Financial Update

Well, we're almost twelve hours into the supposed End of the World here in EST and buildings still appear to be standing and nobody I know* has been raptured, so I suppose the world will continue as usual.

The genius status update of one of my friends.  Why didn't I think of this?

*  Admittedly, the portion of the population least likely to be taken up in the rapture.

Since many of you were interested in following my progress on the student loan front, I think we're long overdue for a bit of a financial/loan update.


Background:

As you may recall, back in May I posted about my commitment to redirect my financial priorities and more quickly repay my student loans.  The plan utilized Dave Ramsey's "Snowball Method" of debt repayment, in which you pay the minimum payments on all of your loans except the smallest, which you pay off with all of your remaining money until it's gone.  Then you roll that minimum payment into a "snowball" payment, which you put towards the next-smallest loan, and so on.

I also put myself on a $100/week budget for food, clothes, and other expenses.


Changes:

• No more debt snowball.  I met with a financial adviser in the fall.  I brought him a spreadsheet of my loan amounts and interest rates, and he almost laughed me out the door when I told him about the snowball method.  Although I understood that it was not the most mathematically optimal way to pay off loans, I appreciated the psychological benefit of seeing quick results associated with faster repayments.  However, the financial adviser actually calculated the amount of money I pay in interest per year towards my largest highest-interest loan, and it came out to $3,600.  $3,600 every year I let that thing sit.  I realized that even with a few shopping sprees that might be associated with being demoralized from paying down a huge loan for ten months, I still would not spend $3,600.  So I switched gears.  I am now paying off my highest interest-rate loans first.

• The $100 budget is not working so well.  I have not yet figured out how I'm going to change this budget, but I haven't been sticking to it and need to revise the plan somehow.  I'm thinking of making it so that weekly groceries do not come out of the $100?  Also, I may simply institute a "one in, one out" policy in my closet, since despite a recent closet purge I have once again managed to cram the thing full of stuff.  Vacations are another story; the curse and the luxury of my paycheck is that I don't actually need to save up for vacations.  Although I recognize it is a good habit to save for vacations, I also recognize that I won't be able to take totally spur-of-the-moment and unencumbered-by-kids vacations forever, so I'm okay with enjoying that particular class of spontaneity while I have it.

Progress:

Check it out:

Heck yeah!

As of today, I have now fully paid three of my student loans, plus one of my familial loans.  Two of them are lower-interest loans (pictured above), one is one of my two highest-interest (more than 7%) loans, and the family loan had 0% interest but a fixed repayment plan. 

Man, it felt great to get this letter.

We just received our annual bonuses at the firm today, and I put the money towards knocking out my baby high-interest loan and taking a chunk out of the big one.  The big one is my next target, and with my loan payment next month, it will drop into the next-lower 10k range.  After a year or so of payments on the big one, I will have taken care of the two loans with the highest interest rates, and will move on to my loans with ~7% interest rates.

I have also reduced my total student loan debt by about 15%.

It feels good to take a minute to appreciate the progress I have made so far.  It hasn't been easy to watch so much of my pay disappear into loans each month---this month's loan payment basically felt like pushing a decent used car off a cliff---but I can see progress and I feel motivated to continue.  Once the holidays are over and I get back into a lower spending bracket again, things will only move faster.

Posted with Blogsy and Blogger

$ Ch-ch-ch-changes! $

Last week was somewhat of a milestone for me:  I've been out of law school for a whole year.  Although I've only been working since September, I've still been out of the academic bubble for more than 12 months, 365 days, 8760 hours...you get the point. 

All of this has gotten me thinking about the steps I need to be taking financially in order to prepare myself for the next stages in my life. 

(image)

My student loan debt is astounding (I have three Ivy League degrees!), and while it's easy to keep up with the payments with my current salary (ptoo ptoo knock wood ptoo ptoo), I have not made as much headway in paying them down over this year as I would have liked.  I sort of feel as though I'm throwing small clumps of money at my loans and hoping that they will get smaller, but my funds are barely making a dent.  Who'd have thought that spending what I want on whatever I want and devoting whatever "spare" cash I have to additional payments wouldn't be doing the trick here?  Shocking, I know.

