My Ears ♥ Florence and the Machine

I'm not sure how many times I've mentioned it here, but I'll go ahead and do it again - Florence and the Machine is my favorite band. It's actually sometimes weird to think of how much I am in love with Florence Welch, the lead singer. I think she is gorgeous, talented, mad fashionable and is absolutely my favorite female vocalist, next to Enya.

My best friend Kelly finds my love of her amusing, and I guess it is. Most of her music brings me to tears, and when I saw them live in Orlando, well... it changed my life. I have a few friends who think I look like (a plus-sized version of) her. I am not quite sure what it is that moves me about the music, but instead of explaining myself, I just enjoy it.

There are quite a few marvelous-looking films coming out this year but the one I've had my eye on most intently is Snow White and the Huntsman. I love Charlize Theron as the evil Queen and actually think Kristen Stewart looks pretty key as Snow White. When I found out that Florence and the Machine created the title song for the movie - "Breath of Life" - we can all probably guess my reaction. (I've listened to this song approximately 20 times since being alerted of its existence.)

My mother bought tickets for me, my sister and herself to see them live in Tampa this September, and I am hoping beyond hope that they perform "Breath of Life". Just seeing her again will make me beyond happy, but it would be so heavenly.

Admittedly, I am a bit behind on my 31 Blogging Days of May posts. Apologies to those who are waiting to see my posts and I'll do my best to get to them soon.

I Need to Win the Paul Frank Art Attack Contest!

Friends, readers, and anyone who has stumbled upon my page... I need your help!

Please vote for my entry in the Paul Frank Art Attack contest!

I am currently going to school to finish my Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design and am attempting to fund my way through school by competing in art contests and scholarships.

The most recent one is for the famous Paul Frank art studio, for which I made an original piece based on their characters. If you could please take approximately 5 minutes to log in via Facebook and rate my artwork, it would be much appreciated. Then, share the link with your friends and prompt them to vote and share as well. I need as many high votes as possible to make it into the final round, so anyone who votes for me is helping me fund my future. Some artworks already have upwards of 400 votes, so please share with as many as you can!

The prize is $2,500 towards my education and a full-page ad in the prestigious Juxtapoz magazine, which would work WONDERS for my ability to win future scholarships and keep putting myself through school for design and web development. I am a Junior at IADT and with 2 more years left, winning this contest will help me achieve my goal of a degree.

Thanks in advance!

VOTE > SHARE > HELP!

Day 8: Participate in a Blogger Challenge - Favorite Workout Song

It just so happens that none of the bloggers I am currently following are doing a challenge that I know of. Thankfully, a quick search and a few clicks later, I landed on a few Tumblr blogs focused on Fitness. I am unsure where the original challenge came from, but the May 8th theme seemed to be "favorite workout song".

Therefore, I present one of my favorite, beast-mode inspiring songs, "Warrior" by Kimbra, Mark Foster and A-Trak.

This post is in participation of 31 Blogging Days of May, hosted by Blue Collar Catwalk.

Day 7: Weekend Wrap-Up

We ate a local restaurant called the Refinery and scored seats on the warm deck since it was full inside.
I ordered "The Vegetarian Standby" - zucchini bread french toast, cooked in custard! I didn't even use syrup.
Earlier, I did Kelly's toes in one of her favorite shades and was proud of how well I did.

Even though our order took a while, it was a nice sunny day.

My weekend was pretty lackluster, spending Saturday with stomach issues and suffering Sunday afternoon through Monday morning with a killer headache. Thankfully, my bestie Kelly Wren saved me Sunday morning for brunch at a delicious local eatery and a trip to Ikea for some essentials.

It wasn't the most productive weekend, but I gave my body the time to figure itself out and I am feeling much better, ready to take on this week. I'm back in school for online classes and the final of my web development courses at the school.

Some of the things I'll be doing this week...

• Applying for 4 scholarships
• Hammering out Father's Day goods for a craft fair I'm selling to on May 19th
• Working on my fitness with running + strength training
• Doing a custom jellyfish project for the leader of my local Etsy team
• Designing a few banners for local Etsy sellers
• Working on a few more DIY's for the upcoming 31 Blogging Days of May
• Going to see Washed Out in concert after celebrating Mother's Day with my family on Sunday

What do you have planned for this week?


This post is in participation of 31 Blogging Days of May, hosted by Blue Collar Catwalk.

