I’m currently doing Weight Watchers, and every week I blog a bit about what I’ve learned and experienced, and whether I’ve lost or gained weight for the week. I take notes in the weekly meetings and post them, too.

The cake at BlogHer’s Sparklecorn party (courtesy of Charm City Cakes, a.k.a. that bakery with the TV show). You know I had some!

Oh BlogHer, with all your free food!  I didn’t do a great job tracking my intake, either.  “I’m just so busy this week!” I said to myself, but excuses are like cheap belt buckles: they get flimsy with use really fast.

I’m up .6 pounds, so not terrible (I was super active and did tons of walking).  A bummer, though, because I really, really want to punch through that 10 pound wall.  It’s right there.  Right there!

I’m pretty good at not beating myself up for stuff like this, but this week was still timely for me.  We talked about the 80/20 Rule this week.  If you’re making good choices 80% of the time, you can let that 20% go.  That’s a solid B if you’re in school.  I can totally be a B student!

Notes on this super awesome meeting are after the jump.

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Pam wanted to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge for her Life List, and I wanted to help someone with a List item, so we did!

I was excited to do this because it’s become my unofficial life’s mission to help other people (especially women) grab life by the you-know-whats and be fearless.  It’s more fun to be feisty!  Air punch!

Pam actually needs no help in the feisty department, which made us great friends.  Here she is yelling at me to put my camera down so she can take a photo of me.

We made a giant Twitter hashtag for our walk, because we are internet nerds and this is what we do.  I left it in a cab, though, so if you found a rather large hashtag sign in your taxi, that was me.

This is the whole group:

Jennifer, Shannon, April’s friend whose name escapes me because I am a bad person Erin, Pam and April

I call this photo “The group of white women that I led across a bridge”.

Here are our feet.

Here is me and Pam at the end of the bridge.  I look sweaty!  (Note the Lydia pin in my hair.)

There was a tourist right at the end taking a photo of the bridge that I was clearly going to be in, so I smiled and waved.  “You are very beautiful!” he said, heavily accented.  I said to Shannon, “He must be from one of those countries where women are sexy if they have all of their teeth.  Or he’s half blind.”

“Hey hey hey!  You just take that compliment!” she admonished me.

So I did.

Thank you to List PlanIt for sponsoring our morning Starbucks!

Anyone else need a hand with a Life List item?  I am so there.

BlogHer was… a lot. It was wonderful, and I’ll likely go again, but I was totally unprepared for the way it drained me.  I’m introverted after all; shit’s hard, yo!

Rob swung by in the middle of it all and I took the opportunity to bury my face in his neck for a moment to regroup.  He’s better than coffee, that one.

The swag!  MY GOD THE SWAG!  It was not only plentiful, it was amazing.  There are mixed feelings about all the sponsors; I say bring them on.  They keep the cost of tickets down for everyone, making it less exclusive.  This is a good thing.

Highlights include Spanx, a Pur water filter, Play-Doh, Weebles (they really DO wobble but don’t fall down!), and a meat thermometer.  I even played mommy blogger and brought home something for “my kids” – Matty and Tino got stuffed animals and Leeloo got a mousepad.  She likes to use it for an elbow pillow.  It’s weird, but whatever – if it makes her happy, I’m happy, too.

Awesome shit that happened, and pictures:

Lindsay Ferrier walked by me, and I was going to go say hello but she got caught in a conversation.  Maggie, sensing I might wuss out, pulled a “Have You Met Ted?” adding, “She won’t shut up about how much she loves your blog!”

I got to tell Lindsay how fabulous she made my wardrobe.  I’m not a total glamor girl (yet!), but her blog has really helped make my 28th year more polished.  It’s filled with good shopping tips and sale alerts for normal people who shop normal stores – Ann Taylor Loft yes, Gucci no. And she’s totally hot!

Holly introduced me to Yuvonne, and I did this, in this order: squeal, hug her, and then introduce myself awkwardly.  I’ve been reading her blog for-EV-er, and she was one of the handful of people that inspired me to start my own blog back in 2004 (omg.)

Miss Britt is awesome.  “She’s a firecracker!” I said to her husband.  He shook his head.  “More like a grenade.”

A grenade of awesome.

*ker-pow!*

I HUGGED CECILY!  She’s so… gritty!  She opens up about her life in a way few of us would dare to do, and it’s inspiring.

I met the Bloggess.  A lot of people were excited to meet her, none so much as Michael, a reader who recognized her walking down the street.  It was really adorable.

Here is the Jennifer from the Baptist Wine Club holding some balloons at the Kirtsy party.  Sassy foot pop!

Here are Cindy and Elizabeth at the Kirtsy party. They recognized me as “the lady that went flying with Maggie Mason.”  I want that on a tee shirt now.

