Why is it that I start out gung-ho with my weight loss plans, and then something happens to send me off the wagon? Is it just me who does that?  Am I the only one?

Yeah!  Why am I?  Why am I so consistently inconsistent?

Seriously.  It’s like Roseanne Barr blaming Ambien for her racism.  I should blame M & M’s for my fat ass.

Hey you guys–and Greenie!  Don’t get your knickers in a twist. I’m NOT blaming you for my weight issues.  Although I do have a tendency to eat way too much of you……..

But I don’t.  I take full responsibility for my actions regarding food.

The fact is that I love food.  I love cooking and food is more than a meal to me.  Food is enjoyment.  It’s that Holiday meal that you share for hours at the table with family and loved ones. It’s that three-day weekend where you have cookouts and barbeques with your friends.  It’s the birthdays and graduations and life events that end up centering around food.

It’s the freaking 3/4 of a BAG of these chips I ate because I got “sad” when Roman left us to go back to NYC.  

And I need to realize that I’m a bit over-the-top when it comes to this subject.  I got on the scale this morning after three weekends of wonderful times with the kids and with Bonaparte! I’m five pounds heavier than three weeks ago.  And I’m thoroughly disgusted with myself.

Trust me. When I was at Oona and Sam’s I finished off an excessive amount of these.

I ate my way with gusto and pleasure through Cincinnati when I went to visit Oona and the next weekend I still managed to enjoy the gastronomic pleasure of escargot, steak and other delicacies.  Last weekend when Roman came to visit it was Salmon Rillettes, more steak, Béarnaise sauce, Pina Coladas, home-baked bread and enough corn chips to go around the circumference of the earth.

I don’t even want to begin to count the POINTS in the Pina Coladas I made!  Apparently the sugar from the coconut cream, pineapple juice and rum, stays in your body doing very bad things after you drink these.  Going pee-pee doesn’t get rid of the sugar weight gain!

And today I feel guilty.  I feel like a liar because I’m kind of a bad blogger to not be so diligent.

But no fear!  I’m back on track.  Last night I had bad gas pains because it’s been a while since I made spicy Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken.

Most likely the healthiest food I’ve eaten in the past three weeks! But it gave me gas!

Bonaparte, being the loving husband, he is, made me an Alka Seltzer, and like Scarlett O’Hara, I looked forward to the “another day” of tomorrow.

Hey there Scarlett–don’t you give me the side eye!  I’m just like you!

So, today is tomorrow and now that tomorrow is yesterday (are you following?) so it’s back to being diligent and counting points.

This evening I’ll have a turkey burger with sliced tomato on a Flat-out bread. One of my favorite vegetables, broccoli will be served on the side and for dessert, a healthy helping of fresh strawberries.

Look!  Only two points!  Now to turn this into a burger bun…..

Let’s hope that the 2018 tomatoes have flavor!!!

A most healthy dessert and no points!!!

I have cucumber and Laughing Cow cheeses as well as Melba Toasts for my lunch during the work week.

I’ll slice the cukes,  and place them atop the Laughing Cow cheese that is spread on the Melba Toasts!  Just like in the picture on the box!

Now that I’ve come clean about my inconsistency, I’m feeling much better!

It’s a cloudy Sunday and the weather has cooled down to a brisk 64 degrees.  It’s funny because 64 degrees is only “brisk” during the summer months.  Had the mercury hit that number during the winter, it would be “unseasonably warm”.  Am I right?

Because my husband was so good to me with the Alka Seltzer, I decided to wear black hair today.  Well, it was also because of a bit of melancholia over missing my natural hair.  Something hit the emotional button this morning and I just really missed that mop o’ hair that I used to curse due to it’s unmanageability.  I grabbed an oldie but goodie out of the bowels of my wig collection and plopped her on my head.

I went with dark hair today. Just like the hair I was born with–sort of!  I forgot how great this Bobbi Boss “Millie” bob wig is.  Maybe I’ll order her in a lighter color!

After this bout of sadness, it was time to get moving.  My nails were so disgusting that I finally got a proper manicure.  Kim cut my nails down because it allows for a healthier growth—besides, I type all day at work and long nails mess me up.  And—a fresh coating or three of my favorite Big Apple Red and I was off to run errands.

Phew!  Once again, the hands are looking like those that the Lartigue men find so appealing.  Well-manicured with red polish!

You know, I hadn’t been to Marshall’s in ages.  When I worked around the corner from the store, it was a regular “stop-by-on-the-way-home” for me.  It’s in the same shopping complex as the Walmart I drive to and it was time to revisit.

