12 Days of Christmas Giveaway - Beautiful Houndstooth Winter Coat

The winner of this coat is going to be the most stylish girl on the block! Seriously, this is the best piece of clothing I've ever owned and I still love, love, love it. I even tried to make it work for me again this winter, but it clearly wasn't working on me anymore.

This is a Lane Bryant size 26/28 houndstooth, 3/4 sleeve cape-style winter coat. It has a red lining and big black buttons making for beautiful accents. It hit me (I'm 6'0") just past my knees. Since it has wide, 3/4 sleeves I wore it with long black gloves (which I incidentally lost a few years ago), but I also wore it with no gloves and it was perfectly warm. I used to get SO MANY compliments on this coat.

This beauty can now be yours. Just leave a comment by midnight tonight and I will choose a winner by Random.org. I will ship this to the winner on 12/30.

12 Days of Christmas Giveaway - Black Forcaster Sport Winter Coat

This was my standby winter coat. It is a size 3X Forcaster Sport brand and is black fleece. I actually had to take this out of the dry clean bag to photograph it as I haven't worn it since I had it dry cleaned at the end of winter last year.

It offers a fleece-lined hood and the cuffs can either be worn rolled up or down (I always wore them rolled down because I have freakishly long arms). The lining of one of the pockets does have a hole in it, but you can easily fix it with some simply sewing, so it's not a big deal.

To win this winter coat, leave a comment on this post by midnight tonight. I will choose a winner by Random.org. I will ship it to the winner on 12/30.

12 Days of Christmas Giveaway - Gray and Black Sweater

This lightweight sweater is a 26/28 from Lane Bryant and is seriously so comfy. Although, I'm normally not a fan of horizontal stripes, this sweater never made me feel like I looked bigger with it on. It has very forgiving material. The color on it is a light heather gray and a darker gray/almost black (looks black in picture). The V-neck is flattering and is deep enough you will probably want to layer a tank underneath it.

To win, comment on this post by midnight tonight. Winner will be choosen by Random.org. I will ship to winner on 12/30.

12 Days of Christmas Giveaway - Belted Pink, White, and Black Dress

This dress has been a staple in my wardrobe! I'm finally admitting it's just way too big. It is Apt 9 brand from Kohls, size 3X (24/26). It comes with a wide, elastic belt that cinches at your natural waist, leaving a nice A-line. On me (I'm 6'0") it hit at knee length.

I always got a ton of compliments on this one. I would wear it with tights and mid-calf black boots or sometimes just the boots sans tights if it was on the warmer side out. I always wore it with something covering my ankles since I have tattoos to cover at work, but I'm sure it would look darling with flats or some booties.

Comment by midnight tonight and I will pick a winner via Random.org. I will ship this item to the winner on 12/30.

12 Days of Christmas Giveaway - Dark Wash Jeans

Sorry for the little break over the weekend. I just figured that most people would be busy out and about the weekend before Christmas and not at home commenting on blogs :) But here we are with 5 more days of giveaways this week. Everything posted this week will be mailed on 12/30 when I return home from my holiday travel. Sorry for the delay, but I hope you all understand!

Today's item is a pair of dark wash Lane Bryant straight leg jeans. Size 26 (fit more like a 24 on me b/c of the slim fit). I seriously loved these jeans I got last year. So much so in fact when the 28s got to big I ended up searching high and low for the next size down. The 28s are long gone, off to Goodwill, but here I have the second pair I owned for you.

The look a bit more forgiving in the photo, but I assure you these are straight leg / slim fit. They were a bit short on me (I'm 6'0") so I wore them like cropped jeans (or just ignored they were too short). I hope the new owner will love these jeans as much as I did!

Comment by midnight tonight for a chance to win them. Again, they will be shipped on 12/30.

12 Days of Christmas Giveaway - Sequence tank and Peacock shirt

If you want more background on the 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway series I am running, please see this post.

I missed yesterday's giveaway so today the giveaway gets double fun! I'm posting two items that today's winner will receive. So let's get to it.

First I have a Lane Bryant 3/4 sleeve graphic cotton shirt. It's a true purple with a peacock on it - this shirt is comfy and fun! I've worn it as a casual top and dressed it up a little and worn it out. The first photo does not show the accurate color, but the close up does show the true purple color of the shirt. This is size 26/28.



Second, I have a white sequence tank top that I've only worn a few times. I bought this after I started losing weight and I should have bought a size down, but alas my brain wasn't there yet so I ended up with a super cute basic piece that I only wore 4-5 times. It is not missing any sequence and is in great shape. This also is a size 26/28 from Lane Bryant.




So comment once and be entered to win both tops! Entries will be accepted through midnight tonight and the winner will be posted Saturday morning.

12 Days of Christmas Giveaway - My Favorite Black Dress

If you want more background on the 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway series I am running, please see this post.

What a winner this dress is! I bought it for a job interview two years ago .By the way, I aced and scored the job.

It is a cotton cowl neck 3/4 sleeve, knee length, black dress. Beside the job interview, I think I wore it once or twice before it was too big - what a disappointment because this dress is simple, but fashionable.

