Sonia Kashuk Makeup brushes. Had them 8 years now and they are still wonderful
Clean towels at work
Coffee Bean demi-permanent hair color.
Courtknee's chopped off locks.
You can see the whole set (including more brown) here
Friday, December 18, 2009
Friday : Brown
Brown proved to be a very easy color for me to find. I had to pull myself back from photographing the empty toilet paper roll in the bathroom at work, it was so prevalent! Here are a few of my favorites:
What's my motivation???
I suck at low intensity workouts. Well, I mean, it's not official, but I tried to do a fat burning low intensity workout today on the elliptical at the gym and failed to keep my heartrate at the projected rate of 125 bpm. Nope, mine had to be like 155 - 167 the whole time. Ehhh. But I definitely did sweat and it was much easier to stick with it for a longer amount of time. So if I get up early enough tomorrow, I'll head back on over and try the low intensity workout again before my shift at work.
While shopping yesterday, I tried on some clothes for gifts for me. You know how it is. I've kind of reached the age where there really are no surprises anymore at Christmas and I am okay with that. I would rather get things that I am eyeing than hope I get something worth the same amount that I can return later and get. While trying on these various items, I had to keep in mind that while they may not fit right now, they will most definitely be fitting sooner or later. The last time I lost a decent amount of weight, I got rid of all of my clothes that were size 14, refusing to ever let myself get that big again. I have one option - lose the weight.
So I use that as motivation, along with the number of other clothing items I have purchased and never worn yet. They are rewards for reaching certain sizes. Rewards for becoming the person on the outside that I feel I should be. That I have always felt I should be. I see pictures from the past that are realistic in how I want to look again and yes, there is a celebrity or two who's shape I wouldn't mind looking more like. Of course, my boobs would probably stay a lot bigger. But these are what gets me to the gym and keeps me from eating things that I will regret later.
Also, there is the fact that I have at least one, if not two weddings I will be attending next year, one of which I am pretty sure I will be in. And even though it won't be my big day, I don't want to feel like a poor choice for a bridesmaid in any fashion.
Mostly though, my motivation is the simple fact that I want to finally get myself into the healthy habits I should have embrace YEARS ago, in hopes that I won't be fighting my weight as I have in the past. That Mike and I will both take our health and appearances and teach our (future) children to be active and healthy and not fall into the ruts that we have.
Back in July, after we moved into the house, I swore off all fast food for a month. Not sure if I succeeded or not. But I decided to do the same for December, and as of today, the 17th, I have not consumed one french fry or chicken nugget and the only "burger" I had was a gardenburger at McMenamins. I know, it's bragging, but I am pretty proud. Even when I was doing the Atkins' diet, I never could give up french fries.
While shopping yesterday, I tried on some clothes for gifts for me. You know how it is. I've kind of reached the age where there really are no surprises anymore at Christmas and I am okay with that. I would rather get things that I am eyeing than hope I get something worth the same amount that I can return later and get. While trying on these various items, I had to keep in mind that while they may not fit right now, they will most definitely be fitting sooner or later. The last time I lost a decent amount of weight, I got rid of all of my clothes that were size 14, refusing to ever let myself get that big again. I have one option - lose the weight.
So I use that as motivation, along with the number of other clothing items I have purchased and never worn yet. They are rewards for reaching certain sizes. Rewards for becoming the person on the outside that I feel I should be. That I have always felt I should be. I see pictures from the past that are realistic in how I want to look again and yes, there is a celebrity or two who's shape I wouldn't mind looking more like. Of course, my boobs would probably stay a lot bigger. But these are what gets me to the gym and keeps me from eating things that I will regret later.
Also, there is the fact that I have at least one, if not two weddings I will be attending next year, one of which I am pretty sure I will be in. And even though it won't be my big day, I don't want to feel like a poor choice for a bridesmaid in any fashion.
Mostly though, my motivation is the simple fact that I want to finally get myself into the healthy habits I should have embrace YEARS ago, in hopes that I won't be fighting my weight as I have in the past. That Mike and I will both take our health and appearances and teach our (future) children to be active and healthy and not fall into the ruts that we have.
Back in July, after we moved into the house, I swore off all fast food for a month. Not sure if I succeeded or not. But I decided to do the same for December, and as of today, the 17th, I have not consumed one french fry or chicken nugget and the only "burger" I had was a gardenburger at McMenamins. I know, it's bragging, but I am pretty proud. Even when I was doing the Atkins' diet, I never could give up french fries.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Thursday : Blue
I had quite a bit of luck with blue today.
Two knitting projects . . . my fingerless gloves and a scarf I am working on.
I have a lot of holiday penguin stuff. A LOT.
He needs a nickname. Any suggestions?
My cell phone. It only came in blue. I have a love/hate relationship with it.
My reward stars for my pathetic weightloss chart. I get a star each day I get my butt to the gym.
One of my favorite magnets.
