Thursday, December 30, 2010

Double Duty - Plus Size Daily Outfit

I absolutely am in love with my new sweater coat from Old Navy.  (Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be available on their website anymore.)  This thing is so cozy and warm and versatile.  I have worn in four times in the week and a half I've had it.  I even took outfit photos with two of the looks. 

I wore this one to one of my many family Christmas celebrations:

photo taken by my sister
 
Outfit Details:
Black Layered Tank - Old Navy
Dark Denim Jeggings - Old Navy
Gray Sweater Coat - Old Navy
Necklace - Forever 21
Christmas Socks - from Santa! 

blurry cell phone photo taken by Jimmy

Outfit Details:
Drawstring Waist Dress - Old Navy (this is really purple in real life)
Gray Sweater Coat - Old Navy
Black Tights - Avenue
Black Boots - Avenue
Gunmetal Handbag - Lane Bryant (gift from sis-in-law)
Necklace - New York & Co. 

I even wore this sweater out to dinner last night.  It's the perfect piece for someone who, like me, hates to wear a real coat.  It's warm enough to wear out for the winter so far in Ohio, but it's stylish enough to make an outfit look put together.   

Do you have a piece that in your wardrobe that you feel goes with everything?  Something that always makes you feel good when you put it on?  Leave me a comment and share! 

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

The Christmas Afterglow - Plus Size Daily Outfit

This year my family stretched out Christmas about as far as it would go.  Last weekend we all went to Jimmy's aunt and uncle's house to have Christmas with the cousins (which was a blast), then on Christmas Eve, Jimmy and I opened our presents from each other, on Christmas day we traveled over to my parent's house and then to my aunt's house, on the 26th we went to my parent's again for my dad's extended family, then today we went over to my mom-in-law's for our family Christmas with our nephews.  Phew!  We are exhausted! 

We had a wonderful time at every single house, and loved seeing all of our family and friends!  


And, the super exciting news. . . . .Jimmy got me a fancy new camera!  I still have to learn how to use it , but it takes fantastic photos even with my unskilled hands.  For example: 
Here are my nephew's stockings hanging by the fireplace. 

 Here is me today sitting at the kitchen table. You can even see my freckles! 
Here is the Waters/Hodac/Lewis family Christmas photo from today. Jimmy looks like a giant in this photo.

 And here's what I wore on Christmas Day. 

Outfit Details:
Black Leggings - Courtesy of Just My Size via a contest on Kimberly's blog 
Gray Sweaterdress - J. Jill (similar to this one)
Black Sweatervest - Avenue (last year)
Plaid Scarf - eBay
Black Flats - Thrifted 

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!  What did everyone get this year?!  Tell me in the comments, please?!  

Friday, December 24, 2010

My Idol

I have always had such an admiration for Katharine Hepburn.  She was a fabulous actress, a wonderful fashion icon, and a strong-minded and woman who was not afraid to speak her mind.  

"If you always do what interests you, at least one person is pleased." 
-Katharine Hepburn

So in honor of my favorite actress, I have created a polyvore set with plus-size pieces inspired by the great Ms. Hepburn herself.

And, remember: 
" If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun."
-Katharine Hepburn


Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Our Annual Chrismas Date - Plus Size Daily Outfit

Jimmy and I have an annual tradition around Christmastime.  It consists of going to see the light display at a historical mill (click here for info) about 40 minutes from where we live, and then going to a little pizza place in a tiny college town close to the mill.  We've been doing it for five Christmases now, and I love it every time.

It was dark by the time we headed out, so I didn't get a great photo, but here's what I wore: 
Sorry for the mirror shot.  And don't mind the gift wrap box and paper behind me.  I decided to wrap presents in the bedroom this year.  

Outfit Details: 
Black Maxi dress (worn as a skirt) - Fashion Bug 
Purple Print Wrap Top - Lane Bryant
Denim Jacket - Avenue  
Black Boots - Avenue 

 Our awesome self-taken photo sitting in a booth at the pizza place.  