(image)

Right now, I'm lucky not to have any financial responsibilities outside of my loans.  No children, no spouse, no mortgage.  I have a good job that pays well.  This will not always be the case.

So I'm getting serious.  My one-year real-adult anniversary seems like as good a time as any.

I've come up with an aggressive budget --- an actual budget --- with which I can devote 70% of my take-home pay to paying down my student loans.  I've still left myself with a bit of fun spending money, but it's less than 20% of what what I'd been working with before.  I don't carry any credit card debt, but I will be cutting down use of my credit card almost entirely to work-related reimburseable expenses. 

I have no idea whether I can make a budget like this happen over the long-haul, but you'll hear all about it either way.  Soup to nuts, the good, the bad, the ugly.  How about we start with the ugly?  I started with the restricted (weekly) spending budget yesterday and I'm already 40% through it.  Erm... 

And I'm pretending not to notice there's a Kate Spade sale on Gilt tomorrow.  Not fair, fate!

(this will not be in the sale, but I missed out on this bag last year and it has taunted me ever since) (cue Whitney: "and iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiIIIIiiiiIIIIiii....") (image)

All this to say, the character of my posts may change a bit.  This blog has always reflected my life, and for the last few years my life has largely consisted of frolicking in the land of in-school deferred loan payments or minimum loan payments.  I imagine now there will be a lot fewer large sale hauls (unfortunately for all of us), and there may be more posts about saving money, paying down student loans, and shopping on a limited budget.  (Really, I'm just going from one type of Jewish girl to another!)  I imagine many of us are in the same boat with student loans, although I'd bet dollars to donuts I out-loan you.

That said, I'll be easing you into this new Jewish Girl slowly --- you still have to hear about my new folding bike and my (upcoming) trip to Vegas, both of which are/will be my last bits of financial levity before most of the rest of my extra money goes towards loans. 

It is done!

Also, I'll still be wearing clothes.  I'll just be working more intently with the clothes I already have, which is probably more realistic and helpful anyway.

I think this new adventure is going to be fun, challenging, and interesting to watch (either because I'm successful or because I lose my mind and become an entertaining trainwreck and cautionary tale). 

Let me know your thoughts in the comments; if it seems like a lot of folks are interested in hearing more about the financial side of my life I will make sure to work in more posts about that subject.  If you'd rather things stay as unchanged in content as possible, I'd like to know that too. 

Let's do this!

Symbollic Sale Haul: NY Bar Exam Results Are Out

(see here)

A Back-to-School GIVEAWAY!

Those of you who have followed this blog for a while know that I enjoy spending money (see here).  You may not know that this penchant evolved long before I had any form of job security that would justify such behaviors.  I never spent beyond my means, but I have always enjoyed the thrill of the shopping hunt---stalking products and deals and pouncing when the time and price are right.

Behind the coffee counter at my first job in my senior year of high school, illustrating the above point.

College was for me, as I'm sure it is for many, a particularly challenging time to manage my money.  Most of my income came from my parents or student loans, and most of THAT was eaten up by school expenses and inordinate textbook costs.  In order to earn money to spend on fun things, I resorted to drastic measures:

Medical experiments.

Make no mistake, I'm not talking about those pansy psych experiments that only involved a few questionnaires or a vision test or a frank discussion about your feelings while incense burned in the background.  No no.  These were full-on invasive, body-scanning, IV-inserting, overnight-hospital-stay-requiring medical experiments.  The more needles were involved, the more I got paid.

My unique blood sugar level placed me in a category of individuals that a few doctors were interested in studying to determine susceptibility to diabetes.  I made over $1000 in the year and a half that I participated in these experiments.  I stayed overnight in the hospital four times, took as many blood glucose tolerance tests, and got a full-body bone-density scan (the copy is still on my fridge!).

My skeleton!  The first and only naked picture of me on the internet!

But you know what would have been a lot easier?

