Off with it's head

That is all. Happy almost St. Patrick’s Day!

Everywhere I’ve read says that size 12 to 14 is the average size of the American woman. So I’m average, not actually “fat”. Also, I’m not terribly body conscious except 1. when I’m in a swimsuit, 2. when I dressing up for formal events (weddings, graduations etc.) and 3. when I’m surrounded by potential supermodels. Those things rarely happen so I usually don’t care that my size also means I’m about 20 lbs over weight.

The one problem is I feel like crap. I’m tired all the time, I get depressed easier, and I’ve been having health problems lately. I’ve googled and googled ways to solve my issues and everything says “WORKOUT!” So I think I’ll try that. Goal: 20lbs gone by Oct. 1! 212 days from today. I’m a slacker/flake so we’ll see.

So once I found my goal and now that my boyfriend is even more dedicated to a similar goal, we’ve been watching weight loss shows up the wazoo. We’ve always been into Biggest Loser but in the “eating ice cream while watching” lazy way. Now we’ve added Heavy and MTV’s I Used To Be Fat and we’re getting inspired. I Used To Be Fat is the best. The contestants are closer to our age, it’s all about the weight loss, it happens in a relatively short amount of time and THE CALENDAR IS AWESOME.

Yep, the calendar is a major player in the show. It’s huge and counts down the days to their goal one giant tear sheet at a time. It’s the ideal motivator and no one makes it! I’ve found another blog that made one but you had to email her to get a copy and it wasn’t close enough to the real deal as I wanted. So, being a designer and all, I whipped one up to my liking. It’s 200 pages and 17″ x 11″ The estimated price to get it printed online is $36. I also plan on hole punching it and holding it together with some loose leaf binder rings.

So here it is: The “I USED TO BE FAT” Countdown Calendar/Notepad. Print it, use it, love it. Hopefully I will. Good luck!

pawnpetshop.com - our new business venture

Lo siento for the hiatus. It’s been randomly busy. Lots of friends getting married and having babies.

Real time and money suckers weddings and births are. Don’t get me wrong, I love them, but you know they are. There’s the pre-pre parties aka showers, then the pre parties, like the bachelorette parties, then there’s the main event.

Though I haven’t gotten married or pregnant, it still feels like,”This doesn’t happen every day, I must go all out!” New clothes, more drinks, better presents.

My cash and free time took a hit but now that the happy storm has passed, I’ll be it for a brief 8-9 months, since I will be in a wedding in November, I have found a completely different project to dedicate my time too:

Pawnpetshop.com “Buy, sell, and trade gently used pet products as well as vintage inspired pet products.”

My boyfriend and I have decided we eventually want to own our own business that’s pet related so we started with this site. It’s a learning process because, though I’m a web designer, I’m usually just a cog in the giant machine. I have to do everything myself from general web design to SEO. My boyfriend’s starting a blog with it to increase web traffic and we’re slowly getting an inventory together.

No matter what it’ll be fun; in the hole hundreds or a sustainable income for two.

Transfer paper + black paint + pumpkin = “Off with your Head!”

I still want to degoo the pumpkin and eat the it’s seeds so after that I’ll paint, then make just one cut like so:

inspired by:http://www.apartmenttherapy.com design by: me

Card stock = “Paper Cheshire Cat”

I also printed out a bunch of “papercraft.” I had no idea what “papercraft” was until today. I love it, it’s genius for people like me… as long as there’s safety scissors around.

inspired by: http://www.wired.com/geekdad design from: http://alice2010.blogspot.com

Happy Halloween Weekend!

Anyways, I gathered art work I liked on Etsy for hours, sent an email asking for advice to my friends and family, and then proceeded to not listen to them and bought everything.

Half bath downstairs:

Life Aquatic inspired half bath

Yellow submarine – http://www.etsy.com/shop/FiveDogDesigns
Steve Zissou – http://www.etsy.com/shop/DCBowers
Jellies – http://www.etsy.com/shop/plasticpumpkin
Cat in a boat – http://www.etsy.com/shop/GouacheRocks

My bathroom:

my robot bathroom

R2-D2 – http://www.etsy.com/shop/DaogreerEarthWorks
Gentle Robot – http://www.etsy.com/shop/Pseudooctopus
Graffiti Robot – http://www.etsy.com/shop/rexandpoppy

Above my bed in my room:

Dinos, rockets and dogs! Oh my!

