In order to celebrate my 40th birthday we went to the Northeast for a quick getaway. It is fall so I got to show off some of my fall fashion. Above you can see what I packed for this quick trip. I wore jeans everyday there since I don’t get to wear jeans much. I thought my clothes really worked for the weather and for what we did. I have to say that the views were gorgeous and I loved being so close to the ocean again. The beach is truly my happy place!
I wore lots of scarves too which helped with the wind and to keep warm. The vests were also a great addition and helpful to cover what I prefer to hide when shirts are a bit tight. Just a thought… I was able to fit everything in a small carry on so I have become pretty good at packing for these short trips.
It is AWESOME to receive compliments on your outfits. I have to say that the outfits up top have been my all time high compliment outfits. Many people stopped me to make comments about them, even complete strangers. The high waisted skirt I made it myself and I decided to wear it with a bodysuit. This was a huge success. The black and white outfit brought out reactions that I never expected to get. The best part of that outfit is that I paid about $11 for the white jacket and it is gorgeous. The outfit with jeans was a good outfit to wear out and about in a rainy day. It was very comfortable and I like how it turned out on pictures.
As most of you already know, I am a bargain hunter and all three outfits did not cost me very much. They were all on clearance and the bodysuit only cost me $2.00, believe it or not. Sometimes mixing a higher cost item with a cheaper one helps bring it all together and sometimes, just waiting until things go on clearance is also a great way to get good pieces for a lot less.
This week I turned 40. I can honestly say it has not been easy to think of me as a 40 year old woman. I just don’t feel like I can be this old. It is a strange feeling for sure. However, I had a wonderful day and my students showered me with attention.
The cupcakes above I brought for some of them to enjoy, notice they have my favorite color for the frosting. Students wrote sweet cards and sang happy birthday to me. I felt honored and happy to see they took sometime to celebrate me. Thank you!!!
I chose to wear some of the new clothes I had in my closet and had not worn before. So, I had black leggings from Victoria’s Secret (they are really cool because they have some black on black animal print and they fit so well). The jacket was an acquisition from Macy’s and I just fell in love with it the minute I saw it. The most expensive part of my outfit (unfortunately you cannot really see them) are my shoes. They are the first Dansko shoes I ever got. They are very comfortable and the ones I have are very colorful. I am still getting used to the look they have. I also wore the scarf I got back in Atlanta at the Hard Rock Cafe.
My favorite part of the outfit is my new necklace I got from my husband and children. it is made of resin and wood and was designed by JDonishDesigns. Her pieces are beautiful and very unique.
Well, here I am, officially 40 years old. Thank you for being part of my journey this last year…
Nails are the best way to experiment with color and design because they are far from permanent. Here are some summer and fall nails for your delight. I change mine every three weeks so I get to try very many different colors and designs. I got to the point now that I always need to have at least one party nail but as you can see sometimes all of them are different. The ombre ones are the ones that got the most compliments. I also have to thank my nail technician Jenny Vo for her amazing work with my nails. She is able to do so many different designs that it is truly amazing.
Well, go out there and get your nails done, it does wonders for your self esteem.
My parents were able to bring lots of fabric from Brazil and now I get to make some fun clothes with these fabrics. Here is a sneak peak of one of them. I was able to make this nice flowey kimono that is very colorful and goes with a lot of things. I, personally really liked the combination I put together and I did not feel so self-conscious during the day. (The only downside of my outfit was using my backpack because the dress would ride up.) The booties made all the difference and the addition of the scarf helped pull it all together.
Kimonos are definitely my thing now, I have several I have found in the different stores such as Nordstrom Rack, Maurices and Macy’s. Now I can also make them so I have even more. The nice thing is that they work all year round depending on the colors, of course. My favorite part about them is that they hide parts of my body that some days I just don’t feel like showing, and what I mean by this is when outfits are a bit tight in certain areas.
As most of you know, I am a teacher and have been one for most of my life now. I actually started teaching when I was 14 years old at my parents’ English academy. I have tried many other jobs throughout my life and teaching always pulled me back in so here I am about 25 years later and I am still teaching.
We were given these t-shirts at work as a Marketing tool and I had to make it so that I looked professional. I think I pulled it off for the most part. I wore a short navy blue skirt, summer open toe booties, the t-shirt and a long knit vest that had the colors from the t-shirt on it. I think it looked super cute, but I will be honest, it was a bit warm in the afternoon. The one big downside of this outfit was that because this was the first day, I had to do a lot of walking around the campus and inevitably I got a blister and had to be careful what I wore the rest of the week. But I thought I looked pretty good all day even though it was a t-shirt. Normally, I don’t wear t-shirts so this was quite a challenge for me, however, I liked the result.
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.
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.)
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.
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…