CampusBookRentals.com

This company lets you rent all of those incredibly expensive, $100+ textbooks and casebooks, generally for less than half the price of buying the books (and even up to 90% off).  The best part, besides free shipping both ways, is that it's okay to highlight in the books when you use them!  It makes me a little sick to think about the amount of money that I dropped on expensive law school casebooks, only to sell them back to the bookstore in a few months for 25% of their original value.  Not to mention the fact that Campus Book Rentals donates a portion of their proceeds to Operation Smile.

It's now officially August and we're staring back-to-school time in the face.  For those of you going back to school (or who know somebody who is in school), CampusBookRentals.com is offering a generous giveaway to SJGL readers (that's you)!

One randomly-selected winner will receive a $50 gift code to spend on CampusBookRentals.com!

Here's how you enter:

1.  Become a public follower of this blog.
2.  Leave a comment saying that you are a public follower, and telling me the craziest thing you've ever done to earn extra money
3.  For an extra entry, "like" Campus Book Rentals on Facebook (there's a link in the top right corner of their homepage) AND leave a SEPARATE comment indicating that you've done so.

That's it!

Enter by 11:59pm on August 9th.  I will announce a winner on August 10th!

As if things couldn't get any better, the kind folks over at Campus Book Rentals have also offered a special 10% off discount code for the first ten SJGL readers to use it!  I'll reveal the code when I announce the giveaway winner.

Good luck!

Hasta Luego...

Farewell, New York!

As of today, the lease is up on my law school apartment and I'm heading down to Washington, D.C. to officially begin my post-grad life.  I am spending most of the summer studying for the bar exam (it's at the end of July) and then will be traveling through most of August and the first part of September.  I start my law firm job in mid-September.  I look forward to telling you more about my new neighborhood, new apartment, and new goings-on!

DC-themed mini golf at H Street Country Club.

Me and BF at a Washington Nats Game

Big life changes like this move excite me.  I love the feeling of directing my own destiny.  As much comfort as I draw from established routines, making moves---geographic, social, psychological, professional, whatever---comes with a feeling of power and self-efficacy that is second to none.

I am so thrilled to be living in one of my favorite neighborhoods in D.C., to be living by myself (for the first time in my adult life!), and to be DONE with bi-monthly commutes on the Chinatown bus to see my long-distance boyfriend.  I am ready to spend the summer learning the black letter law I'll need for the bar exam and the prospect of starting my CAREER in a few months---instead of just taking another odd job---makes my heart beat faster.  I love my firm and my office and I look forward to working.

In my second year of law school, I bought this "Keep Calm and Carry On" decal for my locker, which was located in a relatively high-traffic area.  The kid  whose locker was next to mine, a first-year student, had his red decal custom-made in response:

Even with this sense of happiness, I will certainly miss New York City.  Although I'll be back often for work and for play, I'll miss 24-hour establishments, the parks, the four Anthros within easy distance*, and the security of knowing that if ANYTHING cool is happening ANYWHERE in the WORLD, eventually it will make its way to New York.

* Fortunately, there are two Anthros and an accessories boutique in D.C., and then two more stores in driving distance in Virginia.

Nathan's July 4th Hot Dog Eating Competition on Coney Island.

Part of the reason I decided to go to law school in New York was so that I could check NYC off my "list" and take any job I wanted post-grad, without feeling bound to a job in NYC just so I could experience living here once in my life.  Now that I've spent three years here, I realize that I'll never really be able to take New York City off my list of places I want to live.  This city will always be one of my favorite cities to live, and I know that this isn't goodbye.

Ice skating in Rockefeller Center.

View from the terrace of my Law Review building.

A performance at Brandy's Piano Bar.

Until we meet again, fair city.  Until we meet again.

OOTD: Graduation!

I graduated on Monday!

Yours truly!  I get to keep this cool velvet hat.

The Outfit:

Then I ate a pastrami sandwich at Katz's.

In this Outfit:

Blooming Goldenrod Dress (Anthro) (8)

Heat Index Pullover (Anthro) (M, but runs TTS/big) ($30 here)

Mary Janes (Target) (9)

After the Rain Earrings (Anthro)

Globe Watch Pendant Necklace (Urban Outfitters) ($34 here)

I am done with law school!

