Dress Shopping and Weigh In Wednesday

Just a few days left on the Stay Away from Tricks and Treats challenge.  Instead of doing my weekly challenge update today I am going to save it for Friday and do a complete wrap up. Then it is on to the next phase. We are putting together a new challenge...planks and push ups will be new in my world.


Weekly weigh-in was good.  I lost 1.2 pounds.  It feels like slow going, but at least I am going the right direction.  My grand total lost so far is 34.6 pounds.  That makes 40.4 pounds of my puppy yet to lose.


Yesterday, on my lunch break, I bought a dress for my niece's wedding. The dress is a size 16.  I really liked the dress, but wasn't sure "suck-it-in" undergarments would be enough to make me completely confident. They didn't have the next size - so they checked availability in other stores.  Apparently, they don't make it in size 18, but they did have it in their women's department.  We found one in a size 16W.  Maybe just a little more wiggle room.  So after work tonight I ran to that other store (about 1/2 hour away from home.)  The dress does have more wiggle room, but it doesn't seem to fit as well - bigger through shoulders, longer, just doesn't seem right.  I went ahead and bought it so I could compare the fit of both with the "suck-it-in" undergarments. When I tried both on at home with the proper undergarments I liked the 16 better than the 16W :)

When the clerk rang up the 16W I got an unpleasant surprise...$5 extra for that "W".  Seriously, I had to pay extra because it was "women's". UGH! Way to rub salt in the wound after having to drive to another town to get a bigger size.  There is  part of me that understands that bigger sizes use more fabric. Obviously, a 4 and 24W have vastly different amounts of fabric and therefore I could see a price differential.  But the difference between 16 and 16W???  I suppose they have to make the cutoff somewhere.  

The great dress search may be continued.  I also bought this dress from a different store.  It is a  sweater dress and has a little cling in the midsection. Again, the undergarments made a great difference.  Sorry you had to see the before pics :)   I might be leaning toward this dress because I think it is more versatile. I don't wear dresses that much so I want the ones I have to work for multiple occasions.  I could dress this one up or down - scarf, jewellery, boots, heels, etc. There are a couple other stores I still plan to check out.  I feel like I have worked pretty hard the last six months and I want to feel good in whatever dress I get. 

While out on my dress mission I decided I needed to make an opportunity for myself.  I am closing in on my goal of walking 60 miles for the challenge, but I am a little behind so I am looking for opportunities to squeeze in a little more here and there.  I figured that after I picked up the dress I could walk at a park just a few blocks from the store.

 

This park has many memories for me.  Ten to fifteen years ago I spent a lot of time in that town with a group of friends.  As I walked around the park I reminisced about miles of walking and talking I did with one particular friend.  We spent hours walking, deep in conversation about everything from boys, crises of faith, and lots of silliness.  As I passed another area of the park, I thought about my one shot at taking wedding pictures for another friend.  The pictures were not their official wedding pictures, but they wanted some pictures in the park after their ceremony and they asked me to take them.  It was so much fun and I think I got some good pictures.  Every now and then around their anniversary I see the pictures in their updated Facebook profiles.  Such good memories.

I have always liked this Cape Cod style house that faces the park.

I ended up walking 1.39 miles - one loop around the park.  I felt very good about making an opportunity to squeeze in this walk.  I knew that if I drove home first there was a very good chance I wouldn't get back out for a walk once I got home - laziness, distraction, etc. Instead, I got some exercise and enjoyed a trip down memory lane. And I even resisted the urge to take that little side street that I remember leads to an ice-cream shop.  I have to remember I am not a squirrel that needs to fatten up for winter - they were very busy in the park!

Happy Wednesday.  Linking up today with...