This appliance is your friend--say hello to the slow cooker!

There’s probably nothing worse about winter than days when you miss out on seeing the sun completely. You leave for work when it’s still dark, and by the time you head home the sun has already set. This does weird things to your circadian rhythm, and is the first cause of Seasonal Affective Disorder. For me, it kicks me into hibernation mode, and if it’s dark at 5 pm I’m going to want to be in pajamas and enjoying a warm, cozy meal pretty much as soon as I’m home for the evening. This is why crock pots are THE BEST thing to have in the colder months. You can prep your meal hours in advance and just allow it to slow cook all day long, creating a huge variety of delicious, warm, slow simmered meals that welcomes you with a sumptuous smelling hug as soon as you make your way in from the cold and unforgiving darkness. You can even make desserts in the crock pot: brownies and cobblers that cook themselves! If you don’t have a crock pot, they are not terribly expensive to invest in, and will save you so much time and energy! You can set your cook times to anywhere from 4-10 hours, so you don’t have to worry about it overcooking and burning down your house while you’re out.

I saw these uber-adorable 2.5 QT slow cookers from Crock Pot and for the first time I wished I didn't already have one! Only $23!

Here are a couple of classic crock pot recipes I will be using heavily this fall while Liam and I are both in school—sometimes we’re not home until 9:30, and it is such a godsend to have dinner already waiting for us. Otherwise I’m pretty sure we’d be surviving on pop tarts and pizza.

My crock-pot is huge—we got it as a wedding present and it can make a meal to serve a dozen or so people, so I will make big batches of things and have lots of leftovers. These meals tend to freeze pretty well, so you can make meals for days with one morning’s effort!

Crock pot turkey chili

(This is a recipe for 10-12 servings...if you’re making a smaller batch, adjust accordingly.)

FYI, this can just as easily be a vegetarian chili if you substitute a package of Morningstar Farms ground crumble instead of turkey meat. Fabulous!

Goodness, how delicious!

1 lb ground turkey meat

2 16 oz. cans dark red kidney beans

1 24 oz can of tomato sauce

1 16 oz can diced tomatoes

1 4 oz can of tomato paste

1 box Carroll Shelby’s Original Texas Chili kit (or any kind, but I like this one.) <pic>

1 large yellow onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 large green bell pepper, chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, diced-- if you’d like!

Just dump it all in. Seriously, just go for it! I don’t add any oil because the fat in the turkey will cook out and mix with all the other ingredients, and there are enough liquid ingredients that you won’t risk it drying out. The Carroll Shelby’s mix comes with an additional packet of cayenne spice, which I add unequivocally. Even with the jalapeno, I feel like it can use an extra kick. It also includes a packet of masa flour to help thicken the chili up if it’s a little watery, but I would hold on to that until closer to the end to see if you actually need it. Most of the time I don’t, especially when using the slow cooker.

I always make a loaf of Jiffy’s cornbread to go with it, and another fun addition if you have the time is to bake the cornbread right in the crock-pot with the chili. About 40 minutes before serving, mix up the cornbread mix, egg and milk and drop spoonfuls of dough atop the chili mix, interspersed like dumplings. It may help to place a paper towel on top to absorb some of the condensation, then return the lid and cook until firm.

Now all you need to do is chop up a red onion or some chives, grate a little cheese on top and you’ve got a low-fat, wholesome, cozy meal barely an hour after you got home!

Crock pot beef stew

(Serves 10-12)

The chunkier the better. Baby carrots make it even easier!

2 tbs olive oil (or vegetable oil, I won’t judge you.)

1 lb stewing beef chunks

1 large yellow onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, diced

3 medium potatoes, scrubbed and chopped

1 large parsnip, scrubbed and chopped

1 ½ cups baby carrots

4 stalks celery, chopped into biggish chunks

1 cp button or baby bella mushrooms

2 cps beef broth

¼ cp flour

1 packet McCormick’s stew seasoning

1 yam, peeled and chopped

Fresh rosemary or thyme, if you have it. I like to steal it from my neighbor across the street.

This takes one extra step before you can get started, but it helps set the meat in chunks and will be worth it by the time you get a whiff of this hearty, nourishing stew.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan on the stovetop. Find a good plastic bag, like an old bread bag or grocery bag, and dump the flour and beef chunks in together. Twist it up and the top and give it a good shake, to thoroughly coat the beef in the flour. Once the oil is hot, add the floury beef chunks and stir, keeping the meat moving. The flour will absorb most of the oil, but keep stirring it around on medium heat until the meat is browned on all sides. Then dump in into the crock pot, along with the rest of your ingredients! Give it a good stir, and cook for at least six hours.

Just before eating, heat up a loaf of hearty bread in the oven for about 12-15 minutes, then serve! Soooo rewarding and delicious. I recommend pairing it with a pumpkin beer because, come on. You can’t beat that for a fally dish.

Crock pot brownies

This recipe came from Martha Stewarts Everyday Foods collection. Note: unlike most things you'll find here, this recipe is NOT low fat. I have yet to try my fat-free brownie recipe in the crock pot...I'll try it out soon and let you know how it goes. 

Completely, unbelieveably moist! Photo from smashpeasandcarrots.blogspot.com

8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

1 cup chocolate chips

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Coat the inside of your crock-pot with cooking spray.  Line the bottom with parchment paper and coat the top of the paper with cooking spray.  Melt chocolate and butter together in the microwave in a microwave-safe bowl, stirring after 30 second intervals, until chocolate is melted.  Add in sugar and mix well.  Then add in eggs and mix well.  Set aside.  