Paper towels
Aluminum knitting needles.
I noted that there was no purple day in Color Week, which makes me sad, since it's my favorite color. So I am adding a purple day to the end of the week. I welcome you all to join me.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Wednesday : Pink
I'm a bit late getting these posted, but yesterday's shopping trip was exhausting. But here is some pink.
Sweet N' Low packets at Chili's
Christmas Cactus in bloom
My pink wallet
Bleach in a bottle. I should label it bleach, just in case.
My first pair of knitting needles ever. I have switched to bamboo now.
Downey softener.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
A Very Long Day (revisited)
Tomorrow marks the return of my blowout shopping day with Mom. We start early and go go go until we've nearly crossed everything off our lists. We weren't able to do it last year, due to the weather, but two years ago, we had a long, eventful day. I wrote this the following day. I am hoping that tomorrow will be as successful and just as memorable.
I took the day off with Mom yesterday and we went shopping for our Christmas gifts. This is a pretty accurate reinactment of the day.
1:00 am - I decide that it is probably time to turn off the "Golden Girls" rerun and go to sleep.
6:16 am - alarm goes off as usual and I hit snooze, as usual
6:45 am - finally decide that maybe I should get up and get ready.
6:50 am - Turn on curling iron and proceed to smooth out my still frizzy hair from last night's blow out.
7:03 am - Check the parking lot situation and decide to move my car into one of the empty ones instead of making Mike wake up and switch spots with me.
7:15 am - begin putting on make-up noting that I am spending more time on my appearance than I ever do on a work day
7:33 am - Mom calls to tell me she is on her way
7:41 am - Mom picks me up and hands me a bag of misc items
7:50 am - we are stuck in the same traffic I am always stuck in. For some reason, we thought we'd just zip down to the mall without having to deal with traffic when we first planned this out.
8:15 am - we debate where on 82nd is there a Walmart. I haven't been there much since breaking it off with Jarad, so I don't quite remember things as I used to.
8:25 am - Mom proves to be correct in the location of a Walmart and promptly makes an illegal Left Hand turn into the parking lot
8:40 am - I debate whether or not to get Jasmine a High School Musical Karaoke game that is Playstation 2 compatible. I can imagine my brother-in-law cringing every time he comes home to play and his 6 year old is belting out some wobbly rendition of some song. I can also imagine her getting really good and becoming a professional singer and thanking me, Aunt Betsy for helping her discover her talent all those years ago . . .
8:42 am - I decide that I like having Darrick like me and choose not to buy the game.
8:50 am - I lug a heavy gift out to the car for my mom and keep telling myself that its like working out. Sort of.
8:55 am - We pull into Michael's for supplies for crafts we are working on. Mom goes to hunt for a cookie press and I head to the scrapbook region. I spend way too much time and thought on paper.
9:25 am - We park at Clackamas Towne Center and embark on part one of dealing with a huge Oregon Mall a week before Christmas
10:06 am - I call Mike to make sure he is awake. He doesn't answer.
10:08 am - He calls back, disoriented but still asking how the day is going.
10:15 am - Mom complains about the lack of colors in cufflink dress shirts, because last year, that's how they all came.
10:16 am - I ask Mom if my brother even has cuff links. She doesn't recall. But he had it on his list.
10:30 am - I pay for a fantastic Christmas gift for Mike at a steal of a price. It is already deemed the best deal of the day.
10:31 am - feet are already beginning to hurt and burn from the friction of my crappy socks. I decide I need to buy new socks.
10:45 am - We are on a mission to find three cds - two of which are by artists I have never heard of. None of the stores we stop in have them, but I have time to drool over an Otis Redding collection I really, really want.
11:00 am - I am reminded, yet again, why I hate JC Penny's so much. Stupid Customer Service check out centers. Also, their holiday socks are way too expensive. Also, all their flannel shirts come in ugly colors and only size XL.
11:11 am - I ask a woman in the JC Penny's Sephora if they carry Kiehl's products. I have to pronounce the name three times for her to understand me and then decide that if she doesn't know what I am saying, they obviously don't.
11:25 am - we leave the mall and decide to go lunch.
11:40 am - Our first selection for lunch is not opened for lunchtime.
11:55 am - we are sitting in a booth at Applebee's, debating whether to get a Weight Watcher's meal, or what we really want. Guess what wins?
12:03 pm - call Shonda to find out who we drew for the family gift exchange. Oddly enough, it's the persons I suspected we'd draw.
12:04 pm - Mike text messages me to tell me the name of the people we drew for said gift exchange.
12:09 pm - I devour my turkey sandwich (mmmm chutney . . .)
12:25 pm - we head to Linens and Things and I hope they may have holiday socks.
12:40 pm - They don't.
1:00 pm - We decide to go to Target and Old Navy before heading back to the mall.
