A Greater Power Doesn't Want Me to Diet

After chowing down Thanksgiving weekend, I thought it might be in my best interest to go on a diet until the Santa Speedo Run. The run is on December 11th and I would rather look as fit as possible when running around Boston in a bathing suit. Last night I made a declarative statement on twitter that it would be salad and pilates for the next two weeks. I find that if I don't let a large group know about my intentions, I don't go through with them.

After tweeting, I went the Exercise TV section of my On Demand and found a 21 minute pilates workout. Did the whole thing, felt good, felt positive. My plan began to form. Salads and some pasta for lunch/dinner, maybe some oatmeal for breakfast. Maybe I should do a second workout in the morning. You know, start the day off properly, helping me get some bounce in my step.

Well, all of this has gone up in smoke. Why? Because while I was shopping around the grocery today, after picking out THREE different types of lettuce, I came across this:


You're seeing this right. Cabot is making a Smoky Bacon Cheddar Cheese. And a block of it is sitting in my fridge as we speak. I haven't cut open the packaging yet, but I can't imagine I will make it through another day. Bacon and cheddar cheese can't be good for my diet. A beach body in December is pretty unrealistic, I mean, I can barely handle one during the summer.

Five Pounds of Love

Meet Miki:

He is a Morkie (Maltese and Yorkie mix), was born on July 11th, and has stole the hearts of my mum, dad, sister, and me. This little dude loves darting under our feet and pacing around the house to learn the lay of the land. He has the best fluffy hair-do which flops over his eyes in a "I will cause all the bitches (proper use of this word) in the yard to swoon".

At this point, we know very little about Miki and his interests. What we have determined is that he loves decorating his crate with small items he finds around the house (such as a travel size tissue pack, and a fake cardboard cellphone from a cellphone accessory), and has a thing for all things made of paper. Don't drop a receipt around him, he will pounce.

I can't wait for my next visit back home so I can cuddle up with the ball of fluff. Seriously, try to resist this dude.

Black Friday

Thanksgiving was great. Per usual my family drove up to New York to spend time with my mom's clan. Things were a little different this year, as the main meal was held in a different relative's house. Fortunately it was just as loud and tasty as always.

Now normally, we stay Thursday -Saturday, but this year things were cut short. In and out Thursday and Friday. For a moment I thought that we were going to skip Black Friday shopping. It was quickly determined that we were going to stay up in Troy for dinner so nothing kept the women from heading to the malls.

The sales were great. I managed to get some gifts for the family, and, well, gifts for me. I need new clothes. Anyone crazy enough to pass up deals like this clearly doesn't live on a budget. As mentioned in my previous post, tights can really help stretch a wardrobe. New York & Co had a sale where everything was 60% off before noon. I got 3 pairs of new tights. Go me!



The tan tights actually are glitter tights. Sadly, couldn't capture the amazingness with my driod.

In addition to some new tights, I also managed to score some new underwear (always a plus), a dress, gifts for sister and dad, and a new Lady Gaga MAC lipstick as I have no clue where mine went. All and all, a very successful Friday.

....Oh, and this doesn't include the score I got from Ruelala.

Fancy Feet

In this economy, I can't afford to purchase new clothes as often as I would like. But one way I can spice things up is get a few new accessories to make old outfits pop. What is better than an eye catching accessory? How about a functional one! Socks and stockings are the way to go. They add just a bit of pizazz; maybe a splash of color or some extra texture.

I came across Hansel from Basel and was so impressed with the patterns that the company came up with. They sell socks, tights and bags. The bags I will pass up and ignore. The tights and socks pages, however, have taken up a good chunk of my time.

The Clemence Knee Hi caught my eye immediately. It just makes me smile tons. The price, not so much, but a girl can dream. Turns out that they do occasionally cut prices, I would be more inclined to purchase the Cable Knit Pompom Tights now that they are down from $42 to $26.50. Don't worry, I said more inclined, there is still no way I am jumping at that one.

Squeeeeee! I just noticed that there is a section on the website that lists all stores that have their products in stock. Low and behold, they are in a store on Newbury Street in Boston. Score. I was hoping to stroll down downtown window shopping the first weekend in December, so I might just have to stop by Minilux. Twist my arm.