Here are a group of fancy blogger ladies, and one keeping it real.  This photo makes me laugh.

Here is Gabby Blair (Design Mom) painting on someone’s arm. She wore a full length Dashiki as a dress, and I thought to myself, “Rock on, mom of 6 looking funky!” We should all be as cool.

Here are bloggers in full-on KISS makeup. Sometimes weird things happen at BlogHer.

Here is Melissa, Single Gal in the City, painting at a party.

Here are Holly and Maggie in a cab. Our driver got really mad at another driver and threw a water bottle out of the window screaming obscenities and we were all a little scared when I snapped this.

Here are the ladies from Southern Fried Snark. Despite their name, they are friendly.

Here is me and Heather B (No Pasa Nada). I like her.

Here is Laid Off Dad. He totally held his own in a room full of chicks.

Here is me and Danielle Henderson (Knotty Yarn).  Miss Britt initially mistook her for me, which is totally understandable if you mainly know me via my Twitter icon.  Danielle is a stunning six foot something, though.

I’m totally using this photo to show people “my cute sister”.

This boring tee shirt rocked my world.

1. My haircut is amazing. I called Rob walking home from the salon and lamented about dropping a good piece of change on a haircut, only to come out looking like a poodle. Once I styled it my way, though, it rocked my world.

Wahoo for my hair.

2. My necklace is also amazing. It is my new favorite thing.  (I was shooting my self-pic into a mirror – I know what way the globe goes!)

3. I went to buy new tee shirts, nothing unusual, and could not figure out what the heck was wrong with them. They fit before, and now they were… baggy and lumpy and odd. It turns out nothing is wrong with the tee shirts, and nothing is wrong with me. I’m just a size smaller.  Do you know how rad it is to buy smaller sized shirts?!

Holy cow.

I’m currently doing Weight Watchers, and every week I blog a bit about what I’ve learned and experienced, and whether I’ve lost or gained weight for the week. I take notes in the weekly meetings and post them, too.

Some of the fiber I got in this week came in the form of these oranges.

Last week I said that I thought this past week was going to be a good one. Sometimes, I can feel it in my bones. I was right; I’m down a pound. This brings my grand total of weight lost to 8 pounds (a total that just happens to be my very first recorded weight, when I was a few minutes old. I lost newborn me!)

With all the ups and downs, I have averaged exactly half a pound per week of loss since this is my 16th week.

I did NOT manage the weekly challenge, which was eat five servings of fruits or veggies at least five days.  I came kind of close, though, and managed to munch on more veggies this week than I ever have before. It’s a REALLY good feeling, especially when… you know… I have to… and then it’s all awesome… because of the fiber? Yeah. Wahoo for fiber.

This week was about stopping the Eat-a-thon. Notes are below the jump.

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On Sunday I’m helping my gal Pam host an early morning stroll. “Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge” is on her Life List, and since “Help someone with a Life List item” is on MY Life List, we’ll be high-5ing for both of us at the end.

We even have coffee and bagel sponsors: ListPlantIt and one of their affiliates Simply Organized.

All of the details are here on Pam’s blog.

I’m terribly excited about BlogHer, and it’s not just the sessions – in fact it’s not the sessions at all… I don’t know what the sessions ARE yet! It’s the people, and the hugging, and the drinking, and the gabbing at night, and the sharing of ideas… all that good stuff that comes when internet people get together.

The best part is I don’t have to get on a plane, a fact I used for justification to do a little bit of shopping for some new clothes (I needed them!) and some new jewelery (which I didn’t, but, my gosh, the necklace I bought literally made my heart start beating faster when I saw it. Now I’m all over the mail carrier like a terrier. Also, I am excited that my “thing” is necklaces. Not earrings or rings or bracelets. I am a necklace person. It is cool to have a “thing”.)

My hair is cut (by a PRO – I learned my lesson!) and my face is facialed (at home; I love a DIY skin brightening). I am all set to rock.

Bring on the fun!

P.S. If you are in town and want to hook up, you’re best off texting me or calling me rather than sending a Twitter DM. 4242-AMBER-8 is my Google voice number.

Alice asked me to do a boudoir shoot with her. At first I was shocked! Scandalized! But it was tasteful. She posted some of her favorites today, and they are pretty cute if I do say so myself! Click the link to read her post and see all of the pics.

Now is as good a time as any, I suppose, to remind you that I am available for hire to take your family photos or portraits, too; you can see my portfolios at AmberMarlow.com

Furry friends are optional, but totally encouraged.

I’m currently doing Weight Watchers, and every week I blog a bit about what I’ve learned and experienced, and whether I’ve lost or gained weight for the week. I take notes in the weekly meetings and post them, too.

