1st anniversary trip to San Diego

Hey lovelies,

Back in February Bob and I celebrated our first anniversary by going to San Diego. We had never been, and it was really fun. Here are some of my outfits from the trip!

Trying out red lipstick:

Details:
Dress: Old Navy (old), 1X
Cardigan: Old Navy (old), 1X
Pearl necklaces - $1 bin at farmer's market
Stockings (in lap): American apparel

Worn to explore the USS Midway (which was SO MUCH FUN):

Details:
Dress: Old Navy, XL (these run HUGE)
Leggings: Duo maternity 2X (not pregnant mom, just like these leggings)
Cardigan: Target Merona, xxl, old
Flip flops: reef, size 11
Bag: old navy - I love this bag!
circle scarf: american apparel
A lady at a restaurant actually complimented me on this outfit - it was so sweet!

The USS Midway was fascinating!



Creepy art deco-ish clown on the sidewalk:


Yes, please!


Remember astronaut ice cream? They had it at the air and space museum in Balboa park:



It wasn't good at all.





Outfit details:
Jeans: Avenue divine denim, size 20 (they run a size large, I'm normally a 22)
T-shirt: black with tiny pocket, target pure energy size 1 or 2, I don't remember...
Tank underneath: old navy, xl, years old
Yellow cardigan: Target xxl



nice horse...


Enjoying lunch and the older couple at the table next to us offered to take our picture!



Details:
Dress: thrifted
Cardigan: target xxl
Leggings: duo
Flip flops: reef
scarf: aa

Balboa park was beautiful!



And we had a great time. Isn't Bob adorable?



I definitely think he is.

Because I have healthy coping mechanisms

Buying stuff because I am stressed out? Totally healthy and normal.

Also, I think, secretly, I've always wanted to be a country western starlet. I think that subconscious desire explains away this recent purchase:



I know, I know, a denim dress? Really getting back to my Georgia roots. But it's cute, and has a full skirt and metallic buttons and the shade of denim is pretty close to chambray, which is so hot right now... so, yeah, I stand by it. Pictures forthcoming when it arrives (if eShakti doesn't cancel it for some reason like they did the last dress I bought. First world problem, that.)

As part of my further retail therapy, I also made my first purchase from a UK retailer - ASOS. I really hope the stuff fits, because returning it won't really be an option:


(in navy). I only hope to rock it HALF as well as the darling definatalie.

I also bought some of their skinny jeans on sale - not knowing what size to buy, I went with the largest, a 26, because I wear a US 22 in jeans, and the size chart recommended a UK 26. Here's hoping :)

Jumping in with both feet: vintage sewing patterns

I can "sew". I use irony-quotes because I can:
1) hem things really poorly
2) sew on a button
3) execute poorly on my grandiose ideas

Some failed projects have led me to lately realize that I need to stop inflicting myself on fabric and start actually paying attention to what I'm doing, as well as try to build my technique. Ironing down seam allowances? Using the correct stitch on my machine? Checking the tension? These are all things that are soon to be a part of my sewing-future, probably along with alot of other time-tested bits of sewing wisdom that I've been ignoring.

So, nothing like jumping in with both feet, right? Goals are made to break you, right? Since I have scant experience sewing with a pattern, I decided to not only get a pattern to sew with, but to buy a vintage pattern! That's several inches too small for my measurements! Yay for me!

Here's the object of my affection:

(from bootyvintage.etsy.com - specializes in larger vintage patterns!)

I've been inspired reading Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing, and Anna, the owner of the BootyVintage shop, also passed me a few links on how to upsize patterns. I also have a willing friend (hi Jen! Hi!) to help. It takes a village to shoehorn this ass into a vintage dress, but it is going to happen.

Updates to come - I'm still waiting on the pattern to arrive in the mail.

Complainy blogging makes me feel bad, but produces a great skirt.

A little bit back I posted about the high-waisted skirt I got from Jibrionline. Even though I was cautiously happy about the skirt, it didn't arrive completely as pictured and I needed to get it altered a tad to fit. The wonderful Jasmine, owner/purveyor of Jibrionline, read my review and comments and offered to make me a new skirt for free! And let me keep the original! I was amazed!

So, the skirt arrived last week and I couldn't wait to wear it. At her suggestion, I picked the awesome mustard color since I did technically already have it in black. It fit perfectly out of the box, and is a heavy material so it isn't transparent even though the color is light.

I would recommend it 100x, it is an awesome skirt! Alot of the issues I had with my last skirt are solved - I got her to shorten it a little, there is gathering into the waistband, the material feels less tableclothy due to the gathers and shorter length, and the waistband fit me perfectly. In Jasmine's words:

"small designers definitely like the constructive criticism. We are at a place where we can actually hear from our clients....the beginning! :)"

Without further ado, wrinkly from the package:




Details:
Tank: Old Navy xl
Skirt: jibrionline.etsy.com
sandals: target, 11, last year

And to warm it up a bit, since it's still winter here:



Side view:


Close-up of tee and necklace:


With coat:


Details:
Tee: value village, marked a 2x "st john's bay", $2!!!
skirt: jibrionline.etsy.com
necklace: from $1 bin at fremont farmer's market, inspired by this eshakti one
boots: target kady
coat: target merona 2x, earlier this season

I'm so pleased I found that awesome floral tee! Just another notch in favor of shopping at the value village.

Old Navy clearance dress, eShakti review

Here's some stuff I've been wearing lately.





I gathered the ruffle with a brooch, here's what the dress looks like without:


Dress: Old Navy (has been on clearance for dog's years, only $15!) - 1x
Brooch: $1 bin, fremont farmer's market
cardigan: kersh, xl

The dress runs pretty true to ON plus sizing. It's a soft modal type jersey, kind of sheer though, but it hits me just at the lower knee (and I'm about 5'8"). I really like the ruffle, which is only in the front, so I can wear cardigans without it bunching weirdly in the back. I am also looking forward to using different brooches and different gathers (off centered, forming a twist/rosette thingy, etc) to change the look. Not a bad way to spend $15!

And here's the eShakti dress that I posted about awhile back ... of which I went to grab the current link, but it isn't on their site anymore.







Details:
Dress, eShakti, size 20W
Cardigan: kersh, xl
boots: target kady, size 11
necklace: a gift from husband
kneesocks: american apparel over the knee white cableknit

I died over this dress, with its huge functional buttons and pinup/summery feel. I'll say the execution was a little lacking in making it plus sized, but it was fixable. The straps were way too long, making the dress saggy and too low cut. I took them up a little (about 2.5 inches) and it fit much better, except the boob part isn't big enough and cuts me off a little. It's not tight or uncomfy, just kind of funny looking from the side. I even went up a size with my bra measurement hoping they'd get it right, but oh well!

The good thing is, I also went up two inches on my height to try to get the skirt to be longer without paying the customization fee, and it totally worked! That may have been one of the reasons why I had to take the straps up, but it was worth it.