CONFESSIONS OF A FAT GIRL

Are you as tired as I am?

I realize how often I bitch about sleep deprivation so the weight of it at this point is minimal at best. But I'm tired. Like... dead inside tired. It's not good. It's the kind of tired that makes me quiet and angry. And that's really saying something if you know me -- no one everdescribes me as a quiet person. 

All that said, I'm trying to keep it all in perspective, thinking back, as I often do, on times when things were truly at their worst, and I thought I'd just fall into pieces. Nothing in my life right now is so dire, I suppose; nothing is that grim. 

And so my aim with this week's wrap-up is to shine a light on positivity. Let's see...

1. You're only as good as the company you keep. A smart man surrounds himself with people smarter than he is. And so on. What I am trying to say is, I have good people. Good friends with open hearts, available shoulders, and wonderful advice. Thank you, my friends. I will never hug you enough. Or be hugged by you enough. Basically I'm a ginormous heap of emotion because my friends are rad. 

2. I've watched this video about 12 times this week because it makes me smile and giggle every time. 

 

Puppy just wants to play. 

3. Yesterday was Josh Groban's birthday. I don't know if you know this about me, but I love him. I've loved him since hs first appeared as an axious high school senior on an episode of "Ally McBeal." I've seen him in concert and he's phenomenal. And above all, he has an amazing sense of humor. And so I give you this video from a couple years back in which at the behest of Jimmy Kimmel, he sings the tweets of Kanye West. It's pretty brilliant:

 

He's right about the fur pillows, by the way. 

4. For funsies, I decided to organize a blog exchange program among 20 bloggers I know. Each of us is assigned to guest post for another. The idea is  to write in their universe, under the banner of a topic they assign, and stretch ourselves. I had a really good time looking at everyone's blogs and swapping names around, making the grid. I'm excited to guest post on Raquel's blog next month and to have Melissa guest post here!

5. I was so sad that Harold Ramis passed away. When I looked at his list of film credits, I realized that a lot of my favorite movies were on the list. In fact, he co-wrote my all-time favorite comedy, Animal House. I've been watching his movies every night as I go to sleep and despite whatever moods and feelings I've experienced this week, I've at least managed to go to bed smiling every night, and that's nice. 

It's hard to choose my favorite moment in Animal House. I love the "I gave my love a cherry" scene the most (if you've seen it, you know exactly what I mean. If you haven't, just stop whatever you're doing and rent or buy this  movie immediately) and also, this classic and prophetic Bluto moment:

 

And how cute is young Tim Matheson?! 

Rest in peace, Mr. Ramis. "Doe.... Ray..... EGON!"

You Don't Have to be a Buff Dude to Enjoy a Purfit Shake

This ain't yo mama's Slimfast shake, you guys. 

While I've never been a fan of meal-replacement shakes myself, Purfit started because they liked them and appreciated the concept of having a quick healthy meal in the form of a milkshake. But they wanted to have all the benefits of a a health shake and none of the hassle of a complicated ordering process or high-brow diet system (I agree! It's just a shake. I don't need to make it a "thing."). Then in 2011, along came an Olympian looking to get in shape but his allergy to dairy and general dislike for boring pre-packaged healthy meals was making the shake route a challenge. 

Thus, Purfit was born, with all the benefits of a healthy meal replacement shake without being hassled into joining a club or retaining a coach or subscribing to a brand of additional diet products.

And would you believe it -- they actually let me try this for a week. A shake a day keeps the cravings away, I say. (Apparently I was just taken over by Dr. Seuss' ghost.)

How else did it help?

• By curbing my cravings for sugar and junk food, I felt a little more empowered to watch what else I was eating all day and I lost a few pounds.
• Increased energy levels (Be sure to only drink it in the morning, though. I had trouble sleeping one ill-fated night. Totally my bad.)
• Improved digestion and regularity (True. And no comment. Because you don't need that image in your noggin'.) 

Your standard ginormous jug of Purfit is about $80 and last a long, long while. It's available in chocolate with plenty more flavors to come. 

 More:

• Official website
• Purfit recipes - HIGHLY recommend. It's already tasty but a dash of a lil' something helps! 
• Purfit on Twitter and Facebook

Disclosure: I was provided with the aforementioned product in exchange for my honest review, opinions, etc. I even warned them I don't like chocolate that much -- they risked sending it anyway and proved me wrong!

Let's Go To The Movies (1.36 Billion Other People Are Doing it!)

As I am always on the look out for the latest and greatest online communities and have yet to find one that has really built itself up around the film indsutry well, I was intrigued by MovieLaLa and will be curious to see how it develops.

