Wo/Man vs. Her/Himself: Weight loss, Donuts and the Struggle

FACT: From Thanksgiving to Christmas, I gained 10 lbs. It didn't sneak up on me...but it wasn't what I'd call a completely conscious decision. I just didn't deny myself the tasty treats that come along with the holidays (and in an office environment, tasty treats are never few and far between this time of year). So many pretty, homemade delights...how can you say no to a wonderful lady who spent all day in the kitchen baking something delicious for you just to see your smile as you say "WOW... that is AMAZING... you MADE this" ? It would be plum rude. Who wants to be rude?

But now that the holidays are over and all the treats wrapped in red and green have been consumed, it's time to go back to eating like a human, not a garbage disposal. I'm eating salad, baked chicken and rice, fresh seafood, low sodium soups, opting for cottage cheese, honey and fruit instead of my soy milk & cookie before bed, laying off the beer...and even hitting the little gym we have in our building. 11 days have gone by and I'm happy to report that I've lost almost 5 lbs. (small victories!) It's not much but come on... it's half of what I gained!  For the most part, I behave at work. I bring my own lunch so I'm not tempted to go out and buy something terrible, I'll pass over the cookies, brownie bites & kolaches that vendor's bring...(If you buy my fittings & flanges, I'll bring you breakfast tacos! Come on! Give me your business!)

But every now and then, I think it may not be the worst thing in the world to fall of the wagon for a second, just make sure you enjoy the hell out of it and exercise a little restraint/ self control, i.e. no seconds).  If you limit yourself to raw asparagus spears and lemon water, you'll stop before you even start. You'll think "I hate this diet, I can never have anything that tastes good, this is bullsh!t, I quit". If I don't allow myself some small indulgence during my quest to drop the holiday 10, I'll just be another bitchy dieter. The rigid discipline can have a negative effect on you and your diet psychologically.

 Sure running for 2.5 miles and then eating a donut might be counterproductive... but it's definitely better than NOT running and eating the donut anyway, right? Am I justifying my donut consumption today? Maybe. Am I taking a step back? Possibly.Duh, they're bad for you...I don't eat them often (I seriously haven't had one in... oh... 6 months...) So at that rate, 2 donuts a year ain't bad. 

Yes, this donut was 217 verrryyy empty calories (it was a glazed Shipley, I looked it up) and truth be told, if I hadn't left my lunch in the car this morning (only to remember it as Ryan drove off...) I may have passed on the donut. But while I'm on the treadmill this evening...sweating, with the incline as high as it will go, I'll think "Damn, that was a good donut".

And I'll look forward to July 11th, when I can have another one.

** this is in no way any kind of dieting advice...just ramblings and observations about my current situation**

Christmastiiiiiime!!!

How was your Christmas weekend? We all had such a good one, so nice to relax, eat dinner in your PJs and...well basically live in your reindeer PJ pants for a full 24+ hours. We drank homemade eggnog, watched movies, had a singalong, ate (and maybe ate a little bit more), sat out by the fire pit, made s'mores, went to a nice Christmas mass, slept in and just enjoyed the company of fam. 

Santa brought me a super neato chandelier I had been pining for for my bedroom and an Instax mini camera that i looooove! My sister gave me a fantastic handmade vintage fabric apron that one of the mom's from her school made. LOVE IT! Can't wait to use. My brother gave me the Indie Craft book- so inspiring! My friend Nora gave me a gift card to one of my favorite shops, Paper Source and a Viewmaster with TONS of picture reels! SUCH a fun gift.  My love gave me a fantastic Nan Lawson print, a gift certificate for a spa downtown (that will most likely be redeemed for a massage! Desperately needed!)  and tons of embroidery hoops! He knows me so well! Speaking of,  Ryan left for Omaha Christmas eve morning so the night before we had a mini-Christmas with him, complete with turkey dinner and presents! He comes back to Houston today...Yayyyy! I've missed him! 

