Guess Who Got a New Camera?

Good guess!

I got the camera I was whining about! I actually almost repurchased my lost/damaged camera because Best Buy was clearing them out (I guess they are discontinued now because they were sitting right next to the Flip cameras, also on super clearance.) The clearance price was $100 cheaper than the new camera I purchased, but due to the truly stellar salesmanship skills of the employee who helped me, I purchased the Canon PowerShot ELPH 300HS camera. I am indeed happy with this purchase. Over the duration of the past year I have learned that there is more to the the performance of a camera than the number of mega pixels. I am enjoying the wide angle lens quite a bit on this new camera, even though most of my point and shoot camera pictures are use with the macro setting. Like this picture:

China Glaze Crushed Candy (crackle) over Zoya's Kelley.

This is picture is not actually taken with the macro setting due to the heinous quality of my cuticles and manicure right now. It was late, I needed something on my nails, and this is the first paint that has been on my nails since the last time I posted a NOTD picture on this blog. Plus I wanted to prove to you that I had a new camera with this picture.

The bottle I am holding is MiO Liquid Water Enhancer in Fruit Punch. Having this stuff on hand makes water consumption a breeze! I love this stuff. I have tried all the flavors and I think Fruit Punch is my favorite flavor tasting the least artificial. These are zero calorie so they have some artificial sweeteners in the (but some natural ones too) that I usually try to stay away from. But while I am trying to lose weight, this is a little excitement in an otherwise calm diet.

Speaking of the diet, erm...I wish I hasn't mentioned it now, LOL! On Sunday morning I was ONE POUND away from a total 20 lost. However, after yesterday's birthday party (my sister is turning 21) that number is closer to 4.3 pounds away from 20. :-( I have about 4 days to reverse that number to make my goal for Las Vegas. I'm going to the gym this afternoon for a hard core workout. Today is my sister's actual birthday, so the family is going out for drinks at a local Mexican restaurant for Margarita Monday. Maybe I will limit myself to one...hopefully.

On a somewhat happier note, I did a littler retail damage at Lane Bryant. I was able to buy two pairs of jeans in a smaller size! Yay!. But I didn't buy any smaller tops yet. If I am going to go down one jean size, I need some forgiveness with the shirts. If you have ever suffered from a muffin top, you'll understand what I mean. Anyway, everything I bought was on sale or clearance, plus I have $50 to spend in free money AND $25 off a $75 purchase. I bought lots of lovely things! The best score was a pair of Seven7 Cropped Jeans originally $70, on clearance for $20! I tell you the best time to hit Lane Bryant is in the changing of the seasons collections. All the new stuff comes in and all the old (like 2-3 months old) stuff goes on super sale to clear it out of there. So the next time you get a catalog in the mail with the new collections (for any store) go shopping ASAP to swoop in on last season's collection!

Lastly, I will leave you with long overdue FO pictures of some socks I knitted.

These are Monkey by the well known sock pattern writter, Cookie A. Super easy, and very rewarding pattern for such an uncomplicated pattern. This is Cherry Tree Hill Super Sock SemiSolids in Mango. Although when I started knitting with this yarn it reminded me more of Muenster cheese rather than mangoes. The second picture is more color accurate.

And here is a picture of my newest sock:

The pattern is called Nine-to-Five (Ravelry Link) with a nifty faux cable stitch. Though the stitch isn't easy to maneuver, though the Signature Needle Arts DPNS make it infinitely easier, it is still way easier than making a traditional cable. These socks are for my Oma, the only one who wears my knitted socks. So far she's received a self-striping stockinette pair, a gansey patterned pair, and now for Christmas she will receive a cabled pair. Last on the list will be lace, but something tells me she won't go in for the lace. Too much of a chance for wearing through.

The yarn is Madeline Tosh Sock (my current FAVORITE yarn) in the colorway Calligraphy. At first look it seems like a greige (gray/beige) color, Oma's favorite, but once knitted it has subtle shadow pooling, showing tones of lavendars, washed out gunmetals, and sweet peachy pinks. That is the beauty of Madeline Tosh, the colorways are so complex, but in the most sophisticated ways. No clown barf colorways to be found. And with names like Earl Grey, Malachite, and Fjord, the company takes luxury knitting to a new level!

Ta-ta for now!

I Have an Addictive Personality

I know I do. Thank God I have always been too scared to try any drugs (save for alcohol...and though I indulge occasionally, it puts me to sleep more than gives me a high) or else I would probably be on the streets doing...never mind.

The reason why I felt compelled to comment on this is because I am close, so close, to losing a total of 20 pounds. The last time I lost this much weight was in high school, preparing for prom, trying to squeeze down into a smaller dress size. And even then I am not sure I made it to 20 pounds.

