2010: A Year of pulling it together.

Fall down 7 times...

2010-05-10T08:11:00.000-07:00

Friday night was "date night" for Steve & me.

I had gotten a $75 gift cert for a local casino and it was about to expire. We decided to use it for the chi-chi restaurant. I had looked the menu up online and knew that I could eat without many issues.

They had a "meal deal" for $35 that included an appetizer, meal & dessert.

All the appetizers had wheat. I told the waiter that I couldn't have wheat so he went to the chef to see if he could create something off menu for me.

Out came this amazing calamari dish. Oh I'd have a torrid affair with that chef!

I had the lamb. Steve had the chicken. Dessert was creme brullee with fresh berries. My dessert of lemon tart was boxed up to go for Steve to have later.

Creme brullee. Shit. Ohhhh... Who needs sex when you can have creme brullee??

Dinner out was just what Steve & I needed. We've not been connecting lately and this was nice to have an evening free of interruptions. Good conversation, good food & good wine all added up to a beautiful friday night.

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This past weekend I was invited to my friend Nancy & Sally's birthday party. Another friend Susan rented this amazing house on Lake Tahoe for 10 of us to celebrate.
I went up Sat afternoon. Everyone else was there Friday.
The house was amazing! Three stories with decks on each story, a dock and a beautiful seating area right by the water.
Nancy & I both have the same food allergies. Everyone was aware of it so there were plenty of "legal" foods.
Except for the sugar. That's not legal in my world.
I've been soooo good not having sugar.
Stoopid Tommi & her stoopid wheat free Jack Daniels dark choc cake with dark choc sauce.
I know I know. "You could have turned it down."
I know.
I KNOW!
Sun morning I had fake creamer in my coffee & then came home & ate the lemon full of sugar, cream & wheat tart.
I also just binged on Sunday. But binged on "legal" foods.
Sat on the couch with a bag of apple cinnamon rice cakes with a jar of peanut butter. Ate most of the peanut butter and all of the rice cakes.
Today: Back on the wagon!

May is Gluten Free month. I am now gluten free for the rest of the month!

Tonight is hoop class. I'll take my camera & take some pic's to post tomorrow.

Fat is not a 4 letter word

2010-05-07T21:56:00.000-07:00

ok. So you guys know how I do the "Luscious Ladies Fat Girl Fashions"? Well I'm doing a fashion show on May 27th for "normal" sized women.

It's for a Women in Reality shin-dig and someone saw my fashion show back in Dec. She wanted me to do stuff for their "Moulin Rouge" themed thing the end of this month. I said I wouldn't sew anything but would pull off the racks & maybe do some accessories.

I'm dressing 9? women in corsets, petticoats, fishnets & feathers.

Sara is the contact.

"I want you to dress Carol. She's the largest of us and she really should wear something more Moulin Rouge-ee." Says Sara.

"Bring her in!" Says me.

Now I'm not one to judge BUT....

Carol comes in wearing a denim dress ala 1995 with a gray sweatshirt over it. She could model for me since she's about a 22-24. (meow. I know. meow.)

I go over to my rack with the corsets that go to 4xl and pull a couple out.

"I'm not wearing that!" Says Carol very indignetly.

I pull out a couple of sparkley dresses.

"No way!"

Shit.

So I show her the poster that's from last Dec's fashion show. I explain how I had just done a fashion show last week & that my smallest model was a size 22.

She reads the poster "Luscious Ladies: a FAT girl fashion show"

"That's very offensive."
Me: "What is?"
"The word FAT. I'm large not fat. You shouldn't say 'fat'. It's very offensive."
Me "No it's not."

Long & short of it: Carol left the store pissed at me, pissed at Sara and basically hates the whole Moulin Rouge idea for the fashion show.

It's the first time that I've not been able to find anything at all for someone. She was so closed minded and judgmental (which is how I'm feeling about her).

In the meantime I'm loving these other girls. They're all ages and really stepping out of their comfort zone letting me dress them. And I'm loving the fact that I can pull off the rack.

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Scale this morning says I've gained 2 pounds. WTF? Sugar free for 11 days, walking, hiking, pulling weeds almost every day.... yeah. I know I know. It'll happen.

And don't tell me to not weigh myself. I've done that & ended up gaining weight.

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Picture for tonight:

Superhero Superbowling
I was "Super Stripe Girl!"

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Project 300
My Blog Buddy Tricia is trying to reach 300 fans.
Go read & join her.

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I'm gone the rest of the weekend for a 50th b'day party.
I PROMISE no wheat or sugar.
MISS ME!!!

Pictures. I got em. I'm sharing em.

2010-05-06T18:38:00.001-07:00

A picture tells a 1000 words.
Read away!
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Eco fashion show:
5 Luscious Ladies
5 corsets
5 petticoats.

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Hat made by my friend Kornal Killbuck.
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At Disneyland with Sharon & Hannah.
******

My crazy hair.
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See no evil
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Hoopity Hoop Hoop

2010-05-05T14:53:00.000-07:00

This is hooping.

This is me.

On Monday's I'm taking a class to teach me how to hoop.

Goal: Hoop with fire.

Yes. Fire.

Cause that's how I roll.

Day #2 of Coming Cleanness

2010-05-04T08:04:00.001-07:00

I bounced on the rebounder this morning for 15 mins. Yesterday I worked in the yard for about 90 mins and did hoop class last night.

Food is so on I can hardly stand myself.

I have pictures to post from my last fashion show. But they're on my store computer & I'm at home.

I promised Tricia I'd do this.

Here you go Tricia. I'm doing this!

Pictures to follow.

Coming Clean

2010-05-03T19:41:00.000-07:00

Remember how I was all proud about losing 45 pounds?

Well I gained 20 back.

I know I know. "But focus on you losing the 25 pounds."

Whatever.

I'm back to blogging as of this minute. Facebook has taken over my life (Lauren Mari Hufft Gifford if you want to friend me. FYI: I don't Farmville, Fish ville or any ville so don't think I'm going to increase your levels. I'll block you the minute you invite me to join some game. No poker blitz, either.)

Tricia has been calling me a lazy bastard for not blogging.

Yeah yeah yeah.

So I'll take the hour outta the day that I spend on Book of Face and come back

1. I'm sugar free for the past week. Yeah me!
2. Did my first hoop class. It rocked. 4 more weeks & my goal is to hoop with FIRE at Burning Man.
3. We are getting a weekly box of produce. I promise that none of it will end up in the compost pile.
4. I'll post pic's tomorrow.

I'm back. Whatever Patricia. Whatever.

Happy New Decade!

2010-01-03T09:43:00.001-08:00

Dance Dance Dance!

It's a NEW DECADE!!!

Dancing at Beats Antiques in November.
If you get a chance to see these guys you HAVE to go!!
Based out of San Francisco they travel all over the world. Zoe is the belly dancer and standing right in front of her made me want to just strip off my leather corset & dance with her. Oh wait. I did dance with her. Just left the corset on. (grin)
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Pictures from a photo shoot in my store

I really like all 3 of these. They show different parts of my personality. Plus they look young. Maybe I should ask the photographer if he photo shopped me. brb Calling him. No answer. I'll say no. That my skin is flawless. And that I really don't look 49.

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So New Decade. Welcome 2010!

I have so many plans for this year.

1. Exercise: I've lost 43 pounds over the past year. Basically all thru diet and very little exercise. I see it in my loose skin all over my body. It's time to tune & tone.
I know I have to exercise. I was diagnosed last year with osteoporosis. 49 is wayyyy too young to have an old ladies disease. Exercise is a basic "cure" for osteoporosis. Simple things like a walk.

So exercise starts this week. Then stops next Monday when I have surgery. Nothing serious. I'll blog about it later this week.

2. Fashion shows:
My "Luscious Ladies: A Fat Girl's Fashion Show" was a huge success. SRO with lots of press both before & after.
Steve & I went to a pot luck on Christmas. Two women were talking about the fashion show with a couple of other women. I was eavesdropping and the hostess walked over & said "Are you talking about Fat Girls? That's Lauren over there the designer!"
They gushed over me. Yeah. I said gushed.

I'm planning a spring show or early summer.

I've been asked to be part of an all white fashion show in the spring.

And

I want to put on a Trashion show with 3-4 other designers for Earth Day in April.

3. Weight:

Forty three pounds = 3.5 cans of Crisco.

My current goal is 10% or 19 pounds. That would put me at 170. Very do-able by June.
Goal for the year: Be in the 150's by my 50th b'day in Dec.

Other goals:
Get out of debt. Big nut to chew since we still owe $67K to the hospital for Steve's stroke in 2006.
Reno is #4 in the nation for people being upside down in their homes. Our block has 8 houses that have been foreclosed on in the past 2 years. Our block has made the papers both local & national about how bad the foreclosures are.
The city has come in & bought all the houses & is making them section 8. They bought the house next door for $30K. It's now renting for $550 a month.

Wayyyyy upside down.

Store is down about 15% over 2008. Tie-dye business was down. Yup we're part of that section of America: Medical bills, housing issues and small business owners that the gov't seems to be ignoring.

I really want us to pull it out this year.

That's it for now.

Welcome new Decade. I'm excited to see what you have to offer to me.

Good bye Appendix. Hello world!

2009-12-26T13:59:00.000-08:00

So here's what's been happening the past month or so.

#1. I had a fashion show called Luscious Ladies: A Fat Girl Fashion show.

This is Meredith & myself in one of the publicity photos.
Meredith owns the Tree House Lounge where the fashion show was held.

Two of my models wearing "off the rack" clothes from the store.

Me pole dancing.
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Signature looks:

Rhianna is wearing lavender mylar stretch bloomers, purple corset and multi-colored mylar fur shrug.

Dixie is about 6'1". She was my closing look.
Green raw silk corset with same fabric as an open skirt.

This was my original piece.
Tuxedo with corseted sleeves, faux maroon & black fur trim on sleeves and collar.
Bloomers that looked so wonderful in person! I loved loved loved this piece.

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#2: Random photo shoot in store:

Dana Nollsch of Photo Zen called this one "When photo shoots go bad".

I love this of me. It's about 9 degrees out and one of the models had grabbed this as a prop. I had 2 different photographers playing in the store with 3 models. I aimed this at Lenea and she grabbed the photo of me.

Local model Stefani & myself. She's hot!
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#3: Made the cover!

Cover shot of local alternative magazine.
Story was about shopping locally for Christmas.
The guy next to me showed up wearing just a plane blue t-shirt. He's wearing my sweatshirt.
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#4. Had my appendix out on Dec 10.
Celebrated my birthday in the hospital.
Big gift: Got to poop & fart and then was put on solid food.

I have more pic's to publish. It'll happen.

Oh and I'm at 190 btw. 42 pounds gone this year bitches!!!!

199 and holding

2009-11-09T07:16:00.001-08:00

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

2009-11-03T17:20:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-11-01T19:24:00.001-08:00

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!

Why hello Lover

2009-07-29T13:45:00.000-07:00

What I'm doing on my Summer Vacation

1. You need to know I'm down to 195, bitches. Yeah. I said it. One hundred ninety five fucking pounds. That's 38 pounds gone since Jan. Uh huh.

2. No, I'm not exercising. I have veracious veins that you wouldn't believe from all the standing I do. Either in the store, in the booth, on grass, on asphalt, on cement. I stand & have the biggest vein going up from my calf to my ass. Yup. Pretty things for pretty girls.

3. Update on Crank van: Yes we still own it. I put it on Craigs list, parked it in the lot by the store & had 2 people ask about it. We decided that we'd just finish getting it fixed & keep it. It does have that great sound system and if I leave the windows down I really don't notice the raw gas smell.

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Random photos

Taylorsville Solar Cook-off. Dancing with my friend Camilla

This is my favorite vending festival. Money's good & the music is great.

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Kim & me in our "Sears" pose.

Kim & I go dancing in Tahoe almost every weekend. She used to be a vendor but she's writing a book about her life and has a really nice advance to live off.

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Me & Kali doing a photo shoot for the store.

Yeah, I look hot.

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Artist Christopher Umana & me.

Back in June there was a big artist exhibit at one of the sleezey motels. Over 100 different artists rented rooms for a week & showed their stuff. I fell in love with Christopher's work and approached him about doing a show in the store.

Turns out he shops the store & was really honored to be asked.

So I have a nice display of his work in the window & inside.

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Fire spinning

I've been fire spinning and loving it.

Here's a link to check me out at the Taylorsville Solar Cook-off. I spun during the drum circle.

That's it for now.

Get off my back! I'm dating my blog already.

2009-05-31T13:49:00.000-07:00

"When are you going to update your blog" asks my Sister almost daily.

I'm in season. (Not like a dog in heat. Season meaning I'm gone 4 days out of the week & am hardly ever home.)

She knew this was coming. I've warned her. But it seems that she's not the only one.

"When are you going to update your blog?" asks my friends.

I'm updating it right now.

This is my life over the past few weeks:

Thurs -Sunday I'm in Lake Tahoe (except for this weekend.) I sell tie-dye to tourists. Been doing it for about 13 years in Tahoe. Love it & have a great following.

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This is my friend Jori. (Rhymes with Lori.)

She's what we in the craft business call a hawker. She'll sell anything. She doesn't make her stuff. She buys & sells.

When I first met her she was selling gourmet popcorn. Now she sells back rests. She's a party girl and we go dancing all the time. Love my Jori.

This is Don.

He sits in the back of his booth and says "Very good prices. Very good prices." or "Cheapest silver on the lake. Cheapest silver on the lake."

He repeats everything twice.

"Lauren! I'm going to the porta johns. Lauren! I'm going to the porta johns."

"Ok! Ok!" I repeat back.

He's into Scientology and marching bands. He plays his marching band music at full volume all the time. He also hands our free Ron Hubbard books.

I thought I had pictures of my booth but looks like I didn't take any. I'm doing a show this coming weekend in Tahoe so I'll make sure I get a couple.

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Steve & Me at my Nieces open house.

I like this picture except I hate my chins.

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Me in a very cool hat.

I have a leather guy who's making all sorts of stuff to sell in the store.

He said that he had to make this hat & had to show it to me right away. The thing weighs a ton and I felt like I was going to lose my balance while I was wearing it.

Demonia boots

Got my shipment in this past week.

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The store is doing ok. I still have days where I want to just close the door & walk away. We're down about 30% this month over last year.

My weight: I'm at 202 & holding steady. Have been slowly adding fruit to my diet. Love the strawberries.

Miss you all. I'm doing the best I can.

I'm still here.

2009-05-16T13:35:00.000-07:00

I know. I've been neglecting my blog and you guys. It's been a tough couple of weeks.

First off our store isn't making the money it needs to keep our doors open. I'm having to make payments for rent. You can't get to the store because of road construction. I send out emails to our customers 2x a week saying "Come shopping!"

This weekend is our 2nd anniversary sale. BIG clearance. Big whoop. I've probably had 6 people walk thru the door since I opened at 9:30 and it's almost 2 now.

Even my employees & the woman who rents space from us doesn't care. There are days (like today) I just want to lock the doors and drive away never looking back. It drains my energy and my life. Today is doing that.

I mean come on people. We have a giant rack full of clearance vintage clothes for $5. This is stuff that I had marked up to $50 and now it's $5!

Steve is out doing a local event. He made more in the 1st hour than I've made in the 4.5 I've been open. Thing is that money is our tie-dye business money. It's what supports Steve & I.

I love my store but today I want to walk away from the bills, customers and crap that goes with it.

