A Camera Shy photog & a little confidence.

First things first.  Ever since I had my sweet little miss, I've become a little camera shy.  I think that happens when you hit 50 months pregnant or at least what that feels like that and you no longer want to see what you actually look like.  Here are my thoughts on getting over it. 

1.  Start with a selfie.  One of my cute friends told me that I make her want to be in pictures again.  Why?  After I had Ava, I didn't like my middle & so I would selfie with her.  The glory of having a kid, is you can place them infront of the body part you like the least!  Place baby & snap the selfie!  You control the camera, the filter, & most of all you can take as many as you'd like until you're happy!  

2. It's hard to be the photographed & photographer at the same time.  So, I've had to let go and let my sweet husband take the camera reins & take my picture.  This is something I've had to make a concious effort to do since my babe was born.  She will want pictures of more than just her and her dad one day.

3.  If you wait for the day you think you will look good, it will never come.  It's time to feel good now.  In 20 years you will look back and think "what the heck was I complaining about!"

4. Embrace it OR crop it.  I love the moms who have the baby and get out there and show the world their post-baby body.  Most of us don't got back to a 6 pack a day later, don't feel bad.  You just had a baby.  You literally gave life to something.  Your body will not be the same for a while.  REMEMBER, pregnancy is temporary.

I cropped this way down and it went from one of my least favorite pics to a cherished moment!

5. Find something that makes you feel your best.  My sister had a first date shirt that she knew made her look her best.  When we look good, we feel good, & then we kill it with confidence.  Find that thing that you KNOW you look good in and rock it!  Dresses do that for me.  Enter the sweet shop over at www.sassysteals.com.   I know the chevron maxi-dress has been around for a bit & until around a month ago I had never even owned one.  Now that I have, I'm seriously wondering where this was when I was pregnant last year?  I know, I'm late on the trend.
I can't wait to wear it on my upcoming trip to Vegas!  I paired it with a sweater from Kim's Fashions to coverup the strapless top.  I did grab a sweet high-waist suit (thanks so Sheena) & this will also be my coverup when I head to the pool.

Grab this HERE before it's gone!

Sassy Steals Dress HERE - Shown in a small

Sweater in mustard // Kim's Fashion-Clearfield, UT

Bangles // Sassy Steals HERE

I love the twist on the regular chevron!

Target Sandals // HERE

Thanks lovelies for reading!

High Waisted Swimsuits

Ahhh time to get to life and back to reality. Our fantasy world of Comic Con is O-V-A-H. 

Who is ready for warm weather, BBQs, campfires, and late nights? I sure am! Unless you are the luckies who live by the beach and are probably already getting to enjoy those things, it's still freezing here in Utah. 

I have to share this song with you guys! It warms me right up! You know those songs that make you think of your better half and give you the warm fuzzies all over again? 

I give you-

I Don't Dance by Lee Brice.

For those of you getting married this summer, you're welcome :)

Katy Bow swimsuit from sassysteals.com

This summer is going to be an explosion of retro-inspired swimsuits, including high waisted. We have seen everyone from Katy Perry to Taylor Swift rocking these bad boys. 

The fantastic thing about these is you can spend anywhere from $10+. I bought the swimsuit pictured above for $19 + shipping and I cannot wait for it to arrive! Adorable right?!! I'm a total sucker for those bows! 

Taylor Swift//Katy Perry//Rihanna//Cher Lloyd

This next swimsuit was only $16 shipped. That's right, $16 total. I seriously love Amazon. 

First let's chat a little about cover-ups for high waisted swimwear. Please do not, I repeat, DO NOT wear normal shorts over your high waisted swimsuit. Just no. Normal dress-like coverups are totally fine, but if you are going to wear separate pieces you need to wear your bottom piece at your waist. I paired mine with a maxi skirt from my Maxi Skirt Tutorial and an aztec kimono cardi (it was freezing in Vegas. VEGAS! Can you believe that?!). You could even do high wasted shorts or palazzo pants. You just want the top line of your swimsuit to line up with your bottoms.

Neon Aztec Kimono Cardi// TJ Maxx- Similar HERE

Blue Maxi Skirt// DIY

Let's talk about why I love these swimsuits. 

