Hey y'all! Today's post is kind of a big deal for me. I have always kept a big distance between me and anything resembling a more body conscious style of clothing. I added this dress to my Gwynnie Bee closet just to try it on and see what it looked like. I had no intention of wearing it out because I thought it would be way too form-fitting for my comfort level and totally not me. But guess what? It came in the mail, I tried it on, and I loved it! It is still a bit outside my comfort zone, but it made me feel sexy and sassy and all those other flirty emotions. I could look at my curves - ALL my curves - in the mirror, in this dress, and see the sexiness in it all.
Now THAT is a big deal.
This is the Stop and Stare Ruched Dress from Kiyonna. The patterned area is a smooth poly/spandex, while the arms and back are a black lace. The whole dress is lined (minus the sleeves) and super stretchy and comfortable. It seems to keep its shape well too, which is important in this style of dress. I normally wear a 3X in Kiyonna nowadays, but this dress is in a 4X. The bust is a little large on me, but I feel like the rest of it is a perfect fit. I am rocking these Spanx underneath to smooth things out a little. Because I couldn't bear to part with it, I did end up buying this dress from Gwynnie Bee.
Sean and I had another busy weekend of errands and house chores, but I did manage to surprise my Bunco group when I showed up at Bunco night all dolled up! In fact, my friend Nigel demanded I buy the dress so we can all go out for a night on the town. I can't wait!
I am on the lookout for sexy red (comfortable) heels to wear with this dress. That would just take it up another notch. BAM! I was also super happy with my makeup skills with this look. I used peach, brown, and shimmery nude shadows along with a simple winged black liner for my eyes. The lipstick is my new bright red Stila long-wear lip color. It says it "stays all day", but I would say it stays most of the day. Once I wiped my mouth after eating and drinking, I definitely needed to reapply. If it is on long enough, it does act as more of a stain. You could get away with wiping away the excess and just having red tinted lips if you didn't want to carefully reapply. It is a great color and does have a lot of staying power. Also, this is the second time I have used my new curling iron - the Hot Tools Pink Titanium Curling Iron. It goes up to 450 degrees, so my hair actually held the curl all day. I love it!
We've been busy, busy, busy lately and it was pretty hot the last week or two. In fact, it was pushing 100 degrees outside the day I wore this dress. There was no way I was standing out in the hot sun for photos. Welcome to our newly organized entryway!
I definitely need to do a separate post once I tidy up, but our new and improved entryway is exactly what we wanted it to be. It works for our purposes and provides more storage and display area for photos and fun knick knacks.
And this dress! I bought it during a recent Lane Bryant sale and could not be happier. It is a skater style dress like the polka dot number I also love. I adore the fit and flare style of these dresses. This one is a cotton spandex with a different feel than the polka dot dress. It is a thicker, heavier, super stretchy material that hangs well and feels soft. The abstract leopard print is really fun too.
The dress comes with a skinny faux leather black belt and has sewn on thread belt loops to hold the belt in place. I opted for a slightly thicker belt in my patent skinny one, but the silver buckle didn't match all my gold accessories and warm tones. (I don't have a brown belt. Can you believe that? I think this one might go well with the ensemble.) I simply turned the buckle to the back so it wouldn't distract from everything else. I added the tan shrug for coverage and to keep things on the lighter side. My dark brown shrug just made things a little too dark for me that day, though I think the brown shrug might have been better with the shoes. It was an accidental "Lane Bryant from head to toe" day!
Color! I love to wear it and I love it around me. There is certainly a time and place for a more muted ensemble, but I feel most like myself in bright colors. Right now, Kiyonna has some truly fun and colorful patterns in a variety of silhouettes. Naturally, I am a sucker for a great peplum, so getting my hands on this top was a no-brainer.
I wore this outfit to dinner with my husband and mother-in-law. We headed out to one of our favorite spots: McMenamins Edgefield. I've mentioned the Edgefield so many times before. In a nutshell, it is a hotel, winery, brewery/distillery, golf course, restaurant/pub, and much more. It is the location of mine and Sean's third date (among many others), as well as the the site or our engagement and wedding. It is special to our history and just happens to be a fun place to hang out whenever we get the urge to go.