 The interior of the pizza place.  It is so cute and folksy. 

 Here's a shot of the main building at the mill. 


Do you have any Christmas traditions?  I'd love to hear about them in the comments!


FYI, I added Disqus to the blog a few days ago, and I am still figuring out all the settings and tricks.  I like that I am able to reply to each comment (and I will try to do so), but please bear with me while I work out the kinks.  

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Outfit of the Christmas Pageant - Plus Size Daily Outfit

Tonight my nephews had their annual Christmas pageant at school.  It was adorable, and they both did so well!
 How cute are all these kids?! 
 My nephew, Evan, is the boy in the back row looking at the camera wearing the brown jacket.  His brother, Alex, is standing in front of him in the blue sweater vest.  The little girl in the very front row with the headband was so incredibly adorable.  I wanted to put her in my pocket and take her home! 


Here's what I wore to the pageant:

Outfit Details: 
Black Pants - Lane Bryant
Black Long Sleeved Tee - Old Navy
Silver Sparkly Sweater - Old Navy
(Wet) Blue-Grey Shoes - Target 
Necklace with Clear Beads - Gift from friend
Necklace with Dark Beads - Avenue
Earring (yeah, just one) - Forever 21

So, except for losing one of my earrings, it was a great night!
I also got the results of my tests back from when I went to the doctor last week.  It turns out everything is perfectly normal.  My ultrasound was perfect too.  Luckily, I have been feeling much better, so I'm hoping that it was just a weird freak thing that will never happen again.  Thank you all so much for your well wishes.  It made me feel much less alone and worried to know that there were people out there thinking of me.  : )

Monday, December 13, 2010

Outfit of the Chrismas Party - Plus Size Daily Outfit

Saturday night Jimmy and I went to a Christmas party at a new restaurant that is owned by the people who used to own the place Jimmy works for.  (Confusing, huh?)  It was mostly people who Jimmy works with and their significant others.  There was food, and music, (the D.J. played music that reminded me of a middle school dance.  Lots of Mariah and Brian Adams.) and dancing, and lots of great people.  

 You can see my beautiful friend/hairstylist, JeriLe, on the far right in the above photo. 
Doing the Macarena.  Seriously. 

This is what I wore:

Outfit Details:
Jeggings - Lane Bryant
Black Lace Back Boots - Avenue (two seasons ago)
Black Ruffled Shiny Blouse - Avenue
Grey Rouched Sleeve Sweater - Avenue (same one I wore to the wedding last week)
Necklace & Earrings - Avenue

Jimmy didn't really tell me much about the party.  I really just thought it was a bunch of people getting together to eat and chat.  I had no idea there was music and dancing until we were in the car on the way there.  I would have worn something a little more festive if I had known! 

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Cat In a Tree

So this is pretty much how it's been at my house since the tree has been up: 


Here's my Jinx in our tree. 

Friday, December 10, 2010

I'm In The Dark - Plus Size Daily Outfit

Thank you all so much for your wonderful comments on my last post.  It really means so much to me that you all are sending your well wishes my way.  I actually feel much better today, thankfully.  I am still a little tired and worn out, but my each is aching less today and my stomach is more more calm.  I'm sure it's all of your good thoughts doing their magic!  

Last night, Jimmy took me out to dinner.  I needed to get out of the house, and my favorite Mexican restaurant seemed like the perfect place to venture out for.  The food was delicious, as it always is, and our favorite waiter was there to tease me, as usual.   I only got one photo of my outfit, and it's not a great one, but hopefully you can kind of see what I was wearing.  
It kind of looks like I'm missing my left foot in this photo!

Outfit Details: 
Jeans - Lane Bryant
Sequined Lapel Sweater - Old Navy (I don't see it on the site anymore)
Grey Long Sleeved Tee - Old Navy  
Leopard Print Flats - Old Navy (not available online any longer)

 

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired!


For the past six weeks or so, I've been having some, shall-we-say, female issues that have just about wiped me out.  (No, I'm not pregnant!)  Then, early this week I started having a bit of an earache that has slowly grown into more of an ear-stab feeling.  I made an appointment with my doctor about the earache and to follow up with her about my other issues, for which I saw her last month.  

