Monday, August 30, 2010

I just can't stay.

Apparently I just can't stay long enough to write the blog posts I want to write right now.

I'm slapping this up on the screen for you guys in a hurry before I hop in the shower, scramble a bag together and get on a plane to Denver.  John Mayer, 4th row at Red Rocks?  Yeah, that'll be me Wednesday. ;)

In the mean time, please do this:

1.  Please, PLEASE go and  Vote for me over at WISN - my local "best of business" contest.  I've fallen to 2nd place and need some votes!  Thank you sooo much.  It takes about 2 minutes - just click "cast vote," then register (they only want to make sure you're a real person, and it's only one vote per e-mail address,) and then confirm by clicking the link in your e-mail afterward.  Voila!  (And thank you.)  Oh, and if you're feeling extra nice - you can tweet and facebook share your vote to encourage others to vote too.  Heck, blog about it if you can! ;)  <3

2.  On that note, click here, here and here to check out the THREE weddings I did this weekend!  I am one sore exhotgirl.  Methinks I need a massage. <3

Here are a few shots from those weddings.  Click the links to see the full previews! :)

Beach front wedding:




Bright church / Military groom wedding:




Country Springs Hotel wedding:




I'll be back real soon!

~Jenn

Friday, August 27, 2010

It's just busy.

Hey guys!

So... I know it's time for a post.  Actually something in me feels like it's time for a Vlog.  But, it's 2:09am and I'm exhausted.  I have to go to bed, but I had to stop by and say hi.

I will be posting next week.  I have three weddings this weekend, and then I'm back off to Denver for three days.  I'm flying in to see John Mayer at Red Rocks.  (4th row, baby!)  Then, back to Milwaukee to truck through the busiest month of the year.  I have 9 weddings between now and October.  :)  Good, but insane.  Crazy, crazy busy.

I'll leave you all with a fun engagement shoot I did on Tuesday.  I'll be back real soon. <3



~Jenn

Monday, August 23, 2010

Back to Reality.

I'm here on my last day of this Denver trip, and I'm heading back to reality tonight.  (aka: Milwaukee.)  It's been a really great, relaxing trip.  I'm gearing up for an engagement shoot tomorrow, a boudoir shoot Wednesday, and THREE weddings this weekend!  It's my first ever triple header for a weekend.  Sometimes I end up with two weddings in one weekend, but this time I've got one Friday, one Saturday and one on Sunday. 

I thought I'd update you guys with some of my stats and some pictures! 

Yesterday I weighed in at 157.6!



Now this was a weigh-in the day after a night of moderate... okay... heavy drinking.  I'm pretty sure this is a false low because of how much alcohol dehydrates you.  We'll find out next week.  Along with that, I didn't have a tape measure, so I'll be updating my measurements next week. :)

Here are some fun pics of me with some friends over the week!

Laura and I:

Me with my friend Olson, who we've determined is my oldest friend in the world.  I've known him for about 13 years!



A few more shots from the DMB concert... me with my brother:



And me with Dan:




Also, I did some Goodwill shopping yesterday with Beth!  Since we've both lost around 65-68 pounds over roughly the same period of time, we decided it'd be fun to go bargain shopping together!  :)



I'm wearing a jean skirt there that I did NOT buy... (I still really hate my legs, I have serious issues with them.) -- And Beth is wearing some fabulous jeans that highlight the hot in her hot butt hot pants style.

So, I bought this really fabulous skirt even though it's pretty tight on me.  Goal clothes! :) 



So this skirt and this other black one are the same brand, and both "M." 



I bought the black one without trying it on, assuming it'd fit the same.  WRONG!  The black skirt doesn't zip up over my bubble butt.  I'd probably have to lose a good 4-5 inches in my ass before being able to wear it.  Moral of the story?  Try everything on!!

Some new skinny jeans:



A cute halter top, new with tags!


Some size 8 jeans from New York and Company.  Basically they fit me like a glove, except that even these will sag down because the waist gets too big for me.  Why is that?  It's so frustrating to pull my jeans up all the time.  Anyone ever get jeans custom made for them?  I'm considering it.  Jeans that fit my booty rarely fit my waist properly.



A few new shirts (please forgive my hair/face, just woke up but wanted to share!):






New perfume!


And the mac daddy of all purchases this week (or ever...) - the coveted, awesome, amazeballs D3s!  This thing is incredible and I've been lusting after it, so I'm super stoked to finally have it:



You can see how huge it is - these are Dan's big man hands.



Also I wanted to tell you guys about the Potluck my Parents had on Sunday.  They hosted this party for some people at their church and everyone brought something.  This was the dessert table:




Cake, three pies, cheesecake (my favorite!), cookies, peanut butter bars and peanut butter oatmeal drop things... and this weird concoction that apparently is butter cheetos coated in caramel!  So, I took some pictures of the table to share with you guys.  Then I went out where the meat was and got a bunless cheeseburger, some broccoli salad and some bbq pork.  The food I ate was savory and delicious.  I must say that at this point, what I feel when I look at sweets is more of a "lust," and in reality I don't "miss" it.  I want it because I can't have it.  But when it comes down to it... I don't REALLY want it.

