Greetings from Los Angeles!

So, I got on the plane in NYC and was able to click the seat belt closed with no extender! Then just as I was applauding myself for my weight loss acomplishments, I changed flights in Chicago and the seatbelt was *this* close to fitting, but it wouldn’t and I had to ask the flight attendant for an extender afterall (womp womp!). Goes to show, that its not always us… sometimes its the plane, so we shouldn’t be so hard on ourselves when we have to do the oh so embarrassing extender request.

I’m in my home state for a friends wedding. I’m not in the wedding and Robert had to stay behind for a family wedding of his own, so my main goal for this trip is to relax! I’m going to be by the pool and/or on the beach as much as possible starting tomorrow, so I tried really hard not to overpack. I’ve made some discoveries over the past few weeks that made my packing a lot more simple. So I thought I’d share!

First off, I revamped my travel outfit for the summer– remember when I wrote about plane comfy clothes for Plus Size Princesses? Well you can see that post come to life in this picture. The lip gloss I’m wearing is from the See & Be Seen makeup kit by Anastasia. I love the pink color and it pops on my brown skin, which is sometimes hard to find in a lip gloss.

Next, FullBeauty.com has done something I’ve been wanting a swimline to do for a long time… they’re making swimsuits with underwire in them! I always buy at least one halter swimsuit, but for a girl like me with DDD’s, that knot starts to dig into the base of my neck after a while and its not comfortable. Underwire in this vintage swimsuit cut is going to make my time by the pool perfect. Follow me on Instagram (PlusSizePrincess) and I’ll be posting pictures through the weekend. FullBeauty also has a great sheer swimdress that I like– I know everyone is doing the fatkini thing, but I’m just not ready, so these suits work well for me.

Lastly, Ms. Kathryn Finney from TheBudgetFashionista turned me on to the new Crocs… its not those crazy moon shoes anymore, they’re making cute little ballet flats with great support and the size 11w’s fit like a glove. I’m wearing them in the photo linked above!

Anyway, this is what I’ll be rocking all weekend until I have to put on real clothes for the wedding… I’ll post pics of that on my tumblr.

Hello CeCe!

Happy Friday!

I just wanted to update you guys on a few things:

1.) I’ve been getting a few notes that I only do giveaways on Twitter and never on facebook. I’ve heard your requests and I’m cooking up a facebook giveaway for you as we speak! I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that everyone will participate, so if you have a second, click here and “like” TBGB on fb.

2.) I’m singing at a coffee shop in Harlem next month. I asked them if we could do a Curvy Conversations meetup in the space after I sing and they said yes! So save the date: September 29th 6:30-8:30pm.

That’s it for now… have a good weekend and I hope to see you soon!

xoxo

It was 9pm on a Wednesday and I was standing in line at Fairway on east 86th street.

My skin was glistening and my clothes were clinging to my body with perspiration because I had just put in major work at the gym. In my cart was a roasted chicken, 4 apples, a bag of spinach, two bottles of seltzer water and a box of frozen fruit bars. As I stood in line I was giving myself a mental high five for 1.) a super intense workout and 2.) walking by the nutella without tossing a jar into my cart.

That’s when I saw her… a fairway worker swooping through the aisles with a tray of cookies. “Free cookies!” she called out as she weaved her way towards the registers explaining to the clerks that the bakery had extras and she just hated the idea of throwing them away.

Before I continue this story, let me give you a visual (for those of you who don’t live in NYC). Walking into a grocery store on the Upper East Side of Manhattan is like walking into a Lululemon commercial. The place is swarming with men in gym shorts and women in yoga pants and racerback tanktops and it would be safe to say that I was the biggest girl in the store.

Of course, I didn’t notice any of this until the woman with the big tray of cookies began to make her way down my line. With every step she took, she offered a cookie to the customers in line on either side of her… they all declined by holding up a hand or shaking their heads and she moved right along to the next person. Then she got to me.

“Cookie?”

“No thanks,” I reply.

“Oh c’mon… you know you want one!”

“I’m not hungry, really.”

