FROM MOTHERLAND TO MAINLAND ART AND CLOTH FOR A GOOD CAUSE

Participating all day in the most awesome fundraiser in art and cloth... and what a better way to help some friends and neighbors struggling after the storm... I am glad that every little bit counts and we were able to assist a few families in need auctioning off some awesome pieces of our talents...

.. now my feet are tired ... off to a hot meal a hot bath and to bed ... I sewed/altered/fitted/wrapped/painted and sketched all.day.long ... now my eyes are tired and I am looking drawn BUT my heart is so content the feeling is exhilarating... and I forgot to eat ... but I am about to have an awesome warm meal prepared by my awesome DH who can at times be a royal PITA LOL...

Some pics ... because I love art and I love cloth and I love love love Africa as much as I love America my adopted country and Panamá my land of origin... my awesome gowns are gifts from Africa motherland bought to me by my friend Fatu ... whenever she comes back from Africa it is a festivity in cloth ... for me and for others ... what an AWESOME and fulfilling day....











Back home at last...



and having a hard time with my wrap on my short cropped hair... so I'm gonna wear it around my waist and play it safe...





Thanks for allowing me to share another goofy thread .. the second one today .... off my soapbox and taking a hot shower and going to bed ... enough picture aw'ing for a day LOL .... I am just so happy we raised enough to help others out ... because we are keepers one of another and every little bit counts ... I am happy I was able to use my goofy talent to help my friends out a little bit...

Art and Chicken Feet Soup ... Coming up for Air!!!

.... and I will tell the tale in pictures... on a rainy day I embraced my first love ... my canvas and my palette ... and I started the day by painting a portrait of a cyber friend's grandma as a gift as she approaches her 90th years young b-day.... my friend shared a picture in which she was standing with several other people ... and I painted her portrait from there just eyeballing her on my pc screen and painting the image in my head ... this is a rough draft still... I also painted one of her DD and her bird and shared it with her also...



I also did a rough rough draft of her DD...


with the rain and two canvas drying before I could apply more layers I went off to Zumba toning/zumba fitness both modalities at the community clinic where my DD is the instructor and had an awesome workout...

I came back home and the rain started again ... dark as night and pelting down and cooling a bit ... much needed... I decided then to paint a hummingbird on canvas for my cyberfriend MsVee .... I hope she is pleasantly surprised and likes it ... it is looking like this ... of course I crashed in my den with my palette ... I make no mess at all when I paint on canvas unlike gessoing an entire wall...




Then my DH decided it was time to eat something and decided to do takeout from the Caribbean Restaurant ... I called to find out what the soup of the day was and it was my all time favorite Caribbean Chicken feet soup with drumsticks added WOOT ... I died and went to heaven... I LOVE LOVE LOVE that stuff ... I felt like my nana was alive again and made a pot of sopa de patas de pollo and I ate my soup and twiddled my toes ... DELISH... and SPICY... Chicken feet soup and fish head soup are my all time faves ... hey ... I am culturally diverse like that LOL grew up in the deep country in another country ...


On Friday I meant to post my empowerment collage but I was still a bit shaken from an incident with a call in the wee hours of the morning that shook me up so bad I was a nervous wreck ... I wore my Levi's skirt in a size 1 that I wore at my lowest weight from surgery and wore seamlessly with the same fit 5 years and 5 months after .... maintaining for life ... one day at a time... one choice at a time...


and I made my Empowerment Comparison Collage with the same skirt...


and now I am all washed and showered and clean and sporting a hoochie mama dress as we are heading out to enjoy a few hours of fun with friends from my Oldies Keeping the Flame Going Couples group that we belong to.... I was going to wear a long dress but NOPE ... rather be comfortable ... I even have an air conditioned back too LOL .... I will he out having fun with my DD and friends wearing this that I have on now...



I am having fun on my journey ... with every lemon life hands me I am making lemonade and when lemonade does not work I made a virgin SF margarita on the rock ... because I am B.A.D. = BlessedAnd Delivered!!!

Thank you for allowing me to share this goofy post... Painting is my first love indeed ..... my arsenal of love....


OFF TO DANCE IN A FEW..... HAVE AN AWESOME REST OF THE DAY MY BEAUTIFUL FRIENDS ....

My best investments ever are my BFFs forever .... and they are not even human ... they are my Singer, my project runway Brother and my sergers .... gotta love 'em cause this goofy sista loves to sew ... before... during... and after ... and TODAY...

At my lowest weight sewing my reaffirmation of vows gown in 2008 and today finishing and hemming a dress a few minutes ago....
I just love to sew.... the best tool that helped me out majorly the first year post op ... to fight cravings and head hunger I kept myself occupied with my sewing machines and my canvas and my brushes ...

I love love love love shopping in my own closet today and fitting perfectly or better in the same duds that I wore at my lowest weight since weight loss surgery 5 years and 4 months ago (in 2 days is my monthly surgery anniversary and I am celebrating today as I do every day)... one of my best investments ... taking all the money I would blow on take outs and fast foods and expensive lunches from take out and invest in fabrics and duds that I bought wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy in advance for my dream weight .... I working my way down the sizes ... I loved it....

Me at my lowest weight and prior to panniculectomy and modified brachioplasty and me wearing the very same dress .... just dragged it on for pics early this am for my empowerment collage and just because I was going through my closets making boxes to give some of these clothes away... yikes I AM GRATEFUL FOR THE REBOUND ... I HAD LOST WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY TO LOW .... AND TODAY I AM MAINTAINING SEAMLESSLY WITH NO REGAIN... don't sweat the rebound ... the body will stabilize ... yikes ... I hate wearing my short hair ... it is work .. it exposes my big ears and nose and I just love love love my wigs/extensions and weaves ... but it is summer ... and it is hot ... so I am trying to hold on...


Another great investment and FUN for me cause I love pics ... I take pictures of everything... oh my poor ferrets LOL they even have their own blog.... I love my goofy tool my empowerment journal that I named "A picture a day keeps the pounds and the inches away" I track my journey... my food and ALSO my FIT in clothes every day ... I want to see my journey and I want to look back...

Pictures of my before ... my transition and today encourage me... I do not want to go back to limited mobility and life with 5 co-morbidities...


I love still fitting my tiny Juicy Couture jumpsuit that I put on my old arse over a year ago .. a gift from my DD and fitting it the very same fit and comfort today ... as I shopped in my closet ... I am having FUN can you tell... I am hanging around the house today dressed like this ... relaxing the rest of the day....



My first Sunday dress ... in white and wearing the Penny loves Kenny heels my DD gave me for Mother's day ...


Yesterday I went to my friend's daughter's reception ... and I wore this green gown that fit like a glove ..


My digital journal allows me to go back and look back and plan ahead ... I love it ...


I adjusted this dress down to my size this morning ... wearing it to work tomorrow ... unless my mind varies LOL



EXERCISE... ANOTHER GREAT INVESTMENT.... Yesterday I did 2 hours of zumba toning ... did the class at the Wellness Clinic that my DD conducts and then I followed her to Viva Z where she subbed another class...



and now I will hang out with my 8 furry critters who own my heart and tell me what to do ... YIKES ... this is me with my first ferret Maximiliano .. (Maxwell) their names have been changed to castellano because they will the panamanian hurones in the near future ...


and this is the goofiest post ever... I POST NOT TO BOAST ... BUT TO ENCOURAGE MYSELF AND MAYBE ONE OTHER ... THE JOURNEY IS NOT EASY ... BUT IT IS SO WELL WORTH IT ... WITH NEW FOUND HEALTH AND MOBILITY I AM ENJOYING MY LATER DAYS ... I AM HAVING FUN ... TAKING IT ONE.DAY.AT.A.TIME ..... Life offers great things all the time along with challenges .... and when it pitches me lemons ... I am going to make me a virgin SF Margarita ... and keep it moving...

