I don’t think it’s even humanly possible to fart in front of Katie Couric.

in functions I shouldn't be allowed to attend

This week I’ve still been in the last stages of recovery from one of the strongest bouts of depression I’ve ever faced.  Next week I’ll be on the Katie Couric Show.  Life is weird.

I taped it before I fell into the black hole I’ve been crawling out of, which is good because I would’ve looked exhausted and teary, but bad because I’ve actually lost some weight on my too-sick-to-eat-solid-food diet and might actually have fit into my clothes.  Regardless, it was awesome and you should totally watch it, in spite of the fact that my cat (Hunter S. Thomcat) totally steals the show.

I think I’m probably not supposed to give away the details of the show but I can tell you that Katie Couric is adorable and so tiny that I could eat her in one sitting and still want dessert.  Also, they put me in a (very fancy but quite tight) dress and a pair of heels I could barely stand in and when I wobbled out onto the stage I almost fell on Katie and crushed her.  Plus, when I sat down I heard a ripping sound and I knew it was my dress but I had this terrible feeling that Katie thought I’d farted.  Let me assure you, I would never fart in front of Katie Couric.  I have standards, people.

Will you watch?  The tv listing:

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13 – Katie’s 4th episode
As Katie embarks on a new adventure in her own life, she introduces viewers to two women whose personal stories inspired her. First, Katie’s conversation with Brené Brown, a research professor and motivational speaker whose new book, Daring Greatly, poses the question: can daring to make yourself vulnerable change your life, and be the ultimate key to happiness? And then, Jenny Lawson, author of the widely read blog, “The Bloggess,” whose decision to open up about her personal struggles on her widely read blog inspired the “Red Dress” phenomenon.

PS.  I looked like Snooki for the first hour of makeup…

…But in the end it worked out okay…

True story: They had another dress for me in a size 20. I couldn't get it over my left leg. It was an Italian 20. Because people in Italy like insulting fat people. Apparently.

PPS.  You should really buy Daring Greatly, and not just because Brene is one of my best friends.  It’s fabulous.

PPPS.  Need your own traveling red dress?  Check out the Facebook page for some beautiful donations or donate one yourself.  Also, I’m giving out three new traveling red dresses to the first three people who convince me you really need one.  (Just make sure you leave a good email address so I can contact you.)

PPPPS.  Thank you.  None of this would have been possible without thousands of amazing people who have donated, worn and passed on these red dresses.  I’m so incredibly lucky to be a part of this community.

378 thoughts on “I don’t think it’s even humanly possible to fart in front of Katie Couric.”

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  3. You look wonderful! I hate french sizes. In college (and when i was at my skinniest) my friend got married and the bridesmaids’ dresses apparently came from the same company that made your dress. I was trying stuff on and they saleslady was like – we need a 22, maybe a 24. Merde, bring a 30 too she has hips!!!
    In my head, i was punching the lady silly. In real life, I was looking at my friend and cursing her dress choices.

  6. I recently found myself crawling out of a deep dark depression that lasted more than two years. While I have to give partial credit to the drugs, supplements and doctors, I also credit you and your book. Thank you so much. I work in a business where I have to be front and center and on the ball ALL THE TIME. Coming home and reading about your struggle and the lessons you learned from it helps greatly. I would love a red dress, but I know that there are others out there who need it more. Thank you for being an inspiration. Hugs, Sam P.S. You may not remember but you also helped me out last Christmas. Thanks again for that.

    (It sound to me like you deserve one hell of a red dress. Check your email. ~Jenny)

  7. Hi Jenny…
    First of all, I can’t wait to watch. Secondly, my 8 year old son named his swimming pool floatie Katie Couric when he was three. And yesterday he said, “Who would NAME their kid Katie Couric?” And then I read your blog. Katie Couric is EVERYWHERE!!!! As are you. I’m glad you’re feeling better.

  8. I’m about to have my own red dress moment (except mine is purple) at my 50th birthday party. Its also the first birthday party I’ve had since I was 13. Thank you for the inspiration to feel fabulous, and celebrate.

  11. Will there be a place to watch this for those of us without cable TV of any sorts in our houses? I’d hate to miss out on seeing you’re awesomeness. =D <3

  14. hold up – you have a TARDIS skin on your phone. I am in love with you Jenny Lawson. Can’t wait to see the show, I’ll be sure to DVR it

  15. A- Your phone cover case is friggin awesome. Nothing makes me happier than seeing a random TARDIS in the morning.
    B- If Katie was an actual dessert, what would she be called? Thinking on this one…
    C- I’m in the depression hole too. It sucks. But I’m really happy I’m reading your book. It’s making me laugh like the loon that I am. It HELPS. Someday I am going to return the favor.
    D- You’re BEAUTIFUL. Even when you’re all Snookied up.

  16. I still can’t quite believe it all happened. And I can’t remember anything I said. You were, are, and will always be fabulous. Love you to bits. And thanks, AGAIN. xoxox

  17. You look beautiful. That is a gorgeous red dress – number on the label be damned.

    Over a year ago I left an unhealthy marriage for the sake of my happiness. I hope and pray everyday that my children watch me become independent and happy and that in turn gives them confidence in themselves. It’s a hard road and many days, weeks and months I feel like I’m drowning. I felt that way yesterday, I feel that way today and I will probably feel it tomorrow. But I keep reminding myself there is a light at the end of the tunnel and someday I will reach it. I would love a red dress.

    (Done. Check your email. ~ Jenny)

  19. You gorgeous thing you! (Love the nails btw) Can’t wait to watch you and Hunter S. but since I’m in Oz I’ll have to stalk youtube …

  21. Love your blog!! It’s nice to read a blog from a person you can actually relate to. Can’t wait to see your episode with Katie Couric. I have not worn a dress in years and have lost 35 pounds over the past year. I never looked right in dresses and have been scared to even try one on!

  22. You look amazing!!! And I’d totally watch it if I was going to be home during the day (back to work from staycation next week) and/or had a DVR.

  23. You look BEAUTIFUL. SO beautiful!! Stupid Italian dress. Boo hiss on them. I love the red dress movement and I am sad I donated my red dress some time ago to a prom collection program via my mom. She was ready to get rid of the 900 bridesmaids dresses in our house. Or I would have donated it to you. As for me, one day I’ll buy my own red dress. When the time is right and I fit into something of a more normal size. I’ll get there, I know it. In the meantime I’ll keep an eye on your traveling ones and feel motivated and inspired by the beautiful people wearing them. Much love to you and cannot wait to watch. Also? I puffy heart you and am glad you are finding your way back into the light. Not the light-light, but light as opposed to dark, ya know? Oy. Yeah. I’m tired … 😉

  24. Jenny….I need a red dress…I am a CEO and all I have is black, navy and grey….which is dull drum and booorrrinnggg and now that I will be single again, I need to spice it up….oh, I have large hips (mom always said I had good breeder hips-hate her!!!) and large bust (kinda a 5’10” Mae West figure now that I think about it) and I sooooooooo need a night out on the town in which I am hit on to the point where I must have a melt down and say “enough already…..as you can see there’s enough of me to go around!!!”….So please, please (I hate begging but in this instance I will and do so humbly) send one my way!!! Thank you!!!!

    M

    (Done. Check your email. ~ Jenny)

  25. Jenny,

    I would like to have a red dress sentt o my sister. This past year and a half has been the hardest for her for so many reasons. She has had to fight so many untruths to fight for her kids …Its been so long (possibly years) since I have seen her laugh or genuinely smile. I miss that smile of hers and it breaks ,my heart to see her so sad… We both follow your blog and absolutley love it…. If you chose her it woudl mean so much.. and hopefully give her a little happiness..

    (I just gave away the final dress but your sister sounds amazing so I’m sending you a gift certificate now. Check your email. For everyone else, check out the Facebook page to donate dresses or see if there are any in your size currently being passed on. More dresses come available every day. ~ Jenny)

  28. You look quite elegant and ready to kick some arse in that lovely red dress. Sending warm vibes to help creep you out of depression mode ;( Will look forward to the show.

  30. Seriously, this is awesome, and you’re possibly the coolest/geekiest guest she’ll ever have. Unless she asks me to be on, and then well.. ya know. B-)

  31. You look absolutely gorgeous, and I don’t know if you’ve heard this a million times, but you have the best smile. It makes your whole body look happy!

    And let me tell you, there is nothing more empowering than eating a bowl of Cocoa Pebbles for breakfast when you’re a 36 year old mother. Why am I eating Cocoa Pebbles? Because I’m an adult, motherfucker! I can eat whatever the hell I want. Including tiny bits of ambrosia drowning in milk that my cereal magically transforms into CHOCOLATE milk.

    Next time you feel depression coming on, put on your red dress and grab a huge bowl of Cocoa Pebbles.

  34. Jenny, your blog is amazing. Reading through your struggles keeps me sane. I, too, battle with depression, anxiety, and panic disorder. Between building a house (omg the decisions), to dealing with crazy amounts of doctors appointments with my special needs son, to dealing with my 11-going-on-25 year old daughter, to normal everyday crap, I’m slowly reaching the “Fuck it. I’m done” stage. My meds don’t seem to be keeping up, and I can feel myself heading back down that black spiral. Depression sucks and it lies. Right now, it’s so mighty tempting to give in. Red dress moment? If only.

  35. Apparently Italian sizes are like Chinese sizes… I wore a qipao / cheongsam for a friend’s wedding, and I had to buy a XXXL, which is basically equivalent to a Medium in the US.

  36. I’ve recently become homebound again (thanks to anxiety, a brain disorder, and doctors’ incompetence at separating the two) and I’m telling you. Your book, and now your blog, save me EVERY day. Many, many thanks and keep fighting the good fight for all of us, becase we are with you!!!

  37. I want to say thank you for your awesome blog. It brings some awesome laughs for me when I am at my lowest sometimes. I have been struggling with depression my whole life. Recently it has become so much worse when I went through Post Partum depression. It is such a terrible depression because people think you don’t want your kids or don’t love them.nothing could be further from the truth. But with therapy and drugs I am doing so much better. I loved your book and I love you for being so honest about depression. Thank you. You are an inspiration.

  38. I would just like to state for the record that I did not fart in front of you. Not that you were interviewing me. Or that any fart-like noises occurred during our brief meeting. I just want it noted that I have standards about farting in front of celebrities too.

  39. One of two thoughts probably passed through Katie’s mind at that moment: 1) Did she just rip my dress? or 2) Did she just fart in my dress?

    You can fart in my dress anyday.

  40. You are totally fabulous! If I tried to wear heels that high I’d keel over. I’m so glad you’re feeling better!

  42. Thanks for the great morning laugh. I wish you lived next door so we could be best friends. And so you could give me advice on how to become a famous blogger. We are kind of close, I assume, since you’re somewhere in central TX and I’m in Austin. I’m a lovely person when I try really hard, and you have a standing offer for tacos on me (I’ll pay for them, you can’t eat them off my body like jello shots) anywhere of your choosing. I also struggle with depression; my day job is actually running a local nonprofit that provides mental services for musicians. Your book made me pee my pants from laughing so hard; my husband almost had me committed. Thank you for sharing your fabulous and funny self with the rest of us. xoxox

  43. You look gorgeous, and I can’t wait to see the show, though me thinks I’ll be searching for it on Hulu. Videos and other people’s experiences listening and talking to you are holding me over for now, but my husband’s been warned that if your book tour EVER brings you to Europe, I WILL BE FLYING wherever you are!

    It’s funny, when I first discovered you for myself, I assumed I’d discovered this little known genius…then I realized how far reaching the love for you in this world already is. Bravo to you for maintaining your ability to inspire us with your sincerity and heart without letting your exploding popularity ruin you. You do such great things, including the traveling red dress. Keep that shit up, the world NEEDS it.

  44. You look beautiful in your red dress! And is that the Tardis on your phone? I need that to go with the Weeping Angels a friend and fan of yours and I are making. While I am still reeling from a two year abusive work situation, which resulted in being told I was resigning, depression, anxiety and PTSD, I was at your book signing in Minneapolis and have since read your book, I was laughing so hard that my son shut his bedroom door to insure a median of silence. Love your blog, keep up the greatness!

  46. The iPhone photo — with the big roller in your hair and your fab red nails — that’s a keeper. Fantastic. I like that one even more than the one where Katie Couric is photobombing you Banff-squirrel-style.

  47. You look amazing!!!! I’ve just found my way here and to your book via my step-daughter who recommended the book and the blog to me! If ever I had to pick someone to nominate for a red dress moment it would be her, my step-daughter. Our journey together while living under a roof together and learning about parenthood and being a child and still being us was trying, frustrating, and amazing. I wouldn’t change it for the world. Thanks for sharing everything with us.

    ~ Heather

  48. You look amazing. And those shoes? HOT. I love how they aren’t on your feet, though, because really – WHO can walk in those? I’ve tried. And I’ve probably made it look super painful.

    I’ve been following your blog for quite some time and have read and re-read your book about a million times. Anytime I’m feeling down, which is (unfortunately) quite a bit, I re-read the story of Beyonce and I’m immediately happy. I’m sure there are others who would benefit greatly from a fabulous red dress, but I’d love to be included in the running. I was raised by cray cray alcoholics and was cheated on by my husband. (True story.) I’m now a single mom to two (fab) kids. Life could be much worse (i.e. I could still be surrounded by the crazy alcoholics, or I could still be married to a total douche) but I don’t feel very fabulous that often when I’m juggling kids and my demanding yet incredibly low paying career. More often I feel like I’ve been hit by a speeding train and left for dead. : )

    Hope you feel better soon, and I can’t wait to see what else is in store for you!

  49. I’ve posted it on the Facebook page but Maia Sharp has a song called Red Dress that fits this project to a T. She a great singer songwriter who has had songs covered by Bonnie Raitt and The Dixie Chicks plus many others.

    Here’s a video I shot of her performing this last year – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMLywnzeu7U

    I learned to grit my teeth and smile
    Let ‘em think they’ve boxed me in
    Inside I’m still the problem child
    That I always was
    So I guess I win…
    Na na na, na na na na

  52. I look forward to watching you and being all, hey I met that lady, so really it’s like I’M on the Katie Couric show! And Man Dude looking at me like I’ve lost my damn mind, and me saying shut up! You didn’t meet her! And that’s how I will end up on the Katie Couric show!

    Also, I’d love a red dress but am probably too fat for any of them haha
    I need something good to happen. Something to tell me that no, life isn’t over just because of the troubles I’m going through. That I can hold on just one more day…everyday.

  53. I can’t wait to watch. I am so inspired what you have started. I am hoping to coordinate a “holiday party” where we all wear THE red dress and then donate. you are an inspiration.

  54. As corny as this sounds, reading your blog gives me such hope. I’ve been struggling with depression for years now, but I’ve been too embarrassed to admit it. I’m in a big funk right now that I just cant get out of. I’m hoping to finally take the step soon to getting some help, not just for me, but for my husband & kids to have me back.

  55. I reread this post (because that’s how I roll) and I would like to point out something to you:

    This week I’ve still been in the last stages of recovery from one of the strongest bouts of depression I’ve ever faced.

    As strong as this bout has been? You’re still stronger! You beat it. You will always beat it. Because depression lies and you will always be stronger.

  56. You go girl! I’m also enjoying the height of your hair….very St. Maria Goretti’s (that’s code for Philly circa 1980’s big hair yo!).

  57. So excited to see you ! Farting is a necessary bodily function. I know this because Dr Oz says so. So stay healthy and fart more..

  58. I could certainly use a red dress. This past year has been a rollercoaster of ups and downs, depths where I never thought I would see the light of day again. My husband couldn’t take it and has now filed for divorce. I’m still on the upswing of this latest depression, but it’s hard. Reading about your own battles helps me keep going despite the fact that I’m crying as I write this while I get ready for one of the few jobs I have left: a volunteer position with river otters that I’ve been close to losing because I sometimes find it too hard to get my sh*t together. Yeah.

    Keep on keeping on Jenny and I’ll try to do the same <3

  59. The dress is really lovely! I’ve had the ripping thing happen once. All because some stupid college boy picked me up for a semi-formal dance in a pickup truck 5 feet off the ground. At least the rip was only in the thigh slit….

