I hope you all had a fabulous weekend. I did, for the most part. The only real bummer was that I was supposed to meet up with the guys in my would-be band again on Saturday (one had to cancel last Saturday) and this time, the other canceled. Bah! I’m near ready to give up on them, but not on me. *sticks tongue out at the universe*

Saturday after work I took a very long nap. I needed it! Oh my goodness did I need it!  Ha-ha! Then we headed over to my good friend Q’s house to help her decorate pigeons for “Pigeonopolis” for her Burning Man trip. It was lots of fun! I had no plan in mind for my pigeon, but I used a palette of purples and magenta with some green and gold glitter. I think she said it reminded her of Kabuki make-up. Ha! I love it! It was so interesting to see how different each of our pigeons came out (6 total). Q & J put LEDs for the eyes of their pigeons…tre` chic!

Sunday was full of activity! Slept in and needed that, too! Then coffee & food! Later I headed over to Oakland (about an hour’s drive for me) for Big Moves Bay Area’s Cupcake & Muffin Tops V.2 which was fattabulous! How to describe? I usually tell people it’s like a fat-gal thrift store without the racks. I think it’s more than that though. Visually, picture long tables with large heaps of clothing covering them. Tons of fatties in all manner of fabulous fashions (seriously! They made it hard to look for clothes when they were wearing the cutest stuff ever!) chatting and searching and trying on clothes to purchase for very little cash but all proceeds go to Big Moves. Yeah, Rad! I know! I had meant to take pictures and be social and chatty and my bubbly self, but I don’t know what happened. I walked in all smiles and started chatting to all of the lovelies, but then I sort of lost my fire somewhere along the way. Maybe it was the pile of denim capris that didn’t fit. Hmmm. I will say that it was again an incredible experience to try on clothing in a changing room of all fats! And not just one type of fat, but all types of fats! And everyone was so sweet and positive and full of compliments. It was a bit of a Utopian sort of event. I enjoyed it, but sadly grew shy and quiet by the time I was ready to leave. I did run into some lovely fats I’d only met recently, including the effervescent Marilyn Wann! She was wearing this lovely short black tank-dress, too. I should have asked to take a pic with her, but I spaced and chickened out simultaneously. Ha-ha! I was seriously stoked on my way up and excited to meet more fats! I don’t know what happened. I think my shopping high died and that with the heat of the day just left me a bit wilty.

When I got home my wonderful husband and I made brownies for my sister’s b-day. I threw together a quick gift bag for her and we attended to various puppy & house duties. Later we stopped by her place for the b-day love & goodies. I was so relieved that she liked everything I got her. I just never know. And her place was super cute! Her friends were cool & funny. I had a fab time! It is amazing to see my little sister all grown up though. I mean, wow! She’s a woman! We’re 9 years apart and had fallen out of touch (so to speak, long story) and hadn’t seen each other for nearly four years. So you can imagine what it was like for me to walk in and see this completely different person than I knew growing up. You know? Ha-ha! I am so glad that we’re back in touch and have vowed to never let anything change that again.

All in all it was a bunch of good times!  And if you’re watching Huge on ABC family, tonight’s the finale! I know, so sad. But we have to actually demand a second season! We have to let ABC Family KNOW that we want to see gorgeous fats on t.v. Check out Lesley Kinzel’s post about what you can do: http://www.fatshionista.com/cms/index.php?option=com_mojo&Itemid=69&p=531

Have you seen the movie “Inception” yet? Oh! It’s so good!

Well, I won’t give anything away (not that I think anyone could ruin it), but I wanted to share a little bit of inspiration I got from it. Okay, more like fashion inspiration from Ellen Page’s character in the film. She wore all of these really cute layered outfits with rad accessories and such. I love accessories, don’t get me wrong, but the scarf worn in the front thing? Never tried it! So the day after seeing the movie with two of my fave peeps in the world, I wore this to work:

I truly need a vest to complete the look, but I don’t have one and that’s that.

The t-shirt is from Old Navy (’bout three years ago) and the jeans are Avenue’s denim lite straight leg in a 30 average. I have no idea where the scarf came from. My mother in law perhaps? But I love the combo of green and purple, so I went with it. It has branches all over it. Sunglasses are prescription from JC Penny Optical three years ago. And yes, that is my little cafe I’m standing in. I have a horrible time trying to take pics of myself, but this was alright, just a bit wonky. Ha-ha!

Your thoughts? Thanks for reading.  =0)

It’s been very hot in the bay area the last couple of days. I know this isn’t the same hot the east coast gets or tropical climates, but it’s hot for us, nonetheless. This sudden bout of heat has made me rethink my day-to-day and focus more on what’s important: Self Care!

