Curvy Girl on the Run

The skies were cloudy and rain was falling. I looked toward the hills and fog was setting in. I found myself in the middle of the cemetery wet, upset and frustrated. How did I get here?  It started the day before when we started on our journey down to Ohio to see family for a Christmas gathering. There have been many reasons that the past few years we haven't been able to make it. My husband works for the Detroit Auto Show and work is always abundant this time of year. Sometimes it's the weather or illness that doesn't allow us to make it. This time there was no excuse.  The skies were bright and sunny with a chill in the air. Yes, we were late leaving and getting on the road but when you're driving at least four hours and it's an overnight trip, you're bound to get out slowly.  We were on the way and the part of Ohio where we are going to is kind of in the middle of nowhere. I don't remember driving on all of these back roads and two lane highways. I get an...

Well it's hard to believe that the third week of December has already come and gone but it has. This week continued to be cold and dreary and dumping snow and slush on us. A typical December in Michigan!  I started the week off with an outfit that I absolutely loved! I bought this Joe Fresh taffeta skirt a while back and decided to pair it with a chambray shirt. Day 15 was Winter Fur and I was super excited to wear this black faux fur vest over this outfit. I wore black tights and booties and finished it off with a belt that I have had for ages. The faux fur trend is one of my faves that is happening now and I lucked out and found this vest online at Kohls!  Day 16 was Merry Mixing Prints and I think if you follow me on Instagram or regularly read my blog, you know I love mixing patterns! This one wasn't hard and I chose pink as my go-to color for the day. Pink and yellow are favorite bright colors of mine that seem to make me happy! This Old Navy sweater is one I found last y...

  Warning: Get your tissues before you read this. I wrote a post back in October about how my mother had a Halloween birthday.   I have to tell you all that I find having a blog is really a creative outlet and is also very therapeutic when I am writing.   I find that sometimes I am unaware of how someone feels or what they are going through, but they could be in a situation just like mine. You might be reading this now and have recently lost a loved one. If I can help one person, then I am blessed. This is one of those times that I look at my blog as therapy.   I mentioned in my earlier post that this year, it will be ten years since my mother passed away.   Life goes by in the blink of an eye.   It was on December 19 th and it was a Friday night when I got the call to come to the hospital.   I remember it like it was yesterday.   The nurse called me and told me that I had better come down to the hospital.   It was cold and snowy ...

Well this week has been fun but very challenging since it was so cold! I didn't take many pictures of me outside since it was below freezing most days.  Day 8 (Sunday) was probably my most favorite day as it was Sugarplum Pinks. I used the Eva Mendes for New York and Company dress that I wore earlier in the year as a jumper and layered it adding a Gap long sleeve button down shirt and an Old Navy heart sweater over top. I also wore these pink shoes from Crocs that I bought in Vegas at the outlet mall a couple of years ago.  Here's a picture of the dress back in October: Here's a picture of the entire outfit and some of the details: Day 9 was Charming Coats. Coincidentally, it was freezing here! I wore a warm and cozy outfit and managed to get a picture outside quickly! I am wearing one of my favorite coats that I bought a couple of years ago from JC Penney and my favorite Zara blanket scarf.  Day 10 was Pudding So Plum. Well, I went with the plum color for a cardigan from...

Thanks in advance to @hilaryrushford on Instgram for coming up with this idea that I am about to talk about. She made a list on Instagram of the entire month of December for different things to do and/or style. I have seen all of the other pictures a day things that people do and this month, I chose to do hers. Don't get me wrong; there's nothing wrong with taking a picture of "tiny" or a shadow. I just thought Hilary's was more for me since it gave me more ideas for styling outfits this month.  So, I thought this month, I would show you the day and the description along with what I did for the day but I'll recap only once a week.  Day One: Deck Your Neck I love this beautiful necklace that I got from Buffalo Lane through jane.com. It is JCrew-inspired, meaning it's a dupe but for a fraction of the price. I already wrote about the rest of this outfit in last week's Sunday Style blog post.  Day Two: Pear Tree Greens I really felt like mixing it up and w...

