199 and holding

Yeah. 199 and holding. I really want that 192 back but it will come in time. Hopefully in the next 2 weeks. And honestly I'm still in ONEderland which makes me a happy girl.

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You asked for it.
(Not really but you're going to get it anyway.)
MORE Burning Man pics!

This is inside an installation called "Fire Tear"
I'm laying on my back looking up into the center.

This one pretty much says it all.
That's me on my dog bike. His name is Winston.
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In other news:

This is my friend Katie.
I hooked her up with the yellow petticoat.
She was Candy Corn for Halloween!

Katie & I met years ago on a weight loss support group message board. I had mentioned that tickets for Burning Man were going on sale the next day & she bought one for herself.

She didn't know anything about Burning Man except what I had told her.

She flew from New Jersey to Reno, was picked up at the airport by a friend of mine since Steve & I were at a wedding, hung out at our house waiting for us to show up and then traveled another 90 miles to the Nevada desert for her first Burning Man experience.

She got involved in fire spinning and the regional burn in Delaware called "Playa del Fuego". They burn a horse at that event.

She also met the man of her dreams: Nate.

In 2008 she brought Nate with her to Burning Man.

In 2009 Nate proposed to her at Burning Man.

Over the weekend they called me and have asked me to marry them next Oct. I'm honored to have such a huge roll in their wedding. (What would Micheal Scott do?)

"We want you to let your freak flag fly!" they said to me on the phone. "We want this to be a very Burning Man inspired wedding."

"Don't look better than the Bride" said Steve.

I promise Katie, I won't.

Brown rice is my friend aka an empty colon is a happy colon

Burning Man campmates
2009

I'm all the way to the left in the lime green dress.
The guy holding me is my buddy O Canada from
(wait for it.... wait for it....
wait
for
it....)
Canada!
Part of our camp had left including Steve before the picture had been taken.
I stayed an extra 2 days after this was taken.
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Me and my buddy Kai.

I do craft shows with her Mom all summer & fall.
She's my buddy.
This is at Apple Hill, California.
Don't you love our tie-dyed pumpkin shirts?? Yeah. I'm rocking the stripes.
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Fashion Shoot.

Yeah. That's really my purple hair. No extensions.
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Day #2

I got up early this morning & took a hooping class. I have to work on my opposite direction hooping. New goal: Hoop with fire next year at Burning Man.

I had a break thru this afternoon. Have I told you guys that I'm doing a fashion show in Dec and it's featuring all my fashions?? I thought there would be other designers but no. Just me.

It's called "Luscious Ladies: A FAT girl Fashion show".

Tomorrow is the shoot for the poster along with the model call. Sorry Miss size 12. You have to be at least a size 14+ to play in our game.

I'm starting tonight on a gold/maroon brocade tuxedo with this amazing fur collar & cuffs. Pants will be made from the opposite side of the brocade fabric with a fur cuff at bottom.

I'll take pics & post as I go along.

So happy to be back!

So It's Nov 1st and I'm back.

What I did on my summer and now Fall vacation.

I went to Burning Man for 12! days.

That's me in the mirror. Big Bess is our newest Van!
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And that's me last night at the Freakers Ball.
My friend Lenae took this pic. I think I rocked it!
(*************************)

So where to begin.

First off I was down to 192 which put me at 40 pounds lost for this year. Then I had a pb sandwich at Burning man & it was my catalyst to gain back about 9 pounds.

I'm feeling healthy but a little clunky right now. I'm going anti-sugar, no caffeine, and getting off the allergy foods. I want to get rid of that 10-15 pounds by Christmas. Hello cheap city run gym membership. Joining tomorrow morning & getting a 2 month membership.

My summer rocked! I was gone virtually every weds to Sunday in Tahoe. Rented an awesome room in a cabin by the Upper Truckee River. It's a house that crafter friends of mine have & they offered me the room. (According to spell check "crafter" is misspelled. huh.)

Anyway... Burning Man was incredible. I was on the Playa for 12 days. I interviewed/auditioned for a job for next year and got it. I'll be an art tour guide! Very very excited!

We still have the crank van & it's running great. Found a mechanic who actually knew what he was doing & got it up & running. It even passed smog! Yeah!

Oh and I have a facebook account. Lauren Mari Hufft Gifford is the name to look for. You can also become a fan of the store Prism Magic Clothing & Imports.

Speaking of the store. Me love me store!

Seriously.

I'm getting rid of the vintage & moving more into the sex/corsets/dance/plus size clothing.

I went to a lingerie/erotica convention in Vegas & just fell in love with the clothes. I'll post some pic's later this week.

What else? Ok. This is HUGE!!

I'm doing a fashion show in Dec. It's called (get this) "Luscious Ladies: A Fat Girl Fashion Show" for women size 14 +.

I'm doing all the outfits. Twenty five different outfits. I'll be sewing most of them including a WEDDING GOWN. Of course it's not going to be a "normal" wedding gown. I just can't do "normal".

Model casting happens this Weds or Thurs. Photo shoot with myself & Meredith (the woman who owns the space that we're having it at) happens on Weds afternoon.

Me spinning fire at Burning Man on the Shiva Vista stage. I helped work on the construction of the stage & got to be the stage manager one night.

That's it for now. I'll have more and promise to show up at least twice a week.

Missing you!