CONFESSIONS OF A FAT GIRL

The Saturday SoCal Social

 

The loveliest saturday night. Read on!

On Saturday, whilst my head was offering me a bit of a reprieve, I ventured out to the very far-away (15 minutes) and exotic (not at all) venue of Burbank's own Olive's Bistro.

I always, always love to attend Blogger events but have especially come to love events with my fellow SoCal Lady Bloggers (over 150 members strong now!). This is a terriffic group of diverse women with a universally strong voice and big hearts. 

If you are a SoCal lady blogger yourself and have an interest in joining, I totally endorse it. It will benefit your blog and your soul to be in contact with this lovely group. 

Of course, I must thank the venue and its excellent staff (Dennis the bartender; Luke the adorable server and Dave Grohl look-alike, my new best friend) as well as the sponsors, Whitney Howard Designs and Pauline's Handmade Brittle. 

While I'm at it, you must click here to see the beautiful necklace Whitney bestowed upon each of us (the word "inspire" is engraved on it). A lover of keys personally (if you know me, you know I love, love, love my Tiffany key), I was especially excited to unwrap it and can't wait to wear it! 

Here are some more pics from Saturday's event and links so that you can visit my new, lovely colleagues. And especially Sidney of "My Mother in Law is Still Sitting Between Us" and Carolyn of "This Talk Ain't Cheap," who put this great night together. 

 

 

We addressed the essentials first.

 

Our lovely gift from Whitney Howard Designs

 

From left to right: Ken and Ariel, Writing in Flow, Gaming Angels, What I Run Into, and IEShineOn

Little Bit Quirky, Miz Meliz, Me, My Mother in Law is Still Sitting Between Us, The Not-So-Secret Life of a Super Mama

This Talk Ain't Cheap, Minnesota Girl in LA, Along Comes Mary, Field Trip Mom, and Horsing Around in LA

Group photos courtesy of Chris @ What I Run Into

 

Ladies, it was a pleasure spending the evening with you. Looking forward to our next meet-up! 

Site Updates

Hey! Look up there! I have a new menu!

I know, I know, you are BURSTING with excitement. And I don't blame you. 

My "33 in 2012" will live up there permanently and I will edit it as I go. I did not want to keep inundating you with posts about it. This is easier. And FYI, I did just update it. So, you know, GO LOOK. 

Also up there is my Quotes section (QOTDs) because that is one of my favorite things. 

And now I have advertising and PR info. available. The FAQ is in progress. 

Very exciting, right? 

 

Please RT and help my friend find his daughter #FindHaley #LoveHaley

A Blog About Why @lisaxmay Clearly Hates America (@KevinandBean, #USMC, #Hoorah)

Every morning, I listen to KROQ. In Los Angeles, that's 106.7 FM. 

In fact, when I got my new job this past April, I was sort of excited it involved a longer commute than my previous position. Previously, I was in the car at most for 15 minutes. Now, I get nearly an hour. That's how much I love Kevin and Bean in the mornings. 

And Kevin and Bean have a cast of characters. Their most frequent, nearly-permanent co-host is Ralph, my future husband (apologies to his wife - she seems nice but I'm on a mission); and there's Lisa May, the woman in the room. I guess she's like Howard Stern's Robin Quivers? She reports on the traffic and otherwise just participates in the conversation all morning.

Just giving you a little background -- in case you're not from L.A. 

Well, there's been a little buzz lately. A few clever Marines were savvy enough to get themselves up on YouTube, asking celebs to the Marine Corp Ball. Pretty brilliant if you ask me. As such, Corporal Kelsey De Santis will be attending with Justin Timberlake and Sgt. Scott Moore is going with Mila Kunis on his arm. 

As public figures, could they REALLY say no to these proposals? Well, Betty White did but I guess you can't hate Betty White, like EVER. And in a brilliant stunt, of all people, Linda Hamilton tuned into it and asked Betty's rejected Marine to go with HER. 

I guess we could very well end up with all kinds of proposals from her. Who's turn down a Marine? That would make you a pretty big asshole... I guess you'd just have to be as beloved as Betty White to turn down that request.

Well, Lisa May of KROQ, you are NO Betty White. 

Honey, you're not even THAT famous in LA and I doubt many outside our fair city knows who you are. And you were HONORED with a request to join a Marine to the annual ball. In San Diego. That's about 120 miles away. And you know KROQ would get you a car and give you all the press in their corporate-controlled nazi-budget would allow. And you would be the friggin' superstar of that ball. Nevermind how much it would mean to the Marine who asked...

