Scraps of happiness

In the last year I started filling up a small jar with little scraps of paper. The bits of paper were full of good things that had happened, and I'd intended to read them all on solstice.

Unfortunately I was sick on solstice, so that didn't happen. (Then I got better, only to get sick again. Dangit! This has not been a great last couple of weeks.) Now it's almost New Years Eve, and I'm finally getting around to looking at what good things happened in the last year.

I didn't write everything down, so this is hardly an exhaustive list. Here's most of what I found in the jar.

Duck pond with Murray, visited a farm where I got blackberry honey. -- summer 2013

Discovered that Murray can pick out the perfect pair of sneakers for me. ♡ -- summer 2013

Finished inspecting cells at work. -- summer 2013 [this was a special assignment that I was very happy to finish]

I was hired on to a temp job -- 6/14/2013

Murray and I had Valentine's dinner together at [a favorite restaurant] ♡ -- 2/15/2013

The smell of fresh rain at night -- 8/22/2013

Drank a whole Guinness, realized I'm developing good taste. The one drink made me tipsy. -- 3/16/13

Portland Highland Games -- 7/20/13

Beka is recovering. She's more active, and takes her meds more quickly. :) -- 12/31/2012 [this one is painful to read since she then took a turn for the worst and we lost her]

Birthday date with Murray ♡ -- 3/9/2013

Figured out how to clean the honey jar -- soak the lid in hot water, then wet a paper towel with hot water and wrap it around the rim. -- 1/25/13

Sabine, Kora, and Aniki move in together -- 3/6/2013 [and then were separated...but oh well!]

Temp job got extended -- 6/13

Started my new job -- 6/17/13

Sabine is recovered from her spay and is off her meds :) -- 3/3/2013

Got my first bra fitting -- 3/29/2013 [I know, I know...I can't believe I waited until age twenty-four, and it turns out that a properly fitted bra makes a HUGE difference]

Had my first Guinness. -- 3/16/2013

Drank my first cup of black coffee. -- 4/4/2013

I brought home Kora and Aniki. -- 2/1/2013

Got my birthday presents from The Belly Dancer-- 2/3/2013

I reached 200 blog posts on Dancing With Fey -- 2/11/2013

Learned how to hand wash bras -- spring 2013

Spring has sprung! -- 3/8/2013 [I don't care what the calendar says, when it feels like spring it's spring]

I could make a few comments on the previous year based on what I wrote on those scraps of paper, but I'll leave it at that for now.

Scraps of happiness

Flip flop snob

Teva flip flops

I'll be the first to tell you that when it comes to flip flops, I'm a snob.

I won't touch flip flops unless they have arch support, which means that I regard the cheap $1 stuff you find in grocery stores with disdain. I just don't see the point of wearing them. I mean, if I don't care about arch support in sandals, I may as well toughen up my feet and go barefoot.

The result of my being a snob means that I have worn Teva flip flops for years. True, they cost a bit more. But I'll bet they last much longer than the cheap ones. And they are comfortable.

(Well, ok, I'm not so sure that I would like their wedges...)

That being said, even though I'm in love with Teva, I don't have so much brand loyalty that I won't consider other brands as well. I'm already thinking that I may try Crocs flip flops next pair when my current Teva pair wear out. (Note: Crocs is the only brand of shoes for which I will order new styles online without trying them on first. I trust them that much.) I've also just learned about New Balance, and am curious to see how their flip flops are about arch support.

Oh dang, and I just realized...I guess I am one of "those women," after all. I talk shoes, and have expensive tastes. Just, about sandals and Crocs, not high heels. After all, I just wrote a whole blog post about footwear...

Funny how this blog can reveal certain sides of my character to me. Then again, I guess I should have known already that I may be mildly passionate about shoes, since I'm a self described flip flop snob. :)

Shopping in the wrong aisle

If you don't want to hear about clothes, skip this post. Because I love a nice pair of blue jeans.

When I recently went shopping for new jeans I was disappointed in my findings. Fashion had changed yet again, and the styles I liked were no longer available. I found a couple of things that worked, and I even liked (one of) them, but nothing I was wild about.

What I like

From Amazon.com

The style I love is nicely fitted on the upper half, and flared on the bottom half. As pictured. Instead, what I found were pants that fit snug at the hips, but are loose everywhere else.

Then, I happened by chance across exactly the style I like. Online.

Normally I don't buy clothes that I can't first try on. But I liked the look of these, they were a good brand, and they were inexpensive. Hey, if I could do free returns with refunds, I was willing to give it a few tries to find jeans that I will adore.

Then I noticed something: they were juniors jeans.

I had obviously been shopping in the wrong aisle. Not only do the juniors have what I want, they cost less too.

Since I'm buying online (I don't want to wander down the junior aisle in a real store...I just don't) there was a little trial and error in figuring out my size. But I finally got a pair today that fit. Now I just need to wash and hem them.

Since these still need a bit of work I may be counting my eggs before they're laid, but I am pleased. Very pleased.

Jeans that fit

Loose Jeans by Petr Kratochvil

No, my pants were not THAT loose

One downside of losing so much weight is that my blue jeans seemed to grow. And grow. And grow. I had pants in two different sizes, and I became rather frustrated with the fact that even the smaller ones were too big on me.

But finally I have two pairs of pants that fit me. Thank gods mom was willing to take me to Fred Meyers and buy me some new pants. I'm too picky, and can have trouble finding second hand ones that I like. (Admittedly some of my favorite jeans have been second hand, but I have to really work to find those rare gems.) And inexpensive second hand is all I can afford for myself at the moment.

Do you have any idea how wonderful it is to put on a pair of pants that actually fit, after months of wearing jeans that are too loose? It is absolute bliss. Bliss, I tell you.

I did make one discovery though. When you lose enough weight, it can be difficult to find clothing that fits. This discovery is really why I'm writing a post about clothes shopping. A little over half of the Levi's pants I looked at came in my new size, but I couldn't find any Lee's that would fit me. This is a problem I hear about for people who gain weight when they go to buy dresses or whatever, but I'd never guessed it could also be a problem in the other direction.

Moral of the story: not all brands target smaller thinner people.

And, for anyone who is wondering...I went from a size 8 at the beginning of the year to a size 4 now. And that was all unintended weight loss. I cannot tell you how weird it is.