Yo Gabba Gabba Birthday Party

This birthday party happened six months old.  I know.  I’m a mess. Happy 2nd birthday Cole!

We made this wreath based on this tutorial.  By “we” I mean “I” – my BFF has this strange thing about touching rubber.  I have no idea what to do with her.

Pardon the poor lighting.  I am camera illiterate.

We used dollar store tablecloths to create the colored backdrop.

My BFF found a lot of the Yo Gabba Gabba paraphernalia online.

We made cheap favors using red favor bags and cut paper.

We created fun boom box animal crackers from online printables.

The birthday boy loves Yo Gabba Gabba but it sure creeped me out! What children’s program gives you the willies?

Sugar Skull Cocktail Napkins

No Turning Back Now

No. 6: Hike to Timpanogos Cave

Number 6 on my 30 Before 30 list was to hike to Timpanogos Cave.  I did! I couldn’t walk for two days, but I did.

No. 24 :Exercise Enough to Lose a Bra Size – Or Two

Today marks exactly one year since I joined the Weight Watchers online program. Today I celebrate a 42 lb. lighter Tasha. (To toot my own horn, my physician saw me a month before I “formally” started and has me 5 lbs ahead, making my weight loss at 47 lbs. Holla!)

At left: “Take a picture of me.  This is the heaviest I’ll ever be.”

At right: “I took classier vacations last year.”

At 29 years old, it has been my very first foray into weight loss and it has been a great one. For those of you who are interested have time to kill, here is what I’ve learned.

Why Weight Watchers Works For Me

I had reached the Dreaded Deuce – the big 200 lbs. How did this happen right before my eyes?! It happened mostly because I never paused to learn just how poorly I was eating.  (Oh Smash Burger.  How I miss you.)  Sure, I took college nutrition freshman year but that was too complicated to remember.  Macro and micro nutrients? Ergogenics? Electrolyte balance? I’m stressed out just reading those words.

With Weight Watchers, every food is given a number based on fat, carbohydrates, protein and fiber.  There’s a handy calculator and bar code scanner right on my phone.  One number makes the process simple enough for dumb, lazy humans like me.  (Hmm.  This food bad.  That food worse.  Walking= Some free chocolate.)  See? It simplifies things.

Also, no “diet” is going to work for me if I can’t eat chocolate.  (Specifically chocolate cake, if you need to thank or flatter me.)

Weight Watchers lets me eat chocolate cake.  That had me at hello.

The Numbers Game

To this day, I have never owned a scale. I weigh in once (and only once) a week on the scale we have at work.  I believe the scale can be a slippery slope to self hatred and unhealthy obsession.  We know when our bodies have had enough and are begging for healthier foods and exercise.

The flip side of this, of course, is that without the scale I ignored the fact that my 5’3’’ frame was supporting all 200 of those l-bs.

So I have reached a truce with the scale.  It serves an important purpose – a reminder of the consequences of our choices and encouragement to choose better in the future.  But it is not part of my daily routine and that number does not define who I am.

Staying Motivated

I have a healthy self image. I truly like myself at 155 and I truly liked myself at 197.  My weight doesn’t tell you anything about me.  It doesn’t convey what kind of friend I am.  My weight doesn’t tell you how I treat people less fortunate than me.  My weight doesn’t tell you that I don’t judge people.

My healthy self image is part of the reason that this year hasn’t been particularly agonizing for me.  My ultimate happiness didn’t hinge on huge, unrealistic losses every week.  I was thankful for each little bit lost because over time it added up to 42! Slow and steady wins the race (and takes you from size 18 to size 12)!

So let me take this minute to give a shout out to my Mom.  Thank you for never nit picking your weight in front of me, for never criticizing what I was eating, and for generally ignoring the word “diet”.  Thank you for praising my accomplishments and happiness instead of the way I look.   I didn’t realize how important this is to a girl’s self esteem until I was an adult. I love you!

Where I’ll Go from Here

Weight Watchers will continue to be part of my life. I won’t pretend that I have been tracking everything I ate this entire time.  But I’ve learned something and the principles are still with me.  Over the past few months I’ve slowly lost weight even without tracking.

I also hope that by posting this here I will be held accountable and will be able to lose a few more pounds or at least maintain where I am.  I feel so great! By keeping going for a year already I’m convinced that I can keep up this lifestyle.

P.S.

As the title says, the goal in my 30 Before 30 was to lose at least a bra size. This was a silly way to measure success given that I have no bras that fit me correctly. My current measurements state that I’ve lost 6″ in the bust! Woot woot!

Tip Jar: Clean Your Sink Hose Sprayer

When I first moved in to my new place, I was particularly disturbed by the state of the sink sprayer.  I hesitated to post the photo, but the picture is necessary to show how easily this worked. Brace yourselves.

Ewwww.  See all that gross build up?

I remembered a post I had read a while ago from Apartment Therapy.  Yes, I may not remember the Rules of Evidence, which are necessary to my livelihood, but I can remember online cleaning suggestions.

The post suggested soaking your shower head in white vinegar over night to remove the build up that prevents full water spray.  My shower head looks great but the technique seemed just as likely to work on the sink sprayer.

After I painted the kitchen, I filled a glass with white vinegar and shoved the sprayer in the glass over night.  The next morning I rinsed the sprayer and scrubbed it just briefly.  It came perfectly clean!

What do you clean with vinegar?

Easy DIY Dog Bed

My parents’ dog, Jo, is a good (albeit strange) girl.

I couldn’t stand that she slept every night on a single blanket folded in quarters. (Just the thought still breaks my heart!) So for Christmas I made her a dog bed using the tutorial found here.

First I bought wool sweaters from the thrift store.  I found that you can get more bang for your buck if you buy from the men’s department.  Although the sweaters aren’t as colorful, there is much more fabric for the same price as a woman’s sweater.

Cut them down the seams and wash them in hot water.  This is what people mean when they say “felting wool.”  Who knew?

I used a coupon at Joann’s to buy a 24 x 24 pillow.  At first this seemed a little small for a dog Jo’s size (she’s a border collie mix) but it is actually quite perfect.

Then I pieced squares of felt together in patterns I liked.  The tutorial suggests making a template out of scrap paper.  I didn’t.  That just seemed like a waste of time since I wasn’t doing some random pattern.

The cream sweater is one of my own that I accidentally “felted”.

My pieces weren’t perfectly sized so I just squared them up at the end.

I think it turned out really cute.

The best part is that the tutorial instructs you to use the bottom hem of the sweaters as  the pieces for the envelope backing, so you can change the cushion or wash the cover as needed.

Jo loves it (turns out she’s a shy model, however).  Total cost? About $20!