States Map, Meet-a-Reader posts, and Bra-Switching

It's Memorial Day here in the U.S., which means lots of people aren't visiting their usual internet haunts.

I thought about just not posting, but then decided it seemed like a good, quiet day to do a little miscellany post.

Should you wear a bra multiple days in a row?

Ok, so, in the comments on the "Do you have to buy new underwear every six months?" post, bras came up too, and there was some discussion about whether it is advisable to wear a bra several days in a row.

I did some reading on the topic, and it appears that it is better to give your bras a break in between wearings.

The purpose is to let the elastic in the fabric rest; if you wear it nonstop, the elastic stays stretched out for too long, and it will be less likely to bounce back.

(Here's a Cleveland Clinic article about it!)

Incidentally, I have heard the same is true for shoes; that you should have a couple of pairs that you rotate between, so that the shoes have time to air out and "rest" before you wear them again. The idea is that this will help them last longer, so it might cost more up front, but hopefully in the end, you'll get more wear from your shoes.

Meet a Reader posts

California Artist Jana wrote me the other day to ask if we were going to do any more Meet a Reader posts, and the answer is...I'd be delighted to share more if any of you are interested in participating!

(Jana did one herself, if you'd like to get to know her. 🙂 )

Basically, I just email you a standard list of questions, and you can pick and choose which you'd like to answer. Then you email them back to me, along with whatever photos you want to share, and I put it all into a post.

Click here to browse through all the readers we've met, and this will give you a good idea of what you could expect if you want to participate.

You can be as anonymous as you'd like! Some people share their faces and names, and others don't, but somehow it all works out just fine. 🙂

If you want to participate, send me an email (thefrugalgirl@gmail.com) and I'll send the questions on over to you!

Marry Me Beans

Whenever I post about these, some people wonder what recipe I use, and honestly, I just kinda wing it based on the internet recipes.

Basically, you brown some garlic and red pepper flakes in oil, then add in some oregano, broth, tomato paste, cream or half and half, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, basil, and beans of your choice.

This Nora Cooks recipe would give you a basic idea of proportions, and you can customize as you wish. People use coconut milk and vegetable broth to make it vegan, for instance.

These reheat nicely for a packed lunch, by the way.

Also: my Aldi carries sun-dried tomatoes, so if you have an Aldi, do look for them there!

My United States bulletin board map

Lots of you have asked about my 50 states map. It's actually just a corkboard map, and it costs less than $10.

I love it because it is so very plain and simple; a lot of the other ones out there have graphics all over them and they're just too much for me. I like the uncluttered look of this one!

Oddly, it only comes with ten pins, which I guess is fine if you are only planning to visit 20% of the states. Ha. Maybe that's useful if you are just marking off the states you've lived in.

I needed way more than ten, soI got this little pack of gold pins, and I use them instead.

(Looking that up reminded me of these cute little animal push pins I got as a Christmas gift for one of my girls. Also, I love my pearl push pins for my main bulletin board. Life is too short for basic push pins.)

Annnd that's the last of the miscellany from me for today. If you have outdoor Memorial Day plans, I hope you are having better weather than us here in the Mid-Atlantic!