Body Love

If the 'fashion world' is to be believed, plus size starts at size 12-14. I call fucking bullshit! How on earth are we supposed to portray to our children that size isn't everything, when a world that is so dominant to a teenager is telling them that they are 'overweight' at a size 12-14.  There is so much outrage...and yet nothing is done.  

When will it be that a woman is recognised for her brain, her voice, her passion and not the size of her bra, shirt and short short skirt?
 

Loving my body is something that I have always struggled with and continue to struggle with.  It doesn't matter what size I am...I hate it.  I stand in front of the mirror, poking and proding, picking out things that I do not like.  I have always felt a strong disconnection between my body and my mind. My mind is strong, my body is weak. 
 

This isn't about hate though, this is about love.  I don't hate my entire body, I don't know if that is entirely possible. Even at my lowest of lows, when poked and prodded I could eventually come up with something that I liked.  As I have gotten older, I have realised the strenght that my body has. The things that I have put it through and it's come through the other side virtually unscathed.  Every weekend I thank my liver for being a fucking trooper.  That bastard puts up with a bashing!
 

I have lived through OD's that if left untreated could have done severe damage, drank things that were intended for cleaning purposes only and still my body is reasonably ok. I have reflux that hurts like a bitch when I forget my meds but other than that, it's doing ok.  I had someone lace my drink with turps and yet all I felt was a couple of cramps. Like I said my body has copped a hiding.  It still does the stuff I want it to do! It might put up a hell of a protest but we get there in the end.
 

I have cut it, burnt it and scratched at it.  I have tried to destroy my body in any way I could. Still it's here, doing the shit it's supposed to do.  It might not look the way that I want it to look. Does anyones?
 

I birthed a mother fucking baby out of my body.  I felt like a beach ball with legs, and still my body did everything that it needed to do.  It created this little Devil Spawn. It was amazing and scary all at the same time but my body did it.
 

Do you love your body? Has it kept you in awe at the amazing things it can do?
 

Link up for #RCThursdays below.  This is the last one for the year so lets go out with a bang :)

Christmas Menu - Reader's Choice

Wow! Thursday again. It's not long until Christmas now and this week it's all about my Christmas Menu.  I have had a giant spanner thrown in my works with Christmas and I have no idea what we are doing for Christmas Day.  Papa Devil has told me to just let him deal with and to trust him. Anyone who knows me well knows that I am finding this fucking hard.

My Christmas Menu is all cold stuff. It is way too hot to be slaving over a hot stove on Christmas Day. Not to mention salads can be made in the days leading up to the big day, which means that I don't even need to slave in the kitchen at all!

Nibblies:

We all know that Christmas Day involves eating way too much food that isn't the most healthiest options and you usually have enough left overs to last you 2 or 3 days after Christmas Day.

I'm not a big fan of Rum Balls and last year I discovered 'Tim Tam Balls'. They are delicious and so super easy to make.  Here is the recipe:

Tim Tam Balls 

Add to this lots of lollies, chips, biscuits and dips and the nibblies are complete.  My favourite dips are avocado and corn relish.  

Main Meal:

The meat for the main meal is usually a mix of seafood (mainly prawns), ham and chicken.  I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Prawns. I love to eat them...hate peeling the little bastards.  It feels like you can't get the smell of them off your hands, no matter how many times you wash your hands.

Now for the salads!

I discovered a recipe for American Potato Salad a few months ago and it is to die for! I could and have sat and just had a big bowl of this salad on it's own.  I leave the skin on the potatoes and I don't cook the ham, I just put it in cold.  

Recipe here: American Potato Salad 

Another favourite salad is the Crispy Noodle Salad.  It's found on the back of the Changs Fried Noodles packet and is yum! It's a nice light salad that is so refreshing amongst the heavy foods that fill the rest of the Christmas Menu.  The recipe also includes how to make the dressing but if you are lazy busy like me, you can buy it premade.  

A staple at every event is the good old Garden Salad.  I usually use Iceberg Lettuce, continental cucumber, capsicum, salad onion and cheese.  I put the dressing to the side so that the salad doesn't go soggy.  

Dessert:

If you have any room left after scoffing the main meal then here comes dessert. Of course we all know that there is a separate stomach for desserts so there will always be room.

My mum makes Sticky Date Pudding every year. It is delicious with icecream and you will have to have tons of will power to only have one piece.

Sticky Date Pudding 

Last year I made a three layer icecream cake. It was really fiddly and took a fair amount of time but it was so worth it.

