Sorry I've been away for a few days!

Hey Fabulous, Curvy Girls! ;)

SORRY! Okay, I've been away for a while, I apologize. I've been busy getting my classes together. I don't have much to say today except that I hope everyone's well, and I'll post something nifty for you all!
Miss Queen Latifah! I love her! She's gorgeous, and awesome! I love the dresses she wears-she's got a great fashion sense. Queen Latifah, if you're reading this, could you tell us where you get your dresses from? We'd love to know!

Okay, well that's all for now, I guess!

Byebye!

LOVE YOURSELF!

-Bran. ♥

Good news!

So today I found out that I am PCOS-free! If you aren't sure what PCOS is, refer to this post of mine.

Woohoo! I'm so glad that I don't have PCOS. It can put you at risk for so much crap, and hurt you in so many ways. I'm just glad I don't have to deal with that.

How are you lovely ladies today? Hope you're all well.

It has been a long, busy day. I'm just kicking back now, relaxing. That's been my adventures today. I guess I'll talk to you all later!

Here's a picture for you today:

Isn't her outfit adorable!? Love!

Her name is Whitney Thompson. She's a 21 year old plus-size model born in Atlantic Beach, Florida. Apparently, she was on America's Next Top Model. I didn't know that, did you?

Like any other plus-size models, and would like for me to post their picture? Just leave me a comment with the name(s) of your favorite plus-size model(s), or the name(s) of your favorite plus-size model(s), and a picture(s)-whatever you want-and I'll post a picture and bio of them here!

That's all for now!

Love yourself!

-Bran. ♥

Not much to say today, and EMME! :)

Hey girls! How are you all out there on this beautiful day?

I don't have much to say today, so I won't bore you with meaningless blabber. Here's another gorgeous plus-size model picture for ya!

You all should know her! It's Emme! She was born in New York City in 1963, raised in Saudi Arabia, and then attended school as a teenager in Connecticut, having moved back to the States. Her birth name is Melissa Miller. She was the first ever plus-size model to attain supermodel status. And! She's the host of the new series called More to Love! Yay!

Well, that's it for now, I suppose! I'll talk to you all later!

LOVE YOURSELF!

-Bran. ♥

A few words, and plus-size model, Crystal Renn!

Hey Fabulous, Curvy Girls!

How are all of you today? Hope you're well, and feeling fierce!

Just wanted to say that I had forgotten to mention something from my post written on the 27th.

Well, I told you all about how I entered myself in the Torrid House of Dreams model contest and all, but I forgot to finish my thought, tie the loose ends. Why didn't I just edit the post from the 27th and put what I'm about to say there? I don't know. I just didn't want to I guess, haha! The non-conformist I am. :P

So I wanted to say that I'm excited to find out whether or not I'm a finalist in the contest (I find out the week of September 1st)! I'm going to be happy whether I win or not, because I tried, and that's all that matters to me. I don't have to live with the regret of not entering at all-what I've had to do in past years. Seriously, girls, if you've always wanted to enter in the Torrid model search, do it! Don't hold back! I had for so long, and regret doing so, but this year I felt that I was finally ready. Don't push yourself if you feel you aren't ready-do it when the time feels right. You'll be thrilled when you do decide to go for it though!

So I'm happy that I've entered the contest. I feel good about it. Wish me luck on winning! There are so many girls out there who've entered, but you never know who they're looking for! They could be looking for a girl like me. Then again, maybe I don't have the look they're looking for at the moment, and that's okay too. I wish lots of luck to you girls out there who entered! Remember, for whoever doesn't win, there's always next year! ;)

Another thing I wanted to talk to you girls about today is something I've had on my mind a lot lately. This topic is kind-of going outside the main theme of FCGs!, but not necessarily either. See, I created FCGs! to start a community for women of all shapes and sizes to come to so they can talk, share, connect, etc. I want women to love themselves, because most of us don't love ourselves the way we should and deserve. At the same time, I don't want FCGs! to have a very specific, set theme either. I want my visitors to feel like they can talk about everything here! Our fabulous curviness is a major topic for all of us of course, but we can also talk about other things too, like what's on our mind, who we're crushing on, etc.! This is a support community. I want everyone to feel better, and just talk about anything! So allow yourself to talk about whatever you like! ♥

So continuing on to what I wanted to say, I wanted to talk to you all today about something a little different that has been on my mind a lot lately. Toxic friendships. You all know what I'm talking about. Everyone has a toxic friend in their lives. Someone who is not exactly the best person to have around, sucking you dry of all your energy, leaving you feeling drained. HAHA, sorry for the dramatic description, but you know what I'm trying to say. Maybe you have more than one toxic friend in your life. You probably would have ended the friendship a long time ago, but feel like you have to keep that person/those people in your life for whatever reason. Maybe you feel bad because you don't want to hurt their feelings, or talking to them about letting them go would be too difficult of a thing for you to do. So, you continue to be held back by that person/those people, and their negativity just keeps on continuing to stunt your personal growth. Why do we do this to ourselves?

