Boot Angst

I love these boots. I also love these boots. BUT. I've ordered, and sent back, some other Viva La Diva boots that just fit like crap. I don't know what the issue is, because I'm getting the same size every time, 8EEE. They've been way too large (as in long) lately, even though my boots that I have remain perfect. My feet aren't suddenly a size smaller. Bleah. I just threw on whatever I could find today, even though I'm wearing the dreaded boss-hated leggings. My grandmother is in the hospital (nothing serious, just a fall), and I'm a bit worn. A big pop of pink was what I needed to cheer me up a bit.

Cardigan - Avenue, Shirt - Simply Be, Leggings - Walmart, Boots - Sole Diva, Necklace - Handmade.

Sorry, but you need a better dress.

Jessie (Vanderbilt Wife) suggested on Twitter that I talk about the SAG Awards plus size dresses. She thought there were some good dresses. I must confess that I didn't watch the awards. I trolled the internet this morning, looking at dresses. And...I'm once again depressed by plus size "high fashion". Or at least what some ladies chose to wear. First the great, with my Glee girl Amber Heard.

Adorable AND va-va-voom.

Then the close, but not quite with Octavia Spencer. Her coloring is so beautiful that she could wear any color, and she goes for silver and that overly large skirt? You WON the SAG award! You can do better than decent.

Close. but no.

And then we hit the no. A lot of people thought this was lovely, and maybe in comparison to what she's worn to past award shows it is.

No. This could be so much better and non-blah.

 BUT. Melissa McCarthy is justifiably famous for Bridesmaids. Are you telling me there is not a single designer that wants to be the one to put her on the OMG best-dressed list? Someone put her in this for a TV headshot for her show Mike and Molly. Can that same person come back and dress her?

So pretty!

Is she looking for options? Are you a plus-size woman looking for fancy dress options? BUY THESE INSTEAD. Or get these designers to make you something and name drop their lines all over the place, Melissa! YOU ARE FAMOUS NOW, SO DRESS LIKE THE GORGEOUS WOMAN YOU ARE. And Octavia, wear some freaking color. First of all, you both (and most plus-size women) have great racks. Show them off! Breasts make everyone happy! Wear an empire a-line, like these first two, or go full sexy and wear the super-sparkly body con third dress. IGIGI is sizes 12-32 and Monif C is sizes 14-24.

IGIGI Samira Cocktail Dress

IGIGI Leigh Lace Dress

Monif C Samantha Party Dress

Jovani also has a bucket load of beautiful dresses, ALL available from sizes 0-32. Long to short, they have hundreds of dresses (literally, hundreds of evening dresses) that celebs could pick from. Just drop their name! The moral of this post is: Being plus-size doesn't mean you have to wear a sack and be happy with it. There are more and more upscale plus-size lines every year. Find them. Wear the hell out them, and be proud of your fantastic curves!

Jeans and Links

My boss has recently declared that as long as we don't have a meeting on Friday, we can wear jeans and boots. (This is a big step for her.) I went all out with the necklace layering, something that I still feel unsure about until someone compliments me on it (my sister, this morning) then I can cope with it. For some reason, I'm always convinced that I've piled on way too many necklaces and I look silly. My hair needed a day without gel, so I went with double headbands instead. Just to make you all cry, I've never had split ends, but I pride myself on having very healthy happy hair. So I never blow-dry and I haven't done anything chemical (perms, dyes, etc) in five or so years.

  As for links, I've really grown to love Hilda, the plus-size pinup drawn by Duane Bryers. He reportedly did about 250 different paintings of this character for calenders/playing cards/drinking glasses/etc. They've shown up on Pinterest a lot lately, and I just found a tumblr of them!

If you don't follow the Bloggess, you should. Odd, sarcastically funny, and often willing to talk straight about mental illness, she is the humor voice for a my generation-ish of odd dorky people with mental problems (aka me!).