During our stroll on the grounds, we happened upon the wooded path where, on our wedding day, we met up to see each other at our dressiest. The trees and
plants have all grown so much in the last six years! We meandered down
the path, taking photos and reminiscing about seeing each other that
day. Thinking back on those sweet moments gives my tummy little
flutters.
If you have been on the fence about buying this top, I recommend you GET IT! The stripes are so vibrant, the sleeves are a great length (just a tad shorter than the Posh Peplum), and the keyhole and bow detail are too cute. I also feel that the princess seams on this design, combined with the v-neckline, provide a better fit for my body. The material has stretch, which makes it comfortable to wear. I adore this top and feel like it will work in all seasons and for many occasions. For reference, I am wearing a size 3X on my 5'9" frame.
It is time again for Sartorial Medley, a monthly themed fashion post hosted by myself and Aislynn of Aislynn's World. (Did you miss the previous posts? Check them out!) We welcome participation from anyone, regardless of your dress size. Email me your photo and link
to your blog post - diva (at) divinemrsdiva (dot) com.
To participate, even if you don't have a
blog, just Tweet/Instagram/Pinterest/etc. your photo with #SartorialMedley
to be featured in the blog post. We can't wait to see you rocking your
outfits! (Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @DivineMrsDiva.)
This month's theme is: Casual Friday.
This month's themed challenge is all about being casual and comfortable. For most of my friends who are heading out to run some errands, yoga pants and a t-shirt is the uniform of choice. There's nothing wrong with that, but it isn't my aesthetic. In the comfort of my home, I wear pajama pants, yoga pants, t-shirts, oversized sweaters, and slippers that probably remind you of your grandma. But when I leave the house, my definition of "casual" usually involves capris or jeans (sometimes a maxi skirt or cute dress) with colorful tops and accessories.
For warmer months, a look like this is my favorite to throw on. I bought these beautiful purple capris from Lane Bryant this year and just love the color and how soft they are. The capris keep me cool and provide some coverage when I don't want to fuss with a skirt. Both tops are loose and knit for maximum comfort. I kept my makeup pretty simple by just using my Urban Decay Naked 3 palette and some neutral-toned lipgloss.
Floral Tank - Lane Bryant / Coral Hoodie - Torrid / Boot Cut Jeans - Lane Bryant / Shoes - New Balance
Do you have a favorite go-to casual ensemble? Leave a comment or participate via your blog or other social media. Do you have a fun theme you want to see on the blog?
Because things have been so busy these past few months, there has been an abundance of outfit posts and nothing else. I think most of you frequent the blog to see fashion posts, so it isn't too big of a deal. But I like posting all the other fun stuff I do or am into as well.
I finally found a decent slideshow-making site that I could use for all my Seattle Anniversary Trip updates. I have way too many fun pictures to share to only include a few in each post. While I plan on showing you my favorites from each day, there will also be a slideshow at the bottom with tons of extra photos for you to browse.
Our first day of vacation was mostly getting ready and driving to Seattle. We only live about three or four hours away (depending on the driving conditions), but neither one of us is used to extended road trips. As a kid, my family moved around a LOT, so we had to drive across the country on various occasions. Plus, we would drive from Texas to Mississippi or South Carolina to Mississippi to visit grandmas and family at Thanksgiving. I was used to super long road trips for pretty much all of my childhood. But not anymore...lol
Anyway, about two hours in, our legs were all stiff and we needed to stop and stretch. Lucky for us, there is an outlet mall about halfway to Seattle, so we stopped there to grab a bite to eat and walk around. On our way to this outlet mall, I had this premonition that Sean would want to stop there and then suggest we go look around at the Coach outlet, knowing I wouldn't pass that up. Then, while I was gleefully touching all the purses, he would say that he would buy me the one I wanted as an anniversary gift. It was a fleeting thought that was reaching a little too far into fantasy world. I wasn't expecting any lavish gifts because the trip was the main thing we were focused on for our anniversary present. We arrived at the outlets and he asked if I wanted to look at the Coach store. Remembering my daydream, I shook my head excitedly. I thought, 'Oh my gosh! Did I actually have a premonition?!' So we go and look around in the store. I kept waiting for the Oprah moment when he would tell me I could pick one.....but that didn't happen. I swear I walked around the store at least seven times waiting for him to say something. Finally, I told him we needed to get going and we left. I kind of felt ashamed for being so excited or for even wanting to get a purse on top of the trip and stuff.