I think it's because we're human beings. We love our friends, but don't want to let them go even if they are driving us insane. But sometimes, the best decision you can make is to let them go. You see your life. You see it the way you want it to be. If someone in your life is causing overwhelming amounts of negativity in your life, it may be time to let them go. You don't need a person in your life like that. You need positive friends who will build you up, and believe in you, not negative friends who will hold you back. You need to be happy! People grow together, and they grow apart. But remember, always, always try to work things out first. Be honest, and tell them how you're feeling. If what you said makes them think about their behavior, you may have a true friend who honestly didn't know they were affecting you in such a way like you described. If they're not taking in what you said, or feel that they've done absolutely nothing wrong at all, they probably aren't a true friend. That shows that they don't care enough about you to try to work things out, that they don't want to admit having done any wrongdoing. Then again, maybe they're just ignorant, and don't care to listen to what you have to say. Whatever the case may be, watch their response, and go with your gut. Take care of yourself!

Sorry about that long bit, I've just been thinking about some things. :)

Now, for the last part of my post today, I wanted to post this gorgeous picture of another plus-size model named Crystal Renn. She's 22 years old, born in Miami, Florida. When Crystal started modeling at 14, she was told to lose almost a third of her body weight (Horrible!), and ended up becoming anorexic. When she recovered and gained 70 pounds, she began plus-size modeling. Crystal, I'm glad you're okay! You look stunning! Stay fabulous and curvy, girl! And I TOTALLY love her outfit! It's so vintagy and cute! Like 40's or 50's, you know? So cute!

I wanted to share this picture with you all today to remind myself and all of you that we're beautiful! ♥ Maybe I should post a picture everyday. If I don't write a text post, I could at least post a picture! :D What do you think?

One more picture of Crystal today-she's so stylish!

Love Yourself!

-Bran. ♥

My More to Love review, plus-size model Christina Schmidt, and some pep talks from me sprinkled in between!

Hey Fabulous, Curvy Girls!

Okay, so More to Love was AMAZING last night! I loved it!

To be honest, during the very beginning, I was putting the final touches on the new FCGs! banner, so I was kind-of going back and forth between working on the banner, and watching the show. I know! So stupid of me to miss [parts of] the introduction! But I, for the most part, caught on to who everyone was later. Besides, you can watch the FULL episode on the official website if you missed a part of the show, missed the entire show, or just want to watch it again! I'm going to re-watch it, I think!

So later, after I finished everything, I paid full attention to the show. It was, well, fabulous, haha! I thought it was a great show, and could really relate to the girls. How about you? I really feel for all of them. I've always been single. I've never been in a relationship at all. That fact made the dating aspect of high school particularly tough. Many of the popular girls-the majority of them were thin-had boyfriends. It was easy to feel left out. You saw mainly thin girls with boyfriends, so you felt like the only way you'd ever have a boyfriend was if you were thin too. If you can relate to the girls on the show last night, and me, and feel bad about it, don't. Don't feel like you need a boyfriend to make you feel complete. You may not have a boyfriend, but it's not because you're not good enough. It's means that not everyone is good enough for you. One day, you will find someone who is good enough for you. Someone who truly deserves you. But you need to love yourself, and believe that you deserve the best in life first before expecting the same in return from a guy. LOVE YOURSELF! ♥ Once you gain that confidence, and show the world that you deserve a great guy in your life, guys will notice that, and flock to you like mad! ;)

I really love the [fluffy ♥] bachelor, Luke, haha! Many of the girls said on the show how nice it was to finally find a man who loves curvaceous women-I agree! It is nice to finally see a mature man who loves real women, and treats them like the treasures we are. AND, he's cute and successful which are even more pluses!

So, what did you all think about More to Love? Leave me a comment telling me what you thought!

Is this woman gorgeous or what? I first saw this picture about a year ago. She is the most stunning female model I've ever seen! And guess what!? That's right-she's a plus-size model! Her name is Christina Schmidt. She's a Canadian gal, but currently resides in New York City. Some of you may know her as Terri MacGregor from Degrassi: The Next Generation.

