CONFESSIONS OF A FAT GIRL

30 Dresses? You Go, Girl!

Thanks to my friend Jamie for sending this link: http://30dressesin30days.blogspot.com/

What an adorably fabulous idea! The author writes:

"In September 2007 I decided to work my way through my closet and wear a different dress every day for the month of September. The idea behind it was twofold. I wanted to make sure I wore what was in my closet and also to showcase all the different sizes and stores I get my clothes in. It was quite popular and so I did it again in 2008 and now again in 2009. Which means yes, I own (or owned at some point) 90 dresses/tunics/long shirts. I've gotten generous with what constitutes a dress over time. I firmly believe that when you're fat dressing well is a political statement. It says here I am, I'm not embarrassed of my body, I'm not ashamed and I'm going to show it off. Self confidence is the best accessory."

SELD CONFIDENCE IS THE BEST ACCESSORY.

I love it!

I went to a wedding on Saturday night and I did wear a dress. This is a tough thing for me. I think of all the things I'm insecure about, the worst for me are my arms and legs. So finding a dress with good sleeves that is also down to my knees is a challenge. But this particular dress has been a favorite of mine this year and with a pair of heels, I feel pretty okay about myself.

Of course, that's just til the pantyhose start to get annoying. I swear, those things were designed by men -- do thin girls hate them, too?

 

Asked and Answered

Anonymous e-mailer asks:

How can you reconcile keeping a blog on your dieting ups and downs with writing a column about dining out?

It's a fair question, although I must say, anonymous e-mailer, I did not care for how YOU phrased it - hence I am paraphrasing...

BUt to answer your question, however snotty it came off, please know this did occur to me. As did the thought of keeping that "job" seperate from this blog. However in a normal world, shouldn't EVERYONE be allowed to dine out once in a while?

A little indulgence is okay. I just would not condone OVER-indulgence on a regular basis. I guess that's the message.

This job is not a big deal. It's really just a few extra bucks and some fun writing. They are not paying for my meals so I have to go on previous experience to write or from friends or just the rare ocassion I can afford to eat out. So don't think I'm all over LA shoving fried, rish foods down my throat.

And this is an opportunity for you as well. I would love so much if you all would make suggestions. My articles do not HAVE to be restaurant reviews. I can also write about "how to dine out healthy" and "how to have fine dining at home" (both ideas are on my to-do list)... If you have an idea for me, I am totally open to it -- and that always goes for the blog, too.

So, anonymous e-mailer, I hope that calms your fears. I thank you for your valid point and question, though not for your judegment!

Confessions of a Twitter Junkie

People ask me for Twitter advice constantly. Admittedly, I don't mind at all. I love Twitter for some reason. I tweet all day long via my work computer, via my Blackberry (thank you, Twitterberry), from home... At the helm of my TweetDeck, I am the Master and Commander.

Did you know in a year's time, visits to Twiiter.com increased by 700%???

Here's a website with some useful Twitter resources and guide-like info.: http://www.addme.com/newsletters/twitter-should-i-tweet-how-tweet.htm

Are you as morbidly curious about it as I am? Here is my collection of links and applications that will only throw you further dwon the rabbit hole:

http://twitterholic.com/ - Sort of interesting to see who's popular on there. It may surprise you who's in that Top 100. It may also surprise you just how many people TWEET.

http://search.twitter.com/ - Look for a specific topic. Sort of cool if you wanna look up your company or yourSELF or a celeb...

Do you blog? Add you twitter feed to it: http://twitterfeed.com/

Would you like to see the dumbest effing tweets in the world? Some people are such schmucks. Meghan showed me this today: http://tweetingtoohard.com/

http://beta.twittervision.com/ - updates live as people all over the world are tweeting.