My other issue is my health. I had a huge chunk of melanoma removed from my arm last Nov. The dr wanted me to see an oncologist. We have such shitty insurance that I have to pay out of pocket for my chest x-ray & blood tests.

Finally got the blood tests done & found out I'm cancer free! Yeah!

But I still have something going on with my parathyroid. That blood test happened on thurs. The oncologist should call me this week with results.

Oh something funny at oncologist: He told me I'm losing weight too fast: 30 pounds in 4 months. I don't think that's too fast. I think that's pretty normal.

The rest of my metabolic panel came back normal. My cholesterol levels were beautiful along with my glucouse levels. Yeah!

I will be calling the dermatologist for my 6 month check up. I need to ask what makes UV clothing UV clothing.

Sorry to be such a venter but this is the space I'm in right now.

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Photos from around the store today

Iris in bloom

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Our old hand painted sign

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Animal bikes

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Basket of eyelashes

This is my life.

2009-05-06T22:44:00.001-07:00

A picture says a THOUSAND words.

Let's see if you can read them all.

A winged Jackalope.

How creative is that??

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A traditional Jackalope.

I wanna ride that pony!

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Kudo's to my friend Mac for sending me these in an email.

Gotta love a good cat fight.

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Who wants to know about crack van today??

Ok kids. Have a seat & let Auntie Twinkely Dots tell you the latest.

Van is still in the shop. Denny at Denny's Dependable found us a blinker housing & light. It's being installed thursday. $100.

I'll pick up the van, get it inspected at the DMV, register it & then put it on Craigs list.

We can drive it with the cracked manifold. So we'll sell it with the cracked manifold.

Good bye $4000 we've spent.

***************

I'll be gone this weekend.

I'm heading over to Davis for the Whole Life Festival. The fire group will be performing on Friday night.

Miss me!

Tuesday Tuesday Tuesday

2009-05-05T10:21:00.000-07:00

Happy

Full of

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Ask me about the van. Go ahead.

Ask. I dare ya.

After leaving the DMV yesterday to get ANOTHER 15 day temp registration I decided to go get the tires balanced & rotated. The van shimmie's if driven over 60 mph.

Turned out the back 2 tires were bald on the inside. The steel had separated from the rubber. $200 for 2 new tires. The front 2 were new.

Today the van is at our mechanic because it lurches when stopped after being warmed up. No word yet from the mechanic. Oh and it smells of raw fuel after being driven.

I can say one positive thing about the van. It has an AWSOME sound system.

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Fire spinning

As you guys know I've been taking fire spinning classes since January. My big goal is to spin in conclave before Burning Man. (Conclave is the fire troupes who perform before they burn the big Man.)

My friend Chelsea recorded & posted my 1st burn on YouTube. Since I don't know how to upload video on my blog you can click here to watch.

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Food, Diet, Lifestyle changes

My friend Nancy has been on the same journey with her food as I have. She was diagnosed about 3 months before I was with the gliadin allergy. She's really into nutrition and health.

She emailed me a thing she had gotten from her dr about baking soda curing cancer. It has to do with the acid/alkaline levels in the body.

I googled and came up with all sorts of information.

I'm going to pick up ph strips to start checking my ph level. With my skin cancer I don't want to take chances of having cancer anyplace else.

What this is leading to is that I've started to move back to being vegetarian. It will be a slow process. As of now I'm red meat free. My body doesn't process animal products so I know I'll be healthier because of the decision.

When I was vegan it was for health reasons not ethical. Studies show ethical vegans stay vegans where as health vegans don't.

I'm a strong believer in the food chain so I have no problems with others eating meat/fish/chicken around me. It's the same as I have no problems with people eating my food allergy foods. (Does that sentence make sense? Huh.)

So I'll start blogging about my moving towards vegetarianism. Look for it!

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John the pirate

Meet John. He's a pirate.

He was on his way to a raid last night when he stopped by.

yargggg.

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4:15 pm Car update

Manifold is leaking. $800.

Fuck.

So much to say. Let's catch up, shall we?

2009-05-03T11:20:00.000-07:00

Where to start. Where to start.

I know. Crack van pt trois. (Subtitled: How I spent my day off. Abridged version.)

Time to register the van. Head down to our local DMV with smog check, proof of insurance and title. Easy peasy.

Maybe in everyone else's world but not in mine.

Turns out the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) on the title doesn't match the one on the van. So I have to have the VIN inspected by the DMV. Out to the inspector I go.

He writes down the correct one. Go back inside to same clerk.

She has to run the correct VIN to make sure it's a clean title. VIN doesn't show up in NV. "When I bough the van it had California plates." Oh.

Starts to run it in CA & the system shuts down in CA.

Tries 15 mins later. System in CA has crashed. No clue when it's going back up. I've already been at the DMV for about 2 hours.

Clerk & I decide that we're both going to take a lunch break. "See you in an hour."

Come back. System is still down.

Finally comes back up.

Turns out the title in Cal is "salvaged". In other words this van had been in an accident & then it was sold here in NV as clean. Now the fun part comes in.

I have to have the van inspected by a certified mechanic then bring it back & have it inspected by the DMV. It's missing the front driver's side turn signal housing.

I take it to my mechanic who signs everything off. I lie to him & tell him I have the housing at home. I kind of lie. I think that we actually have the part. I know we have some sort of light part at home.

Back to DMV. He won't let me pass without the light.

This whole process took close to 4 hours.

Steve's plan: Crack van is a 99 Mercury Villager. We also own a 97 Mercury Villager. He'll remove the 97's light housing, I'll take it with me back to DMV, get the van to pass & then reinstall it on the 97.

Um. No. 98 was the last year Nissan made the Mercury Villager. 99 is when Ford started making them. Guess what design they changed. Yup. The whole headlight panel including the turning signal housing.

We've been online, Steve's been out to our local Pick your part place. Nothing. nada.

I want this van OUT OF MY LIFE! But it can't go until we get a clean title. fuck.

I'll be back at the DMV tomorrow to get an extension on the 10 temp registration.

**************

Hotel Hallway

Harvey's Lake Tahoe.

Red Hat Lady

Red Hat Ladies in my booth

NOT buying tie-dye.

Friday & saturday I was in South Lake Tahoe not selling tie-dye to the Red Hat Convention.

Steve & I had decided that we would try new things this year. The local Red Hat group had ordered tie-dye from us for the Northern Nevada Red Hat Convention.

"You should sell at the convention!" says Rhonda. "We love your tie-dye! You'll make a killing!"

Liar liar pants on fire.

Did you know that you can only wear a red hat if you're over 50? If you're under 50 you're a "Pink Hatter".

Vernice, the organizer for the convention, shops in our store. "Oh yes! You must come!"

I could only bring clothes that were purple, red, pink & lavender. Oh and no kids stuff. Adults only.

I had to get a room because the place I rent for the summer isn't available for me until Memorial day weekend. Let's add that expense.

Attendance was down. Wayyyy down. Last year: 500+ . This year: 280.

More booths this year: 14 vs 7 last year.

All that added up to 2 days of Red Hat hell.

If anyone ever asks you to vend at a Red Hat convention thank them kindly but then RUN. RUN. RUN!!

***************

Food

I've started to incorporate food that's been off my anti-candida diet.

Started off with strawberries. I've been having about a cup a day with goat yoghurt. So sweet! So satisfying. Yum!

Friday night I splurged and went to the buffet at the top of Harrah's. If you're ever in Tahoe and you want a buffet go spend the money. It's the best buffet at the lake & the view is amazing.

I had a couple of things: sushi, mashed potatoes that were totally off plan. And I paid for it during the night.

I think my emotions from the lack of sales didn't help my digestive tract during the night, either.

There were people around me eating rich, creamy desserts and those looked disgusting to me. Funny how 5 months ago I would have been passing on most of the entre's and going just for the desserts and now I have no taste for them. Boy I hope that feeling stays with me for the rest of my life!

I'm in the store today cleaning up & out. Tie-dye employees come back tomorrow (yeah!) and they'll need a work space.

They better notice my weight loss (chuckle).

You smoking crack pt 2 aka Reno 911

2009-04-28T13:45:00.000-07:00

The van saga continues.

You ever watch Reno 911? Well it's not taped here but in Long Beach, Cal. We don't have palm trees but we do have the inept police dept.

I decided that I would call the police dept & ask if I could use one of the drug sniffing dogs to see if they could find more drugs. Laws are changing here in NV. They don't have to have a reason for search & seizure. Get pulled over & they may decide to search.

Anyway I called the Reno P.D. & explained the story of the van. Bought it at an auction, found a gun, found a crack pipe, etc. Woman takes my info & says "I'll have someone call you back."

About an hour later I hear someone pounding on the side door at the store. Store is full of customers so I excuse myself & walk outside. Mr. Pulice man is standing at the door banging.

"Can I help you?"

"We have a report of a van that has guns & drugs at this location."

Oh.dear.god.

"Why are you pounding on that door?" I ask

"Because I've never been here before & didn't know how to enter." Einstein answers

"Come this way thru the front door."

Hum... I've got 9 huge windows with doors on either side of the windows that are propped open.

We come in. I explain that no, I don't have a van that has guns & drugs but I bought a van that I've found both a gun & a crack pipe in. I'd like to know if I could have the drug dogs sniff out my van to see if there's anything else in it.

All of the customers now know this story. I tell them all to "Help yourselves. I need to show this guy the van."

We go out. He puts on gloves. "Show me the gun & the pipe."

"You guys have the gun. The pipe has been destroyed."

"Ma'm we are busy. We don't have time to come & search your van for drugs."

"I never asked you to come & search. I called to find out if I could have the dogs sniff for drugs." (jesus h. christ I'm thinking.)

Now here's the advice he gives me.

"Think about where you would hide drugs in this van and look for them."

"I'm not that person. I don't do drugs." I tell the guy

"Then have your boyfriend do it." He says

"My husband's not that guy either." I say

"Do you know how expensive it is for us to bring the dogs along with a trainer out? We can't just do this for every person who calls."

Yeah. I could have done this all over the phone. All you had to do was call me back. Nimrods.

My friend Nicki suggested we have a search party for the van. I'm thinking that's not a bad idea.

*******************

Controlled Burn

This is the fire spinning troupe I'm in. I'm easy to find. Over to the left I'm the one not spinning fire but have glow poi, green & purple.

Since this was taken I've started to spin fire. I can't perform with the group until I've safetied 3 times. I'm 2 down, 1 to go.

Safety is the position of putting out fires. Very very important job.

Now you know what I do every weds night.

**************

New blog

Someone turned me onto this blog. I laughed so hard I had to pee.

Enjoy.

Need to find me? Send a search party.

You smoking crack?

2009-04-26T11:56:00.000-07:00

No, but my car is.

You're going to love this story.

Back in November we bought this van at an impound auction for $1800.

When I brought it home & started cleaning it out I found a gun. Called the police & also found the original impound ticket (no insurance, no license, no registration) so we had the name of the guy who owned the car before us.

I tell the cop the story about the auction. They sell the vehicles with all the owners stuff in it because here in Nevada they have until 1 minute before the start of the auction to pay on the impound & claim the vehicle.

He puts on his gloves & picks up the gun. "It's a toy" he says. "This is all plastic."

Whaaaaahhhhhhttttttt???

"In my 20 years of being a cop this is the most realistic toy gun I've ever seen. It has a removable chamber for bullets, it makes the noise of being cocked." Says Mr. Policeman.

"Take it" I say. We are a gun free house. Even a toy gun (except the bright green water pistols) aren't welcome in our house.

The next day we take the van to our mechanic.

Three months later & $2400 in repair bills we bring the van home where it sits in our driveway. We don't have the money to insure or register it until this past week.

Steve drives the van on Friday & feels something in the arm rest.

This crack pipe.

Doesn't it look like he's hand model in this pic?

I feel like taking the van to the cops & letting the drug sniffing dogs see what else they can find. As I've been cleaning out the van I've found 9 air fresheners, collection of key chains, tools, really nice scissors, pay stubs and photos. The scary thing about the photos is that some were taken at an apartment building that's about 5 blocks from our house.

On thursday I took the car to get a smog check. The battery was dead & Steve had to charge it overnight.

Turns out that when the battery cables are disconnected or the battery dies so does the information in the computer. It takes driving the vehicle 3-5 days before all the info comes back into memory.

My friend suggested that we have it smugged & blessed. I said that it would probably end up being a scene from the Exorcist with the car spinning up in the air & throwing up auto fluid.

Van for sale. Crack pipe optional.

You have my permission to succeed

2009-04-24T12:55:00.000-07:00

Seriously. You have my permission to succeed.

To have a sense of accomplishment. This is my pat on the back for a job well done.

You deserve this success.

What's bringing this on? Well a couple of things.

1. I've read a couple of blogs today that are moaning about not being able to lose weight. Self sabotage, too many things going on in their lives, bored with their lives, etc are excuses that are being used for not being able to lose weight.

There will always be reasons to not lose weight.

BUT

There will always be reasons to lose weight right.this.second.

What is it in our make-up or ways of thinking that we don't deserve to be thin, healthy, content? Why do we think that we deserve all the shit that happens to us?

Years ago in my single days I would date losers. Most were drunks, users, broke & well, just shits.

One day I woke up & thought "Why do I think this is what I'm worth?"

Suddenly those losers disappeared and the quality of men improved.

Why can't this thought process apply to my quality of living? Why do I think that being overweight, sick and tire is what I'm worth?

2. What does it take for us to kick our lifestyle change in gear?

What was your "clicking" point to get you off your butt and get going?

We'll see people who smoke & who's relatives have died from smoke related illnesses. We'll judge & say "Don't they remember that their own FATHER died from lung cancer?? But they'll still smoke?"

How about in my own case: My Dad died from heart disease. Yet 30 years after his death I'm overweight & not in the best shape. I saw him go from hospital bed to hospital bed for the last 5 years of his life.

You'd think that would change my life. But no.

I have relatives that have diabetes brought on by weight & lack of exercise. That should kick me in the rear but no.

My own food allergies could, no make that WILL kill me. They cause me to gain weight, get sick, have breathing problems, joint inflammation YET until this past Jan I still ate what I'm not suppose to.

Why? Why would I do all this?

Reasons for losing weight:

1. Health.

2. Look hotter

3. Shopping is easier. Buy things because they look good not just because they fit.

What was my clicking point? I just decided that NOW was the time. I couldn't wait until tomorrow, next week, after the next big event. It had to happen NOW.

And it is happening NOW.

So I'm giving myself permission to succeed.

I'm giving you permission to succeed, too.

******************

Today's boots:

Flames

I found these in a thrift store for $9. The boot gods decided they were meant for me.

Platform, comfortable & fit around the calf. Oh yeah.

Dina. Dina. Dina.

2009-04-22T15:59:00.000-07:00

Dina Dina Dina.

Toast & sticks. Do the math.

Note to everyone else: Don't you hate it when you're reading a blog & you have no clue what's going on. Well this is one of those times.

Tricia this is your fault. Just sayin'.

********************

I want these. Really really want these.

I am craving these Demonia boots like you wouldn't believe. Canvas. Black. Straps. I can soooo use these to spin fire. I've been informed that I shouldn't spin fire in my black with flame boots because I don't want to get fuel on them.

These are $60 on Ebay. Shipping brings them to $72.

I want these. I dream about these. I can dance in these bad boys. I can jump in these bad boys. I can look hot in these bad boys.