1:10 pm - I am immediately drawn to a green cashmere sweater at Old Navy. I don't own cashmere
1:11 pm - I try to point out clothes that I can wear to work to my mom for ideas. I have a tendency to only ever want to dress in velour and comfy clothes. Slacks don't come in velour.
1:20 pm - Mom and I split in the store as I look for gifts for the men in my life (husband, father, brother) and she buys gifts for me, I assume. I search more for socks. They have none that will work.
1:30 pm - I get into line once my mom is done paying, so I won't accidentally see what she is getting. I manage to get in line between two middle aged strangers complaining to each other about the annoying loud music that Old Navy is playing and a young mom with her four and 18 month old children. I can't decide who is more entertaining.
1:40 pm - I pay and get out of line only to realize I was over charged. The line is not even longer than it was when I first got in it.
1:45 pm - I cut in line and get my 9.50 back.
1:49 pm - We move to Target. In the parking lot, I thank the girl who pulled through to the available parking spot in front of mine, so that I too could park. She looks at me like I am thanking her for wearing her hair in a ponytail.
2:00 pm - We wait for the only kid in electronics to help us. I feel badly for him but am ticked that the store doesn't give him more help.
2:02 pm - Waiting for the kid, I watch this woman and her daughter drag him around the department looking for some thing she'd called ahead and asked they hold for her. Mother and daughter are in matching velour jumpsuit and I wonder why Mom and I didn't think to do the same thing.
2:20 pm - Mom ditches our cart after I complain the tenth time about it.
2:23 pm - remembering all we are going to need to get, I go back and get our cart from the aisle we left it in.
2:27 pm - Target does not have any of those cds we are looking for either.
2:35 pm - Mike asks that I pick up coffee, alluding to a comment I'd made the night before about him calling me to pick up coffee around 2 pm on my shopping day.
2:40 pm - Target has cute, decently priced holiday socks! And comfy shoe inserts for good measure.
2:55 pm - we check out and head to the car
3:10 pm - socks and shoes repaired, I am feeling so much better
3:15 pm - We embark on part two of dealing with a huge Oregon Mall a week before Christmas
3:20 pm - Distracted on a tangent, we park at Barnes and Noble so I can show Mom the amazing book we bought for Jasen and Kristi's new daughter we visited the night before.
3:30 pm - We head to the Macy's home store for a couple ideas for gifts. I try to discretely shop for something, but Mom doesn't get the hint when she asks "Where are you?" and I answer "Hiding from you." She is looking, again, for a cookie press. You know, in case the one she bought at Michael's doesn't work.
3:30 pm - Mom drags me to Christopher and Banks and then asks my opinion on various different clothing articles. She disagrees with every one of them.
3:40 pm - My feet start aching again and the only chair in the store is occupied by some old guy. I finally opt to sit on the floor.
3:45 pm - old guy leaves the store with his wife and I take the chair before another old guy who is wandering the store with his wife spies it.
3:50 pm - I see a cute knitted handbag and try it on. It's on sale for $16.71
3:57 pm - As Mom checks out, I announce that I am thirsty and needing water.
4:05 pm - While trying to decide where to get something to drink, I am accosted by a kiosk salesperson. She asks if my hair is naturally curly. When she motions over to her flat irons, I promptly cut her off, assuring her that I do have a very good flat iron and that it is the moisture in the air making my hair look like this. (Also, flat iron is living in my closet now. Do you know how long it would take to iron my entire head??)
4:10 pm - We go to Nordstrom's, use their lounge and then go to their cafe for a cookie and two glasses of water. I down three glasses before my mom gets halfway through her first glass.
4:30 pm - We wander through jewelry and handbags before deciding to go look at the shoes. I have been eyeing a pair of fake UGGs for a couple of months now.
4:40 pm - We are still waiting for one of the six shoe department employees to come help us. I have shoved my foot into a shoe too small in size, just for emphasis. It doesn't feel good.
4:43 pm - Mom goes and asks if anyone can help us. They promptly and apologetically send a guy over.
4:43 pm - I show the salesman the shoes and tell him the size I want to try them on in. He goes to the back and I tell my mom "Watch. I asked for one pair of shoes, he'll come back with at least three. The ones I wanted, the same in another color and a third pair that are similar but made by someone else."
4:45 pm - Sales guy comes back with four pairs of shoes.
4:47 pm - After trying the shoes on in the right size and confirming they are comfy, the sales guy takes off for the cash register before I can indicate to him that I was trying them on so my mom would know what size to get them in, if she decided to buy them.
4:50 pm - Mom buys them and I ask if she plans to wrap them anyway. I already know the answer.
5:00 pm - We decide that we should split up for a bit and determine where and what time to meet back up.
5:03 pm - I am accosted by my second kiosk person and I ignore him completely.
5:08 pm - I walk around Hallmark, looking for something specific. I am asked several times if I need help but decline. What I am searching for should not be hard to find.