In another bowl, mix together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.  Add in walnuts and chocolate chips and mix well.  Pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients and stir until just combined.  Pour into crock-pot and smooth top.  

Cover and cook on low for 3 hours.  Uncover and cook for 30 minutes.  Insert a knife edge around brownies to loosen and place the crock (out of the pot) on a cooling rack to cool for 20-30 minutes.  Turn out brownies and re-invert on cooling rack to continue the cooling process.  

Cheese can make you skinny! Deceptively obvious diet secrets, part one

I suspect most people who don’t spend a lot of time researching nutrition and food make the same kinds of assumptions—too much sugar is bad, whole wheat is healthier, and dairy is full of fat. Sometimes our assumptions are just common sense—water is always better than diet soda, for instance—but sometimes we agree to believe things just because we’ve heard it out there in the world, even though our information may be outdated, or even straight up wrong.

Before I started my weight loss process I thought of dairy as a treat and would limit it mostly to just ice cream. No kidding! I thought that was the healthier way around the high fat content I’d assumed was in cheese, yogurt, and sour cream. Here’s the thing, though: dairy also contains many of the vitamins and minerals, namely calcium and vitamin D, that help keep your body functioning at its highest levels, therefore making weight loss much more efficient. Not to mention—they make dairy products without the fat these days. Who’d have known, right?

Seriously, nom.

Seriously, nom.

I was surprised when I started Weight Watchers that there was such a high minimum for daily dairy intake. I am not a milk drinker, so the idea of needing to drink two whole glasses a day to satisfy my quota was really gross. But I started eating cottage cheese for breakfast, and it gave me a new perspective on how to work it into my daily nutrition. I would often pair my half cup of fat free cottage cheese with whatever fruit was seasonable, strawberries or mangoes, peaches or apples, topped with a bit of cinnamon. It was surprisingly satisfying, mostly because the protein in the cheese kept me going well into the morning. 

Come snack time, I would grab a Light and Fit yogurt from the fridge and sprinkle in some granola, or eat it plain. Only 80 calories and really actually delicious (I won’t normally recommend products with aspertame in them, but these are too good to pass up) my second dairy helping for the day would only put me back 1 point, and hold me over until lunch time.

Dairy suddenly showed its helpful face after work outs, as well. As you exercise your muscles, they heat up and burn off the excess fat you’re trying to lose, and it also helps raise your metabolism to make burning off calories go even faster. But that wears your muscles out and depletes them of important nutrients like protein, so I discovered soon after starting an exercise program that eating a small piece of cheese right after a work out (string cheese is my favorite—very portable, and usually low-fat) would help my muscles heal faster, would satisfy my hunger and exhaustion, and would help keep off the calories my new, faster metabolism was hard at work burning off. All of a sudden, I was really about dairy!

My most successful dairy revelation came however, when I realized the versatility of plain, non-fat yogurt. It’s practically points-free (not really, its about 2 points per cup, but you won’t need to eat that much) and can fill in as a substitution for just about anything. Seriously, anything! I used it in baking recipes, in place of sour cream on potatoes and Mexican food, as a vegetable dip, or as a base for creamy soups and sauces. You can buy it in big tubs for about $2, and I promise, you’ll use it all up before it’s expiration date! Add a teaspoon of vanilla extract to 1 cup of plain NF yogurt, then mix in a boxed brownie mix—voila, you’ve just circumvented all the eggs and oil that make brownies such a sinful treat! Mix in half a Hidden Valley ranch seasoning packet and you’ve got a light and refreshing dip for baby carrots, celery sticks and zucchini, which I like even more than regular ranch dips now.

I'd like to say I keep my plain yogurt in wholesome jars like these, because it looks so homey and pretty. Storebrand plastic tubs it is for me, though.

My weight loss success has been all about little changes like this one—breaking through the assumptions I’d made about food and using the knowledge I’d learned strategically to both nourish myself, and continue to enjoy the food and flavors I love. And that’s what La Vie Celebre is about—treat yourself well, keep yourself healthy, and celebrate the small moments of your life.

Girls Emergency Kits--the day you save may be your own!

Imagine a scenario where you've been stuck out in the world with an ill-fitting shoe, a loose hem, chapped lips or a surprising visit from Aunt Flo. Oh wait, never mind--no woman needs to imagine such a thing, because it's happened to everyone! But now imagine this: what if you had a solution to every common hang nail, allergy attack and gaping button tucked away in an adorable little clutch that fits easily into your purse, but is cute and convenient enough to be the only bag you need?

The days of "Oh, if only I had a....!" are over! You can be the most prepared and put together chick in the room with your very own Girl's Emergency Kit, available now at stitchvixen.etsy.com.

Great as gifts, but totally indispensable for yourself too, the Emergency Kits come fully stocked with four bobby pins, four safety pins in two sizes, two band aids, two tampons, lip balm, an emery board, tissues, a pen, and even an emergency piece of chocolate! All this in a variety of hip, cute and funny designs. Buy one today for only $22.95!

All this could be in your possession..imagine the possibilities!

1,001 Craft NIghts

For while back in the mid aughts, I hosted a series of parties that served a number of fantastic purposes for me: I'd invite great friends over for hang outs, I'd get to teach people about art and crafts, and I'd get to make stuff, which was what I'd be doing otherwise anyway. I hosted a bi-weekly Craft Night, and we alternated between learning and making a new craft, and an "open craft" format so people could bring knitting projects, sketch books, whatever they wanted, and just hang out and make things.

