Year one in the life of the pin-up girl

Wednesday was my one-year Surgiversary - how time flies! I had my one-year post-op checkup with Dr. U on Tuesday. All my labs came back great, though my protein was on the low side of normal (I'm going to add a protein drink in the evening) and my B-12 was lower than it should be for someone taking B-12 every day, as I am. So he's going to recheck my labs in 3 months and see how things are progressing at that point. I'm seriously considering B-12 shots. I've read that Madonna is doing vitamin injections.. and look at the energy that woman has at almost 50 years old! Anyway, it's something to consider. And I'm in the 160's - yea!

The most exciting part of the week came Wednesday when Magda, the very fabulous VP of Operations at my agency, invited me to the Macy's Passport Gala event on Thursday night. It's a big fashion show to benefit HIV/AIDS charities.. this was the 25th annual Passport show. It's a big deal.. the "who's who" of San Francisco society is always there.. celebrities.. lots of beautiful people. I said, "of course, I'd love to".. and then I immediately began to panic. "What the fuck am I going to wear?" I thought. I called Chris almost in tears.. I had literally three hours after work to figure something out. He told me to relax, and that he would go with me and we would find something for me wear. He picked me up from the train and we drove directly to Nordstrom Rack. I was there about 10 minutes when I found it.. the perfect dress. A black 40's style cocktail dress by David Meister. Regularly $350, marked down to $80.
I tried it on and it fit like a dream. When I got home, I looked at the website for the event, and that's when my heart skipped a beat - Dita Von Teese was going to be performing at the event! I sat in front of the computer and started to cry. It was like a dream come true - the perfect way to celebrate the new me. Like my own personal coming out party. The next day of work went painfully slow .. I couldn't wait to get dressed and leave for the show. Finally 5 o'clock rolled around and I went into the ladies room to change. As I walked back into the office, every head turned to look at me as I walked by..and let me tell you - jaws dropped! It was the best feeling! Magda and I got our things together and let for Fort Mason, where the show was being held. We walked into the event hall for the pre-party and it was just spectacular. I was so happy to see one of my favorite local artists, Lavay Smith and her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, performing. If you've never heard Lavay Smith,you have to check her out. She does a bluesy-jazz swing kind of thing. "Everyone's Talkin' About Miss Thing" is like my theme song.. and she played it. I was grinning from ear to ear! We watched her perform for a while, then got some drinks and walked around to the booths where many of the hot restaurants in town were serving food. I couldn't eat a thing - I was too excited. Then it was time to walk over to the building where the fashion show was being held. We took our seats (really good seats!) and met up with our host from American Airlines. She was so nice - I thanked her over and over for inviting us. If only she knew how special the evening was for me. The lights went down and then the show began. It was amazing.. the music, the sets, the models and the style - just amazing. I kept thinking to myself, "none of this is out of my reach now". I can be the person on the outside that I've always been on the inside. Well, on a budget.. but you know what I mean! LOL Anyway, then it was time for the finale. The lights went down and then came up.. and there was the trademark champagne glass. And then there was Dita. She was wearing this outfit.. it looked like it was made of diamonds.. it sparkled like nothing I had seen before in my life. On either side of the catwalk, there was a girl dressed in a French Maid costume. As Dita did her seductive, playful strip-tease, she would hand each piece of clothing to one of the maids. When she got down to her corset, I was in awe of how tiny her waist is. It couldn't be more than 18 or 19 inches around! She got all the way down to a bra and panties .. and then she made her way back to the glass. She took a big bottle of champagne, popped the cork, and then slowly poured it down her beautiful body. Then she climbed into the glass, pouring the champagne and writhing around .. it was the sexiest thing I've ever seen. Magda kept looking over at me and smiling.. like she knew what I was feeling. As I sat there, I felt like the luckiest girl in the world. I thought of all of my friends here in the webring.. especially Dagny, and how happy they would be for me. I thought of my sweetheart Chris, who was more excited for me on that night than I was for myself. I thought of all of the toxic people that I've eliminated from my life and how much happier I am without them. And I thought of all of the wonderful people in my life now, who appreciate who I am and love me for me, inside and out. And I realized that I've become the woman that I've always wanted to be.

