Haunted Attractions

I LOVE Halloween and spooky season but I’m not a huge fan of haunted houses, as in the ones that involve costumed actors jumping from dark corners often armed with something like a knife, a hammer or worse, a chainsaw. I also dont really enjoy any slasher horror films that feature antagonists that inspire/influence the themes present on those performance-based haunted houses.

Vampires, werewolves, witches and actual ghosts are more my cup of tea. So I’l tend to decline invites to the aforementioned popular Halloween season pastime in favor of actual haunts. Living in New York gives me a greater access to such places as we have our fair share of haunted sites. Some are either still in regular use, be it as a museum or even as a restaurant, and others have since been abandoned and left behind as historic landmarked ruins.

Continue reading

3Wishes for Halloween

When it comes to shopping for plus size Halloween costumes can be kind of tricky without many treats to be found. I honestly can’t even remember the last time I got myself a store-bought Halloween costume. As much as I love Halloween and dressing up in costume, I tend to just work with what I have in my closet that or I ask a family member that can sew to make me somethings if I can’t find pieces I need. The same goes for my cosplay. So it was super fun to get a chance to try something else this year with this latest collab with online retailer – 3Wishes.

Halloween is just around the corner but don’t worry you still have some time to get a great a great look together and 3Wishes is definitely the place to check out if you’re in the market for a creative and unique costume in your size.

Disclaimer: Pieces were gifted for review, but opinions are my own.

Continue reading

Shifting Season Stripes

With less than 30 days left before its “officially” autumn, I’ve can’t help but dream of the upcoming sweater weather that will keep me from sweating like this summer has. Although I’ve spent the last couple of months inside, I’ve spent this time building out the summer-side of my wardrobe, all of which given how “unnecessary extra” my selections have been has a clear lean towards revenge dressing.

By now I feel like everyone knows about revenge dressing, either from recent fashion articles on the subject or just by simply participating in it,  however, just in case you happen to be unaware, this concept is basically an emotional response with fashion; usually attributed to events like a breakup, think Princess Diana’s dress that she wore after her divorce from Prince Charles.

For many of us who spent the last year and a half in loungewear coming out of quarantine has provided a greater stage for (unapologetically) stepping up our style to make up for lost time. As for me, I love a reason to dress up especially if it’s to mark a special occasion.

Two weeks ago I made a major decision that came with some changes for me, one of them being that I won’t have access to a computer for 2-3 weeks as I wait for a new one to arrive. This may not seem like a long time, but for a workaholic like me this feels like torture. So I’m taking the next two weeks to soak in the last rays of summer, with some style of course, in the form of a well deserved vacation before I move on to this next great venture. (Trust that I will be sharing that news as soon as I can.) And I figured that this dress would be perfect for this occasion, even more so as it has some major Beetlejuice vibes which is fitting as I’m already in a Fall/Halloween mood though it’s still way too warm for it.

Continue reading

Something Old, Blue Yet New

One thing that I’ve been looking forward to since getting both doses of the vaccine is getting to attend events and reconnect with friends I haven’t seen in person over the last year so you can only imagine how excited I was to see that Sarah Chiwaya of Curvily was hosting a picnic in Central Park. At scoring one of the few tickets available for the intimate event,  I immediately started to do some shopping online to see what I could get together at such short notice.  I mean after a year of wearing mostly bralettes, loungewear, oversized band tees and pajamas, I figured a new statement piece was in order. That is until my mother presented me with a challenge – styling an old piece that I already own instead.

For context, I am a bit of a hoarder when it comes to clothing. I think this is due in part to growing up fat during the 90s and early 00s it was borderline in possible to find anything worthwhile in my size (or bigger) so I would keep everything that fit regardless of whether or not I truly cared for it. The idea being that I just because I managed to find something once didn’t mean that I would again so I had to keep and take care of what I had. That being said, there are a few exceptions to this, like this dress. Continue reading

Talk 30 to Me (A Milestone Birthday Re-do)

Last year I turned 29 plus 1 by which I mean that birthday didn’t count since I spent it in quarantine. With the rollout of the vaccine and the number of cases going down each day, I figured it was safe enough to have a mini-staycation in the city with some friends for my birthday weekend. I reached out to my friends to see if this was something they would be up for, wrote up an itinerary with activities, booked a hotel room, and shopped my closet for outfits for the weekend. (And for the first time I actually didn’t over pack for a 3 day trip! I guess with age comes all kinds of wisdom even some for packing, hahaha.)

I had a blast with this “milestone birthday celebration re-do” that I simply had to share the experience with you. Giving myself this “get away” was an amazing way to recharge from being glued to the computer for work and such that I’ve found myself to be less anxious as a result, even today.  I’m hoping that  it inspires you to take some time off from working and disconnect for a staycation, be it solo or with friends/family.

Continue reading