Amateur Hour with Meg

You've heard it (or something like it) before, I'm sure: "80% of women are in the wrong bra size!" As much as I like to debunk such mythy-sounding quotes, I think this one might actually be true. I'm not a betting gal, but I'm willing to bet money that you, yes YOU, are in the wrong bra size (or at least the wrong bra shape). I've been on a weeks-long journey to find A Bra That Fits, and I am now appalled at my old bras and HOW MUCH I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT BOOBS. And bras, for that matter. Like, I've had boobs for 25 years, and I'm just now learning all this stuff?! It's kind of obvious, but boobs are as diverse as people, and it makes sense that there's been very little progress in customizable (not to mention affordable) solutions for our comfort and uplifting... I'm going to attempt to summarize what I've learned, but if you want to do your own investigating, these are the resources that have helped me: A Bra That Fits (A...

On a totally random internet rabbit trail, I recently discovered that Dutch people put sprinkles on buttered bread for a snack. This phenomenon is called "hagelslag", and it's not just for kids. Apparently Dutch people are reeeally passionate about their sprinkles. I had a friend in college whose roommate insisted on putting sprinkles on really inappropriate things, like pasta. Maybe he was Dutch?? Just look at all these sprinkles options: Some of them are more like actual chocolate shavings. Ooooh. There's an informative and humorous article about Dutch sprinkles  here if you neeeed to know more, like I did. 😂 Anyway, I decided I HAD to try it, even though I was really weirded out by it. I mean, I'm totally down with bread—even more down with bread and butter—but sprinkles on top?? The sprinkles we have in America always seem to be stale and tasteless, more just for sprucing up a cake or donut. So I acquired some legit Dutch sprinkles (thank you, Wor...

For Halloween this year, we're going as lawn gnomes. Or just gnomes? I don't know. Anyway, in an effort to continue the family thread of creativity that my mom had (she made most of our Halloween costumes growing up), I decided to DIY our gnome hats. You could totally adapt this to be a princess or elf hat. It's pretty darn easy, and you don't need to know how to sew. You'll need: A yard or two of felt (depends how many hats you're making) Scissors Glue gun + glue sticks Disappearing ink fabric pen (if you have one) Let's get started. 1) Measure your people's heads. My kiddos' noggins were both about 20" around. The adults were 21" and 22". 2) Cut an isosceles triangle (yay geometry!) The base of the triangle will be the head circumference you measured. The hat height is up to you. I made my kids' hats roughly 13" tall, and the grownups' 17" tall. *Be sure to leave 1/2" to 1" leewa...

I've ruined my fair share of furniture in my lifetime. I once spilled air freshener plugins on my parents' coffee table that we were borrowing indefinitely, not realizing it until the liquid had soaked in for a good couple of days, removing allll the finish underneath. Sorry, Mom and Dad! A far more common problem is the dreaded white ring from a wet glass or fog from a hot plate. We've all done it, right? (Or perhaps one of your guests has.) I'm surprised it hasn't happened more often around here, because I got rid of all our coasters in a minimalist rampage. Anyway, the other night, I set a super hot plate of food on top of a slightly damp towel on my dining room table. In the chaos of trying to feed the kids and myself before the quickly approaching bedtime hour, it didn't register that this was a recipe for disaster. Here's what I discovered the next day: 😭 Biiiig ol' white ring from that dinner plate. Naturally, I went to the internet ...

The quest: make a pumpkin syrup that actually tastes like pumpkin. I love a good pumpkin spice latte, but most of the commercial ones are too sweet for my liking. So of course I had to DIY it! Last year, I tried some of the recipes floating around out there on the internets, and while delicious, they weren't particularly pumpkiny. All of the spice, none of the PUMPKIN spice, ya know?! The problem with making pumpkin syrup is: you gotta dispose of all the gloppy pumpkin puree if you don't want that mess in your coffee or on your pancakes. Most recipes out there have you strain the puree out to get a more clear syrup. But I'm starting to think that maybe the gloppiness is a necessary evil if I want to keep the pumpkin flavor in my pumpkin syrup. Anyway, let's get to it: Basically, you make a simple syrup, add pumpkin puree and spices, let it simmer, then strain it. I already had on hand a jar of pumpkin pie spice that I mixed myself last year, so that made things ea...

I don't know about you guys, but I have very little patience for broken crayons. As much as I try to contain my kids' art supplies and make them clean up after themselves, I always end up bending over scooping up tiny crayon pieces and then not having the heart to trash them. So awhile back, I started collecting them in a little baggie for a project. I tried to bribe my kid by saying she could only help me with this if she cleaned up her toys. I guess the project didn't seem cool enough, because she refused. She sure liked watching each step of the process though. NOTE: I highly recommend getting your kids to do the dirty job of peeling the paper off the crayons. I kind of forgot I'd have to do this, and it took way longer than I expected. How to make crayon disks 1. Chop crayons 2. Spray and fill muffin tin Spray the muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. There are other ways to make these (microwave and Dixie cups, for example), but I had this on h...

I decided to revamp our hall closet and turn it into a book nook for the kids. Our hall closet is a super awkward L-shaped space under the stairs where we used to store Christmas decorations etc., and later, baby gear lying in wait for baby #2. Since said baby is no longer a baby, and we've given most of that stuff away, I figured now was my chance to realize my tiny-space dreams. I've always loved those Pinterest ideas where people make use of weird little spaces in their houses, and I secretly long to live in a tiny house one day. Maybe this would satisfy my craving for smallness. Of course, before I could transform it, I had to organize it. Let's have a moment of silence for some of my running gear that I found buried and ended up donating. I'm not running any more half marathons anytime soon, and if I do, I will just have to purchase another dorky water belt. We still use the front part of the closet for shoes and coats, etc., so I wanted to have a way of...