I've got a lot of exciting things in store for you this month as fall brings things back into focus. Today's post is a fun review of a game called Molkky. The game's maker, Tactic Games sent me a copy of the game to try out and review for you all (Nope I'm not paid to review it, they just saw I write about games sometimes and thought you all would like it!). Molkky is a game that originates in Finland and is one of the most popular lawn games in Europe. You can read more about it's history here.
Molkky
I was hoping to try it out with family before or during Labor day weekend, but nature had other plans and sent us some rain with the remnants of hurricane Hermine. But take a peek at the video to see Bryan and I playing and enjoying this game! It gives a much better view of the game pieces in action.
My Molkky Experience
In terms of the quality it's nicely boxed up in a very sturdy cardboard carrying case with a comfortable plastic handle. The wooden games pieces seem to be made of a sturdy, but lightweight wood, probably pine. The whole set is built to last well, and I think families will not only get a lot of use out of it since it's a game that's easy for all ages to learn and play, but also keep coming back to it each summer. (Or if you're like us you can play indoors with bad weather!) It's not as complex as some of the board games I play, but I really like games like this that can be played at parties and family get togethers. If you'd like to get a game you can find them here through my Amazon affiliate link. And you can check out Tactic's site here as well for more information.
Thanks for reading! Let me know if you have any other fun board games or lawn games you want me to try out in the comments. I'll have some more posts coming up soon.
Yet again it's been a while, but this summer has definitely been a long, hot, and sad one in the news. So I hope you all can understand my absences, as they have honestly been for my own mentally health, not because of you all! I'm doing ok, but sometimes being online too much when there's bad news almost everywhere is just hard for anyone. So I took a rather impromptu break....maybe I shouldn't have because I really enjoy writing. It makes me glad to be back. But let's get on to what you came here for, the book reviews!
August Book Reviews
I've got two for you today, and I want to keep up with at least two interesting book reviews each month. I know some of you readers love it, and I'm really glad to share anything interesting I've read with you all.
Love Of The Sirens
The Love of the Sirens by Edith Zack is a little bit off my typical path of fiction and comics, but I really loved the format of small historical biographies of women in music. If you get to know me well enough you know I enjoy my history and women's studies. So this book is a fantastic combination of both. It allows many of the women who were well known in their time to be made known now to modern music and history lovers despite the fact that many history of music textbooks leave these ladies out.
There are twenty different women profiled in the book, all in historical order from 1098 CE to the last who was born in 1931. There's also a nicely written prologue that gives a bit of an overview of women in the world of music and what has at times kept them from being as popularly known as their contemporaries.
I'll be honest, I haven't read all the stories yet, but none of them are terribly long. It just right for a lunch break or before bed reading. The women detailed are all what we might think of as more classical musicians or composers and lived in the western world. There's nothing too crazy or exotic among them that I've discovered, but the fact that there aren't any women I could name meant I had to read this book to find out more! I was given a copy of the book for free by the publisher to review, but as always this review is my own thoughts. If you'd like to check it out you can find out more here through my affiliate link on Amazon.com.
Batgirl Volume 2 Family Business
Some of you may have read my somewhat frustrated review of the first Volume in this series The Batgirl of Burnside. There was some rather sexist bits in what was otherwise a great story, and it left me conflicted. It took me a while to get back to it, but I decided I'd add it to my birthday list, and then I did indeed get it for my birthday a couple weeks ago!
It's a much better volume, with a lot more emphasis on character development, and it includes some really fun storylines as well. Barbara has to deal with family and friends who she wants to protect instinctively, while also learning to allow them to choose their own paths. There's less drawing for the male gaze too, I really only noted it one or twice, whereas the other volume seemed to include it in every story! If you're interested you can find this book on Amazon via this affiliate link or in your friendly local comic book store.
But Wait There's More....
I've got a lot of exciting things coming up, including another post about another amazing subscription food box. It's not really the kind it's easy to just do a video about either, so I'm looking forward to sharing it here on the blog with you later this week.
Thanks for sticking with me. I'm really excited to get back into the swing of things with you all as summer is finally winding down. See you again soon!
I can't believe how busy this month has been or how fast it's been flying by. I've been trying to get caught up on life and feel like the news has just been so negative. Maybe not all of it....but it's overwhelming to think about too much, so I haven't been online as much because of it.
