Disappointing Dress

Hello Ladies. A few weeks ago I ordered what I thought was a super cute cotton halter dress from Asos. I was so excited when the delivery man knocked on my door. But, boy was I disappointed when I tried it on. Nothing about it was right, the color, the length, the size, everything was off. This is the first time this has happened to me with ASOS. In fact, I wasn't even going to post about this, but Molly from Molly Pocket left a comment on a previous post of mine in regards to the fit of ASOS dresses, so I thought I'd bring this dress up in a post, (generally I'll never post on a dress I know I'm not going to keep). I usually only order cotton dresses from ASOS and they have always been the correct size and fit well. Now, if I order dresses from polyester of viscose material they're usually a bit big, a bit tight, or just fine, but never off so much that I've had to send one back. In fact, this will be my first ever ASOS return.

This is getting wordy, so I'll cut to the chase, has anyone noticed a change in ASOS sizing recently or is it just me? I know that I have lost a bit of weight because of my migraine medication, but my other dresses still fit just fine, so I don't think that's it. Also, has anyone else ordered this particular dress and had similar problems. I'm really on the fence about ordering a different size and color, because I can't tell if the reason I don't like this dress is just because it's too big, or if even if it was the correct size it wouldn't fit my body.

I guess what irritates me most about this dress is how it was supposed to emphasize my shape, but instead it makes me look boxy, hides my curves, and widens my waist, which still has me guessing as to how that could have done. Ugh, the whole thing was such a let down!

I'm really interested in your feedback regarding ASOS sizing. Oh and if you've ever had to return an item to them before how was your experience? This is my first time so your information will be super helpful!

10 Years & 4 Years

Yesterday, my husband & I celebrated our 10th year as a couple and our 4th wedding anniversary. 10 years together! I cannot believe that it's been that long. That number makes me feel old! Last year I did a pretty in depth post on how my husband and I met, so I won't go into it this time, but I will say we've gone through quite a few ups and downs over our 10 years and I expect there will be many more. No relationship is perfect and ours definitely isn't, but I think what makes it work is that we both independent people with a lot of give and take which is so important. Plus, and this is probably the most important part, he puts up with my weird quirks, like making up new words to well known songs and singing to our dog, constantly. Anyhoo, here's to 10 more years.

I had to work yesterday so Nathan & I celebrated our anniversary on Monday. It was a really lovely day. We headed out to one of my favorite little small towns where we ate bar-b-q, shopped around some of the little antique shops, & just kind of wandered around. It was a really lovely day. I didn't get a lot of photos but I did get a few.

Nathan & I

Bar-b-que restaurant

Tasty bar-b-que

Beautiful cash register in the restaurant 

We also picked up a couple of things at one of the little antique shops. My husband spotted the sweet little rocking chair and I grabbed the metal rooster tray.

Cemetery Day

Yesterday my job sent me out to represent our museum at a local event put on by Save Our Cemeteries. It was such a wonderful event filled with local historical crafts, storytellers, a representatives from local historical societies and groups. I had such a blast meeting everyone and making some great connections. The weather was also just perfect. The day started out overcast, but by the evening it was sunny and around 85˚F. I really hope if there's another event like it they send me out, because I just adore events like this and cemeteries are some of my favorite spots on earth. I took a bunch of photos as well as an OOTD, so here we go!

OOTD Details:

Dress: Asos
Cardigan: Target
Belt: Torrid
Brooch: Vintage

Photos from the event...

My booth for our museum

Buffalo Soldiers Display

I really wanted to get better photos of the Buffalo Soldiers because their display was amazing. However, they were really popular, which was great, but it made it super difficult to get a good photo without all of the people, so unfortunately the only one I could get was from a distance. Their uniforms were beautifully detailed as was everything with their display and I hate that I couldn't get closer!

Traditional Woodworker

Blacksmith

Handmade Lace

As we were packing up I got a chance to speak with one of the women making lace. We were in the same tent and I had been in awe of her all day. She was kind enough to let me take photos of her process and my goodness I can't even fathom how intricate of a process it is. The photos do not do it justice!

All in all it was a super fun day for a history geek like myself!

What a Week

Hello folks. Well, I had one hell of a week. My best friend and his partner came to visit from London and it was so much fun. I hadn't seen him since I moved back 2 years ago! As I had expected, it was like no time had passed at all. Time went by way too quickly and I am once again back to missing him so very much. However, even though it went by lightning fast, I'm glad that it happened and that I just got to hug him and sit and chat with him again. I felt like such a proud momma too. He's become so successful with his paintings, something that is so deserved because the boy is talented. There was a lot of catching up and loveliness that I just can't describe. He's one of those people that just makes me feel sane, if that makes sense. I took a few photos while he was here and I thought I'd share them with y'all.

We went to the carnival

Love a good sideshow.

One of the many wonderful things about having a best friend like Nick is our mutual love of John Waters, so this photo was kind of a must.

Major Clean

My best friend and his partner are arriving within the next hour and I am so very excited! I haven't seen him since I moved from London, (2 years ago!) and he's now become a successful painter and we have so much to catch up on. I've been going insane this past week preparing for their arrival. So much so my husband has been trying to get me to just relax. He even found my favorite old facial mask that I also haven't seen since I moved from London. Last night I came to the realization that it doesn't matter if our house looks perfect, because that's not the point, spending time with my best friend is. Today, I decided to use my face mask and paint my nails, the usual girly stuff that takes the edge off and it worked. Now, everything is drying while the candles are making the house smell nice and less like dog and I'm just keeping my eye on the clock.