Yesterday we rounded out our Christmas festivities with a little bowling, our second annual Boxing day bowling outing!  Afterwards, I went back downtown and spent a little time with my lovely friend Amy who is in town from New York...indefinitely since pretty much all flights are cancelled. BLIZZARDZ Y'ALL.

Now it's back to work...I needed a quadruple espresso today and...probably an extra day to recoup from all the eating that happened (happened...like it's a passive activity. I can not be held accountable).

Do you guys ever get the post- Christmas blues? I sure do. After a whole month (and then some) of preparing, planning gifts, decorating, cooking holiday treats (maybe putting on like.. oh... 8 lbs...) listening to Christmas carols 24/7 and just relishing in the merriment of the season, it just kind of.... stops. Like.. that's it, it's over. Now you have to wait 365 more days for it to happen again. wh... what? Whyyyy? So much build up and then all of a sudden, its December 26th, you're surrounded by piles of wrapping paper, and there's chocolate on your face.

Anywho, here's a teeny amount of shots from the weekend- I hardly took any photos, I was too busy playing and having fun!



Christmas Eve dinner @ Perry's Steakhouse. AMAZING GOOD.



Michelle opening presents Christmas morning.



Stockings hung by the chimney with care....



Have you guys started to think abou 2011 resolutions yet? I need to make a list of mine!

Anatomy of our Christmas Tree

Happy almost Christmas y'all! Last night Ryan and I finally got around to decorating  our tree... we had a tree up before we had a TV or even silverware (priorities). But we're finally getting to the point where things are sorted and it's looking more and more like a home everyday! I thought I'd share a few shots of our modestly adorned tree:




Above we see a vintage paper Santa bought from an antique shop in the heights. I only wish I had 50 instead of just 5. I like how the paper ornament adds a different texture and dimension to the tree as opposed to glass or plastic. You can also see the "cornament" from Omaha!

  

We've got a touch of Mardi Gras already! Mom and I snagged a box of these pretty glittery fleur de lis when we were in Louisiana last weekend. It's hanging next to the Czech Kitchen Witch I bought in Prague in 2007. She's missing a foot... i know i have it somewhere....




Crocheted red and white garland!




Pretty glittery glass owl.




Sleepy fawn I bought at the Nutcracker Market this year!




Handmade German owl ornament I bought at the Nutcracker Market 2009



Close-up of the fantastic vintage paper Santa.



I love this fuzzy little owl my friend Amy gave to me last year. Before we decorated the tree we had the ornaments sitting on the counter and the Fuzz kept jumping up and dragging it all over the apartment. We'd try to hide it and she'd always find! Poor little owl...but I definitely see it's appeal to the Fuzz.



We really have a hodgepodge of items on this tree. Some weird, random things...I mean.. I may have (may have..) hung my 2007 TX state graduation tassel up there.... Srsly what else are you supposed to do with those things? We have a really pretty Nativity scene in a glass bulb,a cat wearing pink socks and a scarf, a gorgeous pelican ornament my mom gave me this year along with other wildlife, even a tranny Santa which is probably the strangest thing up there but... I really like how it came together. When you don't have much, you have to imrpovise!

All in all, it's a good little tree.

Do you guys have any weird things hanging on your tree?

I'm Thankful For: Part II

 II: by Lena



"I am thankful for my sweet baby girl, Claire.  She is my little sunshine and I have many reasons to be thankful for her.  One of my favorite times with her is the nights I get to tuck her into bed.  I have come to cherish and love our little routine of reading a book, scratching her back, and singing “You are my Sunshine.”  It’s in this moment that I know she knows just how loved she really is."

Thanks so much for your story, Lena!

To read more from Lena, hop on over to her blog Stella Sola!

I'm Thankful For: Part I

This is the first of a special set of Thanksgiving posts dedicated to highlighting what my friends and family are thankful for (since I'm so thankful for them!). I'll be posting them throughout today and tomorrow and encourage you to let the people you're thankful for know how much they mean to you!