Canvas means they can be flame retardanted. (Ok not a word but I'm making it one.)

I reach 199 and those will-be-mine.

In the meantime I'm wearing these today:

My green Doc Martins.

Yes I'm sporting fishnets with them. My leg covering of choice.

Dina: These boots are made for walkin', hone.

Get off my back. I'll blog when I want to.

2009-04-21T13:22:00.001-07:00

Calm down. Can't a girl be busy? Can't a girl have a life away from you freaks of nature?? In the words of Kathy Griffin "Jesus H Christ on a Cross!"

First off I'm busy. Every night this week I've got something happening.

Secondly I'm busy. Every morning I've got something happening.

I do own a store. I do go away once in a while. Just wait until Summer. I'm gone 4-5 days every week and I don't own a lap-top. (But am open to being gifted one. Mac please. Mac snob here.)

This past weekend we had 2 Earth Day festivals. One was in Squaw Valley, the other was here in Reno.

Me in front of the booth.

Please note the huge hat. Skin cancer will do that to ya. I slathered on 45 spf.

I have a giant head. That hat is a size 8 that's been stretched out to fit.

And of course I have on my kick ass flame boots. And why do people feel the need to ask me how much I paid for those? My new response "Less than a house payment".

***************

Squaw Valley Trashion Show

This 2 pc outfit was made from 500 Clif bar wrappers.

Made from a garden umbrella and measuring tape found in forest.

I have more photos on my facebook page. It's open to anyone. PrismMagic Sparks is the name to search. You can even opt to be my friend. It's the store's page.

*****************

Scale report: 205!

Very very solid 205. Which means -27 since Jan 4. I'll take it baby.

It's been pretty nice & warm here. My appetite has diminished. Saturday night driving home from the festival both Steve & I were tired. Neither one of us wanted to cook. I just wanted beef & a potato.

We saw a sign for $13.95 all you can eat prime rib at a dive casino so we went for it. It was the best prime rib I've had in years.

All I had was a baked potato & 3 servings of prime rib. Nothing else. No salad. No fruit. No veggies. Nada. Nothing. Zip. Yes. I said 3 servings. ("Meat. It's what's festering in your colon.")

I'm feeling thin. Funny thing (and I think I've said this before) when I got up to 205 I know I didn't feel thin. And to everyone else in the world 205 is still fat. I should look up the bmi but nah. (Go for it. I'm 5'8".)

I'm wearing clothes I've not worn in a couple of years.

And people are starting to notice. I LOVE that. "Why yes I've dropped 27 pounds. Thanks for noticing."

*************

One more thing:

Ever hear of the term "Dry Rain"? We're having that phenomenon happen right now. It happens a lot in the desert. It rains but dries up before hitting the ground because it's too hot to hit the ground.

Reno averages 8" of rainfall a year & that's mostly snow. It's hardly every humid but right now it's very very humid due to the dry rain.

Ok freaks. That's my post for today. *kisses*

Happy Birthday my Brother!

2009-04-16T07:14:00.000-07:00

This is my Brother:

Then

Now

Yesterday was his birthday.

In true family tradition I'm wishing him a happy birthday a day late.

I've bragged about Clint in the past. Growing up he wasn't the "normal" brother. He never teased me, never picked on me, never tattled. Could have been the 7 year age difference. My Mom once told me that she never had to worry about cleaning out his pockets when doing laundry. He wasn't the kind of kid that picked up bugs & kept them to play with later.

Now he's a Dad to 2 wonderful kids. (I'm biased. His daughter is a "mini-me" and his son is my Godson.) His wife is amazing, beautiful, funny and helps him keep is act together.

Happy birthday to you! You live in a zoo! You look like a MONKEYYYYYYYYY and you smell like one toooooooooooooooo!

**********************

SCREAM!!!!

I love this picture.

*******************

Let's talk diet.

Weight loss. Life journey. Choices. Journalling. Exercise. Water. No sugar. No whites: flour, pasta, potatoes. Inspirations. Uninspired. 30 minutes a day. Nothing after 8pm. Breakfast. Nothing tastes as good as thin feels. Fake it til you make it. Put the fork down between bites. Don't do anything while eating. Eat in front of a mirror. Leave a bite or 2 on your plate. Use a smaller plate. Use a smaller fork. Use chopsticks. Ice water burns more calories than room temperature water. Eat your rainbow. 1 oz of cheese is equal to your thumb. A serving of meat is the size of a deck of cards. Measure measure measure. Points. Fiber. Fat. An empty colon is a happy colon. Eat right. Baked. Broiled. Not fried. Couch to 5 k. No carbs. Cabbage soup diet. Zero point soup. Thin jeans. Fat pants. Your starting point is my goal. 10%. No fruit after noon. Don't mix veggies, carbs and protein. Have 2 out of three. No coffee. Green tea. Whole grains. Olive oil. Five small meals a day. Pineapple only for 3 days. Hard boiled eggs. No salt. Lightly steam. Fish. Fish. Fish. Lemon juice, cayenne pepper and maple syrup. Brush and floss. Be the last one at the table eating. Taste each bite. Savour each bite. Make each bite count.

What am I missing?

Yuri's Night, Costumes and more!

2009-04-14T16:41:00.000-07:00

Hello.

Miss me? I know I know.

I've been scarce but I have great excuses.

1. Excuse #1: Getting ready for the big party this past Saturday night.

Yuri's night is an international party that happens all over the world on the same night. It honors the 1st man in space Yuri something.

We were slammed all week. On saturday (the day of the party) we had people knocking on the doors after we closed looking for costumes. "I'll take anything!" Everything that was silver, gold, sparkley or spacey was long gone.

Party night came & we were out until 1:45 am!

Here's a few pictures from the event:

Fire spinning.

That's one single poi that's about the size of a bowling ball.

This guy is the one spinning the big poi. He loves fire and is really really fantastic at spinning.

****************

This is Sabra. She's a very close friend. She also happens to sublet part of our store.

She's an amazing woman. She's had breast cancer 3 times, ovarian cancer once and has been in remission for 4 years. She grew up in Ely, NV which is a "down winder" town. Down winder is a term used for areas in Nevada that are down wind from the nuclear bomb tests.

Oh and that's not her real hair. It's an orange wig. But she has orange & gold hair under it. She hot glued the hat to the wig so it's stuck there for life.

*************

Nathan & Me

Nathan is another good friend. He, Robin & I are working on the Burning Man web site updating the local shopping areas. He has the best costumes and it's always a surprise to see what he's wearing. I'd love to raid his closet except he weighs about 130-140 pounds.

I'm wearing a lime green faux ostrich blazer, black corset, short pink & yellow petticoat, black fishnets with pink fence nets over the top & my GREEN Doc Martins.

I had 2 people grab my hair & ask if it was really all mine.

**************

This was my favorite costume of the night.

I don't know this guy but I was amazed at his creativity.

******************

This is my friend Chelsea. She has an aerial troupe called Dragonfly Aerials.

She has a burlesque troupe called Bohemian Burlesque.

She organized 4 aerialists to hang from the ceiling and perform during one of the dj's sets.

**************

Excuse #2

Normally I post in the morning but lately I've been practicing poi & facebooking.

I'm attempting to cut back on my morning computer time so that I can get to the store with time to spare for sewing.

I'm in the middle of making a lime green fur bunny suit. I finished silk flame pants yesterday. I'm hoping to get some personal projects made in the next week.

I do miss you all. I do read your blogs. Just haven't had the time to comment.

Lauren

Today's outlook: Feeling thin!

2009-04-11T11:16:00.000-07:00

Pancakes!

I started this about 2 hours ago. The store is SLAMMED! OH YEAH!

We had pancakes for breaky. Loved them.

I'll post the recipe later.

I feel thin today. Skirt is a gap XL that's been sitting in my closet for the past 2 years.

Tights aren't rolling down my fat belly. They're actually staying where they need to stay.

I feel thin, clean inside and healthy.

Tonight: BIG partay! I'll post more tomorrow.

*kisses*

Under Construction

2009-04-09T13:34:00.001-07:00

Finally. Finally. Finally

Construction is finally happening. I've waited 2 years for this. Talk about moving slow. But now it's happening.

Today they're removing the concrete from the front of the store, the plumber is here putting water lines for the landscaping.

The electrician should be here tomorrow or monday to lay the wires for the sign.

The sign should be installed next week.

Landscaping starts after the sign.

Two years. Two f'ing years I've waited for this to happen.

The sign I have now cost me $300 in permits and it's just a piece of plywood attached to the side of my building.

Yeah.

****************

In the meantime here's some random pictures from the inside of the store.

zebra hat made by local roller derby queen

Locally made soap. I LOVE this stuff!

Hanging lantern.

**************

That's it for now.

New Goals, Family, Moving forward

2009-04-08T08:24:00.000-07:00

What a great weekend in San Francisco!

Steve, Mom and Me

And the Golden Gate Bridge

***************

The wedding was fun, beautiful and perfect.

The weather was absolutely perfect. 68 & slight winds. Not a cloud in the sky the whole time we were there.

My brother was the officiant. He's an "I can marry you" minister. It was great seeing him work. Remember the bacheloret wedding between Tricia & Ryan? He was the guy who married them. He's got a reality show coming out in May called "Hitched or Ditched" on the CW.

The Bride & Groom looked absolutely beautiful. Both were radiant and so happy.

Lisa (my niece, the bride) had talked to the caterer about my food restrictions. Turned out most of what they picked was ok for me to eat! Steve & I were thrilled. We passed on the cupcakes and opted for sparkling water with lime instead of alcohol. Not a big deal.

I think I was on the dance floor for most of the night. My 9 year old niece has been taking hip-hop dance lessons and did not want to quit dancing. She said to me "I'm tired but the dance just has to get out of me! I can't stop!"

She kept having dance-offs with people and would win.

Great times. Full of memories to last forever.

******************

Food

We packed a cooler & 2 bags of food to go. We weren't sure if we'd be close to a grocery store and we didn't want to be tempted.

Well.... We gave into temptation. A couple of times.

Next door to our hotel was a gluten free pizza place! We gave in. The crust was 100% grain free. Made with bean flours, yeast, vinegar & garlic. We substituted the tomato sauce with pesto & cilantro. Most expensive pizza I've ever had. $26.50 for a 12" pie. But Mom treated.

We split the pizza in half & took our leftovers with us to the pre-wedding party on Friday night. Pasta was being served & we didn't want to feel left out. So pizza it was.

Our other splurge: Hash browns. Wrong for so many reasons. Fried, made from white potatoes and well just wrong. Oh and we had avocados. Forbidden fruit on anti-candida but tasted so good. yum.

*****************

Back to reality on Monday.

Scale said I was up 2 pounds. Not surprised. We hit a buffet on sunday night & I ate my weight in shrimp.

New short term goal: 199 by Memorial day. That's about 1 pound a week, 5 pounds a month. Very very do-able.

Weather is warming up. Time to get the bike out & get it tuned. It's a 5 speed beach cruiser and is great for hitting the neighborhood. Reno is very hilly so it's not that great for distance riding.

**************

one more thing

This guy has lost 100 pounds. I love his blog. Go congratulate him.

Adventures from San Francisco

2009-04-07T08:02:00.000-07:00

Fog City Wedding

San Francisco Here we come!

2009-04-02T08:46:00.000-07:00

Fog City Wedding time!

This is going to be a brief blog.

STeve & I are packing rightthisminute for our trip to San Francisco.

My niece Lisa is getting married this weekend and we're leaving a few days early to enjoy some SF city fun.

Everybody enjoy your weekend. Play nice & say "Please" and "Thank You".

I'll see you on Monday.

Happy April Fools Day aka An ode to my Friend Teri

2009-04-01T06:36:00.000-07:00

Happy April Fools day!

I'll be you're wondering why I have a picture of Mary Ingals from Little House on the Prairie. Well I'll tell ya.

Today's post is going to be all about one of my closest and bestest friends Teri. If you're looking for weight loss stories today's not going to be one of them. I woke up at 5 am thinking about my adventures with Teri & decided that I really needed to blog about them.

Our history:

Teri & I worked together about 20 years ago in radio. I was a dj & she was in sales. We just hit it off as friends and have never looked back.

The thing about Teri is that she loves a really good practical joke. She's great at dishing them out but also great at having them played on her.

April fools & Halloween are her 2 favorite days of the year.

I had been warned by friends and her family to watch out on April Fools. She had been known to pull some great pranks.

Year #1 The day went by & she ignored me which made me crazy. I kept expecting something to happen. "That was part of your prank. I knew it would make you wonder what was going to happen."

Year #2 she had pre-planned a bunch of stuff for everyone but it fell thru when her husband had left her the night before.

She showed up to work with puffy eyes and said "he left me".

None of us believed her. "Great joke."

Turned out she was serious.

Year #3 We both had gone thru the big breakups with jerks (mine got another woman pregnant. Hers was just an ass.) and decided it was time for us to become housemates.

She had my boss call me & pretend to be from the health dept telling me that there had been reports from a few men with STD's and they all had used my name.

First off Harry (my boss) was terrible at character voices. Secondly he used the name Hunter S. Thompson.

Oh part of this story is that we shared a phone line & answering machine.

During this time I was so mentally messed up from my break up that I had taken a step back from dating. No men in my bed. No men in my life. Period. So there was no way I was linked.

How to get back at Teri?

I got on the phone & started calling every single man I knew. "Call me back & leave a message saying you heard from the health dept and want to know what this is about."

They called their friends to leave messages.

By the time she got home the machine was full of strange men calling me to ask about the health dept.

************

Ok. Why the Mary Ingals photo?

Teri looks like her.

And

We used it to our advantage. (Yes. I said "Our" advantage.)

We'd go out & convince men that she was Mary from Little House. They'd buy us dinner, drinks, show tickets, etc. Our prey was tourists. Never local men. We'd get dinner & they'd get a story to tell when they got home. ("Remember that show 'Little House on the Prairie'? Remember the blind chick? You're not going to believe who I had dinner with in Reno.")

"I tried doing a few after school specials but I was type cast as the 'girl next door' and couldn't get good roles." She'd tell them. "So now I'm selling radio time in Reno". (Which was true.)

She'd do the Mary is blind move: arms out & saying "Mama?? Papa?? Laura??"

Well a couple of years ago she had mis-emailed me about a dinner party. I had been part of an email list and decided it was time for her to be pranked.

I emailed the hostess of the party. Explained the Mary Ingalls connection and how Teri loved being told she looked like the chick from Little House.

Hostess took the joke & ran with it. Needless to say I believe that was the last and final time Mary Ingalls has been used by Teri.

There's more stories:

--The day after halloween & finding over 100 pumpkins in my front yard from her.

--Finding a 10# fish under my driver seat then putting it in her car after saran wrapping the steering wheel & seat together

--Ditching her at b'fast while she was in the bathroom. I got the whole table to leave her behind. (The radio station was paying for it. She wasn't left with the bill.)

--She & her husband having sex in my bathroom during Steve's & my wedding reception. Our reception was at our house. Her husband showed me that he was wearing her bra. (And I was worried about Steve's friends... HA!)

--She had a secret wedding on her lunch hour and didn't tell anyone but me. They got married a month later and eventually told of the previous wedding so it's ok that I knew about it before everyone else.

There's more. A lot more.

Teri you're my hero.

You ran away at 18 & joined the circus.

You ran away & moved to Pismo after a 3 day vacation.

You have no fear.

