Red continues to be the word

You guys know how much I love Simply Be (I wear something from them every day, practically!).  My old college roomie, Jessie, does too and she scored a $50 giveaway! Just go to her blog and enter! And then go on and read her blog, especially if you're a mom. She has two kids and a third on the way. Simply Be does maternity clothes, too.

Top - Faded Glory, Cords - Simply Be, Socks - Sock Dreams, Necklace - self-made.

I actually had a guy contact me on OKC who wanted to talk about books. Oh the excitement for my little shriveled former English major heart! So much better than the guys who just write "Nice boobs". I'm joking, I've only had one guy write that overtly. Usually, they just hide behind "nice curves", which okay, my curves are awesome, but I would like to make some kind of connection with a guy that can type a full sentence about something other than my body. It's like the online version of being whistled at. :(

Purple Rain

We're in a flash flood warning right now. Yesterday was in the sixties, today it was in the high fifties and started pouring around 4 pm like the skies just opened up, with a handy severe wind as well. Tomorrow is supposed to be around 35! Climate change, kiddos, it's here to stay.

Top - Avenue, Pants - Denim 24/7, Socks - Sock Dreams, Shoes - Payless.

In fantastic news though, a little dumpling place has opened up opposite the building I work in. It has a teeny menu (only 7 items) and everything is cheap, so if you bought one of everything and a drink, it would only be around $17. But I like to stick with the fried pork dumplings. It's rare to find really yummy dumplings here in the Appalachian mountains. You can find them on every Chinese buffet table, but they'll be limp sad tough approximations of what a good dumpling should be. These are really good, though, almost as good as the best I've had, which come from a little hole in the wall about 5 minutes from work.

Does anyone else have a favorite food that you are super picky about? One that you grade in your mind from restaurant to restaurant?

Brighter than the sun

Sweater - Avenue, Jeans - Simply Be, Shoes - TOMS.

Forget all that stuff about emerald green being the color of the year. The color I've seen the most bloggers wearing? Red. Em X wearing red scarf, lipstick and belt over a basic black. Sal wearing a red cardi with a fun print tee. Gracey wearing a fantastic long red jacket over black again. And Mia is working another pair of red pants along with a red tee and a cute polka dot cami in her 30 for 30 this month! (Yay, red pants!!)

I do like green, but I love red more. Personally, I actually prefer khaki/army green, but it might be my high school grunge phase peeking out there. (But I'm starting to really like Barbie-pink accessories, particularly my purse, although not with red. That's verboten.) How's everyone else feeling about colors lately? I am happier now that we're onto a nice jewel tone unlike last year's Tangerine Tango. 

Doctor Doctor

Cardi - Avenue, Top - Simply Be, Pants - Denim 24/7, Shoes - Target.

Several months ago, I made my sister start watching Doctor Who (don't worry, by the third episode, she was obsessed). We've finally gotten to the 11th Doctor, although the changeover did take some time. Jen was SURE that she wouldn't like him and that Matt Smith wouldn't be a good Doctor. But after the weep-a-thon of David Tennant leaving in "The End of Time", we watched "The Eleventh Hour" and she admitted that Matt Smith is a great Doctor. She loved the Apparently, from pictures, she found him to look like "girly and stupid". I think it was the stupid bit that was really throwing her off...Lord knows, the Doctor can't be dumb. He can look a bit ridiculous in photos sometimes, though. He's got a malleable face. 

Rainbows!

Sweater and Jeans - Simply Be, Shoes - Payless.

I've been listening to a lot of musicals on Spotify lately. Can you tell that I wear my nerdom proudly? My three favorites have always been Godspell, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and Little Shop of Horrors. Does anyone have any suggestions for me?

Curvy Rainbow Stripes

                                                                                               My socks look a lot like the packaging for Lifesavers. Evidently, I decided I needed a rainbow day, because I ended up carrying up my pink purse as well (since I was too lazy to shift my stuff to a more coordinated one). These socks are from Sock Dreams and they fit my large calves perfectly. Curvy Stripes is right!

Surprisingly Filling!

Sweater and Boots- Simply Be, Pants - Lands End.

I'm very...uninterested in food when I wake up in the mornings. I really dislike eating cereal in the morning. It's just too crunchy for me that early. I need something calmer in my mouth. But apparently, it's not a good thing to eat cake for breakfast. I know I have to eat something filling though, otherwise I get really cranky around 9 o'clock. So I hit upon the idea of making smoothies (without bananas because they are disgusting, I don't care what you say). My sister looooves smoothies, and I really like Panera's Wild Berry Smoothie. I just needed to figure out what to put in them.

