pinkled

When I was pregnant with Pippa I decided we needed to do family/newborn pictures because we had skipped them when Truman was born. I booked a photographer, didn't tell jparks how much anything cost, and hoped the pictures would be worth it. Those pictures are awesome. I decided we would do pictures every year in the two week window between the kids' birthdays and as long as Michele was in the business of taking pictures, she would have to be the photographer. 

Due to a change in shooting location we missed that two week window this year by about two weeks, but it was worth it. I couldn't love the results more.

Jparks saw the pictures and said "Whoa, I'm ripped! When did I get so sexy! Look at my back!" Of course he did. 

I don't even care that I look like a spaz, I love this

This is so Pippa and Truman. He's hauling ass off in the distance and she's trying to catch him

This is a perfect picture of us. 

Y'all, I am the most awkward person in front of the camera but I can't wait to take pictures again next year. It's worth it. You should do it. 

weekend tripper

I went to California over the weekend for a bachelorette party. On the way there I sat next to a crazy person who sanitized the arm rest and then snapped at me "I cleaned this arm rest, it's mine!" I know this could happen on any airline but I still blame Southwest for it.


I got it in my head that I needed Toms the Thursday before I left so I bought a pair of the ballet flats. I wasn't even through the security line in Austin when the damn shoes had my feet bleeding. Upon arriving in CA I bought a pair of regular Toms and I have mixed feelings about them.

I think I'm too old for them and perhaps not hipster-y enough. But they're so comfortable that I'm starting to not care.

Friday night a small group of us went to a Brazilian meat place which is my dream come true. You flip a card and people with sword-like skewers bring you meat! I had planned to take some pictures and I started to do that but then the landslide of meat happened and I totally forgot. It wasn't until I ate a chicken heart (it was rubbery and that's what got me. I'm an anti-chewy textured foods person) and nearly died at the table that I realized I should have taken a few pictures.

That glass of sparkling wine was delicious and not rubbery at all. Also, it was not Whole30 approved.

I stayed with Whitney. Her house is cute.

Her cats will eat trail mix as well as the bag it came in.


I made Whitney take me to Trader Joe's because I really miss that store. I could have cried when we got there. I also could have used a little common sense because I bought so much stuff that Whitney had to ship a box of things to me. I do have some common sense though because I packed the cookie butter in my luggage and did this when I got home.

Yeah, that's a dark chocolate bar being used as a spoon. I'm a genius.

more talk about my less fat ass

It's been just over five months since I last gave you a de-fating myself update and I suppose part of the reason I haven't mentioned it is because I really haven't lost much more weight. (I'm about 3 pounds down, which is great but not really earth shattering) I have however, dropped another clothing size and am quickly rounding the corner on dropping another. This means that I'm back into single digit sizes and holy shit, I haven't been there since 2005.

I was probably in the best shape of my life in 2005, just before Hurricane Katrina. I was 25, working out with a trainer, and still had the ability to lose weight just by skipping a night of drinking and avoiding cookies for a couple of days. After Katrina I started eating everything, stopped working out, and never looked back. When we settled in Austin I went on an all gelato diet. I started baking all the time. I laughed if you suggested I visit a gym. It was truly the beginning of the end.

When we moved to California I picked up my activity level some, adding rock climbing and aerial acrobatics to the mix, I might have toned up some, but I never really slimmed down. Probably because I continued to eat all the things. I got pregnant, had Truman, and vowed to lose some weight. I hired a trainer. I worked out five days a week. I lost not a pound. I was still eating all the things.

We moved back to Austin, I got pregnant, had Pippa, and again vowed to lose weight. This time something was different. I don't know if it was because I knew we were done having kids and I finally was going to be 100% in control of my body for the rest of my life or that I had finally hit my weight high point and was just done being fat; whatever it was something in me had clicked and I was ready for change.

In the last few months I've moved away from the calorie restriction that helped me dropped the bulk of my weight and moved into a Paleo diet. I'm surprised I'm here because I was so resistant to Paleo for a very long time. I don't have a real reason for switching to it other than it seemed like a lot of people like it and I was getting bored counting calories and needed a change. In July, about 20 days after I went Paleo, jparks was diagnosed with Celiac's Disease and joined me on the Paleo bandwagon. So far we are both enjoying it.

Obviously I'm not dropping crazy weight like I was in the beginning of the year but I am slimming down. I do barre classes (ya'll, get thee to a barre class! They are challenging, always changing, and effective. jparks takes them with me sometimes and has his ass handed to him by the instructor.) and I run a lot. I've moved on to toning and building muscle now and I think this process might actually be more rewarding than the weight loss portion.

My new year's resolution this year was to never need to make another resolution to lose weight. As my weight/size stands now I feel like I could declare that resolution met.