Crazy Pants Friday #5: Crazy Lazy Pants!

Welcome to a little tradition I like to call Crazy Pants Friday. Every Friday I give up regular jeans for a crazier alternative.

It's been quite a while since I have been able to share CPF with you guys. The last couple weeks I haven't been working so I decided to wear my lazy pants. 

These pants are great. They are super comfy and have pockets. Also, confession, these pants have an elastic waist band. 

I picked my lazy pants up at a second hand store so they are already super soft. On top of that they didn't cost me much at all!!

Because there are so many colors, I can pretty much wear whatever shirt I want! This time I chose to wear a plain peachish t shirt. It was a super comfy and cute outfit. 

A little icing on the cake for this outfit, I wore my             favorite boots. You guys have seen me wear these boots with many outfits. It's because they can go with like anything. If I can find a pair of boots like them with a heel, I'd be set forever lol. 

Sometimes I just need a lazy day and there's nothing wrong with that. Part of loving and taking care of yourself is having a lazy day once in a while. When you guys are feeling lazy what do you wear? I'd love to hear from you in the comments below. 

Remember to Shine Bright and Beautiful because you are Beautiful!!

P.S. Check out my Facebook page and Google + page for updates and random pictures! Also you can check out OBT and I playing games together on his YouTube channel 

http://youtube.com/user/magicmerliny

Numbers Aren't Important: Secondhand Adventures

Hey guys. It's been a very long time since I've posted. There's so much to say today. First, I've been super sick :( but I'm finally feeling better :) Flu viruses are awful.

Second, I've run into a sad problem. I'm running out of awesome pants for Crazy Pants Friday, so today I decided to remedy this issue. I visited two second hand stores today and tried on more than 30 pairs of pants! Fortunately I have a lot of patience, lol. There were lots of fun bright colors and patterns to be found. It was a lot of fun hunting for pants awesome enough for CPF. Here are just a couple examples from today:

I wanted to tackle a sensitive issue for a lot of people out there, men and women alike. Sizes and numbers. It is so easy to go shopping today and get discouraged. Last time you went shopping you were one size, but this time you are two sizes bigger. It can feel very frustrating. Today I'm telling you that sizes don't matter! That's right, I said it. Sizes are not important! The numbers are just guidelines. They are starting points to find clothes that fit and feel good on you.

I try to act what I preach. I must confess I feel self-conscious about my tummy sometimes. I try to remember that I am healthy and that's the most important thing. Being healthy and happy about yourself. That's what this whole blog is about: me wearing clothing that makes me happy and sharing with you guys.

Today walking through the second hand store I started looking at the sizes of my last shopping trip. I'm somewhere between a size 6 and 8 in pants. I just used this as a starting point, but I didn't limit myself to just 6s, 7s. and 8s. I also looked at 15s and at 1s and all the in between sizes. I found patterns I liked and materials that felt good. I wasn't even paying attention to the sizes.

In the fitting rooms, I got some pretty surprising results. The size 2 pants fit great! Then the size 5 pants were too tight. Size 11 pants were too loose, but the 13s fit perfectly.

I feel the sizes are so arbitrary anyways. A pair of size 7 pants are not the same size as a pair of 7s from two years ago, five years ago, ten years ago. If the sizes change so much across time, brands, styles, why should we let the numbers bother us so much?
This realization is so liberating to me. I had to share with you guys.
Here are the tags of pants that fit and I actually purchased today just to show you how ridiculous sizes really are:

Size 13 Juniors

Size 9 Juniors

Size 7 Juniors

Size 6 Womens

Size 10 Petite Womens

Size 2 Womens

I really wish and want you guys to take this to heart. You are beautiful! It doesn't matter if you're wearing size 2 or size 22. Being healthy and happy in your skin is more important than any number whether it's weight or pants size. Finding clothes that fit and feel good is more important than trying to only wear size 4. It's perfectly fine and I encourage you to try different sizes to find what feels best.

If it were possible, I would give each and every one of you a hug and a smile. Try to accept yourself for how you are. You are beautiful no matter what size you wear.



Shine Bright and Beautiful!!




P.S. Obviously this issues fires me up a bit. Please leave questions and comments. I'd love to continue discussing this with you guys.

P.S. More pictures from my shopping trip are on my Google+ profile. Check them out. Like and Share your favorite pants!

Crazy Pants Friday #4: (Almost) Checkered Pants

Whew! It's finally the end of a looooong week. It feels so good to be Friday. Today's post will be a little short today, as I'm just not feeling well.

Anyways, welcome to a little tradition I like to call Crazy Pants Friday. Every Friday I give up regular jeans for a crazier alternative.



Today I decided to wear my (almost) checkered pants. These pants have different colored boxes all over them ranging from black and brown to tan and cream. Because of all the colors mixed in the pants, I can wear different shirts with them to create different looks.



I'm kind of lazy today, so I'm just wearing a plain black t-shirt to really let the pants shine. Also, I'm totally boycotting shoes, lol. Normally with these pants I'd wear black or brown heels.


As usual, I've picked up these pants from a second hand store for just a couple bucks. I really encourage you to check out different stores in your area. There are so many treasures just waiting to be discovered.



If you guys find any treasures, you should email me pictures. Maybe I'll even include your pictures in a blog post. Please leave questions and comments. I'd love to hear about your second hand store adventures.









As always guys,

Shine Bright and Beautiful!