Japan Funbox
However I do have this bright spot to share with you via a video post. I was contacted by a representative from the Japan Funbox and asked if I'd like to try their mini box and share it with my audience. If you've caught any of my other snack box reviews you probably know Japanese snack foods are some of my favorites. One of the most unique things about this box is that it's packed and shipped straight from Japan! I found the snacks to be a little fresher because of this and it felt really special to be getting mail from Japan too. While Japan Funbox sent me a free box to review all opinions in the review are my own.
To find out more about the Japan Funbox click my affiliate link here. And be sure to tall me what you think in the comments or let me know if there's another interesting subscription you'd like to see me try for you all.
This week has been a crazy one, with lots of good and lots of bad to report. Honestly it breaks my heart to think about it all too much. However I'm going to try and write about some of it and we'll see what happens from there!
News
Giveaway
First off I'm pleased to announce a winner to my giveaway (found in this post). Congratulations to Melissa K! Her prize will be shipping soon, and if you missed this giveaway please stay tuned to my blog. I'll be hosting another in the near future!
I'd also like to thank everyone who entered my giveaway. I loved reading your ideas for what I should be writing about and noted many folks want to see more about plus size fashion and reviews. I can't wait to bring you more of this!
Liebster Award
Last week I was nominated by my lovely colleague Sadie at Sadie By Design for a Liebster Award! The Liebster is an way of giving bloggers a better platform to tell their story to the world. I wanted to acknowledge it in this post even though I haven't had time to fully address all that goes with the nomination yet. I'm thrilled and flattered to be featured this way and can't wait to write more about it. Please watch for a more in depth post about this in the next few weeks!
#BlackLivesMatter
This is just exhausting to keep track of, and the more hate that builds as people start to see race as an issue to take sides on the more sick I feel. I can't think about other people that way. 506 black lives have been lost so far this year, and now more are being added from the police force thanks to a few renegades who are taking things into their own hands. One of the 506 was my cousin a few months back.
I keep thinking things will change for the better, and then there is only more violence and tragedy. It leaves me an emotional mess, feeling guilty when good things are happening in my own life and others are experiencing so much loss. Guilty for being white and having the privilege to go and do what I want without being anxious for my life. I feel bad that the best I can do most days is simply have dialogue with you, my readers, or the other folks I know in person or online. It just feels like nothing I do will be enough to help. And for that I am sorry.
However I try to read and stay educated about what is going on. I don't just block it out with my own moderately happy life. If this strikes a chord with you and you'd like to learn more about concrete ways you can help find peace and ensure a better future for everyone in this country please check out this amazing article featuring a list of practical ways to become an ally.
Pokemon Go
This has been the happy thing of my week I have been enjoying this app I have eagerly awaited the past 8 months. I'll be writing more on this in the near future, including a full review! For now I have my Bulbasaur, a gym next door to my house (First to claim! Though it's already been taken over and....well, I'll come back to that later).
My Nerd Origin Story
My friend and fellow blogger Mickey came up with this writing prompt and opened it up as a bit of a group project within the Geeks & Beauties community I'm a part of. I think it's a great topic to think about as we get introspective about life because it helps us look on the bright side of things and view our own life as a story that we get the power to write. Just as some of our favorite superheroes lives were shaped by adversity so are our own at times. And as with superheroes, sometimes we keep our nerdy identity a secret from the general public. However, today I'm opening up about it to you all.
My own story starts when I was learning to read. I was homeschooled and my mom had some curriculum to help that included a series of books with stepped difficulty and little racetrack to move along as you read each. I remember after the first dozen or so I think I completed the rest in a day, and then started begging my mom to take me to the library. From then on I loved reading and would get a dozen or more books each visit, multiple times a week. When I was 10 years old my mom, brother and I spent some time living with my grandmother and great grandmother to help them out. As soon as we realized we might be there long term the library visits started there too, and in some ways reading became my best friend when there was no one my age to play with. While I love my brother, when you're cooped up in a house together you get sick of each other eventually. Books became my escape from that, and later my comfort as I had to figure out how to make friends with kids again when I had left a kid and came back to my hometown a middle schooler. Fantasy books were my favorite, from retellings of fairy tales to waiting for each new Harry Potter book.
