Tiny hats were all the rage at the 2012 Texas Style Council

© Airstream Photobooth featuring: Becky, Rocio, and the husband.

The Texas Style Conference this weekend was phenomenal! It was equal parts fun, exhausting, glamorous, intimidating, and inspiring. One thing that I learned this weekend about me and my blog is that I owe it to myself and my readers to share all parts of my life as a Frugal Fatshionista.

As Kendi so wisely reminded us, we need to remember that what we see on blogs is often a person's best.  We must remember that their best is not their always.

This weekend I made the conscious choice to not be the kind of blogger who only shares the perfect parts of life. I want to share all of it; the good, the bad, and the ugly. So, let's start with the ugly.

The Ugly.
I'm generally a confident woman, but sometimes I have days where it is not so easy to be fearless. This weekend was full of difficult moments where I let my insecurities get the best of me.

     Friday:

• I panicked about the Swap and worried that nobody would care about the plus sized items that I carefully picked to part with. I kept checking to see if they were still there. I was very relieved when they found a new home. I even scored some really cute finds at the swap.
• I dreaded walking over to the LuLu's rack to pick out an item. I feared other bloggers would judge me as I tried to find something that fit both my sense of style and my plus sized body in a rack of straight sized clothing. My fears were pointless because I found a pretty poncho that fit like a dream.

     Saturday:

• The Speed Mentoring Breakfast was very intimidating at first. I needed a few minutes to have a mental dialog with my brain about why I needed to stop being shy and get out there to learn. At first I made a list of the people that I wanted to speak to and am proud to say that I eventually checked everyone off that list.
• I almost chickened out and skipped Saturday's field trip to Savers because I have had such negative emotions about thrift stores and buying used clothing. More on that in a future post.
• I had a mini panic attack on Saturday night after feelings of remorse for listing a beloved dress on Poshmark and worries about my out-of-control afro. This resulted in my husband comforting me with speeches like, "no, your hair doesn't look like a birds nest," while I cried into his chest about how a bird could call it home at any moment. It's not easy being married to me.

     Sunday:

• Sunday, after sleeping in and nursing a well deserved hangover, I decided to stop the foolishness, told the insecure voice in my head to SHUT UP, and enjoyed a full day of learning and laughter during the symposium. I should have shut that voice up sooner.

The Bad

• Austin is such a wonderful city, so it was a shame that the weather did not let many of our visitors enjoy all of its glory. South Congress would have been a wonderful place for our visitors to explore, but we desperately needed the rain, because we are still in a severe drought. However, I won't deny being annoyed at the rain for changing my clothing choices all weekend.
• The extreme humidity was also a pain in the ass when it came to my curly hair. I was forced to use styling products for the first time in over a 6 months! My poor tresses hair is not very happy with me right now, but some deep conditioner will undo any damage. (See what I did right there?)

The Good GREAT:

• I met some incredible people from all different parts of the blogging spectrum. I befriended new bloggers, veteran bloggers, and super-star bloggers. I really appreciated the approachability of (most) bloggers in attendance and tried my best to soak up as much wisdom as I could. (I will be sure to share more of my favorite blog discoveries in the near future!)
• We were introduced to so many wonderful merchants and brands that I had not heard of before. I was lucky in winning quite a few amazing prizes from many of these brands and I can't wait to learn more about them all.
• I got to spend the entire weekend with my BFF.
• My thrifting experience was truly therapeutic in a way that was totally unexpected. I'll elaborate on that and the amazing Creative Consumerism panel in my next post.
• The Posh Party was so much fun and I am so glad that my husband was able to experience a little snippet of the weekend. The photo-booths and open bar really lightened up the mood, and I had some of the best conversations that evening.
• The absolute greatest result of this beautiful weekend is the way it left us feeling. I woke up on Monday morning feeling inspired to share my voice, find my own purpose and dream big. That was the whole purpose of this conference, and they certainly accomplished their goals.

Maria and Rocio

Photo courtesy of © Peter Tung

I want to thank all of the organizers for doing such a wonderful job putting together such an incredible weekend. I must also admit that it's going to be hard not to stalk Indiana now. I want to be her when I grow up. ;-)

It was a phenomenal experience and I can not wait for next year!