Christmas Cassata  

What's on your Christmas Menu this year? Are there any favourites that you make each year or do you like to change it up each year?

 

Boycott

Welcome to Reader's Choice Thursday again! The weeks are just getting away from me lately. I have started to write everything down so that I don't forget anything.  Phew so much to do, so little time.
This weeks winning Reader's Choice is 'Who I boycott and why'.
 

There are some companies that I avoid just because of their dismal customer service. Standing in a store for 20 minutes and receiving no help, is not the way to go about getting more customers through your door.  This company however isn't a boycott. If I need something and know exactly what I want, then I will go in there. 
 

However there is one store that I refuse to spend my money at.  I will not enter competitions held by them and would not accept marketing from them on this blog.  It is something that I feel that strong about.  What is this company you ask?  Gloria Jeans Coffee.  Now this isn't something that I came about because I had a bad experience with them but something reached because of research.
 

I wasn't aware of their partnerships until reading an article last year.  I was appalled and vowed to never shop there again.  Gloria Jeans have been linked to Anti-Gay campaigns and in 2012, in my eyes, this is just not acceptable.  In 2010, reporter Doug Pollard revealed that Gloria Jeans had donated $30,000 to the Australia Christian Lobby.  Upon questioning the Franchise of Gloria Jeans admitted to donating the money, but that they did not support the thinkings of of the ACL.  Why on earth would you donate then? We give money to things that we believe in, or have a place that is close to our hearts, or in a business sense, suit the persona that the business wants to show to the public.  I have no idea why a company in 2012 would feel it necessary to just throw money at a cause that they both don't believe in and had the potential to harm their business.
 

Gloria Jeans have also been linked to Mercy Ministries, an inpatient facility that provided treatment for women with 'life controlling issues'.  It was reported that these therapies also involved 'gay curing'.  In 2009, all Gloria Jeans stores displayed a collection box to raise funds for Mercy Ministries.  Mercy Ministries was allegedly closed due to violations of the trade act, it was only after this happened that Gloria Jeans stopped the partnership. 
 

There have been sites set up to help support those who have been effected by the Mercy Ministries, as well as a Boycott page that provides information in regards to the Anti Gay Movement. 
 

For more information check out these websites:

 http://boycottgloriajeans.com/

 http://www.mercysurvivors.com/about-2/

 https://www.facebook.com/BoycottGloriaJeans

Do you avoid any places? Is it more of a lack of customer service issue or something a bit deeper?

If you have a blog, please feel free to link up with your Reader's Choice.

 

Why I Started My Blog

Welcome to Reader's Choice Thursday! I hope you've all had a great week so far.
 

This weeks topic is 'Why I started my blog'.
 

I started my blog in April 2011. It started off as a place for me to vent. I used it as a sounding board for my thoughts and frustrations.  I didn't make it known to everyone that I had a blog as it was all pretty dark stuff at the start. 
 

I then came to the realisation that 'hey maybe someone could benefit from this'.  One of the things I enjoy about the blogs that I read on a regular basis is that they all talk about things that resonate with me at different times in my life.  There have been many times when I have been reading through a post nodding my head, and feeling better about losing my shit that morning because I know I'm not alone.  That's the kind of space that I wanted to create for my readers. 
 

For me writing has always been much easier than talking. I shut down and change the subject when walking one on one. I'm not particularly good at portraying what I am feeling in the spoken word.  Give me a pen and a piece of paper though and I can write you an essay.  My blog became a way to let people know where I am at. 
 

Sometimes life can be way to serious.  I check joke sites regularly and spend most of my online time on them.  I tend to mostly be in a cocoon, choosing when I want to engage with a news story.  We don't watch the news. Devil Spawn and I watch The Simpsons instead.  I'm sarcastic by nature.  Anyone who knows me well, knows that sarcasm is my second language.  I love making posts that poke fun at the stuff that I have done through the week or that have happened to me in the past.  I love sharing with everyone the stupid shit I have done and I love reading other peoples examples of stupid shit they have done. 
 

Facebook got too crowded. You know, when you have all of these people on your friends list that it's too much drama to delete so you kind of censor yourself.  Believe it or not, that's what I tend to do.  My blog became an outlet for me.  I found myself writing negative status updates all the time, so I would sit down, write everything into a post and while I wouldn't always immediately feel better, it did help. 
 

In summary I created this blog for myself first, then the more I became confident in my writing, I started writing it to include YOU, the reader.  I love the community that a Blog creates and love getting to know all of my readers through comments.
 

Why did you start your Blog? Link up below and let me know.
Don't have a Blog? What's your outlet?

