A Gal's Survival Guide

Hello loves! How are you all?! Fine as wine, I hope! ;)

OK, so, I've been thinking about writing a post like this for a while now and I'm finally getting around to it. Anywho, I've been working on a list of must-have's for we particularly girly girls for quite some time, and I thought it'd be nice to share it with you lovely gals!

1. Every girl needs at least one favorite nail polish that they know the brand & color name by heart.
2. Ladies, we all need at least one satiny, silky nightgown that makes us feel beautiful, comfortable, and oh-so-feminine! My personal reccomendation is, of course, for a lovely vintage find such as a Miss Elaine or Olga. They certainly do make a girl feel lovely!
3. Red. Lipstick. I think every girly girl needs a go-to shade of red lipstick (or gloss, your preference) for those days when you want to feel sexy, timelessly classy, & exude a take-charge kind of attitude.
4. Pearls. Earrings, a necklace, a bracelet...whatever floats your boat, girl. Pearls are another classic go-to that go with virtually ANYthing and have such a pretty, girly, dainty touch.
5. Two words: Kitten. Heels. If you don't own a pair, honey, you need to grab that purse & keys and hop on over to the nearest shoe store! As a gal who can't really manuever in *high* heels, a kitten heel is my best friend. ;) They're not too high, or too short, easy to walk in, comfortable enough to wear all day (even at work), AND they're just downright sexy.
6. Spanx. Again, they are essential! I don't care if you're a size six, girl, Spanx can (& will!) change your life! Not just because they ensure a perfectly smooth foundation, but they are comfortable, too!
7. A signature scent. While not necessary, a lovely fragrance can enhance your mood & attitude, especially if it's one that reminds you of your favorite vacation or your first date with that special someone. ;)
8. Bubble bath. Or bath salts. Or bath soak. Whatever you prefer. Anything to enhance a nice, relaxing hot bath at the end of a tiring, stressful day.
9. A good moisturizer. Moisturizing is one of many best friends a girl can have. When you moisturize your skin, you help combat icky dryness AND leave your skin touchably smooth.
10. Have an activity or hobby that relaxes you. We all know how busy & stressful life can be at times, gals, so it's important to slow down and take a break with a fun craft project, a magazine, or simply lounging in your favorite chair for a bit.

And there y'all have it: the Southerner's top-ten essentials for a girly-girl such as herself. ;) Hope you all enjoyed it...and now go settle down with something good to read & a glass (or cup!) of tea for some "you" time, girls!

XoXo,

Hey, y'all!

How is everyone? :) 

So sorry for the lack of posting lately, but, springtime around this household is ALWAYS a busy time! Busy, but, exciting! Seems like 80% of our friends & family are all born in the spring months, we have a lot of family functions that go on, and, well, the Southerner likes to dig in the yard with her flowers and plants instead of being inside this time of year...lol ;)

I'm thrilled to say that Mr. Max is tons better than he was when I last posted; he's gotten his stitches taken out & his fur is coming back, but for now, he's still in the doggie cone. BOO. Mr. Southerner has also settled in at work quite nicely. We've had to find a balance with things, but, we finally have a routine that seems to work out for us. I've had lots of showers, birthdays,  home re-decorating and painting & spring cleaning going on to keep me busy as a bee...but, I've loved it all! I'm ready to settle down, though, and get to some serious crafting soon! I have the itch!

Speaking of home re-decorating & such, I've been giving the Southerner house a nice, nifty vintage make over! I LOVE IT! I have acquired so many things & am still on the prowl for more, and if you know the Southerner, shopping and the art of finding a great steal of a deal is right up this gal's alley, honey! ;) I've spent countless amounts of time scouring eBay, Amazon, Etsy, thrift shops, & antique dealers in the past couple of months and it's really starting to pay off, y'all! So far I've accumulated: two vintage light globes for our master bath, a set of vintage canisters for the kitchen, a lovely vintage Siamese cat figure for our living room (his name is Fred!), and a vintage coffee container (it's ceramic & looks like a little stove...so darling!). Also, I've stumbled across a couple of finds from my dear Mama Bear: a vintage 1957 ceiling fixture light for our kitchen and a vintage 1960's Cosco cart!

I, of course, was most thrilled about the things from my mom because, well, they are passed down from she & my grandparents. It was quite ironic the way the kitchen light fixture was stumbled upon; we thought it had long since been discarded after my parents remodeled my grandparents' house several years back. So, you can imagine how thrilled the Southerner was when she found it tucked away in a corner in storage! The Cosco cart was a pleasant surprise, also, because it belonged to my mother, who packed it away in storage long ago, not knowing that one day the Southerner would have a passion for all of her lovely vintage treasures! I'm glad we can give it a new lease on life as a microwave/kitchen cart once it's had a good couple of coats of spray paint. ;) I'll do a blog soon with pics of all of the "new" vintage goodness in the Southerner house!

