So, I've been a bit behind, but I wanted to kind of pop in and do a belated follow-up to Ally's post. I too am doing this whole new year new you thing, though I already set it in the works late last year. I have decided to pursue a gastric sleeve procedure/operation.
I've put a lot of thought and soul-searching into this decision. I don't have a surgery date yet, but I am going through the Comprehensive Obesity Management Program (COMP) at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC). It's a 3+ month process, with lots of testing and information. They have a whole team of dieticians/nutritionists, doctors, nurses, psychologists, and generally just friendly and compassionate people and faces.
In the meantime, I've been checking in regularly with the forums on gastricsleeve.com, as well as doing buckets of research and being very inquisitive of all the people I interact with. I'm worn out with how much it's taking over my life a little bit, but I know it will be worth it, even if I'm becoming a bit more terrified as things progress.
I am contemplating starting up a blog as well solely for my gastric sleeve journey. Since there's a lot of things that would help other "sleevers" or possible sleevers, and it would be a way I can actually look at what I'm doing. Unfortunately, I am kind of like, "Meh? Meh. ...Meh" because of being so exhausted. So, who knows. Maybe not.
Showing posts with label Laura. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Laura. Show all posts
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Fashion Shop Find
I just stumbled across a store via on pin on Pinterest.... Wholesale-Dress.Net. The quality of their service seems really hit or miss, as do a lot of wholesale China/Korean websites, but I think they have enough awesome stuff on the cheap that it's worth a risk to order from them at least once. These are the kind of things you find on eBay for pretty cheap... Only a fraction of the cost, obviously, since there's no reseller markup. Just please be wary of sizing especially - I know, for me, I would only be able to order accessories most likely. Can't even order shoes - damn my big feet! But still. A neat find, definitely worth a gander, imo.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Handmade Gifts
Lately, my pseudo-poverty (i.e., I have no money, but I still carry on as if "it's all good") has resulted in my craftiness and resourcefulness being escalated to terrifying new heights. Obnoxiously so, even. Coupled with the fact that I more or less have no kitchen to work with (2 stove top burners, a microwave and a standard small toaster oven), and consider myself an avid baker and a creative cook... Yeah. Things get interesting. So! Let's do a quick trip of my things I've done lately, and things yet to do.
Mini Pumpkin Pies, used with this pumpkin pie filling.
So, my mom tasked me with making pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, as I always do. Welp, no oven! Toaster oven. I have a small pie making machine, but (a), I haven't worked out all the kinks yet, and (b), it was tucked away who knows where in my storage unit. So, instead, I followed the above tutorial (vague as it is) to make the mini pies. I had my boyfriend slicing out the rounds (used a bowl, probably 3-4" in diameter" and popped the suckers in. They turned out great! The pie filling was so-so, but otherwise it was a hit. At least with me.
Pumpkin Marmalade in baby jars as Thanksgiving hostess gifts
I made these on kind of a lark... Saw it on Pinterest, decided whoop, why not. Bought the baby food jars, used some of the canned pumpkin puree I had stocked up on (they had regular sized cans at Dollar Tree! How could I not get four?), and appropriated some company materials (i.e. a piece of card stock and eight reinforcements). I added in cinnamon from the recipe, but it came out delish. It recommended it being used with cheese and bread, but spread out on bread by itself, especially an English muffin or scone, would be perfect. Surprisingly delicious, even though it kinda looks similar to the baby food it replaced.