Me and the take home examination proctor who time-stamped my last law school exam EVER.

I feel like a champion!

Thanks for the encouragement, everyone :-D

A Brief Ode to the Grasby Gardens Dress

I'm taking the last final exam of my law school career today.  It's probably the last academic exam I will ever take in my life, not including the bar exam this July.  I expect it will be outrageously difficult and I don't have high hopes that I will do well.  Still, I will plow through and I will finish it.  And tomorrow you will hear all about how things finished up with the 30 Day Shred Challenge, results which will inevitably be better than my exam results (did you send in your celebrations??).

But until then, in the midst of my stress, I wanted to share something lovely with you (via the miracle of auto-posting an entry I wrote several days ago, of course).  I quietly purchased Anthropologie's Grasby Gardens dress from Roxy's Anthropologie Trade Market before I left for Israel (well, mostly quietly).

It has since proved itself a rock star, appropriate for almost every occasion calling for a dress.  This includes cocktail parties, weddings (as in the photos below), and daily life.  This is one of those rare wardrobe pieces that makes me happy just to think about!  Thank you so much for selling it to me, Shannon!

I recently wore it to the beautiful wedding of a friend of mine, and the amazing photographer (here) not only snapped gorgeous photos of the bride and groom---who looked utterly happy and in love (CONGRATULATIONS YOU TWO!!!)....................but he also nabbed a few great ones of my dress and of course I am compelled to share.  (As usual, BF wants to stay anonymous, so I've hidden his identity in these photos.)

I love that ruffle on the shoulder!  It creates such an interesting silhouette, both from the front and from the side.

Can you see why this dress makes me want to jump for joy?

Slowly Going Crazy: Stress Shopping Sale Haul

I don't know what's wrong with me.  I am soooooo close to the end of law school---one final exam, WEDNESDAY---but I just CANNOT focus.  My mind is EVERYWHERE and I can't for the life of me force myself to just SIT. DOWN. and absorb the information I will need to know for the test.  I'm so overwhelmed with all the stuff I have in store AFTER I'm done---apartment hunting in DC, seeing my family at graduation, moving---not to mention the fact that I've got lots of fun posts coming up for the blog (including Outfit Triage Resuscitated and a new installment of Inspiring Interpretations).  I'm just overwhelmed with excitement and the only thing standing in my way of all of these things is my damn. final. exam.

Studying makes me feel like I'm living inside a Hyperbole and a Half cartoon.  (see, e.g., here and here, with full explanation here)  Also, please ignore the disaster area behind me.

I hunkered down all weekend and did my best to read through some materials (after shredding and making the best pancakes known to man---recipe later this week), but by this afternoon I found myself going slightly stir crazy and by 3pm I needed to GETOUTOFTHEDAMNAPARTMENT.  So I decided to take a walk...

...to Urban Outfitters.  Because they opened one up a few blocks away from me this year, and I still haven't been.  And I'm about to move.  And that's tragic.  Also tragic that I can't put together a real sentence because my brain is addled with thoughts of cases and controversies that can come before an Article III court.  I'm not sure if it's clear in my tone, but mama's gone a little bit bonkers from all this studying.

Final Exam: DO NOT WANT.

I think I was pretty clear with myself when I walked through the door to UO that I was going to do a little bit of stress shopping.  I suppose that's bad, but I like the things I bought and I spent less than $100, so that must count for something, right?

It's been a while since I've done a proper "sale haul" post, mainly because I haven't had one big haul so much as a few purchases here and there over the last few weeks.  I'll do a full recap sale haul for you guys later in the week, once I figure out what I'm getting at Anthro to celebrate finishing law school!  I'm drooling over the Verdant Slip Dress and a fantastically casual, not-yet-online red white and blue dress (JULY 4 KITSCH FTW!).  Both are full price, but since I recently decided to forgo the purchase of a new dress for my Grad Ball (think: prom), and since I'm about to graduate from MAMAFRACKING LAW SCHOOL I think I may deserve a few treats.  Also, THIS.

