A lot can happen in two years.

Two years ago tomorrow, my best friend's life was turned upside down. Two years ago tomorrow is the day we remember my best friend's little brother. Two years ago today was the day that changed my life.

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A week ago, my girlfriend and I started using MFP again. She's just had a baby (in January), and I want to lose weight to feel awesome at my 30th birthday in August. 

In April 2012, something changed in my life that I never imagined. I lost someone I loved. If you've read this blog before, you will know just how much he meant to me. Losing him sparked something in me, and prompted me to change my lifestyle.
Tonight, I write this post at 81kg. I've put on 3kg since my epic loss, (I lost 20kg) but that's okay. It's just over 10% of my loss, and I can lose it again.

I need to tighten my belt a lot in what I consume. I took my measurements today and while I'm not surprised, I'm still disappointed in myself. Weigh in is now Monday, and measurement day is the 7th of each month.

07 April 2014

Body Part	Measurement
Neck	34.5cm / 13.58"
Upper Arm	34cm /13.38"
Bust	107cm / 42"
Underbust	89cm / 35"
Waist	89cm / 35"
Hips	117cm / 46"
Thigh	63.5cm / 25"
Total Body Weight	81kg / 178.5lb

I'm not going to be writing here as often as my last journey, or my attempted journeys. I'm doing my honours year at uni, as well as my final year. This year is my fourth and fifth years at uni, all rolled into one. Crazy, you say? Yes, yes I am. And at the end I'll have a marvellous piece of paper, industry experience under my belt, and be happy that my life is going in a positive direction.

Here's a couple of photos for you from the first quarter of the year so you can see how I'm looking.

Sunday, 2 February 2014: Alex's brother's wedding
Hair & Make-up by Candice De Ville

Thursday, 13 March 2014: Collins234 Boutique Place Fashion Event

Wednesday, 26 March, 2014: A's graduation ceremony, MCC The Plenary 

Friday, 4 April 2014: Melbourne International Comedy Festival

Two years ago tomorrow, my best friend's life was turned upside down. Two years ago tomorrow is the day we remember my best friend's little brother. Two years ago tomorrow was the day that changed my life.

Blogs: Who I'm Following

What is a blog?

Urban Dictionary has this to say about a blog:

blog
	January 11, 2005 Urban Word of the Day n. Short for weblog. A meandering, blatantly uninteresting online diary that gives the author the illusion that people are interested in their stupid, pathetic life. Consists of such riveting entries as "homework sucks" and "I slept until noon today." v. intr. The act of posting to a weblog.

When it comes to my blog, I tend to agree. I do meander. That said, my meandering has received a bit of praise from those who do read it, and for that I am very thankful. As a blogger, I like to hope that people are following me. I can see that there are 5 people who subscribe, and I could name you individually, but you know who you are! Then there are my friends who tell me they read my blog and they comment about this and that and that makes me feel just as good - so again, thank you!
I just hope that for anyone who randomly reads finds what I write even half interesting.
So, getting to topic - blogs that I follow.
I have a whole list of stuff in my blogger dashboard that I subscribe to. Crafty blogs most of them, but you know, I confess, they're not the ones I read - whoops! Apologies if any of you read my little ditty.
The list below is of those I follow semi-regularly. I say semi-regularly because for me, reading blogs is something I do when I remember (after the addictions of Facebook, the forum I help moderate, Pinterest, Polyvore, and Instagram). Most of them are fashion and lifestyle blogs. I am a woman, it's to be expected.

Business Chic

I came across Business Chic through Caroline at 17 Laps Marketing.  
Business Chic - Cheryl - is one woman, a very stylish woman at that, writing about and  photographing her fellow Melburnians and their corporate style.
See Cheryl for the entire month of March as she exhibits at Melbourne Central as part of the Loreal Melbourne Fashion Festival with her infamous Little Black Dress Project (which went to print this week - hurrah!).
Oh, and did I mention that I actually work with Cheryl!? World = Small.

Image courtesy of BusinessChic.com.au

A Girl and Her Pugs

Image courtesy of agirlandherpugs.blogspot.com.au

A Girl and Her Pugs is exactly that - a mid/late twenties Adeladian woman blogging about her life, her hubby, and their two pooches. Ms Puggy, as she calls herself, has just made a career change back into the world she left not long before returning. Alas, her posts are now once a week, but always provide me with good laughs, food and interior inspiration, as well as the knowledge of where to take A for good coffee if we ever head to Adelaide.
I came across Ms Puggy from the forum I help moderate.

