Fun Photo Shoot

Hey guys. I had to do a photo shoot today. I can't tell you why yet, but I promise - it's quite cool.

We ended up with over 600 pics, so this is just a sampling. I think these were my favorites.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

No, I promise I don't just like to look at myself. There's a good reason, I swear. In fact, I find taking pictures realllllllllllllllllllllllllly awkward. I mean, it's really uncomfortable to have every passerby staring at you and wondering why you're doing all these ridiculous poses.

Our location was INSANELY windy. Look at this.

And, there's about 27 bazillion pictures that look like this.

and this...

P.S. Kneeling in that sand hurt like a you-know-what!

and this...

Suffice it to say, my calling is writing, not modeling. Not that I ever had any fantasy of becoming a model, but in case I did, it's put to bed now. :p

Which of pictures 1-11 (numbered below the pic) is your favorite? I love 7 and 10.

Ok, it's late. I'm over and out.

Tootles,

Contest Winner, Beautiful Blogger Awards, & Food

And the winner of the very first EMW contest is...

Post #18 Erin, of Travel Eat Repeat!!!!

Email me, Erin!!!

Thanks for participating!!! It was fun. I'll probably do another contest again soon.

This morning started with something different. I had two small turkey-sausage patties and a smidge of cheddar on a toasted english muffin. It was okay. Meh...

Loved the green tea my hubby picked up for me last night. It was my reward for getting through my first 5-hour school night. Ugh. :D

Did you notice anything interesting about these pictures?

I'm in bed! I decided to work out of my bedroom today. I don't know why. Just because I can, I guess!

My room isn't really that fabulous. It's small and we have so much stuff that it tends to look messy all the time. We're hoping to get our own place in April, though!!! (Right now, we live with a roommate.)

This is my side. See my trusty red water bottle?!

But, look what I started!!! (It was Ryan's idea.) The coolest part of the room, for sure.

It's a goal/inspiration board.

I love looking at my board. It reminds me why I'm so busy... I want EVERYTHING!!!

Anywho... around 10ish, I had a snacky. A weird snack for me, actually. A cheese stick and these little 100 calorie cookies.

Honestly, they're more like cookie-flavored crackers.

Now... for the Beautiful Blogger Awards.

I was given the award by Angie of Angie's Appetite for Life. I truly love her blog. She's a dietician with a mission. A girl after my own heart.

The way this works is that I give you 7 Things You Might Not Know About Me, and then pass on the award to 7 other bloggers. We all know there are some bloggers on here that have near-fame status. I love them, and definitely read them every day. But, I deliberately chose other bloggers, because there's plenty of beauty to go around, right? :D

7 Facts You Might Not Know About Moi

1. I was 4 lbs at birth. My parents have this cool picture basically of my dad holding me in one hand. I wish I had that pic for you guys. So weird.

2. I’m the oldest. I have one younger brother. He’s 20 years old. I’m seven years older. He wasn’t an accident though. My parents just had trouble having a second baby. I was extremely annoyed when that second baby was a boy.

3. My husband is 13 inches taller than me. I’m only 5’1, which was one of the reasons being 343 pounds was even more of a hardship on my body. It put me in the “super morbidly obese” category, also called “the heavy weights” (I’m not joking or teasing. That’s another name for it.).

4. I cannot touch a dry potato. I have to use a towel to wet the potato before I touch it. If I touch a dry potato, I start to shudder and I get actual goosebumps up and down my arms and shoulders.

5. I hum incessantly to the point that I annoy everyone around me. What’s worse is that I don’t know I’m doing it and I will hum the same few bars of a song on repeat for DAYS. I’ve done it all my life.

6. I have performed at Disney World three times. Growing up, I was in show choir and I always had a solo. Some people thought I would make a career out of singing. Instead, it's my brother that has made a career of music. He's a guitarist.

7. I flunked out of college. I came out of high school with a 3.8 GPA (having never studied in my life, really), and flunked out of college my first year. My weight made it hard to walk around campus, and I think it was also a quiet rebellion, but I'm not going to psychoanalyze here (that's my hubby's job). I re-started classes again 5 years later. Since that time, I’ve earned straight A’s. Last semester, I went to school full-time and worked full time. I got a 4.0. :D

I pass on this blog award to 7 (of the many) deserving bloggers...

