I’m going on vacation this week, so I started my swimsuit search a little early. With so many new swim lines coming out, Plus Size Princesses have a lot of options (especially if money isn’t an issue). But if you’re on a budget like me, cute suits at reasonable prices are the way to go and they’re not hard to find. Getting cute cover-ups from sites like ABC Distributing are also a way to go, to wear over your swimsuit.

I’m really trying to get away from the skirted swimsuits like the one I picked up last year for my Miami trip. I know they’re supposed to flatter/hide a bigger figure, but I’m over it. If I’m going to embrace my curves, I need to do it on the beach too!

Soooo I found three really cute suits on the OneStopPlus website:

The geometric pattern on this suit makes my waist/tummy look defined and it has a supportive bra cup. I also think that halter cuts are super flattering for PSPs, so this was a great find. I can’t wait to rock it on the beach!

The next suit I picked up was for the gym. I swim twice a week and I wanted a suit with more boob support. This simple suit keeps the twins contained while I’m swimming laps and I even tested it out during a water aerobics class. The bouncing and jumping wasn’t a problem at all….

Lastly, from talking to different TBGB readers online I’ve realized that girls who are above a 3X often have even more trouble finding cute clothes. When I was looking at the OneStopPlus site, I noticed that a few of their suits go up to a size 34! They were kind enough to send me an extended size suit. I asked a friend who is a size 30/32 to test it out and she had nothing but good things to say. This black suit with an adorable white bow is convertible. It can be worn strapless and the straps are adjustable! She said that she usually has to wear a bra with her suits, but this one provided lots of support. So, if you’re above a 3x or 22/24, you might want to check for this suit and the other extended size styles online.

Walking into my first BBW Party in Los Angeles was like walking into a high school dance.

Club Bounce was located in the ballroom of a budget hotel. There were three large women collecting tickets behind a folding table. Once we paid our cover, our names were immediately dropped into a raffle bowl for prizes that would be announced later that night. I’ve never seen these things at mainstream clubs, but BBW clubs seem to think we come out for the chance at a free digital camera (*shrugs*).

Vanessa, my friend who works for Kiyonna (maybe some of you have seen her videos?) looked fabulous in a black dress with rouching up the front and funky boots and I was rocking my Kiyonna BoHo Chic look in honor of her. We both looked good and were feeling good after a nice dinner filled with girl talk.

Vanessa and I walked to the bar and ordered drinks and the high school vibe continued. On one side of the room were small clusters of Plus Size Princesses of all shapes, sizes, colors and ages. On the other side of the room were all the men. The DJ was playing music to an empty dance floor and balloons waived slowly under the air conditioner.

There was no mingling or flirting, everyone just sat in their respective corners and drank for about an hour.

Eventually some girls got up and began to dance with each other. Then slowly a crowd began to form on the dance floor. Vanessa and I were dancing too when I spotted a PSP sitting in the corner with her hands folded in her lap. I’m not sure if it was the high school dance elements of the night, but seeing her sitting there like a wall flower really made me sad so I marched over to her.

“Hi, are you here by yourself?” I asked.

“Yes,” she replied with a shy smile.

“Oh, wow… how are you liking it so far?”

“Its fine… I mean I’ve never been to a club before so…”

“Never been to a club, ever?!”

“Nope.”

I called Vanessa over, “this is Vanessa and I’m CeCe… come hang with us!” I said motioning for her to stand up. She hesitated and then said “okay”.

Being at a party alone is never fun, so Vanessa and I took her under our wing for the night. Watching her was fascinating because things like a guy asking her to dance were clearly new to her. As she danced with one guy, he turned her back to so that he could dance with her from behind and she thought he was done with her, so she kept walking and left him on the dancefloor. I had to tell her to turn around because he was standing there confused!

Over all the guys at Club Bounce weren’t very exciting. In my opinion, they made their business clear when they didn’t bother to talk and mingle with the PSP’s early in the night. It almost seemed as if they waited for the girls to get liquored up so that they could spend the evening humping them on the dance floor. I even heard one guy mention that he had a hotel room upstairs, which was a little disheartening.

Of course, we all know that NYC BBW clubs aren’t a place to look for love, and the California clubs are no different from what I can tell. But you never know… I was inspired when I noticed a nerdy guy in a sweater vest approaching our shy friend in a very repsectful way. Vanessa and I left them alone on the dance floor where they danced to song after song after song.

I felt like a proud Mom!

As I mentioned before, my Miami trip was my first “grown up” vacay. Instead of travelling with family, I was meeting up with girlfriends and I was pretty stoked. (It almost felt like my first time at sleep-away camp as a child.) I was in the LaGuardia Airport waiting for my flight when I passed a sign that simply said, “Life’s Good”.

Sometimes I get so focused on the things that I’m not: I’m not skinny enough, I’m not making enough money, I’m not in a relationship… So, I decided in the moment that “Life’s Good” would be a personal mantra for me during my trip. I needed to remind myself that, in spite of all the things that I’ve yet to accomplish, life really is good.

