Photo Shoot Friday

Happy Friday everyone! My weekend started last night (one of the perks of not having a FT job, or as I like to phrase it, "being my own boss"). I went to a cookout with my friend Megan who is in town from Charleston and my sis, Liza. We planned to "just have one drink," eat a little food and go home. Sounds boring, doesn't it? Yeah, we thought so too. Of course, several bevs were consumed and LOTS of food was eaten. Below are a few pics from the night. 

Megan is the best shopper I know—the girl knows how to find a sale. Yesterday she got two basic tees and a pair of heels on sale at Bloomingdale's, and a pair of shiny leggings at TopShop—all for $100! I wish I had her patience to scour rack after rack. She found this striped top for me at ZARA for $10! She was the voice of reason during our shopping excursion in SoHo yesterday. I saw a pair of studded sandals at TopShop that I was dy-ing for, but she reminded me that I could find an identical pair at Urban Outfitters for half the price. She was right. (Sigh. I hate being broke in this city!)

People kept offering to take pictures for us, but I insisted that I could do just as good of a job. Not bad!

I'm aware this isn't the most flattering photo, but in the spirit of "Photo Shoot Friday," I decided to post it. 

Now here's a REAL photo shoot. We stopped by Liza's shoot in SoHo yesterday—she's a fashion editor at Women's Health!

This weekend is going to be a wild one. One of my BFFs, Becca, is having her bachelorette party in the city. Of course, I'm already worried about totally falling off the wagon in the eating department—I got a head start last night (sausage, chips, M&Ms, oh my!).

Wish me luck, my liver is going to need it :)

Please tell me: What are your tricks for controlling late-night munchies?? I don't want a repeat of the other night!

Which body part do you love the least?

Like how I posed that question in the most positive way possible? For me, it's my arms. No matter how much yoga or perfect military-style pushups I do, my arms (at least in my eyes) will always look too bulky, too flabby, too...everything. It's rare that I will wear a sleeveless top—let alone allow someone take a picture of me in one—but, when my boyfriend Luke offered to snap my pic at a Yankees game last Friday, I pushed my insecurity aside for a few seconds. As soon as the photo was taken though, you better believe I put on my cardigan faster than you can say batwings-from-hell.

I have a major arm obsession, obviously. I notice everyone's arms. In my book, if you have lean, sculpted arms, all is good in the world. I could pass a woman on the street with Michelle Obama's guns and Kirstie Allie's ass and still think she was the skinniest bitch in NYC. Yes, I know, I've got issues.

Tell me, what's your biggest body hang-up? How do you deal?

Irony at its finest

The day after I lost my job, I got a call from a girl at the DOE Fund. "Congrats, Ellen, you won the Diane von Furstenberg purse from the celebrity DJ charity event last week! Come pick up the bag and make the $200 check out to..." Say whaaat? I did whaaat? Oh yeah, that. I went to a charity event (Whitney Port was there shooting an episode for The City—she's gorgeous!), drank too much champagne and put a $200 bid on this red DVF tote. I spent all night contemplating whether or not I should bid on the purse. I'm a realist by nature and rarely make whimsical decisions, but after my fourth glass of bubbly and encouragement from my friend Kasey (thanks, Kase) bidding $200 on a purse I really didn't need seemed like the most genius idea ever. I've never actually won anything in my entire life (including the countless bingo games I played at my grandmother's retirement home when I was little), so I figured this wouldn't be any different. I mean, surely someone else at the party would be drunker/dumber/richer than I am, right? Right?! Wrong.

Lesson learned: Don't consume massive amounts of champers and make bids on things with money you don't have. After a few frantic calls and texts to friends, I took a deep breath and LOL (Mom, that stands for laughed. out. loud ;)). Of course, this would happen to me the day after I lost my job. Why would it happen any other way? On a positive note, at least I have a new, cute bag to tote around all summer. I've never splurged on a nice bag, and I got this one at a $300 discount. Plus, it's going to a great charity that helps out-of-work men in NYC get back on their feet. Still to this day I think about the many more useful ways I could have spent that $200, but then I push the thought out of my mind and stroll down the streets of Manhattan with my cute red bag.

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How often do you indulge in late-night munchies?

I will be writing a lot about food on this blog—mostly my struggles with eating healthy and breaking bad habits. Currently, I'm right around my lowest weight and would like to lose a solid 4-5 more pounds (which is quite a lot for someone under 5'3). Admittedly, vanity drives me to be healthier, but I truly do care about treating my body right and preventing health problems later in life.

Below is a list of bad habits that I have successfully managed to break (for the most part):

-Getting candy at the movies (this was a tough one!)

-Over-indulging all weekend long

-Drinking at least one Diet Coke a day (I'm down to about 3 a week--still working on it!)

