How To Hate Maternity Pants

I tried the rubberband trick. I tried just wearing the pants too tight for my own good. I tried wearing my fat pants. But I've now gotten to the point where I must wear maternity pants in order to be any kind of comfortable. And boy do I hate them!

They have this band that comes up to my boobs and the actual pant part is so low-cut that I am forced to wear long shirts. The longer shirts in turn, cut off my legs and make me look short and frumpy. The part that covers my stomach irritates the crap out of my skin, so all I do is itch it all day long. Seriously, I just stand and itch my growing belly. I can't win with these pants! Am I the only one with these problems? Answer: Most likely cause I'm weird!

Fortunately, I have found one pair of work maternity pants that are lower rise (thank you Motherhood Maternity) and one pair that has a flexible waist (Meijer) thanks to my Mom. Both of these are very attractive and hit at my hips or just below. Love them! Now if only I could find some jeans that are like that as well. Hmmmm.

Here are some of my belly pics:

4 weeks--when we found out!! i was skinny!

12 weeks

16 weeks (and yes that is a turtleneck)

20 weeks (i need to slow it down a bit)

Happy Pants Hunting and Belly Growing!

--Am

How To Take Forever to Make a Very Wide and Very Short Scarf

Back in December I got very ambitious and decided to learn how to knit. I found some very informative guides on youtube to help me get started (and to finish). It took me forever to figure out how to do a slipknot, but I finally found an easy to follow video. I had to reteach myself this, as I already forgot, and I still found it difficult.  I can be so challenged at times!

I casted on 60 times (whoa!) and went through three rolls (which I later learned are called skeins) of yarn. All I learned originally was the knit stitch. So, I knit stitched 98 rows. Sorry if that terminology is wrong, I'm not an expert. During that time, my mother in law was over and taught me how to purl. She is so fast with the needle. She knits using a different technique than I do, but I can't remember what it's called (can you help me out Katherine?). It's so much easier to learn from someone in the flesh than it does from a video, so I'm thankful for her showing me the ropes!

For my second skein, I decided to change the pattern to knit, purl, knit, purl, knit, purl. The next six rows would then be purl, knit, purl, knit, purl, knit. This created rows that were flat on one side and raised on the other. There are 17 rows like this in total. For the final skein, I went back to using the knit stitch for the final 98 rows. At the end, I used this video to learn how to cast off.

All in all, it was pretty easy to do. Although there are some imperfections and it's an awkward width and length, I'm pretty proud of what I made! Take a look for yourself:

about two thirds of the scarf

wrapped around once

Happy knitting!

--Am

How To Time Travel

Every time I visit my parents, I head up to my old room and peruse the clothes, schoolbooks, childhood toys, and other random items. We visited them on Sunday and like always, I trekked up to my room. I found some string that I once I used to make friendship bracelets (remember those?), but could now find a more creative project for it. On this particular trip I decided to open up the boxes stored up high. The first one I opened contained old baby blankets. Not sure if they could be reused for an future babies, but decided I could take them home. The next box was filled with old guard sweatshirts. I wasn't in the mood for guard reminiscing, so I put these back on the shelf. The third box I opened was brimming with old, dirty, precious stuffed animals. As a child, I had somewhat of an obsession with stuffed animals. I loved them! I had to get all of them out and reconnect with each of them. As I'm starting to get to know them all over again, Al rounds the corner and asks, "What in the hell are you doing?" I explain the animals and start to give him their backstories, but he doesn't care. All he can say is, "You know that a pediatrician would never let you give those to little kids, right?" Of course (although it does break my heart a little), but it was still fun going down memory lane! 

On my way out of the closet, I grab my favorite pair of jeans from high school (I just could never part with them) and my mom's hot pants outfit. A little history behind the hot pants. When my mom was 15, she travelled overseas (France and maybe some other places). My grandmother picked her up at the airport to find her wearing this outfit. Boy, was she in trouble! Back to me, I used to wear the top to the hot pants outfit in high school, but could never fit into the bottoms. I decided to try it on with my new found body. Hot pants still don't fit and the shirt is not very flattering. It was worth a try! Being a little discouraged, I decided to go for the jeans and see if they fit. So, I tried them on they are perfect. Not tight or loose, but just perfect. They are soft to the touch and oh so comfy! I have missed these jeans. They are terribly frayed at the bottom and have holes in the wrong places, but are still wonderful. I wouldn't dare try to wear them at work, but they are perfect for weekends and lounging around. In fact, I'm wearing them right now!  

the jeans

al made me stick my butt out :(

at least diego looks cute

the hot pants

Another great treasure from high school is my class ring. I've been wearing it on and off in place of my wedding ring, while the wedding ring was getting fixed. That took longer than expected as the stone cracked and the ring was out for an additional week! However, it was nice to wear the chunky class ring for a bit. It's somewhat masculine, and I think I actually like how it looks on me now better than it did back in the day! 

class of 2000

amber!