I: by Stacy

"I am thankful for my wonderful grandmother and that I get to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with her! She’s been through a lot over the last few years – breast cancer, a double mastectomy, and now bladder cancer twice, which unfortunately isn’t responding well to radiation and chemotherapy this second time around.  We have to be realistic in that this may be our last Thanksgiving with her and although that makes me sad and angry and a whole mix of other emotions, I have to also think that I’m lucky to have had her in my life for the last 24 years. She’s always been there for me, we have a very close relationship, and besides always being supportive of me and full of words of wisdom, she’s never failed to make me laugh. She’s a typical Jewish grandmother, originally from The Bronx, and I will always think of her when I drink my cwoffee and walk my dwawg. Oy vey. I’m getting verklempt..."

Thanks so much for your story, lady! To read more from Stacy, be sure to visit her at Stacy Says!

She's good people.

Stay tuned for more stories of thanks to come!



Crafty Christmas Bonanzaaaaa

Hello sweet visitors! I know Thanksgiving is in two days, but I'm still thinking a month down the road.

Christmas 2010 = D. I. freaking Y. With Ryan and I moving into a new apartment next week, our moneys will be a bit smaller this Christmas, but there will be no stressing out.  There will only be...busy!

I got a bit of a jump start this year since I anticipated the move...I had about 75% of my gift shopping done and my Christmas cards made at the beginning of November.  But there's still a fair bit to be done, like decorating the apartment after all the boxes unpacked. Decorating my home for Christmas is one of my favorite things about the holidays. I absolutely watching (or maybe directing? "More of the colorful lights! More on the bottom!") Dad string the lights and garland on the tree so we could dive into the boxes of ornaments, carefully unwrap the delicate Kleenex-packed ones are get-to-decoratin'.

This year will be the first time Ryan and I get to spend the Christmas season together. I'm determined to go  (a bit) overboard with the cheer and super determined to use mostly handmade, vintage and re-purposed items to do it

There's no limit to what you can do or make, just google Christmas DIY or look up tutorials and go nuts! Etsy has an endless supply of amazing vintage pieces and supplies, even pre-made kits, like this Winter Wonderland cupcake kit , this Holiday journal kit,  and this needle felted snowman kit  just to name a few, that can be shipped to your doorstep in days! 

If you like to shop local, hit up any antique shop. I guarantee they will have lots of vintage Christmas ornaments, figurines, cards and books. Last weekend Ryan and I snagged this 3 foot Santa

 at August Antiques  in the Heights (If you're in the Houston area, I recommend stopping by;  they have tons of Christmas items from the 50s and 60s!

I also bought a handful of these vintage Santa cut-outs to string up in the apartment.

At the moment, I'm waiting (not so patiently)  for my Jenni Bowlin chipboard buttons to come in the mail (via Etsy!) so I can make this awesome garland per Amanda's awesome tutorial found here.

So if you'd like to get your hands dirty this December, here are just a few of the hundreds of ideas and tips to help make your Christmas super DIY and unique:

Reuse broken or old ornaments to make a beautiful wreath! 

Use scrap yarn to wrap foam balls! 

I LOVE the candy cane candle in the upper left had corner!  I think the evergreen pieces on the outside of the glass adds such a classy touch to a table setting.

Great tutorial for making your own antique tin candles

This is what I'm working on now...crocheting Christmas tree garland. I chose fluffy white sparkly yarn to look like snow!

Use blank cards and scrap booking stickers or chipboard pieces to create your own unique cards! 

Chose pretty holiday fabric to make your own cheery bunting. Here is a no-sew tutorial!

Even if your gifts aren't handmade, you can add your own personal accents to the packaging! Use stamps, ribbons, buttons, or stickers to create your own gift tags. Blank tags can be found at Hobby Lobby or any craft store.

This is a great idea if you have kids and even if you don't making paper ornaments or decorative (using pretty holiday scrapbook paper) paper chains is a fun and easy way to add a handmade touch to your decor.



Happy Christmas crafting!

