When I get skinny...

When I lose all the weight I want to lose (which will probably take many months) I am going to go on a major shopping spree. So far I have lost 8 pounds (in 3 weeks). More importantly I have lost a lot of inches in my waist, thighs and hips. Although the big shopping spree probably won't happen until next year or the end of this year I have been checking out some cute dresses, career wear, and other outfits. I've picked out a few to share with you here!

First for that special date night with the husband to Georgetown, or even Gallery Walk in my hometown, I could try this very cute, but expensive dress:


Or this more affordable piece with a pair of jeans:




Maybe with these shoes:




And this bag:




Maybe for a cocktail party I could go with this fun pink dress:


or this to really sex it up:



My husband is in school right now, but when he gets out and we can afford a really nice vacation again we want to go island hopping. I love both of these for a tropical vacation on the beach:



Swimwear:


Then I'd like to wear stuff like this for work:




Sleek and Professional:




Finally for the weekend I like to keep it relaxed but I have to show off my new toned body too!
Things like thisjacket or these tops from BLUE FLY would be nice:




Ok, that is my mini-fashion show for my future body!

Don't get me wrong though, until then I will wear my cute plus sized clothes. I am all about the wrapped dress and wide leg trousers for now, but I can just feel the sleek new clothes coming! I like a lot of the styles on this site. Here are a few of my favorites:

Walking around downtown Frederick

It's been a while since I have blogged. I have wanted to, I just kept running out of time. I finally took some pictures of my walk during lunch. Actually, I eat at my desk around 12:30 or 1 then I go out between 2 & 2:30 for my walk. I usually walk 30 -40 min. I only get a 30 min. lunch so I really can't stay out too long. Yesterday I walked a few blocks. It is very relaxing & helps to break up the monotony of the work day in the same office staring at the same people. I like my co-workers a lot, but it helps to get out & take in some fresh air. When I first leave my office I pass the canal.
Although the little canal has been there forever they recently built the bridge and the little condos around it that sell for like 1 million dollars I think! Remember the antiquing I did a few weeks ago? Well this is the place I LOVE to spend my lunch hour just browsing around. I always find new & exciting finds here at Emporium Antiques.
Another block & I am at Chiffon. It is a really cute antique boutique. They have boutique prices on some things too. This dress form is cute, but I think I will wait & see if it goes on sale. Right now it is $45. Not a bad price, but not the bargain of the century either.
I also spotted this little store down the street in an alley! I will have to stop here some day soon.
After going down Carrol Street, turning onto Patrick I reach Market Street. That is "the main strip" of downtown Frederick. It is quite quaint with the variety of stores and restaurants. Then I turned up Church Street. I wonder why they call it that?! This is the Twin Steeples from one of many churches here on Church Street.
Finally I pass by this antique store called Great Stuff by Paul. I have been in here once & plan to go back! Really nice stuff here too.
Then I am back at my office! Isn't that a great walk? Full of temptations to stop & shop though!

Success!

After one week of exercising almost daily & following (sort of) the weight watchers flex point system I lost 6.5 pounds in one week! I am really happy about that. The exercise has not even been too strenuous so far, but I plan to start stepping it up this week. But so far this pass week I have done a lot of walking. I have done the treadmill once, but mostly I have been enjoying the coming Spring weather & getting outside & walking. I did 40 minutes of brisk walking 2 days. The other days I walked during lunch around downtown Frederick, MD. I keep forgetting to take my camera so I can show you all (like anyone reads this) how pretty Frederick is. I promise pictures this week! For work I have to go to court once a week. It is about a 10 minute walk, so I walked this week rather than driving. These little changes seem to really be working for me. In addition to the exercising I have kind of started following weight watchers. I say kind of because I have not officially joined, but I am staying within my alloted points according to what I have read online. I also found this great tool called Daily Plate. I have created a free profile & this helps because I can actually see if I am getting proper nutrition rather than just counting calories, fat & fiber. You could technically eat a bunch of 100 calorie packs of junk food & chemical filled Lean Cuisines & stay within your limits, but I believe in eating real food like brown rice, fish, & oatmeal. Now I only have 75.5 pounds to reach my goal weight! That is still a lot, but I am hopeful that I can get there eventually. Slow & steady. This week my goal will be to lose 4.5 pounds. I know that is a lot, but the first few weeks you can usually lose more before you slow down to 1-2 pounds per week. I hope to be down to my goal by next Feb. Well, I'm going to go get in a good workout at the gym today. Come home & cook something good, relax & enjoy the rest of my weekend.

Long Walk

I took a long walk today at my son's baseball practice. He practices at this huge park called Heritage Farm Park in the town of Walkersville. The park is huge & they have a really nice walking path. I took my 11 year old niece Bryana with me. She did nothing but complain the entire time. She kept asking me to slow down, to take a break, take a short cut. She is very overweight for her age/ height, so I really wanted to try to help her get her weight down. Lola & Bella went too. They loved it! They sniffed & peed & sniffed some more. We walked for a total of 40 minutes (actually Bre finally took a short cut so she probably got in 30 min). Before I dropped Bre off she asked when were going to walk again! Maybe she will get used to it & start to like to exercise after all.

As I was walking I thought how lovely some of the scenere would be for my blog. Next time, pictures! I promise!