  60. I desperately want a red dress, but I don’t NEED a red dress….maybe for my 30th, I’ll have a suitable reason to wear one (picture me at an 80’s skating party on the roller rink in a floor length red dress :). For now, I just wanted to let you know that I admire your strength and I WILL be watching!

  61. You *know* I’m DVRing this, right? So I can watch and rewatch like a fangirl? Totally doing it. Also, I’m jealous of your Tardis phone.

    I could use a dress, Jenny. I honestly don’t give a flying fuck what color it is – though red is a lovely color.

    I’m exhausted. I’m damn tired. I don’t feel good about my person, I look like shit. I’m exhausted. I’ve got one kid with a genetic metabolic disorder, which requires I monitor every iota of food that goes in his mouth lest he DIE, and Aspergers. I’ve got a second kid with an autoimmune disorder, which requires I monitor everything she does for signs of progression of the disease. She’s also got a learning disorder. And is highly gifted. And leaves me exhausted. I’ve struggled with debilitating anxiety for years now, and right now, it’s just barely under control. My body is also rebelling, taking the form of what appears to be lupus. (It’s never lupus, right? Except when it is, apparently.) I’m so.effing.tired. The kids are homeschooled, because I can keep a better handle on their healthcare needs than the school can.

    I know I’m getting through this OK. But some days, I doubt my value. Some days, I struggle just to stay afloat, let alone feel good about myself. I haven’t felt *good* about myself in years.

    Sigh.

    Someday, I just want to be pretty.

  62. I recently had my first actual nervous breakdown. At least that’s what I call it. The doctors at the two hospitals I ended up in with multiple seizures and various other weird neurological symptoms named it conversion disorder. It took a while to convince me that years worth of stress and anxiety, walking away last year from an emotionally abusive husband (and finally, like in the past 3-4 months, coming to terms with the fact that I was actually a victim of abuse, as much as I hate to admit that), being a single mom of three (including one with Asperger’s), dealing with out of control RA and Fibro on a daily basis, trying to make it financially on disability and shitty child support – all of that could take a physical toll and make my body break down on me. But I’m convinced. And I start therapy today. And Jenny, I have to give you credit. This blog and your book helped me realize quickly that it’s okay to admit that I need that. That I need that extra support to get my emotional well-being back. Not that I know what a “normal” emotional well-being is, but you know what I mean. So thank you so much for putting yourself out there! I can’t tell you what it has meant for me to know that I’m not alone as I’ve gone through this in the past few weeks.

  63. I can’t wait to see it, you look smashing and I just know if you farted you’d own it…call it a hunch but your blush would give it away. Thank you btw, I really needed to be reminded to be open…..I’ve been in a deep depression lately and masking it HUGELY….

  64. As a blogger that writes about my mental health issues and lives openly as a mentally ill person (I tell people usually on the first day I know them… Sometimes they run screaming… Bi Polar Affective isn’t fun.) I find you absolutely inspiring. I mean you’re my only real person follower on Twitter (@Vertoxic) which I greatly appreciate. and I think that you being open online has opened doors for people. The success of your book and the fact that its plugged frequently is a great thing. I also write fiction and random things. I admit I write crazy things. I wrote a blog in 2004-2007 called http://www.vortext.net that you can look at if you use the Wayback Machine internet archive. I wrote a lot of good poems on that. I retired Vortext after I went off my meds and wrote some crazy things that made me embarrassed to be a blogger. But I have gotten over my issues, gotten new meds that I can almost live with, and generally grew up in regards to my treatment.
    Thank you for sharing your life with the internet Bloggess! Everytime you say you have a new post on Facebook I read it, I hope that you give my blog a try. I’m most proud of my Further Guide to the Galaxy. Its a continuation of HHGTTG.
    http://vortexian.wordpress.com
    If you read my blog I’d love a comment. I’d frame it.
    Kevin.

  65. You look great! I can’t wait to ready your commentary of the actual interview. Please have a commentary of the interview.

  69. Although your red dress phenomenon is fabulous, I’m more interested in the Doctor Who phone cover 🙂

  75. I’m a broke college kid who is about to fight to stay on my dad’s insurance because I was recently diagnosed with epilepsy. Keppra is the only medication that works but the cost is a lot of psychiatric side effects. I only smile when I see your Twitter or the fabulous people that are cheering me on as I fight through paranoia, anxiety, depression, and I can really use a moment to feel beautiful. I want to twirl and take as many pictures as possible so I can show people that I didn’t change despite my current limitations. I want to be stated at for being beautiful instead of being stared at for losing it because of some minute thing that will render me useless because I’m sobbing for the rest of the night. Thank you for being an inspiration and for my friend Brandy who introduced me to you.

  76. I think you were wrong. I don’t think it was Hunter S. Thomcat that stole the show, I think it was your boobs. They Look Fantastic! I say that in the least creepy way possible.
    Can’t wait to watch.

  77. You are a breath of fresh air, Jenny Lawson : ) You’ve helped me be more open in my book about how my depression led me to nearly ditching my husband and kids and move to west, never to be heard from again. My behaviors from then are humiliating to admit, but necessary for context and understanding. Eight years later and I’m in a good spot, but you never forget where you’ve been and the fucked-up choices you can make when living in a deep dark hole of D.

    Love you!! Can’t wait to see you and HST on Katie!!

  78. How could you relax in that room with all the Katie’s on the wall looking at you? It would creep me out.

  79. I spent the last 18 months trying to bring myself back from what felt like the dead, in an atmosphere of “Don’t talk about it” – not from my family, but my job – as a doctor. I thought we were taught to understand illness and sympathise and HELP – apparently that’s only your patients, not the people you work with. I learnt a lot about people, about myself,. about the kind of doctor I want to be and the kind of place I want to work. It has all recently fallen back into place and the light at the end of the tunnel wasn’t the oncoming train after all. I’m working in a new place, in a great environment where I don’t think illness in a colleague is seen as a weakness and reason to threaten dismissal, and I am feeling better than I have in about three years. And people like you, who are brave enough to talk about mental health in a NORMAL, humourous way are inspiring. Take it from a doc – you are amazing. And so are we all!

  80. Jenny, your book has helped millions and millions of people with depression… the irony of it is if you weren’t Jenny Lawson we’d all be telling you to buy Jenny Lawson’s book.
    I wish there were something I could do for you like you did for me, with that book.

    PS(Hey, kittens… there is a whole Traveling Red Dress facebook site where those who have dresses dispatch to those who need red dresses…. https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Traveling-Red-Dress/150889871693313)

  81. Is it wrong that I noticed your TARDIS iPhone case first?

    And while you are gorgeous in the red dress, you were equally lovely in Boston. Thank you for being such a warm, real, and funny human.

  82. I read everything here, and I’m excited to see you on Katie Couric’s show, but the one true thing I’ve taken from this post is, “Oh. My. God. Jenny Lawson has a Tardis phone cover!

  83. You’re so amazing. =) I don’t know how you do it, but the fact you do makes me believe that my unmedicated, probably nowhere near as bad as it could be but still leaves me a mess, can’t believe anyone loves me but they do depression and anxiety can be dealt with, lived through. I’m not saying it for a dress, I’d probably just use a dress as a new reason to freak out (I’m freaking out thinking I might get considered and hoping I’m not but then thinking you probably won’t see this comment anyhow but HEY YOU KNOW HOW THAT GOES RIGHT?) and I just want to say I’ve tried to make everyone I know read your book so maybe they have a fraction of a chance of understanding what it sounds like inside my head and I really want to suggest you be taxidermied after your death so we can have a big Bloggess Museum of Awesomely Weird Things and that sounds really demented but I mean it totally respectfully and I really should change my email address to something you can’t give to the FBI, but fuckit. I adore you, and I can’t believe i didn’t find you until someone linked the Beyonce story. There’s at least one in Austin, and I drive by it regularly enough that I get to think HELL YEAH BIG METAL CHICKEN and it makes my day. Beyond just the red dresses, I want you to always know what weird awesome twisted ways you’ve touched hearts and made the world a better place. Thank you, Jenny Lawson. I am so very very glad you exist, and that you share yourself with all of us. .<

  84. You look smashing and confident and gorgeous. I think you even could have pulled off Snooki. Though it woulda been a hell of a stretch.

    I have told all of my friends about your red dress project and hope they get inspired from it. I had a horrible (sent home from work and unable to do normal household activities) bought of depression in July. Now I am through it (with good drugs and my awesome shrink) but one of my friends has fallen into that hole herself just yesterday.

    I want to know I give all credit to my being able to reach out to her and talk to her and offer what little help I can, even when I think I am too damn broken, to you and your book. You are one inspiring dame! I hope I can help her get out of her panic hole and back on the horse.

  85. My main takeaway from this is OMG TARDIS PHONE COVER I MUST GET ONE.

    I also have a great red dress I’m thinking of donating. I still wear it for formal occasions, but it might do more good in the project.

  86. I come into the office and neurotically check 5 (yes, 5 – DON’T JUDGE ME) horoscope sites and then move on to checking your blog. Because it’s 1 of the 2 things that continue to make me genuinely happy despite being in the worst depression I’ve ever experienced. I went to the doctor about it for the first time ever last week and I wanted him to cure me. Instead he told me what my options were. I sat and politely listened all the while holding back tears wondering how useless assholes get a phd. I think it might be a prerequisite, apparently. Anyway, I cannot wait to see you on Katie’s show! You’re kind of my hero. I’m a relatively new reader, but I typically spend at least half of my work day perusing your archives (that sounds dirty…) to remind myself that at some point, the depression will let up and I’ll be able to function in the office and life again. I won’t always feel like pond scum. And depression lies. So, yes, I can’t wait to DVR Katie Couric. And also, thank you for unwittingly helping thousands of people through some of their darkest days.

  87. I would totally fart ON Katie Couric. Not because I dislike her, but because it would probably go viral, and then maybe more people would read my blog. MY blog, not your blog. Everyone in the world (Google translate) already reads yours. I just need about 1% of your readership to come and read mine. Except there is more swearing, so I’m just warning you. You can just click at the bottom of this comment. It says Therapy Thursday. Yep, bottom left. There you go.

  89. Your blog totally cracks me up. It has definitely helped me roll out of bed on a few mornings when my own depression was at it’s worst! Thank you so much for making me feel like less of a freak for being depressed! It’s impossible for my husband (and kids) to understand, and it is amazing to feel just a little less alone knowing there are others out there facing the same problems! Also, I now want Cocoa Pebbles after reading the above comment and am putting on my sandals to go to the store as I type this…thanks Jenn! lol

  90. Last October, my brother (a Marine) was blown up in Afghanistan. He’s been through dozens of surgeries, and almost died about ten different ways. His left leg was amputated in February. Also in February, i hit a month-long bout of depression. Meanwhile, i was a full-time grad student with a full-time job. My boyfriend was a first-year teacher and lived an hour away from me. I live in Massachusetts, my family lives in Maryland and Delaware. My classes are done, but i’m still working on final requirements (license exams, observations, and student teaching), and trying to find a part-time job so that i can have money coming in while i finish my degree. My mom got remarried, my dad got fired, my sisters got into a car accident.

    Now, things are looking up. My dad has a new job, my boyfriend has a new apartment near me. I mentioned that my brother’s leg was amputated, but i didn’t mention that, while he was waiting to be fitted for a prosthetic, he climbed a rock wall. Yeah, with one leg. The doctors told us that he would never wake up from his coma, and then he did. They told us he would never walk again, and he climbed a fucking rock wall with one leg. I have a fourth roommate, which means reduced rent. And i’m finally writing my book. I bought my “red dress” a few days ago; not an actual dress, but a fabulous fountain pen. Beautiful words demand beautiful presentation.

    There is a dress shop near my house that only has two kinds of window displays: wedding (all shades of white and ivory), and prom (rainbow brilliance). I’ve been walking and driving past that shop for five years, and those are the only two displays i have ever seen. A week ago, on my way home, i looked at the window display as i passed the shop. Every dress in that window was bright red.

    I have a lot of red dresses in my life right now, and one of them is you, Jenny. Thank you for being yourself right out in the open. Even when it’s hard. Even when it’s scary. Because you have been a red dress for the soul, and i know i’m not the only one who feels that way.

  91. Age and dress size are just numbers! You look fabulous my dear!
    But wow, those shoes! I would have broke an ankle, knee or hip trying to walk in those things!

  92. You look gorgeous! And I’m very envious of your TARDIS phone.

    Jenny, you’ve been such an inspiration to me in my fight with depression. This has been a particularly bad year for me and repeating the mantra “depression lies” has kept me going through a lot of darkness. I’m still a mess and I still have next to zero energy BUT I’m still alive and I’m focusing on that.

    Love you.

  94. Brene Brown is a friend of yours??? My acupuncturist just recommended one of her books to me (picked it up at the library yesterday). So you’re my hero and you’re friends with my acupuncturist’s hero who may become one of my heroes also. Small world. Plus, I know I don’t know you but seriously, I love you (in a straight-girl kinda way). Your book is amazing and you are amazing. Thank you for you.

  97. You look stunning even though you did kind of have Snooki hair in the beginning. I just set the dvr to record Katie’s show to make sure I wouldn’t miss your segment.

    Although I would LOVE a red dress, I don’t know that I need it more than others. Despite our struggles, I have a husband who loves me and 3 fabulous boys. The only area I can really complain about is our medical issues. My husband is battling extremely severe Type 2 diabetes. Only 6 years after diagnosis, he is already having huge issues with peripheral neuropathy. It makes me so sad to see my vibrant, amazing husband knocked down by the bitch of a disease. We’ve also dealt with a bizarre reaction to allergy medicine with my oldest (he couldn’t walk for weeks and weeks) and then he had a two month long migraine. Luckily, he is healthy now but it was a long haul.

    Damn, I seriously didn’t mean to whine about this but, now that it’s typed out, I can’t bring myself to delete it. To sum it up…would LOVE a red dress because all the effort put into keeping the family healthy means I haven’t spent time or money on looking and feeling beautiful…but, I’m not sure I need a dress more than others.

    Love you, love the whole Red Dress movement, and can’t wait to see you on Katie.

  98. No, Jenny, THANK YOU! You are an absolute inspiration and my personal hero! 🙂 You are adorable and amazing! Keep doing what you do and we’ll all be here to support you! #Lawsbian for life! 😉

  99. The dress is spectacular and the shoes…well, totally grand!

    I hope you’re remembering to enjoy some of this. Think of the great stories you’ll have to tell grandchildren. And just like the Wild Things stuffed monsters I used as props when reading to the kids…you’ll have a whole menagerie of characters. How cool is that?

    From strength to strength, Jenny!

  100. Jenny you look so fabulous. So happy for you and BBrown. Screw the Italians and their fake size 20 dress. Next time ask for a 12 from Austria. Will fit like a glove. xos

  101. You AND Brené Brown?! Too much good stuff. The two of you being such good friends is just ridiculous. How do people not explode from too much awesome around the two of you? It’s dangerous. Maybe you should think about the safety of others when you become friends with people.

    (Also, sending you lots of good vibes that this bout of depression lets up soon. Hang in there.)

  102. I hate farting noise dresses. They’re almost as bad as farting noise shoes. If this had been me I would have turned fifteen shades of scarlet and would have had to live through the whole thing knowing that CC assumed I’d farted because I looked guilty.

  104. I actually was able to preview the show for a special project i was invited to partake in. I thought the stories after Brene’ were better than Brene’. I lost interest listening to her go on but wanted more watching your segment. Great job!

  105. Lady, you look smokin’ hawt in that red dress! 😀 Wow, those are some high heels and damn sexy! It always amazes me how anyone is able to walk in them without breaking at half the bones in their bodies 😛

    I don’t live in the US, so I am crossing all digits, hoping I get to see a clip of it on the internet. Will you be posting a clip on your blog?

    I don’t have the guts to pose in a red dress. Yet. It’s got nothing to do with weight issues, I just lack the confidence. I’ll get there one day, I hope 😉

  107. It’s really interesting that people like us with depression seem to have bouts after we have accomplished something that should make us feel happy and self confident. I think its the whole “Well, I’ve done that, what now?” The ever Perfectionist mind that whatever we just did wasn’t enough.
    You are enough. You did enough. You’re then best. Now I sound like Stuart Smalley. 🙂

  108. Love this and hoping to have a red dress moment myself. After a couple surgeries the last few years and another coming up in Oct. Love your work and have so many friends that follow you now. The book was amazing! I never read cause I get bored and had yours done in 2 days. Love it even more that you are from Texas. That is where I grew up!!

