Red Carpet Ready with Dropship Dresses

Personal trainer, Jackie Warner, once said we all should be able to walk the red carpet  once in our lives.  I'm a firm believer in that statement.  Everyone should have that glam moment at least once in their lives.  Jackie's workout's are tough and will definitely get you in great  physical shape to walk a red carpet, but that'll only get you half way.  You'll also need a really stunning dress and that's why I'm excited to team up with Dropship Clothes.  They have some really great dresses for special occasions.  I'm really pleased to be working with Dropship Clothes and they've sent over some lovely things, and in the next few days I'll be posting more great pieces from Drop-Ship, but I wanted to start with this Red Sequin Mini Club Dress because nothing says red carpet ready like a red sequin gown.  I love the way this dress balances my curves and the low back has to be the sexiest feature of all.  

Shopping Info: Red Seductive Sequin Midi Club Dress $10.12 USD from: Dropship-clothes.com  I'm 5'6 and wearing the size S 4-6.

Garden Cafe

Spring has finally sprung and I am so very ready for the beautiful weather and all the gorgeous flowers.  And not only are the flowers bringing color to the world, but Karina Dresses has just launched their Garden Cafe Collection.  I'm wearing the new Nora Dress in Mimosa Print, and if you love this dress as much as I do, you have  to check out the whole Garden Cafe Collection.  With style like this it will definitely have you thinking spring!

Shopping Info:  Nora Dress in Mimosa from: KarinaDresses.com, Necklace and heels from ModCloth Shop for Vintage-style clothes at Modcloth!

A Stroll in the Park

    With each passing season, I see a hopeful return of normalcy.  Anytime bad things happen, everything gets thrown into chaos and it can be a long hard fight to restore order, peace, and joy to our lives. On my journey, I can honestly say that it all seemed pretty bleak for a while and at times it seemed like nothing was healing and nothing was changing and there was no point in trying.  But, what's the alternative?  Trying to move forward, I'll at least make a little progress.  Giving up means staying stuck.  Giving in to the fear of doing the hard work required to gain healing means that depression, anger, bitterness, and layer after layer of hurt is all you'll have in your life.  Someone recently compared it to having a bad tooth pulled.  Pulling the tooth will hurt for a day, leaving the tooth will hurt for a lifetime.  In other words, avoiding the pain only causes more, so for the past three years, I've been doing the hard and very painful work so that I can one day have a healed life.  

    Looking back is something I try to avoid these days, unless it's for the briefest moment just to remind myself of how far I've come.  I'm not there yet--wherever "there" is-- but I'm not where I was either.  I'm better today than I was three years ago and tomorrow, even though it may not seem like it, I'll be a little better still, until one spring when it's all so distant and foreign to me I don't think of it at all.  Til then, I'm going to keep doing the work, keep helping others whenever I can, keep finding joy in little things, and keep looking up, and waiting for the better days ahead.

Shopping Info:  Dress from The Other Sparrows, Top from Shein

Daffodils in the Woods

As you no doubt guessed from my Daffodils post, and this one, the frost didn't kill all the daffodils as I initially thought.  They've all survived and thrived, so I stopped at this little spot in the woods to snap a few photos.  As I wandered though, I noticed a set of old stone steps that lead up to what is now a huge oak tree.  Long ago this must have been a homestead site and these daffodils were lovingly planted by the lady of the home who had come so far and was trying to civilize this wild country with something dainty, something pretty.  Her daffodils have outlasted her name and even her home.  If we're at all able to leave something behind when we're gone, it should be just like this.  It should be something beautiful, something that brings joy to everyone who passes this way each spring.

 Shopping Info:  Blue Gingham Dress from Shein.

Sunset Morning

Early morning in the city is the best time if you ask me.  The street I'm on right now is normally bumper to bumper with traffic and every parking spot in a three block radius is taken.  But at this time of day, there's only myself and the occasional dog owner taking man's best friend for a walk.  At this time of day I get to see things normally blocked by shoppers and hear sounds typically drowned out by cars and voices.  This is the best way to see the same old city in a new way.