I was the kid who while perhaps 13 walked to the mall on black Friday to buy myself a Game Boy when they were finally cheap enough to be affordable to my family, and then patiently wait to receive it on Christmas day along with a cartridge for Pokemon Blue (my brother got Red!). We had an old Nintendo we shared and played the first few Super Mario games on, and I vividly remember playing all of the Legend of Zelda on a 6 inch black and white tv. As he got further into his teens my brother took over most of the gaming systems in our house, deeming me unworthy to play them as a female. But I was already hooked.
Growing up we had a closet full of board games, stocked by my mom that we used often. Before she homeschooled my brother and I full time she had been a librarian at a university, and before that a high school biology teacher. She loved learning and finding us new projects to work on that stimulated our curiosity. Even when we watched tv with my parents they would often be watching Star Trek or other science fiction shows. On Saturdays my dad would take us on walks to 7-11 to pick up some small item the family needed and buy me a Barbie or Strawberry Shortcake comic. I didn't realize how nerdy this all was until much later in life. I just took joy from reading about gardening and teaching myself to grow roses, or learning to identify birds, trees, and insects. I never thought of myself as an outdoorsy kid, but I loved nature and the science and beauty of it. To this day when I'm creating art or decorating my home themes from nature are constantly finding their way into my work.
Later in high school I wanted to run my own website for a church group I was in and learned to code some in HTML. We didn't even have a computer at the time, just a WebTV unit that allowed us to do very basic web surfing and checking emails. But I figured out how to make it work, and later when we did have a computer I was the one keeping that up and running for the 5-6 years we owned a desktop the family to shared. And I almost ended up in the field of graphic design, except I fell in love with darkroom photography and preferred it to sitting in from of a computer for long periods of time. And now my work involves a computer (or smartphone) all the time!
For most of my life I didn't think about myself as a nerd, I just did the things I loved, which happened to be geeky. Nowadays when I'm looking for new friends or trying to find my tribe I often go straight for the nerdy girls first. And most of the time that's exactly what works best.
I know I haven't been around much lately, and I wanted to give you an update as to why. For the first time in what feels like a long time many of the reasons are good. And I'm happy to share some great things on the horizon too!
Where I've Been...
First of all May kept me busy, I've been in a great group coaching course called the Own It Academy, led by Jessica Rasdall (She's amazing! Her story is unique and moving; definitely check her out if you want to learn how to convey your stories to folks!). The class has been a fantastic experience that's had me writing away as I learn more about how to tell my story to you all. The idea behind the course is boldly owning up to your story for the world to see and telling it effectively, so your audience can be encouraged, learn from what you have to say, and understand what it's like to be you. We're about 2/3 of the way through the course now and along the way I realized the writing I've been doing there has honestly sapped away at my creative energy for posts. So I'm sorry I haven't been around as much as I usually am, but I'm happy to be learning a lot, which I'm excited to start sharing with you all.
One of the biggest things I've discovered is how I've been looking for balance in my life and failing to find it. Mostly because I push myself so hard to reach goals that are unrealistic. I imagine you all can relate, you set great goals that when you look at each one individually seem quite attainable, but when you look at the big picture you realize you're trying too hard to be superwoman. Honestly, my goals have been ambitious, and that's not taken into account how I deal with depression or other areas of my life I want to respect.
It's made me re-think my plans and goals for the future. I'm prioritizing being happier and not being down on myself because I've set a course that's impossible to follow and be healthy. It means that instead of trying to post 3 times a week I'll try for 1-2 really great quality posts that will help you, my wonderful readers, much more. I love spending the time to research topics, creating great images, and fully writing out my ideas to give you the best I can. I'm looking forward to doing more of that. Right now my biggest problem is that I have loads of great ideas to write about, and have learn to put some of those ideas on the back burner!
Other than that I've been doing a lot with family, like having my parents visit, attending my brother in law Davey's wedding, and spending time with my husband. I've dealt with a nasty cold, and some other health issues, which are thankfully getting better, though I'll touch on them more in a future post. And in the past month my husband, Bryan, had been waiting for and finally received notice that the job he'd been contracting for the past 6 months is hiring him as a permanent employee. We're super thrilled about that and starting to think ahead for some new developments in our personal life related to the increased stability we'll be so lucky to have.
Sister, Spy - Book Review
I love finding new books in a variety of genres, and while normally spy stories aren't my thing the premise of this one captured my interest. And luckily I was given a copy of it to review by the publisher. "Sister, Spy" by Menahem Misgav is about a pair of siblings who survived WWII living in monasteries and were recruited by the Soviets to spy for them in the fledgling country of Israel.
