Saturday, October 29, 2011

Bath and Body Works - Sleep Vanilla Cinnamon Body Lotion


I know I said that I wasn't buying anymore lotion (See blog here), and I didn't. I promise! But Bath and Body Works keeps sending me coupons with damn good deals. I'm such a sucka. Anyway, the latest coupons were for a free travel sized Aromatherapy lotion and 20% off one item (Which I used for my Lavender Vanilla Hand Soap).


To my delight, Bath and Body Works has added two new lotions to their Aromatherapy selections: Vanilla Cinnamon and Night Time Tea. Both damn good delicious scents! Mmmm!

I was able to control myself by using my coupon for one lotion (the Vanilla Cinnamon) and walking out without the other. I'm pretty sure there are more coupons coming my way. Apparently Bath and Body Works likes to keep me coming back for more... and I plan to.

To smooth, soft skin and obsessions!

~Louise C.

Infinity Scarf in Cranberry


This warm and comfy infinity scarf is handknit with Vanna's Choice Lion Brand Yarn in Cranberry, but can be made in the color of your choice.

You might also like the infinity scarf in Olive:


To see more itmes in my shop, click on the WEEZYCAZE KNITS button on the right, or visit this link: http://www.etsy.com/shop/weezycaze?ref=top_trail

~Louise C.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Giving Back with Wearable Collections

Many don’t know this about me, but there was a time in my life when I had to go without a lot (a lot!) of things because there just wasn’t enough money to go around in my family. (Not that I’m not Ms. Money-Bags by any means). There was my mom, myself and my two little brothers and my mom made the best of what she had my prioritizing her funds to support what was important.

We always had food, but as a single mom with a limited budget, my mom still had to get creative with what we had. Thank goodness my mom can COOOK! (Mmm Mmm Mmm) She was able to make just about anything into a gourmet meal. But growing up, my desire to keep up with the fashion trends was something I had to suppress until I was able to get a job of my own. When I was younger, some of my clothes were handed down from friends whose children outgrew clothes which I was able to fit. But in my teen years, taking advantage of clothing donations was a little bit of a saving grace. My mom is a British lady in all senses and would never be caught dead wearing someone else’s clothing unless she absolutely had to. I do not have that problem. Clothing is all good to me… just wash before you wear.

I didn’t have the privilege of going back-to-school shopping the way others did, but because of the clothing I received from donations and the low cost items I was able to pick up at thrift shops, I was able to have almost-new clothing and in some cases brand new clothing with tags still on.

My addiction to clothing manifested when I came into this world, so I literally went bezerk once I was able to afford to buy myself whatever I wanted. I overcompensated for the girl who couldn’t have and because of this, I have way more clothes than any one person should posses. It’s sick! I have hosted many clothing giveaways with my friends and I still have so much more to give away.

This weekend I finally switched my closet from summer to winter… sad. In the process of switching, I was also able to rid myself of clutter. I packed up every item of clothing and shoes that I have not worn since…

I heard about Wearable Collections Clothing Recycling Program on NY1 about a year ago and I’ve been meaning to deliver the extras from my closet to them, but they weren’t in convenient locations at the time so I joined their mailing list in hopes that they would host a clothing drive in my area soon…and finally they are!!

After going through my closet this weekend, I have about three to four Hefty trash bags full of clothes to donate (I kid you not!). And I feel really really good about being able to return the favor of clothing someone who, like me, might not have the funds to partake in something as frivolous as shopping. And sometimes the shopping isn’t frivolous, it’s necessary.

If you have items to give away, check the Wearable Collections website to see if a clothing drive will be hosted in your area. You never know just how much your random items could mean to someone.


WeezyCaze Knits - Multi-wear Infinity Scarf


This Multi-wear infinity Scarf is handknit with Vanna's Choice Lion Brand 100% acrylic yarn in Linen, but can be made in the color of your choice.

To see more itmes in my shop, click on the WEEZYCAZE KNITS button on the right, or visit this link: http://www.etsy.com/shop/weezycaze?ref=ss_profile

Friday, October 21, 2011

WeezyCaze Knits - Infinity Scarf

Although the official start of fall was a month ago, it didn’t really kick in for me until today. Damn it’s cold out! I almost didn’t know which jacket to grab before stepping out the door. I usually make the wrong choice and end up freezing my buns off, but today I did myself well.

Anyway, UNDIES IN A BUNCH, and this wonderful blog, are both products of my jumbled brain. I have so many thoughts and ideas and I’m sometimes limited on how I can execute them, because my connections and time are limited. If only I could survive with out sleeping, I could conquer the world… Or a small section of it.

