Consultation Complete

Yesterday I met with my hair and make-up professional and then my photographer for the Pin Up Girl photo shoot scheduled for Thursday, March 24th. I have to say that five days ago, I was feeling pretty dumpy and although I planned to go through with the "shoot," I wasn't feeling overly "pin-up-y" (is that a word?) because I was feeling thoroughly pms-y. When I talked with my husband about postponing the whole thing, he gently replied, "It's just the water retention talking." Bless his heart. I just about fell off of the couch with laughter!

But lo and behold, my inner Pin Up Girl re-emerged once my hormonal state re-balanced and I joyfully drove to Ottawa yesterday morning. I arrived at Alison's home studio on time and we got right into discussing what we would do with my hair. The big issue was my long, all-one-length, hairstyle (if you can call it a style). Choices were limited due to the fact that I have no layers whatsoever. I am growing it to donate to Angel Hair for Kids and although I have reached the ten inch requirement, I am not prepared to chop it off just yet. Alison has an entire book of 1940's and 1950's hairstyles and soon we found one that was in between the 1940's housewife style and a sexier 1940's hairstyle. Make-up is fairly standard for this era.........false eyelashes, pink cheeks and dark red lips. Alison is a real life pin up girl and so really understands the whole "look" of the Pin Up Girl. The consultation took about a half hour and then I was off to meet Suzanne, the photographer.

This consultation involved meeting in person, seeing the studio, discussing my ideas and "vision" for the shoot as well as what I would like to have for my keepsakes.......a book of the top ten photos in 5x7's or perhaps a 13-month calendar or even a deck of cards with one pose adorning the backside of the card. I am leaning towards a 2011 calendar as it has the year that I turned 40 and it is just so cool to BE the Pin Up Girl in the calendar. This was a wonderful experience and meeting Suzanne and Alison made me even more excited to complete The 40's Project.

I soon realized that I would need a pair of black shoes for this event. Now, my husband might argue that I own a lot of shoes. Can you ever have too many pairs of shoes?  Seriously, though, I do not own one pair of plain black shoes........I have silver and chocolate brown and periwinkle blue and pink and red and.......but not one pair of black shoes. I made a quick stop in a Spring shoe store at Bayshore and lo and behold, I saw the most gorgeous pair of nude heels in a Betty Boop style and instantly fell in love with them. I also figured they'd be practical for some of the outfits I would be wearing. They were also only $40.

These remind me of the shoes the models on "The Price Is Right" wore!

 Then I tried on a black pair which I found on the clearance rack and they were on sale for $30.

Check out the complimentary shoe decor!

 I was feeling quite pleased with myself when I spun around to see a woman strutting around the store in a ruby red pair of shoes which had a double strap across the top of the foot. Of course, they were a size 6 and were the last pair. She also found them on the sale rack. The salesperson assisting me quickly ran to the back room and voila......there was one pair left and they were a size 6! I tried them on and then asked hesitantly, "How much?" The salesperson joyfully announced, "$17!" and smiling from ear to ear. "I'll take them" was my reply. So, I didn't get the red satin pair at Pom Pom a couple of weeks ago but instead got three pairs for the same price.

Red Ruby Shoes

 As I prepare for the photo shoot scheduled for a week from tomorrow, I continue to search for some cool vintage outfits or 1940's inspired styles. If you have anything I could borrow or have older relatives who wouldn't mind if you raided their closets or attics, please let me know. Thanks in advance!

No More Screwing Around

Holy Moly! In a week and a half I will be sitting with hair and make-up followed by the Pin Up Girl photographer planning my shoot on March 24th. I have been daydreaming about costumes, new shoes, stockings, gloves, and so on and yet that is as far as I have gotten.

Well, except for last week when I was on a field trip for my other blog, The Letter Writing Revolution.  I was walking by Pom Pom in The Glebe neighbourhood of Ottawa and discovered these incredible $130 shoes on for $80.