Lavender Mint Bath Salts (picture forthcoming)
I made a batch or two of these, since my mother had given me an ungodly amount of dried lavender that she appropriated from a large lavender bush outside her work earlier in the year. (They were going to cut it back, since it was going nuts and reaching over the sidewalk, so she "helped".) UNGODLY. So I decided to make these bath salts for my boyfriend's mom, since she takes baths with epsom salts regularly. Thought it was a good idea...until said boyfriend pointed out that she hate anything that smells nice whatsoever. Sooo, making some for his grandmother it seems. Anyway, they turned out lovely! Instead of using a canning jar, I just used some glass screw-top jars from miscellaneous sauces and such - I always keep them around because they make handy containers for buttons, beads, etc. I believe I ended up using two jars that were formerly pesto. The mint ended up being a bit strong, since I didn't have a dropper, so I just kinda went for it. I got a tiny vial of the spearmint oil on eBay for $3 with free shipping. Epsom salts...$2 or something for a big carton. I had the lavender, sea salt, and jars on hand, so everything else was free. Yay cheap gifts. I had enough for two jars' worth, and still have plenty of the supplies, so I could definitely make more.
Pepper Jelly (no picture)
I have been tasked with making pepper jelly for my extended family on my father's side, since my grandmother isn't faring well lately, and she always puts together baskets of food every year for all her children. All of the family is chipping in to put these baskets together. So, since I did the marmalade, my mother suggested I do the pepper jelly - so I'm on the mission. However, my grandmother has a recipe of who knows where, and since she's developed Alzheimer's, there's pretty much no way to find out if she has it written down, or can remember it anyway. Leave it to Laura! I'm going to use this recipe and tweak it. To start, I don't like peppers or spicy food at all, so this is all kind of working blind. She never used jalapenos, just regular bell peppers of varying colors, so I will mostly stick with that and might put one jalapeno in for a tiny kick. It should be interesting, since I have never done any legitimate canning in my life, except assisting my friend making jams by hauling out the jars out of the boiling water.
52 Things I Love About You (no picture)
I put this together for my boyfriend, only with 50 cards, since I didn't have any jokers (he had taken them out already) and there were only the standard 52 to work with off the start... Since I needed a cover and back, I used two cards. So, 50 Things I Love About You. Easy and pretty adorable. I didn't use mod podge or rubber cement, just a regular glue stick and smooshed the heck out of the cards so they would stay. I had some trouble finding the right ring size, and finding them at all - I ended up having to get them from Staples, and it was $3.79 for twelve. Rip off! Anyway, it looks lovely. And it was really hard to think of 50 things to say, in truth. But I ended up with 50, and a few more that I had to cut. He loves doing card tricks and has more than a few decks of cards (which is how I nabbed this one), so I thought this would be a really sweet and easy Christmas present. And it was!
In addition to all this, I am also embroidering Christmas stockings for the boyfriends - my own as well as my sister's boyfriend. I will try and post pictures if they come out well! <3
Mini Pumpkin Pies, used with this pumpkin pie filling.
Pumpkin Marmalade in baby jars as Thanksgiving hostess gifts
Lavender Mint Bath Salts (picture forthcoming)
I made a batch or two of these, since my mother had given me an ungodly amount of dried lavender that she appropriated from a large lavender bush outside her work earlier in the year. (They were going to cut it back, since it was going nuts and reaching over the sidewalk, so she "helped".) UNGODLY. So I decided to make these bath salts for my boyfriend's mom, since she takes baths with epsom salts regularly. Thought it was a good idea...until said boyfriend pointed out that she hate anything that smells nice whatsoever. Sooo, making some for his grandmother it seems. Anyway, they turned out lovely! Instead of using a canning jar, I just used some glass screw-top jars from miscellaneous sauces and such - I always keep them around because they make handy containers for buttons, beads, etc. I believe I ended up using two jars that were formerly pesto. The mint ended up being a bit strong, since I didn't have a dropper, so I just kinda went for it. I got a tiny vial of the spearmint oil on eBay for $3 with free shipping. Epsom salts...$2 or something for a big carton. I had the lavender, sea salt, and jars on hand, so everything else was free. Yay cheap gifts. I had enough for two jars' worth, and still have plenty of the supplies, so I could definitely make more.