The best part about it though was that people came for the crafts, but they stayed for the great parties that came about when friends got together. Sometimes our crafts would be a great hit and people would stay for hours inspired to finish whatever they were working on. Sometimes we'd mess around with an idea for a while, and then spend the rest of the night watching weird stuff on the internet or making fun of each other. Not everyone who came wanted to do an activity, but everyone felt comfortable.

Friends would bring drinks and snacks, and I would provide the materials for each new craft we learned. I had fun planning ahead and researching our new projects, and loved to tie them into the seasons. We made yarn creatures for Easter, carved pumpkins for Halloween, and made Christmas cards in December.

Since we would usually have a broad range of experience among our participants, I would try to keep it simple and open to artistic expression. Planning a craft that was too time or labor-intensive would often mean people who weren't confident wouldn't try, and most people who did wouldn't finish their project by the end of the night, and that's kind of a bummer. You also want to make sure you have enough critical tools for everyone to share--if your project requires exacto knives or glue sticks, you'll definitely need more than one so people don't get hung up waiting their turn.

We made things like Artist Trading Cards, small, tradeable collages that represent the maker. We Started out with cardstock cards cut into rectangles of 4" by 3". Using magazines, old art books, small sketches and even photocopies from other sources, we'd select images that represent our personalities or a particular idea. You practice laying them out in a way that makes a shape or tells a story that you like before glueing anything down, then once you have the design you like, use a glue stick to secure your pictures. Once it's all assembled, I'd recommend sealing your collage with a clear lacquer like Mod Podge to keep everything down and looking shiny.

I was in the middle of a baby-crazy phase at the time. Don't ask.

Space was sometimes an issue, since I was living in a small two-bedroom duplex with my sister and boyfriend for most of our Craft Nights. We luckily had a lot of counter space, and it was just as likely that some people were just there to hang out anyway, so didn't necessarily have to account for everybody.

Sometimes though, we did have to get pretty creative with space. One fall we'd planned to have a pumpkin carving party on our back patio, but as it so often happens in Oregon, it rained. Friends still showed up, toting their pumpkins, so we laid tarps out on the living room floor held down with all manners of soup pots, buckets and garbage bags to collect pumpkin guts. We managed to carve eight or nine pumpkins inside and didn't stain the carpet!

Another fun and easy craft is the Potato Self. Everyone brings their own potato, and I would provide a selection of fabric scraps for clothes, yarn for hair, colored markers for facial details, Popsicle sticks for arms, buttons or other little craft items for eyes and details, and a hot glue gun for adhesiveness.A measuring tape is also helpful to make sure you cut out clothes that will fit your potato. In the next couple of weeks I'll publish a tutorial on how to make these adorable potato people!

Spitting image, I dare say.

Craft Night was a big hit for a good couple of years, but after I while I got busy, or lazy or something, and they sort of tapered off. I've thought about the idea of hosting Craft Nights again, or shaking it up a bit and hosting a Saturday Crafternoon one of these days. It's a great way to get people together in the darker months, and as the calendar is insisting on reminding us, nearly over. What an awesome occasion to gather your friends together for beers, hot glue, pliers, glitter and good times!

Rescue Post!

Holy crap, I'm a terrible blogger. Well, that's not fair--I bet you I could be an A#1 blogger if I wasn't also working full time/going to school part time/trying to start a business from home--but as it is, I am letting the blog go neglected, and that bums me out! I apologize for being inconsistent with this blogging project, and I want you to know it is definitely still a priority to me, but I can't keep up with a commitment to make regular posts and contributions until some changes take place in the next month and my time opens up. In the meantime, however, I am compiling stories, crafts, photos, recipes, and even jotting down a few draft posts to go FULL LAUNCH with the La Vie Celebre! blog in early fall. I'll have so much to share with you, you guys! It's gonna be awesome.

In the meantime: I want to share with you one of my favorite low-fat substitution desserts that is easy as pie (or in this case, cake) to make, and gives you the satisfaction of the original with like, 10% of the fat. (all math listed here is somewhere between an estimation and an exaggeration, fyi.)

Graham cracker cheesecake snacks

I love cheesecake. Who doesn't love cheesecake? I used to work at a Barnes and Noble bookstore that had a full cafe in it, and featured big slabs of cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory, and I would inevitably use my employee discount to purchase far more creamy, sugary, fatty deliciousness than one should really eat on a regular basis. Once I started my weight loss journey that obviously had to be a big change for me, but I knew I'd still WANT the cheesecake--and if there was nothing else readily available and comparatively tasty, I'd end up eating it, feeling guilty, discouraged etc, and stay fat.

I think the reason why a lot of people don't succeed at weight loss (and then feel bad about it) is that on the surface we're just asked to give up certain foods that any logical person could tell you prohibits weight loss, but what we are actually required to give up is everything that goes along with the food--the emotional connections, the memory triggers, the textures and sensations of the food, and the social interactions, let alone the taste. So what I've tried to do as I worked off the weight, and have worked to keep off the weight, is think about substitutions not just in terms of ingredients and nutrition, but about textures, tastes and experiences as well.

Think about biting into a classic cherry cheesecake with a graham cracker crust: the sensations are cool, creamy, a little bit crumbly; the tastes are sweet, tangy, and rich. THAT's really what you're going for when you set in to eat a cheesecake, so if we can find a way to cut out the fat from all the cream cheese and all the added sugar, you can still feel like you're eating food you like, and enjoy all the happy feelings that go with that! And also: it's so, so simple and cheap!