Day 6: Vegan Ventures (My New Weekly Series!) - Salt and Vinegar Kale Chips

A little behind, but better late than never, eh? This Sunday's post, posted on Monday, is a new series I am starting called Vegan Ventures, which will be my exploits into the vegan world of cooking. While I have recently made the decision to be just vegetarian for ease, I will be focusing on a vegan diet as much as I can.

The first of this new installment is good for anyone who wants to try a dish that is super healthy AND super delicious. Kale is literally so versatile that you can add a little olive oil and then anything else you'd like and you'd have a delicious, crispy roasted snack with your flavoring of choice. I've seen recipes for everything from plain to chili lime, so go at it! If you're like me and love the sour and savory taste of salt and vinegar potato chips but want to skip about 70% of the calories, check this out.

What You'll Need
1 bunch of kale
1.5 tablespoons of olive oil
1.5 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon garlic salt (or salt of choice)
Mixing bowl
Baking pan
Tongs (optional)

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Take your bunch of kale and wash it down in the sink. Then, remove all of the leaves from the stem and transfer into the bowl, getting the little pieces as those are the ones that get nice and crispy.

Once all of your kale leaves are parted, add in your olive oil, vinegar and salt into the bowl, pouring over the top of the kale and distributing as evenly as possible. Once all of your ingredients are added, use your tongs (or hands) to mix together in the bowl, trying to get all of the leaves as evenly coated as you can.

If you choose, spritz your pan with non-stick spray and pour the leaves on the pan in one even layer, giving room around the leaves if possible. Like anything else roasted, this allows for even distribution of heat.

Cook in the oven for 10 minutes, turn with your tongs and then another 5 to ensure crispiness. Allow extra time if needed, or if your oven is off by a few degrees.

All done! Transfer to a plate and eat immediately. These will wilt after a while, so it is best to eat them as soon as they come out of the oven. (Mine look small because they were smaller leaves, but they were so fun to eat!)

This post is in participation of 31 Blogging Days of May, hosted by Blue Collar Catwalk.

Day 5: Wish List - If I Won the Lottery

One | Two | Three | Four | Five

My best friend and have taken to talking about things we'd buy "if/when we won the lottery", so I figured now would be a great time to share my top 5 purchases if I came into some beaucoup bucks and didn't have to rework my monthly budget.

This post is in participation of 31 Blogging Days of May, hosted by Blue Collar Catwalk.

April Birchbox Review

The big trend right now seems to be small, monthly collections of high-end gifts & products, mailed to you for a bundled price. I first heard about these kind of packages through Joy the Baker, and then heard about my own purchase, Birchbox, through Allie Lehman.

Though there are many out there right now, each with their own perks and products. There's even one that is shipped to you specifically on the first day of your "cycle". It's called "Good & Lovely" and is one of those things that makes me scream "WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF IT FIRST?!"

While they all vary in price and amount of products, I felt Birchbox was right for me. So, when they opened up for new accounts, I signed right up. On May 1st, I received my first box, and this is how it went.

APRIL BIRCHBOX REVIEW

• Taylor Swift's Wonderstruck Perfume - I've never been the perfume-y type, and much like my problem with every other perfume out there, it smells more like chemicals than anything to me. It's also much stronger than anything I'd like to wear. I ended up giving it to a friend. I meant to give it to a friend, but then proceeded to spill it all over my hands as I was handing it to her.
• Willa Naturals Start Fresh Foaming Face Wash - Very lovely, soft and gentle on my sensitive skin. It feels great and smells lovely, too, but I found it a little drying.
• Kahina Argan Oil + Facial Lotion - Both worked wonders! They were both heavier than I normally like, but were great follow-ups to the Willa Face Wash. I have already noticed a difference in my skin and love the smell of both of them. I used my Clinique Redness Relief Mineral Powder to set my skin after the oil because it was, well... a little oily looking.
• Alima Pure Nourishing Lipbalm in Rhubarb - My favorite of the bunch. I have been on the lookout for a barely-there sheer healing lipbalm that matches the color of my lips and I think I've found the one. It is a bit messy, but I just need to be careful with how I put it on. It reminds me a lot of Burt's Bees in the cooling factor, but has a consistency that feels great but isn't overwhelming. I don't like the feel of heavy colors or balms on my lips, so I will probably be purchasing this one again.

Overall, not a whole lot of "wow", but I was happy to try it out. I am not going to renew the box for financial reasons, but would love to get it as a gift in the future. 

Things I'm Afraid to Tell You

Gold and silver marker on black foam. 