Pepper Jelly (no picture)
I have been tasked with making pepper jelly for my extended family on my father's side, since my grandmother isn't faring well lately, and she always puts together baskets of food every year for all her children. All of the family is chipping in to put these baskets together. So, since I did the marmalade, my mother suggested I do the pepper jelly - so I'm on the mission. However, my grandmother has a recipe of who knows where, and since she's developed Alzheimer's, there's pretty much no way to find out if she has it written down, or can remember it anyway. Leave it to Laura! I'm going to use this recipe and tweak it. To start, I don't like peppers or spicy food at all, so this is all kind of working blind. She never used jalapenos, just regular bell peppers of varying colors, so I will mostly stick with that and might put one jalapeno in for a tiny kick. It should be interesting, since I have never done any legitimate canning in my life, except assisting my friend making jams by hauling out the jars out of the boiling water.
52 Things I Love About You (no picture)
I put this together for my boyfriend, only with 50 cards, since I didn't have any jokers (he had taken them out already) and there were only the standard 52 to work with off the start... Since I needed a cover and back, I used two cards. So, 50 Things I Love About You. Easy and pretty adorable. I didn't use mod podge or rubber cement, just a regular glue stick and smooshed the heck out of the cards so they would stay. I had some trouble finding the right ring size, and finding them at all - I ended up having to get them from Staples, and it was $3.79 for twelve. Rip off! Anyway, it looks lovely. And it was really hard to think of 50 things to say, in truth. But I ended up with 50, and a few more that I had to cut. He loves doing card tricks and has more than a few decks of cards (which is how I nabbed this one), so I thought this would be a really sweet and easy Christmas present. And it was!
In addition to all this, I am also embroidering Christmas stockings for the boyfriends - my own as well as my sister's boyfriend. I will try and post pictures if they come out well! <3
Friday, November 16, 2012
Holding Up the Girls
So, I'd like to post a quick review. Recently I had a boudoir-type photo shoot done of myself where I was having my shirt open. Clearly, I needed some type of support for the girls. I am a D cup, though bordering on DD sometimes. This makes things a bit more difficult, as there's a good deal of meat to hold up. So! I bought several things in hopes that I'd get it all squared away. So let me go on and review these things, in the event that you're ever looking for something like this in the future.
Fashion Forms Women's Backless Strapless U-Plunge Bra - Amazon item page
This was my first choice, and the biggest fail. Not only was it complicated to put on - lean forward, adjust boobs, not to mention adhesive inside the cups, in addition to the adhesive straps on the side - but the support was minimal, and my ladies were hardly contained. If it had been all of the cleavage, that would have been fine. But oh no, they were on the side and bottom and top and center and just... my cup overfloweth. Like I said, I run a D-cup, and bought the D-cup. No way. I would have needed a DD or E, an they don't make them that large. On the plus side, the adhesive sides, which seem the sketchiest aspect, work incredibly well. But if the rest is a fail... then it's not going to work out anyway.
Hollywood Fashion Tape Double-Stick Strips - Amazon item page
I knew that if I was wearing an open shirt, I would probably want it to stick on, lest I have a nip slip. For that aspect, this works fabulous. Granted, it was to a cotton white dress shirt, so it was probably the most ideal fabric you could adhere to. However, when it came to lifting the girls and adhering the clothing to them... The lift was pretty minimal. That isn't really an advertised use, but I was hopeful. It ended up working well, though, and I am glad to have these for the future. I will probably also end up using them for dress shirts that tend to have open gaps across the bust, instead of using safety pins.
Bare Lifts - Amazon item page
So, I kind of bought these as a "what the hell, why not" after the U-Plunge Bra failure. They had these at Dollar Tree. These actually worked great. I had my boyfriend help apply them, but they did a great job! For something that's an "As Seen on TV" and found in the dollar store... I was really pleased. It's not as super perky as seen in the before & after pictures, but that could be just because of my breast size.
In any case, I may post some of the pictures later, as a follow-up to this post. Plus, hopefully they will be nice looking, once I get them back, and will want to share them!
