Double Date

Rand and I went on a double date - dinner and a movie. Very old school. I loved it. We saw Away We Go, which is really cute. It was much better than our meal. LOL


What I Wore On a Double Date:

• dress (via Ross, I forgot to look at the tag)
• camel vest (Rene Rowen, thrifted new Goodwill)
• red patent belt (Target)
• black buckle pumps (Nicole Miller)
• leaf brooch (Bren's Jemstone Jewelry Etsy Shop)
• faux pearl earrings (??)
• cream/goldtone indian inspired cuff bracelet (borrowed from Maria)

Total for the Day: 1947 calories, no exercise

Hangin' in the Breeze

I don't know if I've let anything slip previously that might have clued you in, but I'm a little green aruond the edges. Maybe it comes from living in Austin for 10 years of my life, or if it's b/c my mom is a major DIY kinda girl, or what. But I like to recycle, reuse, repurpose, upcycle, and do what I can that is a little more enviro friendly, esp if it helps my budget! That's why I carry my own water with me, eat my oatmeal from old glass mayo jars, why I started making my own laundry soap and more recently my own windex (no more buying plastic bottles!). And then after talking about it for several months, we finally started hanging our laundry out to dry. Rand took this picture and sent it to me at work to show me that even though he wasn't sure about it, he was giving the clothesline an honest try. It put a huge smile on my face (although I am not sure what our duplex neighbors think about it.) Next up ... backyard chickens!!! (A girl can dream.)

What I Wore While Our Sheets Dried in the Sun:

(Squinty McKee has made a return. Isn't she lovely?)

• white ruched wrap shirt (Newport News)
• black "mexican" skirt (Lane Bryant)
• black satin ballet flats (via Kohls)
• orange wooden bead necklace (Fossil, thrifted Goodwill)
• white shell cuff bracelet (H&M)
• black/white cameo screwback earrings (vintage store in Austin?)

What I Ate After Finally Deciding I was a Tiny Bit Hungry:

(I'm having problems with my foods pics. I'll try to upload later tonight.)

Rand and I kept going back and forth about wheather we wanted to eat dinner. He had a late lunch and I was starving when I came home so I shoved a bunch of crackers with neufchatel and fig preserves into my mouth. Yum! But not very healthy. We finally had some leftover mojo pork roast and roasted brocolli. I had a truly tiny portion.

Total for the Day: 1947 calories, 1/2 mile walk

Guest Blogger - Beth, Part IV

Beth joins us today (yeah yeah, it should have been Friday. Sorry. See my previous post for an explanation. Sorry, Beth!) for her final installment on her month-long guest blogger experience. Take it away, Beth!
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Oh, is it hot and humid in the Midwest right now! I know the thermometer is breaking 100 degrees in Texas (sorry, Tina!), but, man, is it sticky here. My office is in a building that was built right after the riots at Kent State. University administrations across the country took this as a lesson to build “safe” fortress-type buildings that are easily locked down. That translates to no windows, none except on the front façade. And now that this building is almost 50 years old the air handling is less than fantastic.

This in itself doesn’t make it tough to choose an outfit, except I’ve been spending my mornings in a research facility that is extra air conditioned! So I go from the refrigerator to the frying pan.

Also, a little help please! I bought this skirt on the clearance rack for $3 this winter. I thought that if it didn’t work on me it would make a cute bag (a la Dooney and Bourke). Should I keep it or upcycle it?

What I Wore While I Froze and then Sweated:

• Brown Patterned Skirt: George via Walmart
• Brown Cami: Merona via Target
• White Cardigan Sweater: Croft and Barrow via Kohl’s
• Brown Wedges: Aerosoles via Macy’s
• Green Bead Necklace: Made by Mom
• Jade Bangle: Gift from Sis

What I Ate While Trying to Recover from the Heat

No pictures, but Thursday is traditionally pizza night in our household. I was really too hot to eat (even with the A/C running!!), so I had two small pieces and then some homemade blueberry ice cream. It hit the spot! And I was still 22 calories under my goal, thanks to the heat! 1872 for the day!

I use a handy iPhone App to keep track of my caloric intake. It works well for me because I can enter as I go, it’s easy to use, and it’s free! Lose It!

