Casual Weekends...

Happy weekend!! I know there are folks out there who don't care about weekends because either they work straight through them and have other days off throughout the week, or their are people who work for themselves, so they're always working. Not the case for me. I have a 9-5 (well, really a 7:30-4pm), and it's Monday - Friday. I can't stress enough how much I cherish weekends.

I do as little as I want, or as much as I can squeeze in (usually the latter). I spend time at home, in my yard, with my family, eating good food, having a drank, just lounging. You know. Whatever. 

Anyhoo, on to the OOTD. I wore this on Mother's Day. Oh Lawd! Where are my manners?! Even though I'm a week late, I hope that you all enjoyed Mother's Day. No matter if you're a mother, or if you know a mother, I hope you had a lovely day. Now, on to the OOTD.

I'm all about this dress! It's made from jersey fabric, and I can't even tell you how comfy it is. It's fairly shapeless, and I purchased it a size too big (on purpose) to achieve this look. My normal style is casual and cool.  I like to throw on an outfit and go. No shapers, no Spanx, no fuss.

I can't remember if I have shown my cute little boat shoes on the blog before. I've had them for quite a few years. They were originally purchased for my daughter, but she didn't like them. I was actually happy that she didn't because that meant they were ALL MINE! Score!

I recently read a blog post that listed Coach purses/bags as a terrible trend that needed to never come back again. I'm not sure how many feel that way, and I guess I'm hard pressed to say that I care. I love my bag(s) and I will rock them until the wheels fall off. Being that I have been buying and wearing them since I was a teenager, it's not a trend for me. My mother and aunts all wore Coach, and as a kid I can remember wanting all of their bags. So for me, it's COACH TILL THE WORLD BLOW UP!!! (not everyone will get that gang reference, and I'm cool with that, Ha!)

Until next time...

Denim Jacket - Rue 21

Dress - Target

Bag - Coach

Shoes - JC Penny

Weekend/Winter Flow...

The weekend is coming to a close, and we're also coming up on the last week in February. While I'm sad to see the weekend go per usual, I'm happy that the Winter months are going by. From what I gather, this Winter has been a pain in the you know what for quite a few states that don't normally have too may issues. I'm sure we all saw the icy happenings in Georgia, Mississippi, and a few other southern states. Well this Winter hasn't taken it easy on us here in Minnesota either. Our schools have closed for a record number of days this year due to the snowfall, and/or sub-zero temps. And more importantly, it's hard to get your "cute on", and head outside to take pictures in these conditions! lol!

OAN: Please excuse the salt on the ground. It's imperative that we use salt to melt the ice on our stairs in hopes of preventing folks from falling down and suing the pants off of us. Can't have that now can we?

Alas, my daughter and I braved the wind, and stepped outside my front door to snap a few, then literally run back inside. I look a little crazy because it's hard to genuinely smile when it feels like the wind has a vendetta against you.

I decided to take my plain old black (strapless) body-con dress, and make it casual by wearing a denim jacket, and my cute little boots that I picked up from on sale for $10 at Sears. There was a BOGO half off clearance sale, and I was happy that I came across these.

Until next time...

Denim Jacket - Rue 21
Dress - H&M
Belt - Target
Boots - Sears

I Got a Secret...

Hey peeps!! As the weekend ends, I'm lounging in sweats, a t-shirt and socks. Minnesota weather is quickly turning to Fall, and we're at a cool 50 degrees and rainy, with no signs over summer left. I haven't left my house all day, and I make no apologies for it. I see most of my Instagram & blogger buddies wishing for Fall weather around their way. You ladies should come to Minnesota, we have all the chill in the air that you need :)

This was a work outfit from about a week ago. It was around 70 degrees and sunny. That's the perfect Fall day for me. I got to pull out my favorite knee boots and a cute scarf for a pop of color.

Wanna know a little something about this dress? It's from Target. Wanna know something else? It's from the maternity section. Yea. I said it. The Maternity Section. 

So there I am. Perusing the Target clearance isles, per usual. I came across this cute little striped number for $8.97. It was two of my favorite things. Striped and cheap. I took it in the dressing room and tried it on. It fit!! I looked at the tag again before going to the register, just to make sure that I counted all of my items correctly… and that's when I saw it. MATERNITY. o_O

Say what now? Maternity?! I was ready to put it back. I was so mad. I couldn't imagine that I would wear a maternity dress without actually being pregnant. I'm not sure why, but I just couldn't. It made me feel some type of way :/ Then I remembered a post from one of the first plus sized bloggers that I "followed". Ever so stylish GabiFresh blogged about a super cute dress that she wore from the maternity section of ASOS. Then, I thought… Why not? Because it sounded bad for me to be able to fit a maternity dress.

My next thoughts were, it's cute, and I look good in it, so I bought it and wore it. POW!!