Tis the season for holiday parties and potlucks! I wanted to share a quick and easy dessert that my family loves as well as anyone who gets to eat it when I bring it! This recipe is a Kraft Foods recipe and can be found also at  kraftfoods.com . I first had a version of this dessert when I was in college. They served it in big pans and gave us a slice for dessert at the Sunday meal after church. Years later my sister in law found it and gave it to me. I just made this for dessert a couple of weeks ago to take to a friend's house and decided I should share the recipe with all of you!  Graham Cracker Eclair "Cake": Here are the ingredients that you need: 15 Graham crackers, Broken in half (30 crackers), divided- eyeball it if you need more, you can use more  1 1/2 cups milk 1 pkg (4 oz serving size) Jello Vanilla flavor instant pudding and pie mix 1 tub (8 oz) Cool Whip whipped topping, thawed 1 cup chocolate ready to spread frosting Arr...

This year I have been inspired by my friends on Instagram who love the holiday season and are beginning to dress for it. I found this sweater in late October when I visited the Loft store in Briarwood Mall. They were having a big 50% off everything sale and something about this sweater spoke to me. I like that it is light-weight and the sparkle in it goes well with silver or gold. I wore a statement necklace from veryjane that I got a couple of weeks ago with it and it's a perfect start to the holiday dressing season!  Here's a picture of the whole outfit- purse is Phillip Lim for Target and boots from DSW are last year.  I also took the opportunity to take my new coat out for a spin that I bought on Black Friday from JC Penney. It's the perfect coat for wearing with pants or dresses when a puffer coat just won't cut it and you need something nicer. Seriously though, I love the cut and color and the price was right at 70% off!   How else would you wear this sweater? I...

Well, this year, I became one of those people. Two friends and I set out to start our Christmas shopping on Thanksgiving night. We met at one house at 7:30 pm to get to Target. My one friend was looking for a good deal on a television and Target had one. It was a 50" television for a great price. We got to Target and the parking lot was already full and the line was long outside the building. We packed our coats and gloves and patience and waited in line till they opened.  I think out of all of the stores we visited, Target was by far the best and most organized. They had employees walking the line and letting us know the 50" television was gone(they passed out tickets to the first people in line) and handed out store maps and Cliff and Luna bars. They were all polite and helpful answering questions and making us happy. Once it was 8:00, they opened the door and it was single file line into the store. There were barricades up so no one could cut in line and there was only one...

What are you thankful for? Every year around this time, we are encouraged to be thankful. Thanksgiving is a national holiday that is celebrated and it is supposed to be a time of reflecting on the  blessings we have received. I don't know about you, but I don't take the time to be nearly as thankful as I should be considering all of the blessings that I have in my life. I write this as I am warm in my home snuggled up in my pretty embellished sweatshirt with olive skinnys and a flowered blouse. My feet are toasty in striped socks wearing slippers. I hear my son and his cousin downstairs playing video games and I smell cookies freshly baked. I am going over to some friends' house later tonight where we will indulge in pizza and snacks and desserts and drinks and play games. Our children will laugh together and play and make memories of their own.  You get the point- my life sounds pretty great, right? How many times have I stopped to think about the saying that ...

I will first admit that this idea might not be originally mine. I saw an email from the Gap and they were showing off some of their pieces including outerwear and gave each day a title of something one might do on that day. They said they were using 10 pieces for 7 days. I decided to copy the idea but make it my own with clothing that is in my closet. If I did sit down and do outfit-planning once a week, I might spend less time deciding what to wear. Would I be more productive since I only have the same pieces to work with? Would anyone notice that I wore the same pieces all week?! Does anyone really care? These were all questions that I decided to try and answer.  First up, I had to pick out my pieces. I envision doing this when I travel and (gasp!) trying to only use a carry-on bag. I looked for pieces that could mix and match with others, look great on their own, and had personality. I decided to not count coats since I work from home and will go out a few times dur...