In celebration of its launch, they shared this infographic with me and since it's Oscar week, it seemed like a fun time to share it with you! I love the Oscars and can't wait to watch! (Idina Menzel is performing "Let it Go" from Frozen and in case you hadn't heard, I kind of like that movie.) 

5 Rules Of Plus Size Lingerie

It may have taken them years, but fashion designers have finally said goodbye to the Stone Age are now creating fashionable, sexy, and classy lingerie for plus size women. At last, plus size women can ditch their unflattering undergarments for sexy and elegant lingerie that fits as marvelously as it looks. However, if you’re a plus size woman, there are five rules you should follow when choosing plus size lingerie in order to select the right pieces for your body’s unique characteristics. 

1. Take Accurate Measurements of Your Waist, Hips, and Bust

It may seem obvious, but in order to select the right plus size lingerie for you, you must know your measurements. To measure your bust, wrap a measuring tape all the way around your bust at nipple level. Your natural waist, which is slightly above your belly button, is the slimmest part of your body. Your hip, on the other hand, is the fullest part of your body. Find these areas and take a couple measurements of each, using the highest ones.

2. Take Cues From Your Lovely and Unique Body

If you have a terrific bust line, choose a Grecian-wrapped bodice, v-necked teddy, or bustier. Lingerie with an empire waist will begin spilling down from right beneath your breasts, giving you a high-waisted look that camouflages a fuller tummy. Also, look for lingerie with good bra support, because higher breasts will not only help you stand straighter, but they will make you look younger as well. If you have a smaller waist and larger thighs, otherwise known as the much adored hourglass shape, then emphasize it with lingerie that features color patterns, ties, or bands at the waistline.

3. Know Your Shape

Some women have pear-shaped bodies with ample behinds and large thighs, while others have apple-shaped bodies with most of their weight focused in the middle of their figures or column-shaped bodies with small waists and hips. When you know the shape of your body, you can then learn the rules to accentuate your favorite features and minimize your least favorite. This is a key consideration when shopping for plus size lingerie.

4. Choose the Right Fabrics

Most plus size women, and women in general, become focused on color, cut, and little details when shopping for lingerie, which is well and good, but many forget to take the actual fabric material into consideration. That shiny satin, velour, or charmeuse lingerie item may catch your eye, but it also shows bumps. Jersey, on the other hand, will not. If you do go the classic route and choose a shiny material, make sure to choose a forgiving fabric.

5. Pick the Right Colors to Highlight Your Features

To showcase your body’s best features, you should choose lingerie that is light, patterned, or rich in color. Conversely, you should select romantic, dark hues of burgundy, black, or navy for your least favorite areas in order to discourage eye detail.

While there are now hundreds of plus size lingerie options for full-figured women everywhere, you’ll only be able to choose the right pieces if you know your body and what fabrics, styles, and shapes will highlight your body the best. By following these five plus size lingerie rules, you’ll be able to do just that and show off your plus size figure with confidence.

Drink Up This Sodastream #Giveaway

I got a present from the nice people at Sodastream (disclosure - it was for helping with this)... It was for me to keep or give away as a gift or prize. And as I'm pretty much out of counter space and doing a bad, bad job at cleaning out this apartment, I decided I do not need more stuff. 

This is really good news for you, though, because purely for fun - not because I am promoting anything else for these guys or reviewing anything - purely because I think you look pretty nice today (you're welcome) and smell good (if you don't, I won't tell), I'm giving away this Sodastream Source Machine and starter kit (in white). 

If you've always wondered about these - be it for cost saving purposes, taste or health benefits - this could be your chance to own one! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Prom Dress Fantasies

So I had a dream the other night about the high school prom. Probably because I'd watched Pretty in Pink and I'm still recovering from not getting to go to my prom with Andrew McCarthy.  

In my time volunteering with the youth group, I often chaperoned their annual formal - their version of prom. I was always amazed (and horrified) by the length of dresses. You've heard "knee length" and "tea length," etc. Theirs was a length I jokingly came to call "crotch length." I was the Vice Principal at your middle school. You remember him - he had a yardstick and was making sure your pants were resting at the waist. I was the jerk telling girls to tug their dresses down. 

Prom is elegant! It's a fairytale! It's not a nightclub or cocktail party. Call me old-fashioned. I just always associate the evening with fanciness and ball gowns. Princess dresses and tuxedos. 

And I was curious about what was trendy in prom dresses this year so I was looking at JenJenHouse, which I am a fan of because they have over 700 plus size dress options and extremely reasonable prices. I was happy to see gowns back in fashion! And that a lot of them were pretty stunning in fact. 

