personal style...

Ok people lets talk about personal style. 

as defined on dictionary.com

style (noun) 4. an elegant, fashionable, or luxurious mode of living: to live in style. 5. a mode of fashion, as in dress, especially good or approved fashion

 This is style as a whole. Personal style is a style that describes you as a person. It can be interior, fashion or even in some ways- personality. However (prepare yourself, snarkiness coming) having an interesting personal style is more than just pinning cute stuff on pinterest. I know we all do it. Everyone has that "My Style" board where we pin things we would like to have but never even try on. The question is do you pin things that you would try on if you could find them? Could afford them? Could lose 15lbs? Yeah me too! But my biggest problem, the things I see as "my" personal style don't seem to be available i.e. vintage silhouettes in modern prints and patterns. Insert your grumpy comments about making your own clothes here. The ability to make my own clothes does not make it easier or cheaper than buying them like all of you. But this problem just like all the others are just excuses. 

Personal style seems to be a relative term for what we would LIKE to wear, in reality this just isn't real life. As I sit here, I am wearing my pregnant jeans, t-shirt, cardigan, and trusty sneaks. Now while I am not wearing sweats or my hubbs' clothes, I vowed this year to dress only in my personal style. Failed New Year's Resolutions, anyone. The Goal was to make a minimum of one piece clothing a week, only wear jeans on weekend, and do my hair every week day. Then we found out we were pregnant- obviously this didn't happen. Not only did that not happen, but I haven't even taken more than a handful of baby bump pictures- there has been nothing to see! Moms-to-be out there, maybe jeans would be a step up for you- I understand. I might be wearing pj pants all the time, if I could still fit in mine. As a Mom-to-be, one without a full time job, there isn't really money left over to buy clothes to "flesh" out my personal style.  As a Plus-Size woman, even if I had the money, shopping sucks! Those of us who have been blessed with curves are constantly punished with a small or just plain ugly selection in stores. Now, online shopping maybe different, but I have never had the guts to try it. Why? I am cheap. I want to see it, feel it, check the quality- and that's before I even try it on. Plus, everything is always black, grey, navy. I want color damn it! Ladies, the myth that black is slimming, while partly true, its all about the cut, fit, and quality. If I could be SLIM just be wearing black, I would never buy underwear in any other color. 

So let's recap...

Moms-to-be or Plus Size friends (or both)- We have an idea of how we would like to dress. We have no excess money. And the selection out there is crap. So what do we do...Activity Time!!! Make a list. 

What are you wearing today? Jeans, T-shirt, Cardigan, Sneaks.  

Why are you wearing these things? Jeans: comfy, fit, semi-clean. T-shirt: Love t-shirts! Cardigan: Hate my arms, Crazy Tennessee weather. Sneaks: cant work in anything else.

Pull up your "my style" pinterest board. What do you pin the most? Circle skirts, lots of layers, scarves, 50's silhouettes, 70's style jeans. 

Now in my case, I can look at these things and look at my closet and determine easily what's missing. I need more t-shirts and major amounts of new skirts. finding t-shirts are cake, right? If you find one you love, you go back and buy them all. For me its from Kohls, junior department- scoop short sleeve, every color, every pattern. Now if I want more cardigans, its Target all the way (no link, cause well if you don't know about Target cardis you don't deserve them!) Now its the skirts, that are the hard part... Where in the hell does a girl get inexpensive circle skirts? I am gonna have to F*$#ing make them. I love Modcloth- don't get me wrong- but they are way too expensive. Everyone I know only purchases from them if they have a giftcard, so that tells you something.  I guess the only real way to add to my skirt collection- is to make them. Maybe that will be this weeks project.

What's in your closet? And how can you update your style on the cheap?

Now for some pictures. 

2 options - same top, scarf, and sneaks

Top: Kohls. Scarf: no idea, gift. Sneaks: Footlocker.