Date Night!!

Hey guys! It's been quite a while since I've posted. As you all are probably familiar with, life got in the way. Between working overtime last week and battling a cold, I haven't had much time for anything besides work and sleep. I'm feeling much better and even got a partial day off on Saturday. It's been a good weekend.

Date Night! This is what happens when I have an evening off. I dress up and be all girly for a date. Dinner and a movie (there's nothing wrong with the classic ;) ).

Let's begin with the best part of the outfit: shoes. These heels are about 4-5 inches tall. They are white with black polka-dots. It's a little hard to tell, but they are kind of fuzzy and definitely sparkly. They are ah-mazing. I love how tall they make me (I'm only 5'2"). I get a confidence boost from wearing them. I almost didn't get them. I was shopping with my sister, found them, and tried them on. I liked them a bunch. My sister wasn't so sure. So I went back the next day with my boyfriend and got them. They're just too awesome to pass up.

The skirt I'm wearing is actually a grey high-waisted pencil skirt. For a fun date night, I chose to dress it down with a plain blue v-neck t-shirt. The skirt I picked up from a second-hand store for just a couple bucks (shameless second-hand promotion lol). It's quite versatile. I can dress it up with a button-up blouse tucked in, or I can dress it down like I did here.

This blue shirt is wonderful. It's a very soft v-neck. Because it's a solid color, I can wear it with all sorts of outfits. The vivid blue is very bright and happy. I chose a plain but pretty outfit to help turn the attention toward my shoes.





My hair was straightened by my friend (who also happens to be my boyfriend's sister). While it seems like a little thing, it actually took a lot of effort because I have a whole bunch of hair. It almost reaches my butt. Usually it is wavy from being braided all the time, so I decided to do something new. It worked out wonderfully. So thank you, Fiora for helping me. :)





Here's the icing to an already fabulous outfit, earrings. I love this pair of earrings because they're both gold and silver. So I can match them with almost any other piece of jewelry without having to worry about clashing gold and silver. They are very simple design, just two disks. I can match them with jeans and a t-shirt or with a pretty dress. They would work either way.




It was a wonderful night with great friends. I hope you all take time out of your busy schedules to dress up and do something nice for yourself and significant other. It's definitely revitalizing.

Are there any shoes or piece of clothing that just gives you an instant confidence boost when you wear it? What do you guys like to do for date nights? I'd love to hear what you think. Please leave questions and comments below.

Have a Happy Color Day! :D



P.S. Hunter-kitty tried to help me take pictures. So here's the result:

Crazy Pants Friday #3: Lava Pants

Welcome to a little tradition I like to call Crazy Pants Friday. Every Friday I give up regular jeans for a crazier alternative.

LAVA PANTS!! Enough said, lol.

Today has been a crappy day, but I cheered immediately up when I wore these pants after work. The first words out of my boyfriend's mouth were "Well, hey there, sexy!" Haha totally worth it!

We totally had a debate of whether to call these fire or lava pants. I chose lava because it's such a cool fun word. It has to go with cool fun pants. 

Anyways, I bought these pants almost a year ago at a second hand store (Yay second hand stores!) in Reno. This was our first trip together to visit his mom. I wanted to seem normal when we went shopping, but I just couldn't help myself.

I love wearing these pants with a plain or sparkly black shirt and heels. I have the best heels to wear with these pants. Sadly, they are in storage (#movingissues). The black heels I'm wearing do the job just fine though.

What would you guys pair with these pants? Have any ideas where I should wear them to? Please leave questions and comments below. I love hearing from you. 

As always,

Have a Happy Color Day and an Awesome Weekend!

 P.S. For all you guys having a crappy day, here's a bear hug from me to you.

Throwback Thursday: High School Graduation Dress w/. Red Shoes

Oh Goodness, Guys!! I'm super excited to see my page views grow so much over night.
As a special thanks, I decided to do another post this week.

So this is my obligatory Throwback Thursday post. I never got into this fad much, but I figure it wouldn't hurt to do at least one. I'm sure I'll be doing some more TBT posts.

This picture is from my freshman year of college. For those of you who don't know me too well yet, that was about four years ago.
I still love that dress. I bought it specifically for my high school graduation. If I remember correctly, I picked it up at a second hand store. I love shopping at second hand stores. You can find super cool, one-of-a-kind pieces and save a bunch of money doing it too. I'm a big supporter of second hand stores. *End obligatory second hand store rant, haha*

Anyways, this dress is super easy to wear. It's kind of hard to see in this picture, but it is a nude/tan dress with black flowers. I love to wear it with red shoes. They definitely give a good pop to the outfit. In fact you can see one of my red shoes in the bottom of the picture. If you guys don't have some already, red shoes are a must for every closet. They give some nice eye-popping color to any outfit. Red shoes can even make jeans look classier.

So my hair was super short not too long ago. Definitely in this picture. In the very upper corner, you can see a black sparkly bow. I was wearing a headband. One of my favorites in fact. My grandparents brought it back from Thailand for me. So it holds a special place in my heart. Anyways, with short hair, I love wearing headbands and bows. They make me feel pretty and happy. Which is the whole point, right? Wear what you want as long as it makes you feel good and smile.

Thanks guys for all the views last night.

Have a Happy Colors Day!!

P.S. Please leave comments and questions. I'd love to hear what you think. Remember to keep it clean and positive.