Friday, February 4, 2011

Friday Mishmash

Oh what a week. Forgive me - I'm having a hard time focusing on anything right now, so this post will probably be more mishmashier than usual.

Comment Catch Up:

I feel like I got to know a lot of you better by your comments on my scale post - it is really interesting to me to see what your motivations are for stepping on it, and how it "talks" to you. Some of you are so logical! I envy your ability to take the emotions out of stepping on the scale, and simply use that number as a tool in your weight-loss/maintenance arsenal. Like many of you, I take it personally. It's a source of frustration and self-worth (yes, that is incredibly sad, but this is coming from someone who had anorexia as a teenager). I know, it's just an inanimate object. But I think Carla was onto something - and I had forgotten that my friend Barbara had observed this as well last summer when I was visiting her:

I'm not a numbers person. I hate math. My eyes glaze over when anything numerical comes up...I don't pay any attention to my heart rate when I exercise, don't balance my bank statement (several of you just fainted, I'm sure - however, I do check it everyday online) - I mentally tune out. I only use my Garmin to see how far I run and how fast each mile was - I don't calculate pace or speed work or anything like that. And I'm perfectly happy with that. I think that at this point, I'm ready to give this whole "no scale" thing a whirl - a long-term separation, so to speak. My clothes and I will let you know how this turns out!

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There is a new restaurant in our town - Newk's. We went there the other day for dinner where I tried their "Newk's Favorite" salad. It was really good, and HUGE! Plus, they serve it in a slanted bowl that made me feel like I was diving, face first, into a giant meal...which I was. :)

If I wasn't stress eating, I could split this salad and be quite content with the amount. But hey, if you're gonna stress eat, a ginormous salad is a better choice than Taco Bell, that's for sure.

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In the midst of all this bitterly cold weather, I had a taste of summer:
Holy moly this was good - cantaloupe that was so juicy, and strawberries that actually tasted like strawberries! And they didn't cost an arm and a leg - what a treat!

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We have been hunkered down with this cold weather - basically I got all of my errands done on Monday and pretty much stayed inside the house after that. Paco has gone into hibernation as well - I don't think I've ever seen this dog sleep so much. The view from my desk one day (and I should point out that the heater vent is almost directly over this chair...might have something to do with his comfort level):
Head on pillow, sound asleep...
An hour later, I noticed that he'd changed position...
But back to snuggling with his pillow, nice and warm.

It truly is a dog's life!

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It's hard to gauge from this picture, but this was the biggest cardinal I've ever seen - it was huge! Can birds get fat? Hmmm...
He was eating the red berries - quite fun to watch!

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You know how they say it's the little things? I finally got my greeting cards and magazines organized - my mother hand stamps cards and keeps me in good supply, but they were in random places in my closet. Now everything is at hand in my office, which gives me a tiny sense of peace.

I found these boxes at Target - love the metal snaps and corners on them!

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I wasn't going to even bother with doing Fashion Friday this week, because I have been living in sweats, fleece tops and wool socks - it's cold, people! But I Tina posted this picture on her blog and I thought "hey, I have the same color shirt and puffy vest!" - so I got dressed yesterday in real clothes so I could copy her! Actually, I needed to go to the grocery store, and while it's my fervent hope that Stacy and Clinton are secretly taping me so I can go on What Not To Wear, I just cannot make one of my "before" shots be me wearing sweats in public. Not gonna happen, ever. Anyway, here's my homage to Tina:
Puffy purple vest - not my thinnest look, but it sure helped to keep me warm!

Speaking of warm, everyone - stay warm! Have a good weekend.

20 comments:

  1. I love purple.
    I ADORE THE VEST.
    Theres snow outside here in the ATX!!

    Im sorry youre stressed and stress eating, Shelley.
    and yet you nailed it---the salad beats the pants off a bigbig box of the tarts of the pop.

    xo

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  2. I think you do look thin in that outfit, so there.
    I am so not a numbers person, I nodded my head in agreement to each of your examples.
    It's going to get better....or you are going to feel better or something like that. Hugs (big ones!)

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  3. Purple and green. Too cute. I hear you about staying in. It's 33 degrees here and the sun hasn't come up yet.

    I have given me motivation to do some organizing.

