The real reason why I love Victor. . ..

I've written about Vic before.

He owns V-Fit -- the fitness studio where I work out.  The place where I was first able to do triceps curls and "real" push ups.  The place where I have been able to drop my blood pressure, blood sugar, and bra size.  The place where I have met wonderful friends who encourage me to try, fail and try again.

That's not why I love Vic.

Vic assigned me to work out with Gabe.  Gentle, kind Gabe who doesn't shout, doesn't sneer and doesn't take excuses.  We call Gabe the "Silent Assassin" because he very quietly kills you with his workouts.  I call him "Silent but Deadly".  Seriously -- he worked my back & shoulders two days ago.  I am still sore.  Did you know your armpits could hurt?  Despite the pain, Gabe has been a wonderful coach, mentor and friend.

That's not why I love Vic.

Vic is slightly hot looking.  If you like guys with perfectly tone bodies, chiseled bone structure, shiny black hair and the deepest, dreamiest brown eyes since Greg Afuso.  And he's mostly straight!  (Just kidding. He's all the way straight.)  (He is pretty Metro though.  I love Metro guys!)  On more than one occasion, friends of mine have seen Victor and come to me drooling.  "HE is your trainer!  OMG I want to work out with you!"  Of course they never show up, the cowards.

That's not why I love Vic.

It was yesterday that I realized exactly why I love him. 

Yesterday was the 5K I ran for June.  As you may know, I have run one 5K every month since October 2010.  Yesterday I finished my 9th.  Wow.  Nine.  That's a lot. 

That's not why I love Vic.

It was one of the most enjoyable 5K's I've run.  It was at sunrise on the beach.  Sounds romantic, right?  Sunrise in June is the only time you can run without getting heat stroke.  But it was still pretty frigging hot.

I haven't done a lot of running on the beach.  It's more challenging that running on the road.  For one thing, you have to scoot around to find sand that's not too soft.  We were kinda zig-zagging all over the place.  I am pretty sure we covered more than 3.1 miles.  Felt like 10. 

I was proud of myself becasue I ran the whole first half no problem.  At the turn around, I was running pretty close to the water.  By then my feet were sore and hot, but I still had more than a mile to go.  A wave came in and soaked my feet. 

I wasn't happy to have my expensive shoes all wet, but lemme tell ya -- that water felt GOOD!

I kept running in & out of the water, until my shoes got so waterlogged it was like running with 15 lb weights on my feet.  Gabe makes me run with 15 lbs weights on my feet, so I know what I am talking about.

It was the beach.  The water felt good.  My shoes were heavy.  I was going slow.

I figured "Fuggit -- I'm taking my shoes off".  So I did.

Running in bare feet in the soft South Texas surf felt WONDERFUL.

That's not why I love Vic.

I love him because he put on this 5K to help the victims of the Mississippi Floods.

He raised $800.

I realized yesterday that Vic is always doing that.  He set up a scholarship for students to attend Del Mar College. He raised money for Tsunami victims.  He participated in Toys for Tots. He hosted a run for Metro Ministries.  He finds ways to raise money for those in need.

I love Vic because Vic is a giver.

He's not rich yet.  He's still building his business.  But he's not waiting until he has "extra" money to give.  He gives now.    I met Vic when he donated his services for the Mayor's Fitness Challenge last summer. The retail cost of that challenge was over $2000, just for me. We had 13 people in that challenge. Vic -- who was just opening his business -- essentially gave us $26,000.00.

So not only did Vic give me a safe and comfortable place to become my best physical self, he gave me and my community thousands of dollars. 


Vic's business is growing.  He and Gabe are expanding into another location, they are increasing their clientele, and they are bringing new and exciting services to our community.  That's not an accident.  The great sales and self-actualization guru Zig Ziglar said "You can have everything you want in life as long as you help other people get what they want in life."  Vic is helping me get what I want in life.  I hope he earns MILLIONS.  Billions. 

In fact -- if you live in South Texas, check out V-Fit.  Take a couple of classes.

You will love Vic too.

My very first day working out with Vic

Just one of many successes since I started working out with V-Fit





The Stylish Blogger

I got another FUN award!