You've been thru hell and back and have the best stories about the trip.

I'm glad we're friends.

And now the latest in weight loss, PSA and fun

2009-03-31T12:31:00.000-07:00

Scale check in: 208. Yeah. It's down and I'm happy.

I know it would probably move faster if I worked out but I don't so it is what it is. This isn't a race. I don't care how fast it comes off just as long as it comes off.

************

Read this.

Now go spend $20 at a locally owned business.

Thank you.

********************

Fun time

For you new readers my husband & I own a store in Sparks (Reno) NV. Half is tie-dye clothing that he makes and the other half is vintage, nostalgic and costumes.

We cater to the Burning Man community.

I sew custom costumes. My challenge right now is to figure out how to attach a penis to a lime green bunny suit.

We get in all sorts of crazy clothing. Right now I probably have 30 petticoats in stock. I've got masks, hats, fur robes, sparkley dresses, blouses and tons of animal print things.

Burning Man doesn't happen until Labor Day. It's 8 days of 50,000 people partying in the desert about 90 miles east of here.

But thanks to the economy people are planning early.

We've been slammed the past few days and I'm thrilled.

Tomorrow night I get my picture taken for Controlled Burn, the fire conclave that I'll be performing with at Burning Man.

So it's Burning Man season early and I couldn't be happier.

Yeah!

Fat not-so-funny stories

2009-03-30T07:52:00.000-07:00

Tricia wrote on Friday about breaking a chair while waiting at the eyeglass dr's place. It got me to thinking about all the things that have happened to me over the years being overweight.

The thing about being fat, overweight, obese is that it comes on slowly. It's not like one day I woke up and weighed over 300 pounds. (Well I did but you understand.) The weight came on slowly.

I'd see pictures of myself and not believe that it was an accurate picture. Kind of like hearing your voice for the 1st time. You don't believe you really sound that way.

Buying clothes "Well they're making clothes smaller these days. They just don't fit the way they used to." Uh huh.

Mirrors are avoided. At least full length mirrors are. Even now we only have 1 mirror that I can see part of the upper half of my body. And that's in the entryway!

I asked Steve if he had any embarrassing moments being overweight. He once broke a toilet seat at a friends place. It was a wooden one and living in the desert those things dry out & break easily. He said that when he sees that guy he still brings it up. "Remember when your fat ass broke my toilet seat?? HA HA HA!!"

I can remember a couple of incidents.

1. In Vegas for a convention. There was a chair massage booth & I wanted to get one. Massage therapist looked at me & said "You're too big for me to massage. I don't want you to break my chair."

It felt like the world had gone silent and everyone stopped to look at the fat woman who wanted a massage.

2. Being at an amusement park & the safety bar didn't *click* into place so I had to leave the ride.

3. People constantly asking me when I'm due. Touching my belly to feel the baby. "Is it kicking?"

I used to say I was just fat & not pregnant. Now I just lie & say 3 months!

4. Little kids telling me in their honesty that I'm fat. Yeah that's fun.

5. In my single days being the fat chick who went out with the hot friends. Having the great personality & being the one the guys would call for advice on how to get my hot girl friend to go out with them.

The strange thing is that I have always been very comfortable in my skin. Once when getting my aura red the reader told me that I had a "thin person's aura".

I know I know I know. I'm doing something about it.

Well I've been doing something about it for most of my life. And I will continue to do something about it the rest of my life.

Sunday Sunday Sunday

2009-03-29T07:46:00.000-07:00

Spring has sprung in our yard. Finally.

The lilacs are starting to bud, the peonies are coming up and I've told the peach tree numerous times to wait on blooming. Bloom now & we'll have that final freeze in May and NO PEACHES in July.

The thing about living in Reno is our short growing season. (No, Reno's not near Vegas. Reno's near Lake Tahoe in the north western part of the state.) We're at 5000 ft elevation & have 4 seasons.

We also have extreme temperatures in the summer with day time highs in the 90's -100's and dropping down at night to 60.

Officially our last freeze is Memorial day weekend and our first freeze is usually early Sept.

That's why I grab ahold of spring. It means that in just a few months summer will be here! Yeah!

******************

Crystal necklace set

I finished the necklace set yesterday. For those of you who don't know about this let me tell you the cliff notes story.

The crystals were originally Nana's. My Sister wanted me to create a necklace & earrings for her to wear next weekend at her daughter's wedding.

I had enough to create a bracelet. Hopefully everything is right with the world and it all fits.

****************

Food Food Food

I'm uninspired. I'm going to revisit my earlier posts and start back on getting recipes going every day.

I have the same thing every day for lunch: salad with goat yogurt as a dressing, turkey patty cooked in my cooker at work.

Snack: rice cakes with either pesto or coconut oil with almond butter.

Same thing Same thing Same thing Same thing Same thing

Did I meant the same thing everysingleday? Yes.

And how are you?

Ahhhh a day off

2009-03-26T10:11:00.000-07:00

Today is my day off.

All alone in the house. Me. By myself. (Well Me & the dogs.)

Now don't get me wrong. I love hanging with Steve but I rarely get a day to myself. And with our spring/summer season right around the corner I won't be getting a day off for about 6 months.

I cherish days like today. Getting little tasks done: kitchen cleaned, bathrooms cleaned, caught up on laundry. Oh yeah. And I may even take a nap!

In my happy little world I wouldn't leave the house today but I'm returning clothes, looking for Spanx & have to mail off some photos. Plus tonight I work the box office at the theater.

This will be a good day!

******************

Food prep

My kitchen counter looks like this every morning. Big bags of veggies, plastic containers for lunch and figuring out what to eat during the day. See the big bag on the right? That's spinach. I'll go thru 2 of those big bags a week. Next to it is broccoli crowns. A bag of those a week isn't a big deal for us.

This morning I was im'ing with a friend and she said she rarely eats veggies. She was surprised that I have veggies in my eggs.

The only veggies I'm not a fan of is boiled or creamed. We either eat them sauteed, roasted, raw, steamed or stir fried. I love raw spinach. I have at least 2 servings a day.

See my knife? That's the secret to having a good kitchen. I love that knife. I travel with it. My Mom said that I was a gourmet because of that knife. I bought it at a restaurant supply store for $35. It's balanced, heavy blade and feels good to use. I get it professionally sharpened about once a year. The rest of the time I have a steel that I use.

Invest in a good knife. Don't get those ones that you see at the home shows with the "never needs sharpening" blade. I've got a few of those and honestly I think they're going to the thrift store next time I clean out my drawers.

Hold the knife in your hand. Feel the balance.

I've got "name brand" knives. Heinkel, Calphalon, Chef Works and none compare to the one I bought at the restaurant supply store.

One more knife tip: When scraping food off the cutting board turn your knife over so the blade isn't doing the scraping. It dulls the blade.

*****************

BOOTS!

Remember the other day when I was talking about my boot fetish?

Here's one of my pairs.

These are custom made. I designed the flames and how I wanted them to look. The shoe maker did the rest. You can't see it but on the back heel is the Burning Man logo.

These are made from 4 different hides: buffalo, elk, cow & goat.

The buttons are made from elk horns and blown glass buttons.

There's a 2" platform on the bottom and the insole is lined with sheep skin.

Since they were made custom for me they are the most comfortable shoes I own.

They were pricey. Let's just say I'm not getting any b'day, christmas, valentines or anniversary presents for a couple of years and leave it at that.

****************

12:12 Tuesday

Working on my Sister's necklace.

As I've said in previous posts my oldest Niece is getting married on April 4th. My Sister got a beautiful crystal necklace from our Mom that used to belong to our Nana.

Sister is wearing it with her dress at the wedding. She's asked me to restring it and make a pair of earrings to match.

I think these crystals are over 100 years old or close to it.

Nana was born in 1881. It's now 2009.

As I was working on the necklace I kept this in mind: "These will probably be passed on to one of my Sister's grandchildren. I am part of a legacy by making this necklace."

Even as I write this I'm crying.

It's an honor to be making this necklace that was part of my past and will be used as part of my Nieces future.

Anti Candida diet phase 2.

2009-03-25T15:24:00.000-07:00

Guess who mis-read the original cleanse instructions. Yeah. That would be me.

Phase 1 was suppose to only last 6 weeks. We did it almost 3 months. So this morning we started phase 2.

Not much difference from phase 1 except my one sweet treat is now gone.

Our morning drink was cranberry juice concentrate, 1 tsp apple cider vinegar & 1 tsp grade b maple syrup. Now it's just 2 tsp cranberry juice concentrate and water. And since we've not had anything sweet in a while it wasn't bad. (Way to clean out those kidneys!)

We can slowly start to reintroduce fruit and other grains, nuts into our diet.

Steve was excited because one of the breakfast items was buckwheat pancakes with vanilla. Guess what we're having on sat morning!

I added grapefruit pectin to my morning green drink. Tasted kind of weird but I know I'll get used to it just like I did with everything else over the past 3 months.

I'm not hip to adding any fruit at this time. It's not really in season and I'm not a fan of off season, picked too soon, trucked 1000 miles fruit.

I am excited to add other nuts. Funny how it's the little things like nuts give us pleasure.

*****************

Girl Scout Cookies

This is my PSA for the day.

My friend Robin's troupe has been in here twice selling cookies. She told me that they only make 30 cents a box! WTF???

So today they were here 4 hours & sold a record 18 boxes. 18 x .30= $5.40 profit. Four hours.

Don't buy cookies. Write them a check. Find your local troupe. Save the calories. Help send a girl to camp.

*******************

Biggest Loser

Carlos cracks me up. He pretty much summed up how I feel about BL.

Quit crying you guys.

Seriously.

Put on your big girl panties and just deal with it.

"I'm just going home." Ok. Go. Let me help you pack.

And Bob is no longer Bob. I'm calling him Bawlb. QUIT CRYING!

But please enjoy your 100 calorie packs of jello, Fiber one, chewing gum, and save the landfill Britta!

**************

One last thing

YOVILLE has been down all day. ALL DAY!

My addiction needs feeding. Badly! argggg!

Hello 10%!!! Hello 209!!!

2009-03-23T19:22:00.001-07:00

Guess who's lost 10% since Jan 4th? Yeah. That's right. This bitch right here.

209 is what the scale said 2 days in a row. 232-209 = 23 pounds or 10%.

232 front view

209 front view

232 side view

209 side view

It's a wonderful start.

Now onto my next 10%: 189. Yes!

******************

Guess who's hat shipment arrived today.

I love that his beard is stick way down below the bottom of the mask.

Big party here on April 11th. "Yuri's Night" is a celebration of outer space.

Oh yeah.

Did I mention that I've lost 10%??

Sexy Boots

2009-03-22T21:20:00.001-07:00

Sexy Boots

Thigh high platform.

Size 11 (too big for my size 10 feet)

Patent leather that stretches over my calfs & thighs.

Great with a school girl kilt.

Here's the deal about boots. I love em. I have 7 or 8 pairs. And I'm always on the look out for more.

Owning a vintage clothing store only supports my boot habit.

And I have some really cool, interesting customers that I buy from.

I live in Nevada. Nevada is the ONLY state in the USA where prostitution is legal. Ever watch "Cathouse" on HBO? That place is about 30 mins from me.

I have no problem with legalized prostitution. The girls are STD tested once a month, it's taxed and they make bank.

I have a couple of customers who work at the brothels and they bring me clothes, shoes, boots, costumes, etc. I figure the clothes aren't worn all that long and plus they're fun to have in the store.

Most of the time they just want to trade for other clothes.

They're open about what they do and are willing to answer any and all my questions.

One told me that she doesn't do the line-up, she won't be on the HBO show and she gets about $2000 per "party". She splits 50/50 with Dennis (the owner). She doesn't take new clients and most are booked on line. (Yeah. I thought so too when she said $2000.)

Her houses are 100% paid for & she teaches the other girls how to save money, make investments so that they'll be ok once they leave the trade.

I make no judgement about these women. I just think it should be legalized in all 50 states. It happens all the time and by controlling it, taxing it and making sure no STD's are spread it just makes sense.

BTW: There have been no reported STD's spread by any of the legal brothels in Nevada.

*****************

And now for something a little lighter.

May I present Lily and Ruby.

I had a Girl Scout troupe hanging out & selling cookies today. My friend Robin had asked me if they could come by & sell this weekend.

Sure! Bring em down.

I let people dress up all the time. There weren't many customers today due to the crappy snowy weather. So sure. You can dress up but here's the rules:

1. No fighting. If you fight over something you're done.

2. Respect the clothes. If something breaks, tears or ends up with a hole come & tell me. (I have more adults breaking zippers and stealing buttons so kids trying on clothes are NOTHING to me.)

3. Put it back. You can't try on a 2nd outfit until #1 is hung back up with all the buttons buttoned, the zippers zipped and the shoes put back on the rack.

4. Pick up the feathers. Enough said.

Lily has more style at age 8 then I have at age 48. That kid is classy.

Ruby is 3 and I pretty much dress like her. "Hey! Everything is red! It must match." Please note her sequined horns. I wear those almost every day.

NSV: I wasn't tempted at all by the cookies. Friends came in & bought a couple of boxes, opened them up & offered me some.

"No thanks."

"Oh right. You're on a diet."

"No, I'm allergic to wheat. Thanks anyway."

Looking at the box: Wheat flour, corn syrup, corn starch, soy lecithin. No, no, no & no.

And AND I didn't feel deprived. Yeah!

They're coming back on Weds to sell and they left the boxes. Not even tempted.

****************

Tonight's dinner:

Roasted chicken breast with roasted veggies in same pan.

Been a while since I posted a recipe.

This is easy peasy!

Pre-heat oven: 375

In a roasting/baking dish:

2 Chicken breasts: seasoned w/ fresh lemon juice, dry mustard, oregano, salt, pepper, garlic & chili powder

4 small red potatoes

Broccoli

Asparagus

Carrots

Yellow bell pepper

All veggies were tossed with olive oil, salt & pepper.

Bake 1 hour or until chicken is done.

YUMMY!!!

Arggggg! My new addiction.

2009-03-20T21:34:00.000-07:00

Yup. Yup. Yup.

I'm addicted. Not to Facebook but to one of their silly stupid games.

Yoville.

Are you on Facebook? Come be part of my crew in Yoville.

You get a job at the Widget factory where every 6 hours you check in & get coins.

Coins allow you to decorate your apartment in Yoville.

Oh no! You better eat something because your energy is going down. So head over to the diner, the beach or the night club. You can buy energy at those 3 places.

CHALLENGE someone to either tic tac toe or Rock Paper Scissors and you can make another 200 coins every 24 hours. If I max you and you don't max me you better gift me. And don't give me another fire extinguisher. I already have one. (thanks Pinktini!)

Rate my apartment, please. That way I'll make more coins.

Right now I'm saving up for place settings in my kitchen where I have a retro 70's red fridge & stove, 50's table with 4 chairs & shag carpeting.

Sheesh.

I'm pretty sure it's 12 year olds and middle aged women (I'm 48) playing this damn game.

*****************

I've taken a back seat to my 12:12 pictures. I mean how many pics of me eating do you really want to see? yeah That's what I thought.

******************

Food

You know that feeling how great you feel when you've lost weight. You feel all clean inside & you think "Why don't I do this all the time? Why do I have to go off track and binge?"

That's what I'm going thru.

I feel great. I feel healthy.

My hair is thick & shinny. My skin glows.

And

I want to just be bad & binge.

But I can't.

This is my health we're talking about.

