Monday morning music

Another Monday, and here's a video I love. Christopher Walken is just as interesting and funny to watch as he is to listen. Hope this helps start your week off right.

A table only a mother could love

Two days ago I sold this table to a couple that responded to my craigslist ad. I had it listed for a few weeks. First at $100, then after a week of no interested buyers $75. So, when I finally got a call I was a bit relieved. But more than relieved, I was sad.

This table was a special piece of furniture. It was the first piece of furniture I acquired while on my own. A classmate my second semester of school gave it to me. Her name was Shelia - a cute little lady probably in her late 50s early 60s. Shelia and I became pretty good girlfriends. She told me all about her life and I told her all about my roommate's and my wild and crazy apartment adventures. I told her about our fine furnishing, which consisted of a cardboard box and a tent in our front room in order to use up some of our space. After hearing all my stories I think she was torn between three distinct feelings toward me (1) I think I reminded her of her youth (2) I'm sure she felt sorry for my lack of well everything and (3) I'm fairly certain she thought I was crazy. The feeling sorry for me part won. She offered to give me, for free, a dining set that her sister and husband were getting rid of. I promptly went over to her house to see the table. And it was truly a treasure.

What stood before me was a 1970s brown-tinted glass-top table with four beige leather chairs. And the fixtures were light-stained wood and brass tubing. The glass was cut in an octagon, giving any room a little geometric flair!

I loved this table. This table moved with me to all of my apartments thereafter - my studio; the boyfriend's and my loft and then the house. It wasn't always being used; it was often in storage. But I could never get rid of it. We moved it from the garage into the house for our Halloween pumpkin carving party last year. And we never moved it back. Instead we gave it a semi-permanent home in the kitchen even though we already had a nice kitchen table. And when anyone came over instead of sitting at our nice table, everyone congregated around the 1970s table.

Well, I decided to sell my little vintage table. The boyfriend and I are moving soon, and most likely we will be moving into storage. So we don't want to have to move, store and then move again anything we aren't going to end up using. But I was determined to find the perfect owner for this table. I wanted to find some cute person who loves vintage items. And who would find this table just as special as I found it. Is that too much to ask? I just wanted this table - that has really accompanied me through my adult life - to have a good home and good owner that would appreciate all its 1970s flair!

Said person was not found. I'm sure the table has a good home and fine owners now, but I'm sad that the perfect person didn't come-a-callin'. I'm sad that I totally sold out and sold my table for a measly 65 bucks. But the good news is that I sold the table, and I think I sold the table to a couple that needs a table. Maybe the love and appreciation for that fine piece of furniture will come in time.

Monday morning music

I guess this music video was pretty popular a few months ago. But I just recently discovered it and have fallen in love with it.

Monday morning music

This video is awesome! And I love that the guy uses proper grammar to relay the fact that he cannot play the drums or the piano (end of video: "I can neither play the drums nor the piano.") But he must have some kind of musical training because the song itself is pretty amazing. Hope you like it too!

Word on Weightloss: Month 2

February was a tough month. Not only was it shorter, but this month had a couple celebrations for me - Valentines Day and Mat's birthday. That's two out of the three weekends that were not easy.

Even though I did have a few special events - and special events always include food around here - I was still fairly successful. This month I lost 7.8 pounds, for a total of 13.

I can't see too much of a difference. But I have noticed differences in some of my clothes. Like the fact that I don't have to do squats when I put on my jeans after they get out of the dryer. I can definitely feel a difference in the waist of my pants, and the mid section of my shirts feel a bit more loose. There is also a bit more room right above my knees in my jeans.

I am still not working out. Although I have been itching to run again. The only good thing about not working out has been that I haven't lost much weight in my boobs. The first time around, that is were I lost all my weight. My boobs seriously went from a D to a B. It was so sad. And the boyfriend was quite depressed. My boobs have since grown back into a C, and I don't really care to lose them again. I used to always say, "I wish I could lose weight in my thighs and ass, and not in my assets!" I'm sure once I start running again, the boobs will shrink. Oh well, I know it's worth it. Boob implants are cheap!

I feel really good about this month. I had all these celebrations and was still able to lose weight. I feel like this time around I am able to see the bigger picture. This really is a a lifestyle change. And I think the first time around, I was so perfect with the plan and worked out at least 5 times a week that there was really no way that I could have maintained that throughout my life. Things happen. Life happens. And I was so stressed about life happening the first time around. I couldn't enjoy celebrations. The only things that were not so picture perfect were my weekends. I would be perfect all week; go to my meetings Saturday morning and weigh in and then be horrible the rest of the weekend.