Now, I have enough clothing for the summer but it’s always nice to pick up an item or two to add to the mix.  And sometimes you never quite know what will end up in your shopping cart.  Since I had time to kill and no place special to be, I roamed around and tried a few things on.

The shirtwaist dresses that tie in front have always been of great interest to me. I love them but have never seen any in stores—just on women passing by.  When I saw this Calvin Klein number on the clearance rack for $20, I couldn’t help myself.  I tried on the 8 and the 6.  Why didn’t they have an in-between size?  The 8 was just too big and the 6, although it fit better—had the same issue so many dresses do.  The waist was cut too high.  It would have been a wasted purchase for me because I would be tugging down on the waist all day.  Again, this would have been such a great dress if the waist was more long-torso friendly.

This dress though.  Man, if the dress hadn’t been so short-waisted, it would have come home with me.  What a shame–but I just can’t see buying a dress if I’m constantly tugging and pulling at it!

Next was a striped body-con midi.  I LOVED this dress and I’m not a midi person but there was something about the cut that was so appealing to me.  At $14.99, I’m sitting here writing this post and I regret not making the purchase!

Regrets, I’ve had a few–and this is one of them.  I loved this one but passed!

Here’s what I did add to my wardrobe.

A black and white striped jumpsuit.  Now this came as a massive surprise because jumpsuits are way out of my comfort zone. But I have to say, this jumpsuit is so light and is cut so nicely and has pockets!! It came as a shock at how much I loved this and at $19.99 the price was too good to pass by.  The top is a more classic cut and my concern was the length of the pants.

This could have been a tad more long-waisted, but the blouson top rescues it!  I freaking LOVE this!!!!

And then I realized something; which is why you should never throw anything away.  I have a pair of shoes that are over ten years old that I’ve only worn once, and I love.  They would be a perfect match for this striped beaut.

Proof that it pays to hold on to things.  These shoes will be perfect for the jumpsuit!

I’ll be wearing this to work during the week.

The other purchase, another $19.99 fantastic find, is a short-sleeved maxi dress.  A proper short-sleeved dress is very difficult to find.  For some bizarre reason, short sleeves are, for the most part, so short that they are almost the hideous cap sleeve.  Not flattering on the pro-aging arms.  However, this dress had those coveted short sleeves that every short-sleeved article of clothing should have!  Add to that, the dress has slits on the sides making movement more comfortable.  I absolutely adore this dress and know it’ll get a lot of wear into the Fall!

Look at those sleeves!  And the slits are very becoming because they don’t go up all the way. Very pro-aging friendly and I prefer a maxi to a caftan anyway.  With sandals or my white low-top converse sneakers this dress is a great casual Friday dress!  

Oh!!  And guess what else?  You know the Essence palette I wrote about in yesterday’s blog post?  Where I compared the Essence “Mauvie-time” to Mac’s “Quarry”?  Well, that little palette I created has another fantastic dupe—yes it does!!  The shadow “Steel The Show” is an exact dupe for Urban Decay’s “Pistol” (And if you are a regular reader of this blog you are very much aware of the condescending email Urban Decay sent me and therefore I have stopped purchasing any of the brand’s products).

Essence “Steel the Show” on top.  Urban Decay’s “Pistol” on the bottom.  Where’s the difference? Both have excellent pigmentation and I’m wearing “Steel the Show” today.  Check it out in the photo up top of me in the wig!

Pistol comes in at the price of $20 for 0.05 US oz. of product, where Steel the Show costs $1.99 for 0.06 oz. of product!  That’s a huge price difference!

The past week flew by. Being off on Monday really made that work week short.  And I’m lucky to work for a large corporation with an office casual dress code but I think this coming week, I’ll dress up a bit more! Here’s a look at my casual work looks from the week.

Tuesday and back after a three-day weekend!  It was very casual–or rather lazy dressing!

Wednesday and a favorite white skirt from Uniqlo that I bought on sale for practically nothing either last year or the year before.  A fitted striped shirt and ballet flats and I felt like Bardot!

I was too lazy to shave my legs on Thursday so I wore an old pair of J. Crew Minnie pants paired with a ten dollar top from Old Navy from last year.

Just in case anyone forgot what day it was, I wore this to remind my coworkers that it was Friday!!  J. Crew Factory has been stepping it up with some great items.  Both the tee and skirt are from there!

My girlfriends Linda and Sandy both suggested I do a post with a step-by-step on how I apply my makeup. What do you think?  Promising idea?  I think it’ll be fun so this week I’ll be concentrating on how I do my everyday makeup.  Post to follow….

Have a great Sunday afternoon and evening and an even greater week to come!