The Travel Dress....Finally.

I started working on this dress in like..November. It wasn't a hard dress to make, I just procrastinated and such....Once I finally finished the dress and tried it on, I discovered that I had gained so much weight I couldn't fit into the damn thing.

After busting my ass for over a month, I've lost 10 pounds, and I can squeeze myself into the dress.

I used the following Vogue Pattern:

If you remember my purple wiggle dress form a few months back, you will see that this is the same pattern from that dress. I chose to go with the main view this time.

The pattern reminded me of a very early 60's silhouette, so I went all Mad Men on it.

I think it turned out nicely...wish the sleeves had come out less puffy, but all in all, I think I will be wearing it to work pretty often.

Achievement Unlocked: 10 pounds down

So, this journal may be a bit early...but on January 4th, 2011...I weighed 226 pounds and some change.

It was the biggest I had been in several years, and I was VERY unhappy about it. I decided to do something about it. Which was really hard. I gave up things I loved (junk foods) and did things I hated (going to the gym).

And today, I stepped on the scale and I knew all my hard work had paid off.

216.6

I still have 1.4 pounds to go before I hit my first goal marker, but I I know I will hit my goal soon. Since my total goal is 175, I figured I would just round to the nearest five mark so for this first goal I actually had to loose 11 pounds, hence one pound to go.

I still have a long way to go, but I know I can get there, one day at a time. I really hope to hit 205 by March 31st. I'm not sure that will happen, but I am going to try my hardest.

31 days till 205. I'm going to have to bust my ass.

Frugal Living: Meal Planning

It's pretty common knowledge that planning your meals in advance can save you money at the grocery store. The theory is that you have all your meals planned, and have a list of what to buy at the grocery store, so you can coordinate with the current sales and you only buy what you need and therefore spend less money. I remember when I was little, my mom would pull out 10 different store ads and she would sit for hours planning that week's shopping list and all of our meals based on what was on sale and which coupons she had on hand. I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't have time for all that mess. I work a job and have a household to attend to. I don't have the leisure to just sit down and plan a menu and shopping list.

So, I set out to find some quick internet assistance on my time and meal planning dilemma.

I discovered a few sites, and I am passing them to you, along with my thoughts on each.

The first site I discovered in my internet travels was: MealsMatter.org.
After registering, I finally got settled into working with the site. I decided to start my planning immediately and jumped into what I would have for breakfast tomorrow. I clicked on "Add Recipe" and found myself jumping for joy. They have hundreds of recipes, which are sorted into every category you could imagine. They even have holiday recipes. You can add items to your "pantry" so you can be sure to use things you already have on hand. You can also add your own recipes to the "My Cookbook" section for quick reference. Planning a week's worth of different and delicious meals took me about 30 minutes, but I still had to check the grocery store ad to see what was on sale. I do recommend checking it out.

The next site I checked out was Monthly Meal Planner. Honestly, this site was much more difficult to navigate than the aforementioned site, and it really wasn't much help to me. It might be better for those families who buy in bulk, but it wasn't for me.

The last site on my internet conquest for meal planning domination was: Food on the table.
As soon as I signed in, I was directed to choose my grocery store. I chose the Kroger that I frequent, and the nearest HEB. The site then pulled sale prices from those stores...I didn't have to do anything except select the sorts of things I enjoy eating (like poultry, beef, veggies, etc.). I found they had a wide variety of recipes, and you can select recipes based on what is on sale at your local market, you can then import those recipes into a shopping list and print out the list or have it sent to your mobile phone.
I started out by adding two ingredients that were on sale (shrimp & catfish), and then selected recipes to use to prepare them. It imported all the ingredients I needed to prepare the recipes and I had to remove the items that I already had in my pantry. I could have also added personal care items if I needed to the list as well. There are pros and cons to this site, to access all the recipes, you have to fork out some $$. Not interested in doing that. Also, this isn't a "meal planner" as it is more of a grocery list generator. It saved me some time, but I still had to go back through my pantry and see what I already had on hand. It is very user friendly, and will find the sale items for you, which is a big time saver.


I do recommend you look at all of them and see which site suits your needs.

Happy Planning!

Big Doris's New Home

Who is Big Doris?

Big Doris is my 1979 Singer Stylist sewing machine. I've had her since I was 13 years old. My mom taught me to sew when I was just a wee one, and when I got a little older, I begged for a sewing machine. After she past, some friends of the family found me this older model sewing machine and gave her to me for Christmas. I've loved and used her ever since. I've only ever had her break on me once, and that was after 10 years of frequent use and several moves. She had all her gears replaced and it ran me about $200.00. Worth every penny.

For ages, my dining room table also moonlighted as my sewing table. That was a major hassle because when I wanted to eat dinner, I had to put away Doris and move the project I was working on. It was a huge pain in the ass.

I mentioned that I was on the look out for some sort of sewing cabinet to one of my seamstress friends casually one day. While I told her my plight of my multitasking dining room, she told me she would look out for something for me.

A few weeks later, she called me with great news. She had an extra sewing cabinet she would give to me. FREE SEWING CABINET!? YES PLEASE.

She and her husband delivered it to my apartment and I placed Big Doris in it. It wasn't a perfect fit, but it works just wonderful for me.

Here she is in my little sewing corner of my sewing room. Complete with Murphy's laws hanging on the wall.

Look at that extra storage space! Complete with SPOOL RACKS!! YESSSS!

Now Doris has a home, and my dining room table can be just that, a dining room table.

All I can say is....

FUCK YEAH!

You may be wondering what brought on this sudden burst of explicative excitement. Well you see, the year is drawing to a close and work has decided that we would all get Christmas bonuses. I was expecting a small amount, just something that would help with the expenses of Christmas. What I got was far more than that. Yesterday I opened my bonus letter to find double what I was expecting was coming to me in the form of a bonus.

