Kitty Lovin and a Mini-Break

I've taken to carrying the camera around with me at (almost) all times and snapped salem in two of my favorite poses yeseterday.

Exhibit A:

Sitting like a person with this hand over his gut

Exhibit B:

Curled up in a little ball with his hand covering his face

See - aren't they the cutest ever?!

Joe and I have also decided to put FoodSnob on vacation mode for the month of April. I really wanted to focus on LoveandLust before the summer hits (which is a VERY slow time on etsy) and Joe and I both are going to work on some in-person accounts for FoodSnob. We'd also like to have some new products for the season so we think closing for a few weeks will enable us to focus more and be more productive.

Speaking of Chef McDreamy - I snapped this photo driving yesterday. It's a HOLE in the wall BBQ place that he tried on Saturday. He has this weird correlation between 'more ghetto' and 'better food'. I'm a vegetarian but judging by his responses toward the pulled pork sandwhiches, he's usually right!



Finally - I listed my first Vintage item yesterday! It's an Italian scarf from the 1960's (I believe) that I found tucked away in a vintage store a few weeks ago. It's divine!


http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=44157708

Sunday does not equal rest

I spent 8 hours today cleaning, doing laundry and working on etsy.

Cleaning a 3000 sq. ft. 120+ year old home is NOT easy! Especially when you have a cat whose hair is everywhere! Just for size reference this is the left and right sides of the first floor



Taken from the living room - through the dining room - into the kitchen which you can hardly see (and has the HORRID tiled countertops that are impossible to keep clean)


From standing right outside the living room entry - the other half of the first floor. If you keep going back there is a storage room, a seperate laundry area and another staircase. So yeah - a LOT of floors to sweep (about an hours worth) and a lot of other work.

I also spent a lot of time making and listing new pieces for my etsy shop. I'm on a roll this week and have a shipment of supplies arriving soon that i'm giddy about! Here are the lovely flowers I cut from my front yard last week that are thriving and being used as a backdrop again


And some new pieces - let me know what you think!

Dark Romance - Ring, $8
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=44125487


Tea Time - Charm Bracelet, $18
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=44115198

Now off to eat yummy alfredo with artichoke hearts and green olives, watch the recorded Sarah Silverman & maybe indulge in a glass of wine with this guy...

{Okay, okay ... so I'm not actually hanging out with this guy tonight but I am with a certain someone who is told by strangers constantly that he has an uncanny resemblance to either Patrick Dempsey or Sean Penn!}

Garden update and new listings {finally}

Today is day 21 of my garden adventure. Everything I've planted has started to sprout except for the bell peppers :(


Chamomile going nuts, mustard leaf, and raddishes (not as impressive as the others!)


Gourd and green onions in the background


Lemonbalm (unmarked), dill and chervil


Green beans doin the damn thing!

Also - I was SO happy I was able to catch my beloved orange stray with his girlfriend this time :) They are adorable - they fight some - but are usually quite sweet on one another.



I picked some beautiful flowers from my front yard to use as a backdrop for some new etsy listings...



Gin necklace - $18 http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=43831244



Vintage Cinderella Coaster Set - $15 http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=43836703

A touch of Romance

For a very long time I *hated* the current fashions. Ever since I graduated high school it seems I would go into stores and always leave frustrated and/or empty handed because of the lack of, what I thought to be, beautiful clothes.

I am SO happy this has finally ended! All I see are floral prints, lace, and pearls...and I couldn't be happier! I'm particularly enthralled with slip dresses at the moment and of course they have some beautiful one's on etsy.

I also seriously need to work on my skirt I mentioned weeks ago - as soon as my life isn't total chaos I hope to be able to sit down with it.


http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=43409094


http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=39504146


http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=24790396

Phantom Fat

First off - I want to show a picture of my beloved Prince, whom we (my ex and I) had to put down a year ago this past Sunday. He is the brother to my current kitty, Salem, and was also born FIV+. Prince also had congenital joint disease (coxofemoral luxations and patellar luxations, basically his knee caps and right shoulder blade were permanently dislocated).

He was an angel on earth and passed away 2 months shy of his 3rd birthday.
I will forever love this creature.


It was shortly after Prince died that I lost the last 10 pounds that put me at my current weight. I used to be morbidly obese. Literally. My BMI was 30.54 and a 52 pound weight loss has put me at my current 21.03.

I actually wish I had more 'fat' photos - but like any person overweight I avoided cameras like the plague. I do have this classic gem - which was taken on my 23rd birthday - and actually has me in gross sweats WITH food stains on it. Loves it!



Now - I wasn't overweight in high school. I was actually a few pounds heavier than I am now, but very much healthy and active. I put on weight when I turned 21 and started going out often and exercising less and eating horrid fast food. So, I wasn't always fat. I was at my highest weight for about 2 years. It was a very strange sensation. I disappeared. When I was thinner I had the usual cat calls and douches in gas stations hit on me...I didn't think anything of it. Then suddenly (I say suddenly because I truly put on about 40 pounds in a year) it stopped. Totally.

I always felt like it wasn't me....well, it was me...but I was in a 'fat suit'. I didn't realize how big I was. My mentality was still that of someone much smaller.

People always ask me how I lost it - and I think I frustrate them with my answer. I ate less. That's it. Yes I exercise now but even research will tell you that exercising away 300 calories is just as effective as just eating 300 calories less a day. I'm lazy so I just ate less. No more fast food, stayed away from sugars as much as possible and tried to eat colors.
That's it.
The weight took about 2 years to come off totally and it's been all off for a year almost. I don't have a lot of full length picture but this is me just before I moved from my old house


Of course now that I'm thinner I still have the mentality of being fat. Not that I have an eating disorder in the slightest - I eat ridiculously healthy and stay between 12-1400 calories a day. I just feel fat still. I don't see what other people see. I remember the first time someone called me skinny last year...I honestly thought they we're being mean and sarcastic. It's not me. I'm not skinny. I still move more out of the way when people walk by then I should because I don't have 50 pounds wrapped around me anymore. Like phantom limb syndrome - I sometimes swear I still feel my thighs and stomach just as big as they ever were.

It's just not me.

I guess my strange point to this post is just ... be happy. If your overweight, work on it for your own health benefits, but don't hate yourself in the meantime. You'd be surprised how "I'll be so much happier when I'm thin" will quickly be replaced with

"I'll be so much happier when I'm rich...
when I move from here....
when I...."

An 'Lol' kinda day...

I adore home improvement stores.

I adore less when I'm visually stalked by every male in the building only for the simple fact that I do have a vagina and I am alone in a hardware store.

I had to stop by after teaching today to pick up some more tiles for new coaster sets I'm working on and had people who didn't even work there offering to help me find things. Helpful? Maybe. ODB? Probably!

Also, as I was leaving campus earlier, I had the pleasant experience of hearing the song "Laffy Taffy" by D4L on the radio. This may come as a surprise to those who don't know me aside from etsian/teacher/gardener, but I do in fact love me some rap music. Hence my two 12" rockford fosgate speakers in my trunk. So imagine my enjoyment when, as I was rocking and thumpin away, I turn to my right and see one of my students at the red light next to me.

They looked like I probably used to in elementary school whenever I saw a teacher outside of class and it was sooooo awkward. Like, I thought they all just worked/lived/slept in the school and never left.

An ode to my awkwardness: Laffy Taffy Scarf on Etsy!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/beautifulbridget

It never ceases to amaze me...

That you can find anything on etsy!



Giggle!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/mindseyecards