The first third of the book starts with a situation where the brother is killed, then we learn more about his family and how they lived the war. A good amount of the next third of the book is about how he and his sister came to be spies. (Including a chapter on the sister's sexual awakening and subsequent relationships, which was a little graphic for my tastes, with all the parts of the story before it being focused on the family it was a little jarring.) Finally in the last third of the book we get to see why the brother was killed and what his sister and father will do now that he's gone.
Overall I enjoyed the author's writing style quite a bit and found a fast and engaging read. Other than the sexual content the only other fault I might have would be with some light mistakes in editing, all homonyms that snuck through the editing process. I feel like this happens with many recently published books I read, since publishing now relies so heavily on spellcheck as an editing tool. Perhaps this means I should take up editing? In any case such a common issue it's hardly worth mentioning if I weren't such a grammar nerd. I think most people with an interest in Holocaust survivors, spies, or Cold War fiction will enjoy this novel. Please check it out here on Amazon through this affiliate link.
Coming Soon
More book reviews!
A follow up article with more reviews of LuLaRoe clothing than the popular original post (found here).
About a dozen videos, including lots of unboxings of beauty, geek, craftsy, and food boxes, plus my first fashion review on film!
And last but not least here's a brand new giveaway if you scroll down, because it's been too long since I've had some fun with you all! Thanks and I'll see you all again very soon.
This giveaway includes a pair of LuLaRoe leggings in size TC (Tall & Curvy, fits sizes 12-24) 3 pairs of owl socks, and 2 pairs of "invisible" or "floating" style cat socks. The owl and cat socks can be found here (owls) and here (cats) through my Amazon affiliate links. LuLaRoe clothing is sold through local or online consultants, you can buy leggings through my consultant, Nicole's Facebook group here. None of the companies involved paid me in any way, I just wanted to share some fun clothing with you all in this month's giveaway, which runs until July 4th!
It's been a crazy past couple weeks since my last post and I've been dealing with some health issues that kept me stuck in bed much more than I'd like. However, I'm really happy to share this short note with you all today.
As many of you readers may remember I've been trying to make more ethical decisions as I buy clothing, which is part of what led me to trying making capsule wardrobes. You can read about that process here and here. Now I'm adding some pieces to my wardrobe by retailers who chose to pay their employees fairly, whether they're in the US or abroad. I've been researching clothing brands who make ethical plus size lines, and you can find all the one I know of on this page (also up in the toolbar). I hope you all will fall in love with some of these brands the way I have so we can make a difference in the world by each piece of clothing we buy! Today though, I'm sharing a new brand I recently learned about on Instagram and am reviewing for you all since I got my first order this past week.
My Elegantees Plus Size Review
So, first off a bit of background on Elegantees - They work with women in Nepal (thus far) who are coming out of sex trafficking situations and becoming independent. Elegantees helps train them and gives them jobs to support themselves and their families by creating comfortable tops and dresses. The women are paid fairly and given a hand up into a new way of life. You can read more here.
Elegantees also prioritizes their clothing being accessibly priced so the sale items in plus sizes are $25-36 and regular prices ones range from $34-64. Their sizing goes from an XS-2X, or up to a size 20/22. Additionally they host trunk shows where you have your choice for earning credit to spend for selling to your friends, giving back to the job training program Elegantees runs, or using the funds for your own charity events such as missions trips or adoptions! I love this idea, and think it's a beautiful way to get the word out about a brand while making the world a better place.
I wanted to go with a couple nice basic pieces from Elegantees, and selected two great tops that were on sale as the ones I'd try. First up is the "Amy" top in black. I wear their size 2X in both tops, and comparatively I wear a 2X from Torrid or Lane Bryant, and a XXL or 1X from Target in similar fabrics. I really liked this top even though it's a tiny bit big at the shoulder (my shoulders fit slightly small to average in most brands), it fits well everywhere else on me. I love the front tie detail that cinches the waist in and the double layers at the peplum are darling! I kind of wish I'd gotten this top in the medium blue instead of black, but the black will be much more versatile, and serves as a great piece for the transitions between cold and hot weather.