5:10 pm - I cannot find what I was looking for and decide to leave. Three stores down the walkway, I decide I should buy Christmas cards for my family while I am shopping. One less trip later. I turn around and return to Hallmark.
5:20 pm - After pouring over cards, everyone I like is $4.99 and that is entirely too expensive for cards. I attempt for find cheaper ones that are as meaningful.
5:24 pm - I realize that Hallmark makes Christmas cards for Mother and Husband but not for Dad and Wife. What kind of crap is that?
5:26 pm - After deciding on cards, I spot the item I had originally gone into the store for.
5:28 pm - Pay too much for cards. Still. And I forget to ask for the seal stickers.
5:29 pm - I realize that I still have 15 minutes before meeting Mom and no where else I need to go. I must wander, with sore feet.
5:35 pm - I walk into Forever Slutty 21 because Kate can find cute things in there. Maybe I can too.
5:38 pm - I can't and leave the store.
5:39 pm - I am accosted by the THIRD kiosk salesman of the day. (I am itching to go off on him, explaining to him that I go to the stores I am interested in shopping at. I don't want the store to come to me. I don't need the lotion or scented muscle relaxing microwave heated beanbag or the nail buffing kit he may have to sell me. But I don't.) I keep walking and ignore him even when he says in an impatient tone "Excuse me!"
5:40 pm - I sit down on a bench near our agreed meeting place and watch the mother and son on the bench next to me. Son is maybe 2, wearing a backpack that looks like a dog riding on the boy's back. It's cute.
5:42 pm - Mom and son's family join them and they all go into Bath and Body Works.
5:43 pm - Dad and son return to the bench and I notice cute doggy backpack also has a leash. For the child.
5:45 pm - Hot guy has walked past my bench three times now. He's not my type, but he is easy on the eyes.
5:50 pm - Mom is a no show and I am getting queasy from the swaying of the upper level land bridge I am sitting on.
5:52 pm - A nap sounds wonderful.
5:53 pm - I spy Mom coming out of the store that was our meeting spot. She didn't see me when she went in and looked for a cookie press. They didn't have one.
5:57 pm - Mom is still on a mission to find a present for her assistant. She informs me she is taking her assistant to lunch tomorrow and has to have a present for her then.
6:05 pm - We wander into Coach because . . . well, why not?
6:10 pm - I realize the only thing I have to wear to a lunch with my friends from high school on Saturday is the same color as what I wore last year and I cannot have that. I attempt to find something in the Juniors department of Macy's.
6:15 pm - Designated boobs holes suck.
6:20 pm - Cheeky Rose the salesgirl asks if I have a Macy's card, which I do. But I want to pay in cash. She keeps pestering me until I put the sweater on my Macy's card and then I immediately pay it off my card. This is why I loathe retail.
6:25 pm - We hit the jewelry department of Macy's looking for a gift. We finally agrees on something.
6:40 P car.< the for head and leave We - pm>
6:50 pm - We realize we are hungry and should eat dinner.
7:00 pm - I am attempting to get into the parking lot of the place we decide to eat. On 82nd, that is not easy.
7:10 pm - We finally park.
7:30 pm - We decide to go to two more stores - another Target for a few items we couldn't find at the first Target (and the coffee I'd forgotten to get Mike) and the Post Office near the airport.
7:40 pm - This Target has a present for Mike I have been looking for, for weeks. I also almost forget the coffee, again.
8:03 pm - We arrive at the Post Office and notice the parking lot is full and the line is nearly out the door. We decide to scrap it and Mom promises to go the following day and get me the stamps I need for the rest of my Christmas cards.
8:25 pm - Mom drops me off at home. I am ready to pass out. But I am nearly done with my shopping and that is a very good feeling.
I took the day off with Mom yesterday and we went shopping for our Christmas gifts. This is a pretty accurate reinactment of the day.
1:00 am - I decide that it is probably time to turn off the "Golden Girls" rerun and go to sleep.
6:16 am - alarm goes off as usual and I hit snooze, as usual
6:45 am - finally decide that maybe I should get up and get ready.
6:50 am - Turn on curling iron and proceed to smooth out my still frizzy hair from last night's blow out.
7:03 am - Check the parking lot situation and decide to move my car into one of the empty ones instead of making Mike wake up and switch spots with me.
7:15 am - begin putting on make-up noting that I am spending more time on my appearance than I ever do on a work day
7:33 am - Mom calls to tell me she is on her way
7:41 am - Mom picks me up and hands me a bag of misc items
7:50 am - we are stuck in the same traffic I am always stuck in. For some reason, we thought we'd just zip down to the mall without having to deal with traffic when we first planned this out.
8:15 am - we debate where on 82nd is there a Walmart. I haven't been there much since breaking it off with Jarad, so I don't quite remember things as I used to.
