Tag Archives: shopping

Throwaway Clothes (or Why I Hate Shopping Sometimes)

Posted on November 2, 2012 | 2 comments

Shopping and I have a love-hate relationship. Sometimes is great and I find amazing things. When something is cute, affordable, and fits my day is made.

I have a lot of clothes that I call throwaway clothes. These are things that are cheap and may or may not survive a year’s worth of washings. A lot of these come from Old Navy (not to trash talk their clothes, but they seem to pill or get holes a lot easier than nice stuff). When I find something I like, I normally get it in a ton of colors. Right now, I’m in love with their Tamis (it’s a hybrid tank top and camisole). I have 4 so far, and I’m probably going to get at least 2 or 3 more in different colors.

One thing that I try not to buy as throwaway clothes are jeans. I know that everyone has a hard time finding cute jeans, but I have a hard time finding jeans that don’t need to be altered so much that it doubles the cost. I have to find both plus size and petite jeans, which don’t seem to exist too often. I have to get the petite ones not only due to the length (I’m only 5’3″), but because the waists aren’t as high. For some reason, a lot of designers feel that plus sized women want the waist of their jeans to be a few inches above their belly button. No thank you.

When I find jeans that fit, I will also buy more than one. I had 2 pairs of my current jeans. But this week, one pair got a hole in it in a spot that is too tough to repair. So I went online to see if I can order another pair, but now they only make the jeans in regular plus size, not petite. I almost screamed at my computer screen when I saw that.

I’m going to go to the store in person this weekend (it’s right by Old Navy so I’m already going that way), and I’m going to hope that they happen to have my pants there. Otherwise, I have to start the search for new jeans again.

Wish me luck!

UPDATE: Went to the store to find my jeans, and they had them!! And not only did they have them, they also now have them in a darker wash. So I bought a couple of pairs! Yay!

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Default ThumbnailPlus Sized Workouts (or Are Clothing Companies Trying To Keep Me Heavy?) Default ThumbnailThis Weekend’s Shopping Adventure (or Still Trying to Find Some More Cute Dresses) Default ThumbnailWorkout Clothes Addict (or Didn’t I Used To Complain About Workout Clothes?) Default ThumbnailMore Cute Workout Clothes (or Why Can’t More Companies Be Like Old Navy?) Default ThumbnailShopping Adventure Results (or Why Do Things Have to Be Backordered?!?) Default ThumbnailJust Because I’m Not Skinny Doesn’t Mean I Don’t Want To Look Cute (or More Shopping Drama)

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Planning Way Too Far Ahead (or I Want It Now)

Posted on August 28, 2012 | 1 comment

I have a bad habit of thinking a million steps ahead. If I have a big audition, I’m already thinking how amazing the paycheck will be and how long I could survive on it. When I’m trying to lose weight, I don’t focus one pound at a time (as I should), I get overwhelmed by the number of pounds I want to lose.

I also plan very far ahead when it comes to events. I was good and waited until this month to buy a dress for my friend’s wedding in October. But I also bought stuff on that trip to wear at Thanksgiving and a holiday party I know I’ll be attending.

My brother is getting married in a little over a year. I was texting with his fiancée last night and she said that they are planning on getting married in Kauai. I’m pretty excited about that because I haven’t been to Hawaii since I was 11 or 12.

So of course, last night I was already looking at what dresses would work for a Hawaiian wedding (definitely not the dress I got for my friend’s wedding). But styles could change in the next year.

I could change in the next year.

I’ve never really had a stable weight. I’m always going up or down. I never know what size I’ll be in the future. So planning ahead is tough.

I’d love to lose a majority of my excess weight by their wedding (I know that it’s totally possible). But whenever I have set a weight loss goal for a major event, I’ve failed. And that failure makes me feel horrible about myself.

So right now, I’m enjoying “window shopping” online for dresses. And I’m trying to focus on the small goals with my weight. I’m trying to look at the non-scale victories, because those seem easier to control.

Hopefully, those little victories that have nothing to do with the scale will increase my confidence and decrease the number on the scale, even if I’m not looking or focusing on it.

