Why hello Lover

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.

"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.

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.

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.  

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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

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?

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.  

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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!! 

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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

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. 

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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.

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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?

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

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.

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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.

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'. 

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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.

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

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.  

 

San Francisco Here we come!

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.

And now the latest in weight loss, PSA and fun

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.  

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Read this.

Now go spend $20 at a locally owned business.

Thank you.

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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

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

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!

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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.

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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?