  110. I love you Jenny Lawson.
    As a mom of 3 I often forget that I’m a human too deserving of my ‘red dress’ I’ve struggled with anxiety and depression my whole life but recently, after having my baby 5 months ago, felt a huge increase in my symptoms. I’d live to get a traveling red dress of my own one day, but I’ve also decided to have the words ‘just breathe’ tattooed on my wrist in red as a reminder that anxiety lies and to take time for myself because I am human and I’m worth it.

  112. Jenny,
    There have been so many days in the last few months that I wished I had a way to contact you privately. I have been going through the worst 2-3 months of my life fighting depression, trying to find new meds that work and don’t make me sick as a dog, meltdowns (bad ones), days I can’t get out of bed (but have to anyway because I have to take two kids to school and go to work), etc. It has been awful. And I don’t see an endpoint yet. Trying to figure it out. Trying to talk. Even though I would much rather run away. Forever. Anyway, all that to say thank you for your openness and honesty about your struggles. In the midst of some of the worst days, I say to myself what I have heard you say, “depression lies,” and even when I can’t really hear that because I am so far down, somehow I know it is true and it helps.

    And, your hilarity helps, too!

    Keep it up!

    Chrisy

  113. 1. TARDIS PHOOOOOOOONE OMG!

    2. the dress may have been too tight but you look fabulous in it.

    3. Normally, I wouldn’t try to throw myself in the ring for one of those red dresses, because for the most part my life and chronic illnesses but this has been the worst summer of my life. I broke my leg in early July (pursuing my dream of becoming a DC Rollergirl-since I’m still not allowed to walk and tryouts are next week, that dream will have to wait until next year), have to have two surgeries because the first one didn’t fix my leg, lost my insurance coverage, and got slapped with a $400+ electric bill because the utility company decided not to take my money and then refused to tell me about it for over a month. Add to that, I have clinical depression that is much worse when I can’t be physically active and I’ve spent the past 2 months plus on a rollercoaster of “I can take on the world! Wait no I want to melt into the cracks of my couch” and a little night out with a ridiculously fancy dress might just be what the doctor ordered to help me into a (gently sloped) upswing.

  115. I just LOVE the Tardis phone skin! And you look gorgeous in that dress, don’t let your mind tell you otherwise!

  118. You look amaze-balls, babe!

    As you crawl out of your hole of depression, know you’re not alone. AND if anyone messes with you, I’ll punch them. I don’t want to, but I will if I have to. It’s the law.

  119. Snooki pouf or not, you look fantastic! I can’t wait to see your episode.

    Now, as far as the red dress goes, I probably shouldn’t post this b/c I’m depressed today & I always regret everything I do while depressed. However, the offer of a chance at a red dress experience is too important for me to pass up, so I will spill my guts for you (and random people…or no one) to read.

    Yesterday was my birthday. My 32nd, thank you very much. And it sucked ass. We’ve had a lot of financial struggles lately (along w/ pretty much everyone else in the world right now), so there were no cards, no parties, no presents. (Except a lanyard that my besty gave me that offers free face punches & has a tiny pair of brass knuckles attached to it. Pretty freakin’ awesome, I must say.) I got some fb love from my friends, a couple phone calls, and a single red rose left on my doorstep by an anonymous friend. All of this would have been the most thrilling thing in the world if my own father & siblings hadn’t forgotten my birthday. Yep, it’s true. I’m just that freakin’ special, apparently. I cried myself to sleep after whine-writing in my journal about what a shitty day I’d just had. This morning I woke up feeling like Eeyore, wondering why I can’t just suck it up & put on a happy face when so many people are so much worse off than me. Of course, realizing how absurdly self-centered this whole thing is, I start feeling worse, which both pisses me off & makes me want to put on my tiny brass knuckles & punch my own face. Also, today is the 16th anniversary of the day my first love died. So there’s that.

    All of that previous paragraph only really play a small part in why I want…why I NEED to have a red dress experience. I am 32 years of mediocrity, wrapped into a chunky package, with plain clothes, and an ugly face. My husband & kiddo love me a lot and they’re amazing. I have some of the coolest friends in the world, though I have no clue how I got so lucky. I’m not completely unfortunate. But when it comes to being at peace with myself, I can honestly say, that has never, ever, ever happened. I see the pictures on the Red Dress fb page & I want that so desperately. I want one day, or even just one hour, to feel beautiful. To feel better than plain. To feel special.

    So, dear Jenny, if you find yourself with a size 14 or 16 dress that is ready to travel, I would be eternally grateful if you sent it my way & I will happily send it along when I’m done. And thanks for letting me vent. (Unless you delete this comment. In which case, that kind of sucks, but I’ll love you anyway.)

  121. So when time-wise is the show?(off to google). I hope you never have as severe of depression again. I have had depression, both my parents do, and depression sucks. But keep in mind that you are beyond awesome!

  123. Great you’re feeling better now, thanks for letting us see the pix of the preparation for Katie’s show. You could never look like Snookie! You look fantastic in both the blk and the red dress. I can’t wait to see you in the show.We love you Jenny. (Oh, and your book was fantastic. Start the second one!) Donna

  124. As far as stereotypes are concerned, Italian mothers are pleasantly plump and constantly trying to feed everyone. Italy probably had a stupid fight with his mom and this whole dress-sizes thing is his way of getting back at her.

    Italy is a terrible son.

  125. *hugs!* Glad you are feeling better. *more hugs* and you look fabulous!
    So glad to learn and hear about the Traveling Red Dress/es of the world ?…
    Thank you ?!

  126. *hugs!* Glad you are feeling better. *more hugs* and you look fabulous!
    So glad to learn and hear about the Traveling Red Dress/es of the world ?…
    Thank you ?!

  128. I *so* need a Red Dress moment. In just a couple of weeks, I’ll “celebrate” the 2nd anniversary of the end of my 22 year marriage. I’m now a single mama to a child with multiple special needs with an ex that lives 1000 miles away and only sees her once a year. I’m pretty sure I’m forgetting who I am as a woman ~ all I know is who I am as a mama. And not a very hot mama, at that. Like you, I battle depression (sometimes better than others) but you can’t curl up in a ball at the back of the closet when you’re the only person in the house who has use of her arms and legs. This has plusses and minuses. The plusses? I HAVE to get up. She’d starve if I didn’t operate the feeding pump, and she’d be a mess if I didn’t change the diapers. The minuses? I HAVE to get up, I have no time for therapy, and I spend way too much time in my own head without another adult in the house to talk to. As a single mom (I work for a non-profit and make almost enough money to support the two of us) I can’t afford my own red dress. If I could, I would SO do it. I crave an afternoon of feeling pretty again. I keep hitting the Good Will, but so far? No dice. For now, the IDEA of the Red Dress is what I’ve got and I hold onto it when I feel like I can’t hold on anymore. Fake it til you make it, baby.

  130. I have suffered from depression most of my life. Earlier this year, I took a leave from work and went into partial hospitalization and group therapy for three weeks. Kicking and screaming because I have a great life and nothing to be sad about! But depression doesn’t happen because your life is bad or because you deserve it. It just happens because it sucks.

    I have always tried to be open about my struggle so that others would understand that it is not shameful and others understand how they feel. You, lovely lady, have done a wonderful job in bringing depression into the light. If you ever feel like “I’m nothing”, thousands of people would disagree.

  133. First off, you look absolutely aMAZing in that red dress! I wanted to tell you that I have been fighting depression for years, and I had finally gotten over the worst of it when I found out in May that I am pregnant. My husband is thrilled and I know I should be over the moon, but I’m so terrified that this pregnancy won’t finish that I’m seriously depressed again. I’ve lost a couple, but we do have a son that made it all the way through the process. With him, I was on prozac before they researched all the horrible side effects of prozac on pregnancy, so this time I don’t have anything to help me through. I was hoping you (or anyone else) would be willing to send me a red dress for a little perk-up? I think it would be really great to get to take my maternity photos in a red dress to show everyone how far I have come and that I (and our daughter) can get through this with flying colors.

  134. I was at the Katie show taping last month to see Brene and was so thrilled that you were there too! You were fabulous! Can’t wait to watch the show next week and maybe even catch a glimpse of my friend and me in the audience laughing or nodding our heads in that thoughtful way that talk show audience members do!!

  135. I had some shoes that started to fart at work one day. I had to walk around all day long, stepping and farting. The best part of the day was when a huge bodybuilder type guy looked down at my feet and said, “You got them shoes, too? Man, I made my wife throw hers away! They started fartin’ about the second time she wore ’em.” I threw them away that evening.

    You look absolutely amazing in your red dress, Jenny! I don’t need one of my own, but I love the concept of just breaking out in joy with yourself. We all need to do that, and often.

  137. I tell people about your blog or book all the time. Most are the unenlighted and I have to really give them the details, but the other day the reply was “wait! the giant metal chicken lady??? I haven’t read her blog in a while, but I LOVE her!”
    Love and miss you!
    And you ROCKED that red dress!!

  138. For the last 3 years, I have been suffering from mild to severe bouts of depression. I have been on different medicines, anxiety stuff, it has had a grasp on my entire life, from work, to my children(who I love more than anything), but there are somedays I just don’t have the energy or willpower to do what I need to in my life. I felt like I hit rock bottom and truly I should be loving life. I have 2 fabulous children, a wonderful husband, an awesome family, but in the end, I just didn’t care. But then I read your book and I read your blog daily. It hit me one day that if you, with your busy life and tours, family, blog, life(in general), if you can make it through depression then so can I… I went and bought a new outfit, I didn’t feel fabulous, but I have been working on myself daily to try to pull myself back together so that I can love all the things I once did. No one understands the demons you face in the dark alone until you have been there and I want to say thank you gor being so inspiring and helping see the light at the end. I haven’t made it to the light, but at least I can see it and that is a very good start for me. BTW, you look absolutely stunning in your red dress. =)

  139. Jenny, you inspire me endlessly. I met you at your book signing in Chicago, and I so badly wanted to tell you that you have given me hope that my brand new marriage can make it to 16 years despite my broken mind, that it may be possible for me to raise a child as beautiful as Hailey and not ruin her. But I couldn’t bring myself to say anything and just stared at you like a deer in headlights. I’m kind of surprised that I wasn’t escorted away by security because you feared for your life. I just want you to know what was behind the undoubtedly crazed look in my eyes.

    You have made me laugh and cry and I hope your success continues, because you deserve it. And I hope the next time I see you at a booksigning I can untie my tongue.

    PS you look stunning in that dress, and OF COURSE you have a Tardis phone case.

  140. You look so lovely, Jenny!!! I’m so happy you are feeling better.
    I would adore a red dress, but I bet there are lots of ladies (or gents) who need one more than I do right now. Plus my apartment just got fumigated for bed bugs and roaches and everything I own that is made with any sort of fabric is in a series of giant sealed plastic bags and has to stay that way for the next 3 weeks so that any bugs that survived the bug armegeddon we unleashed upon them will not find a hiding place. So even if you sent me a red dress I wouldn’t be able to wear it until all the bugs are officially smited.
    Oooo! do you have a bug-smiting dress?! It’s doesn’t have to be red. Maybe it should, to represent bug guts. Strike fear into the hearts of bugs EVERYWHERE!!! Wait, do bugs have hearts?
    Maybe the bug chemicals are going to my head…I’m going to go lie down now.

  144. I know a lovely woman who needs a traveling red dress badly. She is my best friend and suffers from very severe bouts of depression. She is one of the most amazing women I have ever known and I would give my life for her. She cares more about the wellbeing of other people instead of herself, she is caring, selfless, beautiful, funny, and completely unique and one of a kind. I think a traveling red dress would let her see what everybody else sees in her, and help her take her mind off of things.

  145. First off, you look gorgeous. Secondly, I cannot even imagine talking to Katie, kudos to you for not fan girling it and fainting. As for the red dress. I have had one hell of a year. My husband and best friend decided they make a better couple, so now they live together. He gave me sole custody of our 2 boys and has since cut himself out of their lives completely. Our 4-year-old is autistic and really doesn’t understand where daddy went. It’s hard trying to help him (and me) through this. Our 2-year-old is taking it much better. In Feb my oldest son (he’s 11) was kidnapped by his biological father (that ran off when I was 2 months along, as it was too much to take knowing he would have a kid). It took 3 weeks to find and get my son back. Now I’m in an intense and drawn out custody battle for him. Needless to say, he wants nothing to do with his bio-dad, 11 years is a long time to wait before deciding you’re ready to take responsibility, not including the way he went about it. Let’s just say that all of that combined with me having lupus and mixed connective tissue disease has not been easy or pretty. But I refuse to give in or give up, because they (and I) are worth fighting for. I have since published a book of poetry from my lifes darkest moments, and started a blog about learning to live this life and not just survive it. But I think I could use a red dress moment. Heck, I could use a red dress month. I just want to find peace though. I think I’ve earned that much.

  146. You look amazing! The depression and anxiety is such a hard battle. My son (10) has anxiety too (and better meds than me, haha) and has autism. He just started back to school after being homeschooled for 4 years. It’s difficult for him, he comes home crying and stressed out daily, but he is SO determined to go each and every morning because he desperately wants to be just like everyone else.

    As for me, I am overwhelmed with stress and worry about him, which is probably what’s causing my anxiety and depression to spiral. I worry that he’ll regress. His determination is what inspires me to get up every morning and try to face the battles. You are also such an inspiration. I wish I was able to express my battle so eloquently. I will definitely be watching you with Katie <3. And thanks for just being YOU and letting us share in a little bit of that.

    I hope the owners of the red dresses feel empowered in their dresses. They deserve it! As for me, I've spent the past (way too many years) in stretchy pants and I don't even know what size dress I wear at the moment. I am working on the courage to go try some on though, and may hitting up the goodwill to look for one.

  147. You look fabulous! Even though Italian designers are sadists, I love the dress. I can’t wait to watch. This is so exciting!

    Last night, I was talking to my boyfriend about Christmas (Family Guy re-run- long story), and how Christmas two years ago was my best Christmas ever because my readers donated money to buy gifts for children who otherwise wouldn’t get any. And that made me start thinking of James Garfield’s Christmas miracle and well, I guess the moral of story is you, Jenny Lawson, are inspiring.

  148. Ok, before I say anything else, I need to tell you that you looked hilariously fabulous in that first shot and just plain ol’ fabulous in the second 🙂 I think it’s freaking awesome that you get to wear a fancy dress on tv in a room full of people who are probably wearing jeans (with the exception of Ms. Katie, of course.) I will be at work when the show is on, but you can bet your red dress that I’ll be DVRing that shiz.

    Now…onto why I need a red dress in my life. I feel like this is going to be a big “why my life is a shit hole right now” post, but I really do have a lot to be thankful for. But, I always liked the whole “bad news first” thing, because then you have the good news at the end to cheer you up.

    First….I’m in a transition process right now (in like, 400 ways) and I suck at transitions. Usually they make me want to crawl into a hole and hide forever until the transition is over. My office is moving (and I hate my job anyway because I’m an Office Bitch instead on an art teacher) and everyone is yelling and mad and complaining because they are being put in cubicles and making me want to hide because I hate when people yell. (My supervisor actually hauled off and got into a total screaming match with a dude who was sitting on his ass while all the ladies in his department totally rocked through packing like, 100 boxes- no exaggeration. One of my coworkers recorded the audio on his phone).

    On top of the office crap, I’m also engaged (the ultimate transition- eek) and planning a wedding makes me want to cry sometimes. We’re paying for the whole thing ourselves because our parents aren’t really in any position to help (his dad got laid off last year and still has yet to find a job and my parents’ house got flooded last year during Irene (less than 6 months after they finished fixing up the house from the flood 5 years before that one…..). Anyway, it took us over a year to find a wedding venue, less than a week to find an affordable dj and now it’s taking an eternity to find a photographer we can afford. And it’s killing me because I’m an artist who is going to have shitty wedding photographs because I can’t afford anyone who has more talent than a toddler with a Polaroid.

