As most of you saw on my social media channels, I took a little trip to Grand Rapids, Michigan last week to visit Meijer for a fall fashion preview. While I’m sure many of you are familiar with the Midwest super center pioneer, this was my first experience with the brand, and I have been dying to tell you all about it.

While I was in Grand Rapids, I met up with other notable Midwest bloggers Candace of Live Love and Read, Tieka of Selective Potential, Nina of The HSS Feed, Andrea of Blonde Bedhead, and Alexis of That Chic Lex. Together, we learned about the process of curating seasonal clothing lines for Meijer as we took tours of the corporate office, got an exclusive preview of Meijer’s fall line, and even got to chat with Venita James, the director of product development and apparel at Meijer. It was truly the most unique and transparent experience I have ever had with a brand.

During my busy three days in Grand Rapids, the girls and I had many opportunities to try on different looks and push our own fashion boundaries with “style challenges,” all the while getting to know each other over fall themed picnics and hair and makeup tutorials from Pantene and CoverGirl.

Before touring Meijer and getting a first hand look at what goes into the buying and trend forecasting process, I would have never thought to look for on-trend clothing at a super center. However, I have found so many pieces from Meijer that I cannot wait to incorporate into my fall wardrobe. You can take a look at my first guest post on Meijer’s very own fashion blog, meijerstyle.com, here: Three Tops To Buy Now and Wear Through Fall. Be sure to check back to see my take on some of the Meijer pieces I scored during my trip!

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The countdown to fall is officially on, but I am trying to embrace some of my favorite summer trends before the season ends. I have a love hate relationships with shorts—if you have thighs like mine, you would totally get it—but these lace trim shorts from Love, Lianca‘s summer line complete my  chic day and night outfits.

Click here to shop black plus size lace shorts

For this look, I paired the shorts with a leather trim tank top, a statement necklace, and some nude lace up mini wedges for a day out. Be sure to check back for more looks incorporating these lace shorts from Love, Lianca!

I’m wearing a size 16. These shorts run true to size. 

Do me a favor: take a little scroll down the homepage of my blog. I bet you will notice an ongoing theme or trend. Have you found it yet?

I don’t ever wear color (except for this one time).

My wardrobe consists of black on black pieces, and there are a couple of reasons why. As a full-figured woman, black is more flattering for my body. As a working woman, black is always something I can repeatedly wear and incorporate into different looks for a versatile work wardrobe. A little color here and there never hurt anyone, but the fact that most of my posts don’t contain an ounce of color, the bright hues seem like “the plague,” in my eyes.

So, I thought I would pick out my brightest, most “wtf is going on” blouse out of my closet and style it on the blog. While I am not too fond of bright colors in my wardrobe, I scored this shirt about four years ago, and I have worn it once or twice. But for some reason, every time I go through my closet and recycle my clothes, this one never gets tossed.

I am also wearing a lip shade (below) that I adore from my FabFitFun summer box. You can use the code “NATCITY” for $10 off your first box at FabFitFun.com!