Wednesday's Escapades

Wing Wednesday... Oh how you make me smile!

My husband is an avid Wing Wednesday enthusiast. Almost every Wednesday night, he is out for wings. As of lately, I have been staying home and as a result, have noticed some shrinkage in my stomach and thighs. Yay for me!

One night, I was feeling pretty good about myself and decided to dress up in my little maid outfit for him. At about 9 pm, the time he usually comes home, I quickly changed. So..., I'm in my maid outfit, pacing a little, waiting for him to walk through the front door. For anyone who has been a situation when you are nervous and waiting on someone, one minute feels like ten. I wait, and wait, and wait. Eventually, I sit down on the couch. I watch TV, all the while peeking out the window every two seconds to see if his truck is pulling in the driveway. One hour passes, he is still not home and I am still dressed like a maid.

I usually don't interfere on his joyous wing night, but this was an emergency. There is only so long a woman can wait in a maid outfit. Not to mention, it was not comfortable at all! It took everything in me not to just slip my sweat pants back on! I decided that I can be sexy,... right?! So I stand in front of the mirror and take a picture of myself with my cell phone. After about 20 tries (it is harder than it looks!), I finally get a decent shot that is clear enough to see that I am in fact dressed up like a maid! Send!

No more than 2 seconds later, my phone rings. It's my husband. He proceeds to inform me that he wants me to go hide... Yes, you read correct, hide! As if I am 5 years old and he is going to come find me? No, he wants me to go hide because he has to go to the bathroom but he doesn't want to ruin the surprise and see me until he's done. I couldn't make this up if I tried.

I was actually pretty comfortable sitting on the couch, but I didn't want to "ruin the surprise" for him. I decided to simply grab a blanket and throw it over myself (including my head) so that my husband can run past me.

Ahhh.... married life!

Thanks for reading,

Danielle

Fearless

As you all know by now, Sarah Burke, free skiing pioneerer and 4-time X Games gold mentalist has passed away. Although I don't follow ski or have any connection to Sarah Burke, I feel it is appropriate and important for me to touch on the subject. She truly was a legend, role model and inspiration to women.

When I was around 12 or so, I decided to quit figure skating and to play hockey. I liked hockey! There was no girls team, so I had to play with the boys. At 12 years old, I noticed that there was not an equal playing field for boys and girls in the sport. I had to change in a separate dressing room all by myself because I played on an all boys team. I got called names on the ice. I was treated different because I was a girl. Well, a year later, we moved to a new town where there was a girls hockey team! Even though I was on an all girl's hockey team, there was still a black mark around women's hockey. Our own hockey coach, who was a man, told us that we would never go anywhere with hockey since women can't play hockey. Still makes me mad to this day! Women's hockey was never looked at fairly in comparison to men's hockey... And it still isn't.

Sarah Burke had the same issues with women's free skiing. The Olympics, X Games and other sports competitions would not let her compete because she was a woman! In the world that we live in, we have come so far in so many ways, yet we really haven't gone anywhere in many other aspects. Men and women are still treated differently. After many years of fighting, Sarah was able to get women into competitions and events that were just for men. Sarah was able to compete at the X Games against the men and she won 4 times! After lobbying and fighting to get her sport into the Olympics, she finally succeeded. She was set to compete in the 2014 Olympics in Russia. She really did pave the way for women. It is because of Sarah's efforts that female winter athletes are some of the only athletes in the world who are able to compete equally to men and who receive equal prizes to those of male athletes.

About 7 months ago, as I was doing research and gathering ideas for my own wedding, I stumbled accross Sarah's wedding to Rory Bushfield in Canadian Brides Magazine. Whan I found out what happened to her, that's what hit me the hardest. She was a newlywed. Isn't it always a beautiful story? You meet someone, fall in love and get married. The End?... It doesn't end there. For me, as I'm sure it is for many married women including Sarah, it all started on my wedding day. That was the beginning. Every day I am alive, I get to spend it with the man I love. And what if all that went away? For Rory, her husband, it did. Isn't that any newlywed's worst nightmare? I don't know how it must feel, but I couldn't even imagine the pain of loosing your spouse... It is my biggest fear. I have been praying for him, and for Sarah's family.

My husband and I have a party to go to next Saturday and for that reason, I was going to go shopping this weekend to buy a new dress. This morning, I put the money I was going to use to buy the dress and I donated it to help with Sarah's medical bills. It just felt like the right thing to do. I know my small little donation may not make that big of a difference on their $550,000 medical bill but it will make a difference to me.

I guess what I hope you take away from this today is please don't take one day for granted. Kiss your spouse. Hug your children. Tell them how much you love them. Live your life to the fullest, just like Sarah Burke did.

Thanks for reading,

Danielle

Spanx: My Frienemy

Spanx! So sexy, yet so unsexy!

What is it about Spanx? I was going to say that every woman needs them, but that's not true. I need them! Without Spanx, I just dont feel the same in a dress. I lack the confidence that wearing spanx gives me! It smooths everything over, sucks it all in, what more could a woman ask for?

Well.... I didn't realize this until last night but Spanx are not always my friend.

I was getting ready to go out to dinner with my husband. I look in the mirror and my dress is just not fitting right. I throw on a pair of spanx, and TA!DA! I am sexified! It's amazing what a little pair of shorts can do! I am ready for my night out.

I feel good. I look good. My hubby loves the way I look in my dress. He can barely keep his hands off me all night.

We get home, and as married people do occasionally, we head upstairs to have some adult fun. Well let me tell ya! I completely forgot about my Spanx in the heat of the moment, and when he took my dress off.... He almost almost died laughing. They really are not the most attractive thing when they're out in plain view.

