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:

  

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

Farmer's Market and Consignment Shops!

Hey guys!

Well holy comments, Batman!  Thank you for all your input on my birthday outfit. :)  It looks like the top winners are dress #3 and #4.  And for me, that works.  I think it might depend on where we go, so my plan is to wear dress #3 if we go bar hopping or to the clubs.  If we do something like jazz or a wine bar, dress #4 it is!  Thanks again for your help, all. :)

So!  Today I wanted to show you my take from the Farmer's Market today!

Potatoes, jalapenos,eggplant, bell pepper, two cucumbers, a vidalia onion, dill and three types of tomato: yellow, red and pink.  

Here are the salads I made Dan and I for lunch:

His is just lettuce, chicken, tomato, cucumber and feta.  Mine I added avocado (he doesn't like it.)  :)

So, I know some of you are overwhelmed by farmer's markets, so I thought I'd give you a little rundown on how I approach it.  There is inevitably a lot of stuff that you might not know how to use, or that you might not even know what it is.  For me, I mainly buy what I would normally buy at a grocery store:

-Cucumber

-Lettuce

-Tomato

-Bell Peppers

-Zucchini

-Yellow Squash

-Onion

-Broccoli and Cauliflower

-Jalapeños

-Potatoes (for Dan)

I will occasionally buy other things, and do so with last-minute intention to make something special.  For this trip, that includes:

- Dill

-Eggplant

I saw they had these two things, and immediately thought, "What kind of recipes do I usually hear of with these ingredients?"  The ones that came to mind were:  Eggplant Parmesan and Grilled Eggplant.  I also figured I could use fresh dill for the recipe Wes posted over at Gay Weigh.  And of course I got the jalapeños because I tried the jalapeño popper recipe Beth posted over at the B.E.T.H. approach and HAD to make it again.  /bliss.

So, Dan is going to be grilling steak tonight and I'll be grilling the Eggplant for myself!  I'll post a recipe later for you guys to follow if you want to.

Really, the trick is to not overthink it too much. There's no need to buy beets or endive if you don't usually buy or eat it.  Don't sweat the stuff you don't recognize... just buy the stuff you recognize and enjoy eating.  Just remember you can use fresh veggies in your salads and omelets! :)

On another note, I went to a few Consignment shops in the Third Ward yesterday and tried on a few pieces.  I love that they pretty much have Thrift Store prices but it's way more boutique-ish than a Thrift store.  Here are a few items I got:

A pair of size 6 Banana Republic slacks.  Holy crap, they fit.  Stoked!  

Oh, and they were $7.

I saw this cute blue dress and thought it looked kind of vintage.  It fits me like a glove.  Sort of tight around the bust/ribcage area (usual for me,) but I love it!  Size 10, $9.

This cute blue shirt was only $4.99.  I saw the detail on the sleeves and had to have it!

Last but not least, if you guys would like to take a look at what's been keeping me so busy...

Click here to see the recent shots of the studio.

Click here for Colleen or Megan or Haley's boudoir shoots.

You can check out these gorgeous weddings here... 

Milwaukee Art Museum

Lake Park Bistro

Osthoff Resort

At Home and Fabulous

Oh, and this engagement session at the Lakefront Brewery.

:)

~Jenn

Shopping: Part 1

Hellooooo lovelies!

Well, today Dan and I went to see Inception.  AMAZING.  I won't talk about it here, but I'm telling you, GO see it.  And if you get the chance to see it on IMAX, that's even better.

Moving on.  While we were at the mall, I wanted to go shopping for a birthday dress.  Dan was with me and we went to a few places.  I ended up trying on a few things but came away with a few other pieces (not dresses,) and still need to go back to the mall.  That's something I'm pretty confident Jewlia Goulia can help me with this week. :)

Here are a few of the things I tried on at Express!

I saw this outfit on a mannequin on the wall and I HAD to try it on:


Close-up of the shirt:


I bought that shirt in red and black.  I might go back for a few other colors... they're buy one get one 50% off.  The size is Medium.  I did a little happy dance that I bought a medium at Express!  I used to not be able to shop there at all.  I gave Dan a high-five, and then he said, "Hey, wait.  I'm not gonna give you a gay-shopping-buddy high five!"  I laughed and told him to be supportive. :)

I tried on this pencil skirt.  They had size 8 or size 12.  The 12 was just too big, and I knew the 8 would be too small, so I bought the first skirt in a size Large (what I tried on.)  However, after looking at the website today I see they have this pencil skirt which I'd greatly prefer, so I'm going to go back and see if I can exchange them.


In the search for a birthday dress, I tried these two on:

I liked this one a lot but it was too droopy at the bottom, and just a little large.


This was GORGEOUS but I felt it was too short, and I didn't love it enough to spend $130 on it.  BUT, it's a size 10.  A size 10 at Express makes me feel awesome!



Also I ended up getting this cardigan.  I didn't try it on but here's a photo from the website:




SO!

