So I was reading this piece written by author Amy Stewart about packing to go on a book tour. It’s smart and useful advice that I never really considered.
I like her method and I’m a notorious over packer and this wouldn’t necessarily work for Disney because — glitter and color and princesses and sweat, but it could work for going down to Austin for a foodie weekend, or to Tampa for a foodie weekend or over to Nantucket for a foodie… ok. I like to go eat places.
Anyways- I’m reading her piece fully prepared to just buy all the things she has in her suitcase- the stuff on the Brass website is cute and simple and perfect for the 45 minutes per year that I think I want a capsule wardrobe. But XL is the largest size they have and XL is a 12/14. And as a 14 I don’t trust it- the model who wears the LG on their website is an 8 maybe. What the hell, man?! Why you gotta be so size exclusive? More women come in sizes 14 and up than in 12 and down. And we want capsule wardrobes and chill dresses with pockets and sleek work blouses made of natural fibers that have intact shoulders and come in neutral colors. (Shocking that sometimes we might not want rayon cold shoulder blouses in fuchsia zebra print, I know.)
this is the LG. (also available in S, XS and XXS)
Ann Taylor Loft started selling clothes in 16 and up this week, IN STORES! Which is the real test – you want to take money from fat women but don’t want us seen in your stores? (Madewell- looking at you here. “extended sizing available online!” gak.)
Selling clothes for EVERY SINGLE WOMAN shouldn’t make you feel like you’re doing us a favor, taking our cash shouldn’t be this hard, and it CERTAINLY should be seen as an act of charity.
this is just a series of incomplete thoughts, I know. I’m just feeling really ragey and disappointed.
you guys. I bought myself a pair of metallic combat boots a couple of weeks ago. my inner 90’s girl ha-a-a-a-d to have them. and they arrived, and they are perfect. but I’m 42 and my day is different than it was at 18 so I don’t necessarily want to style them the same way I would have in 1994. (I still will, just not everyday.)
BEHOLD the glory that is Veronica.
then I remember the fabulous Courtney, my magical Trunk Club stylist. so I email her a link to the boots and tell her I need oversized light grey v-necked sweaters that I’ll wear with skinny jeans * I might wear WHITE skinny jeans with them. #edgy * (the rules about white after labor day are outdated and elitist) and I’m just thinking that when my next trunk comes in October she will send me some options to try.
NOT SO FAST. I get an email from her this morning with these photos and a suggestion that she’s also going to send some navy sweaters to “tone down the punk” 😀
so my boots are essentially getting their own trunk. they’ll all be here some time next week for me to try on. I’ve never felt so fancy. look how sneaky she is sending me something pink. I kinda love it.
and I’m not saying that I want Summer to ever end- but when it does I’m going to be ready.
I shipped a box down to my Disney hotel on Tuesday so that we can restock our Owner’s Locker with shampoo, conditioner, my new favorite beach waves hair cream, a box of glow bracelets… I should have take a photo of the contents but until 15 seconds ago I didn’t know what my favorites were going to be this week.
We are leaving Friday for the long weekend. Our youngest is turning 18 on Saturday and we cashed in all of our JetBlue frequent flier miles and Disney Rewards Visa points to bring her and 2 of her friends to stay at Bay Lake Tower. We are going to the Halloween Party, it is the first weekend of the Food & Wine Festival and Tiffany is going to be singing for the Eat to the Beat Concert Series, I can’t wait.
I think half of the battle for regular Disney visitors are finding:
the perfect park bag.
the perfect park shoes.
the perfect comfort/convenience items.
So here we go:
My perfect park bag is the Kavu rope sling bag. I’ve been using the same one for the last several years and it still looks BRAND NEW. Which is awesome, but also- c’mon! I want a new one. (Specifically the space pops one– how great is that?!) There are a ton of pockets- the front one fits my iphone 7+ perfectly, and that’s a monster so I can’t imagine a phone that wouldn’t fit there to be easily accessible. It is comfortable to wear, I don’t find myself getting all sweaty under it. It fits EVERYTHING. I generally start the day with a couple of bottles of water, a cooling towel, charging cords, a sunscreen, a single neatly folded poncho, my phone, and a small wallet with ID/Annual Pass/Gift Card/Disney Visa Card. I generally end the day without the water bottles but WITH a cake pop or school bread or carrot cake cookie, a set of ears, various souvenirs, three damp ponchos, and still room for more.
