The Thinner Fat Girl? A HUGE Review

(Photos from abcfamily.com)

                                                    

Last night was the premiere of the new ABC Family show HUGE staring, Nikki Blonsk, Hayley Hasselhoff, Raven Goodwin, Ari Stidham, and Ashley Holliday among others. It follows the life of teens who are sent off to fat-camp in hopes of shedding some weight. Now, you would think that for fat kids going to a weight-loss camp would put everyone on an even playing field, but just like the real world, there are the haves, and the have-nots.

The haves consist of Amber (Hasselhoff), Chloe (Holiday), and Caitlin who was voted off fat-camp island before the first episode ended for purging. The haves are the "skinnier fat girls" who basically have all of the guys salivating at the mouth over them as if they were real life walking and talking Twinkies. Chloe and the first fat-camp cast off Caitlin from what I could tell, are the Mean Girls of the fat-camp world. They inducted Amber into their fat chick clique without her even knowing it. Cast off Caitlin practically neglected poor Chloe for the thinner and very blond Amber once she saw the attention Amber was generating from the fat-camp male population.

(Photos from abcfamily.com)

I am conflicted with Amber's character because on one hand she to me is not considered fat, but she is not exactly skinny either. I think what the show is trying to do is show us different variations of what fat is, but coming from someone who is bigger than she is, if Amber is considered fat, then what am I?

Amber decorates her bunk with pictures of size -0 models for her inspiration and here, I think ABC is really missing the mark.They shouldn't be reinforcing societies "what is considered beautiful" standards instead, they should be sending the message that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. You don't have to be skinny to be healthy, and not every fat person can realistically be small. I do however, give kudos to ABC for promoting living a healthier lifestyle

(Photos from abcfamily.com)

And then, you have the have-nots, Will (Blonsky), Becca (Goodwin), and Ian (Stidham) play your quintessential unpopular group. Becca's character is somewhat a breath of fresh air because often you see the shows only black girl portrayed as the loud, smart mouthed hot ghetto mess, but Becca is rather meek, sweet, and nerdy. The way she acts around Chole and Caitlin makes me believe that they were close once. Maybe C squared went on to lose weight and got new "fatitudes" and figured Becca wasn't making enough progress to keep up with the cliques new appearance and stopped talking to her. I do hope that as the show progresses that Becca will speak up  for herself. Ian reminds me of a mixture of my dearest 80's movies. He is hopelessly in-"fat"-uated with Amber, but behold Amber's sights are set on one of the camps trainers (Zander Eckhouse) who of course is fit. Ian befriends Will by giving her one of his mixed tapes (they found a common bond over music). I think Ian and Will will become romantically involved at some point. 

Willamina (Will) played by Nikki Blonsky, sets aside her bubbly girl image from the movie Hairspray and puts her best tough girl "I don't care what you think about me" attitude forward. A few minutes into the show Will gives us a strip down to reveal her one-piece swimsuit in front of camp staff and goers, and if you couldn't sense her rebellious side from her electric blue hair streaks, then you surely understood what type of chick she is after that. Will's tough exterior is covering up something HUGE inside we just don't quite know what it is yet. We do know however, that she is at odds with her family about her weight. Will not only drug herself into camp, but she also bought a suitcase full of junk food as well. Her goal? To not lose weight at camp, but to gain.She ends up setting up shop in a bathroom selling to anyone who had a craving. This ultimately spirals into Caitlin being booted as mentioned, and Will attempting to leave camp once and for all. The camps head honcho played by Gina Torres who Will has bumped heads with since she landed at camp, eventually convinces her to stay.

I did not mention Will's and Amber's dislike of each other because I would like to leave that for another post. In all, the jury is still out on whether or not I actually like the show. I'm in disagreement with some on it's views, but it is rather entertaining. I shall see how HUGE of an impact this will have on my tv viewing schedule in the near future.

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, May Make You Blue.

 I was sitting in my room the other day evaluating what I have done so far in my life, and what I wanted for my future. Being in my mid twenties, the dreaded topic of marriage popped up in my head. Now, I am not opposed to marriage as a whole, but you have to wonder if it is something even worth doing?

I am not trying to get hitched anytime soon, but I still do think about it from time to time. I still have some growing up to do, and there are a lot of things that I have yet to do with my life that would probably get in the way of a seriously committed relationship. I want to know who I really am so that I will not get lost in someones idea of what I should be.

So often people get into relationships and lose themselves and I don't want that... who in their right mind would want that? I want to be Shenna with or without a significant other. How many of you say to yourselves that you will never be like that one friend who got into a relationship and they completely neglected how they used to be all to please who they are with? And how many of you once in a relationship, actually become like that friend who you said that you would never be like?

If you're going to be with someone please find someone who will love you for who you are completely. DO NOT get into a relationship as one person, and eventually turn into someone else (Jekyll and Hyde). I know that relationships are comprised of communication, trust, and compromise, but don't compromise too much on who you are. You will be miserable in the long run and you are not doing your partner or yourself any good by doing so.

If you really think about what marriage entails, is it really any different than just co-habitation with your girlfriend/boyfriend? If you signed the lease together, couldn't that count as some form of vow making? If signing a piece of paper stating that you will be dwelling somewhere for the next 12 months (usually the standard lease term) doesn't count as a vow then I don't know what does.