And, finally, I’d like to thank Tina for letting me guest blog this month! I’ve had a great time. There are quite a few negative things said on the Internet about outfit-a-day blogs, but I think these critics don’t understand the spirit in which these bloggers blog! I’ve learned a lot about confidence, beauty (yes, also, beyond skin deep), and maturity from the women I visit “virtually” each day and I am glad to be included in a community of women who support and encourage each other! Thanks for letting me share.

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Thank you, Beth. It's been so great having you as a guest blogger. I really cannot say enough nice things about you. Week after week you have impressed me with your thoughtful posts and witty commentary. Don't be a stranger.

Horses & Laptops

Sorry I've been MIA for a few days. My computer decided to try to commit suicide. While I was at work on Thursday, Rand sent me a picture of it - it had actually melted. It looks like the fan failed and it overheated. The odd thing was that it was turned off at the time. It's a good thing I was suckered into purchasing an extended warranty on it. Now I just have to find time to take it in to get repaired. Until then, I have limited access to Rand's computer.

What I Wore While My Computer Melted:

• maroon.white striped shortsleeve blouse (Target, thrifted new Goodwill)
• marron satin pleated tank (Target)
• black skirt (George/Walmart, thrifted new Goodwill)
• black satin flats (via Kohls)
• grey geomatric necklace (Rainbow)

What I Ate Until The Delivery Nightmare Occurred:


I'm not even going to get into everything that happened, but it involved accidently giving the delivery guy an extra $50, getting the wrong food delivered, getting too much money back from the delivery guy, getting delivery from another restaurant, and lots of stuff in between. As a result there is no picture of dinner.

• breadkfast: cereal w/ Almond Breeze and blueberries
• lunch: big salad and watermelon
• snack: banana, Cliff bar, and a tangerine
• dinner: quesadilla

What I Followed Around the Block:

Still inspired by Stacy and Sheila, I braved 100 degrees and no shade for a short walk before lunch. Since it's so hot, I only walked 1/2 mile. But I had the uh pleasure (?) of walking behind some horse cops for quite a bit of that. Just what you want to stare at, right?

In the Navy!

Rand said that I looked like a sailor this morning (um...yep. Got the nautical thing going.) so I asked if it made him want to join the Navy. Then he claried that I didn't look like a real sailor rather one in a musical, so I asked if it made him want to go to a musical (you know, since I'm looking so hot). Fishing for compliments never works, my answer was a flat "No." LOL

Just a fun little trivia fact - I have almost joined the Navy 3 times in my life. First, I almost went to the Naval Academy. Then after college I was training to get in good enough shape to sign up. And then again when I was in lawschool, I seriously looked into doing JAG. I still think about it from time to time.

What I Wore While Looking Like a Musical Sailor:

• cream crochet trim tank (Old Navy)
• cream/blue stripe sailor front skirt - check out the buttons (Old Navy)
• blue/white stripe cardi (Target)
• red flats (?)
• silver tone/tortise link necklace and earrings (via Macy's)

This skirt has been sitting in my closet b/c I put on too much weight right after I bought it. It finally fits again, but after wearing it all day I realized I should have been wearing it all along. It's one of those skirts that is scandalously tight for the first 10 minutes and then just bags out. And it wrinkles. And the sailot front just grabs my queso baby and says "Hello World! Check out this queso baby I've got here!" Oh well. Into the giveaway/sale pile it goes. After one wear. Good thing I only paid $4 for it.

What I Ate While Using Too Much Spice:

• breakfast - 1 c. Optimum Blueberry & Cinnamon cereal, dry
• lunch: big salad (romaine, spinach, carrots, kidney beans, black olives, artichoke hearts, fat free feta), 1 c. watermelon, 1 bowl Thai Kitchen instant rice noodles
• snack: small fuji apple, Honest Trail Mix bar
• dinner: lemon pepper chicken (with WAY too much lemon pepper), 1 c. brown rice, 4 oz snap peas
• dessert: microwave cake

What I Did After Being Inspired By Reader Comments:

I got up and walked a mile around the park this morning. While I was at work a couple of readers commented that they try to work in little mini walks while at work. So I busted out MapMyWalk and looked to see how far it was around the block at work. Then I did some other routes. I ended up going for a 0.58 mile walk at lunch time. Umm...it's over 100 here in Dallas already and at noon there isn't any shade at all downtown. It was hot. And I was wearing a cardigan, but it wasn't appropriate to take it off. And uh...a skirt, which when you are a curvy girl like me is a recipe for trouble. Hot weather and thighs that rub together in a skirt. Painful!!!! Next time I'll bring a pair of lycra short to throw on under my skirt. Unfortunately there's not much I can do about the heat. It is Texas in the summer afterall.

