Mademoiselle Piggy

"Miss Piggy" sounds nicer in French, don't you think? This is how I feel lately. A stylish Miss Piggy - except that Miss Piggy has better eye make-up. I was browsing through my journals the other day and I found this entry, written when my first child was one year old. Now I've got an almost three-year-old and a newborn. Things seem to be compounding. Anyway, I think my journal entry bears repeating:

As defined by the body mass index chart and Lane Bryant, I am a "plus size" woman, which means that my clothing options are a little more limited than the average gal. Sure, there are lovely styles out there for larger women, they just happen to be a skosh out of my price range. (See Eileen Fisher photos below.) Add to this a one year old child to look after and my style quotient goes down even more. You mamas know the drill. Baby arrives and you get by with a shower every fourth day and you're constantly in your favorite jeans searching for a clean blouse. Then it turns into a rinse every seven days and the jeans give way to something with elastic. Then you're only washing your hair once every two weeks and re-using the same nursing bra you've worn six days in a row. Then you're just wetting a washcloth and sponging your pits down as you run out the door with toilet paper hanging out the back of your sweat pants. It gets pretty desperate in the Mama trenches. Still, in the face of all this, I think I've remained fairly stylish. I still have some lovely bohemian apparel items that look good and feel good. But I'm ready to reclaim a little of my pre-baby pizazz. I don't mind being plus sized at all. I'm simply looking for a little umph. It might be as simple as an extra 10 minutes a day in the clear for mascara application, some lotion on my crusty heels and a colorful scarf. But its clear I need something.