Sunday's Best | It's Fall Y'all!

Happy Sunday friends! I'm back with another Sunday's Best post to get you super excited for colder days. As some of you may know, one of my favorite dress brands is Eshakti and one night after browsing their website I came across the perfect Fall dress.

Leaf Print Midi Dress

The print alone screams Fall and I'm so happy I got it because in person, this dress is absolutely perfect. The fabric is quite substantial and will definitely keep you warm all season long. I also had it completely customized to my size which means it fits like a glove. I opted for the boat neckline and the three quarter length sleeves and since Mid Calf is my favorite length on a skirt I kept that as is.

As you all know, Eshakti prints are some of my favorites and this Fall floral motif is perfect. I've been wanting to make a pumpkin colored scarf for a while now and think this is the perfect outfit to pair with it.

Love the skirt of this dress.

I paired it with my favorite Target T-Strap Heels
Similar

This dress is one of four prints you can choose from in this style. Another one on my list is this one:

Rose Print Midi Dress

I just love all things plum colored these days! I ultimately decided on the Leaf Print one because the pattern gave me all the Fall feels!

What are you most looking forward to wearing this season?

Sunday's Best | Fall Florals

Hey Friends! I'm back as promised with the inaugural post for "Sunday's Best". In April I did something that my heart had been wanting for a long time. I was baptized Catholic. My whole life has changed since I entered my beautiful church and almost a year after attending my first Mass, I feel at home. I love this community that I have entered into and my spiritual growth has been amazing.

Growing up, my Mom (a southern woman), had always told me that Sunday is the day to wear your best outfits. In the rural south where she grew up there weren't many opportunities to show off your best outfits but at church. When I started going to church I wasn't sure what to wear and what was acceptable. I soon discovered that people wear pretty much whatever they want, from jeans and t-shirts to the most glamorous outfits I've seen in person.

With my love of pretty dresses, I've accumulated quite a decent size collection. I will be showcasing some of my favorite brands and outfits on this weekly ( I hope!) post. So lets get started!

Eshakti is one of my favorite clothing lines. I was first introduced to the brand when some of my blog friends had showcased their amazing custom made pieces. I had the privilege to review one of their pieces and to this day it is still one of my favorite dresses.

They have reached out to me a couple more times since then and I'm so happy to be able to showcase them again. The Rose Print Georgette Maxi Dress is such a gorgeous print! Although I wasn't sure how the style would look on me, I had to have it simply for the print alone.

It was the first cool morning we had here in Southern California in months and I was so happy to be able to pair my favorite cropped cardigan, matching scarf and hair flower with it. Unfortunately, this dress just doesn't fit me that well on the top. The custom sizing is spot on and there are no complaints there but as I said before, I got this for the print alone (and pockets!). I will still wear it regularly as the comfort and print will keep it a favorite. I'm considering taking it to a tailor to make it sleeveless or shorten the sleeves. Until then I will pair my favorite cardigan scarf combo with it all fall long!

I love the breezy skirt of this dress and how it feels when I'm moving around. Since I'm late to review this it has sold out (you can find the print in a different style here), but this style dress is an Eshakti staple and the prints they offer are gorgeous! This is one of my new Georgette favorites: 

Rose Print Georgette

As the temperature's begin to drop in the next month or so for us, I'm so looking forward to showing you some more of my favorite things to wear on my favorite day of the week. What are some of your favorite pieces from their site?

Pretty Dresses and Celebrating Four Years

This past Friday my husband and I celebrated four years as husband and wife. This year, unlike the past couple years, I decided to make an effort to dress up and go big. We have a tradition of dinner and a movie and that didn't change. I just went a little dressier than usual for our special night.

A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by Eshakti to review one of their products. I had been reading their reviews for years and it felt so nice to be considered as a blogger worthy of reviewing one of their lovely designs. I knew that our anniversary would be the perfect occasion to show it off. :)

Pinterest

Over the years I have acquired a small collection of vintage reproduction dresses. It's honestly no surprise that I love dresses as much as I do. My mom has been curling my hair and putting me in party dresses since I was a toddler. When I was choosing my dress I was so impressed by the large amount of vintage inspired designs that Eshakti carries and equally impressed when I discovered that all of their designs are customizable! So fun!

Floral Digital Print Bow Tie Dress

What I loved most about this dress was the print. Call me an old lady but I am a sucker for most things floral print. The pattern reminded me of everything I love about spring. I knew it would be a great transition piece to carry through all seasons.

I took advantage of the customizing option and sent them my exact measurements, requested the short sleeve option and a below the knee length. My favorite option was hands down the pockets! Perfect for carrying my phone and lipstick. :)

Pockets!

