Can you hear that?

Wow. I rarely hear it but I do tonight. It's the sound of nothing....nothing but a baby playing quietly with the contents of a kitchen drawer. It's the sound of me typing and all the other usual noises of my house are absent. They are at our community highschool football game with Dad. It's so nice to have these moments of silence. Not moments that I'm wishing everyone out of my life but only for a moment to have the space to have my own thought....my own time.

Before and After

Exclusive! Plus-Size Model Crystal Renn Talks to StyleList About Her New Book 'Hungry' and the Fashion Industry's Obsession with Size Zero

Email thisPosted Aug 24th 2009 at 10:00AM by Katie Hintz-Zambrano (RSS feed)

Filed under: Style in the News, Interviews

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Crystal Renn showing off her healthy curves on two covers of her new book. Photo: Ruven Afanador

When Crystal Renn aspired to be a model as a 14-year-old in Mississippi, an agent (not from Ford) told her she had to lose 9 inches off of her hips first.

Renn ended up doing that, and then some, going from 175 lbs and 5' 8" to 95 lbs and an inch and a half taller in two years, eventually moving to New York City and launching a successful modeling career.

Model Crystal Renn -- in 2002, weighing between 95 and 105 lbs -- at the height of her eating disorder. Photos: From the author's personal collection.

After conquering the eating disorder that transformed her body, Renn, now 23, is happy to call herself a size 12 plus-size model, who, with her new curvy figure has walked the runway for Gaultier, graced the pages of Vogue and starred in ads forDolce & Gabbana.

Renn's new book about her intriguing journey, titled "Hungry," comes out September 8 (pre-order it at Amazon.com).

We landed an exclusive interview with Renn in which the beauty opens up toStyleList about the dark side of modeling, accepting her body and coming out on top.

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The Look of Normal

www.glamour.com/health-fitness/blogs/vitamin-g/2009/08/on-the-cl-the-picture-you-cant.html

I saw this picture this morning and it actually made me happy. As moms we are very hard on how we look even though our bodies have been put through a lot. We don't always look like the girls in the magazines...and that's okay. This woman is attractive and shows a sense of confidence. I love it. Let's all be a little more kind to ourselves and feel comfortable in our skin.

School Supplies

We are one of the few schools that start after Labor Day. It's now time for me to get the school supplies and each year the lists seem to get longer and longer. I'm not sure how the rest of you do it but I'm about tired of trying to count out 60 pencils (to sharpen later) and making sure I get the right color of plastic folder with pockets while keeping the kids out of the way of other crazed moms or constantly telling them we are not eating lunch at Target. So...this is the year. I am ordering my school supplies online. I've checked some prices on a few of the items and I'm actually getting a pretty good deal. If you spend over $59 (which is easy to do in a house with 5 kids) then shipping is free. Unfortunately they do not have every item I'm looking for but even most will be a big help. I can shop while kids are playing nicely and I don't have to take the baby, spend money on gas and get irritated with the kids because they are just wanting to ask me a question while I count out all the boxes of crayons, scissors, glue, etc.......PLUS....I can buy the pencils already sharpened :)

www.classroomdirect.com

Wasn't I going to do a blog?

Okay...so my daughter wants to have a girls club. Every other day she is talking about t-shirts they are going to have, what type of notebooks, etc. To this day she has not had an actual meeting. But...that's okay. I remember doing the exact same thing in school. My friend and I had folders that held meeting dates, members, rules, etc. We never really did anything but it was a nice idea to play with. So...my husband gave her a great idea to start her own "club" online. Really she has a blog and is going to invite her friends to join it. They will have things like spa day, talent day, fitness day, etc. It all sounds pretty fun to me. Hey...I think I'll join.

Then I started to think about the fact that I once started my own blog to track my days, events with family or just things that were going on in my head. So...I'm back to square one and realized it had been almost a year since the last time I posted. Let's hope it's not another year.