Polka-Dot (Not) Bikini

I ended up getting this swimsuit. Mostly because it was one of the cheapest bathing suits I found that I actually liked. Though if I somehow come across some money, I'll probably end up buying this one.

Either way, this is a huge improvement after past swimsuits. I want to wear this with white skirts and red lipstick and my chambray wedges.

Oh, I'm brilliant.

This isn't a step back in confidence, either. This is the most colour my swimsuit has had since I turned twelve.

And, finally, Jess gave me confidence by saying, "Honestly, no one looks at anyone else in a bathing suit, because they're all too worried about how they look themselves. So do it!"

Would some swimsuit company like to offer me a free bikini please?

Bravery

So I'm assuming we've all heard about Gabi Fresh's collaboration with Swimsuits for All. I'm also assuming we're all drooling over the fabulously cut fatkinis coming out on the 15th.

I love myself a fatkini, I really do. I think that they look just as good as onepieces, if not better. I just don't know if I'm brave enough for one. I still have issues with body acceptance on my own, and while I'm generally pretty willing to shell out over $75 on a bathing suit that actually fits, I'm not sure if I'm willing to do that with something I might be too terrified to actually wear.

I've gone through more boring black onepiece suits over the years than anyone ever should. I used to wear tee-shirts and shorts over them, too. Then, a couple years ago, I bought a new black suit from WalMart that fit poorly around the bust and just wore crazy bright boardshorts with it. Short ones, too. That felt good. Then, the following year, I bought a bathing suit I really liked; it was still black, but with these fabulous mesh details that made me feel amazing. And it was from WalMart, no less!

Last year, I got my first two-piece in well over a decade from Torrid, and it fit beautifully and I looked great, and my brother accidentally threw it out a few months back. He threw out that one, my suit with the mesh, and those swimshorts. My heart broke.

Anyway, now I'm on the hunt for a new suit, and I'm trying to convince myself that a fatkini is not a bad idea. I might have a bit more of a belly than the girl in this picture, but why on earth should that stop me?

I'm looking to my friends for succour and any bravery that they can pass on. I like my body, so why should baring a few inches of midriff be so scary?

My Pretties

Just a couple of minutes ago, I went and bought my first pair of jeans in years. I need some adventure gear, and I finally found cool jeans that I like that look good on me. I almost bought them (different print, same style) a few months ago, but they were way too expensive, even on clearance.

Guess who got these bad boys for thirty bucks, including shipping?

Go on, guess.

I haven't been this excited since I ordered a skirt with pom-poms on it.

But seriously, I love this fit. As someone who loves her ankles way too much, they're stinking perfect and now they're mine! 

They're almost too pretty to subject to adventures.

Almost.

(Also, Torrid's having a major sale on clearance, so pretend you're me and go buy some stuff. They don't know I'm encouraging you, but I promise they'd be cool with it.)

Classy Lady

When I got to get my ears pierced so very long ago, Erika and I stopped to visit a friend. We got to talking about the store across from hers, and their plus-size section.

"It's so classy!" she said. "The other side is so skanky."

I've been in there, and, yeah, she's a little bit right.

"I should get fat," she laughed.

There was a beat, an uncomfortable moment as everyone realised that, whoops, there's a fat girl here. You don't say the F word, especially in front of a fat girl. She might notice.

I, of course, being the only-mildly-socially-unacceptable creature that I am, laughed. It was funny! I mean, come on, getting fat just to buy nice clothes? It's funny!

I said, "Yeah, the plus-size community is obviously very classy" and gestured to myself. That made them a bit more uncomfortable, but like I said, I'm not good with people.

The point of this is to say that, yeah, some (lots) of people get offended at the F word. I don't. Fat jokes don't offend me unless they're just not funny, and even then, it's because it's not funny! Nothing's worse than a joke that falls flat. If you tell a fat joke and it's funny I will laugh. I'm that person who finds 99% of things funny, and generally laughs at things that she really shouldn't be laughing at anyway.

Sometimes, people just have to chill.

(Also, I actually went and checked out the plus section. They have some really cute things, and I made that stripey dress mine.)

Cherry Blossoms

I went to the mall today, but with a different person from the norm: my mom. It was pretty fun, and I made out like an earring bandit. Even though I can't even switch my earrings for another two weeks. Earring Purgatory, I'm tellin' ya.

I also wore a dress that decided to give me a ton of trouble, even though it doesn't usually. I need to figure out something to keep the bodice of this dress from gaping. Also, I wore shoes that were pinchy but cute, so they were ultimately worth it. I won't be wearing them for big adventures, though.

So, despite my troubles, it was a great day. Even the outside world was all kinds of cheerful. When we got home, we noticed that the cherry tree in the front yard was suddenly blooming, and it was wonderful.

