Under 30

We are officially under 30 days for our Carnival Cruise and the excitement is building. Well, mom is holding back b/c she only has a 5 day buffer between finishing up teaching for the school year and us shipping out. Its a stressful time for her with final report cards and end of the year activities for the kids, so I've tried my best to only speak about the cruise when she ask me questions.

Here birthday is this Monday, so I made a little Carnival Manuel for her to get even more familiar with cruising and I will give it to her along with her funpass.

Mom has also been shopping, but she can shop at places like Goodwill and find good clothes. Most Fat Girls won't give up their expensive Fat Girl clothes and when they do they are usually wayyyyyyyyyyy out of style, so thrift shops don't work for me. She has bought a few things off the rack and one of them is this maxi dress from Kmart. I think it the style is new, but the design is right for age group. The best of both worlds.



I also went out and bought a journal for $2.99 so that I can write down my daily happenings while cruising and have an accurate report when I come back. I also made up some word documents with an hourly account, Lunch, Breakfast, Dinner etc. That way if I don't get to write in the journal I can quickly write on that and fill it in later.



I've called both hotels that I have booked and doubled checked that we have reservations. I once booked a room with some friends for a wedding and when we got there they said they were over booked even though we had a confirmation. They phone reservations and computer reservations didn't always match up. So...the three of us and the 1 year old twin babies we had with us had to book it to the bed n breakfast the rest of the bridal party stayed at. We missed the wedding, but made it to the reception. And this is just a short story about why you should call and check your reservations with the actual hotel at least a month in advance.

I've booked Nachi Cocom as our only excursion in Cozumel. Its $49 pp (sorry if I'm repeating myself). It was $12pp deposit. I've also ordered a Bon Voyage gift for my mom for $53. I got her a bottle of Korbel and 4 drink coupons, so she won't worry so much about money and having a drink or two.

I plan to try and talk her into the Turtle Farm at the Grand Cayman, but we will just pay for everything when we get there and she has said she doesn't want to go onshore for Ocho Rios, so we will look into a spa treatment that day and enjoy a rather empty ship.

Well, with all that down, I guess its time for the fashion portion of this blog. I've tried to take a little bit of everyone's advice and put it all together. Of course, its my decision, but I did like some of the ideas I got. I tried to cut a few things out and double up some outfits. So with a little bit of explanation with each here is what I HOPE is my final packing list.

Before I do that though:

Here is my handy dandy SLR camera bag...it should be really easy to carry around and easy access for picture opportunities.



And this folks is my luggage! Haha, I know many of you were wondering how much I would be toteing with all those clothes...This is it. I can fit it all in these bags. I plan on taking the medium size as a carry on with a purse and the small and large one to the porters. Soooo, maybe not as much as the pile you though I might be taking, lol or maybe not.



Okay.....fashion. In no particular order. I do have an excel sheet with a plan for the clothes, but that's just for my sanity and not when I will probably actually wear the clothes. I'm the kind of person who wakes up in the morning and says, "What do I 'feel' like wearing today." Probably goes along with why I have so many outfits too.

Please forgive the funny faces I make.....I was in a "I don't really want to see myself in photos" mood. I'm also 1lb away from 35lbs. I've had a lot of set backs these last couple of weeks, but I'm working with a trainer and I feel better than ever. Sometimes it just takes time and I'm willing to wait.

New pink shirt from Cato, same old white capris
As you can see I used these twice.




I thought I could get more wear out of these jean capris.






These beige capris are actually getting looser on me...they might have to left behind.


If you notice I got rid of most of the boleros and just kept this one and another. Its that rayon/cotton material so I could easily wash it if need be, but its not like I'm going to be running a marathon in it.



My SIL bought me a necklace back from the beach for watching their dogs that will go great with this dress, so I will switch it out with the black one and probably put the black one with the green.





Some of you noted that this shirt looks too big. It fits on my hips where it is banded, but the top part is a little big, but such is the life of a girl with Texas size hips.







This is the only one that came out blurry this time, lol.


I know, I know....we didn't really like the leggins, but they are soooo comfortable and in style (maybe not for me),but I want to take advantage of the look and this is one of the best ways I can.


I got better responses on the skirt the last go round, so I'll keep it.


I know we hated this dress and I get the mistake I made with the stripes, but it is just a cover up (I didn't feel like taking the leggins off, lol)


I know the look on my face is weird here....I was trying to catch the air from the air conditioner...it was getting warm tryin on all these clothes.


Here is the new Old Navy Dress....same style different design and since I got the advice to try more design I thought this was goood, plus its a size smaller than the yellow and fits perfectly. Gotta get mom to take the yellow one in.





I tried a new wrap with the dress....a darker grey. It is more of a bolero/shrug, but its in a cotton material so I'm not sure if the materials fight with each other.


I put the gold necklace with this one since you guys said the black necklace was too much black.



I'm holding up the necklace b/c I have to make it longer to work,but you get the idea.




I didn't include shoes and stuff b/c you can see that on the other post. Did you notice no sequence black top??? I tried it with all different kinds of jackets and without and I couldn't find a way to make it give me a better shape. Plus, whoever designed the shirt was stupid b/c instead of putting a lining on the inside against the sequence......there isn't one....at ALL! It itches and short of sewing a lining in myself if will not be comfortable.

Notice no ruffle boleros???? Well, I like them and they might go back in, but mom said they look like Bella Lagosi and they are going to be a witch to keep from getting wrinkled.

Pantyhose are packed and if I can keep from tearing them (I opened a brand new pair and put a run in them when I hadn't even gotten them on yet and don't know how!), so no white pasty legs to blind people in the MDR.

If I change anything I'll update it one post at a time.

Now, since we are at 26 days until our Liberty Cruise...I would like to know if any of you have questions you specifically want answered. About Carnival, the ship, the fashion, the food...etc. Something maybe someone always leaves out. Let me know and I will try to make a note to get the answer....if I'm not too busy having fun!!!!!

Thanks for all the responses so far you guys are great.