We decided to stay at the Miami Beach Resort & Spa because that’s where the wedding party was staying. I didn’t put much thought into it, the website looked nice and when I made the reservation over the phone, customer service was really helpful, but I was staying there mostly out of convenience.

I was the first of my girlfriends to arrive and when I checked into our room it was around 2am so it was very dark. I opened the curtains to my room and could see the pool glowing a soft purple but that was about it. I unpacked, took a shower and went to bed not knowing what a gift our room was.

A few hours later the sunlight woke me up and as I rolled over, the view from my window took my breath away. Our floor to ceiling windows were filled completely with the beach and the brilliant blue ocean.

Life is good, I thought to myself with a smile.

Within the hour, my girlfriends all arrived from California, Chicago and North Carolina, respectively. They checked in, we had breakfast in our room and then we threw on our swimsuits and headed downstairs. There was a small path from the pool area straight onto the beach, so we were there in no time and we spent the early afternoon talking, making business calls from the sand and playing in the waves. I’m not sure why laying around on the beach made us so hungry, but after a couple of hours we were ready for lunch (and drinks). We sat at the hotels outdoor cafe and Elida, who became my favorite waitress, brought us yummy sandwiches, quesadillas, chicken fingers (and drinks).

As much as I hate to admit it, my weight is always a nagging issue in the back of my head. I’m so proud of myself for going parasailing and walking around in a swimsuit, but the reality is that for a fleeting moment I considered not taking this trip because Miami is a beach city and I’m no where near my goal weight. But from the time I saw that “Life’s Good” sign, I felt like there were constant reminders that life is meant to be enjoyed, period. There are so many things in this world to experience and if we miss out on them because of how we look… we’re crazy!

Coming up from the beach and lunch, I was looking out my window and I saw a group of young girls huddled together in the kiddie pool. It was such a simple and sweet moment and for me it was a great testament to the range of people, single girls, families, honeymooners… and a Plus Size Princess who were taking a moment to recognize that Life’s Good.

I guess I’m writing this post to encourage my PSP’s to get out and do the things you want to do. Find a way to make it happen! I’m definitely on a budget, but the four of us were able to have a luxurious four day experience at the Miami Beach Resort & Spa with their friendly, attentive staff for about $150 per person (and that includes a few meals charged to the room!)

If there’s something you want to experience, don’t make your weight an excuse not to do it… okay?

Life’s Good!

http://www.miamibeachresortandspa.com/

On my last post I said I “might” be going parasailing. That “might” wasn’t because I was unsure of the event taking place, the “might” was because I wasn’t sure if my size would get in the way of my parasailing experience.

Parasailing is something I’ve wanted to do for a while, and I figured Miami would be the best place to try it out. I can be a little anxious about things and I started having visions of me standing on the beach being told that I was too big to be flown over the ocean. Even though I did lots of research to make sure my weight wouldn’t be an issue, I still had nagging thoughts that it wouldn’t work out.

I called two parasailing companies and Miami Beach Parasail was the one that seemed to really have it together. The guy I spoke to on the phone was quite helpful and their website answered a lot of my questions, so I decided to use them.

My girlfriend Lucia said she wanted to come along so we made our way down Collins avenue from our hotel to the beach behind the Lowes hotel where Miami Beach Parasail is based. As we approached the big red umbrellas under which we could sign up to sail, my heart started beating faster in my chest. Here were my top three fears:

• The parasail staff would be rude/make me uncomfortable
• There wouldn’t be a life jacket that fit me
• I wouldn’t be able to participate because of my size

We were immediately greeted by Camille, who gave us waivers to sign and took care of our package arrangement. Camille was super friendly, talking to us while we waited for our turn and easing us of our fears, “I still get nervous even though I’ve done it a million times, you’ll be fine though!” she told us with a smile. A few minutes later it was our turn to go up. We stripped down to our bathing suits (good thing I had gotten more comfortable with that) and one of the boat operators handed me a life jacket. I slipped it on and he helped me zip it up with no problems (whew!).

Once we were suited up, it was time to go out into the ocean. They led two other girls, Lucia and myself into a small speed boat where we sat on the outer edge and held onto the ropes so that we wouldn’t flip off into the ocean. Lucia and I were both silent with nerves as our boat skipped over the waves like speed bumps. A few minutes later our smaller boat pulled along side a larger one where the parachute was floating hundreds of feet above. The waves threatened to knock us off balance as we climbed onto the deck of the bigger boat, but we made it.

Lucia and I let the other girls go first and as they floated above the ocean we started talking to Kyle, one of the parasail operators. Kyle was hilarious and talking to him helped me forget I was scared. When I told him I was going to write about this in a blog for plus size girls, he asked if he could say “hello” to you all, so here he is! (cute, right?)