Today, I would like to share the newest product (The Infinity Scarf) on my ever growing Etsy shop:


If you like the Infinity Scarf, you may also like the Joined Scarf:


I have to give credit to my mama for teaching me how to knit. This shop would not exist if it wasn’t for her. She really should have her own shop… or maybe she shouldn’t because my shop wouldn’t stand a chance against her knitting/crocheting skills. I kid, I kid.

To see more items in my shop, click on the WEEZYCAZE KNITS button on the right or visit this link: http://www.etsy.com/shop/weezycaze?ref=seller_info

More items will be added to my shop in the coming weeks!!

~Louise C.

Friday, October 14, 2011

The Curse of the Hourglass

For as much as I love to shop, I always have a horrendous, terrible time buying clothes. You wouldn’t be able to tell though, from the near boutique closet situation I have going on in my bedroom. And although I have tons and tons of clothes, I always find a reason to buy more, but this time I actually have a real need.

I need bottoms!!! I need bottoms badly, but mainstream fashion does not cater to women with curvy figures. And on top of being curvy, I also have the unfortunate privilege of being petite.

I absolutely love dresses, so during the summer I resolve this issue by wearing dresses and the few skirts I have found that are a good enough fit. This year, as fall approached, and I thought of the chilly days ahead, I felt a sinking in my chest because I knew I would have an issue finding pants to wear to work.

Because I have a small waist and a bootylicious booty, there is always, ALWAYS gapping in the waist of most pants and skirts that I try on in stores. It becomes so depressing and exhausting.

There are so many things that I have done to try and make bottoms work for me. I’ve taken my pants and skirts to the dry cleaners and had them taken in at the waist, but they’ve never really done a good enough job. There was always some weird bunching of fabric which wasn’t supposed to happen after I paid them to make my clothes fit correctly. And after I spend money buying my clothes, I don’t want to have to spend more on them to have them fixed. I’m just not rich enough for all of that.

I even bought a sewing machine to try and fix my pants and skirts on my own; and after a few nights of sewing and hemming as many pair as I could, the threading on the machine stopped working and I haven’t been able to fix it since. I’m sure my mom could fix the sewing machine in about five minutes, but I’ve given up on that thing.

Six years ago, I thought my troubles were over when the Gap came out with a Curvy line which was also available in ankle length. I bought just about every Curvy jean and trouser; and those pants aint cheap! They’re about $60 each. It’s nice to have an hourglass figure, but hourglass figures are expensive to clothe.

I love the Gap for their quality. I have jeans, sweaters and socks from 1998 when I used to work there, that are still in great condition. But what I don’t like is that although you can buy multiple items in the same cut, the cuts will vary in the way they fit. So from my bulk purchase of Curvy pants, only one pair of Curvy trouser pants had a consistent, perfect fit. The rest were included in my extreme clothing giveaways. Money poured down the drain.

I was wearing the ‘consistently perfect’ pair of Curvy trouser pants yesterday when I decided to venture into the Gap to try to find another pair as perfect as the ones I was wearing, but as my luck would have it, the Curvy line has been discontinued. The closest thing they had to Curvy was the Perfect Trouser.

I picked up a pair of the Perfect Trouser to try on in sizes eight and six. Although my body and waist are size four, my booty ranges between sizes six, eight and sometimes ten. The size six fit on the legs and thighs, but it was gaping at the waist, so I knew the eight would be too big. I asked for a size four, and although the waist of the size four was perfect, I looked indecent in the booty and thigh area. Plus, the Perfect Trouser fabric was too light. I need a sturdy fabric for all of this...

Last year, I found a pair of khakis (The Perfect Khaki) at Old Navy. They fit somewhat close to perfect, so I settled for them and made my usual bulk purchase in various colors. But the truth is that I don’t want to have to settle for a pair of pants that “almost” fit the way they are supposed to.

Although it seems like the fashion world is beginning to accept different figures, and it seems like they are trying by occasionally launching ‘curvy’ lines, the curvy lines never last. I need something consistent. I need variety and choices. I need bottoms that fit and I would love to have all of this without having to break my bank, but maybe this is wishful thinking.

Does anyone know where I can find small waist, booty friendly bottoms? Short of making my own clothes from scratch or launching my own fashion line (which isn’t in my plans), I don’t know what else to do. Help!

~Louise C.
"Like" me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/CazleyLouise

Thursday, October 6, 2011

In Honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I interviewed my good friend Beatrice who lost her mom to inflammatory breast cancer. I am so grateful to Beatrice for sharing her story and her mom’s story with me.