This was my first choice, and the biggest fail. Not only was it complicated to put on - lean forward, adjust boobs, not to mention adhesive inside the cups, in addition to the adhesive straps on the side - but the support was minimal, and my ladies were hardly contained. If it had been all of the cleavage, that would have been fine. But oh no, they were on the side and bottom and top and center and just... my cup overfloweth. Like I said, I run a D-cup, and bought the D-cup. No way. I would have needed a DD or E, an they don't make them that large. On the plus side, the adhesive sides, which seem the sketchiest aspect, work incredibly well. But if the rest is a fail... then it's not going to work out anyway.
Hollywood Fashion Tape Double-Stick Strips - Amazon item page
I knew that if I was wearing an open shirt, I would probably want it to stick on, lest I have a nip slip. For that aspect, this works fabulous. Granted, it was to a cotton white dress shirt, so it was probably the most ideal fabric you could adhere to. However, when it came to lifting the girls and adhering the clothing to them... The lift was pretty minimal. That isn't really an advertised use, but I was hopeful. It ended up working well, though, and I am glad to have these for the future. I will probably also end up using them for dress shirts that tend to have open gaps across the bust, instead of using safety pins.
So, I kind of bought these as a "what the hell, why not" after the U-Plunge Bra failure. They had these at Dollar Tree. These actually worked great. I had my boyfriend help apply them, but they did a great job! For something that's an "As Seen on TV" and found in the dollar store... I was really pleased. It's not as super perky as seen in the before & after pictures, but that could be just because of my breast size.
In any case, I may post some of the pictures later, as a follow-up to this post. Plus, hopefully they will be nice looking, once I get them back, and will want to share them!
Friday, November 9, 2012
App I Love
So, I have had a Droid for about a year and a half now. Recently I downloaded the app Pattrn. The base concept is that it is a repository of pattern wallpapers for your phone, that change daily. You can select different preferences, search by color code, etc.
It is not available for the iPhone at this point, but I'm curious - what do you think? Is having a different wallpaper a day a good or bad thing? Are you very attached to keeping one wallpaper?
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
What's in my purse?
So, a part one of two I suppose - I'm going to do a quick post on what is in my bag.
I know, you're so ecstatic! So very ecstatic.
Left: It's my purse - from Nine West, picked up at a Goodwill. (Looked a lot better than my beat up spider tote bag I had been using for a purse at that point... Especially needed something nicer for going around NYC.) On top of said purse is my key fob with all my fobs for stores. They've migrated to their own ring entirely and clip onto the inside of one of those rings. Works out quite well, actually!
Center column: Ibuprofen (cause, seriously, who doesn't carry some sort of advil/tylenol/motrin/aleve/etc?), Kleenex, hand/body lotion (a sample from a best western...hey, it works!), an embroidered owl compact mirror from Fossil, Sally Girl lip gloss (given to me by the makeup artist for my friend's wedding), Burt's Bees lip balm, anxiety pills, thumb drive, and and two asthma inhalers.
Right column: Coupon organizer that I don't use regularly (coupons have such short expiration dates - tear, tear), my wallet, which is busting... A duplicate copy of a prescription for an allergy medication, a hot curler holding pin (nabbed from the b&b during the wedding to macguyver some stuff), a single bobby pin, a pair of tweezers, another thumb drive, three pens and a purple sharpie.
Oh, and that bottle at the top right corner? Ground cinnamon.
Yeaaah..... I have been taking to and from work because I keep meaning to print out a label to put on it, but I have been swamped with paperwork and catch-up from Hurricane Sandy. So, the bottle goes to work and home with me. It's a pretty adorable "vintage" glass bottle, with the hole shaker insert in it as well, but it doesn't fit in super snugly, so I have to be really careful I don't knock it over and dump cinnamon all over my purse... Thankfully, it's super high quality cinnamon. Hence the "decanting" and fancy bottle.
Not sure what kind of story that tells, other than "hobo"... But hopefully it was um...ecstatic-making for you all. <3
I know, you're so ecstatic! So very ecstatic.