Local Bacon Treats

The New England Candy Co is diving into the bacon as dessert market. Based on their website (via etsy) there is more than just the basic chocolate bar with some bacon bits. I mean there are reese's cup type treats with bacon. Oh wait, did I say bacon? I meant applewood bacon.

You know, my birthday is coming up and they have a "Bacon Lovers Gift Pack". Hint hint. It might be $45, but it is over 2 pounds of bacon and chocolate. Don't bat an eye, totally worth it.

Just as I get comfortable in skinny jeans

Tom and Lorenzo let me know that wide legged pants are back. I know that fashion is always changing, but I invested in my first pair of skinny jeans only last fall. After falling in love with the way they enhance my butt, my skinny jean collection has multiplied pretty significantly. As long as I am not having a "fat day" I tend to grab one of those bad boys over their more relaxed fit friends. One of the biggest appeals is that they fit so well under my boots which keeps me a bit warmer.

I get that wide pants are fluid and comfortable but in the end, they tend to look a bit messy. When you see starlets sporting them on the red carpet it looks like a mess, the whole time I just stare trying to figure out - awkwardly long skirt, or super ginormous pants?

Oooooophhh. I think I am going to dig my heels in on this one. Especially since I can't afford a new pants wardrobe at this point in time.

Another Fast Food Conquest

I can proudly say, I have eaten a McRib, and it as glorious. Ok ok ok, I ate half a McRib because it was midnight just didn't have it in me to chow down. Either way, it was pretty damn tasty. The pickles were a nice touch, but I would suggest holding the onions, they didn't add anything.

Bacon Egg and Cheese. My hero.

I am not a huge breakfast person. Cereal tends to gross me out. I'm not sure why, I only assume it has something to do with the fact that I like crunch foods. In general, it takes me a while to eat breakfast and the cereal gets soggy. Uck.

Then there is the pancake, waffle, and french toast arena. Again, probably do to texture, I am not a huge fan. I rarely will use maple syrup, and if I do it is sparingly, instead I often go with jams. It might also be the sweetness. Not such a sweet person, well I'm nice and charming, but I prefer tart or salty whenever possible.

This leaves me with eggs. As much as I hate the smell of eggs, they are by far my favorite breakfast main course. All egg dishes must be accompanied by bacon (super crispy) and some sort of potato dish. Breakfast sandwiches and burritos are a personal favorite, as it allows for everything good and yummy to be within a super tasty easily portable setup. Back in college Culpeppers had the ultimate sandwiches. I miss them terribly.

Sigh.

This morning I was having a huge craving for such a sandwich. Last night I had a lot of fun with the second round of kickball playoffs. I needed that bit of grease to get the morning started off on the right foot. Realizing I had no where else to turn, I pulled up to my Dunkin Donuts and went for the Bacon/Egg/Cheese.

Scary enough, I had never purchased a breakfast sandwich from any fast food place before. Something about those premade circles of egg just freak me out. But, damn Gina, it wasn't half bad. I'm pretty sure this delicacy will become a staple in my life. Thanks Dunkins. You never fail me.

Two plus two equals whore

Friday night I was put up as a lot in a date auction hosted by my kickball league. This was a last minute decision and caused all sorts of anxiety. No matter how many times my teammates promised they would bid on me I was still envisioning getting on stage and there being no reaction.

As the auction began, I continued to get nervous, the crowd didn't seem that interested. But when I went up there was some serious interest. There were a number of hands in the air bidding on me that were not my teammates, which made me feel pretty awesome. My fears melted of those crickets, and I decided to be my goofy self and dance around the stage (mind you there was NO music playing).

After the event finished, I came up with the idea that I should rent myself out on dates. I mean, people were interested. Why not make dating profitable? In about 20 seconds, I realized that dates + payment for dates = escort = whore. Oooopsie. Bad plan. Scrapping that one.

Hopefully I can think of another way to make some spare cash. It's the holiday season after all and lots of fun takes lots of disposable cash.

Endless Possibilities

I've done zappos.com, aldoshoes.com and piperlime.gap.com. Shoe shopping online is an addiction and I have it bad. For every pair of shoes I keep from an order, I return at least 2. Just as I was ready to throw in the towel on aggressive online shoe purchasing, I mean how can a size 7 vary so much!, I came across endless.com.

For the last few months, I have been coveting a pair of English Riding Boots. But nothing ever seemed quite right. I scoured websites and stores for the perfect brown boot. Anything good was over $400 and anything under $100 looked cheap.

