Purple really is "the" color in fashion this season, isn't it? Everywhere I look I see purple.

Kristen, graciously, sent me the basic to-buy list from Tim Gunn's new show. I've been looking over it, window shopping online to get some ideas. I have another question for our resident fashionista, Kristen.

At the top of the list is a little black dress. I don't wear dresses well because I am several size bigger on top than I am on the bottom half and to get a dress to fit me in the bust it is huge in the hips. I looked at an empire style, but, feel like I am much too old for the babydoll look. Should I go for a skirt and top or maybe look at a wrap dress? What do you think?

I'm still looking at ankle boots - with no luck so far. I can't believe I'm having such a hard time finding just the right ones.

I ordered a pair of casual gray pants and a plum colored tee shirt from target.com last week. I love the pants. They have a double yoke with the top yoke in a ribbed knit. They don't look like an elastic waisted Grandma pant but they are oh so comfortable. The tee shirt is just so-so, the color is a little more red violet than I had hoped for but I will keep it.

What are you guys buying for fall?

I woke up bright and early this morning and for some reason it was much easier than it has been in several months. In fact, I've been waking up at 7 am without the assistance of an alarm clock for the past week. I did 30 minutes on the elliptical while talking on the phone. (Sorry for the heaving breathing mom!) I did a little work on the Boflex and some more work on the balance ball. It felt great! I guess I was in a workout rut before, but I seem to be over that bump now. The weather here is spectacular! I wish that I was not confined to my office. Erin and I will take the pooches for a walk when I get off work. She is required to do 20 minutes of physical activity a day as part of the homeschooling gig, and it's one of the subjects she really looks forward to.
I made a deal with my twin sister to start one new thing every few weeks. So, this week will be exercise and since that isn't really all that new, I'll add in eating one salad a day next week.

WTF

I had a crappy experience checking out a new gym yesterday. They automatically assumed I was there to lose weight. Um, no, I'm here to be healthy and stay healthy through pregnancy (whenever that finally happens--sigh). Thanks for assuming that since I'm not a size 6 that I want to be thinner.

Golly, I need to go do some yoga to get my head right. And then a nap.

This Saturday Erin and I will be making the trip back home. No, not the one around the corner from my office, the one nestled in the middle of nowhere, my hometown. I'm extremely excited to see the family and friends I haven't seen in so long it's almost embarrassing. I'm also nervous.

The last time I saw my mom which was just over a year ago, one of her first comments to me was "I thought you were working out." I'm not trying to make her look bad. I'm giving an example of how my family (my mom, my sisters, and myself) have interacted for as long as I can remember. We have disguised our words as meaningless jokes and hurled them at one another. I like to think that we truly thought it was harmless at the time. That somehow we didn't understand the power words have. Sure, it makes us look silly, but that is better than the alternative of looking mean and hurtful.

It wasn't until I ventured out on my own that I began to realize that not all families communicate with mean jokes. Not all families torture one sister about her big thighs or another about her small breast. I have lived outside of the realm of daily interaction with my family for almost ten years. In those ten years, I have learned that words have the power to shape a person. Many of the things I have thought about myself and currently think about myself were formed by the words my mother and sisters spoke to me. To be fair, good things were spoke as well. I was praised for my mad clarinet playing skills and what they saw in me that was beautiful. Those words helped to shape me too.

I woke up early (though not as early as I wanted too) and did a warm up on the elliptical before doing some strength training on the Bowflex. I am getting the hang of that crazy contraption. It isn't as easy as they claim in the infomercials, but then is anything?
This week I am trying to remind myself that "my body is a temple". For a long time I used this phrase as a way to decide what I should or should not eat and it made me hate the phrase. Now, I want to use it in a positive way. When I think a negative thought about the way my body looks or feels, I stop myself and remember that my body is a temple. It's not a temple in progress or a dilapidated temple. There are no "under construction" cones placed strategically around it or "sorry the temple is closed for a remodel" signs on the door. Right now in this moment, just as it is, my body is a temple.