    To make finances even MORE fun, I’m currently starting a treatment for TMJ, and if anyone knows anything about it, it’s that insurance companies are big buttwads that don’t want to cover it. And the FIRST part of treatment costs $3,000. My insurance company had me in hysterics on Tuesday, while I was at work of all places…..and I had to shut my door so no one saw me totally flipping out. Naturally, my mom called in the middle of the whole thing and I think I scared the shit out of her because I told her I wanted to take all of the 9 representatives that I’ve spoken to who gave me the wrong information over the last month and a half and lock them all in a room with me so I could strangle them one by one. I haven’t heard from her since lol.

    Because everything else isn’t enough….I decided that 3 months ago, I’d be better off leaving talk therapy than continuing treatment at a facility that actually made me feel even crazier than I am. Some days I feel like I can handle it no matter what, other times I miss my old therapist so much that it hurts my heart (she’s at a different place than aforementioned shit hole- one that I can’t go to anymore for geographical reasons). But she taught me some amazing skills and coping strategies and she told me that she’s never going away- she will live in my head and heart, forever. We worked with the DBT method and it seriously changed my life. I’m still on meds and keep a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency bottle of Xanax accessible at all times, but I have not yet tried to totally give up yet, so that’s a good sign. Of course, winter is coming and that scares the shit out of me because that’s the worst time to be me….but I haven’t self harmed in over 2 years now, so I think I can make it through without a therapist. And if I can’t? Well, then I guess I have to go find one.

    On a lighter note, my brother is a ferociously proud volunteer firefighter and I think getting a Red Dress would be almost as badass as his Red Truck. I would probably melt with glee if I could get a photo of the two of them together. 🙂 I am not ashamed to say that my 18 year old brother is my fucking hero.

    As I said before, there are absolutely amazing things going on in my life too- I’m engaged to the most wonderfully supportive man on the planet (our relationship is scarily similar to that of you and Victor). I have a loving, hilarious and wonderful group of friends and family and I can pay (most of) my bills on time. I haven’t overdrawn my bank account in over 6 months! lol

    (Oh, and if I don’t get a dress? Give it to Diana Lark. She is a fucking champ. And she is totally spot-on about you being a red dress. Your book created hope and laughter for me when I thought there was none left)

  150. You inspire me! Thank you for the laughs this morning and I’m so glad you’re coming out of the latest bit of depression. I struggled with my own black hole about two years ago – it surprised me because it hadn’t happened to me quite like that before. Your blog is one of the best I’ve come across. Really.

  151. There are just some things that you never think will happen – my daughter Summer is a gorgeous 13 year old red head that is so filled with life it’s scary. Three weeks ago she was diagnosed with Leukemia after her leg started swelling for no apparent reason. It was 2 days before basketball practice started for her school team, she was devastated. She was supposed to be in the hospital for only a week to get chemo started, we are going on week 3 with a timeline of a “few more weeks” due to infections. She has lost 20 lbs so far, and her hair is starting to fall out. I would love a red dress for her for a little photo shoot before everything really starts to happen. She is such an amazing kid, the first time she talked to her best friend on the phone the nurse overheard her reassuring her friend that they were going to make it through everything together, she is always thinking of everyone else.

  152. Me, I don’t need a red dress, because I am a guy, and guys don’t get to have red dress experiences. Unless they’re into that kind of thing, which is cool for some guys, but I’m not.

    I would totally fart on Katie Couric, though. I’d even lean over and poke her shoulder with my finger as I did it, just to blame it on her.

    I’ll have to see if I can find the show online, because you’re so fun to watch.

  153. My best friend was just readmitted to the hospital yesterday. She was released only a week ago and is back because they misdiagnosed her. She’s been struggling with a rare nerve disease since July and my never-sits-never-stops friend has been bed bound and unable to walk for months, now. I’d like the dress for her. I think having it will give her one more reason to fight hard for her recovery and I think that when she is able to wear it, it will be such a triumph. She’s the maid of honor in my wedding (three weeks from today) and she might miss it. And I think we’re both having a really hard time with that. So. Anyway. I think she deserves one. Because she’s amazing.

  154. Aw. I’ll bet you were able to answer Katie if she asked you what you read. Maybe you should run for Vice President next election

  156. Depression is such an asshole, because it sneaks up on you. Reading through these comments, it’s easy to see the understandable situational Depression along with the less understood but just as serious “random” Depression that boils up inside you when you least expect it. I’m so glad you’re coming out of the darkness. You look beautiful, even with Snooki-esque hair. I am wishing for red dress moments for all of these ladies.

  157. I’m not for a second suggesting I have a cure for depression….but I have a cure for my depression. He’s called Karl Pilkington. I have yet to find anything or anybody funnier. His land dive has to be seen to be believed…..and don’t even get me started on the time he tried to outwit a Sumo wrestler. (you can of course google all of this)

    Give him a shot next time you’re heading into that dark hole…he’s like a big old shot of free seratonin for the soul….the poor sod.

  160. That television listing needs to employ the phrase “widely read blog” a few more times. Perhaps you should just rename your blog “widely read blog” … you know … to help those who learned of you via this blurb to find you better?

  161. Italian sizes are child sizes – fact! I tried on size 14 bike leathers when i was a UK 12-14 and i could barely get them past my knee.

    They have no hips though – fact. Or boobs.

    They are all just trying to make the women of the world feel bad. Shame on them – Shame!

  162. Black hole depression? Haha. I am reading these comments in my pajamas in bed at 11 am. I couldn’t get up if the house were on fire. I can’t even attempt to be funny to impress The Bloggess.

    However, your book made me laugh, a lot. That is worth the price of admission a million times over. I will love you forever for that.

  164. Hey hot thang! Greetings from San Angelo!

    You look stunning in red and I can’t wait to watch you on Katie! Glad you are on the up and up! I will def be buying Brene’s book 🙂

    Thanks for being you!

  165. Hi Jenny!
    You look so beautiful in your pictures!
    I hope you know that you are an inspiration to all of us with anxiety and depression. If you can bravely walk out onto a stage in turbo heels and face Katie freakin Couric, then I am pretty convinced you are capable of rescuing baby lambs from fire breathing wolves. I really want to do the red dress thing one day. I think that would be so fun and inspiring to be a part of something that so many women have done. I wonder if it is ever hard for you to believe that all this is happening to you. You deserve it all. Except the depression and stuff, that stuff can go suck a lemon.
    I am so glad your starting to come back and get out of the stupid hole of crappy depression. You’ve helped so many people pull themselves out including me. I just want to thank you for being so awesome.

  166. Help, I need somebody.
    I need a red dress. I need one because the last year of my life (and still ongoing) has been the hardest emotional year of my live.
    Perspective, I have. I haven’t lost a child or suffered through a great loss or personal harm.

    I hang on the edge. Every damn day. The edge between no self worth and my kids need a mom.
    They keep a firm grip on me but it’s a choice that I make every day.
    I’ve reached a point in my life where my mantra is simply, suck it up. That’s how I get through each day. I suck it up. Not even soft kitty works anymore. I’m sad and heartbroken and have become a hurricane of loneliness and hurt.
    I just want to have one day where I feel like a normal happy person. I want to silence the hateful, hurtful bitch inside me. Just for a day.

  167. Hi, Jenny. You look absolutely gorgeous!

    While I would love my own red dress moment, I can wait. My mother deserves one more than anyone I know. She’s soon to be 58 and has had an exhausting life, physically and mentally. I won’t get into the past here, but her present and future are not getting any easier. She is raising my sister’s daughter because my sister is an addict and she has been raising her for two years this October. My Mama has dealt with the sadness of losing her own child to drugs while having to stay positive and happy for my niece. She never loses hope that my sister will get better and be a positive force in her children’s lives. It’s been a trying couple of years. As if this wasn’t too much to handle, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer two months ago and just yesterday started her radiation. Now on top of raising a six year old, she has to fight fatigue and her own fears as to will she be around to be the most stable person in my niece’s life. I’m not sure if a red dress moment will lift her spirits, but I figure it can’t hurt?

  168. I was diagnosed with depressive exhaustion today (not sure, if this is right, English is not my native language). I have been fighting depression and anxieties for years but always felt like I would be a loser if I ever go to the doctor and kind of make it “official” I was so wrong and I hope that this whole fear and sadness will slowly make way so I can see all the happy things in life. Thank you for being an inspiration for me and thank you so much for showing me that therapy might be the way to go.

  170. for the last two weeks my depression has overtaken my whole being to the point where my teeth and bones hurt. i have two young daughters and i don’t know what i am more afraid of passing on this despair through my genes or having them remember some day that mommy cried a lot when we were little…
    i read your blog and i feel better sometimes. sad, but knowing that someone out there is suffering through the same thing i am makes me feel less alone and more “normal”. i watched the video you posted about depression a while ago and when you said, “i want you here” i think it was the first time anyone had ever said that to me. my family tries to understand what i’m going through and i know they would be devasted if i wasn’t here but none of them had ever stated it like that. so thank you. i really needed to hear that. then and now.

  171. Can’t wait to see it! You look fabulous. I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to look better than the host! I haven’t seen the show, but Katie couldn’t have looked better than you!

  172. I came here to post something irreverent but first, Elizabeth – how can we reach you? Post again, please, and give us an email or a website or some way to reach out.
    ———————
    For Jenny, I’m not sure if a product like this would be useful to you, but based on your comment about mistakenly being blamed for a fart, I thought you should be aware of it (link should take you to the first review of this product on Amazon)

    http://www.amazon.com/review/R2JTMWJ9I18KFJ/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt#R2JTMWJ9I18KFJ

  173. oh… I suppose I could post *my* reachable link in case you actually do come back. You can tweet me by clicking my name now, I think

  174. So I know I’m “late” to the party and in jeans no less. But this red dress thing is fantastic. My red dress moment would be to celebrate me right now. I’m turning 45 in December. I’m 20 pounds overweight and have been for several years. I have a great daughter. So I look at what I’ve come through to arrive at this “disappointing” physical state. Loss of love, loss of parents, siblings with addictions, failed marriage, expectations, carbs, medication. I am soft around the middle and I have WTF lines between my brows. My face has taken on a crazy brown blotchiness (spellcheck suggested bitchiness or itchiness here – I think they apply also) that even Clinique can’t conquer. It looks like a nicely browned pancake – where did all of this extra pigment come from????
    I beat myself up because I don’t like to run. I don’t know why….like I SHOULD be a runner – yet I have never been. So I guess I could also be pissed that I’m so bad at violin – although I’ve never held one.
    Anyway, I’m on a journey to be the best damn 45 year old version of me I can be. Loosing 20 by 45 or maybe 15….I’m going to be hard on myself but gentle too. So I’m going to celebrate me now….my lines on my neck (so happy to see you have them…they are lovely!) All the crap I’ve been through and the fact that I’m able to love and worthy of being loved – even in one particular man felt he couldn’t any more. I’m a great mom and my daughter is going to kick ass because her mom knows better and is doing better. And when/if she makes poor decisions….I’m going to love her all the way through.
    I’m rambling and on the verge of tears at work so I’m signing off before it gets ugly. Appreciate you! Appreciate your beautiful rings around your neck!

  175. Guess how many times I’ve been in the psych hospital this year…. Guess… Ok, the number is 3. Guess what’s wrong with me. I self harm. I couldnt even guess myself how many stitches ive gotten over the years . Wait, scratch that- used to self harm. For the past 8 months I’ve been going to a fucking day program at this really awesome place that understands that people don’t all have insurance. And I finally got a kick-ass therapist and some good meds (often referred to as my skittles– but not the orange ones because they taste like orange, the color, not the fruit). And last Friday was the first time in the past 2.5 years that I’ve gone an entire 6 months without self harming. And for someone who Has been doing it since they were 15 (and now am 28) it’s like a freaking miracle.

    Anywho I would love a red dress. To me they stand for hope and beautifulnedd, and when your arms make you look like you got in a fight with a small tiger, you sometimes need help to make you think positively about yourself and the future……

  177. Jenny,
    I’m 17 and I have recently been diagnosed with GAD and Panic Disorder. I guess it’s kind of nice to know why I feel the way I do. I’m an aspiring opera singer, but my feelings of intense anxiety get in the way of my success. I know that this is what I want to do, but I also understand that if I don’t learn to control my anxiety, I may never have the life I so much desire. I attend an boarding arts school, but I spend a lot of time locked either in my room or the bathroom. It’s really lonely inside my head. And it hurts when I blame it all on myself. I feel worthless, stupid, and very very broken. It’s so hard to love myself and right now I don’t. I have consistent feelings that everyone hates me and that I’m not worthy of anyone’s love or attention. I never feel pretty and I can’t imagine living my life this way forever. I’m trying so hard to lift myself out of the hole I continuously dig for myself, but it’s so hard to get out. I know that this comment will be far down the feed and that you may never read it….but I guess it’s worth a chance. It would just feel so amazing, and may even make me feel important for the first time in a long time, to get a dress from you. I can only wish, but I admire you and your bravery through life very much. Haley is such a lucky girl to have you as her mother. Thank you for offering these kinds of chances to the world. I’m sending you many many many (as much as I can muster) good vibes to help you heal from your last debilitating bought.
    I love you very much.
    Please stay strong and amazing, and never give up the race to happiness.

  178. ^*****

    And I’d totally wear it to my iop day program with a tiara. And send you the pics!

  179. GORGEOUS! Feel better soon. You have no idea what a ray of sunshine you have been during one of the worst years of my life. We adore you.

  180. Not only do you rock, your fans rock, too. What an amazing group of people — such support, such sharing of laughter and tears — I need to get my hands on your book, but in the meantime I am also strangely (and happily) hooked on your blog.

  181. Holy Shit! Allons Y!
    I love me some Dr. Who… Almost as much as I love you. You have made me laugh and cry (but in a good way). I was married to a man that is Bi Polar (not why we’re divorced btw – unless it prevented him from screwing around) and I watched him fight his way back to normal after each swing. It’s a tough thing to watch someone you love be so depressed and not be able to do anything. It’s also tough to find out he’s screwing the office staff too, but I kinda laugh about that now. It took a while to be able to do that, but there it is. Sometimes we get to laugh at things that break our hearts and I’m so grateful for that. So please give a red dress to someone who can’t laugh right now.

    Love you Girl.. you’re amazing!

  183. Woo hoo! Sexy laday! How exciting!! I’m so glad you’re doing better. We haven’t heard from you in a bit. I was missing you.

  185. Jenny,

    You look GORGEOUS!

    I wish you could send a red dress to me.. I was out of work for almost 2 years and went from a size 10 to a size 16 and I can’t manage to get the energy to work the weight off and I hate looking in a mirror. I have a wedding to go to next week and I can’t stand any of my dresses. I look fat in every stinking one of them. Add to it that I found out last week that my mom has cancer and I’m feeling pretty stinking low right now.

    I keep telling myself that other people have it far worse than I do (I have a house, I have a car, a great son, etc.) but sometimes, that’s just not enough. But I will get through this. Just like everything else. God doesn’t give us more than we can handle. I just wish He didn’t trust me so damn much.

  186. I’ve got you set to record in case I’m not home. Now Doug can see who I’ve been talking about so much. He thinks you don’t really exist.
    Ha ha. I win.:)

  187. how did i not notice your phone cover is a TARDIS? cute 🙂
    that dress…. you in that dress. AMAZING!
    setting my dvr now to watch you and brene on katie
    i would love to wear a red dress and see how it makes me feel (less than awful i hope), but as someone else said, i think there are others that need it more than i do. maybe someday i will ask, but i’m not sure i’m ready to embrace it
    xo

  188. I love the Tardis phone!! I think you should use your powers of Awesome to try to talk to one of the “Doctahs” from Dr. Who!

    You look wonderful in the dress! Being a sufferer of Severe Depression AND ADD I am always inspired by your ability to find humor everywhere no matter what.

    <3

  192. I too, suffer from clinical depression, and have done since my childhood. I, however, find it extremely difficult to talk about, even with my family (although my husband and children know that I suffer, my parents still do not). It’s a real struggle to get out of bed every day, and most nights I go to bed hoping I won’t wake up in the morning (situation at home is rather difficult at the moment). But I’m seriously thinking it might be time to buy myself a red dress. I don’t ever go anywhere where I could wear it, I just want to have it in the closet, to know I can put it on if I need to, to touch it, to admire it, to photograph it. I wonder if I can find one that will hide the fact that I have no boobs any more? (I hate wearing my protheses!)