Spring can totally make up for pinchy shoes and troublesome bodices.

Yeah, I took no time in going barefoot.

Dress: eShakti | Tights: WalMart | Shoes: Wanted | Bangles, clutch: Forever 21 | Sunglasses: Tilly's | Ring: vintage | Headband: Target

Till You Drop

My mom and I did a bit of shopping, which was nice. I think it was mostly to celebrate the fact that she's finally got her own car back (long story short: it didn't work, and now it does). We traipsed around town, bought a few things, and then came home.

The only real snafu was when we went to pay for a pair of shoes, only to discover that they were two different sizes. I would have gotten home, worn them, and been fully convinced that there was something wrong with my foot. I ended up getting a different pair, but still. Leave it to me to find a non-matching pair of shoes.

I also did quite a bit of driving! We're talking driving on the freeway, taking a roundabout (I hate roundabouts), and some three-point turns. I'm, like, a driving master now.

Which is a lie.

But just be cool and let me believe.

Top: Forever 21 | Skirt: Fashionbug | Tights: Hue | Shoes: DIY | Sunglasses: Tilly's | Watch: WalMart | Ring: Charming Charlie | Bag: MulberryxTarget

Freedom Round My Neck

I recreated my Saturday outfit after all, except I wore less jewelry and my combat boots today instead.

My mom and I went to Dollar Tree, where I found myself some Spree (yeah!) and yet another mildly tacky figurine for my bookshelf. I put the lamest/greatest stuff up there, I swear. I also found a trinket box that's actually cute, so no one cares about that.

Also, I got some Fish McBites from McDonald's. They're one of the only things I'll eat from there, simply cause I'm just not a McDonald's fan. Fish McBites, mochas, and anything ice cream. An odd combination, not gonna lie. Just know that I don't enjoy them at the same time. I have limits.

And that's it.

Always with the heart sweater.
Can't stop, won't stop. Ever.

Sweater, blouse, boots: Forever 21 | Skirt: Fashionbug | Tights: WalMart | Necklace: Hot Topic | Watch: gift from mom | Ring: Charming Charlie | Cuff: vintage

Rinaldo the Rhino.

Sherry the Glitter Owl.

I ought to show off the random collection of stuff decorating my bookshelf one of these days. Also my desk. It's great.
(I also finally wrote up an About Me page, if you haven't seen it already. I just spend a lot of time talking about clothes and ridiculous names for things. Basically, you can think of it as my blog condensed in a few paragraphs.)

Plus One

Yesterday, I did a handful of things. I did homework at Casey's (where we both berated the teacher more than was necessary for being bad at online classes), and played far too much Temple Run to be socially acceptable.

I also went to Erika's house for a party, where I was fed Colombian empanadas. You don't even know how much I love them. I might have a new favourite food. I also played far too much Temple Run to be socially acceptable. But, to even out the social ineptitude, I talked to people. We also enjoyed a horrifically bad horror movie that ended a lot more interestingly than I'd anticipated. One point for the movie! It was A Haunting in Salem, and I am extremely disappointed that it didn't end the way I was expecting.

I forgot to take a picture of my outfit, but I'll be sure to recreate it again in the near future. It was a good one.

Today, I went to WalMart with my mom. That's been the full extent of it.

Banana, Puka, and I are fabulous. 
Does anyone else remember that fantastic cartoon movie, 
Anastasia? Did anyone else get it a couple of years ago? Does 
anyone else watch it regularly?
Didn't think so.

Top: Forever 21 (gift from mom) | Skirt: Fashion Bug | Sunglasses: Image | Flats I keep forgetting to include in the actual picture: Payless

Also, I've gotten three Baby Lips in two days. Guys, a life tip: don't ever buy Baby Lips. You will end up trying to buy them all. They're just too perfect. Especially Cherry Me.

Dodici

Went wandering the Boulevard with Erika. Our day was also composed of further Christmas-ifying her house, watching The Grinch, shopping at Target (for presents, I swear!), and gorging ourselves on sugar cookies.

Good times, guys.

Good times.

Christmas, complete with Erika's dog, Luna.
She loves me.

On Bodies

Halloween 2011. Year of the Pokey-Pokey Stick.
Hideously enough.

Bear with me, this is a rant-type-thing that I wrote up when I should have been sleeping or doing homework. Note that when I say rant, I don't necessarily mean that I'm annoyed. It's just a long...discussion. Yeah, that's what we'll call it. A discussion.

I don't know.

No Snowman Balloons for Us

It's been a long week, which is sort of funny, considering the fact that it was technically a short week. Hooray for bank holidays! Whoo!

Of course, since I had Monday off and Erika ditched classes that day (terrible student), we went to the mall.

