An introduction to me...

My name is Paula, I'm 40 and I live in Coventry with my lovely husband, 2 children and the spotty love of my life, my lunatic Dalmatian Alfie. I'm really very new to the whole world of "plus sized blogging" - I never knew it existed until very recently and it's been a revelation. It's only been recently that I've come to accept myself as a fat woman after spending the least 20+ years battling with my weight. I look back now and I could weep at all those wasted years, thinking I wasn't good enough (I was), thinking I looked a mess (I didn't), being a slave to the damm scales and the numbers in my clothes. I've never had any fatty friends, all my friends have either been slim or trying to be slim (not that I'm saying there's anything wrong with wanting to lose weight - I'm not. What I mean is there were no happy fatties for me to relate to). To discover this whole world of women who proclaim "yes, I'm fat and I'm gorgeous and I'm fucking happy" has been like all my Christmases coming at once.

I love clothes, handbags, nail polish and make-up in that order! I'm not a shoe lover particularly. New shoes HURT! Well, they always do me anyway. Always. So I only ever buy footwear when I actually need it, which cannot be said for clothes and bags. New bags especially never hurt. They don't pinch, rub, cause blisters or make my feet bleed. In the older me days (when I was always fighting my weight) they were my saving grace because you're never too fat for your bag are you? I've seen the change in my shopping habits though since my "acceptance" - I've bought about 10 dresses* and 1 bag. Go figure.

* I love dresses. Bloody love them. After years of avoiding them (step away from the pretty dresses fatty, the shapeless tunics and elasticated trousers are over there...) I've discovered, to my joy, that they actually look okay on me. I hadn't worn a dress since my wedding in 2006 so I've got a lot of time to make up for ;-)

The thing I'm most nervous about with this blog is photos. Having spent years avoiding the camera ("give it to me, I'll take the picture" always worked well) it's going to be a challenge to be happy to be the one in front of it. But I'll do my best. In the meantime here's a pic of me from last year on my lovely daughter's 18th birthday:

And just because he's bloody gorgeous, the afore mentioned lunatic Dalmatian:

This photo won 2nd place in an online dog show in the "Naughtiest Dog" category!

Hopefully I shall have some interesting posts over the next week or so... I've just took delivery of 3 new dresses and a biker jacket, plus I have a beautiful hand-made necklace en route which is sparkley glitter and a big fat bow - 2 of my favourite things; hence the name of this 'ere blog. 

Thanks for reading. P xx