FATshion Journal Blog by Lilly

Home Sweet Home - the streets that raised me are colorful So I've been talking my HusVinh's ear-off the last few days about a recent job-training session. We read a book titled  René Has Two Last Names/René Tiene Dos Apellidos   and because as luck would have it - I arrived first and was volunteered to read the Spanish version... And as always I butchered the Spanish language because I don't practice my Spanish enough (Non-Spanish speaking husband, non-Spanish speaking friends and family that understands and speaks English so I speak English 80-90%) Anyways, I digress... The book is about a young boy dealing with two last names and what that means in the United States of America. The teacher in his class decided to not read his last name and only calls on him as Rene Colato instead of Rene Colato Lainez.  The young boy describes it as if only reading one last name completely erases his other side of his family - as if he loses a whole other side of his identity....

This blog-post began with the purest intention to be funny and our weddi-versary trip conversations inspired me to REWRITE the whole post with an "announcement" and my hubby's VinhIsms. Here we go... A disclaimer - I'm not mad - this is a PSA for us married women (couples) getting tired of being asked - "So when are you gonna start a family?" MOTHERHOOD one of the many hats as a uterus-carrying-human-being I am expected to wear. Especially when I've been a committed relationship for ten years... And married for two of those years... And with a recent emotional reaction at work from getting my period- I need to remind myself that the majority of my life choices are based on what's best for me and what makes me happy. You see, we are NOT trying. BUT I have been officially off the pill for 7 months and nothing. A few months before being officially off the pill I had missed a couple of days of the pill and when we hear several stories of ...

Sweater from Forever 21Plus When Disney closed the doors on the Broadway musical version of Beauty and the Beast in 2007 - there was a lot of speculation in the Disney blogosphere of a live-action production and for years - that's all it was... speculation. In 2011 one of the composers broke all BATB fan's hearts when he stated in an interview the film version 'had been canned" Then the rumors started up again in 2014 and by the beginning of 2015 it was announced Emma Watson would be playing Belle - production ended in 2015 and then again - I searched all Disney blogs for a release date. I remember reading the headline and crying from pure joy; in 2015 filming wrapped up and Disney announced the movie would be released in 2017. And some can say I have been waiting since 2007 but really I have been waiting for this movie since Ever After: A Cinderella Story back in 1998. It's a pretty-cool take on the Cinderella story - where Cinderella is a...

Photo from here I have been listening to a lot of music... Music is one of my favoritest and most powerful self-healing tools. Music and lyrics are open to interpretation and can always differ depending on your feelings, your experiences and your mood - Music can make you cry, dance, laugh, smile, hate, resent, remember...etc... And I am not saying anything new about music that hasn't been written before but it has been my only solace - that not even wine can reach ;-) In the past three weeks I have had two handful of panic attacks - sometimes accompanied with sleep-paralysis - the feeling of being awake but being unable to move. (Which is one of my irrational fears - not having control of my body - that - and going blind) Or I will wake up in panic attacks and sometimes a little bit of both - where in my moment of sleep paralysis - I could hear my own screams but my mouth is unable open, or children laughing or a burglar in the house - so I finally wake up but in a...

Y'all ready for some shocking news! Happy New Year! I'm all of 31 days late or 3 days late if you celebrate Lunar New Year... Either way I'm late to the celebration party. We are 11 days into the orange-sexualt-assaulting piece of shit presidency and guess what that "hardworking business mogul" y'all idiots voted for has Already requested time-off and is off vacationing in Palm Beach. Meanwhile the country is in turmoil but hey who gives a fuck right... Anywayssss... This post is sort of a new year's resolution about adulting-up inspired by this country's lack of morals. Five days ago, January 25th, the husband and I celebrated 10 YEARS! of knowing each other (We met on Vinh's first day at SJSU!) This upcoming March we will have been married 2 years, and in May we will be celebrating 10 YEARS TOGETHER! We began dating at 21 years-old and now at 31 years-old I was like whoa, and then he was like whoa and then we were both li...

The proceeding rant is to not be twisted - Though I am emotionally exhausted from this year... I'm still grateful and I still feel blessed with family and friends, I have a roof over my head, I have food on my plate and I go to sleep in my own bed with a sprinkle of Disneyland trips and mini adventures BUT DAMN IT this year has been extra...( as the kids say) I am literally fucking done with this year! The only real positive memorable event is my little brother's wedding - other than that 2016 can roll over, eat shit and die for all I care! There were many lessons learned and they were fucking hard and fucking emotionally, fucking mentally and fucking physically draining!!! Yes! That many f-bombs are fucking necessary! Because it has been that fucking draining. Okay-okay... I apologize but I needed to get those outta me... I'm writing to you from my sanctuary (our bedroom), I am finally-ish getting over this cold and can finish editing my thoughts from the ...