My friend Kelly sent this to me, thought I would share it.



A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..

enough money within her control to move out
and rent a place of her own,
even if she never wants to or needs to...


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..

something perfect to wear if the employer,
or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour...


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .

a youth she's content to leave behind....


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..

a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to
retelling it in her old age....


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .....

a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra...


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...

one friend who always makes her laugh... and one who lets her cry...


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....

a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family...


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...

eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems,
and a recipe for a meal,
that will make her guests feel honored...


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...

a feeling of control over her destiny...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

how to fall in love without losing herself..


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

how to quit a job,
break up with a lover,
and confront a friend without;
ruining the friendship...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

when to try harder... and WHEN TO WALK AWAY...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

that she can't change the length of her calves,
the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents..


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

that her childhood may not have been perfect...but its over...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

what she would and wouldn't do for love or more...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

how to live alone... even if she doesn't like it...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW..

whom she can trust,
whom she can't,
and why she shouldn't take it personally...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

where to go...
be it to her best friend's kitchen table...
or a charming inn in the woods...
when her soul needs soothing...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

what she can and can't accomplish in a day...
a month...and a year...


Maya Angelou

I took Thursday and Friday off to nurse an injured back. We were moving a large box and I was the one walking backwards with it when David warned me, a little too late, that I was about to step on something. I jolted and twisted my back in the process. It was really painful on Thursday, but is feeling better each day. Hopefully it will be back to good on Monday.

While doing some research to back up a conversation I was having over at Etsy, I found this article. While it has a much stronger feminine tone than I would normally take, I did find it's points very interesting. I'm always intrigued at how we came from worshiping figures like the one pictured here to those of celebrities today. What are you thoughts on it?

FYI, I ruffled a few feathers over at Etsy when I posted the following comments. I'm still a little confused about how I offended anyone.

My original comment in a thread discussing plastic surgery.

My sister-in-law is going in tomorrow morning for breast implants. I say if you want it go for it, but it does make me sad that women in general are so unhappy with their bodies. I had a long conversation with her about why she wanted the surgery and what role the media and society plays in how women view their bodies. She disagreed with me when I said the only reason most women have work does is to fit into a stereotype created by the media. We went round and round before I finally gave up. The thing is, I think she is beautiful and it makes me so sad that she can't see it because she is so busy trying to fit into a mold that no real woman fits into anyway.
I'll step down from my soap box now. :)

To which someone replied ( allow me to paraphrase) that my dear sister-in-law was correct and that most women don't get implants because of what the media tells them to do and that only someone with "pretty" breasts would say that because they don't understand what it is like to not be able to wear cute sun dresses and outfits. I of course had to respond with the following:

I do not have what would typically be called beautiful breast. In fact one is an entire size larger than the other. Wearing cute little sun dresses or anything that is tight is out of the question if I want to present my body as "normal". This is exactly my point. Who is to say that my uneven breast are not beautiful or that someone else's small breast are not beautiful? Why is it that in general we feel that only one body type (large breast, small waist, with curvy hips) is beautiful? Who defines that as beautiful? If flat chested women with a tummy role were plastered all over the media women would be standing in line to get tummy implants and breast reductions rather than chest implants and tummy tucks. Don't you think?


What is your take? Am I totally missing the mark? Am I a media-hating feminist for feeling like the majority of women are changing their bodies because of the image they sell?

I did 20 minutes on the elliptical this morning and Erin and I are planning on walking the dogs when I get home from work. I'm excited about learning how to do squats on the bowflex tonight!

Tomorrow I'm starting a regular work out routine and really paying attention to what I eat instead of just grabbing whatever. I'm not doing it to lose weight or to fit into some fall fashion. I'm doing it because my body is begging me to. I'll be updating here to help keep me on track. So please feel free to ask me how it is going. Tomorrow I will be waking up at 7:30 and doing the eliptical and bowflex. I'm looking forward to everything but the waking up part. :)