Total for the Day: 1693 calories, 8 glasses of water, 1.58 miles of walking

Brazilian Dance

What I Wore to the Dubliner:

• pale pink lace trim jacket (Lane Bryant)
• pink/red/green dot silk shirt (Nine West)
• blue wide-leg slacks (Gap)
• pink heels (Nine West)
• pink heart earrings (Xmas gift from stepbrother)
• pink bracelet (from a friend's mom)

What I Ate While Playing Dominoes:

• breakfast: 1 c. Optimum blueberry & cinnamon cereal, 1/2 c. Almond Breeze, 6 oz blueberries
• lunch: 1/2 turkey ruben sandwich, 1 c. steamed veggies, 1 c. french onion soup (Jason's Deli)
• snack: Z-bar (Cliff)
• dinner: 16 oz Julius Echter heffeweisen, 1/2 cheeseboard (I had about 1/2 of what you see, plus about 2 oz of brie YUM!!)
• dessert: microwave cake (1/3 c. reduced sugar cake mix, slightly less than 1/3 c. unsweetened Almond Breeze (or liquid of your choice) microwaved for 2 minutes and topped with 2 T of reduced sugar icing

What I Did with Free DVDs:

The lovely ladies at Fit Bottomed Girls (great blog if you exercise at all. Seriously, check them out) had a multitude of give-aways a few weeks ago and I WON!! I am now the proud owner of 3 Dance and Be Fit workout DVDs. I stuck the Brazilian Body one this morning and allowed myself 30 minutes to workout, even though it was going to make me later to work than normal. My arrival time is flexible, so this is fine with work, but hard for me to allow myself to do. I'm trying to teach myself that it's more important for me to get exercise into my life than to earn an extra 1/2 hour of wages each day.

Since I only gave myself 30 minutes, I couldn't do that whole workout, but it's divided into different dances, so I did the warm up, one dance section, and the cool down for 24 minutes of exercise.

To be honest, I didn't care for the instruction on this DVD. It's all voice over. And there isn't any explanation of what the moves are going to be. And quite often the voice over tells you that now should already be doing the new move rather cueing you to do it before the change happens. So I was perpetually behind the instructor. Obviously that problem will go away if I continue to use the DVD.

Anyway, I was sweaty when my 24 minutes was complete, so I feel like I got a decent workout for the time I had.

Total for the Day: 2019 calories, 6 glasses of water , 24 minutes cardio

Venue, Venue, Who's Got the Venue?

We are going to try to keep this wedding as inexpensive as possible, which is very difficult in Dallas The Land of Big Hair, Big Diamonds, and Big Weddings. A few months ago this led to me doing a little research and picking a sweet little venue that is on city property so it's really inexpensive (about 1/8 the price of most other venues). I didn't make any calls or anything since Rand hadn't proposed yet. Rand called yesterday and it's booked solid. Oh well. Time for more research and a larger budget!

What I Wore While Researching Wedding Venues Online:

• salmon shortsleeve sweater (Nine&Co.)
• skirt (Walmart)
• red suede platform heels (Jessica Simpson, thrifted Goodwill)
• blue plastic chain necklace (thrifted, charity shop)
• silver cuff bracelet (Payless)

What I Ate While Watching The Prizewinner of Defiance, Ohio:

• breakfast: 1 c. Optimum Blueberry Cinnamon cereal, 1/2 c. unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze, 1 small banana
• lunch: salad with spinach, 1/2 c kidney beans, atichoke hearts, grape toms, carrot, and 1 oz fat free feta; 1 c. cubed watermelon; 1/2 whole wheat pita made into chips
• snack: Luna bar
• dinner: homemade veggie pizza with basil and fat free feta

This pizza is amazing. You really must must must make it some time. We don't make the crust from the recipe anymore, b/c we find it to be a little heavy. We just use a thin crust Boboli from the grocery store.

What I Did After it Dropped Below 100 Degrees:

Rand and I went for a walk around the park just as it was getting dark. We went around twice (1 mile) and were going to go around a third time, but I was wearing flip flops and my feet started getting sore. So tomorrow I'll wear tennies so we can walk around as many times as we want.