I did get some photos of my face mask to share though, cause I thought y'all enjoy it!

 

I love this stuff. It smells so nice and your skin feels amazing afterwards. Not to mention, after being so high strung like I was, it was exactly what I needed to relax. 

Shorts or Jorts?

Sun! This past weekend has been so cold and rainy that I happy when the sun came out yesterday, but also glad we got a lot of rain. With our horrible drought, you won't hear Texans complaining about rain! The sun did give me a chance to bust out my shorts which I have been so excited to do! I've had these particular shorts in my closet for years, but they've been too tight for a while. However, since my medication has caused my weight to change, I discovered recently that they actually fit, so I'm glad that I kept them. I've also found the same to be true with a few other pair of jeans, which I have also turned into shorts. Let's just say I'm excited for spring/early summer.

OOTD Details:

Top: Old Navy
Shorts: LB (years ago)
Shoes: Walgreen's

I mentioned a while back, in a previous post about my other bat wing shirt, that I ordered another one because I was so happy with the first one. My previous one I bought in a smaller size, but this one is my actual size. Now that I have both, I definitely prefer the smaller size. The top is over sized anyway and I've just never liked super loose fitting tops, unless I'm sleeping in them. However, I love the colors in this top so much, not to mention I am a bat wing shirt convert, so the size doesn't really matter.

Polka Dots

I hope everyone is having a glorious beginning of March. The weather in my part of Texas has been pretty nice with the cool spring mornings and lovely sunny afternoons. Not too much has been happening in my area lately. I am getting prepared to welcome my very best friend in town for a visit. I haven't seen him since I moved from London 2 years ago and I'm just thrilled to see him. I've been furiously planning activities for us to do and I'm getting really excited as he'll be here in a week, but more about that later!

On to today's outfit. You may remember a similar dress like this from a previous post. Well, this is the same dress with a different print. I found it a few weeks ago in the clearance section and picked it up for $10, which was a pretty good deal. I have to say, I don't like it as much as the the other print, but it's a great dress for work and I'm always looking for work clothes.

OOTD Details:

Dress: Old Navy
Cardigan: Old Navy
Leggings: Old Navy
Shoes: Patagonia

It's amazing how two of the same dresses can fit in completely different ways, but I definitely like the fit of the red version of this dress better.

Zig Zag

I made my very first purchase from New Look's Inspire line and I'm completely torn about it. I'll start off by saying that the reason falls down to my lack of familiarity with the brand and their sizing. When I saw this dress on their website I LOVED it, and I have to say I still adore the print. For me however, it comes down to how it fits my body. When I saw it on the website, they only had 2 sizes left, UK16 and UK24, so I chose UK24, which come to find out was very very wrong. It's just way too big all over, which I found kind of surprising, because I thought it might be a little big, but I didn't know it was going to be way too big. The one thing I hate to do is return clothes overseas, so I think I may take it to a tailor and get it taken in, all over. I also still LOVE the pattern and rarely see this print in plus sizes which is such a shame. I still kick myself for missing out on the red and black chevron print dress that came out in the Beth Ditto Collection for Evans a few years back, so I think maybe this purchase was my attempt to make up for it.

OOTD Details:

Dress: New Look Inspire
Cardigan: Target
Leggings: Old Navy
Shoes: Patagonia

You can probably tell by these photos how it just doesn't fit correctly. The smocked waist doesn't even come close to being fitted or pulling in the dress at all and like I said that isn't the fault of the dress, it's just the wrong size. I'm really hoping that I can find someone who can take it in basically all over and hem it up by about 3-4 inches. On the website it listed it as tunic length, but as you can see, I'm 6ft tall and it hits me at the knees, so I would definitely like it to be shorter.

PLUS Model Magazine

Hello Ladies! I meant to do this post yesterday, but time slipped away from me. The museum where I work has been in the process of changing out exhibits and this past week has been crazy, so my blog has suffered a bit. Apologies!

Anyhoo, a couple of weeks ago, the beautiful Natalie Monet of PLUS Model Magazine contacted me about using a photograph from my blog for their blog's "Fashion Friday". Of course I said yes and jumped at the opportunity. So, I  just wanted to share the link with y'all so you could go check it out and see some of the other lovely ladies featured yesterday!

Here's the photo they used

 You can visit the Fashion Friday blog feature HERE!

GREEN!

Hello hello! I thought I'd do another post about one of the items I've had sitting my closet that I've been meaning to do a post about, but hadn't had a chance. This particular dress I bought back in December for only $7.oo marked down from $45. Frankly, I don't think it was ever worth that much to begin with. It's one of those dresses that in hindsight I'm not really sure was even worth the $7.oo. I LOVE the color, which is what drew me to it, but the fabric feels rather cheap and kind of slip like. Not to mention the ruffles on the side are oddly placed and make me feel like an axolotl. I may end up wearing it as just a top instead. I don't know, I haven't really worn this dress, in fact it still has the tag on it. I bought it with a gift card and I guess for $7.oo I should be a bit less critical. What do y'all think?

I do like this color combination

OOTD Details:

Dress: Old Navy
Cardigan: Old Navy
Necklace: Old Navy
Shoes: Patagonia

This is one of those outfits I like in theory, but I'm just on the fence about. The colors are great, but hmmm, I just don't know. Opinions are always welcome!