that far off screaming and crying you heard was me

Guys? If you haven't already seen my twitter feed....I was offered a job today.

If you're unfamiliar with my plight, I have been unemployed for 16 months after earning my masters degree in Arts Management. And today I was offered (and accepted) a job with a really great arts nonprofit here in D.C.

Today is magical.

I am going to head to my friends' apartment (to and from which I already have a ride arranged because you can bet your ass there will be drinking tonight) and watch Glee and revel in the fact that

I

finally

did it.

Help! Part Deux

Okay all your fashion-forward people! I need your help again.

I have an interview on Friday – I have the jacket and the pants, but I don’t know what color shirt to wear underneath. I have a few options – weigh in below, or feel free to suggest a different color that you think might work! I have a cami/tank top problem and I’m open to enabling :-D

Sorry for the lack of consistency in angles/lighting. It’s 6:30 in the morning, I’m not exactly Annie Leibovitz.

The jacket is white with a black stripe, and I’ll be wearing basic black dress pants with it (not my pajama pants, as the pictures may suggest!)

So with that in mind, we have:

Coral:

Light Purple:

Baby pink:

Hot pink:

Choose away! And feel free to suggest something completely different, I’m open to write-ins! (I tied with “Bart Simpson” and “School Sucks” – name that quote!)

The other good part about all of this? That jacket is a 16. It’s from Lane Bryant so it might run a little large, but it’s a 16! And the craziest part is that I had no idea until I looked this AM – I honest to goodness thought it was an 18 when I bought it. So NSV! Yay! But…apparently my eyes are going bad? I didn’t look closely enough at the label. But what a fun mistake to make!

Just something I was thinking about earlier this afternoon…

My parents and I went into DC today to the Library of Congress; they are showing an exhibit of Herblock’s (actual name: Herb Block) political cartoons and we wanted to see it. The man worked for the Washington Post from 1946 to 2001. That’s insane.

Anyway, my ramblings don’t really relate to Herblock. But man, that guy was awesome.

Focus, self! Okay, so as I was getting ready, I just threw on some jeans, a blouse, and a cardigan to go over it. Then wrapped myself in a scarf and light jacket, slipped into my black flats that I wear almost everywhere, and I was out the door.

It wasn’t until a few hours later that I realized how incredibly easy it was for me to get dressed this morning, and more importantly, feel good in what I had on.

…It didn’t take over an hour to find the right shirt that felt right but also didn’t act as a sausage casing. I didn’t have to tug and pull or shift and scrunch and deal with all the smoke and mirrors it used to take to get me out the door feeling even remotely secure with my clothing choice.

…I could actually button the cardigan.

…I didn’t have to do squats and lunges to get my jeans just a centimeter looser to not cut off my circulation.

…I didn’t have to wear extra layers of regular clothes (and go through the same process above to find them) to make up for the fact that I didn’t have a jacket that fit me.

Yes, I still am in a transition phase; I have clothes that I love that are too big for me now (eventual tailoring will take place) and some that don’t fit me yet, or at least not to the standard of comfortably wearing it out in public. But for the most part, it’s so much easier for me to get dressed.

Such a simple concept that I don’t think I knew could be changed by losing weight. Of course I was physically capable of dressing myself previously (though it didn’t feel that way when tights entered the picture) but it wasn't easy, just like climbing stairs was a pain in the ass. So it's fitting that just as now I can whisk myself up both flights of stairs in our townhouse, I can throw on an outfit in 10 minutes and it comes together from Idea to Wearing It with ease.

The best part is knowing it's only gonna get better.

I Meal Pretty, oh so pretty!

Well? How did we all do today? :-)

I’m happy to report that I’m happy!

For breakfast I had:

*cup (maybe a little more) of cottage cheese
*gala apple

I had a small-ish breakfast, and then was busy helping with cleaning and cooking that I didn’t end up eating again until we were getting food set out as our guests were coming over. And once our family friends came over (who brought appetizers) I had just one little bacon-wrapped date. It was SO GOOD. But I just had the one, and enjoyed a small glass of my favorite kind of Riesling.

At dinner I had a little bit of everything. To drink I had another small glass of Riesling, a glass of sparkling cider after dinner, and several glasses of water throughout. My plate was full but not overloaded, and same goes for me post-meal! I had a small small portion of mashed potatoes, and average portions of turkey, cranberry sauce, one of my mom’s famous clover-leaf rolls, green beans, five cup salad (I hear this also referred to as Ambrosia) carrots, even stuffing was the same size portion as everything else!

For dessert I had a small serving of sugar free ice cream (maybe 1/3 of a cup) and piece of Derby Pie, which is apparently pecan pie with chocolate added in. It was insanely good. I ate it slowly and really enjoyed it.

My water count for the day is 100oz, plus whatever I had during and after dinner. I don’t know how large our water glasses were, nor do I know how many I drank. But 100oz beforehand is pretty good!

I’m definitely happy with today.

Also, a little NSV: two of my friends that live out of town stopped by to say hello to my family – and one of them, one of my best friends who hasn’t seen me since July, said that I looked really good. That was nice to hear :-)

...um...

Okay, say you're on a treadmill. With no incline because I you didn't feel like it.

You walk for one minute at 3.0mph.

After that minute you crank it up to 4.8mph;

And you proceed to jog until the display says 1.10miles, and the timer reads 14:15.

***

I like to think that I'm occasionally smart. I'm also occasionally an idiot, but that's neither here nor there. Actually it might indeed be "here" - which is why I'm checking with you all right this minute.

Okay...4.8mph means a 12 and a half minute mile if my math is right...right? 60 divided by 4.8? And I jogged for 13 minutes and 15 seconds...

Did I jog a mile today? At a 12.30 pace?

***

Here's why this post is riddled with math and question marks, besides the obvious doubts of my own calculations...I just can't believe it...12:30 seems so fast. And I was jogging, dare I say it, comfortably.

I don't want to get all excited and proud of myself and have it turn out that I have a decimal point in the wrong place or something.

I mean, really, did I jog a mile continuously today?

No seriously, I really am gonna need confirmation on this. I don't even mean it in a Fishing For Compliments/Comments kind of way. Seriously. Is my math right on this?

ATTENTION UNIVERSE

So, remember that time I mentioned in a rather off-handed manner that maybe I could fit into a certain pair of size 18 jeans? (like 5 minutes ago in the post below, if you're not getting it) 

Just for shits and giggs I get them down from my I'll Fit In These One Day Bag (IFITODB) and slide them up one leg...

....hmmm, the blood to my legs doesn't feel constricted....

slide up the other leg

....I don't feel like a sausage casing...

bring them up over my hips

....I can actually BRING THEM up over my hips...

and button-ed up the button.

I AM WEARING SIZE 18 JEANS.

I'm smiling. This is when it gets fun.


(and yes, I also zipped up the fly. I figured I could leave that part out, but I didn't want anyone worrying that I'm strutting around all day with the barn door wide open)