My life would be different

It's Thursday again (phew where are the weeks going???) and we all know what that means right? It's Reader's Choice Thursdays.  This week I did things a little different and created a poll on my Facebook Page for readers to choose.  The winner this week is:
My life would be different if I'd never met...
 

This topic really took a lot of thinking.  I have so many wonderful people in my life that I wasn't sure who to write about.  So many people who have made an impact on my life, impacts that are both good and bad.  I decided to stick with the good thought and chose to write about one of my best friends. 

When I was growing up I always had friends, but I needed my space. I couldn't handle being in close quarters to anyone for too long, it would drive me crazy.  I don't really keep in close contact with any of my childhood friends.  I am Facebook friends with them and occasionally catch up when I am at my parents but that's about it.  I wasn't the easiest person to be friends with when I was a teenager.  More so than most teenagers.  I was bat shit crazy for most of it.  Once I finished school, we didn't really hang out much.  We all went our separate ways and started our lives. Me...I was hellbent on ending mine.
 

Fast forward to 2007 and a near fatal OD. I was in a coma for 3 days, in ICU for 4 and then transferred to the Mental Health ward when I stayed for a month.  Two weeks into that month I met my best friend.  She was very standoffish at first and I've often told her I thought she was a cow for the first couple of days she was in there.  Slowly the ice started to break and we took great delight in pissing off the nurses and other patients. 
 

She's been there for my ups and my down, down lows.  For the first time I have a best friend who I tell absolutely everything to. She is the only person who knows everything that goes on.  Most of the time she knows more than Papa Devil about the way I am feeling. Why? Because she knows what I am talking about.  For the first time I have a friend who 'gets' it.  Self Harming isn't easy to deal with.  Having someone to talk to who knows the desperation you feel when you need to cut, that it isn't all about attention is so valuable. 
 

We've now been friends for almost 6 years and still as close as ever. We speak most days, usually sending each other hilarious memes to describe our days.  My life definitely wouldn't be the same without her.  Sure I could ask for a more normal friend but where's the fun in that ;)

Lingerie Football

Welcome to Reader's Choice Thursdays.  This is our third week and so far I have learnt so much. The most important thing I have learnt however is to not tweet while watching trashy tv if I still don't have a topic or a certain blogger (I'm not mentioning any name *cough cough* will take it with both hands and I'll be writing about vjazzling or like this week....Lingerie Football.
 

So what exactly is Lingerie Football? Despite the name, the women don't actually play in skimpy lace numbers.  No they more closely resemble a cheer leading outfit than something you'd wear under your clothes.  It was founded in 2003, originally as a pay per view event showing opposite the half time of the Superbowl.  It is now a staple of Superbowl Sunday and is shown in over 85 countries worldwide.  The game consists of two seven-a-side teams.  Each team can have up to 20 players but only 14 are used on game day.
At the moment Lingerie Football is only played in the US and Canada.  However it is currently being promoted in Australia with the hope to officially start a season in 2013.  It is not without it's opposition however.  Sports Minister Kate Lundy was quoted as calling the sport ''cheap, degrading perv''.  This hasn't stopped women trying out though.
  

There are some groups who call Lingerie Football a sport that makes women into sexual objects.  Me? Hey if I had a body like these girls I would sure as hell be showing it off too.  These girls are athletic and strong.  In my opinion they are actually providing a positive body image. A hell of a lot better than any Runway Model that's for sure.  No one is forcing these women to run around chasing a football in a bikini and let's be honest there's more skin on display at the beach than these girls are showing. 
 

Critics are up in arms that this sport has tickets sold that are targeting families.  Are we really turning into that kind of world. A world where no one thinks for themselves and has to have a government dictate what we can and can't do.  Use your common sense people.  If you don't feel comfortable taking your kids to this kind of sporting even then don't but don't ruin it for the rest of the people.  Do I think it should be aired on Free-to-air television? No, but people who are willing to pay for it shouldn't be denied.  All of the women involved are consenting adults, who are over the age of 18. 
 

What's your take on Lingerie Football? Pervy or perfectly fine? If you had the body and the confidence would you do it?
 

For more Reader's Choice Thursday head on over to Help!! I'm Stuck!!

Confrontation

It's Thursday again and you know what that means....it's readers choice.  This week was a bit of a curly one and I really struggled with how to approach the writing of it.  I didn't want to write and comment on a story that wasn't mine but I still wanted the person to feel like I had acknowledged their choice.  Normally I just sit down and write but this one needed and deserved some more thought.
 