And you said NO?! 

Lisa May, why do you hate America? (Kevin and Bean are now teasing her she is part of the Taliban.) ARE YOU MAD?! You're gonna find him a "better" date... He asked YOU, you thankless twit. Your boyfriend isn't gonna mind. I promise.

And lest any amount of retweets and blog like this one change your mind: DON'T LET THEM. Don't go, Lisa May. As of now, you no longer deserve the proposition. 

I'm not a Marine and I am insulted, Lisa May. 

P.S. (Hey Ralph, I'm totally not a Marine but I'll find a ball to go to if you'll take me to it...) 

RED

In college, my modern writing professor took my class to the Museum of Modern Art for a field trip.  Yes, in college, we still took FIELD TRIPS. It was something about tying in modern art to our modern writing but as long as it got us out of a classroom for a few hours, we coulda been going to the subway station at 8th and Broadway...

I was thinking about this day as I read an art blog I stumbled onto. The author posted this photo, by Mark Rothko:

 

I remember seeing this painting in particular because our docent, who was, like, 12, went on and on and on about it. "You see how he uses THIS shade of red to represent such and such and over here, THIS shade of red obviously shows us...."

On a small index card beside it, I read that Rothko had died in 1970.

Bored and feeling the need to start some shit, I raised my hand to ask "Isn't it possible he just woke up one day and said 'crap, all I have left is red paint'?" 

She was pretty annoyed and fed me some bullshit about how she JUST. KNEW. 

My professor, who was standing behind me, a sassy old broad in trendy glasses and fabulous boots, leaned in and whispered "I thought you kind of had a fair point."

I really liked that class. 

Chapter Congress

So if you've been sleeping under a rock -- or we're just not friends on Facebook -- you know I volunteer for a non-profit youth group called BBYO. We're 1 region in an international organization, made up of hundreds of kids in dozens of chapters across SoCal.

It's been a while since the region came together. There are usually weekends and events and so on and so forth, but summer, I've learned, is slow time. I can't remember if we got this quiet when I was a kid in this group but anyway, it's been a struggle all summer to keep my girls afloat and active with virtually no events for them to attend and very lax meetings.

Today I was strangely excited for a new regional event called Chapter Congress. When the Los Angeles and San Diego chapters all come together to vote on issues, cover regional business and meet with counterparts (chapter board/regional  board).

I'll stop boring you with all the semantics - I know this is starting to read like a 6th grade book report.

What I mean to say here is just this:  some of these kids blow me away. Some of them are so bright, so talented or creative; some are so passionate about their purpose in the group; some of them impress me with indelible kindness or great humor. 

I wish the world would stop and pay more attention to teenagers sometime. They obviously have their drama and fleeting (or, not-so-fleeting) moments of immaturity but in this case, I can vouch for how GOOD these people are. They have a lot to offer. I have to tell you sometimes I'd rather be around them than anyone else. I don't mean that as a stab at friends or family -- I just want you to understand how warm and happy I feel when I spend time with them.

Mind you - when it's been 3 days of cold showers and shouting at them to "GO TO BED ALREADY!" I will likely sing a different tune. So please remind me to come back and read this entry.

I had lunch today with three of the girls from my chapter and it was such a nice moment when for JUST a moment, I forgot they were kids and I was a "grown up" and we were all smiling and laughing. 

Less so, by the way, when two of the kids were playing tonsil-hockey a row away from me on the busride home. That brought me RIGHT back to adulthood and also, right into "EW! GET A ROOM!" and "DOES YOUR FATHER KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING?!"

Oh Monday, I dread you. I'm worn out and I could use one more day...

Announcements

Hi all...

As you may or may not have noticed, my other blog is gone. I was giving it some thought and decided that as my readership is growing so much more now than it has before, and as I am doing even more online networking, I wanted to just have the single online homebase. So while this blog will STILL VERY MUCH focus on my self-image issues and food/health topics, weight loss struggles, etc., this will also now be merged with my personal musings.

It's still very much "Confessions of a Fat Girl" and just now all in one convenient blog! And FYI, all of my posts from "Other Musings" are in here now - the archives are now one.

Hope you will all stick with me - I've come to think of you all as friends in a way.

And as always, I encourage you check out my friends and colleagues in my Favorites, add me on Twitter, etc.

Have a great afternoon!

I'm a Real Girl!

Oh look,I DO exist!

For starters, to the few people who like to e-mail me from time to time, reminding me I haven't posted, I remind you ths is not a job for me, just a labor of love. When you want to start paying me, then we can talk

I've not written for a number of reasons. To begin with, I don't have too much to say that's news to you.