Until next time…

Jacket - Rue 21

Dress - Target (Maternity Section)

Scarf - Target

Boots - Target

BLMGetFit…Challenge

Hey peeps!! As usual, I hope you all enjoyed your weekend. This is kind of long, so... don't say I didn't warn you :)

I'm sooooo excited about this post! As you all know, I have been workin on my fitness a lil bit lately. Well, I have teamed up with some fabulous ladies from a blogger group (of which I am a member) called Bloggers Like Me in hopes to step my efforts up a notch or two.

If you don't know about Bloggers Like Me, it was started by the fabulous Leslie Hendricks Young of Fashion du Jour Daily. The group includes all kinds of blogging divas from diverse genres of the blogosphere. At this time, it is a closed FaceBook group, so if you have a FB page, feel free to click the link and request to be a member. You won't regret it (tell'em I sent ya!). The support and information that is shared amongst the ladies is priceless. **Side note** Women ONLY =D

Ok, so I went off on a little tangent, but I'm back now. Today kicks off our 3 month long #BLMGetFit challenge (the button below leads to the BLM FB Fan Page, which is open to everyone)!! I'm co-hosting the challenge with Britton of My Big, Beautiful Life, Dee Dee of Miss Foodie Fab & Beatrice Clay of Inspired by Beatrice Clay. Quite a few of us have decided to pay an entry fee of $10, and whoever loses the largest percentage of bodyfat wins the pot!! Isn't that cool!? Our Challenge is sponsored by Michelle at Eat Style Play, who will be offering products and services from Beach Body Coach, to be included in our grand prize package.

Because 3 months is a long time, we've incorporated smaller weekly Instagram & Twitter challenges to keep us motivated. This weeks challenge is #WaterWasted. That means, increase your water intake. We can all benefit from that, right?! If you want to follow along for fun, you can search for #BLMGetFit to see all of the entries. The weekly winners will receive blog promotion from the BLM group on all social media outlets (Pinterest, Twitter, FB, Instagram, etc.) for that week.

While the challenge is open to only the members of the BLM group, I invite all of my lovely readers to join me in my quest for making better/healthier choices. My co-hosts and I will host weekly link ups, on our pages so everyone can participate and link any health inspired posts that you may be writing about. The link up this week is over at Brittons spot My Big, Beautiful Life, so head on over and LINK UP!!! Be on the look out next week for who will be hosting the link up.

On another note, I don't have really have any OOTD pics to show at this time, but all words and no pics is kind of odd for my blog, so here goes nuthin!

Until next time...

At the gym walkin it out

OOTD: Old Navy Blazer, Target Tee, Old Navy Rockstar skinnies, Target Booties

Yup… you guessed it! lol

Not sure where I got this sweater from, but I like it!! Tank from Rue 21

Gym & Food. Making better food choices =D

Rue 21 Jacket, Old Navy Dress, Market Scarf, Target Leggings, Minnetonka Moccsins

Gym & food… again 

Hanging In There...

Hey peeps!! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!! I know I did. Sharing time with family and friends is always a wonderful thing! Add in presents, and you've got yourself a party!! lol! 

Being that it's been almost a month since the last time I've blogged, I'm ashamed to call myself a blogger. With no camera, no no natural light, and the freezing temps, I been strugglin y'all! 

I've still been going strong with my workouts (with the exception of the past week or so). Now that the holidays are over, I'm back on my grind though. I'm still smitten with my hair. The growth over the past few months has been nothing short of awesome. And lastly, I have recently taken a liking to scarves... As you'll see below.

I'm including a few basic snapshots of my goings on via Instagram (again). I'm hooked! I truly love it over there =D. Won't you join me?!?!?

Now I'm off to visit all of your blogs. Until next time...

I love me some bathroom photo-shoots!

You can always catch me at the gym. That sweat is real folks!!

OOTD= Old Navy Blazer, Old NavyStriped skirt, Steve Madden heels

This was a Curves and Confidence inspired look. I'm so upset that I couldn't get pics of the entire outfit =(

I'm sure people think I'm crazy taking pics in the gym all the time, Ha! (never mind the crazy hair)

OOTD = Rue 21 Top, Target Scarf, Old Navy Skinnies & Target boots. That's been my "go to" lately

Again?? Yup!

I just wanted to toss in a throwback pic for kicks and giggles (that's me in the yellow, ha!)

Todays OOTD = Gifted Jean jacket, Forever 21 Skinnies, Sears Scarf & Target Boots

Me and my babygirl on Christmas Eve. I'm trying to get to her hair level!

OOTD = Herbergers Dress, Target Leggings, Old Navy Scarf and Target Boots (BTW, I love my puff in this pic)

It's true what they say… Black is slimming! =D

OOTD = Old Navy Striped Skirt, Rue 21 Jean Jacket, Market Scarf & Target boots

I'm back behind the wheel of my car!! I was using public transportation for a while there. It's good to be rolling again!

Hubby copped me another pair of J's for Christmas!! I was sooooo excited!