Obviously, if you were entertaining or hoping to have a cheesecake substitute for a holiday or celebration, we would want to look for another solution that had a better presentation factor, but as far as a personal snack or dessert goes, this one is a winner:

Two full-size graham crackers (reduced fat if you're will to pay extra, which I am not)

two tablespoons (one serving size) of Weight Watchers whipped cream cheese

one tablespoon of your choice of jam--I like cherry, but blueberry, strawberry and raspberry all work great too

1/8 tsp sugar

a dash of cinnamon

You can probably see where I'm going with thism but the first step is sort of a weird one: put the graham crackers in the microwave for about 10 seconds. This will help reduce the obvious "cracker"ness of them, and make them more like a pie crust.

Then I break the graham crackers up into quarters along the perforation, and spread the cream cheese evenly over each of the segments. You'll be surprised by how far 2 tablespoons can stretch!

Then I sprinkle each one with a dusting of the sugar and cinnamon, and add a dollop of jam to each cracker. Voila! Instant, affordable, and very low fat dessert option! I still go by the old weight watchers system (they've revamped their points plan and since I'm not a member I don't have access to their new formula) and the original calculation for this snack would only be 3 points!

This particular recipe is great as a late night snack with hot tea or cocoa. Enjoy! And stay tuned, La Vie Celebre! will continue..it'll just be a pleasant surprise when I update, until my schedule gets regulated. Thanks for reading!

Fashion Fridays--Monday edition!

Right, it's Monday. This is supposed to be a wellness day, but I didn't have the time, and since I missed Friday's post all together, I will share with you what I would have posted, which is actually just a reposting of a livejournal entry I made a couple of years ago, discussing the philosophies of art vs. fashion, and why they've started to diverge. I wrote this two years ago, and as I've started to learn more about the fashion industry, as well as the actual process of fashion design and production, some of my opinions have changed--or are at least better informed. But I still think this is an interesting piece, and a good place to start a conversation. Enjoy!

From livejournal.com/users/violet_light, August 26, 2008

I'm researching famous designers and I'm learning something that I'd already had a sense of but couldn't quite pinpoint. I was actually pretty surprised with myself when I'd decided I wanted to go into fashion design because really, up to this point I've always kind of hated the fashion industry. Things that have been hailed as haute couture in the last 30 years have been elaborate, intentionally provoking, often comical. And the models are so often the poorest examples of human beauty in my opinion, but I think I get it now. Classic fashion, in the era of Chanel, Christian Dior, Katherine and Audrey Hepburn, was all about elevating a woman's natural beauty through the manipulation of color, tailoring, and accents, and the responsibility of the design was to bring unexpected elements or details to make it unique.

Modern fashion is only about the art. These days clothing design is no less an artistic medium than sculpture or painting, but many designers create the kind of art I hate the most--things that are overtly ugly or shocking, with the presumption that the true beauty lies in the manipulation of the senses, not the stimulation of them. If the idea of of pairing huge swags of plaid with a delicate tulle pointed hat and a leather corset doesn't thrill you, then you're not enlightened enough to see whats really happening. It's theatrical. Practicality is not the issue here.

It explains why the ideal fashion model won't ruin the creation by adding her own body's dimensions to the piece, but instead is a blank shapeless canvas for it to hang on. Even their hair and makeup is specifically designed to be something other than pretty. I wouldn't necessarily want my art pieces to be "pretty" either. Like with this one, it's almost as if they don't want you to look at the model, only the dress.

But the issue is: fashion is two things. It really has to be both things in order to be affective. It has to be original, well made, observant of the culture, and challenging to our expectations. But it also has to be clothing. Clothing that people can, and will wear. People of different heights, weights, proportion, complexion and aesthetics. And it has to make those people look their best. This is the reason fashion exists and we don't all wear standard issue potato sacks everyday, because people seek out fashion to improve their appearance and express their own creativity, and I think most "haute couture" designers these days are ignoring that facet of the industry. It's all about what boundries you can break, the persuit of challenging what society will accept as beauty, what surprising twists they can make to something terrible and make it something else that is incredible. And that has a place, I do respect that. But as an art form, it's not the same thing as "clothing design." In fact, outside of the specific genre of "Haute Couture" which is only applicable to like, 12 designers, this art form does exist in another form known as "fiber arts." Which is accurate, and doesn't try to confuse things by turning apparel design into something its not.

Another thing, the designers of the mid-20th century who really set the bar as far as meaningful, original fashion weren't caught up on the idea of practicality either, and were often known for being quite decadent and elaborate, but never without the important principle of flattering a woman's form. That's why so many celebrities wear Chanel and Dior to events because they can be unusual, unexpected, but also beautiful, which I feel is a prerequisite in fashion.

So it's not such a big surprise then that I developed a love of fine couture from the perspective of the classics, but that I've always been unimpressed, and sometimes even contemptful, of modern designers like Gauthier and Versace. It's a totally different philosophy as to what the purpose of the creation is. For me, it's creating something beautiful that doesn't distract the observer from seeing the wearer, but instead elevates her beyond what neither she nor the dress could do on their own.

Crafternoon Delight--embellished bobby pins!

Ack! I missed Tuesday Crafternoon! So, ok: it seems having a hectic full time job and managing a daily blog is probably going to prove to be too much, so instead of just being a flake about it, I believe I need to adjust my posting schedule. I think we can all be satisfied with three posts a week, with Mondays still dedicated to health, Wednesdays being a combined craft/entertainment day (since the two so often go hand in hand for me anyway) and Friday's being dedicated to both style musings AND postings of my own designs, since hey--they're pretty much the same thing anyway.