As I was looking through the endless website (which was somehow emailed to me with an online coupon...I would love to know how they got my email address. damn the man!) I saw Michael Kors riding boot. Immediately I had flashbacks to Lord&Taylor's recent shoe sale where I overheard a salesman talk about a Steve Madden knock-off of this very boot. He told this group of girls, that the Michael Kors boot was unbelievable but the Madden was a decent replicate at about $60 cheaper.

I saw that these boots fell at a price point just below $200. For knee-high leather boots, that is awesome. In general, I try to stay around $150 for boots, but I was willing to go a little more for a quality that would be above anything else I had ever own. Before I could even acknowledge this rationalization for the purchase, my fingers were clicking away and BOOM the boots were ordered.

These bad boys showed up 2 days later. I have to admit, they are a little tight in the toes and the ankles are a little stiff, but I think they just need some time to be broken in. Last year I got a pair of motorcycle boots that had the same issues and now I wear them almost every day. Everyone knows, sometimes fashion requires some suffering.

Can't wait for these to completely mold to my feet. Best guesses, these boots will be perfect in about another month. Yay!

RAWR

Movies that center around women empowerment either come of patronizing or amazing. Made In Dagenham looks phenomenal. It is a film by the BBC based on real events regarding seamstresses fighting for equal pay. The cast looks perfect. Smee from Hook plays the lovable male who secretly or not so secretly supports and encourages the women to rebel.

I watched a few different clips from the film and I have to admit there were a few tears. As much as I hate history, I love history that revolves around feminist movements. Reading or watching events where women fight for equality just warms my heart so much and makes me want to find a cause to rally up behind. I know that the script is based on true events, but I really hope the dialogue at the end of the trailer real...I love me some extra sassy leaders.

Reporter 1: "What if the minister says no deal?"
Reporter 2: "Yeah, how will you cope?"
Woman: "Cope? We are women. Don't ask that stupid question"

It's called the juice aisle

I stumbled upon The Boston Shaker website when I decided I would rather think about Christmas shopping instead of homework. After flipping through the pages, I realize that I have been in the actual store in Davis Square. The owner was super nice, and friendly. Based on the pictures the store has really come together since I last stepped in. (They had opened up for the Midnight Madness Shopping event, they hadn't painted yet, and he was using ladders to make shelves...)

Anyway, the shop has a section containing gift baskets, and one is called "Mock"-tail Recipe Starter Set. I understand some people don't do booze, or can't - i.e. pregnant women - but let's just be honest. A mock-tail is never as good as the real thing, simply because there is no booze. There is no need to purchase a kit when a smoothie recipe book costs like $10. Oh wait, it comes with some straws. Now it's worth it...

Now I feel bad about this post since I didn't realize that the store was local until after I got ramped up to rant about how unnecessary a mock-tail kit is. Support local!

Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick

"Library Request Pickup Notice"

I opened my gmail yesterday and saw this subject headlining an unopened email. A few months ago I put myself on the wait list for a few books through the Minuteman Library system. I received one of these emails a few weeks ago, and was unable to get to the library within the 2 day window because of classes other after work commitments. This time I was able to stop and pick up the book. Now I hope I can find time to read the 435 pages of "One Day". Considering I have about 3 months worth of magazines sitting in my living room begging to be read, the odds are not in my favor.

Hopefully I can find the time. I think I'll start right now. Green Bay is kicking butts and taking names, so there isn't anything keeping me interested in tv tonight.

Good night!

It's no Law & Order

Based on the preview I saw this afternoon while watching football, CSI Miami will be killing off a set of reality show stars **cough**jersey shore**cough** that are visiting the city. I just set the DVR, I think this will be worth the 44 minutes of my life. I can't wait to see what their fake reality show cast looks like.

Panty Lines for the WIN

Gretchen winning Project Runway Season 8 is soooo last week. I know. Originally I was going to keep with my plan of staying away from that whole mess after I posted up my love for Mondo. There were so many blogs ripping her apart, and as much as I didn't want her to win, I do feel a little bad at all the backlash she is receiving.

For the last few weeks, I have been searching "Mondo Guerra collection" on Google with the hope that he will finally launch a website. Nothing ever seems to materialize. Instead, I end up going into Google News and start reading all that is out there about the finale show. Today I saw something is making me give Gretchen a bit of my blog space. Sorry girl, it what I have to say isn't too great.