Total for the Day: 1569 calories, 6 glasses of water, 1 mile of walking

Week 17 Weigh In & New Goals

Starting Weight: 230.5 lbs
Week 1: 226.5 lbs
Week 2: 228.0 lbs
Week 3: 224.5 lbs
Week 4: 225.0 lbs
Week 5: 223.0 lbs
Week 6: 224.0 lbs
Week 7: 224.0 lbs
Week 8: 223.0 lbs
Week 9: 220.5 lbs
Week 10: 222.5 lbs
Week 11: 224.5 lbs
Week 12: 226.5 lbs
Week 13: 222.5 lbs
Week 14: 222.5 lbs
Week 15: 220.5 lbs
Week 16: 220.0 lbs
Week 17: 219.5 lbs

Change for the Week: -0.5 lbs

Total Change: - 11 lbs

This week's weight loss was totally undeserved. Let's see why, shall we?

Week 17 Goal Wrap-up

1. I stuck to my calories 3 days. Total rubbish
2. I had several days with no fruit or veggies at all. No wonder I feel gross.
3. I only exercised one day. SLOTH!

Week 18 Goals:

1. 1800 calories or less per day for 6 of the 7 days
2. veggies and fruit every day
3. work out at least twice

Weekend BLING

I'm engaged!!!! So of course I had to show all of you my ring, which means you also get to see my weekend wear. Variety is nice, isn't it?

What I Wore While Spending the Day With My Future In-Laws:

• green polka dot blouse (Target)
• white crochet trim tank (Kmart)
• jorts (Gap)
• sandals (thrifted, Goodwill)
• earrings (?)
• coi necklace, upcycled from a Scrabble tile (Etsy Fair, but she doesn't sell on Etsy)
• art deco engagement ring (local jeweler)

What I Wore While Calling All My Friends and Family:

• burnt orange UT tank (The Co-op, Austin)
• burnt orange lion silk scarf, worn as shirt (Anne Klein, thrifted Goodwill)*
• jeans (Gap)
• sandals (Old Navy, thrifted Goodwill)
• belt (Dots)
• faux amber necklace (hand-me-down froma friend)
• orange earrings (?? Ross)

* I tied the corners of the scarf to my tank and used the belt to create some shape. I got the idea from a photo display of ways to wear scarves that Maria sent me. It's slightly modified, but I think it looks great. It's a little rumpled here b/c we just came back from lots of champagne at brunch.

What I Ate While Accepting Many Rounds of Congratulations:

A little while after Rand proposed, I was googling Weight Watchers Meeting time for the following morning (he asked around midnight). I have been talking about joining WW for a while now and had actually intended to go to a meeting Saturday morning. But Rand thought I was doing the new bride weight freak out thing. He's worried that I'm going to get all freaky about food and crash diet my way to the alter. I think this weekend has disabused him of that idea. There were swedish crepes, sausage, Sonic, birthday cake and ice cream, raviolis in alfredo, etc. Yes I would like to continue to lose weight but I'm not going to freak out just because there is a wedding dress in my future.

Friday Quickie Recap

What I Wore While Forgetting the Library Is Closed on Fridays:

• shirt, cardigan (worn backwards), T, flats - Target
• belt (thrifted new, Goodwill)
• necklace (?)

What I Ate That Needed More Zing:

• flank steak
• corn & blackbean relish
• green beans

Guest Blogger - Beth, Part III

Please welcome Beth back for her third guest blogging installment. This time with video! I would like to say that I am saavy enough to have posted this video without blinking. Sadly, I had to email Beth to figure out how to do it. Thanks, Beth!
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This has been a low week for me fashion-wise. I haven’t been really inspired to work on my outer appearance for a couple of reasons. Grading finals is incredibly time consuming, and campus is nearly deserted (seriously, it’s like a zombie apocalypse).

I got a cool new t-shirt at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this weekend so that was my one inspiration. However after seeing these pictures I think it is time to get rid of this skirt. It definitely accentuates the disproportionate hips! I won't be getting rid of this jacket anytime soon because of one story. Once I was interviewing a job candidate at a breakfast and afterward he helped me on with my jacket (EEK!). He said, "That's a little jacket for such a big girl." Ouch. He didn't get the job.