Mommy A from Being Veruca gave me this award:

You know I love getting awards.  I love it!  Look for Being Veruca on my blog roll!

I now have to tell you 7 things about myself. I blog pretty much everything, so you may know some of this already, but. . . .


1.  I have lived in Illinois twice, Texas twice, Colorado, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, California and Arizona.

2. I have never been outside of the country.  That's embarrassing.  I like to think of myself as uber-cosmopolitan, but I am about as cosmopolitan as a screwdriver.  (Get it?  Get it? HAHAHHA)

3. If I write a post I think is funny, I read it over and over hoping for new commenters to tell me how hysterical I am.  Insecure much?

4. I gave up booze with no trouble.  Giving up diet pop and desserts seem to be completely beyond me.

5.  I think Tony Danza has aged really really well and if I hadn't married Greg, I would seriously consider Tony.  Even though he's kinda too old for me. 

6.  I was in the Junior League.   I got dishonorably discharged.  But not for something cool like telling all the snobby beeches to get a life.  Most of the women in the League are really, really cool.  (At least in Corpus Christi).  I got dishonorably discharged because I missed my meeting quota and was too lazy to make them up. 

7.  I cry every time I hear a patriotic song.  Proud to be an American makes me blubber like a tired toddler.

So there are my seven. Now I get to bestow upon 5 fellow bloggers this same honor.

1. Kathryn at Livin' Life the Smart Way!  She my friend IRL, and my running buddy. 

2. Miss Sweet Tea at Sweet Tea Diaries.  She's just ADORABLE!

3. Fuck My Table.    Do I really need to say anymore?

4. Nicki from The Loaded Handbag.  Smart, funny and takes incredible photos.  I have a major girl-crush on her.

5. Rae at Rae's Randomness.  Rae is my cousin-in-law and an incredible person.  Love her!

Thank you Mommy A!

My First Blog Award!

Nicki at The Loaded Handbag gave me MY FIRST BLOG AWARD!  (Yes, I expect to win many, many more blog awards. Many more.)

THANK YOU NICKI!

I am the recipient of The Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award. 

Isn't this SWEET!

I must now list 5 guilty pleasures and then give the Award to three others.

Narrowing down my millions of guilty pleasures to just five is very very hard.  But here they are:

1.) Facebook.  I wish I could quit you.

2.) HGTV's Designed to Sell.  My favorite designer is Tanya.  I also like Monica. 

3.) Katie Perry. (blush)

4.) Jane Green books.  Especially Jemima J. 

5.) Deep fried avocados from La Playa.  (Don't judge me.  They are the answer.) 

Finding three blogs to pass the award to is easy.   I'm giving this award to:

Annabel from Annabel Manners, Lex from Loose Leaf Writing;  and Catherine from Wink at Me.

Maybe I should pick up a strawberry cheesecake to celebrate?  Yes?

Old Crush, New Crush

I admit it. I have had this crush since high school.

And you would think after all these years, I would be over it.

I thought I was.

I looked fondly back on that time as iconic 80's. My defining moments. But it was my past, you know?

Until this:




Molly Ringwald wrote a BOOK!

Not just any book either. Not a book about what it was really like to kiss Jake Ryan (I know it must have been amazing). Not a book about where Anthony Michael Hall is these days (not sure I really want to know).

This book is about fashion. And friendships. And makeup. And food. Lots and lots of talk about food.

Molly Ringwald is a girlfriend! She is smart! Funny! Well read! REAL! I am SO excited!

If you had a big girl crush on Molly in the 80's (and if you were in high school in the 80's how can you not have a girl crush on Molly??); then you will love this book.

It is no coincidence that my "girl" names when I was preggers included Molly and Claire.

I pink puffy heart Molly Ringwald now more than ever.

It Rhymes With Floor

It rhymes with Floor, and Door and Bore. . .and I am one.



I am a blog whoooooore.

I didn't mean to.

It was just one time.  And then it happened again.

I read a blog I like a lot, Annabel Manners, and then I read one of the blogs she follows, The Sweet Tea Diaries, then I saw one that SHE follows, The Loaded Handbag, and then she referenced a great blog and before you know it, my dance card is filled with blogs.  And that's on top of my longtime (several month) favorites Loose Leaf Writing and The Bitchy Waiter.