TMI ALERT!!!!  
Stop reading now, if you are squeamish about periods and such. 

So basically, I stopped taking my birth control about three months ago because I was having some not-so-fun side effects.  I started taking the pill back in high school for irregular periods (I swear that's really why, Mom!), and have been on it since then.  I did change the type of pill I was taking once a few years ago due to some breakthrough bleeding and assorted other side effects. 
Well, after I stopped taking my pills, I skipped my period for a month, which the doctor told me was common, and then I had a two week period.  My doctor said that my body was probably just still adjusting and it might take a few months for everything to get back to a normal cycle. So then I started my period the next month and it went longer than usual, so I made an appointment with my doctor again.  She told me that I could either stick it out for another month or two to see if my body adjusted, or she could write me another script for the birth control.  So I went with the birth control.  I went through the whole pack (just finished it last week), and I still having a period.  That's six weeks of menstruating, y'all.  The past two weeks have been super heavy (like, I have to get up in the middle of the night to change).   When I told my doctor that, she looked at me in shock and said, "Well, I'm surprised you haven't passed out from being so anemic!"   So,today they took my blood to check hormone levels and scheduled me an ultrasound for Monday morning.  

You squeamish ones can resume reading now. 

So, that's my excuse for not posting outfit photos lately.  Or anything really.  I just haven't felt up to wearing anything but yoga pants or sweats and tee shirts.  I did get dressed to go to the doctor today, so I'll ask
Jimmy to take my photo when he gets home today.   Hopefully, I'll have an outfit to post tomorrow.  
Thank you all for sticking this out with me! 




Sunday, December 5, 2010

Goin' To The Chapel. . . .

Friday evening, Jimmy and I went to the wedding of our brother-in-law's brother (my sister-in-law's husband's brother, if that makes any more sense) and his longtime girlfriend/fiancee.  It was a beautiful wedding, but of course in the midst of all the hustle to get out the door, I left my camera at home. 
Here is a photo that I borrowed from the bride's facebook: 
Here is the stunningly beautiful bride and the very handsome groom cutting their cake, with the assistance of one of the groomsman. 

The wedding was absolutely gorgeous, and the bride an groom were both radiantly happy.  We had a fantastic time. 
I wish I had taken a before photo, but we were in a rush, so here's and after party shot of what I wore (minus Jimmy's tie, of course): 
 Don't mind the pile of laundry behind me! 


 Outfit Details:
Black Dress - Old Navy
Grey Rouched Sleeve Open Cardi - Avenue (I can't find this on the website, but they had a lot of them in my store up close to the "holiday apparel")
Black Patterned Tights - Avenue
Black Wedges - Softspots via 6pm
Black Clutch - Lane Bryant
Necklace - Avenue   
Bracelet - Forever 21
Small Oval Earrings - Tiffany's (Christmas gift from mom-in-law)
Tie - Geoffry Beene
Haircut - My awesome hairdresser friend JeriLe! 

Friday, December 3, 2010

Drama- Rama!

I apologize for my recent absence from posting.  I am back in the swing of things again after a few crazy weeks of school.  

Unfortunately, I missed getting a "B" in my critical care class by one point.  Not a percentage point, but a single point.  I ended up with an 85.4, and I had to have an 85.5 to have a "B".  Grrrr. . . . 
As if that wasn't frustrating enough, I had registration yesterday (nursing registration occurs at different times than other classes).  Usually, in order to get the section that you want, you have to be ready to hit the "submit" button on the computer at the exact time that registration starts. 
I was prepared.  I had everything set up, and had my finger on the button when 3pm rolled around.  I hit "submit" and waited. . . . and waited. . . and to my horror a message popped up telling me that I couldn't register and I had to call the bursar's office.  At this point, I knew that I was not going to get into any of the sections I would want, and was frustrated beyond belief. 


 Something like this.
 
