Jamberry

So I have been preparing to go back to school, and the day before school I decided to try a new product called Jamberry. Jamberry is a company that creates nail products. Anyone who knows me, knows that I have never had a manicure or a pedicure in my life. Why? Well, it is simply because I am cheap. A sheet of these nail foils is fifteen dollars and if you have shorter nails, they will last you multiple uses. They come in different colors, patterns, and styles. So it is really great to keep on hand for when your having a special occasion.

Originally I was opposed to the idea, which explains my excitement in the video. But, when I finished all my nails, I was surprised how nice they looked. As you can see on the right most finger, I used a nail foil slightly too big. That ended up being the first one to come off. The nail foils ended up lasting me a whole week before that first one finally came off.

When the first one came off, it annoyed the heck out of me and I had to pull the others off, so they would match. My advice to you with these is to be patient. If you just try to smudge it on your nails, the foil is going to wrinkle and look bad on the nail. Another thing to keep in mind is, if you are between nail sizes, use the smaller nail foil. The smaller one will look much nicer than having it sticking to your skin and catching on everything.

Overall, I am really pleased with the nail wraps. I would likely purchase another sheet in the future, not on a weekly basis, but I would definitely buy it for special occasions.  If you are interested in purchasing them, click here to purchase some from the woman I bought them from. They will be mailed to you super quickly and I am sure you will be pleased.

P.S. The video is giving me nothing but issues right now.

Happy Fourth of July

Hey yall,

Happy fourth of July! I am so sorry about the huge gaps in post. I have been extremely busy because I am now a volunteer at the Southeastern Channel!!! I just learned how to video edit and now I am working on researching some news stories. I am so excited to be a part of the a student reporter with Southeastern! I should be on the second episode this semester. If they post the video, I will be sure to show yall too. Maybe I will be the next Nellie Bly!

Speaking of the southeastern channel, I was wondering if you want me to post the more professional looking news channel dresses. If so, you can comment below or visit my blogs facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/plush.pinup.7

Another thing that happened recently is my grandmother passed away. It was a difficult time for the family but we found comfort in looking through some of the family photos. I found some really cool vintage photos I wanted to show you! They will be displayed below.

Another big announcement, I have is my best friend, Elizabeth, asked me to be her bridesmaid. I am super excited and I can't wait to see her walking down the isle on her special day!

Her fiancé Patrick proposed to her in the restaurant inside of the castle at Disney World! The restaurant gave her a glass slipper as a souvenir.

I finally had the chance to meet her prince charming and I am so happy she found someone so devoted to making her happy.
Here are the vintage photo's I promised.

Lot's of Love,



The Plush Pin-up

 

The Strawberry Festival!!!

Hey yall,

After work today, I walked down the road to visit the Strawberry Festival. The Strawberry Festival was established in 1972, celebrates the hard work of the farmers who bring in the strawberry crops every year. Several organizations, clubs, and craft venders put booths with food, games, crafts, and oddities. Abby Earles was crowned as this year's Strawberry Queen.

While traveling through the festival, I looked through many of the food options. For those who are wondering, when the sign says alligator or shark meat on a stick, they mean it! People in Louisiana eat food that is very different than other parts of the country. But truth be told, they both taste like chicken... just more expensive.









I then stumbled across a stand selling strawberry beignets. A beignet is a deep fried square pastry made from choux dough. Beignets are usually covered in powdered sugar but these also had a strawberry syrup drizzled on top. It was delicious!

Several craftsmen brought their paintings, woodwork, homemade jams, etc. A few years back, I purchased homemade strawberry preserves. It was the most delicious thing I have ever eaten. If you ever have a chance to try it, I highly recommend it.

One of the craftsmen was a caricature artist. My mom and dad had a picture of them done when they were younger and I had always admired it. So, I decided to have my face drawn. As goofy as the picture looks, I adore it! Especially since I have CLEAVAGE! It took me 23 years and caricature artist, but I finally have boobs! The artist, Andrew Wilkie, shall be praised for my unexpected boob job. XD

He has a website, if you want to order yourself a caricature, click here.

To get a closer view of any of the photos, simply click on the photo you wish to view.
P.S. I have finally hit 100 page views! Thank you!

HAPPY EASTER!!!!

Hey Yall,
I am so relieved spring break has finally come. I am plum tuckered out from all the exams and essays we had in the past two weeks. Since spring break has started, I haven't been up to too much. I went to visit my grandmother and I made some Easter eggs. They came out super cute! I made a full dozen, but some little man rolled one of the freshly decorated eggs on the floor. Not mentioning any names. VVVVV




In Louisiana, the food is the most important part of the holidays. For Good Friday and Easter, we prepared seafood gumbo and seafood stuffing. The dishes had crawfish, shrimp, oysters, and crabmeat.