Alice Bradley (Finslippy) has an excellent post that Sally linked to today. On the off chance that anyone reading me doesn't read Sally, check out this fantastic/horribly true post. "As a young woman, I was certainly the least intimidating creature on the planet, and as such I was prey to unwanted attention from men, attention that ranged from annoying to truly scary. I know there are people who dismiss the idea that such attention is upsetting--after all, isn't it flattering that strangers think you're attractive? But it goes far, far beyond that. It was endless and exhausting and I don't think it has a thing to do with how pretty you are. In fact I often felt the comments would come fast and furious on the days I felt particularly bad about myself, like I was giving off signals or hormones, like they could smell my weakness." She talks about being glad she's in her 40's now, and wanting to be intimidating to avoid the pervy/unwanted attention that the average woman endures everyday.

Tiny style and big compliments

My niece is a little fashionista. Her favorite shoes are these sparkle heels with bows. And she has the OOTD pose down! She picks out her clothes based on whether she thinks they're cute. And sometimes, she thinks that wearing her brother's hand-me-down underwear along with three or four layers of shirts and leggings/skirts/pants is cute. She's got her own taste, like she should. But that little face makes the most bizarre outfits adorable, and I want her to know that she is always beautiful to me. So no matter what she wears, I make sure to tell her that she's pretty and smart and strong every day I see her. Because every little girl needs to have kick-ass self-confidence. And if her Auntie believes in her, I think she'll keep believing in herself.

Brought to you by a loving Auntie, who is pretty sure that her niece is cuter than your munchkins. But don't worry, I feel bad for you about that fact. And I would never tell them that. Out loud.

Plus-size calves love Sock Dreams

I love the idea of OTK socks (over-the-knee). But my calves are 19 inches at their widest point. Target socks don't fit that. At all. Sock Dreams, however, has a whole plus-size section. AND they tell you how wide the socks stretch. They do play a little fast and loose with the term "plus size", but you can find some great OTKs if you look. Their socks are more expensive than a big box store...but they fit! (And they're much nicer/better made than what you would buy at Target/Walmart.) These are thigh-highs which stretch to 24 inches, but over my leggings that just won't fly. The most tempting thing about Sock Dreams, though, is that they have basic free shipping and that it's super quick. I ordered these on the 19th and got them on the 21st. I live in VA and they ship from Portland!

Long-sleeved tee - Mossimo, Sweater - Avenue, Leggings - Walmart, Socks - O Marled, Boots - Viva La Diva, Necklace - Handmade.

Bits and Pieces and Nails and Socks

 Two weekends ago, I bought a brand-new set of living room furniture for the upstairs. It is completely gorgeous, and had the added benefit of making me feel like an actual grownup. I got a big couch, a nice chair, and a loveseat (or as my niece calls it, a love chair). I have banned the munchkins from using markers while sitting on them/eating on them/wearing shoes on them. Due to awkwardness and previous spilling, I've also banned my sister and mother from drinking wine on them. You can think I'm harsh, but I spent almost a paycheck on beige corduroy, and I'm going to try and keep them clean for at least a month!

 This nail polish is by Zoya, and it came in my Birchbox for January. I'm not fantastically excited about the color - I generally like much darker or just a hint of color - but so far I haven't had any chips, and I'm three days in. This is a miracle! My sister says it's due to the Sally Hansen top coat she used, but I'm just happy they didn't chip immediately.

Mia and Tia, I know you both will be completely enviously of my lovely fluffy socks from Sock Dreams! They're the Space Dyed Terry Shorties, and they are so nicely warm and adorable.

Sweater - Target, Pants - Lands End, Socks - Sock Dreams, Shoes - Earth Spirit, Nail Polish - Zoya, Necklace - self-made.

Covering the bottom

I have two pairs of cords (from Simply Be) that fit my waist and my hips. These jeans are baggy, and unless I want to strangle-belt them, they tend to sit fairly low. As in lower than my underwear. Now, seeing as how I want to keep my job, I figured a nice long tunic was required. And since I might be going out tonight (with my sister, whose beauty is completely annoying) I even slapped some makeup on! Fancy Erin, here for your viewing pleasure.  But my feet are tired, so you get Crocs.

Sweater - JMS, Jeans - Avenue, Scarf - Send the Trend, Necklace - Hand-made, Shoes - Crocs.

