Daily MelWear: Blue and Red - and some questions!

Hi everyone! Are you glad it's Monday?!

Yeah.  Me neither.

This weekend was lots of fun and I really didn't want it to be over.  My parents kept our daughter overnight so we went to dinner with some friends, slept in, went for scones and coffee and were surprised to see a very good friend of mine there too.  I haven't seen her in years so it was great to see her and her husband, and meet their baby girl. We'd planned to do some tax-free shopping but I just wanted to stay there and chat with her for hours. So we did.

Eventually we had to leave for our family barbecue which was TONS of fun in the pool. 

I tried to do some shopping after that at the mall, but you guys...I'm OLD.  I walked into Charlotte Russee and was a little overwhelmed with all the good stuff.  My budget was pretty small and I can't break myself out of the mindset that I need to get as much as possible for as little money as possible (see? OLD.) so I ended up not trying anything on and heading to Forever 21.

Big mistake.  That place was a madhouse.  There was a waiting line for the dressing rooms, too many people to move freely, half the stock was on the floor, the music was too loud...ugh. 

I ended up going to Ross and getting a few things that I've been wanting (jeggings, a long white cardigan and a vest - I also picked up two strapless dresses that can also be worn as skirts OR as tunics, so yay!), while my husband took The Princess to get some ice cream.

My husband hadn't been feeling well that night so we decided to sleep in on Sunday and skip church.  We had a leisurely breakfast at home, then my father-in-law got there in time for lunch and more shopping! We went to a children's resale store and bought TONS of twirly dresses.  That's all she's been wanting to wear lately, so I didn't even pick up any dress that didn't twirl.  We got a few pairs of shoes too. I'm so grateful to my father-in-law for taking us shopping for her with each season! She's got some great stuff that she should be able to wear next year too, because I bought the next size up, and then once winter hits, he's planning to take us shopping for warm clothes. Yay!

Then while she napped, he stayed with her so that my husband and I could head over to Plato's Closet where I got a few more things I've been waiting to get: a basic yellow tank and a white skirt.  I also bought a gray tee with jewel embellishments on the neckline and a purple cardigan.

Hooray for tax-free shopping!

Okay so this dress...I bought this when my daughter was just months weeks old and I had to find something to wear to my friend's wedding rehearsal dinner (so this was WAY before I lost the baby weight - but it surprisingly still fits okay!). It was in November so I've always associated this dress with winter and I've always worn it with a black cami underneath.  Today's outfit is a testament to how style blogging has changed me.  I'm wearing this in the summer time with the sleeves pushed up and I added red accents! I'm excited to see how I can remix this dress now that my view on color combos and layering has changed. 

And now for my questions: since I'm still really new to this whole blogging thing, I need to know how you guys feel about responding to comments. 

To be honest, I very, VERY rarely ever go back to a post after I've commented on it just to see if my comment received a response.  In fact, I think I've maybe done that twice. Ever. For the most part, I leave comments and then I just kind of hope to hear back from the blogger in some other way, shape or form.

So here are my questions:

1. Do you want me to try to respond to comments that you all leave by posting another comment of my own?

2. Is there a better way that I could be responding to comments, via email or something else?

3. Should I respond to all comments or only the ones that ask a question or otherwise warrant a response?

Let me know! I value your opinions very much. Thanks for sharing them with me!

Today's outfit:

Dress: Ross

Red Tank: Plato's Closet

Red Snakeskin Belt: Salvatin Army

Red/Black Pumps: My mom (Payless)

Turquoise Necklace/Earrings: Wal-Mart 

Tax Free Shopping!!!

For those of us that live in Florida, today through Sunday is the one and only Tax Free Shopping Weekend for 2010. 

To see if and when your state participates, along with any restrictions, check the link here.

My husband and I are planning to do some shopping tomorrow for ourselves (because YES! It includes adult clothing as well!) and then on Sunday, my father-in-law is coming into town after church to take us shopping for The Princess. 

So excited!  Are you planning to take advantage of your state's Tax Free Holiday this year? At which stores do you think you'll shop?

PS - some reminders! Don't forget to follow A Working Mom's Closet on Twitter and Facebook, ask me anything on FormSpring, and send me an email  at {aworkingmomscloset (at) gmail (dot) com} just to say hi!

Friend Friday: Size

For this week's edition of Friend Friday, Katy is asking questions about body size. Considering the wide range of body shapes and sizes in the style blogging community, I think this is a fascinating subject and I can't wait to see some of the other bloggers' answers!

1. Should someone's size stop them from fashion blogging or having a voice in the community?  

Absolutely not! I can think of several women who are bigger than me (well, I'm short so that doesn't take much) and several women who are teeny tiny, and I feel like they all have such fabulous style! The style blogging community would be sorely lacking without their contributions which have NOTHING at all to do with their size.  

 

2. In your opinion, can the term "curvy" and "plus-sized" be used interchangeably when it comes to fashion?

I don't think so.  I think that a lot of women who aren't plus sized are still curvy.  Curves have nothing to do with what size clothing you wear. Curves have more to do with your body shape. 

 

3.  Many people make the argument that catering to plus sized women would promote being overweight as "okay".  What do you think?  Should more designers be catering to plus size women?

