Hey fam!
OH. MY. GOSH. I am super excited to announce that I will be attending New York Full Figured Fashion Week as Torrid’s official fashion correspondent! **hold on, I need a moment!!!! eeeeeeeeck**

I’ll be decked out in Torrid for all of the events and I’ll have a couple surprises coming up for those of you who are heading out, stay tuned! Plus, I'm hosting a private event while in NYC, A Torrid Affair, which will be at a rooftop locale in Chelsea! Be sure to follow me on twitter or facebook for mobile pictures and more from the party!

So, if you are going to the FFFWeek Sunset {White} Cruise or if you're just wanting a gorgeous white outfit for a summer BBQ or Happy Hour - here are my personal favorites from Torrid!

Casual Chic Outfit

What I love most is a gorgeous embellished tank top and white denim. This pair of white denim is NEW at Torrid.com! So all sizes are in stock! I LOVE a pop of color with a white outfit, so the shoes are my favorite accessory. I chose the coral sandals because gladiator is cool AND comfy. These are WIDE WIDTH and faux leather.
Links: Top, White Denim, Coral Sandals

Dressy Outfit

Now if you want to dress it up, get a gorgeous dress. I'm loving this dress because of the shape, it works VERY well on pear and hourglass shapes (same shape as this dress I wore in my post "comfort zone be damned"). Again, pair with a pop of color, but these heels are GORG. I love the block heel (more support & comfort for big girls) and love the peep toe platform.
Links: Dress, Necklace, Shoes

xoxo

Jessica

Oh my gosh it's been so hard this last month to do some outfit posts! I'm now 45 days into my healthy lifestyle change (not a diet, but I guess you could call it that) where my typical day has been lacking in the style department. I've been trying to take snapshots while out working with my clients via my instagram (@jessica_kane), but most of that is hardly "blog" worthy.

My tips to take an outfit from day to night:

• Shoes - something shiny, strapy, heel, sparkles.
• Earrings - more dramatic earring can spice up an outfit in an instant. These long stone ones with the yellow really pop off the purple cardi.
• Hair - take it up, styled with some teasing and maybe hair band.
• Makeup - First, more bronzer ;) And, I like dark lips and winged eye-liner OR dark smokey eyes and nude lips.
• Pants - Leave the jeans at home, you need a bold white/colored pant or slack.
• My fav tip - show your shape! ;) I prefer Vneck to show some cleavage and using a belt to show off my waist.

I've been totally slacking on my local networking and hanging out with amazing business peep friends. So, I jumped at the chance to hang at the PQ Monthly Press Party and to spend some girl time with my Mandy.

This was a daytime event, but I wanted to be a bit dressy...so I wore my favorite Torrid dress (seen here) and blazer - perfect for a warm spring day. Kinda obsessed with blazers and dresses right now!

Man, so much has happened and so much to fill you in on. These last few weeks have been insane and marks a few MAJOR moments in my life. Today marks 4 weeks of dedicating myself to living a healthy lifestyle with healthy diet and exercise *wooohooooo*. I was humbled to be honored as a 2012 Woman of Influence from the Portland Business Journal (more on that later). And, I'm going through a huge career transition and embarking on a new venture that is absolutely terrifying, yet when I stop thinking about it so hard...feels so perfectly perfect.




For those who are new to reading my blog, I'm a marketing gal by trade. I started at the bottom of every job I every had, learned the business and looked for way to help it grow...that part is in my DNA really. In everything I do, whether as a job or for a client, I look for the nugget of opportunity. That's the premise from which everything I've ever built comes from.

These last few months have been extremely hard for me as I ALWAYS know exactly what my goal is and what needs to be accomplished...but it's been hard lately because there are only so many hours in the day. I'm a mom, a wife and a business owner trying to figure out where to go. The easy route - find a job. I say easy because of the security, steady paycheck, not having to worry about running the business and just doing the task at hand. I even met with an executive career counselor who took one look at my resume and what I've built for myself and other companies and says I'd be a shoe-in at an executive job starting at 80K+. Hm, sounds easier than slaving to make enough to cover the bills...barely.

Accepting my Women of Influence Award and with my best friend, therapist, photographer, videographer, coach, wing-man, PepTalk Polly ;) and business partner Mandy Allen. 