I had been struggling lately with eating during the day, I just didn’t want to eat. Yes, I get hungry. But I own/run a  cafe and am around food all of the time. (Luckily my cafe’s focus is offering natural/organic goodies for everyone to enjoy.) This does make for a difficult choice at lunch time when I need to eat! Being broke as a joke leaves me with two options: make myself something here or starve. And for about three weeks, I chose the latter. UGH! It drives me crazy. Last week I vowed, to myself, that I would eat a normal lunch each day. And I did. That is until this little heat wave arrived.

I have red hair and fair skin. I don’t do well with any extreme temperatures. When it’s very hot I don’t want to eat or sleep or anything, I am simply miserable. I must force myself to do the things I don’t want to in order to survive. I have no trouble drinking water, I love the stuff, but reminding myself to stay hydrated can be difficult, too.

So, here’s what I have been doing to take care of myself, even when the thought of it makes me sigh:

1. drink lots of cold water. 30 degrees (F) is ideal, but 40 is fine, too. (And keeping my Brita pitcher full!)
2. buy foods that I’ll want to eat. This week that means watermelon, peaches, apples, bananas, carrots, berries, greens, cold cuts, picnic salads…things that can be eaten cold either together or not!
3. Popsicles! stock the freezer or make a bunch on your own! If you have an ice cream maker, that rocks, too! I just know that I get very absent minded in the heat and need something quick and ready. And smoothies! So easy to make and tasty no matter what you throw in there!
4. cold showers! Maybe my fave part of summer! (or swimming or both!)
5. EAT! Yeah, it’s kind of sad that I have to remind myself to do it, but that’s how it’s been lately. And I’ve been eating smaller meals but more snacks in between, so that helps too.
6. Wear lighter fabrics. It’s simple, I know, but I still grab for the usual things. I won’t even go into the whole sleeveless debate, but if your okay with that, do it! I spent far too much time worrying and far less time being comfortable. Now? Comfort is queen! And besides, you look better when you feel better.
7. Did I mention COLD WATER?! I run a cold tap over my inner wrists to cool down at work. And sometimes I sneak away to the ladies room and splash my face and neck. A quick fix, I assure you! And don’t be afraid to dab your brow if you’re feeling some sweat. I say better that than suffering.
8. Water for everyone! We have a pup & a kitty and have to make sure they are hydrated, too! The pup loves ice and the kitty loves the bathroom tap, so no worries there. Just need to be a little more frequent when it’s hot.
9. Keep the shades drawn & windows closed during the day. This helps keep it cooler & when we get home from work we can open everything up for fresh air!
10. I don’t currently have a fan in the cafe, or a personal one. So I keep the front door open and hope for a breeze. On my way home I roll all of the windows down or crank my car’s AC. At home? We have an AC but it’s not efficient and we’re conservationists. So we stick to more fun ways to stay cool like the above.

My point in all of this is that we’re working and running around taking care of things and often forget to take care of ourselves. No matter what weather you’re currently dealing with, it’s so important to treat yourself right! I think of it like this, you wouldn’t let your best friend or partner allow themselves to be treated poorly or forget their bodies needs, so don’t do it to yourself either!

How do you handle self care? Are you so busy that you forget to take care of yourself? Tell me about it!  =0)

So in my last post I mentioned trying to get a great goth outfit together in time for this weekend. My BFF & I are hitting up our local goth club in San Jose for their annual bash. We go about once every 6-9 months and have been for the last two years. The first time we went it had been 11 years since I had been to a goth club. I didn’t know what to expect at this new club and since I was much larger in size than the old days I struggled with finding cute clothes for it.

I threw together some black slacks from my old corporate days (LB’s Madison trousers, how I loved thee) and a cute red tee under a black lace top from Avenue and some comfy black shoes.We had a total blast and that’s what matters, but we were dancing for four hours, y’all! It was hot and we were sweaty as hell. And that outfit? No good for dancing!

The second time we went I managed to find an etsy seller to make me a custom skirt which I LOVE! I paired that with a black Old Navy top and some hand dyed (by none other than Marianne Kirby of TheRotund.com) tights in bright red. I added my own little accents and voila:

It was cute, comfy and I danced my ass off! The only issues I had with this outfit were the ribbon & lace gloves I had made, they kept coming untied, but my lovely BFF was right there to help. Such a sweetheart! But when I posted this outfit on Fatshionista (LJ community) I got a lot of “That’s not goth!” and such and while I had said I knew it wasn’t traditional goth, I thought it more of a Tim Burton/circus goth. Wevs. I love this one!

The time after the above outfit, I wore a similar style top from Torrid, but it had white lace around the neckline and fell off my shoulders so much that I finally stopped caring and just let my bra straps be seen as they were. Ha! I don’t remember if I wore a skirt or pants. I sadly, don’t have a picture, either. Boo!