Jeans: Old Navy. Sweater: Target. Skirt: Old Navy

But starting today and continuing till long after the baby comes (or I get bored) I am gonna try to keep my resolution. Even if that means taking daily selfies (gross) and posting them once a week. Guess that means finally painting and hanging my mirror.

 the baby bump

  ok friends- I'm off to pattern a skirt.

later taters 

bad blogger

I've been a very bad blogger. This once a week posting has been tougher than I thought. Lack of motivation, lack of photos... whatever the excuse, I am trying again. Something about the milestones of this week make me want to conqueror my blogging fears. The main reason I seem to let my blogging slip is the lack of pictures that I take. I am not a selfie person- guess I have to work on that. Also starting this week I will be linking my instagram  to my blog.

Relative Update: We are moving on to the next bedroom, painting this week- maybe floors next! I have hit my 19 week of pregnancy (we now have a bump, no I'm not just fat!) Our first and only ultra sound is this Friday, we are very excited! And I am finally feeling the baby flutter around. And for the record it doesn't feel like a butterfly... it feels like a cross between driving really fast over a giant hill (you know when your stomach sorta drops) and the outside of one of those gold fish baggies you when at the carnival.

Anyways. To my 3 readers... sorry. Starting this weeks blog after lunch, so I'll talk to you shortly.

Later Taters

Project Focus Changes

Its Monday everyone!

The most hated day of the week.

How do you handle your "Case of the Mondays"?

Here's how I plan to handle mine from now on. Monday = Blog Day.

For those that know me, you all know I'm a grouchy blogger. Where else would I find all this snarkiness? In order to keep my household a happy one, when my hubbs leaves for class on Monday nights- I blog.

Now I promised you some changes and most of you have stuck with me through the "family posts", your patience will be rewarded. Now prior to the pregnancy discovery I was already considering moving in this direction, so now I have the perfect excuse.

Mrs. Abby Normal, ME, is changing its focus to PlusSize & Maternity Style. 

Why??

How about some brutal honesty? I am (before baby bump) bordering one that very fine line between the women's and plus size department. I am the average size of women in America. Ladies, this is why we have a hard time buying everything from jeans to lingerie! And imagine adding pregnancy to the challenge- forget about it.   I know before we got pregnant I hated shopping period, but the day my mom took me maternity shopping was agony. My typical clothing shopping means hitting the PlusSize department followed by the Women's department, then finally the Juinor's Department in hopes of finding something that fits my style and my body. This doesn't happen often. PlusSize is usually slightly to big everywhere except my chest. Women's kinda  fit but involve a lot of mixing, matching, and accessorizing to minimize the frumpiness. And the Junior's XL/XXL rarely fit but when they do they always hang funny. My body is no longer shaped like a tween (was it ever shaped like that).  But this, ladies is the problem, our bodies are not shaped the way designers think they should be- trust me I know. 

When I was in school we had 2 options when learning to pattern, make sloppers to fit us or the standard size form. I choose the form, because it was easier to learn and adjust on. When I did competitions the models we had to design for were the same standard size- anyone care to guess what that size is??? Size 8!! Can you F*cking believe it? Do you know what the average size of women in america?? 

Size 14 (my size is 12/14).

  Ok now before I completely lose my temper, lets reel it back in. Tangent over- for now. We can discuss mainstream fashion and why fashion makes us hate our selves until we are blue in the face, but it wont change anything. We, normal people have to figure out style for ourselves. 

Ladies pinterest does nothing for your confidence or your happy self image.

When we discovered I was I became glued to pinterest searching the words maternity fashion/ pregnancy style. And do you know what I discovered- hundreds of blogs by the cutest LITTLE tiny moms-to-be.

Where are the curvy mom blogs? Have we become to ashamed to post our pictures on our blogs- no! They post all those damn pictures on facebook. And worse it, most are with a duck face wearing underware. 

Enough is Enough!

So my new challenge, my New Year's Resolution if you will, is to document my struggle and bring your tips, tricks and projects that will take you from AVERAGE to Maternity and back again.

From now until I squeeze a human out of my body, I will blog about my clothes and style (not stretch marks, hemorrhoids, or cankles). I can not guarantee I will be stylish everyday (otherwise the ppl I work with will tell on me) but I will post the good and the bad.

My goal this year is to make a difference- with others and myself. 