Next up is the "Namra" tank top in navy. I ran into essentially the same problem with the shoulders being a little large on this shirt. It's not really noticeable except because the neckline buckles a bit instead of laying flat, but the armholes are a cut larger, which does expose my bra if the fabric is stretched at all as it might be if I sit down. However, I know that won't be a problem for everyone, it's more of my own issue. On the good side of things the length is longer than expected, making the top a lovely tunic length. In the picture below I've paired it with some Tall & Curvy size leggings from LuLaRoe and was really happy with how it falls at the hip. The fabric on both tops is ultra soft and stretchy, though I feel like in the "Namra" tank it didn't need as much stretch, and would have draped even better without it.
Overall I'm pretty happy with these tops, the quality is awesome and the price ($22.50 for "Amy" and $16.67 for "Namra" with their current sale code) is just great! I'm glad to know what their fit is like going forward, and would definitely buy from them again. I decided that because having a good fit is important to me I will be passing on the "Namra" tank top in my Poshmark shop, but my husband and I both love the "Amy" top! I can't wait to see the new plus size items in their summer offerings.
Thanks for reading, and please let me know what you think about Elegantees on the comments!
I love all you readers and I've missed you all over the past few weeks. I've been working away on a bunch of different projects, but haven't been writing as much here as I've processed it all. Plus, you may not have noticed yet, but I started making videos in the past couple months, though I don't post all of them here. I started because while interacting with a lot of great YouTubers in the Geeks & Beauties Group they got me curious enough to try it out back around Christmas! You can find my channel here, I would love it if you stopped by to take a look at what I've been making and subscribe if you're interested.
Since then I've found that it's the perfect place to share my unboxings when I get various monthly subscription boxes. I felt like some of you wonderful people might not have been as interested in seeing all the snacks, beauty products, and other crazy boxes. I love trying new things and exploring what great options are out there. And I bet some of you are also interested in seeing what's available in subscription boxes too.
I got started trying boxes because I never really wore a lot of makeup, and until recently I hardly even owned any! But the artist in me loves to experiment with colors and play with the new tools. I love learning how to use the beauty basics so I can feel a little more confident if I want to create a particular look. Boxes have been a great choice to find new products because I get curated items chosen for me sent to me door that I might not know to try otherwise.
I've branched out to try snack boxes for healthier options and to have fun trying out some foreign treats I might no otherwise try. I've also been testing boxes that have interest based items like the Bookish box. Because sometimes the novelty of it all is just so much fun.
With all that in mind I'm going to be doing roundup posts about once a month to collect all the videos where you can easily see them if you prefer to just follow my blog and not go to YouTube. And it'll keep the videos to a minimum if videos aren't your thing. Without further ado, here are the February videos you might have missed:
February Video Roundup
Birchbox
In this video I'm unboxing the February Birchbox, The Lip Sync Kit (6 lip products!), plus 4 more bonus lip colors! There's lip balm, lipstick, lipgloss, sheer, shiny, and matte. Talk about a haul!
I'm so excited that Appraising Pages sent me one of their great Bookish Boxes to review! It was given to me for free, but all opinions expressed in this video are my own. Let's see what's inside this February box!
Isn't February's Glossybox the cutest? Take a peek at what I got and tell me what you think. I do want to note that the Teez lipstick does NOT last the 8 hours they claim, it was easily rubbed off as soon as I started eating, though maybe it lasts better in combination with some type of primer they make.
This Miyazaki themed box is my first and last Doki Doki Crate. Watch to find out why! Since filming this they have made efforts to change their boxes, but I just didn't think it was a good fit for me.
Love Goodly is an every other month box of women's lifestyle items from makeup and accessories, to snacks and home goods. Each box gives a portion of its proceeds to charity, a different one each month!
I know February is a while back, but I wanted to start with it because there were too many videos I wanted to share. March will be up pretty soon, I'm tying to get caught up with publishing everything, but April is in the works too. So hold on tight!
Please let me know what you thought of this post format. Do you like the videos from each month put together like this? Would you rather have individual posts that include videos? Tell me in the comments so I can give you more of what you like! I'll see you all again very soon for a new fashion post!
Sorry I've been on a bit of a break from writing. I've been going crazy producing videos on my YouTube channel. I'm going to create some posts here for them to make them all available for you all very soon though. I have a ton of things I want to write about too, so I'm excited to get to it. I'm just trying to find balance between writing and making videos. This month videos won, but next month should be better. I'm not going to go into it all too much though, or I'd be here all night.