I love this bag.
I go back and forth on the perfect park shoes. For a year or two they were Sketchers lace up sneakers with memory foam cooling insoles… and then my feet decided that being confined like that would RUIN EVERYONE’S DAY. So I’m all set with that for now.
I have had much luck with Sanuk Yoga Mat Slings – they have fabric that hugs your foot while still giving them lots of room to breathe – which keeps them from getting cranky – which keeps ME from getting cranky. (never wear these to the beach, you will never get the sand out of the sling bit)
this is the exact pair I have. they go with everything.
BUT THEN I bought a pair of these Fit Flop Uberknit flip flops. I committed the first Disney mortal sin of wearing brand new shoes, straight out of the box, for a full day at Disneyland and they were so comfortable I broke the second Disney mortal sin of wearing the same shoes two days in a row. No regrets. I bought a second color and these two pairs might be the only shoes I bring for the weekend.
I have these in pink and black, but I am digging the blue.
And for #3 I’m essentially asking Genie for a million wishes because I can’t pick a third and instead I’m listing some of my favorite convenience items.
The Disney Park Poncho – the original and the best – I decided one year that I was going to buy those disposable little ponchos and it ripped while I was putting it on mid-rainstorm. So.
I mentioned I have an Owner’s Locker the locker is packed with ponchos, ears, full sized bottles of shampoo and conditioner, any meds we might need, bandaids, sunscreen, bug spray, aloe, etc. So now I store our ponchos in the Locker, but before that I’d just bring them back and forth each in their own quart sized ziplock bag.
Cooling towels. I’m a better person when I have one wrapped around my neck. These are NOT in our locker, because they’d be all mildewy so I bring them home to wash between visits. At quick service counters you can ask for free glasses of ice water. I ask for 2, and one of them is just to submerge my cooling towel in. Game changer.
and finally – power. I have a few different kinds of portable power sources for our phones but the Fuel Rods available on property hold more than a full charge and are replaceable on site – so you don’t have to go back to your room to recharge. Your first fuel rod also comes with a little cord and a few different phone adaptors. It is expensive at $30 but I feel as if we have recouped the spend multiple times over so far.
So that’s what I’ve got. And other than the poncho and the Owners Locker these would work for a day at any amusement park or field trip or hike.
We moved our oldest into her dorm yesterday. And on Thursday our youngest starts her senior year of high school. I should never shop again with the tuition payments I have to look forward to but I pretty much bought the internet last week – so this week I’m not buying anything.
But if I were, here’s what I’d get:
I have these boots in black suede from last year and I think I wore them 3 days a week. From my maternal grandmother I inherited the calves of a professional soccer player, she loved her giant calves, I struggle with feelings about my own but I’m trying- they work hard and let me walk super fast. But they make it hard to find boots, I’d rather shop for a bathing suit than a pair of boots. I get sweaty and cranky. So I usually wear ankle boots. But the Calypso boot changed all that. Look at that stretchy back panel – I love these so much! And this year they’re in leather! I need them.
Just not today. (I did put them into a shopping cart on Friday though, and have gotten a couple of emails from Sole Society with coupons to get me to pull the trigger. We are at 15% right now, it gets to 20% I might not be able to control myself…)
Having a fight or flight reaction that leads to lots of shopping AND the mass ingestion of Haribo Berries – is not doing my wallet or my blood sugar any favors.
But speaking of eating my feelings, I would also have bought myself a couple of boxes of See’s Vanilla Chocolate Chip chocolates. “but Erin, they’re only 5.99” you’re adorable, I’d get at least 2, and while I was there I’d probably put together a custom 2 pound box. and did you know that you can buy bags of baking chocolate chips? because you can. And just like that…
…I’ve spent 115$ on chocolates.