8:25 am - Mom proves to be correct in the location of a Walmart and promptly makes an illegal Left Hand turn into the parking lot
8:40 am - I debate whether or not to get Jasmine a High School Musical Karaoke game that is Playstation 2 compatible. I can imagine my brother-in-law cringing every time he comes home to play and his 6 year old is belting out some wobbly rendition of some song. I can also imagine her getting really good and becoming a professional singer and thanking me, Aunt Betsy for helping her discover her talent all those years ago . . .
8:42 am - I decide that I like having Darrick like me and choose not to buy the game.
8:50 am - I lug a heavy gift out to the car for my mom and keep telling myself that its like working out. Sort of.
8:55 am - We pull into Michael's for supplies for crafts we are working on. Mom goes to hunt for a cookie press and I head to the scrapbook region. I spend way too much time and thought on paper.
9:25 am - We park at Clackamas Towne Center and embark on part one of dealing with a huge Oregon Mall a week before Christmas
10:06 am - I call Mike to make sure he is awake. He doesn't answer.
10:08 am - He calls back, disoriented but still asking how the day is going.
10:15 am - Mom complains about the lack of colors in cufflink dress shirts, because last year, that's how they all came.
10:16 am - I ask Mom if my brother even has cuff links. She doesn't recall. But he had it on his list.
10:30 am - I pay for a fantastic Christmas gift for Mike at a steal of a price. It is already deemed the best deal of the day.
10:31 am - feet are already beginning to hurt and burn from the friction of my crappy socks. I decide I need to buy new socks.
10:45 am - We are on a mission to find three cds - two of which are by artists I have never heard of. None of the stores we stop in have them, but I have time to drool over an Otis Redding collection I really, really want.
11:00 am - I am reminded, yet again, why I hate JC Penny's so much. Stupid Customer Service check out centers. Also, their holiday socks are way too expensive. Also, all their flannel shirts come in ugly colors and only size XL.
11:11 am - I ask a woman in the JC Penny's Sephora if they carry Kiehl's products. I have to pronounce the name three times for her to understand me and then decide that if she doesn't know what I am saying, they obviously don't.
11:25 am - we leave the mall and decide to go lunch.
11:40 am - Our first selection for lunch is not opened for lunchtime.
11:55 am - we are sitting in a booth at Applebee's, debating whether to get a Weight Watcher's meal, or what we really want. Guess what wins?
12:03 pm - call Shonda to find out who we drew for the family gift exchange. Oddly enough, it's the persons I suspected we'd draw.
12:04 pm - Mike text messages me to tell me the name of the people we drew for said gift exchange.
12:09 pm - I devour my turkey sandwich (mmmm chutney . . .)
12:25 pm - we head to Linens and Things and I hope they may have holiday socks.
12:40 pm - They don't.
1:00 pm - We decide to go to Target and Old Navy before heading back to the mall.
1:10 pm - I am immediately drawn to a green cashmere sweater at Old Navy. I don't own cashmere
1:11 pm - I try to point out clothes that I can wear to work to my mom for ideas. I have a tendency to only ever want to dress in velour and comfy clothes. Slacks don't come in velour.
1:20 pm - Mom and I split in the store as I look for gifts for the men in my life (husband, father, brother) and she buys gifts for me, I assume. I search more for socks. They have none that will work.
1:30 pm - I get into line once my mom is done paying, so I won't accidentally see what she is getting. I manage to get in line between two middle aged strangers complaining to each other about the annoying loud music that Old Navy is playing and a young mom with her four and 18 month old children. I can't decide who is more entertaining.
1:40 pm - I pay and get out of line only to realize I was over charged. The line is not even longer than it was when I first got in it.
1:45 pm - I cut in line and get my 9.50 back.
1:49 pm - We move to Target. In the parking lot, I thank the girl who pulled through to the available parking spot in front of mine, so that I too could park. She looks at me like I am thanking her for wearing her hair in a ponytail.
2:00 pm - We wait for the only kid in electronics to help us. I feel badly for him but am ticked that the store doesn't give him more help.
2:02 pm - Waiting for the kid, I watch this woman and her daughter drag him around the department looking for some thing she'd called ahead and asked they hold for her. Mother and daughter are in matching velour jumpsuit and I wonder why Mom and I didn't think to do the same thing.
2:20 pm - Mom ditches our cart after I complain the tenth time about it.
2:23 pm - remembering all we are going to need to get, I go back and get our cart from the aisle we left it in.
2:27 pm - Target does not have any of those cds we are looking for either.
2:35 pm - Mike asks that I pick up coffee, alluding to a comment I'd made the night before about him calling me to pick up coffee around 2 pm on my shopping day.
2:40 pm - Target has cute, decently priced holiday socks! And comfy shoe inserts for good measure.
2:55 pm - we check out and head to the car
3:10 pm - socks and shoes repaired, I am feeling so much better
3:15 pm - We embark on part two of dealing with a huge Oregon Mall a week before Christmas
3:20 pm - Distracted on a tangent, we park at Barnes and Noble so I can show Mom the amazing book we bought for Jasen and Kristi's new daughter we visited the night before.