So!  That's enough for today.  I'll be back later with some changes to the blog and some other topics for discussion. :)

~Jenn

Monday, August 16, 2010

Holy Ping Pong Tables, Batman!

Wow, it's been 10 days since I've updated y'all.  A very busy, freakishly busy 10 days.  So, I'll apologize.  :)

Quick update here:

1.  I'm in Denver right now, and will be for a week.

2.  Yesterday was my 28th birthday, and I spent it well.  Dan and I went with my brother to the Mile High Music Festival to see two of my all time favorite bands play:  Punch Brothers, and Dave Matthews Band.

Dan and I:  (I'm wearing my $65 Dave Matthews Hoodie, damn-it!  I was freezing and it was the only option.  Oh well, happy birthday, me.) :/


My brother and I!


3.  As a side-note, Chris Thile totally knows who I am and I feel uber special.  We were waiting in the line to see them (you know, where everyone brings their CD's and things for the band to sign,) - and the guys were all lined up sitting in chairs behind a table.  When I got up to the table, Chris saw me, stood up and gave me a hug, saying "It's good to see you again!"  I'm pretty sure all the other people who he did NOT stand up to hug... were jealous.  Yeah, be jealous!  :)  -- I didn't nearly feel like I'd pass out this time around, but I also didn't get a picture with him again.

4.  I stuck to the plan pretty well yesterday - though I did have chicken fingers at the festival, I didn't eat the fries.  I came back to my Brother's house and his friend had low carb brownies.  I ate one of those with some almond milk, and decided that'd be my "sweet treat" for my birthday instead of eating cake later and regretting it with the fire of a thousand suns.

5.  I have no idea what I weigh at the moment - I'll have updates on that when I get to my parent's house.  (My brother doesn't own a scale, I don't think.  Silly boys.)

6.  Overall, my feeling of the day yesterday is this, the way the sky was last night before sunset:


~Jenn

Thursday, August 5, 2010

More Eggplant? Hell to the Yes.

I just had a fabulous eggplant dinner, and dare I say?  I like it more than the last one I posted.

My friend Christine posted this recipe on her Facebook, and it looked so deliciously amazing that I had to adopt and adapt it.  Here's my modified low carb version.  De- to the - licious!

Eggplant stacks:

-four 1/3 inch slices of eggplant
-four 1/3 inch slices of ripe tomatoes
-four 1/3 inch slices of fresh mozzerella
-basil for garnish (I didn't have any)
-fresh baby spinach
-balsamic vinegar

-one egg, lightly beaten
-Parmesan cheese (not the shredded kind... the Kraft kind.  Her recipe called for breadcrumbs, which I am instead using Parmesan cheese for here.)
-olive oil
-kosher salt

1. Salt one side of eggplant slices and lay salt-side down on paper towels. Salt the other side and cover with more paper towels. Let sit for 30 minutes or so. This brings out the excess moisture from the eggplant and keeps them from getting soggy! Pat dry.  (Mine were leftover slices from the last recipe I made and had been in the fridge.  They were already dried out so I didn't do this step.)

2. Heat olive oil in a pan. Dip eggplant slices in egg, then in Parmesan cheese. Add to oil. Fry for 3ish minutes on each side. 




3. Layer tomato, mozzerella and eggplant on top of spinach heaps on a plate.  Garnish with basil leaf and drizzle balsamic vinegar on the top.

4. devour!





~Jenn

Cauliflower: Revolutionizing PIZZA!

Okay peeps, listen up.  I must share this with you all.

Anyone low carbing miss breadsticks and pizza?  Anyone who's DIETING miss breadsticks and pizza?  Anyone who is opposed to the term "dieting" because they're living a healthy lifestyle, but dammit, because of that they don't eat pizza... miss pizza?

Well, I found a super low carb, low calorie, amazing recipe to share with you.  Truly, it's gonna change my whole world.

 
Okay so I forgot to take a picture of the pizza before I put it on my plate and scarfed it so the photo on the bottom looks like a hot mess of veggies, so here's a shot done by someone who thought about it before diving face first into their food.



...But trust me.  Let me break this down for you.  These are not made with bread.  They are made with CAULIFLOWER.

I'll say that again.  This is VEGGIE, y'all.  VEGGIE.  (Oh, and Crysi pointed out that it's also Gluten Free!)

Some of you savvy folk may have already heard of this, but for anyone else... I'm going to share this amazing discovery.

1 cup cooked, riced cauliflower
1 egg
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1/2tsp fennel
1 tsp oregano
2 tsp parsley

pizza or alfredo sauce (I choose low carb, 4g carbs per serving.)
toppings (for Dan I used mushrooms and pepperoni - for me I used mushrooms, red onion, chopped artichoke hearts and sliced red bell pepper.)
mozzarella cheese


Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray.

