Snow Days and Sugar Bugs

Trench: Marshalls, Shirt and Skirt: Target, Shoes and Purse: Aldo, Multi-Colored Necklace: a gift from a LOTUS buying trip (thanks, Krista), Watch: Michael Kors, Bracelet: CeleneStones (celenestones@gmail.com for inquires... 15% off if you mention you saw them here)

Since these pictures were taken Charlotte has experienced a real deal, legit snow storm. A slip on the ice, fall and bust yo' face (and ass) kind of storm. I have not gotten in my car to leave the house in 2 full days. Nothing is open and the roads leaving my neighborhood are terrible. I thought being cooped up for days on end would be miserable, but it has been kind of awesome actually.

Yesterday my brother and sissy-in-law braved the elements and came over (we only live 10 minutes from one another). We cooked all sorts of food, had a few beverages, and hung out in our sweats. It was great. Something about the whole city being closed down gives you permission to slllllllooooow all the way down. When you are confined to your house brushing your teeth may still be mandatory (as long as it's done by 3pm, you're straight) but showers are completely optional. Sweat shirts and stretch pants are highly encouraged, and makeup is completely unnecessary. Movies, Pinterest, and marathons of House Hunters are considered productive activities. As is eating. Eating food with no concept of "meal time" is the norm and cracking open a drink at 5pm on the dot (if like me, you are still working during the snow storm) is a must. I mean, if you don't have a bit of a wine buzz by 6pm, you've kind of wasted the day. Agreed? Agh... snow days.  Beautiful, beautiful snow days.

AnyWHO... I wore this outfit last week... before the snow. I wore it into the office and to assist the ol' Manfriend at a free dental clinic he held at a rural elementary school. What's cuter than that??? Nothing. That is why I included a few pictures. He saw about 6-7 classes of 2nd and 3rd graders and checked them for cavities (or "sugar bugs" as kids call them down south... learn something new everyday). The kids looked at him like he was a mythical creature. He was this big, tall, muscular, black dude in a 99% white school in the STICKS... it was REAL country out there. Real... Country!!! The kids were cranking their necks up to look at him and just staring like he was a rock star. As we walked the halls we heard 5-10 kids whisper to their friends... "Hey... I know HIM!!!!"... "That's my dentist!"... "Wow... my teeth guy is in MY school!" "Hey... are you THE dentist????!!" < MIND* BLOWN> And... all the teachers looked at him like he was a gravy-smothered pork chop. I had to keep my cool, but inside I was all like... "Biiiiitch... you betta step back! HA. Just kidding. Kind of.

It was adorable to see him in his element like that. He asked every class if they had been brushing every morning before school and every night before bed. Most of them exclaimed... Yeeeeees!!... but some of them looked down at their feet like, "OH SHIT"!?!?! It's all over. This guy is gonna KILL me.

Last little dude on the far left was pouting. He did NOT like the way the rubber gloves tasted in his mouth. He was not pleased. Oh, and the little cutie-patootie in the boots in the gray long-sleeved T in the front row... she came up to me all shy and as I bent down to talk to her she grabbed my necklaces and said in her cute little country accent... "Miss... I HAVE to HAVE those. OMG... I love them! I just love them!!"

Waiting to Exhale

Vest: Calvin Klein, Sweater: F21, Leggings: Marshalls, Shoes: Dolce Vida, Bag: Aldo, Watch: Michael Kors, Bracelet: Buddha from Alex and Ani, Crystal from Celene Stones (celenesrones@gmail.com if you want one, ModaFresca readers get 15% off one, and 20% off of two).

Greetings! I hope all of you fiesty minxes had a great weekend.

Above is what I wore on Saturday while I was out running errands/getting some work done (my standard uniform of an over-sized shirt with leggings... nothing new under the sun). Below is what I put on later that night when the Manfriend and I went out to dinner to celebrate our friend's 40th birthday.

This dress is tight. Like... tight-tight. It should be advertised as coming with a built in "easy-does-it" feature. It does wonders in preventing you from overindulging in both food and/or drink. I was in a constant state of sucking in with this little number. CON-STANT.Except when I was sitting down for dinner behind the cover of a table. Then it was time to breathe. If I had to title Saturday night, it would have been called "Waiting to Exhale". Shit.

Oh well... sometimes you wear enormous baggy sweaters and leggings (80% of the time), and other times you go with your man's choice. THIS second-skin ensemble... this was his pick.

I guess I should feel fortunate that I am with a man who encourages me to love my body. He's not into skinny, or petite, and he is WAY more into athletic than boney. Thank GOSH for the fact that we are all attracted to different body types, right? What a boring world it would be if everyone was into the same things!?!