So feel free to ask questions, leave comments and follow along this crazy journey.

Until next week,

Later Taters 

Relative Update... Home Edition

I'm Back.

 A little late with this final update.

But...

Lucky for me (and you), I have time today because my hubbs put me in timeout due to my grumpiness while painting. I am not mad about this.

As most of you know, we bought our house in July of 2012. We are talking a total fixer upper! 

But this guaranteed us a 3 bedroom house with an actual yard, in a established neighborhood, well under market value for this town. Downside: we had to basically gut it. New floors, new kitchen, ceiling repair- the whole 9 yards. And are we done yet? Yeah right. But we have made progress, and with the baby on the way we are moving as fast as time and money allow. 

How about some pictures???

  This is our home. 

Since we bought it, we have pulled up no less than 10- 7ft tall holly bushes.

We have grand landscaping plans for the spring, as well as painting the house in the fall. 

But doesn't the purple kinda grow on you?

 The Living Room (or part of it)

We removed the carpet and sub-flooring, extended the wall between the living room and kitchen, removed the chair rail and scraped the popcorn ceiling.

Right now we do not have actual floors, but maybe with our tax return we will soon.

 THE KITCHEN

This was the biggest and most expensive project.

Total demo: removed the wall containing a oven and stove-top, including cabinets. Patched ceiling where wall was removed, scrapped and repaired popcorn ceiling. Removed 2 layers of old linoleum, and replaced with tile (we did all the work ourselves with the help of our parents). Brand new cabinets, sink, and all appliances.

Our Master Bedroom.

The one I was painting when banned.

 We removed carpeting and laid 12" professional grade plywood floors.

Scraped and finished ceilings, like the rest of the house.

We removed the crappy wood closet organizer, and later today will be installing a new fancy one!!!

Hopefully we will be moving into this room tomorrow.

My office.

1/2 of our finished garage basement, contains my office.

We removed the carpet and painted.

You will be seeing lots of photos of this room soon.

Well, at least for now, this is our home. It often feels like we live in a construction zone, and we kinda do. When we move from room to room, there is always a constant need to move painting and flooring supplies. After this weekend we will be moving on to our guest bedroom, then finally the nursery. 

 I'm being told my timeout is over, so back to work.

Until next time,

Later, Taters!

 

The Relative Update...Baby.

Welcome Back!

2 blogs in a weekend, can you say world record... 

This is a baby update to answer all those questions that get keep getting asked... especially the ones that aren't really your business.

I am not (probably not) gonna be detailing my pregnancy all over facebook- the "my baby is now the size of a grapefruit" apps are so lame. I will be eventually posting bump pictures, but seeing as I'm a normal size human- there isn't a lot of difference between my gut and my bump yet. So you are SOL for now. But this post is about the questions you have all been asking... and since I am a very open person, here are your answers. 

First time parents.

We are due July 11, 2014.

I am 15 weeks pregnant.

We do not want to know the sex of our baby. Not knowing is an adventure. 

We are not hoping for either a boy or a girl, honestly we don't care.

We have chosen names, either way.

The nursery will be themed. (come on ppl- its me)

We are planning to deliver at Vanderbilt Hospital, using West End Women's Health Center- YES we are using a midwife. No, not a water birth. If I'm gonna have a water birth, I want to do it at home and that requires a new fancy bathtub (the hubbs said no). lol

The plan, right now, is a natural birth- no drugs. 

We did not do any genetic testing, and did not do a 10 week ultra sound.

We will see our baby for the first time at the required 20 week ultra sound. That is when we will also confirm, whether its twins or not. (twins run in my family- there is a possibility)

I have been very lucky- I have had little to no morning sickness. (hate me if you must)

I have however, developed super human powers. I can smell through Tupperware, sealed bags, and my dog farting in the basement.

We are absolutely not doing the creepy 3D ultrasounds. They scare the hell out of me.

My hubbs will be the only one in the delivery room, with me. (unless we decide to document the birth) My parents won't even be in the same state, if we deliver on time. Its seems to be a family tradition for them to plan their beach vacation at the same time their grand-baby is due.