I think designers should cater to plus size women as much as they cater to any other size.  Designers don't have the right to regulate the size of women and should consider it their jobs as designers to give ALL women the ability to feel fabulous in their clothing.  

 

4.  Should the mainstream fashion industry be showcasing more plus size models?

Absolutely. There are so many plus size women that are drop dead gorgeous! Size has nothing to do with style.  Size may affect a person's confidence, which in turn affects how that person dresses, but there are people who are confident in who they are regardless of their body size, who let their style shine, and those are the people who should be modeling!

5. For you personally, how do you view your size, the struggle with it through the years, your ideal size, etc...

I've always had issues with my weight.  I was overweight most of my life and lived in the shadow of my older brother, who was involved in all sorts of sports, captain of the swim team, Mr. Popular and I felt horrible next to him.  I felt like my friends were only friends with me so they could come over and see him. As I grew up and started exercising, I did start losing the weight - but I also got into the entertainment business where most of my friends are entertainers (and still are - although now I'm a mom with a desk job) so I am constantly comparing myself to these beautiful, thin, "perfect" girls.  After I had my daughter it was a HUGE struggle to lose the baby weight.  After working so hard at it, I'm terrified of gaining the weight back so I get nervous when I think I may have gained a few pounds. But that's just me. I have a lot of other issues to work through, too!

So to my readers who don't participate in Friend Friday, I'm really interested to hear your thoughts on this too.  Let me know what you think in the comments.

Daily MelWear: Paparazzi

Lady Gaga is playing on the radio right now.  I couldn't come up with a title for today's post, so I stole her song title.

Lack of creativity much? Eh.

Thank you all so much for your sweet comments, for stickin' with me through the ick-ness and through the practically duplicate outfits.  I was amused by that.  Clearly I like printed skirts and purple tops. Has anyone else done that, blatently copied themselves? Please tell me I'm not the only one.

So today is a new day and I'm feeling lots better! Still a little tired, still feel warm all the time when I'm usually complaining it's cold, still a little sore in the neck/shoulder area BUT - I'm not nauseous, my head doesn't hurt, my body doesn't ache and tomorrow is FRIDAY!

Whee!!!

Plus I had a little extra time this morning and was able to grab a cup of coffee before I left the house. I have more caffeine in me than I usually do when I write. Can you tell?

I've worn this dress a lot.  I found it in my closet a few months ago; it was my mom's. She gave it to me when I was pregnant because it was just a little too small for her and she figured it would fit me.  Well, it was too small for me too but I hung on to it.  Not sure why, because it didn't fit me after I had my daughter either but now...NOW I'm glad I kept it.  I've gotten a lot of use out of it! And I have some fall remixing ideas for this dress too.  

I do think I need a solid yellow belt, though.  I'm not really enjoying the yellow/orange combo in this one.

Not like we really have a fall in Florida.  The changing color of leaves doesn't really happen.  They go from green to dead brown and then back to green again. *sigh* I still love Florida.  I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. 

So how has your week been going?  Got any big plans for Friday?

Today's outfit:

Dress: My mom

Black Cardigan: Kohl's

Yellow/Orange Belt: Salvation Army

Black Bow Pumps: Wal-Mart

Black Necklace: Wal-Mart

  

Daily MelWear: You Look Familiar; Have We Met Somewhere Before?

Heh. It's kind of amusing, actually.

I woke up this morning and knew that I had to be back at work today, couldn't take any more time off, wanted to wear something comfortable, just bought this skirt at the Salvation Army store a couple of weeks ago and wanted to wear it, didn't want to wear it with a typical pink shirt so I grabbed this purple one...

And then I realized that this is almost identical to the outfit that I posted yesterday.

I'm so lame. It's a different skirt, different shirt, but it's almost the same outfit. I did switch up the yellow jewelry for some green instead. Sorry for not really showing you anything different today!

Yesterday was not fun. I didn't get much sleep, really tossed and turned most of the day, felt nauseous, achy, head hurt, didn't eat anything all day (except for three crackers), took some Nyquil and went to bed at 8PM. When I woke up this morning, I realized that I'd slept through (most of) the night, only waking a couple of times but I did get a good amount of sleep.

I feel much better than I did yesterday (read: I'm not going to die anymore), but I know that I might have to leave work early because I'm not quite all there yet. The AC in my office has been fixed so it's the usual freezing temperature, but I still feel like I'm ready to start sweating. We'll see. 

Thank you all SO MUCH for your sweet words, comments and get well wishes yesterday! You all really, really brightened my day more than I can express. 

I'm going to TRY my hardest to respond and to get back into reading blogs and commenting (although now I'm behind a day), but I'm not sure how much I'll be able to do today.

You guys are all the best. Seriously. THIS is why I started blogging, so that I could get plugged into and become a part of such a FANTASTIC group of people. Thanks for taking me in! :)

Okay I'm going to stop gushing now. I should get a move on to try catching up on reading and responding.

Today's outfit:

Black/White Skirt: Salvation Army

Purple Tee: Plato's Closet

Black Belt: Plato's Closet (came with another skirt)

Black Flats: Target

Green Necklace/Jewelry: Beya