Capitol Hill

My forty dollar top shop dress, hell yes. It’s jersey material so has good stretch, and is flattering for women who have big boobs and small boobs. I am wearing a size 8 in the photo. Love that slit too. I plan on wearing it with my adidas soon.

Capitol Hill

Josh and I decided to spend an entire day wandering around Capitol Hill’s funky bar/bookstore/music scene. Why don’t I live there? I officially fell in love and CH is my new favorite place in Seattle. If you visit grab some drinks at one of the many colorful bars, who ALL display signs in their windows welcoming every type, color and gender of person. That’s the thing about Seattle, it’s all love and acceptance over here. Freedom of expression and land of artists. I love my home state so very much. Along with the many cool shops is my favorite bookstore: Elliot Bay Book Company, and the awesome Retrofit Home shop. Have Drinks and a corn dog at the weird Unicorn.  And Brunch!  Seattle has one heck of a brunch scene (London Plane is my favorite). Either way, you can’t go wrong on Capitol Hill. I’ll be seeing some of you soon for my Write or Die conference in Seattle this month! Can’t wait!

Outfit linked below. I bought my snake wrap bracelet at a little store in Port Townsend, this was the closet match I could find. And my Miranda bag is no longer made by Michael Kors, which is terribly sad because it’s my favorite bag of all time. I’ve been faithfully using it for five years now. However, you can still find this style on some second-hand sites like The Real Real.

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Wide Leggers

Plus size included in this post! I found floral wide leg pants that mostly all under $45! The area thing about these pants is they have a stretchy waist-band. Think sweatpants but with a more breathable, flowy fabric. They’re high-waisted so they sit above the belly button by about an inch. I wore mine with Birkenstocks, but they pair really well with wedges or flatforms! If you want something prettier than say-sweats or yoga pants, these are you comfy alternatives!

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That One Time in Portland

It’s a really odd adjustment when you have children from a previous relationship and then get married to someone new. I know a lot of you remarried, dating divorcees feel me right now. And who dreamed of this as little girls, you know?

One day I will grow up to have a dream wedding, and then get divorced, and have another dream wedding!

Yikes

I still struggle with the word: divorce. I still struggle with the fact that I failed. But so is life, and for the first year my reality was that of two worlds colliding. How do I make this transition smooth for everyone involved?

Love

When Josh moved in over a year ago I found myself stretched to max, trying to make everyone in the house feel like the most important person. I was building a new relationship with a man, essentially starting from scratch, while trying to raise two children to be well adjusted, confident, kind humans. It was a hard lesson in which I learned that I am indeed only human. And that if hearts are pure things have a way of working themselves out. I was trying to get as much alone time with Josh as I possibly could, while simultaneously creating these beautiful family moments where we could bond. I would not want to return to that first year where I tried too hard, burned myself out, and often felt defeated.

Josh loves kids. Kids love Josh. He’s very good with them, and not just mine. All. Of. Them. And so while I was stressing out about family time, alone time, one-on-one time, Josh was already bonding with my children. I was just too busy stressing to notice.  Kids are not even a little bit stupid. Adults are stupid. Kids are pure and unfiltered. They know when someone likes them, they know when someone has a pure heart. He reads to them every night, from the chapter books they loving choose together at the bookstore. Sometimes Scarlet reads to him and I find him sitting against a wall in her bedroom while she walks circles around her rug, reading. He does a lot of one-on-one time with them, taking Ryder to sporting events, and Scarlet to the bookstore (her favorite place). And he teases. This weekend we took a trip to Portland for one of my family getaways/bonding time. He convinced both of them that Portland doesn’t allow children under the age of six in the city and told Ryder he would need to tell people that he was eight in order to be allowed in. Ryder spent the weekend telling strangers that he was eight, only to find out it was all a Josh scam. He laughed pretty hard when he found out he’d been conned once again by his stepfather. They have this tone in which they say Josh’s name.

Juh-ooooosh!

I just wanted to share this little bit of my life. And to tell you that if there is love things will work themselves out. You don’t need to control everything, and you can’t create perfect family moments; they happen organically.

Links to my Portland outfit below. This dress is such beautiful quality. it’s heavy without being heavy. And I finally bought new Ray Bans after someone stole all of mine out of my car. They’re a different style. Square framed and very lightweight on the face. Happy Fourth!

 

 

What I’m reading!

