Lilly Pulitzer for Plus? Pul-ease!

I wasn't going to do it, guys- I really wasn't but then everyone got on the bandwagon and now here I am. On the bandwagon. Like a chump. Ok, so I'm not really a chump and I've mentioned my distaste for the brand before so this isn't out of bandwagon nowhere land. Do I even make sense anymore? Probably not.

Here is what I'm trying to get at: Turns out, a long time straight size brand that focuses on resort wear which temporarily released a plus size line in a cheaped out version for Target doesn't really give a shit about plus size ladies. Actually, not only do they not care about us fatties, but they mock us behind our backs. Color me shocked. I'm appalled, outraged, nauseated! (I sure hope you're reading with the sarcasm I have intended.)

All Black Casual With A Chance Of Spring

A little quickie today! It has literally rained over half of the days this Spring here (aprox 50 out of 80 days). Im. Dying. My cousin and I decided to do a little shopping this weekend and I have to say- the rain is starting to affect me. I didnt want to get up, I didnt want to go do anything but sleep in  my cozy bed and watch Netflix. I decided to take comfort in my love of all black, and layers.

You have seen these pants before, they are my Torrid stiletto skinny jeans (size 24)- but they have faded terribly. I'm thinking its time for a little self distressing to complete the look. The flats are also Torrid from last season- they are a lace crochet and super comfortable (good for our soggy shopping adventures). The tank is a Lane Bryant basic cami with lace, The bralette is Torrid (size 3), belt is Torrid (size 1) and the black cover is just a DDs Discounts find and it is so comfortable! Its actually the second one I've bought (they were like $6) because I tore the first one on accident.

Summertime Shrug-ness

Note: I'm going to leave the whole, "love your arms enough to show them to the world!" argument alone for now because lets face it, not everybody is ready for that nor does every occasion allow it. If you want to free your arms, I really don't mind seeing them but if you'd rather cover them I'm okay with that too.

I'll admit, the title is a terrible pun, but I've been listening to a lot of Lana del Ray lately. (P.S. have you seen the lama del ray meme? hilarious.) My cousin gets credit for this post because she sent me a text that said, "Summer time shrugs. Go." and that is really a pretty great idea so here we are.

Review: Jefferee Star Velour Lipstick

 
I don't know exactly when it happened, but people started to go crazy over these little lippies.  I wasn't the first to notice how amazing they were because when I finally made it over to the site to try to buy a few everything was already sold out and according to the Facebook page, it had been that way for a little while. Stalker Mode engaged. Once I realized this was kind of a cult-like following, I literally checked his Facebook and website daily to see if they had been restocked.

The day after my girls night out for my birthday, I was recovering on the couch and saw a post about 4 hours old on Facebook giving notice of the restock of colors I wanted. Click. Bought 3 right then. Less than 24 hours later- sold out. I felt pretty accomplished that Id gotten them instead of waiting the hangover out. Worth it.

Jeffreestar.tumblr.com

Aside from the amazing quality of the products speaking for themselves, everything that Jeffree Star is and does is art to me. The look, the makeup, the hair, and the tattoos are all stunning. I love a dynamic and interesting person and I could sit and try to absorb everything that makes up (pun totally intended) Jeffree Star all day long. I do understand that not everyone enjoys my favorite type of tea aesthetically speaking, but I highly suggest letting the products speak for themselves.

Why I wanted them:
1.) Super matte and super long lasting formula. I enjoy wearing lipstick, but I also really enjoy eating, drinking and kissing my male. I do not enjoy carrying lipstick around and reapplying all day/night and having lipstick transfer onto my glass really drives me crazy.
2.) The unique colors. I am no lipstick expert and I'm sure there are semi-dupes for all these colors, but I wanted both the color and the matte texture which was going to be a tough match. (If you know of any dupes, let me know in the comments!)
3.) I like a challenge. I wont even lie about this part. As soon as I knew they were always sold out, I made it my mission to get one. When I want something, I go for it... you coy thing you, velour lips!

Before we get into it though, I'm going to give you a disclaimer. No photoshopping, as with all my pictures, so what you get is what you see. The after pictures, I'm usually a few drinks in and the sun has left me to my own devices, so allow for a little error. I've also had to crop out more than one salsa stain on my shirt... so theres that. #classyonfleek

Oxblood

Luvees Review

As you may have noticed, I've been on a mission to find the best way to prevent chub rub this Summer. I first tried the Mish Bandelettes and asked at the end if maybe there could be an option in short form...then I happened across these bad boys. Goes to show I might be a little slow on the revolution train.

The price:
$32.00- product
$6.40 shipping
PayPal option only

They are a little more expensive than the Mish brand I tried, but they cover quite a bit more, which was one of the very few cons to the bandelettes.  Is $40 a little crazy for some lacy undershorts? Probably a little but I will take into consideration that it is a smaller company. Also, when Lane Bryant panties aren't on sale, they are about $16 each- on the surface, for twice the fabric it makes sense for it to be twice the cost.

Dia&Co Box: May

Link to the box: https://www.dia.co/r/cc3

I did a post pretty early on about this personal shopping/stylist company that I found out about during its beta testing. As I sit here with my shirt inside out, Im going to do a little info post on what came in my box this month. An unboxing in photo form if you will. Guys, I know I keep saying it, but I'm working on videos. Waiting on that editing software! I think that will be a fun format. I digress...

