Quotable Tuesday

From Ann Brashares, author of "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants," on her latest novel, in which the four characters in the original book are 10 years older.

"It's not that literally become mothers ... but they reorder the universe so that they aren't always the center of it, they see themselves in the larger context, they learn how to surrender their own desires and expectations to those of another."

That's as good a definition of motherhood as I've ever heard.

Supermodel

One of the best compliments I ever got was from a college friend and it went something like this:

"I really like how comfortable you are with your body. It's refreshing that you aren't always stressing about your weight."

Another compliment that ranks in the top 20 was from my dance partner at the community theatre. We were practicing "Oom Pa Pa" from "Oliver" and after he lifted me for the first time, he said "Don't take this the wrong way, but you weigh a lot more than you look."

(Sidebar: I was about three months pregnant at the time, but the only people who knew were my husband and immediate family.)

Given the choice between looking heavy and being heavy, I'll choose the latter every time.

I won't lie and say I've don't worry about my physical appearance because I do. Kind of a lot, actually. But as for my weight, it's just a number on a scale. I don't actually know how much I weigh right now. Probably a lot.

But so what? I'm healthy and my clothes fit. I would describe my shape as curvy and my style icon is Christina Hendricks.

This is the lesson I plan to teach my daughter: Beautiful isn't a size. It's a mindset.

And if I can model that to her, then I'll be a real-life supermodel.

Thrifty Thursday

Blue shirt - $1

White lace camisole - $1

Brown skirt - $3.50

Necklace - $5

Brown Crocs - $10 (I bought them last year while I pregnant with E. Afterwards, I noticed lots of other pregnant women wearing them. There's a reason why: They are ridiculously comfortable!)

Outfit total - $20.50

Garage sale finds

I had moderate success at the community garage sales this weekend.

Baby Einstein building links - $3. Eddie Bauer sunshade (unopened) - $2

Necklace - $2

Embellished T-shirt - .50

Books - .25 each. I figure if E has hair like mine, we'll be reading "Curly Girl" quite a bit!

I also bought a black three-quarter length shirt for .50 and some black pants for $1.

Total spent = $10

Homemade baby food

Yum, right? E sure thinks so.

Since I wasn't able to breastfeed her as long as I wanted, I wanted to offer her the healthiest solid food options I could. So I looked online and found out how to make baby food. It turns out, it's very easy to do. I spent about 30 minutes and $5 making these two batches of green beans and prunes. This will make at least 24 meals for her. That's about .20 per serving.

If only I could figure how to feed Jim and myself as cheaply ...

Here's the website I use to find recipes:

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

Why women shop in pairs, part 2

Remember this dress?

This beautiful dress that didn't quite fit and was put back on the rack?

Well.

I couldn't stop thinking about it. It was just so close a fit ... so I went back about a week later and bought it.

I asked a friend from the theatre to work her magic and I wasn't disappointed. She took out the seams in the sides and the back and voila! It fit!

I wore it to the theatre's Red Carpet gala on Thursday night and it was perfect. Expect to see me wearing this dress a lot this summer!

I've nicknamed it the Lettuce Dress. Perhaps it will inspire me to eat healthier ...