What I Wore While Pretending I Rock:

• Black Linen Skirt: Lands’ End
• “Prepare to Rock” tee: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
• Denim Jacket: Gap
• Jacket Flair: various
• Bead Bracelets: Fair Trade store in Waukesha, WI
• Star Bracelet: Gift from Sis
• Black Peep Toe Wedges: Naturalizer via DSW
• Earrings: Made by my friend Rebecca

What I Shoveled into My Mouth while Grading:

Not too bad, I made a sirloin Caesar with homemade dressing. It’s not hard, just run the ingredients through the food processor and use less oil and more spices for a healthier but tasty dressing!

Also, I had some help with appetite suppression while grading. My students in “Media and Web Delivery” had to prepare a videocast fortheir final projects. This was one that has me off fast food for quite awhile:



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Maybe it's the angle of the photo, but I don't think this skirt makes your hips look disproportionate. I think you look rock and roll!

Unplanned Day At Work

Just as yesterday I didn't plan on being at home, today I was supposed to be at home but they called me in to work. Ah the life of a contract employee. I'm just happy to be employed in this economy. So after 10 glorious hours of sleep, I trundled off to work first thing this morning.


What I Wore While Sitting At My Desk:

• paisley skirt (Anne Klein)
• blue short sleeve blouse (Old Navy)
• vest (Rena Rowan, thrifted new Goodwill)
• rafia mules (Bandalino)
• cognac purse (thrifted, Genesis)
• wooden bangle (thrifted, Goodwill)
• button ring (Etsy Dallas, free gift)
• brass earrings (Target)
• brass reversible necklace (Target)

What I Ate While Staring At A Box of Cookies:

Someone delivered a box of cookies this morning and I stared at all day. I am only human and I didn't have breakfast packed, so....

• breakfast - 3 snickerdoodles
• lunch - gyro & potatoes (Rand joined me downtown for lunch and he picked)
• dinner - chicken panang (I only ate about 1/2 and I had to tone it down with lite coconut milk b/c I'm a spice wimp)

Total for the Day: 1819 calories, 6 glasses of water, no exercise

Wait. How is it possible that I ate cookies for breakfast, gyros for lunch, and take-out for dinner but still managed to hit my calories???

Unplanned Day At Home

There wasn't any work today, so I stayed home. Good for the soul, bad for the wallet. I "rented" some movies from the library and settled in for some scrapbooking. I just started on my 2009 book. This is our first date of the year. It's not finished b/c I was struck down by the mother of all headaches and was determined to tough it out. Stupid. Better sense prevailed around 8:30, when I took some aspirin and went to bed. Yep, I was asleep by 9pm which is why this post is a day late.


What I Wore While Scrapbooking About Zombies and Popcorn:

• black v-neck T (Target)
• floral skirt (thrifted, no tags)
• red patent belt (Target)
• black leather sandals (Mee Too)
• no jewelry (and no make-up for that matter)

What I Ate While Nursing a Headache:

• breakfast - canadian bacon muffin & fuji apple
• lunch - veggie and hummus pita w/ extra veggies & watermelon
• dinner - small portion of chicken crispers & fries (Chili's)

What I Did To Move My Butt:

1.8 miles of walking with Rand first thing in the morning. I am really glad that I got up and went for a walk right away or I would have used my headache as an excuse not to get any exercise. Much like I did with dinner.

Total for the Day: 2292 calories, 4 glasses of water, 1.8 miles of walking

Can you spare a vowel?

I only worked for a few hours today, so Rand and I had lots of quality time together. We played some frisbee and then some Scrabble. It was a really good game - very close. I won. :)


What I Wore Before Playing SCRABBLE:

• wrap dress (NY& Co.)
• blue tank (Target)
• brown leather pumps (Manolo Blahnik, thrifted Goodwill)
• starburst brooch (Lula B's Antique Mall)
• stone earrings (hand-me-down, Magnolia)
• champagne pearl choker, extended by me (charity shop)

What I Ate That Was Burned:

We tried another new recipe tonight: Herbed Pasta Primavera. Sadly, after I drained the pasta, I put it back in the pot with the lid on to stay warm. But I forgot to turn the burner off, so I burned all the pasta on the bottom. I didn't feel like taking the 20 minutes to make more pasta, so I gave Rand the good pasta and I ate the burned stuff. It wasn't bad, actually. I really liked his recipe, but Rand thought it was bland...and lacking meat. I would love to make it again, but he would prefer to pass, but he always eats everything with such good grace, so he won't put up a fuss if I cook it again.

Total for the Day: 2135 calories, no exercise, no water UH OH!

