My bouncing baby belly balance ball

One of the best items I've found for one's child-bearing years, based strictly on it's ability to multi-purpose, is the Balance Ball. Pre-pregnancy, things like waist circumference and the effects of gravity really didn't monopolize my thoughts and a little bit of exercise went a long way (my post-baby self laughs heartily at this) - mostly in the mood altering department (hello endorphins!) I liked a straight posture so a balance ball helped keep that up. Then when I got pregnant and we signed up for class to inform us of all the eye-opening things that encompass 'birth', the instructor showed us a pregnant woman's best friend -the balance ball. We could kneel next to it, drape our arms across it, rest our heads on it and let the belly hang in the breeze. It was one way I knew I could take a break from holding up all that excess weight. The ball transitioned nicely into an early-stage labor accomplice for that same reason or I'm sure it probably could have provided something to punch endlessly during the pain. Since I had a c-section (baby was breach the whole time) I didn't get the chance to roll around with the balance ball while enduring contractions but it sure looked like a good suggestion. After our sweet little girl was born, the natural parenting instinct to rock a baby to sleep kicked in. Seeing as how we are challenged in the space department in our little Brooklyn apartment and the nursery had just enough room for a crib, it meant no rocking chair. But, once again, the balance ball delivers. We held her while bouncing gently on the balance ball, working out our core muscles while putting the baby to sleep! She loved the bouyancy it created - must have felt like the womb. I'd like to say my mid-section has benefited but that would imply that I put some effort into it. Ha ha. However, when not utlizing all the many personalities of the Balance Ball, baby and I like to relax with simultanous, side-by-side Downward Dog. Isn't she the cutest?

Learning how to dress myself

Every now and then I manage to orchestrate a really good outfit, purely in spite of myself of course. I tend to shop by moods and that explains the 14 million dresses I have in my wardrobe that I no longer wear. But sometimes, on a morning where the planets align (the baby slept all night, I have a clean kitchen, I got to take a shower - you know, basic stuff), I grab all the right elements and they work together. This dress (probably more accurately called a tunic because it's just theeees much away from being uncomfortably short for my age group) was a spontaneous Target.com discovery. I had it, seriously, for a year before I found the right way to wear it. Think about it: It's a great rust / orange color, but what the hell do I wear with it?? Black leggings? Halloween anyone? Brown leggings? I'm a pumpkin, no thanks. Gray? umm... no. So, here it is on the hot summer day - sans leggings - with an Old Navy slip tank dress and this awesome $8 necklace from H&M. The bag - another score from Newport-News. That bag cost $39 and I use it all the time. Seeing as how it took over a year to get to this outfit, it's doubtful these are still available. However, I just looked at Newport and they have this fetching leopard tote and sandals. Uh-oh. Shopping at work. Not cool!

I'm a sucker for shopping online. I know if the term 'Retail Therapy' hadn't already been created, I would have coined it myself. I find it enormously relaxing to surf around, add stuff to my cart and then leave. I'm sure all those sites are pouring through their data and wondering why customers are doing this - so I apologize - but hey, drop your prices and maybe I'll actually push the checkout button! Anyhow, some days I end up at Forever 21 because if something's trendy, they have it and they have it cheap. However, seeing as how I'm pretty much not their target age demographic, in fact, I'm pretty much off their radar LOL, I do feel stupid (hence, no actual brick & mortar store visits - that music is horrible in the stores! Forever39 anyone?!) Anyhow, I often end up at Newport News. They do have some neat stuff but like I said with the stoop sales, you have to dig. I mean, they have so many trendy things but they often are *this close* and then they add something bizarre like chains or snake skin and it's lost on me. But I found this dress and it's pretty cute - in the white or the brown. It looks like it might be not so clingy as to highlight the post-baby tire I've accumulated. I might put it in the cart - visit it every few days and then maybe I'll buy it??

Stoop sales. Fashionista Heaven.

I love a good stoop sale. In the Midwest we called them garage sales, but since space is about $400 a square foot in the NY area, garages are pretty scarce. So we call stoop sales any time the contents of one's house is brought out to sell out onto the sidewalk and stoop. Mid-spring marks the beginning of the season here in Brooklyn but things really pick up at the beginning of summer right before the kids get out of school. This is an important detail to note because if one plans on walking all over miles of neighborhoods rooting through people's junk, it would behoove one (I love saying that) to go on the days that the rich people purge their big homes before heading out to the Hamptons to fill up their other big homes. See - stoop sales help the little people like me benefit from the frivolous seasonal whims of the wealthy - and I usually find scores for about $5. Earlier this summer, my planning and theory, factored in with a sunny but low 70s temperature created the perfect stoop sale vortex of great success. I left with my big empty tote bag (rule #1 for stoop sales: don't ask for a bag. Come on!) and 3 hours later returned with a brand new black patent leather Nine West handbag for $10, 1 pretty glass French Press coffee maker ($3), 1 brightly colored mexican planter ($2), 1 tall square basket ($2) and 3 jewelry molds that will make some awesome wall art for the bathroom ($9). Major scores. It was about 4 years ago that I was enlightened to the hidden potential of the stoop sale. I was walking to the grocery store and came across a stoop sale. I walked away with a beautiful yellow designer dress by Catherine Malandrino - for $20. I promptly googled it when I got home and realized I just got the bargain of the century: It retailed for $250. We also once scored a beautiful black button tufted leather club chair - for $10 because the sellers had been out there all day and were moving and wanted it gone. Score! So, some may call it dumpster diving, but not me. If you wash the clothes immediately and wipe down anything else you get before using, what's not to love? Especially on a budget.