Ketchup

I am at my parent's house for 12 days in order to make wreaths, celebrate birthdays, visit and eat delicious Thanksgiving food.  This may spell disaster for my weight loss goals, but it's a pretty good time.  I am not weighing myself in here since I don't have my digital scale, we will have to address the damage when I get home (Oh God).

One of the most challenging aspects about being at my parents house is the food situation. Let me outline for you what has happened so far:

Tuesday:  Not bad at home but went to an amazing bar that serves hot dogs with exquisite topping and fries with imaginative dipping sauces. Mmmmm...

Wednesday:  High calorie, delicious, cereal for breakfast.  2% Milk (that's true for the whole week). Mom bakes cookies.  Waffles for dinner.

Thursday:  More high-cal cereal.  There are still cookies.  Dad gets KFC fried chicken for dinner.

Not to mention the fact that they have SO MANY SNACKS HERE.  My house has zero snacks, and there's a reason.  I am doing pretty well so far, other than the cookies and the fact that I don't have control over dinner.  I had my mom pick up my usual cereal, Fiber One 80 calorie, and I am eating my usual lunch.  If I can keep my hand out of the cookie jar and control myself at the FIVE family-function-smorgasbords my weight might not skyrocket.  I need to come up with a plan for these smorgasbords...

• 2 caloric drink maximum.  If I turn the wine into a spritzer with diet sprite this number can be flexible.
• stay away from appetizers!  The cheese plate is trouble.  there is better food to come.  IF there is a delectable dip of some sort, have a taste or two but don't go crazy.
• eat salad before meal if available.
• don't eat anything you don't feel like eating--no one is going to notice you didn't try their dish.
• rolls are unnecessary
• beware of stress-eating.  Make sure to enjoy what you're eating and not just shovel things in because of social anxiety.

I night need to re-visit this topic throughout the coming week, it's pretty important!

Merchandise Monday: LEGO Corsage

It's been so long since I've actually built something new, and this just came out of nowhere.  I was talking with my husband about price points, and the fact that I need more items under $10 for LEGO Conventions.  Ten seems to be the breaking point for impulse buys and I don't have any kits in that range.  I don't know yet whether or not this will be in that price range, but it will definitely be less than my current LEGO Rose kit pictured below.

 

Rose Kit on Etsy 

In my title I called this a corsage, which will probably be one way I market it, but it will also be a stand alone piece like the rose I have now.  I do plan on wearing my new design at conventions :-D  It kind of makes me want to get married over again so the groomsmen can wear them!  Yes, I am in love with my new rose if you can't tell.  Unfortunately I only have the pieces to make a black one right now, but once I finalize the design and get to the piece-ordering step I plan on making it in red and yellow.  Take a look!

 Gosh, you would be such a cool High Schooler if you wore this to prom or homecoming... just saying!

You are not crazy!

A friend on Facebook posted a link to this article: A Message to Women from a Man: You Are Not "Crazy"   It was a pretty great eye-opener for me.  While I am lucky enough to have men in my life that don't tell me I am crazy, I have something even worse--myself.  I tell myself my emotions are crazy and irrational all the time. 

The idea that feelings are irrational is preposterous to begin with, the way something makes you feel is not something you can control. 

It seems like most women have figured out how to cry while conversing or yelling.  When I cry, which isn't terribly often (unless I am watching Parenthood, that show is amazing) I am mute.  Any kind of speech makes me cry ten times harder.  This can make emotional marital conflict extremely difficult.  It's at these times that I feel the most "crazy".  I can't even explain why I am upset because talking is nearly impossible!  Perhaps I just need to train my husband to be quiet at these moments and let me talk when I am able.

I lied.  Although I am my own worst enemy when it comes to being called crazy I realize I get it in another one-liner that wasn't mentioned in the article.  "Don't make a big deal out of it"  Just because I want to talk about something doesn't mean I want to make a "big deal" out of it.  You just need to learn to deal with the fact that we're going to talk about it!  I don't think I have ever let that line shut me up, but it's subtle emotion manipulation just like being called crazy.

Knowledge is power ladies.  Read the article, spread the word, don't be put down! 