I hate to start this series off with this month's box, because I just wasn't feeling any of the options they sent. This could be for a few reasons:

1.) They just got this box wrong (for the first time ever).

2.) I'm a Grumpy Guss and hate all things bright.

3.) I'm not as creative as I should/could be with outfits. 

I'm going to go with options 2 & 3 (mostly 2). Bright colors remind me of Lilly Pulitzer and I loath that style. I don't even know why it offends me so much, there must be a childhood Lilly Trauma. I'm certainly a more neutral to dark kind of girl. It fits my personality, it looks more polished, it is more professional so I have more options for the office, I could go on for hours. When I get a box full of bright colors, I go into cat mode and open the box and jump back only to sloooowwwlly move forward to peak inside. (pics after the jump)

Work Flow: Mix & Match Under $100

After my blog post Monday showing you how I go from the office to happy hour, I decided to follow up with a work related post giving you options... but also to let you know that Eloquii has increased their size range to a size 26/28 in quite a few items (!!!!). Most pictured above go up to a size 26/28, so if you love it and you were always bummed that Eloquii stopped at a 24, go forth and be glorious.

You can really pick any of each of these tops to go with any of the bottoms- so you could get 9 outfits out of what we have here. You could tuck or leave the tops untucked, but I like the white skirt as a shirt tucked in option.

Oh and did I mention that with the coupon code up on the site today (STYLE50) You can pick up both a top and a bottom for under $100? Because that is a real thing, and I am increasingly excited about it.

As far as fit goes: I recently ordered a lace (not much stretch) pencil skirt in a size 24 and it zips, but its snug in my hips/booty. I tried it on in front of the male and he was like "ohhh yeah!" then I tried to sit down and he was like "ohhh nooo". There was a lot of unsexy heavy breathing and maybe some grunting involved on my end at that point. I have a feeling I'll be fine in one of the flared 24s, so they run true to size.

Note: Most (if not all) of the items also come in different colors, so if you like the style, but hate my choice in color (rude *wink*)  you can change it!

Links: Black Top | White Top | Pink Top | White Skirt | Camel Pants | Burgundy Skirt

From Office to Happy Hour

Since I can remember, I have always wanted to be a powerful business woman. Some girls want to grow up to be mommies, some want to be teachers or wives or other amazing things... I wanted to be a single 30s business woman living downtown with a cat. That way I could finish work and run down for happy hour with coworkers or some nice person I met on the street and then walk home to my cat that doesn't care that I've been gone for 14 hours a day. I could just see myself sitting in my high rise apartment looking out over the city at night with a glass of wine in my silent house. I was an odd child with very specific wants that grew up into, well... an odd adult with very specific wants.

I currently work downtown in one office and very close to it in my other office, but I don't live in either downtown. I replaced the single woman with a wonderful boyfriend and the cat with a high maintenance toy poodle. Overall, I really wouldn't change anything about it for now except that my closest coworkers are both married men so there isn't much happy houring going on. If I'm lucky, one of my girlfriends will agree to go with me to dinner one night after work and on that day I am the most excited woman in the world!

Beach Goddess

I was shopping around Aldo looking for some cool accessories and I saw the body chains. I. love. body chains. There is just something so attractive about them to me. They are delicate but a little sensual? *fans self* I was going to just post it and tell you guys how great it was until I realized that I had bigger dreams for it and that's where babies come from how this blog post came about.

It's Not Vanity

Ive had this post started for a while, but couldn't figure out how I wanted to set it up but then the male and I were watching one of our YouTube channels (JustKiddingNews, if you're curious) and it spurred a healthy debate and in turn, me finishing this post.

It was about the Dove campaign, #choosebeautiful, and we all know how I loveeee that campaign. I talked about it before so I wont go too far into it, but one of the JKNews guys made a comment about vanity in relation to choosing beautiful. That struck a nerve for me. I'm called out sometimes on my vanity. Looking in mirrors, saying out loud that I look nice that day, spending lots of time on my hair, makeup or clothes... always something. My best friend teases me about it, the male teases me about it and its all in good fun but it always makes me question a few things in the back of my mind.


The main issue I have with these types of comments is that although they aren't meant with ill intentions, they really do take a huge bite out of all the self love work someone has done. If someone feels beautiful that day, why take that away from them simply because you might disagree? It probably took 6-600 bad days to have that one good day. You know how you feel when you wake up with good hair, your jeans fit perfectly and makeup is on point? Let the person have their own.

Brunch is a Must

By this point, we should all know of my eternal love for brunch. If brunch were a person, I would court it, send it flowers and then propose to it when I took it on a romantic trip to France. Seriously, marry me brunch. Marry me...

Most days when we head out for brunch, we keep it pretty casual. Some days, I don't even leave my house for brunch. I just brunch it up at home. How many times can I say brunch? A brunch (ha!).We will go out and sit on a patio or at a bar somewhere they have bottomless mimosas and have girl talk. For those days I'm down with regular old jeans and a top or a sweet maxi, but today was a little different. My sister wanted to take me out for a birthday brunch, which was very nice of her. She picked a place in Uptown called Nick & Sams Grill. Its the more affordable/casual version of a very nice steak house here in Dallas. It has a sweet patio and huge doors that open up to the outside so it is perfect for a nice Spring day (which we have about six of here in Texas.)