Blonde Ambition

Being the chubby girl, Halloween costume shopping was a huge drag. I haven't even bothered with one for the last 5 years. Deep down I've always wanted to wear one of those fun sexy aka slutty costumes. Nothing super hoochie but just something with a short skirt and maybe a little cleavage. After losing weight, I decided this year would be the year. I began looking at costumes online back in August to get an idea of what was out there.

With all of the craziness that hubby's job situation has caused, Halloween has been the last thing on my mind lately. So on Tuesday, hubby suggested we go to the costume store. Biggest let down, ever. Everything was either extremely trashy looking or super expensive. Regardless of the fact that we are on a tight budget, I refuse to pay $75 for a handkerchief sized piece of fabric with some tulle underneath. So at that point I wanted to just spend my Halloween at home but we had already made plans. So at that point I just needed some sort of a costume. I didn't care for any of the regular costumes so I decided to be creative and figure out what I could come up with on my own. Some of my ideas were:

• Emo kid-I found these instructions online. Last week I bought some skinny jeans at Forever 21 so I knew I could wear those. But after reading item 3 "Wear skin tight clothes, regardless of how fat you are" I reminded myself that this is something I could have worn any year.



• Gossip Girl characters-I also found instructions on how to dress like Serena or Blair. My first choice would have been Blair. I love her headbands but as a blond, I don't think I could have pulled it off without a lot of people asking, "What are you?" As for being Serena, I am lacking the waifish figure and so I fear I might just look like I'm trying to dress "boho chic."

So this morning, frustrated and ready to just buy some animal ears to wear with my usual clothes, the thought occurred to me that I could sew a costume. I realize I only have one day but what's one all nighter in order to have a cute costume? I went to Walmart and found this pattern and decided on Little Red Riding Hood. I got all of the fabric, the zipper and the pattern for $33. The pattern looks similar enough to the dress I made this summer and my mom explained a few ways I can cut corners. So although it's completely crazy to take this on one night before Halloween, I'm excited! I figure blogging about it will be good motivation because I don't want the embarrassment of saying I gave up. Wish me luck!

Posted by Laura at 1:58 PM 3 comments

Labels: Sewing

Happy One Year Anniversary!

Boy how time flies! It seems like only yesterday...

Posted by Laura at 1:29 PM 1 comments

I have tried a few new Lean Cuisines lately that have been awesome. All of them have really good flavor and the chicken is all white meat. They also have no transfats, yippeee!!

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Thai-Style Chicken

Sesame Chicken
7 WW Points

Posted by Laura at 12:57 PM 0 comments

Labels: Food

We went to Laguna Beach yesterday to walk around and get something to eat at this restaurant where you can dine with your dogs. We decided to take advantage of the situation and treat Gunner like the human he thinks he is. I know this looks so creepy but these photos keep cracking me up every time I look at them.

Bailey would have no part in all of this. He was content to stay on the ground and people watch. Even a quick photo seemed to annoy him.

A woman who owns a pet food store right by the restaurant brought the boys some lunch.

What better way to end the day than at Golden Spoon!

Posted by Laura at 4:53 PM 3 comments

Labels: Doggies, My Husband is Awesome

He called me earlier to let me know he made the bed, folded and put away all of the laundry and picked up our room. This week he has done the grocery shopping too! I had to explain the grocery game in detail to him but still such a great relief to not have to worry about it. We are both enjoying this but he better not get any ideas, when it comes time for kids I get to stay at home :)

Posted by Laura at 2:16 PM 3 comments

Labels: Life and Such

Posted by Laura at 1:51 PM 0 comments

Labels: Food

I made this quilt for a friend's baby shower. She is a fellow dog lover so this was so much fun to make.

Posted by Laura at 1:36 PM 1 comments

Labels: Sewing

We were in Burbank for a friend's art show and decided to go to Bob's Big Boy. I think the last time I ate at one I was under the age of 10. The food was yummy but the best part was of course Bob.

Posted by Laura at 9:14 PM 3 comments

Labels: Fun with Friends

If I actually did the Slim fast diet, I would probably die after the first day. Even now that their system includes more than just a 2 shakes and dinner, I still couldn't hang with that little of food. But I love having them for breakfast. I blend them with some soy milk and ice (3 points) and it keeps me full until lunch time.

Before I started making the Slim Fast shakes, I was buying the Weight Watchers shakes which were $7 for a box of seven. All Weight Watchers products are expensive but things like the shakes that are only sold at the meeting centers are even more of a rip off. Once the shakes became my daily breakfast I decided I need to find a better option.


I have also tried the Kashi Go Lean Smoothies but before you even add the milk they are 4 points and they taste like chocolate milk blended with sand.

I haven't been able to find any Slim Fast coupons lately but occasionally they are in the Sunday paper and I've found that Walmart has it the cheapest for around $6 a tub which makes 14 shakes.

Posted by Laura at 4:25 PM 2 comments

Labels: Food

My post yesterday got me thinking about the craziness that is diet food. On one hand, it is nice to have "healthier" (depending on what aspect you are talking about) options of my favorite foods when I'm craving them. On the other hand though, they can become my crutch and prevent me from finding a fresh, whole food alternative to satisfy me.
One of the biggest reasons I love WW is because they teach balance. I get furious at other weight loss programs that are based solely on eating their foods. I have heard of numerous people who have tried a certain program, lost a bunch of weight but as soon as they stopped eating the food, they gained the weight back because they had no idea how to eat in the real world. That means either a life of the lose the weight, gain the weight back, return to the plan and lose the weight again, gain the weight back again roller coaster or maintaining but doomed to frozen meals.

Weight Watchers does have their own version of every food item known to man (I mean is WW cheese really any different than regular reduced fat cheese?)but it is seen as an aid to their program, not the core.
Even when incorporating "diet" foods into WW, I've found that not all are a yummy low point substitute of the real thing. Because they can be so costly, I think some people are afraid to try them for fear of being a waste of money. So I'm going to start blogging about the ones I like and try my best to find links for coupons. Also, I'll blog about the ones that have made me contemplate mailing the chewed up bite of grossness to the company.

Posted by Laura at 10:23 AM 2 comments

Labels: Food

In the last week, I have tried two new foods that I'm now addicted to.

First, Fiber One has come out with their version of the PopTart. I'm not a big PopTart person so I wouldn't be heartbroken if they turned out to be gross or didn't taste exactly like the real thing. I can't remember the last time I ate a real PopTart but I they tasted really good and didn't have that fake, diet-y taste. Since they have 5 grams of fiber and only 15 grams of sugar, I was left feeling satisfied didn't experience the crash and burn I normally get from a donut or other breakfast sweet. I tried the Strawberry ones but learned this morning when I went looking for this photo that they have chocolate fudge. I'm definitely going to try those ones next.

I've also become addicted to the Weight Watchers Cookies and Cream Bars. I don't give into the Weight Watchers food hype very often but we were at the store and I needed some WW friendly desserts to keep in the freezer. I had coupons so they only ended up being $3. I was hoping they would be good but was skeptical because a lot of times these diet desserts are the size of my thumb or taste like crap. Hubby tried these before I did and even he was hooked. They taste good and are actually decent sized. I advise looking for coupons and sales before buying any WW products. These suckers are normally $6 for a box of 6.

Posted by Laura at 9:48 AM 2 comments

Labels: Food