To say I nearly fell out of my chair is a complete and total understatement. I was so excited I nearly cried, as I have to get my car repaired (damn rear motor mounts), and the cost of the repair is no longer a concern for me. I quickly called Dr. Jones (the boyfriend) and shared my good fortune with him. He was so happy (cause he knows this means there are lots of presents in his future, and cause he's just proud of me) and he said that when we get to see each other over the Christmas break we will do something special. He offered to make me fondue (which I have never had before) and he said we would get some champagne. To be perfectly honest, he is going to spoil me plum rotten and I am not sure how to feel about that.
Even though he's currently 1100 miles away, he still finds a way to make me feel like the most lucky gal alive. Isn't that adorable?

Anyway, enough of the mushy stuff, let's get back to business. My bonus goes into effect on Thursday, and when it hits the bank I am going to get Christmas taken care of and then put most of it into savings for a rainy day. I am going to spoil myself to one dress though:

ModCloth: Soda Fountain Dress in Grape


Speaking of dresses, I finally finished the travel dress last night. Let me tell you something. I fucking hate zippers. I hate them with the fire of a thousand suns. Though the zipper is totally wonky on my travel dress, I REFUSE to do it again. It's in the back and I don't think anyone will really notice other than me anyway. I've got a few more fit issues to fix before I can wear it, but it's pretty much done.

Oh, and while I was sewing last night, I worked on a gift for a friend of mine. I made her a little cosmetic bag out of this pretty gaudy Day of the Dead fabric. I have enough fabric left over to make her a matching half apron. I can't wait to give it to her. She's going to love it.

Here is a crappy cell phone pic of the bag. It's got triangular sides and a flat bottom so it will stand up on it's own when filled with stuff.

Anyway, this is tl;dr but the following pic sums up my life right now:

Week of Giveaways!

New giveaway alert!


An adorable hat giveaway here


Check it out!

Good luck!

Battle of the Brands: Dry Shampoo

Being a *bottle* red head is hard work. I try not to wash my hair everyday because washing my hair strips it of natural oils that protect my hair and washes out my beloved hair color. Of course it takes dedication not to reach for the shampoo every day. Recently, I started using a dry shampoo to take the edge off. I loved it, so I tried several brands to find the best, most cost effective brand that works for me.

A word about dry shampooing....you will need a natural or boar bristle brush to get the best results with ANY dry shampoo. Make the investment and get a boar bristle brush, as that type of brush will help in removing excess powder in your hair, which can make your hair look white.
Also, dry shampoos will make your hair look matte. I suggest using something like Biosilk to remedy that side effect.

First up, the old fashioned dry shampoo: Cornstarch.

I tried this a total of two times, so please take that into consideration. I sprinkled a few table spoons of cornstarch into my hair at the roots and then massaged in. I let it sit for about 15 minutes and then brushed it out. It seemed to work fine, but the application was really really messy, so I went searching for something that wouldn't be so messy.

Batiste Dry Shampoo $7.49 (I paid $6.99 with my Sally's card.)
5.3 oz
Product cost breakdown: $1.32 per oz. (based on what I paid)

I was impressed with this dry shampoo. I put it in before going to bed, massaged it in and then woke up the next morning with far less greasy hair. I brushed out the excess with my bristle brush and was very pleased with the result. The product smells nice too, so that is a big plus. The biggest problem I have with this product is the amount and the price. I paid a good bit of money for a bottle that only lasted me two and a half weeks of use. I have really greasy hair, so I had to use a good bit with each application to combat the greasies. Other than that one setback, this is a great dry shampoo and I would recommend it to friends.
4 out of 5 stars.

Beyond the Zone Rock On Dry Shampoo $6.99 ($6.49 with Sally's card.)
6 oz.
Product cost breakdown: $1.08 per oz (Based on what I paid)

I used this dry shampoo in the same manner I used the Batiste Dry Shampoo. I really like the smell of this dry shampoo, its hard to describe...it just smells really good to me. I also noticed that this dry shampoo added volume to my hair, where as the Batiste did not. It also comes in a bigger bottle and I was able to get three and a half weeks of use out of one bottle. It seemed like it took less of this product to make my hair feel clean. It is also cheaper than the Batiste as well. The only downside to this product is that there has been mention of the nozzle clogging, though I did not have that problem.
4 1/2 out of 5 stars

Tresemme Fresh Start Dry Shampoo $4.49 (Target)
5.7 oz.
Product cost breakdown: $0.78 per oz.

I had really high hopes for this dry shampoo. I thought I had found a dry shampoo that would work for less than $1 an oz! I was so excited when I got this. (I also got the Fresh Start Refreshing Mist, cause I was so excited, and it is just as worthless.) I used it as I normally do with dry shampoos, applying at night and then brushing out in the morning....but that proved to be a massive mistake. I had to spend ALL night smelling the dry shampoo, which only smells like chemicals and alcohol. Not to be defeated, I switched to using it in the morning, which was just as bad. I think this product could have been good if it had not been for the awful smell. As far as the dry shampoo it self was concerned, it was only mediocre at getting the oil out of my hair....but honestly, I could not get past the smell. I didn't even finish the bottle. It's sitting half full in my bathroom, taking up space. I am going to see if I can pawn it off on one of my friends who has been naughty this year. Tresemme usually has great affordable products, but this one just fell really flat. So disappointed.
2 out of 5 stars.


The Final Victor:

Beyond the Zone Rock On Dry Shampoo
It's affordable, smells good, and gets my hair looking clean.
What more can I ask for?


Do you use dry shampoos? If so, have you tried these? What did you think? Do you have any recommendations for me to try?