In efforts to keep this blog candid and relateable, I have decided to join in the blogging sweep that has deeply moved, inspired and invigorated me. "Things I'm Afraid to Tell You" is a series of openly transparent statements that bloggers, big and small, are using to shatter the "perfect world" facade that the blogging platform can unintentionally create. I am one of the many bloggers who struggles with the negativity delusion, which determine's most blogger's aversions to posting the negative aspect of their lives. Because of this reservation, there is an air of cookie-cutter perfection that can bother and intimidate.

It is the embodiment of the quote from one of the Coffee Cup Chats - "Don't compare your behind-the-scenes to someone's highlight reel."

I was considering a post similar to this after reading Chantilly's brutally honest views on the blogging world and after the recent outpour of truths from my favorite reads, I've decided to give it a go, too.

So, here are some things I'm afraid to tell you.


I have a fear of being not enough. Not a good enough designer, not good looking enough, not good enough with my money, not nice enough, not "bloggy" enough... the list goes on. I am surrounded by a lot of designers, at work, school, and in my online community, who always seem to be doing well, producing lots, raking in the money and having a great time. Though I am getting better with my once-severe procrastination issue, I am always struggling with balancing my life - school, home, weight loss, family, work, and my goals to become an amazing designer and developer. I know that I have a busy schedule, but when I see those around me buying the new iPad on pre-order, going on vacations or purchasing clothes to their heart's content, I wonder... what am I doing wrong? Am I not enough? Is the hard work I am putting in to my future going to matter? Why can't I buy the things that I want? Which leads me to admit...

I have made some serious, serious financial mistakes in my life. I am currently over $100K in debt with student loans and am currently busting my ass to pay for the next 2 years of my education, through scholarships, grants, the help of my family and the support of my 9-6 job. I was not ready for college and dove right in to the first school that accepted me, which was both my dream school and an institution that charges $40K+ per year for attendance. I am really holding out for a killer rescue plan when I graduate because I don't want to be paying student loans until I'm 60. For now, I am applying for free money religiously and do plan on using A Vigorous Design to apply for a few of them. I am still balancing my own personal finances and trying to get out of the habit of nickel and dime-ing myself to death, since most of my true and sincere items on my wish list are technological and have higher price tags.

Even though I get ideas for posts, I usually decide against putting them up. I am still trying to figure out what my blog is to me. I am in the current state of mind that determines that each post much have content and direction and body, but sometimes I feel like posting cute pictures of my pets. What gives? I would like to do both, but am still unaware of the readership and what my blog is most valued for.

I am almost always covered it dog and/or cat hair and it makes me worry that I smell or look like a crazy animal lady. In fact, there are very few days when I am not infuriated with how messy things are because of my 3 cats and dog. My car is almost always filled with dog hair from toting my pug around and my couches and floors are almost hairy themselves, what with the large amounts of cat tufts floating about. Is it enough to make me want to get rid of them? Absolutely not... but there are some days when I could just shave them all down to nakedness and stop worrying about the huge pre-sentient dustballs that fly past my face.

Welp, there it is. Not too soul-crunching, but truthful nonetheless.

Would you share something you're afraid to tell me?

Day 4: A D•I•Y: A Quick Studded Sweater

As I am sure you are aware, studs are making a comeback - much to the joy of my best friend, Kelly Wren, who has long fostered a fondness of the spiked and studded. As my style is evolving, I find myself attracted to the edginess of a gothic style, and wanted to pair it with my love of bright colors.

I had a few "studding" tutorials in mind and after finding one of my favorite sweaters on sale at Old Navy, I thought up this tutorial to share.

This is certainly not the first or the most impressive sweater studding, but I wanted to share a simple way to "jazz up" your sweater, jacket, shirt, or any other fabric thing with relative ease.

Supplies you will need:

• Sweater/shirt/fabric of your choice
• Studs of your choice
• Pliers

[The studs I bought are from spikesandleather on Ebay and the sweater is from Old Navy. I also bought a pink studded collar for Lilo and can't wait for it to get here!]

Prep your sweater by trying it on and being conscious of how it sits on your body, as this will affect the placement of the spikes. Once you have an idea of the area, lay the sweater on your work surface and lay the studs out in a rough area to give yourself an idea of how to do the studs. [I ended up going with a different design that originally planned here.]

Once you have some chosen, take your first stud and secure it against the sweater, pushing the points through the fabric. Keep in mind that different densities and knits of fabric will need to be compensated for.

In my case, I had to take my pliers and grabbing the spike around the middle, bend it down forcefully until the tip was as close to the spike as possible. When I first tried, I was not doing it fast enough and the stud did not catch.