Meh Monday

Today was not good. I don't really have the energy to post a long blog, so let's look at some pictures of my mediocre outfit, shall we?

What I Wore That Was Meh:

• polka dot blouse (Target)
• aqua tank (Lane Bryant)
• black slacks (Lane Bryant)
• black leather flats (Simply Vera by Vera Wang)
• aqua belt (Nine West)
• red bead necklace, extended by me (?)
• black bead bangle (?)
• aqua/red earrings (street vendor in Austin)

What I Ate That Was Not Worth It:

I was not in a good mood when I got home and I just wasn't up to cooking. And I let that be an excuse to order in food. I got a calzone. It wasn't even what I wanted and I didn't enjoy it. Meh.

Weekend Roundup

What I Wore While Having Girl Time & While Seeing Lysistrata:





















What I Did to Get Sweaty:

• The Wave - it wasn't any better the second time around. It is really too slippery to be safe. I've decided that one of those balance bubbles would be much better.
• Walking - don't you love this GPS application for my blackberry? I do! It tracks how far I walk, my average speed, my top speed, and how long it took. Plus I can upload it and see my actual path. I will say that the speed isn't very reliable, but everything else is really accurate as long as you remember to stop it when you stop (it is not accurate for walking interspersed with long periods of not moving)

Week 16 Weigh In & Goals

Starting Weight: 230.5 lbs
Week 1: 226.5 lbs
Week 2: 228.0 lbs
Week 3: 224.5 lbs
Week 4: 225.0 lbs
Week 5: 223.0 lbs
Week 6: 224.0 lbs
Week 7: 224.0 lbs
Week 8: 223.0 lbs
Week 9: 220.5 lbs
Week 10: 222.5 lbs
Week 11: 224.5 lbs
Week 12: 226.5 lbs
Week 13: 222.5 lbs
Week 14: 222.5 lbs
Week 15: 220.5 lbs
Week 16: 220.0 lbs

Change for the Week: -0.5 lbs

Total Change: - 10.5 lbs

Week 16 Goal Wrap-up

1. I stuck to my calories 5 days.
2. I splured 2 days instead of one.
3. I walked 2 days (about 1.75 miles both days) and did a workout DVD one day.

Week 17 Goals:

1. 1800 calories or less per day for 6 of the 7 days
2. no days without fruit and veggies both
3. work out at the gym at least once

Guest Blogger - Beth II

Please welcome Beth back for her second week of guest blogging. Judging by her photos and witty comments, I think she might just be better at this than I am. Uh oh. Please enjoy her guest post as much I do!
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I’m drawing a lot of fashion inspiration from Mrs. O. I’ve always been a cardi-loving girl but I am trying to work the belts and bright colors like Michelle. If only I had her guns…but there’s not much time for gun-making this week. It’s Finals Week at the university and I am spread a little thin. How do I know? I’ve made enough mistakes that I’ve said, “I’m an idiot!” out loud about 800 times AND I came home yesterday with a nervous stomach (as you can see by my dinner below).

What I Wore the Day After My Nervous Stomach:

• Dress: Made by mom
• Shoes: Sam & Libby via Endless.com (again!)
• Belt: ?? via Kohls (super clearance this week, $2.40)
• Necklace: vintage via Betty’s Vintage Finds
• Earrings: ?? (about 20 years old)

What I Wore the Rest of the Week While Feeling Fine:


What I Ate While Not Feeling Very Hungry:

Toast. It cures all that ails you. Don’t worry, though, I had beer cheese soup for lunch so I am sure I am over calories for the day. Come to think of it, maybe that’s the reason for the nervous stomach – not stress as I had suspected!

I did exercise a bit this week. Saturday and Monday I spent 20 minutes on the treadmill. I’m going to be happy I made time on two days for exercise and not think about the other five!

Have a great weekend!

Mother Nature is a Cranky Bitch

Thursday was quite a day here in Dallas. It started storming Wednesday night and didn' let up until Thursday afternoon. Until then, it put on quite a show. Lightening struck my office building a knocked out our internet, so I went home early. When I got home, we had no electricity, no cell phone service, and no internet access. So no blog until now. Sorry for the delay. Mother nature doesn't listen to little people like me.

