Cost of Cute

As most plus-size girls know, cute ain't cheap.

Because we are such a niche market the prices for decent clothing skyrocket. Lane Bryant is a go-to for many girls, but their prices are far too high to regularly buy clothes. I personally prefer Dress Barn because their tops tend to fit me better and have a nicer flow to them and their dresses are totally gorgeous, but Dress Barn is even more pricey. 

My solution tends to be to invest in really nice pieces that I can somewhat seamlessly use from season to season, like a colorful dress or a ruffled blouse that fits just right, and add cheaper accessories. 

For example, today I'm wearing a sleeveless dress from Dress Barn with a stretch nylon shell and a sheer outer layer, purchased during the summer. The dress has a white background with what look like paintbrush strokes of various green, purple, and blue hues. The dress came with a matching ribbon around the waist to be tied in a bow at the hip, but I ditched the sash for today.

Instead, I added a purple button-up cardigan I bought at Walmart, of all places, in high school for around $15, a pair of forest green tights from Target two Christmases ago (spellcheck says that's the right plural of Christmas... I don't believe you, spellcheck, but I guess I have no choice for now), my usual leather band bracelet and blue watch, and a black hair bow from Claire's and black ballet flats from Lane Bryant (about $30, but I've worn them a ton, so I can justify it). Top it off with my current turquoise metal frames and it's a fairly cute outfit for early winter based around one summer dress. (I would have added my brown knee-boots but, due to a recent patch of cellulitis and related swelling in my left leg, I can't fit them on just yet.)

My sister is in town from Louisiana, and she's bugging me to "get off the laptop and come bake banana bread", so I'll add more on to this topic in a later post.

Banana bread calls.

Change of Pace

I've been dealing with a lot of not fun stuff this semester thusfar and I think if I change my blog to deal with things that make me happy to talk about, I'll do a lot better. I'm going to return to my original intent of discussing LGBT, plus-size fashion, and nerdy issues rather than my more recent diary-esque posts. To start off with...

Let's talk flat-chested plus-size chicks. 

As I've mentioned before, I am relatively flat-chested for a fat chick, weighing in at around a B cup. If you look at me sideways the widest part of my chest and the widest part of my stomach are pretty much even. I've had crazy problems with dresses in particular fitting weirdly up top because if it fits my stomach it tends to sag around my chest. My solution is usually to stick a solid-colored tank top underneath.

I have one dress in particular that is super-low-cut but too cute to give up on. It's green with white polka dots with a solid green interior layer (the outer layer being sheer). The top forms a sort of fake wrap dress, with the two halves of the chest overlapping slightly. Unfortunately, this slight overlap doesn't even begin to cover me. I'm wearing said dress today and I had to drive my two roommates to campus and I realized about halfway there that I had forgotten a tank top. My chest was hanging out for everyone in Amherst to see. It was also between popular class blocks, so almost all of campus was out and about and crossing the street, making my drive through campus and back excruciatingly slow. I'm slowly getting lower and lower in my seat like, 'Oh god don't look at me'. I finally get back to the apartment, get out of my car, and there's the creepy guy from downstairs and as he passes me he smirks and says, 'Hey,' and straight-up looks right directly at my lack-of-chest. Thanks, creepy guy.

I also want to order clothes online (in particular, from ModCloth), but I keep reading the plus-size reviews where people are like 'fits great all over!' and they have a 3x and 40H as their bra size. I need a dress for, like, a 3x and 44B. 

The search continues.

Bakemonogatari

I have seen very little of it but I find it strangely depressing, I think because the lesbian character's feelings are so blatantly disregarded.

I'm working nine hours at CVS today. I worked close yesterday night at Jo-Ann's. I hate work. All this semester has taught me is what I don't want to have to do ever again. I feel way more depressed than usual and I know I'm bad at both of those jobs. I don't want to have to ring up couples who decided that Northampton would be the lovely scene for a Friday night date. I miss having jobs that make me feel fulfilled. I liked UMass Security because it enabled me to interact with all kinds of people regularly and I could do other stuff while I was there (also, I got to sit the entire time, which was pretty sweet). Camp gave me such a huge sense of fulfillment in that I got to help kids come out of their boxes and experience music and dramatics in new ways. I wish I could feel that again instead of dealing with shitty customers and shitty situations with shitty coupons on shitty soap day after day. The repetition is killing me. I can't stand how every day is exactly the same as the last fourteen. I want to be in classes, learning new things and taking tests and working towards a future. I don't even know what I want that future to be anymore, but I know I want it, and not a life of craptastic retail jobs.