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Default ThumbnailEnjoying The Now (or Not Trying To Skip Ahead To The Good Parts) Default Thumbnail52 Weeks (or What Can I Do in a Year?) Default ThumbnailHow Long Can I Wait? (or Wanting To Shop At The Last Minute) Default ThumbnailA Free Weekday (or Planning Ahead For Fun Things) Default ThumbnailBaby Steps (or Trying To Be Proud Of The Little Victories) Default ThumbnailGetting Weighed In (or A New Orangetheory Challenge)

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Posted in Shopping, Weight Loss

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Shopping Adventure Results (or Why Do Things Have to Be Backordered?!?)

Posted on August 20, 2012 | 5 comments

On Saturday after I was done with work, I made the drive down to Anaheim to go to Kiyonna. Since everything was 20% off, I was planning on buying a bunch of things.

When I get to the store, I’m ushered upstairs where the boutique is (it’s almost like a personal shopper experience there). I tried on a ton of stuff, and while things fit, they didn’t necessarily fit right. Beside being plus sized, I’m short. For some reason, that’s an unheard of combination in fashion. If you are big, you are also tall. But not me.

So a bunch of dresses looked ridiculous on me. But at least I was able to try stuff on. And since Saturday was the only day that things were 20% off, a lot of stuff was backordered.

I walked away with one dress.

 

Not exactly sure what I will wear it to, but it was under $100 and it can be altered pretty easily if I lose weight, so I got it. When I showed it to a friend last night, she agreed that it would be perfect to wear to The Magic Castle if we get another invite soon.

I also put in pre-orders for some backordered items.

I got this dress for my friend’s wedding in October.

 

I love how this dress is styled in this picture. I’m hoping to find some cute and comfortable colored heels for the wedding (my friend has told me that there will be a lot of dancing and to come prepared).

I also pre-ordered this top. It was backordered in black, and it will also be coming in teal soon, so I ordered both colors.

 

I figured that that is a pretty great top for a lot of events. I might even wear it for Thanksgiving.

Even though most of the items I wanted were not in store, I still got everything 20% off, so the financial damage wasn’t too bad.

Now I’m just antsy waiting for my backordered items to arrive!

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Posted in Fun Stuff, Shopping

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This Weekend’s Shopping Adventure (or Still Trying to Find Some More Cute Dresses)

Posted on August 17, 2012 | 2 comments

I’ve previously posted about how tough it can be to shop when you don’t fit into a “standard” size. I’ve got a few more events coming up in the future where I need some nice clothes, and I don’t have anything that would be weather/event appropriate. The event I’m most excited about is in October when my friends Marie and Chris are getting married! I’m traveling to Houston for that, and I want a fun dress to wear to their fun wedding.

On Saturday, Kiyonna is having their Sweet 16 Shopping Event. Everything is 20% off if you go shop at their boutique above their distribution center in Anaheim. Of course, I RSVPed for that event and I’ll be doing a bunch of shopping tomorrow. I’ve bought clothes full price at the store before and I’m excited to save some money this time!

I’m grateful that I’ve found a few stores where I can feel relatively confident that even if I won’t find what I’m looking for, I’ll find clothes that I can try on and that fit. That’s pretty important.

I hate the feeling of going in a dressing room with my arms full of clothes that I can’t wait to try on only to find out that not a single thing fits. Normally after that happens, I don’t even want to continue shopping, I just leave the store feeling defeated.

But I know on Saturday that I’ll be able to find clothes that fit. And I’ve been looking online and have found several dresses and tops that I’m super excited to try on. I’ll have to report back on Monday to let you know what I got (and what the damage is to my credit card).

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Default ThumbnailRenting A Dress (or Testing Out Gwynnie Bee) Default ThumbnailWedding Dress Outing (or Helping A Friend Find The Perfect Dress) Default ThumbnailShopping Adventure Results (or Why Do Things Have to Be Backordered?!?) Default ThumbnailJust Because I’m Not Skinny Doesn’t Mean I Don’t Want To Look Cute (or More Shopping Drama) Default ThumbnailAnother Adventure In Bra Shopping (or I’m Glad I Took Another Chance) Default ThumbnailMaking My Friend Try On Wedding Dresses (or I’m So Glad She Found The Perfect Dress!)

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Gift Shopping (or For Me, It’s That Time of the Year)

Posted on July 31, 2012 | Comments Off on Gift Shopping (or For Me, It’s That Time of the Year)

I love buying gifts for people. I love getting big gifts like birthday or engagement ones, and I love buying little things like a bottle of wine for a friend who invited me over for dinner.

