Two satisfying shopping finds

Photo Of Ponte knit pencil skirt from Lane Bryant

I did a bit more clothes shopping this weekend, and I made a great find at Lane Bryant- the basic pencil skirt. I have been looking for this simple style in a basic color for a long, long time. It fit me perfectly in a size 18 (happy dance!) and even though I'm 5' 2", it hits me at the top of my knee.  Hooray! I also bought it in heather grey. I like them so much that I may go back and buy them again on faith in a smaller size. I also got two fitted t-shirts, in navy and berry red and a pair of black tights. I hope that they fit well. I can't stand being strangled by hosiery and usually wear stockings. Do you have a favorite brand for plus size tights?

My other purchase was at the grocery store. I tried Fruit 2 Day in Mango peach, and I really like it. I almost didn't buy it, because my husband said it's better to eat your fruit than drink it, but I grabbed it at the last minute. That is a fine philosophy in the summer, but soon I'll be finding nothing but apples and oranges at the store. I know that I'm exaggerating, but as the season goes on, it will feel that way unless I'm creative. Anyway, I was happy with this juice, because it has big chunks of fruit in it. It was really refreshing and ideal for after a workout. At 120 calories, I'm okay with it! Find nutrition information here . Other flavors are Strawberry orange, Cherry grape, Pomegranate blueberry (next on my grocery list) and Pineapple banana (which will never cross my lips; I hate bananas!), plus two special edition flavors yearly.

Turning into a Blueberry

I've been eating blueberries like crazy! I must be doing something right because I've lost two more lbs, and I now weigh 217. I think blueberries are my favorite fruit. Which is funny, because I don't ever remember eating them as a child, and I know my dad has always eaten every kind of fruit. In college, when I didn't think that I liked them, a friend of mine had a pint, and they looked so cooling that I begged one. And then a few more, and more until I was cut off and then my passionate future with blueberries was sealed.

Maybe the reason I never ate blueberries though, is that I was psychologically damaged by the little girl character Violet Beauregarde changing into a blueberry in Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (first film version known as Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory)! ;) I had already read the book when I went to see the movie in the 1970s, and I don't remember being too upset by Violet's transformation until then. I went to the film with my cousins, and my cousin Andy was sensibly freaked out by the psychedelic tunnel scene, which seems to have bothered many kids at the time. But, that's not what gave me nightmares. It was watching Violet, who stubbornly tried an experimental chewing gum dinner before it was ready, lose control of her body and change into something inhuman and unwieldy.

Violet Beauregarde is now a certain blue fruit in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

I don't believe that I was at all disturbed by nasty kids getting their comeuppance. They could turn Augustus Gloop into fudge or send Veruca Salt down the garbage shoot for all I cared, but when I went to bed that night, I was afraid to fall asleep for fear that I would turn into a blueberry like Violet. This was sort of a baby predecessor of the childhood terror I felt at the idea of The Exorcist (which I've never seen) or the psychotic child with the alternate personality in The Other (that I saw at a slumber party and then had to go home in the night because I was afraid). These unexpected things taking you over from within and possibly destroying who you had been up to that point. Scary. As an adult, I would sometimes joke about it, "I used to be afraid of turning into a blueberry, and now I kind of have!" Lately though, I've been feeling like I have much more control of myself and my cravings.

Violet morphs in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

And, it's important to remember that Violet didn't get to look that way from eating too many blueberries. She transformed because she was a brat who wouldn't listen to what she was told. So, If I have to look like a blueberry, I choose this one:

Blueberry Muffin Costume

It's pretty silly though. Just like this post.