-Drinking alcohol when I don't truly want it

-Eating more than I wanted to so I would "fit in" with my friends

-Grabbing a slice just because it's cheap and easy (I used to do this 2-3 times a week, now I have pizza maybe once a month)

Here are the habits I'm still struggling with:

-ICE CREAM: Tasti D-Lite, Ben & Jerry's, Baskin Robbins--you name it, I eat it. I have a serving of ice cream or frozen yogurt just about every day. (For the record, I don't think one small daily serving is bad, but I can't always stop at one serving. Plus, I think a lot of times I eat it out of habit--not because I truly want it).

-Overeating on vacation. Small indulgences are fine, but eating like every meal will be my last? Not fine. (I'm going to Spain in a month--more on vacay eating concerns to come!)

-Late-night eating. Ok, so I have improved in this area, but I have a looong way to go.

Exhibit A:

Last Wednesday I went to a GUESS? party (Michelle Tractenberg was there!), and then a swanky rooftop party for H&M. I had a great time at both and consumed a few too many (OK, five too many) glasses of wine. I didn't have dinner that night (big mistake, I know better), but I more than made up for it later in the night. On my way home, I made three, yes THREE snack stops. At my first stop before hopping on the subway, I got a small bag of Pirate's Booty and a small bag of Ritz cheese crackers. So far, not too bad.

I polished off my snacks on the train and when I got out, Tasti D-Lite was calling my name. I went by the store on 86th, but it was closed. I was bummed, but quickly remembered that the one on 92nd was open until midnight! Yesss! I had 10 minutes to get there. Even though I was in a time crunch, I made a pit stop at Duane Reade for a bag of Doritos. "This is fun!" I thought to myself. I hurried into TD with an empty Doritos bag in hand and ordered a medium Peanut Butter Cup with M&Ms topping. I pulled out my TD card (sweet, 3 more punches until I get a free large cone!) and was on my way. Four blocks and several spoonfuls of my favorite mystery "dairy" dessert later (it's not actually froyo, but I'm scared to investigate the ingredients), I was ready for bed. Or so I thought. I have no idea why but I opened the freezer. Right before my eyes was a pint of Ben and Jerry's cookie dough ice cream. "Liza (my sis) won't care if I take one teeny bite," I thought to myself. I think you can guess where this story is headed. I polished off the pint while I played around on my computer and watched reruns from Top Chef Masters (love that show!). Luckily, Liza had eaten one serving, so I consumed 600 calories instead of the full 800 (looking on the bright side here!)

I wish I was embellishing this story, but sadly, I'm not. It's 100% fact. And as painful as it is for me to recall, the total calorie count for my late night "snack" is...

Ice cream: 600 calories

Pirate's Booty: 130 calories

Ritz crackers: 150 calories

Bag of Doritos: 310 calories

Tasti-D with M&Ms: 300 calories

Grand total: 1,490

Wow, I ate a whole day's worth of calories in an hour. Scar-y! The next day I ate a very healthy, balanced diet and did a kick-ass workout (ran 3 miles in the park with Liza, went to a spinning class AND a yoga class!) to get myself back on track. The old Ellen would have woken up severely depressed and continued on the path of self destruction. I am making progress!

Spill it: What's the most you've eaten during a late-night binge? Please, someone make me feel better—and SANE!

I haven't had a mani/pedi in 71 days—I'm setting records, people!!!

The last time I had a manicure or pedicure was May 19—the day after I got canned. For some reason, I had the urge to spend money, even though it was a crucial time to really start pinching my pennies. I also went to the movies and met a friend for lunch that day. I was in denial about my jobless situation and felt totally and utterly sorry for myself. I eventually snapped out of it though, and vowed to not get a mani/pedi (even though it's only $25 for both in NYC!) until I felt like I really could afford it and deserved the treat. Well, here we are 71 days later and my nails look reminiscent of a 12 year-old boy's.

I decided to refrain from showing you a picture of my feet—no one deserves that. It has been really tough to cut back on something that used to be a monthly (sometimes weekly) luxury. The truth is, I probably couldn't really afford it even when I had a full-time job, so I guess it's good to finally put things in perspective. Yes, I am the only unmanicured gal at every magazine industry party I go to. And YES it makes me insecure as hell, but I made my vow and I'm sticking to it!

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Anyone have DIY mani/pedi tips? Have you been forced to cut back on spending? What was the first thing to go?

Welcome!

When I got fired from my job as a reporter at a tabloid magazine (I'm going to keep mum on which one) a couple months ago, I was totally stunned. I had quit a secure job at a teeny-bopper mag to take this job. I knew it was a risky move, and all along I told myself things could end this way, but I never really thought it would happen. Not to me. Needless to say, I've had more ups and downs these last 8 weeks than I have had in my entire life. Yet somehow, I feel more positive about the future than ever—and that my dears, is simply fabulous. So come and join me on this rollercoaster ride. It'll be fun, sometimes crazy, but never boring.

Let's get to know one another: What's fabulous in your world?