A Girl and Some Clothes

Image courtesy of agirlandsomeclothes.blogspot.com.au

Guess what?! Ms Puggy also has a blog for fashion and style, again focussing on corporate wear, but also with some less corporate outfits as well.  Ms Puggy likes to style pieces readily available or easily shipped to Australia.
This lady also has some serious style. I get itchy waiting for her Polyvore sets to appear on her blog.

Livonne

Where do I start with Yvonne's blog? 
Yvonne is my mum's childhood friend. Yvonne's beautiful daughter Aimee is my friend (rest in peace beautiful girl), along with her sons Lachlan and Stuart. We all spent our childhood in a small town outside of Geelong, mum and Yvonne included.
Now, Yvonne is living in the Blue Mountains. She just won Star Central Magazine's Blogger of the Year for 2012 (well done, Yvonne!).
Her blog is much more ordered than mine, and is about "...life, love, loss, laughter, and larrikins".
If you think that you can never relate to anything, go and read Yvonne's blog*. Pretty sure your life will change. 

* warning - tissues are required

Image courtesy of http://livonne.com.au/

Cheeky Pickle

Image courtesy of http://cheekypickle.blogspot.com.au/

I actually stumbled across Ali's blog after being told about Ali's 'Cheeky Chats' on tickle the imagination by A's step sister, D (who owns Fashion Deli, stockist of all that is awesome in the realm of kids, and LGIS merch when I have the time...and hopefully that's all gonna change this year).
Ali and her hubby moved to Australia from the UK about 7 or 8 years ago now. Ali is a successful 'mumpreneur' and someone whom I admire. Her drive and determination for her business has stirred the fire in my belly to really push Little Goldfish this year - thanks, Ali!

FatMumSlim

If you're in the blogosphere, this one needs no introduction. In fact, if you're on any form of social media, you will know all about Fat Mum Slim. Chantelle Ellem's blog makes me feel like I'm there living her life with her. I'm pretty sure a lot of other readers would have the same, or similar, sentiments. Her awesome Photo A Day challenges every month have created a buzz in phone photography. I finally got the bug and joined in for February (in fact, I think I'll be doing a whole post dedicated to my shots each month...watch this space). Chantelle has provided yet another opportunity for all the strangers on this planet to connect with social media through the use of the infamous #fmsphotoaday on instagram and twitter, as well as creating a Facebook group especially for those around the globe partaking in the challenge.

Image courtesy of http://fatmumslim.com.au/

FoxinFlats  

Image courtesy of http://www.foxinflats.com.au/

Now, I have only just discovered Fox in Flats a few weeks ago through Business Chic on Instagram. A blog for the fashion conscious mum, (yes, I know I'm not a mum, but heck, I have a new-found body after losing all that weight!) Andrea really does inspire mums around Australia, and the world!
Andrea's got a Style Dare A Day going on as well - and this month, I'm playing! Talk about getting out of my comfort zone, the first one for the month of March was 'Grr!'. I don't do animal prints for anyone. Anyone. But, I did it for the Style Dare (see below). I don't own them - yet. I had to be creative. Everywhere I looked today - there was something animal print. What's your verdict on my venture into animal print?

Swimsuit Shopping

Polyvore Playtime

In my last post, I talked to you about Polyvore. Polyvore is this wonderful site that allows you to throw together outfits from things you see online, as well as many other awesome things like throwing together home decor, or digital artworks, or collages etc., though I'm not really doing the description any justice. Go and read for yourself. Then make yourself an account and play. It's all shades of addictive.

Le Swimsuit Challenge

Now that I've lost a game-changing amount of weight, it's time to step up to the plate and get a new swimsuit. Fact of the matter is, the one I got 8 or so years ago really just doesn't cut it anymore. It never was fashionable, but was very practical. That was an important quality for me in a swimsuit. I wanted it to hide all my yucky parts and still give me great support for the girls. I had a racer-back thing from Target. It's still in my wardrobe, and was great for doing laps. It's now got a few small holes from its travels though, so perhaps I'll be on the hunt for two swimsuits. Pretty, and practical.

Below is a slideshow (thanks, Polyvore!) of a few swimsuits that I really like the look of. Pretty, yes. Practical, hell no! Most are available from Australian retailers, there are just a few that are from OS online stores. Click the slideshow, or the links below, for more details.

Swimsuit Shopping by monsoonprincess on polyvore.com

I plan on doing a few more fashion-type posts as times goes on. I do have a few up my sleeve but I've been waiting for the right moment. Once I'm into a routine, I think that will be the beginning of my fashion-type posts. Not only does a girl need a swimsuit, but a new wardrobe too!