So today, I'm going to show you just about the easiest way to add a whole lot of personality and color to your look with practically zero effort--embellished bobby pins!

These are pretty popular and all over the place in stores these days, but there is absolutely no reason why you need to spend upwards of $10 on these. This is so easy, it's practically not even a "craft." It's practically cheating. But the outcome is so fun and cute, I can't help but share it with you. And the ornateness of your decoration is entirely up to you, and just depends on what kind of little bobbles and items you can find that match your mood, your outfit, and are small and light enough for the pin to support it. Here's how we get started:

Supplies

3-6 store bought bobby pins

hot glue gun and glue stick

felt circles with a 1/2 inch circumference

3-6 small, lightweight decorations like buttons, little crocheted flowers, plastic bugs or animals or fruit, small brooches or cameos, rhinestone clusters, ribbon clusters, feathers, whatever looks pretty to you, and is about the size of a quarter

Step one

Plug in your glue gun and get your glue nice and gluey

Step two

Slip a felt circle into the bobby pin and move it up to the top

Step three

While still clasped by the bobby pin, glue the felt circle to the back of your decoration, and press until the glue is firm

Step four

There is no step four! Except to wear your delightful new accessory around the town, and proudly tell people they are laboriously hand crafted when they compliment you on your awesome little clips.

these ones are available for purchase at lovemagpie.com for only $4 for 3 if you just don't wanna.

The Road to Wellville--health and wellness from a reluctant participant's perspective

Eesh, I only made it three days last week! I skipped out on your fashion and design posts, due to my own forgetfulness and other unforeseen circumstances, but lets forget about all that. Today we're here to talk about healthy living--but not in the boring, preachy, "making things sound easy that are actually really hard" kind of way. I just want to share with you my particular relationship with "healthiness," and all the bumps and epiphanies along that long and winding road.

I was a fat kid. I was a fat teenager. I had a brief, shining moment in my late teens when the weight took a leave of absence and I slimmed down by about 30 pounds, but for the most part I was pretty fat for the majority of my twenties, too. It was just part of who I was. I was never happy about it though, and without getting too Dr. Phil about it, it really formed a lot of my own perception of what I was worth to the world. I always knew I had a lot going on for me, and would even admit I thought I had some pretty features, but I certainly would never say I was beautiful, or heavens forbid, "hot." Which sadly, is what all 15 year old girls want.

I'm um...the fat one.

What's funny though, is I never really saw myself as unhealthy. True, I was overweight by as much as 80 pounds in high school, but I was strong. I equated that to being fit. I was raised as a vegetarian and still rarely ate meat, so despite my soda and candy addiction and my totally sedentary lifestyle, I considered my diet to be healthier than most.I'd tried on a couple of occasions to ditch the weight, but I always felt on my own, with too big of a hill to climb, and no confidence that I could climb it. To me, food was a reward, and I didn't see the payoff of abandoning my comforts for struggle and deprivation just to prove myself to the people who were all assholes to me anyway.

As I got older, I got pretty good at talking myself up and feeling positive about my appearance, taking on a "cute curvy girl" kind of attitude, I took full advantage of the fact that I was at least proportional and handsomely endowed, and could pull off an hourglass figure. I even met a guy who adored me and thought I was the most gorgeous creature on the planet, and went on to marry said guy, who has never changed his opinion. And even with the extra weight, I was a beautiful bride, and by then my confidence was a lot stronger, just based on who I'd grown to be, the love I'd seen for being who I am, and letting go of a lot of bad feelings and baseless need for approval from others. I seemed pretty much set on being a big person for life, because it's just "who I was."

You can see what I mean about the nice rack.

But about a year after I got married, my sister started going to Weight Watchers meetings, because they were free at her work. She'd struggled with her weight much of her life too--in fact, people always think we're twins, even though she's five years older. She shared her exclusive Weight Watchers literature and plans with me, even though she wasn't supposed to, and it actually seemed pretty simple--everyone has a set number of "points" they're allowed per day, based on your age, height, current weight and daily activity level. Each food you eat also has a point value, based on calories, grams of fat, and grams of fiber. The trick is, balancing the foods you eat within the points you're permitted per day (and taking advantage of the 35 BONUS points everyone got per week) and voila! You'd start to lose weight!

Of course, there was more to it than that; exercise was an important key, but I wasn't ready to go there just yet. I had a real phobia about being seen exercising, and it would have been too much to expect myself to go from 0 to 60 on all counts at the same time. So I started slow, by learning about food values, portions, how important it is to eat regularly (believe it or not, my standard first meal of the day wouldn't be until about 1 pm., then I'd fill my evenings with over the top portions and snacking.)

Having someone learning the program and trying out recipes with me was absolutely essential to me having any luck with the program. The other times I'd tried to lose weight before, I'd been on my own, making separate meals from my family and friends, relying on unsatisfying shakes and powders to replace meals. This time, I had someone other than myself to whom I was accountable.

Like I said, I had always been of the opinion that I ate "pretty healthy." But boy, was I fooling myself. I had my taste preferences, and a lot of the time I'd prefer chicken over steak, or low-fat milk over whole. But I ate SO MUCH junk food, and I had no personal restrictions of what was off limits. 7-11 burritos, king size candy bars, bags of potato chips, liters of soda. If I was going to stay within my points limits, all of that had to be totally out the window. Even one of those items would screw up my whole day. That first month was pretty crappy. I felt constantly frustrated and hyper aware of my limitations, and felt I was spending all my time tabulating points and writing them down. Plus, I wasn't really seeing results yet. I was about to give up, but my sister kept me going.

