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

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". 

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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. 

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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."

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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!

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!

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SCREAM!!!!

I love this picture.

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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!

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.

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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. 

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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.  

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This was my favorite costume of the night.

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

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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.

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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!

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

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.

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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.  

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That's it for now.

New Goals, Family, Moving forward

What a great weekend in San Francisco!

Steve, Mom and Me

And the Golden Gate Bridge

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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.

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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.

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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.

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one more thing

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

 

Adventures from San Francisco

Fog City Wedding