You just can not be sexy and wear Spanx, yet you need Spanx to look sexy. How does that work?!

Thanks for reading,

Danielle

Beautiful

There is such a stigma around weight, wouldnt you say?

Three years ago, heck who am I kidding, one year ago, I would have been mortified to tell anyone my weight, let alone make it public knowledge to anyone and everyone who has access to the internet.

I announced my weight to the world and society would expect me to feel shameful... Just because I am not 5'9 and 120 lbs, I should be embarassed? Only one year ago, I would have been mortified! What changed in the last year to make me feel comfortable sharing such "personal" and almost taboo information about myself?

From the time I was just a little girl, as I'm sure many of you will remember from your own childhood, I was being told, almost trained, to know what beauty looked like. You pick up a magazine, you turn on the TV, you talk to friends... It's all around you. All the beautiful women were different. Some had brown hair, some blonde. Some had blue eyes, some green. Some were tall, some short. What made these women beautiful? They all had one thing in common, they were thin. And from the time I was very young, I thought that the only way a person could be beautiful, was by being thin.

As a young adult, going to college and living on my own for the first time, I would measure my own beauty by how skinny I was compared to my friends. I was never the thinnest girl and thus, during the culmination of my young adult life, I thought I was ugly.

I constantly believed I was being judged by how I looked, and in turn, I judged others on how they looked. A lot of my energy on a daily basis was centred around appearances. What an unhealthy way to live!

At that time in my life, I had two very close friends. Although at the end of the day, I love these women dearly and will forever cherish the memory of my friendship with them, I am thankful that these friendships ended. I don't mean that in a malicious way of any sort, but a lot of my time with these women was spent discussing weight. When you hear someone half your size say "I'm so fat", I couldnt help but think: "What does that make me?". I had zero confidence. (I am definitely not blamming these two women for that!) Dont get me wrong, we had some great times! And to be honest, I had never realized anything was really "wrong" with these friendships until lately.

Over the course of the past year or so, I have formed some new friendships and a new confidence that has really changed my outlook on the subject of weight as a whole.

For one, my close girlfriends and I don't really talk about weight. We talk about our lives, books we are reading, wine we like, places we have travelled to... We do talk about health and various ways to stay healthy, but it is never in a negative way. The conversations are always positive and uplifting.

Seondly, my husband, my very best friend, has been a pillar of strength to me. Every day, not only does he tell me how beautiful I am to him, but he shows me, day in, day out. He sees me for who I am and loves me for just that. Every woman deserves to be treated the way he treats me and I pray that every single one of you finds what I am so incredibly lucky to have.

I am not ashamed that I am 185 lbs. Some might say: "Then why try and loose the weight?" I have two reasons: 1. I want to fit in my jeans again! Do you have any idea how much I paid for some of those darn jeans?! 2. I want to feel healthier. When I am living a more active lifestyle and making sure that what I put into my body will make me stronger, that's what makes me feel good. For me, a weight that I feel good at, is between 155 and 160 lbs. It's not 120 lbs. I'm ok with having some meat on my bones. I actually like it. But I want to feel good inside.

I may not be perfect. I may not be a size 6. But I am me. And whether I am 185 lbs or 130 lbs, whether I am lanky or curvy, I am beautiful because I am me. Just as you are beautiful because you are you.

For so many years, I wished to be thin and not curvy, to have blue eyes and not green, to have small thighs and not thick, to be a size 6 and not a size 10... ok who am I kidding, a size 12! What a waste of energy! Everyone is created with different attributes and that is what makes us beautiful.

If you get anything out of this, please know that you are meant to be just the way you are. The way you are in this very momment, not yesterday, not tomorrow, but today, you are perfect. Know that. Own it. And don't let anyone, ever, take that away from you.

Thanks for reading,

Danielle

Me, open and candid

Well here it is... My first post to my new blog. I have never had a blog before but have been recently inspired by a friend's hilarious blog about her life with her 3 boys and her husband. (www.theseatstaysup.blogspot.com)

Let me introduce myself. I am a 26 year old, just married woman, who, just as most women do, loves food, travelling, wine and shoes. In the midst of my quite uneventfully boring work life, my consequential home life is anything but dull. For one, being married to and living with a man like my husband brings a certain level of craziness to my life.... Actually, it entales all of the craziness in my life. You'll see!

Since getting married (which was only 2 months ago!), I have managed to pack on an extra 15 pounds on an already not-so-skinny body. I decided to share some things with whomever happens to stumble across this blog, and one of those things is my weight as well as my goals. Have you ever had that dreaded moment when you put your jeans on and they are tight? ... That happened to me this morning, but, I couldn't tell you if they were tight, since I couldn't actually get them on! Eeek! I got on the scale and wanted to cry, scream, shout profanities.... well I did that a little bit. I am 185 lbs. But, I am sharing this with you because I have made it a goal to get down to a more reasonable weight. By April 30th, I will be 155 lbs.... Hopefully!

Travelling is my weakness... and food, but let's talk about travelling! My husband and I have a trip planned to Croatia. I decided to take it upon myself to learn the language. Not only is my husband fluent in Croatian, but I want to at least be able to understand what everyone is saying around me while we are there. Hopefully, when we have kids, I will be able to speak to them in English, French and Croatian! The problem is learning the language is actual work! I am not sure if it's old age, or all this fat is getting to my brain, but its hard!

This blog will not be about anything specific really, just me, and my life. I will be candid, honest and open with whomever chooses to read this blog, and hopefully entertain you, all the while showing you a piece of my life.

Thanks for reading,

Danielle