Tuesday, July 31, 2012

My Modest Swimsuit

Finding modest swimwear is a struggle for many, myself included.  I have long been dissatisfied by the current cultural message that it's ok to swim in less than your bra and underwear.  To be honest, for much of my life this has stemmed from self-consciousness than a desire to be modest, but that has changed in the past couple of years.  It makes me happy to think that wearing a suit that resembles clothing (rather than underwear) is helpful to others and isn't just making me feel better about myself.

Not only can it be difficult just to find some more modest swimwear, it can also be tough to afford it!  Last summer I had an idea of how to 'convert' a suit I already owned to one with more coverage.

I started with this:

Then I cut up the top into strips that were about four inches wide, sewed them together, then sewed the whole thing on the edge of the skirt to add more length.  I used an exercise tank over a sports bra for more coverage on the top,  (I wear an item of bike short-style shapewear under the skirt to keep my thighs covered):
Then, when I was purchasing a swim shirt for my hubby on www.swimoutlet.com, I noticed that this women's swim shirt (these are also known as rashguards) in the mint color would be a really good match for my swim skirt.  So I bought that for myself with some birthday money, and....
Voila!  Modest swimsuit for the price of the shirt (which was about $32 including shipping at the time).  

Just a note on the rashguards - they are made to fit extremely snug.  It is imperative to measure yourself and check the size charts!  I would have gone with a medium or large, but after checking I actually needed an XL, even though I'm not really an extra-large person.  It works great!

I am linking this post to Modest Mondays.

Friday, July 13, 2012

Sharing...

I just had to take a quick minute and share this wonderful post.  I find it such an accurate picture of the everyday struggle of infertility - I was nodding my head and saying 'yes' all through reading this!  Please take a moment to go check it out.

Friday, July 6, 2012

Summer is for Smoothies :)


Have you been as hot as we have been?  My goodness.  It’s so crazy to me that we have already had a couple days of temps in the 100s.  One doesn’t think of summers that warm happening in the upper Midwest, but they do!  It’s so ironic to me that we lived in the coastal subtropics for a year and the warmest it got was about 94, now back in the Midwest we hit the 100s.  Craziness.

We’re pretty frugal and didn’t turn the A/C on until it got to 84 in the house.  We only keep it at 80 during the day and 82 overnight, so it can still feel warm and stuffy in the house sometimes.  Thus, it makes no sense to use the oven or stove and nobody has much of an appetite anyways.  I have been so thankful for smoothies this week!  Wow, has our blender gotten a workout lately!

Here is one of my favorite smoothie recipes.  I just had this for lunch today!

Peanut Butter Banana Shake

You will need:
5  ice cubes
¼ cup yogurt (I prefer plain to keep the calories down, but vanilla works great too)
½ milk
Spoonful of peanut butter
One banana
Sprinkle of cinnamon

Blend until it’s all mixed and liquid.  Enjoy!