I Heart DietGirl

Did you see? I'm pretty much famous. Check it out.

So cool, right? When I saw this little photo gallery, I knew I needed to add my picture to the group, being the fan that I am. So I emailed Shauna (aka DietGirl) with my photo and told her how much I loved the book and blah-de-blah blah blah. Much to my excitement, she e-mailed me back! She was sooo sweet...telling me I was very color-coordinated (cause I totally am, even with my wall! *haha* It wasn't on purpose...this is just the result of being constantly surrounded by bright colors - everything eventually coordinates!) and that she liked my glasses. She also said she'd tracked down my blog, since I'd neglected to add the link *oops* and had read my review about her book! *IPE!* And here I'd called her a potty-mouth! I was so embarrassed. *haha* But she couldn't have been kinder. Just as nice as can be. I think I'll print out her e-mail and scrapbook it. (I have such lofty ambitions for all the things in my life I plan to scrapbook. Anyone else notice that?) Well, at the very least I'll print it out and put it somewhere...special. :)

Plus, now this blog is linked from that page, so I've been getting visitors from new places! I think it's so neat to see different flags on my Traffic Feed. So hello out there! Nice to have you. :)

(OH! And can I also say how amused I am by the amount of visitors I get because they're searching for calories in a Famous Dave's cornbread muffin, or something to that effect? It's UNREAL! I get 4 or 5 hits a day because of that topic alone!  A lot of us calorie counters must be falling pray to those evil, buttery delights.)

I read a book!

Yeah, so? I read a book. Big deal! But you don't understand...I NEVER read books! Well, that's not entirely true. I read devotional and Christian living books and my Bible...but I can't remember the last time I sat down to read a regular ol' book. So c'mon! Celebrate with me! *haha*

The book? The Amazing Adventures of DietGirl. 

It's written by Shauna Reid, an Australian woman who weighed 351lbs by the time she was just 21. She started Weight Watchers in 2001 and decided to blog about her journey (dietgirl.org). (I actually first discovered her blog and that's how I found out she'd written this book.) She ended up losing half her body weight: 175lbs! 

Things I Loved About "DietGirl"

1. It's completely real. She's open and honest about her struggles and anxieties and obsessions. I may have never been as heavy, but I completely identified with almost everything about her. This whole unhealthy preoccupation with food...what can I eat, when I can eat it, I want more than that, when can I have seconds, is there any left, can I have some of yours, why isn't he finishing his, I think there's some chips still in the cabinet, ooh that ice cream on TV looks good I think I'll go get some...you probably get the point. 

Or the fact that with every approaching special occasion or vacation, the only thoughts in her head were of whatever foods were associated with that event or place. 

I also deal with the same insecurities and ridiculous self-loathing body image. ("After all this time, the days in which I like me and feel attractive are starting to outnumber the DIE You Fat Ugly Cow! days. I don't know what happened. I think I just decided to stop telling myself such rot all the time. I've wasted so much time convincing myself I am the rolypoly incarnation of the devil.")

I also particularly liked the part where she was explaining to someone that she didn't have a "sweet tooth" or a "savory tooth," but instead she had both. "I've got many teeth." *haha*

2. It shows the ups & downs. She didn't lose it all on the first attempt. She didn't even lose it all with Weight Watchers. It took many tries and there were a few times when she had to "restart" after gaining back some weight. 

3. Because she's Australian, she uses lot's of cute, unfamiliar words. I find myself wanting to use them too. (If you watch this clip of her on the Early Show, it's even more fun to read what she writes because you've got the accent in your head. I think she's just adorable.) She talks about clearing the cabinets of the "dodgy foods" that were tempting her, or feeling like "rubbish." And of course there's "bloody" this and "bloody" that. 

4. She has a wonderful writing style. SO easy to read that I was half-way through the book before I even knew what'd hit me. She makes every page come alive with her funny descriptions of things, like trying new classes at her gym or struggling to squeeze into those "serious undergarments" in order to "achieve maximum foxiness."

5. She overcame. Through the course of the book you get to watch her completely transform. Not just because she loses the weight or wears smaller sizes...but because she gains confidence, tries new things and really starts to experience her life. And she's learned how to live healthily without being obsessed about the scale or constant calorie counting. I want to get to that place. It's all very inspiring. I wanted to cry with pride for this real life superhero. And look at her! She's stinkin' adorable!

