Our Lady of Weight Loss

Incredible-Edible Birthday

Hey y'all. (I like saying y'all. Some of Our Lady's KICK members are from the South and when they write her, they say 'y'all' and it always gives OLofWL and me a chuckle and a smile. And what's better than that?!)

There seem to be a gaggle of birthdays in May - including my own. "Happy Birthday?" you say. Why, thank you, y'all.

Yes, I had a lovely day. Thankfully, the rain stopped and the sun came out! My moods are largely determined by the weather, and my range of happiness lies between 65 - 88 degrees and sunny - to partly sunny.

My son and his girlfriend . . . . (Well, she is really his fiancé, although it's not official. Apparently, they told a 70-year-old man-friend of the family, but not the mother!!!! But that's all right. I can roll with the punches. Never mind me. I'm inconsequential. I am ONLY THE MOTHER - who has turned into my mother - that's her line that she loves to say, "I'm only THE MOTHER.")

Back to the point? Yes, my son - Josh - and my almost-daughter-in-law who I do love - Megan - sent me an IncredibleEdible basket for my birthday! It was FANTASTIC. I was kind of worried when Megan said, "Are you going to be home? We're sending something perishable." They know me too well to send a slab of salami, but one never knows. When the basket arrived, I was knocked out and over.

It was gorgeous - looked like a great bouquet of flowers - and it was loaded with guilt-free scrumptious fruit. By the time my husband came home, 1/2 the bouquet was gone! We split the 2nd 1/2. And - truthfully - we were going to go out for dinner, but I was stuffed.

We (well, really I) declared it my birthday week, enabling us to keep the celebration going. We'll go out to dinner tonight!

Here's a photo of the fruit. Oops, I'm busted! Yes, there are a few chocolate covered strawberries! YUM. YUM and Yum again!

Meeting Julia Cameron

Julia Cameron is the author of the Artist's Way and 22 other books, a bunch of screen plays, and she's a songwriter and poet. Very accomplished! Her most recent book, Floor Sample - is a memoir.

Julia was signing books at Barnes & Noble on 68th Street & Broadway. I really wanted to meet her, and ask her to sign my copy of Floor Sample. I wanted to share that I am a Penguin author, too. Yes, that’s right - just like her! I thought I might say something like this ... "Julia, we are sisters in publishing. I've read your book(s). I am a proud late bloomer. This is my first book. Would you like to read an excerpt (I happened to have one in with me.)?”

Well, I did go and yes - I delivered my message with eloquence and elegance and she signed my book.

She said, "Yes, please give me your sample chapter. Yes, creativity ... yes ... "

She's quite lovely - and she signed my book "To Janice - For your heart. Julia Cameron.” She underlined heart twice.

Praise Be! The Book's Cover

I have to say - I was warned that publishing a book was a dreadful experience. Everyone had a story about how they or their friend wrote a book and the publisher ripped it apart, didn't listen to them, blah, blah, negative blah. I am so glad I didn't take it to heart, because my experience with Viking Studio has been nothing but blissful.

They are the nicest, most respectful, happy group of people who consider my opinion valuable. When it was time to decide on the book cover, they 'weighed' my feelings and thoughts 'heavily' and ultimately, went with what I wanted. They said they wanted their author to be happy.

Yes, the artwork on the cover is mine. It was the layout and color choices that we worked on together.

Well ... without further ado, here is the official unveiling of the cover - Our Lady of Weight Loss: Miraculous and Motivational Musings from the Patron Saint of Permanent Fat Removal (Viking Studio) - August release.

BTW, If you like, you can pre-order on Amazon.com.

Turn a Deaf Ear to Cake Madonna

What a glorious spring week. The sun was out a good deal of the time; the tulips in Central Park are in full bloom - and after months and months of cutting glass, I finished my stained glass version of "Turn a Deaf Ear to Cake."

Want to see? The piece is 20" x 20" and weighs a ton. Remember, the art studio was five rickety flights up. Lugging glass and materials; and then bringing it all down and home was calorie burnin', muscle building stuff.

Here she is ... not the best photo, but it will do! Time to start another piece.

Stained Glass Madonna

Trance State

I've been studying for my certification in hypnotherapy and have just completed a long intensive weekend of training. Needless to say, I am deeply relaxed. I'll let you know how my hypnosis weight loss program unfolds. It looks good, and I'm looking forward to uutilizing my new skills.

I'm living the life of a weight loss artist (so different from my previous existence), and it's kind of cool.

I Ate Too Much

Somewhere between the tasting of the sauce for the Grand Marnier fruit salad (I had to make two batches, because I drank it before it hit the bowl) and the chocolate cake that my cousin brought (yes, YOU JANE - I know you're reading this), I'd clearly given myself permission to eat - whatever passed my way.