So why did I randomly post this picture? Well, I've had this thought circulating in my head lately about plus-size women. We're really beautiful! We're real women, you know? A real woman has fabulous curves! If you've got 'em, be proud of 'em! You're special! Like fabulous, curvy girl Beyoncé says-if you got it, flaunt it!

A word of advice from your big sister Bran if you're a younger chica visiting FCGs!: you may be feeling like you don't like yourself because you're curvier than your sister(s), friends, etc.-whatever the case may be. But YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL-know that! We all have our own individual look-that's what makes the world go 'round. If you don't like the way you look, trust me when I say that you will learn to love the way you look with time. Keep telling yourself that you're beautiful, because you are! Look in that mirror and go "Hey you, you look fabulous today!", haha! Keep your chin up so the world can see your beautiful face, and walk every step like you're on the catwalk! Work it, girl! All ladies, take this advice too! You're all beautiful!

Well, I suppose that's it for now, my lovelies! Love you! *Hugs*

LOVE YOURSELF!

-Bran. ♥



The lovely plus-size model I talked about today-Christina Schmidt-in action on a plus-size clothing TV show segment, along with other plus-size models!

FCGs! Banner, more features coming soon, Torrid House of Dreams model contest, More to Love, and PCOS!

Hey fabulous, curvy girls!

First of all, CRAZY post title, I know! So many subjects crammed into one subject line! I promise in the future that I'll try not to talk about so many subjects all at once like this-it's just because I just created FCGs!, so I'm like WOO, LET'S TALK ABOUT STUFF! Haha! So here it goes!

Okay, so I said the other day that a banner was coming soon, and here it is! I hope you like it! I think it's okay, but I'm really not totally happy with it. I think it could be better. Eh. Leave a comment for me if you've got some suggestions on what would make it look even more snazzay. Do you think FCGs! needs a specific feature? Comment! I just might be able to make it happen! Don't hesitate! Just go down to where it says comment, click that, and type up a fabulous comment with your little fabulous self in the fabulous little comment box.

Saying fabulous too much. Pfft, who am I kidding? No I'm not. I could say fabulous, fabulous, fabulous, and that still wouldn't be enough fabulouses? Fabulous's? Fabulous'? You get my point.

I also wanted to say that I have a story for you girls.

I'm saying okay too much also. That's my conversation starter word for some reason. Okay, so the other day.. Okay, so where are we going today? Shutting up now.

ANYWAY, this year, I did something that I'm very proud of.

I entered myself in the Torrid House of Dreams model contest! Woohoo!

I've been wanting to apply for the past two or three years or so, I believe. The first two years I was just so stuck on thinking that I wasn't good enough to be a Torrid model. So I didn't apply. Then last year, I wanted to apply, and almost got the courage to do so. But then, I had to go out of town, so I wasn't going to be able to participate. However, the more I think about it, I possibly could have participated. I could have taken a picture, filled out the form, dropped everything off, and then gone on my trip. I just had this idea that it was going to be a big, all-day thing, and I wouldn't be able to get over there and all that. It may have been a big, all-day thing, though. Maybe it wasn't as simple last year as it was this year, I don't know. And I feel that even if I hadn't gone out of town, I still probably wouldn't have applied. I think I would have just decided to sit back for yet another year, and live in regret.

But THIS YEAR, I heard about it. I knew about it. AND I WENT FOR IT! WOOT!

And I feel so proud of myself. In a way, it's a release. Finally, I'm starting to love myself. I've always hated my body. The fluff. Just being big. I was always "the fat girl" in school. Which by the way is a forbidden word here on FCGs!! No one can use the word fat! It is equivalent to the F-word here, haha! We're not fat-we're curvy. We're not fat-we're voluptuous. We're not fat-we're full, beautiful, sexy, and confident women!

WOOT!

So as I was saying, I was always the curvy girl in school. I was teased all the time by my peers for being overweight. After hearing such horrid things enough times from enough people is when I started to believe that maybe I really was an ugly, fat girl, and that I didn't matter to anyone. I fell for it. I fell for these rotten people, and gave up my self-worth to them. They were stupid people who didn't matter, but I fell for it. A young, impressionable mind combined with multiple people teasing you because you're overweight doesn't exactly make you feel good. But you know what? They're pathetic. They most likely had some sucky life matter or matters going on, and just wanted me to feel as bad as they did. And that makes them pathetic. I feel bad for them that they feel like the only way to feel good is to make someone else feel bad in any way-whether it be about themselves, another aspect-whatever. It's just sad.