Pretty much the only negative thing I could think to say about this book (or her blog) is that she tends to have a bit of a potty mouth. (I know some of you think I'm a prude for even mentioning that.) Wish she would have used ALL Australian-born slang. *haha*

Overall I'd definitely recommend you take a look at this book. Especially those of you who are on a similar journey. You'll be inspired!! 

P.S. I want to thank all of you for the wonderfully encouraging comments and e-mails since my last post!! I can't convey how much they helped. I think I'll print them out and make a scrapbook page to carry around with me...or maybe post it on the cereal cabinet to keep me focused. You're the BESTEST!

Extreme Makeover: Sarah edition

I am in desperate need of a hair makeover.  I haven't done anything with it (except trim it occasionally) for over a year. No color, no style, no nothing. It seems like whenever we have had the extra money that I could have invested in a hairdo, I've decided to spend it on something else. I'm starting to feel a little frumpy and blah, though, and I know it's time for a change. But I really have no idea WHAT to do with it.  

I've been very, very Marilyn Monroe blonde before, but I don't want to go back to something that needs that kind of upkeep (since obviously I'm not great about getting myself to a salon.) My hair is normally about shoulder length (although it's gotten quite a bit longer than that, now). I've always wanted to do something kinda short and spunky, but I'm afraid it will make my face look fat. I've considered bangs since I seem to have a never ending amount of hair growth at the front of my scalp *grrr*, but I just don't know. What to do? What to do?

So I found this site called Taaz.It's one of those things where you upload a photo of yourself and so you can see what different hairstyles would look like on you.  Let me tell you, more than anything else it scared me to death to get my hair cut! So many UNFLATTERING styles out there! Yikes! In the end I just started playing around and having fun with it. Ok, here's my starting photo:

Me, with my hair pulled back, on Super Bowl Sunday (Livvie took this picture, btw. Impressive, yes?)

First, let's try one of these short styles on for size:

Um, oh my. See what I mean about a fat face? Maybe it's just me. I actually do like that color, though.

Now let's try some bangs:

And a really, really unnatural color. Eek! (But actually, I don't mind this cut. It could work.)

So did I mention you can also play around with virtual makeup and stuff? It's FUN! And you can change your eye color. So let's see what I would have looked like with my sister's (and her beautiful children's) signature "ice blue" eyes:

Um, a little scary. Almost "undead." Fair skin + ice blue eyes = nah-so-purdy. :(

Ok, here I am sportin' my best 70's news anchor/30 year old Mommy 'do:

It's so sexy and you know it.

So by now you're ready to really see what this baby can do, right? Ok, let's take the whole darn package: eyelashes, foundation, blush, lipstick,flowing blonde locks, teeth whitening. This is really gonna be GOOD! 

Ooooh! Can we say Texas Pageant Queen?? Holy false eyelashes, Batman! 

In conclusion: If you are looking for a serious way to discover your best new look...don't try this. BUT, if you have too much time on your hands and are looking for a way to make yourself giggle all alone in an empty room? This is a winner. 

(P.S. I think it would be an absolute blast if all of YOU played with this online toy and shared/blogged your results! It's really, super easy to do.)

Cake Wrecks

I love "Ace of Cakes" on the Food Network! They seem like the coolest group of people. Duff (the owner and head chef) has the greatest laugh and laid-back personality; he always makes me smile. The talent these guys possess never fails to amaze me. Every single cake they make is AMAZING!! I would love to work there, but alas, they'd never let me. Because for one thing, I'm not nearly cool or quirky enough to fit in with their crew. But mainly they wouldn't hire me because I would turn out cakes that look like this:

Cake Wrecks

Have you ever seen this website? I discovered it the other day and it had me (literally) LAUGHING OUT LOUD!!! Basically it's a collection of "professional" cakes that are absolute botches. Some of them have ridiculous misspellings, some are the result of a miscommunication between baker and customer...and some are just poorly, tragically decorated. Go, you simply must! You will not regret it. Absolutely HILARIOUS! The cakes aren't the only funny thing...the writing is witty and sarcastic and sure to make you smile! Check it out! (Here's another favorite of mine! You won't believe!)