After our impromptu photo shoot, Kyle pulled out the harnesses so that he could attach us to the actual parachute/rope contraption when it was our turn. We stepped into the leg harness like pants and then he clipped it around our waist. Again, I was nervous that things wouldn’t fit, but everything slid on easily. Soon it was time to go into the air. Lucia and I giggled nervously as we sat on the nose of the boat and before we knew it we were floating in the air. Being on the boat you feel the waves and motion of the ocean, but when you’re parasailing its the most calming thing. Its indescribable. Lucia and I went silent again, this time because we were in awe of what we were experiencing.

We spent a really long time in the sky and they took pictures of us (that’s me up in the air!)

Right before they reeled us back on the boat, they lowered us into the ocean, dipping us into the water up to our waists. When we got back onto the boat, Lucia and I could not stop grinning. “How was it?” Kyle asked. “Um… AWESOME!” I replied and I meant it. Parasailing was the highlight of my vacation, and all of my fears about doing something extreme as a Plus Size Princess were gone.

• The Miami Beach Parasail team was phenominal, friendly and they made the experience even more fun
• Miami Beach Parasail had equipment for people of all sizes
• My size/weight was not an issue at all!

As I was unpacking last night, I got a text from Lucia that said I can’t believe we went parasailing! the fact that we’re both thinking and talking about it days later speaks volumes about the experience.

What do you think? Would any of you consider parasailing?

www.miamibeachparasail.com/

I woke up this morning and the beautiful view from my hotel room was calling my name. As a California girl, a good beach is one of the best things on earth to me, so I couldn’t wait to go out. I lathered on some sunscreen threw on my bathing suit, a maxi dress and headed downstairs with my girlfriends.

The Miami Beach Resort & Spa has a beautiful patio with a swimming pool and a private path that leads to the beach. We grabbed the complimentary beach towels and made our way onto the sand. As much as I love my new SwimSuitsForAll bathing suit, I still have apprehensions about walking around in a bathing suit but I looked around and saw women of all sizes proudly walking around in the sun and it made me feel more at ease.

In my mind Miami was a place for girls with tiny waists and fake boobies and I wasn’t sure how I’d feel as a PSP to be in a place like this. There was one woman with her family and she had to be at least a size 20 but she was wearing a teeny-tiny bikini! I thought to myself, if she can be proud of her belly, surely I can take off this maxi dress and wade into the water. We stayed on the beach for a few hours and then we made our way to the pool so that we could have a drink from the hotel poolside bar and listen to the band that was playing.

My friend Jaslin and I decided to take a dip in the pool, while Jaslin is very petite she has big (natural) boobies like I do. As we bobbed around in the pool laughing and talking, an older Caribbean man walked by and looked down at us, “I love women with beautiful smiles…” he said, pointing at us.

“Thanks” we replied in unison.

“And,” he said “I like women with a big- (he motioned to his chest)”. We both gasped in shock and then he gave us a wink “HEART!”

It was so ridiculously funny that I couldn’t even be offended. As the morning went on I got more and more comfortable in the beach/pool environment and I even made a quick run up to my hotel room wearing just my bathing suit and no cover-up which was a big deal for me.

Anyway, I wanted to check in… I’m sorry I didn’t post yesterday, my friends wedding was yesterday and I got caught up in all the wedding activities. Keep your fingers crossed, I think I’m going to go parasailing today!

I’ll keep you posted!

xoxo

It was 8am and my plane was boarding.

It wasn’t till I made my way past First Class (I’m not that fabulous… yet) that I remembered something I forgot to do before this trip:

LOOSE WEIGHT!

Every time I travel on a plane I swear up and down that the next time I fly I will have lost ____ pounds figuring that if I loose enough, perhaps I will get on a plane and not stress about what seat I’m in and how comfortable I (and the people next to me) will be.

First I sit down, trying not to bruise my hips as they slide past the arm rests. I usually choose a window seat because the idea of sitting in the middle seat is just torture and while the aisle seems like a good idea, who really wants their arm banged by a soda cart? Not me!

Next comes the battle of the arm rest. I put it up, to give myself a little more space and 9 times out of 10 it stays there, but then there is that one passenger who tries to push it back down, possibly bruising my hip again! Sometimes they say “oh sorry” and put it back up, but sometimes they don’t… which leaves me traveling with an armrest cutting into me for hours (maybe the cart banging into my arm isn’t such a bad thing…)

And when I fly home to see my parents? Forget it! They live in a relatively small city and so I’m often on older, smaller jets with seat belts that rarely fit. This means that if the flight attendant notices that I am attempting to sit on/hide my too small seat belt, she will ask me to “buckle up” and then I will have to ask her to look in her little airplane closet and bring me… a seat belt extender!

Usually my Big Girl Rants are reserved for other people, but honestly this one is for me. Every time I travel I go through these things, but the person who has the power to change my experience is me.

I don’t have any travel plans involving a plane until the holidays, lets see if I can make the necessary changes so my luggage is the only thing stuffed into a plane.