3:30 pm - We head to the Macy's home store for a couple ideas for gifts. I try to discretely shop for something, but Mom doesn't get the hint when she asks "Where are you?" and I answer "Hiding from you." She is looking, again, for a cookie press. You know, in case the one she bought at Michael's doesn't work.
3:30 pm - Mom drags me to Christopher and Banks and then asks my opinion on various different clothing articles. She disagrees with every one of them.
3:40 pm - My feet start aching again and the only chair in the store is occupied by some old guy. I finally opt to sit on the floor.
3:45 pm - old guy leaves the store with his wife and I take the chair before another old guy who is wandering the store with his wife spies it.
3:50 pm - I see a cute knitted handbag and try it on. It's on sale for $16.71
3:57 pm - As Mom checks out, I announce that I am thirsty and needing water.
4:05 pm - While trying to decide where to get something to drink, I am accosted by a kiosk salesperson. She asks if my hair is naturally curly. When she motions over to her flat irons, I promptly cut her off, assuring her that I do have a very good flat iron and that it is the moisture in the air making my hair look like this. (Also, flat iron is living in my closet now. Do you know how long it would take to iron my entire head??)
4:10 pm - We go to Nordstrom's, use their lounge and then go to their cafe for a cookie and two glasses of water. I down three glasses before my mom gets halfway through her first glass.
4:30 pm - We wander through jewelry and handbags before deciding to go look at the shoes. I have been eyeing a pair of fake UGGs for a couple of months now.
4:40 pm - We are still waiting for one of the six shoe department employees to come help us. I have shoved my foot into a shoe too small in size, just for emphasis. It doesn't feel good.
4:43 pm - Mom goes and asks if anyone can help us. They promptly and apologetically send a guy over.
4:43 pm - I show the salesman the shoes and tell him the size I want to try them on in. He goes to the back and I tell my mom "Watch. I asked for one pair of shoes, he'll come back with at least three. The ones I wanted, the same in another color and a third pair that are similar but made by someone else."
4:45 pm - Sales guy comes back with four pairs of shoes.
4:47 pm - After trying the shoes on in the right size and confirming they are comfy, the sales guy takes off for the cash register before I can indicate to him that I was trying them on so my mom would know what size to get them in, if she decided to buy them.
4:50 pm - Mom buys them and I ask if she plans to wrap them anyway. I already know the answer.
5:00 pm - We decide that we should split up for a bit and determine where and what time to meet back up.
5:03 pm - I am accosted by my second kiosk person and I ignore him completely.
5:08 pm - I walk around Hallmark, looking for something specific. I am asked several times if I need help but decline. What I am searching for should not be hard to find.
5:10 pm - I cannot find what I was looking for and decide to leave. Three stores down the walkway, I decide I should buy Christmas cards for my family while I am shopping. One less trip later. I turn around and return to Hallmark.
5:20 pm - After pouring over cards, everyone I like is $4.99 and that is entirely too expensive for cards. I attempt for find cheaper ones that are as meaningful.
5:24 pm - I realize that Hallmark makes Christmas cards for Mother and Husband but not for Dad and Wife. What kind of crap is that?
5:26 pm - After deciding on cards, I spot the item I had originally gone into the store for.
5:28 pm - Pay too much for cards. Still. And I forget to ask for the seal stickers.
5:29 pm - I realize that I still have 15 minutes before meeting Mom and no where else I need to go. I must wander, with sore feet.
5:35 pm - I walk into Forever Slutty 21 because Kate can find cute things in there. Maybe I can too.
5:38 pm - I can't and leave the store.
5:39 pm - I am accosted by the THIRD kiosk salesman of the day. (I am itching to go off on him, explaining to him that I go to the stores I am interested in shopping at. I don't want the store to come to me. I don't need the lotion or scented muscle relaxing microwave heated beanbag or the nail buffing kit he may have to sell me. But I don't.) I keep walking and ignore him even when he says in an impatient tone "Excuse me!"
5:40 pm - I sit down on a bench near our agreed meeting place and watch the mother and son on the bench next to me. Son is maybe 2, wearing a backpack that looks like a dog riding on the boy's back. It's cute.
5:42 pm - Mom and son's family join them and they all go into Bath and Body Works.
5:43 pm - Dad and son return to the bench and I notice cute doggy backpack also has a leash. For the child.
5:45 pm - Hot guy has walked past my bench three times now. He's not my type, but he is easy on the eyes.
5:50 pm - Mom is a no show and I am getting queasy from the swaying of the upper level land bridge I am sitting on.
5:52 pm - A nap sounds wonderful.
5:53 pm - I spy Mom coming out of the store that was our meeting spot. She didn't see me when she went in and looked for a cookie press. They didn't have one.