I binge I get sick. I don't want to be sick.

So tonight for dinner I had a HUGE (like almost half the package) bowl of brown rice spaghetti. I threw in a couple of handfuls of spinach, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and ate it all.

I think the servings were for 2-3 other people but they missed out.

So in my sick, convoluted mind I'm bingeing on food that is ok for me to eat. Just the portion is wayyyy outta control.

Today's craving came outta nowhere. Salted roasted cashews.

Can't do cashews because they're full of mold. (Bet you didn't know that. Same with peanuts & pistachios. Dr. Claire told me once that she'll never ever have those 3 nuts ever again because of the high mold content.)

And since I've spent almost 3 months on the anti-candida there's no way I'm going to mess it up with moldy food.

So when I binge (like the big ole one person pasta feed tonight) I do it with ok'ed foods.

This is a mind change for me. I finally realized that when I cheat I'm not hurting anyone but myself and this was a HUGE realization for me. Yeah. I know. You've known it all along. Sometimes I'm a little slow to the bus.

***************

Oh and if you want something fun to watch go to youtube.com & put in "Facebook in real life". There's a bunch of very creative videos.

Just not motivated

2009-03-19T07:51:00.000-07:00

Yup. No motivation this morning. Nothing to say.

Left the camera at the store so no 12:12 pics.

I need to get off my rear & get my lunch together. But I'm just not motivated to do it.

I wanted to just eat eat eat last night. Made "healthy choices" but still didn't feel satisfied.

That's the thing about eating right. And about being on this cleanse. I've come so far that there's no way I'm going to screw it up by bingeing on bad food.

Oh and my new addiction: Yoville on Facebook. Stoopid stoopid stoopid.

On the plus side:

Petticoats are ALL DONE!!! Yup. Done done done.

Ok. I'm sorry this isn't all inspirational and stuff but I'm just not feeling it today.

Have a day.

Weds Weds Weds

2009-03-18T07:12:00.000-07:00

Thank you to all who voted yesterday on my dress. My sister called & said that I looked "Dowdy & Matronly" in outfit #1. That's how I felt in it so it's going back to Ross. ("Do you love it?" No.)

I'm going to take dress #3 with me this morning to Lame Giant & see about Spanx. (For all the boys out there: Spanx is a giant girdle for the whole body.)

*****************

Anti-Candida diet update.

Wayyyyy back in Jan, Steve & I started an anti-candida diet. Here's the link to the first post talking about it.

We had committed to 3 months of no sugar, fruit, fermented foods, etc.

In the 3 months:

--Steve's dandruff has disappeared

--My yeast issues under my breasts & belly have disappeared

--Toe junk is almost gone

--I've lost 21 pounds, Steve's lost about 15. (He's not the scale junkie like I am.)

We're not to have red meat but have had it a couple of times. (I love corned beef & cabbage! It was sooooo good last night. Steve's making hash this morning for b'fast.)

Food cravings have pretty much disappeared.

Steve is still getting sinus infections and has a rash all over his forehead & nose. The neti pot has taken care of the latest sinus infection.

Both are signs of candida infection.

So we're going to continue on.

We're feeling healthier and that's a great thing.

***************

12:12 pm: Looking cute in my St Patty's day outfit.

It's my reflection. But it also gives you a good luck at part of the store.

I love my green Doc Martins.

Happy St Patty's Day!

2009-03-17T07:56:00.000-07:00

Happy St Patty's day!

I'm filling the crock pot with pearl onions, corned beef, carrots, potatoes and of course cabbage. It will be nice to come home to after working all day.

Steve's been invited to play his wash-tub bass at one of the bars tonight so I'm guessing that's on tap for us.

Scale this morning: 209! Then 210! Then back to 209! So I'll take 210. 209 would give me 10%.

My oldest niece is getting married next month. My stress factor for "what to wear" has been incredibly high. It's an evening wedding in San Francisco. Not quite a formal affair but pretty damn close.

She's been great. "Just wear what you're comfortable in." Somehow I don't think sweats, t-shirt, no bra & slippers is what she has in mind.

I found 2 dresses yesterday plus I have a dress in the back of my closet. I'll take pic's of all 3 and you guys can help me decide.

Note to my friend Teri: Max Volume was in the store yesterday. I tried the dresses on to show Steve & Max decided to chime in on the fashion advice. (Note to everyone else: Max is a local dj that's worked in rock radio for the past 30 years. Think "Johnny Fever" from "WKRP in Cincinnati". He called me "cutting edge" and "trendy" yesterday.) (And no, I don't believe Max Volume is his given name.)

****************

12:12 pm Monday

Enjoying Steve's chicken soup

For the past couple of weeks Steve's been buying a whole chicken. We eat off it for a couple of days & then he makes soup.

I take a big container of chopped veggies & spinach, put them in my rice steamer & top with the soup. It's nice to have a hot lunch once in a while.

*************

Dresses. Please vote!

Click on the photos to see details.

*************

#1. A 2 piece outfit.

Sage green jacket (I'll be moving the button and taking it in.)

Brown 2 layer flowwy skirt with giant flowers on top layer.

****************

#2: Plain black shell dress with

oriental theme'd silk over piece.

********************

#3. 2 layered dress. Black with giant polka dots

Hard to see but a cute neckline with frills out of the same fabric.

Sleeveless with extra frills on top.

I may find a small swing jacket or shrug to cover my arms.

Brides of March pub crawl, weight loss goals & more!

2009-03-16T07:51:00.000-07:00

You're going to love this one. Some of you will relate, some of you just won't understand.

All week I've been helping people get their costumes together for the "Brides of March" pub crawl. As usual I don't have a costume or any idea of what I'm going to do.

It's Saturday morning, I'm at the store. The day before one of my customers had tried on a long poofy slip that goes under a wedding gown. It's marked with a 28" waist. I liked the way it looked on her & decided that I would try it on.

I shimmied it up over my rear & my belly. The zipper is open all the way and there's no way it will zip. I look in the mirror & decide it's not really what I want.

And then I discover that it's stuck. As in not going up, not going back down. I'm stuck in this thing.

I have on a white blouse and am wearing one of my big chunky necklaces. My hair is pulled back into a bun. And now I'm stuck in this giant puffy to the floor skirt.

Customers would come in & I'm behind the counter so they can't see the skirt until I come out from behind the counter. And why was saturday the day of "I've never been in your store before. Thought I would check it out." customers? They have no clue that I do wear costumes once in a while but from the waist up I look presentable.

I get the tilted head like a dog who's heard a strange sound look.

"Going to the Brides pub crawl?" I'd ask.

ahhhhhh. Ok.

Going to the bathroom is a challenge. How do those brides do that??

I try later in the day but no. It's not going anywhere. It's stuck in the middle of my belly where I have a dividing line where my underwear sits. Wanna feel fat? Get stuck in a pouffy skirt.

211 pound woman in a pouffy skirt. Pretty pretty pretty.

I call Mr. T'dots in the afternoon. "I'm stuck in a skirt. Guess I'll wear it tonight. Could you bring me my leather corset, my leather boots & my small purse? I'll change here."

Somehow the S & M bride was born.

After wearing it for about 10 hours the waist must have relaxed enough because I was able to step out of it when I got home.

I felt sexy, fun and great once the corset went on. Funny how being bound up in leather makes a pouffy girl feel sexy.

The "S & M" Bride

Brides of March 2009.

Love my leather corset!

*********************

Mr. T'dots looking lovely in pink.

It was a fun day. We did a ton of walking, didn't have anything to drink except tonic water.

****************

I've plateaued with my weight over the past 2 weeks. The scale is stuck at 211. I really want to lose another 5-6 pounds by my nieces wedding on the 4th. I'm thinking of rejoining SparkPeople for the food journal.

I've become accountable by my daily blogging but now it's time to up the ante & really figure out how much I'm eating every day.

I know my issue is still portion control. Multi tasking while eating doesn't help either. I'm eating b'fast right now while I blog. Big bites, not chewed properly before swallowing. Suddenly my plate is empty & I've not tasted a thing.

This weeks goals:

1. Finish those damn petticoats! I have 6 left to mend

2. Clean off craft table at store

3. Finish my sister's necklace

4. Rebound 5x this week.

More traveling, more fun, more family, more 12:12

2009-03-15T08:34:00.000-07:00

It's been a crazy, exciting & go go go week.

So much to say but I don't have time. I'm off to open the store & will check in later.

She's getting married!!!

***************

Sisters. You can't do anything about it.

I'm your sister.

12:12 friday March 6. Lunch at the Costume Convention

********************

12:12 Saturday March 7. Driving to So Cal.

Hard to see but the sign says "Beach Cities".

************

12:12 Sunday March 8

Mom & me on the way to the bridal shower.

I'm back. Home. Yeah!

2009-03-13T08:05:00.001-07:00

I'm home. I've been home since Monday night.

I needed a few days to regroup and work on other things rather than spend the time blogging. I'm probably going to break this blog up into a few days. Lots to tell, lots to share.

I left last thursday & drove to Vegas. I had scored a room on Orbitz for $19! (Here's my travel tip for the day. When you get to a hotel & ask for a refrigerator tell them it's for medicine. They won't charge for a fridge that's being used for medication.)

The drive from Reno to Vegas is long & tedious. Nevada is pretty much a desert. With nothing else but a few small towns, brothels and long ago abandoned mines.

The Long road.

But every now & then you run across a gem. Something that makes you stop & take pictures. In my case I'm part of this gem.

Art cars in Goldfield, Nevada.

How am I part of this gem? I dated the artist. Rocket Bob. Yup. Sure did. I have a really cool 50's kitchen table that I got out of our small relationship. It's covered in coke lines. Other than that it's in great shape. And no, none of those coke lines are mine. Food has always been my drug of choice.

Rocket Bob & I would spend weekends going to garage sales & flea markets looking for dolls, toys and misc squawk for him to take apart & epoxy onto his cars.

After Steve & I opened the store Bob came by & offered me a couple of cases of Pee Wee Herman dolls. Silly me for turning that down.

Artwork made from bombs in Hawthorne, Nevada.

There's a park that has giant flowers also made from bombs. The strange thing is Hawthorne is a military town. I'm not really sure of the history behind using bomb shells as art but it's kind of cool to see. And disturbing at the same time.

Thur, March 5, 12:12ish Near Walker Lake

I'm saying 12:12'ish because there's a part of driving hwy 95 that my cel phone jumps ahead 2 hours. Steve's phone doesn't do it but mine does. I have my alarm set at 12:12 pm and I noticed that the stereo said it was after 12:12. I looked at my phone & sure enough it said it was 2 something.

Heading to Las Vegas BABEEEEEEEEEE!!!

2009-03-05T07:06:00.000-08:00

On the road again

I'm heading out right after I finish this blog. I'm going to Las Vegas for a costume convention.

I'm super excited and am looking forward to taking 100 pictures. But I'm sad that I'm going alone. My travel partner dropped out due to $$ and her dog is suddenly having seizures. Wanna join me?

Believe it or not I found a room on Orbitz for $19 a night. It's the cheapest I've ever gotten outside of staying with friends.

A friend also scored me 2 tickets to these guys:

Blue Man Group

Sending me to a costume convention is like sending the alcoholic to the wine convention.

Here's the scary part for me. Since I have so many food allergies and have been doing an anti-candida diet since the 1st of the year food is an issue.

Sure I'm packing food and am good about eating what I pack but schlepping around my cooler and packing food to eat while I'm at the convention isn't very convenient. I will be parking about a mile away from the convention center & it's not like I can just pack a sandwich to throw in my backpack.

And leaving the convention to go eat really is a pain. I know I'll figure something out.

I'll be back late Monday. You all have a great weekend!

**************

12:12 pm

My friend showing me her nails

EAT your VEGGIES!!

2009-03-04T07:05:00.000-08:00

photo borrowed from:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=vl_other_1&listing_id=18557778

I love veggies. Love love love them. It's not a problem for me to get enough servings. We go thru big bags of veggies a couple of times a week.

So it's strange for me to meet people who don't care for veggies. Huh? (picture my head tilted like a dog that's heard a strange noise.) How can you not like veggies?

My ex husband didn't like any veggies until we got together. Turned out he had never had anything fresh. Everything he had was from a can or creamed. (God love that ex MIL.)

Growing up we had a huge garden. The family still talks about Mom planting the big row of parsley. I think we had every parsley recipe known to man that year. Dad had a giant compost bin. He was organic when Dow Chemical had other ideas.

Nana canned, froze and served us fruit year round. The one thing I'm not a fan of is oranges. We had 3 orange trees growing up and to this day I really have to be craving an orange to have one.

Today in my own garden I have a peach tree that came out of our compost pile. We get peaches about every 5 years and those have to be the most delicious peaches I've ever eaten.

Mr. T'dots has 2-3 compost piles going all the time. We don't have a garbage disposal. (No dishwasher either. Or microwave. Now it's your turn to tilt your head and make that face like a dog that's hearing a strange sound.) We used to start out own tomatoes until we discovered the local county extension sells organic starts.

I'm dreaming of our garden this year. It snowed last night and I'm so over winter. Reno has a very short growing season and such intense temperature swings that gardening here truly is an art.

So eat your veggies. Don't know how to? It's simple.

Figure out what you like. Start there.

Like carrots? Great! Google "carrot Recipes" and see what you get. Not a fan of salads? Could be that you're not a fan of head lettuce. Try spinach or a mini green's blend.

My challenge for you is to figure out how to incorporate veggies into your life. Pick one that you've never and this week try it. Try it raw, steamed, sauteed, baked.

Just try it!

**************

12:12 Tues

I forgot my camera. Oops.

Family, travel and Food

2009-03-03T07:31:00.000-08:00

Family. Love em or not. Fortunately for me I love em.

My oldest niece is getting married in April. I spent this past weekend in San Francisco staying with her and her fiance. Her shower was on Saturday.

My niece did something wonderful for me. She told the hostesses about my food allergies & gave them a list of what I can/can't eat so that I'd be able to eat at the shower. I had packed some food but ended up taking it all home. Not only did I eat to my hearts content I took part of left overs with me.

One of the hostesses is a vegetarian and said "I'm so used to not being able to eat anything at gatherings it was no big deal to make sure you could eat."

Love that woman.

Love my niece for doing this for me.

Me, Bride-to-be, Mother o'Bride.

******************

Food Food Food

This anti-candida diet is getting to be tedious after 2 months.

Mr. T'dots and I have become bored with our food. (This from the same person who posted "Rule of 5" and "Ethnic Tastes" last week.)

I really need to do some shopping and more prepping of our food. Change things up a bit.

I'm heading to Vegas on Thursday for a convention. I booked a room and will be taking my cooler full of stuff. But then I'll need to shlep my food over to the convention and figure out how to keep every thing cool & ready to eat while I'm walking around getting catalogs. We all know that convention food is expensive & I'll have no clue what's in the dish.

There's no way I can go off what I'm doing just because I'm not prepared.

This is about cleaning my body out. Not letting crap in. Right?

Oh and I may have an extra free ticket for Blue Man Group on friday night. Any takers?

******************

12:12 Friday

Steaming a wedding gown

March 14th is the big "Brides of March" pub crawl. It's where everyone dresses up in bridal gowns, bridesmaid dresses and other wedding related costumes. No grooms. All the men are dressed like brides or bridesmaids.

2007 Brides of March

Mr. T'dots so pretty in pink!

Yours truly looking so fresh in an all silk flower number.