Left: It's my purse - from Nine West, picked up at a Goodwill. (Looked a lot better than my beat up spider tote bag I had been using for a purse at that point... Especially needed something nicer for going around NYC.) On top of said purse is my key fob with all my fobs for stores. They've migrated to their own ring entirely and clip onto the inside of one of those rings. Works out quite well, actually!
Center column: Ibuprofen (cause, seriously, who doesn't carry some sort of advil/tylenol/motrin/aleve/etc?), Kleenex, hand/body lotion (a sample from a best western...hey, it works!), an embroidered owl compact mirror from Fossil, Sally Girl lip gloss (given to me by the makeup artist for my friend's wedding), Burt's Bees lip balm, anxiety pills, thumb drive, and and two asthma inhalers.
Right column: Coupon organizer that I don't use regularly (coupons have such short expiration dates - tear, tear), my wallet, which is busting... A duplicate copy of a prescription for an allergy medication, a hot curler holding pin (nabbed from the b&b during the wedding to macguyver some stuff), a single bobby pin, a pair of tweezers, another thumb drive, three pens and a purple sharpie.
Oh, and that bottle at the top right corner? Ground cinnamon.
Yeaaah..... I have been taking to and from work because I keep meaning to print out a label to put on it, but I have been swamped with paperwork and catch-up from Hurricane Sandy. So, the bottle goes to work and home with me. It's a pretty adorable "vintage" glass bottle, with the hole shaker insert in it as well, but it doesn't fit in super snugly, so I have to be really careful I don't knock it over and dump cinnamon all over my purse... Thankfully, it's super high quality cinnamon. Hence the "decanting" and fancy bottle.
Not sure what kind of story that tells, other than "hobo"... But hopefully it was um...ecstatic-making for you all. <3
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Halloween-Themed Nails
Let me start by saying I bite my nails. All my life. I've tried not to, believe you me. It...really never works. However, I did get a full acrylic set done in the past year, so I can appreciate what full nails are like. So I am always amazed wen I see some of the amazing things that people do with nails.
Amazing.
Below are some straight-up buys as well as tutorials for doing these yourself. A great way to stare in awe at your fingers all day long and really get in the Halloween spirit!
P.S. Can anyone say watermarks? I know why, but daaaamn!
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Jewelry Making
So what I've been up to - aside from lacking in posting - is jewelry making. I have been going hog-wild.. My main focus at the moment is leather earrings, but I'm branching out, slowly and surely. I've also been making upcycled cake plates. (Sounds kinda silly, but I kinda love them...)
In my love of crafting, and realizing that if I make a bunch of things and don't do anything with them, that I've become a hoarder.... In my love of crafting, I decided to open up an Etsy shop. So this is kind of a bit of blatant self-promotion here, but truly I am trying to get off the ground.
(I also recently applied to be a vendor at the Holiday Heap 2012 craft show in Baltimore, MD, organized by the Charm City Craft Mafia, but it is a juried craft show, so I have to be accepted. I'm keeping my fingers crossed! I think it would be a great place to get my name out, make a lot of sales, etc.)
Anyway, my shop is "the wright girl" (the original title was going to be "fits the bill" but I think that's possibly even more dopey), at www.etsy.com/shop/raphaelsmuse.
(P.S. I'm sure my next post is either going to be about wedding stuff, since I'm a maid of honor in my friend's wedding in two weeks, or about Halloween and autumn. Most likely the latter. So my shameless self-promotion will probably end here.)
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Shoe Woes! aka First World Problems
The shoes I wanted:
The shoes I got:
(for my new second job working as a catering server)
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Personal Intro for Moi (lengthy)
Hello all out in the blogosphere! I'd like to present myself, Laura, for your consideration for the position of Kittens and Kicks blog writer. Yes? I'm in? YESSS *fist pump*
So, recently I moved in with my boyfriend due to some unfortunate circumstances with my apartment situation. It's a lot of getting used to, especially considering 95% of my stuff (clothing included) is in a storage unit. In addition, the kitchen is woeful, the main big problem being that there is no oven. The kitchen appliances available to me are a microwave, a small toaster oven, and two stovetop burners. This is supposed to be a full kitchen in a standard single family home.