The end of summer is an inevitability. Boots and cute jackets make the 45 minutes that is the Fall season much easier to accept. HOW CUTE IS THIS JACKET from Torrid?! I love it. And on sale. And faux leather, so when fall gets rainy (like it does) or snowy (because New England) you can wear it without worrying that you’re going to turn into your very own Seinfeld episode.
Yesterday I got an email from Universal Standard (yep, that’s a referral link) to tell me they’d launched a few new dresses that have my damn name ALL OVER THEM. I really really want this dress.
Because HELLO perfect perfect dress. Which at $80 is 1/3 the price of similar Eileen Fisher dresses.
There were more things, I put at least three other things in shopping carts across the internet today, but I don’t remember any of them, so I’m glad I didn’t actually get them!
Two things I DID buy though – I got a copy of Still Lives by Maria Hummel which I am very excited to read. I’m usually anti book-club-books because of the Cult of Oprah and her books all being ‘tragic stories of the triumph of the human spirit’. NO. get away from me with that. But the books that Reece Witherspoon has been scooping up to turn into movies and shows have been awesome. So I’m giving this one a shot. I’ve been ALL ABOUT books written by women, and thrillers. So you should read it with me and we can talk about it later. But not like a book-club because my brain will turn the read into homework.
And I also bought a digital copy of Oceans 8. Because of Cate Blanchett’s wardrobe. And Awkwafina. and my deep abiding love for Sandra Bullock movies. And the whole cast is flawless. I enjoyed it very much. It got shit reviews and yeah, I’m going to say that a great deal of that is just bullshit sexism. So watch it, it’ll be fun.
Anxiety is a real, true, gross, pain in the ass sometimes. I have had *literally* (figuratively) 657 ideas for things to write about but then I was positive they were all terrible ideas. They weren’t but I feel like even if they were I should probably still have written because that’s what our teachers used to say about making writing a habit, right? I’m hyperventilating a little bit right now thinking “do I even have three favorite things?”
ummm. yes. I have thousands of favorite things, everything is my favorite.
Earrings. I own lots of earrings, both because I make them, and because unlike things around my wrists or neck, I can generally handle keeping a comfortable pair of earrings in my ears all day. Back in February I was on a cruise and the family in the cabin next to us were this gorgeous, fancy family from Mexico- tiny daughters all dressed the same with shiny ponytails, mom impeccable even tendering back from an excursion… perfect. Annnnyways, mom wore these earrings– and hers were probably real pearls worth thousands of dollars but I’m not about that, so I found them on Amazon. For 8.99. and I wear them at least 4 times a week. I feel so cool in them, they match EVERYTHING. (I might have just this moment ordered the black and rose gold ones.)
And when I’m not wearing those I’m usually wearing these – my friend Barbara reps for Stella & Dot and these earrings weigh NOTHING, go with EVERYTHING, and get me compliments every time I wear them. At $44 they are a bit more than the pearls above but still not terribly expensive and the amount of wear you’ll get out of them makes them absolutely worth it.
Shoes! I can’t stop buying shoes. I bought myself silver Frye combat boots yesterday – they won’t be here for another couple of weeks so those can’t be my favorite anything other than ‘favorite unworn purchase’ maybe… but I did also order the Tarte blush book so that could be my favorite unworn purchase…
Have I mentioned how my feet, which have always been my favorite physical feature, my cute little feet, are developing bunions? I think I have. Because they are, and they MEAN BUSINESS. So my toes need room to hang out and make a natural foot shape. On the other hand I have long loved a pointy toe. Which is where these come in. They were in my most recent Nordstrom Trunk Club Trunk (that’s a referral link… you should sign up, your wardrobe will thank you!)
These Kelin Flats from BP were $59.95 and instantly comfortable right out of the box. The leather is so soft, and the sole nice and flexible. 10 out of 10. Would recommend. They are getting a TON of wear and will be good right into fall. (I rock naked ankles until it starts snowing.)
see? pointy toe but not a narrow toe box, so hella comfortable. and I haven’t tried yet but I bet I could wear a bunion corrector with these. ahhh 42, the magical age when I learned what the f*ck a bunion corrector is.