Yes, there are pics, but they're not great. My camera was on a weird setting and I didn't realize it until I got home.
But here's me:

And this blur is Dita von Teese:
Check this out for really good pics of the famous Champagne Dance.

Release

Why do I always forget what a great stress reliever exercise is?

My work day absolutely sucked yesterday. The only thing that kept me going through the day was the thought of shutting everything out and enjoying my Pilates class. As it turned out, I had to work about 40 minutes late and I was 10 minutes late for class. But I refused to miss it.

The best part of the class was the 10 minute relaxation/cool down at the end. The instructor (I still don't remember her name!) had all of the lights turned down and she had some groovy new-agey tribal-ish music playing. She had us get into the position that you see in the pictue - but with our backs on the floor and our butts directly up against the wall. Basically like an upside-down frog. Omg - I felt every one of my vertebrae pop back into position. It actually took my breath away for a moment. We spent about 5 minutes like this and the next 5 minutes with our legs spread out into a 'V' - minds clear, just connecting to our bodies. Loved it. I left with a warm buzzing in all of my muscles and a big smile on my face.

*&$%@*..

Bummer for the day - British Airways cancelled the Fam to London. I'm pissed. That is SO tacky. Guess how much BA I'll be selling now...

Anyway..

I'm psyched for my Pilates class tonight. I've been doing some of the stretches that I learned in my last class after each of my Curves workouts (Saturday, Monday and Tuesday so far.. I've promised myself that I will go every other day MINIMUM). My abs feel tight - it's a good feeling. I hope she works us really hard tonight. I'll have some extra negative energy to work through.. I'm sure I'll feel better after I sweat it out.

Upside down and twisted

Today we went to Six Flags for my company picnic and I got to check off one of the things on my "To Do After WLS" list - I rode a rollercoaster!
We had a blast! I walked for miles and I didn't get tired AT ALL.

I HEART my Pilates class!

I had a great time. There were about 12 women in the class all together - and most of them were about the same size as me.. they ranged from about a 10 to a 14, most with pudgy middles. I felt so comfortable and confident. It's great not being the biggest person in a group any longer. The instructor is this late-30s blonde hardbody.. bit on the airhead side, but nice. So the technique that we learned.. it's a lot like yoga. But with less focus on "poses" and more focus on very controlled stretches. I didn't find it difficult. Not to say that it was easy, or that I'm not sore today (cuz damn! am I ever), but I didn't struggle. I was able to do all of the moves without feeling like an elephant attempting ballet.

And - big news! I have some serious motivation to get in shape now. Yesterday I was invited by British Airways for a Fam trip to London over Thanksgiving! It's a really sought-after invitation - only 2 people in my company were asked. Business class.. 5 star hotel.. wining and dining.. and this will be my first trip to London. Can't wait! The bad news is that I'm not able to take a guest, so Chris can't go with me. He made me promise that I would go and have a fabulous time. He's really proud of me and excited for me. God, I love that man so so much.

I want to look H-O-T for my trip across the pond, so I'm going to work HARD. I promise.

Feeling like a Dummy

Just added this to my Netflix queue. It's gotten pretty good reviews, so I'm hopeful. If I like it, I'll buy it. I need instruction if I'm going to be successful. I've done some browsing around on the net for ab and core workouts .. I read them and my eyes glaze over. Hopefully my Netflix account and exercise videos will provide an inexpensive option, since a trainer is out of the question right now.

I've got my workout clothes with me - I'm going to Curves after work. Doing a carb detox too - I need it. My parents were in town this weekend and they took us out to eat a few times. Scales up a few pounds this morning - it isn't pretty. I walked past a window and caught my reflection on the way to work this morning - my midsection looks like a Shar pei puppy - but not as cute. ((sigh)) I'm researching exercise classes at the local junior college and adult school too - there are options out there. I've just got to pick some and follow through.

** a quick update **

I found a Pilates class at San Lorenzo Adult School - it starts tomorrow night and runs every Wednesday night until the end of November - cost is only $25, which I can totally do. The class description says "Pilates is core conditioning. It helps to increase flexibility and to tone and strengthen muscles.".. which is EXACTLY what I need. I'm excited now and no longer feeling like a "dummy".. I guess I just needed to work through my self-deprication moment. Yea - I'll let you know how it goes!