Sorry about the massive gap. A lot has happened.

The Saga of the Wisdom Tooth

Things I am not fond of, in no particular order:
 Fish
 Heights
 Darkness
 Country Music
 Pain
 Hurty Things
 Things That Make Me Say 'Ouch'

 I hate, hate, hate pain. That being said, I hate pretty much anything and everything medical, dental, gynecological, etc. So, about a month ago when the oral surgeon informed me that the ache in the back of my mouth meant my one and only (Yeah. One. Suck it, normal mouths.) wisdom tooth was ready to pack its things and catch the bus to Medical Waste Land, I was... less than excited. My appointment was for last Friday, and I went in and they tried really hard to get an IV going for total anesthesia and couldn't because I was dehydrated. They sent me on my merry way, four arm holes later, and told me to drink water all weekend and come back Monday. They had me go to the hospital first to get the IV in then go back to them. They gave me 10 mg of Valium and I still freaked out. When I got to the office, they noticed I was rather unhappy with the whole situation, so they gave me laughing gas. They started to put the mask over my face and I proceeded to go totally ape shit.

Apparently, rubber masks are not my friend. However, the next thing I know, I'm being tapped on the shoulder by a nurse and my mouth is all gauzey. I'm feeling good...

Sickness and Updates

Well. I have been ridiculously sick for about two months. That being said, it's my 20th birthday on Monday! Aaaah! I feel really weird about turning 20. I'll never be a teenager again. Do I have to stop wearing t-shirts? Am I supposed to start using blush and mass-care-uh? Can I still play with Legos? So many questions... The coolest part of upcoming birthday is that I feel justified in indulging in clothes. I have a massive love affair with Lane Bryant. I went shopping last night and came home with five pairs of underwear (I love their 5-for-$32 deal), a really awesome black jacket with ruffles and whatnot, a blue dress (http://www.lanebryant.com/new-plus-size-fashion/dresses-skirts/smocked-eyelet-dress/4000c4010p143016/index.pro), and a blue and black shirt (http://www.lanebryant.com/plus-size-tops/tees-knit-tops/layered-ruffled-top/4019c68p145407/index.pro) which I am currently wearing. The jacket was on clearance and I can't find a picture for it. I love this shirt. It's so soft and it drapes surprisingly nicely. I have a really curvy* stomach (*Read: "ROLLS") and I'm always really self-conscious about how shirts hang and whether or not they cling. I tend to avoid shirts that aren't empire-waisted, but the cardigan (attached) adds some nice dimension and the ruffles really bring attention away from my tummy. The material is really nice. They did a great job with this one. I haven't had a chance to wear the dress or jacket yet. There was another girl trying stuff on, and this happened-

In other news and updates, my boyfriend (finally) came out as trans. He's starting HRT within the next few weeks. Yay, Ash! I know he was really scared to come out and I think he'll be really happy once he can be comfortable in his own skin. I'll post more about that process as more happens. He has an appointment for the first intake this Thursday (same day as I will be at the LADY DOCTOR). He says he wants to grow a beard. Here's hoping that doesn't last...

Intro Post

My name is Katie and I am a fat lesbian who is a nerd. I am 5'6" and almost 300 pounds. I am starting this blog to follow in the great tradition of fat snarky chicks sharing their opinion where it's not necessary. I identify (why do I keep typing 'indentify'?) as a lesbian, but I have dated a guy in the past. I'm currently dating someone named Ash. We've been dating since October 6th, 2010. We're both really nerdy (like, we met at Gaming Hobbyists League) and we like poop jokes and our relationship is awesome.

That's all I've got to say as far as an introduction. I hope y'all enjoy my blog and find amusement at my adventures.