In a medium bowl, combine cauliflower, egg and mozzarella. Press evenly on the pan. Sprinkle evenly with spices. 

Bake at 450 degrees for 12-15 minutes (15-20 minutes if you double the recipe). 

Remove the pan from the oven. To the crust, add sauce, then toppings and cheese.
 
Place under a broiler at high heat just until cheese is melted. 


The ENTIRE crust is only:

434 calories
25g fat
8 net carbs (13 total)
5g fiber
41g protein (Check out that protein count!)

Per serving, that's only 109 calories and 2 net carbs!  (This doesn't count your toppings/sauce/cheese on top, so make sure you count that!)

Here's the recipe for the breadsticks:


A batch of cauliflower pizza "dough" (mixed but not baked)
mozzarella cheese
garlic salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a greased 9X3 loaf pan, press about 1-1/2" deep cauliflower pizza dough. If any is left, use for pizza.

Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes, or until set. With a spatula loosen the dough around the edges and remove the square of dough to a greased cookie sheet.

With a pizza cutter, slice strips through the set dough. Separate slightly. Sprinkle with garlic salt and/or extra mozzarella cheese. Bake at 450 degrees until the top browns.

Once the oven is preheated to 450 degrees, it is easy to pop in a couple of pizza crusts as well.

Serve with marinara sauce (optional).







Okay.  Had to share.  This shit is amazing.  The pizza is supposed to be pretty rigid and hold up the toppings.  Mine was a little softer and we ate them with a fork (I think I made it too thick.)  The breadsticks, however, were AMAZING!  

Dan loved this and is now saying "Cauli-sticks" and "That cauli-dinner was awesome."  The genius thing?  It does NOT taste like cauliflower.    :)



~J

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

You guys? I'm "normal" now.

Okay, so... before I get into anything, I need to ask you guys to help me out.  You all know I'm a photographer here in  Milwaukee.  Well, if you wouldn't mind taking a quick second to vote for me on the WISN A-List, that would be hugely amazing.  Seriously, it only takes a minute and it would help me out greatly. :)

Alrighty!  Now down to business.



Today I weighed in at 159.  I'm officially normal!  So, I get these buttons from Scale Junkie's Healthy You Challenge:

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket  Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket




Seriously.  65 Pounds, SUCK MY BALLS.

/ahem.

Stats time.

Weight = 159 (-1.4)
Arm = 11.5 (-0)
Bust = 37 (-0)
Ribcage = 32 (-1 finally!)
Waist = 28.5 (-0)
Butt = 39 (-1)
Hips = 38 (-0)
Thigh = 24 (-0)

Overall, a loss of 1.4 pounds and 2 inches.  Fair, successful week in my opinion!







So I thought I'd share a few pictures.  Here's one of me in an outfit, 'cause you know I'm a clotheshound/shoppingwhore.  Headband from Bangles and Bags in Milwaukee, Shirt from a consignment shop (originally from Dress Barn!) - Vest (size 8) from New York and Company.  Yellow belt from Boston Store, and matching yellow shoes you can't see are from DSW. :)


Also, size 8 Old Navy Jeans (my goal jeans) are officially my day to day jeans.  They fit correctly and such.  Time for some new goal jeans, eh? ;)


Speaking of goals... here's one I haven't talked about.  This tank-top / corset thing is so gorgeous, and I BARELY fit into it when I was at my thinnest.  Dagnabbit I want to wear it.  I have a faint memory of wearing it out one time, and then gaining weight before I could wear it again.  I tried it on just for kicks, and it very tightly snaps over the bosoms, but ridiculously so... it smooshes them into less existence than they already are.  After that, it's definitely not hooking (because it's just too small and my midsection won't squish like my boobs will.)  I'm not sure if I'll ever fit into it, but I want to.  I probably need to lose another 1-2 inches overall before it'll fit, and probably a little more than that in my mid section.  I'm not sure when I bought this or why, or if it really fit me.  If so, I must have had a 26 or 25 inch waist at some point.




So!  Time to answer a few questions.

Q:   I was just wondering if you're including exercise into your diet regimen.
A:  Well, not exactly, no.  I have a somewhat physical job (photographer) - ((Don't laugh until you've photographed a wedding, seriously.))  And with all the work involved in the studio renovation, I've been sweating a lot lately.  But, no.  I canceled my gym membership, I don't do the 30 Day Shred anymore, I am a lazy bitch.  I really want to get a bike though.  And I lay in bed at night thinking about jump roping.  But, I never do anything about that.

Q:  That egg plant looks sooo good. You think you could bake it? I don't have any kind of grill. :( 
A:  Yes, you can totally bake eggplant.  It works better if you put salt on it, then put it between two paper towels and let it sit for 30 minutes to draw out the moisture.  Also, I saw a recipe to dip it in egg after that, then bake it.  Mmmm.


I have a few other things to chat with you guys about but I'm going to wait until tomorrow for that.  For now, thank you so much for going over to vote for me really quickly!

~Jenn