Spices, Lost, Top Chef

2009-02-26T07:34:00.000-08:00

Lots and Lots of things to talk about today.

First off a follow-up to yesterday's posts.

So many times we're frustrated with our food. Boring, uninspired, the same thing every meal, every day.

By combining yesterday's "Rule of Five" post with todays "Ethnic Tastes" you may find a way to change your food around.

Please let me know what you think and how you experimented with both the Rule of Five and the Ethnic Tastes.

Ethnic Tastes: Adapted from Chad Sarno

Italian: Garlic, basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, onions, parsley, sage, marjoram, lemon, olives, roma tomatoes, pine nuts, capers.

Thai: Holy basil, lemon grass, sour tamarind, curry, ginger, galangal root, kefir lime, cilantro, mint, turmeric, coriander, cumin, chiles, coconut, rice, morning glorie (swamp spinach), corn, cauliflower, anise, long bean.

Mexican & Spanish: Cilantro, cumin, garlic, olives, coriander, onions, parsley, tamarind, avocado, paprika, chili’s, cinnamon, bell pepper, jicama.

Japanese & Chinese: Ginger, garlic, sesame, miso, soy sauce, basil, cardamom, coriander, scallions, star anise, wasabi, lime, mungbean sprouts, bok choy, sea veggies, snow peas, mushrooms, cucumber.

African: Cilantro, cinnamon, ginger, cumin, coriander, mint, saffron, chives, fenugreek, rose, olives, orange, eggplant.

Middle Eastern/Greek: Garlic, mint, oregano, dill, cinnamon, parsley, anise, chili’s, cilantro, saffron, sesame, thyme, marjoram, clove, poppy seed, fenugreek, onion, eggplant, tomato, lemon, cucumber, spinach, olives, pomegranate, pine nuts.

Eastern Indian: Garlic, ginger, cardamom, curry, cumin, garam-masala, cinnamon, clove, chili’s, anise, fenugreek, fennel seed, mint, mustard, pepper, tamarind, sesame, turmeric, onions, saffron, rose, cauliflower, spinach, lemon, pomegranate, bell peppers, eggplant, tomato.

*******************

SPOILER ALLERT!!!!! SPOILER ALLERT!!!!!!

If you've taped "Top Chef" or "Lost" STOP READING.

Continue on with your day and we'll see when you've gotten caught up.

You've been warned.

**********************

Top Chef

Oh Carla. Ohhhhhh Heaven-help-us Carla.

I've been rooting for you since I saw those crazy Marty Feldman eyes.

Granted I was thrilled that Stefan didn't win. But I really wanted you to win. I love you Carla. I really really do.

You knew in judging that because you didn't do what you had planned and went with the other LOSERs ideas that you come in first. The judges loved your sauces but didn't care for the meat or the dessert.

I thought it was fun that Fabio was part of the chefs who ate the final meal. He asked a very good question "Is this dish worth $100,000.?"

And I cheered when Hosea gave Stefan the alligator. But of course "SUPER STEFAN" and his cocky attitude didn't mind. He's been cooking for 100 years and can cook anything.

WTG Hosea.

I'll miss you Carla.

*****************

Lost!

Oh. My. God.

Ben. What the f?

John. What the f?

Questions:

1. What time period is John & the other people from the plane?

2. Have Kate, Jack & Hurley gone back in time? Cause it looks like Jin is in the 70's with the Dharma bus.

3. Who are those other people who are going thru the stuff and where'd the canoe's come from?

Best line of the night:

Hurley "Hey! Am I talking to a guy in a wheelchair?"

*****************

12:12 pm Weds

Kelley aka Pinktini picking up her petticoat.

Rule of 5

2009-02-25T08:11:00.000-08:00

JUMP!!!

This is my friend Chelsea. She has a burlesque group called "Bohemian Burlesque". We help them get costumes. She had come by to pick up petticoats and decided she'd put all 4 on.

Hello photo shoot! I'm going to use this in my April ad.

She's also an amazing fire spinner. Her husband fire spins and has a habit of lighting swords on fire and swishing those around.

Love my Chelsea!

*******************

Rule of Five

How many times have you made something & thought "this needs something but what?". You try adding more salt and that just isn't it.

When I was taking raw food classes one of my teachers passed out "The Rule of Five". It's by Chad Sarno and it's made my cooking grow by leaps and bounds!

By adding each of the 5 components to a dish you'll get a full flavor.

1. Salt: Himalayan sea crystals, celtic sea salt, sea week, dulse, celery.

2. Sweet: Agave nectar, fruit, dates, raisins, carrots, beets, stevia.

3. Acid/Sour: Vinegar, lemon juice, lime juice

4. Heat: Chili’s, garlic, ginger, thai basil (holy basil), pepper

5. Savory: Ethnic spices that make a dish have it’s regional taste.

Tomorrow I'll be posting regional spice lists to help you add a little more to your diet.

****************

12:12 pm Monday

Mike & Me.

Mike aka Man Babe is an interesting guy. He has a big theme camp at Burning Man called

"Sex Filth Avenue".

I'm stressed

2009-02-24T08:19:00.000-08:00

Mr. T'dots and I never ever argue about money. Unlike my previous relationships I was upfront about our money from day 1.

We have worked together since before we got married. We took his tie-dye hobby & made it into our business 14 years ago.

In the beginning we sat down & talked about money. He came from a family that paid cash for everything. I came from a family that sometimes had a budget. Dad was self employed and Mom held a steady job. Mr T'dots had never had a credit card before he married me. Due to my ex husband's folly I had shitty credit. (After 20 years he still shows up on my credit report. Thanks Ted.)

But thanks to shitty fucked up (sorry Mom if you're reading this) insurance we are one of those Americans that are screwed financially. If you have Netflix watch Michael Moore's "Sicko". It sums up our life.

Mr T'dots had a stroke in 2006. He was in ICU for 8 days & then the Neuro wing for another 8. Turned out our insurance wouldn't pay for rehab for a stroke so he had to come home & I was the caregiver.

After insurance paid what they deemed "reasonable charges" we still owe the hospital $68,000. Add to that the dr's who are taking monthly payments of $25 along with new medical bill due to me breaking my ankle summer 2007, my skin cancer costs and Mr T'dots fainting and EMT's saying he was having a heart attack so there's another ambulance ride, ER & hospital costs = I'm stressed.

There was a huge fund raiser for us after his stroke. Three different groups got together & had a music festival. It raised about $8000. We were able to live off of that for about 3 months.

Our employees were amazing. They were willing to work for free to keep the tie-dye business going. I paid them anyway.

Friends showed up at all the markets we did to help me setup, sell & break down.

But it's nearing the end of the month and it's when I start to get stressed about money. "Just keep the roof over our head" is my mantra.

So today I'm stressed. Today I have to have a good day in the store to keep the roof over our head.

Petticoat anyone??

***********

12:12 Dying petticoats purple

I'm testing out new dye from our dye supplier. He sent me 3 different dyes that dye different fabrics. Since it's rare that I know what a petticoat is made out of I need to combine dyes. I'm loving the shade of violet in the washer. I'll find out today if it's the right dye to continue on dying petticoats.

Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa

2009-02-23T08:04:00.000-08:00

Mea culpa.

My mistake.

Turns out my Sister was the 1st to notice my weight loss without being prompted. Two weeks ago when I went to see her she said something as I was getting out of the car. I thought she was being a smart ass. Turns out she was being complemental.

She and I talk almost every day. Sometimes twice a day. It's just been in the past 10 years that we've gotten close. She's the oldest and I'm the youngest with 2 siblings inbetween.

We joke that even though we have the same biological parents we were raised by different parents. She had young parents. I had older parents.

By the time I came along my parents were relaxed with rules. (There's 7.5 years difference between me & my closest sibling. She would be unhappy if I told the difference in our ages. I'm closer in age to her daughters than I am to her.) I never had a curfew, was only sent to my room once and was pretty much left alone.

But we're very alike in many ways.

We're both smart asses. "Quick witted" would be the polite thing to say.

We both have a creative streak.

We're both problem solvers.

We both are "take charge" people.

And we both share the same physical body shape. Oh and we both enhance our "natural" hair color. Except mine has purple, red & orange.

She & I talked yesterday about my weight loss.

"Goals?"

1. 10%

2. Below 200

3. 185 is what I weighed when I got back from Thailand. Most of my wardrobe fits me at 185.

"Ultimate goal?"

To be 150 on my 50'th birthday. I had the same goal for my 40th. To be 140 on my 40th. Ummmm yeah. Eight years later & I'd still like to be 148.

So I'm sorry that I took your complement as folly. Thank you for noticing.

******************

Here are the views of my hat.

Back view: Peacock feathers, netting & tied onto top hat band with yarn.

Side view. I wore my hair in a pony so that all you saw was the netting.

****************

12:12 Sunday

Washing dishes at the store.

20 pounds gone! GONE GONE GONE!!!!

2009-02-22T09:44:00.000-08:00

212 212 212 212!

20 pounds!!!!!! Gone! Lost!

and

SOMEONE NOTICED without me saying ANYTHING!!!

I can't even begin to tell you how healthy and happy I feel.

My normal WI day is sunday. I stepped on the scale yesterday & stepped off. "212? Really?" Step back on. Yup. 212.

Then it sunk in. "I've lost 20 pounds. Twenty T W E N T Y pounds!" I whooped, hollered and danced down the hallway. Ohhhhhh. This is so worth it.

The next big celebration: 209. That puts me at 10%. Oh yeah.

Funny thing: when I gained weight & got to 212 I wasn't celebrating. I was pissed. Mad. Angry and disappointed at myself for getting to be that size. Now I'm thrilled to be down to that weight. Make sense?

Then to top it off a customer said yesterday "You've lost weight!"

Not "Have you lost weight?" but a statement of fact. "You've lost weight."

I hugged her for being the first to notice.

Then she said "I need to lose 10 pounds by July."

"10 pounds by July? Easy peasie." I say.

She was trying on clothes & felt fat. "Listen Melissa you're at the weight I'd love to be at. I know you feel fat but right now you're my goal."

I don't know if that made her feel better but it was true.

Good by fat. Hellooooo health!

******************

Mardi Gras party 2/21/09

We sponsored the Reno Blues Society's Mardi Gras party. One more reason for dress up!

I took a top hat, added netting to the back that hung down past my pony tail and added peacock feathers to fan out along the top.

Leather corset, fishnets, cut off purple jacket, lime green petti pants and green Doc Martens finished off the outfit. Oh and I added a net bustle to the rear ala Moulin Rouge.

Mr. T'dots is wearing his black zoot suit with purple pants, silver glitter shoes and a pink boa.

We didn't win the costume contest but it's ok. We lost to some fantastic costumes.

I'll post close ups of the hat tomorrow. It's what I was making at 12:12.

Take a deeppppp breath!

2009-02-21T07:29:00.000-08:00

Breathe!

Enjoy the moment.

Calmly. Peacefully. Seriously.

Photo taken at a nursery in So Cal.

So many things to do today but right now it's time to relax and enjoy the moment. Breathe. Sit up straight and place both feet flat under your desk. Breathe. Deep fillupthelungs breath. Exhale. Do it again.

Write the word BREATHE on a post-it & put it on your monitor so that you'll remember to breathe.

Now it's time to face the day. Or evening. Depends on when you're reading this. ;-)

*******************

This is what I have to tackle over the next few days at the store. I scored 24 petticoats while I was in So Cal. I've started to wash them and they'll need new elastic, mending and some will get dyed.

Thinking about this drains my energy.

Just like the thought of weight loss drains my energy I know it's something that I alone have to tackle.

Each petticoat will be dealt with one at a time.

Each bite, meal, ounce and pound will be dealt with one at time.

I have to make plans for each meal. I have to make plans for each petticoat.

I have to make sure I have all the elements on hand for both to be a success.

Elastic, thread, washer, dye to make the petticoats presentable.

Fresh food not full of preservatives or chemicals to make the food presentable.

Judging my success with the petticoats by how they sell.

Judging my success with weight by how I feel/look.

Amazing how we can correlate daily activities with the connection to weight.

******************

12:12 pm

Lunch time! Enjoying mini bell peppers with humus.

I love love love mini bells. Costco sells a giant bag that Mr T'dots & I will devour in 2 maybe 3 days. They're sweet and go great with humus.

TGIF

2009-02-20T09:07:00.000-08:00

This is how I feel today:

So many things to get done & so many ways to look at my tasks.

I have 1001+ things to do at the store. I start a project but then get distracted by another. Owner ADhD. Ooooo! Shiney Things!

The other thing that's distracting me is the weather. It's a warm & beautiful 50 today in Reno. We turned off the heater & left the door open for the dog at the house. People are riding bikes and the skate park is full.

We're suppose to have another big storm hit us this weekend. So I'll grab the warmth when I can.

I'm also basking in the glow of losing 19 pounds. I'm wearing a sweater today that was wayyy too tight over the holidays. I had "bra smile" pretty bad. Today it fits! No bra smile for this gal.

One thing that I've missed is feeling "cute". I'm not a "cute" kind of gal. But today I do feel cute. When one weighs 214 one doesn't think of cute as a description.

I tried on my "fat" jeans last night. I'm still about 20 pounds too fat for my fat jeans. But I'm figuring at this rate I should fit in them by mid May. Clothes are slowly coming back into rotation. Yeah!

***************

12:12 pm thursday:

Enjoying my salad.

My niece told me that I needed to start taking pictures of myself & not of what is in front of me. Since I have lunch around 12-1 most of these will be me with food.

I'm HOME!!!!

2009-02-19T09:16:00.000-08:00

I'm home I'm home I'm home!

Ahhhh Home.

Sleep in my own bed (not that the 20+ year old hide-a-bed wasn't comfortable with it's 2 layers of egg crates), snuggle with my hubby, snuggle with my dog.... ahhhh home.

Updates:

1. Scale this morning said 214!!!! That's down 19 pounds! Goal #1 was 10% and I'm just 4 pounds away. I was diligent in all my food choices. That's not to say I wasn't tempted. Oh hell ya I was tempted.

Driving to and from was 9 hours down, 10 hours back home. (Extra hour: driving thru Los Angeles during rush hour.) It was very very tempting to fall into old habits of getting snacks each time I bought gas. Easy pull off the hwy to stop for fast food.

Rather than stop at fast food places for bathroom breaks I stopped at rest stops so I could mix my drinks and eat the food that wasn't finger food.

Driving down I listened to a David Sadaris book "Dress Your Family in Corduroy Pants". I finished it as I pulled into LA and then switched over to my favorite NPR station KPCC.

Driving home I listened to "Lovely Bones" and still have 5 disks to listen to. Really good good book.

I normally get 5 or 6 books on cd for my drives from the library. I judge the books by their covers and by what's written on the jacket. (Tell me something book publishers. Why oh why do I have to know what other's think about the book? Why did you switch from synopsis of the books to quotes from people about the book?) My other rule is to only get unabridged readings. I feel like I'm being cheated and so is the author by abridging/censoring their words.

2. Cooking.

Outside of 2 meals I made everything while at my Mom's. Not a problem. She enjoyed the food and I enjoyed all the cooking.

Turns out Mom's neighbor's son is a chef for Bobby Flay! The son works in Vegas at Bobby Flays Mesa Grill (I think that's the name.).

Mom had decided that I'm "gourmet" because I brought my own chef's knife & cutting board. Plus I use more than just salt & pepper when cooking.