I'm not sure where my budget is at; there's math involved and I need to determine whether my excursion to the Atlantic City J.Crew Outlet should count against my Anthro budget.  (No, you say?  Excellent!)

Urban Outfitters Exam-Related Stress Relief Therapy Haul

1. Cooperative Conversational Boatneck Dolman, $15 online and $10 in stores.
It's a boatneck...with boats on it!  I took my true size small, which is a bit short in length, but the medium was much too baggy.  It still tucks into waist-high skirts.  It reminds me a LOT in shape and style of Anthro's Billie Shirt, which I already have but LOVE.  So I'm gonna go ahead and say that this isn't repetitive to own.  I'm also kind of into the purple motif of this shirt, which features pears.  I may have to look into that one:


2. Sparkle & Fade Wrap-Around Tulip Skirt, $20 online, $15 with damaged merchandise discount (missing the inner button).
I took my true size small.  The medium was definitely too bulky.  I like the smooth feel of the fabric and the paperbag waist.  It's a bit shorter than I usually wear, coming a few inches above the knee, but it's not TOO short.  It's also not clingy, so the loose feel of the skirt counterbalances its length, providing a great classy/sexy look.  Despite its wrap-ness, the material is substantial so I wasn't worried about a strong breeze putting my lady bits out into the world.

3.  Kimchi Blue Leaf Stretch Belt, $24 here.
This is cute.  I think I will wear it a lot.  But maybe I won't, in which case I'll return it.  (I took a M/L, which is my normal size in belts).

4. Watch Globe Pendant Necklace, $34 here. 

Watch Globe Pendant Necklace, $34 at Urban Outfitters, here.  (Shown in brass; also available in silver)  

(PS: "Could this name BE more descriptive?" - Chandler Bing, in my imagination)  

I really love this necklace!  It comes down almost to my belly button and is hugely round:

PS: I want to tell you an AMAZING story about the Blooms Above the Snow cardigan you see above, but that'll have to wait for another day; this entry is long enough as it is!

How was your weekend?  Don't you wish we could play the Anthropologie sale guessing game already?

OOTD: Primarily Warm Weather

The weather has utterly stumped me lately.  One day it's cool, one day it's sweaty-hot.  Every day, my iPhone warns me that there will be a torrential downpour, and yet I'm greeted by clear weather.  It's difficult to figure out what to wear when the environment is having trouble deciding what to wear, too.

So, I went simple.

Primary colors.  The fundamental shades that make up all other shades.  "Back to basics" in the most Sesame Street way possible!

This outfit may also be a reflection of the fact that, as finals approach, I am less and less capable of sparing anything resembling complex thought for anything other than studying.

What a sad, sad prospect for such happy, happy colors.

In this Outfit:

Banana Republic Shirt

Izaac Mizrahi for Target Skirt (thrifted)

Anthropologie Gift Bow Belt

Coach Necklace and Ring

Gold hoop earrings (gifted)

Lovely People Judy Flat ($60 here) (These fit TTS or slightly big. I have my usual 9 with heel grips and it's fine.  Didn't try on the 8.5 so can't comment on the sizing!)

OOTD: Back to School

My last semester of law school started on Tuesday, and I can already tell things will not work out the way I'd hoped. My initial schedule was awesome -- class only on Thursday and Friday, externship field work on Tuesday and Wednesday, with Mondays free. I was registered for a negotiations seminar, which I'd wanted to take for a long time. Although Friday afternoon class would cut into my DC weekends, at least I could make up for it with Monday off.

Then yesterday it became apparent to me that I really actually do in fact need to take Federal Courts this semester; it is a large lecture class that meets in the morning on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. This throws a kink in everything, and not only do I have to drop negotiations, but I also need to find some kind of magical academic credit somewhere in order to graduate. This won't be hard, but it will be annoying.