I think we're a bunch of funny women who love to read other funny women -- I mean, people.So we comment on a blog, then we look each other up & find their blogs, love them then keep going.

This is how I started on Facebook.  Uh oh.

What's On My Toilet Right Now

Like many moms, the only place I can read a book is in the bathroom.

Right now I'm reading Little BIG Things by Tom Peters.  I try to read a non-fiction/business book at least one a month.  This one is a pretty easy read.  Plus, I've always liked Tom Peters.  He's zany.

I re-read My Antonia by Willa Cather.  I love that book.  I read it every year.

But my new FAVORITE is The Fat Girl's Guide to Life by Wendy Shanker.  SO AWESOME!  I need to make a big HOOP-DA-LA about it!  (holla Alexa O!)

Books about confident fat women resonate with me.

When I read Wake Up I’m Fat by Camryn Manheim I felt like she had written my entire life’s story. I shared every one of her experiences. Every one.

I always thought that except for her being Jewish & me being Catholic, Camryn Manheim and I were exactly alike. After I read it a few times -- I’ve actually probably read it at least ten times -- I realized that she & I weren’t all that similar. She’s tall, I’m not. She’s Liberal, I’m not. (Not anymore, anyway). She’s an actress, I’m not.She was a thin kid, I wasn’t.  She won an Emmy, I didn’t.

But she’s fat, and so am I. She’s confident. Me too! She’s successful. Ditto. She refused to let being fat get in the way of her goals. I love that about her.

I love how she is an advocate for fat girls. I love how she calls it out -- makes it plain that she knows she’s fat and doesn’t care if you have a problem with it. (Remember her Emmy Acceptance speech where she said proudly "This is for all the fat girls!"?  -- Love You Camryn!  Can I call you Camryn?)

Camryn knows she’s fat, but she also knows she’s pretty. She knows she’s talented. She knows she’s sexy. She knows she’s smart. And being pretty talented, sexy & smart is good enough. She doesn’t have to be thin too.

I got the same sense of kismet when I read Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster. I was a little bummed at first when I read it, because I was already writing The Gift of Fat and the idea that there can be TWO confident, successful, hilarious women writing memoirs about what it’s like to be fat. . .

Camryn Manheim’s book doesn’t count because she won an Emmy already.

Lancaster is an every woman. She looks like me  (I mean, she looks like I would if I didn't have kids.)  I felt like our stories were very, very similar. Upon closer examination, however, we don’t have that much in common after all. I am not a big dog person, for one. I have three kids. I don't drink anymore.  I’d be perfectly happy in the suburbs of Chicago, having grown up there myself. I'm not quite as preppy.  (Sorry, but polo shirts look like crap on me).  Differences aside, Jen & I would totally be bffs.

And now there's Wendy Shanker.  She nailed my position on Fat & Health Care, The Weight Loss Industry and Fat in the Media.  And funny?  Oi Vey -- she is a stitch. 

This time, instead of feeling jealous that someone else wrote my book, I feel vindicated that I am not alone.  There is room on the book shelves (and the blogosphere) for more funny Fat Girls.

Know what would be FUN?  If Camryn, Jen, Wendy & I all got together for lunch.  Someplace yummy.  Someplace with tiramisu.  We'd have a blast!

You don't have to be fat to enjoy these books.  Why don't you run to the library, pick one up & then head to the bathroom?

You'll thank me!

Madison Avenue, here I come. . .

Ok -- I have an idea, and I need to know what you think.

Sometimes I like to think of new applications for existing products. For example: Depends. Yes, Depends. The adult diapers.

For a long time, I’ve thought that if Depends had a product geared towards professionals, they would make a killing. They could call it Depends Office. Here’s how I envision the commercial:

Scene - a hectic office, people hurrying around looking harried. Zoom in on boss surrounded by panicked lackeys.

BOSS: “We must get that report to the board TODAY or the whole project could be delayed”

LACKEY 1: “Sir, it’s impossible, we just found out about it yesterday!”