I know.

The rest of the week passed as expected, and I discovered that I really, really love working with pastels. They're definitely one of my favorite mediums, up there with ink. It's funny, probably only to me, because I hate working with charcoal because it's so messy. Pastels, however, which are INCREDIBLY messy, are just the best things ever to me.

I know.

We watched a clip from an Italian horror film in Italian (surprise!), and now I'm really disappointed that it's not streaming on Netflix. It's a really campy horror, with a fantastic score. You can find scenes from it on Youtube. It's called Suspiria. Or something very similar.

Today, I went to the mall with Erika and an old friend of ours, Yesenia. I haven't seen Yesenia in a couple of years, and it was really lovely. The trip there was fraught with danger, though, since Erika's car decided to stall or something in the middle of the road. Luckily, she was able to get it back to life and it's working well enough, I suppose. But to top it off, she misplaced something that kind of ruined her night, but we got that problem solved pretty quickly. It was just one of those nights.

And of course, because I have a problem, I spent more money that I should have. But I can justify it because I finally have combat boots and I am happy, okay? Okay.

I'm going to the mall again tomorrow.

I know.

There were too many people in the way of a good penguin 
picture.

The Three Choclatiers! No? Okay.

Dress and Jacket: Forever 21 | Tights: WalMart  
Shoes: Payless

Cold hands and darkness make for shaky photos. 
Sorry.

Necklace: DIY | Bangles: vintage | Bracelets: Claire's Ring: Boolvd

Boris Karloff bow: Boolvd. Aww, yeah.

Do You Tip Your Cops?

I know it seems like I spend all of my time at the mall.

You'd be right, if it wasn't for the classes and whatnot. I swear, I've spent more time at the mall in the past three weeks than is likely healthy.

Today, it was with Casey. It was a prolific spree. Shockingly, neither of us spent too much. That was nice.

At Red Robin today, they were doing this cool thing, called Tips for Cops. The cops worked as waitstaff, basically, and all tips went to the Special Olympics. They make pretty decent waiters, if I do say so myself.

I got a free sandwich, too, since it's my birthday month. That was nice, too.

I feel like it made up for this week. Well, no. That implies that my week was unpleasant. Really, the only unpleasant thing was taking five and a half hours to get home (so. many. buses.) and the train breaking down one stop away from my normal station. That one didn't go too badly, though, since I decided to just go home, and ended up spending the afternoon making/eating chicken noodle soup with Casey.

Regardless, I like buying new things.

And let me tell you, I did just that.

Absolutely flawless sunglasses. Even if they're painfully 
expensive.

See, fezzes are cool!

Spinach-artichoke dip!

Arnold Palmers on the Secret Menu

I spent today with Erika. And yesterday. And Monday. It's actually been a lot of fun, though, so don't count on me getting bored. We have some adventures planned for next week, too, so there's that to look forward to.

Today, we went to the mall, and oh dear everything, I should not have gone to the mall. I bought two dresses nothing of import from eShakti yesterday, and then quite a bit of stuff today. I got a great outfit that I can't wait to debut, though, some excellent heels, and a couple pairs of sunglasses. Oh, and two pairs of thigh-highs! I'm so excited because now I don't have to deal with tights all the time and one pair is black lurex, and that's reason enough to be thrilled, don't you think?

Also, for fun, I thought do do a What's In My Bag post. It's fun for me, at least. I don't even know.

 What's in my bag at any given moment: camera (and case), learner's permit, wallet (from Avenue, years ago), notebook and pencil, house key, mirror, cell phone, lip balm (this one is huckleberry), and sunglasses (Claire's).

The wear is starting to show on my favourite bag.

I Like Sales

I recently read about a sale going on at eShakti, and I've heard nothing but good stuff about them, so I've decided to buy a dress. Mild crisis, though: which one? I am flailing around in a sea of flawless! Pleats and pockets and perfection, oh, my!

If you've got an opinion on which one I should get, please give it to me! Either that, or let me rely on people who will probably tell me not to buy anything first. They both work, I suppose.

Blue

Bow

Corset

Pearl

Flower

Butterfly

This is what my life has come to, I swear.
EDIT: The blue dress won. Yeah, buddy. It ought to be here next week, and I'm a happy person now.

Eight and a Mall Trip

I spent more money than I should have, on things I don't need.

Oh, and food.

Although, really, who says that I don't desperately need a pair of red heart sunglasses, or a straw bag with a flamingo on it? I think it's very, very necessary.

Dress: Forever 21 | Bag: Ross | Necklace: Forever 21 | Shoes: Payless (and dusty from a walk in the desert).

This dress is my absolute favourite. I like the collar and the print, and I love the cutouts in the back. I live for little details like that. Well, little details and sunglasses.