I feel pretty good right now! I think I am going to go crash now & get some ZZZZ's.

Something to weigh in on...

I am currently in the process of trying to knock off some weight. I have been thinking about it for awhile, but sometimes it can be such a daunting task. That I hate to even think about all of the work that it takes to lose weight. Back in 2003 I successfully lost about 40 pounds. I felt great & looked great. I lost the weight by getting a personal trainer (very expensive) and eating very well. I only kept the trainer for about 3 months to get on track & then I was fine. Exercise was a habit. Something I just felt that I had to do to feel good. I actually started to enjoy it. I would run into the same people at the gym & you start to kind of root each other on after awhile. I was able to maintain this weight loss give or take 5-10 pounds for 2 years. Then in 2005 I tripped down some stairs and sprained my ankle really bad. I had to wear a "boot" (air cast) for like 6 months. Well, that really put a monkey wrench in my work out plan! So for the past 3 years I have been steadily increasing my weight to gain back all of the 40 pounds plus another 10 for good measure! Dammit! I keep thinking about how much work that was to lose that weight. Now I have to start all over plus an extra 10. Actually the 40 did not even put me at my goal weight so in total I really need to lose like 82 pounds to get to my goal! That is like a whole person! I am actually embarrassed to put that number in black in white for the world to see, but it is what it is.

There are a lot of people at work that are on weight watchers. That is kind of helpful since you have people who are constantly counting up the point value of everything. I don't think I can be a card carrying member of weight watchers, but I do like the idea of a lifestyle that does not require me to give up bread and eat only meat. Or a diet that requires me to give up all sweets forever. So for the past few days I have sort of used the point system to control my eating for the day. The first few days I was going way over what I should have for the day. But I looked at a few great websites that help you see the points values for various foods like this one. There are also sites like this one that tell you all about the system.

In addition, I have a gym membership ( I've had it for almost a year actually ) at Fitness First that I started using again yesterday. I put in about 30 min. on the elliptical trainer for starters. I also plan to go walk around at lunch when I can & maybe walk in the evenings or go to the gym some evenings. I used to lift when I had my trainer so I will also be getting back into that too. My trainer did a great job of teaching me what to do so I know what to do . I just need to get off of my big ass & do it! Speaking of which I need to go take my afternoon walk. Peace!

Antiquing+ cheering on co-workers= My Friday

Yesterday during lunch I went to a few antique shops in downtown Frederick. It was raining, but still only a short walk so I braved the weather & walked around a few stores. I went to one store called Chiffon which is a few blocks away. It was a nice store, but a bit pricey. Next I went to Emporium Antiques. First of all the store is HUGE! It covers like an entire block easily. They have everything from furniture to old Life mags to antique clocks. No joke, if you are looking for something unique you will certainly find it here! I walked around that store for most of the hour lunch break. I found a ton of things I would have loved to take with me, but I settled on a few things I thought would add a great touch to my home. I got this bird hanger.

It is so sweet looking & I am sure I can find the perfect place for it. I also got this cute little owl that seems to peer through to the soul. I love him already!



Finally I got this milk glass cake plate. I made some St. Patrick's Day Cupcakes (boy are they good) & placed them on it! I did not ice them yet in this pic, but you get the idea.



When I went back to work my co-worker Kristen had completed her desk cleaning. She works really hard, as such, her little pod gets papers all over the place. This is her looking oh so happy after getting it all cleaned up. Yay Kristen! She is the sweetest girl!

I'm Back!

I finally got a new power adaptor for my MacBook. I love this computer, but Apple is killing me charging $80 for an adaptor that was barely over a year old, yet had to be replaced. I saw online that so many customers have complained about this adaptor. Apple is great, but this needs to be remedied toot sweet.



But, I am thrilled that I have my wonderful laptop back!

I have been reading a lot of blogs lately. One that I am really enjoying is by Nicole of Pink Loves Brown. She calls her blog Making it Lovely as it is about making her Bungalow style home lovely with creative touches. She posts a lot of great pictures of the process.

This one was taken from a recent hutch redesign she did. Isn't it...well , lovely?

My mutts

Last night I got some rare alone time at home. My husband was in class, my kids went to the YMCA with their grandmother & that left little ol' me home alone (except for my two dogs Lola & Bella & my son's guinea pig Vicious). I really can't say I did much with this time. I basically sat around and listened to Lola crying the whole time because she wanted to go too. What a brat! Here is a picture of Lola & Bella doing what they do best.

They typically lay around all day and look out the window or sleep. Sometimes one of them gets in heat & they try to hump each other. I really never knew female dogs did that. I thought that was something only nasty little horny studs do, but I guess the bitches gotta have some fun too!

The funniest thing is my sons call them lesbians because of this behavior! I tell them that since they are half sisters they are actually incestual lesbians. I'm sayin'. They need to get it right!


Bella watching TV? Lazy mutt!

Trunk Show

Every first Saturday there is a Gallery Walk in downtown Frederick, MD. One of the stores downtown, The Muse , sells Erica Burns Designs, my jewelry line. The owner, Whitney, asked me to be the featured artist this month. I had a real blast interacting with all of the customers all evening and talking about my jewelry. I even saw a girl I went to high school with who recognized me!