sportsbraorama

fitsugar recently posted about a subject, uh, near and dear to my heart: fitness tips for the well-endowed. the comments section was full of girls who share my pain (literally) and my quest for the perfect sports bra. let's just say that i am evidently both tiny and enormous, so i avoid bra shopping like the plague because nothing seems to work for me. and don't even get me started on bathing suits. i'm kinda-sorta training for a few road races right now, so i've stepped up my quest as of late. and because R asked and i'm bored, here is the rundown of my extensive research thus far:

moving comfort fiona (aka title nine "three reasons") bra - nooooo. not tight at all around ribcage = bad things. and that's a 32 (the smallest band size to be found in sportsbraland)! it's too bulky to double up on, so this one is going back.

title nine frog bra - yes & no. it mashes, all right, but it still isn't tight enough around my ribcage. closer than the fiona, but that's not saying much. if i use it to double up, it is pretty awesome, so there's that. (but beware if you hate the chicken cutlets effect! nobody's looking at your pits, but if you have mental issues with that you have been warned.) the fabric is super stiff and scratchy, but S promises it will soften after a few washes.

title nine 2-in-1 full support wicking bra (pretty sure this is the moving comfort maia bra) - backordered. will let you know mid-april-ish. i have high hopes, but i was also hopeful about the first MC bra i ordered.

target champion cotton uniboob bra - no idea what possessed me to buy two of these (years ago), except that they matched a couple of my racerback workout tops. maybe it was a nostalgia thing? i used to wear bras like this in high school for basketball and track, and they worked just fine. but then, i was about a b-cup in high school and probably thought bouncing was cute. these are pretty much worthless except to cover up your ugly bra with one that matches your workout tank. yep, i'm that into the matchy-matchy sometimes.

i may try the moving comfort grace bra, but that depends on the fit of my second (backordered) MC bra. it *says* it's a 32, but unless my ribcage has magically shrunk (shrunken?) recently, i think their sizing is a bit off.

under armour shaper bra - the name makes me laugh because the shape this bra creates is "uniboob." not sure what i was thinking when i bought it because it's not very supportive (hence UA labeling it "mid-support"). it was probably on sale and i was probably desperate. mine is a pretty teal color, though, so perhaps i was once again blinded by cuteness.

the next bra headed my way is the supposed grand master: the cleverly named enell sports bra. this thing is a beast. if oprah can run in this sucker, so can i, dammit! i avoided it on title nine's site because a) it's ugly as hell b) they didn't have my size, and c) it ain't cheap. they called it the last resort bra. enell's site, however, has 10 different sizes, and they'll even do custom sizes. sweet. i'm going to close my eyes and pretend i'm not wearing something that looks like my great-grandma's bra fashioned out of duct tape. or maybe i'll just keep my eyes open and be glad i'm not bouncing all over the place. i have a hard time walking normally, so i'm pretty sure i'll bust my ass if i close my eyes while running down the gnarly brick sidewalks around here. (note: check rei for your size to save some dough. enell's shipping is crazy expensive and you can do rei store pickup for free.)

other (discontinued) bras in my arsenal:

i have another under armour bra that they're evidently not making anymore, and i love it. this is not the bra (although close), but you really should click the link to see the "pelvic shield" on the right of the page. scroll over said shield to see the link name. nice.

i have had a champion bra similar to this one for years, and it really was great before i washed it a zillion times. the body is all non-stretchy material, so it really didn't go anywhere when i moved. the band, however, was both stretchy and contained cotton, so that part has just deteriorated over time. i may try to replace it soon. in its heyday, i could even wear it by itself (under a shirt, that is), and that is a pretty big deal around here.

my favorite bras to layer are actually a c9 by champion (target) double-layer bra that they don't make anymore and an adidas masher bra kind of like this one. the old-school, racerback, uniboob style is easy to double up, doesn't have any uncomfortable hooks in the back to bother me while i'm doing ab work, and squishes me to almost-normal-looking proportions. oh, and no bounce. by themselves, eh. together, magic. i also have a cotton hanes bra with all the same qualities, but i'm not as big a fan of cotton due to the sweat factor. synthetics are the way to go for wicking cuz sweat retaining bra = added grossness.

so that's my long, weird post about sports bras. good blogs focus on one subject with an intensity and passion, and mine is obviously all over the board (much like my thought process). maybe i should have a sports bra blog instead? thrilling, i know.

no concrete boots required

i am a water baby. the happiest you will ever see me is in/on/near any body of water, so the huz knew what he was doing when he picked my christmas present this year: we got to swim with the fishies at the world's largest aquarium! pretty convenient that it happens to be here in atlanta. if you live nearby and haven't visited, you need to get thee to the georgia aquarium, pronto!!

we swam at the surface of the ocean voyager tank with the four ginormous whale sharks -- yushan, taroko, trixie, and alice -- swimming just below us the whole time. even nandi the manta ray (the only manta ray in an aquarium in the US) came up to pay us a visit a couple of times.

of course, we weren't allowed to touch any of the fish (or mammals), so when one of the divemasters saw a visitor approaching, he would signal us all to flatten out and float with our hand straight ahead. naturally, i like everyone to think i'm cool as a cucumber, so the first time our divemaster did this, i didn't think much of it. and then this MASSIVE creature appeared just a few inches below me and proceeded to swim on through. it was completely indescribable, although if i made an attempt, the description would include the word "hyperventilating." you can't tell, but that's what's going on at about the 2:19 mark in the video below (i'm on the right). meanwhile, matt got bumped by not one but two of the whale sharks' tails during our swim. pretty funny. you can see the camera lady get clocked at about the 5:38 mark.

i sprung for the cheesetastic video they recorded while we were swimming (and some of the shenanagins pre-swim), and the huz converted it for your viewing pleasure. no making fun of how we look in the wetsuits, kids. evidently the bikini with the ruffles was not the best choice.

the barbecue song

i'm a blog slacker and this is a rerun from a facebook post (and the creative loafing omnivore blog - love!), but it's still funny every time i watch it. of course i disagree that my south carolina bbq is even a little bit off, but i do agree that alabama's version is freakin weird. their take on florida is dead-on, too (notice the shape of the state: florida, california, whatever... same thing). now i'm gonna go heat up some of the good ole dukes barbecue in my freezer and enjoy. as K would say, nummers! if you're not from the south, make sure you watch all the way until the end, where you will learn a VERY important lesson!!




The BBQ Song - Funny bloopers R us


one more thing: just in case you've ever uttered the phrase "carolina-style barbecue," here's yet another reference guide to set you straight: