NotBlueAtAll

I'm just a fat gal with a blog and an opinion. Well, lots of opinions.

Sláinte! From Me to You in This Difficult Time

March18

Monday would have been my grandma’s 100th birthday had she lived to see it. I have been thinking about her so much these last few weeks. She was a Registered Nurse, served in the Army in WWII, and during my lifetime she worked in a convalescent hospital. I cannot help but wonder what she would do during this Pandemic, but then I know the thought of that human turd in office may have killed her anyway. She hated Republicans, though she was a Catholic, she was of the type so pure of heart that when faced with only her glare no man would stand a chance against her. Petite in stature, big in humor and heart, I can’t say that she raised me, but was a constant beacon in the darkness of my life back when. Monday evening 6 SF bay area counties (where I live) were ordered to shelter in place, likely until April 7th.

The day after her birthday, was St. Patrick’s day. I didn’t even wear green! I was home the whole day, kept seeing green things and celebrations online, but I didn’t even bother to listen to her/my favorite Irish rebel music. So this morning, in my dimly lit living room, a bit more chilly than I’d like to be, I realized my folly and instructed aloud, “Alexa, play the Clancy Brothers, Live at Carnegie Hall” and she responds, “Playing, In Person at Carnegie Hall, 1963, the Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem” and then I hear it begin and it’s like my grandma and her sister are still here. I can hear their laughter, the clink of a glass, “Sláinte!” shouted briskly. Only they’re gone and it’s only me singing along to “Juice of the Barley” and “Jug of Punch”, the latter being my all-time favorite and never ceases to bring out every last Irish cell in my body to sing and to weep. It is a warming and aching thing to have an Irish heart.  As much as it can swell with love or pride, it will always have the ache of our ancestors too.
Self-isolating isn’t difficult for me at all. I have been relishing my single life and living alone life for over a year now and seeing everyone else at home too makes me feel part of a community in a way. My biggest struggle was getting my groceries. Grocery stores are a big trigger for my C-PTSD on the best day, but with all of the reports of outages and fights and this looming contagion to deal with I know that would be a recipe for a massive panic attack. I have a recurring local grocery delivery every Friday evening, but last Friday I waited through my delivery window until far outside my usual allotment of patience I emailed them and they had rescheduled it for Tuesday. No warning or communication what so ever. Ugh! So that weekend I had to get. bit creative with what I had on hand. Luckily I had taken home about 2 meals with worth of leftovers from work. When they finally were delivered last night I nearly cried from relief!
I grew up with food insecurity. My family was poor and always stretched too thin. I remember a doctor telling my parents when I was about 7 or 8 years old that I was malnourished. They put me on protein shakes that I can smell (and gag from even thinking about) to this very day! I remember being 4 and 5 years old and asking when we could have dinner and it was always later on Friday nights because it was my dad’s payday and since he worked at Gemco (they had a full grocery store inside, similar to Target now but old school) he would cash his check and bring home some groceries. This past weekend brought a lot of those feelings back to me. Those itchy, anxious feelings, not even like hunger or pain. Just the anxiety times eleven!
Once I put everything away in my small-ass apartment fridge (seriously why is it so small?!) I closed it and opened it again like three times. Just to be sure! It was there and it was real. And every time I opened it I would smile and look at my doggo with pride. He didn’t care, he just wanted all the food. Ha-ha! The last time I opened it to check I laughed at myself and finally went to bed. I slept so much better too!
I know that my grandma would be very proud of me and all that I have accomplished since she passed away in October 2003. I’ve had many careers and opened my own cafe since then. Gosh she would have loved my cafe! Sure she missed my first wedding (heavy assumption there, I don’t even think I’d want a second! Ha!), but that cafe was all me, ya know? I can hear her saying my name, “Oh Sarah!” and her tight hugs. Her petite frame was also misleading, she was tough as nails! Being a nurse all those years, she was strong as hell and could probably take down The Rock! Just sayin’! Her sister was no different, though perhaps a bit more straight forward and brusque than my grandma. They were nearly two-sides of the same coin it seemed. Their mother was from Ireland, though the two sisters were born in Connecticut, I believe. I think often of all they had seen during their lifetimes. The world has changed many times over since they were born, and died, really.
As we are all looking towards our unknowable futures, I think it’s valuable to stay connected to your ancestry and cultures in ways that are fulfilling. I don’t have the items needed to make Irish Soda Bread at the moment, but I do remember the last time my grandma shared some with us that she’d bought at Safeway, and how disgusted she was with their chain-store version, as we all slathered it with butter and jam. Ha-ha! I used to make it every year but have not been wanting to bake for a few years now. Or rather, I will want to but often don’t have the energy. I think I will make some as soon as this shelter in place guideline is lifted. Something to look forward to, certainly. I’m very picky about what goes into my soda bread, just as my grandma was. Whole caraway seeds and black currants, never raisins! Unfortunately I have also been a bit of a disappointment to my great-aunt as I cannot stomach any sort of whiskey, not even her beloved Bushmills. Though she did teach me to make a proper vodka tonic…so proper it’ll knock your socks off with your shoes still on! Ha-ha!
With the extra time that working from home allows I have gathered together some of my poetry into a collection with a theme. At first I thought it would be a chapbook, as that’s been on my bucket list for awhile. Once I put them together though I soon realized I had much more than I thought. So a collection it is! Now to look into getting it printed somehow. Not exactly something I’m trying to publish in a big way or get famous for (As if! Ha-ha!), but more just to do it and to have it and to share with interested parties, ya know? I wanted to add my own doodles throughout but I’ll be damned if I can’t even think of a single image. I don’t particularly enjoy drawing anyway but every now and then I can pull something off. Oh well. If you’re a doodler/artist with an open and kind heart, perhaps we might work together? I can pay and wouldn’t require much time for this and it isn’t a profit driven project but a personal one (and quite vulnerable for me). Please reach out if interested, though! I also want to try my hand at this crochet skull shawl, not sure I have enough yarn but it’s been so long since I’ve done any hooking that I will simply enjoy playing with yarn again.
I have been enjoying Cinder Ernst’s daily quick 5 minute exercise/strengthening videos. Check them out here! and seriously join the group it’s very positive and uplifting and not at all corny or shaming in any way! Doing them today and yesterday really lifted my spirits. I found myself trying to incorporate some of the moves just throughout my day. Check out her new book, “plus size knee pain solutions” as well! Cinder has been working with/in fat community in the SF Bay area for many years and is a pleasure and a joy to work with and know. She presented/performed at both of my Fatty Affair events years ago.
What things have you been trying to break up the day? To keep you sane? What are you struggling with? I really do believe that we are all in this together and only need to lean on each other to get through. I have seen a lot of posts on social media about meditation, yoga, and simple breathing exercises to stay calm/grounded. I haven’t left the house since I got home on Monday, but once the rain lets up I plan to do some gardening. This is the first time in my life I’m looking forward to gardening and spring and all of that! I might have to get proper gardening gloves at some point. Ha-ha! I have held off any online ordering for the time being, no point in it until I can actually use it. I want to try to do tomatoes and strawberries in vertical pockets along my back fence. I’m nervously excited to try it, anyway. At least it’s not a very expensive hobby and may produce food in the end, we’ll see!
If you are struggling with isolation please reach out to someone. Even me! notblueatall@notblueatall.com! There is no need to suffer alone and in silence. My friends have been checking in through text and sending funny gifs to each other. Some have started writing postcards and letters through snail mail! I love that! Whatever works for you is awesome! I love seeing ideas and things for this purpose shared everywhere. A lot of people have been cooking and sharing recipes. I love it all! Just know that you aren’t alone and you will get through this. For me this is comfortable, but heavy socializing drains me. I joked with a fellow introvert about how we need downtime to reenergize after socializing and all this isolation will make us all too powerful ad we’ll take over the world. Don’t worry, it will be a peaceful takeover. Lots of tea and books. Ha-ha!
***

I’m here for realness and sincerity, honesty and vulnerability, I’m here for the good and juicy bits of life that shine for me when I know I’m heading in the right direction.

Rad Fatty Love to ALL,

<3
S

P.S. Check out and use the hashtag: #FatAndFree on Instagram & Facebook!

Check out the Fat AF podcast on your favorite podcast app for all things fat sex with me and my BFF, Michaela! (You can listen straight from the web, too!)

Donate to this blog here: https://www.paypal.me/notblueatall

My blog’s Facebook page for things I share that aren’t on this blog (updated daily): http://on.fb.me/1A18fAS 

Or get the same “shared” content on Twitter: @NotBlueAtAll

Are you on MeWe? I started a fat-feminist group there called, Rad Fatties Unlimited, look for it!

I also have an Instagram, though I don’t post much, I have been trying to: https://instagram.com/notblueatall/

And as always, please feel free to drop me a line in comments here or write me an email, I love hearing from readers. (Tell me your troubles, I don’t judge.): notblueatall@notblueatall.com

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Peace

February25
I never thought of peace as something I could have let alone want. It always felt to be a mere threat of a thing that could happen rather than something I would want or seek out. Peace was something that the world should want, but the powers that be never do anything to actually make it happen. It seemed to me a bit of a foreign, and even a changeable, concept.
I can’t say that I have known much peace in my life. Again, it never felt like something real or possible or even desirable. I mean, it’s difficult to want something if you’ve never known or seen it before. As much as I have enjoyed living alone for several years now, peace never entered the equation. Roommates and landlords and odd neighborly situations abound, but peace? Nah.
Peace, at least in my mind, is so often associated with religion and spirituality, something you must work toward and suffer for. Peace is something rich ladies paid a lot of money for fancy retreats in remote locales in order to achieve. It always felt like there was a catch, basically. “Poor kids don’t know peace! Weird kids don’t know peace! This is all just more fluff and woo and attached to a giant price tag! No thank you!” my inner self decided long ago, even insisted on.
The universe, or what I believe to be a force of nature that others may see as “god” in their own forms, has ways of showing us our own bullshit. We have to be paying attention, however, and I’m doubtful that many of us are. It is hard to hear the “good voices” over the bad, internally that is. Especially when you’re stuck in survival mode for so long, it’s definitely hard to hear anything else but your own struggles and needs to get by.
I never knew peace was something you simply needed to create space for. I don’t mean build an altar or buy a book or anything like that. I truly mean just creating space, in your life, for peace to exist. You don’t need to buy or to have anything at all. I suppose time is the real puzzle piece here. Time to get to just yourself and what matters to you most, deep in your core being. Time can be a luxury, I do realize this. I don’t think you need much time though to plant the seeds for peace.
I did not realize just how much of other people’s noise and life messes affected me on a daily basis. It’s like this terrible howling sound in my office no one can figure out, it is awful, but I try to ignore it until I don’t even think about it anymore. It is obviously there and anyone can hear it, but after awhile your brain just sort of gets used to it. This was how I was handling my burnout, too. I knew I was beyond burnout and heading towards real exhaustion, but I just kept going, not really knowing what else to do. Then I went on my first solo vacation and it was life changing!
Suddenly I was just me. I could think and breathe and just be and do whatever even if that meant nothing at all. I live alone but I carry so much with me in my daily life, we all do, and I couldn’t even tell! The feeling that first day on the Big Island was like nothing else I’d ever experienced. Just a freeness and openness and a sense of ownership over myself in a whole new way. The first morning I woke up so refreshed I was almost scared. I’d never awaken from sleep fully rested like that before. I also spent 20 years of my life with a bed mate (not counting puggo).
That first day I went downtown to get coffee I just felt so fresh and free and just…like the intro credits to The Mary Tyler Moore show! Ha-ha! I don’t know how else to describe it! Ha-ha! Energized?! It felt as though I was glowing and I almost think that I was with the way folks in town interacted with me. I was also wearing a vibrant red dress with huge flowers on it, but it was Hawaii so that isn’t unusual at all. Ha! It was the first time I could honestly say that I was care free! Not something I could ever say about myself previously.
That evening after hiking at the volcanoes and venturing to a local hot spot I came back to my air bnb cottage and just sat down and fucking smiled! I was exhilarated by my own existence in that very moment. I couldn’t even eat the food I’d bought, I was just completely at peace with myself and the world. I was tired as fuck, but I had found something I could hold onto in that moment and carry with me even to today!
No, the secret to finding peace isn’t visiting Hawaii, though I encourage you to if that is your thing. It is about finding a way, your own way, to getting rid of all that bullshit that lives in our heads and on our shoulders so we can actually see and feel and know what we want and need versus just doing what we have always done or to go with the flow…whose flow?! Find or make your own, I say!
This morning I woke up ten minutes before my alarm. Normally I would adjust the alarm to allow for an extra 5 or so minutes. Not today. Today I simply turned off the alarm before it went off and I laid in my bed in absolute mindful peace. Like no thoughts in my head at all! That almost never happens. I’ve tried tons of tips and tricks on meditation and breathing and all the things. This was different because it was mine. This was for me by me. I had not yet begun to think about the day or week ahead, even my lil’ puggo had not yet roused from his slumber. It was just me, warm and comfortable in my own bed. I relished in it!
I see myself and my life differently now, ever since that trip. Because now I know what peace feels like and it feels hella good! And you know how it goes, you like how something feels and you just want more of that goodness, right?!  For someone with C-PTSD, along with garden variety anxiety/depression/insomnia, to find peace even for a moment has gotta be some kind of amazing feat! Can I give myself a medal? I just want a medal for some reason. Ha-ha!
I never thought it possible, but I do feel like peace is part of my life now. I am much more mindful of how much is pressing on my mind and how much I am carrying with me that isn’t really mine to carry. I’m far more protective of who I allow into my space, physically and energetically. People often don’t know that they are giving off some fucked up energy but now I swear I can feel it before I even know where it’s coming from. Ugh! I also look forward to time and space with loved ones more than I have in a long time. I want to focus more on all of the people and things and experiences that bring more peace and general good feels in my life. It doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s, but it can be all mine.
Had you told me this a year ago I might’ve laughed. Had you told me I would have traveled, for leisure, on my own, I would have been surprised. Now my weekends are for restoration of self. All that I give away in my professional life, all that I do or take on personally, I choose to let go of and take measure of all what needs to be replenished. That is my Friday nights now. I make no plans with anyone on Friday nights because they are bookmarked for me. I know that if I don’t create this space, and consciously let go of the week’s baggage, I will feel worse for it and it will take a toll on me. I feel it physically when I haven’t had enough time like that to myself to decompress, debrief, destress, and just shake off alllllll that shit. Now if I could just figure out a way to establish a stretching routine into my day…ha-ha!
How do you find peace in your life? How to you create space for it? What have you tried that has helped you let go of all of the things buzzing around in your mind? This is still a work in progress, one that I hope won’t end for some time. While I am not religious, I do see connections to things and humans and how what I see as nature/universe/elements is a lot like what others see as “god”. I find comfort and peace in these just as much as others may in studying or congregating in their faith. I have been paying closer attention to the moon and give thanks to her, no matter how much she is shining for us each night. I feel more grounded now and while I am working through some other personal/internal things, I am quite proud of how far I’ve come in a short amount of time.
***

I’m here for realness and sincerity, honesty and vulnerability, I’m here for the good and juicy bits of life that shine for me when I know I’m heading in the right direction.

Rad Fatty Love to ALL,

<3
S

P.S. Check out and use the hashtag: #FatAndFree on Instagram & Facebook!

Check out the Fat AF podcast on your favorite podcast app for all things fat sex with me and my BFF, Michaela! (You can listen straight from the web, too!)

Donate to this blog here: https://www.paypal.me/notblueatall

My blog’s Facebook page for things I share that aren’t on this blog (updated daily): http://on.fb.me/1A18fAS 

Or get the same “shared” content on Twitter: @NotBlueAtAll

Are you on MeWe? I started a fat-feminist group there called, Rad Fatties Unlimited, look for it!

I also have an Instagram, though I don’t post much, I have been trying to: https://instagram.com/notblueatall/

And as always, please feel free to drop me a line in comments here or write me an email, I love hearing from readers. (Tell me your troubles, I don’t judge.): notblueatall@notblueatall.com

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When the mood grabs ya…

January20
I had the best fucking time last night 100% on my own at home! I had started the day a it early, well, for a Sunday. One of my besties is in Little Shop of Horrors in Gilroy, his show was at 2pm, but we wanted to eat and have a fun day of it before that time. So we hit up a fun breakfast place in San Jose before hitting the road south. We decided to hit up a couple of wineries for some tastings and I was so glad that we did!
If you’ve never been, wine tasting in Gilroy is so much less fussy than say Napa or Livermore. It’s more chill, down to earth, I guess more working class in general. We have visited as a group a few times in the past but I do not think we’d previously been in this part of the winter. It worked out in our favor, I think, since there weren’t any crowds and we had the second winery all to ourselves.
I’m no wine snob, I’m willing to try any wines, it’s fun. I particularly enjoy hearing origin stories of wineries or little family histories often told in such settings. I love hearing about each wines’ unique notes and stories, too. I feel it is a more guided journey rather than simply buying a bottle based on label and price point alone. It certainly tastes better anyway! Ha-ha! Each time I discover something new or find myself rethinking previously formed opinions.
I used to think I hated white wines, specifically chardonnays. Now I know I simply don’t care for the older style “buttery – oaky” finish. I have even bought bottles at wineries because I was so surprised by how much I liked something I didn’t think I would. I find that it forces me to check with myself and really pay attention. Plus our taste buds change over time so it’s always nice to find something new to enjoy when it was not pleasant before.
I was riding a pretty great buzz the entire day! When we got to the theater we found they had beer and wine and my friend Tom bought me a glass of Pinot Grigio, yum! We sat down and waited for the show to begin and that’s when P showed us this basket of a truly great snack mix on our table. I didn’t pay much attention at first but soon found myself munching away on tiny pretzels and cheesy crackers and other fun stuff in there. They even provided free snack refills! I don’t think I had been to that theater before but it was nice and accessible, even if the chairs weren’t the most comfortable, but that could have simply been that mine had a back leaning a bit far for my taste.
The show was really good! I had seen many iterations over the years, but it was the first time Jery had been in the show. The vocals were great and over all the show was a lot of fun. P and I were particularly in love with this one part where the three backup vocalists are outside the window of the flower shop and Jery made this face we all know too well and we were just splitting our sides over his dramatic face in an otherwise hilarious moment. It was brilliant! When you get to see your bestie take on so many big roles over the years it was awesome to see him have fun with one that would seem to be more background player but was in reality was integral to the show.
P is my favorite photobomber (my camera blurred him out).
Plus he’s always down for a selfie!
Real friends celebrate mutual silliness!
We all met up again for dinner afterwards at Applebee’s and were back to our usual silly selves. I swear we are like twelve year old boys when we’re together, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. There is a lot of love in our little crew. We’ve known each other for over twenty years. We give each other a lot of shit, but it always comes from a good place. It was a great day and they dropped me back off at my apartment when all was said and done. I just didn’t know that my night wasn’t completely over!
I was blissed out and still buzzing from the day’s boozin’ so I put on some music and started to groove a bit on my own. And then a song popped into my head! “Alexa, play Back to Life by Soul II Soul!” This is when I started to really dance around my house! Ha-ha! Then it was PM Dawn! Then it was Jon Secada! Then it was SWV! I was having the time of my damned life! Ha-ha! Just swaying and twirling in my kitchen and living room. The puggo never does appreciate it when I dance or sing for him. Such a grump! Ha!
I didn’t even turn on my television until I was pooped from dancing and needed to wind down before bed. I text some friends and even invited my FWB over, but they get up early for work and it was already 8pm. I did not even care, I was just wanting to share my good mood. Truly I cannot believe how happy I was and so carefree last night! And the best part is that I have no hangover what so ever! The key there is that I never got super drunk, I drank water throughout the day, and just kept drinking so it never peaked or valleyed. Not recommending this as an everyday life hack or anything, but damn I was feeling awesome! I think I am my best self when I am dancing and there is nothing wrong with that, regardless of sobriety.
I guess I needed to not only hang with loved ones but to also have that blissed out self care time as well. I’ve been doubling down on my self care because I know I usually deprioritize it. I had had a massage on Friday and felt so much better physically all weekend, too. If you live in Northern California or the SF Bay Area, I HIGHLY recommend A Sovereign Embodiment for any body work or ritual/spiritual needs you may have. Also check out and support the fundraiser if you are able to! It is such valuable and important work they are doing and they have given so much to our community already. I can personally attest to the quality of body and spiritual work they do. I had pain in my right foot for about two months, I knew it was nothing serious, but Irene investigated and worked out what felt like a million knots tangled into each other in the ball of my foot and not a day later I was dancing around without a care in the world! THAT IS SPECIAL! When she read my cards for the upcoming year I saw and felt things I both knew and didn’t want to. Ha-ha! This is work but it is necessary! Growth isn’t comfortable, but it vital!
I hope that you are able to do things that feed you, heal you, serve you, and get you to whatever your version of “blissed out and dancing in the living room” is! We all deserve to feel good in our bodies and tap into a purer form of our true selves from time to time. It may look and feel very different for you and that is fantastic! Whatever it is, just do it! You deserve it! Wooooooooooo!
***

I’m here for realness and sincerity, honesty and vulnerability, I’m here for the good and juicy bits of life that shine for me when I know I’m heading in the right direction.

Rad Fatty Love to ALL,

<3
S

P.S. Check out and use the hashtag: #FatAndFree on Instagram & Facebook!

Check out the Fat AF podcast on your favorite podcast app for all things fat sex with me and my BFF, Michaela! (You can listen straight from the web, too!)

Donate to this blog here: https://www.paypal.me/notblueatall

My blog’s Facebook page for things I share that aren’t on this blog (updated daily): http://on.fb.me/1A18fAS 

Or get the same “shared” content on Twitter: @NotBlueAtAll

Are you on MeWe? I started a fat-feminist group there called, Rad Fatties Unlimited, look for it!

I also have an Instagram, though I don’t post much, I have been trying to: https://instagram.com/notblueatall/

And as always, please feel free to drop me a line in comments here or write me an email, I love hearing from readers. (Tell me your troubles, I don’t judge.): notblueatall@notblueatall.com

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My 2nd Big Fat Solo Adventure: Seattle!

December16

Whimsy is such an underrated thing, darlings. It’s hard to create space for it in our daily lives, let alone the time. About two months ago I was notified of a flash sale on Alaska Airlines and it was just too good of a deal to pass up. So where did I go? Seattle! With no plan or agenda, no real reason to go, other than just why not. I was not even excited to go, to be frank. My very brief whirlwind of a relationship came to an abrupt end when the other person acted really dumb when they came over to my place last Saturday and then ghosted me. So, I ended it and flew to Seattle the next day.

I didn’t know it at the time, but I needed this trip! I needed the whimsy! I needed to be on my own and just do whatever the hell I wanted and take my sweet time doing it. I knew I wanted to visit the Museum of Pop Culture (formerly the Experience Music Project). And I knew I wanted to catch up with a friend who moved up there a few months ago, but that was it.

I hadn’t been to Seattle in ten or maybe fifteen years. Back in the late 90’s when my ex-husband and I were not yet engaged, we visited a few times to feel it out and seriously considered moving there. It didn’t work out, but Seattle will always have a special place in my heart. Going back was a serious head trip! On my own I got to take in those feels and sit with them, which I highly recommend. It gave me such peace to be amongst the wet and the green and even the cold up there.

I snapped a selfie when I got to my air bnb

I stayed in an air bnb in the Fremont area and it was a nice spot over all. Great location without being in the middle of the city. There were lots of great restaurants and shops nearby, it just had a great vibe. I had a rental car and while I didn’t explore much, what I saw just made my twisted little heart happy.
I had deleted all of my dating apps once that abbreviated relationship began. I decided the morning before I left for the airport that I would download Tinder and use it to possibly find a dinner companion, nothing more. I am demisexual so hookups just don’t work for me. I have to feel connected to someone before I even really find that sexually attractive. When I got to my air bnb I got a notification that I had matched with two people on Tinder.
I started chatting with Justin right away, he seemed geeky and chill and knew who he was and what he wanted and I appreciated that. They had just finished dinner but were up for hanging out after. I struggled to find a place I wanted to eat but settled on this French Bistro nearby called Le Coin. I made it there with fifteen minutes left of their happy hour deals. I had a nice cocktail (Tito’s & Cran is my go-to) and ate many delicious things! I felt fancy and deserved it too! 😛
After I met up with Justin, enjoyed some fabulously geeky conversation at length, some “clouds” and later some kisses, too! It was really a lovely evening through and through! I know you must think I’m insane to go to a strange man’s house in a unfamiliar city, but I honestly felt completely safe. They had the most beautiful and luxuriously fluffy siamese cat! And can I just say how much I love it when someone tells me they want to kiss me?! Seriously! OMZ! I’ve had some really great moments in my recent # ButterSpinster life that were preceded by that statement. We even called it a night at a respectable hour and I found some apricot hard cider at the 7-11 nearby on my way home. Score!

The next day I found a great place for some espresso and a lil’ bite for breakfast called, Diva Espresso! Woo! It was tasty and I enjoyed sitting by the window and watching people and their dogs go by. Then I went to the Museum of Pop Culture which was fun, but one of my knees decided it was too cold and pitched a very painful fit for two days. I utilized every elevator in existence (there is a lot of up and down at MoPop to get to the exhibits), got compliments on my dress from the staff, and overwhelmed with emotions at a couple of meaningful spots for me. My faves were the Prince from Minneapolis exhibit, Nirvana: Bringing Punk to the Masses, and the “Scared to Death” horror film exhibit.

Diva Espresso? Yes, please!

Legendary Fashion!

I’m a grunge kid at heart, always will be, so when I walked in to the Nirvana room it was like getting hit in the heart with a brick! Having been there before it was interesting to see new items and set ups and soooooo many of Kurt’s old guitars in various stages of destruction. His handwriting can make me emotional and his doodles always move me in a way I have no words to share. He was such a tender soul and I see how his impact is still alive and well in Washington. I considered driving to Aberdeen to his memorial site but it would have been a 3 hour drive each way and I ran out of time. There was a documentary about the music scene and more specifically the origin of Sub Pop records and all of the bands of that era. It felt like an old friend.


From the exhibit: Nirvana – Bringing Punk to the Masses

Kirt was always a feminist and anti-nazi! <3

I wasn’t “Scared to Death” but thrilled for sure!

I did not expect to get as excited and stoked and happy about the horror exhibit but damn, I got hyped! Seeing props from The Walking Dead and Video Drone and so many other classics made me feel like a kid! There was a sci-fi room and a magic/fantasy room, too. When I walked in to the Sci Fi exhibit I was stunned in place! I was faced with Mork’s uniform! Such a big part of my early childhood right there in front of me! WOW! I choked up a bit! I couldn’t understand why no one else was stopping to look or read the little plaque.

Sexy red lighting!


The Walking Dead: The Governor’s aquarium


Bio Hazard! Or am I the bio hazard?!

I wasn’t too into much of the rest, though I did pause and take in see Spock’s shirt from the original series. I mean to see it up close, though it was faded and appeared more lavender than blue now, the gold stitching was still shiny and intact. While I’ve never been a big fan of Pearl Jam I did go hang out in their exhibit and watched a lengthy slide show of their career set to their catalog. It is an odd feeling to know that all of your musical heroes are dead and yet this one band from a very important and developmental time of my own life is still going strong. It was also strange to hear Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains announcing things over the loudspeaker at the SeaTac airport, but these are just wild times, friends.

Mork, from Ork, Uniform <3


Spock’s Shirt, so cool!

I went nuts over this chandelier at the pizza place!
It’s just a regular small brass one but they hung a bunch of rosaries all over and I LOVE IT!

I got to meet up and catch up with a good friend I’ve known for nearly twenty years. We used to work at a music store together and have stayed in touch. They live two hours north of Seattle so we hung out and caught up on our mutual life stuffs at my air bnb for awhile. Finally we decided we wanted Italian food and ended up in this kind of hipster pizza place nearby, Lo Bocca di Lupo. Their pizza was sublime, I had one with mortadella, fresh mozzarella and pistachios! I also got to introduce my friend to the magic of burrata! YUM!

Me being a mega dork

I had wanted to go out that night, I tried to go out that night, but in the end I decided that giving my knee a break would be best and so I stayed in and watched the Astronomy Club on Netflix (new sketch show). It was good! I had a couple of those apricot ciders, and went to sleep at a reasonable hour. I had felt bad at first about not going out, like, I’m in Seattle I should make the most of it, but that whole thing about doing whatever the hell you want? It’s addictive! Ha-ha!

