Left Behind: The Dressing Room Edition

I was late on the smart phone wagon. I refused for a really long time and it wasn't until the mobile I had for 6 years crapped out on me that I begrudgingly got an iPhone. Luckily, my folk's plan had a deal where they were just 99¢ so that made it easier. Now, I find myself using the camera all the time and it's really helpful, especially while in the dressing room. Being able to take a quick little snap of an article of clothing that I'm trying on gives me a slightly different perspective, that more often than not, becomes the deciding factor of whether it will be coming home with me.

On a recent trip to Old Navy, I was having a difficult time negotiating the sales rack and my handy little phone camera made all the difference. Here are some photos I took from the dressing room of the pieces that got left behind.

Left Behind #1: Pink Tropical Style Dress
This one was just not my style. The color was nice, but I'm not really a fan of bright pink and this type of flower. I felt like it didn't fit my personality, so it stayed at the shop.

Left Behind #2:  Paisley Button-Up with Chambray Skirt
These two pieces together looked way too fundamentalist for me, if that makes sense. That being said, I bought this top in a different color. The skirt was from Old Navy Plus and had been returned to the store, so I was excited to see it, but the fit was off. It was also too big, which didn't help, but again, it just didn't work. I am considering ordering the skirt online in the correct size, because I think if it was paired with a simple tank, it would look great.

Left Behind #3: Painterly Stripe Dress
Ugh, this one was tough, as you can probably see by the look of frustration on my face. This is the 3rd time I've been in to try this dress on. This time the dress was marked down to $14, but I still could not commit to it. Sure it fit great, but it just left me feeling 'meh' every time. When I see the photo I like it, but when I'm actually wearing it I'm completely indifferent, which to me answers the question of whether or not I should get it. After quite a bit of thought it was left behind.

I also have to keep in mind that just because it fits doesn't mean I have to buy it. I'm a plus size gal, obviously, but Old Navy's straight sizing is such that I can sometimes wear their dresses depending on how they are cut, but not always. I'd actually say there are far more times that I can't wear them than I can. So, when I come across a dress that fits, I find myself often jumping on the chance to buy it just because it fits. Rebecca over at the Plus Side of Me, did a great post on this very topic that I highly recommend.

Do you ever take photos of yourself in the dressing room to help make decisions about what to purchase? If so does it make a difference in your opinion?

Smoothie Time

I wanted to take a slight departure from my normal post and share one of my favorite smoothie recipes. Technically it's not so much a recipe as it is me just throwing a bunch of things into the blender, but you get the point.

The Strawberry Peach Banana Smoothie

You will need...

Frozen or fresh

• Strawberries
• Bananas
• Peaches

• Orange Juice

• A small pot of Blueberry Yogurt

On a side note, I've left the quantity of fruit open. This is going to be personal to your taste, as you may want more of one fruit than the other.

As much as I love fresh fruit, when I make smoothies I always go for frozen. For me it's a textural thing. Since the fruit is already frozen it's nice and cold without having to add ice. Also, it's cheaper and I can get my most loved fruits all season.

Step 1:

Chop up all or your fresh fruit and put into the blender. If you are using frozen fruit, make sure that you've allowed your fruit time to thaw, (1-2hrs so it's still very cold but not rock hard) and add contents of the small bag to the blender.

Step 2:

Pour in orange juice and add the entire small pot of blueberry yogurt. The orange juice will add a nice citrus flavor and help move the fruit around the blades.

Step 3:

Blend until you reach your desired consistency.

Step 4:

Pour out and enjoy!

This is the first time I've ever used yogurt in my smoothies. I've always been just a fruit and juice gal, but this time I decided to experiment and I have to say I was very pleased with the results.

A Photo an Hour

I have been wanting to do the whole photo an hour thing for quite some time, so on Wednesday I decided to do it with Instagram photos. So this is what April 18th looked like for me...

 9:00am 

Wake up for work. 

That's my toy beaver Edith, in case you were wondering.

10:00am 

Penny goes out for her morning walk.

 11:00am 

At the museum for work on a lovely late morning.

12:00pm 

The view from my chair.

1:00pm 

Inside the museum

2:00pm 

Taking a reading break.

3:00pm 

Leaving work early to teach art.

4:00pm 

After school art dioramas in progress

5:00pm 

Wonderful colors at the grocery store

6:00pm 

Dinner

7:00pm
Lounging on the couch for a quiet night.

