Just in Cases

If my recent trip to England has shown me anything, it's reminded me that I desperately need to make friends in Chicago who will watch Love Actually with me. Jeff is Not a Fan of that movie, to say the least, but it holds a very special place in my heart, and my customary annual viewing in New York is just not enough for me.

Review: Vixen Makeup Swing Skirt

Well, #WiggleWeek has come to a conclusion, and after a week of truly fabulous body positivity from lots of wonderful people, I'm feeling so much more comfortable in fitted dresses! There aren't enough words to express my gratitude to all of the amazing women who participated, but you can expect a wrap-up post where I use a lot of words trying ;). In the meantime, I've missed my petticoats and twirly skirts, and am so excited to debut my new Vixen makeup-print swing skirt today. I'd heard so many good things about the Vixen swings, and am happy to add another positive review to the chorus!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I'm getting ready to do one of my favorite things in the world: cook a giant, elaborate holiday meal. There's something extra satisfying about holiday cooking: no matter what, the fact that somebody in the distant past arbitrarily decided to celebrate a certain day gets me in the party mood every single time.

6 Reasons to Love the Wiggle Dress

Wiggle Week is off to a great start: I've worn some of my favorite non-cupcakey dresses and have many more to go! It's been so wonderful to see so many gorgeous ladies rocking their wiggles and sharing words of wisdom on Instagram and Facebook. I've said before that immersing myself in a body-positive community has helped me on my own body-acceptance journey, and seeing everyone in their wiggles really drives home the message that all bodies are perfect just the way they are.

#WiggleWeek: Deadly Dames Courtesan Wiggle

While I'll always love a circle skirt with a massive petticoat or two, I'm really starting to get into the wiggle dress. It's taken me a while, since I've spent most of my life feeling self-conscious about my belly, but lately I've really been feeling the fitted look! They have a totally different vibe than my usual giant-skirt-and-novelty-print combo, but it's one I finally feel ready to embrace. Life is just too short to worry about whether strangers can clearly see that you have a stomach: hello, everybody has a stomach. Otherwise, we'd all die of starvation!

Don't Leaf Me!

Here in Chicago, fall seems all too brief. The leaves have barely started changing colors before it's time to bust out ye olde winter coat and adjust to bare trees and dark afternoons. I've tried to make the most of those few glorious weeks of autumn, though. This has mostly involved the following: 

• trying out new and exciting foliage-heavy photoshoot locales
• wearing blazers as coats and ballet flats with my tights 
• pointing out every single gorgeous tree I see to Jeff and refusing to let up until he acknowledges how lovely they are.

 

On Odd Coping Habits

It's been a rough week, to say the least. If you saw my Election Day post, you probably know what it is that's been getting me down. I pride myself on being a positive, optimistic person, but I've really struggled in the face of everything that's been going on. Old anxieties and negative thought patterns that I'd thought were in the past have re-emerged with a vengeance, and I've had a difficult time figuring out how to address them.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland (Nicole)

News flash: I'm slightly Bernie Dexter-obsessed. (Well, this isn't so much a news flash as it is a confirmation of something that's probably pretty obvious from my love affair with the Kelly dress, the Chelsea cut, and this red gingham number.) I've had my eye on the Winter Wonderland print for ages, and had already decided that this was the year I'd finally nab it when Bernie released the Winter Wonderland Nicole dress. The timing couldn't have been more perfect: here in Chicago, the cooler weather seems to have finally settled in for the long haul, and I've been thinking about beefing up my winter wardrobe. I think we all know where this is going…

Review: Leopard Vixen Wiggle Dress

Well, if you follow me on Instagram, you've already seen my election reaction. I don't really have all that much to add at the moment, so I'll register my feelings in a different way, with a body-positive dress review.

Slowly but surely, I'm getting over my fear of wiggle dresses, and it's all thanks to two things: Micheline Pitt and leopard print. (Well, one thing really: leopard-print wiggles designed by Micheline.) The dam began to crack when I got the leopard Vamp dress last spring, and discovered that it made me feel awesome! Still, when I saw sneak peeks of the stretchy leopard wiggle from Vixen by Micheline Pitt, I wasn't sure if I was ready. While I've made major progress in accepting my Kewpie-doll belly, stretchy spandex/ponte wiggles still felt like a bridge too far, as they're often particularly unforgiving.

It's Election Day: Go Out and Vote!

Well, our long national nightmare is almost over: it's Election Day! (At least I hope the nightmare's almost over. If this turns into a 2000-style, months-long odyssey of litigation and hanging chads, I swear I'm leaving. For the Moon.) To commemorate this momentous occasion, I'm wearing my Most Patriotic Outfit and (probably) hiding under my desk until someone tells me that Trump lost.

Style vs. Fashion

Given that this is primarily a blog about retro-inspired style, you might not be *too* surprised to learn that I'm not much for keeping up with fashion trends. I know what I like (full skirts, the color red, anything and everything space-related, sparkly brooches) and I'm totally a creature of habit. 

This outfit includes many of my sartorial faves: red, full skirts, a fun print, sparkles, and more red!

Restaurant Review: Cafe El Tapatio

First things first: YOU GUYS THE CUBS WON THE WORLD SERIES! It was the most excruciatingly thrilling baseball game I've ever watched and I almost couldn't handle the tension, but they WON and life is good. I liveblogged the agony and the ecstasy on my Insta and stayed up way too late after the game ended.

Anyway. It is a truth universally acknowledged that the Mexican food in Southern California is damn near perfect, and after living in LA for eight years, my standards for Mexican food are ludicrously high. Alas, our new life in Chicago affords us far too few opportunities to have a proper taco and/or chile relleno. Before last week, I think I must've gone something like three months since my last proper taco. To clarify: a proper taco is a soft taco on a small tortilla, filled with nothing but meat and topped with onions, cilantro, and salsa.

Thankfully, as I discovered last Thursday, there's good Mexican food to be had in Chicago. I honestly don't remember how Jeff heard about Cafe El Tapatio, but I'm glad he put it on our ever-growing list of restaurants to try, because it was absolutely epic.

My Charity-Shop Haul

Admittedly, my priorities for my trip to England last month were a bit unusual. Apart from having a proper English breakfast, eating Scotch eggs, and going to English chains like Primark and Marks and Spencer, I was most excited to try my luck in the charity shops. For my American friends: charity shops are secondhand stores whose proceeds go to a specific charity (i.e. Oxfam and the like.)

Happily, while Jeff was at his conference, I got to live the dream!