Weigh-in

It's that time of the week, weigh-in Wednesday.  Last week I started a new reward system for exercising and meeting weight-loss goals.  For every activity I earn $5 to set aside in a money market account to save for a remodeling project.  While I didn't meet my incredibly ambitious mental goals, I managed to do quite a bit of good this week.

Today's Weight:  171.2

For those of you keeping track that's a difference of -1.2 pounds!  I can fluctuate a few pounds in a day, but I do always weigh myself first thing in the morning.  I'm not going to do any back-flips yet, but it's nice to be going in the right direction.  Let's take a look at what I accomplished over the past week:

• Wed. Walked 3 miles & Ab Ripper x
• Thurs.  Walked 3 miles & Lifted Weights
• Fri.  Walked 3 miles
• Sat. n/a
• Sun. Walked 3 miles
• Mon. Walked 3 miles
• Tue.  Walked 4 miles

That's $40 earned!  I'm not sure how rewarding the money aspect has been, but I do like having a weekly blog post.  I don't want Wednesday to come along and find out I have no progress to report.

And now is where the post gets a little more personal.  It's amazing how strong past self-images stick with you.  Who do you feel like if you're not looking in the mirror?  Which image from your past are you clinging to?  I see my thirteen year old self.  Awkward, poorly dressed, frizzy hair, cystic acne.  That's the bad, the good is that she was doing amazing things and had great friends.  She's a kick-ass bass player for her age.  She's crafting with her aunt and selling things she makes at her parent's tree farm at Christmas.  She made a quilt for her cousin.  She's still running around in the woods with her friends and isn't growing up too fast. 

Ok, I picked what is probably my most flattering picture that year.  She's okay, and grew up just fine.  Let it be!  I can move on.  Don't worry, someone did tell her to fix her bow placement and to lift that elbow up :)  I'm pretty sure this was my last year in the Akron Youth Symphony before starting with the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra.

I refuse to grow up.  I'm still do everything she did.  Time to start a quilt for my sister-in-law and her fiance.  Still selling wreaths at Christmas time.  Still wandering in the woods with friends.  Still playing bass.  Only difference now is I'm married, and I look better and make more money doing it!

This week I don't want to add anything new to my routing, just maintain my exercising.  I'll be at my parents for a week and a half before & during Thanksgiving, so I need to work on a game-plan for that.  They actually have snacks in their house so it'll be a real challenge.

Merchandise Monday : Stocking Stuffers

I'm working out Blog themes for certain days of the week so it will be easier to maintain.  Monday's will now be dedicated to new merchandise!  Maybe this topic will also keep me focused on posting more items for sale--here's to wishful thinking!  I already have Weigh-In Wednesdays, and am thinking of Talk Tuesdays and/or Thursdays.

This has actually been a great week for me in the way of "new" merchandise.  I've added several items to my Etsy shop in preparation for the holidays.  Stocking Stuffers are kind of my thing.

For starters I have key chains.  I only have blue ones listed at the moment, but by the end of the day (if my internet stays connected) I'll also have Dark Red, Yellow and Black to choose from.  They make a great gift for tweens and teenagers -- they love keychains, even if they don't have keys to use them with.  $4 from www.AbbieDabbles.Etsy.com   I want to be a one-stop-shop for all of your LEGO-crafted needs.

Blue Heart Key Chain

I am potentially making favors for a Bar Mitvah in January, and one of the requests was that the father wanted to have picture frames as party favors for around 100 people.  I already have build-your-own kits in my shop, but they are a little pricey when you're talking about buying 100.  I decided to try my hand at pre-assembled frames, and I like them so much I've added them to my shop.  The one I have pictured is a free-standing acrylic frame that has been embellished.  I want to use the same technique on a magnetic frame for the refrigerator.  The tricky part about making these is that I am a perfectionist and the LEGO bricks on the frame have to be perfectly aligned so that, if you wanted to, you could build on top of it and everything lines up. The acrylic frames themselves are 5x7 but the LEGO embellishment creates a 4x6 opening.  How convenient!  The free-standing frames are $7 each.  Magnetic Frames will probably be a little more.