The road to my own personal acceptance has been a very long one. I still struggle, but it's getting better. More often I think to myself, "You know what? You look HAWT today! Go on, work it, girl!" I look back and realize that a lot of my peers who used to tease me were in bad shape, life-wise, then. I'm sure they were bitter, and needed to find something wrong with someone. I'm starting to realize that I'm beautiful, because I have curves. I've got plumpness going on. I'm what a real woman looks like. I'm starting to realize that yes, you know what? I was the curvy girl in school! I was one of few curvy girls! I'm special, darn it! Us curvy women are treasures, and should treat ourselves, and be treated as such.

YOU ALL ARE BEAUTIFUL, AND I LOVE YOU! *HUGS*

I find out whether or not I'm a finalist in the model search the week of September 1st. Wish me luck!

Now, after my speechiness, I'll get to the next part of my post today. A TV show called More to Love is airing Tuesday night at 9/8c on FOX. The producers of The Bachelor have created this show-same idea as The Bachelor, but with all fluff-blessed people! Seriously! I about crapped my pants when I saw the preview for this! I was so happy-finally, a fluffy people's love show! Fluffy bachelor man, fluffy women. It's amazing. The guy, Luke, is adorable! I wish I could be on that show! Sigh, maybe one year. A fluffy girl's gotta find her fluffy prince. Besides, I'm not looking to get married at the moment, LOL! But if I was, sign me up!

Can we do a teen version of this show? College kids edition? They should call it Imma Find Me A Fluffy Boyfriend, or something like that, HAHA. It's an idea a brewin'. Don't knock it-I think I may have something here.

Anyway, I'm going to make an event out of this. I'm going to stay in all night, have a good dinner, and then get a pint of Ben & Jerry's ready! Let's all watch together, okay!? Leave your comments on the show! Leave comments in general! This is a fluff-filled community full of love!

And last but not least, I wanted to talk about one more thing today. A health condition called PCOS. It's short for Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. It's exactly what it sounds like-cysts on the ovaries. And poly because there are many cysts-they form in bunches. There is a possibility that I may have this health condition. A friend of mine has been diagnosed with it already, and has been very supportive. I find out next week whether or not I have it. I'm a little nervous, as PCOS puts you at a higher risk for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, etc., but I'm dealing. Why did I bring this up? Well, PCOS can cause problems with weight. I thought I'd talk about it, describe it. I could potentially be helping someone by talking about it, because I had never heard of PCOS until only about a year or so ago. Are you overweight? Do you have excessive facial and/or body hair? Are you experiencing male-pattern baldness? If you are, PCOS could possibly be what the problem is. HOWEVER, it could be an array of different problems, so don't treat my advice like a diagnosis. I'm in no way diagnosing anyone with any health problem-this is for informational purposes only. If you think you could have PCOS, please see your doctor.

Click here for more information on PCOS!

I also wanted to mention that my friend and I may be starting a sub-blog from FCGs! specifically for women with PCOS. I'll keep you posted.

Love yourself-you're freaking amazing!

-Bran. ♥

The picture I submitted for the Torrid House of Dreams model contest. What do you think? Could I win? I'm lovin' mah bootay. :)

Torrid logo. :D

Hello! Welcome to Fabulous, Curvy Girls!

Hello, fabulous, curvy girls! Brandi here!

Okay, so, yesterday, I decided to put FCGs! into action. I've been thinking about this idea for a while now, and I'm so excited to think that this is no longer just an idea-rather a REAL BLOG! YAY!

So, why did I start FCGs!, you ask? Well one, I am a Fabulous, Curvy Girl. Yeeah! And two, I wanted to create a place of my own for other girls out there who are just like me to read, share, inspire, etc. But, the biggest reason why I wanted to start FCGs! is so that girls out there, whether they love their curves or detest them, can realize just how freaking amazing they are, and learn to love their fabulous curvyness!

Also, I have one rule that I want to be known right now. Women come in all shapes and sizes, and they're all equally beautiful. FCGs! is not a place to bash women for any reason. There's too much of that going on already in the media, amongst many other places. FCGs! instead is a place for women of all shapes and sizes to come together, and build each other up. Think Girl Powah! :) I will not tolerate any rude, hurtful, etc. comments or material of any kind. Anything that falls under the previously mentioned no-no's will immediately be deleted. So when visiting FCGs!, BE NICE! :)

I hope you enjoy your stay here. Hopefully, you will visit again-I look forward to seeing your lovely faces! And I apologize for my excessive use of FCGs!, FCGs, the words fabulous, curvy, and girls throughout this post, but hey! It's cool right? Besides, this is the first post-the introduction post, so I will most likely find it less necessary to say all of that as often.

FCGs! is currently in the process of being built-a banner, among many other things, are coming soon. Please be patient, gals!

Love yourself!

-Bran. ♥