I really enjoyed doing the photo an hour post and think I will be doing it more, maybe once a month or so. I also like that I've been sharing my Instagram photos more often. I got the app back in December, but just recently started posting the photos to my blog a couple of months ago and I really like doing so. Hope y'all enjoyed it.

Where's the Basement?

Yesterday, my dad and I decided to get out of Austin for a day and head to San Antonio. Even though it's only about an hour and a half away I hadn't been since I was 13. It was such a lovely day with cool crisp weather and lots of clouds. A perfect way to spend a Monday. Plus, San Antonio is a really beautiful city. The downtown area is super walkable and the historic buildings are gorgeous. The museum where I work is the home of an Alamo survivor, so it was kind of imperative that we visit the Alamo. Going on a Monday was great too, because there were very few people, so no lines or crowds. In fact, all of downtown was like that. It's pretty touristy down there, so we hit went on a great day.

I did have a chance to do a little outfit photo. Nothing too fancy. My dad kept giving me hard time about him having to take photos of me in front of various things, which became the joke of the day. He did a good job though, so maybe if he was worse at it he'd be let off the hook! As a heads up, most of these photos are from Instagram. I didn't want to lug around my big camera all day. That being said, I don't think they came out too badly for being phone photos.

OOTD Details:

Top: Old Navy (years ago)
Cardigan: Target
Shorts: Cut off Baggy Jeggings from Avenue

Schilo's had the best homemade root beer I have EVER had. Photo worthy!

Such a great day! I wish I could spend every Monday taking little road trip adventures!

Feathers and Flowers

After my huge disappointment with the ASOS halter dress, I was left with an empty feeling for the perfect summer dress. Luckily, I had been keeping my eye on all of the Spring sales and figured I could probably catch a better deal and a much better dress and I did. Old Navy (ON) was doing an "All dresses for $25.oo" sale a few weeks back, so I popped into our local shop. I found quite a few cute pieces, but none that really grabbed me. I had seen an ON dress I loved on two bloggers, Kristin Marie & Dani of DIY Fatshion but just couldn't find it in the shop. As y'all know with ON sizing being all over the place I was a little hesitant to just order it without first trying it on, because I was feeling a bit gun-shy after the disappointment over the last dress return. With this dress being from the straight size range however, I figured I could always just return it back to the store as opposed to having to post it.

I'm really glad I took the chance, because it fits wonderfully. It's light weight and super soft making it the perfect summer dress. It not only will be great for little summer adventures, but also for work. I wanted to get the ivory color, but they were out of my size at the time, so I opted for the blue, which for me is a little harder to style, but I think it works nicely with some of my more neutral cardigans. Also, I have nothing this color in my closet, so it's a nice addition.

The size I ordered is an XXL which works just fine for my wide hips with room to spare. I have read through a lot of the reviews that the top of the dress can be quite restricting to ladies with larger busts. I'm a solid ~D~ and I do just fine, but if you are a larger cup size it's something you may want to consider. Also, the back of the dress is smocked so that may help out.

OOTD Details:

Dress: Old Navy
Cardigan: Old Navy (10+ years ago)
Leggings: Target

I'm sure you noticed from the photos that after a day of wear, the dress wrinkles, but oh well, it's not that big of deal. It's super comfortable and just might be my new favorite dress!

Working on the Weekends

Some people work for the weekends, I work on the weekends. My work at the museum takes my weekends away from me, which I usually don't mind, but every now and again I miss something that I love. Once again I missed another Round Top Round Up Antique Fair. I thought the museum was going to be closed seeing that it was Easter and all, but apparently our city doesn't recognize the holiday so we were open. We were pretty much the only thing open in fact, and not one person stopped by for a visit. So I spent my day reading and posting photos to Instagram.

My parents however, did go to the antiques fair and apparently had a great time. In true fashion of how wonderful they are, they surprised me with a little "Sorry you couldn't make it" gift, a beautiful 1923-1927 (s/n too worn off to be more exact) Underwood Typewriter! I've slowly been collecting typewriters and want one from every decade from 1910-1960. So far I have the 20s, 50s, and 60s covered, so now I'm half way there.

The best part about this huge, extremely heavy, beast of a machine is that it still works! The ribbons are a bit worn out, so I'm going to buy new ones, but other than that everything is just perfect!