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Hello everyone,

I just thought I would share an outfit that proved to be a huge success and it is super comfortable. I am wearing Nike cropped leggings (super comfortable and soft by the way), a long tank top I got pretty cheap at Kohl’s and this long vest from the Lauren Conrad’s collection. To be honest, I bought the vest at the end of the season last year and had not worn it yet. When I put it all together it worked. The wedge sandals made all the difference and luck would have it that I have a necklace that matched perfectly with the vest. I got a lot of compliments all day, was more comfortable than ever and very cool all day.

Find pieces that go together and that are comfortable to survive the hot days of the summer and still look amazing while at work.

Thank you for reading,

Juliana

Hello everyone,

I don’t have much to say today but I wanted to post something and share some pictures we took today at the original Rose Garden in town.  I also just wanted to share some of my “hanging out” outfits. Pretty simple and comfy for hot days like today.  Also, the turquoise dress with pink flowers is one of my own designs.

I also have here my nails for these past few weeks… they have been a huge success and I have gotten a lot of comments on them…

And finally, some of my own designs I have worked on this summer. I have to say that my favorite is the animal print one. I think I really hit the nail on the head with that one.  The pants were also a huge success with my colleagues and students.  The interesting thing is that pants are the easiest things I have made to this day….  (I apologize for how I look on the pictures because it was at the end of the day and my hair was not cooperating.)

Thanks for reading,

Juliana

Hello everyone,

Now that I am sewing a lot of my own outfits, I have way too many clothes to choose from and I don’t know if I will ever have enough time to wear them all. However, there is something to be said about wearing something I created myself.  I continue to receive a lot of compliments on my own designs but because I have such low self-confidence I tend to think people are just being nice.  The best ones are the ones I get from complete strangers since they don’t know that I sewed the clothes myself.  But the main thing for me now is to continue having fun with this new talent I discovered in myself and to continue trying new things. My next project will be making a swimsuit. I already have the materials and I got them cut too, now I just need a cooler day for me to sit down and sew again. (We don’t have central air and it has been in the upper 90s in the last few days.)

On a completely different note, I just wanted to reiterate here that this blog has been an interesting experience for me and that taking pictures of myself and looking at them is a very humbling experience and still very difficult for me.  When I see the pictures I sometimes see this deformed big body that is not attractive at all and having the courage to post them and make them public for the world to see is very scary.  I am lucky to be surrounded by people who love me and assure me I don’t look bad but it is still really hard.  I am learning to love myself again and to enjoy experimenting with fashion since I force myself to try different things to post here.  So, for anyone out there who feels like me sometimes, just look at the picture as if you are not the subject, as if it was a stranger.  Do you like what she is wearing and how she looks?  If so, that is probably what others see too.  We live in a world where being skinny is what is considered beautiful but we have to make our own reality beautiful.

Thank you for reading,

Juliana

Hello everyone,

So today I decided to share some pictures of me at the pool wearing my two-piece swimsuit. Last year was the first time I decided to wear a two piece swimsuit after many years of avoiding it like the plague.  I have been embarrassed of showing my belly ever since I gained weight the first time and especially after having children since now I have stretch marks all over my belly.

However, last year it all changed when I was walking around TJ Max and saw this swimsuit on the picture. It was my size and I decided to try it on. And low and behold, it fit perfectly. At first, I was having a hard time deciding if I would be brave enough to wear it or not, but then I decided, why not? I decided right then and there that I can show my belly with stretch marks and all. I do wear the high top briefs style so that it holds my belly in but now I even have a little tan on my belly which is awesome on itself.

So I wore this swimsuit so much that this year I even decided to buy another one and just today I was thinking how I might even be able to make one myself. The two I have are somewhat different but both have the high waist briefs but the tops are different. Wearing these suits has been an interesting empowerment in my part.

On another note, today as I at by the pool, there were a group of young people who were taking pictures because they are making posts on instagram and other social media about how people should love themselves. I thought they had such a great message and I was happy to see what they were doing.

Being plus size is so difficult somedays and today was not a bad day, I felt pretty good about myself and my husband did a great job on the pictures above so that I can feel good about myself. I will be honest, I was very scared of looking at these pictures and I am so happy now.

So, go out there and wear your two piece swimsuits…

Thanks,

Juliana

Hello everyone,

So I have been busy sewing some more pieces and trying to come up with my own styles. I have been getting some positive feedback when I wear the pieces I have made. It is rather satisfying to wear something I made myself. On the other hand, it has been dangerous to walk into fabric stores because I come out with an armful of fabrics.

There is also the fact that what I am wearing is all mine and I am the only one who has it.  I am starting to make some pieces as gifts, I made a few kimonos to give out and the next gifts will be dresses if I can get them done right.  I will keep you all posted once I get them done… I will also add pictures here so stay tuned.

It is fun to look at fabric and let my imagination run wild thinking about what I can do with it.  I am still trying to come up with some more fitted styles for myself but I am sure I will get there.

Thank you for reading,

Juliana

Hello everyone,

I am pleased to share with you 3 of my creations this weekend. I made two circle skirts and one skirt that is totally my design.

The yellow one is made of knit material which at first was a bit scary but it turned out to be as easy as the other materials when using my new sewing machine. The animal print one is a satin looking material that feels nice when touching it. To make them long enough it took some researching on Pinterest but I finally found one blog that explained it somewhat, so between that and my playing around with it, I got two beautiful skirts made. I now get to play with what shirts to wear with them. There is something to be said about the feeling of wearing something that I made myself.