    Thank you for your wonderful, funny, difficult, sometimes downright rude blog, I often find myself laughing out loud, with everyone around me thinking I’ve really gone off my rocker!! Keep up the good work. Xxx

    Sue

  195. I see you have a TARDIS case on your phone. I too have a TARDIS case. I’m sure that explains how 200 apps and 400 pictures fit inside.

  196. wow, congrats! I deal with some serious bouts of depression myself. I love your blog and it brings a smile every time I read it!

  198. Love you Bloggess, but someone lied to you 🙂 There is no Italian size 20 – the sizes for women generally start at 34 or 36 and a US size 12 or so would be a 46 or 48…a size 20 would be something like a 54 or 56.

  199. I’ve been a fan of the Travelling Red Dress for a while now, even offering my services as a photographer for free in the Northern Ontario, Canada area. But I think it’s time I put on a red dress and find something good about life again.

    My fiance and I have been involved in a custody battle for his two kids for a year and a half. It’s cost us nearly $10 000 so far to get almost nowhere, even though all the reports and opinions are on our side. This is money we didn’t have to begin with and the scrimping has gotten to ridiculous levels. We bypassed “skip date night” a long time ago…already put off our wedding…now we’re at the “do we buy tires to replace the completely bald ones and still be able to drive?” or “do we have Christmas?”

    We recently found out I’m pregnant as well. It wasn’t something we planned, rather a fluke of how the body breaks down under stress. It’s a blessing anyway, but adding a baby on top of everything else is extremely stressful. I’m not sure how we’re going to swing it yet.

    I’ve been battling a deep depression lately, trying to not let the pregnancy hormones set off my manic depression. Normally I would love to lounge in PJs all day, but it doesn’t feel great when that is your only option due to outgrowing all your clothes. We don’t have money for regular maternity clothes, let alone something pretty, but my fiance knows to keep an eye out for a red dress! I’m hoping it helps.

  200. I wasn’t even looking at your Snookie hair because I was LOVING the TARDIS phone case… I wish they had something that fabulously awesome for a Blackberry – but of course they don’t 🙁

    And the red dress is gorgeous.

    As for sizes – I don’t really know what size I wear. I’ve been enjoying summer in dresses but as fall approaches I’m going to have to start figuring out how to fit into pants so it’ll be stretchy workout pants and yoga pants time for me!

    I actually have my first assessment at the gym today because they had a super-super cheap deal and it’s supposed to be really good for bipolar/panic/anxiety and I’m hoping my meds will keep everything in enough control that I can actual get TO the gym at least 3x a week.

    Wish me luck!

  202. Just read Lauren’s latest post over at Filing Jointly…Finally. I think we should get her a red dress stat. (I mean, she helped you buy a horse and all….)

  204. I spent a year studying in Italy (many, many, many, many moons ago) and it took me a while to get used to wearing a size 46. 46! 4-ty-6! Or was it 42? (Too many moons have passed.) Anyway, one of the 40+s was my clothing size, and the other 40+ was my shoe size. Made me feel like I had flippers instead of feet. Didn’t stop me from buying shoes, though. Even red ones.

  208. I can’t wait to watch!! I would also love a red dress or tardis blue dress…. or just a dress but I doubt i’ll get it because a) i never get chosen for cool things. b) you did not see my cool tweet I made to you about uranium ore :(. and 3.. c?.. c) I’m a tiny human( 5’0 tall 1oolb -__-) being so the possibility of a dress fitting my midgetness is very low 🙁 BUt im excited to see new dresses.

  209. Jenny,

    You’ve helped so many people through so many struggles. You are an amazing woman! I believe the Red Dress project will be your legacy. As I have struggled with illness over the last four years, barely managing to hang on at work and home, I know what it is to feel ugly and less than a woman. I’ve lost more than 30 pounds off my already small frame.

    I used to be a belly dancer, wearing sparkly costumes in front of crowds of more than a thousand people, but who wants to see a 105lbs skeleton dancing around? I was recently blessed with a new opportunity that may help me get my health back. I am moving and will have a new job. With that, I donated many of my costumes to a special needs dance troupe that I have worked with for years. This will be their “red dress” moment.

  210. That dress is lovely!! You should wear it every day. Just because. Put it on, then go buy some produce. Just stand in the produce section of your market holding various things, like a cluster of grapes or a handful of kale leaves, and smile and wave like you’re on top of a float in a homecoming parade. Tell everyone “Thank you…you’re been so kind…” when they stop and stare in confusion. Give them their daily dose of Vitamin Surreal.

    Speaking of small Italian sizes…when we toured Italy, one of the places we went down is the Spanish Steps, the bottom of which leads to one of the most expensive shopping areas in the world (Prada, Fendi, Vuitton, Gucci…you name it, they’re all there). I went into one of the stores, clad in my sweaty, touristy clothes, and demanded they bring me the smallest size in everything they had apace. Wasn’t long before I was escorted out by the lapels.

    Just kidding. All I really did was look in the windows and schmuck up the glass. On purpose.

    Don’t feel badly about Italian sizing. I lived overseas for 12 years and was mortified everytime I went shopping. Fancy buying a size 85DD bra and not feeling like you’re a giant mutant-titted woman who may consume the continent if she gets hungry enough.

  213. I think that you are awesome!! And as I just scarfed down two beignets, I hope that your recovery to solid food comes soon.

  214. Dear Jenny, I’m the one who emailed you last week in the depths of my despair. I’m doing a bit better now. It’s slightly less of a struggle to get out of bed. The meds are helping. AND I think a red dress would make me feel beautiful, if only for a little while. I would totally send it back or whatever. But, for a few moments, it would be nice to feel beautiful. I know I’m comment number 233 or something and I’m sure there are people who deserve it way more than me but, I figured thete’s no harm in asking. And maybe hope isn’t such a bad thing. I guess I have come pretty far from white I was last week. E

  215. Jenny, you ROCK. You deserve every ounce of fabulous that comes your way. Thanks for sharing the fabulous. I know you already gave out the red dresses, but I just wanted to share a little bit of my story- not to get a red dress, just to let people know they’re not alone. That seems to be an important theme in this weird little family we have here. Anyways, I was diagnosed with depression like… 13 years ago? Which is fully half of my life. I’ve been dealing with this lying bastard since I was 13. Unlucky much? I’ve been dealing with self-injury almost as long. Anyways, I have good days and bad days. The bad still mostly outnumber the good, but we’re getting closer. I’m learning to take care of myself. And I’m learning to embrace who I am and tell the rest of the world to go jump in a lake. Thanks for helping me do that. Thanks for showing me that broken people can be the best people!

  216. I also meant to say that I’m glad you’re doing better too. And please thank your assistant, the fairy godmother for me too. She’s a peach.

  218. I believe they really should have kept your hair like the first pic you posted. You would definitely have started a new trend! I’m glad you are feeling better!

  219. And while I’m sitting here tearing up all over again after re-reading the original Red Dress post, I look a little closer, and see you have the TARDIS phone cover, and I’ve never been a fangirl ever in my life, but I think I’m beginning to belong to you that way…

  220. Hi, you:

    I’ve been a faithful follower of your blog since I was on maternity leave & charged w/caring for a 4-lb preemie without a license. Also around the same time, I discovered my son’s father was having an affair w/a rich bitch trophy wife who he gave guitar lessons to. She came to my baby shower. Cliched, but true. You, along with the most beautiful baby son on the planet, have been a bright spot in some truly shitty hours, for which I’ll always be grateful. Fast-forward a year to today & you find me, still in love w/the same guy who is still languishing in Cougartown. Oh, and did I mention I just found out I’m pregnant, again?

    Don’t feel sorry for me because I made choices that landed me here, or that I’m depressed as hell. I just defy you to find anyone else who could use a stellar red dress more than I could! I need help to get over the hump, so I can stick it to the world and raise the two most kick-assingest human beings, ever. One of them is curing cancer, I’m sure.

    All that said: do you have one of those dresses in maternity, sized small?

  221. I too know what that black hole feels like. After miscarrying my first child in my second trimester, I soon became pregnant again. Five months into this pregnancy, my father -my pal, my confidante- committed suicide. I never knew he was so sad. After spiraling into the blackest place I have ever been, I found out that I had two serious medical conditions, one curable, one not so much. Through years of therapy, shrinks, chemo drugs and marital strife beyond compare, I am on the other side. Let me tell you, the woman I am now is worlds apart from the girl I was when all of this started but now, I ROCK! Bring it on because I can handle anything! My son is now a gorgeous and healthy seven year old and my marriage, though battered, is still in tact. I have love and joy and insight and compassion. What I don’t have is a red dress! I would wear it as a badge of honor for fighting the war against depression and illness. I won and you will too!!
    p.s.- Annie Pickle was my dad’s nickname for me. I still miss him every minute of every day.

  222. Oh PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE put a link up once the show aires so those of us that can’t watch it (and don’t have those fancy new fangled recorder thingys) can see it. 🙂

  223. Jenny,
    I met you at the book signing in Denver.
    I don’t need a dress, and I can’t find your email address anyway. Im so *challenged* like that.
    I’ve read blog for years – always always always had an issue with depression. Probably has something to do with my mother telling me she hated me since I can remember….when she was around. I’ve been suicidal before any times (my psychiatrist loves me! I used to make her car payment!) that’s probably how I found your blog for the first time. Then i was diagnosed with cancer…and I was like “I was just kidding I don’t REALLY wanna die! Damn!”
    I still get depressed…like now – and I don’t even know why. I’m incredibly blessed (I mean for someone who’s mother hates her- and a girl with cancer). I have a great husband, kids…awesome friends who love me- (and your book in hard copy AND iTunes – and you signed my chicken!) shit! What more can a girl ask for! I mean, besides good hair, and the intelligence to figure out how to find your email address. I blame chemo…
    Anyway, thanks for all you do – and for making me laugh in my darkest moments!

  224. Sorry just posted without the above stuff so here it is again…..

    OH PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE post a link once it’s aired so that those of us that cant watch it (and don’t own one of those fancy new fangled recorder thingys) can watch it! 🙂

  225. You look gorgeous! Setting my dvr (from work) right now to record it next week on the tv in my living room. Sometimes I can’t help but think – how fucking cool is the internet?

  227. I just recently happened upon your blog, but hadn’t fully committed it to my reader. However, when I opened the page and saw you holding your very own Tardis phone ( I have a Tardis ringtone on mine), I realized, this chick must be the coolest ever.

  228. Of course I’m going to watch! You’re like family to me. You’re one of my lifelines when life gets shitty.
    I soooooo need one of those dresses. I am currently trying to grasp onto normalcy with my claws, but I fear it’s not working. My son has Asperger syndrome with anxiety,he hates his therapist, my teenager hates me, and my doctor just ordered me off sugar and alcohol. I’ve been following her advice, but it’s making me crazy and mad. I got it, doc, I’m fat. Thanks. Oh, by the way, how the HELL am I supposed to cope with my kids without booze? Oh gee, thanks for the psych brochures. Yes Jenny, I called and got myself an appointment. I’m still fat.
    Size 20 (American) dress. judy.sucevic@verizon.net

  229. Your blog makes me happy; it’s not uncommon for me to be laughing to myself while alone in my office (completely aware of the ‘has she lost it for real this time’ looks). 🙂 I was in Branson this weekend at Ripley’s Believe It or Not and there was an exhibit with three taxidermed ferrets in clothes and I thought of you. I don’t need a red dress for myself; but it would seriously cheer up my mom. She was diagnosed with inflamatory breast cancer Dec 23, 2011 and has under gone chemo and now they are trying hormone therapy. She’s always had a negative self-image; but the side effects of the chemo have exaserbated those feelings especially when she lost her eye lashes. We were at dinner last night and I made a comment about the sun being in my eyes and that her face was blacked out and she said it was probably a good thing because it isn’t much to look at. It makes me so sad and she definately deserves some happiness.

  233. I’ll definitely be watching. Just getting over an insanity spell myself. I put all of my medications in those cute little weekly pill keepers. When I was sorting them last week I totally did not include my ANTI-DEPRESSANT! What a maroon. I went for 3 days without them before I figured it out. By Wednesday I was trying to crawl under the bed with a gallon of Ben & Jerry’s. I occasionally wonder if i could start weaning myself off the anti-depressants…I’m thinking NO. So happy to have found your blog.

  234. I can’t believe I’ve missed out on a red dress for two days running! Yesterday I was too late replying to a blog offering a dress & today, this!! WTF is wrong with me??? Ah well, as I said yesterday, I would probably look like a man in drag anyway, so just as well they went to someone more deserving. ????

  236. I totally want my own red dress. And I will be watching and listening. And when the rip happens, I will drink. Because I have developed this elaborate long-term drinking game centered on your guest appearances.

    Now start paying attention to the amazing things you’re accomplishing and start ignoring those little anxiety gremlins that want to steal your good chi.

  239. The TARDIS cell phone case and/or paint job is pretty cool, but what I’d really love to see, if only once, is a microSD card painted to look like the TARDIS. Because nothing says “bigger on the inside” quite like 64 gigabytes of storage on something smaller than a dime.

  240. You look fabulous and I hope I get to see the interview (have to check online, we don’t have cable!) And love the Tardis phone cover, that’s awesome.

    I wish I could do a red dress shoot sometime. I just went through 4 years of infertility and recurrent miscarriages, then a pregnancy from hell with months of bed rest, but my son’s here now and things are looking up! Right now I’m working on losing weight so I have to keep buying new clothes (but in a good way for once in my life!).

    I let my depression get the better of me a lot, the last few years were awful, but things have gotten so much better. I wanted to thank you for sharing your battle with depression. I don’t talk about mine a lot anymore, because everyone seems to think everything should be perfect now that I have my son… in some ways it is, but in others I still struggle. I have a lot of grief and pain to deal with still, but I’m doing okay.

  242. You look beautiful Jenny! (also, I’m very jealous of your TARDIS phone!) To Leo T I might have to try that now! What a great idea!

  244. Congratulations on such surreal and wonderful things. You deserve them!

    I send you much sympathy for having to read through all of these stories of people who are struggling and asking for more dresses than you could possibly hope to give. Clearly the world needs a lot of dresses to go around. Thank you for the generous spirit that started this movement. Hopefully those dresses will continue to tour the world and bring their light to people.

  246. You look amazing, and please breed Hunter S. Thomcat so the entire world can have delightfully fucked up companions!

    I think I could really use a traveling red dress and a photoshoot to make me feel pretty. Here’s the short story, bullet form:
    – Childhood filled with abuse (all sorts, but sexual was the standout), confront parents about it as an adult, they ignore it and me completely. Convince family that I’m the bad guy.
    -Fine wonderful man. Plan to marry wonderful man.
    -Diagnosed with MS. Have MS attack 2 weeks before wedding to wonderful man.
    -Have wedding, no one from my family attends.
    -Also at wedding: tripping balls on all sorts of drugs due to MS attack. Also filled with steroids so I’m puffy, sweaty, and covered in acne. Look terrible.
    -SO MANY snafus with my wedding dress- it’s a disaster. I look terrible in it.

    And now I look at my wedding photos and cry. A little because of wonderful man, but a lot because I looked and felt terrible. And because my wedding looks empty due to the lack of half the guest list.

    It’s vain, I know, but I could really use something to make me feel beautiful. Like a worthwhile person who deserves love, even if her own mother finds her unlovable.

  247. A bit over 3 years ago I had the most major panic attack taking my daughters to see their friends at a mall 20 miles away. I looked for my inhaler (I felt I couldn’t breathe) and a Xanax (I left them at home). I knew I couldn’t stop or I would never start again. I got to the mall and had to wait 4 or 5 hours until a friend of my husbands could drop him off to drive us home. 3 years later I still can’t drive. I also have a strage phobia about the shower. I went to a therapist who gave me an ultimatum……….go to a hospital or get picked picked up by the police. As my mother drove me I took off and minutes later I was surrounded by 5 angry Dallas police officers, cuffed, drugged, and thrown into a room with people sleeping. I be all like, why is everyone sleeping? Eventually the painful shot I was given kicked in and I was sleeping. I have 3 teenage daughters and I’m not being such a good role model. I would like a red dress to not only boost my morale, but to show my beautiful daughters that life will be okay.