I didn't buy them......for two reasons:
One: they didn't have them in my size
Two: I already own red shoes.

If they had the black pair in my size, I may have figured out a way to spring for them. They were THAT gorgeous......satin with the perfect 1940's satin bow on the toe. It is no secret, I turn to putty when I am in the company of gorgeous shoes. I mean, I literally get giddy when I am surrounded by beautiful and unique shoes. In fact, when our daughter would be admitted to the Children's Hospital in Ottawa which was a total of eight months in her first year of life alone, I used to 'soothe'  (read: self-medicate) myself with a new pair of shoes. It was my little treat and the hospitalization was my excuse to them. The unfortunate thing is that my life as a mother of a child with special needs, a childbirth educator, a retired Doula and a casting artist does not allow me to wear my shoes as often as I would like.

Anyway, my point is, I have a lot of work to do before March 24th. This is a big deal. I need to stop screwing around and get this Pin Up Girl into some vintage shops and maybe a lingerie shop or two ;-)

Down to the Wire

It is hard to believe that in only four weeks from Thursday, I will be transformed into a 1940's Pin Up Girl via hair/make-up and appropriate clothing. My photo shoot is scheduled for March 24th. When I started "Julie's 40's Project" on December 1st, my birthday seemed like a long piece away.

I am presently working on details of the photo shoot. I have booked my manicure and pedicure for the day before and I have started a list of items I need to gather and purchase before the big day. Having overcome my cold, I was back at the gym this morning and I also started day 1 of week 3 of the training to run 5km. I managed to not gain an ounce of weight even though I didn't get to the gym for a whole two weeks. I also tried on some clothes that didn't fit me when I started this whole adventure and lo and behold, not only do they fit beautifully but one designer skirt that I haven't even worn yet is now too big. I bought it on a sale rack ($140 skirt for $20) knowing I would fit into it eventually. It reminds me of when you have a wardrobe for your newborn and within weeks, your baby has outgrown the clothes before you have had a chance to dress them in them.

Trying on summer clothes yesterday that were too small for me last year (or perhaps I should say, that I was too big for) really gave me the confirmation I needed that I was, in fact, headed in the right direction. The journey has been slow and I have had a few obstacles along the way but I know that this steady pace will result in my goals being reached and more importantly being sustained.

I am most looking forward to sharing the photos of me as a Pin Up Girl with all of you!

Strike A Pose

Back in early January, I received a very cool desk top, daily calendar of Gil Elvgren Pin Ups artwork from my friend, Emmanuelle. It's great because there are 365 pictures of Pin Up Girls from the 1940's right up into the 1970's. It is very interesting to note the differences between the decades and how much racier the 1970's Pin Up Girl was compared to her 1940's counterpart. I went through the calendar and although I liked some of the poses of the Pin Up's in the 50's and 60's, I tore out the pages of the ones specifically from the 1940's. I will take these with me to the photographer as ideas for the poses.

A selection of 1940's Pin Ups

Although I feel nowhere near to ready for this photo shoot and I have not achieved the results I originally wished to achieve (i.e. growing longer legs, for example), I am a woman of my word, and the show must go on. I am now planning my outfits and poses for the photo shoot which is planned for the end of March. I thought it would have been very cool to do the shoot on my actual birthday but the photographer will be out of town. My consultation with hair/make-up and photographer was to take place today but since this Pin Up Girl is feeling ill and will be bedridden as soon as childcare arrives, I had to re-schedule the consult. I also thought it would have been to my benefit to give myself a couple of more weeks since I lost time over Christmas, during my Grandmother's illness and now with being sick but the photographer is away for the month of April and May seems too far away so end of March it is. On the other hand, I am not feeling too keen about investing a large sum of money into the final result photo shoot when I haven't reached my goals.

With that said, I still have 6 weeks to go and so all is not lost. My 40th birthday will come whether or not I am ready for it.