I'm trying (really hard) to appreciate my body more instead of being pissed at it for not being thin. I have spent my WHOLE.DAMN.LIFE wishing/praying/trying (short of any surgery or injections) to change my body. I have ALWAYS wanted to be effortlessly thin, AND (as I have expressed a million times before) to have much smaller boobs. I spend SO much time being resentful that I wasn't blessed with being naturally svelte that I rarely express gratitude for the body that I do have. One that (when I feed it properly) is healthy and free from pain. One that has strength, endurance, and an insane amount of flexibility. One that does a million things for me that allow me to live comfortably. Things that I don't even have to think about (my heart beating, breathing, digestion of food, healing of cuts, bruises, aches and pains, etc.) I mean, if it does ALL this for me, is it really fair to "hate" it because it carries around some extra lbs.? Nope... it doesn't seem very fair.

This should seem obvious and easy to put into practice... loving yourself and the body you live it, but it's not and I am not alone. Sometimes though, you only realize how ridicuolous it is to hate your body when you see someone else hating theirs. I had a glass of wine after work with a friend of mine last week. SHE is thin. When I met her, I just assumed that she was always that thin. Welp... she hasn't been. She used to be 20-25 ilbs heavier and now she watches everything she eats. She said that she steps on the scale every single morning and that number staring back at her dictates how she is going to feel about herslef that day. I felt terrible. I wanted to shake her by the sholders. I wanted her to love herself and give herself grace. I wanted her to break up with her scale. I wanted to go into a tirade about how amazing the human body is, all it does for us and can do for us. How many people would "kill" simply to have a body free from pain and/or life-altering disease? I wanted to lecture her and talk some damn sense into her. Instead, I just sat there silent. I nodded my head, I understood.  At the end of the night, on my drive home, I realized that in order for me not to be a hypocrite I have to start practicing self-love, gratitude, and grace. Easier said than done, but what a WASTE if at the end of your life you looked back and were ashamed at how much time you wasted NOT loving something because it wasn't "perfect". We don't expect perfection from other people? Why do we expect it from ourselves? Is it not enough to be loving, caring, intelligent, motivated, successful, a good mother, partner, sister, friend, employee, creative, nurturing, etc.????

My Manfriend ALWAYS says... "Some day you're going to wake up and you are going to be old, and you are going to be so mad that you spent your younger years NOT appreciating a body that you would now KILL to have". And ya know what? He is 100% correct.

Yup... he's smart and hot. BOOM!

Dress: ASOS, Bracelets: CeleneStones@gmail.com

Shot On Site

Skirt: Express, Necklace: Lotus, Sweater: Marshalls, Boots, Purse, and Bag: Aldo, Watch: Michael Kors, Tights: Target

Some days you just want to curl up in a big, warm, cozy, over-sized sweater.

Saaay... *hypothetically speaking of course* you let yourself go over the holidays (and by "holidays" I mean, from late- November to early-January straight) and feel like a complete tub-o-lard.

Other days you want a little bling. Maybe you long to rock the sequins mini hanging in the waaaay back of your closet (with the rest of your "summer stuff" that is collecting dust). And...  onnnnnnce in a great while you just... say...  "EFF-IT" and wear them at the same damn time!

Why? Because you want to... and because you are an adult... and because no one can tell you what to wear... and if they do, you can look at them with judgement, a scowl, furrowed brow, and promptly tell them to go to H-E-Double Hockey Sticks (that's "Hell" in case you weren't ever an annoying child who tried to swear in front of your parents w/o really swearing in front of your parents).

I wore this outfit over the weekend. I chose hunter green tights. I've worn hunter green tights once in my life, or maybe I bought them for a Halloween costume?  I can't recall. Either way, they are not my usual choice, but they work here, and in my opinion better than basic black.

Although, there is a strong chance that I look back at this outfit in 5 years... huge sweater, shiny skirt, scarf of faux fur, boots, red lips, and green tights... and think to myself, "Dear God, Woman... you should have been shot on site!" But... today... today I am digging it, so what-evs. 

Jay Z

Boots: ALDO, Shirt: LOTUS, Vest: Target, Necklace: Lily Wang, Cuff: a gift, Watch: Michael Kors

 YO YO YOU!!! I am writing this right now HIGH...  AS...  HELL. Not off of a controlled substance, mind you, but still riding the  EUPHORIA from last night.

I took my little brother to his first real concert... a Jay-Z show. Anyone who knows Josh (and me) knows that WE.LOVE.MUSIC, especially hip-hop... and that Jay-Z is HANDS DOWN, my FAVORITE rapper of all time. From his first album in 1996 to now.

