Learn more about Jennette’s rosettes when she reviews Igigi’s L’Amourette dress.

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Comedian Mike Birbiglia has a bit in a routine where he talks about “one outfit for everything.” This is used to lead into the bit where he is ironing his pants backstage at a fund-raising event while wearing only his boxers. However, after much reflection I have to admit that I too believe in the concept of “one outfit for everything” and that outfit is jeans, a t-shirt, sweat socks and running shoes. In the winter a pullover sweater is added for warmth, but I would argue that adheres to the concept of one outfit for everything because it is part of the layering strategy. Thus, the sweater is part of the one outfit, but can be removed if the wearer determines it is too warm outside.

When I was losing all that weight, I became fascinated by clothes because I was now small enough to have a selection in outfits instead of just having the option to buy a mumu in black or dark blue. There were blouses and jackets and mini-skirts, oh my! How [...]

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It has been so nice not weighing in publicly this month, not updating my sidebar, not having to explain any loss or gain to the masses. I still weigh myself every day in the morning (after I’ve gone to the bathroom and before I’ve eaten my oatmeal to ensure the lowest number). I still keep my fancy charts and spreadsheets. But it’s been nice moving those numbers into the “Thou-shall-not-blog-about” category.

I have however been slightly worried about accountability. When I went to San Francisco for the BlogHer convention I told myself, “Eat whatever you want to!” which my brain interpreted as “Gorge yourself!” I tripped a mental switch that made me think I could eat whatever I wanted to as long as I was in California. I found myself wandering around the airport before my midnight flight looking for an ice cream stand because if I had a cone in the west coast terminal it would be ok, but if I stopped for one in Indianapolis it would somehow be “wrong.” The next time [...]

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The dressing rooms at Target are surprisingly well lit. This is a surprisingly good thing because Target dressing rooms also feature two mirrors on opposite walls angled perfectly for me to check out my back muscles. When I used to stand in the Lane Bryant dressing rooms, I was grateful that the room seemed to be lit by the glow of an iPhone. I looked at my morbidly obese reflection in the same way I would view a car accident on the side of the road, not really wanting to look but staring anyway. Now here I was years later, in Target, trying on a sports bra, flexing my whatever-the-back-muscles-are-called for at least two minutes, thinking “Damn, I look good.”

It was a good reminder, because someone snuck into my apartment and switched my dumbbells with heavier ones. I know that eight-pounder was not that hard to lift last month. I’m sure neglecting my upper body weight routine has nothing to do with it at all. I’ve been distracted with my new YMCA classes and my [...]

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As I was shivering in my short-sleeved hoodie and tank top after the Ani DiFranco concert last week, it occurred to me, “Hey, the seasons are changing, you dumbass. Next time bring a sweatshirt!” My approach to choosing my clothes is to assume that today will be the same temperature as yesterday, which makes no sense because if that were true there would be no seasons. I must think I live on the equator.

The changing seasons mean a lot for my weight loss. I’m going to have to buy a whole new winter wardrobe, again, for the third year in a row. Yeah, this is the part where I send out engraved invitations to my pity party and no one RSVP’s. “Ooooh, that’s so horrible, PastaQueen. You’re so small you have to buy new sweaters. We feel so, so, terrible for you.” I know, it’s a good problem to have, but it’s still a problem. I still mourn the loss of my fuzzy brown extra large sweater. It was so soft and flattering of my [...]

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