So I fiddled around with some recipes from a book I bought on my Kindle, found some decent ones, and made one this morning. I cut out about half the ingredients (like the banana, and some others) and made a berry smoothie. And it was delicious! The serving size was 1-2, but apparently that was either 1 giant or 2 body builders. I was sure that I wouldn't be full after just drinking my breakfast, so I drank the whole thing (plus, you know, I cut out half the stuff). I am so remarkably full right now (10:32 AM). It's a freaking miracle. For anyone who wants to know the recipe:

1 1/2 cups milk (they say fat free, but I used 2%)
1 cup frozen berries
1 cup yogurt (the book says frozen, but I just used refrigerated)
1 scoop vanilla protein powder*

This makes a ton. As in around a whole blender full. So be prepared!

*the stuff I left out was 1 frozen banana, 1 tbsp instant coffee, and 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder.

Fatshionista links

• Aimee Fleck's Damn Girl That Style is Fat! zine is (A) fantastic and (B) is being recommended by everyone. (I'm looking at you, Mia!) Looking at her style suggestions, I'm sure that no one would really be surprised to hear that I found myself drawn to the Dapper Geek Chic look. Spend the $5 to support this artist and get this little PDF!

• Alison Teng of Curvy Girl Chic not only has killer outfits, but she also has hair that will make you weep with envy. And yes, she's totally famous and has a bajillion followers. But she's still awesome.

• Aggie of Plus Size Panda is a fantastic girl in Winnipeg who's a petite lil' cutie (5"2'!) with some awesome cosplay outfits and a bodacious body.

• The Tiny Hobo has the most beautiful illustrations of plus size bodies EVER. Valerie Doty sells her art on Etsy, and she also sells shirts with her art through Custom Plus.

• You can also find TONS and TONS of inspiration on Pinterest. Just search for the words "plus size" and lots will come up. I have a board myself with almost 800 pins!

Perfect Skin Cream!!!

 I have super sensitive, dry skin. I thought organic skin cream was the way to go. I've been slathering on organic stuff, trying various ones, but my skin has still been ultra dry and flaky. Winter weather has not helped at all. So I've been doing some online research for cheap, but good deeeep moisturizers. Because as miraculous as La Mer is supposed to be, I'm just not plopping down that much cash. I kept reading about CeraVe, so I gave up and bought some yesterday. It has stuff that I had been avoiding, like petroleum, but I had gotten to the point where my skin was so dry in spots that I was already putting on little dabs of Vaseline!

Miracle Cream!

I washed my face last night, and put some on. It tingled at bit and I freaked out, looking at the jar where it said hyaluronic acid. (With my skin, I don't do peels. My face pretty much just falls off and stays in crappy shape for weeks.) But hyaluronic acid is not like that, it's "a major component of skin, where it is involved in tissue repair". After a second, the tingling stopped (it was probably due to how vigorously I scrubbed my face with the washcloth!) and my face felt great. Seriously great. Like a baby's butt great. I washed my face again this morning, and put on more cream. Honestly, my face hasn't felt this good in months. I'm definitely washing twice a day since it has such heavy ingredients, but I'm super pleased with it so far.

Rain boots!

Rain makes me sinus-y and unsure of you.

I got a pair of rain/snow shoes just in time. It's been raining the last two days in grey sheets of depression. We're supposed to get snow tomorrow, anywhere from 0-10 inches, depending on who you listen to. Gracey suggested some rain boots she has from Target, but I found them to be oddly made (as in it was a struggle to get my feet in!), so I ended up getting some others there. They're cute little lumberjack type shoes with a ridged rain-boot type bottom. They're like hipster L.L. Bean boots!

Rhapsodies in Skirt

Top - Lands End, Skirt - Simply Be, Shoes - Target.

This skirt rocks my life. There's nothing like wearing a maxi-length sweater skirt for ultimate comfort. It's like wearing a blanket, but better. Plus I wore knee high ribbed socks, so I'm currently in comfort heaven. The only way it could be better would be if I was at home watching movies. I was in fact so very dorky as to ask for several pairs of Sock Dream socks for Christmas (and got them, too). Fun socks are the best. 

Diamond Rib Knee Highs from Sock Dreams.

It was pouring down rain this morning, though. I've decided to give up on rain boots, because I've never been able to find a pair that fit my large calves. Not even ones sold in plus-size stores! So I'm going to search through Amazon for gardening clogs instead. Because all I really want is something to keep my feet dry in the rain. Any suggestions?

AHHHbleah.

Jacket, shoes, and pants - Simply Be, shirt - in my drawer.

I had an interview today. Apparently, some people are able to tell after an interview how they did. Not me! I come out of them like I've been beaten with a bat in the head. This doesn't help when my family wants to be supportive and see how it went. "Um, there were people there...they asked me questions and I answered them? Is it chocolate time now?" It's like a blackout, without any of the drinking. Just vague memories of people firing questions at me.