Oh and I went to a farmer's market! Here in Reno our farmer's markets are only during the summer to early fall. To go to one in February was a treat. Freshly picked organic produce! I am jealous of everyone who can take advantage of fresh locally grown produce in the winter.

3. Mom's health.

Mom is doing fantastic. (Thanks for asking.)

I had originally planned on staying until she got her stitches out but came home in between storms. Outside of driving she's pretty independent and has made arrangements for someone to take her to get her stitches out. She'll be back to driving soon after.

**********************

Photos: Not 12:12

Double rainbow over my Sister's garage

Tulips in bloom on my Mom's table.

Driving down to OC via the Grapevine.

Driving over Donner Pass (Yes. That Donner Pass)

12:12 on the drive down.

***************

No recipes today. Give me a few days to catch up with my life.

It never rains in Southern California

2009-02-12T14:18:00.000-08:00

But when it does rain it pours!!

Lots of things to blog about today.
1. Lost: If you've DVR'd this skip to #2.
Here's my questions from last night: Is Jack/Clair's dad Jacob?
How does Charlotte know Korean?
I still don't trust Ben.
I loved the look on Sawyer's face when he saw Jin.
I feel so sorry for Daniel Faraday.
Miles "Don't look at me. I don't speak Korean. I'm from Encino!" Ummmm Miles. No you're the Dahrma guy's kid. You're from the Island.
Will Locke come back to life once he's brought back to the island?
*******************

2. Update on my Mom.

After calling her Elizabeth Taylor yesterday & giving her a 2nd pain pill (it's ok. The bottle said take 1-2 every 6 hours) she's doing great. Tomorrow we go to the dr and have her cast removed.

The pain pills really knock her out and she is sleeping hours on end. Today she's trying it without the pain pills because she's so afraid of becoming Elizabeth Taylor. Seriously Mom it's not going to happen. Honestly I think she's missing her 1 glass of wine with dinner.
**********************

3. I'm getting stuff done!

My Sister called me a "jewelry designer" last night. In all the years I've been doing bead work I've never ever thought of myself as a "designer". I just thought of myself as a beader. Funny but I guess she's right.

She's my biggest fan & wears my stuff all the time. She said that she tells people that I'm a jewelry designer and that it's one of my pieces. Huh. Well whatcha think of that??

I'm getting beading done & I'm planning on switching to sewing over the weekend.
*******************

4. Let's talk about plastic surgery.

No matter where I go here there are woman that have really destroyed their faces.

Today in Trader Joe's there was a woman in line next to me. Her face was pulled tighter than Van Gogh's canvas. Hello botox! Hello silicone lips!

Honestly what's the first step to having something done? There's no way her ID looks like her. Meow catty? Sure. But outside of having my underarm flags removed, my boob's lifted and my fatty apron removed there's no way I'd have something done to my face. (This from the 48 year old who got carded last fall thank-you-very-much.)

Image, Image, Image.

Hard to believe I grew up in this area. I wonder how my outlook would be if I still lived in La La Land.
*********************
5. Funny thing I saw today:

In the parking lot at Trader Joes was a van with the sign "The Meadows-A VINTAGE Senior living center".

Vintage Senior? What the hell does that mean?
*************

6. Food & Diet

I am so on plan it's crazy. I'm cooking every meal. Loving it and so is Mom.

She's been reading my Dr. Linda Page book off & on today. She is also of the "if it can hurt you you can be healed by food" mindset.

Every morning she has an orange before having anything else. She eats whole grains, lots of veggies and is incredibly healthy. Yes she has her "treats". Her latest is the microwaveable hotdogs that are 2 to a package.

But I figure she's 85 and only takes BP meds. She must know what she's doing.
****************

No pictures until I get home. DSL still isn't installed. And dial up is just tooooooo frustrating.

Enjoy your life until we check in again!

Checking in from So. Cal

2009-02-10T19:42:00.000-08:00

I'm here. In the same area that "Real Housewives of OC" is filmed. Well kind of in the same area.

I'm at my Mom's for the next 10 days or so. She had her surgery this morning & came home right after. Carpal tunnel and another type of tunnel thing in her elbow. After 30 years of doing pottery she's lost the feeling in complete hand.

Mom's an amazing woman. At 85 she's surprised her dr's by saying "Yes. Blood pressure medication is the only thing I take." I have an wonderful roll model in my Mom.

Now about the place she lives. It's a retirement village. The Village at Laguna Woods. Used to be called Leisure World. Yes. Leisure World.

It's an incorporated city with a population of 40,000+. All the business's cater in this area cater to the seniors.

Overheard conversation today while waiting to get Mom's pain pill prescription:
"I'm so constipated! I take 3 stool softeners every day." says the customer
"Do you strain?" Pharmacist.
"I have back pain."
P: "Do you strain?"
C: "I have some pain."
P: "When you try to go do you strain?"
C: "Go where? Why would I go anywhere with a strain?"
This went on for a while.

Most of Mom's friends are in their 80's. A couple are in their 90's. These women are truly truly amazing.

******************
If you'll notice there's no pictures. Not due to lack of pictures but due to we're still on dial up until tomorrow. Tomorrow Mom's computer takes the big leap into DSL world! Yeah!

*****************
My food is so on that I felt guilty this morning after putting apple butter on my Mom's toast I absent mindedly licked my finger. Suddenly I tasted sweet & realized what I'd done. For the rest of the day I became very aware of what I was doing each time I made something.

New goal: Don't lick my fingers. Ever.

My jeans are very loose & I'm feeling "thin".

I had told Mom that I'd be cooking all the meals while I was here. "No problem." I did eat breakfast out yesterday morning but it was the same thing I have at home: brown rice, scrambled eggs with nutritional yeast.

Back in the 60's Mom was a disciple of Adele Davis. She made yoghurt, whole grain breads and we had an organic garden wayyyy before it became popular.

If you're in So Cal may I recommend Mother's Market? Love love love this store. Very healthy, very reasonable and the restaurant is fantastic.

One more thing.

Mom has a lemon tree & the lemon's are ready! I love being able to go out & pick fresh lemons.

*****************
Tonight's recipe: Mustard chicken

Chicken breasts
Top with
Mustard powder
Salt
Pepper
Oregano
Fresh lemon juice

Rub on & then roast 350 until done.

I served it with brown & wild rice, sauteed green beans & red bell peppers.

Enjoy!

Today I feel content

2009-02-06T07:40:00.000-08:00

Today I feel rushed. I feel content but rushed.

I have to get everything done for my big road trip tomorrow.

There are things to get done at the store:

1. Pack up pottery for artist in Laguna. She wants it back for a show & it's not really selling anymore.

2. Pack up all my jewelry. My Sister is my biggest fan & she wears my stuff all the time. Turns out her coworkers may be interested in buying a piece or 2. Yeah! Can you say "trip is now a write off?"!

3. Pack clothes which means laundry.

4. Double up on supplements. Shopping tonight. Arggg.

5. Load van with sewing machine, fabric & patterns. Goal: 10 vests.

6. Gas up car.

7. Figure out food to eat on road.

8. Figure out which small appliances I can take & let Mr. T'dots still have things around to help him with his daily food.

I feel rushed but it's going to be just fine.

I'm pretty sure I can blog at my Sisters but we'll see about AOL & Moms.

Weight goal while I'm gone: I'd love to come back & be under 215. Scale this morning said 217. Totally do-able.

Be nice to each other while I'm gone. Play fair & say "Please" and "Thank you".

*********************

12:12 pm

Changing the mannequins to Valentines meets Mardi Gras.

I love the reflection of the sky in this picture.

Storm's coming in!

This picture is from later in the day.

Mr. T'dots hung these from the ceiling above the mannequins.

I knew it I knew it I KNEW IT!!!

2009-02-05T08:37:00.000-08:00

If you've dvr'd Lost STOP READING RIGHT NOW!!!

Seriously. Stop reading. Spoiler alert!

I've been saying since the boat blew up that Jin was alive. I knew it. I knew it.

And right now I don't trust Sun. Or Ben. But I've never trusted Ben. Even when we first met him & he said he had parachuted into the tree.

My niece Lisa's theory: Miles is the Dharma film guy's kid. I'm thinking she's right. Miles did get the bloody nose.

I LOVE this show!

********************

In other news:

1. Last night's fire spinning class was a blast. Since I'm going to miss the next 2-3 classes I had one of the teachers show me the basic's of 3 new moves. I figure if I learn 1 new move a week I'll have about 30 moves when Burning Man comes around.

2. I'm leaving early sat to drive to Orange County. Mom is having surgery on Tuesday and I've offered to stay while she recuperates. She has carpel tunnel except it's also in her elbow. She'll be in a brace and we have no clue what her mobility will be.

She's 100% on board with my food. "You're going to cook all the meals? FANTASTIC!"

Bad news: AOL dial up. Need I say more? But in her defense she is open to me finding other deals on DSL or cable.

I'm taking with me sewing projects and beading projects. I'll have plenty of uninterrupted time to finish projects.

3. Anti-candida: The program is going great. But this week brought on two issues that had disappeared for a month. My kidneys have been inflames since Monday & Mr. T'dots dandruff is back.

His dandruff had disappeared about 3 days into the program. He's had a rash on his forehead since last fall that had also disappeared. Not only is that back but it's back with a vengeance!

On Sunday we had decided to up our grapefruit seed extract from once a day to twice a day. Within 24 hours everything started acting up. It's the only thing we've changed so we've eliminated the 2nd serving.

To help my kidney's I'm cutting back on protein and adding nettle tea as a cleanser. More fresh veggies will also help.

*******************

12:12 pm. Making lunch in my little rice cooker.

This has to be one of the best inventions! I use this every single day.

Boil water for tea: check

Warm up veggies for lunch: check

Cook a frozen chicken breast: check

Yes it's sitting on a microwave but I have never EVER felt comfortable using a microwave. Just something about it has given me the oogies.

Side note: See the chef's knife? We call it our "OJ Simpson" knife. The tip is broken off & we found the knife in our front yard the same time as the murders. I doubt that OJ would make arrangements for the murder weapon to leave Brentwood & end up in Reno. But you never know!

Body image follow up

2009-02-04T08:18:00.000-08:00

First off I want to thank everyone for the comments & phone calls yesterday. It really made me feel good about who & what I am.

I had a chance with the same customer yesterday morning. I had been vacuuming in the back stock room & didn't hear the door.

I came out to find him standing with a friend of his.

"This is Mimi. This is Marie."

"Hi Marie. My name's Lauren."

In no way did I want to make him feel bad. He's a fun natured guy and I know that it wasn't said in spite. I put it into the same category as the time when Mr. T'dots said to a friend after she had gotten a drastic hair cut "It makes you look like a soccer Mom."

Not the words she wanted to hear but the best way he could think of to complement her.

"You're not wearing your crazy clothes." I was wearing jeans, long sleeve tie-dye t-shirt and my hair pulled back into a pony.

"I don't dress like that every day. This is who I am. I have to tell you that I really don't consider myself to be flamboyant. I think of myself as 'free spirited'. I'm not Mimi. Her character was mean, spiteful and played practical jokes to harm. I understand that you didn't call me Mimi in spite. But I'd prefer if you'd call me Lauren."

He apologized. I apologized for making him feel guilty. I believe we cleared the air.

Sorry Mimi. Lauren's here to stay.

*********************

Molly and her new friend

A very very bored dog.

If you click on the photo you can get a better look at part of the store.

Why is Molly at the store? Monday afternoon one of our neighbors drove by the store to tell us that Molly had CHEWED her way thru the gate. She was in the front yard. He put her back in the yard and put a few things in front of the gate.

Mr. T'dots went home and found her in the front yard. Sure enough she had chewed thru the wooden gate.

We normally dog sit mon-fri but the owner has been sick so no Enzo. She & Enzo play for hours on end. I guess separation anxiety?

Mr. T'dots fixed the gate & then inspected the fence to make sure there weren't anymore escape routes.

I brought her to the store in the afternoon to hang. She loves being there but gets bored.

********************

Last night's dinner

Salmon loaf & roasted veggies

Salmon loaf is one of my Mom's recipes. I loved it as a kid & love it even more as an adult. Comfort food.

Pre-heat oven 350

In a small baking dish:

Open 1 can of salmon & pour into dish. Separate out bones & skin. (I usually put the skin into Molly's food & the bones back into the can.)

1 green onion cut up fine

1 piece of celery cut up fine

Salt

Pepper

Dill

Hint of cayenne pepper

1-2 TBS brown rice flour

Crack 1 egg over mixture.

Now get your hands messy & mix all together. Form into giant patty.

Bake 35-40 mins.

Thanks MOM!

*********************

12:12 pm

Mr. T'dots modeling a Mardi Gras head dress

Self Image

2009-02-03T08:29:00.001-08:00

"You know who you remind me of?" asks the customer.

"No who?"

"She's a famous tv star."

Thinking.... thinking... who do I look like? In the 80's I was told I looked like Jennilee Harilson the last blonde on "Three's Company". But she's not around anymore.

Thinking... thinking... thinking.... "I give up."

"Mimi from Drew Carry!" he says with a giant grin.

Shit. "Really? Mimi was a mean person. I'm not mean. I think I'm pretty nice."

Customer " You are nice! Mimi was very flamboyant. She wore crazy costumes every day & you are flamboyant."

Now I don't think of myself as being flamboyant. I think of myself as free spirited. Yes I have blonde hair with purple, gold, orange & red highlights. Yes I will wear a petticoat when the event calls for it. But I think of Mimi as being a clown. I don't think of myself as a clown.

He wasn't saying this to be mean. He was saying it from the heart. He can't remember my name and insists on calling me Mimi. He insists to me that he loves my energy and both he & his wife really enjoy shopping at my store. But Mimi?

It hurts to even write about this. Am I a clown? Am I a fool in my clothing choices? And how many others feel this way about me? It's not in me to dress like the rest of the world.

It kills me when I see today's generation all dressing exactly the same with no creativity at all. Jeans, t-shirt with some mall store's name on it, the right shoes and big knock-off purse.

My self image isn't strong. I get asked constantly when the baby is due? "Must be soon!" I've given up saying "Oh, I'm not pregnant. I'm just fat." That makes the person asking feel embarrassed and bad for asking. Instead I say 2 months from now.

I've had strangers put their hands on my belly. "Can I feel it kick?"

I've had children in stores ask if I have a baby in my belly.

I was at Disneyland and had a ride attendant tell me that pregnant women weren't recommended for the ride.

Don't tell me to do crunches. I do crunches. Don't tell me that it will go away as I lose weight. Yes it is but even thin it protrudes and the baby question keeps getting asked.

And since I went thru menopause at 42 the chance of a baby in the belly is minute.

I have trouble buying pants. A friend suggested that maybe I go ahead & get pregnant jeans. Another friend turned me onto Lane Bryant new "perfect fit" jeans. At $45 a pair it's just not going to happen. My dream pants? Levi's 501 straight leg with the waist size left on the back tag.

My realistic pants? Something with elastic.

Yes, I know I'm doing the absolute right thing for myself. I'm losing weight. I'm eating "clean". I'm exercising. I'm doing all the right things. Everyday. All the time. I know all of that.

But Mimi?

********************

Last night's dinner.

Moroccan whitefish one skillet recipe

I found this recipe online & tweeked it a bit.

