get them taken off right before senior pictures!!
I got braces really early on – I was only in 4th grade! I HATED them and BEGGED my parents to allow me to just not get them. Looking back on it now, I am SO thankful that my parents made me get braces because my teeth needed them badly! Plus, I had them off before I went into Middle School and all my friends were just getting their’s on! 🙂
I actually had invisalign also! I started it, I believe junior year of college. I finally finished with it senior year right before my 21st birthday! I couldn’t wait until it was over. There were some really painful moments but I am so happy with the results. The only bad part is wearing a retainer every night to bed for the rest of my life. It’s worth it though. 😉
My teeth weren’t bad enough to warrent the expense of braces, so I just got a retainer. I don’t know if I feel gipped or lucky.
As for celebrity teeth, Kim Kardashian has pretty amazing teeth. Is it weird that Tom Cruise’s freak me out? He got a retainer and now one of his front teeth are in the middle of his mouth! They’re completely out of alignment!!!
I am 29 years old and I have braces on now! It will be two years next month and I am itching to get them off! I was so jealous to read about your experiences with your orthodonist, she seemed great.
I am 28 and I currently have braces right now too! I am almost at a year and still have 8 months to go. Unfortunately, I was not a candidate for Invisalign so I have the clear bracket braces. They are not so bad but I still can’t wait to get them off!
ohhh braces. had them for 2 years and HATED them. my teeth would ache so badly after getting them tightened and the brackets would rub sores on the inside of my mouth. ironically enough, i had really wanted to get them, but once they were on, i realized how much they sucked!
I got my braces off three days before the start of my freshman year of high school. I felt like a hot shot walking into a new school without my braces!