Competition is VERY fast approaching and the diet will become harder and harder so I'm looking for ways to ease off the process.  I just noticed on Tanis Fiber Art blog that she has a give away where Tanis (the mastermind behind the most delightful yarn on earth and BONUS! it's made in Quebec!!!) ask to pick a color package for a baby blanket...  WOW!  I can't pick!  They're all in shades of blues or pinks!  I'm debating between the Blues, Original and the Reds...  Winning, I'd made her pick for me and surprise me!
What would I do with it?...  Convert it to a scarf, a shawl...  I'm exploring designing so...

Check it out yourself!

http://tanisfiberarts.blogspot.ca/2012/03/giveaway.html

Who knows!
I might have enough to keep me same the week prior to April 21...

P.S...  On the picture, my 1st real lace shawl made in TFA Yellow Label... I love it!  IT'S PINK!

Getting my body back!

Temptation, lack of self-control, bad influence...

Everything I've worked so hard for since January 3 was jeopardized.  Up until June 8, 2011 at 10:45.  Even on the day of my surgery, I woke up at 5:30 in the morning, got my car washed, did a workout and went for a 45 min run around the neighborhood.  I ate as clean as a possibly could and i was ready, sporting my semi "6 pack" and my new shape, on route for the 2nd part of my overhaul. 

For the first 4 months, I quit drinking except the once a month ultimate gin or vodka & diet tonic!  The results were absolutely amazing.  Then Spring came and the time when the skirts are shorten and the legs are "growing"...  well people came out of hibernation and start going out a little bit.  I remember texting my friend Karen a Sunday early afternoon from the gym telling her I was sweating GIN!!!  But like a trooper I was there. 

The post-surgery arrived.  I was obsessed with gaining weight and loosing the definition I was so proud of.  up until this day, I am still not 100% use to my image in a mirror but temptations are back and influence...  I can be so commited for a while and then oupss...  Debauchery, drinking, partying...  That's what happen! 

I love Nikki to death.  She reminds me a lot of me when I was her age but much smarter!  So we are able to handle each other very very well in the bar scene.  In fact , we have a blast...  ANYWHERE! Anyways, to make a long story short, I had to get back on track, I'm spending a LOT of money on this competition so i have to be committed, disciplined and dedicated!  For a while, I have to stay away from temptation...  no partying, no boat (since boat and booze are hand in hand) but the good thing is I can refocus on my "stuff", work on jewelry and knit, felt etc...  Already only 6 days and I already see changes in my body back to what it was post surgery and i would say I'm about 88% back on track so it great!

Well, the countdown has officially started...

Yup...  after a couple of attempts at being a good girl AGAIN, I received my meal plan from my super trainer Jenna Yvonne McNamara.  2 weeks in a row where I had all the best intentions in the world to be good, disciplined, as i was for the first 3-4 months of my weight loss but lately, a lot is going on and I got a little side tracked!  BAD INFLUENCE!

I am having the best summer of my life (well, after the one of 1991 when my friend Fred spent the summer with me...  before I had all kinds of responsibilities!)  I have a brand new body, I am single and espacially and most importantly, I feel so happy!  But still I had a few bumps as usual.  I am lucky, I DO have great friends that I love dearly but most of them are still in Montreal.  My partner in crime, in Kingston is getting ready to move away to Waterloo for school. Well, Nikki + Sophie + lots of booze = Very bad combination!  We are as crazy so it's kindda out of control when we are together.  Bitter sweet..  i love her to death but I think it's best for the 2 of us to be apart; her for school, me for competition.

Last night, I went grocery shopping with Jenna's list...  Popeye's for Vegge green supplements, costco for the bulk stuff and I have the odd things to pick up tonight and some serious food pre to do because bye bye premade shakes and proteins bars, Jenna is all for homemade stuff.  I'm still in a peanut butter withdrawl but I should be fine.  

January 3, 2011 was the date I decided to change my life!

I've been on the weight rollercoaster as far as I can remember. As a kid, I was on the "chubby" side and thank God for the swimming team coaching staff that recruited my sister and my Dad for almost forcing me to join the team too because I would probably be obese by now.

I struggle with my weight for the longest time, trying all kinds of stupid diets (you know when you're young and willing to try anything like the grapefruit diet, the cabbage soup diet...). I've always been fairly active. At 20, I signed up for a lifeguard course thta was going to be taking place in Florida in December of 1996. I signed up to a gym and tried to get ready for the event... that was my 1st encounter with a real gym!