First of all… I'm kind of over tankinis and I don't love one pieces because I don't like what they do to your nether regions. I'm just being real, ladies.  These are basically the same coverage as a tankini, but BETTER! As a mother my biggest problem area is probably my lower stomach. I'm sure if I had all the time in the world to work on it like I wished, it would look much better. But, insert real life. Plus, no matter what I do, I will probably always have a little excess skin. This style actually gives me more confidence than a tankini because there is no risk of the tank part lifting up and exposing my baby baring battle scars. 

The high waisted swimsuit was created in an era where curves were coveted. 

Curvy model rocking her HW Swimsuit from Forever 21 PLUS

So if you have a little junk in your trunk there is no reason to be afraid of this fantastic comeback. The ruching on the sides of this bikini make for a more forgiving bottom. In other words, it hides your flaws. The line that they create above your stomach also stops at the perfect spot. You see my ab definition above the bottoms? By no means do I have a toned tummy, but looking at this you might think otherwise. That's why I call this my magic photoshopping suit. Seriously. It creates an illusion in all the right spots. It's not very often you find a swimsuit that you actually feel confident in. That is why this style is definitely a must-try.

Floral High Waisted Bikini// Amazon

Also….RUN! Because right now this suit is only $12 SHIPPED!!!!

 HERE

Favsie's Friday - The Ultimate FanX

Are you sick of Comic Con posts yet? Never fear our darlings.. this is the last installment of our Comic Con week. It's no surprise that for our Favsies Friday we had to chat about all the amazing costumes. 

 Cassandra Peterson A.K.A. Elvira

The Mistress of Darkness as Cassandra Peterson

Who Better than to start off our FF SLC Comicon Fashion addition than the Mistress of the Dark and all her glam? 

We had the privilege of interviewing Cassandra and here is what she had to say:
 

Isn't she adorable? She was so nice and normal!  She was hardly recognizable without the wig, red lips, and the perfect tailored black dress.  Didn't she totally lite up when she told us about her perfume?

 Check out Elvira's Perfume HERE

Cosplay

There were so many creative costumes at Comic Con. It is hard to believe that most of these people are DIY-ing all up over themselves! Their attention to detail was uncanny. We snapped a few pics of some of our favorites that we saw.  We can't decide about dressing up for next year, but maybe we will do a little airbrushing.

This is a great new Medical Aesthetics School- Nima

Sir Patrick Stewart

The Dapper Sir Patrick Stewart

Did you know that Patrick Stewart is quite the little fashionista himself? This man loves himself a good jacket! In fact he has an entire collection of them! Not kidding. However, contrary to what a UK tabloid recently published, he is NOT gay. He told a fantastic story about that during his panel. 

You see that friends? That is over 5,000 people in a room to see him.  Insane! 

He was the type of person that you just wanted to sit down and chat about life with. And lucky for us, that is exactly what he did during his panel. He made you feel super cozy with his aged old accent and light hearted humor. We felt right at home with Sir Patrick. 

So just how do you dress for Comicon if you aren't into Cosplay you ask? Here are a few of our outfits from Comic Con-

TMNT Burnout Tee// Rue 21// Similar HERE

Favorite Tank in Wowzer Red// Target

Livi Rock Wax Coated Skinny Jean// Aro & Company

MP Sequins Flats// Amazon

Watch, Neckace, and Earings// Rue 21

Wedges// Target  

Jacket// JCP  

Skirt// (Replica of mine from Kim's Fashions)

Watch//JCP  

Transformers Tee//Similar at Hot Topic

The Walking Dead Tee// Super Hero Stuff

Bella Reese Statement Necklace// Aro & Company

Joe B Smocked Palazzo Pants in Orange Black// Kohls

Solid Black Wedge// Similar HERE

Coral Wrap// @_foxhollow on Instagram 

Thanks loves for all the support!  A favorite pic from all of it is this crappy-grainy one of us! We love all the gals/guys out there who have been reading our blog.  

XoXo

The Walking Dead @ Salt Lake Comic Con

Us girls over here at Individual Rivalry LOOOOOVE us some TWD. So you can imagine our excitement about getting the chance to interview Carl Grimes(Chandler Riggs) and Shane Walsh (Jon Bernthal). Originally (as we mentioned before) Daryl (Norman Reedus) was on that list too… sad emoji face. Rumor has it that he will be here in September so we are keeping our fingers crossed!