The top picture is my pride and joy because I created it all on my own…. There is a secret to that one. It is actually  denim shorts  (I got at Old Navy at their 50% off shorts sale) which I then sewed a lace skirt on to it. I cut the lace skirt as a circle skirt and then used the rest of the material to make more details on the skirt. To finish things off I used the black lace to give it a touch…. I don’t love how the pictures turned out but I wanted to get the blog post out as soon as possible so these are going to have to do it. I am so proud of my first design and I hope you guys like it too.

Thank you for reading,

Juliana

Hello everyone,

I now not only like to shop for clothes, but I can make my own too. I have been experimenting with sewing for a while now and I just made my first outfit with my new sewing machine.  It is a pretty simple one, but it is in my favorite color and it is very comfortable. I am hoping to start designing my own things and not just follow a pattern in the future but one thing at a time.  For now I am just enjoying my new found confidence when it comes to sewing clothes and figuring things out.  I also made a few more kimonos to give as gifts, hopefully the ones who are getting them like them as much as I do.

My next big project will be to repurpose the skirt fabric of my debutant dress (yes, it has been about 25 years since I first wore it but it is still in good shape and looks as beautiful as it did then…). My hope is that I will be able to make it in a way that can be worn in a more casual manner.

Stay tuned to see what I come up with next!

Thank you,

Juliana

Hello everyone,

I know my blog is more for fashion but because of my recent travels I feel like I need to share a few things here.

These are just some suggestions to make your traveling more enjoyable and also to help others around you who are trying to enjoy their trip too.

When they call to board the plane, board when it is your turn. I realize each company has their own way of doing it but I get so annoyed with the people cutting in line and even worse is that they let them in anyway. Then, what is the point of having the company’s credit card that one of the benefits is boarding earlier, or paying a bit extra to board earlier if anyone can go in at anytime.

When you get on the plane with your carry-on, follow the instructions of the flight attendants and to be honest most of the planes have the same instructions, put your bags with wheels or handles first so more bags fit in the overhead compartments.  Because of the fees that companies now charge to check bags, more and more travelers are carrying bags into the plane. With that being said, be considerate and place your bag in a way that will leave room for others. Also, you should put your larger bag in the overhead compartment and the smaller one by your feet. Why do some people think these rules don’t apply to them? Why can’t we be considerate of others around us?

When in line to visit different sights in other countries, there is no need to push others. Also, why try to cut in to get ahead? Everyone is trying to get in and if we all cooperate it probably will go much faster.

At the immigration line, which by the way it is ridiculous now because in the US they don’t have designated lines for citizens in some of the airports so you stand there for hours…, everyone is trying to get to their connecting flight and why should I let you in front of me if I am also trying to get to my connecting flight. I realize it is stressful but you can’t put your stress on others.  I do hope they figure something out for these lines because our last trip in which we came in through Chicago was a nightmare. I get the impression that this is a way to force most of us to pay to get the global entry… It is all about the money I guess…

This is for the airport workers: Couldn’t you be a bit nicer to the travelers? Must you be so rude to half of the people that ask for help? It is amazing to me how most people who work in the airports are so rude and inconsiderate to travelers who are tired and sometimes just need some compassion.

Well, sorry for this little rant but I thought I could remind some people of the appropriate etiquette for traveling…

Thank you for reading,

Juliana

As many of you know my husband and I went to Europe a couple of weeks ago and we visited 3 different countries and many cities. We were also on a cruise on this trip, hence so many cities… Well, packing was quite an interesting endeavor because since we were on a cruise we needed clothes to change at night before dinner. Especially because we spent the whole day walking around and to make things worse we had a lot of rain while we were there.

I was able to fit everything in a medium size bag and a carry on and I included 2 outfits per day (good thing it was warm weather so that it is less clothes and smaller too). I have pictures here from the different outfits I wore during the day on our tours. We visited Rome, Pisa, Pompeii, Palma de Mallorca, Barcelona and Cannes. The one day I did not get right was the day we stopped in Barcelona and we were told it was not supposed to rain, so I left the ship without a rain jacket and needless to say, it did rain and we got soaking wet. Many of the pictures I have my rain jacket because unfortunately it rained more often than we would have liked.

My suggestions to people who travel in the summer months is to take leggings, basic t-shirts with different scarves that become the pop of color. This was basically my uniform and added kimonos as needed and depending on the color of my pants. These were great because they don’t take a lot of space in the bags, they don’t wrinkle and don’t weight much either.

Packing for an 11-day trip that includes a 7-day cruise is not an easy thing to do. I packed and repacked three times at least and I think I got it right now but only after the whole trip will i know for sure.

I figured I needed a couple of outfits per day, because after a whole day of walking around and exploring the sites I would like a shower to then go watch some shows and have dinner. Ours is the freestyle cruise but it is still nice to wear some nice clothes at night for a change.

I ended up with 19 outfits total (the 19th is just in case we get stuck while traveling back and need to stay somewhere one more night), and 4 pairs of shoes, and for those of you who know me, know this is a difficult thing to imagine… only 4 pairs of shoes???… really???? Hopefully I won’t regret such decision.

Well, stay tuned for how the trip goes and how my outfits worked out…

Thanks for reading,

Juliana