To me, the kitchen is where my self-power originates; it is the home for my soul. To have a poorly equipped kitchen (let me not even mention the fact that the seasonings are old and questionable beyond measure, basic implements are missing or caked with years of grime...) to me makes me feel like I have way to ground myself, to feel settled. So, in order to accustom myself to my new surroundings, I have tried to make the best out of it.
Everything that I would normally cook in the oven - i.e. everything - I have downsized. I love baking more than anything, so not being able to bake was going to kill me. So I have downsized, making cakes in 7" round pans (disposables from Dollar Tree - 4 for $1). Also doing a lot of grilling! Can't make a full-size pizza? I made a margherita pizza on the grill last week with a packaged dough mix, and it turned out great. I currently have a cinnamon apple cake in the oven... Since the batter is meant for an 8" or 9" pan, I ended up making two 7"s... probably because I put more apple in than I should have. (Over the past few years, I have been embracing fruit-based baked goods, though I am still a chocolate girl at the core.)
In short, this whole cooking and baking thing has really reminded me how I have a good deal of ingenuity. Now these challenges, while first discouraging, have really given me something to get excited about - like how am I going to make this work? Thankfully, my boyfriend is willing to put up with some of the oddball things I want to make - there aren't many people, let alone men, who would feel like grilling a pizza on a little 20" charbroil grill. Hell, I wouldn't have considered it unless I was forced into this situation.
So please, look forward to more recipes and cooking/baking excursions from me. I am planning on making shrimp pasta in a foil package tonight. Like I said, looking for new things - new recipes, new challenges. This blog too will be a challenge - especially in the "trying to not write a novel". Please bear with me - I will try and lessen my word vomit as time goes on.
So, recently I moved in with my boyfriend due to some unfortunate circumstances with my apartment situation. It's a lot of getting used to, especially considering 95% of my stuff (clothing included) is in a storage unit. In addition, the kitchen is woeful, the main big problem being that there is no oven. The kitchen appliances available to me are a microwave, a small toaster oven, and two stovetop burners. This is supposed to be a full kitchen in a standard single family home.
To me, the kitchen is where my self-power originates; it is the home for my soul. To have a poorly equipped kitchen (let me not even mention the fact that the seasonings are old and questionable beyond measure, basic implements are missing or caked with years of grime...) to me makes me feel like I have way to ground myself, to feel settled. So, in order to accustom myself to my new surroundings, I have tried to make the best out of it.
Everything that I would normally cook in the oven - i.e. everything - I have downsized. I love baking more than anything, so not being able to bake was going to kill me. So I have downsized, making cakes in 7" round pans (disposables from Dollar Tree - 4 for $1). Also doing a lot of grilling! Can't make a full-size pizza? I made a margherita pizza on the grill last week with a packaged dough mix, and it turned out great. I currently have a cinnamon apple cake in the oven... Since the batter is meant for an 8" or 9" pan, I ended up making two 7"s... probably because I put more apple in than I should have. (Over the past few years, I have been embracing fruit-based baked goods, though I am still a chocolate girl at the core.)
In short, this whole cooking and baking thing has really reminded me how I have a good deal of ingenuity. Now these challenges, while first discouraging, have really given me something to get excited about - like how am I going to make this work? Thankfully, my boyfriend is willing to put up with some of the oddball things I want to make - there aren't many people, let alone men, who would feel like grilling a pizza on a little 20" charbroil grill. Hell, I wouldn't have considered it unless I was forced into this situation.
So please, look forward to more recipes and cooking/baking excursions from me. I am planning on making shrimp pasta in a foil package tonight. Like I said, looking for new things - new recipes, new challenges. This blog too will be a challenge - especially in the "trying to not write a novel". Please bear with me - I will try and lessen my word vomit as time goes on.
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