But the hard route seems to keep pulling me in - the entrepreneur in me will NOT shut up and no matter how hard I try - I can't stomach working for someone else - I hate it actually and it's because there is NO GROWTH. I must be moving towards something at all times and I don't even take long term retainer clients under my agency, because of this. Plus, there's the struggle of fashion or marketing? Where to put my eggs? It's hard because I HATE doing anything half assed, HATE. And, I've had NO choice but to do some things half assed, HATE. I get so angry and confused and often breakdown crying...where? Where do I go?

Well, lucky for me I have the most amazing mentors and friends in my life that seem to think I could conquer anything I started and have unlimited confidence in me as an entrepreneur...even an open checkbook??!! Funny thing is, that makes me MORE terrified...letting those people down would destroy me.


But, after 10 years of marketing for large corporations to consulting power players on their startups and realizing that I light up when teaching that maybe I'm meant to teach workshop style? So, I'm going to take that love and with the help of my friend and VP Mandy Allen (NEVER could do this without her - she's pictured above), and with her help turn my knowledge and passion into a workshop series. But, this series will be different, instead of angling for more business (I actually can not take on any more as my roster is full!) or trying to sell my books, I am going to actually GIVE them what they need, and in the end help MORE people. This new venture will be called AHA! Marketing Workshops by Jessica Kane. I envision hotel ballrooms filled with hundreds of business owners excited and raising their AHA! paddles. And whether this is IT or not...I'm going to try with everything I have. We all have to live our purpose and follow our gut, and all too often I do the nice and right thing and don't follow my gut, but on this one - I think we are in the zone [Mandy Allen] :).

And, on the topic of doing something that scares you...

I have to say congrats to Mandy for doing something that scared her, but she found the strength to launch her newest blog/project of GENIUS!! Get to know Pep Talk Polly http://www.facebook.com/PepTalkPolly. "A little ray of sunshine to brighten whatever pile of CRAP you're dealing with." <-- YES!

So until I announce the official launch of my new baby AHA!, please swing by and enter to win with Project Plus, my new partnership with Sealed With A Kiss Designs! Click here to enter to win 3 SWAK outfits!! Deadline May 18th.

I think I found my favorite outfit everrrrrr. Ok, well for the next month at least :) I never wear skirts and this is the one I found during my Jessica London haul. I dreamed about how I wanted to wear it...and I saw this....ahhhh so comfy and so freaking cute.

The navy blue blazer with the gold bib necklace from Torrid and the v-neck T is everything. Think I could wear this every day. It was perfect for a busy day with clients :).

In related good news: 
*found an $80 HD point and shoot cam/video that will fit in my clutch to take to NYC, do not want to lug my big rebel around.
* I have a sponsor for my NYC trip!!! EEeeeeeeeeee HUGE HUGE!
* My focus on eating right and exercising is making my clothes fit loose & my brain fire better (start weight 328, now at 314).
* My wedding show is D.O.N.E.
* And last but not least - I have the BEST team at SKORCH Magazine, these ladies are making things happen, so proud of my sisters ♥! See the latest at www.skorchmag.com.

The people at Lands' End contacted me about trying out something from their plus size line for my readers. I was excited to try since I'd NEVER shopped at Lands' End, in fact, didn't realize they HAD plus size clothing?! But, went to the site and saw lots of great basic pieces that are like Old Navy but better fabric!

AND, since I never wear skirts and wanted to try one, this striped skirt jumped out at me. I'm soooooo loving it, so comfy, great fabric. I have to say the "convertible" part of the skirt, a band where you can fold over, under, scrunch...is not my favorite. Being a bigger girl, the damn thing always moves and the skirt inches north, you know?! But, I tacked it down with some thread and WAHLA, problem solved, no more readjustments every minute.

This is exactly the type of outfit I want to wear all the time, simple, comfortable, cute.
Just added a white Vneck long sleeve T with the sleeves hiked up a bit to show off my fun $12 watch from Kohl's. Added a simple necklace and my favorite silver gladiator sandals (I own one pair to try out the whole "gladiator" thing). And the key piece for me is the belt (which matches the silver in the shoes). This belt absolutely takes the outfit from ok to CUTE! It's a new purchase from CJ Banks, and that's ANOTHER shop I had NO clue was plus size?? Older demographic yes, but I can find something cute almost anywhere I go and this belt was such a find!!!!  The picture on the website does it NO justice.

Now I'm excited to try more stores I don't frequent, do you have any secrets??! Tell me on facebook!




























TOP Avenue // SKIRT c/o Lands' End // SHOES Avenue - Love THIS from Torrid and THIS from JessicaLondon  // WATCH Kohl's - Similar here // BELT CJ Banks