Shopping Info:  Purple Horizons Skirt from: Chicwish, necklace and heels from ModCloth, Lace top from ThredUp.  Use my link to sign up and save $10 off your first order.

Weekend Brunch

    About a month ago I wrote a post on How to Wear Leggings.  It's my second post in the last four years about leggings and the right and wrong ways to wear them.  Only three posts total in the last four years, so it's not something I talk about constantly, but I did want to touch base on one more thing about leggings which is the color.  You know that I loathe those horrible LulaRoe leggings with their ridiculous tacky prints and the equally horrible way they get worn, so let's not poke at that poorly dressed bear anymore.  I'd rather talk about great pieces that do what clothes should do, which is make you feel great about your body.
    My last post featured some faux leather leggings from FemmeLuxe.  Just to quickly reiterate, I love the faux leather look over basic cotton or denim because they look more upscale and put together than regular cotton.  The pair from my last post was a Wine-or burgundy color.  Burgundy is a dark color and is a sort of pseudo neutral in that it goes with so many other colors you really can't go wrong with a burgundy piece of clothing as far as versatility goes.  Burgundy is also a dark color and there is a commonly held belief that dark colors, particularly black, have a slimming effect.  While this may be true to an extent, that doesn't mean you have to avoid colors just because you have problem areas.

    On the contrary, it's better to have a great and colorful outfit that fits you well and highlights your best attributes than a black dress or pants that fit you horribly.  To illustrate that I'm wearing the exact same Catriona Faux Leather Leggings from my previous post, but these are in a khaki shade.  Once again, I've chosen a flowy tunic top, but this one has a great map print and some color to it.  This top also isn't quite as long as the tunic in my last post and to be quite honest my thighs have always been my biggest trouble spot and I get a little apprehensive when they're not covered, but I've found a really great work around.

    Heels, heels, heels!  High heel shoes have this ingenious way of your bum look lifted and your chest more pronounced, so adding them to this outfit really helped to balance out my shape and when I walked by the glass in these store fronts, I actually did a double take and said, "Dang, my butt looks amazing in these leggings!"  I've never said my butt looks amazing at any time in my entire life.  And yet, here I am on this ordinary day, not only thinking it, but feeling it so strongly I said it out loud.  I don't just heart these chic leggings, I heart my body in them and that's a pretty big deal.

      Another thing to love about this look is that it is both chic and casual and it's why I've titled this post Weekend Brunch.  I've been going on and on about casual-chic lately, but only because I do feel it's important to have something that you can throw on, feel confident, and look amazing while still feeling relaxed and go basically anywhere in.  I know we don't associate high heels with casual but in this case, these particular heels are very comfortable.  I walked around downtown in them without sore feet or trouble keeping up with the crowd.  If you can't imagine yourself in heels like this, try a nice wedge heel sandal instead.

    Like my previous outfit, I've added a bomber jacket on top.  I like the crop cut because it doesn't swallow up the outfit and a crop jacket that fits well can actually make your body look a little longer.  This jacket, unlike the other is in blush instead of black, because yes, I'm still proving a point about colors being fun and cut being more important than color for a slimming and/or lengthening effect, but in my next outfit with these leggings, I'd love to try a long sweater jacket or a knit poncho.  I think that would create a lovely look.  Is there a leggings outfit combo you'd like to see?  Leave me a comment below and I'll see what I can do!

Shopping Info:Khaki Faux Leather Look Leggings - Catriona-from: FemmeLuxe,  ModCloth Necklace and Creative Contribution Sleeveless Top in Maps, jacket from ThredUp.  Use my link to sign up and save $10 off your first order.

A Host of Golden Daffodils

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud~ by William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
and twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

in such a jocund company:

I gazed—and gazed—but little thought

what wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Shopping Info: Hat and dress from Shein, Flats from ModCloth

Mid-Century Modern

KarinaDresses has just launched their new Mid Century Modern collection.  I absolutely adore all the bright colors and bold prints.  So much to love like the Margaret Dress in Goldenrod (above) and this Poolside print in the Megan cut.  The bright blue combined with the sweet white blossom with black contrast print is so cheery and positively perfect for spring!