Bostons on Rockets – http://www.etsy.com/shop/rubenacker
Chihuahua pulling Dino – http://www.etsy.com/shop/littleBIGillustrator

My room’s already “Sea Life” but I still need to paint my bathroom “Butter Rum” and the half bath “Squirrel”… and yes, I pick my paint colors based on their names.

She gets her own room and bathroom and I charge her 40% of the bills which ends up being ridiculously cheap. I never lived on my own so she brought tons of things I would of had to purchase like plates, pot and pans. Everything is going well but I’m scared.

We have a deal, she pays and estimated half of the bills of the 15th then pays the rest +- the actually cost on the 1st of the next month. She seems fine with the arrangement, it’s a fairly low amount and I know she’d never take advantage of me but what if? What if she can’t make a payment? What if she decides to leave and I get used to her help. After all my “what-ifs” I’ve decided we should have a renters agreement so I did a search online and found this site:

http://www.agreementsetc.com

It makes great agreements based on your input but it costs money… unless you do as I say. I figured out how to cheat… shhh don’t tell. If you fill it out it, it then shows you the final form but uses JavaScript to keep you from being able to print it or copy it. If you disable JavaScript once you get to the form, it’s all yours!

I made us a form and now I feel much more prepared for any possible issues. Now it’s about what we’ve agreed to instead of something personal. Piece of mind is free… if you know how to disable JavaScript.

Edit: I stopped being paranoid and just trusted her. For me friends don’t make friends pay fees. This is not advice… it’s just how I roll. That plus I’m too lazy to print it out and make her sign it.

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

A few of my friends and family are Jewish, more culturally than religiously, and none of them fast on Yom Kippur. Nope, they have their own ways of celebrating one of the holiest days of the year.

Yom Kippur is supposed to be the deadline for forgiveness for all your wrong doings over the year. You go to synagogue all day, say sorry for all the crappy things you did and then refrain from food and sex. It’s no wonder my generation doesn’t partake. No matter what religion we are, we only pick and choose to celebrate the religious holidays involving parties and presents.

One year a few friends of mine had an epic party they barely remember thanks to the massive debauchery. At some point they realized it was Yom Kippur and found it hilarious that instead of repenting they were indulging and it’s been a tradition to do so ever since.

This weekend is Yom Kippur and I’m stoked! My roommate and boyfriend are letting down their curly Italian, but could pass for Jewish hair and I’m making Latkes!

Latkes are my favorite and my brother in-law’s little Jewish mom makes the best! Since mine would never compare I’m adding a twist. Goat cheese! Fitting really. Did you know that back in the day they used to sacrifice goats on Yom Kippur?… and a Bull… and they’d sprinkle their blood all over… while burning incense and changing their “garments” 50 times… really I can’t imagine our party being crazier than that.

1) Graduate from college
2) Don’t ride a motorcycle
3) Don’t smoke

So far I’ve abided these rules with the exception of a few cigarettes at parties.

Though I’ll never be a “smoker,” I still feel guilty for the times I thought I’d try the title out. I think smoking is just… pointless. When I was in high school this guy came to our school who took care of lab chimps in the 70′s. He told us that chimps would go nuts for nicotine, even more than cocaine! So smoking is basically the most addictive habit to have and the widely known negative side effects, greatly outweigh and positive. If there are any positive. If I remember correctly, the result of one heavy drag is the same as head banging to hair metal for one minute. Needless to say, I don’t understand why anybody who came of smoking age after the 70s begins smoking, but they do. I have at least 3 close friends that can’t go without smoking for more than an hour.

I’m now decorating the patio of my new townhome and I’ve discovered the dilemma of “ashtray or no ashtray?” At least in this day and age people wouldn’t dare smoke inside but the patio seems to be free game. So do I tell my guests to just deal and end up with a floor full of butts or do I provide a place for them to properly dispose of their nasty habit. While pondering this idea, I’ve kept an eye out for eye catching ashtrays.

I think my mind was made up for me after seeing Urban Outfitters’ selection of smoke disposal. There’s a funky owl, a bunch of 70s vintage ones and very appropriate skunk. The skunk has a hole in it’s bum so when a dead cigarette let’s out it’s last billow, it looks like a skunk spraying.

I think I’ll go with that one, and I bet my mother would approve.