Month in Review: April 2019

Doesn’t it seem like I just did the March Month in Review?? Ha ha, I DID. I was late then, and now I’m right on time (for a change).

my top 3 posts march

1. Angry at ASOS!

Well, that’s too bad. As they say, bad news travels faster than good. (DO “they” say that?? Did I just make that up? I do that sometimes, just sayin’).

But, I will say this ASOS “thing” spurred me into some action. I’ve reached out to several sewing teachers and seamstresses to look into having a couple custom dresses made…and to teach me how to make my own patterns from clothes I already have that fit me well. I know there are YouTube videos galore on that, but it looks so simple when they’re making a size 2 shift dress. Things look a whole lot different when you’re working with 4 yards of fabric. I haven’t gotten anywhere with anyone yet, really, but the fire has been lit.

2. Happy (kind of) Anniversary to Me

3. Step Up for Autism Awareness

Okay, this I’ll take. I’m glad this one got some mileage cuz you never know who might need some assistance and not know NSSA exists…and (cuz Making Everything About Me is My Special Gift) cuz I really made a good effort to walk double my original goal (in a MONTH, Nancy, not a day!) and raise some money for the organization. Thanks to those who made a donation – every effort is greatly appreciated!

my 2 favorite BLOGGER outfits in APRIL

1. I’m very pleased to share that my first “favorite blogger outfit” of April is from our friend Jodie at Jodie’s Touch of Style!

I just love a sneaker with a dress for summer! And while I’m not normally a bright color person, this dress really appealed to me – it’s bright but in a muted way, if that makes sense. It’s ruffly and girly, but the outfit is not too precious because of the sneakers!

If you don’t already know Jodie and her website, definitely check her (and it) out! She and her family are the best kind of people and they are everywhere and into everything!

2. My other favorite blogger outfit from April is from Miria from Plus Kawaii. Wow, I was really feeling the brights last month!

Anyway, happy story about how I came across this outfit. Catherine from Not Dressed as Lamb did a post in April called “The Influencer Look: Whatever Happened to Individuality in Blogging” about how so many of the looks we see every day on bloggers and Instagrammers are starting to homogenize and look the same…when the very thing that was so great in the beginning about people posting their outfits on the internet was the individuality and creativity! It made me think of my introduction to “street style” (when it was really “street” style and not “brand style”) on Flickr back in the day when it was also great and creative and fresh (I guess at a certain point Instagram became the new Flickr but…it’s not the same). I came across these girls sharing their “WIWT” (What I Wore Today) looks on the picture sharing site. And their looks were so creative and different and fun, I was hooked. I had a few favorites I followed and admired. But when Flickr jumped the shark I stopped visiting daily, then weekly…then months would go by…and now I was getting my fill of fashion from blogs and Instagram so I wasn’t really missing it, but…I DO miss it. Because it was a different era.

ANYWHO…after reading Catherine’s post I went over to Flickr to see if any of the same people were still there. It was pretty much a wasteland for interesting style (sadface), BUT…I did find one account that I used to follow now had a blog called Plus Kawaii. Her look is more sophisticated now, but she still has a creative vibe which I like a lot. And THIS outfit, I’m mad for. This smock-waisted, loose-fitting bright patchwork-patterned dress is JUST the look I’d love for summer. It reminds me a lot of my favorite Junarose dress. I tried to track it down but it’s no longer available on their website, but…now I have a new site to watch for interesting plus size clothes and maybe something else entertaining will come along.

my favorite purchases in APRIL

1. My long-coveted Canon EOS 6D Mark II Digital SLR Camera Body. If you click the link, I did not pay that amount (gah) as I bought mine used and traded in three lenses and my old camera body for most of the purchase price. (NOTE: skip to Purchase #2 if you’re not interested in blah blah camera talk) How is this camera better than my old one? This is a full-frame camera. I have only ever had crop-sensor cameras. And what does that mean? Basically, a full-frame camera has a larger sensor. The sensor is what gathers the available light (photographs are created with light). So a full-frame/larger sensor can make better use of low light…and somehow I always seem to be shooting in low light!  When faced with low light you have a couple options: slow down your shutter speed/exposure (shutter open longer allows more light to get inside), but then you risk getting motion blur…or increase your ISO (ISO refers to the sensitivity of the sensor to light), risking getting “grain” or “noise” in your images. So a camera that allows me to shoot in undesirable lighting conditions (like inside the school where I work!) and not have to deal with blurry or grainy images is a Big Improvement. Plus, it is SHARP. My old camera, under the best of circumstances, produced slightly soft images. Post-processing and resizing helped, but my new pictures are sharp right out of the camera, which is lovely.
2. I got the black version of the Amazon Daily Harvest Swing Tee.

3. Zen Breeze Essential Oil Diffuser

Total splurge here. I have wanted a scented oil diffuser for a really long time but just kept…not wanting to spend the money. Last week when I was in the city with my girlfriend, we went into a store and as soon as I walked in I was like WHAT IS THAT SCENT? I actually nabbed a salesperson (and I never talk to anybody) and said, “Random question here, but do you know what that scent is?” Well, of course he did as they sell it right in that store! HAPPY HAPPY DAY!

I’ve had no scented candles since I’ve been in the new apartment and felt it needed a signature scent and this was it. I bought the “love” essential oil, which is a blend of lavender and rosemary – very clean, fresh and a little spicy. They had diffusers there but they were $60 and I just couldn’t do it. But as soon as I got home I was right on the magical internet reading diffuser reviews…and the next day Amazon (sorry, Susan) delivered this beauty right to my door. Well, to my landlord’s door, but. And I am loving it!!! I turn it on the minute I get home, set it for 3 hours and instantly the whole place smells like I’m in a Mediterranean garden! This is going to be way more economical than scented candles. A bottle of essential oil costs about the same as a 3-wick Bath & Body Works candle on sale…and will last a month vs a week! I’m very pleased with my splurge.

what i read in march

Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue

This was way better than my March reads! It was a good story told very well about a Cameroonian couple who came to America from Africa to “make a better life” for themselves. You follow them through good times and bad and get to see how they change as people throughout. Very interesting. I definitely recommend it with two big thumbs up.

In Every Moment We Are Alive by Tom Malmquist

Okay. I started this mid-March. Trudged through 3/4 of it one weekend when I wasn’t feeling well and mostly stayed in bed. I haven’t touched it in weeks. Reading it feels like wading through sludge for me. I would not continue but I want to see the resolution of one issue. Which, could be the mark of a good story? But man, this is rough. Here’s the thing. It’s about a man whose wife dies right after giving birth to their only child. You know that going in. It’s the first half of the book. But it’s written in a very stream-of-consciousness way. Which I GET. That’s how those times of your life feel…like everything is happening at the same time and there’s no order and nothing makes sense and you just have to get through it. At least I THINK that’s why it’s been written this way. So I GET it. BUT that also makes it very hard to follow. And in addition to the emotion of the loss, he jumps back and forth from the present time to memories from the past, and English seems his second language, or the book was translated from…Norwegian (or wherever it’s set, it’s somewhere like that) to English and it’s just a little stilted. Someone else might think this is brilliant storytelling, “you feel like you’re going through this terrible time with him,” but I don’t think the storyTELLING should overpower the STORY. So it’s still sitting on my bedside story and every night I try to convince myself to just finish the darn thing so I can move onto something better, but…Instagram and Words with Friends seem way more appealing. So I’ll update you when I eventually finish (which I will), but I don’t think I would necessarily recommend it.

Oof. I was chatty tonight!

Happy May, friends!