Blog Posts of 2013–The Best of LifeintheWhiteHouse.com

I thought it would be fun to finish the year with a Top 10 listing of my most popular and favorite posts!

 Gwynnie Bee—“The Netflix of Plus Size Fashion”

A while back I saw an ad on Facebook about plus size fashion. I clicked over, which I never do in Facebook, because Lord knows if it’s a virus or whatever else on there, and was pleasantly surprised. Gwynnie Bee is pretty fantastic. Isigned up for a free month trial, just around my sister in law’s wedding, so that if I needed some nicer clothes I had the option to get some things from Gwynnie Bee.
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Reverse Hospitality: Bringing the Blessings to Them

I’ve stolen this phrase from a friend, because I love it! I love welcoming people into my home. I’ve somehow managed to get over the fact that my house needs to be perfect to entertain {this has only been by God’s grace and 4 kids}. I have yet to decided whether this is a good thing or not; I fear I may have become too lax in this department now.
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The Dry-Skin Dilemma

As much as I love winter, my skin doesn’t. Between the cold weather, washing my hands 50 times a day, and hot forced air heating…my skin gets dry. Fortunately not dry and cracked, but dry and very itchy, to the point of being painful.
I used to use Bath and Body Works Shea Butter, it comes in a big blue tube and would cost around $20 {I’m sure it’s more now}. The stuff worked great, but it’s expensive and had a bunch of other things in it that I wasn’t too comfortable with using on the kids.
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W.I.P Wednesday – Heartland BOM Quilt

The past few weeks {here and here} I’ve been posting about the Heartland Heritage Block of the Month kit that I got from FatQuarterShop.com, eons ago {seriously I think I got it at least 5 years ago…I know it was before I was pregnant with Ave}. Well, today I am pleased to say that I have finished the top: YAY!!!!
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What 17 Days without Hot Water Will Teach You….about yourself.

It’s been a week now, that we’ve had hot water again. I’m going to admit it, I’m guilt of thoroughly enjoying having running hot water. No more lugging a 7 gallon pot around the house to bath 4 kids at once. No more sponge baths over the shallow sink because I just didn’t feel like loading everyone up to drive somewhere to shower. No more scalding my hands while trying to wash dishes in a bowl.
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From Busy to Blessing– An Introduction

“I don’t know how you find the time?!”
“I wish I had skills like that!”
“I could never be that organized.”

Ever heard these things? I have. And I don’t deserve such praise. See, I’m not all that organized and I really don’t find the time. I’m rather lazy when it comes to serving others, particularly when they’re in my own family.

Priorities.
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Embracing Beauty When You’re a Plus Size Gal

I’m going to tell you a story, about 2 little girls…

Once upon a time there were two little girls, more a like than they realized. One was dressed in long denim skirts, with long sleeve tops, her hair pulled back in a braid; the other was dressed in Adidas tear-away pants, a Korn t-shirt, pumas and a pony tail. What on earth could these two girls, approaching adulthood have in common. Neither of them were dressing for themselves, and neither of them had a clue of what that look should be.
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Giving Loneliness a Name {part 1}

I mentioned during my review of Desperate, that I’ve been struggling with something. I’m not even sure how to explain what it is, but I guess the best word for it is loneliness. I’ve struggled with even writing this post for some time, because it isn’t any thing that someone has said or done that has made me feel lonely and I certainly don’t want someone to take this personally.
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Mamas its OK…

Maybe you’ve spent years and thousands to have that little one your holding, maybe you just wanted to be a mom and it happened, maybe you weren’t planning on being a mom, but it happened anyways. No matter, I want to tell you something…it’s ok to get tired of it sometimes. To get tired of the demands, the discipline, the whining, the not being able to just do “whatever” for dinner. It’s ok.
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Thoughts on Creativity

Over the last few years, and more this past year, a handful of people have told me that my children should be my priority, that this is not the season for me to spend frivolous time on my writing {and blogging}, sewing, photography or reading {for fun} or any other non-necessary creative endeavor. That I somehow am doing wrong by my children, if I continue to pursue these avenues.
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I hope you enjoy this trip down “Memory Lane”….there were a few pieces this year that I was proud of and some that just blew me away with how they struck others. Be sure to share this with your friends and others.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Gwynnie Bee—“The Netflix of Plus Size Fashion”

A while back I saw an ad on Facebook about plus size fashion. I clicked over, which I never do in Facebook, because Lord knows if it’s a virus or whatever else on there, and was pleasantly surprised. Gwynnie Bee is pretty fantastic. I signed up for a free month trial, just around my sister in law’s wedding, so that if I needed some nicer clothes I had the option to get some things from Gwynnie Bee.

Here’s how it works: You sign up {for a fee, if you’re not doing the free trial}, add things to your closet, and they randomly ship you clothes, based on how many items at a time you signed up to receive, try them on, wear them out, ship them back when you’re done {in the enclosed postage paid mailer}.

What did I think?

I liked it. I liked the majority of the things they sent me. A lot of them were things that I would have never even tried on before, because I would have immediately discredited them on the rack. I ended up buying one of the pieces, because I just loved it so much. That’s the other thing, if you like a piece, they’ll sell it to you.

I think I got a total of 8 or 9 different tops/dresses over the course of a month. A few of them were pieces that I had seen in Lands’ End {which I LOVE}, but hadn’t known what size to get. Others were companies that I’ve never even heard of but now know to look for.

The dress on the bottom right, in peacock blue, I kept. It was a bit large on the top for me, but I had already canceled my membership trial and couldn’t get it in the size down. It’s just such a nice weight dress and perfect for dancing. I’m hoping that this fall we’ll start back with our Ballroom Dance club. I have so many black long sleeve dresses that I couldn’t help but love the color on this one.