I received the dress in a week and was thrilled at the turn around time of a custom piece. The only down side of all this was that the dress was too big in the waist. I'm not sure if I didn't correctly take my measurements or if something went wrong in production. Other than that, the length, the sleeves and the fabric were wonderful. The fabric is a heavy polyester blend that not only felt luxurious but kept me warm all night.

Because I loved it so much, a quick trip to the tailor and it was perfect! I paired an old pair of Target heels with it and I not only felt pretty but stayed comfortable all night. I don't think I have loved a dress this much since my wedding. Fitting, since I wore it four years to the day of our special day.

After my mini photo shoot ;), Wan and I were off to our favorite family owned Argentinian restaurant, Pampas. We ate lots of Chimichurri covered goodness and then headed to the movies to see American Sniper. If you haven't seen this movie yet, I highly recommend it! Wan had already read the book and I'm currently half way through it. We concluded our wonderful night at Denny's for some dessert and took lots of pictures of ourselves. Lol!

I kept trying to get him to smile and was giving him the look after the fifth take! Haha!

I am so grateful to have married my best friend and look forward to many more years of nights like this with my handsome man and pretty dresses. :)

* I was sent this dress for the purpose of reviewing it and all opinions are my own. If you would like to purchase your own customizable piece from Eshakti you can enter the code 'throughtheseeyes' - exclusively created for my readers to get 10% off - valid until 2/28/14 :)

Retail Therapy

After a bit of a break, I decided to come on to tell you that I was feeling inspired! It's been a while where I felt like I had something fun or interesting to share on the blog and today it just came to me. Not when I was trying to fall asleep (don't you hate that!), but when I could actually get on and share with you right away! :)

 

I've been feeling pretty overwhelmed lately. It's mentally and physically exhausting. I know things will get better and my life will feel like it's on track once again but right now, things kinda suck. So when I'm feeling a million different emotions all at once, I go shopping!

 

My Mom loves to shop. She used to take my sister and I shopping whenever we were feeling down. It's also a way for her and I to bond. My parents divorced when I was 7 and although all 3 of my siblings moved with my Mom, Daddy's Girl stayed with her Dad. So weekends and vacations were spent with my Mom shopping and doing girly things. Hence my love for shopping!

 

I have also lost 37 pounds in 6 months and nothing fits! Don't you love those excuses ;).

 

Here are some things that I've picked up lately that I'm loving:

Forever 21+

This sweater feeds my love for Americana.
 It's super comfy too. :)

Love this outfit! I have the jeans in black too.

I also picked up some cute scarves and earrings for next to nothing! I was very pleased with my bargain hunting skills at this store. :)

 

Old Navy

 

I love ON jeans
(even better when they're on sale!)

Victoria's Secret



Love Spell Hand and
Body Cream

Pure Seduction Mist

Love Spell Mist



These scents are oldies but goodies and I love how quick and easy body spray is. I already have a travel size container to take these on the go. :)

 

My Mom is in town and plans on coming over later to help me clear some clutter and down size my closet. Spring cleaning in full swing! I am going to try to make a habit of donating more clothes as my style (and size) evolves and I start adding new pieces.

 

I hope you have great day!

Wordless Wednesday | Rediscovering

Over the last two years dealing with my back injury I put on a good deal of weight. All my clothes eventually ended up in storage and sadly, yoga pants and oversized shirts became the norm.

 

With my recent weight loss I've pulled some clothes out of storage and I'm having so much fun shopping in my own closet!

 

My favorite band shirt and comfy skinny jeans made a come back!

I paired an Old Navy cardigan and Lane Bryant boots with some old staples I'm so happy to be wearing again.

 

Hope you have a great Wednesday!

Sunday Social - Summer Fun

Happy Sunday! I'm linking up with Neely at A Complete Waste of Makeup again this week!

 
 1. What was your favorite trip/vacation/activity this summer? My favorite trip this summer was my day at the beach with my dear friend, Rosa. I had been wanting to go to the beach for so long and she went with me! It was a great day!

2. What was your favorite outfit look/clothing item of the summer? I got this great maxi dress at the beginning of summer and it became a staple. I plan on wearing it this fall too with a scarf and cardigan. :)

3. What is one thing you wish you’d gotten to do this summer? There are so many things! Because of my back pain, I'm very limited at what I can do. Visiting my sister in Colorado was at the top of my list this summer. I still hope I can go visit her soon!

4. What was your favorite song of the summer? Oh that's a hard one because there are so many! One of my favorites is "Stubborn Love" by The Lumineers. My husband and I have had it on repeat for weeks now!