Seriously? I thought this was okay?

It was only about four weeks before I'd finally started to get comfortable with the new diet, and it's because I discovered the magic of two important tools: substitutions, and healthy snacks. The more I read in Weight Watchers cookbooks and recipe blogs, the more I realized I could have the things I wanted, or very close approximations to them, and still be satisfied. I found a great recipe for 1 point chocolate chip cookies here, discovered the value of cooking with non-stick cooking spray, using non-fat plain yogurt as a substitute for dips and sour cream, and eating fruit every time I thought I wanted something sweet. I also started to understand that my diet was severely lacking in certain important nutrients, like fiber. Fiber was all over the place in the Weight Watchers literature! And the truth is, its because it helps your body push stuff out that you don't need, stuff that could turn into stored energy, i.e. fat. If I wanted cookies or a candy bar, I would have a Fiber One chocolate or caramel bar instead, and not only did I satisfy my sweet tooth, but I gave myself an extra fat-fighting boost by ingesting food my body actually needed to work properly.

I also outright refused to go hungry, and that has been a huge part of my success. Particularly once I broke the habit of holding out on eating until the afternoon, I realized that if I let myself go more than three or four hours between meals I'd overdo it with my portions, or result to something fatty/salty/sugary to meet those ravenous hunger cravings. So I started coming to work with a ton of food at the beginning of each week, and putting lots of non-fat yogurts, baby carrots, fruit, fiber bars, popcorn, string cheeses and sugar-free drinks in my desk and the fridge in my office, and the results were amazing! Not only did I not feel like I was "dieting" because I never had to feel deprived, but my smarter food choices were actually helping to accelerate my weight loss. And each one of my snacks only equaled one or two of my weight watchers points per day, so I had a lot of room to work with more substantial meals, and even desserts at night. Once I'd started to get into the groove of more conscious eating, I was rewarded with not only clothes that fit me better, but people who actually started to take notice.

Thus concludes part one of my saga, stay tuned for more next week!

Some Enchanted Wednesday--keeping entertaining simple

As I'd promised on Monday, Wednesdays are devoted to tips and thoughts on how to host a great party, which is something I've loved to do since I was a kid. Halloween and Christmas in particular were the most exciting times to have a party, because not only was there great food, friends, and festive spirits, but outlandish costumes and decorations were never out of place! Birthday parties were another big favorite, but as I started to get older, it became a lot less cool to have planned parties with activities and themes, as it was to just hang out, being disaffected and awkward.

This is one of the things I LOVE about being an adult--you can do whatever you want. If I like to dress fancy, or decorate my house in an elaborate way, have day-long open house parties centered around 80s tv marathons, then it's cool because I say it's cool. And while I've had some pretty successful shindigs over the years, I've also had a few "learning lessons," when my plans were too ambitious, or not well-planned enough. What I've learned is that while my friends and family have a great time and appreciate my efforts when I go big, that isn't the reason why they've come to my home: they're there to have a good time with me, and each other!

So I've struck a pretty good balance at this point. I used to have moments of pretty high anxiety when planning a party, since I am a perfectionist to the max, but I'm also too polite to ask for help if I need it. So I'd silently freak out, and try to do too much and end up grumpy and frustrated. I'd also end up spending much more money than I'd anticipated, or had, and that wasn't the key to having a good time, in the long run. Here are my top five tips for planning a unique but manageable party your friends will remember forever, but that won't drive you into an early grave or debtors prison:

1. Food is a necessity, but spending $$$ isn't

In most instances, you'll be having a party in the evening, and letting your guests go hungry is really not an option--especially if there's any alcohol around. But unless you're working with a theme, or hosting an actual dinner party, there are some fantastic party staples that are cheap, tasty, and easy to make look a lot fancier than they are with just a little bit of flair and presentation.

Vegetable crudites are cheap and require almost no preparation at all. In addition, they're colorful, pretty to look at, and healthy to boot! You can get nice, reusable serving trays at the Dollar Store or any other discount retailer for way cheap, and setting up a nice selection of baby carrots, celery sticks, radishes and broccoli crowns around a bowl of low-fat ranch dip is a perfect five-second appetizer.

Tiny baguettes and hummus is another chop-up-and-go option that requires no real effort or investment, but can go a long way with hungry guests. I like to put out a tray of each of these appetizers before anyone arrives, so if I'm still in the kitchen prepping more ornate or complicated dishes when the party gets started, people can start to relax and mingle without wondering what's taking me so long.

2. Keep the music flowing!

Unless your guests are gathered for some specific activity like a movie, video game marathon or book club discussion, music is a must throughout the evening. My husband and I both have broad and eclectic musical tastes and can agree on a lot, but we have a definite divergence of opinions when it comes to putting together a party playlist. He likes to share weird, little known things with friends (I call it showing off), but I argue that that can disrupt the flow of a mix. There's nothing worse than a festive get together drawing to a lull when everyone realizes we've gone into minute 7 of a freestyle jazz experiment, and there's no end in sight. When I'm making a playlist, I like to keep it consistent to a general theme (I'm pretty fond of those, if you can't tell yet) like the season, or the reason why we've gathered together, but fish around for things from different eras and genres to get a good, interesting mix. Music everyone loved 12 years ago but hasn't thought of since that summer, or songs they remember their parents playing when they were kids are usually great choices, but I make a point to blend them in with new and relevant releases as well. I try to place my tracks carefully, so one song doesn't end abruptly and move into a track that takes forever to lead in, or that starts with some flow-disrupting intro or sound effect that throws off the continuity. For this reason, I tend to avoid live tracks, since audience sounds and feedback are almost always unavoidable. And while this is less of an issue now with iTunes and Rhapsody at everyone's fingers, it's good to listen to downloaded Mp3s all the way through to make sure you got the complete track. It's a bummer when your playlist is halted suddenly, especially on a good jam!