Learn Twitter-Speak (Like "RT"): http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_64/s0904046705853.htm and if you see a term you can't find, try looking it up: http://twittonary.com/

http://twitpic.com/ - Helps you post a pic on Twitter

If you want a custom background (like mine- although I made my own), you might look here: http://twitterbackgroundsgallery.com/

Think it's all just a fad? Well, forget about Ashton and Diddy. Look who else has a Twitter page. Personally, i find this immensely fascinating; that a fad caught on so quickly, such prestigious agencies took it on:

The White House, the Army, the state of Idaho (WTF, right?) , Peace Corps, the FBI, The Navy, US Homeland Security, NASA... I mean, my favorite people to follow are the really random celebs like Candace Cameron, Bob Saget, John Stamos... seriously, the whole former cast of Full House is on Twitter and they talk to each other at least once a week, which I find hilarious. Some of the celebs will write you back too (FYI, I've chatted with John Mayer, Levar Burton and Howie Mandel via Twtter now) which is pretty cool.

So there you go, monkies. I encourage you to go forth and tweet away. Be consistent and be UNannoying. That's all I ask. If you update 300 times a day (I'm looking at you, P. Diddy), I will unfollow your ass.

The Prom That Keeps On Giving

So just a little FYI, because who doesn't like freebies?

If you attended Blogger Prom, on the back of the Pinky Vodka booklet in your goody bag, there's a note to check out their website for your free gift... Which I did. And here's my gift:

Cute, no?

(At first I assumed the guys got something different but since I went by "AJ" on the site, they had no idea if I was male or female unless they did research...)

But hey, I can typically always find a use for a free gift.

 

Response

Kevin asks: "Can you elaborate on said "funny little bathroom incident?" (mentioned in my recent prom entry)

Why yes, Kevin. Yes I can. LOL. But to do it, I had to steal one of the photos on your blog.

Now I think that is Kayla on the left and Michelle on the right...

So Cammy and I were in the bathroom in the lobby. We arrived at about 6:55pm and they weren't opening up the elevator (to go up to the penthouse) for ten more minutes. We took the opportunity to pee. TMI? And while we were washing our hands, we encountered Michelle, who was waiting for a free stall. We noticed her bright pink dress. And I loved her necklace.

Then we exited to the lobby. And about ten feet from where we stood was Kayla. Now, we both wear glasses and both did not have them on so we could NOT figure out how Michelle had dashed out of the bathroom, ahead of us, and ended up across the lobby. We were sober and our eyes were already playing tricks on us...

So that is the story Kevin. It's probably a little anti-climactic at this point. But yeah- I counted six or seven girls in that hot little dress.

No one was as cute as MY date, though:

The socks are the clincher, no?

It Was Prom-Fabulous

Like, omigod! I totally went to the Blogger Prom and it was, like, totally 80s themed and totally fab, kids.

So the short-version details are that it was a Bloggers only event at The Andaz in West Hollywood - their rooftop lounge, it was from 7-10, the food, drink, admission and goodie bags were all free, you had to be dressed like a cheeseball 80s adolescent and they had a shit-ton of sponsors and contributors-- it just blew me away!

I was invited with a guest so I took the first person I thought of that I KNEW would get into the theme with me and enjoy it with me - my friend Cammy. She had the most fabulous $20 dress from Forever 21 and I think I liked her flourescent pink socks with black stilettos the best (the pro. photographer took a pic of them but those photos arent up yet)... I had to improv. with my outfit and accesorized my fave black dress with bangles and a wide belt and flats with bows. My eyes and hair were the best part - I really think the side-pony and teased bangs need to makea comeback cause I rocked that hair.

Incdientally, all the photos from the event are being posted to the FLICKR group if you wanna see the whole lot.  