Have a Drink on Me

It seems that the Pin Up Girl motif is everywhere these days. Perhaps, I hadn't noticed it until I decided to turn myself into one. I recently received a gift of a mirror compact/key chain from a friend which has a Pin Up Girl on the cover of it. Another friend, brought some empty beer cans to me after she discovered her brother-in-law's beverage of choice had Pin Up Girl's slapped on them! I mean, they're everywhere!

Old Milwaukee Brewery has hopped onto the Pin Up Girl train

I was just watching a show on television called, "Last 10 lbs Bootcamp" and I only caught the end but the female guest lost 15 inches and 14 pounds in 6 weeks!!!  I quickly came to the conclusion that she was literally starved and burned way more calories bootcamp-style than what she had consumed. There is no way that loss of either weight or inches is healthy. Admittedly, my very next thought was, "How did she do it and can I pull off even half of those results in the next 7 weeks?" I'll be honest, when the numbers remain the same on the scale, one can quickly get frustrated. Logically, I have to be losing somewhere because I cannot eat any better than I am. I can only assume that I need to increase my physical activity and then expect that my shape will change. I do want to be in a better place than I am as I am typing this and I don't mean geographically. I am not into dieting. Radically cutting calories is not only unhealthy but just wouldn't sustain me in the experience I call my daily life which requires a tremendous amount of energy.

But honestly, I am willing to work my butt off and eat as well as possible while still being healthy in order to be my best by the time April 7th comes around. It's tough, though, folks. I am feel some pressure, I have to admit and yet I have decided to move through the pressure and transform it into motivation.

Beyond the Half Way Mark

First of all, my apologies for being gone for so long. I wish I could say it's because I was so busy working out at the gym and shopping for garter belts but alas, I have just been busy with teaching, working in my studio, caring for my daughter, training a new Family Relief Worker and the list goes on. I have managed to do a minimum of 3-4 workouts per week and I am continuing with my healthy eating.............whole foods, limited alcohol intake, minimal dairy and fat, etc.

I was getting a little bit annoyed with the fact that my weight seemed to hit a plateau over the last two weeks. I had an instant reaction to just ditch this project because I felt like I was working my butt off with no results. So I had my personal trainer do my measurements and will re-do in three weeks to see if I am losing in inches if not in pounds. My clothes are fitting better. I wouldn't say they're hanging off of me by any means but they feel looser. I do need to add another hole in my belt which is a sign that I am moving in the right direction. And my personal trainer is jacking up my workouts so I can longer piddle my way through them.

I have found a photographer who specializes in Pin Up Girl photography. My hair/make-up/photographer consultation is scheduled for February 17th. I am pretty excited about this. It is an extravagant gift to myself but I figure, "Go big, or go home." Four months of exercising and creating a healthy body deserves a proper photo shoot and the results that I want. I may schedule the photo shoot for my actual birthday.

So, my humble group of followers, I am still chugging along and really looking forward to spring so that I can run outside and get off that treadmill.

To Garter Belt or Not to Garter Belt

Yep. I am now on the hunt for a wardrobe for the Pin Up photo shoot. I plan to hit some vintage stores in Ottawa in the next month or so although I have a couple of outfits already. I also need to pick up one or two pairs of shoes that resemble the 1940's style. These styles are all back in so I should have no problem finding them.

 One thing that is for certain, I am going to have to get real nylon stockings with a garter belt. Secret Lace is a company that features a Bettie Page Collection as well as all kinds of authentic nylon stockings and vintage lingerie. I am not planning to pose in one of those crazy bullet bras and big ass undies.  The 1940's Pin Up's were sooooo discreet and so subtly suggestive that I am going to need more of a wardrobe in order to create some interesting shots. You never know, I might be so proud of my accomplishments that I may just strap on one of those big old bras and take a photo. For now, I am trying to figure out the poses, props and the clothing that I will need to pull this off.

 I am always open to ideas.