5:57 pm - Mom is still on a mission to find a present for her assistant. She informs me she is taking her assistant to lunch tomorrow and has to have a present for her then.
6:05 pm - We wander into Coach because . . . well, why not?
6:10 pm - I realize the only thing I have to wear to a lunch with my friends from high school on Saturday is the same color as what I wore last year and I cannot have that. I attempt to find something in the Juniors department of Macy's.
6:15 pm - Designated boobs holes suck.
6:20 pm - Cheeky Rose the salesgirl asks if I have a Macy's card, which I do. But I want to pay in cash. She keeps pestering me until I put the sweater on my Macy's card and then I immediately pay it off my card. This is why I loathe retail.
6:25 pm - We hit the jewelry department of Macy's looking for a gift. We finally agrees on something.
6:40 P car.< the for head and leave We - pm>
6:50 pm - We realize we are hungry and should eat dinner.
7:00 pm - I am attempting to get into the parking lot of the place we decide to eat. On 82nd, that is not easy.
7:10 pm - We finally park.
7:30 pm - We decide to go to two more stores - another Target for a few items we couldn't find at the first Target (and the coffee I'd forgotten to get Mike) and the Post Office near the airport.
7:40 pm - This Target has a present for Mike I have been looking for, for weeks. I also almost forget the coffee, again.
8:03 pm - We arrive at the Post Office and notice the parking lot is full and the line is nearly out the door. We decide to scrap it and Mom promises to go the following day and get me the stamps I need for the rest of my Christmas cards.
8:25 pm - Mom drops me off at home. I am ready to pass out. But I am nearly done with my shopping and that is a very good feeling.
Tuesday : Green
Yesterday was a last minute, "Oh crap! I need yellow" collection. Today, I had all day to look for green things around the salon and then at home. I tried to stay away from the Christmas stuff since green is way too much of a given there.
Lindsey's festive mirror
American Crew Forming Cream (great for faux hawks)
Christmas Cactus baby from my mother's plant (I have another that is blooming, but I show it on the pink day)
The lone green pen (but it writes in black!)
Courtknee's green green eyes
And finally Tiny Tim . . . Mike accidentally broke his legs off a few years ago. I glued them back on with super glue.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Monday: Yellow
I try my best with my less than awesome Panasonic Point and Shoot camera, but it definitely does not capture things as I would hope a better camera would. However, I am playing along with the Color Week and here is today's first contribution:
Friday, December 11, 2009
Nothing tastes as good as skinny will feel
As much as I love food, I hate grocery shopping. Mostly because I am trapped in a building filled with other people, who like me, are on their own missions to collect their own choices of sustenance and entirely oblivious to everyone else around them. Namely, me. Then, there is also the facts that despite my shopping at Winco, I still find I spend at least $40 a week on groceries and every week, I find that I have to go back. Again.
Mike seems to think because I enjoy clothes shopping and book shopping and craft store shopping, I must enjoy grocery shopping too. Such a man.
My grandmother, in fact, loves grocery shopping. We can drop her off and swing back by three hours later and she is only then finishing up, having just enjoyed the last 180 minutes of her life as much as I would enjoy an extended version of any movie with Ryan Reynolds and his shirtless abs. If I had the money to, I would pay her to do my grocery shopping for me.
So yesterday (Thursday) was my day off and naturally, my day to do the dirty deed. I was rounding the last corner of the store on my typical route to the checkout stand and then freedom when I passed the dreaded Little Debbie endcap. With her holiday cakes shaped like Christmas trees and chocolate Christmas trees. Only $1.48 a box! Tasty! Yummy! Disaster waiting to happen!
See, I know how this all works. I have been faithfully going to the gym for the past month, been working out, doing both weights and cardio and stretching as my personal trainer/husband tells me to and yet, I have not seen the scale move much. I've been maintaining this weight because despite my best efforts at the gym, I have been eating whatever I wanted outside of it. And like anyone who is trying to lose weight, 70% of weight loss is diet.
Slowly cruising past that end cap, trying my best not to imagine what those Little Debbie cakes tasted like, I remembered Kate Moss's infamous admission that her life motto is "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels". Granted, I don't want to look like Kate Moss. I like my curves. But I hate the ridiculous things I go through now in an attempt to feel okay with how I look whenever I am going out. I hate how I look in most of my clothes and I especially am miserable with the fact that I have a number of items in my closet that still have tags on them, because I have sworn to myself that I will not wear them, not even once, until I am 10 (20, 30, 40) pounds ligther than I currently am. So I repeated that to myself as I continued towards check out.
I continued to repeat that mantra as I drove home, made myself lunch and did my best to be satisfied with the salad I had, sans a dessert of Little Debbie.
Think those treats would be as tempting if they were by a company called "Big Debbie"?