Do this for all spikes (in my case, there were only two). The inside of the sweater should be puckered and no points should be left unattended as they will snag you or cause the stud to fall off.

Repeat until satisfaction!

Tip: try to get the studs in the arrangement you want the first time, as forcing the spike through the fabric will leave an indent that you might not be able to remove.

If you have any questions about my process, please feel free to leave them in the comment area below.

If you could stud something right now, what would it be?

This post is in participation of 31 Blogging Days of May, hosted by Blue Collar Catwalk.

Day 3: Introduce a New-to-You Blogger

Photo from Liz's About Page

My "New to You" blogger is Liz of 26 and Counting, who I spotted on a blog post just this week and now follow with Bloglovin'. 26 and Counting is Liz's documentary about her corporate fashion life and I am smitten with all of her adorable chic-but-corporate ensembles.

Admittedly, I am not the best corporate dresser. I've only ever worked in one "business" environment, and it was so early on in my fashion career that I didn't care much about what I was wearing.

My jobs since then have been casual enough that I wear there what I wear on a day-to-day basis, and I no longer have any professional pieces to speak of. With graduation only 2 years away and the potential of interesting design interviews looming, who better to light my torch into corporate fashion than Liz?

Plus, she has an adorable but simple blog layout that is the proverbial cherry on top.

This post is in participation of 31 Blogging Days of May, hosted by Blue Collar Catwalk.

3 Years

On May 1st, my boyfriend Frank and I celebrated our 3-year anniversary. We had a mellow night, eating dinner at Olive Garden and watching Mystery Science Theater 3000 before bed. Not particularly exciting, but a testament with the comfortable and compatible relationship we have together. We may not have much right now, but his helpfulness and loyalty means more to me than anything.

Happy Anniversary, my Frankenstein.

Day 2: Your Body + Your Clothes / Design Refined

One of my goals in daily dressing is to accentuate the good of my body and try to compensate for the "not-so-good". IE: focus on my curves while taking away from my pudgier parts and in particular, my stomach.

This is one of my favorite outfits that makes me feel both like a creative boss lady and like a curvy vixen. I wear this outfit with varying amounts of jewelry but almost always with my black sandals. I like the artistic professionalism and how the neckline accents my chest without me having to show off the goods.

Showing off the goods and Lilo being so excited about being able to sniff my shoe.

I am happy with the shapes of my body and I love my structure, but definitely want to refine it. Though I feel like I am far from my goal body, I want my clothes and my body to work harmoniously together to make me feel as good as I can, without denying how I am shaped or how clothes fall across my curves.

Or, I can choose to just fly away.

And, as always, the outtake: I call this one "seriousface.jpg".

Necklace  Avon | Bracelets  H&M + Boutique

Dress  Thifted (Vintage?) | Cardigan (?) Thrifted, Vintage

Shoes  Kmart (surprisingly adorable shoes for great prices and in bigger sizes!)

This post is in participation of 31 Blogging Days of May, hosted by Blue Collar Catwalk.

A Self Portrait

"So busy you feel like you can shoot lasers from your eyes". - Uknown*

*Not an actual quote.

Day 1: A Style Retrospective

I am joining Blue Collar Catwalk for her 31 Blogging Days of May project.

Today's theme is a style retrospective, so I decided to pluck a few older photos off of my social networking sites and talk about how until now, I didn't have much direction in the style department.

Having been plus sized since age 12 and up, it has been hard for me to feel like I am wearing what I *really* want to wear. Most of my purchases until late have been more about "what fit", and even then, I wasn't happy all of the time.

Age 15 or so, I was wearing lots of unflattering cargo shorts with tank tops and jackets to cover myself. 

Age 16, on a trip in the Keys, not aware of my ability to style much and wearing a simple rotation of shirts and pants.

Age 19, getting a little more exploratory with my outfits but not quite refined.

Age 19 (or so), getting a little better at finding what works for me. Also, my top matches my braces! (Fun fact: I had braces for 10 years.)

Age 20, spending a weekend in Maryland and trying new combinations but still needing to figure out the finer points of styling.

While I am actively trying to get to a more comfortable size, looking at these photos makes me want to work even harder to be conscious of how I display myself.

Next to having almost every hair color in the book, I had been pretty spotty about the type of outfits I put together, laziness overcoming most of the time.

I'll admit that even now, I am not as style-conscious as some of my friends, but I do believe that I have found a passion and talent for outfits as of late.

I look forward to seeing my own style transform through the years.