Shopping Info: Megan Dress - Poolside-from: KarinaDresses.com, Qupid Heels from ModCloth

$50 Dresses from PrincessHighway

Princess Highway is having their $50 dress sale, which converts to about $37 USD and I was able to get free international shipping!  That's a pretty awesome deal and I wanted to share it with all my fellow fashion lovers, because this deal won't last.

You Can Wear a Wiggle Dress

    Wiggle dresses are so called because they are so form fitting one must wiggle to get into them.  And as innocent and almost silly as a wiggle dress sounds, it causes a lot of distress for many women.  I think it's fair to say that most women do not like their bodies at some point in their lives if not for the entirety of them.  As a woman our bodies are constantly changing and usually in extremes.  I certainly never thought I could or would ever wear a wiggle dress let alone actually love them and the way they look on my shape.  

    There have been times in my life where I've been very heavy and times when I've been very thin.  My chest has run the gambit from A to DD and now is somewhere in between.  I'm small where I'd like to be curvaceous and jiggly where I'd like to be toned and like everyone I have times when I look in the mirror and am discouraged by what I see if not down right depressed. 

Fashion often gets dismissed by people from all walks of life as being unnecessary or vanity, but there is a lot of power in fashion. 

    When we talk about the power of fashion and in particular the well chosen pieces of clothing that  accentuate an individual's best body features and downplay problem areas, it is very much a self-empowerment.  There is a change—mental, emotional, and even physical that occurs when we look in the mirror and like what we see.  The mood is lifted, confidence bolstered, and we walk a little taller, maybe even feeling encouraged to do more with our lives, careers, and relationships.  Vanity comes when empowerment becomes excessive self-love.  Too much of anything can be detrimental, but that doesn't mean it's all bad to feel good about yourself.

    I once read a book on the psychology of weight loss.  The name of the book is gone from my memory, but if I remember it, I'll come back and update this post.  I was struggling with about 30 extra pounds and wanting to do more than just try another fad diet.  Thirty pounds may not sound like a lot, but for someone with my height and small frame, that 30 pounds was significant.  The counselor said that before prescribing an exercise regimen or diet, the first thing she did was ask her patient to get up everyday at a regular time (in other words start a routine and stick to it instead of lying in bed and getting depressed), shower, put on something nice and do her hair and make-up for one month.  Then the patient would return having shored up her self esteem with a little self care and she found that in doing so the patient was mentally more ready to take care of themselves physically with diet and exercise.  It all began with changing her feelings by dressing her best.

    Flash forward to just a few years ago when I tried on a wiggle dress for the first time and to be perfectly honest, I didn't have very high hopes for how it would look on me, but in spite of my initial hesistation, I loved the way it looked on me.  I loved the way I looked in it, and I felt more confidence in that dress than I ever had before.  Now I never shy away from a wiggle dress, even one in bombshell red like this Ruched Maria Dress from FemmeLuxe's Mesh Dress Collection.  FemmeLuxe has tons of sexy dresses, but this dress in particular caught my eye because it has several of really great features that I want to point out.

    I've already mentioned the I'm-not-afraid-to-be-noticed color, but it also is made of a great stretchy fabric which cuts way down on the wiggle factor and makes it more breathable and better conforms to your shape.  Another great thing is the ruching at the sides.  Ruching is the ripple effect created by gathering and stitching fabric at a center point.  In this case the ruching runs along either side of the dress.  If you are a little insecure about your shape, that ripple is wonderful at camouflaging trouble spots particularly in the midsection.  This dress is quite sheer, so I added a slip that has some body shaping stiffness to it which can give that little extra bit of smoothing to the overall look.

    There are so many wonderful types of clothing out there that we tell ourselves for one reason or another we just can't wear, but I really encourage you to try and keep trying.  It's usually less about your inability to wear something and more a matter of finding the right thing for your shape.

Shopping Info: Red Slinky Ruched Split Leg Mesh Maxi Dress - Mariah from: FemmeLuxe