  250. Being indulgent to myself isn’t something that happens very often. Six years ago my now exhusband left me with two small children and took everything we had. The road to today has been a tough one, he harassed me for years until I moved some place he can’t find me. Through it all, the almost nervous breakdown or whatever they call it these days, getting laid off three times, dealing with my life being an open book in court and finally getting that divorce I’ve tried to hold my head high. Now, I’m finishing up my last year of school to be a massage therapist, I’ve gotten my children in a great school and found a great place for us to live. I get no child support from their father, I go it alone with help from family and friends. I’m not saying these things to get pity, these things made me rediscover who I am and what I stand for. Not going to brag too much, but I’m pretty awesome. My point is that, at the end of the day everyone else gets what they need and rarely do i get my indulgent moment to just be. My 40th birthday was spent studying for a final exam! So if I could rock the red dress for even 5 minutes, I would do it will class and all the sparkle of a rock star 🙂

  252. I need the red dress because in the past 3 months my sister-in-law died, my 17yo daughter graduated, her cousin was hit and killed by a train and my daughter is spinning out of control…got a tattoo, cancelled long made college plans and it engaged to a 26 year old with a drug problem. BUT I still am upright and pushing on for my 16yo son and husband and for all the nursing home residents I see everyday who offer me warm hugs and genuine sweetness. I could easily have fallen apart and let the darkness take me, but I didn’t. I pulled myself up and carried on.

  253. Is that a TARDIS phone? If so, you’re the coolest bitch on the planet…
    You recently wrote about your soul-crushing depression… You want to talk depression? My book barely has a PULSE, never mind still being on the NYT list after 4 months! NO ONE outside of my little home in the Niagara region gives a fuck about my work; of course, I know they have no reason to in the first place, but COME ON! “Let’s Pretend This Never Happened” describes my entire writing career so far…
    I tell you what, Bloggess, I have a proposal for you: come up with some kind of crazy stunt for me to pull – short of breaking any laws, I’ll do WHATEVER you want – and I’ll do it, providing you review my book and give me your honest opinion and a blurb.
    I don’t expect you’ll see this or respond, but if you do, get creative and give The Hook a challenge worthy of the reward, okay?
    P.S. I’m going to repeat this message, as I’m sure you don’t have the time to actually read every comment. Hopefully, sooner or later, I’ll make contact and we can talk business.
    Talk to you soon, I hope!

  255. That’s wonderful.
    While everyone here is completely deserving of a red dress, it would be great if I got it. I have been suffering from depression and anxiety since I was nine. They would prescribe medication and it would do nothing to me. At one point when I was 11, they prescribed a medication called Geodon because they thought I was bipolar since both my mom and my sister are. I ended up having an adverse reaction to the drug and would become psychotic and hide and scream and I was terrified. I ended up being hospitalized two separate times for about a week and a half both times before they stopped blaming my mom and took me off the medication. I spent my twelfth birthday in the hospital. When I went back to school I was bullied and treated as if I was anthrax. It got so bad I would break down and cry after school. My 8th grade year my mom put me in a private school with her inheritance and things started to get better. I am getting over my insecurity about weight; I am allowing myself to believe that I have people that care about me and want to know me; and most of all, through your blog, I have realized that I am not alone, which was honestly was the worst part.
    I would like the red dress to show to the world how happy I became and how better off I am because of it. I also realize that many other people here are just as deserving to get the dress, if not more. What matters is that those of us who commented felt safe enough in this space to share our misfortunes and not have to worry about social implications of what we are talking about. That is what makes me love this blog.
    That and the tardis iPhone case. I mean, come on that is fucking amazing!
    PS. I’m almost 16 now.

  257. I LOVE the Tardis phone!

    Also, European sizes suck. I am a size 12 here in the US, sometimes even a 10 (sometimesa14muttermuttermutter), so I’m fat but not enormous. We used to live in France and once I went to a store there (I think I was size 38 there or poss 42, I don’t remember. Either way an enormous number) and absolutely nothing in the entire store fit me. My goal in sharing this very embarrassing and personal story is to say that an Italian size 20 is prob something only a supermodel could wear.

    Also, you look smashing!

  258. Katie Couric was probably too nervous about being in your celebu-stellar presence to notice any fart-like, splitting-type noise coming from your dress area.

    I don’t have cable; but, I have something better – a spare key to my neighbor’s apartment upstairs. (She has cable.) I am SO going to watch you & Hunter S Thomcat school Katie Couric next Thursday. I’m even going to make popcorn at my house and bring it upstairs because seeing you on tee-vee will be the freaking highlight of my summer and probably the fall too.

    You are awesome Jenny Lawson and when you doubt yourself (because who among us wouldn’t doubt ourselves after being on tv?), you just bring yourself here to your blog and read the comments. Sure, half of these people are total nutjobs and wackos who only want a piece of your collection of taxidermied vermin, but the difference you have made in all of your readers’ lives is something that MATTERS. Having done/ doing something that really MATTERS is the arch-nemesis of depression. Just ask depression next time it rears its ugly self and it will probably start to cry when you tell it about how much you’re helping all of us nutjobs.

    See you on the neighbors’ tv!

  259. I can’t wait to watch this show! I’ll set my DVR to record cause I’ll be at my j.o.b. Bleh.

    I’d love to convince you I need a red dress, but I am not feeling red dress worthy at this time. 🙁 I hope you find three amazing women to rock a new red dress!

    I am so glad you are feeling better and I’m glad that you share so much of yourself. Take care!

  260. hi Jenny
    I don’t know if you’ve seen America’s Next Top Model (my guilty pleasure) but this week’s episode features James Garfield’s family for the photo shoot.

  261. Dude, we met and you are not FAT, you have big… Boobage…which does not make you fat.

  262. I LOVE that you’re being praised for your awesomely crazy, fun and sometimes hard life. I feel like your blog is more real than most.

    Annd in trying to convince you to possibly throw one of those dresses my way I’ll tell you a short story. I’m a chubby chick. I’ll just lay it out there. I’d love to blame it on marriage and getting “comfortable” but in all honestly, as my mother has always said, “We just like to eat more than we like to work out.” I’m not saying we don’t work out, we just eat ..more. lol

    I’ve always been pretty self conscious about myself, covering up and wearing layers, so the summer time while lovely, is also slightly terrifying. So as you could imagine, when dress shopping shit turns into a nightmare and I look for any excuse to just end up not buying the dress and wear jeans and a cute top to whatever fancy smancy event I need to go to. SOOoooo

    last words here: If you were to send me a red dress I would gather up my courage and put that sucker on ( after consuming huge amounts of tequila) and go out on the town with some girl friends to show myself and hopefully others that you can look beautiful in any size.

    Thanks for reading!
    -Katie
    P.S. Photos would definitely be taken for you! 🙂

  263. Jenny, you are looking great! I’m sorry you’re having a tough go of it on the depression front, but how awesome that you got to hang with Katie Couric and that you let one rip in her presence. That is even more totally awesome. 😉 Plus, you’re paired up on a show with Brene Brown? She’s my idol, so I am awed even more by your awesomeness. I’m thrilled for your success.

    Feel better, sister.

    Kimber

  267. Ok. Clearly we need details on the TARDIS case. Where might it be found? And the correct answer cannot be Gallifrey or the Time Vortex. Inquiring OODs want to know…..

  268. I love this post, not just because it is real,and that I can practically hear your voice. I love it because it makes understand that I am not alone in facing a big, black hole that I struggle with logically but emotionally submit. And the fact that everywhere I’ve turned for the last month the same themes and names, researchers, and authors and books keep popping up. Apparently the universe is trying to tell me something, and I am wondering if I am as brave as you are, and I can listen to what it has to say.

  269. I want to say that I love you Jenny and I love my sister! Thank you for my red dress that is coming soon! I need that moment, I have never imagined my life would come to a point this low! I need to feel “that moment” I will wear my red dress with the pearls my daddy gave me for christmas a few years back! I wish I had my red dress to wear to my child custody case! Because I would rock it in the courtroom! I am beyond excited about it!!! Again Jenny Thank you for the bottom of my heart! I will dig my way out of this black hole!! And I may wear it to my next therapist visit, she will freak and it will be awesome!!!

  270. Jenny, you are such a role model to me. The way you are so open about your struggles with anxiety and depression makes me hope that someday I will be brave enough to be open about my struggles with those same monsters. You are also the funniest writer, and thank you for making me laugh. I wish I felt I was deserving of the dress, but I really don’t, and I just want to thank you for sharing inspiration.

  271. Hi!

    You look great in the dress! :-). I will set my PVR.

    I just finished your book 2 days ago and I already miss you! So happy that I can get my fix here. Thanks!

    P.S. I hope you feel better
    P.P.S. That’s all.

  273. I love that just your headlines can make me laugh out loud. (yep – I spelled it out.) Can’t wait to see the episode!

  276. You are beautiful and amazing and powerful and whole and creative and resourceful no matter what!

  279. They make you wear a dress? I find that a little odd. Like, you can’t bring your own clothing? What would happen if you brought your own clothing? Would they be mad at you?

  280. Jenny (can I call you Jenny? Sure I can, we’re besties) I want to say I love you and in a completely non threatening, non stalker way. I want a red dress because I am at a good place in my life and I want to celebrate it. I want a red dress because I am the only female in a house of four boys, one husband and two male dogs and I recently adopted a kitten for no other reason than it was a girl and the boys then named her Harvey so I got her a pretty pink collar with her initials in rhinestones because I am just that starved for something feminine in the house. I want a red dress because if I had one I could avoid run-on sentences like the previous (and perhaps this one because I have no idea how to make it stop.) I want a red dress because sometimes I get sick of wearing pants all the time. I want a red dress because I I want to be part of something special. That’s it. I have no sob story, but I think that the red dress should celebrate the mundane everyday as well as triumphant success. Plus, I love you and I made my Mom stalk you in my hometown of San Angelo and get a book signed for me (even though I had already bought one).

  281. I just wana say how amazing it is that so many people come together in blog comments and support each other at their lowest points. I’ve run into far too many blogs where comments wind up being free for all’s for judgemental advice givers. It’s nice that here is a place where YOUR fans can stop apologizing for who they are, while fans of other people try to cover up their flaws. Bless your heart, Jenny. I’ve been blogging for 8 years and found you over a year ago and have been consistently blown away at how tender and sweet the fan support has been here.

  284. You look beautiful. And as a mental health therapist who works with kids, I just want to say THANK YOU for doing your part to destigmatize mental health issues. In my non clinical opinion, that shit ducks dude. But it wicks so much less when you accept help. You do mord than you’ll ever know Jenny!

  285. OMG I will sooo watch this! I am alarmed to admit I am actually looking fwd to Katie’s new show, even if I did say a bad thing about her once . . . becuz i am a bad person. Who is no doubt going to hell. But hopefully not until after your debut on Katie. I’ll shut up now.

  286. This will be the ONLY time I watch that show, but I will do it for you, Jenny. I cannot stand Katie Couric. Plus they cancelled my two favorite soaps for her damn talk show, so I’m a little bitter.

    Ok, how do I convince you that I deserve a red dress? Let’s see, I’ve been applying for some work from home jobs that were supposed to be a sure thing, but they won’t hire me because I live in California. Eight of my friends, including my idiot brother got hired, though. I think I must smell.

    There is the fact that my neighbor exposed my family to bacterial meningitis (the kind that can kill you, meningococcal) and I had to use part of the rent money to pay for medication & doctor appointments to keep my family healthy. Now the rent is late and I’m scared to death because our landlord is an OCD asshole about lateness. All I need is for us to be homeless because we had to pay for medicine.

    My FIL met a woman online and left for the Philippines Tuesday morning to be with the second love of his life. He’s never met her and he said he intends to marry her. Despite the fact that she’s likely a scammer, she says her youngest daughter’s baby daddy is a Iranian Muslim extremist she fled from by horseback to Turkey in the middle of the night and uses the computer at the local internet cafe because she can’t afford one of her own. He’ll probably end up robbed, nekkid and tied to a tree in the jungle.

    Will any of those work? They are all completely true and not made up in any way. I’m not THAT creative. LOL

  287. I’m glad you’re feeling better! You look stunning, ego boosts abound. I apologize for sending it to you via comment, but I saw this website and thought of you. I can only assume you’ll take this as the compliment it was intended to be.
    http://www.jaski.nl/artists/les-deux-garcons/sculptures
    I don’t know how else to show you this, but I hope it makes your day a little better. Sorry for the links. It’s a (French?) (Netherlands?) site of taxidermy art. They have kind of a hard on for pushmi-pullyu style critters, but the ceramic/red squirrel leaning seductively on a chaise is pretty impressive too. Also, a parrot Elvis perhaps? I only browsed through a few.
    And stuff. You can thank Regretsy. And me if you want, but mostly Regretsy.

  289. You are such a tremendously wonderful person. I am so very grateful that you share what you feel – because
    I so very often feel the exact same way!! Thank you for taking time to share – and being brave enough to trust the rest of us to be there for you – xoxoxoxoxo

  291. You look great in that red dress! I would love to rock a red dress to celebrate my 40th birthday in October. I have been saying that I am going to start writing forever, but had been putting it off. A few days after reading your book, I started a blog. It’s small, but I love it. It’s helped bring out my creative side that had been patiently waiting for me while I took care of my three daughters and my firefighter husband.

    The first person I would give the dress to is my 13 year old daughter, who I think is BEAUTIFUL, but she has a hard time seeing herself that way.

  293. I love your writing and I love your tardis phone case. Please do a blog on the Doctor and possible story lines maybe involving Amy and Rory adopting Beyonce. Much love, Sian. xxxx

  295. So awesome how The Snook turned into sleek and classy.

    How serendipitous that they filmed before the slide. I love it when things time themselves like that…though I could do without the slide…EVER. Glad you’re climbing out 🙂

  296. It’s so wonderful that Katie Couric is back to doing a job she really excels at instead of mine that she just does well. I’m beyond jealous that you got to meet her AND be on her show!

    I hope your dark cloud is lifting!

  298. Just looking at the heels in your hand scares me, I would have broken an ankle wearing them for sure!

  299. If you can’t fit a size 20, I must be a size 500 at least in Italian sizes! I’m a size 24/26 American thanks to PCOS. (But I don’t let it bother me anymore. I still dress to be fabulous every day, and I have a lot of fun doing it.) I’m wearing a red dress to work today in your honor–one I’ve avoided wearing because I’ve worried it might be a little too fancy for the office, but what the heck, why not?

  300. I can’t wait to watch! I know how you feel because when I met *you* at your book signing in Houston, I was so excited I may or may not have ripped a nervous toot when we took that picture. Thanks for playing it off and not calling security. Or inhaling. You are my Katie Couric.

  302. Jenny I truly hope you realize how you touch people’s lives. I read your book a few months ago and have been following your blog ever since. I am sitting here with tears puddled in my eyes, not from my recent depression, but of gratitude. It is amazing to me how someone I have never met could be the source of encouragement to not give in and give up. I have struggled with anxiety my entire life. I can remember as a small child feeling as though I couldn’t breath and thinking I would die …I now know it was panic.

    For years I have spent countless hours in therapy and tried many medications. I thought my condition was due to circumstance and made life altering decisions to rectify the situation. I was one person on the inside and the complete opposite to the outside world. I resented the hell out of the people who would say I was the strongest person they knew (a phrase I heard often). So I ended a long and abusive marriage, sent my youngest off to college and felt life was finally mine. Then all of a sudden I seemed to have absolutely no purpose other than to merely exist. The anxiety came back with a vengeance and I sank into a black hole I absolutely knew I would not be able to crawl from. On August 26 I read your blog as usual and followed the “There is help” link. I sat at my desk crying, wondering if I would ever feel “normal”. I made an appointment with my doctor, started new meds and did a lot of praying. This morning I smiled and did not panic over anything! Every day is better!!

    As a side note, it is amazing that I was not arrested and subsequently committed at the doctor’s office. My level of anxiety about simply being there resulted in me turning into Super Bitch. The wonderful thing is I actually laughed about the incident last night while telling my mother the story.