The event was at this new hotel in WeHo - the Andaz, which was very nice and pretty swanky (and, as Cammy said "pretty swanky for a whole lot of non-swanky people). The party was in the penthouse lounge and outdoor area which coulda been lit better after dark but was pretty awesome anyway and the food was delicious (when does free food suck? almost never)... I think if I'd had less class, I'd have torn up that shrimp and avocado ceviche and downed about 13 more of the "Prom Punch Jungle Juice." The really clever bit was that Verizon Wireless was one of the sponsors and provided all these fabulous little laptops, stationed all over the locale so that all us Bloggers could blog AT the event and stay tuned in. In theory, this would have been more fun had I known my Typepad login and password by heart but I trust my internet software for such things. Oh well. It didn't stop me from tweeting at the event, of course... I'm a twittering fool. I also have to give a shout out to the cheese station because that was INSANELY delicious. I don't know how or when but some day this woman is coming to my home to do a cheese tasting party for me and my friends- she was adorable and I especially loved her aged brick spread (the "sex cheese") and the bleu drizzled wirth apricot honey. HELLO?! Amazing.

I guess I was bummed not to win one of what seemed like DOZENS of raffle prizes (and some really fantastic prizes there - WTG, prom committee) but the swag bag (the goody bag) was a pretty amazing reward. Check out what they sent everyone home with: free Pinkberry, free entry to the Viper Room, Sun chips (full bags!), Pepsi, a pretty sexy lube goody bag, chocolates, Carls Jr. freebies, season 1 of the Big Bang Theory, hair products, vodka, certificates, vouchers, handouts, bags... it was a pretty sick bag. I am stunned by what they pulled together.

What would be my critique? More integration. For starters, I'd handout or display a program. I know there's a listing in the blog online but I would have liked to see a list somewhere in the room of the bloggers participating in the event; something like that. I would have liked to find a way to approach people more - I felt like everyone really just kept to who they knew and/or came with. Another idea to get people chatting and participating would have been a costume contest. Like "most cheesy dress" or "best use of tafetta." To tie in the blogger promotion theme, I might have encouraged people to bring a one-sheet on their blog or business cards to put out on a table or something.

But I hate to critique at all because really, it was a stellar event and I am so flattered to have been invited. What a fun time! Why hasn't someone done this before? Us bloggers need a union. LOL. A network, if anything.

Oh, but one lass criticism: ORIGINALITY, people! Hello? Can we all remember for a moment what attire was like in the 80s? I wanted to see far more taffeta and poofly sleeves. More fishnets and flourescents and bad linen suits. Some people really wussed out on the costumes. Some people didn't even bother to try. Oh sure, 7 girls came in the same fuscia dress from Forever 21 but at least they made it work for the theme. But I'm not joking- check this out:

No joke - by the end of the night, you couldn't even tell them apart and it was HILARIOUS. And FYI, the two girls on the right? Not even related but shit did that throw us off in a funny little bathroom incident...

Like I said this morning, as I sorted through my goody bag: At long last all this blogging (I’ve been blogging since 2001, people) has paid off. I got free vodka and cupcakes. Score!

 

Referral: Check This Out!

In the las 24 hours I've received two REALLY nice e-mails about this website -- one from a friend and one from a stranger. I can't tell you how flattering it is to get those e-mails. It makes me realize I've really let my readers down by not paying better attention to this blog and I plan to rectify that ASAP.

And in the meantime, here is the blog of the aforementioned "stranger." She didn't ask me to do this but I can't help myself since I found her site to be clever and witty and (gasp!) informative. You should check it out.

Men With Accents

Let's all thank "Friends" for this sensation...

If you've never heard of it, this is a list of 5 guys/(girls) that if given the opportunity you would choose to be allowed to pounce on while in a committed relationship. Who's on your list?

Make your own. Just for fun.

Here are my current 5 -- it changes often.

Oh Simon Baker, how I love thee...

 

 

Patrick Wilson is dreamy. Especially when he's singing.

 

 

He's got a temper but have you SEEN Newsies? Come on!

 

Oh Clive. Dreamy, dreamy Clive.

 

 

KIND of wanna lick Brad like a mansicle.  What?