What I Wore While Trying to Avoid Lightening and Floods:

• red tank (CAbi, thrifted Goodwill)
• paisley skirt, shortened by me (thrifted, Goodwill)
• camel cardi (thrifted, Genesis)
• brown boots (Cloudwalkers)
• belt (thrifted, Goodwill)
• goldtone chain necklace (via Macy's)
• goldtone brooch (thrifted)

I don't have any pics of what I ate for dinner, b/c I was in a movie. I will tell the truth about it though. I've been craving and therefor constantly talking about all-you-can-eat-pizza at Studio Movie Grill. So we escaped our no-electricity house and went to see Land of the Lost. Ugh. It's a crap movie. Don't bother. It's not even good for a bad movie.

Anyway, here's the view outside our house. That car is parked at the curb and the water is 1/2 way up the license plate. Yikes. The street was completely underwater (no sidewalks, etc) and the park across the street was underwater too. It took mor than 24 hours for all of our services to get turned back on. And on my walk this morning, I counted at least 10 trees that were struck by lightening.

$5 Manolos!!!

Forgive the really crappy photo, but these ----------> are two pairs of Manolo Blahniks that I purchased at Goodwill for $5 each! The pair on the left is dark brown with a pointed toe and stiletto heel. The pair on the left is black with a box toe and a thicker heel.

I don't know what was going on at this Goodwill, but they had tons of really nice, high end shoes today. I'm pretty sure these were donated by the same person, even though they are two different sizes, b/c they both fit exactly the same way. How do I get this person to donate more $400 shoes??

What I Wore While Being Thankful That Rich People Donate to Goodwill:

• grey/blue dot shirt (Mossimo)
• grey faux wrap, shortened by me (Lane Bryant, thrifted Goodwill)
• black heels (Manolo Blahnik, thrifted Goodwill)
• mother of pearl earrings (Target)
• aqua oval necklace (via Ross)

What I Ate After Refusing to Go to the Store:

We just couldn't bring ourselves to go to the grocery store in the storm that was passing through Dallas, so we improvised with the few ingredients we still have in the house. Rand cooked up breakfast and I cooked the apples.

• 2 slices low-cal toast
• 2 slices real bacon
• 2 eggs (from Mom's chickens)
• 1 cooked apple with raisins and sliced almonds
• dessert - black bean brownies

Total for the Day: 1808 calories, 4 glasses of water, no exercise

Rainbows & Ranges

Guess what we have now!!! I'll give you a hint ------------>

That's right, we finally got our new stove. It's been almost 3 weeks. I am so excited that we can finally cook again.


What I Wore While Looking Like A Rainbow Barfed On Me:

• peasant dress (Simply Fashions)
• yellow cardigan (Target)
• brown flats (Old Navy)
• teal/orange ring (from by goodie bag at the Etsy Dallas fair, but I can't find the seller's card)
• green necklace (Target, new stock from Goodwill)
• yellow earrings (??)
• pink leather belt (Faded Glory/Walmart)

What I Ate From My New Stove:

• breakfast - Optimum Cinnamon & Blueberry w/ Almond Breeze and fresh blueberries
• lunch - Buddig beef sandwich, carrot, zucchini, and banana
• snack - string cheese, small fuji apple, and Luna bar
• faux fried chicken fingers
• roasted brocolli
• roasted red and yellow bell peppers
• BBQ sauce
• dessert - black bean brownies

Total for the Day: 1767 calories, 7 glasses of water, no exercise

Jewelry Death

For some reason all my new jewelry decided to commit suicide today. First, my earring jumped out at home, so I put it back in. Then a few hours later I noticed it was missing again. I traced it back to the grocery store parking lot, where it was forlorn and potentially smushed from being run over by cars. Then when I bent down to pick up the earring, I noticed that my new ring was missing the ornament and all I had was a band on my finger. That never turned up. It was only $6, but I'm going to try to get them to exchange it for another one even though I can't really prove what ring it was.

What I Wore While All My Jewelry Committed Suicide:

• black/white plaid pencil skirt (Newport News)
• black short sleeve blouse (Target)
• red patent leather skinny belt (Target)
• black satin ballet flats (via Kohl's)
• silver tone earrings (via Payless)
• silver woven bracelet (via Payless)
• missing black enamel flower ring (Dots)

What I Ate On My Last Night of No Stove:

• general Tso's chicken (I ate about 2/3)
• fried rice (I ate about 3/4)
• 1 veggie egg roll
• 1/2 c wonton soup w/ crunchies!!!

I'm scared to do the math. Will you do it for me?

Total for the Day: 2350 calories, 4 glasses of water, no exercise