Happy reminiscing! 

--Am

How To Fit Into Your Wedding Dress

Most women have a goal to lose weight before their wedding. Some will even go the length to buy a dress that's a size or two smaller for motivation to slim down. I am not most women. Of course I didn't want to look like a boat on my wedding day, but I wasn't so unhappy with how I looked that it would motivate me enough to change my ways. Besides that, I picked a dress that was slimming and that made me look and feel amazing!

I would say that the dress fit just right. However, some of the pictures and my poses give the impression of back fat. Oh well! I still got married, and it was still the most rockin' wedding I've been to. And I must say that I was happy with everything (even the back fat)! Here's what I looked like then (October 16, 2009).

getting ready--easy to see the fit of the dress

check out that back fat!

After a year of being married and switching jobs, I decided it was time to get my body in shape. If Alex I were to even start thinking about kids, I wanted to be in good shape. How was I going to do this? I've never been very good at that kind of stuff. I usually only get motivated when I have someone pushing me to do it. I signed up for Weight Watchers Online, hoping that paying the $17 monthly charge would be enough of a motivation. It was a start! It taught me to change my eating habits. The plan is very structured, which, being an accountant, was what made it easy and fun for me. It was like a game to see if I could come in at the right points value. And being a saver, I saved all my extra points for the weekend just in case we went out or wanted some wine with dinner. There were some weeks when I didn't even use them. 

After a couple months, I had lost 10 pounds all by changing my diet. Awesome! However, I had hit a plateau. Oh crap, that meant it was time I started working out. How could I ever motivate myself for that? Well, I started watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer (yes, the tv series from the late 90's). It has fabulous fight scenes and made me want to kick butt. It was a treat for me to watch Buffy if I worked out. (I've since completed Buffy and have moved to Angel). After a couple months of that, I hit my goal weight of 120. I've been in maintaining mode since December and have managed to stay slim. I don't strictly follow WW (and have stopped paying for it), but I use the general idea and run at least three times a week. I couldn't be happier with my image! 

Here's me trying on my wedding dress being 20 plus pounds lighter (March 4, 2011).

look at all that excess dress!

yes, that's two wine bottles in there to keep my dress held up

the weight loss has taken its toll on the girls

Happy weight loss!

--Am

How To Be Martha Stewart on a Whim

I love time to myself. Don't get me wrong, I love spending time with Alex, family, and friends, but sometimes I like to be alone. It gives me a chance to catch up on my tv shows that Al won't watch and to be lazy. Monday night, I had the opportunity to do whatever I pleased. Al headed to my parent's house to give dad a tutorial on the iPhone. After reading the chapters for our bible study this Wednesday, I turned on the tv and decided to indulge in House. Since I can't just sit and watch tv, I decided I would be crafty.

Al had asked me if I was ever going to complete the shoes I had started that had taken up residence in the corner of our kitchen. He always knows how to give me motivation to finish what I started. Thanks honey! Needless to say, I started with the shoes. With lack of creativity, I covered the remainder of the shoes in silver and the bow in gold glitter. No idea where the heck I would wear this to, so maybe I can build a Halloween costume around them. Any thoughts?

 

the silver shoes...glittered and glossed

After completing the shoes and making a huge glitter mess, the creative spirit took hold of me. I got this bag full of goodies that I had purchased on a trip to Michaels. Among other things, this contained feathers, bobby pins, and thin wire. I started out easy by taking a pre-made feathered piece and gluing bobby pins on the back. It made for a pretty extravagant hairpiece.

feathers

Next I grabbed the wire and started playing around with it. I'm not that creative, so I couldn't quite figure out what to do with it. I cut some off, molded it, folded it, twisted it. Nothing. I had made the start of a necklace and gave up on it because it wasn't doing what I wanted. So, back to the bag. That's when I found the butterflies. Originally, I wanted these to be hairpins, but decided that was too seventh grade. Fortunately, they weren't terribly hard to string onto the wire. And the wire curved at just the right point that I could make it a floating necklace of sorts. I was very proud with how it laid and the overall look. I wish I would have gotten a full body picture of this with the original outfit because it looked amazing!

the floating butterflies

Oh, but I'm still not done! I still didn't know what do with the wire I cut originally. I curled it and twisted it until I decided to make it a bracelet. But a plain wire bracelet is boring! I had to add some sort of detail. I covered up the end pieces with an old tank top strap (this way the cut ends wouldn't scratch my delicate skin). Still not enough. Then I found the bag of feathers. I started looping them in and out of wires. When I tried it on as a bracelet, I realized that every time it would come off and go back on that I would lose feathers. That's when it hit me that I should make it a "pendant" for a necklace. I grabbed an old chain and added the feathered circle.

feathered mess

All in all it was a pretty successful evening with not having anything planned. Oh how I do enjoy attempting to be Martha Stewart!

