I WoN!

People often say they don't win things.  I really don't.  I can tell you right now I have one two other things in my life.  First, I won a ribbon for being the FATTEST baby in the county in which I was born.... such loving parents ;P   Second, $25 dollars at Andy's a local burger joint.  

Statistically I was do ;P 

Thanks to Viva Fashion Blog I won an Olay gift basket!  It is great.  Not only is the basket full of stuff but the basket is great for organizing under my bathroom sink!  It came with a whole bunch of Anti-aging stuff (their advice is to start early on the fight against wrinkles), a shower radio for all of us with "lovely" to encourage singing in the shower!  It came with a turban head towel thing... never could remember what they are called.  Body wash, soap, lotion, a Olay bag... 

Point being I am so glad to random statistics ;P

Written by :Rachel Abi

Oh, and I forgot it came with a to go tumbler too!  Very useful but sounds like a dolphin, so I let my husband use it ;P

All sewn up

From concept to reality (*big announcer voice).  After weeks of hard work? Well, work all the same.  After weeks of putting the pieces slowly together... 

The...

Wait for it...

Dress is done!

By Rachel Abi

Ok, so last I left was the skirt part was done, needing zipper and getting attached to the belt.

So after attaching the belt to the top and the skirt to the belt I noticed it was off a little?  Ok, so it was a bunch.  Decision time: do I undo all that I just do or do I leave it (imagine as I say it a grossed out face)

So I ripped up the dress I thought I had just been close to finished.  BUT only in a section to the left of the zipper so that it would match the right side.

After I ripped it out and I sewed it back, ripped it out and sewed it back... second times the charge?

Then on to pinning in the zipper again!  Ouch my fingers!  Pretty sure I suck them more than the dress

Zipper sewn in now to get the "tags" down

Perfect? I think not

I had extra material round the zipper so I snipped it out!

So here is my dress: ON!

My dress is not perfect... at all!  But I am proud of the first piece of clothes I ever sewed.  What's yours like? Silly yes, and why thanks I do look like I walked out of Sound of Music.  No, it wasn't my goal.  Yes, I am ok with it.  Why?

another beautiful day

Out and about.  Not something I would wear were I to be outside for a long time.  It isn't a hot outfit but NC is HOT (well to me) so I tend towards wearing super thin materials.  What's special about this outfit? nothing. That's the whole point.  Remember you can make beautiful and unique outfits with ease: let loose, who cares if you cause a few fopas on the way?   

By Rachel Abi

Breaking rules

I decided to break "don't wear clashing jewelry" rule.  I pulled this look together for a friendly get together and wanted a fun funky look that was only accomplished by taking the beaded, feminine necklace and pairing it with the funky/ Avril Lavigne-ish bracelet.  I say I pulled it off... you will have to let me know if I did?

By Rachel Abi

Day Date!

Taking my honey some lunch for a day date!  Sorry for the blur on the picture... but I guess you can get the idea.  It is such fun to steal away an hour... makes the week seem less terrible.  This week try to steal one of your hours back!



By Rachel Abi

These are some of my favorite shoes: so universal! 

Say yes to imperfections!

It's been a long day.  The list of to do's has gone undone because of things that had to be done... unforeseen.  "That day"... it was today for me.  I had my list of things that "had" to get done... but they did not get done.  After a long day of disappointment it was nice to know that we were having some friends over but not much time to get home and get food done.  

What do you do then?  How do you make yourself feel cute when you have no time.  

Ready for my secret?

It's huge!  

By Rachel Abi

Have a back up.  My back ups range but a great default are jeans (make sure they fit your body well... staple for most closets) and a top you feel attractive in.  Have these back up outfits as your defaults for these situations. You know what I am talking about you already have your "defaults"... those outfits that you find yourself just falling back on.  Whether because they are comfortable, easy or they actually make you feel good.  Take this idea of defaults and take 20 min and mentally note some tops that fit the style of your jeans/pants.  Make sure they make you feel attractive/confident.  Nothing is more attractive than confidence.  Final touch throw on a necklace.  I have default necklace too.  Personally I lean more towards long necklaces that I can leave long or layer to make whatever length works with outfit.