THANKS FOR ALLOWING ME TO SHARE....
My best investments ever are my BFFs forever .... and they are not even human ... they are my Singer, my project runway Brother and my sergers .... gotta love 'em cause this goofy sista loves to sew ... before... during... and after ... and TODAY...

At my lowest weight sewing my reaffirmation of vows gown in 2008 and today finishing and hemming a dress a few minutes ago....
I just love to sew.... the best tool that helped me out majorly the first year post op ... to fight cravings and head hunger I kept myself occupied with my sewing machines and my canvas and my brushes ...

I love love love love shopping in my own closet today and fitting perfectly or better in the same duds that I wore at my lowest weight since weight loss surgery 5 years and 4 months ago (in 2 days is my monthly surgery anniversary and I am celebrating today as I do every day)... one of my best investments ... taking all the money I would blow on take outs and fast foods and expensive lunches from take out and invest in fabrics and duds that I bought wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy in advance for my dream weight .... I working my way down the sizes ... I loved it....

Me at my lowest weight and prior to panniculectomy and modified brachioplasty and me wearing the very same dress .... just dragged it on for pics early this am for my empowerment collage and just because I was going through my closets making boxes to give some of these clothes away... yikes I AM GRATEFUL FOR THE REBOUND ... I HAD LOST WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY TO LOW .... AND TODAY I AM MAINTAINING SEAMLESSLY WITH NO REGAIN... don't sweat the rebound ... the body will stabilize ... yikes ... I hate wearing my short hair ... it is work .. it exposes my big ears and nose and I just love love love my wigs/extensions and weaves ... but it is summer ... and it is hot ... so I am trying to hold on...


Another great investment and FUN for me cause I love pics ... I take pictures of everything... oh my poor ferrets LOL they even have their own blog.... I love my goofy tool my empowerment journal that I named "A picture a day keeps the pounds and the inches away" I track my journey... my food and ALSO my FIT in clothes every day ... I want to see my journey and I want to look back...

Pictures of my before ... my transition and today encourage me... I do not want to go back to limited mobility and life with 5 co-morbidities...


I love still fitting my tiny Juicy Couture jumpsuit that I put on my old arse over a year ago .. a gift from my DD and fitting it the very same fit and comfort today ... as I shopped in my closet ... I am having FUN can you tell... I am hanging around the house today dressed like this ... relaxing the rest of the day....



My first Sunday dress ... in white and wearing the Penny loves Kenny heels my DD gave me for Mother's day ...


Yesterday I went to my friend's daughter's reception ... and I wore this green gown that fit like a glove ..


My digital journal allows me to go back and look back and plan ahead ... I love it ...


I adjusted this dress down to my size this morning ... wearing it to work tomorrow ... unless my mind varies LOL



EXERCISE... ANOTHER GREAT INVESTMENT.... Yesterday I did 2 hours of zumba toning ... did the class at the Wellness Clinic that my DD conducts and then I followed her to Viva Z where she subbed another class...



and now I will hang out with my 8 furry critters who own my heart and tell me what to do ... YIKES ... this is me with my first ferret Maximiliano .. (Maxwell) their names have been changed to castellano because they will the panamanian hurones in the near future ...


and this is the goofiest post ever... I POST NOT TO BOAST ... BUT TO ENCOURAGE MYSELF AND MAYBE ONE OTHER ... THE JOURNEY IS NOT EASY ... BUT IT IS SO WELL WORTH IT ... WITH NEW FOUND HEALTH AND MOBILITY I AM ENJOYING MY LATER DAYS ... I AM HAVING FUN ... TAKING IT ONE.DAY.AT.A.TIME ..... Life offers great things all the time along with challenges .... and when it pitches me lemons ... I am going to make me a virgin SF Margarita ... and keep it moving...

THANKS FOR ALLOWING ME TO SHARE....