5. What was your favorite movie/tv show of the summer? This summer I've been watching "Who Do You Think You Are?" on TLC. I've always been interested in where people come from and my own personal ancestry. This is such a great show!

Retail Therapy

To go along with my post on Wednesday about therapy, I thought I'd let you in on some much needed retail therapy that I got done on Tuesday. :)

I am a strong believer in retail therapy. My Mom has always told me when I'm sad to get out of the house and do some shopping! It may not solve all my problems but it sure does give me some sort of happiness and I'll take all the happiness I can get! :)

Because of my injury, I can't do much outside. It hurts to walk or sit for too long and I tend to get a bit anxious as well. On Tuesday, I decided to go out of my comfort zone and head over to Target on my own. This is a big deal because I usually have my husband or my mother-in-law with me whenever I need to run errands. I parked in my handicap spot and grabbed an electric cart and was on my way. The clothing aisles at Target are a bit hard to navigate with the cart and I did get a bit anxious at first, but once I found some cute pieces and headed to the fitting room I felt much better.

I wasn't that interested in anything but what was on the clearance racks. I felt like if I could find a good deal, then this trip would be that much more worth it! After a few racks and a bit frustration from bumping into things with my cart I found two lonesome pairs of pants that happened to be in my size! I was so excited!

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The best part of this find was that they were both marked down to $8.38! I even got the red pair for $7.50 because it didn't have the belt! These ankle pants are really stretchy and perfect for date night with my husband or even great for work once I go back. 

After my great discovery in the clothing section, I headed over to the stationary aisle and picked up the prettiest journal. It has everything I needed in it and was only $2.99! 

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I have a love for cherry blossoms and knew this was the one when I found it. If my journal writing goes as well as I hope it does, I plan on picking up more of these and stock up!

This shopping trip was so needed and I'm so pleased with what I got. I'd like to shop on my own more often but it all depends on my pain levels for the day or even week. For now I'll appreciate these little moments I have and continue moving forward. :)

I hope you have a great weekend!

My Weekend

This weekend was pretty good. Because of my injury I don't get out much and do many things but I try to make the best of it. :)

Friday, my husband and I took a trip to Walmart! I know, so exciting! Ha ha. We didn't need anything in particular but it was nice to just get out of the house. I ended up getting this wonderful maxi dress. It's super long and comfortable! I added a belt to it to dress it up a little. It comes in other colors and I can't wait to go back and get more. 

Saturday, we stayed in and did some chores around the house. Our L.A. Kings are in the playoffs so we spent the evening watching the game and cheering them on. 

Sunday, we had a wonderful date night at our local Poquito Mas. It's a small Baja Mexican franchise restaurant here in California. Not sure if they are in other states but its one of my favorite places to eat. I got a chance to wear my new dress and had a great make-up and hair day! 

I also started doing Simple Pilates this weekend! I have a great video that walked me through all the exercises. I was surprised at how many of them I knew from physical therapy. I skipped a few of the higher intensity ones and spent a lot of time focusing on my breathing and "scooping" my lower abs. Stronger core leads to a stronger back.  Slowly but surely I'll be ready for surgery. 

I hope you all had a great weekend! :)

Fall Shopping

Living in Los Angeles my whole life, I'm not used to changing seasons like you would experience in other parts of the country. We do have temperature changes with the seasons but nothing dramatic like snow! The temperatures are dropping (thank goodness!) and it's time to start thinking of what to wear for this lovely fall weather!

My injury has not only affected my mobility issues but it has also put a damper on my weight and emotional state. To me, it seemed like the weight just popped out of nowhere! I've struggled with my weight my whole life and in 2008, I finally got a hold of it and maintained a healthy size 12 for several years. Prior to that the largest I had been was a size 16. Now, I'm just shy of a size 18 and nothing fits me! It's a horrible feeling but I know this is only temporary and once I get treated the exercise and healthy eating will come back.

I've decided that for now, there is not much I can do about losing all the weight I put on. I can eat better but that requires a lot of motivation that often enough, I am having a hard time getting to. I'm going to take baby steps and not beat myself up about this. It will get better. So for now I'm going to buy clothes that fit the body I have now. Some may say this is a bad investment because I won't be this weight forever, but I say that I need this. I need to look in the mirror and feel pretty. I haven't felt that way in a long time. These clothes are just part of the process of getting my head right and feeling better again.

Fall clothes are some of my favorites! Who doesn't love pretty scarves, comfy boots and cozy jackets?! Well this girl does and I'm going to show you all some of my favorite (plus size) clothes I hope to snag up this season.

