Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Beauty is Beauty

The other day my husband and I took a drive up in the mountains. We're very blessed to live so close to such beautiful scenery, which is only prettier this time of year with the golden light and the colorful leaves. Plus it's always nice to get out of the hustle and bustle of this city for a while and just take a breath.





I've been thinking a lot today about false compliments. If you're a fat girl, there's pretty much a 99% chance you know what I'm talking about here. You've heard the "you have such a pretty face" and "no, you're not fat, you're beautiful" and (my personal favorite) "there's just more of you to love!" In my opinion, the basic rule here is that true compliments do not have a conditional clause. No one looks at a gorgeous mountain view and says "sure is pretty for a rock." Of course not!





You look at a gorgeous mountain view and call it what it is-- beautiful. Compliments should work the same way. When you tell someone she's "not fat, she's beautiful" you are making the statement that those two things are mutually exclusive. That she cannot possibly be both fat and beautiful, because fat is in its very nature repulsive and lazy and whatever other negative connotations we're taught.





That's simply not the case. I am fat and beautiful, just like I'm also funny, happy, and smart. Stop telling people they have such "a pretty face"-- as if the rest of them isn't stunning too! If you can't give a sincere compliment that is one hundred percent genuine, then just keep your mouth shut. YES, that sounds mean, and YES, I mean it!





More than that you should understand that people do not exist just to give you something nice to look at. So what if I'm fat and beautiful. So what if I was ugly. There is more purpose to my life than aiming to be visually pleasing. Nobody owes you the courtesy of being decent to look at.





The next time someone offers you a false compliment, you should explain to them why you don't appreciate it. If you're feeling rather benevolent you can even be nice about it. Maybe just a "actually, I'm fat AND pretty" or a "I'm not here to decorate your visual landscape" will do. How do you guys handle insincere compliments?



I hope you know you're beautiful and amazing just the way you are. I believe it!

black textured sweater, thrifted. oxblood skinnies and black boots, kmart. collar necklace, f21. glitter studs, shop in helen.

Friday, November 14, 2014

Alternative Curves: Leader of the Pack

This is my first post as part of the Alternative Curves group, and I'm so excited! The theme this month is "Leader of the Pack," which I had a little trouble coming up with something for. Eventually I went with this look, which I think is kind of like 80s girl meets the Artful Dodger (yay Dickens!). I don't know how true to the theme that is, but hey! That's where my brain went.







I love that there is now a group for alternative style plus-size chicks. I don't consider myself to be exactly tough or hard or edgy, but I definitely think my style isn't exactly mainsteam. I gravitate toward things that are funky and fun, and I think that qualifies!







I got this dress for a steal at Old Navy while they were having a BOGO 50% off sale. It was a web exclusive that I guess someone had returned in store. Score for me!







I also have to tell you guys that I'm having a hard time writing this because my kitten, Aengus, wants to play fetch and he doesn't care that I'm writing. He has this little stuffed goldfish that he carries up onto the couch, drops next to me, and squeaks and meow-barks until I throw it. Which of course means he's gone exactly seven seconds before he comes trotting back with the thing, ready to go again. So I guess I'm not much of a pack leader, because I can't even handle my cats, haha!





If any of you are reading my blog for the first time from our blog hop, welcome! Please let me know in the comments, I'd love to hear from you!

triangle print jacket, f21+. long sleeve dress, old navy. teal felt hat and earrings, thrifted. heeled booties, ebay.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Snuggly Sweater Dress

I have a confession to make. I am seriously addicted to sweater dresses. We went to Ross the other day and the racks were full of them. Full! If I were a richer woman I would have come home with all of them. Instead I settled for this one and one other (I'm sure you'll be seeing that one, too!). It's finally cooling off around these parts, so I was pretty ecstatic that I could finally wear this without breaking a sweat. I'm definitely more of a warm weather person, but there is just something so magical about this time of the year. The smells, the brisk air, the pumpkin flavored everything. I've been opening the windows of our place to let in the fresh air, and burning candles just about every second of the day. It's the best.







In other news, I think I'm going to take a stab at NaNoWriMo this year. If you're not familiar with it, it's basically a month-long challenge where you try to write a novel! (You can check out the website HERE for more info.) You have to stay on top of your daily word count to make the goal. I don't have any ideas for what I'd write about, but I think there's beauty in that.







I don't really have any other plans for the coming month except for that. I prefer to take hurdles as they appear! And, you know, dinner plans as they fall together last minute. I know some people love scheduling their time but that's just not me. I like things to be relaxed and spur of the moment.







How about you, my lovely readers? Are you enjoying this season, or looking forward to something altogether different? Halloween plans? I'm excited that we might actually have trick-or-treaters this year at the new place! There's kids playing outside all the time in this neighborhood so I'm hoping that will mean we can give out candy.







leopard print sweater dress, ross. jeweled necklace, wal-mart. d'orsay flats, marshall's. glittery studs, shop in helen.

Monday, October 20, 2014

Another Year, Another Hairstyle

WELL, it has been a bit since my last post! I'm really getting into the swing of things with my boutique, and it's definitely demanding on my time. Part of the difficulty is figuring out what works and what just doesn't. But that's part of the fun, too! I'm learning and growing and moving forward, and it's really an exciting time in my life.





On October 6th, I turned 27! As a kid I never even thought about what my life would be like by that age, but I have to say that it's better than anything I ever dreamed about. I love that we're in a place where I can now work from home and be my own boss. I feel more confident and beautiful than I ever did as a younger woman. I see my 30s on the horizon, and I can honestly say that I'm just feeling positive and hopeful that this will be the happiest season of my life so far.





As you can see, my hair is DARK! I love it so much... it was a birthday gift to myself on the 6th, haha. My amazing hairstylist Jodi mixed a custom color for me. It's dark chocolately brown with violet mixed in there. When I'm in more natural light the purple really shines. I think I'm going to keep this color a lot longer than the last. I'm really enjoying playing with different color palettes now that I'm not a redhead.





Oh, and I almost forgot! I got new glasses, too! I love them, they're giant. I have a little cartoon cat version of myself that I've drawn since my early teens, and she wears glasses just like these. So I had full on nerd out when I got them in the mail.







Here's to another year! I hope it's the best one yet, and I'm looking forward to sharing it with you guys!





peter pan collar dress, thrifted (target). red wedges, shoeocean.com. green studs, gift from my grandma.

Monday, September 22, 2014

Hair Adventures! And Reuniting with Coral

Hello, loves! So yesterday I bid adieu to my awesome coral hair. Parting is such sweet sorrow, but I really missed wearing all the pinks and corals I have in my closet. I just thought it was a little bit overkill to have pink hair and a matching ensemble, haha. It was totally fun while it lasted, though! Even all the weird looks I got shot while running around town.





I actually tried to dye it a dark chocolate brown... and ended up with GREEN. And not a cool, intentional green, either. It was like the olive green color of army fatigues. Yikes!! I did it myself with kool aid. I know. I never got past 15-years-old.





But I actually fixed it with kool aid too, so there's that! After a little googling I realized that it happened because the top part of my hair was so yellow. So I added a little pinkish red over the top and voila! Back to my natural color.





So! It's not the dark brown I wanted, but at least it's nice looking. I'll probably give dark brown another try once my poor little scalp has had some R&R.







How about you? What's going on with your hair?! :D

coral skirt, lane bryant outlet. striped top, my boutique. lariat necklace, antique. earrings, target. booties, ross.