A Whole New bloomie

Don't worry, you didn't accidentally end up on the wrong blog. I promise it's me, bloomie, just with a different look today.

Last Friday was my friend A's last day at the office and in her honor a bunch of us decided to dress like her. I've written about A before and her love of the color black, so this was indeed going to be a difficult undertaking. But I love nothing more than a themed outfit and I have a strong (some might say unattractive) competitive streak and I was determined to be crowned "dressed most like A."

It was an unusual day, people just did not know what to do with me. My co-workers were freaked out by my new look. Amongst the many comments I received I was told, "I don't recognize you" that I looked "sexy" and "Middle Eastern." Since I am Middle Eastern, that was one of the weirdest comments of the day. I think it had to do with the eye makeup, which A handily sent us a tutorial on.

It wasn't just the black and the eye makeup that had folks in a tizzy, it was the fact that there were so many different things going on all at once. My hair was back, my eye makeup was very different, I was wearing heels and black and my first pair of shorts not intended solely for travel/working out/doing something involving dirt, in about 10 years. It was a crazy day, but a fun one.

The experience reminded me why it's a good idea to step out of our fashion comfort zones every once in awhile. Turns out I liked how I looked with cat eye makeup and I learned that shorts are really comfortable when it's hot out. Sadly, it continues to be true that if I wear heels I still want to cry from pain at the end of the day, no matter how cute they are.

The lesson of today's post? Go outside of your comfort zone, dress out of the norm every once in awhile You could end up having a great time and have a new look that you might even like. Have any of you had an experience like that?

Shorts - Ross

Tank top - Banana Republic

Vest - Target

Shoes - Aerosoles

Oh and it should go without saying, but I won the contest.

Tight, Bright & Short. Plus Chub Rub Solution 3

On the list of "fat girl no no's", I think this outfit probably hits them all. It is short, it is tight and it is bright and that's just the way I like to rock my outfits.

When I first put this outfit on and accessorized it I thought i was being very original with my color choices and accessories. And then I thought back to this post and realized that I was basically wearing the spring version of that outfit. Seriously I'm just wearing a t-shirt instead of a sweater and different shoes, otherwise it is exactly the same. Originally I had on all of the same accessories until I realized what I was doing and decided I had to be more inventive. So off came the necklace and earrings and on went some different earrings and a scarf.

Skirt - Torrid

Top - Dorothy Perkins

P.S. I am well aware of and embarrassed by the hanger hooks hanging out of my top. Please forgive me.

Scarf - Old Navy

Earrings - Top Shop

Shoes - Office

What will likely be of more interest to all of you however is what is beneath my skirt. Or rather....

What isn't.

Yup, this was the day that I tried out a much discussed but new to me chub-rub-solution. What pray tell? The answer my dear readers is Body Glide.

Body Glide was originally created to help runners with chafing. As I understand it (because I am currently the slowest of the slow in my running class) when you run really long distances chafing becomes an issue for even the thinnest of runners and so Body Glide, which looks and is applied much like stick deodorant, was conceived.

I tried Body Glide a few times before reviewing it and I have to say so far so good, but it has its limitations.

On the positive side, I particularly like that you're not wearing any sort of added layer which is lovely. This is particularly useful if you favor short skirts or dresses (as I tend to do). Some of the other solutions I've already reviewed would just be far too long and would peak out from under a skirt this length and that is not a look I embrace.

On the negative side, this stuff definitely wears off by the end of the day and I haven't even road tested it in any really hot or sticky weather yet. On a humid day in New York in August I would not trust the sanctity of my inner thighs with just a layer of Body Glide.

Do any of you have any other chub rub solutions I should try out?

Photo credit goes to friend, colleague and blog fan T-Pops.

What a Wonderful Night

After a few days of rain and cold and May dreariness, we had a beautiful day today. The 80 degree weather was an excuse to break out one of my new Ross purchases - yay, yay, yay!

When people ask about me why I'm so obsessed with Ross, today's dress is a great example. I find it terribly adorable - I love the pattern, the pockets, the shape of the cap sleeves and all for the bargain price of $8.99. How can you not love that?

Of course with me, I'm also obsessed with accessories and today I finally get to showcase the sandals that I purchased in India. Ooh, I'm in love. In a funny twist of fate they cost more than twice as much as the dress. And I bought them in INDIA. The dress was purchased in North Carolina. Crazy people.

I kept the other accessories very simple. A little headband that I purchased at a different Ross visit and the earrings are a hand-me-down, but I'm not sure which of my lovely friends gave them to me. Speak up if it's you. Can you see the pattern on my nails? Each week I'm getting a little bit better at nail art.

But wait bloomie, this photos look like they were taken in the daytime and your title is about having a wonderful night. Well that's because tonight I attended the wonderful panel Fat Politics and Sexuality in the Face of Hate at the McNally Jackson bookstore and ohmygoodness was it wonderful!

The panel was hosted by Marilyn Wann, the author of Fat?So! which was the first fat acceptance...anything I ever picked up and it changed my life. Next up on the panel was Substansia Jones from the Adipositivity Project and she recognized me!!! I was going up to talk to her to tell her how much I love her work and would she please photograph me naked when she told me she recognized me as the 30 Dresses Girl and was a fan. You could have knocked me over with a feather, I don't get recognized from my blog and we had a bit of a mutual love fest for a minute. She told me she loved my smile and wanted to set me up with someone. We're best friends already.