Needless to say, I was kind of a grump today. It certainly didn't help that I woke up to damp weather and muddy sidewalks and a forecast of rain despite last night's prediction of clear skies. Today's outfit is sort of a shadow of what I'd originally planned, which had involved my new yellow pumps; I did not want to make them filthy this early in our relationship, so rather than come up with a new outfit (I was already running late for -- you guessed it -- Federal Courts), I made a few modifications to accommodate my galoshes (different cardigan, tights, undershirt, and accessories). I'm sure the original outfit will make an appearance one of these days.

I'm reaching new academic heights! (groan)

Dress (and "belt/tie"): Perthshire Dress (Anthro) (4; purchase inspired by Anjali)

Cardigan: Tied Trail Cardi (Anthro) (S) ($50 here)

Undershirt: Bob Madsie Studio (probably purchased at Marshall's or the like) (L; pre-weight loss -- too big, but still works well as an undergarment)

Tights: Textured Slub Legging (Pure + Good via Anthro) (M; too big, too late to return)

Boots: Deuell Rain Boots (ALDO) (39)

Sparkly Tiara: J.Crew

Earrings: Coach

Necklace: Zodiac Pendant (Anthro)

Ring: Etsy (Oh Hello Friend) (discovered via Carol at In Pursuit of Pretty Things)

Watch: Fossil

On the plus side, I got another price adjustment (PA) at Anthro today. An Effortless Anthropologie commenter pointed out that the price of the Tria skirt dropped dramatically, and that she was able to return her NWT item and repurchase it for the new sale price. Although this is technically not allowed under Anthro's price adjustment policy, I had a very kind sales associate who was willing to overlook the policy since my item was NWT. (Original price: $128. Originally paid: $70. Got a 25% PA a week later for a total cost of $53. Returned and repurchased for $20 less 25% so...$15. Yes. $15. You may hate me commencing...now.) Of course, it probably helped my cause when I trotted up to the register with several new purchases in hand; true to form, I gave all my recovered funds back to Anthro, plus a little extra, by way of the Peggy Sue dress (had to size all the way up to a 10, but it loks the way I wish the Waffle Weave dress had looked. PS: why did the Waffle dress look awesome on EVERYONE except for me?) and a parka that I might return. Damn, that 25% off gets me every time.

Great way to start off my last few months as a student...ensuring that my student loan money is utterly spent.

Readers, what do you do when the weather doesn't cooperate with your outfit plans? Do you stick to the plan, make slight modifications, or go with another look entirely? Some days I just don't think I have the stamina to start from scratch.

Clearly lacking stamina.

Coat: Cym & Ripple Coat (Anthro) (6)

OOTD: What do you do...with a [JD] in [New York]?

I took the last final exam for my second-to-last semester of law school on Wednesday! It was a brutally long 8 hour take-home. My brain started turning to mush about 2/3 of the way through, but I soldiered on knowing that a trip to Anthro with a friend of mine was on the horizon once we both turned in our exams.

The exam got finished. And I kid you not, readers...when I needed a short break, and when I wanted to make myself feel a little bit better about my miserable exam-time existence without mainlining chocolate, I stood up and poofed out my skirt and admired the view.

Shirt: Gap

Skirt: Mindful Skirt by Daughters of the Liberation ($20 this fall at Anthro)

Tights: Hue sweater leggings (similar for $20 here)

Belt: Looping Lanes Belt (Anthro)

Boots: Berry-Stitched Boots (Anthro)

Earrings: Trefoil Posts (Anthro)

Necklace: Voyage to the Moon (Anthro)

Bracelet: Royal Tailor Cuff (Anthro)

And the disappointed Googlers for this week are... (plus an OOTD)

In my attempt to spend as few productive hours as possible actually studying for final exams, I have become enamored with blogger's "stats" feature. Here, you can check the number of page views of your site by day, hour, week, etc., and you can see the various websites that refer readers to your page.

The best part, though, is a rundown of the search keywords that have led people from google to your page. As I mentioned last week, a few unfortunate individuals arrived here hoping for something else.

Well, the results have gotten more awesome and I just can't resist sharing a few more with you.