It is a Laney Bryant 26/28 with a belt to match. I always thought of swapping out the black belt for a red or even leopard print belt, which you could totally do!

To win, leave a comment on this post by midnight tonight! Don't let this one get passed up!

12 Days of Christmas Giveaway - Sparkly Red Dress

If you want more background on the 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway series I am running, please see this post.

The 3rd item is a festive red sparkle 3/4 sleeve dress made by ellos (a Woman Within brand). The color in the first picture is off and it is genuinely "red" and not the burnt orange shown in the photos. The second photo is a bit better show of actual color. The dress is made out of Acrylic, Nylon and Metallic. It is a soft, light sweater material.

This dress is seriously so comfy! And versatile! I wore it to work, to parties and to holidays with the fam. It is a size 2X, which is a 26/28 in ellos sizing. The V-neck and detailing at the waist made this dress very flattering on me (I am pear shaped). Paired with some black tights and mid-calf boots, this used to be a staple in my winter wardrobe.

And now it can be yours! Comment on this post by midnight tonight for your chance to win!

12 Days of Christmas Giveaway - Lane Bryant Jean Jacket

If you want more background on the 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway series I am running, please see this post.

Today's giveaway item is a button up jean jacket from Lane Bryant, size 26/28. It gives the wearer a good, flattering shape (flares out at the hemline a bit) and has brass color buttons. The jacket is several years old, but I actually barely wore this as I have abnormally long arms and the sleeves were always too short on me. It is a good quality jean jacket and earlier this fall I actually wore it as an outerwear jacket for a few weeks before I found a new jacket.

If you want to win this item, leave a comment by midnight tonight and I will choose a winner via Random.org.

12 Days of Christmas Giveaway - Wide Calf Knee High Boots

Although I've given away several items and taken loads upon loads of clothes to Goodwill, I still have a few items hanging around my closet from my largest size - mostly 3X and 26/28. We're talking winter coats, dresses, boots, jeans - all just hanging around my closet with no one to wear them.

Since it's a great time of year to gift someone a gently used winter coat or pair of boots (read: it's downright COLD), I figured why not make it fun and give away each item still lingering in my closet one by one on my blog in a holiday giveaway of sorts I'm very originally titling "12 Days of Christmas Giveaway." Much more interesting than taking another load to Goodwill, yes?

So for the next 12 days I will post an item from my closet that no longer fits. Each day I will accept comments from readers interested in winning the item either for themselves or feel free to pick stuff up for your mom, sister, aunt, cousin, friend (just as long as it goes to someone you know for free).

If there are multiple comments, I will use a random number generator (like random.org) to choose the winner. I'll ship it out to you the next day and wa-lah you have a new gently used, new to you item to wear!

To kick it off, my first item is actually a pair of boots that were gifted to me last year by fellow kick-ass Fitblogger, Cyndi.

They are gray suede material that hit me (I'm 6'0") just a few inches below my knee. They are a flat, size 11, wide calf boot (21" when measured on the outside of the boot), with elastic at the shaft. Best of all, they practically look new. Not to mention, they are super cute (if you haven't noticed, Cyndi is quite fashion conscious).

The goods:



Leave a comment by midnight TOMORROW, Dec. 12th (Ok, I guess technically it would be midnight on Tuesday) to be entered in winning these! And check back at 8 am tomorrow for the next item in the series!

My favorite dress is no more

A couple weeks ago I traveled to my hometown of St. Louis, Missouri to see my dear friend get married to her soul mate. I was serving as the guestbook attendant and music master, so I was invited to the rehearsal dinner.

I brought this dress to wear to the rehearsal. I hadn't worn it since the spring/summer the year before so I brought a "back-up" dress that was more casual "just in case." Well thank God I did!

After slipping the freshly dry cleaned dress hurriedly over my head, I realized this. was. not. going. to. work. The arm holes hung so low you could see my WHOLE bra strap and there were about 4 inches in between my body and the fabric on both sides. When I walked out of the room I was dressing in, my mom says, "just hold your arms down." Uh, thanks mom....

I'm not sure on what earth I thought I could still wear this size 28 dress when I had brought a brand new size 18 dress to wear at the wedding the next day. Really, I thought I could wear two different dresses in 5 sizes apart? I read people say all the time that their brain does not stay "caught up" with their body as they lose a significant amount of weight. I guess this was my brain's way of playing it a little slow.

I'm really sad to lose this piece of clothing. I bought it on a vacation in Pensacola. I wore it to my friend Annie's wedding and to my sister's rehearsal dinner, among so many other "special occasions." It's sleeveless, but I never felt self conscience wearing it without covering up my arms. It really is the perfect dress.

My loss is your gain, however, and I have posted it on Great Clothing Exchange. I've had it for a couple years, but it's honestly been worn less than 10 times so I wanted it to go to a good home. And it can be yours for the cost of shipping. Just head over there and leave a comment. The winner will be chosen at random on Monday.