3. Invite the people you want to hang out with, and don't worry about the drama

Every group of friends has exes, or frenemies, or fakers or hangers-on--and it can be like trying to navigate a landmine when putting people together in the same room. That is, if you are willing participate in other people's issues, and bend back and forth to accommodate their dramas. My philosophy is this: I invite people to my house because I enjoy their company, not because someone else expects me to, and I won't exclude a friend from a party on someone else's behalf without a good reason. Give your friends the benefit of the doubt to be mature about their own relationships, and don't get trapped into making a choice about a side of an issue, unless you genuinely have an opinion. Sure, I've had seen some whispery arguments in the corner of the kitchen, or heard later on that so and so insulted you know who, but doesn't it seem likely that was going to happen anyway, regardless of whether you threw a dinner party or not? The consequences are usually minor enough, since Craft Nights and Mad Men-themed dinner parties are rarely the kinds of events knock-out fights are going to take place anyway. And if you're honest with your guests ahead of time about who could possibly be attending, you leave it entirely up to them to decide what they're comfortable with. Don't take it personally if a friend declines an invitation knowing that you are keeping it a level playing field--in fact, I'd say its a sign of a good friend that they respect your home enough to keep the drama from plaguing your efforts.

4. Activities are welcome, but schedules usually aren't

Like I mentioned, I'm rather a control freak. If left to my own devices, I'd cram a party so full of decorative, culinary, musical and themed stimulation that my guests would have to register for activities in advance. But...that sounds awful, and no one would come. So I've learned to tone it down significantly, and take it easy when things don't always hit it off. Having some fun activities or specialty food items to experience is a great way to make your party memorable, but unless you're there for a very specific reason, like wine sampling or to discuss a book or movie, your friends will not appreciate being kept "on track" when they're just trying to enjoy themselves. Depending on whether or not your gathering has a common theme, you can have simple diversions like Trivial Pursuit cards out on the table, equipment at the ready for wii or Rock Band tournaments, or squirt guns or water balloons lying around for a summer barbeque. Try too hard, and your friends may feel obliged to humor you with their interest, and then the mood turns from a party, to more of an obligation.

5. Stick with what you're comfortable with

I'm a pretty adventurous gal when it comes to planning an event. I like to surprise people, give them new experiences, make them feel welcome-and if we're being honest here-impress the hell out of them. And while that comes with a lot of rewards, it also comes with a lot of stress! So if ink-stamping invitations and preparing individual strawberry rhubarb tarts sounds like your worst home-ec nightmare, why even do it? This is your party, after all, so plan an event that will be as fun to put together as it is to attend!

Start simple, and build your way up to more challenging factors. If you're new to the hostess role, keep the food low-prep and easy to replenish, or even include a request for pot luck contributions when you send out your invitations. I'm certainly not the first person in the world to conjure the idea of a party playlist, so if crafting the perfect soundtrack to your get together is too time consuming or overwhelming, pick up a compilation album or a couple of soundtracks, put them on shuffle on your iPod, and call it a day. If you're slaving away in the kitchen for half the night, or constantly fretting over who looks like they're not having the best time ever, your friends are going to know it--and wonder why you had them over in the first place if it wasn't to hang out and relax! a party can be a great way to showcase your talent and your appreciation for your friends, but the best way to show them you appreciate them, is to spend some quality time with them. The rest is all details.

Tuesday Crafternoon--Felt creatures

Felt--it's pretty much the best crafting material there is. It's cheap, versatile, glueable, sewable, soft and sturdy, all at the same time! It doesn't fray or unravel, but you can manipulate it in a zillion different ways. Today we'll be learning how to make lovable little felt creatures, with ideas and instructions courtesy of Therese Laskey's how-to book Softies, available at amazon.com for a great price!

Therese's book has more than 25 different plushie friends you can make either by hand or with some simple machine stitching, but I'll show you how to make my favorite of the hand-stitched pals, Dorian the Dog. I tend to get my inspiration from other crafters and then take it in my own direction, so the instructions below are with a few of my own variations.

Dorian the Dog

Materials:

felt: 1 sheet of white for the body; scraps of blue, pink, yellow, green and brown for the eyes, flowers, leaves, tail, and ears

embroidery thread: white, brown, tan, and moss green, and 6-9 others of your choice. Therese gets specific, but hey--this is your Tiny Dog, make him whatever colors you want!

other: fabric glue (I recommend Mod Podge), sewing needle, 1 cotton ball

optional: four inches of 1/2 wide pretty ribbon (if you want to make him into an ornament)

Softies contains some very handy patterns for all their plush little guys, which I don't have permission to reproduce here, but there's nothing stopping you from tracing a pleasing little outline of a dog about 3 1/2 inches high, and 3 inches across, onto some scratch paper, and using that as a template to cut out your felt dog pieces.