What I'm really here to write about today is the Geek Week themed challenge I've been doing this week with the Geeks & Beauties Community! Different people approached this from a bunch of perspectives, and I decided to go with a fashion one. First because I love making geeky fashion choices and it's been a while since I touched on the subject despite that being the last thing I wrote about technically speaking. So let's take a peek!
Geek Week Fashion Challenge
Look #1
This book and fairy tale themed look includes a short sleeved shirt from Threadless.com, undershirt from Walmart, jeans from Torrid, and socks from Hot Topic.
Look #2
Day two shows itself in this Ravenclaw inspired outfit featuring a locally made necklace (purchased at the 2014 Boylan Heights Art Walk in Raleigh, NC), Top from Old Navy, Skirt from Charlotte Russe, leggings by LuLaRoe, and flats from American Eagle by Payless.
Look #3
This outfit was a fun one, I wore it for our Pokemon Tabletop RPG to channel trainers from the video game. Items included are a vest from a boutique in Grandin Village, Roanoke, VA, tee from Hot Topic, wet look ponte pants from Lane Bryant, and flats by Reaction.
Look #4
We couldn't forget a Doctor Who outfit in the mix! This one features a DIY key necklace, hair pin rose from Forever 21, 9th Doctor Dress by Her Universe◊(Affiliate to main site, dress no longer available), leggings from Modcloth◊(Affiliate), and flats by American Eagle by Payless.
Look #5
Going with the Thor idea this outfit's a bit of medieval meets modern, Female Thor V Neck Tee by Her Universe◊(Affiliate), shorts by Torrid, Leggings by Bombsheller (This pair's no longer available, but there are hundreds more designs and you can get an affiliate discount with code GEEKMEUP), clutch by Deux Lux, and sneakers by Converse.
Thanks for sticking with me, let me know what you think and feel free to ask questions about sizing or anything else in the comments. See you again soon. Please check out my friend's work below if you've got the time!
I'm back with another fashion post, and this one if part a spring collaboration with my friends from the Geeks and Beauties Community. So for other great top 5 lists please scroll to the bottom of the post!
My Top 5 Spring Fashion Essentials
#1 - Pastels
A classic springtime favorite pastels can work for anyone. If you're not a fan of the traditional Easter inspired hues you can always try grayed down versions like old rose, sage green, dusty blue, and mushroom. Personally my favorites are mint and lavender, but I've also been playing the trends and adding touches of this year's Pantone colors - Serenity (pale blue) and Rose Quartz (soft pink). Here's a peek at some of the pastels I'm using in my wardrobe:
A good jacket keeps you warm through the last hints of winter, a great can also be styled for spring just as beautifully as it might November. My military style jacket pairs pinks with with olive for the right combination that works for both spring and fall looks. A light denim jacket does this well too, though I don't own one yet. And for colder days a soft white coat flatters most anything you pair it with, but keeps you from looking too drab with colorful skirt peeping out! Additionally a soft flannel shirt can layer like a cardigan with a touch more interest thanks to the plaid print.
White Coat - Target, Military Jacket - Maurice's, Plaid Shirt - Old Navy
#3 - Ballet Flats
As the weather warms these become a staple for their versatility. A more comfortable pair with insoles can get you through a whole day on your feet, the floral ones certainly did for me back when I was working at Anthropologie!
Blue Shoes - Payless, Floral Shoes - Payless, Mint Shoes - Forever 21
#4 - Soft Florals
Speaking of florals what spring closet is complete without a bit? Light or dark they can set a cheerful tone, or make a solid colored outfit perk up fast! Florals paired with text can set a nice modern tone as well. Floral shoes can soften a more somber outfit. Or you can wear the floral with pastel for an ultra feminine look.
Skirt - Torrid, Sandals - ModCloth, Tee - Switchfoot
#5 - Pops of Bright Accent Colors
Finally, sometimes between all the gentle colors I want to add something bold to the mix! Bright purple nails with lavender or mint work great. Or let a bright floral print paired with all pale or dark colors shine. Jewelry, bags and shoes can all let bold colors in to keep a more approachable feel at work too. (See the cobalt blue flats pictured above!) Dark floral prints often have a more edgy feeling as it is, and the brighter the colors paired with the dark color the more they'll pop. Bright solids can also work wonders with pale or dark shades in the same color family for a monochrome style.