View from the street of my air bnb on my last morning there

The next morning I met up with Justin downtown for great espresso and some lovely breakfast sandwiches. We talked for three hours! There were so many dogs, too! Seattle has too many dogs, possibly, especially for how effing cold it is, but I understand wanting a dog in your life. Honestly, I had a really good time all weekend. So what if I didn’t “get out” and do things like I thought I wanted to. The beautiful part about traveling solo is that I don’t have to worry about a damned thing but my own self! I never even felt anxious the whole time I was there.
Now both of my flights were 100% full and that made me a bit nervous. I did get to check my bag at the gate for free both ways, but I had concerns about a full row of people next to my fat ass on a plane. However, I did not have any issues at all! In fact, on my return flight, they didn’t have a seatbelt extender right away and said they’d bring it to me. While I was fishing the attached seatbelt from beneath my lusciously bountiful butt I decided to see how much extending I was actually going to need when lo ad behold **Click** the seatbelt actually fit! Now I am not placing any good/bad/value/judgements on this, it was a fluke for sure, and it only juuuust fit, but it was a nice surprise just the same as the attendant forgot who had requested the extender. Ha-ha! For reference, I have 62″ hips and a big ole B-belly, I find Alaska’s seats comfortable though not roomy for sure. This was my first time flying with them both ways with a full flight, meaning someone in the middle seat beside me, I had the window. Both ways there was a petite woman in the middle seat and no one complained or seemed uncomfortable.
I am really glad I took this little trip. I am fortunate and very grateful that my ex-husband could watch my sweet lil’ puggo while I was away. He even kept him an extra night just because. When I got to work I felt refreshed! On a Monday! Who knew?! Ha-ha! I think I just needed a lil’ break from the madness that was the last two weeks and before the coming onslaught of holiday nonsense. I also needed to check in with myself after that whole relationship debacle. I’m not sad about it at all, not for a second, and not even a little bit. That part alone almost freaked me out, I tend to feel all the things very deeply, but that was also a sign that I needed to reset so to speak. This being only my second solo leisure travel adventure, I can’t say I’m hooked, but the world does seem to be opening up for me in this new fun way. Without the pressure of others, I can roam, or not, as I choose! Watch out world! 😉

Waiting for my Lyft home at SJC

***

I’m here for realness and sincerity, honesty and vulnerability, I’m here for the good and juicy bits of life that shine for me when I know I’m heading in the right direction.

Rad Fatty Love to ALL,

<3
S

P.S. Check out and use the hashtag: #FatAndFree on Instagram & Facebook!

Check out the Fat AF podcast on your favorite podcast app for all things fat sex with me and my BFF, Michaela! (You can listen straight from the web, too!)

Donate to this blog here: https://www.paypal.me/notblueatall

My blog’s Facebook page for things I share that aren’t on this blog (updated daily): http://on.fb.me/1A18fAS 

Or get the same “shared” content on Twitter: @NotBlueAtAll

Are you on MeWe? I started a fat-feminist group there called, Rad Fatties Unlimited, look for it!

I also have an Instagram, though I don’t post much, I have been trying to: https://instagram.com/notblueatall/

And as always, please feel free to drop me a line in comments here or write me an email, I love hearing from readers. (Tell me your troubles, I don’t judge.): notblueatall@notblueatall.com