    You are amazing and I appreciate you, your stories and your encouragement more than you will ever realize!

  304. So, you probably won’t read this but I am a random american follower in Hong Kong. I purchased your book on my nook a few months ago(which I share with hubby). One day I couldn’t find it….I asked hubby if he did something with it. We are new nookies. So we figured out he deleted it and it’s not recoverable. Then we had a big laugh about the name of the book … And for me, it never happened!! We didn’t pretend. Anyway, if u can gift me a nook purchase, I would love to finish the book.

  306. Well, girl, Katie was courageous enough to have a colonoscopy done on television. I think she’s familiar with the equipment and she may indeed have farted, herself, sometime in the past. Keep going, amazing woman. You make the world a better place.

  307. Were bored, watched Honey Boo Boo for the first time and “Mama” actually farts as part of the intro….. Wow…someone get me out of the rabbit hole…..

  309. I’m at work and I’m crying because of this post, and I just read Karen’s story, and saw the fabulous red dress. I would have bought it too. Only I wouldn’t have let myself. That is the best dress in the world, and I’m not sure why I’m crying about it. I’m just really tired, and that’s probably why.

    I’ve been pushing myself into the red dress zone doing things that make me uncomfortable, and happy. But still something is missing. And I don’t know what it is.

    The temptation is to call myself a whiner, and tell myself to buck-up. But I think I’ll make myself a red dress instead. And wear it to work.

  310. Hi Jenny! You said to convince you I need a traveling red dress. Well….How do I do that? Do I tell you how much you have inspired me? Do I tell you my past history of self harm, depression, shame? How it took me 34 years to forgive my mother for leaving me when I was 18 months old? I wrote a blog post recently about my suicide attempt a year ago, hoping that by opening up I would be able to help someone who was going through the same emotional struggles.

    Why do I need a red dress? Well because it’s about fucking time I see my self as the beautiful person I am told to be. I would love to feel beautiful and vibrant for a day. More importantly, I will feel so honored to pass it on to the next person, because I truly love to help others.

    You helped bring me out of the darkness. Brene Brown’s books helped me acknowledge the shame and release it.

    I am embarking on a new way of life, minimizing possessions and going raw with veggies and fruits. I would love a red dress moment and if I can get one for me I plan to buy one for my 4 year old daughter so we can have a duo photo shoot!!

    Here is my blog post about my darkest time.

    http://mamieleger.blogspot.com/2012/08/stepping-away-from-death-and-ebracing.html

    I love what you have done for the world Jenny!!!!!
    You are amazing!!!!

    mbutler@gt.rr.com
    Texas

  311. You look fabulous in that dress! I wish you had fallen on Katie Couric and squashed her, because I bet she would have done the interview anyway, all two-dimensional and stuck to the floor and whatnot.

  312. I have loved the red dress notion since I read about it. It’s a fantastic idea. I love to look at all those amazing women wearing those gorgeous kick-ass dresses. (I am, I fear, too old now to wear one of those red dresses as convincingly – I’m whispering, though so no one hears me, because I hate like hell admitting that.)

    I can’t wait to watch you on Katie’s show (on my brother’s birthday!), mostly for your awesome self, but partly because I love your cat!!

    I’m off to look for Brene’s book. Sounds intriguing.

  313. I realized that Halloween is coming up soon and I got to chose my son’s first Halloween outfit last year (Captain Kirk) so this year is my husband’s turn. He hasn’t said anything about what ideas he has for The Kid’s Halloween costume. So I started thinking about myself and The Bloggess and red dresses and being daring and you know what?… I want a fucking tiara. My whole damn life I wore whatever outfit was cheap because first, I knew we were poor and although my Mom was fabulous and would have bought me anything on her credit card I just didn’t want to do that to her unlike my sister who totally took advantage of everything which pretty much zeroed out my “let’s keep the family afloat by not being greedy” work. Crap, what was I talking about? Ok, so yeah, poor. Where whatever I happen to have. Prom, I bought something cheap during the summer which was a bad choice because wow, Wisconsin get’s cold. Even at my wedding I kept up the multigenerational tradition of just wearing the best dress you happen to own. My husband got a new outfit. Second, I don’t want my son to be like this. I want him to think about what he wants and go gets it. Even a tiara. I want a tiara. I want to wear something beautiful and unneccessary even if I don’t have an event to wear it to. And a tiara.

  315. NOW who’s looking tiny and adorable enough to eat in one sitting and still I would want dessert? Nom nom nom nom nom. And, as always, not in a creepy way. How many of your fans have to say, “not in a creepy way?” Does anyone actually ever acknowledge that it IS in a creepy way? But I hope it’s all not-creepy love you receive.

  316. Hi, I don’t know if you have already given away all the red dresses. I need a red dress become I am coming up on two important anniversaries. The first is my second year anniversary of my divorce from an abusive marriage. After two years I think I may be finally coming out on the other side of the divorce. The second is my first year anniversary of being cured of vaginismus. In case you don’t know, and you most likely do not, vaginismus is a condition that makes all vaginal penetration extremely painful. It is a combination of physical and emotional causes. I was extremely lucky to find two amazing doctors who treat women who suffer from vaginismus exclusively and in two weeks I will celebrate my conquering this emotionally painful and physically painful condition. I am working hard to move forward with my life before it passes me by and would love my own red dress moment.

    Thanks for your amazing blog, I am overjoyed that I found you and your book.

    Molly

  317. I’ve actually been going through some minor body dysmorphic disorder. After I graduated from college 2 years ago, I started working very hard to lose weight and get healthy. Well, about a year ago I had lost 30 pounds but realized that to curb the plateau effect I had started to go towards the unhealthy way of dieting (eating WAY too few calories and freaking out when I had eaten too much. It was even to the point where i would start to gag and vomit whenever I had overeaten just a bit, because my body was so unused to having a piece of cake after dinner). I took a break and worked very hard to continue to eat healthy but not develop an eating disorder.
    I’m now 65 pounds lighter, no longer “obese” but still in the overweight category. I keep going shopping and getting depressed because I have no idea what size I am, so I try on tons and tons of cloths, get overwhelmed, and wind up leaving the store with nothing. When I look in the mirror, all I see is my old body and clothes that might be labeled a size smaller but they still look awful on me. I see the flab on my arms, instead of the (tiny amount of) definition I worked so hard to gain in my calves. I realize that I have this issue, and one would think this should be enough to acknowledge it and “get over it,” but I still start to cry every time I am in a fitting room and feel like all of the clothes in the world are out to get me.
    I donated my old red dress that no longer fits me, but I haven’t been able to bring myself to try and find a new one. That is a trip to the store I don’t even want to try, because while I realize it would be very therapeutic, I am also terrified that it won’t do me any good and I will wind up going through the same cycle anyway and leave the store in tears.
    I am waiting to go and find a new red dress for a time when I can handle the pressure I put on myself while shopping for one, because I know I’m not ready for that yet. Every time I read about the traveling red dress I think about it, but then I think about how much I don’t want to ruin the beauty of a red dress experience.

  318. This summer on a trip for one of many weddings, I visited a college friend on Long Island. While I was there we went to the beach and did a photo shoot for fun. I grabbed the dress I had used for the rehearsal dinner, which just happened to be red. I completely forgot about the Red Dress campaign you started until I got back. That just made it even more fun now when I look at the photos. And I feel your pain on the sizing. Where I work we get staff jackets. I have to go up 3-4 sizes to get something that fits. I’m not sure what country makes them.

  320. Another reason to love the Bloggess, she has a Tardis phone cover, just like me. I feel like we must be kindred spirits.

  321. I’ve suffered from an ugly jerk of depression for most of my life. That I made it this far and as a somewhat functioning member of society. Basically, I feel a bit like a soldier with battle scars at this point and, when I read your blog, it feels like I’m talking to someone that was in that war with me, and we knowingly nod our heads gravely as we recall the terrible things that we’ve seen. Which, honestly, is nice.

    But here’s where you’re absolutely damned vital: I have a dear friend that has always been one of those unbreakable, unflappable types. I don’t think she ever even gave a second thought to depression. Over the past couple of years, however, life has thrown her so many shit grenades that she found herself at the bottom of a pit that she never saw coming. And it’s dark and it’s scary and it’s a convenient place to hide. One thing or another brought her to your blog, randomly, and it’s the source of her hysterical cackling, yes, but it also shows her that she’s not alone. It gives her the courage to be open with her loved ones about what she’s going through and that is HUGE. You’re doing the world a gigantic service, Jenny. Thank you for being a comrade when you need to be and for being a light when we need you to be. Also, you’re fucking hilarious.

  323. Hi Jenny. I love the ripping dress story!. Now, as for the red dress, while I need to get a red dress of my own, my friend Sheila really deserves a red dress moment. Sheila is a grad school friend of mine, now in her late 40s. She suffered for years from various aliments that doctors told her was everything from depression to peri-menopause to IBS. Turns out, she has MS and was formally diagnosed about two years ago. A few weeks after being diagnosed, she did her first stand-up comedy routine. In front of about 800 people. She’s fearless and never stops fighting.

    About two months ago, Sheila found out the disease has progressed to the point that she will never walk without a cane again. So what does she buy? Yep, a silver-tipped sword stick. That’s just her. She’s amazing, but she very much could use a red dress moment.

  324. So, here is why I need this dress. First of all, because of you, your blog, and your book, I know I am not alone. I am bipolar and have severe generalized anxiety disorder. You give me hope. All of this is made a little worse because I am 300lbs. I am working to lose the weight, but my doctors want me to understand that I am who I am regardless of my size. I think this red dress would help me see myself as beautiful, so I will have the courage to do what I need to. I am particularly struggling right now because I have just started college again after failing out due to anxiety, and my mom, my major support is moving away. To most people this isn’t a big deal, but to me it is. All my animals are going to have to find new homes, and they are my babies. Will you help me feel confident and beautiful, even if only for a day?

  326. So sorry to hear that you’ve been having a hard time. Life can be so strange sometimes. In one part of your life you can be “down and out” and in another things are fabulous. I experienced this in late 2010 and in 2011. I was fired from my job exactly one week after I had finished treatment for breast cancer. A few months later, I was chosen to be in a national breast cancer awareness campaign. While I was scrambling to find suitable full-time employment, I was working several part time jobs just to barely make ends meet. It was so strange doing so poorly in my professional life, yet personally, things were going so well.
    So excited for you and your “Katie” show! You look amazing in the dress they provided for you. Be well!

  327. First, I’m glad you’re feeling more like yourself, and I’m also glad you didn’t actually fart in front of Katie Couric (although that would have been a great story for pretty much ever)….

    Secondly, thanks for all you’ve done with the Red Dress …I got my own red dress last January when I was feeling particularly bad (for no particular reason). It literally picked me up and changed my entire outlook…

    Aside from wearing the red sequins 80’s prom dress -yeah it was somethin’- around the house to do laundry, cook, mow the lawn, etc., I was also able to wear it to a charity event and then pass it on…and although I was a little sad to see it go, I’m hopeful that the dress will do the same for the next person as it did for me…and she promises to pass it on when she is done too….

    As for me, I get to shop for a new one now! Clearly, a win/win.

    You looked fabulous in your dress on Katie by the way, and I can’t wait to see the show!

  328. You are so “this red hot minute” in your maroon dress! (it’s the new black) Hey, i am also working on a haunted dollhouse, and i have a very spooky Christmas tree.

  329. Tried to put this episode on my DVR to-record list. It took me an hour of fighting with my TV and online listings to figure out that I DON’T GET THAT CHANNEL.

    Somebody, upload this to YouTube ASAP.

  330. You look stunningly beautiful.
    (I initially stopped at “You look stunning” then reread it and realized someone might think I thought you looked like a taser, and that’s totally not it at all, so I clarified.)

    Plus, also? I could never EVER walk in those shoes. Yowza.

  331. You look fabulous! Absolutely lovely.
    Side note: just posted a size 8 (fit my size 10 on top 12 on bottom body) dress to the Facebook page. It is up for grabs! It gives glorious cleavage, by the way. 😀

  332. I can’t wait to see this episode.

    I have been readin your book over the past week, mainly during TWO hospital stays. One for abdominal surgery, the second for an abdominal abscess (you can do the math). I should be reading a friggin’ Economics textbook because your book has me giggling like a village idiot, hence it makes my abdominal region feel just stellar. This is your fault, which I would write on a Post-it, but I’m fresh out.

    I’m not gonna bother making my case for your Red Dress Mission, because, let’s be honest…who needs a red dress when they spend their days split between bed and the couch.

  334. Absolutely LOVE your phone cover! I hope your ring tone is the sound of the Tardis materializing. Oh and you look great!

  335. Jenny you look amazing, I’m in the worst depression ever, I’m months away from being homeless if I don’t find some money soon, I hate my job and my relationship is falling apart. It’d be great to be able to put on a dress, any dress, red , white. black, purple, just to say “I’m still here, I did this” but I’m not so sure I’ll make it. Your Blog keeps reminding me, the depression is lying, I can do this. . . If only I had just one more person around to tell me I can.

  337. 1. OMG, you look fabulous in that dress.

    2. Those heels are ENORMOUS. Were they trying to kill you?

    3. I’m so bummed I don’t have TV so I can’t watch you! Will you please please please (or have one of your minions) post it on youtube afterward?

  339. You look great. I love the Red Dress project. Truth be told, I often wear clothes that make me look and feel fabulous because if I didn’t I would have slit my wrists ever since. But when I can look sexy and feel beautiful again, somehow I do, as you said, recapture my old self, the self that wasn’t totally depressed, or who was depressed for a day or so but still that life and all its dreams was a wonderful thing, that all those dreams were achievable. Last year, I started clearing out all the sweatpants and shapeless shit I had accumulated since Mommydom, and I started buying nice dresses and what I call my Fuck Me shoes – 4 and 5 inch heels that are sexy as all get-out. And I try to find places to wear them: a rare date with the hubby, catching a friend who is a jazz musician, I try my damndest to look like I give a shit about myself and my life, and sometimes, more often than not…it actually works. This depression shit is a long hard road but I’m walking on it in my high heels and my tight dress, and sometimes I have to take a shoe off and beat up my dragon Claude with it (I’ve named my depression so I can visualize it) but hey…whatever the hell works! So proud of you, and thanks for being the brighter part of many of my days. I hope that knowing we’re all here with you helps you on some of your rougher ones too. XOX

  340. You look fab! Congrats on all the success and brouhaha. Just started reading your book and am addicted already. I even put down my ’50 shades of grey’ for now. *Hangs head in shame.*

  341. Here, have a virtual hug. A lot of people seem to be struggling with their depression right now. I don’t know that I’ve seen anything like these sheer numbers before.

    Hang tight. Wear your silver ribbon.

    In fact, wrap yourself in yards and yards of it! Not only is silver especially cheering, but it may make you feel like a Christmas tree, which is always nice.

    Be kind to yourself.

  342. I’m always jealous of the traveling red dresses–I’ve yet to see any being passed around that are able to fit us large gals 🙁 I want a moment to feel glorious too!

  344. For those noticing that lovely tardis case (Which I noticed to and giggled in delight cause I have one just like it) – You can find one on Etsy.

    http://www.etsy.com/listing/100391064/dr-who-tardis-iphone-4-case-iphone-4s?ref=sr_gallery_1&sref=sr_e6f0110c517210f65ce18bbc2b54036a1e149c16b490a5745cb34b8706f98696_1347305636_14262584_tardi&ga_search_query=Tardis+iPhone+case&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=ZZ&ga_min=0&ga_max=0&ga_search_type=all is the one I have particularly but theres a bunch if you look up Tardis iPhone case on etsy.

    🙂

  346. Fact 1 – You look FUCKING FABULOUS.

    Fact 2 – I learned about the italian sizing thing on my first day of wedding dress shopping. Because what better way to make a bride feel fabulous than to make her cry?

  347. I doubt anyone has a red dress in my size, but if I ever find one I will wear it, rock it, and pass it along when I’m done. Now to find one in a 22-24 extrra-petite. >sigh<

  348. I need the red dress. I’m freshly separated (Sunday night!) and am facing divorcing my husband of seven years and the father of my two young, gorgeous sons. I’ve faced years of postpartum after two back to back pregnancies, plummeting self esteem, self worth and a loss of identity all with virtually no support system. I’ve literally lost myself caring for this man, our children and our home. I’m ready to move on, learn to love myself, and make my happiness and strength a priority so that I can show my boys something better. I need to let my inner goddess out in this red dress!