Repurpose

It was a sad closeup...

I know I must have some readers that are as super-white as me. I'm sort of sad that I don't have cute freckles, but with dark hair like mine, you don't often get freckles. I'm in front of our outside door and yes, we haven't yet taken down the Christmas window decoration/flag thing, so that's Mary, Joseph and some doves peeking over my shoulders. I almost never wear this industrial necklace (self-made!) even though I do like it, simply because it dangles fairly low and thus requires a low round neckline. But this looks pretty good! I got the best compliment on this necklace from a random old redneck man, by the way, who recognized my re-purposed washers/little gears and thought it was pretty.
 

Sweater and Boots - Simply Be, Pants - Denim 24/7, Jewelry - Handmade.

New Book Blog!

I'm a former librarian, with a BA in English with a concentration in English with an Interdisciplinary Concentration in Medieval and Renaissance Studies and a Masters in Library Science. But I don't talk about books much here. Maybe because I started it as an OOTD blog. Anyway, I decided that I want to write about books more, so BOOM! New blog: time is always time. Go there to read author reviews, book reviews, and to find out what the blog title means.

Vestalicous

I wanted to buy a vest online this weekend, but resisted. Good thing, too, since I had totally forgotten about this one in my closet. (That tells you how much I wear vests.) I painted my nails last night a pretty sparkly purple, but they chipped overnight (which I fixed) and again this morning. I am completely incapable of keeping nail polish on my nails. Particularly the dark vivid colors I like. When I can reconcile myself to spending the money, and have some fancy reason for it, I might try the new gel manicures.

Gracey, are you proud of me? My necklace has several little orange beads in it! It was a lovely late Christmas present (from Mexico) from Mia.

Vest - I cut the tag out, so I don't have a clue!, Shirt - Lands End, Pants Denim 24/7, Necklace - pressie from Mia!, Shoes - Dexter, Hair - newly short.

Half Gone

Sooo...I got about half my hair cut off and slightly layered.  Despite my eyes being closed, I am not, in fact, dead.

It was a combined effort over two days by my little mama (the cutting) and my sister (the layering). I think it looks rather leonine, which is fitting since my star sign is a Leo! I got bored of my hair being so long. See, I'm essentially lazy, particularly with my hair. Looking back at my blog pics for the last month it had just been scraped back every day into a bun or a braid of some sort. And the braids were lovely, but my face really does look the best with my hair down. So I took the plunge and got it whacked off again!

Even if I start hating it, my hair grows very fast. Compare my hair last January to December!

January 2011

December 2011

Birchbox!

I've decided this cardigan is my equivalent of a puffer vest.

 So, Birchbox is fancy beauty samply company. You pay $10 a month and they send you 4-5 samples of fancy schmancy stuff. I read about it the Wall Street Journal while looking up other stuff, and I was intrigued.  (A better article is the NY Times one.) $10? I spend that much every month on beauty stuff, and definitely not fancy stuff. The company is woman run, and considering I just got my first box, I thought I would show it to you. When you sign up, you fill out a beauty profile so they know what kind of samples to send you.

The inside of my Birchbox!

Pretty, huh? I got a mini Larabar in Cherry Pie, that pretty nail polish (Zoya brand in Kristen, a bluish gray), a teeny-tiny lip gloss in the brightest pink ever (Jouer in Birchbox Pink, which is supposed to go on sheer for one coat, but I didn't try it yet), a Juicy Couture perfume sample (alright, but not exactly my taste) AND my favorite haul, the one I would have happily paid all $10 for VMV Re-Everything Eye Serum. A full size bottle of this serum is $80 for 30ml and I got 12ml along with everything else for $10?! Craziness and fantastic.

Every month has a theme and January's theme was new beginnings...not truly expressed so well in my box, but I do love it. Also, if you buy any item from any of stuff sent out January (not just what was sent to you in your box), you get free shipping. If you buy over $50, you get free shipping. Any other way, it's a whopping $5 flat fee.