You say impossible?  NO

This outfit was literally thrown on.  You think I am kidding I had literally 4 minutes before the guests arrived!

The key: you need to feel pretty.  Better than any accessory you can put on bag you can own: confidence in your beauty!  I love the idea that each person is like a snowflake: imperfect and beautiful.

So let's go out and have fun with our imperfections...

A, B, C, D, E, F, G????

There is an ongoing thing that people reference: the start of good fashion is a good bra, it is true.  Sorry fellows...well we can all hope you don't need this advice.

There is some ridiculous statistic saying that SO many women are wearing the wrong size... what's funny is that in my experience: it's right.  I did.  My suggestion is get fitted.  You can go to your local Victoria Secret (even if they don't sell your size, they don't sell mine, they will still fit you) or you can do it yourself.

Having the right bra makes SO much of a difference.  I used to wear a 34 DD... I used to have a lot of slippage issues and bulging out... if you know what I mean.  I just wore what I knew, my sister wore 34, most my friends wore 34 so why wouldn't I be 34?

It was about 2 years ago that I went to a local bra boutique to get sized.  As it turned out I was a 30G!  How you ask?  Well you see with each width size you go down (36 to a 34) the cup size goes up (36D to a 34 DD).  So if my width fit a 36 I'd be a D... but unfortunately for me (for pricing) I am an odd size.  After getting sized by the very helpful clerk I didn't end up getting a bra because the cheapest one they had in my size was $78!  I don't know about you but that's not a price that I can afford.  So I fudge a bit.  Sometimes I will wear a 32 F or I will even get a 36D and resew the hooks to fit (not ideal but at a Ross you can find a "regular/average" size bra for a couple bucks.

I'll have to post so pictures of the next time I modify a bra.

Point: get sized.  If you are wearing the wrong size/wrong fit the whole outfit can be at a loss!

If you want to do the sizing yourself click here  (heads up when it says snug it means snug!   Remember that you want to wear your bra on the loosest hooks when you first get the bra.

Written by Rachel Abi

Wonderful summer day...

Took a vintage dress from my mom's day in the 70's and put a tank under it, made it more casual, added a side bun and an accent flower (from my mom's days in the 80's)

By Rachel Abi

Nothing amazing but a comfy and I feel cute in it!

Further on the dress

Next step.  I ironed the sides because I wanted the side hem to be as small as possible.  

By Rachel Abi

I hemmed the to top pieces together so that the top would be seamless later 

So this is the hem on the side of the top, the one were I ironed as to have the smallest hem possible

I did my top with two small side panels near the back so that the front and side would be seamless

I did the same thing to the side panels as I did for the top: ironed and hemmed

Then I took the side panels and the front and sewed them together

The final process for now...

Date night!

Date night at home with Chris.  We like to do dates at home to save money.  We don't have kids to work around but I do understand that sometimes it is hard to not just fall into the same things, of every day.  We like to set the table, light some candles, some nights we make a rule that the TV won't come on.  To each his own but my rule for dates at home.  Nothing fancy.  I lean towards comfort and something that makes me feel pretty, so that I can be comfortable when we snuggle (yes, we snuggle) on the couch and I still look pretty and feel pretty.

by Rachel Abi

Slow and steady wins the race...

Here is the top cut out.  I will make my top double layered just to make sure it isn't too thin.  I am making mine a higher neck cut but it could be done in many different styles and cuts and still work for the style... besides if it doesn't work well for the style and works well for you it will still work.

It isn't about "being right" it is about having fun and making yourself look/feel pretty.  Who cares if you aren't supposed to do ____.  Do you look good in it?  Do you feel pretty?   Ok, then fine (so long as you have people who will be honest with you).

By Rachel Abi