Now I want a full-on Loli-goth (Gothic Lolita or Victorian style inspired by the lovely and gorgeous Japanese trends) outfit though. But dammit if those aren’t the most expensive of things to get. And well, I did find someone on eBay who does custom ones for like $80 (Not bad at all, trust me!), they are in Asia and thus wouldn’t work for my goth night this weekend. And I never have that kind of money to spend on a damned thing. Ha-ha!

So, I am not trying to figure out a way to create my own version of this. I have some ideas, but I fear I’ll be treading in the non-trad-goth waters and well, part of me doesn’t care but part wants to look like the cool kids, ya know? But without an income I just can’t get the sweet threads I long for. I have minimal sewing skills, but I do have a sewing machine.

I was thinking of wearing this Torrid top with a Victorian collar, but it’s a t-shirt ish material and so would the skirt I wear with it. Is it okay to double up on the jersey knit? For dancing? I’m hesitant. The tights? They rock! They’re so comfortable that I will probably wear them again and again until they die.

Also, if you know of a gorgeously bright red stay-put lipstick, please let me know! And a great red lipstick for someone of my complexion would be nice. Two separate needs actually. I’m clueless about makeup though, so I am in your hands.

So I turn to you brilliant lovelies, please, give me your suggestions and pics and thoughts and let me know what you think I could/should do for my upcoming goth night. I can’t wait!  =0)

I am sorry for sort of disappearing last week my darlings. It was a strange and crazy week. It was a week of surprises, disappointments and then total elation! I had begun to write a post about fats and hair and then it sort of fizzled out and I left it alone, I could come back to it, who knows. I do have some thoughts to share with you this fine (cold & gray in the SF Bay) Monday. (And yes, I am the Queen of the Run-on sentence, yo! You have been warned.)

I own a small (tiny really) cafe near SFO (it’s an airport) and across the street is a hair salon geared towards kids, but they do everything. The woman who owns the place has become not just a customer and business neighbor, but a friend and mentor. I was helping her with her English for awhile and she’s been ever so encouraging of me in general, but specifically style & beauty. I have since become her “hair model” or so she calls me. Basically, I let her do whatever she wanted with my hair back in March and now it’s sort of a regular fun/free-for-all thing. I love it! I mean, I get free hair cuts and a bit of color (I freakin’ love the splash of black in my red hair). This last week she wanted to try something truly radical and I went for it head first. Ha! Well, the result was exactly what we had discussed and there was a mini freak out on my part, but I not mad at her. She was trying to shave a heart in the back of my already short hair. Well, this caused her to have to really shave it down and in the end it’s more of an upside down tear drop than a heart. I panicked and wore a bandanna on my head, but then I finally gave up and just rocked it.

A couple of days later Marilyn Wann (author of the zine & book “Fat! So?” and inventor of the “YAY! Scale”) came into my cafe for lunch. We’d been trying to meet up for a year! We just kept missing each other at various events. So when she came in with her love and a good friend and she said she liked it? I nearly died, you guys! I was so excited that she came into my humble little cafe. We chatted and they all seemed to enjoy my offerings and I was elated! She signed my copy of “Fat! So?” as well…it was already a prized possession, but now? It’s my precious! Ha-ha! Her book just inspired me so and then seeing the Fat Fly Girls in June and all…it was all so amazing!I feel so very fortunate. I cannot believe that this world famous author and fat activist came into my shop and ate my food and drank my drinks and enjoyed it all, too! She even wrote up a yelp review! I nearly died, I tell ya!

Yes, we talked about all things fat. I told her the short version of how I found FA and discussed some of the more negative aspects in the fat-o-sphere and I explained how I am committed to putting out the positive only. There were things I had forgotten to mention, but no worries as she has said she’ll be back for sure. Squee!

Okay, so I tried super hard not to be a big geeky fan-girl and I think I succeeded, but I was also just super fucking stoked to meet some local FATS! I love meeting new people of all sizes, don’t get me wrong, but I have no fat friends and meeting fats is just the greatest thing ever. I’m not expecting to become BFFs with every fat I meet or anything, but it’s so comforting to talk with people who understand what it’s like to be fat in a world that says it’s not okay to be so. *sigh* So good!

There are plans of a “Yay! Scale” making session here at the cafe (OMZ!) and I really would like my little place to be a safe and comfortable space for fats. I dream of meet-ups and swaps and whatever! I’m currently putting together a fat band (know any drummers?) and cannot wait to rock everyone’s socks off! What began as a bummer week turned into a surprisingly awesome one. Even saw “Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World” on Saturday with my BFFs and it was great!

Now, to put together a goth outfit for this weekend…

ETA: The lovely Claudia of http://fatbodied.wordpress.com/ has request pics of my hairs, so here it is:

That’s me & my hairs, today. The left is of the shaved bit and the right is my do du jour.