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The Mondayest of Mondays

December9
Not wanting to dump this emotional load on anyone specifically, I figure this is as good a place as any for my current feels. My Monday really started at 10 pm last night when the caterer for work emailed to brag about his brisket being in the smoker for 8 hours already. FUCK! I had double booked our lunch order at work. Had they not emailed I really would have been boned, and not in the good way! So I frantically emailed the other vendor to cancel and all should work out fine, but it was a shitty feeling to go to sleep with. I was already feeling a lot of things, most of which were very heavy, partially due to PMS (maybe, who knows) and partially due to a new relationship I’ve found myself jumping into two weeks ago, but I digress. Starting off my week with a big fat expensive fucking mistake super mega sucks. I pride myself on my reputation of getting shit done and keeping it organized too. Ha-ha!
I get to work and the lunch stuff seems to have been sorted out, only time will tell really. And then I get an email from 23 and Me that a dna relative has sent me a direct message. I rarely log in or even look at such messages, but something felt different and so I did. And it was from a cousin I haven’t seen since they were a child, asking if I was in contact with my bio mom. “No, not in over twenty-five years. Same with her family. My sister is friends with her on FB, so she’s on there for sure.” Well it seems her parents health is failing and they wanted to reach out to her. They said, “Thanks, I’ll let my mom know.” Must be nice. It hurts. To be thought of but only in relation to someone who didn’t want to be a relation to me and my siblings. UGH!
Fuck this has brought up a lot of shit I was not prepared to even think about for awhile. Like, I honestly figured her parents had already passed. But when bio mom left my dad, her entire family never reached out to us again. It was a big family too but they never fully accepted her, so it makes sense that they would reject what she already had rejected (us), I guess. I don’t want to think about them or her at all. I had always wondered about my cousins, but we’re all adults, if anyone gave a flying fuck they could have reached out. No one did. Fuck ’em all!
It’s true, I’m in a new relationship. We met on Bumble, exactly 7 days before I was supposed to give up dating entirely. Our first date was 8 hours long, had an absolute blast, and we deleted the app halfway though. We talked, we drank, we laughed, we danced, and ended up making out in the street at 2 am in Oakland. It was fabulous! The next night was too. By Tuesday of that same week we were exclusive and official. And now either it’s PMS or C-PTSD brain, but a lot of my alarms are going off and I’m full of doubt and wondering what the fucking point is with this shit anyway.
Someone who I was close to at work is visiting today with their new baby. We were close until they were about 7 months pregnant, and they’ve said maybe 4 words to me since. I don’t need this shit! Two close friends are having surgery this week, one of my bffs had a biopsy last week but won’t have any results back until tomorrow. So now I’m mad and confused and tender hearted and wishing I could go back to bed. My puggo is all I want right now!
All of this and I’m also going to Seattle this Friday, just for the weekend, but I’m having conflicting feelings about that too.  I booked the trip because there was a flash sale and a friend moved up there last year. I thought it would be fun to catch up and visit, see a couple of sights, nothing big. Everything is all booked. I’m just hoping I can get excited about it when it’s time to go. Otherwise it all just feels like more stress.
Having to be “on” at work is sucking my will to live at the moment, but I’ll get through. Always do. I didn’t even leave the house yesterday, though I had big ambitions to do so (big being a Trader Joe’s visit but anxiety won that battle). I spent my entire weekend cleaning and then not being able to move at all (anxiety). My person came over Saturday night but it started off on the wrong foot when they just showed up when they had said that they’d text me their eta. So I was dressed and semi-made up, but still cleaning and doing laundry with an apron on and my hair in buns (my equivalent of curlers in a way).
Then they wanted to watch American Football. On my television! They knew I hated it, we’d previously discussed it. Even in the moment they asked about my feelings and we got into the socio/political/economic impact of American Football and they agreed with me, but then still watched the game. And did that thing where they ask if you want them to turn it off but you know they won’t be happy if you say yes. Then they had the nerve to ask if I was enjoying the game, and pointed out that I was also watching it. “Well it is hard to look away, it’s a lot of aggressive imagery!” was my response. Technically I only have one rule in my house, no Morrissey/Smiths, but this may prove a necessary addition. Also, what the fuck did I clean and make myself up for if they weren’t even gonna look at or comment on any of it anyway?!
So here I am. Wondering why I bother to do anything for anyone when I feel like shit every time. Why jump into a monogamous relationship when it is starting to feel like merely a creature comfort and not something deeper?! What is the point when I’m still home alone feeling like human garbage all day every damned Sunday?! People promise you things, they tell you they are consistent, they say they are great communicators, they say they want to get to know you, that they are ready and able to share their feelings, but in reality it always feels so one sided. It’s so much easier on my own! I don’t have to explain myself. I don’t have to want anything or wait for it. I can just be. (FWIW this has way more to do with more important things like my boundaries being pushed and less to do with my dislike of sports.)
This may be a lot of self destructive bullshit, it may be PMS fucking with me, it could be my C-PTSD brain red flagging everything the moment it started to feel good…all plausible and likely, but also it could be my gut telling me that this person isn’t going to prioritize me and I know it so why put myself on a shelf for their convenience? Why do I even believe that was a fucking possibility anymore?! I think I’m just trying to beat myself up at this point. Like a mistake at work means I deserve to just blow up everything else with a fucking match, too! I know time will remedy all of this but I am done waiting to be treated how I know I should. I am done waiting for actions to match words. I will see how this plays out, but I’m not fucking settling. I will have the difficult conversation when appropriate.
I do feel good about being able to help a friend by sending them self care stuffs they needed. They had starting a new job after almost a year on medical leave. Those first days on your feet are brutal and I know that shit all too well. So being able to send them a care package felt really fucking good! And seeing how it has helped them felt really good, too. Another bff just got a new job after being away from full time work for over a year. I could not be happier for them! I am really trying to see the good in things today, so hard! But try as I might, people are assholes and I’m struggling to deal with them at the moment. I just wanna scream and fucking cry!
Also, this is my boss’ last week at the company and it is breaking my fucking heart. He was like one of my all time favorite bosses ever! We have such a great working relationship. We’re about to start a new office project for Denver and I cannot believe I won’t have him with me on this. Not that I can’t handle it, I’m very capable and know better, but damn, the weight of it feels so much heavier. I’ve had so many terrible managers and so much past work trauma, this is all bubbling up to the surface. I know, this too shall pass. **DeepBreaths**
Maybe I’m just depressed. Meh.
***

I’m here for realness and sincerity, honesty and vulnerability, I’m here for the good and juicy bits of life that shine for me when I know I’m heading in the right direction.

Rad Fatty Love to ALL,

<3
S

P.S. Check out and use the hashtag: #FatAndFree on Instagram & Facebook!

Check out the Fat AF podcast on your favorite podcast app for all things fat sex with me and my BFF, Michaela! (You can listen straight from the web, too!)

Donate to this blog here: https://www.paypal.me/notblueatall

My blog’s Facebook page for things I share that aren’t on this blog (updated daily): http://on.fb.me/1A18fAS 

Or get the same “shared” content on Twitter: @NotBlueAtAll

Are you on MeWe? I started a fat-feminist group there called, Rad Fatties Unlimited, look for it!

I also have an Instagram, though I don’t post much, I have been trying to: https://instagram.com/notblueatall/

And as always, please feel free to drop me a line in comments here or write me an email, I love hearing from readers. (Tell me your troubles, I don’t judge.): notblueatall@notblueatall.com

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