NOODLE CABOODLE: We couldn't "pasta" up the chance to catch up with Jordan and Justin Garton, the Fort Smith couple who got viral attention for planning to name their baby girl Olivia Garton -- sounds like Olive Garden, the Italian chain they frequent.
Their little breadstick recently celebrated her 1-month birthday, already boasting pretty head of "angel hair." Olivia Michelle was born Dec. 8 at Mercy Hospital in Fort Smith ("weighing 8 lbs. and measuring 20.5 inches! 'Oh Holy Night' was playing on the radio and she was absolutely perfect!" Jordan gushes via Facebook Messenger). The restaurant had reached out to the couple, saying it wanted to give the little O.G. some gifts. And it did deliver.
"Olive Garden first sent us a gift box with an "I (Heart) Pasta" onesie, some mints and a gift card with a sweet note," Jordan says. "They also catered the nurses and us for lunch after she was born!"
And that wasn't all.
"Then a couple weeks ago we received another package," she says. For the parents, the franchise sent "two nice wine glasses and a huuuuuge bag of their mints!" And for Olivia, there were bibs with cute sayings.
Including, "Have yourself a marinara little Christmas!"
EYE SPY: TheDailyDot.com, devoted to Internet culture, recently released a report: "What each state has Googled more than any other in 2017."
While neighboring states were Googling "Bathroom bill" (Texas), "Bill Paxton" (Oklahoma), "Allegations against Matt Lauer" (Missouri), Get Out (Alabama), and "Fats Domino" (Louisiana), Arkansans, out of concern for our sight were searching: "Eye damage from solar eclipses."
Here, I'll make that bigger so we all can see it: "EYE DAMAGE FROM SOLAR ECLIPSES."
WILES' FILES: Bonnie Wiles of Fayetteville is featured in today's issue of People. For losing an entire person.
Wiles, a 58-year-old factory production worker for Tyson Foods, appears with five other successful women in the "We Lost Half Our Size!" spread. Her journey also appears online (tinyurl.com/bonniewiles).
Though it's hard to imagine now looking at the toned Wiles -- posing in a fitted, sleeveless dress and clingy faux-leather leggings -- the mother of four and grandmother of four was once obese.
"I was over 300 pounds," she says in an interview about her highest weight about 20 years ago. "The last time I had gone to the doctor around that time, I weighed about 310."
Wiles lost 162 pounds -- more than the 148 pounds she currently weighs.
She got serious about losing weight in 2012, joining the nonprofit TOPS Club Inc. (Take Off Pounds Sensibly): "It's just a support group, it's not a diet, but it makes you accountable. You have to get on the scale and weigh every meeting. You have people to talk to."
As for the nutritional changes she made, Wiles says, "I just cut back. I eat a lot of protein. ... We eat more salads, more grilled veggies and eat more lean meat."
And she dusted off her home treadmill that went unused for years. She says, "Since I joined TOPS, I burned the motor out of that one and I have another one."
TOPS has acknowledged Wiles for her weight loss milestones. Last year, she received the best honor: "I was the Queen of Arkansas. I'm the queen until April; I'll have to hand off my crown."
Wiles never set out to become royalty or featured in a national publication.
"I just wanted to lose weight and be healthier," she says. "I was tired of being fat. I never liked to shop. There are only a couple stores you can go in and buy clothes. I can buy off the rack now."
And her story is in magazine racks now.
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NW News on 01/15/2018