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Friday, May 2, 2008
Weight Gain
Can I just
tell you? My new favorite outfit is baggy sweatpants and a tee shirt, and I wouldn’t even think twice about heading
to the office without control tops. My skin feels like it’s two sizes too small for my body. I don’t know how
it happened, but I’m sure I’ve put on an additional 5lbs to my original weight from when I started dieting 2 months
ago. I haven’t actually weighed myself but every single pair of underwear is tight, as much as I’d like to place
the blame elsewhere… I can’t imagine the lady who washes, dries, and folds my laundry shrunk every pair! (See
“Laundry”) I know it’s me. Now, I know I may look like a perfectly normal weight but I just don’t
feel normal in my skin currently. My skin is tight
and I can’t blame it on the dead of winter and daily scalding hot showers either.
I thought I could start
to whittle down my waist this week. My plan was to put at least 5 smiley faces per week on my calendar. Every day that I stayed
within my allotted 18 points would garner a smiley face. I even upped it to 25 points or less for a smiley. Unfortunately,
it’s been one frown after another.
On Greek Easter, I made sure I had almonds and a veggie pack with
low-cal ranch dressing in my car; to eat right before I walked in to my aunt’s house, so I could refrain from the spinach
and cheese pita that, I knew, would be waiting for me on the table. It didn’t help. I ended up eating everything that
wouldn’t eat me. As if that wasn’t bad enough, I brought home leftovers, big mistake. I consumed my daily points
before 9am the next morning and topped it off with two chocolates just because I figured, I went that far, I might as well
have bon bons today and really do it up.
Does anyone else feel like that? Once you blow your diet, you might
as well order dessert?
I decided it may be a good idea to try one of those “Spring Cleanings.”
Well, I suspect the only way they work is if you cut out all foods that don’t grow in the soil or on trees. The desserts
I choose to consume are much too pretty to be concocted anywhere else but in a food lab. The directions on the box also neglect
to mention anything about portion control, which has been an issue. I know it’s not meant to be used as a diet tool
but one would think weight loss would be a natural part of the process. It doesn’t seem to be working.
I only
weigh myself once per week, first thing Monday morning. Maybe I should place the scale in front of the refrigerator door.
So, now I’m contemplating Nutra System. Marie Osmond looks great.
Fri, May 2, 2008 | link
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Beauty Secrets
I had dark circles under my eyes
and this winter has made my skin flaky. What do you do when that happens, especially, in a society that shuns puffy eyes and
dry skin? You go to a beauty specialist. I
was out with two friends who spend way more than I do on product. My beauty routine typically involves some moisturizer, blush,
a sweep of mascara and a squirt of tinted lip balm. However, I love makeup. I don’t wear much of it partially for vanity
reasons. I feel like it ages your skin. (My getting carded days are becoming fewer and farther between.) We sauntered into Beauty & Main in Hingham. I should have had some foresight of the damage
to be done to my bank account. Hingham is a haven of “have-to-have” items. It’s a shopping mecca of high
priced boutiques. I love it and my bank statement can prove it. It started with mascara and a quick eye-do. Danielle, the Queen of Trish McAvoy products and application (and,
sales, I might add) offered to do a quick makeup session focusing on my eyes. When she finished, everyone “oohed”
and “aawed” I fluttered my lashes and knew (so did Danielle) that I’d be back for more. I ran out of my favorite moisturizer a week or two later and conveniently found myself in Hingham,
dangerously close to Beauty & Main. I figured, since I was so close and it was a Sunday (my moisturizer outfitter was
closed,) I’d check out their moisturizer line. I told the woman how much I was currently spending on moisturizer and
said, “I’d like to stay within that price range.” She showed me a couple of products a little higher priced than mine. They seemed okay. Then I thought, I had
such a good experience with Danielle, that I should take a look at Trish McAvoy. When she told me the price, I nearly choked.
She informed me that Trish’s moisturizer would make all my makeup go on smoother and it would decrease fine lines. (I
immediately recalled that my tax refund check was on it’s way back to me.) I was slowly being sold then, I made the
mistake of telling her I used the same moisturizing product on my eyes that I use on my face. “No, no, no,” she
said. “You need an eye moisturizer for that delicate area. You don’t want crow’s feet, do you?” No,
I certainly don’t! Can I just tell you? I spent more
money on face moisturizer in one purchase than I typically do in a year. I started using the product and, of course, my face
was still dry. I emailed Danielle. She offered to help. When I first got my eye-do, she suggested I come in when I have more
time and she’d help me with a new look for Spring. She would do one side of my face and show me how to do the other.
Sounded like a great idea since I’ve had that done at Sephora (they do both sides.) Inevitably, I’d buy the products,
get home and realize I didn’t know how to recreate the look. To make a long story short, I went in, spent more money on makeup than I do in 3 years and left looking like
J to the L-O just to make the boys say, “Hel-Lo.”
Thu, May 1, 2008 | link
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Greek Easter
Can I just
tell you? Today is Greek Easter and my name day. I shared my Easter Egg Hunt experience with my family and asked if anyone
else had ever experienced one. None of my siblings had but my mom’s sister, Auntie Roxie, made an attempt one year to
hide chocolate eggs for my cousins, but she didn’t continue the tradition for long because they would make her hide
them several more times after they found all the eggs. They all agreed that my Favorite Aunt Sis’s husband, David, went
above and beyond with his Hunt. After I shared the story, everyone felt they had missed out. I also reminded
them about Fluffy, our pet lamb. My aunt informed me that his name was actually, Whitey. Fluffy, was the rabbit we used to
play with that met a similar fate. I must have blocked that memory out.
Sun, April 27, 2008 | link
Laundry
I live in
the heart of the North End, not sure if you’re familiar with the parking situation here but, it’s a major nightmare.
I used to lug all my laundry (25lbs worth) each week or two into my car, drive to the Laundromat 3 blocks away, park illegally,
throw the wash in (if there were enough washers available,) run back to the car, find parking, walk back, switch the wash
over, wait for the dryers, get the car, park illegally, pack up the laundry then try to find an open spot near my apartment
so I wouldn’t have to lug the laundry (half my size, literally) too far back to my apartment. I did this for my first
two years here in Boston. Now, I am the first born of an immigrant mother who thinks it’s a sin for anyone else
but you to clean up after yourself. I’ve been saying for years that I plan on hiring a cleaning person but there’s
something imbedded in me that just can’t justify spending the money when I’m perfectly capable of cleaning for
myself. Unfortunately, my floors haven’t seen a mop in months. That’s a whole other issue I manage by taking my
shoes off upon entering my apartment and having Windex handy for any obvious spots on the floor. I digress… When I last explained
my laundry system to someone I was dating, he asked me about the Wash, Dry, Fold across the street. I told him I had used
it once or twice before but I still had to go to the Laundromat to wash my under-garments. He was visibly confused. “What
do you mean?” he asked. I informed him that I would pull out my underwear because I just didn’t feel comfortable
with a stranger folding my panties. He almost fell off his barstool. We went back and forth examining my logic on this matter
for a solid 10 minutes with the tone of my voice getting more defensive by the second. After I gave it a little more
thought, I agreed that it was probably a silly hang-up. So, I’ve slowly adjusted to using the Wash, Dry, Fold and including
my underwear. I hate to pay a dollar per pound but it’s SO much easier than my previous system. Well, can I just
tell you? When I told my mother about the ease of it, the first thing she asked was, “You let them wash your underwear????”
Sun, April 27, 2008 | link
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