I believe it was high school when I first heard about the horror known as panty lines. They were considered one of the absolute worst sins against fashion. Fortunately for me, I never wore tight clothes so my granny panties never were detected. Now that I am an older and more mature individual, I feel confident with my ability to pull off tighter pants which, of course, means that I have to go with the thong. My favorite ones are by Victoria Secret, it has a number of lines that have large elastic lace waste bands. Turns out Gretchen's models also are big fans.

How do I know this? Because in Gretchen's world, panty lines are not only in but she thinks we should be able to see the whole damn thing.

Ridiculous.

November 23rd - Calendar Marked

Lavin announced they are releasing a limited addition line for H&M later this month. There have been a number of designers pairing with H&M and Target. Usually, I know the fashion house, but this was the first time I was at a loss. After checking out their website, I realized that I might have found my new favorite if-I-were-fithy-rich-I-would-own-it-all designer. This stuff is fun, funky, and kind of perfect for my body shape.

As much as I think I love the clothes they have for sale, it might also be that the mannequins have some serious sass. The red lip, black cat eye, and red fingernails are a trip. Honestly, i think it gives the clothing additional appeal, as the forms make me think more of real women than a plastic mold.


















On a price point perspective, purchasing from this fashion house is out of the question. The Fashion Night Out t-shirt is $450.00 and the Jersey-Silk Sequin T-Shirt Dress is $3,550.00. Which brings me back to H&M and November 23rd.

The look book for the H&M line is extremely exciting and wearable. While I would love a good party dress, the item that my eye immediately went to was a fabulous t-shirt dress/tunic piece.
I would love to wear a fishnet type patterned tights and heels just because I think it would be funny. But this would be awesome paired with some regular black leggings or skinny black pants. The clothes are released on a Tuesday. It would a crying shame I got a really bad one day cold that day...

Amy Sedaris is pure joy

My mother sent me a to Amy Sedaris's new book "Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People" asking if I would be interested. The book centers around crafts for people with no money. I am taking this as proof that mother knows me well. She understands that a) I love crafts, especially tacky ones and b) I often tell her that I am poor - mainly due to my life choice of living by myself. I was thinking about posting about the book, even though I don't own it, but had been holding off. I am glad I did, because if this had gone up 3 weeks ago, she would not have yet interviewed with Wendy Williams.

Amy Sedaris is one of those comedians that I love and forget that I love until I see her again. Strangers with Candy was a great show, which, if memory serves me correctly, only lasted a season. Shame. Personally, I think she is the funnier Sedaris.

Anyway, she was on the Wendy Willaims Show. I have only seen clips on The Soup, but Wendy seems like a hoot and a holler. Having a wack-a-doo like Amy had to become entertainment joy. And it was.

The only other interview that I have seen of Amy was a few years ago when her first book came out. She was being interviewed on Chelsea Lately and decided this would be a great forum to discuss female health issues...with homemade props.

Amazon is not so good at being subtle

Work is slow, I don't want to do my homework, so what do I do? I surf amazon.com to figure out what I didn't know I wanted and/or needed. Every so often I will check in and see what amazon recommends for me. As I was scrolling through the page, I noticed that this website seems to think my culinary skills are limited to one particular tasty treat.

Can you pick up on the trend?

I will say, this has inspired me to create a new tasty jiggly treat, as it has been MONTHS since the last batch. First I need to find an occasion that calls for them. Hmmmmm, you know, I am pretty sure playing the wii on a Wednesday night is a pretty special event. Let's go with that!

Sexy Costumes

Since we are on the topic of sexy Halloween costumes, I wanted to throw my arms up one last time in response to the styling of costumes that are made for women. Even when the costume refrains from using "sexy" in its title, the female version is far more form fitting than its male counterpoint.

I have not seen the movie Avatar, so I don't know the habits of the blue people. Based on the costumes, it would appear that the males get to wear clothes, and the women don't.

Heavens to Betsy. Would it kill the manufacture to give the female population a break. Spandex is not particularly forgiving. These costumes are not made for the masses. The dude version gets not just a pair of pants and a shirt, but a jacket on top of that. Think of the layers he is getting. She will be shivering like crazy with her barely there blue skin. He doesn't even consider grabbing a coat, it comes in the kit.

Okokok. I am done. Just needed to throw that out there.