This Week's Most Hilarious Googlers:

crazy jewish stuff - leads you here

"jewish girls" money - this could link to every page on my blog, but the text comes from here

jewish girls peeing - god, there really is a fetish for everything. here

and my personal favorite..."girls in wonka blueberry costumes" - here

If things continue at this rate, I might have to do this every week.

Oh, and also, I got completely torn apart by my first final exam for the semester, but at least I was wearing an appropriately themed shirt:

Typewriters! (Our law school exams are computerized. Get it?)

Grrrr, why were you so HARD, Antitrust final? Why do you lack a proper index, Antitrust casebook?

Shirt: Porridge Keeping Tabs Tee

Cardigan: Lia Molly Coin Purse Cardigan (see where the name comes from here)

Pants: Joe's Best Friend Jeans

Shoes: Vintage, from Buffalo Exchange

Socks: Anthro Shiny Stripes Socks (copper color)

Necklace: Anthro Secret Key Necklace

Bracelet: J.Crew Factory Blakely Bling Bracelet (pale Cider color, here)

Earrings: Anthro Bright Bulb Posts (mint color)

Textbook: The depths of hell.

OOTD: Let the hours roll by, doing nothing

So far I've been awake for five an a half hours. Instead of studying, I have done the following:

• Checked blogs/twitter (several times)
• Ordered two dresses over the phone, thanks to Roxy's In-Store Community Post (yay for Manor Gates and Twinkle Twinkle dresses!)
• Walked to the law school to get my casebook
• Picked up some plates from my journal's building
• Ate sushi. And cookies.
• Reorganized my closet(s). (Plural. More on that another day.)
• Showered. Made coffee. Drank coffee.
• Lamented with a friend how little time I have to exercise. (Irony fully recognized by at least one of us.)
• Tried on new clothes that arrived just as I was sitting down to study (for real this time)

Most ridiculously of all, I spent about forty minutes coming up with the perfect lazy/casual outfit to wear while studiously studying on a Saturday:

Shirt: Anthropologie Philomene Top (on sale for $20 here)

Leggings: Hue Frost-Free Leggings (similar here, $20, but the high heels make them look less comfy and more "While I put these back on, you put $50 on the dresser and get the hell out of here.")

Belt: Anthropologie High Prairie Belt (similar here, $7)

Slippers: Victoria's Secret (different style here, $25)

Necklace: Anthropologie Zodiac Neckalce (Sold out online, $30 in stores)

Earrings: Coach Black Pave Crystal Drops (similar here, $70)

I'm Outta Here!!

Well, I finished my second year of law school. Despite the academic failure that was this semester, I pulled through exam season in one piece and less than three pounds heavier than when I started. I’m calling that one a victory for the home team.

It’s amazing: almost immediately as my finals drew to a close, I could tell my hunger level was changing. No longer was I wanting to eat all the time, but suddenly I could HEAR my hunger signals. I could tell that I was satisfied, not full, not starving... I know there’s a lot of research that shows how much stress affects our eating, but it was impressive to see the dramatic shift as my stress dissipated.

And with that, I am going to abandon you for about a week. My wonderful sister is graduating from college this weekend in Pennsylvania, and after that I’m going on my traditional post-finals trip to Atlantic City (free hotel rooms on weekdays what what!). I’ll see you when I get back!

Toodles!

On Failure

I’ve been thinking a lot about failure this week.

Part of my preoccupation is certainly my impending law school exams. In my effort to become more fit and healthy, I frequently neglected classes or reading in favor of eating a calm, balanced meal or getting some exercise. There’s no excuse for this, really; I made my choices. I could have done it all, but it would have been harder. So I picked the thing that mattered most---my health---and let the other chips fall where they may. As long as they didn’t fall in a nearby bowl next to some salsa, I figured I was good.

But now it’s the end of the semester and my lackadaisical academic attitude is catching up with me. And instead of buckling down and studying for 20 hours a day to prepare for my first exam on Friday, I’m not changing much. I’m doing some reading, but I am so paralyzed by fear and urgency that I am doing little of the work I should be doing, and I’m simultaneously freaking out about how hard my classmates appear to be working. Bad combination.

