Orange and White Stripes NOT Forever

I just wanted to say that ever since the day I wore that orange and white striped shirt and saw my reflection in a store mirror, it has made me feel terrible about myself. Every. Single. Time. In fact, I have not worn that shirt since. It has been nearly two years. Each time I see it in my closet, I relive how bad I felt that day.

I fail and feel bad enough on my own sometimes that I just do not need a constant reminder or anything that represents that.

Well, last night I threw that shirt away.

Enough is enough.

(Here is the original post.)

MeNtAL

Scenario:
Me and my BFF head out for GirlsNightOut. Bonefish, raspberry martinis, looking hott... We get finished with dinner and I'm all like "let's go do something!" We drive downtown and finally settle on a place to go shake it (there is a lot more to that story, but we will leave it at that!) and I am all for it. I mean, so is she, but she is my "trail-blazer". I am not sure she agrees, but she is!

Now, if you know me... especially the past-6-years-or-so-Christina, then I know you just backed up and read the first paragraph again.

Christina wanted to go out? Like out-out?

that. right there.

BFF admitted she was a bit surprised. I guess I was too. But I am here to tell ya, I have been working on myself. Physically? Yeah, yeah, same old insanity there. I mean MeNtALLy.

Am I happy being the big girl? No
Do I still deserve to be happy and do fun things? Yes

Am I going to stop battling my weight? No
Should I at least enjoy my life along the way? Yes

I have started looking around me. There are ALL shapes and sizes. I am one of them. I am not happy with my shape, but dang...it does not mean I should hole up in the house and hide from the world and all it has to offer.

I love to dance. (albeit not well) I LOVE good, strong bass lines in the music. I love getting dressed up and wearing something that flatters MY body. I love time with my BFF.

...but in order to enjoy all of those things...

I have to love me.

Spanx Review

I will just jump right in and show ya'll a picture of my undies (lol)... this is for comparison purposes.

My regular undies are Lane Bryant Hipsters. (Not usually something someone with a big tummy wears, but I am uber-short-waisted...yeah, I buy low-rise jeans and they still cover my belly button!) My hipsters are a lot bigger than these things, width-wise. Plus, my hipsters are stretched a bit when they are on, so they would actually be even bigger. On another note, I guess I do not need to point out just how LONG these things are!?  (and on a short-waisted person... oh my!)

What?! Did I waste my money? Are these things going to *fit*?

My first-out-of-the-packaging-opinion was not good. As soon as I saw them I knew this was not going to work. Determined, I had to give them a try.

OK, in this picture I was laying on the bed, wrestling with the Spanx. (...the UnderSpanxer, Hulk-Spanxogan, sorry I am not being more creative here...) I had managed to get those bad boys up to my thighs. Talk about a struggle... and with a toddler watching me, I was laughing my head off! They were seriously digging into my thigh flesh at this point.

Here is the comparison shot. Camera was at chest level, looking down to the floor. I had my feet in the exact same location for both pictures. I exhaled completely for both shots. I cannot believe I am posting these pics, but you HAVE to see this...

Regular undies:

Spanx:

Guess that makes my opinion of these things pretty obvious.

Spanx = NON-fail. Love them.

Happy Place

OK, so I have had a few conversations about this closet of mine... so here are some pics. (This post is pretty pic-heavy!) My closet has approximately 12 square feet of floor space...but it is all mine!! I painted it Grand Hotel Geranium Pink from Valspar (semi-gloss). I kept the flash off of the camera, but due to my very-low wattage and energy saver bulb, the lighting is crappy...

Left side view, from outside the door: Two custom built clothing rods (hubby and his bud). Jewelry on top, clothes on bottom. You can also see the dress form (painted a light lilac) with a few of my favorite scarves hanging from it. The funky black mirror is IKEA! (so is the hush! artwork)

Front view from outside the door: Sorry, the light bulb reflects off of the hush! art, so it is hard to see, but she has fabulous red lips! The smaller photo in the black frame is a funky-blurry-light shot I took of "restaurant row" in Myrtle Beach.

Right side view from outside the door. Floor to ceiling cube-storage. 6 cubes, 30 smaller shoe cubes, 2 drawers for bras and panties.

A canvas print of an Ambrosino folk art piece. I have several of these, this is one of my favorites!

There is just enough room between my storage shelves and the pink wall to hang my favorite (pink!) winter pea coat and store my luggage.

I also cut out a black vinyl cityscape border with my Cricut machine and applied it to the bottom of the pink wall. There are a few rhinestone accents, but they are had to see in the pics. (That is my luggage to the right.) I really want black and white checkerboard flooring. Unfortunately, the shelving is pretty permanent and I did not think about the floor before I installed them. Perhaps a funky black and white striped mini-rug?!

My jewelry is in 5 Joan Rivers Hanging Organizers from QVC. LOVE THEM. They were about $25 each, my mom purchased my very first one for me. I have 2 with pockets (36 clear pockets on each side, so 72 per hanger) and 3 with loops (18 on each side, so 36 per hanger) Yep, that is 144 pockets for earrings, etc. and 108 loops for necklaces, etc... and they are all full and some doubled up. Some folks collect stamps, I collect funky jewelry! I love to wear it too, so it is *totally* justified. I would like to rig up a shelf for my rings, but I am not sure how to swing that.

Note: (it was my heavy jewelry collection that literally yanked my old closet rod out of the wall...but it ended up being a TOTAL blessing in disguise!)

No one get excited... all of my jewelry is costume. Nothing worth breaking-and-entering for.

OK, well I hope you enjoyed the tour! Perhaps I have even inspired you to DO SOMETHING about a space (no matter how small) in your home that you are not happy with.

Dresses

I just thought I would share that in the past week, I, the-non-dress-wearing-est person you will ever meet, have found not one but TWO dresses that I love.

Did I buy them? Oh yeah!

In fact, after I found one in Asheboro yesterday that I loved (but, unfortunately not in my size) I called around to FIVE other Belk stores until I found one. {Thank you to all the dear souls who went searching through their sales floor inventories to find that dress!} It is a maxi dress, tank sleeves, super-long and made out of that cool drapey material. Black with a bright, pretty, colorful paisley-like pattern, and kinda hippie-ish!

So then I proceeded to drag my child and my sick-ish husband out to the Friendly Center to snag my prize. (AND it was on SALE!) NON-Fail!

I plan on wearing it this weekend, so I will definitely make sure I am in front of the camera for a few shots. Then I will share with you guys!

My point? Well, I just typically do not like my body in dresses. Part of it is the flab, part of it is usually my lack of any tan (lol), part of it is my cankles... but in both of the dresses I got this week, I feel pretty. That's SO weird for me. It is almost uncomfortable for me to feel comfortable in a dress.

I think my husband was actually a little shocked too!
        "Honey, we have to go to Greensboro tonight!"
        "What? Why?"
        "We have to buy a dress."
        "Huh? What for? (silence............) Did you say dress?"
        "Yep, cause I found one today on my lunch break (I wasn't even *looking*!)
          and I *have* to have it."
        "Really? Well, OK... but you're driving."

It is very out of my norm to wear a dress. I have chosen, however, to enjoy that feeling of "pretty"!

May this be the summer of dresses!