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Ripped Summer

Hi,

So it was warm this weekend. I was cheerful AF. Josh was very confused. But guess what? It was a nice break and it’s not hot enough to be oppressive yet. Holla to all my Florida and Texas friends! I had dinner at my friend, Simone’s house last night (you may know her as @simoneinthekitchen on Instagram) and now I’m obsessed with miniature cucumbers. Damn, that girl can cook. Anyway, find mini cucumbers and dip them in hummus. Yum.

This post includes plus size. And for those of you who ask about my ripped jeans, well when I buy my ripped jeans they often aren’t shredded enough for me so I actually go in with a razor and rip them further. If you see more intense rips in any of my jean pictures this is why. Birkenstocks, the perfect shoe. They actually mold to the shape of your foot after a few wears and provide back support (this is something I need) They last hellavu long too. It’s difficult to make them look worn. Worth every penny in my opinion. Links below!

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Swallow That

Today I was sitting in a bar in Zurich, right after I took these photos actually. I was minding my business when I heard two American colleagues, a table over, criticizing our bartender’s looks. They were in their early thirties, a man and a woman. The bartender mind you was a woman, a very petite, pretty woman. It was meanness for the sake of meanness. I was all rapid eye blinking, raised eyebrows (sometimes I can’t raise them because of Botox). My initial reaction was to start picking apart the way they looked. Sort an eye for an eye. Let’s turn a mirror around on you and dig in your mutt ancestry and stringy hair. That’s not the right reaction. It’s the immediate reaction for me though. I is the sheriff in town-YEEHAW!

I didn’t say anything today.

Today

Sometimes I don’t try to be mature, or good, or be the fucking change I want to see in the world. Sometimes I lash out. I’m saying it all here instead. I’ve noticed something about our culture, and I can’t speak for other cultures because I don’t know how they do. But in our culture we pick apart to be funny. We treat people’s bodies, and faces, and cultures like it’s our business. A stand up comedy routine.

It’s not.

We should stop doing that. We can’t be perfect, but maybe we can just be…better.

That’s all

Go shop my bomb ass dress.

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Neon Boy

Turns out my little red head looks great in neon colors. Go figure. He turns golden brown in the sun too, doesn’t even burn. One of my favorite things about Red Ryder is that he genuinely loves clothes. I don’t dress him anymore, or choose his outfits in the morning. He’s all about picking his own stuff. When I ask him to be on the blog he gets excited and my mommy heart flutters. Anyway, he loves animal t-shirts. I hunt them down, buy every one just to impress him. I listed some cute affordable ones for you. And also his Birkenstocks which are the only sandal he will wear in the summer.

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Roma Jumpsuit

Hey! Hey!
Got this cool jumpsuit. It’s very lightweight. Perfect for warm weather. I linked you to some plus size jumpsuits too. Guess what? I ate gelato all day and I don’t even regret it. Then for dinner we walked into the less touristy area of Rome and found this pizza joint down a side alley. Wowza. First off all the owner was wearing an American flag tee, and had a beer belly, two missing teeth, and tattoos behind his ears. He was surprisingly handsome. I want to write him into a book. The place was so popular with the locals that you basically sit banquet style against the brick wall outside. Right next to strangers. Then when someone has to go to the bathroom they squeeze along the wall behind you basically knocking your chair up and not apologizing. It’s just how it is, and I loved it. So much jug wine on my shirt. Also, I had a bufala pizza which is buffalo mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and basil. Oh my god. You guys, I don’t even like pizza and I think I could eat bufala pizza every day of my life. Italians are so fashionable. I am learning so much. They are ahead of the game and everyone looks like they stepped out of a magazine. It’s beautiful, and graceful, and…European. Anyway, I hope you all get the chance to see this beautiful world. I am forever in love with Europe.
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Red Ryder

That’s his nickname. Surprisingly he’s the one who volunteers to model for my fashion blog. Scarlet, is mostly disinterested. She spends most afternoons in a strict classroom atmosphere, wearing fake plastic reading glasses, and teaching her dolls to read.

Ryder likes clothes. He will wear anything with insects or animals on it, so these shorts were a hit. I linked you below.

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Tulip Town

Sup, y’all! All the pretty colors. We took a day trip down to Tulip Town with my mom, step dad and kids. It was perfect…except my puppy…and my son…and….

Ryder was grouchy. Sometimes he wakes up in the morning and you just know it’s going to be one of those days. He accused people of not caring about him, made awful grunting noises, whined about everything, punched his sister, demanded new toys, and told us over and over that he was having the worst day of his life. Not even the tulips could cheer him up. The rest of us had a really great day. It’s a pretty magical things to see an ocean of flowers. Outfit details below.

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