“They’re freeeesh!” she says, then she takes the tray of cookies and waves them under my nose so that I can smell them.

“I just finished a really good workout, I don’t want to ruin it,” I say.

“I won’t tell anyone…” she whispers with a wink.

I step forward with the line as I get closer to the check out counter. The woman with the tray of cookies steps backwards so that she is still next to me. At this point some of the clerks are watching.

“Will you please tell your coworker to stop harassing me?” I say to them, half-joking.

“Yo! she said no…” one of them says.

Finally, the woman dances away, but I’m livid. She didn’t push anyone else in that line to have a cookie and when I told her that I’d worked out, she attempted to bond/conspire with me by sabotaging me.

One of the hardest things for a Plus Size Princess to do is turn down food. Not because we can’t say “no”, but because people don’t allow us to say no. If I order light on a date, I’m told by men not to “be shy”… if I take small portions at a barbecue someone will whisper Girl, I know you want more than that!! in my ear and now I’ve got chicks chasing me down in the grocery store to shove cookies down my throat.

I know it stems from different things for different people; the first ways men show they can provide is usually through lavish meals/wine/desserts. Some people want to make sure you’re comfortable “being yourself” and that you feel at home around them so they encourage you to overindulge at their functions.

The woman with the tray of cookies was different though– almost like that skinny pal who orders something “bad” when you go to dinner… asks if you want to share it, then takes two bites, announces she’s full and leaves you to finish the chocolate cake/french fries/creme brule by yourself. I want to look at people like that and ask… do you want me to stay fat? But I’m scared that the answer might be yes. I’m nervous that deep down they feel like the bigger I am, the smaller they are.

I hate to sound paranoid, but things like this keep happening… so I’m thinking it can’t be a coincidence. The only thing I can do is stay aware and not fall into the traps. Go home, eat my roasted chicken and veggies. Drink my seltzer and have a frozen fruit bar for dessert which is much better for me than a cookie.

…Thoughts?? Does stuff like this ever happen to you?

I confessed to you all a while ago, that while I wear high heels and love the way they look… sometimes I just want to wear flip flops and call it a day. But if you’ve taken a look at my outfit posts on Tumblr and Instagram, you’ll notice that I’m often wearing heels.

Living in NYC wearing heels is an art and Foot Petals are making the process more comfortable with their new Stiletto Shieldz & Pressure Pointz.

Stiletto Shieldz are a clear plastic shield that adheres to your high heeled shoes (leather/synthetics/wood, etc.) and will protect your high heels from scuffs while appearing invisible to the eye.  The Stiletto Shieldz for high heels retails for $6.95 and is sold at www.footpetals.com and department stores, including Nordstrom

Pressure Pointz are small shoe cushions that we can stick in a specific spot of their shoes to create a defense layer between their shoe and skin to avoid blisters and uncomfortable rubbing. You know those spots on your feet that you put band-aids or tape on? Pressure Pointz eliminates the need to do that!

I also love that Foot Petals are easy to use with sandals… check them out!

Have you seen the commercials for Match.com’s Stir events?

When I first saw the commercials, I thought to myself that the idea of taking online dating offline was pretty much “going out”. But when Match.com invited me to a private event to explain their new concept, I was impressed with what they’re trying to do. Its like the perfect hybrid of online dating and going out to bars/clubs to meet people because the events are catered to your desired demographic (age/race/gender/interests). So its like walking into a party full of people who are “your type”.

This is something you might want to look into if you’re not in NYC because Match is doing events nationwide (this month they’ve got 189 singles events in more than 62 cities happening).

Stir events range from large scale happy hours at local bars and venues, to more intimate, interest-based events such as cooking classes, wine and tequila tastings, dance lessons, rock climbing, etc.

The Happy Hour events are free and open to both registered and subscribed Match.com members!

Match.com members can learn about and sign up for these events via Match.com under the “Events” header on the site.

They invited me to come and check out one of their events, so I’ll go, see what its like and report back to you… I’ll keep you posted!

