I've been quiet lately-- well, for me, anyway. I just haven't had much about which to write. Work continues apace. There's either going to be an update late tonight or early tomorrow: a hodgepodge of resin pieces, stamped metal, wirework, strung strands, and those slinky bracelets that have been selling like hotcakes.

In headspace stuff, I have been having massive body image issues lately, which usually happens 'round this time of year while I still have all my extra winter padding on. I saw a couple of pictures of me at Spoutwood this weekend and I was literally all EUGH. It's funny how I don't tend to pay much mind to body shapes in general, but mine? It's driving me nuts, because I know it's not where I should be. I mean, I have super issues from my family calling me fat when I was only a size 6, so of course, I'm gonna be super-critical of myself, right? In any case, I need to exercise more, so I think tomorrow I'm going to take a book and go on a long excursion in the woods and be outside. I need to start eating way less carbs and way more fruits and veggies. I've fallen off the wagon with my resolution of no desserts during the week (Oreo cookies did me in), but I need to re-commit and stick to my guns. I am unhappy about the way I look and I'm the only person that's gonna change that. I am about 15lbs over what I know is best for my body, and my muscle tone is rapidly fading, so I'm gonna fix it.

Today: rehearsal, finishing a couple of final things (earwires, mostly), photography, then chilling out with costume dramas while I photoedit. It is going to be a long, long night.

Though it meant turning down some social time with a beloved friend, I am glad that I stuck to my plan of staying in today. Jason had gotten back on a crazy work schedule-- staying as late as 11:30pm and, on Friday, he got home at 2am (!). I had started to think that I was actually married to Jon Stewart, 'cause lord knows I see him more often. So we definitely needed some together time to work on some plans. To cook for each other and eat at the same table. To have more in-depth conversations than "hi honey" before one or both of us fell asleep.

We've spent the last two days doing some much-needed apartment work-- unpacking lingering boxes, cleaning, etc. After a joint effort, there are precious few things on our list left to do-- two more loads of laundry, finding a place for overflow crafts, a trip to Goodwill for the massive boxes still in our living room-- but as it stands, everything else is clean and folded and wiped down and vacuumed and scooped and put away. Our inner Virgos are much relieved. We're still waiting on our sofa, which was a special order color, so it's taking extra long. And we still have to get dining room chairs out of storage. But beyond that? I am ready to grab a few buckets of paint and add some color. That will likely wait until after the wedding party, though.

And, as a bonus, Jason took two days off next week to help finish off wedding plans and relax. Which is great! I think the only things left to do are to purchase table coverings, paper/plastic silverware (because a fancy, formal shindig it ain't), figure out decorations, and talk over ceremony particulars with an officiant. Last week, we hired a great photographer who I'm sure will be worth every penny. She has a great talent for catching people in their best light-- capturing who they are more than just what they look like. So that's good! Food is decided on. Our caterer is the chef of Desert Cafe, and he's absolutely awesome. We have our clothes. So most of the stressful stuff is done. Other than writing vows. That's gonna be a tricky business. I mean, sure, we're already married and have done the civil vow thing. But these are for our friends and family to witness, so they need to be thoughtful and warm and memorable. I'm much better at flippant.

In the next few days: there will be hiking. I would like to tone up before pictures are taken of me that will be hung on the wall forever. Wherein my belly will be showing. And it's currently just a little softer than I'd like, personally-- I'm inching towards the higher end of my BMI out of sheer inactivity. Many hours spent at a desk, not enough getting exercise. I have almost six weeks to get into a regimen of daily walks, weekly hikes, less carb-focused meals, and smarter snacking. Considering I don't want a dramatic change, that should be doable.

Wow, I am actually not sore this morning. My body feels nicely warm and relaxed. Got up early and did customer service, then bought some supplies for custom orders.

Today's agenda: finish a few pieces, hit the PO, and then maybe have a sushi dinner with J. We're starting the so-called "caveman" diet on Sunday, so we're eating our rice while we can. 10 days of no breads, dairy or most meats. Very few processed foods. Nuts, fruits (with emphasis on berries), fish, veggies, and lean meats. I'm not sure if eggs are admissible under the diet, but we're going to have them, but sparingly. Hard boiled eggs make a good lunch. The worst part? No chocolate. And next week is... well, let's just say it's gonna be a special challenge, okay? I guarantee that by day six I'll have visions of Nutella-covered english muffins dancing through my head. Anyway, the point is to break my addiction to heavy carbs and to see them as a treat instead of an everyday diet staple, 'cause as it is, my diet is outta whack. Though better than it was-- in the last two months, I've been slowly breaking myself of my addiction to sweets and have been better at resisting very rich desserts except on special occasions. I actually walked past a Coldstone Creamery yesterday with no problem! :)

Tomorrow: hiking. Not sure where yet, but while I'm on a roll with the exercise, I'm gonna keep on going. I'm halfway to my goal shape, and I'm gonna keep on truckin'.

Workshop was great. A little lighter on the improv than I'd have hoped. A lot of fusion-y layering stuff, at which I did not suck nearly as much as expected (yay growth!). Thanks to Flo's class, I've really been drilling layering upper body stuff over soft shimmies; tonight was a lot of upper body stuff layered over very sharp hip-ups and hip-downs in a way I associate more with Rachel's solo stuff than Mardi's. It was super hard, but I managed more than I thought I would, including the choreography at the end. Not perfectly, but I did feel proud of myself for sticking it out until I got it right a few times. It was certainly not an easy routine. Took notes on cool things that we could turn into improv bits with a cue.