Of course, I prefer black and this one has a cool retro/vintage vibe to it so it's my winner:

If I were bold enough to wear pink, this one's got some drama to it - ands again, kinda vintage inspired:

And as I was just telling someone this weekend tha I wish I could wear the nude colors (I'm so pale, it wouldn't work on me), I thought this was stunning:

Ok, Andrew McCarthy. I'm still waiting for you. Let's do this. 

In your fantasy high school life? What kind of dress would you wear to prom?

 

Disclaimer: This sponsored post was made possible by the Sverve network and my fairytale princess fantasies. All opinions, delusions and 80s dreamboat crushes are my own. 

Hold Onto Your Pants - It's #Menday

Forgive me readers, for I have sinned. It's been 14 days since my last Menday.

Now that I've concluded my illustrious "Men of Sochi" series, it's time to get back to objectifying non Olympians. And thusly, I bring you a nominee via Christina with an assist from Wendy:

Álvaro Negredo Sánchez is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Manchester City in the Premier League, as a striker. His nickname is La fiera de Vallecas, which in my imagination translates to "the fiery Spaniard who I'd let in my pants." (Did I say that out loud? I think I did.)

"Hey, guys! This way to AJ's house!" 

He's stunning in action.

Yes. Yes, I think I should start paying more attention to soccer.

What's Up, Friday? Are You Feeling Feisty?

My goodness, we made it. I know not everyone had a four-day week so if it's any consolation to those of you who worked all five, consider that this four-day week felt like nine to me. 

So let's see what's happening on what I'm calling "Feisty Friday."

1. What's a week gone by without something GENIUS from a Jimmy? This week, Fallon was super on his game as it was the premiere of the new "Tonight Show" and on Wednesday night, he gave this gift to the world. You simply must watch it all the way through. 

I don't want to overrun the post with videos so if you have a few more minutes, his barbershop quartet cover of R. Kelly's "Ignition" is also pretty stellar.  

Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce... We love to bounce.... 

2. My new hetero lifemate, Anne, and I are going to the Miley Cyrus concert on Saturday night. She will undoubtedly be in her cat-pants and I will be wearing a light-up bow in my hair. You may now commence being jealous. To celebrate, we have engaged in the following life-fulfilling activities:

• We went to dinner on Saturday night at The Claim Jumper and followed with a trip to Target where we bought numerous random items on clearance. You're just going to have to trust that some of them were Miley-relevant.
• I took selfies with her dog while we watched the Miley Cyrus Unplugged MTV special.
• We had a conversation using only Miley lyrics. 
• While she was at work yesterday, she sent me a nice email so I replied with this because I am a super grown up.

 

3. I should probably just start devoting an entire section of this site to puppies, but I've already established Menday as a mostly-weekly occurrence and I have to have things left to fill these Fridays posts with! 

This pictorial, called "22 Adorable Before And After Pictures Of Animals Growing Up," is incredibly sweet and awfully "awwww!" inducing. Right off the bat they hit you with a German Shepherd, which is the kind of dog I grew up with, so I just burst into tears. I've looked at this article and this image about 92 timees this week. 

Some of the images also show the pet owners, which is especially funny.

4. One of the lovely things I did last week, leading up to Valentine's Day, was see An Affair to Remember at the Arclight Theater with two friends. It's not the first time I've seen Cary Grant on a big screen but I had never seen this movie on one and it was amazing. The movie is amazing. I know it's a cliché, but they just don't make them like that anymore. I don't know about you, but I just love old movies, especially Cary Grant movies, and this was a thrill. I've been meaning to mention it and kept forgetting. 

Trailers in the 50's man... They really hammer you over the head with it... 

 

Fun fact I just learned as I wrote this post -- An Affair to Remember was a remake of a 1939 film, Love Affair. Which I guess explains why the 1994 remake with Warren Beatty and Annette Bening is called the same. (And I've seen neither film -- and want to see both now. Especially 1939's as I love Irene Dunne.)

Also, ever since I've been hankering to watch Sleepless in Seattle.

5. What's up with this blog? Well, things got a little political up in this biz-natch this week. Sorry about that. You know it doesn't happen often but when it comes to same sex marriage, gay rights, etc. I just can't turn my back while this platform exists and I have a keyboard to type with. Thank you all so much for all of your positive feedback on the post, too.

In other blog-related news, I'm still posting pictures of Sochi's finest competitors on the Facebook page. Ain't nothing political about that. That is all lust, my friends. And don't try to act like you're not looking cause Facebook tells me that those pics have been viewed over ONE THOUSAND TIMES. Proving yet again that all you people want is hot guys, lube and blow job posts. 

Next week, I have a couple of cool giveaways in store. I must really like you guys cause this stuff is wicked awesome. 

Have a terrific weekend. Try not to lick any wrecking balls.