Maddy Gutierrez

I truly have no idea what possessed me to think that I was going to be capable of doing this high intensity workout class as a fat girl, but we will just say I was hardcore influenced. Lots of studios offer a free first class trial, but in Manhattan you have to cough up the cash for that first class! I was a little nervous for the weight floor, but just like on the treadmill, your coach should show the entire class a modification for each exercise and give you a guideline for what weight to grab! The guy I took a class from the first day, was the guy I kept going to for the first six classes!

Let me preface this by saying, I was initially REALLY worried about gifting an experience like this to Marcus when we weren’t going to immediately be packing up our bags and heading off to Orlando. We aren’t going to Disney until President’s Day weekend in February, which is quite a long time for a five year old. We obviously live in a small space, so I knew we weren’t going to go for large luggage that would take up a ton of space or require us to check for each trip. The suitcase will be the ONLY wrapped gift from us under the tree, and to make it go a little further, I wanted to pop in a few travel bits and essentials that I know we will end up purchases anyway to complete the gift!

When I first started this style session, I had planned on all the bright and bold skirts paired with a simple black turtleneck. So, I took it up a notch and went with transforming a great pair of jeans and my favorite layer turtleneck into five totally different outfits! I kept the season in mind with this style session and feel like each of these outfits would be more than appropriate for holiday or any cozy winter day. I like to hunt through my closet and pull out pieces that I have forgotten or work my favorites into outfits in new and fun ways.

But this year, I am full embracing the fun and rocking my ugly Christmas sweater all the time. Partly to embarrass my son, and partly because he thinks it totally rocks! We are lucky there are so many plus size options now and brands are starting to realize that we want to shop and have fun, too. I rounded up my favorite plus size holiday sweaters all in one place if you want to join in!