Chicago Mama Spot

It's that time again . . . swimsuit shopping

I need a new swimsuit.  Last year's summer after pregnancy suit doesn't fit anymore.  While I have lost my baby weight, I still have some excess post-baby skin (lovely thought,eh?), especially on my tummy.  Just what the swimsuit designers think about when they're designing those skimpy little suits. 

Cutaways - (a hot trend according to one of the swimsuit sites online)
"Not just for the catwalk, the cutaway is a surprisingly flattering way to get the best of both worlds on the beach.

From the back it looks like a bikini; in front, it gives a little extra coverage if you're feeling self-conscious."

Mmmm hmmm . . . . surprisingly flattering . . . Okay, I think I could pull these off.

Okay, maybe not.  Are they kidding with the surprisingly flattering?  Maybe just when I bend down trying to pick up my squirmy toddler. 

I'm thinking a nice tankini of some sort - trying to cover things up a little seems like my best bet. 

Sometimes, I wish I could airbrush myself before going to the pool.  I have to get over that since I want Sweet Pea to have a good body image - I can't be talking about airbrushing myself now that she hears and repeats every last thing that comes out of my mouth.

Shopping

I've mentioned more than a few times that I have not really been at my fashion forward best lately.  I honestly haven't bought much in the way of warm weather clothes since before I was pregnant with Sweet Pea.  I didn't really lose my baby weight until right before Sweet Pea turned one and happily, now I'm about 10 pounds under my pre-pregnancy weight.

The only clothes that I have that come close to fitting are from five years ago.  Not only do I have no interest in the shorter shorts, etc., that I wore then, the few things that fit are hopelessly out of style.  The worst part is that I have no idea what IS in style now. 

So, Daddy-O suggested that we have a shopping day and that I get one of the free personal shoppers from Nordstrom to help me figure out what the heck the cool moms are wearing.

We scheduled it for last Thursday.  I was kind of nervous beforehand.  I'm not sure quite why, but I was a little intimidated.  When we got there, Daddy-O went to the second floor to get the personal shopper.  I had a picture of what she might look like.  Her name sounded kind of French and sophisticated.

I pictured her looking like this:

or maybe this:














I caught sight of Daddy-O and the woman who was supposed to make me hip & hot coming down the escalator.  NOT quite what I had in mind . . . more of a hmmmmm. . . Julia Child look-alike. 

She was wearing little tennis shoes, limping pretty badly and I wouldn't have put her in the fashionable dressed category.  It was all I could do not to look at Daddy-O because I would have started laughing or maybe crying.  She seemed nice though, so I gave her the benefit of the doubt. 

Turns out she was pretty good.  It took a little while to get in sync, but once we did she picked some pretty good things.  I looked mostly at their private label stuff with a few designers thrown in.  There was no pressure to buy and she definitely wanted me to be happy.

I came away with some good buys and a great start on my new wardrobe - a few pairs of summer pants, a few dresses, some basics like t-shirts and a few fun things.  It was really fun and it was nice having Daddy-O there to make me feel like I looked good. 

There were a few odd things about Julia.  One dress I tried on pretty much ruled out any kind of bra, so I asked her what I should do about it.  She said that during the summer, her rule is as little underneath as possible.  Go ahead, look at the picture of Julia holding up that fish again.  Now, imagine her with nothing on underneath.  Exactly.  It's a picture I just can't get out of my head.  Ick.  And, she kept saying it!

All in all, I highly recommend it if you're looking to change your wardrobe.  Their private label stuff is very reasonable - for example, the t-shirts were around $20 and they fit really well. 

I ran across a few quotes while I was looking for a picture of Julia Child. 

"Drama is very important in life.  You have to come on with a bang.  You never want to go out with a whimper."

"Find something you're passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it."

"It's fun to get together and have something good to eat at least once a day.  That's what human life is all about -- enjoying things."

 

She may not have looked like a model, but she knew how to live.

cool or creepy?

One of the things I loved about being pregnant was checking out all the great baby gear.  Unfortunately (for me, probably not Daddy-O) I had a lot of hand me downs from my sister, so I didn't need much of it.  I loved looking though.  Since my sister is pregnant, I've been occassionally cruising the baby gear sites again.  It's amazing in the two years since Sweet Pea was born, there so much new stuff out there. 

Check this crib out.  It seems kind of creepy to me, but maybe that's just because it's different.  It kind of reminds me of one of those little boxes they put mice in when they conduct those little tests.  Thank godness, it's not a toddler bed or I might spend hours trying to figure out if it's the next big thing.