It is comforting to go to work and know that I am not the only one who is trying to slim their figure and look better for the coming year. Three of my co-workers are currently on week one of the HCG diet (which involves consuming only 500 calories a day and injecting yourself daily with HCG, which comes from pregnant women's urine) and while watching them shed pounds is envy-invoking, I know that I would be a raging bitch if I only ate 500 calories a day. I'll stick to my WW and my points. But there are fewer snacks laying around the back room and more healthy choices to be had.
We all want to feel skinny. Its time to take the right steps towards being so.
Mike seems to think because I enjoy clothes shopping and book shopping and craft store shopping, I must enjoy grocery shopping too. Such a man.
My grandmother, in fact, loves grocery shopping. We can drop her off and swing back by three hours later and she is only then finishing up, having just enjoyed the last 180 minutes of her life as much as I would enjoy an extended version of any movie with Ryan Reynolds and his shirtless abs. If I had the money to, I would pay her to do my grocery shopping for me.
So yesterday (Thursday) was my day off and naturally, my day to do the dirty deed. I was rounding the last corner of the store on my typical route to the checkout stand and then freedom when I passed the dreaded Little Debbie endcap. With her holiday cakes shaped like Christmas trees and chocolate Christmas trees. Only $1.48 a box! Tasty! Yummy! Disaster waiting to happen!
See, I know how this all works. I have been faithfully going to the gym for the past month, been working out, doing both weights and cardio and stretching as my personal trainer/husband tells me to and yet, I have not seen the scale move much. I've been maintaining this weight because despite my best efforts at the gym, I have been eating whatever I wanted outside of it. And like anyone who is trying to lose weight, 70% of weight loss is diet.
Slowly cruising past that end cap, trying my best not to imagine what those Little Debbie cakes tasted like, I remembered Kate Moss's infamous admission that her life motto is "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels". Granted, I don't want to look like Kate Moss. I like my curves. But I hate the ridiculous things I go through now in an attempt to feel okay with how I look whenever I am going out. I hate how I look in most of my clothes and I especially am miserable with the fact that I have a number of items in my closet that still have tags on them, because I have sworn to myself that I will not wear them, not even once, until I am 10 (20, 30, 40) pounds ligther than I currently am. So I repeated that to myself as I continued towards check out.
I continued to repeat that mantra as I drove home, made myself lunch and did my best to be satisfied with the salad I had, sans a dessert of Little Debbie.
Think those treats would be as tempting if they were by a company called "Big Debbie"?
It is comforting to go to work and know that I am not the only one who is trying to slim their figure and look better for the coming year. Three of my co-workers are currently on week one of the HCG diet (which involves consuming only 500 calories a day and injecting yourself daily with HCG, which comes from pregnant women's urine) and while watching them shed pounds is envy-invoking, I know that I would be a raging bitch if I only ate 500 calories a day. I'll stick to my WW and my points. But there are fewer snacks laying around the back room and more healthy choices to be had.
We all want to feel skinny. Its time to take the right steps towards being so.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
WWBHMMD?
Everytime I get climb onto the elliptical (which is becoming more and more frequent as I have grown bored of the treadmill) I hit a wall at some point. A moment when I just want to give up. A moment when I start to barter with myself, telling myself if I can make to a certain time or the end of the current song, then I'll quit. Usually by the time I reach that goal, I keep pushing on to a new goal. Its all about baby steps.
But then there are the walls that seem bigger, thicker and far more difficult to climb up. And that is when WWBHMMD goes through my head. What would Bob Harper (from the Biggest Loser) make me do? What would he say at my pathetic time, speed, lack of flexibility?
I am notorious for being one of those people who always is eating while watching TBL. Why? Why do we all sit and eat while we watch people achieving their weightloss goals on tv? I can't say, but I know I am not alone. I just take comfort in the fact that the worst thing I ate tonight was hummus.
I have decided my goal is to reach my personal ideal body size, weight, shape and toning by my 30th birthday. April 24, 2011, I will be exactly what I want to look like. I plan on a Dirty Thirty trip to Vegas or somewhere equally as sinful and delicious and I will look smoking hot while there.
Its a long road, but I have allotted myself enough time to achieve it in a reasonable amount of time.
But then there are the walls that seem bigger, thicker and far more difficult to climb up. And that is when WWBHMMD goes through my head. What would Bob Harper (from the Biggest Loser) make me do? What would he say at my pathetic time, speed, lack of flexibility?
I am notorious for being one of those people who always is eating while watching TBL. Why? Why do we all sit and eat while we watch people achieving their weightloss goals on tv? I can't say, but I know I am not alone. I just take comfort in the fact that the worst thing I ate tonight was hummus.
I have decided my goal is to reach my personal ideal body size, weight, shape and toning by my 30th birthday. April 24, 2011, I will be exactly what I want to look like. I plan on a Dirty Thirty trip to Vegas or somewhere equally as sinful and delicious and I will look smoking hot while there.
Its a long road, but I have allotted myself enough time to achieve it in a reasonable amount of time.
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