I have been exercising (at least twice a week...I wish it was more) and I have been really limiting my calories. I have become addicted to watching the numbers on the scale drop. And I know there are things I am doing that are not healthiest (I've taken up smoking....just kidding!) like skipping breakfast and just having a couple cups of black coffee in it's place (I've always had the black coffee, I just used to eat some buttered toast, or croissants, or breakfast burrito too.) I know that is bad for my metabolism, but I figure there are other things I am doing to help my metabolism, like the exercising and strength training.

And as for my other meals, I am really trying to stick to vegetables. I am lucky to find inspiration everywhere these days. The Youtube vlogger, ShayCarl, has been doing weight loss vlogs on his Shayloss channel. Misschievous.tv has been doing healthy eating and weight loss updates on her TheThirdShift Youtube channel. In fact, I have fallen quite in love with her bean salad and always have it on hand as my "go to" food to eat whenever I get hungry. Aside from the olive oil in the dressing, it has no fat and tons of fiber.

Oh, and another thing too is that my best friend recently became a vegetarian (and an environmental nut, erm, advocate.) She makes me want to be a better person. I have no (NONE) intentions of becoming a vegetarian, but it did prompt me to add more veggies and beans to my diet.

Anyway, I know this kind of stuff is not originally what the blog started out regarding subject matter, but I did want to meet my goal of a post once a week. I intend to keep up the at least once a week posts, even if the subject matter goes a little off topic (because staying on top of weight control is definitely NOT one of the things I enjoy about being a girl.)

I think I am getting a salon (not DIY or DYM) pedicure this afternoon! Maybe I'll post a picture of that on Saturday because I think that is when I am getting my new camera! Talk about fate! I went into Best Buy to get the camera I was interested in. Because of some advertised pricing issues, I didn't end up getting the camera last Friday. Then I started to rethink my purchase entirely...maybe I didn't need another point and shoot. Maybe my DSLR would be good enough. But then my favorite vlogger ShayCarl posted a vlog in beautiful 1080i quality. He recently purchased a new camera (as a rule, he and his family films with Flip cameras) and was testing out the quality. It turned out beautiful, so he said he will be switching cameras. He didn't mention the brand or the kind of camera he purchased. I just kind of assumed it would be a traditional video camera. BUT, he filmed himself in a mirror and he was holding the camera close enough for me to read the make and model of his new camera. WOULDN'T YOU KNOW IT!!!! It was the EXACT SAME CAMERA I was going to buy! I take signs like that very seriously. I am going on Saturday to BUY THAT CAMERA, PRICE BE DAMNED!

:-)

ZUMBA!!!

Yesterday I took my very first Zumba class. I have to admit, I felt a little embarrassed and awkward stepping into the class. I was never the girl dancing in the middle of the circle at high school dances. I was the girl making the circle, clapping in time to the music chanting "GO INSERTNAMEHERE!! GO INSERTNAMEHERE!!"

However, I let that insecurity go when I saw that I was not the only gal in the room who lacked body rhythm. The experience actually brought me back to elementary school when each grade level put on a dance skit for the Founder's Day show at the local middle school. It freaked me out back then to learn a simple dance routine but I still remembered the basic "shuffle-lefts" and "travel-ups." But letting loose with the hips was something I was never good at. I'd like to blame that on a chronic bad back, but it has never been in me shake my butt, wiggle my hips or pelvic thrust.

On the whole the class was really fun. It really mixes up the workout. Plus being crammed into a 20' x 40' room with 50+ other people (mostly women) had me checking out all the bodacious bods of the Zumba vets and made me really want to give it 100%. If these women got their bodies by doing Zumba, then I am all in! It also played into my competitive nature. When I saw the Zumba vets hustle, I wanted to hustle. When I saw their perfect dance posture, I wanted to have perfect dance posture (and this one is really important because keeping that elevated and elongated posture give the abs and core a real workout!) When the chicks with the bionic booties started shaking it, I WANTED TO SHAKE IT!

Also being a lover of music I was completely engaged for the duration of the hour in the mix of current popular dance hits, Latin beats, and world music.

All in all, it was a pretty cool class. I am definitely going back and getting there early. I had no idea how many gym rats would be into Zumba. It took me 10 minutes to find a parking spot and once I saw the crowd, I contemplated ditching the class altogether. But I am totally glad I stayed. I have been seriously slacking on the gym (but consequently really being vigilant about limiting my calories - so I still see results on the scale each morning.) I think this Zumba class is just the thing to get me remotivated!