    Paco truly is a wonder dog. Have a great weekend,

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  4. Are you boys enjoying their sabbatical? I'm about to go stir crazy.

    I share all your mathy-stuff, excepting the scale. Apparently I wander to far afield without a reminder. I do a decent job of not letting it determine my self-worth. I think that I'm learning that I need to monitor, as I can go so far, so fast and those kind of nasty surprises I hate.

    I love the green and purple - and I love it that those puffy vests are back in style. Being from the PNW, I lived in them back in the day.

    Stay warm!

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  5. I love everything you said from the slanted plate to the puffy vest. I want to eat off of a slanted plate wearing a puffy vest. Such a copy cat I am!

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  6. Oh my Shelley: you don't like numbers so my post about my January goals must have been a nightmare for you :lol:

    What a beautiful bird that carnival is, we don't have that here.

    About the weather: it looks like it's Autumn here today: not cold, wind, rain. But I'm not complaining: anything better than snow!

    Have a great weekend my friend.

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  7. Every time I leave my house I think Stacy and Clinton are gonna pull me over! You look so cute - love the lime green/purple combo!

    Stay warm! It's supposed to get into the 30's by the weekend, pretty sure I'll be wearing shorts :D

    Hugs!

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  8. Look how cute you are in your puffy vest. Not fat at all. On the other hand, I am refusing the puff for fleece right now as I tend to look like the Michelin Tire Man when I put my hot pink one on. Maybe if I switched to one of your salads and stopped with the chocolate covered cherries?

    Man you are making me feel bad about the way my office looks right now.

    And I TOLD Fran if you read her goals post your head would explode.

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  9. We're twins!!! Who knew that all the cold weather wouldn't put a damper on our hotness? We did!

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  10. Love purple - really like that puffy vest. You reminded me that I have this really nice purple jade bracelet I haven't seen for a while...perhaps a la your card organization, my jewellery could get sorted?? Something to do this weekend maybe :)

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  11. I think Paco is an honorary dachshund!

    And I LOVE the cardinal picture. That would be so cool to see one in my backyard.

    I might have to get a puffy vest for myself. I like the idea of my arms being free.

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  12. Yeah - stress eating. The one thing I really struggle with.

    I like the no-scale thing. I have gone as long as a month without weighing, but I do like to check in from time to time. I am a numbers girl, which is why I love logging my food. Yes, I am dork :D

    Birds puff up in cold weather to give them some air insulation. I love how birds do that because they look like puffballs, especially the small sparrows.

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  13. I have a dark purple cable knit hoodie & a green puffy vest (same colors, really, just switched) that I love to rock in the fall. Too damn cold now - it was -4 when I work up this morning! Gross.

    Happy Weekend Shelley!

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  14. It's perfectly balmy today at 30 degrees. People are running around in sweatshirts and sweaters.

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  15. I love the vest too. I have 4 of those file boxes with snaps too.

    At breakfast the other day, my sons and I also saw a fat cardinal. I don't wanna 1-up you, but ours looked like he ate yours.
    ;)

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  16. LOVE the purple/green combo!! OOOH...we don't have cardinals up here in these parts, I'd love to see one sometime! My cat would too, but for a very different reason! (she's an indoor cat, no harm would come to the bird! :) ) Have a great weekend Shelley!!

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  17. I also hate math. Ewww! I love the purple vest. I think the salad looks grand and I'm sure it tastes tons better than Taco Hell. Glad to see you're keeping your chin up with the ankle thing. Hang in there! I saw you got some ice down your way today. Yucky.

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  18. You've been on my mind. Hope you're doing ok.

    I read a great article about the scale in an old Oxygen magazine. I've been catching up on some reading while this cold weather is keeping me indoors. No running or biking or hiking for this chick.
    (Pst, I don't balance my checkbook either. :D )


    Your cardinal looks big because he is fluffing his feathers to keep warm. They all look like big poofs outside right now. I wish I could bring them inside to warm up. :)

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  19. I think you are making the right decision about the scale. I think you are doing great, and you are right, if you clothes get a little snug, then get back to the basics.

    Love the green/purple idea you stole. It looks cute!

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  20. Love the lime and purple together; it's not always about looking "thin" in every outfit, it's about looking confident and strong and YOU. And that you've done in spades, Shelley.

    That fruit looks so tasty. Wish we had some of that around here!

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