I call the bursar's office and they proceed to tell me that I owe them $1600.  I thought for sure there was a mistake.  I always make sure my tuition is paid.   I have loans that pay it automatically! 
The woman on the phone explains that she can't tell me why it's showing a balance, but she can transfer me to someone in financial aid to explain it.  Fine. 
The lady I spoke with in financial aid explained that due to my missing a one day class this summer to attend my grandmother's funeral, my instructor gave me a "Z" grade.  Apparently, a "Z" means non-attendance.  My grandma passed away three days before this class was scheduled, and I tried multiple times through phone calls and emails to contact the instructor to make her aware of the situation.  She didn't get back with me until the day after the class.  
So, since the records show that I didn't attend one of my classes, they revoked my loan money for the summer quarter after they had already paid it and the quarter had ended. They essentially told the school that they wanted their money back, and the school never notified me.  I received no letter, no emails, no phone calls, nothing. I was able to register for fall quarter (the one I just completed) without a hitch. 
Essentially, I ended up crying/begging/trying to remain calm on the phone with six different people in four different departments at my school, for two hours. And registration had to be completed today or else I would have had to sit out for a quarter, and instead of graduating in March, I would finish in June.
Luckily, my lovely mother had some money from my grandmother's estate (The other grandma who recently passed away.  It's been a rough year.) that she was planning on giving me at Christmastime, so she gave me my Christmas early and I hustled down to school first thing this morning and paid them.  Then I sad down right at one of their computers and registered myself in the only section open (with only two spots available!).  Of course it's evening clinicals (3pm - 11:30pm) and it's 45-minutes away from where I live.  I am not looking forward to that drive in the Ohio winter. 
Sorry for my first post back to be such a vent, but I just had to share my crazy frustrating past few days with you all.  Luckily, Jimmy and I going to a wedding this evening, so there will be photos and an outfit post tomorrow!  Now I need to hurry up and go iron Jimmy's shirt for tonight.  : )  

Monday, November 29, 2010

Still Alive


Hey guys, I'm sorry I went MIA for a few days there.  I've been busy enjoying my time with family this holiday season, doing some shopping, and just relaxing.  Right now I'm working on cleaning out my closets (yes I have more than one), in order to sell and donate some clothing that I no longer wear.  I have been stumped recently for new ideas for outfits, and I think reorganizing and re-evaluating what I own, what fits, etc. will really help spark my creativity.
Hopefully, I'll be able to finish is up tomorrow or Wednesday and will have some before and after photos for you, along with some outfits.  I hope you are all having a wonderful week so far! 

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!


I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!  

I'll be back this weekend with a new post!  

Monday, November 22, 2010

Return of the Jeggings - Plus Size Daily Outfit

Jimmy and I went out to lunch on Saturday, and I busted out the jeggings again.  These things are just so comfy!  I'm getting more comfortable with how my legs look in them, and thought I would try them with my good old flats instead of boots this time. I topped it off with a long sleeved tee and my purple cable knit cape, and it was a super comfy lunch outfit for a chilly day. 
 I'm not sure why I look so smug in this photo.  : ) 
Outfit Details: 
 Knit Jeggings - Lane Bryant
Green Tee - Old Navy
Purple Sweater Cape - Old Navy
Leopard Flats - Old Navy
Necklace - Avenue 

Thank you all for your encouragement on my last post.  I made it through my 12-hour shift still standing (but exhausted!), and with rave reviews from my instructor and the nursing staff.  I got a 10/10 on my last quiz, as well!  I have my performance exam on Tuesday, and my final Wednesday to get through, but things are looking pretty decent for a final grade of a "B".  Yay!  

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Date Night! - Plus Size Daily Outfit

I already filled you guys in on the date Jimmy and I went on this past weekend, so I thought I would share with you what I wore.  

Sorry for the blurry photo.  Jimmy took it when we were leaving, and it was already getting dark outside. 