Maybe I’m selfish, but I love seeing how happy I can make people with a gift I give them.

This time of the year, there are a lot of family events. In a 3 day period, there is my parents’ anniversary, my cousin’s birthday, my cousin’s girlfriend’s birthday, and my birthday. And that’s not counting my birthday twins birthday or my acting coach’s birthday which happen then too. That’s a lot of gifts.

I’ve also got a dear friend of mine getting married this fall (her bridal shower was this past weekend), and my brother proposed to his girlfriend recently too. Again, that’s a lot of gifts.

So what is someone supposed to do when they are trying to save money to pay off debit but still wants to make everyone happy with gifts? I got creative.

For my friend getting married and my brother’s fiancee, I wanted to get them something cute but something that is more personal. I found these really nice personalized blue garters. They weren’t too expensive, personalization was free, and both of the recipients of the gift loved them (it helped them with their something blue too).

I can’t say what I’m getting my parents for their anniversary because my mom reads this blog. But I can say that my brother and I are teaming up for the gift so we can get them something really nice, but it won’t cost too much for each of us.

One of the most important things I’ve learned about giving gifts is sometimes it really is the smallest gesture that counts. That’s why, for every family and friend celebration, I seek out the perfect card. For my cousin and his girlfriend’s birthdays coming up, I don’t get them gifts (we don’t really do that in my family), but I do spend a lot of time picking out the perfect card for each of them. It’s nice to get something in the mail other than a bill.

So this week before I go to work, I’m off looking for the perfect cards for everyone (and carrying stamps in my purse so I can mail them all off in time).

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Shoes! (or The Most Fabulous Items in My Wardrobe)

Posted on July 25, 2012 | Comments Off on Shoes! (or The Most Fabulous Items in My Wardrobe)

I love shoes! I don’t know many girls who don’t (although my friend Emily might love them more than most).

One of the best things about shoes is no matter what size you are, your shoes will almost always fit. So those are the one fancy item I can have in my closet like everyone else.

But I do still try to get my shoes on the cheap. I love websites like Zappos because they have a nice selection and good deals. But there’s something about going to a shoe store and seeing all the shoes lined up and waiting to be taken home (I know, I make it sound like puppies waiting to be adopted). As much as I would love to have an unlimited budget for shoes, that isn’t my reality (yet).

Near me in LA, I love Off Broadway Shoes and DSW. Those seem to have the nicest selections with the best deals. And I love that whenever you shop at Off Broadway, at the bottom of your receipt, there is a coupon for 10% of what you just spent to use the next time you go.

I realize that writing an entire blog post dedicated to shoes might show how obsessed I am, but that’s ok. I think every girl, no matter what size she happens to be, needs to have a category of clothing or accessories that makes them happy all the time. And for me, that’s my collection of shoes.

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Girls Night Out (or How to Find a Cute Dress When You Are Bigger Than a Size 18)

Posted on July 19, 2012 | 11 comments

Last night, my Girls Night Out group got together for an evening at The Magic Castle! It was awesome! I had been there one time before, but that was with my parents, so this was a whole different type of evening!

Two of the girls in my group were chosen to be volunteers in the main stage show, so that was awesome. And we met some pretty cute guys there too!

One of the rules of The Magic Castle is the dress code. Guys have to be in a coat and tie (which might make them look cuter!), and ladies have to be in dresses.

I love a good excuse to dress up. In LA, an evening out normally means jeans and heels (or Uggs if it’s under 60 degrees out). But this was a formal evening!

In general, there are not too many places that I can find clothes at my current size. It seems most stores either have old lady clothes or slut wear. I have found one amazing store for dresses (Kiyonna), but unless I have the time to drive down to Anaheim to try on the dresses, I have to order them online, which I hate.

But somehow, I found a super cute dress for last night at Torrid, and of course I got a new purse to go with it. But to find that super cute dress, I tried to find a dress at at least 6 other stores first with no luck in my size.

I know it’s a struggle to find things to wear right now, and hopefully I’ll be able to change that soon. But I think every girl can agree that when you find a dress that you love, you feel beautiful no matter what size the label says.

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