The most exciting panelist for me to hear and meet was Lesley Kinzel, of Fatshionista fame. I've "known" Lesley online for awhile and tonight I finally got to meet her. I can't begin to describe how much Lesley's activism (not to mention fatshion sense) has meant to me and how much she has helped me come to truly love myself just as I am. To say I was excited to meet her was a bit of an understatement. Honestly if I was allowed to have a dinner and invite anyone in the world Lesley would be high on my list. Here she is talking about two whole cakes.

Overall it was just lovely to be in a room with so many happy, satisfied, gorgeous fat women and men. Look at that crowd. Who wouldn't have a wonderful night hanging out with all of them?

This is How I Shop

I'm lucky for a lot of reasons most of which have nothing to do with this blog, so I'm not going to get into them. However one way in which I am lucky that does have to do with my blog is the plethora of opportunities and places I have to shop. Brooklyn (not to mention Manhattan) is full of boutiques, independent stores, artists and street fairs. Today was the 5th Avenue Fair and I thought I'd show you some of my fun purchases.

The 5th Avenue Fair is huge, stretching 20 blocks, with every type of clothing, jewelry and food vendor imaginable. I love it! And today was a particularly beautiful day for a street fair. Since I'd just gone a bit wild at Ross I wasn't looking to spend a lot of money but I usually can't say no to at least some of the crazy accessories I find at Brooklyn street fairs. I mean when there are at least 50 vendors with shiny, pretty stands like the one below can you really blame me?

Amazingly I ended up purchasing only three things - 2 headbands and one pair of earrings. Food doesn't count, right?

My first headband was from a vendor who told me that they sold his headbands in Barney's. I don't quite believe him, but I did believe him when he told me that he and his wife make all their headbands themselves - they were all quite different. This is my "fun" headband of the day. It reminds me of grass and I can't wait to pair it with this adorable new sundress I have that has leaves and flowers all over it. Someone invite me to a garden party please!

My other headband purchase was my "adult" one - so far as headbands can ever be considered "adult." The vendor I bought it from had beautiful stuff but everything was just slightly more than I wanted to pay/thought their stuff was worth and one thing I hate to do is bargain. I don't have any metal headbands so I'm excited to wear it. In my head I'm already pairing it with these amazing sandals that I got in India that I haven't yet had a chance to wear.

And for those of you wondering about my outfit in general, here it is in full, replete with a Mr. Slurpee man. This poor teenager was not so excited to a) be wearing a slurpee costume and b) have some random lady ask to take a photo with him, which is probably why he has such a strong "I wish I was anywhere but here" look to him. His bad mood notwithstanding I was pretty jonesed as I love slurpees and even have slurpee inspired art hanging in my living room.

Top - New Look

Jeans (cuffed cause of the heat, I know it's not so stylish) - Old Navy

Sneakers - Keds, I think from high school

Sunglasses are Primark

Earrings I have no idea, probably a street fair

Even though it's a weekend photo credit still goes to Nicole.

Can you Wear Lace Leggings to Work?

I got these lace leggings recently at Lane Bryant when I was having my random night at a suburban mall. I was shocked that they carried lace leggings, it's pretty fashion forward for LB. I hemmed and hawed a bit about whether or not they were a practical purchase and then realized that half my wardrobe isn't practical and that's what makes it fun so I bit the bullet and added them to my pile.

Once I bought them though I couldn't figure out how to wear them. Monday through Friday I kept trying them on but something about lace leggings at the office (even mine) just seemed a bit wrong. My general feeling is if I think something is office inappropriate it probably really is. What's your feeling on the matter? Do you think I could wear this outfit to the office? How long does a dress have to be in order to rock it with lace leggings at work or is the simple answer it's never quite right?

Since I wasn't so clear on where I could and could not wear lace leggings I wore them on a Sunday morning after birthday brunch with Josh, my dearest and oldest friend in the world. When I say we've been friends forever, I mean we've known each other since we were in-utero. It's kinda amazing. So happy birthday Josh and thanks for taking my photo!

Leggings - Lane Bryant

Dress - Anthropologie

Sneakers - Dorothy Perkins

Necklaces - Primark

Jacket Seen Below - Torrid

I'm Back

My dear readers,

I have to apologize for my disappearance the last few weeks. It was unplanned and unexpected - if I had known I would have said something in advance.

Nothing terrible has happened in my life, rather I began a new position at my office and work just became overwhelming and I found myself working 10, 12, even 14 hour days. The thought of turning on my computer when I got home from work would make me cry.

I was working so hard for a series of strategic planning meetings that I finished today - woo hoo!!! Now that the madness of the meetings are over, I'm hoping the blog will get back in order soon.

In exciting news I'm in North Carolina for work and tonight I went to Ross and scored BIG TIME. I got 6 or 7 new dresses, my first pair of shorts in years and a bunch of random kitchen supplies which while very cute will not be featured on this blog. So if the weather in NY is nice when I get back, there's a lot of new and exciting things to be featured in the coming weeks.

I hope you don't all hate me for disappearing off the face of the interwebs and will forgive my absence. I've really missed all of you.

xoxo,

~bloomie