A Fat Girls Problem...

In the latest installment of a fat girls problems. Dress shopping for my friend's upcoming wedding in July. If you know me at all, you know I HATE even despise trying on clothes, especially wedding/formal dresses. I wasn't even looking forward to trying on dresses for my own wedding.

So I went to my local David's Bridal and tried on 8 dresses. There were two viable candidates, one was perfect:

The other dress would have needed to have the straps beefed up in order to support the girls:

So what do you think happened when I went to order my "perfect" dress, it's being discontinued. So I cannot order it, only whatever is in stock is what's left. What do you think the chances of me finding a plus sized dress in the color of the wedding.... UGH.

I was upset that the staff person assisting us didn't know that the dress was being discontinued, or if she did, she didn't say anything to us, about the possibility of it not being available. I mean, if you work in retail you should know your product.

So what did I do when I got home? I tweeted to David's Bridal about it. They responded to me, which I was surprised. They offered to research some alternatives. Which I appreciated, but anything they offered, I had already tried on or wasn't on the radar (dress material). But I at least thanked them for responding and looking into it for me.

I am just so bummed, and the search continues....

Craziness going on here!

It's been a busy time around the Leavitt household. My husband now works from home primarily. So he was working on our second bedroom and converting it into some office/desk space for him. I told him that I won't do nerf gun wars like he and his coworkers did, but who knows, maybe I'll do a sneak attack and get him one of these days.

I've been working. I am still working two jobs, but my primary job (fire department), well we've got some opportunities on the horizon. A little back story, is that we've been working without a contract for over 6 years. That means that as long as I've been there I've never seen a raise. Well, after many years of working with the town, we've finally got a contract on the ballot that works for the town and us the employees. It's fair, both we and the town have made concessions.

I am hopeful that the contract will pass, it would mean a lot for me. But I am not counting my chickens before they hatch. So on top of working, I've been spending some time helping get the word out about our contracts, in hopes that the townspeople will vote in favor with us.

My parents are off to the South. They are making their way to Florida, with stops along the way to see friends and family. They will be gone for 2 weeks. I texted my stepmother and said, I hope you have fun, call if you need bail money! I am jealous that they are going to see my cousin, Amy and my brother and sister-in-law. Oh man, if I ever won the lottery, I'd either move my family closer or go visit them more often!

However, right now, Ben and I are saving our pennies for a house. We went and got a letter from the bank letting us know about how much we would qualify for, it's more than we'd like to spend, but at least we had the right idea about what we wanted. We know that many houses are taken off the market in the winter months, so we are hoping in another month or so that some more houses will be coming on the market and we can find something that is just right for us!

Ben and I had a lovely first Valentine's Day as a married couple. I have always been one not to celebrate Valentine's Day but Ben is dragging me kicking and screaming into it. I came home from work and Ben had made a lovely dinner of Chicken Stir-Fry. He got me some flowers and a lovely necklace.

This summer is shaping up to be one to remember, we've got multiple weddings to go to, including me being in one!!! We've got our annual Memorial Day weekend camping trip that I always look forward to. A big birthday coming up. And lots of babies! It seems like life is moving fast around here.

The new JCPenney or JCP for short

Has any one else visit their local JCPenney lately? If you hadn't heard, they changed up their pricing structure. Gone are the every week sales and coupons. Now we have "Everyday pricing". It's great not having to coordinate a sale with a coupon, but only on certain days and certain times.

And like other retailers, who would jack up the price of an item only to put it on sale, and have sales constantly (rhymes with bowls). I think I quite enjoy this refreshing look.

I recently ventured into my local store to see what it was all about. I must say I was quite impressed. Everything was clearly marked. The layout of the store hadn't changed much. All of the staff was very friendly and polite. I had a gift card so I ended up purchasing a few tops. I really do like the St. John's Bay line, it's flattering on my plus size figure and they are full of staple items for my wardrobe.

The one thing I don't care for in JCP's revamp is their commercial of the screaming people... it's rather annoying, point taken, but still annoying.

It's a tough economy, people are still not as frivolous with their money as they once were. I applaud JCP for trying to still make it work in a down economy. It has to be tough to maintain brick and mortar stores when online shopping is so easy to do. The one down side about online shopping for clothes, you can't try them on before you buy, and some women don't particularly care for that.

I was not contacted or compensated by JCP for this review, I just felt I would share my thoughts on the matter.

Mileage update!

So in December I completed 28 miles, a dismal start, I was bound and determined not to let January be the same way. So in January, I completed 45 miles!

I am really impressed with that mileage this month. But I know I am a far cry from the mileage that I need to accomplish in order to reach Steve!

Our original challenge was to complete 455 miles in 3 months.

That won't be the case, it's just not going to happen. I am going to keep at this challenge until I complete it. I am at 73 miles, only 382 to go!

Steve I am a comin'