 Red 5x7 Brick Frame

I am pretty proud of these little trinkets, they will make wonderful stocking stuffers.  Girls love LEGO too, and now with these embellished bobby pins they can let the world know!  I am anxious to see how they are received by the public.  $6 gets you a set of 8 (4 pairs).  

 Bobby Pins

My last item I have to share, is not yet for sale.  I have them all ready to go in solid blue, or solid black.  I was pitching the one pictured for the Bar Mitzvah and am wondering if the added color would be more appealing than a solid frame would be.  When I get them listed they will be $20, and this one comes as a build-your-own kit.  The large surface area allows for out of control embellishment.  I should also add that this frame is free-standing and the picture opening is 4x6.

In other Etsy news, I reached more than 100 views yesterday!  In ONE day!  I don't know if my new listings had anything to do with the increase, but it sure made me feel good!  It's mind boggling to think about all the people in the world who have looked at something I did.  The internet is an incredible thing! 

Weighty Wednesday

Oy Vey... do I really want to start a weekly post on weight?  No. Yes. No. Okay.  To say I've had a life long struggle with weight would be true, but since I am only 26, some readers might get annoyed.  To me though, it feels like a long time.  I started being aware of my weight in middle school. 

Today's Weight: 172.4

The highest weight I can remember was in middle school when I weighed in at 180.  That was a  terrifying number to see on the scale.  It actually scared me away from the scale.  I don't have a clue where I was at during High School.  By the end of H.S. I was about where I am now, 170.  Freshman year of college I shrank down to 145--how I wish I would've enjoyed that time instead of being depressed!  July 2009 = marriage!! = 155.  I gained around 15 pounds on the honeymoon, and it never came off.  No, I'm not kidding, I literally gained 15 pounds on the honeymoon, I didn't even know that was possible.

At this point in my life I feel dejected, confused and fed-up.  The only time I have lost weight in my life was in college.  I was depressed, overworked, and would sometimes only sleep 3 hours in a week--not exactly a plan I would like to pick up again.  Clearly, I don't know what works.  I think I eat pretty healthily, but there's always room for improvement.  I could stand to exercise more.  I feel like my lifestyle doesn't match my weight.  I don't deserve a size 16!  (I'm still squeezing into 14, but honestly it is very uncomfortable.  New pants are needed).

 ***Later the same day***

As is typical, I have a new strategy to try.  My idea is to pay myself to exercise, and try to accomplish two goals at once.  Whenever I work out, I will write down what I did and put it in a designated place (maybe a jar).  At the end of a goal period I will pay myself for the workouts.  If I accomplish my goal I will get a bonus.  The money will go into my money market that I have set aside as the "Garage Fund".  I'm thinking $5 per activity and $100 if I reach my stated goal.  I will transfer money at the end of each week.

My Goal: Get into the 160's by my birthday, November 30th.  That could mean losing as little as 3 pounds... but keep in mind that this is the month of Thanksgiving, 6 birthdays (including my own), and I still don't know how to successfully lose weight.  If I don't accomplish my goal I will still be exercising and saving money to build a garage someday.  Ok, deep breath, going to start right now...

Vintage Flair

There was a time when the majority of my clothes were vintage.  These days I still buy most of my outfits from the thrift store, but usually they are more modern.  However, when I see something vintage and fabulous I just can't pass it up.  I will be selling these dresses soon (this week) on Ebay.  If anyone is interested my username is Bassgirl3210  My gorgeous sister-in-law Beth was gracious enough to model my finds.  Even if I don't keep them, it's fun to own them for a little while :)

Simply charming dress in thin white, camel and black stripes.  The waist is elastic and is a classic flattering fit.  Add a belt to hide the seam.

 The flash on my camera makes this dress look purple, but it is actually black with red flowers.  It also has an elastic waist, which looks amazing cinched with a belt.  Details include a buttoned should seam on one side.

 Pictures do not do this dress justice.  The upper bodice is a very fine pleat and the skirt has a wider pleat and almost makes a circle-skirt.

Last but not least is the Safari Dress.  This one I am not ready to sell.  I must wear it out at least once.  It's a miracle little-black-dress covered in safari animals.  It makes me look about 15 pounds lighter instantly.  What more could you possibly ask for in a dress??  Below are a few pictures of the animal detailing.