These freaking dresses. I live in this place where I’m constantly trying to find the perfect Disney wardrobe. Is that weird? I’m pretty sure that’s weird. Anyways, day to day I tend to wear a lot of New England appropriate things, lot of black, recently some navy and that blush color that is so popular right now. But COLOR and PATTERN are things I reserve for vacation in either Austin Texas (all the sundresses!) or Disney World.
trying to sneak into Club 33 in the magic dress. for reference I wear a 14 and this is an XL.
Enter the magical 17 dollar Amazon dress with POCKETS! they’re cute, swingy, soft, they wash well and they’re the perfect length. (I wear Jockey Skimmies slipshorts under them- Skimmies would be my 3.5th favorite thing for this week, they are life changing, and not just because I’ve never met a breeze that didn’t want to introduce every passerby to a flash of my underwear.)
Anyways – the dress! Cute on its own, over skinny jeans, with a cardigan… I love it. I have it in 2 patterns already and am tempted by 2 more.
So. there are my three favorites for Thursday August 23rd. And they’re all under 60$!
This started as a post about stress buying nail polish. Then this monstrosity of a post happened. So nail polish talk tomorrow. ❤
Last night as I was doing my evening routine I was thinking about my favorite products and how I should share. I’ve recently gotten us Quip brushes and holy crap, nothing shows just how not-long-enough you’ve been brushing your teeth like a brush that goes on a 2 minute timer. That isn’t to say I don’t LOVE this brush though, because I do, it is sleek and their packaging is among my favorite. I have a link if you want to give one a try. You get your first replacement brush head for free and I get my next replacement brush head for free. It’s a win win. And yay clean teeth!
I’m trying to use up products before I buy new ones so I’m not SUPER in love with my eye makeup remover but I have some friends who swear by it- it is doing the job- I just prefer the Neutrogena version. But currently I’m using Target’s Up and Up oil free eye makeup remover. The thing about it is, it works, and I go through less of it than I would with the Neutrogena, so it’s actually an excellent buy. (I say rolling my eyes admitting that… fine, it’s good… I guess.) But I’m still looking forward to going back to Neutrogena and I’m not sorry!
I’ve got 5000 different facial cleansers, or 11, but it feels like a lot. So the method of washing my face varies, sometimes I use Neutrogena’s Hydro-Boost exfoliating cleanser which is a recent addition to my cleanser collection, and I love it, everything from the Hydro Boost line is magical. MAGICAL. Sometimes I use Omorovicza Thermal Cleansing Balm – speaking of a magical product. Remember when Laura Linney was doing the Masterpiece Theater intro? I was OBSESSED with her perfect skin and discovered that Omorovicza was the line that she uses. It is hella expensive and smells like 4711- the cologne from Cologne, Germany. My awesome friend Leslee reps for Rodan & Fields and I have TWO of their lines, and love both but for evening I tend to go with the Redefine Cleansing Mask because I don’t have time for a Mask in the morning. And speaking of Rodan & Fields I LOVE following up a clean face with a little microdermabrasion – my skin feels instantly smoother and less congested after.
When I’ve got a clean face I either serum or moisturize or both. Or neither, because I’m still learning how to adult where my skin is concerned, and that is one of the many reasons I will never have Laura Linney’s skin. Also, would things work better if I were super consistent about them? Yes, of course, but we live in an imperfect world and I can be pretty damn lazy.
My favorite serum right now is Ole Henriksen’s Truth Serum, I use it morning and night and it smells AMAZING (like oranges!) and the texture is awesome, very silky and light. I follow that with a Neutrogena night moisturizer. I alternate between Rapid Tone Repair and Rapid Wrinkle Repair. They both work really well and come at a very reasonable price point. ($17. each)
Finally finally finally, if I’m not passed out I slap some Treat Beauty Marshmallow Moisture Stick on my lips and elbows, and in the wintertime I also use it on my knuckles. It smells delicious and works really well. I go to bed smelling like a unicorn. I also moisturize my hands with The Body Shop Shea whipped lotion that I got for Christmas last year and liked enough to buy one to keep on my desk at work, and I JUST started using O’Keeffe’s Foot Creme, I like it so far, I can put it on and go to bed and not feel like my feet are getting covered in sheet lint. (my sheets aren’t linty but you know…)
Y’all. I got SO TIRED OF HEARING MYSELF TALK about 10 minutes into writing this. But I’d gone too far so had to finish. So there it is. The things I use at night, sometimes. When I’m giving a crap.
