The Awkward Introductory Entry

Hi! My name is Alexis (aka Lex). I have my own business called, you guessed it, The Smiling Turtle. This consists of a small Etsy store in which I sell my handmade creations and a small eBay store in which I sell a whole bunch of things, including plus size clothing.

I am newly plus size as of about a year ago. The correct fashion term would be "Plus Petite," since I am only 5'2". I recently pointed out to my husband how little sense the term "Plus Petite" makes (Plus implies "big" and Petite means "small"), and he likened it to "jumbo shrimp." Mmm, I love jumbo shrimp. Maybe I should just call myself a Jumbo Shrimp? LOL. It's close enough to the truth: I am a big short person.

I've never really been a small size (well, except for about a year sometime in my teens). I was a size 10 for a while, then a 12 for a long time, then a 14, then a 16; then I went on Weight Watchers and got back to 12; then I went off Weight Watchers and gradually (edited to add: actually, not so gradually! Pretty quickly!) got to where I am now. I'm not especially proud of it, but here I am.

Now that I am plus size, I've realized that there's a distinct lack of clothing in my size that I actually like. I do not like to wear tight clothing (this has always been true), and I do not like to wear tents. I am not super-trendy. I'm in my 30's, I don't want to dress like a 20-something or a teen, and I don't want to look frumpy. I'd like to avoid having to take all my clothes to the tailor to be altered. This seems to be a lot to ask of the fashion industry for someone my size and shape, so I'm going to be trying to take The Smiling Turtle to a new level to try to help people like me find clothing that makes us feel and look good, and I'm going to use this blog to document some of my experiences.

I invite you to come along on this journey with me. As well as blogging about my own eBay store, I'll also share where I've found some of my own clothing essentials, and I'll blog about fashion trends and other related things - and maybe some unrelated things. I'll probably offend at least a few people along the way. Honestly, I don't really know what direction(s) this blog will take, but maybe it'll at least be a fun ride.