I also wanted to tell you guys a story about what happened at Express.  I was rummaging through one of the racks of dresses and I overheard a girl say, "Yeah, they have really cute stuff here but I just can't fit into any of it."  I glanced up and saw her.  She was a larger girl, I would guess her to be around 5'4" and at least 300 pounds.  I gave her a soft smile and a look of empathy, but then realized that the look I gave her might not have come across how I meant it.  If my look to her could have actually said, "I get it.  I used to not be able to shop here either, I understand," that would have been awesome.  Instead, I realized she probably saw me, a size 10 person, and thought, "Why is she giving me that look!?"  So, I quickly lowered my head and watched her leave out of the corner of my eye.

I think I'll always feel like a fat girl inside.  It's really interesting this happened to me today considering the recent post my friend Beth did over at the B.E.T.H. Approach.

So what happens when you lose weight to make it so difficult to relate openly and honestly to your heavier friends?  I know this woman wasn't my friend, but I wanted to hug her.  I wanted to say it out loud that it was crap there weren't sizes she could wear at Express.

Well, shit.  Maybe I should have just said that, huh?

~J

Holy Bathing Suits Batman!

I'm gonna share some bathing suit stuff, some shopping stuff, and some awesome news stuff.  So be sure to stick around until the end.  It's worth it, seriously! :)

So, the first bathing suit I tried on didn't quite do it for me, so I went back to return it.  Here are a few I tried on:



Here's the one I went with, but the two-piece version:


And the one I ultimately chose, a tankini two-piece:



So yeah!  I'm pretty happy with it.  It's a teensy small on the bottom, but no biggie.  I also wanted to share with you guys a photo of me in my goal bathing suit.  This is pretty open and out there, and I'm not going to apologize for the rolls ahead of time.  It's me, and that's that.

It's one I bought in Chicago several years ago when I was a size 6/8.  I'm pretty close to getting back into it! :)  Maybe it'll fit me properly by May when I go to Cancun:



Also!  I got to hang out at Kohls a little longer and take advantage of the gift card I got for Christmas and their 2-day sale.  Candies had a ton of stuff on sale, and I went beserk!

Cute pants:


The most amazing jacket:


And, this seriously adorable two piece skirt set:



And NOW FOR the finale! 

Back on December 4th, I weighed 175 and tried on the size 8 pair of jeans.  Apparently, five or six pounds makes a big difference, 'cause suddenly I can zip and button them.  Seriously... this is nuts!  Now, I definitely shouldn't be wearing them out in public by any stretch yet, but, dammit, they're ON!

Skinny jeans on in 2004:


Fat/before alongside December 4th:


Now:


Now the really weird thing is that... my hips and waist measurements haven't actually changed since December 4th.  Now I'm kind of pissed that I haven't been measuring my butt or my lower waist/gut.  Apparently those things have shrunken... but the waist and hips haven't.  Has that happened to any of you before?  (And I'm not currently exercising...)

Anyhoo!  Kind of another long update, but wanted to share.  :)

~Jenn

Fashion Flop Friday

Alrighty all.  So, many of you know that I went shopping with Jewlia Goulia this week.  What you DON'T know is that our shopping awesomeness produced the brain child also known as "Fashion Flop Friday."  This is because we went into way too many stores with God-Awful clothes.  (Rave, Forever 21, etc, etc.)


We went into Rave (...Why?  I have no idea.  Oh yeah!  'Cause they had signs that said "From $2.99" and Julia and I are suckers for deals.), and while I DID get a super cute sweater... the rest of the stuff in there was hideous.  I told her that I wanted to try something awful on and post it.  It took us ten minutes to decide what to choose.

So, I'd like to present you all with the first installment of Fashion Flop Friday.

That's right, yo.  80's style yellow jacket, Jean-ish material hammer-type pants, and a neon pink shirt that says "I heart my haters."

When I put this jacket on, I said, "Oh, shit!"  'cause it was really tight, and apparently I was trying on a size Medium, in a tiny teen girls type store.  But, after I got home, I realized... I really liked this jacket.  It's ridiculous and bright yellow, but it looked kind of bad-ass.  If I got it in a different color maybe?  ...Or am I being sucked into the bad fashion ideas of today, and will I regret said jacket in twenty years?  All I know is that Julia had to pull the jacket off of me by the sleeves, 'cause I couldn't get it off by myself.

Next week, who knows what I might bring to you?  Stirrup pants?  Gold leggings?  Only time will tell what the mall will bring.

 
Oh.  Julia and I also went to Kohls so I could spend a holiday gift card I got.  I bought a pair of size 11 Levi skinny jeans (joy!!) and Julia helped me pick out a bathing suit.  I honestly don't know how I feel about it and I'm considering going back to try a few others on.  This one feels sort of cute, but I'm having regretful issues with the ruffles on the bottom.  Thoughts?  They sort of look cute, but the ruffles flap up in the back and make me look like an angry, burnt duck or something.

I don't know about you guys, but I really hate going bathing suit shopping.  I wanted to find a suit that was sort of vintage looking, like, Marilyn Monroe style.  This was the closest I could find at Kohls... see how it pulls down over the hips?  Maybe I should try for a two piece.  I haven't worn one in five or six years.