Mardi, of course, was sweet and funny. She went through a lot of material, teaching entire combos together rather than building them movement by movement (which usually works better for me), but that's understandable given the two hour time constraint. As a bonus, she and I have similar body types. A lot of the workshops I've taken were with svelte yogini-bodied teachers, and the movement sometimes looks a little bit different due to different body shape. It was neat to get to see how a movement should look on my body, to have so close a match.

Spent a LOT of today getting through a bunch of pieces for Monday's update. I think I only have about five more pieces to do tomorrow, then I can commence copywriting and photography.

Now: I shower. I have that "you done good" exercise ache in my glutes and I need some warmth. I have a total lack of lower back pain (or back stiffness at all, really), which says good things about posture. I've been keeping an eye on my tailbone, and it's starting to pay off.

I dyed my roots last night, as I had quite the skunk stripe going on. Behold the super-blonde:



On one hand... I like that it makes my eyes look SUPER DUPER BLUE. With other shades, I get more of a hazel look. But on the other... I am very, very bored with blonde. I think I might do red soon. Or something. I am still being indecisive about it.

I'm pleased that the eating better plan is starting to show some in my face. I still have a little tummy going on, and I think that working the abdominals is really the only way to get the shape I'd like. So, I need to buy myself a yoga mat and get to it.

( The Great Makeup Experiment, Day 1.Collapse )

Just got back from Whole Foods. Filled my basket with fresh fruits and veggies, as well as yogurt, fancy cheese, and some olives. Also allowed myself a bottle of wine for the week and a dessert for tonight. Good stuff.

This week has been all about eating better. Instead of waffles for breakfast, I had grapefruit, yogurt, and these little two-bite scones that Whole Foods sells (to satisfy my ever-present morning sweet carb craving). So I still had the sweet carbs, but they weren't the focus of the meal. I failed a little bit with lunch, getting those pre-packaged noodle bowl things, but the other option was running around to Padilla's for a ridiculous Mexican lunch. Dinners have been mostly chicken with heaping sides of salad. Last night I had pasta, but kept it to a balanced portion and had a giant salad with it. If I have to eat out, I either box half or split with someone to keep portions within reason for my body. While I'm at least getting to where I want to be dietarily, I am excited because for the first time in a long time, I've been planning meals that don't revolve around lots of frying or lots of butter, and that's a step in the right direction. I have more energy. Sure, I'll still eat buttery and fried foods, but not every day. And I've started buying high-quality single-serving chocolates. They satisfy me and I'm not tempted to eat, say, a whole bar. Seriously, retraining my taste buds is an uphill battle, but I'm doing okay.

Now, to get on the bike. There is still some work left to be done to it that J says he's going to do tonight, but he has been stressed beyond belief and lacking in anything remotely resembling free time (and it's beginning to show). I'm sure I'll start seeing the positive changes I want once I'm on that thing several times a week.

Anyhow-- BSG tonight! I am both really excited and very sad. My show! It is ending!

Last night, we took a trip to Whole Foods-- my culinary wonderland. We stocked up on the basics-- juice for J, black tea, asparagus, peppers, greens, eggs, cheese. I love Whole Foods for three reasons-- the sheer selection of chocolate, tea, and cheese. I managed to restrain myself, however, to one selection of each. Despite my not really liking yogurt all that much, I am attempting to eat more healthily, and so I picked up exotic flavors in an attempt to tempt my palette... pink grapefruit & lychee, plum honey & lavender. (Result: the pink grapefruit & lychee is actually pretty tasty.)

We also got ingredients for cooking. After four days of nothing but fast and/or restaurant food on the road, we'd had enough. The portions are far too large for one sitting (and, in many instances, two), and my pants feel too tight. Add to that that I had four sodas this week as opposed to my usual one every other week or so. SO much sugar, and I most certainly feel the difference in my motivation and energy levels-- that is to say, once the initial high subsides, I've got nothing. I'd say this week has been a thorough derailment of the healthier diet plan, and I need to get back on track. So we cooked in last night and ate healthy portions with lots of veggies and my arteries are thanking me today.

I also picked up some honey from a local ABQ apiary-- it has so much more flavor than the honey back east, which is mostly clover honey and sometimes wildflower. This honey has a deep, ambery-rich smoky taste to it, and I love it. I might have to get some for Dixie.

However: with a $140 bill-- easily TWICE what I pay at Trader Joe's back home, it's safe to say that we'll mostly be sticking to Whole Foods for items that we deem necessary to have healthy/organic: produce, certainly. Milk, eggs. Some meats. For the rest, there's another grocery store nearby and there's even a Trader Joe's on the other side of town.

Aside from that, I've been doing some inquiries into things I'd like to do out here. Not only does ABQ have a decent tribal scene, but also a Pagan group and a TNG group that both meet regularly. I'm still getting the lay of the land about which areas are safe for a lone woman to traverse, and as soon as the weather warms a few degrees, I'll be biking all over creation.