Andrea (Lori Holden) was there as well but we did not get a chance to meet or interview her. But, we will say that she was very pretty in person.  Almost every celeb we encountered was super sweet and took the time to make us feel valued.  We are already making a game plan for next round!

So.... I (Jamie) have a tiny nerdy obsession.  Funko Pop Art makes little figurines for everything.  You name a character and they have it.  Well, I have a ton of them with Walking Dead & my goal is to get them signed by the actors.  Enter Chandler!  He was so sweet to sign my little Rick- I later found out there is a Carl-which I'm now on the hunt for! 

Chandler Riggs

 
At the Press Conference, we interviewed Chandler in all his adorableness! Seriously, he was just the sweetest.  Like, we are talking sugar rush sweet!  Chandler seemed humble as he sat and answers all of our crazy questions. He was so soft spoken and polite and didn't know what the heck to do with us girls.  

Check out our Interview:

 

Unfortunately, Chandler and Lori's panels were cancelled.  

Jon Bernthal

I have to say my (Sheena) first impression of Jon was heart melting. I was waiting in line at his booth to meet him and he was waiting to meet his next fan. The husband and kids were standing off to the side. My two boys, with their freshly painted TMNT faces, had transformed into their favorite turtles and were practicing their best versions of combat. All while laughing those big belly laughs that are contagious by nature. 
I looked over at Jon only to find him marveling at the site of my two boys. He was chuckling at them and shaking his head. 

Me: All day Everyday!

JON: Ha ha! How old are they?

ME: 6 and 3

JON: I have a 3yr old and a 1yr old. I'm just checking out what I have to look forward to.

ME: Both Boys?

JON: Yeah

ME: Oh boy! You're in for it!

JON: I know Baby, I come from a family of 5 boys

It was just in that moment I watched him as a real person. Not an actor, not a character, but a Dad. It was not only refreshing and endearing, but a nice reminder that celebrities are Human too. Sometimes when we meet celebrities we have all these ideas in our heads of what they are and are let down. In Jon's case, he exceeded my expectation. He is a legitimately cool dude.

Jon Bernthal Interview exclusive

IR QUESTION: If Shane were still alive, would he have gone to Woodbury with Andrea? Or would he have stayed at the prison with Rick and Lori?

JON: Oh Man, at the Prison for sure! 

IR: Really? Even with having to be around Rick and Lori? 

JON: Oh ya, He would be at the prison.

Jon Taking the Stage

Did you know Jon has broken his nose 14 times from boxing and professional Baseball? And he STILL looks that good!

I (Sheena) don't even know where to begin at this next part…. just imagine a dream. And then your dream being real life. And you have about 2,500 witnesses. And photographic evidence that said dream was reality. And then that dream followed you on twitter. Just saying. Happy-Freaking-Emoji-Face!

We were waiting for Jon's panel to start and I was trying to decide if I wanted to go up and ask a question. Then I thought, why is this even a question? Of course I am going to take every opportunity to talk to this man! 

You see… celebrities travel around and do interviews all the time. They get sick of answering the same questions over and over. And you want to enjoy these panels, so you need to ask an edgy, entertaining question. It makes it more fun for everyone involved. So we came up with an amazing one. 

I walked up and stood in line. I was about the 3rd person on the right side of the room. The lady asked me what I was asking and to my surprise, approved it. She also told me that he wold not be giving out hugs. (My heart broke a little. Not going to lie.)

My heart was POUNDING! I mean… I'm talking giving-a-talk-in-church-pounding! Jamie thought I was going to throw up! (Jamie-I looked over and she was 3 shades of green!)

It was time… my moment had come. 
"Hello Jon"
"Hello Sweetheart"
D E A D

And it was everything I ever could have imagined and more. 

We didn't get video of the panel (are you kidding us guys? We were too busy freaking out!)

However, If you want to know what I asked, here is full audio of his panel and you can listen to my moment I will treasure forever at the 10:24 mark.

John Bernthal's Panel @ SLCC

Be sure to Check Jon out in his up-incoming movie "Fury" with Brad Pitt. Opening 2014!

Norman Reedus

The next SLCC will hopefully include some Norman for me(Jamie).  It's all this girl wants for Christmas.  Then, I will probably make a fool out of myself & get a nice smokey hug from the other man of my dreams (sorry Tim-you know I love you too).  See you in September!

Thank you GQ for this sexy picture of Mr. Reedus!