Yup... I'm that chick with blonde hair, high heels, and red lipstick who knows every.single.word to every one of Jay's albums, has read the autobiography, watched the documentaries, and studies the lyrics like a scholar. The obsession IS real. Don't let a Jay song come on in my presence. I will stop what I am doing, get in my zone, and spit every lyric out with precision. I'm sure it looks absolutely effing ridiculous, but whatever.

I wasn't sure what to wear to the show. It was cold, I was going to be on my feet for HOURS on end, and I wanted to be comfortable. SO... I opted for leggings, boots, a flowy shirt (with sequins trim), and a military vest to "toughen" it all up a bit. It felt a little "Plain Jane" until I accessorized with this gargantuan necklace (which I will now refer to as my "Jay-Z necklace) and my new tiger cuff (thanks, Kimber!!!). Apparently the outfit choice was acceptable, because when Joshua and I were in line for a drink, a girl in front of us turns around, looks me up and down and says... " I wasn't sure what a white girl would wear to this concert, but you NAILED it!" Hahahaha.... WHAT?!?!? Josh and I just looked at each other and then busted out laughing. My perfectly crafted, witty response (accompanied by a blank stare) was... "Ummmmm... Thaaaanks?!?!?!??".

I think she was drunk. Dear God, I hope... that she was drunk.

We had a BLAST at the show. You couldn't wipe the smiles off of our faces if you tried. At one point, Josh looked at me and shouted over the crowd... "AGHHHH... I WANT TO LIVE HERE". I couldn't have agreed more. I wanted to live in that energy, that show, with that music, with all of those deliriously happy people. We were inspired. It was incredible. Best show of my life.

Here are a few Instagram pics from the night. 1. Jay-Z.. and who you ask is that behind him, none other than Timbaland. Yup. Ridiculous. 2.  Josh showed up in an all black, fitted, Yankees cap, so I had him give me his best impression of the cover of THE BLACK ALBUM. Ummmm... NAILED IT! 3. Josh and me, insanely excited when we realized how absurdly dope our seats were.

HAPPY 2014!!!!

Jumpsuit: Bebe, Earrings: Lotus, Watch: Michael Kors

HAAAAAAAAAAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!! 2014! Holy Shit... Twenty-Fourteen. UNREAL. 

Above is what I wore when I got all "jazzy" to go out last night. We went to a swanky party uptown and had a friggin' blast!!!  I have never worn pants on NYE, but I saw this jumpsuit and fell IN LOVE with it. Maybe it's because we just went to see American Hustle last week and I was feeling all 70's... channeling my (wanna-be) inner Amy Adams; wide legged pants... halter top... pluuuunging neckline. This outfit was a risk with "the girls"out... and bra-less nonetheless, but surprisingly everything stayed in place. Which is fortunate for me, considering I was 1 of maybe only 15 women with real boobs at the party we went to. Plastic city. There were more boob jobs and botox up in that party than I have EVER seen under one roof.  Everywhere I turned there were perky, perfectly round bazookas and stunned expressions staring back at me. I'm not hating (I'm all for doing whatever makes you more confident), I'm just sayin'. Whoa.

So... on another note, I realized yesterday while I was out running errands, that I always do blog posts when I have make-up on. I mean, really??? Can you blame me? Do YOU want to see close up photographs of YOURSELF with NONE ON AT ALL (not even mascara)??? BTW - If you answered "yes" to that question, you are a beautiful freak of nature and we are NOT friends. 

It made me think though, that I should do a "real deal, Holyfield... down and dirty... just the way God made ya" blog post right then and there. SO... here I am. 

• Poncho... a.k.a... what you want to wear when you need to hide the fact that you are bra-less. I only wore a tank top yesterday because I didn't want the ridiculous lines in the fat of my back from my minimizer bra to be seen later that night (in my backless 70's pantsuit). If you have never worn a minimizer bra... OR... if you simply have no fat on your back you have no idea what I am talking about. If that is the case, please refer back to the part about being a beautiful freak of nature and us not being friends.
• NO MAKEUP... no mascara, no powder, brows... not filled in... no bronzer!!!!!! Chapstick. THAT IS IT. Look at my eyes... they look like piss holes in the sand. You can barely see them!
• Shoes... I get it... a little much for errand running, but I needed to break them in. I break my shoes in bit by bit, so I don't wear them for the first time during a 12-hour stretch and want to OFF myself from the pain. These weren't bad at all (for the 3 hours I was in them at least). 
• I just realized that there are no real close-ups. I guess I just didn't have the balls. This was frightening enough. I don't know at what point in my life I turned into a woman who didn't feel comfortable w/o make up on (at LEAST mascara), but it is safe to say that I have. Shit.

Poncho: Lotus, Leggings: Marshalls, Bag: Aldo, Shoes: F21, Watch: Michael Kors, Earrings: Aldo