1. Jen, of A Prior Fat Girl. I don’t know Jen in “real life,” but I have been more inspired by her than any other blogger. She’s lost an incredible amount of weight, and works still each day to maintain that loss. But, more than that, she is a pillar of strength that just takes my breath away. In August of 2009, she lost her mother in a tragic accident that truthfully shocked me to my core. She has emerged from tragedy, tattered and shaken, but also strong and incredibly beautiful to continue inspiring her readers. She deserves this award and all the others she’s received, undoubtedly.

2. Kailey at Snackface. Adorable is the right word for Kailey. She’s a journalism student already putting her mark on the world. She’s the foodie college student you wish you had been. She’s wild, crazy, smart, and incredibly beautiful. Check her out.

3. Emily at A Nutritionist Eats. Emily’s blog will make you hungry. She combines real-life food choices with the knowledge of a nutritionist. Great recipes and a spunky personality make this a really fun-gry blog stop.

4. Sarah of Running to Slow Things Down. I love Sarah. She’s a nutrition student and runner. She has a spectacular “This I Believe” about me. You can’t read it and see her cute face without becoming a follower. I promise.

5. Still Life In... This ultra-private blogger writes about her life as an ex-pat. It used to be Still Life in Buenos Aires… Now she’s in Southeast Asia. Blog readers get to follow her as she eats and gallivants across the world with her incredible camera skills. Um… Awesome?!? I swear I’d pay to know her in real life. What an interesting conversationalist, right? Lol.

6. Susan of Open Mouth, Insert Fork. Okay… This is a very cool blog, and you know it from the moment you visit. Unlike a lot of us foodies, Susan doesn’t necessarily document every single bit she eats. Instead, she writes about amazing meals, and you get a picture of her life, her wisdom, and her wit. This was one of the first blogs that I just fell in love with and that inspired me to start my own.

7. Bella of Feed Me I'm Cranky. A fellow SoCal blogger, Bella has a beautiful weight loss story of her own. She offers readers her spunk, incredible wit, and some very tasty eats. This girl is a sharp one, with a lit background that I totally identify with. She also has a rockin musical side career. A fun blog read.

It was SO hard to pick just 7 blogs. I read SO MANY, but it came down to choosing the ones I've been reading the longest.

Thanks for the award Angie! It's my first!

What makes a blog or blogger "beautiful"?

Five-Alarm Vegetable Curry

Tonight I had the best curry I've ever tasted... And, I made it!!!

This afternoon, after the Colts beat the Jets (of course), I hit up the 99 Cent Story and my new favorite, the Vine Ripe Market. As usual, lots of deals were found.

Between the two stores, I purchased the following:

-Chicken Broth, flavored and regular low sodium

-FANTASTIC ground chicken patties

-soy chorizo

-Dry onion soup mix

-Can of tomatoes

-Can of tomato sauce

-green beans, canned

-fresh mushrooms

-eggs

-grape tomatoes

-can of mushroom soup (for the crockpot!)

-HUGH JAS bag of fresh spinach

-cheese sticks

-turkey sausage patties (Ryan loves these)

-1 Liter EVOO

-nonfat yogurt, plain

-butter

-sour cream

-plastic baggies

-pasta wand

-cocoa butter lotion

-and a cool new plate to make my bloggy pics more interesting

I also bought some amazing Curry seasoning at the Market.

Okay. Seriously, it's time to gush. This stuff is AMAZING. FANTASTIC. I know, I know... It's a box of seasoning. But really... it's so good!

I used 3 tablespoons, which in hindsight was one tablespoon too much. (It recommends 2-3 tablespoons.) My mix included green cauliflower, green beans, peas, tofu, and chicken. (Ryan picks out the chicken, and I pick out the tofu.) I served it over brown rice.

To.die.for.

Seriously, though, this dish set me on FIRE!!!! So what's a girl to do when her tongue's on fire?

Eat ice cream. Obviously.

Vanilla bean ice cream drizzled with some almond butter. I nuked the butta in the microwave for better drizzling action.

Holy Yum!

I think these are the final pics from the photo shoot. (At least the ones worth editing.) You can view other photos from the shoot here and here. This is all the pics... I promise... I think... :D

It says "Dream." Can you read it?

I'm about to curl up on the couch with  hubby. See you tomorrow!