This weeks reader wanted to know if she should confront a family friend.  I first started with pulling apart the situation and trying to provide an answer.  However it just didn't sit right with me that I was making comment on this person's life.  I just didn't feel like I had the right.
 

So with all of that aside I decided to write a post about confrontation. Good old confrontation. We love to hate it.  Me, I hate it and avoid it like the plague.  Confrontation rarely makes me feel 'good'. It rarely resolves anything for me. If anything it makes me stew more.  It makes me hate myself that little bit more.  I go over the situation again and again, thinking of ways that I could have made it different.  Thinking of things that I could have done differently. 
 

I have trouble expressing my emotions appropriately. I have never made a secret of that.  I tend to go all guns blazing then feel bad for it later.  I take a point and run with it.  Most of the time it's the right thing to do, sometimes it's not.  It's easer to get caught up in the moment, to get caught up in other people's opinions and make rash decisions.  It's something that I need to work on. I have fire. I know that, and anyone who knows me well knows that I am passionate about a lot of things. 
 

Like I said, I avoid confrontation like the plague.  There is a lot of things that I could do differently.  For one, letting things fester is not good. This usually ends with me getting angry and saying the first thing that comes to my head.  I try to pose my argument without swearing but once I get past the point of seeing red, then it usually results in me just telling the person to fuck off. 
 

Before confronting someone we really need to take a step back from the situation and assess if the confrontation is worth it.  Will you talking to the person about their behaviour make the situation better or worse? It's sometimes hard to take a step back when you are in the thick of a conflict but it can really be beneficial in saving a relationship, if you wish to.  You have to think about the situation and whether it is something that you think will continue to come up and cause conflict or if it is something small that you will be able to look the other way about.  Only you can make that decision.  Different things affect different people in different ways.  What is no big deal to you, might be hurtful or irritating to another person. 
 

Confronting a person, if done in a positive way, with thought for their feelings as well can result in a compromised situation for everyone involved.  Talking 'to' a person instead of 'at' them can go a long way to helping them understand your feelings towards an action.  Going in gunho about what you want and not listening to what the other person has to say, always has the result of them getting defensive.  It's human nature that when we feel 'attacked' we either fly or fight, both of which aren't reactions that are conductive to a positive outcome. 
 

What are your confrontation techniques? Do you avoid it like the plague too? Has confronting someone ever gone completely pear shaped despite your best efforts?  

You want to put crystals where?

For something different I have decided to do a readers choice every Thursday.  This week is bought to you by Ann over at Help!! I'm Stuck!! and she has chosen the very bling topic of VAJAZZLING.
 

I'll admit it, I'm a sucker for trashy tv.  Especially when I have had a shithouse day.  There's nothing better than settling in front of the tv with my laptop and watching some tv that doesn't require me to use my brain.  I love a good who-dunnit but when life has been kicking my arse all day, the last thing I want to be doing is thinking while watching tv.
 

Tuesday night I was watching Snog Marry Avoid when one of the 'make unders' started talking about vajazzling. I made a comment about it on twitter and Ann (the smart arse) decided that it would be an awesome topic for this week.
 

Vajazzling: The act of applying glitter and jewels to a woman's bikini area for aesthetic purposes.  AKA putting some bling blin on your vjay-jay.  Apparently it's pretty popular.  The term was first coined by, believe it or not Jeniffer Love-Hewitt. I know! I was surprised too, I for one thought it was created by Paris Hilton or one of the socialites.  Here is the interview in which she told George Lopez about adding some bling to her vjay-jay.
 

I did a bit of searching and it turns out this isn't just a DIY thing, where you order some stickers off Ebay and go sticker crazy. No. There are some beauty therapists who do it as part of a Brazillian or you can just go in and get it done by itself.  Some places charge up to $100 for the pleasure. Me, I can think of a lot of things I'd rather do with $100 than stick some crystals on my vjay-jay.
 

Now before you go thinking that you'll have a toilet full of crystals every time you relieve yourself, it's not like that at all.  The crystals are applied to the vulva, which is freshly shaved or waxed.  Salons suggest having the area waxed rather than shaved as the area stays smooth and hair free for a longer period of time.  Plus let's face it, that love heart made of crystals isn't going to look to bling, bling with your overgrown pubes sticking through.
 

Interested in finding out more? Well you're in luck because I also found a tutorial on vjazzling.  Check out the video below for tips.  

 

 Would you do some vjazzling? Have you done some vjazzling? Or does it all just seem like too much work? Me? I'm flat out shaving my legs most days so adding crystals to my nether regions isn't high on my agenda.