1-3 red potatoes sliced 1/4"

1 pound whitefish thawed

1 bunch fresh cilantro

1 med onion sliced 1/4"

1-2 sweet bell peppers

Open crisper & see what other veggies you have. Slice about 1/4"

In a clean jar

1/2 c water

1 TBS olive oil

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tsp coriander

1 tsp turmeric

dash cayenne pepper.

In a thick skillet layer potatoes. Lay fish on top. Cover with cilantro, onions, peppers & various veggies.

Pour sauce over everything.

Cover & cook on med 30 mins. Open lid every 10 mins & tilt pan to side & spoon sauce over everything.

I loved loved loved this meal. Enjoy!

It's GROUNDHOG day!

2009-02-02T08:00:00.000-08:00

He saw his shadow. Six more weeks of winter.

********************

Super Hero Super BOWLing partayyyyy!

Who am I? Why I'm SUPER Burner! Here to make sure you truly enjoy your Burning Man experience. I have extra goggles, dust masks and the very important EmergenC. Can't let you get dehydrated. Bored? Let me fire spin for you.

Never fear! TIE DYE GUY is here!

Able to bring a smile to your face, color to your wardrobe and bowling with an orange colored bowling ball it's TIE-DYE GUY to the rescue!

We had a good turn out. We laughed and bowled for about 2 hours.

I was concerned about food but Mr. T'dots packed some snacks for us. We ended up sharing with a couple of other players since no one wanted to order greasy food.

This was easy! (My new mantra)

This was easy!

*********************

12:12 pm Sunday

Finished cleaning off the dresser! Yeah!

*****************

Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit

2009-02-01T07:17:00.000-08:00

Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit!

It's February 1st!

(Why do cartoon characters seem to have shirts but no pants?

Isn't it "No Shirts, No Shoes, No service?")

Do you know about the tradition of saying "Rabbit rabbit rabbit" on the first day of the month?It's suppose to bring you good luck for the rest of the month. My friend Maddy has said that it's ok to talk to your animals first and then say it. Love that Maddy.

*********************

Scale check in time

219!!!

Down 13 pounds since Jan 5th!!!

WUUUUUUHUUUUUU!!!

This puts me below wedding weight.

This puts me below Jan 1, 2008 weight.

And this puts me only 20 pounds until that beautiful place we call ONEderland!

******************

In yesterday's blog I talked about wanting to binge & my two challenges.

The desire to binge is gone. I don't know if it was blogging about it or talking with my friend Michelle about it.

"You just have to keep on keeping on." Said Michelle yesterday. She's so fantastic about helping me stay motivated. She brought me a clave sounding percussion instrument to the store. "It's for you to play with when you're dancing around the store."

I love that Michelle.

"Ok. Tell me about your diet and what you're doing and why you're doing it." says my French friend last night.

Mr. T'dots & I explain the anti-candida diet.

"No wine" I say

"No problem. I wasn't planning on wine tonight since I had lots of wine last night."

"No chocolate" I say

"No problem. But can I still eat it?"

"Of course!"

Mr. T'dots made scallops with pesto, sauteed veggies & brown rice pasta for dinner.

She loved it!

"I thought it would be bland, boring food."

Nope. Not for the T'dots family!

Mr. T'dots is right! This is easy.

This is easy.

*********************

12:12 saturday: Forgot the camera.

This is from yesterday morning in our back yard.

We have many many pieces of yard art. I love how the frost outlines everything & the morning sun hits it so that it looks like it's got crystals all over.

Tulip with our compost pile behind.

(Click on the pictures so you can see the close up of the furry ice crystals.)

I want to BINGE

2009-01-31T07:32:00.000-08:00

I really really really want to binge.

Seriously. Binge on all things bad. I've tried to binge on all things good but this is how sick my brain is. I'm not getting that lethargic, bloated, "why oh why did I do this" feeling.

My meals are tasty, fantastic and I feel so full of energy. I don't get it.

For those of you who've not had this desire to just eat everything in sight (I call it "Hoover mode". You vacuum up everything.) you won't understand. I don't need the "this will pass" lecture. I know it will.

"But you're doing everything right." Yes. I know.

"You're accomplishing so much!" Yes. I know.

"You're healing your body!" Yes. I know.

But I still want to eat bad things.

Go thru a drive-thru & eat tasteless food. Then go to a 2nd one & eat even more. Find all of Mr T'dot's chocolate stashes and eat all of that.

But I won't do it. I can't do it. Doing it will start the death process all over again. Slowly killing myself with food. Slowly putting the weight back on, eating all my allergy food and not loving my self the way I should.

I know everything I'm suppose to do. And I will continue to do the things I'm suppose to do. Just right this moment I....WANT....TO..... BINGE!!!!!!

**************

Here's two challenges this week.

#1. Our french friend is staying the weekend. She's coming today. She stays with us about once or twice a month. She's a very close and wonderful friend. But she doesn't understand my issues with food.

I don't know if it's a french thing or if it's just her.

"You want to lose weight? Quit eating!"

She always brings an amazing dessert and a great bottle of wine. "Just a little bit won't hurt you."

Yes, it will.

Like most of my friends & family she doesn't know if I'm on the food wagon or off. She's dealt with both. She's seen me be on the wagon & cheat.

Mr T'dots said to me "I'm so not interested in bread or wine. This is easy."

Wow. This is easy.

#2. Super Hero Super BOWLing party tomorrow.

We're dressing up in Super Hero costumes (I have no clue what I'm wearing. I just know I'll be making a cape today.) and going bowling.

There's a huge group of us and I know food and drink will be there.

I think I'll grab Mr T'dot's philosophy of "This is easy".

This is easy.

This is easy!

*****************

12:12 pm Friday

Mirror on outside of dressing room.

I had been marking down hats & thought that wouldn't be all that interesting. I had just put away the last hat when the alarm went off. I loved the little top hat I was wearing so I thought I'd take a picture of my top hat.

The mirror has an amazing mosaic around it done by an artist out of Vancouver, WA. It's hard to see it because of the reflection of the stuff around the mirror.

A relaxed day off & more body issues

2009-01-30T07:51:00.000-08:00

Thursdays are my day off. I decided to actually have a day off. No leaving the house, no going into the store to work on a project, just staying in my pj's & no bra until 10 minutes before Mr. T'dots comes home.

For Christmas I gave Mr. T'dots a membership to Houseseats. $80 for a 14 month membership & we get to see concerts, plays and casino shows for "free". Last night we had tickets to see Toxic Audio an acappella group. The show was amazing! I left with my cheeks in pain from laughing and smiling so much. Here's a youtube of them.

*********************

Zumba Zumba ZuuuuummmmBAHHHHH!!!!

2009-01-29T08:25:00.000-08:00

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Zumba!!!!

(Click on the cartoon to read it.)

Last night's class was amazing. I was able to keep up thru the first 1.5 songs. John (the instructor) came in & stripped down to a fishnet sleeveless shirt & leopard print fur pants.

He put on the music & yelled "Follow me & have fun!"

I must find a weekly class! I must ZUMBA!!!! I MUST ZUMBA!!!!!

Class lasted about 45 mins. I kept stepping in & stepping out. Most did the same. I think I started sweating about 2 minutes into the 1st song.

I shimmied

I shook

I growled

I yelled

I became a lion

I posed honor to the sky

I ZOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMBAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH'ed!!!!!!!!!

Any class that encourages dressing up with leopard print fur pants.... well... I'm there! ZUMBA!

*******************

Body Images

I think most of us who struggle with our weight think that once we get to our goal that we won't have body image issues. It's as if we think goal = the answer to all of life's problems.

I learned in my 20's that thin people can be just as messed up as fat people.

But I never thought about their body issues.

So last night I asked one of my friends who is thin, fit and beautiful if she had body image issues.

"Are you kidding me? Hell yes!"

Me: "Give me an example."

her: "First off my skin is sagging. I am getting 'old lady' skin on my legs. I have bags under my eyes that will never go away. I work out almost every day to tone. I wear long sleeves even when it's hot because my arms are ugly."

Me: "Wow. I'm asking because I think you have a great body, you're fit & beautiful. I never ever would have thought that about you. Have you ever been overweight?"

Her: "Yes. I was about 20 pounds over weight. But I lost it after I separated from my husband. I quit eating, hired a trainer and took out my aggressions in the gym."

Now you need to know that she's about 5'5" with a very thin frame. 20 pounds overweight is a lot.

So today's lesson: We all have body image issues and chances are they won't go away. They may just morph into a different issue.

************************

12:12 pm

Cleaning & organizing the fabric in the back stock room.

I had a nightmare

2009-01-28T07:01:00.000-08:00

I woke up in a panic! I dreamt that I was gorging myself on cup cakes. I couldn't stop. Everyone around me was telling me to quit but I couldn't. I ate the creamy top, the filled ones, the plain ones.... I couldn't stop. I couldn't stop.

It's been a while since I've had a nightmare. And I can't recall when I had one regarding food. Man oh man. I guess that this has entered my subconscious and it's looking out for me.

And I'm not really a big fan of cupcakes!

******************

I'm guessing you are noticing the new look of my blog. My niece has been blogging for over a year. Her blog is so cute that I wanted her to give me some tips. She's extremely busy and sacrificed part of her 2 hours of alone time to help me.

Thank you Sara!

******************

Wednesdays are my long day.

I need to plan both my lunch & my dinner. Doesn't seem like a big deal but I have to remember to get it going in my store crock pot in time for me to eat by 5;30.

I don't microwave anything. I'm fortunate to have enough time to get things cooked the old fashioned way.

I have fire spinning class tonight & afterwards I'm taking my first ZUMBA class. Oh yeah... this fat chick's got rhythm babeeeee!

*****************

Millet recipe for the day

4 c veggie broth

1 c millet

1-4 garlic cloves

1-2 tsp garam masala

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper

Put all in pot & bring to boil. Then let simmer until done.

Open up fridge & look in crisper.

Pull out veggies & slice/dice

Saute in olive oil until onions are clear.

When millet mixture is done add veggies to millet.

Now here's the hard part. Let it sit for a day. You know how some foods taste better the 2nd day? Well this is one of them.

Form into patties & either bake or pan fry.

Yummy!!!!

******************

Recipe update:

I made falafel's and they turned out fe-awful!

They were wayyyy to moist and fell apart in the pan.

They tasted ok but I'll need another go at it before I post the recipe.

********************

12:12 pm

I was talking on the phone to my friend Gemini about the Fire Fest in July. I'm the vendor coordinator. My sister suggested I just take a picture of my phone but it just didn't happen.

Millet! Not just for the birds

2009-01-27T08:13:00.000-08:00

1. I'm eating too fast. I gobble my food right in. New habit starting right this minute: slow down & actually TASTE the food. Feel the textures in my mouth before swallowing. Clean out my mouth before taking the next bite.

2. Every time I weigh myself I think of this guy. He does this thing where he taps the scale 3 times before stepping on. I have a special spot that I move my scale to. It's in the middle of one of the designs on my bathroom floor. If it's not balanced exactly in the middle then I feel like I'm not getting the right reading.

3. I bounced this morning for 20 mins & then put in dvd #2 that I got for free at the Salvation Army. Turns out it's part of a set & I need exercise bands to go with the dvd. I'll keep my eye open since I'm at various thrift stores every week. (I own a vintage clothing store.)

4. This is the light fixture in my store. Every day I just stare at it. It's 89 hand blown pieces of glass. No, not a Chihuly. It's our Chihuly knock-off.

********************

Millet! Millet! Millet!

As I said earlier this week I am eliminating my dependancy on brown & wild rice.

Millet is an amazing grain. Rather than fill up my blog with millet info you can go here and read all about it.

I love the flavor. It's sweet and very easy to cook.

Basic directions: 1 c millet to 4 c water. Bring to a boil & let simmer until water is absorbed. (About 30 mins.)

This morning I added a handful of almonds to the millet pot. After cooking I added coconut butter, salt, pepper and nutritional yeast. I scrambled up 2 eggs but it was more than enough b'fast without the eggs.

Be prepared for millet recipes the rest of the week!

******************

12:12 pm Monday:

Green drink & organizing price tags.

Yes, we get SNOW in Reno.

2009-01-26T08:14:00.000-08:00

Reno averages 8" of precipitation a year. Most of that is snow.

Today we're adding to that average.

Birdbath in our back yard.

*****************

Today's quote from gratefulness.org

From experience we know that whenever we are truly awake and alive, we are also truly grateful.

David Steindl-Rast

Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer

******************

This morning I am grateful that I don't have to be to the store until 10. I don't know how I'd manage my mornings if I had to be at a "normal" 8-5 job.

I start my day around 6:30.

Get up, do morning drink, pull out rebounder, jump 20-30 mins. Today I added the Power Yoga video for 20 mins.

Plan 3 meals. Figure out what's for dinner & research recipes.

This morning: boil chickpeas that soaked all night. Make hummus & falafel's.

Upload pic's & do blog.

Steve makes b'fast most of the time. Today it's roasted red potatoes, veggies and scrambled eggs.

Make lunch

Take shower

Realize that it's 9:45 and be grateful that the hour sign on the door says "Open 10-ish to 6-ish".

How do you guys do it that have to be at work ON TIME at 8 in the morning?

*******************

Seared Ahi tuna with roasted veggies

Sunday night's dinner

In a small food processor:

1 tsp black pepper corns

1 TBS mustard powder (make sure it's 100% mustard with no corn starch or other ingredients)

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 hot thai chili diced with seeds and membrane removed

1 TBS olive oil

juice of 1/4-1/2 lemon

Process away.

Coat 1 side of ahi with mixture & put mixture side down on HOT skillet.

Coat other side of ahi with mixture.

Sear about 1-2 mins on each side.

Since this had been in the freezer I let it cook all the way thru.

Very very tasty!

Enjoy your day!

Sunday Sunday

2009-01-25T13:19:00.000-08:00

It's SNOWING in Reno and this is what I really want to do.

Miss Molly has the right idea. Take a nap. Don't get anything done on a day off. Yeah well, she's a dog and what does she know??

***************

First off: WI DAY!

Down 1 pound for a 3 week total of 11 pounds gone!

WUUUUUUUHUUUUUUUUU!!!!!

Scale said 221 this morning. I was hoping for 219 but I'll take that next sunday.

Today I'm trying to have a day without brown rice. It's such a "crutch" food for me. I don't want to develop an allergy to rice. That would make me very very sad. But again I'd move on.

I also talked with Steve this morning about not having a starch with dinner; just a protein and veggies. He's game. (god I love my man!)

Speaking of Steve he is just about 100% over his cold/flu/detox sickness. We did an infra red sauna on Friday night and I think it pretty much got it out of his system.

*********************

This week's new habits

1. Two days without brown rice. Possibly 3. I will start incorporating buckwheat & millet into our diet.

2. I was at a thrift store & they were giving away dvd's. I found this one and this one.

I will alternate doing those in the morning 5x. I'll do this along with 30 mins on the rebounder and 15-30 mins practicing fire spinning.

3. Finish cleaning out dresser. All that's left is my jewelry & accessory drawer.

*********************

12:12 pm

12:12 Friday: selling masks to a customer. He owns an ice cream shop & wanted something for the kid that holds the arrow sign directing people to his restaurant to wear.

****

12:12 saturday: practicing spinning.

*****

12:12 today: Cleaning the bedroom. The bed is covered with stuff I'm purging.

I'm in such denial about my body. I think I'm thinner than I really am. Seeing this photo and my HUGE arm makes me realize how much work I really need to do.

Time to get back to the bedroom.

As we say in tie-dye world "Have a colorful day!"