Boots:

I honestly don't even own a pair of boots. Unless you consider my 18 hole Dr. Martins from high school ;). I have large calves and have always had a hard time finding ones that fit. This season I was browsing Old Navy and stumbled upon these beauties:

Women's Plus Tall Faux-Leather Boots

 

They have great reviews, the perfect calf size and I love the "Riding Boot" style. The price is also pretty awesome. I really hope to be adding these to my collection soon. :)

 

 

Out on the town:

 

I've been looking for something that I can wear to dress up a pair of boots and opaque tights. Something that makes me feel pretty and dressed up. When I saw this dress, I knew it was perfect:

 

Leopard Faux Wrap Long-Sleeve Dress

 

I really hope I can get this piece. I've also been thinking of possibly having it tailored to fit when I get back in shape. I really love it.

 

Sweaters/Jackets:

 

I must admit I am an outerwear fanatic. I have tons of sweaters and jackets to last a while! Unfortunately, not too many of them fit me anymore. I've been thinking of purchasing this jacket:

 

Torrid Toggle Coat in Black and Plaid

 

I can't decide which color I like the best yet. What I love about the coat is the ruffle detailing at the hem, the length and hood, and the overall style. I love the vintage style of coats and this one just says timeless.

 

I've been really into cable knit sweaters ever since last season and was hoping to find more this season. I didn't find too much out there but this one I think would be a good addition to my sweater collection:

 

Striped Button Back Sweater | Forever 21

 

I love the colors and the "school girl" look to it. I think the model has paired it well with the bright blue shirt and jeans. I would probably layer it with a tank top or long sleeve shirt.

 

Pants:

 

I am a jean lover! I love dark denim jeans and will probably grab some skinny jeans from old navy to pair with those awesome boots. This season I am seeing a trend in colored denim and thought I would go for it! I love color and know I can pair something really great with a bright jean. Right now Old Navy is my go to for jeans and I found these that I can't wait to try on:

 

The Rockstar Super Skinny Jeans in Juicy Grape

 

I absolutely love this color and think it's perfect for fall. I'm still unsure about the "super skinny" part but they do come in my size so it's worth a shot.

 

Scarves:

 

Target has always been my place to go for affordable comfortable scarves. This season is no different and I found some great ones that I will be adding to shopping cart:

 

Merona Scarves | Target

 

I'm excited to play with color and know that it will definitely make me feel better!

 

If you've stuck around through this whole post, thank you. I'm happy I can use my blog to share some of my favorite things. I love fashion and particularly vintage fashion but when it comes to being warm, I always choose classic comforts!

 

What are some of your favorite fall fashions?



 



A Fresh Start

I've decided today that whatever happens with my life I will look at it from a new perspective.

I've been able to text and talk to Wan daily and that definitely has been helping me feel less lost in this whole thing.

So today I'm going to start fresh. I'm going to start blogging about things that I truly enjoy talking about and stop sharing all my drama with you all. As much as it helps me to write it out, I know that airing out all my "personal" laundry may not be the best for me or my husband. I will still be updating things about my husband, especially when he comes home! Yay!

This past weekend I went out shopping for some dresses to wear when my husband comes home. Wan and I are very into the retro style and love going out to rockabilly shows and having fun at some of our cities retro hangouts. So here are the two amazing dresses I got that I feel so wonderful in!

 The dress I'm wearing on the day he comes home!
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The "just because" dress
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I'm so excited to get all dolled up for my man and feel that sigh of relief once he's back home in my arms. <3

So this is the last week I'll be living in the apartment with the noisy neighbor! Yay! I'm getting the keys for our new unit in the building on Friday. I'm looking forward to finally unpacking everything and getting settled in. I've also made sure that there are no noisy neighbors around! It'll be nice for Wan to come home to some peace and quiet.

With this new place comes new adventures and a feeling of renewal. I plan on cooking and baking a lot more here (in the old place I've only cooked once on my stove!). I want to bake lots of comfort food like filled pastries, cakes, cookies and many more yummy savory melt-in-your-mouth goodness! I love the smell of baked goods in a house, it makes it feel like a home.

The hubby and I also plan on buying a new couch, tv and KING size bed! We definitely need a King bed and I know it will bring us many nights of peaceful comfort :).

I'm going to also catch up on lots of reading. I love books! I love the feel of them, the smell of them and the comfort of just settling in on the couch with some good entertainment. I've purchased a couple books this past month that I want to read...but first, I MUST finish Twilight's Breaking Dawn. I've been so bad about this book that I need to finish it before the movie comes out. I think I'm going to start on it tonight, hopefully I can finish it soon. Next I want to read Water for Elephants and Horse Soldiers.

It's time to focus on myself a little and stop feeling sorry for myself! I have it so much better than some and I need to be grateful for this life I have. Hoping for good news with my husband soon and an all around better look through these eyes.