I've tried everything, expensive supplements, cleanses, personal trainers even illegal substances. I remember one of my personal trainer told me one day "Sophie, the secret to a great shape is 80% your diet..." I should've listen to you sooner Larry! He was dead on. There is no easy way but discipline, commitment, consistancy and dedication.

The first few months I moved to Kingston, I lived the good life. I got an on-call job for the Government so rarely worked and i was living on my ex's boat so come with this beer, junk food and... did I say beer?! ot too good for the weight not too healthy either. Then I decided that my 2011 resolution was to loose some weight and get in the best shape of my life... never thought I would end up like that!

January 3, I started to go to the gym on a regular basis which is 5-7 times a week and my Ex wanted to start working out as well. Tried my gym, tried a few others and found one... THE perfect one... new, clean, not busy, no juiced heads and here I am!

The Joy of Summer!

What I like the most of my new job is this whole
on call thing. I have 1 or 2 penciled shift but I may get a call here and there to pick up the shift of my colleagues so I manage to collect about 20-25 hours/week which makes my living sufficient. Wouldn't do that for ever but for now I just LOVE it!

The other thing I love the most about my summer is what you see. Getting together with bunch of friends, sun, suncreen, beer and... knitting.

What I like the most about that statement is that, for some reason, people are always surprise to see a 35 years old young lady knitting at unusual places. As far as I can remember, I couldn't be empty handed. It drives Eric NUTS that I carry all kinds of shit everywhere I go (yarn, needles, crochets, polymer clay etc.) but IF I have an urge of doing something, it's there, THe good thing about knitting, unless you make a very large afghan, it doesn't take much place and I can get my stuff out anytime, anywhere!

Just a little anecdote... when I was about 23-24, I use to commute in the Montreal Subway and I use to carry knitting with me. Once, I was shopping at the Gap and I got to the cashier. She started to litterally STARE at me and said in that loud and admirative voice "OMG you're the girl who knits in the Subway! That's F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S!"... I liked being the Knitting girl from the subway...

What laziness can make me do...

Oh well... my fUnKy socks are on hold since I couldn't make it to knitting class on Tuesday (forgive me, it was my birthday! hihi) and since it was a Holiday yesterday, the Knit'n'Bitch session was cancelled Wednesday night (and I got called in to work) and yesterday was closed. I'm at the crucial point and I don't want to mess things up so I should be able to make it to Tom's Place tomorrow night and take up on Alana's offer of a girlie cocktail for my belated birthday! Hihihi... yeah for me!

So the semi-organized person that I am and especially because I'm always afraid not having any projects to keep my hands busy, I bought 2 balls of Patons stretch sock yarn + a free pattern for Spiral "TUBE" socks... JEEZ I'm going from tube to REAL socks then back to tube... REGRESSION!!! But the yarn is fun and the pattern too! But I have a new project in mind... Thanks to Kathy AKA TechQuilter for bringing her Mystery socks to last Thursday class. They're beautiful and I would love to have a p!nk pair!

Since my birthday was last Tuesday (yeah, I'm an old fart of 35), my mom place an Amazon order and got me "Joy of Sox" where I fell in love with "takeout for two" from Cathy Caron, I'm so excited to start them. I would like to find cool color (yes, p!nk again and other fUnKy colors). I was lucky enough to had her on Ravelry and we've been exchanging messages for the last few days. She's really fun.

And to stay on a business mode, I started to move my workshop down to my In-laws. I dropped off my form to get a spot on the "Princess promenade" in Kingston taking place July 310 2010. I SERIOUSLY NEED TO IN PRODUCTION MODE!!!

My fUnKy socks

I moved to Kingston, Ontario about 2 weeks ago. Got a new “on call” job so I have a lot of time on my hands. I make jewelry but living on the boat doesn’t make it easy for storage and everything so I thought the most space efficient project would be… KNITTING!

I decided to go with a nice pair of socks that would match my nice P!nk Ugg directly coming from Australia. Since I hadn’t knit in a while I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on the yarn so here’s the result! Only problem, I could never really get how to make a heel so I signed up for a knitting class at Wooltyme!

I’m really happy, I just almost finish my 1st sock (will be done tomorrow night at my 2nd lesson) and started the other one.

A special thanks to Anne and Alana for all the help and good support.