What prompted your mom to visit the doctor for an examination?
The skin on her right breast was inflamed which she thought was just an allergic reaction. The nurses thought that the inflammation looked like a rash, but they performed a biopsy just to be sure. The biopsy results revealed that my mom had inflammatory breast cancer and she was referred to a cancer center for further treatment.

(Inflammatory breast cancer is an especially aggressive type of breast cancer that can occur in women of any age (and extremely rarely, in men). It is called inflammatory because it frequently presents with symptoms resembling an inflammation. However it can present with very variable signs and symptoms, frequently without detectable tumors and therefore is often not detected by mammography or ultrasound.)

Is there a history of breast cancer in your family?
My great-grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer in her eighties, but she passed away from natural causes; not from anything associated with her breast cancer diagnosis. There is a possibility that my grandmother could have eventually been diagnosed with breast cancer, but she died at a young age.

After your mom was diagnosed, what steps were taken to treat her?
After she was diagnosed in May of 2003, she underwent chemotherapy for three months to try and kill as much of the cancer as possible. She had a mastectomy in September to remove her right breast and lymph nodes on the right side of her body where the cancer was also present. Two small tubes were left in place, after her mastectomy, to drain and prevent fluid from collecting in the space where the breast tissue used to be. They gave her a few months to recover from the mastectomy before starting her on radiation in January of 2004.

Along with your mom being diagnosed with such an aggressive cancer, what other hardships did you encounter?
My mom didn’t have any health insurance, so when she was first diagnosed, she was being billed for all of her treatments; and because her condition was life threatening she had to be treated immediately. My mom wasn’t lacking health insurance because she wasn’t employed. She was a hard working woman who just so happened to land jobs that didn’t offer health insurance. She applied for Medicaid at the cancer center where she was being treated, but it took about three months for the Medicaid to go through and for all of her bills to be cleared.

How did your mom’s health respond to the treatments?
Two months after her radiation treatment, the doctors informed her that her cancer was in remission and that she should return in six months for a follow up visit. We were all excited; and my mom decided to celebrate this good news by using the six weeks between her follow up appointment to travel to St. Louis, MI and visit my sisters.

One day, about two - three weeks later, my mom and sisters took a trip to the supermarket. Whatever items they purchased totaled sixteen dollars and change, yet my mom handed a five dollar bill to the checkout clerk. My mom had always been sharp woman; plus she’d been sleeping more than usual so my sisters knew that something was wrong. They took her to a doctor in St. Louis, and they discovered that the cancer had spread to her liver and the reason she seemed out of it was because her liver had stopped removing toxins from her brain and this was affecting her mental state. I’m not sure how they missed this because her liver was so enlarged that she looked like she was pregnant.

What did the doctor in St. Louis say about her condition?
The doctor in St. Louis was shocked that her doctors in Grand Rapids, MI had neglected to recognize the dire state my mom was in. Instead of her cancer being in remission as we were told, it was actually Stage IV. The doctor also told us that if they had done the proper testing in Grand Rapids, which would have taken a day, they would have discovered that the cancer was in her liver.

(Stage IV cancers have often metastasized, or spread to other organs or throughout the body.)

How did you feel about the fact that your family was so critically misinformed?
I did my own research on inflammatory breast cancer and after learning that IBC doesn’t have a high survival rate, I wouldn’t have allowed my mom to go through all of those treatments because it was so horrible for her.

I felt like the doctors she was seeing in Grand Rapid, MI either weren’t knowledgeable or they were just careless with her because she didn’t have the best health insurance. If her condition was fatal, she shouldn’t have been told that the cancer was in remission. Because her cancer was Stage IV, they shouldn’t have made her hopeful; they should have just allowed her to live out the rest of her days.

How old were you at the time?
I was twenty-two years old at the time and had just graduated from college in New York. With financial support from my dad, I was able to take five months off so that I could return to Michigan and take care of my mom. I am so fortunate and grateful that it was possible for me to spend that time with her.

After finding out that the cancer had spread to her liver, how long did your mom stay in the hospital?
My mom stayed in the hospital long enough for the toxins that were affecting her brain function to be removed, and once her levels returned to normal, she went home where she received Hospice care. She just wanted to be in her own home with her daughters. She passed away about a month later.

Being that you have such a close link to breast cancer, what precautions do you have to take?
The normal age in which women should start getting mammograms is age forty, but I have to get mammograms beginning at age thirty-five and I have to be rigorous about performing breast self exams.

I’d like to thank Beatrice again for sharing with me, for allowing me to ask her a million invasive questions, for trusting me and for allowing me to share her mom’s story with all of you.

~Louise C.
"Like" me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/CazleyLouise