These shoes make my feet look so incredibly teeny and cute. And they are completely painful after 10 minutes. But I didn't have time to hem these pants, and I wanted to wear them. So I wore the shoes to work and to the interview. The rest of the day I've been wearing little house slipper type shoes under my desk. These pants are getting hemmed, and these shoes are going straight to Goodwill. Right after I get some chocolate.

Pantry Queen

I go through fits of organization, plus we'd been having a moth problem in the pantry, so it was the perfect time to finish reorganizing the pantry today! Especially since the death cold has finally left me. I bought a ton of those canisters, yes, but my sister is a fantastic cook/baker. So we have all purpose flour, self-rising flour, whole wheat flour, whole wheat pie & pastry flour, sugar, brown sugar, powdered sugar, etc...

Pantry + Order = Happy Erin.

The canisters I bought are fantastic - Rubbermaid Lock Its, that I got in sets on Amazon (sets with 2 of the 3.7 cups 2 of the 5.25 cups, and 3 of the 15 cups plus lids for all). I ended up with 4 sets, and used up all but one of the tiniest canisters. I...might like them a little too much. But they're BPA-free, and they have a rubberized seal at the top, which I love since so many of them have baking ingredients. Now all of that stuff is tidily contained, instead of waiting to be turned over in a paper sack. And yes, I did put labels on everything. Even readily apparent stuff, because I got in the flow. And yes, this is a total brag post. I don't even care.

Itty Bitty Elephants

Sweater - Simply Be, Pants - Lands End, Shoes - Target.

Feeling nerdy? Visit the Vlog Brothers, Hank and John Green (who I already talked about in this post). This is their main channel, where they take turns posting videos on random topics (such as how awesome it would be if there were puppy-size elephants, and then delving into the science of insular dwarfism, as well as more reasonable topics like politics, economics, and My Little Pony). Plus, there are songs!

Thick.

Pants - Simply Be (here), Cardi - Simply Be (here)

My hair seems to be getting bigger and BIGGER.  Thick hair is not always everything it's made out to be in the commercials, you know. Of course, if I took more than 5 minutes to style my hair, it might be a different matter. But I'm lazy and not really possessed of any hair styling skills. Which is why I like it better long, so I can just twist it up out of the way when it reaches ultimate poofiness during the day. 

Shirt - Avenue, Shoes - Simply Be, Necklace - me.

I'm really happy with these new pants (Moleskin Cargo pants from Simply Be). They look like black dress pants, but fit like non-denim jeans. For some reason that I can't really articulate, I hate the way conventional dress pants fit. I find them supremely uncomfy, but these pants/faux jeans are nice. A little long on me, but I just need to get them slightly hemmed. The Death Cold is still hanging on, but I'm trying to power through it with the help of lots of sleep.

Death Cold is everywhere

Sadly, I felt well enough to go to work today. No lying on the couch watching movies. :(  I get to work, and discover that half the office is out sick! I'm wrapped up in a blanket in my chair, listening to jazzy 50's songs by Jane Russell, my favorite little-known singer (but medium-to-well-known actor). Wikipedia doesn't even have that much about her musical career. She's well known for her fantastic rack, but she had awesome comic timing, and a great voice that deserves a ton more respect (if you have Spotify, check out her The Very Best of Jane Russell album).

Cough....cough...gag....

Cardi and boots - Simply Be, Leggings - Walmart.

I might have been a little overgenerous with my brag about being not dead in my last post. I have the Nasty Crud Cold™ with Added Sore Throat™ for extra fun. Hence yesterday's cozy layers.

Suffice it to say, I won't be singing in the choir tomorrow at church or even doing much talking today. But, I want you to be entertained. Why not be entertained and learn something? The Vlog Brothers have another channel, Crash Course, where they teach you little 11 minute snippets of a course over 40 or so weeks. (Or if you're catching up and you get involved, you can mainline them.) John Green has previously done a World History course and is doing a Literature course now, and Hank Green has done a Biology course and is now doing an Ecology course. Here's the first World History

I'm not dead!

Tunic and Boots - Simply Be, Leggings - Walmart.

I took a long break for Christmas and didn't wear clothes. Or maybe I just didn't post them. It was one of the two. I did write a long post the other day, but I accidentally deleted it, so you've been deprived of my brilliance there. With my health issues lately, the only thing that's been making me feel better is buying purses. I know, you thought I was going to say exercising. Pssshhh. Have you even been reading this blog? So I somehow got onto this website (JustFab) that's mostly about shoes, but also has other stuff like purses. And I always have bad luck buying shoes online, so forget that (plus they were 9/10 high heels and I don't like falling down). But the purses....I have no need for extra purses. But they're cheap - $40 each, and they run tons of sales. My first time I got three for $60. And I got them in super-bright candy colors because winter is blah and I need some cheerfulness.

Boston Common

High Society

Top Notch

 Yes, I know the pink one is silly. I like the silliness of having a Barbie purse, even if the strap is shorter than I would prefer. Life is too short not to enjoy silliness.