"It's for Paris. I'm on this new diet. It's very effective..."

To know me, is to know I absolutely love love love the movie The Devil Wears Prada. I can take or leave the book, but the movie...I can watch it for hours on end, quote it, and giggle every time.

One of my favorite scenes in the entire movie is when Andrea notices how much weight her coworker, Emily, has lost. Emily's response?

"It's for Paris. I'm on this new diet. It's very effective. Well, I don't eat anything and when I feel like I'm about to faint, I eat a piece of cheese. I'm just one stomach flu away from my goal weight."

It cracks me up every time...particularly because I don't doubt that this is what it's like for those who work in the fashion industry. Now, while I can't say I'm about to adopt Emily's radical eating plan (even though I do love cheese), I suddenly share her motivation.

Turns out that Mr. CCC and I will be ringing in the new year in you guessed it...Paris!

The words "ecstatic," "thrilled" and "can hardly wait" don't even come close to describing how I feel right now. In approximately 74 days, we'll be boarding an Air France flight and heading to the City of Lights.

And guess what? I don't want to look like a clumsy, fat American in the capital of fashion.

Shallow? Sure. I never said I was deep 100% of the time.

While Emily's character needs only one stomach flu to reach her goal weight, I'll need several full-blown attacks of dysentery to reach mine. But I do know that I can accomplish quite a bit in 74 days. So this past week, I kicked it into high gear.

My goal? To lose 15 pounds between now and the time I'm packing my suitcase. According to my WW meeting yesterday, I'm already on my way. I lost another 1.6 pounds, bringing me to my lowest weight in years. Hooray!

I've set this goal for myself for several other reasons too. Yes, looking good in Paris is one of them (I'm beyond tired of positioning myself behind Mr. CCC in vacation photos to hide fat), but I know the holidays are coming...Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas...if I don't set my mind right now and have a goal in mind, I could have a little disaster on my hands. Not going to happen.

Another reason? The Florida Girl that I am, I have never in my life needed to wear a coat. But I have always loved the glamour of a well-cut trench coat. They're just so fashionable. So chic. So glamorous. And after researching the weather in Paris in December I realized...I need a coat.

So what did I do? Bought myself a fabulous black, 3/4 length trench coat that makes me look tres chic.

The only drawback? While it cinches beautifully on my waist and buttons, it's a little tight on my chest. Once I'm wearing a sweater and some layers underneath said coat, there's a slight chance it won't close properly.

Unless I lose 15 pounds.

So there you have it...some women lose weight to fit in a bathing suit...I'm losing weight to fit into a coat. And to ring in 2008 looking as fabulous as possible!