Step one: embroider the eyes and flowers

a. Using the dog template you created, cut 2 shapes from the white felt.

b. Cut freehand from blue felt scraps 2 eye circles, 3/8 in. in diameter.

c. Lightly glue an eye on the face of each half of the body.

d. Using a single strand of colored thread, embroider a blanket stitch (here's a tutorial in case you need a how-to) around each eye. Then, using six strands of thread of a complementary color, make a french knot in the center of the eye. (Basically, just make a loop, and push it carefully down until it's tight and secure against the fabric, and do that about three or four times!)

e. Using the pink or yellow felt scraps, cut out two (or one of each) tulip shapes, and lightly glue them to the dog outlines near the rump. Cut out four almond-shaped leaves to place beneath the flower, and lightly glue them in place.

f. Working with two strands of the moss green thread, embroider a stem for the tulip using a a straight stitch.

g. Using a single strand of accenting thread, embroider a blanket stitch around the tulip

h. Use a single strand of the moss green thread to sew a straight stitch around the leaves

Step 2: Making the tail

a. Using the brown felt scraps, cut out two cute little upturned tail pieces that will fit nicely above the rump of your dog outline.

b. Align and stitch both pieces of the tail together, and using a single strand of tan floss, blanket stitch around the perimeter of the tail. Leave the bottom of the flat end unstitched, which will get inserted into the body of the dog.

c. Insert the base of the tail in between the two body pieces placed wrong sides together, meaning your decorations are on the outside. Securely stitch the tail to the inside of one side of the dog's body.

Step 3: Make the Body

a. Align and stitch the two parts of the body together with a single strand of while floss, using a blanket stitch, beginning at the top of the rump, and ending at the top of the neck, leaving a small space right at the shoulders so you can insert your cotton ball stuffing, and a ribbon if you chose.

b. Taking your cotton ball, gently pull the fibers apart until its loose and fluffy. Gently poke the cotton fibers into your mostly-stitched dog with your finger at the opening you left at the shoulders. Work the fibers up into the head, and down into the rump section until he is uniformly filled. If one cotton ball is not sufficient, go ahead and use fibers from another one, but don't fill him up too much--unless you want a very fat dog!

c. If adding a ribbon, make a loop and secure both ends together to one side of the dog outline centered along the back, within the opening you've left. Once completed, blanket stitch the remaining outline of the dog.

Step 4: Add the ears

a. Using your brown felt scraps, cut out two small oval shapes for the ears. Lightly glue an ear to each side of the body. Ass a single strand stitch or two of tan floss at the top of each ear to securely attach to the body.

Step 5: embroider a nose

a. Using six strands of brown thread, embroider a nose using a satin stitch. Basically, that's just looping over the edge of the dog outline, with gradually larger, then smaller stitches, to get the shape you want. Here's a tutorial here.

Hmm, I made my little dog a couple of years ago, but I'm realizing that step by step pictures would probably be very handy for future craft lessons. Well, live and learn, right! Until tomorrow....

Beginning--again!

I'd barely gotten started with this blog last year when I promptly let my commitments slip! One post, and I was already in hot water. How sad is that? But I'm back, reinvigorated and re-inspired to share all my little nuggets of wisdom with you, on everything from planning a smashing theme party, to fashion and style, to healthy living--essentially, a bunch of fun and easy to do tips you can use to make every day of your life into a celebration. That's the idea here: life's a party, and all you need to get your groove on is a little confidence and organization. I'm excited to help with both!

And here I go, putting theory into action. In order to guarantee to both of us that I'll be regularly updating this blog, I'm committing to a series of topics, with each weekday boasting their own particular themes.

Mondays are dedicated to tips on healthy living. Tasty low-fat recipes for every day as well as for special occasions, fun and easy ways to get some action and activity in your routine, stories about my own development of a healthy lifestyle, and some of my thoughts on meditation and spiritual wellness--all little ways you can make feeling good part of every day of your life.

Tuesdays are all about crafts, and all the splendid ways "making stuff" will brighten up your day. With kids or without kids, getting creative (and maybe even a little messy) is always full of fun and excitement, and you usually end up with something cool and useful at the end! I'll include tips and walk-throughs for great crafting activities, templates and suggestions for keeping things affordable, manageable and usable. There's nothing that's a bigger waste of time than a craft that you think is ugly or serves no function, so lets make something we WANT!

One of my favorite things to do is plan a party--and I do not mess around. Wednesdays are a showcase of some of my best ideas and experiences with hosting get-togethers both big and small, casual and elaborately themed. I'll include tips and walk-throughs on everything from creating invites, navigating awkward social groups, working with a budget, planning a playlist and more.

Thursdays are dedicated to my truest love of all, style. Even though I am obsessed with clothes and stylistic expression, I am always hesitant to use the word "fashion," because it seems so exclusive to me. Who decides what is fashionable? How are we all supposed to make that work for us? What if I hate your furry boots or your plaid button down shirt, but my adorable a-line skirt is now technically "last season?" Here, I'll post outfits and pieces that I think are beautiful, fun, classic, affordable (or at least copy-able!) and suggestions on how to turn seasonal trends into a style more unique and longer-lasting. I have a lot of opinions on the world of fashion, so you'll get some rants as well. But most of all, you'll get lots of encouragement on how to craft a style that fits your personality as well as your body shape, that breaks that code of "whats-in," but still turns heads in all the right ways.

I'm saving Fridays for shameless self-promotion. My ultimate dream is to make you look and feel beautiful in something from my own line of party attire. On Fridays, I'll post pictures of my latest creations, which are all orderable and customizable through my etsy site. Here's where you'll see all my weekly obsessions culminate into one--my crafting/entertaining/fashion pursuits that make my life one of celebration. La Vie Celebre! Let the party begin!