So- what do you use? Because clearly I love product and am always up for more!
And they know I do laundry, so I don’t stink, and that’s also a bonus.
Y’all. I love wearing black. Don’t you ever marvel at the memes people share with you because they reminded them of you? I love that. For me those things are Disney, Jello Shots, Nail Polish and Black Clothing.
For example, every time this –> makes the rounds I get tagged at least four or five times and I love it, because it is true, and because it is awesome to know that people are thinking of me!
In the past – both recent and distant – when non-black items come into my wardrobe it is almost always because the black in my size was sold out, or it was much more expensive, and so I think to myself: “Now is the time! let’s buy these boots in brown, I wear brown now!” No. No I don’t. I don’t wear sky-blue cashmere hoodies because they were on clearance at Lord and Taylor, those things always get returned.
Until this year. In February I went on a cruise for a week and I decided it was time to add some color back into my warm-weather wardrobe. I started with a bathing suit. It is pink and purple and blue, there are flowers- I ordered it, and about 4 other suits, from Swimsuits For All. The other suits were all black, and I kept the colorful one and returned the safe, “flattering” (UGH, another post for another day) suits that guarantee that my fat self on the beach doesn’t get noticed. Like women over a certain age, women over a certain weight are supposed to keep that shit locked down. “I don’t want to have to see…”* is the common refrain of the a-hole who thinks they get a say in what other people wear. But not this year. On that beach in Jamaica, drinking Red Stripe and getting the worst sunburn I’ve ever had, I was wishing my suit was NEON. *(Here’s a hint, if you ever hear yourself saying “I don’t want to have to see…” STOP LOOKING. no one is making you do anything.)
I still don’t have a neon suit but I just remembered that from returning the safe black bathing suits I had a big credit for Swimsuits for All, which brings us to the shopping part… I just bought THIS and I am going full on Poison Ivy at the pool this summer.
How amazing is this suit?!
I have a discount code for you! 40% off if you use my link– consider signing up for emails as well because there is NEVER a reason to pay full price at Swimsuits for All, they have great sales pretty much all the time. But a tip- if you return things – don’t use their shipping label. Because then they refund in store credit rather than to your original form of payment. Which is less convenient for sure.
One night at the end of January 2016 I was scrolling instagram because insomnia had woken me up- and what else do you do at 2am when you’re wide awake and can’t find your book?
I came across a photo of a gorgeous plus size blogger in a blazer and vest. a BUTTON UP vest. and it fit her. I instantly tracked down the company behind that piece and ordered it. The Garamond Vested Blazer was my first piece of Universal Standard clothing.
I mean, COME ON. You’d buy it at 2am too.
There is something magical about clothing that is interesting, fashionable, cool and incredibly well made while also fitting bodies that don’t usually have access to clothing that checks every one of those boxes. (Without a single cold shoulder or garish polyester muumuu blouse to be found! Love you Torrid, but understated and grownup are good sometimes too!)
Since 2016 I have integrated many articles of Universal Standard clothing into my wardrobe, these are quality pieces, capsule wardrobe worthy, the softest t-shirts you’ll ever realize are TOTALLY worth their 50.00 price tag. I would sleep in them if I weren’t trying to make them last for as long as possible.
I think my favorite item is the Geneva Dress, it is a giant t-shirt with an asymmetrical hem and a neckline that provides the perfect backdrop for my biggest statement necklaces. It dresses up easily and it is my favorite thing to travel in- last month I ordered a backup – it is that good.
photo from the Universal Standard website. of course I have it in black, but marine is next on my list!
Their jeans have pockets so deep you could lose your keys in them, most jeans you can’t even PUT your keys in the pockets.
