An Example to Live up to

I don't usually post on the weekend - but this year I wanted to take note of Mother's Day on the actual day.

Back in Black (Mama Returns)

Well Hello Friends! Did you miss me? (Lol, did you even notice I was gone?)

Another side of Me

Something that I don't often discuss here on the blog is my faith - it's not a secret - I obviously talk about what I've worn to church, or what we've done with our church family throughout the week. That said, however, there is an aspect of my faith that actually is very important to me, and involves clothes as well (so win win for me!) - And it is our Liturgical Dance Ministry. Our group, which is named Anointed Joy, is a huge part of my life, and a great passion for me.

 

My good friend Andrea and I are often partnered together - we're similar heights!

Letting my Nerd Flag Fly

So - at the end of this March Break I finally got to take my boys somewhere that I've been waiting to go to until they were "old" enough to appreciate it: Comicon!

Mama's Measurements

This post is a little different from my regular posts. First off - I've been grossly and viciously ill since just after New Year's and I know I'm totally failing you with outfit posts - I will be back with a vengeance next week - I promise!

In lieu of an outfit post today I wanted to go over something that happened just recently: I received a nasty facebook message.

Let me preface this by pointing out a few things:

1) I am a Mom. A woman. A Canadian. AND a blogger. Yes: I take pictures of myself and put them on the internet and Yes: I realize that that opens me up to a certain amount of scrutiny. I am not a fool. I was prepared for that before I hit post for the very first time.

2) I am not a "fashion expert". There is no where on my blog that you will find me saying that I am such a thing. I am just a plus size, Canadian woman who wears clothes and takes pictures and puts them on the internet. The end.

3) I am not okay with body-shaming. I try my best to dress the body that I have in a way that I think is stylish, comfortable and appropriate. I don't make claims to be a model, to be a designer, to be a stylist, none of those things. I don't like to shame anyone for being big, small, skinny, thick, curvy, flat, boob-a-licious or WHATEVER. Let's stop telling people they're too big to be this or too small to be that or too anything to be anything.
We. Are. People.
We. Are. All. Different.
THAT. IS. AWESOME.

SO - having said those 3 things I was, frankly, shocked when I received this message in my personal facebook "other" folder in the past week.

You dont know me and i dont know you. But I have read you're blog and i am pissed off at you always saying your plus sized or whatever. Your not a plus-size woman your just fatter than you should be but your not like a natural size 24 or whatever. In all your pics you can tell that your just fat and you shouldnt be calling yourself plussize and saying stuff about being "hard to fit". plus size and fat arent the same thing. Nobody cares about you"re stupid cothes blog so stop posting.

Wow.
Yeah.
That happened.

This person - who I am not naming, because what is the point - took the time to figure out who I am, my real name (since you will realize that I don't use my "real" name here on the blog) and then find my facebook and send me a message via fb to tell me that I'm not a plus sized woman (I'm just fat) and no one cares about my outfits anyways. Um... what?

First, apparently, I'm not plus-sized. Well - I am totally baffled, because I have no idea why I own all these size 14, 16 and 18 clothes! I've been wearing the wrong size all along! Also - evidently until I'm a "natural size 24 or whatever" I'm not plus-sized. Someone alert the media! We've been labeling plus clothing all wrong!


Here's the thing, readers: I don't care.

I don't really care whether this person (or anyone) thinks I'm plus-sized or skinny. I don't care. I live in this body. I have to dress it. I know that I carry extra weight on my body and where on said body it is. It's MY body.

FYI - In case anyone's wondering. I DO wear plus-sized clothes. I'm not sure how there's necessarily a difference between being plus-sized and being fat. Does the writer think I'm too fat to be plus-size? Not fat enough? I'm confused. In any case, generally I'm a size 16. And for kicks - here's my measurements just to give some accuracy!

So, even though no one cares about my "stupid cothes blog" (clothes blog? They're probably right; as evidenced by my 2 blogloving subscribers and 0 other actual followers - oh well! lol) I'm just going to keep on keeping on. And if you're reading this, letter writer - click on by - I don't do this for you. I do it for me.

Tea.

It's Yoga Life

One of the few things that I find relaxing in my Mom life is yoga. I'm not particularly awesome at it, and I don't go to a studio to take classes because, hello - that would mean that I'd have to actually leave my house, have someone watch the monsters, pay to take a class, blah blah blah - and let's be honest - that ain't gonna happen.

I do however know a few poses, own a yoga mat and have space in my house to lay it out. So I do yoga fairly regularly, mostly because it's calming and it makes me feel good. But what does a plus-size Mama of 2 wear to do yoga. Well I'll tell you - I wear yoga pants and a tight tank top. It's not the most attractive outfit I've ever put on - but it IS conducive to doing yoga. Now I know, I know - you're like - duh, Tea - what the hell ELSE would you wear? When I'm in my own house I could do yoga in my underwear for all YOU know, but when we're up north I like to get up, make a big cuppa and go and do yoga on the dock in the morning. Outside. Where everyone else who's out sitting on their dock can see me. Yup. Out in the open. And I still wear the tight clothes. And you know what - I don't care what anyone thinks. Because I'm stretching, breathing, soaking in the sounds of the water, the birds, feeling the sun on my face and back. And it feels good.

What Mama Wears

Hey Blogees.

So - this is not totally new - What Mama Wears used to show up occasionally on my other blog Talk And Tea Leaves... but I've decided that it needs a home of it's own.

For those that know me, you know that I LURVE looking on Pinterest for outfit ideas, endlessly "window shopping" online and just basically dreaming of a walk-in closet that's the size of my second floor.

However, that's not likely to happen... like... ever. And my clothing budget is basically around 0.00 each month... and I usually shop at seriously high-end stores... like Walmart. And Value Village. And sometimes I get super fed up with the options that are out there and I sew something up myself.

Also - I'm plus-sized. Yup. It's not necessarily the size I thought I would be, and it may not be the size I continue to be - but it's my body and if I want to leave the house and not be arrested, I have to wear clothes on it. However, being plus-sized often means that I'm apparently required to pay WAY more money for the same clothes that come in "standard" sizes...  which I'd be totally cool with if a size 2 and a size 8 cost different amounts (I mean, hey, obviously one uses less fabric) but they don't. So I don't see why a size 16 costs a different amount than a size 8 - ya hear me?  This blog is NOT however about body bashing in any way shape or form. People who comment and body bash will totally not be tolerated and I will mentally send a herd of angry goats to come and eat your clothes. Or wish you step on a Lego. Either or, really.

And unlike the previous What Mama Wears instalments - this blog is going to be about honesty. I can't promise I'll take pictures every single day, but I will try. EVEN on days when I'm wearing a ponytail, yoga pants and a crummy t-shirt. Because sometimes THAT is actually What Mama Wears. It's about ownership. This is my life, this is my body, I am the Mama, and this is what I wear.

I look forward to sharing it with you.

Peace, Love, and BIG closets,
Tea.