It's okay though, because this is just one of those days that I am going to X-out - as if it never happened - so I don't have to ruminate on it, beat myself up, feel bad in any way, shape or form.

If you had one of those days - come join me. X-out the day and move on. It's just one day. It's really okay - and so are you!

Taxes Schmaxes- Pass the Bible Bread

In light of my last year's income tax disaster (somewhere between the photocopy center, here, there and the Chinese restaurant , I 'misplaced' the copies of our bank statements, W2's, 1099's etc., etc. and spent months on the verge of a nervous breakdown, spending all my free time researching and then filing anti-identify theft information), I decided to play it safe this year and make the photocopies at the pharmacy, two doors down - return home immediately - put said copies away - put together envelope for mailing to my accountant - go directly to the post office - do not pass go - send, be done with it.

As it turned out, I had quite a bit of other out-going mail, including a big box to send to my son's girlfriend for her birthday (want her to like me!!!). I loaded up my little shopping cart and, because it was raining, I climbed onto the cross-town bus to take me the four avenues to the post office. I was so laden down with packages, three people had to help me get on the bus - and as it turns out - get off the bus - in a New York minute hurry. (New Yorker's really are nice.)

I made it to a seat, glanced down at my cart, and reviewed the boxes and envelopes. My stomach flipped and flopped. I realized that the envelope to the accountant was missing. Surely, I hadn't lost it?! Did I leave it home? Filled with fear, I scurried off the bus, pushing the cart in front of me, frantically retracing my steps until I reached my home corner. There she was - the envelope soaking in a mammoth puddle of water.

My heart racing, I reached down, grabbed it, headed up to my apartment, ripped it open, spread the pages out on my bed, plugged in the blow-dryer, and carefully blew each and every page dry ... until I had a stack of rather wavy - nonetheless readable pages.

I gobbled three pieces of 'Bible Bread' (very good if you see it in your supermarket - only 45 calories a piece) to sooth my wavy and wary soul. With accountant's envelope in hand, I headed out once more.

Nothing lost; everything mailed. Victorious.

Creative Weight Loss: Thinking Outside the Donut Box

This weekend was tons of fun. I led a class at the Clear Point Retreat in Stafford Springs, Connecticut called Creative Weight Loss: Thinking Outside the Donut Box.

Basically, we explored our negative side - our Evil Twin, you know - the inner critic - the saboteur.
S/he has as many names as the Devil! We collaged our way through our murky, dark thoughts. It was such a joy. Everyone was into putting all their negativity into an art piece. It was a cleansing! And then, on the other side of the coin, we did positive affirmations, positive self-talk, and we made up mantras. Yeah, the next time anyone's Evil Twin shows up, we're going to drown them out with a mantra or two. We emptied out the negative and filled ourselves up - on love, joy, fun, color, glue and glitter! Yum.

There are some pictures on my website. I can't wait to do the next workshop!

If you are interested in attending - let me know. The Clear Point Retreat is located in a rural part of Connecticut. You can stay overnight and sleep on bunk beds! I took the bottom. It felt like camp. Like the movie, the Parent Trap. I love that movie!

Would you shave your legs?

A couple of months ago, I won a gift certificate to a very exclusive spa in New York City. If you remember, I had a haircut to die for and I mean die. I hated it!

It took me months to muster enough courage to go back and redeem the rest of my coupon. I thought I'd try a facial. I love facials. Simple. Mist, cleanser, mood music. And in the end, a fresh, bright face. What could possibly go wrong?

I arrived and was brought to The Facial Room. I was greeted by two facialists (is that what they are called?). They were a team. I've got to tell you; my face isn't that big that it needs two people working on it. Would they divvy it up? The right side for one; the left side for another?

I removed all extraneous clothing and slipped into a robe-like towel. It was a towel with snaps along the top, so it would fit any sized body.

Once on the table, they dimmed the lights, the soft music came on, and I closed my eyes. No point in watching. I'd know soon enough where the two sets of hands would land!

Facialist #1 got to creaming my face, while facialist #2 opened a trap door in the table. A place for my legs to dangle, from the knees down. A place where my feet fell into a hot tub of water. Facialist #2 gently exfoliated and massaged my feet and then my legs!

Much to my horror, I realized that I hadn't shaved my legs lately. I mean, ladies - it's winter! Why bother!!! The bad news is that I was momentarily mortified. The good news is that there were no stubbles; it'd been that long since I shaved. It was a soft growth!

Seriously folks - would you have thought to shave your legs for a facial? Oh, these fancy places. I just don't know. Maybe they're not for me!