Nail Polish - Julep in Sherri, Leggings - LuLaRoe, Top - Torrid
I hope you've enjoyed my spring looks, and if you have more fun ideas for how I could work with these items let me know in the comments below! Thanks for reading.
Zombiieeninjja Beauty gives us a look at her hair essentials in the above video.
Jessica Forbes shows us some of her beauty favorites in this video as well.
A few more friends will be added too, so be on the lookout as I add their work to this post as the week goes on!
If you're a blogger or vlogger and would like to learn more about the great support offered through the Geeks and Beauties Community please click here for more information. We create collaborations monthly and we'd love to have you join us! Thanks for reading.
To let you all know this post is semi-sponsored. My friendly LuLaRoe rep Nicole Fitts has agreed to do a giveaway when I told her I wanted to write about LuLaRoe here, which I will tell you more about along the way. However today's post is all about reviewing some of my favorite LuLaRoe items and inviting you all to join me at this weekends LuLaRoe party! (The party's over, but you can still buy from Nicole's shop, and yes she ship worldwide!)
LuLaRoe Company Overview
First off a bit about LuLaRoe. They're a great brand that still fairly new. They started out making all their items besides leggings here in the USA. But in the past year they've grown a lot through their model of locally based consultants who do pop-up sales in home or online. They now have 7500 consultants and have started sending some of their designs to overseas factories. But the good news is they're committed to paying all their workers fairly and all their factories are certified through SGS (More about SGS here!)
The biggest draws for me besides their ethical work is their amazing variety of prints that come is a nice range of sizes including plus size options of course! Most of their women's clothing is available in sizes XXS-3XL! They even have some kids sizes too. Secondly all their prints are limited edition runs of 2500 pieces in each cut. Some days that's maddening if you see a design you don't snag in time, but it also means you have a fairly unique piece. And lastly, their quality is fantastic!
My Plus Size LuLaRoe Review
So far I've tried the Nicole and Amelia dresses, the Madison skirt (purchasing a Cassie shirt this weekend), the Sarah cardigan, a Perfect T, and their famous, buttery soft leggings. I hope to attend an in person party in the future to get a better feel for how some items fit as well!
The Nicole I own (pictured below) is a XXL and I love how it fits, though it's most snug in the arms, and then fitted at the bust. The Amelia in the same size was too small for me, but Amelia also has a zipper closure and pockets, so it's a slight bit more fitted or else I got lucky with the Nicole I chose. I included this dress as a late addition to my fall capsule wardrobe and in my December (Dressember!) mini capsule wardrobe.
Here's a shot with an Amelia, two Nicole's and a second Amelia:
Modeled pictures thanks to my LuLaRoe consultant Nicole Fitts
The Julia dress
Next up is the Madison a great little a-line skirt that unfortunately I've only seen go up to a size XL. I tried the XL and the one I tried would fit a 14/16 as a low waist skirt or an 18 as a high waisted skirt. I'll be trying the Cassie in a 3XL, though I might also be able to fit an XXL, I just liked a print in 3XL better. I really like how versatile the Cassie is, I've seen it used as a top and as a scarf as well as the intended skirt! Below are examples of each:
The Cassie I'm getting
Madison and a Lindsay kimono
Cassie
Next up is the Sarah cardigan, which brings back the duster sweater with lovely colors! Mine is a XXL, but I could have also gone with a XL since it has lots of stretch and is fitted most in the arms.
I also had good luck with the Perfect T, believe it or not I went with a size L, and would wear that to a XXL in most of their tops such as the Irma, Classic T, and Randy. I'm trying a XXL in a Classic T soon as well.
My Perfect T
The Classic T I'm trying
A Randy and a Maxi
Irma top and leggings (leggings as pants? yes!)
Ah and finally the leggings. I love the two pairs I have and purchased a third in the Pantone color of the year Serenity! The fit is a bit variable, mostly in terms of where the waist hits. My 8-bit hearts fit low on the waist and the floral print can be worn high beautifully.
Outfit of the day 2/20/2016
I love these!
A perfect match for Serenity right?
Hopefully this has given you a taste for what LuLaRoe carries and how well they might fit you. Feel free to contact me if you have more questions, I'm happy to help in any way I can. And now that you've had a peek at the great selections please enter my giveaway below for a chance to win a pair of leggings in your choice of size and print.