Meaning? My weight has been fluctuating around these annoying five pounds. I had my annual physical yesterday and my health is miraculously great. I have my usual problems- the bad ankle, the exhaustion, the stress - but are these are weight related? No way to know. My job is in tact... they laid off some people in my department and I am astoundingly busy, but so be it. I am employed and try to stay happy about that. I am still single and still lonely. I have been on a couple dates, but clearly noting blog-worthy and so... I'm quiet.

I'll come up with material- I promise. I know I've broken promises to consistently blog more in the past, so you're just gonna have to bear with me, kids.

Hope you are all enjoying the start of Summer. Here in LA it's all June gloom. Everyone seems annoyed by the lack of heat and sun but I'm good with weather like this for a while.

Renewal

Last week, I was lucky that a friend was brave enough to be honest with me. And she told me she was worried about me and my health. She knows me well and it had probably ocurred to her that I might not respond well to such comments but she said it anyway, for which I thank her. It actually got me thinking. It sort of opened my eyes.

It's really hard for me, actually, to see myself as overweight. Even though I've been so almost all of my life, I look in the mirror and really, I just see ME. I just see this image I am used to. Even when I am naked in front of a mirror, I catch myself thinking "well, you look totally different in clothes so who cares..s" but the truth is, I need to do something before I reach that point where I can't do anything... because I sense that point is coming.

And so I made a walking-date with a co-worker for one night this week. And I walked to lunch one day last week. I went to Trader Joe's this weekend and bought a ton of fruit and healthy snacks I can keep at my office. I bought granola to have for breakfast instead of a coffee-like concoction and a mid-morning snack. I went to the market and bought an artichoke since I know I like those and could easily learn to make one myself. My brother actually e-mailed me how he does it in the microwave so that will be cake.

Yesterday, I baked a cake for my co-worker's birthday  and after, when I was craving something sweet, I had grapes instead of cake or cookies. That was a small triumph. And especially on a Sunday night which is when I tend to eat the worst for some reason.

I also tackled a couple projects in the house. I did a huge load of laundry, reorganized some books, put away some stuff that's been sitting out too long and I put the massive collection of shoes on my bedroom floor away while also getting rid of pairs I never wear anymore and rediscovering pairs I forgot I owned. It was better than buying new at Nordstrom! It made me feel accomplished and gratified and like somehow I could now do anything I wanted (oh sure, it's just shoes but you have no idea what my bedroom looked like BEFORE I undertook this project). Thankfully, my roommate was out of town or else he would have had to see me strutting up and down the hall way in my pajamas and various pairs of dress shoes. On the outside, AJ the lunatic - in my head: Giselle.

So if anyone is feeling overwhelmed, I would suggest tackling a small project. And then another one. And let the feeling of pride and accomplishment from that propel you toward something a little bigger. And so on. Baby steps are okay. Baby steps lead to grown up steps, I swear.

One more thing I would highly recommend? Trust your best friends. And be wise enough to know when they are being supportive so you don't bite their heads off.

A Response

In response to the 11/23 "Fat Kids" entry, Monica writes:

There was a McDonalds one block away from my high school, and a Taco Bell not too much farther. At my middle school, the ice cream man would park himself right in front of the school once class let out.

I doubt many of my classmates needed a parent's transportation to procure unhealthy food on a daily basis. Especially with the crap they sold at the schools themselves.

In my opinion, the advertising is not the biggest issue here--the availability of bad food and the lack of sufficient health/nutritional education is the real culprit (from the parents and the school). Because, in reality, the parents aren't the ones decision makers, the kids are. When faced with the dorky school lunch, or the cool-kids'-a-la-carte menu items, kids are free to make their own fatty choices. I would venture to say that most parents are unaware that their kids are spending their "lunch money" on pizza and curly fries.

In most schools, or public schools at the very least, there are almost NO healthy options when it comes to the food schools provide. Probably the only way to ensure a healthy diet would be to bring your lunch everyday--and who wants to do that? Who has the time? For me, a kid who went to a public school that had no lockers, and had to carry my huge college-sized textbooks around with me everyday, carrying an adequate lunch was not an option.

Yes, the parents should be responsible, but there's only so much they can do (and should do--I mean forcing a bag lunch onto a high school kid is just asking for therapy later on). The schools need to act responsibly too, but it's especially hard in these times of enormous budget cuts in education. I know money's tight, but isn't the health of our nation important too?

I just thought it was so well-written, I had to share. Thanks, Monica!