Accessorize away!

--Am

the three pieces

How To Cover Your Clothes in Animal Fur

No, I'm not talking about a fur coat made of minx, rabbit, or fox. I'm talking about a coat made of synthetic materials that is littered with domestic animal fur. This is really easy to do…just get three dogs and a cat. Really only one dog or one cat would suffice, as it just gets worse with multiples. Alex often complains about eating fur with every meal consumed at the breakfast bar. I can't disagree with him as the fur is EVERYWHERE! When we clean, the space is re-furred in ten minutes. It's hopeless.

Once it's in our living space, it's on our clothes and in our cars. It's probably all over my office and my coworkers and now their homes and our parents' homes and well, the world. Sorry to all of you for that!

No matter how much we vacuum the floors, wipe down the counters, or lint roll our jackets, it will never be fur-less. Here are some pics of my coat after it's been lint-rolled using at least four of the tapes:

up close and personal of the fur covered black jacket 

the back of the black jacket--see the little white lines? 

yep, that's the fur. 

sleeve with more fur

In case you can't see how bad it is, let me give you a little story. I was once at lunch at Pita Pit (yum) with my friend Leslie when the guy at the table next to us felt the need to interrupt our conversation. He stated his name as Jared and commented on Leslie's coloring and my earrings and outfit. While talking about my outfit, he mentioned my coat (which at this time was my long, three button, tie-around-the-waist, cobalt blue coat). It went something like this, "I just have to say that your outfit is great. The jacket, although it looks like you rolled around in dog hair in it, with the earrings, is just fabulous." He proceeded to give us the name of his friend's blog, to which he sometimes contributes (see circlecitystyle.blogspot.com). It was awesome how he called me out on my fur covered coat, and somehow managed to compliment me at the same time. 

However, it's still not enough for me to care to have it de-furred. I'm just too lazy for that, unless there's something really important I need to attend or there's someone I need to impress. That's not very often and not many people. Sorry if that offends anyone who sees my fur-ridden coat day after day.  

Furry tales to all!

--Am 

culprit #1: Hallie 

culprits #2, #3, & #4: (from left) Dodger, Daisie, and Diego

How To Use Skype

If someone could teach me (and some of my cohorts) how to appropriately use Skype, it would be much appreciated. We just spent fifteen minutes trying to get four of us to conference in. Since Adam didn't have a mic, he was going to join via chat, while the remaining three (Ray, Kristi, me) would talk.

Here's how it went: Adam could hear me (and Alex having a discussion about taxes), but I couldn't hear him (no mic as mentioned above). Adam could hear Ray.  Kristi was having mic problems and Adam was the only one that could hear her at one point. Great! This skype thing is really working for us...NOT!

Ray had to restart his computer a couple of times. Kristi was a little late in joining, while I was way early. It was probably about 5 minutes into when the call should have started that it was actually started. Since nothing was really working, I started playing around with my settings and thought maybe I needed external speakers. Alex to the rescue! He had a headset that consisted of earphones and a microphone, so I looked like a telemarketer or phone-in customer service rep. Very stylish! But hey, it worked. With this in, I could hear Ray. A small step for some new Skypers.

 the headset (please don't mind my make-up-less face)

Since Ray and I could now chat, Adam would call me and I would put him on speaker and Kristi would call Ray and put her on speaker. BAD IDEA! There was lots of echos, similar to when you stand between two mirrors and it looks like you go on forever. It was like that only with sound. Does that make sense? After 30 seconds of that and realizing it was not going to work, we decided to scrap using skype and just meet first thing tomorrow morning. Whew!

Although it didn't work out, Ray and I were able to video chat with each other after it ended and he got to see little Diego. I hope that made his day!

Happy Skyping! 

--Am

How To Poorly Polish Your Nails

How often do you paint your fingernails? If you're a dude, it's probably not often (unless you're into the goth scene). And if you're a chick, it could be anywhere from never to every week. Some of us are fortunate enough to get our nails done at a salon or at least one of the Vietnamese places. Not me, however! I only get my nails done for special occasions, which really only means weddings that I'm in. Also, I have a terrible habit of biting my nails, so they are never long enough for me to get a manicure. Instead, I would have the fake ones "installed". There was a place in Manchester (that's IN, not England), where the nail tech would actually build the nails. Hard to explain, but pretty cool.