LACKEY 2: “Maybe if you called them you could buy us some time!”

Enter a calm collected professionally dressed woman carrying a folder.

WOMAN: “Here’s the report. I had it formulated on this thumb drive for you as well.”

Boss and lackeys look at woman dumbfounded

BOSS: “How did you get it done so quickly?”

WOMAN: “I just worked all night”

Woman turns to the camera and says in a whisper “With a little help from Depends Office! Thanks Depends!”

And SCENE!



Great idea, right? But that’s not the one I wanted to tell you about.


I got the idea for my NEW application when I was doing my workouts this week. This week my workouts were all plenty intense, because I was STUPID enough to post on here that I was getting used to them & they are easier. There was NOTHING easy about my workouts this week. NOTHING!

This week I worked out with Ricky helping me. Ricky is a nice young man who works for Vic. He looks like a fitter version of Leonardo DiCaprio. I think he’s somewhere between 19-23 years old, and he treats me with the same courtesy he would use towards his mother’s old high school chums. (Except he probably never hands one of his Mom's friends a 6 lb ball and tells her to squat. One Hundred and FIFTY times.)

As I am working out next to this handsome, polite young man, I look in the mirror (which are all over that place -- I’m hoping they are there so we can ensure our form is correct. Because otherwise? This place needs an HGTV intervention). (I'm going to pay for that crack next week, You watch!)

In the mirror I can’t help but notice that the more I do my exercises, the more soaking wet with sweat I become. About half way through it looks like someone has poured water down my shirt and I seem to have wet my pants.

The damp t-shirt I can live with, but the peed pants? Next to Ricky DiCaprio? If I wasn’t already so red from all the physical exertion, I would have blushed.

So THAT’S when I came up with my great marketing idea!

Depends Active!

Here’s the ad:

Scene: A busy, tastefully decorated fitness studio with lots of red faced sweaty people.

Camera zooms to two women working out. Both are obviously working hard, but one looks more refreshed than the other.

LINDA: “Leonardo sure has us on a tough circuit today, Amy!”

AMY: “I know, Linda! We will be ready for that marathon in no time!”

LINDA: “I know you will be! I’m just ready for a shower!”

AMY: “ No time for that today, Linda. I have to pick up the kids, then run Don’s clothes to the cleaners, then head to the grocery store before I can even THINK of a nice hot shower!”

LINDA: “You’re lucky -- you still look so fresh!”

AMY: “It’s not me, Linda. It’s Depends Active!”

LINDA: “Depends Active?”

Scene: locker room, where Linda & Amy have towels around their necks.

AMY: “Linda, just put on a pair of Depends Active before your next workout, and you’ll be ready to pick the kids up from soccer practice and then stop at the market before you go home. I never workout without Depends Active!”

Scene: back at the fitness studio. Linda & Amy are wearing different workout outfits.

LINDA: “Amy! Thanks for the tip about Depends Active! After my workout today, I am heading straight to the OB/GYN for my annual!”

AMY & LINDA together: “Thanks Depends Active!”

And SCENE!


Great idea, right? Right? Guys? Anyone?

Who I am following right now. . .

These are the blogs I read pretty much daily.

Thought you might like them too:

Jennsylvania -- Jen Lancaster is the original. She's a bestselling author (Such a Pretty Fat is my favorite). When you read her, you'll see a lot of similarities. I want to be her. (sort of.) (I suspect her mother gave her the same talk by mother gave me about not swearing so much, because she hasn't cursed in her blog for a while now.)

Annabel Manners -- love this girl. She's elegant, preppy and cute. And brief, which is what a blog should be.

The Beauty Boomer -- this is a blog about makeup & style. And she's also really funny. Who knew makeup could be so hilarious?

The Bitchy Waiter -- this guy is a RIOT.

Robert Reich -- I don't know why I read him because he is so depressing, and I rarely agree with him. But it's important to maintain perspective on the economy, so I read him.

Ali Edwards - if you like to scrapbook, Ali is a great designer. Her work is gorgeous. She's very feel-good tho -- never snarky, never bitchy, so. . .I just read her for the pictures.

Enjoy!