The other dress I kept {not shown above } was one from Lands’ End. I had it in hot pink for my SIL’s rehearsal dinner, but of course have no pictures of me in the dress. I ended up ordering this one from Lands’ End, when they had one of their 40% off sales {which they seem to do quite frequently}. I paid around $37 for it.

It was worth doing the free trial with Gwynnie Bee, because it gave me a bit of a chance to step outside of my normal and try some other things. Some with great results and some with absolutely horrifying results. If I actually worked outside of the home and needed nicer clothes on a regular basis, it would probably be well worth the membership fees, but for, now, it’s definitely not.

Give it a try, if you’re interested. The people were really great to deal with, very quick in their responses to my emails and questions about the cost of pieces etc. All in all they seemed like a really great company to deal with.

*Disclaimer: NONE of these links are affiliate links. Nor did I receive any kind of compensation from Gwynnie Bee for my review of their program {however, if they want to give me something I certainly wouldn’t complain}.  I simply wanted to share with everyone my experience with Gwynnie Bee, as well as how I am trying to be more fashionable, as a plus size gal.

Embracing Beauty When You’re a Plus Size Gal

This post contains affiliate links: Click here to read my disclosure policy.

I’m going to tell you a story, about 2 little girls…

Once upon a time there were two little girls, more a like than they realized. One was dressed in long denim skirts, with long sleeve tops, her hair pulled back in a braid; the other was dressed in Adidas tear-away pants, a Korn t-shirt, pumas and a pony tail. What on earth could these two girls, approaching adulthood have in common. Neither of them were dressing for themselves, and neither of them had a clue of what that look should be.

May I introduce to you, Trina Holden, the girl in the denim skirts and long sleeves. Author of the new book Embracing Beauty.

We knew each other the better part of 15+ years ago, until finding each other a few years back on Facebook. Both that lovely awkward age, when people have no idea what to wear, or what people will think of them, and probably doing themselves and no one else any favors in either department.

For both of us we were trying to project an image to others, an image which is not who we truly are, at least now. And that image worked. I thought of her as the Holier-than-thou bible thumper, and she thought of me as this worldly heavy metal devil music girl. Neither of us were those things, but what an impression {however wrong} our clothes made. You see, we were both dressing to impress other people, and had no idea how to dress ourselves well.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

1. How can your beauty/fashion tips help the plus size gals in finding clothes that are flattering, modest and classy?

The foundation for confident style always starts at the heart. If we are struggling with body image, no color, accessory, or style of clothing is going to fix that. So the first thing I ask women to do is to look at their bodies the way our Creator does--as beautiful, because He made us. You may be 100 Lbs. from your ideal weight, but you are still beautiful because God made women beautiful--it's that simple.

The next step is to look for inspiration in the right places. I'm all for building a pinterest board of styles you love, but if you're pinning outfits and models that are 6 sizes down from your own, that's simply a recipe for frustration. There are many, many beautiful, plus-sized women dressing their figures well. Find those images, and let them help you build a vision for your style at the weight you are right now.

2. What styles do you think look good on a plus size mama? Or are there styles that bigger ladies should stay AWAY from? Obviously we're all different sizes and shapes, but is there a style that looks better? I know I'm in love with tiered peasant skirts, but have no idea if I can wear them...or if they'll make me look more like a box than a broom.

At 4 months preggo, I'm 20 Lbs heavier than my 'ideal' body weight, so I've been dealing with how to dress a larger size! Some of the outfits I've come up with make me feel great, and some make me look like I'm wearing a sign that says "I Gained 10 Lbs This Month!” The principle I'm finding works for me is that of drawing Vertical Lines vs. Horizontal Lines:

Everything you've heard about horizontal stripes is true--they only work if you're as skinny as the stripe. Avoid any print or combination of layers that draws horizontal lines on your figure. I'm talking skirts and pants that end mid-leg, and top and bottoms that contrast highly, creating a line around your middle. All of these will emphasize your width.

Instead, you want layers that draw vertical lines, like long skirts and pants and long, layered accessories.  Tops a similar shade or tone as your bottoms allow your eye to go from neck to ankle without stopping, giving a taller, slimmer illusion. Avoid an article of clothing if it's wider than it is long. That may include a very full peasant skirt, but doesn't exclude a gently tiered maxi skirt!

I also lean toward darker shades over pastels (yes, even in summer!), and clothes that drape my figure, rather than saran-wrap it. You will actually look thinner if your clothes aren't straining to cover you!

3. What ways can we add beauty to ourselves, particularly if our life really doesn't lend itself to wearing nicer looking clothes or jewelry? or that we just don't feel comfortable in jewelry?

I have plenty of days where I don't wear jewelry, or dress up at all. But I've found I can still be intentional about beauty just by wearing my favorite color! I've realized even my lounge-wear should be colors or styles that make me smile. Keeping my eyebrows groomed also helps me feel lovely even on non-makeup days.

Getting a hair style that looks good wash and go, rather than ONLY when I have time to do something with the curling iron is another favorite strategy.

4. I know you’ve addressed this question is other interviews, but do you think that your book is directed only to Moms? Do you think  "Embracing Beauty" could help others? If so, who?

There's no question I wrote the book to moms. It's who I felt most equipped and called to encourage. But the principles for discerning your own style, the chapters on the heart of beauty and proper body image, and the thrift shopping techniques--these are applicable to anyone! Really, only the chapter on maternity fashion is specific to motherhood. Any woman  can benefit from the content through the rest of the book.

If you’re interested in reading more of Trina’s new book “Embracing Beauty” you can get your copy here.