You know how it feels when you have things planned out to perfection in your head and then suddenly everything just sort of falls apart? Yeah…THAT! I thought I would have so much time after work to pretty myself up some and well, no! I closed the cafe at 2, headed across the street for a trim and then my wonderful and lovely friend let me borrow a vest for my outfit of awesome. By the time I got home? I had like 30 minutes to shower and get ready. Ack!

My Avenue tights of such high expectations ended up not even going past my thighs (I got a size E for fuck’s sake!) and so that sort of threw me off, too. Luckily my Avenue boots worked out okay. I say okay because they did fit and look great, but because the ankles were so very loose the entire boot ended up scrunched down around my ankles. My husband said they looked fine this way, but they left my ankles sore from the added pressure I guess. I am considering having the ankles taken in somewhere and maybe adjusting the top lacing bit. Oh, yeah…I bought these boots in black. And they fit my 19″ calves! It took a bit of patience and my husband was kind enough to work out the lacing in the back once they were on so that they looked nice (I seriously cannot do it when they’re on and sort of need them completely loosened to zip up the side zipper). In the end I’m glad I bought them, but they’re not my dream boots of radical awesomeness.

So yeah, my outfit didn’t turn out as planned. Also because the vest I had dyed didn’t take the black dye completely. It will require another dye job. *sigh* It’s a lot of work dying stuff, I had no idea. C’est la vie! I made the best of it and while I didn’t have time for the cute eye liner I wanted to do I did dig out my fave glittery eye shadows! Ha! We headed to Oakland for dinner and the Big Moves show.

Dinner was weird. I mean, the food was great (a bit pricey for my taste though) but the bar was closed (transferring their license apparently) and then we had to wait for them to process our bill forever! It wasn’t packed or anything either. In fact it was down right dead. So we ended up being a bit late for the show. We still made it in time to see the show start, but I of course had wanted to mingle and chat with fats. Again, oh well. I did run into two fab ladies that I knew. And the show was good. Not great? No. You see, my two BFFs and I had attended the Go Big or Go Home show a couple months ago and the Fat Fly Girls basically performed numbers from that show, plus one new one (unless I’m wrong). But the belly dancers were lovely and Vicadonia was fabulous as always. I did enjoy it, but the set up was a bit weird because we were sitting at tables instead of auditorium style. Also a lot of the dancing was on the floor level and not on stage so it could be hard to see at times. It was nice to expose my other friends to fat positive things. And the chocolate was Killer! Ha!

After the show half of my group headed home as they had work in the morning. The rest of us hit up a local tea shop to chill out, chat and sip teas! It was nice talking to these two wonderful ladies whom I had grown up with. Yep, we’ve known each other for over twenty years which seems crazy, but they’re rad! Definitely need to do that more often! Before we left, they took this pic of my outfit (pay no attention to my cheesey smile):

As it was cold and wet I did have to wear my Avenue Trench/Raincoat (from 3 years ago, sorry) but the t-shirt was Avenue $9.96! (The t-shirt was dove grey with black and silver glittery beading on it.) The vest was borrowed, but from Torrid and the skirt was a tube dress from Target clearance last year for $4! The clutch is actually Avenue, too. The the necklace says FAT in Fame-like lettering that I got on Etsy for $10! Sorry, it doesn’t show the boots on me.

And this lovely lady was in the display window of the antique shop we took my pic in front of.
Just thought she was cool:

All in all it was good fun. Plan or no, I enjoyed spending time with my fave peeps and seeing a big fat show to celebrate my birthday instead of a party! Ha!

Today actually is my birthday. I don’t like to have a fuss made over me because of it and so I don’t have that on my Facebook at all. I was surprised that my business neighbor bought me a gorgeous balloon bouquet of blue stars and rainbow-heart butterflies (how did he know me so well?) and a card and a happy birthday banner…my customers keep asking who’s birthday or how long ago my birthday was. Ha! When I say it’s mine, today, they just look confused. I just hate fake or obligatory greetings/offerings/etc. I feel like the people who should know do and that is that. I am so very grateful for all that I have and wouldn’t change it for anything. Please don’t take offense, it’s not a big deal for me anyway.

I’m not yet sure I’ll be celebrating it today at all. Saturday was the true celebration. I may have some wine or something. I may go to karaoke and get faced…I don’t know. Today feels weird to me for other reasons, too. Just not feeling like my bubbly self. Woke up too early from a night of fitful sleeping. Woke up the puppy by going to the bathroom at 5am and thus my husband got up to walk him and seemed fairly grumpy by the time I saw him after my shower. A friend asked if he had anything planned for me tonight and I was taken aback by that. Not sure why. I guess because, well, I love my husband and think the world of him, but I also think he’s going through something internally right now and isn’t ready to come out of his shell. In other words: No. I doubt he’s planning a thing and that’s fine. Ha-ha!

<3
S

I am a subscriber to Entertainment Weekly. I don’t read any of the usual celebrity gossip mags, but this one I feel covers a lot of bases, is short & simple and keeps me in the loop in the entertainment world. I usually get quite a kick out of it. However, this last week’s issue? Not so much. You see, there was a little blip/sideline at the bottom of  a page in the TV section talking about dream t.v. show crossovers. Several shows were mentioned, but of course my eyes were drawn to the only two shows listed that I actually watch: The Big Bang Theory (LOVE this show & still crush hard on Johnny Galeki) and Mike & Molly, which I know is overall a terrible show that perpetuates a lot of dieting myths and fat hate, but I like Melissa McCarthy so friggin’ much it’s hard not to watch it. Ugh! But this little sidebar dream crossover thing? Well, the first two shows mentioned were these two shows! The problem? Their dream crossover plot: “While Mike & Molly are visiting Molly’s pal Penny at The Cheesecake Factory and run into Leonard, Raj, Howard & Sheldon who offer to devise a sciencey way for them to eat unlimited desserts without gaining weight. Fortunately Sheldon’s grueling battery of tests causes Mike & Molly so much stress they wind up losing their appetites forever.”