Here's the view from the side.  I'm realizing now that I should have taken a picture of how the ruffles flipped up in the back.  I just have too much of an apple bottom, and the suit was like, "Whaaat?  Can't deal with this junk in the trunk," and couldn't hold their billowy, ruffly ground.

I hate bathing suit shopping.  Seriously.  I don't even swim.  I just have to have one so I can wade in the pool, and lay by the pool.  And you guys?  I don't even tan.  That pasty white you see... is me all year round.  I'm either white or red.

Oh, and don't even get me started on the wearing underwear under the bathing suit thing.  I mean, I'm REALLY GLAD we have to... for obvious reasons.  But, it's still a huge annoyance.  






In other, non-hideous news: Yesterday was Dan's birthday (Thank you all so much for the sweet birthday wishes! He thanks all of you.) and he wanted Manicotti. Holy crap balls, Batman! ...But, I sucked it up and made it anyway. I ate everything but the shells. Okay, I had three bites with shells, which equates to around 8 or 9 carbs, so I wasn't too worried. And I threw in some asparagus for good measure.


I actually went through a "Jenn, just enjoy his birthday dinner with him!  Have two mannicoti, nobody will know and you can get started again tomorrow."  But then I heard the other voice, and it said, "Jenn, you're back up somehow to 173 pounds, and that's crappy.  You need to hunker down and focus on eggs, salad and tuna.  For real.  And while you're at it, stop eating so much cheese, because it's allowed, but not THAT much."  (Seriously, you guys, I've eaten 1/2 a block of sharp cheddar over the last two days.  I'm supposed to have no more than 4 ounces of cheese per day.  Yeah, I'm pretty sure that the cheese, plus the cream cheese... are NOT helping the cause.  So I'm breaking up with cheese for the next few weeks.  My waist is angry at me.)


SO!   I also wanted to share that I got my panties from the Panty Pyramid!  I waited what seemed like an endless eternity of hoping and wishing for a new sexy pair, and when I got home from vacation, VOILA!  A beautiful pair of boy shorts was waiting for me.

Now, The Insatiable Host, who hosts the Panty Pyramid, has all the best intentions, but the woman sent me Hershey Kisses with my panties!  Chocolate!  Bad!  Bad!  (See how I'm actively pushing the idea that chocolate is "bad"?  /gah.  I'm so awful.)  ...Crisis averted though.  I gave them to Dan.

So, many of you might be wondering, "What's this Panty Pyramid I keep hearing about?"  Well, it's a program about pampering each other because we're so damn busy, we don't take time to pamper ourselves.  So get thee over there and sign up. Then send some sexy britches to some sexy bitches.

I'm going to be in Chicago tonight through tomorrow night, and then it's Dan's birthday weekend partying.  After that, I should be free and clear, but I'm just telling you guys you might not see a post for a few days. :)

~Jenn

A Hole in my Face and a Dress.

Firstly: Thank you guys so much for all your sweet comments on my last post. You spoil me and I don't deserve you.

Secondly: I put a hole in my face today:


Thirdly: I got the dress. You know... THE dress. The dress I've been dying to wear and all freaked about the measurements and really wanting to wear for New Years.



So... here's the deal. It "fits," but it doesn't FIT. It's tight across the ole' boobies... so it sort of felt like I was going to rip it when I was pulling it over my head. it's a high waist so the hip/waist measurements didn't really affect my ability to zip it. Just my ta-ta's and back.



So, the thing they should start putting on the freakin' measurements is the ARM measurements. 'Cause my arms are too big for this dress. Yes, technically, I squished them through the holes, but when I took the dress off after having it on for ten minutes, I had red lines. Obvious ones. Red, red lines around each of my biceps.

Needless to say I'm not wearing the dress for New Years. :( I mean, I COULD, but then I'd lose all feeling in my arms and they'd probably fall off. Plus because of how tight the dress is on top, it sort of makes my boobs look like downward facing dogs.


BUT! It's okay. Thanks to my favorite fabulous New Yorker, Bitch Cakes, I found Mode Merr, the most awesome and gorgeous dress place, ever. I ordered this dress immediately, and they're going to expedite it to me so I have it for New Years.



The thing about it? I love this dress more than the other one. <3

Muah!
~Jenn

Shreddin' Skinny Jeans.

Well, not quite skinny yet, but I did buy skinny jeans after all today. I went shopping with a friend and decided to try a more realistic outfit with them, and I dug it. Please don't mind my ugly pink boots. :) Oh! And I bought the black shirt too. I got a few other nifty items, a few pairs of boots and a fabulous sweater, but I'll share those with you soon.

Frontie:


Bootie:


I finished day 9 of the 30 Day Shred, and I'm starting to see some results, y'all! I know I keep talking about it, but since so many of you have told me that you went and bought the DVD or that you've ordered it, I want to give you as much info as possible.

You know how I can't do more than about 20 knee-style push ups? Well I'm still noticing my biceps have more definition. :)



My overall progress is fair, I don't feel like I'm really that much smaller, but I feel more defined or something. My waist is still 30 inches, and I really need to be down to 28 to fit into the dress. Any tips on reducing the waist? I know "they" say you can't spot-reduce, but dammit, I want to try.



~Jenn :)