Boiled crawfish is a tradition to have on Easter day in Louisiana. Although, we won't be having it this year, I did take a photo of a pound of crayfish we purchased a few weeks ago. No, it is not a bug! It is a crustacean, similar to boiled shrimp. They are amazing when they are cooked correctly.

Next week, the strawberry festival is coming up. It is an amazing festival with rides, food, live music, and dancing. I plan on taking a photo of some of the dishes activities for you to enjoy. So stay tuned!

To get a closer look at any photo simply click on it.

Sincerely,



Tara

"PLUSH!"

Dear readers,

Recently someone sent one of the companies who share my blog post a nasty message. It stated that calling me "The Plush Pin-up" is derogatory. I decided to clarify, they were not calling me the plush pin-up, that is the name of my blog.

The term "plush" comes from plush fabric that is softer than velvet and used on many stuffed animals. When used as an adjective, it means soft and luxurious. The reason I call myself the "plush" pin-up is because I am larger than the average fashion blogger. I am a "plus-sized" woman. The term was directed towards myself. I had no intention of insulting anyone. I believe that a woman should love herself at any size. However, I didn't always believe this.

 

This is me a few years ago at my heaviest weight. I had no self-esteem and was 38lbs. heavier than I am now. I had tried hundreds of different diets in my life and due to my yo-yo dieting continuously binged after each failure. I hated myself.

 

I drank only protein shakes 2 days before this photo and actually gained weight.

 

Finally, I got sick of dieting, sick of going to the gym for 4 hours, 3 days a week. I basically said "F*** it."

Oddly enough, that is when the pounds started to fall off. I ate what I wanted and felt no shame when I ate some thing that wasn't "diet food." Because I never felt deprived I didn't binge. I then discovered a pill called alli (also known as orlistat) that helped me even further because it blocks 25% of the fat you eat. (Don't take any medication with out the approval of your doctor.)

 

This was when the realization hit me, "Life is about enjoyment not your dress size."

 

This is why I have a plus size blog. I know how hard it is to be larger than most and how it feels to be overlooked. I know what it feels like to have to shop in special stores because the majority of stores don't carry your size. Being plus sized isn't easy, but it is not something you should be ashamed of.

 

When I realized this, I gained confidence and no longer felt overlooked. I made more friends in school and became a happier individual.

 

Learn to love yourself at any size.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

 

The Proud to be "Plush" Pin-up

Mock Press Conference

Hey Yall,
Yesterday was a particularly fun day at school. We had a mock press conference for a kidnapping case. We were able to speak to a real police homicide investigator about the case. Part of me was baffled at what to do but at the same time I just wanted to jump into the action. It was a great experience.


More people asked today about my retro style and I referred them to my blog. The blog has had almost 1000 page views since it first started. I am excited to see new people are following it. Once things get a little less financially rocky, I am hoping to try some new styles like a peter pan  collar dress or a patterned sweater. My mother is suggesting that I purchase a London fog coat, which would be nice for covering stories like Hurricane Katrina, once I have my degree in journalism. But, they are incredibly expensive! One coat, and I will be waving goodbye to an entire pay check. I think the coat can wait for a while.

Have you seen the latest Meghan Trainor video yet? The costumes are an adorable cross between rockability and modern styles.

 

Also, if you like to see cats playing in doll houses CLICK HERE.

This dress can be purchased in many other colors from le bomb shop. They are an awesome company and their clothing will flatter most figures.

The jacket was purchased from one stop plus.

What's News Pussy Cat!

Hey yall, I have another dress review for today. I recently received this Kitty Chronicle newsprint dress in the mail and I have to tell you, it is just peachy! It is from modcloth.com and it is insanely adorable! The fabric actually has little articles you can read and some of the articles send you into fits of giggles.

The chest was a bit large on me so I had to take in the upper part of the dress. When it arrived, it was wrinkled so I had to iron it, which isn't surprising since it is 100% cotton. If you are a dog lover, don't despair. There is also a dog version of the dress you can see HERE.

Since I am cheap, I used my 10% student discount from Unidays. If you are currently enrolled in college and have an email address that ends in (.edu) you can get student discounts from several different stores. Some of the stores involved with the free program are Modcloth, the Apple store, Ann Taylor, Levi's, Asos, Toms, and many more. I highly recommend you sign up for Unidays if you can. It's Cat-tastic!

There are some close ups of a few of the articles on the dress. You can click on the photo to make it bigger.

 

 

 

 In other news, Oreo decided he likes the dress because it provides purrrrfect camouflage.