Movies tend to romanticize the whole idea of weddings and wedded bliss, but in reality, it seems that mainstream media is always reporting celebrity divorces. And what gets me is when people who have been married for many years split up, and they become so nasty to each other during the divorce process. Weren't you in love at some point?!

I'm not trying to say that all marriages end up in the toilet, but it seems that the majority of them do. I would love to have that fairytale wedding, and the perfect marriage, but at what cost? I don't want to find my "soul-mate" and later down the road we can't even stand to breathe the same air. I want someone that will grow with me. A man that will appreciate my mind. I want more than just a kiss, I want a man to kiss my soul.


So I guess when the time is right and "fate" brings me to you, I hope that you will love all of me as I will love all of you... faults included.

ForThe Rainy Days Ahead

Since the season of Summer has officially been here for a couple of days now, I figured I'd share my rain boots/galoshes/wellies with you guys. I found these in New York in February when they were having that whole snow storm ordeal up north. I can't remember the name of the store I found them in, but it was located somewhere in Manhattan. They also sold a lot of awesome accessories there as well. The whole reason I ended up buying them was because the boots or I so dearly referred to them as my "Fuggs" (fake Uggs) were not faring me too well on the icy sidewalks. Too many near incidents of busting my behind was more than enough motivation for me to seek out these bad boys. I was so stressed and too scared to wear my Fuggs to even go out and find more appropriate footwear that, I ended up borrowing my G-sisters sized 10 Nine West boots. Let me tell ya, those boots were so snug on my feet I thought my toes were going to burst.

Needless to say, those Nine West boots were so perfect for those ice packed sidewalks. Never once did I feel my feet almost slip from under me. My friend and I ended up at several stores before we found the galoshes in both our shoe sizes. They were all of $10 no tax! I do regret not buying more of them, but I wouldn't have had any room in my suitcase anyway. Its a wonder that I've never had a pair before then since I do live in Florida, and of course we get plenty of rain down here. I have gotten a lot of use out of them so far, and I'm sure I will continue to get even more use out of them this hurricane season. I do believe the store had galoshes in sizes up to 13, and they came in varying designs. If I find out what store it was exactly or at least where it was located I will be sure to share. Until then, stay dry, and mind those puddles!

small kisses and BIG hugs

xOxO~Shenna

Cover-less Cover-ups

Like countless other self-conscious size sexies out there, I am a bit shy about showing my arms so I tend to use cover-ups a lot to hide them (using camouflage would be an understatement).  I was that one kid in the summer that would be wearing jackets and having to explain to people that I wasn't hot, but indeed I was hotter than 5 fat chicks packed in a Dodge Neon. To this day, I do not understand how I have never managed to pass out from such stupidities.

Not until around the age of 23 did I start to accept my body for what it was and is. I was much more feminine in my inner self than my outer appearance because I never thought that anything in my size would look or feel right on me. I pretty much wore shirts made for men and loose fitting jeans that were not figure flattering at all.

Now, at the age of 25 I am embracing more fashionable options for my size. Not very long ago the clothing options for curvaceous women were very limited. You either looked like a big flowery tent, or some type of an over-sized fruit. My personal style could be summed up as bohemian, rocker, girly chic. I'm very much into rocker/band Tees and jeans for the most part paired with a vest or blazer. You can dress it up or down, but most of all, I feel comfortable in the pairings. I have started this little collection of those flowy vest things that are in every store now. They are petty low cost depending on where you get them, and are a great alternative for me or anyone else instead of my long-sleeved cardis that feel like death in the hot summer weather.

These two in particular were purchased from Ross for $9.99 each very budget friendly and quite versatile. There are so many different versions of these vest so the options are pretty much limitless. They still give me that covered-up feeling but they really are covering less.

Here's to acceptance!

BIG kisses & small hugs

XoXo~Shenna

Big Feet = Big Bummer

So I have had this shoe complex since about my 5th grade year in school. At that point in time I could fit into my Moms size 7 1/2 shoes. Soon after, my feet just kept growing along with my size and my height. The last time I measured my height I was at about 6 1/2 feet tall, and my shoe size well, they had to be monstrous considering that they have to support my frame. I don't mind so much the size of my feet, but the lack of choice that I have in wearing fashionable shoes. It's as if people who wear sizes over 10 are not supposed to care what they wear on their feet!

I've always wanted to start my own shoe line exclusively for women who wear sizes 11 and up (sorry my size 10 chicks, but you are currently included in the majority).  Come on designers, it only takes just a wee bit more effort to stretch the length of those shoes. And for crying out loud why must you charge us more for a little but more of material? I mean come on, it is no different than making a size 7 to an 8. All for the exception of maybe Old Navy, Target, Torrid, and Payless I don't quite know where else to find shoes in my size that are affordable.

If any one is out there reading this and, you have any suggestions on where I could find fashionable shoes in my size (11) that are not otherwise listed, please share and I will share my findings as well. I do however, luck up sometimes in stores and I can find shoes in a size 10 that I can wear, but that is on rare occasion. Oh, do check out your local $9.99 and up shoe stores if you have them. They usually go up to about a size 12 sometimes but you must get there when they are put out or you will miss out, trust me.

Until next time....

small kisses and BIG hugs xOxO