A Site for Sore Winter Eyes

This time of year is pretty boring as far as my wardrobe...  the dull, cloud-filled days stretch out before me as I gaze into my closet, feeling very uninspired.  The weather, as of late, has me reaching for sweatshirts and jeans over and over again.  And the colors!  Bleh...black, gray, brown, tan and did I mention black?

Now is the time of year when fashion editors and retailers start pulling out the words cruise and resort-wear in order to bump sales just a little before spring.  ...and that's great....if you're going to a resort, that is!  This year, the prospects of a visit to a sun-cloaked, salty-aired island aren't looking so great for me!  :)

Inspired by my Christmas visit to the Tollwood Market in Germany (and a few purchases- see the lovely woolen scarf), I began to look online for the same type of fairytale, intricate designs...

Enter etsy.com and her European cousin en.dawanda.com!  These sites have only handmade and/or vintage items.  The stuff is usually one-of-a-kind or very limited in quantity/production!  UNIQUE is the operative word here!  Unique, colorful, unusual!  These designs are a welcome relief for bored, tired winter eyes to see!

I recently ordered a wonderful little coat from etsy!  The designer is based in Paris.

I threw it over my workout attire last week to get my son from my parents' house!  My mother immediately expressed her delight~  I knew she would.  Now that the Christmas tree is down and all of the holiday lights and glitter are packed away, we need a little glitz to brighten these days!

I must add a small disclaimer here:  I have my own etsy shop, but my designs at this time are only for babies and toddlers.  I'm a big fan of the concept of small, cottage-based businesses.  While, it's always convenient and nice to shop at a Gap to grab 5 knit turtlenecks, each in a different color for 14.99, I like the independence that is afforded when you sell and buy from other designers and crafters!

An interesting related link: 

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/571787/etsy_vs_dawanda_two_websites_to_sell.html?cat=15

The Eat Every Two-Hours Diet

While meeting with a friend the other day, his phone alarm went off.  He showed me the text alert: "2 hrs. Eat #3"  What in the world?  "This is the way I'm losing all the weight!" he tells me, while asking the coffee barrister to please wash a green pear that has suddenly appeared in his hand. 

The diet makes sense, really.  If you keep your food intake continual and regular by eating small amounts frequently, your body metabolism should go up.  The science behind it has something to do with fat stores and whether or not your body feels like it needs to "save up" fat for a potential famine (long period of growling hunger).  So, if you happen to be washed ashore on a deserted island within the next 4-5 hours, you will have the stored up energy your stomach has so politely kept for you!   By quelling your hunger every 2 hours, the body feels like "Oh, plenty to eat today, I don't have to store this energy up, because I seem to be getting food all the time!"  You then become a lean, fat-burning machine.

My enthusiastic dieting friend explained that he divides his day up into two-hour intervals, coming out with a total number of "eats" per day.  I don't exactly remember how many "eats" he got to have, but my guess is that it would vary, depending on the length of your day.

I had always had the facts of this dieting method in the back of my brain, somewhere.  Just not the part about militantly eating at the two-hour mark every time.  I thought I might give it a whirl, already determining if my phone had an alarm application to go off every two hours and how would I be able have nutritious snacks on my person at all times, etc.

I furthered my research by going to the libr- no!!!!  THE INTERNET!  I googled "two-hour diet".  My search returned mostly results pertaining to eating every three hours.  I discovered a book entitled The 3-Hour Diet by Jorge Cruise.  According to Jorge, "The secret lies in eating the "right foods" every 3 hours to stabilize your blood sugar, which controls your appetite. This steadies your moods and boosts your energy all day long.  Proper timing helps increase energy levels, alertness, muscle mass and, most importantly, helps reduce abdominal fat. In as little as two weeks, individuals who eat frequent, small meals are able to reduce cortisol levels by more than 17 percent. Truly amazing, isn’t it? Just imagine what a lifetime of eating this way will do for you."  If you go here, you can watch skinny fit Jorge as he hyper-ly energetically tells us about how to get rid of belly fat by keeping your insulin levels low.  Evidently the diet is working fabulously for Jorge!

The High Heel Conundrum

more often than not, i'm finding the old saying "all fashion ends in excess" to be very true!  lately, this rule seems to especially apply to shoes.  venture into a local shoe store or go online to find a pair of nice high-heeled shoes.  there you have it!  you must take your pick between five-inch nose bleeders or scuff-along-the-floor flats.  to me, this is just not much of a choice!  where are the mid-sized heels?  where are the 3-inchers?  i'm guessing these are just not enough of a fashion STATEMENT these days!

being tall, as in long-tall-sally, i can't get away with wearing such high heels - unless nobody stands near me, especially in a picture.  nobody!  i scare dogs and small children in catwalk heels!

flats....well, do you remember pop eye's olive oyl?   'nuff said.

I couldn't resist:

elements of beauty

this is my how i would like to outline the five basic elements of beauty in this blog:

• frame - our bodies, our shapes.
• interior - what's inside. not just our organs, etc...what about our spirits, minds, feelings, emotions?
• canvas - skin! it covers our entire body!
• paint - cosmetics, perfume - how do we accentuate our good points, camouflage the bad ones?
• curtains - our individual style. clothing, fashion!