Outfit Details: 
Purple Dress - Old Navy (This is one of my favorite dresses.  It's so easy to wear and incredibly comfortable.)
Silver Belt - I've had it a few years, and don't remember where it came from.
Denim Jacket - Avenue 
Necklace - Fashion Bug (I think?)
Leopard Flats - Old Navy (These are fast becoming my go-to shoes!)
Bag - SimplyBe (won in a blog giveaway)


Just a heads-up, I probably won't be posting any outfits here until the weekend.  I have some posts planned, but I'll be wearing scrubs the rest of the week, so no outfits.  Blech.  
I'm counting down the days (6 actual school/clinical days) until next Wednesday, which is my last day of this rotation.  Then I am off until after New Years.  
It cannot come soon enough.
I have never, ever cried because of school before this quarter, but last week I had a little breakdown at my kitchen table after getting back an assignment that my instructor said she was disappointed in.  I keep trying and trying to please her, and it seems I can't do anything the way she wants it.  *sigh*
I have a paper and a journal that are due Friday, a four hour clinical today with a long and detailed care plan (28 pages) to do and turn in tomorrow (which means about 3-4 hours of sleep tonight).  Tomorrow, I also have a 12-hour clinical shift (I have to make up the four hour shift that I missed when I had food poisoning), which is going to kick my butt, because it's in the ICU and of course, these people are really sick and need care continuously.  So, I'll get home at about 8pm tomorrow evening, and have to study for a quiz that's set for Friday, which is basically over an entire unit.  Then next Tuesday, I have performance evaluations which are something we do every rotation where we have to take a short quiz, then perform a skill (e.g. inserting an IV) for our instructors to observe, then we have to analyze a made up scenario and decide what sort of problem the patient has and what types of interventions we would do to solve the problem.  Wednesday is the final.  I will be drinking Wednesday night, so if I start drunk tweeting, forgive me.  ; )

Monday, November 15, 2010

Trixie's First Birthday! - Puppy Photos!










Jimmy and I went on a long overdue date Saturday evening.  We went out to dinner, then went to see Due Date (Hilarious, btw.  I have been a big Zach Galifianakis fan since I saw him do standup about six or seven years ago.), then went grocery shopping.  That last part wasn't so much fun, but it needed to be done. Usually, Jimmy goes to the grocery by himself early Sunday morning because I hate it, and it always seems to cost more money when I go.  I was very proud when we ended up being five bucks under budget this week!  We even bought Trixie a new sweater for her birthday, since she's way outgrown everything we bought her last year. 
Speaking of, today is Trixie's birthday!  She is a year old already.  I feel like it's flown by.
This the first time I saw my Trixie-girl.  Not the most flattering picture of myself.

Jimmy gave me Trixie last year for Christmas.  She was hands-down the best Christmas present EVER.  He has friends who have a Miniature Schnauzer and a Miniature Poodle that they bred, and Jimmy got to pick out one of the puppies. 
Jimmy  had always told me that we would talk about getting a dog once I was finished with school, so it was a complete and total surprise when he walked in the door with this cute little ball of fur.  I actually cried in front of my in-laws.  I got her a few weeks before Christmas, and I'll never forget it.
 Trixie at my parent's house the night we got her. She was so tiny!  She was actually wearing a sweater that was made out of a man's sock! 
 My mom and Trixie the night we got her. 
 


Trixie at about seven weeks old, last Christmas.
 Her first snowfall. 
  Look at that crazy hair!  This was right before her first grooming. 
 Drinking from the sprinkler. 
 Lying on my belly, being cute. 
 Trixie today in her new sweater.

I'll be posting the photos of my outfit from Saturday night tomorrow.  : ) 

Friday, November 12, 2010

My Study Buddy

Yesterday, as I mentioned, I stayed in and studied for most of the day.  My animals were none too pleased that I was not paying attention to them.  My cat, Jinx decided that she was going to put a stop to it!  



"But, Mom, look at how cute I am!  How can you resist this?" 
And then she did this.  Sigh.  She's so lucky that I love her. 

What do your pets do that drives you crazy?  What do they do that makes you laugh? 

Btw, I did fine on my test.  Phew!