Do you enjoy spicy curry? Do you cook ethnic foods or stick to traditional American fare?

--------------------
Don't forget the Contest. Enter here.

Breakfast, Lunch, and Football!!!

Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Actually, football stresses me out.

I get so stressed out when watching the Colts play. I want them to win SO BAD!!! Oops. I just erased half of this line because the Colts made a good play. he he... See what I mean? I get into it.

Breakfast was an egg sammy on an Ezekiel muffin. I try not to eat eggs very often, unless its egg beaters or egg whites. Real eggs are for the weekends. :D

Plus a glass of skim milk.

After breakfast, I finished up a big project for one of my clients. It's laundry day, so Ryan was busy with that. He does the laundry. I deal with cooking, general cleaning, and most of the dishes. He also vacuums. Isn't that cool? I love that he does the laundry. I would hate to have to lug the laundry up and down the stairs. (We live on the second floor of our apartment building.)

Lunch was more of the fried bologna I bought at the market the other day. Served it on a whole wheat sandwich thin, along with an apple and some yogurt.

Here's a couple more pics from yesterday's photoshoot.

Be sure to check out the photoshoot if you missed it. My husband did a fantastic job.

Now, I'm about to work on a set of articles for another client while I watch the game. Multi-tasking is necessary. Always.

Does your significant other help you out around the house? What's his/her job(s)?

Tootles...

--------------------
Don't forget the Contest. Enter here.

A Little Food, Double Shot of Starbucks, and A LOT of Pictures

You know you're addicted when you hit up Starbucks twice in one day.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself. I started off my morning with a PB&J Food for Life Muffin.

English Muffins = Love

After that, we set out for our busy day.

Today, we had a photoshoot. I'm preparing for some meetings next week that will require me to have "after" shots. Therefore, we put my nifty Nikon D3000 to good use. Having avoided the camera the first 23 or so years of my life, I've always been a little camera shy. I'm not one that can do "faces" well and trying to smile for the camera more than a fleeting moment makes me feel like my face is going to crack.

However, somehow my hubby brings out the inner model in me. Or atleast my smile.

Yes, that's a real train going by.

He even got some silly faces out of me. Ask my friends... This is usually impossible.

Pouty face.

He said, "You just won a million dollars!"

And, the one emotion my hubby can always bring out of me...

Joy   :)

After all this modelling work, I was ravenous. (Some model, I'd make, huh? lol) We stopped in a cafe, and I ordered a soup and pasta salad combo. The soup was chicken noodle. Everything else had beef in it, and I don't eat red meat. The pasta salad was NOT what I expected.

Um. Who biggie-sized my salad?

I ordered soup with a "side" of pasta salad. I'm confused here... lol And, it wasn't even good. I ate like 5 bites of the salad. The soup was good, though. Warmed me up. It was a chilly day here in La Mesa.

Then, it was time for an outfit change. By this time, of course, I was humming "I'm a model, ya know what I mean..." I wish I was kidding. It was really, truly stuck in my head all day long.

I didn't love most of the pics from our second location/outfit, but here are a couple anyway.

Here's Ryan during our second trip to Starbucks for the day. (Hey, a girl's gotta go to the bathroom, somewhere, right?!)

He takes his iphone very seriously.

We ventured out to Coronado Island for our last few pics.

It's ridiculous to me that I live here.

And, a candid from a third location in the same outfit.

Are you tired of seeing my mug yet?!?

After our photoshoot, we went to Best Buy (aka Ryan's Disney Land) to get my new Blackberry Curve (love) a jacket. She was cold.

Dinner was last night's meal retooled, and an apple.

I added a jar of fire-roasted tomato sauce to last night's lemon chicken spaghetti. It was like a completely new meal. Love when you can stretch your meals like that. Good on the wallet AND the tum tum. :-D

That's all for my Saturday! Sorry I only posted once. I suppose I could have posted from hubby's I-phone, but I completely forgot. It's hard being a model, you know...

Do you like having your picture taken?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Other Stuff

Don't forget the contest for Exotic Fruit Bars.

Ingredients List for the Fig Bar: Fig (hazelnut, walnut kernal, peanut), glucose, wheat flour, raising agent

Also, check out Allison's blog, Life's Little Lusts (awesome name, yes?), where she mentions EAT MOVE WRITE. Allison, that was so sweet. Thank you so much.