[photos from google images, light up Santa is mine]

Vintage Christmas Etsy Lovlies

Mini Santa cup

Paper Christmas ephemera

 Reindeer Family

 Roly Poly Santa tin

 Vintage floral ornaments

Antique Italian Nativity 

 1950s Holy Family figures

 Vintage cookie plate

 Christmas Bunting

Holiday wreath



Good thing it's slow today...

DIY Christmas cards for 2010

YOU GUYS.

Hobby Lobby has ALOT of Christmas things on sale! You could TOTALLY raid the Christmas scrapbooking stuff and make your own one-of-a-kind Christmas cards! I bought a box of 10 blank stamping cards (with envelopes) at an art supply store in town the other day for less than 4$. Today on lunch I found these little 3D-ish guys with their super-cute winter outerwear and was like.. SHAZZAM.

UNIQUE HANDMADE CHRISTMAS CARDS!

Snag a little holiday stamp to embellish the scene a bit (maybe snow flakes? I also bought a little "Merry Christmas" stamp for the inside of the card...)  and you're done! Most of these scrapbooking 3D things already have sort of sticky backs but I super glued them to the card for good measure so they don't pop off in the mail.

I love that they're personal...YOU designed and created a holiday card for someone special.

It's gonna mean that much more!

Inside in red and green (stamped): 



I know it may be a bit early (I mean, I'm not mailing them yet...)...but it's one more thing you can scratch off that holiday to-do list!

SHAZZAM!

Little Pumpkin embroidery on sale! $2.00 off, now $4.50!

For Shame!

...this is the only photo we have from Halloween. I made a shower curtain dress, complete with rod and rings,  smeared fake blood on it and covered my hair in gel (for that wet-looking effect). Ryan had a great matronly-looking dress, a granny wig and a plastic knife. We were pretty proud of ourselves! I only wish we had more/better photos...instead of this one, crappy phone pic. NEXT YEAR... we'll do better!

Oh just cuttin' up gourds... like ya do....

Growing up, Dad carved a pumpkin for us every year. He'd draw a face on a pumpkin freehand, ask us if we liked it (if not, he'd erase and begin again), and if it passed, he'd start carving. I always liked the scary ones, mean eyes and sharp teeth. The photo above is of me in 1984, with our cat C.J. Dad's pumpkin was a little lopsided that year and had to be propped up with a rock.

We didn't love it any less.

The other day there was a Halloween special on the history channel. I always geek out over these specials..they're sooo interesting. I love learning about where our current traditions originated, like why we carve pumpkins! Here's what they said:

"The carved pumpkin with a light inside was supposed to ward off evil spirits. The practice originated from an Irish myth about a man nicknamed "Stingy Jack." According to the story, Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. True to his name, Stingy Jack didn't want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. Once the Devil did so, Jack decided to keep the money and put it into his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form.

Jack eventually freed the Devil, under the condition that he would not bother Jack for one year and that, should Jack die, he would not claim his soul...

Soon after, Jack died. As the legend goes, God would not allow such an unsavory figure into heaven. The Devil, upset by the trick Jack had played on him and keeping his word not to claim his soul, would not allow Jack into hell. He sent Jack off into the dark night with only a burning coal to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved-out turnip and has been roaming the Earth with ever since.

The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as "Jack of the Lantern," and then, simply "Jack O'Lantern."

Knowing it's history makes you so eager to participate. We were so excited to carve our jack-o-lanterns last night. We chose our patterns, transferred them to the pumpkins and got to work.

Cleaning out the guts

Dixie helpin'.

Ryan at work

I did 3 candles. Mom says it looks like some optical illusion because your eyes go directly to the solid pieces and not the negative space. It doesn't translate very well in photos, but I'm happy with how it turned out!

Nora's owl turned out great!

I love Ryan's lurker, peeking out of the blinds.

Trio of pumpkins:

We spent about 2 hours on them...but of course took a break for some pizza, wine, and Charlie Brown's Great Pumpkin on TV.

I'm so antsy for Halloween! We're doing to Montrose pub crawl on Saturday. I still have work to do on my costume... gotta hit the costume shop for some fake blood... CAN'T WAIT!