WTF?! Really, E.W.? That’s your dream crossover plot? UGH! Those two shows don’t even exist on the same plane. BBT is by far the better show and certainly the character of Sheldon would not give a flying leap about weight loss or dieting much less helping a specific person. Ridiculous! And? Fat hating! DOY!

**Also, a big fat BOO! to The Big Bang Theory! When the guys were at the comic store in yesterday’s episode, Leonard asks Stuart, the store’s owner (played by Kevin Sussman) if he has a girlfriend, to which he says yes but then goes on to say, “She’s horrible. When she wants to have sex, she puts on her plus sized Wonder Woman costume, and asks who wants to ride her invisible plane.” UGH! Really? We never see this girlfriend or hear anything else about her looks, so why throw in the plus size reference? I know it’s not a major offense, but it is pointless and adds nothing to the story/character/plot at all.

After seeing a post yesterday on Adipositivity, I grew very excited for last night’s episode of 30 Rock, a fave show for sure! And I was not disappointed! The gal in question, Jen Ponton, was great as the Carvel Cashier who gets fired for giving cash to Kenneth for returning “misspelled” cakes (it was an intentional grift job). Well, watch for yourself, here’s the ep:

I get this catalog from a company called “Solutions” you may have even read some posts about it or their products on this blog before (before it was a dedicated Fat Acceptance blog, that is).I discovered something called a “bra liner” and the catalog carried Pambra’s version and seemed to have some good reviews. Well, being the “bargain huntress” that I am, I just couldn’t bring myself to pay retail for them. But I knew I needed something!!! You see, I believe I have Hidradenitis. Though I have not been diagnosed with it, it often gets misdiagnosed anyway, after finding others on Fatshionista and later someone started a LiveJournal Community specifically for those with it, I soon realized that that was exactly what I had. I had assumed I simply had “sensitive skin” or heat rashes. When it gets hotter it gets worse, too. UGH! And that means painful bumps along my bra line. Terrible stuff, let me tell ya!

So I headed to eBay, my fave place for open market bargaining! I bought a 3-pack of bra liners and couldn’t wait for relief! When they arrived I tried them and while they were a bit awkward at first, I did like using them. Only, after running them through the washer & dryer? They became misshapen and unusable unless I wanted to hand wash, dry flat or even possibly have to iron them. UGH! No thanks! So, when I saw another blogger giving rave reviews over the Pambra’s liners I was quick to comment with my dissatisfaction. I was contacted by Pambra that same day (and my comment quickly disappeared). Turns out, I had purchased an impostor! They offered to send me one bran and one tummy liner to try out.

Bra liner                        Tummy Liner Illustration

I received them and you know what? They were 10 times better than the impostors. Ha-ha! Go figure. But I can assure you, personally, that I gave it the old washer & dryer test (I iron no clothes!) and they came out perfectly fine! I have worn the bra liner a few times and still enjoy it. It takes a bit of coordination to get it on at first, but then it stays put all day! Nice! I only tried the tummy liner once because the weather has gotten colder and colder lately and I haven’t needed it, but it fit nicely in place (read how to measure on the site as I didn’t and had to remeasure) and I didn’t think about it much while wearing it. Cotton and comfy!

My lesson in this? Sometimes, it’s just better to pay retail up-front than end up with impostor products that simply don’t do the job of the original! Hard lesson, learned! This bargain huntress thinks the Pambra’s Bra Liners are perfect!

*I was not paid to review these products, though I was given a free sample (1 of each).
The above is an absolutely, 100% honest review.

You may recall in my this post that I’ve been struggling for over two years to find some knee high boots for my fat calves. Thanks to a commenter kimstrauss I had ordered these boots from Lane Bryant: http://bit.ly/cY237m which I had shipped to my local store (free shipping this way) and what do you know? The measurements on the site? Not accurate. Well…okay, I ordered an 8W. I always wear 8W in shoes, unless it’s a generally wider shoe, like my beloved Keens. The boots were way too big in the foot and ankle while the calf, though the elastic would have you believe there’s give and then some, were too small. In fact I could only get them zipped half way up and even that was with some serious work!

So my search continues. Finding a boot with a 20″ calf and 8w shoe size? I’m thinking it’s nearly impossible at this point. I have scoured the interwebz and frankly, I’m sick of searching. I still long for lovely shit-kickers that I can pair with cute dresses (ahhh, my grunge days), but for now I think I will just wait and see what other fats post on Fatshionista (on Livejournal.com) or other blogs. I had such high hopes for those LB boots. I must admit though that they were very cheaply made as the part that connects the foot part to the upper leg part seemed glued together shoddily. Just sayin’! This was the same issue I had with Avenue’s boots last year, couldn’t zip ’em up and even if they had fit? They were so cheaply made they wouldn’t have lasted one night of dancing.

My friend Carmen still holds hope for my boot lust. She insists that there must be a way…and there is, but I cannot afford more than $100 right now. I can’t afford even that but I can make it work at least. No, my patience will be tested again and I will gaze greenly at the other ladies of the world happily sauntering around in their gorgeous boots of awesome.

What was interesting was chatting with the sales gal at LB about my boot ventures and Fat Acceptance. She seemed so confused about retailers not responding to what is an obvious demand by consumers. I laughed at this, hard! Luckily she’s in nursing school and won’t have to be stuck in retail for long. She was sweet. Part of me misses that naivete, but then again? That was before I found FA, so no thanks.

Have you found mad-rad boots? Let me know all about it!