So go on, if you like getting little fancy samples in your mail for the price of a nice lunch every month, sign up. Trust me, you're nice and you deserve a treat! Click on the link below to sign up (and give me some points)!

http://www.birchbox.com?raf=h5whx

3 apples high and poorly conformed

Look! Non-shiny today!

I am such a munchkin!  Much like Tia, I am only 3 apples high. Unlike Tia, who appears to have nice normal length legs and arms, I am...oddly conformed. After my dad called me a dwarf one too many times, I seriously tried to explain to him that I wasn't a dwarf, I just had short legs and short arms (and a large head, which is totally his fault), but my torso was totally a normal length. My dad looked at me and said "Darling, that IS a dwarf!" (Technically Achondroplasia dwarfism) And he was totally right. I'm a 5 foot 4 inch dwarf. Sort of. In a non-offensive way.

Simply Be has their Spring/Summer line up online, and I'm full of fierce clothing desire. It's all marked up, so really I should be hitting the sale area for winter bargains. But, you know, spring in England isn't really that warm, so there are plenty of cardigans and such in the line! Too tempting!

Cardigan - Simply Be (sold out), Shirt - Avenue (sold out), Cords - Simply Be, Shoes - Simply Be, Jewelry - present.

Monday is my least favorite of all days

Sunday is never, never long enough. All day I will be tired and horribly surprised that I have a whole week ahead of me. (Except not really because I get Lee-Jackson Day off. Yay, Civil War generals!?) Also, my face has gotten so dry that I have patches on my cheeks that I had to exfoliate with a sister-homemade Buffy bar (except replace shea butter with lard + ground rice. seriously.) And the patches are only just starting to go away after a few days, even with using Vitamin E oil on my face every day as well. I have very sensitive, very dry skin, and winter really does a number on it. I think I'll have to start taking Vitamin E capsules again. I'm still shiny, but I'm not wearing makeup until these patches go away.

Cardigan - thrifted, Short-sleeved sweater - Target, Pants - Lands End, Shoes - Earth Spirit, Jewelry - Handmade.

Sudden cold appearance

I don't always boogie, but when I do I look serious about it.

Bleah. I was struck down in the middle of the day by sickness. A great many bugs are making the rounds in my office. I think I have a bad cold/sinus issues. After the fever hit (and stayed), I decided to go home. Totally not fair when today gave me good pictures, but nothing good to talk about.

My little helper was pretty excited.

Sweater - JMS, Corduroys - Simply Be, Boots - Avenue.

Sweaters = T-Shirts

My brilliance makes me smile.

Gracey, I thought of the perfect reason for short sleeve sweaters for you! Warning: I am a dork. I was seriously so excited when I thought of it in the shower that I may have squeaked a little in joy. THEY ARE WINTER T-SHIRTS! I love layering, but even layering the average t-shirt under a cardigan can leave you chilly in the winter. BUT! If you layer a short sleeve sweater under a loose, button-less cardigan (my favorite kind)...you have instant warmth without super-puffy layers! I also have new indigo blue corduroys from Simply Be, which is equally exciting considering the fact that we took a nose-dive straight into coldness as soon as January started.

Sweater - Target, Cords - Simply Be, Boots - Viva La Diva.

Boldly Going Into the New Year

Some people cure shiny faces with powder. I appear to revel in them.

It's a little like an old Star Trek uniform, isn't it? One of Uhura's miniskirted ones, not TNG style. Don't worry, it is a tunic sweater, not a dress from Whores R Us. It was a lovely Christmas pressie from my parents, and my jewelry was from an aunt (a copper tree of life set!) This is at work, so you see the edge of my lovely cubicle (which is slowly being covered in randomness, like the star you see "for general awesomeness"). Normally, I would have chucked the belt that came with the sweater, but I decided to let Tia be my style icon, and belt up high under my bosom. I'm liking it! Also, if you are one of my male readers, that send me the occasional email about how happy you are to find a pretty plus size blogger? I very much appreciate you, and only worry that you will stalk and kill me a little bit!

Sweater - Lane Bryant, Pants - Denim 24/7 ponte pants, Boots - Viva La Diva.