  349. Every time I try to succeed something ends up kicking me in the face. My husband’s job moved him. I fell down the stairs by myself trying to pack our home by myself. As part of my recovery, I set a goal to train for a marathon. Then I’m in an accident that herniates two discs in my back. After gaining 30 pounds and having no hope for a marathon, I struggled through PT with lots of anger I still carry. Through all of this, my husband and I have been seeing fertility specialists. Again, I’m the one with the problem. Tubes are clogged. Progesterone is low. His sperm is JUST FINE! Insurance doesn’t cover a dime of our costs that my messed up parts are costing us. We’ve fought so much over whether to give up on children or not due to finances that we’ve somehow ended up talking about marriage counseling and divorce.

    We both love each other tremendously. I’m so lost and depressed. His job just recently moved us AGAIN! Not only am I now depressed, but I lost the job that was my dream. I have no friends around me, and I have no desire to even drag myself out of this hole to find one.

    I need this dress because looking at this post, I realized I don’t even own one red thing in my closet. Not shoes, not shirt, dress, or even a headband. No lipgloss or nail polish either. I need something RED in my life to bring me back to life. xoxo Thank you for reading.

  350. I LOVE YOUR PHONE CASE.
    also i just read your book in like two days.
    And I love it.
    And I have never followed blogs before, but I am going to start now because of you. If all blogs are like this, how bad can it be?

  351. I’m sure that by now all three of your traveling red dresses have been claimed by wonderful readers who truly need them and the magic they seem to bring with them. Even so, I’d like to share some truths here because it somehow seems safer here — buried within the hundreds of comments and readers and love and support — than up naked in front of my own audience. It’s not that easy to hide in broad daylight.
    So I’ll fool myself here, pretend that it’s dark and no one will see what I was going to write in a blog post and save for months down the road so that I could wave away the concern with a laugh and a smirk meant to convey that I am so beyond that. I don’t need anyone cheering me on. I need to do it for my fucking self because it’s my eyes that tell me what I see when I look into a mirror. And it’s my thoughts that continue the dialogue long after I’ve given up on sleep.
    I’ve fallen. Slipped. I’ll pick myself back up again. I always do. But for some reason right now, I’m a fucking mess. (Daughter started kindergarten? the move from the hell-hole-rental we live in to the very nice one a few miles down the road? Finally proving the three pregnancy tests I’ve peed on since July right and then not knowing if I was relieved that I don’t need to worry myself with becoming responsible for more than one life or even more depressed with the proof that my body doesn’t make babies like a good Mexican girl should? Or maybe it’s all of the above plus the launch of Girl Body Pride and the inside of my head on display for everyone to see? Because I wasn’t freaking before “coming out” to my sister-in-law and high school friends as an eating-disordered, depressed sometimes, anxious all the time, severely ADHD, and OCD writer/blogger with a website they can read and then try to call me and talk about the words on the screen I normally only share with strangers.)
    I’m guessing it’s all of it. I’m just looking for a buffer before reminding my readers that I am indeed a colossal hot mess and don’t just play one on T.V. because my daughter and I just arrived home after her violin lesson with Dairy Queen (2 chilli cheese dogs and a large cheese quake shake, thank you very much) for me hidden in a bag so she wouldn’t see while I carried her kid’s cup of ice cream into the house and declared it her surprise for being so good this week.
    I’ve thought about throwing it up. I’ve thought about my kid being a genius and knowing Mama is totally not supposed to be eating the dairy/egg/sugar-filled shit she totally pretended not to notice because I’m allergic to most of it and sensitive to the rest. And I alternate between thinking I need the words “train wreck” tattooed on my forehead and high-fiving myself for the progress I’ve made since the last time I dived into the deep end of Crazy.
    Because this is progress, people. Two hot dogs and a shake is not the binge it used to be. The head game is the same, but let’s remember that there were months upon months where I spent everything I made on food being eaten for the sole purpose of flushing down the toilet.
    This is progress.
    It’s also truth. Because I want to/need to/have to fix myself long enough to realize how far I’ve come so I can refocus all of my energy on not breaking my daughter. Because I need to share the train wreck that is today so we can all appreciate the unbroken promises of tomorrow. Because otherwise they might think I’m full of shit when I tell them that yes, we all are fine just the way we are and that yes, it gets better because I don’t really get how they feel.
    When I do.
    So far, I’ve had Leslie Marinelli tell the world about the mean girls inside of her head and why she is trying to evict them (hint: her daughter’s an inspiration), H.C. Palmquist redefine the truths put in place by her abusive ex-husband and find herself in the process, Julia Roberts tell the world she doesn’t give a damn what you all think about her new nose ring, and the teenaged-wonder behind the Losergurl blog (who I want to be when I grow up) all share themselves with Girl Body Pride readers with the shared intention of showing the world that it is entirely possible to glue the pieces back together and try again for those that we love and maybe remind ourselves of how strong we actually are in the process– which maybe makes the next nose dive less painful and less of a time suck — because we know what we are capable of.
    Please, if you decide that a red dress is in my future for sharing and spreading a bit of magic, let me hide in the comments here until the time comes to copy and paste this whole mess into a blog post and slap it up on Girl Body Pride beneath photographs of myself drawing strength from the frivolous and fantastic dress I’ll be wearing while holding hands and dancing with my little girl in the red dress I’ll buy for her to love herself in before sending it on its way, as well. Because I’ll just need that one moment to remind myself.
    Just that one moment.
    And that moment will multiply and grow every time I see a new face smiling while dancing for the camera in a magical red dress.

    And this is when I take a deep breath, close my eyes, say a silent prayer, and hit publish.

  352. Wowza! You look fantastic! I gotta get me one of them there red dresses! I would get so much more work done if I had one of those to lounge around in. I would blog in it. I would clean in it. I would rock the playground with it. I would wow the moms at PTA with it. I would bedazzle my walking group in it. I would cheer at baseball games like no other motha!
    Go get ’em!
    Kerry at HouseTalkN

  353. I think my mom needs a red dress. My dad has lung cancer and is near the end of his life. It was her birthday on the 1st and they were camping. I went to her house to let the dogs out and the house was on fire! There was a lot of smoke and water damage but the house is still standing. This is the second house fire in less than a year. The day they got home she got bit by the neighbors dog and while attending to cuts she tripped and cut her leg and ended up with 6 stitches. She is bipolar and having a really hard time right now.

  355. Is that a Tardis Iphone cover? OMG I have to have that? Where did you get it? My husband and I watch Dr. Who religiously. I love the dress and the heels. You look fabulous! 🙂

  356. I am days late to this (I’ve been actually working at work- I know, who does that?) but I just realized that YOU AND BRENE BROWN are going to be on the same show HOSTED BY MY CHILDHOOD IDOL/PERMAGIRL CRUSH KATIE COURIC tomorrow and I swear, I squealed. It is just too much goodness and amazingness for one little block of time. I am so frickin excited. And I’m really not a caps lock kind of girl, but this merited it big time. Houston represent =)

  357. Can’t wait to see you on the Katie show—got the DVR set up. You are absolutely FABULOUS! Covet your Tardis phone case . . .

  360. I weigh 90 lbs. I don’t know why. Don’t be jealous though.
    I am 64. I’m sure there must be a sliding scale on coolness for all that. My point is I only wear European clothes and I am a 36.
    Your dress and you are “remember always ” beautiful.

  362. Hi, Jenny! I happen to have a red evening dress to donate, but I don’t have a Facebook. Can you give me an address to send it to?

  363. I love the idea of the traveling red dress. I am feeling old (66 Sept 28th) and on top of actually being old must have a HIP replacement and maybe I can wear the red dress the day I get home from the hospital and will be cheered by more than those inevitable pain pills. ALTHOUGH…pain pills will help I am not denying that! But maybe I can look pretty in pain! In any case keep on writing. Love your book! Bonnie

  364. I love this idea so much. I keep toying with the idea of getting my own red dress. I was laid off from my job of 12 years in February. I live alone (which increasingly feels like it might be a permanent situation) and own a condo. I have applied for close to 120 jobs so far and have had 6 interviews. I considered expanding the search range, but I worry about what extensive travel will do to my health (I was diagnosed with MS in Dec 2010). I have been lucky so far that my symptoms from MS have been very manageable!
    Unemployment is meager, so I have had to ask for help from family, which is very difficult for me. I sometimes panic over possibly losing my condo. It’s a source of pride, in addition to being my home.
    If anyone has an extra red dress for a chubby short girl, I’d like to give it a try. Otherwise, I will hunt and see if I can find one. I think I need a silly moment!

  365. Jenny…

    YOU ARE HILARIOUS!
    I just came upon your blog because the Katie show is just about to come on here in North Idaho via Spokane.
    Sorry to hear you also suffer from depression and have fallen into a DEEP ONE.
    I have suffered all my life being bi-polar and only discovered the drugs to counteract it in my fifties. I’m now almost 68 and am taking 20mg of Paxil which works well. I’ve been on almost all the other anti-depressants over the years but wound up on Paxil because it’s the one that my Medicare will allow.
    Those who have never had profound depression as we have simply have NO IDEA what it is like and some think you can just ‘talk yourself out of it’.
    THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT!!!
    IT’S BRAIN CHEMISTRY!
    Your brain uptakes Seritonin too fast. So the drugs are Serotonin re-uptake INHIBITORS.
    It’s all about the Seritonin in your brain.
    I also suffer from being HYPOTHYROID, a condition that mostly affects women. (a small percentage of men suffer). My version is Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis which is where your auto-immune system attacks your thyroid as if it is a foreign body. The condition starts in your early youth and seems to culminate about 40 which is when it hit me hard. It makes you feel like you are DYING IN SLOW MOTION.
    Unfortunately, it hit me hard while I had to take care of an elderly relative, finishing my Master’s Degree, and at a low point financially in my life back in the late 80s into the early 90s. I am currently suffering from profound fatigue, but NOT depression which I attribute to my thyroid.
    You should also check out the reasoning of Dr. Denis Wilson online who points out that while your thyroid TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) may show normal on a blood test, your T3 may be out of whack causing LOW BODY TEMPERATURE causing your metabolism to slow down causing fatigue.
    To all you sufferers out there…PLEASE FOLLOW MY ADVICE and investigate my suggestions.
    IT IS RIDICULOUS TO HAVE TO SUFFER FROM DEPRESSION AND FATIGUE if you can possibly do something to prevent it.

    As to people laughing reading your book (I haven’t read it yet) another book that will make you DIE LAUGHING is anything by Prairie Home Companion’s GARRISON KEILLOR. His books have put me in a state of exhaustion from laughing at almost every sentence.

    My best to you all

  366. An after thought….

    It is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT for those of you who can’t seem to find the reason for almost any of your ailments to HAVE YOUR DOCTOR GIVE YOU A THYROID BLOOD TEST.
    The thyroid is responsible for your ENTIRE BODY METABOLISM which is what makes your body run. The hypothalamus triggers your pituitary gland which creates TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) which is what makes your thyroid work and send other chemicals to your cells causing them to operate. If your thyroid is on the blink, either over working HYPERTHYROID or GRAVE’S DISEASE or under working as mine is called HYPO THYROID the symptoms are myriad and cover almost EVERYTHING from rashes, bad fingernails, constipation, fatigue, hair loss and ON AND ON. And the blood test and the medications are quite inexpensive if you go with the generic meds. Be careful about SYNTHETIC THYROID MEDS as discussed by Dr. Denis Wilson. Some require Armour NATURAL meds for them to be able to assimilate the medication.

  367. You gave me a moment where I stepped out of myself. Thanks so much. You want to talk deep holes? I just allowed my daughter to come live with me so that she could have a stable life and go back to college and help me out as I’m facing shoulder replacement and hip surgery. I’m proud that my daughter is back in school, but she managed to ruin my car. My one and only last possession that allowed me freedom. As I haven’t been able to drive, I let her use the car. She didn’t get an oil change, even when the light came on. She can’t seem to take responsibility (which is one of the reasons she’s here). She called me from the side of the road two days ago to tell me that the engine locked up and was smoking. There was no oil in the engine. My car is dead. I live on a very small income (SSI) and have no way of getting another car. I know the red dresses are gone. I don’t have any where to wear one any way. I just wanted to tell someone about my new depression and troubles. I will continue to read your blog for the few moments of pleasure I get from it. Thank you.

  368. I’m definitely watching. But the best part about this post is that you have a TARDIS for a phone case. A FREAKING TARDIS! I must find this now. That is so awesome.

  369. I need the red dress 🙂 I’m taking care of my mom in her home for the last weeks of her life (hospice). I could so use a red dress moment. Loved the show today, both you and Brene. Bought both of your books on Kindle immediately.

  371. Just saw you thanks to the miracle that is TiVo. You and the other ladies in red (wow, they really whipped out Chris Debergh on the show?) were magnificent.

  373. I’m a new reader thanks to Robin @ Pensieve and I would LOVE to have my own red dress moment, then pass it on to my beautiful friends… we could have one red dress photo shoot after another. I can’t imagine a better way to feel beautiful, free, daring, bold… it would be wicked awesome!

    I missed the Katie show today but I did watch your clip on her website and you looked fabulous! Loved the necklace!

  374. Hi Jenny:
    You blew me away today and so did “Daring Greatly.” I don’t to tell my life story, but depression, overweight, waiting to lose weight before I dare “step out.” We have alot in common. I had this thing about a ruffled, ribboned, skirt that I bought last year. I wore it to a grocery store! I didnt take pics, noone was around. So after I saw the show, I ordered a red, chiffon, floor length red dress…….my God, I still can’t believe it. For all of you guys out there that are my size 22W….check out JenJenHouse.com. They are in the UK, but the prices are 70% off and expediting shipping $29.95. I could not believe the selection and every dress comes in tons of colors. Hell, yeah I bought mine 20 min ago and I cant wait to share. God Bless You Jenny and “Daring Greatly” I have not read the book yet, but I sure will soon. By the way, I am supposed to go to NY at the end of the month and then to Italy. I was so scared to go…… I am a former New Yorker…..cant wait for that damned dress.

  375. Saw the show today and I just had to say “Thank you”. I have been slipping back into my own black hole and you inspired me to keep up the good fight. 🙂

  376. Jenny-
    Just want to say you are a total rock star. Watched the clip from the Couric program yesterday. Really appreciate your writing, your creativity, your fabulous and raw humor and most of all, how effective you are at building community around life’s most difficult circumstances. Really hope you can write for us someday…

    Dori Gilels
    Managing Editor & Business Development Strategist for Mamalode

  377. I just colored my hair almost the same color as that dress, but alas, this time having a tomato on my head did not help. I was going to do a photo shoot locally with a dress that’s not quite red but is still pretty, but I haven’t been able to bring myself to care about photos of myself in a long time.

    I also wanted to point out to the PLEASE CHECK YOUR THYROID RIGHT THIS FUCKING SECOND comment that many, many of us out there are not in a position to pay for multiple blood panels to confirm hormone imbalances. Wouldn’t it be nice if there were some provision, somewhere, like in the law, that would pay for the testing a person might need to diagnose a systemic illness. Instead, some of us go without treatment, some of us use the pharmacy company’s patient assistance program to procure antidepressants, and some of us score antidepressants on the black market, self diagnose, and hope for the best.

  378. b, i am just getting to know you, and what a joy it is to see that you promote the healing beauty of brene brown. brene is a treasure i feel too few people know about. you are both inspiring phenomenal women, thank you for sharing your life with us!

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The Dating Days of Marta O: When I told my sister I was building a blog she said: “Do people still read blogs?” I do not know, but if YOU want to read it, here it is. Keep in mind, my stories about dating after 40 are for the brave.

Where Do I Belong? A memoir of Sarah Carrington: The unbelievable story of growing up in a religious cult in the mountains of Northern British Columbia. What happens to you in life doesn’t make you strong; rising above it does.

CONNECTED: A Personal Journal for Ketamine Therapy Created by writer & patient Katherine Davis for this powerful clinical treatment. If considering ketamine for major depression, check out this essential tool.

Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh: SO GOOD.

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