While it was fun for a minute to be able to tell my smaller friends that Universal Standard started at a size 10, what is more fun is telling you that as of this week Universal Standard is available in sizes 6-32 with a goal of being available soon in sizes 0-40. Because what is the fun in calling your brand Universal if it isn’t?
The link is a referral and if you make a purchase they give me a discount off of my next purchase – Universal Standard almost never offers discounts – however! if you sign up for emails they send out codes for free t-shirts once or twice a year.
Wait, first of all- you use Ebates, right? I bet you have an account you opened 5 years ago and forgot about, but if you don’t- then I have a link! Sign up with my referral link and Ebates will give you $10 when you spend your first $25, which is incredibly easy to do because almost EVERYONE partners with them. I have a check on the way for $141.71, most of that is probably Boden, Gap and Torrid.
Ok. Now that you’ve signed up for Ebates. Here are things I might buy, if I were buying things. (none of these are affiliate links, I just love them)
Caboodles!
I mean, COME ON. If your 80’s girl heart doesn’t beat a little faster when you see this then maybe see a doctor? (19.99 at Ulta)
Franco Sarto Harlet 3 Sandals.
I bought these in solid black, of course, but the temptation to exchange them for these is very strong. With navy blue shift dresses? Who even am I? (69.99 at DSW)
Ugg Sammy Sneakers in Black (15% back @ Macy’s through Ebates today)
I got these in blue from a Trunk Club trunk a couple of months ago and kept them because they were instantly comfortable- no breaking in required. But obviously I need them in black. (110.00 at Macy’s)
That bracelet is on sale for 12.50, and if I tell you how discounted the earrings are there won’t be any left for me when I’m buying things again. (Fine. They’re 8.00)
Elemis Frangipani Monoi Salt Glow. I use this almost daily and am running out, but I’m trying to make what I have last for another week or two. This stuff smells amazing and makes my skin feel even better. Heels, ankles, elbows… but be careful- it makes everything super slippery- and not in a fun sexy way- more in a ‘hilarious until you break your neck in the shower’ way.
Overstock has a few of these left for 55.99 and is offering 15% back through Ebates today.
I need a suggestion on what I can spray on the floor of my shower after I use the above-mentioned Salt Glow. It makes things VERRA slippery and we watch so much Forensic Files that Dave might start taking it personally soon. There’s got to be something I can make and keep in a handy little spray bottle in my bathroom. What do you recommend?
I am Erin. 41 for 10 more days. Mother of two, wife for 18 years and counting. Survivor of two cults, teller of anticlimactic stories.
I make lists as a coping mechanism. I shop when I am scared or stressed, or depressed. Lately I am all of those things a lot of the time. Shopping carts across the internet are filled with things I will never buy- not all shopping translates into buying.
notebooks, Ancient Egypt and Pilot G-2 pens, a few of my favorite things.
A few years ago I would have wanted a blog to record my weight loss journey, to see how happy and fulfilled I would be as I bought a cute wardrobe of size 8 clothes. I still struggle with feelings about my body but my understanding of what causes happiness has changed in a real, fundamental way. I am a comfortable with my size 14 self who has given thousands of unfulfilled dollars to Weight Watchers, Curves, Planet Fitness, juice cleanses, lemonade cayenne diets, medical weight loss centers, etc. I’m going to keep that money now, thankyouverymuch, and I’m going to spend it on baseball tickets. Go Sox!
Sometimes booking a Disney trip brings happiness. Sometimes it is the rare, perfect application of eyeliner. I’m not always very deep. I avoid stories about the triumph of the human spirit like the plague. I love mystery novels, Ancient Egypt, soft serve ice cream, Wellbutrin and Xanax, tacos, Austin Texas. Everything is my favorite. I am moody and get cranky easily. I have a lot of opinions about things and this seems like a good place to put them, while also showing you the cool things I bought or the great sale going on, or the shoes I want.
Two things I DID buy though – I got a copy of 
In February I went on a cruise for a week and I decided it was time to add some color back into my warm-weather wardrobe. I started with a 
Shop My Feelings 