My nails are finally getting to the point where I could actually manicure them! Somehow I haven't bitten or tore them off, which usually is done because I'm stressed. Guess I just don't have much stress right now--I'll take it! It drives me nuts when I can see the dirt gathering underneath the nails, so that sometimes causes the biting. Needless to say, I rarely have long nails. So, I hardly have any practice when it comes to painting nails. But this time, I decided I wanted to keep the nails growing long. The best solution to that is to polish them so I can't see the dirt collecting underneath them.

It's winter, so I grab the most wintery color I own. I can't remember the name, but it's a deep eggplant color. I also gather up my polishing kit (which is really for pedicures, but it works for hands). I slather on the cuticle oil, let that dry, which takes for-freaking-ever, and yell at Alex to see if can help me when it comes time to paint the right hand. Then I remember the last time we tried to do that and decided I didn't want a big purple stain on the carpet or a yelling match about not being able to have anything nice. I'm better off doing it myself--BIG mistake!  

I start with the base coat. Oh, I should also mention that I'm lying in bed trying to paint my nails. I'm lazy and couldn't fathom getting up. Base coat is applied and dried, so it's time for the eggplant. I do one coat on each hand. Terrible…streaky and all over my skin. So I paint another coat because that will help with the streakiness (and it does), but it's still all over my skin. Ah, I can wait and wash it off in the shower tomorrow morning (thanks Sarah Nolan!). Once the eggplant is applied and dried, I dab on the top coat.  I can't remember if I did one or two coats of this. I'm sure it was only one (lazy again). And would you know it? Right when I think I'm done, I smudge the heck out of my left ring finger. Instead of taking it all off that finger and starting from scratch, I decide it would be better just to add another coat of eggplant and top it off with some top coat. Classy!!  

I'm sure you're shocked when you hear me say that about three days later the polish started to chip. And when it starts to chip, I start to pick.  It's even worse when I'm bored or frustrated. Oh great, now I'm that kid with the dodgy nail job. So, I did the big kid thing and painted over the nails when I got home. What a great idea! Nope…two days later it started to chip again. Ah the heck with it, time to come off. I grab the nail polish remover, soak a cotton ball, and rub away. Now the nails are back to normal, and I'm wondering if I should hurry up paint them in the next five minutes, or risk biting them off tomorrow. Oh well, they were nice while they lasted!  :)

Perfect Polishing!
--Am

PS--Eiffel for this color (would you have guessed that was the color eggplant?).
PSS--And thanks to Claire and Regs, I tried very hard to single space after each period. Oh save me because I didn't do it right once the first time around!    

How To Style Your Hair Like a Flock of Seagulls

You know when you go to your hairstylist and she styles your hair perfectly and in a way that you will never be able to replicate?  Last thursday, Andrea Heine-Donahue cut and styled my hair.  She's fabulous!  Not only is she super cool and fun to hang out with, but I trust her with my hair.  I love my hair and I don't trust easily, so that right there should tell you how awesome she is.  Anyway, this particular Thursday she had styled my short hair up and to the left in a sort of rockstar, hip way.  Lots of twists, product, and blowdrying it just right.

This morning as I woke up, I decided I wanted to wear my new mustard tights (thanks Em!) and these tights would require rockstar hair.  I start my routine: shower (in which it goes hair, face, body), remove earwax, remove eye make-up I didn't get in the shower (yes, I should wash my face at night, but I'm really lazy), put on toner (new step that I don't even know if it's doing anything), lotion body, get dressed, dry and style the hair, brush teeth, put on jewelry, apply make-up, lotion face, and spray on perfume.  And that's my morning routine.  I'm an accountant, so I never (ok, rarely) stray from the routine.  Oh but today was different.

I was taking forever to find an outfit for the mustard tights, so I decided to start on the hair so that it didn't dry out.  Shouldn't have strayed from the routine.  I started by blowdrying it at an angle.  It now looks like a skateboarding ramp.  It's ok, I can fix it with some twisting and product.  I grab the Aquage transforming paste and start with the molding and twisting.  Too fluffy under the ramp, so I put more paste there.  It looks a little better, but is not quite there.  Bright idea!  Put some hairspray on it…that fixes everything.  Everything except for this.  Shouldn't have stepped outside the routine!  I'll remember this for next time.  

It now looks like hair that my sis and I would make fun of.  It's what we would call Flock of Seagulls hair.  From The Wedding Singer: Airline Attendant - "You like Flock of Seagulls?" Robbie Hart (aka Adam Sandler) - "No, but I can tell you do!"  In fact, we just made fun of some guy at House of Tokyo because he had total Flock of Seagull hair.  I mean, it was WHOA Flock of Seagull hair (wish I had a picture of that).  So, my hair wasn't totally Flock of Seagulls, more like a skateboarding ramp.  There's always next time!

Happy Hairstyling!
--Am  

the true Flock of Seagulls hair - picture here

 

the skateboard ramp (please keep in mind that this was after a full day of work)

who am I kidding?  looks terrible!