To finish the story, on our way back home we stopped to stretch our legs again at the outlet mall. I told Sean he should look in the New Balance store because he mentioned needing some new shoes recently. As he was taking off the pair he was going to buy, he asked if I wanted to go look in the Coach store again. I said that I didn't really want to do that if I wasn't gonna buy anything. He waited a few minutes and then said, "I think if you find something you like, we can get it for you." *Insert Cheshire Cat grin*
Even though I didn't think the sparkly gold number that was marked way down on clearance would still be there after four days, we headed over to scope things out. It was there! I snatched it up, tried it on in the mirror a few times, and declared my interest in said purse to Sean.
After we left the store, I caved and told him of my wishful thinking daydream and how it had inadvertently come true. We had a good laugh.
We made it to Seattle, got settled at the hotel, and walked to a Mexican restaurant my friend recommended to us. Mama's Mexican Kitchen is Seattle's oldest Mexican restaurant, providing tasty food for thirty-eight years now. The inside is a bit cramped and covered with tons of kitschy knick-knacks and Elvis memorabilia. I believe I had the Elvis Burrito, which was carne asada with cheese, avocado, and beans. It was a big burrito and oh so good!
We had already walked about four or five blocks to get to Mama's, so walking another seven didn't seem to be too far in getting to the Seattle Center. It was a lovely evening with a breeze instead of chilly rain. With happy bellies, we proceeded to our destination - Chihuly Garden and Glass.
The Chihuly museum was gorgeous! We were very excited to take a stroll through it and see all the amazing glass works. My father-in-law worked with fused glass and loved Dale Chihuly, so we also felt like we were honoring my father-in-law's memory in a way. We had such a fun evening there staring in awe at all of the exhibits. If you are ever in Seattle, I highly recommend this above everything else. Although we didn't see the gardens in the daylight, we were there at night with everything lit up. It was just incredibly beautiful. There are a couple of photo-op areas - in the exhibition hall and outside - where employees will take your photo and you can use the provided kiosk to email the photo to yourself for free. Take advantage of this opportunity! We loved having these photos available to us.
Below is just a sample of the artwork we saw, along with a slideshow of everything at the end of this post. Enjoy!
In the "Northwest Room", there were many glass bowls inspired by Native American baskets.
The "Sea Life Room. There were many sculpted works of octopus, eels, crabs, starfish, and urchins, as well as drawings of sea creatures.
In the middle of the room stood this fifteen-foot-tall piece of swirling blue cylinders with sea creatures throughout. It is GLASS. It just blows me away.
Our first photo-op of the evening. Sean and I at the "Mille Fiori" exhibit. It means "a thousand flowers" in Italian and was inspired by Chihuly's mother's passion for gardening.
The "Ikebana and Float Boat" exhibit. You all know how much I love color. This was just an explosion of bright colors that I could not take my eyes off of. I stood there staring at it all and taking pictures for at least ten minutes.
The "Macchia Forest" bowls were hard to photograph, but so beautiful in person. The colors were so bright. I also adored the contrasting edges of the bowls. All the glass bowls I have seen in person have had edges consistent with the rest of the piece. The contrasting edges just added an extra something that made them more exciting.
The Glasshouse is the centerpiece of Chihuly Garden and Glass. The design of the Glasshouse is inspired from Chihuly's love of conservatories. It is a 40-foot tall, glass and steel structure that covers 4,500 square feet. The installation of warm-hued "flowers" is 100 feet long, one of Chihuly's largest suspended sculptures. Pictures can't really do it justice. It is amazing to see in person and especially looks magical at night. This is another exhibit I could have just stared at for way longer than we had time for.
As I said, we didn't get to see the Garden in the day time (and I would recommend you see it both ways if you can), but it was a beautiful sight at night. The pieces were all in groups of color throughout the garden. It was really hard to get good photos with such little light, but I tried my darnedest.
I hope you enjoyed this recap and remind you that there are lots more photos in the slideshow. Have any of you been to Chihuly Garden and Glass?