Time Waster Extraordinaire

Sooo...I'm really bored. There's only so much sittin' around one can do without going completely stir crazy. I've spent so much time on the couch since last Friday, I think there's a permanent indention where my booty's been. I just haven't been able to get comfortable in any other position. Even sitting at the computer with my leg propped up beside me isn't great, but I've felt the need to see a different size of glowing screen from time to time. Today I am going to push past it and find some way to sit in my scrapbook room. I've been home for almost 2 weeks and haven't done a lick of scrapbooking! Mind you, the first week I wasn't exactly in the mood, if you get my drift, and then more recently I've been solely horizontal. But today I will find a way.

In the meantime, here are a few of the things I've run across that I might not have, had I been actually productive. (Hey, I DID run the vacuum yesterday because my friend Angie was coming over to watch movies with me. It wasn't the greatest attempt, but I'm still gimpy.)

I never knew we had so many television channels. It's really insane. But after a while, it becomes almost therapeutic to just surf up and down the lists of options telling yourself, "Look! You shouldn't be bored! Look at all of the adventures that await you!" Well, while doing this the other day I ran across a channel called "Fine Living," which I've never watched because I have no delusions of my "living" ever becoming "fine." But the show was called, "Whatever, Martha!" and it was these two women, watching OLD clips of Martha Stewart's TV show, making fun of her! I was hooked immediately! It's like Mystery Science Theater 3000, except instead of dissecting bad Sci-fi films, they're picking on Martha's perfectionistic tendencies and unrealistic project ideas. The concept became even MORE exciting to me when I found out that one of the hosts is Martha's own daughter! Alexis Stewart! (I'd never heard of her, either.) What a great peek into what it must be like to live in the shadow of the world's super-homemaker! I imagined that they must have had a huge falling out and now Alexis had made it her life's mission to expose the lies behind the Martha empire. How scandalous! How intriguing! How about a clip? :)



Well, that whole theory fell apart when I discovered that their show is actually sponsored by Martha Stewart Living . Bleh. Not nearly as fun. But I guess that could just be another way Martha is trying to control her poor daughter's life, right? Yeah, that adds the scandal right back in there. We'll roll with that scenario. If you get the Fine Living channel, you should totally check it out.

Now for a couple of websites you absolutely must check out. This first one was sent to me on Facebook and I spent a good 15 minutes just laughing out loud. Click on it, you'll understand. Upside Down Dogs. Really, click on it.

Secondly, a website for my scrappy friends. It's possible you've already discovered this blog and if you have, I'm mad at you for never showing ME! You know how completely out of the loop I can be! Help a sister out! :) It's called Pencil Lines and it's fully dedicated to scrapbook sketches! You all know how much I loooove sketches!! It's fantastic. Lot's of different styles to show how much variety one sketch can bring. Enjoy!

Monday randomness

I'm pleased to report to those of you who were keeping tabs on me, that I'm feeling much better! I think I ate some bad chicken (or I guess it could have been the mac&cheese) from Dillon's deli on Friday night and it pretty much wiped me out for the weekend. I was EMPTY, if you know what I mean, by Sunday morning. *ewww* I felt well enough to make it to work yesterday afternoon, but by day's end I was really weak. But this morning finds me eating cereal and feeling pretty perky! Hooray! :)

On Saturday I spent quite a bit of time on the computer since the office is in such close proximity to the bathroom. This was convenient for reasons that have probably become obvious by now. Anyways, here are some of my favorite finds! I found this at Urban Outfitters. It's a metal sign, about 11x17 and I think it would be AWESOME in my living room with my new NYC skyline picture! Yes? Yes! They also have Coney Island and Greenwich Village subway signs...but good ol' Brooklyn has the most color! :)

I WANT THIS. I can't believe no one thought of this sooner. It's a BUBBLE WRAP CALENDAR, folks!! There's a bubble to pop for each day of the year. Pure genius. I'm seriously gonna order one.

Kelly Purkey is in this month's Creating Keepsakes showing her cute little scrapbook nook. She also lists some of her favorite websites for inspiration. I'm always in need of ideas so I checked them out. The neatest one, I think, is Print & Pattern. It focuses on "the world of surface pattern design" and it's just dazzling to look through!

I like these:

And these:

Oh, and this:

I could go on and on! But I find two things frustrating about this place. 1. The website is based in the UK so most of the products are only available there. Grrrr. 2. Very few of the patterns are on scrapbook paper!!! So many pretties and nothing for me to scrapbook with! I realize miss Perkey is using this website for color combination inspiration...but I guess I'm too amateur. I want the product ITSELF to play with! :)