Alright, lovebugs, I want to leave y'all with a recommendation for a fellow vintage lovin' gal, The Vintage Housewife ! Y'all, you're going to love her! She's such a sweet gal who has an amazing spirit and I find her love for vintage to be super-contagious and inspiring...please go visit her blog, I promise that you won't be sorry! ;)

It's almost as expensive as college tuition!

Howdy lovebugs! Hope you're all well! It's certainly been super-duper crazy 'round these parts!  Our weekend was spent in & out of the animal hospital AND our family vet's office. Our long-haired Dachshund, Max, was bitten by our cute-but-so-very-evil cat & was bleeding...a lot. So. Once we got that situation under control, we found he had a hernia that had sprang up outta nowhere, which meant surgery to repair it yesterday morning. Agggh! Did y'all know that emergency vet care is more expensive than a down payment on a car or a semester's worth of college tuition?! O_o I almost had a fainting spell when they told me how much our visits totaled! Mr. Southerner was at hand, thankfully, with smelling salts (or the equivalent, anyway...a man wearing French cologne is comparable, right?).

But, little Max is finally at home safe & sound where he belongs, although he's terribly irritated that he's bald on the right side of his body AND has to be confined to his crate about 70% of the time until his stitches are out.

This is our sweet pea, Max. He wasn't too thrilled in this pic, as he tends to hold the belief that water is evil. ;)

Off to tend to my recovering patient! Have a lovely week, dolls! ;)

Inspire to BE Inspired!

So. I am super-duper sorry for the slack in posting, y'all! :( It's been a craaaazy train around the Southerner home front lately. Big changes came along with Mr. Southerner's new job, some expected, some not so much. Like the whole not seeing him as much, expected. Him working 19 days straight, NOT expected. o_O  To say it's been a MASSIVE adjustment for our little family is a complete understatement!

Anyway, with the added stress of running things around the homestead mostly by my lonesome, I have kinda had to let my crafting (and photography) take a back seat...which stinks, yes. :( But, fret not, my buttercups, because I have FINALLY seen the light at the end of the tunnel this week and should be back to the ol' grind this coming week, if all goes according to schedule. So, YAY!!!

On a serious, more profound note, I'm not the type of girl to have really powerful realizations just hit me over the head out of nowhere; I'm the type that's stubborn and has to be shown such things...lol Alas, you can imagine my surprise when this epiphany just dawned on me in the middle of an aisle of ethnic foods in a busy supermarket. Anyway, here goes...

As most of you know (and if you don't, you will, trust me ;) ), the Southerner is a proud, comfortable plus-size gal. I pride myself on not only embracing who I am & my size, but, the fact that I still remain true to myself and wear things I like, things that make me feel super-feminine, things that make me feel like a runway model, and things that make me feel HAPPY. I don't let my size define me. It hurts me to see other plus-size women put themselves down, or allow others to do so. It just irks me like you would not even believe! So, when I saw this lovely girl, about my age, on one of the motorized carts in the market, my heart went out to her. There was just something about this girl, you know? She just seemed kind of shy, like she was afraid to be herself and was trying to just get her things and hurry out of the store. I was honestly surprised when I ran into her on about the third time, that she spoke to me as I rifled through the tortillas.

With a genuine, friendly smile, she complimented my nail polish and we struck up a nice little chat right there about nail polish brands and such. Such a nice girl! I really enjoyed talking to her and it seemed like it did us both good. And as I left the market, I realized, "I like this feeling." The feeling of , "Hey, I think I made her day a little brighter just by sharing a common bond with her", and I know she made MY day brighter! But, the thing that stuck with me the most is, I want to help empower my fellow plus-size ladies!

I don't want myself or any other woman of size to feel alienated, shunned, or awkward just because of the size of our bodies! And, by the same token, I don't think ANY woman should feel that way, regardless of her size, the color of her skin, or any other factor of her life. So, it's now also a part of the mission of the Southerner to share these sentiments via this blog. I just want women to know that we all ultimately have common bonds with one another, we're not as different as we may look or seem. Remember that.

I challenge y'all to inspire at least one lovely lady this week. I promise, it will make you feel just as good as buying a new pair of shoes, girls! ;)

Alright. Time for this sleepyhead to sign off & enjoy the company of Mr. Southerner. Y'all stay tuned for new merchandise...hopefully in the coming week!

XoXo,