Breastfeeding is our plan, but some of you know how that goes.

We are going to use both homemade baby food and store bought jars.

We are using disposable diapers.

The Daycare vs. Stay-at-home Mom debate is still under discussion and will depend on my job situation.

I think that answers all the questions for now, but feel free to ask away if you are curious.

Until next time,

Later Taters!

The Relative Update...Part 1

Hello Friends- I'm Back! 

Hope you haven't missed me too much. My 2014 New Years Resolution is to blog regularly. But since this month is now half over I figured, like with most resolutions, it might be time to put my time where my mouth is. That's how that saying goes right?!

Now to get started...

The newest monthly addition to my blog is this- The Relative Update.

This is a life update, for friends, family, or anyone curious in my actual life. Since I have been gone quite a while, I'm gonna break it into 3 parts. Goal is to do all 3 this weekend. Don't hold your breath though.

Life Since July...

Shortly after I posted my last blog, in July, I got the call I had been waiting on. I was called back to work at The Nashville Ballet! Yup, real sewing, in Nashville, Tn- for real pay! MY Job, stitcher in the costume shop, was to participate in the build of The World Premiere of Peter Pan. 

  (images courtesy of Nashville Ballet facebook page)

Working with the ballet is an amazing experience in itself- full time hours since July has been not so bad either. After Peter Pan, I stayed on to work on Nutcracker and have stayed thus far to begin the build of the winter series Attitude- opens in Febuary.

 The hubbs continues to work, installing plumbing and water lines, on a local (new construction) high school. He has spent a little time in the woods hunting with my dad and moves forward with the never ending renovation that is our home. (but more home renovation updates later).

Let's see, I think something else interesting happened...

oh yeah!

 

 WE'RE PREGNANT!

We found out right before Thanksgiving, that we are gonna have a baby. We are kinda excited. 

 But that being said, my projects are gonna change focus a little bit for the next 6 months- at least. 

(but thats a surprise for another day)

So hope everyone had a Great start to the school year, Happy Halloween, Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year. Good Luck with your resolutions.

See you SOON!!

Later Taters!

a snarky explanation

This is to address a few of my readers who have sent me notes asking about how I pick projects and why am I making things that are also available on Pinterest. 

I was recently had a follower leave this comment on my instagram:
"it's funny that you call yourself a "crafter." Aren't you super well-versed with fashion design?"
As a matter of fact, yes I am technically a fashion designer and I do design when the inspiration hits me. I have a degree, I make my own patterns, but I do not have a desire to make/design what others feel is popular or mass produce anything.
Thus, my blog.

You can follow along, read my bluntness, and follow my tutorials- but be warned anything I show you, like everything can be found on Pinterest. I am not saying that my tutorials aren't, however I can tell you that if you want to learn how to make clothing from scratch (and not always with a pattern), learn the basics of sewing (hand & machine) and some valuable of the trade, THIS is the place to be.
You can deal with a little snarky commentary along the way right?!

WARNING!!! My tutorials are for serious sewers, not the ones who glue, staple, hem tape, or stitch witchery.  

There are thousands of blogs written by stay at home crafters and self taught stitchers for you to chose from on the internet (several are my friends). And I have read a lot of their blogs. Some are great, some not so much.
Pinterest has become a gateway to hardcore DIYers everywhere. And I can openly admit I am addicted. But I guarantee, 90% of the things you pin, you never open and read the blog or site it came from. There is nothing more frustrating than finding the perfect desert and later opening it to find the site is not longer available. Or worse they open but the tutorials are just BAD.
So yes I have gotten a few blog ideas from Pinterest, but I am giving you something better. With every style topic, how to, or custom project- I spend hours searching for a better way to explain it.   Some of my posts are obviously very in-depth and others can be accomplished in an afternoon or during nap time. Every post you read will be 100% mine, no references to someone else's way. 

Ok clearly having a grumpy morning so today's rant is over. maybe when I learn how to "fancy" up my blog I can put catergories at the top so yall can decide if you want to read them or not.
 lol or maybe not. 
now its time to catch you up on last weeks topic.

until next time,
later taters.