Although I had just lost 30 pounds, the minute Ms. Kathryn Finney asked me to be in the first ever BlogHer Fashion Show, I became obsessed with losing ten more pounds before the show. I mean, isn’t that what models do?

I found myself skipping carbs, adding workouts and obsessing over everything I ate. When I would mention to The Boy that I wanted to slim down just a little bit more before the show, he would just look at me like I was nuts and say “you’re fine”. Of course, I brushed him off. He couldn’t understand what was expected of me as a model in a fashion show. I needed to be militant in order to be presentable and if that meant salads and no wine during our date nights, he’d have to deal with it.

To add to my stress, the BlogHer12 fashion show would be the first time that TheBigGirlBlog’s readers would see what I looked like. I had been blogging anonymously for years, so I wanted to “look my best” for my Plus Size Princesses. Instead of being proud of the 30 pounds I’d lost, I was kicking myself that I hadn’t lost 40 pounds and although the scale was moving down, it wasn’t happening fast enough.

To put it plainly, I was driving myself crazy about my weight. Then two things happened that changed everything:

1.) I realized that I was dieting instead of living the healthy lifestyle that had helped me to lose 30 pounds in the first place.

2.) I logged onto the BlogHer website and read all of the comments about the upcoming fashion show.

The comments section was flooded with women asking what kind of models they would be using. Including questions like Will there be plus size clothing on the runway? and Are the models going to be a variety of sizes? I know they are “real people” not models, but a lot of style bloggers are of the smaller variety.

Seeing those questions stopped me in my tracks. Duh! There was a desire for women of all sizes to be represented on the runway and I was a part of that. Would there be skinny models? Yes. But it wasn’t my job to be one of them. It’s like I heard the words “model” and “runway” and suddenly everything I stood for flew out the window. My job was to be CeCe Olisa as of August 4, 2012. 30 pounds down… more to go, but as The Boy so sweetly reminded me… I’m fine.

I had to remind myself that beauty isn’t something that we aspire to be, its something that we are. It’s important to remember that we’re beautiful at any given moment in our lives. We’re beautiful at the beginning of a weight loss journey, we’re beautiful when we’ve reached our weight loss goals and we’re beautiful at every point in between. Those sweaty moments at the gym? Beautiful. When “Aunt Flow” comes to town and we gain 4 pounds overnight? Beautiful!

Walking down the runway with a diverse group of women, I knew that everyone in the audience saw someone who represented them in some way. When I saw the Plus Size Princesses cheering and clapping, I knew I was there for them and I hope that in some way, my presence let them know, “you’re fine” and by “fine” I mean beautiful!

To see me on the runway, visit PlusSizePrincess.Tumblr.com

I really need to write about the experience of modeling in the BlogHer fashion show, but I’m not quite ready. I think I’m in shock. I do have a few highlights though: Follow my new Plus Size Princess tumblr to see what I wore. Follow “PlusSizePrincess” on Instagram to see my amazing makeup, backstage scenes and… check out my feature on the ELLE magazine website to hear more details on how my look came together.

Okay now, lets do a giveaway!

I’m often so focused on getting cute dresses that I forget to invest in clothes I can just “veg” in. Giant Pants is a new brand of pajamas that are designed to give women of all sizes comfy PJs!

Giant Pants was a life saver to me during BlogHer. After running around all day, meeting people, taking classes and dragging my stuff around. I would come home, light candles, take a long shower and then slip into my comfy cozy pants. The fabric is light enough that I wasn’t too hot and soft enough that I fell right asleep.

Back in the day, I can remember buying the biggest size flannel pants I could find, but they were never baggy like I wanted them to be. Tight pajama pants are just silly, but when you’re already plus size, finding a loose fit is hard too. Giant Pants are cut so that they fit perfectly in the waist and crotch, while being perfectly loose in the leg.

I’ve got five pair of Giant Pants to give away, the rules to enter are below:

1.) Follow @thebiggirlblog on twitter
2.) follow @GiantPants on twitter
3.) tweet: @thebiggirlblog & @giantpants are giving away 5 sets of LUXE Pajamas! http://su.pr/89TTGS (Follow them & RT to win!) all sizes can enter