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

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

Birthday Dress Dilemma.

I need your help, people.

I did a little bit of shopping with Esther this week, and also with Jewlia Goulia.  I got four dresses, and I'm not sure which one I should wear for my birthday when Dan and I go to Denver.  The deciding factor would usually be, "What are we doing?" -- but I have no idea what we're doing.  So.  I have four dresses and I can't decide!

That's where you all come in.  I need help!

Dress #1 (Target):

Dress #2 (Rave):

Dress #3 (Rave):

(Shoes:  Steve Madden)

Dress #4 (Boston Store):

SO!  Please leave a comment and let me know which dress you think should be the big Birthday dress!  :)

Also, fabulous news... remember last week when I was lamenting over the skirt at Express?  I thought the size 8 would be too small, so I didn't try it on.  Well, when I went back, dammit, it fit.  Just goes to show, it never hurts to try it on!

~Jenn

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