These are awe-some!

Last week our challenge was to try a new vegetable. I had a fennel and heirloom beet salad with blue cheese at a restaurant, which counted because I’ve never had fennel.

Overall, though?  I’m calling this another lost week.  So lost, in fact, that I declined to weigh in. There are weeks where I feel so on top of Weight Watchers and others where it’s really hard. It’s weird; this week, the week following the one that involved too much vodka and also ice cream cake, is shaping up to be a really good one. I’m trying to figure out what makes such a difference. My leader is good at acknowledging this up and down and makes a point of saying that it’s totally normal. 

Ok, lady.  If you say so.

This week the topic was snacking which made for a fun meeting as we all chatted about our favorite Point-friendly snacks. It turns out that nearly everyone in the meeting started off the day with some sort of food in their bag (I showed up with some brown rice sushi… complete with chopsticks!). Do you keep snacks in your bag, too?

The times I leave the house without one, I wind up grabbing something awful just to stave off the hunger. Not wallet- OR point-friendly.

I have the full list of snacks we shared below the jump, but I have to gush about this one: freeze dried blueberries. The lady in front of mentioned them, so Emily, Jeannette and I headed to the new Trader Joe’s to get some.

You can eat them straight; they have an airy texture like popcorn. I ate them with cereal this morning, and it was SO GOOD. Plus, bonus! the milk, and my tongue, turned a deep blueish purple.

They taste better than they look.

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Oh, it’s one of those periods where I can’t get the blogging mojo up off the ground. Here are some bits.

**

I got a new camera. It was time for an upgrade to something professional, so I got the industry standard for commercial photographers, as well as a few good lenses. It was hours of research to figure out exactly the set up I wanted, and the results have me blissed out and really excited. With the right gear in my bag, the only thing standing between me and making a decent living as a photographer is myself. Knowing this is a tremendous relief, and also a great big burden: now the only thing standing between me and making a decent living as a photographer is myself!

Ah well. Bring it on.

**

I wonder often if have something wrong with me, like Aspergers. My brother-in-law made ridiculous statement the other day, and I was all wide-eyed going “REALLY?!” while everyone else laughed at his joke. When I was about 14 I kept a list called, “Words and Phrases people use when they are being sarcastic”, and I really needed it. I don’t now, but only because I have it memorized. It’s just not something I instinctively pick up on. I also don’t do “nice for nice sake”. I say things that are honest, and then realize that they aren’t spectacularly kind, and I always want to be thought of as spectacularly kind.

**
Poor Matty’s ear infection is better. It was 10 days of squirting in a wash that made him dizzy, and then some medicine, and then at night more medicine and a pill. Now it’s just pills, which is easy since he likes anything if you glob peanut butter on it.

Clearing it up by keeping on top of his treatment was very satisfying, and I am proud.

**

I skipped blogging about Weight Watchers last week, because I was tired of thinking about it. It is exhausting to think of every single thing you put in your mouth as a matter of course. My leader said something so wonderful last week, that deserves writing down: 98% of plateaus and gains are a result of loosened efforts and are, therefore, controllable. Usually that control looks like stepping up the workouts or cutting back further on calorie intake as your body adjusts to your previous efforts. That sucks! It’s like, work hard, then work harder. But it’s the way it is.

**

Bronwen is an internet-turned-real-life friend from Australia and HER friend was visiting New York. She asked if we would meet her for dinner, so Naomi came out to Brooklyn and we ate. Then we drank, and then we had drinks in our living room until 2 am. I explained how Fahrenheit degrees work, and we both agreed it was stupid and confusing and that Celsius is superior.

We all liked each other, and Naomi promises that I can crash on her couch if I ever want to trek over to the other side of the world.

This is why I love the internet.

This morning I had this heavy metal song stuck in my head:

“Poundin’ down the walls!
Pound-in’ down-the
Poundin’ down the walls
WITH THE SLIME KINGS!”

The true beauty of it is in the singing, and if you ever get a drink or two in me, I promise to sing it for you, and with gusto.

I did not know from whence this song came, and it bothered me for a few hours until I Googled it. The Slime Kings are a fake rock band made up by Ann M. Martin, writer of the Babysitters Club books. In the book, “Claudia and the Phantom Phone Call”, the babysitters rig their stereo up to start playing loudly if an intruder broke into the house. They set the tape (awww, mid-80′s technology!) to the song “Pounding Down the Walls” by The Slime Kings.

The lyrics were never spelled out in the book, but that didn’t stop 9 year old me from trying to come up with my own version of the song. Now, years later, it was stuck in my head, a monstrosity of my own creation.

I wonder if Rob will lend his talents to recording it?