Things have definitely changed. I would say that I am conscious everyday. I give into my cravings on a daily basis, there's no doubt about that. But I'm more reasonable about it now. I have three tootsie rolls everyday instead of the whole bag on Saturday. I can enjoy myself at a restaurant or at celebrations, but I now will look up the restaurant's menu and nutritional values before we go. And I can try to practice portion control (although still my biggest weakness).

I have about 10 more pounds until I reach my goal with Weight Watchers, but I have decided that I want to set a new goal. After talking to my mom about her body type and really analyzing my first time around at Weight Watchers, my new goal is 135. Crazy I know - especially after all the "being realistic talk" above. But it's not that I'm not being realistic, I just want to have something to really work toward. And if I ever got to that point, I can only imagine the self confidence I would build. So I think it's a worthy goal. And I have decided that after I reach my WW goal, I am going to train to be a leader, and I am really looking forward to that!

*Camera is being funny. So no picture this month.

I don't want to grow up

I can honestly say that I don't remember the last time I felt like a kid. I feel like I have always had to be the adult. My parents constantly put me in situations that not only aged me well beyond the years I was, but also made me step up and take responsibility for everything.

I remember hearing my name during just about every fight my parents had, and being blamed for their problems. And on more than one occasion, my step dad would tell me that their problem, whatever it was, was all my fault.

Now as an adult, I apologize and take responsibility for anything and everything. I will apologize for the weather. I will apologize for anything not going right in my life, in your life. It doesn't matter. I will apologize.

And I have learned over the years that this is not a very good trait. First of all, it's irritating. People tell me all the time, "stop apologizing." And because I do it excessively, people have told me that when I apologize for something I actually should be apologizing for, they can't take my apology seriously. It doesn't seem sincere, since I will say sorry for anything. I completely understand this, but it has been so ingrained in me to apologize, that it's hard to stop.

I remember I was living at my mom and her husbands house during my senior year of high school. That was the year I went a little wild. And as an avid journalist, I wrote about all about my crazy year.

One day, my step-dad, looking for a fight, read through all my old journals. A fight inevitably irrupted and I was basically kicked out of my house.

I spent that night at a friends house, balled my eyes out and listened to my mom's frantic messages about how she wanted me home. At 17 years old, I typed a letter to my step-dad telling him how sorry I was for doing the things I did and how much I knew I was wrong and how much I wanted to come home. The funny part was that I was not sorry, I really didn't want to come home and I didn't and don't think I was wrong. But I also knew that he would never take responsibility for his actions. I knew he would never apologize to me, and most importantly, I knew this fight would further tear apart our family. Something I could not bear the weight of.

So I gave him the letter and he told he how much he appreciated my apology and that was that. I was back in the house, hating him and hating every minute of it. But it was resolved, so I would deal with it.

Even though I am out of the house, I still feel like I am a character actor and the role is "grown up." I just want to play the part of a kid again. I want to be able to throw a tantrum and it be justifiable. I want to be upset and it not get chalked up to hormones. I want to be irresponsible and have someone else pick up the pieces. I just want to be a kid.

Home Decor

There is one word that can describe every place I have lived, whether with my parents and family, or the places I have lived on my own. And that word is comfortable.

My mom's home was always really warm and comfy. And that has transcended into my own places. My apartments and house have also been really nice and comfortable. Friends have commented that being in my house feels like being at home, which has always made me feel really good. But recently I wish other words could describe my house. Words like cool or stylish would be nice, but I don't have anything really cool or stylish, which poses a slight problem.

In the past few months, I have been reading some design blogs, and they have some extremely stylish and cool ideas for the home. I fall in love with something everyday. Some people out there are just so creative and so stylish and it makes me terribly jealous.

Most of the stuff I see is expensive, really expensive. So it not only makes me envious, but it also makes me kind of depressed that I won't be able to have all of this home decor and style right now. But I'm thinking that even on a budget - a very limited budget - I still might be able to add a few little items here and there. So let me introduce you to my first stylish home addition:


I ran over to the crafty people store, Michael's, and found these. I thought they were pretty cool and perfect for the usually empty vases that live on our kitchen table. They remind me of over-sized dandelions, and I like that. These were fairly inexpensive and make me excited for my next item. So hopefully, I be able to share some more new home decor in future blogs.