Add to this the fact that the last two weeks on Weight Watchers have been a struggle, and you’ve got yourself a perfect storm of depression and self-doubt.

I mentioned last week that I switched from points-counting to a different method of tracking my food called the “Simply Filling Technique” (SFT). SFT deserves its own (more positive) post, because truly it rescued me from some pretty dangerous thought processes I was beginning to develop while trying to stretch my 20 daily points.

Cliff’s notes version: Weight Watchers offers two ways to follow their plan. The first is “points,” in which you get a certain number of points per day, and 35 per week, and then whatever extra you “earn” from exercising (you get 1 point for each 100 calories burned). All foods have point values (which is a function of calories/fat/fiber---calories and fat increase points, fiber decreases points), and you eat what you want as long as you stay within your range. The basic idea behind SFT is that you eat from a (LONG) list of “filling foods” to satisfaction. Anything not on the list, you deduct from your standard 35 weekly points (or activity points). You don’t get daily points.

I bring SFT up now because I am just beginning my fifth week on this new technique, and I can’t help but feel like a monumental failure:

Starting Weight: 136.6 (current goal is 135, but I’m thinking of moving it to 136...more on that another day)
Week 1 on SFT: +0.4
Week 2: -0.4
Week 3: +3.4
Week 4: ?? Weigh in is tomorrow at a WW center (at 7pm, with clothes on), but my home scale is showing me +.8 from last week’s at-home, in-the-morning, in-the-buff weight.

In all fairness, week 3 shouldn’t even count. I went COMPLETELY off the program that week, ended up -40 points in the red (unheard of in my personal history) and it was all on purpose. But I expected to see a loss this week as I began to eat normally and that weight came off. I am terrified of the fact that I may still be gaining weight...I’m afraid that I won’t be able to make SFT work...I’m worried that I will have to switch back to points and perhaps go back to the unhealthy/unhappy mindset I developed towards the end.

So, in an effort to have more success this week, I’m identifying a few of what I think may be my weak areas and discussing how to address them. As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback.

• Ultimately, I know I’m overeating. I have a hard time eating to “satisfaction,” instead eating to “full.” I have a VERY difficult time leaving food on my plate. Even if I’m satisfied, my tendency is to finish the portions I served myself, especially if there are only five bites left. But those bites add up, and I need to break the habit of eating when I don’t need more food.

• As a corollary to the first point, I think I need to cut back or stop eating my activity points. On the points system, I was able to eat all of my 35 weekly points, plus all of my activity points, and still lose weight. I suspect I may not be able to do that on SFT; probably because I am eating enough filling food to be satisfied, and I only ever spend my points on junk food like ice cream.

• Nighttime eating has become more of a problem on SFT than it was on points. The accountability of points meant that whatever I ate during nighttime snack attacks was deducted from my points, and I ate correspondingly less food throughout the week as a result. On SFT, I can have a few nighttime snacks that are “free” on SFT, and then I don’t have to adjust my eating throughout the week. I’ve been in the process of setting an eating curfew for myself, but I seem to snack a lot in the 45 minutes or so before curfew hits.

My goals for this week are to:

1. Pay more attention to my hunger signals. (This is so hopelessly vague. How can I make this goal more definite?...Require verbalizing my emotions before going for food? (i.e., saying out loud, “I am hungry” or “I am bored” before eating) ...Write down my feelings before sitting down for food?)
2. Following Martha Beck’s advice from one of my new favorite books, The Four Day Win, I will leave food on my plate at the end of each meal to get used to the idea (as long as I’ve eaten to satisfaction of course).
3. Continue with the establishment of my curfew. It’s set at 10:30pm for the next few days. On Friday, it moves back to 10pm.
4. Stay off the scale. All week. I am getting easily discouraged by what I see day-to-day, and it’s affecting my attitude.

Anything else? I feel a bit adrift.

Well Played: My Evidence Professor

This is an excerpt from the next section of reading on our syllabus:

Funny guy, my evidence professor.

For further proof, see, e.g.: