(Updated) Answer Me This . . . Swimwear I Want but Don’t Need and Swimwear I Plain Ol’ Don’t Like (now with What I Wore Sunday!)

by | Jun 22, 2014 | Kendra's Thoughts | 25 comments

Happy Sunday all! Saturday was Anita and her cousin Lucy’s Olaf in Summer birthday party. I know, I know. I tried to explain the plot inaccuracies to them, but it’s hard for my girls to hear anything lately over the sound of themselves singing Frozen all. the. time. So, details on that are forthcoming.
But for now, here’s this week’s Answer Me This . . .
1. When’s the last time you got a new bathing suit?
I got two new suits two summers ago from Lime Ricki. The tops are nice and long, so I was able to wear them even last summer when I was pregnant. They are still in really good shape, unfortunately, so I haven’t been able to justify buying any of the suits I’ve been admiring from Jessica Rey, the (Catholic) Power Ranger turned swimwear designer.
Like this one:

And she just stared a line for girls! This one is sitting in my online basket in sizes for Betty and Anita:

And . . . now I’m noticing that we would totally match which is either adorable or sad, but I’m leaning towards adorable.
My sister is rocking this suit, new this summer. So cute and retro, and there’s a skirt too:
UPDATE 2024: The swim suit originally linked here is no longer available, but you can find some cute suits from DM Fashion here!
You can probably guess how I feel about wearing skimpy swimwear, but I also do not want people to see me and think, “My, what a MODEST bathing suit she’s wearing.”
Not that I think that people’s big concern at the pool this summer is what *I* am wearing, but you know what I mean.
I want to wear something cute and stylish that just happens to also be not skimpy.
Not this:
Not this:
Um, no (but they seem to be having a really good time):
Yes:
Now I just need to wear out my existing suits. Maybe if I, I don’t know, SWAM in them sometimes it would help.
2. Who made the last incoming call on your phone?
Hmm. I don’t actually know where my phone is right now. I gave it to Jack this afternoon so he could make a call and haven’t seen it since. But I probably didn’t receive any more calls. I’m better at responding to email, so that’s how most people contact me.
The last call I received before I handed the phone off was from our neighbor whose son is chicken sitting for us.
3. If you receive communion, do you receive it in the hands or on the tongue?
On the tongue.
I think receiving on the tongue helps me maintain a more reverent spirit. I grew up receiving in the hands, but we made the switch as a family. Of the kids who receive, only Jack has ever received in the hands, when one over (or under?) zealous extraordinary Eucharistic minister forced him to take it in his hands. I know it’s fine to receive in the hands. But I’m still a little peeved about the whole thing. Just a tiny little bit. I’m a work in progress.
HAPPY FEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI! (I made this for you.)
4. Do you have a tattoo?
Not anymore.
5. How many dinner plates are in your house?
I have fourteen of these:
They are our everyday dinnerware, and what we registered for at our wedding.
I inherited twelve of these from my grandmother:
We use them for special occasions. They are especially appropriate for Marian feast days!
I also have ANOTHER set of china for twelve that someone left to my mom and she passed along to me.
And we have eight enamelware dinner plates that the kids use for everyday.
Which makes a grand total of 46 dinner plates. I have a big family. And we entertain a lot. But I don’t think I’ve ever done a sit down dinner for 46. I guess I’ll have to plan one. In order to justify all these plates.
6. Do you have an accent?

I don’t think so. I speak “television English.” But I do live in THE Valley. So I could be forgiven an occasional high rising terminal. If you know what I MEAN?

Here’s What I wore Sunday:

Dress & Scarf: Coldwater Creek
Shoes: Minnetonka
And what Anita and Betty and their cousin Emma are wearing right now:
Dresses: Disney

Next week’s questions for you are . . .

1. How often do you take public transportation?

2. How many cousins do you have?

3. Have you ever fired a gun?

4. Do you ride roller coasters?

5. What’s your favorite flower?

6. Are you allergic to anything?

Next week’s installment will go live at 10pm Pacific Saturday night, and will be open until 10pm Wednesday night.

So, please, answer this week’s questions for yourself in the comments. If you have a blog, answer the questions there, link back to this post, and link your blog post up below. Thanks for playing along.

25 Comments

  1. LeAnna

    I like that you and the girls would match in those suits. Totally adorable. But I'm always happy when my babies and I inadvertently match. I guess it shows that my palate of fave clothing colours is somewhat limited.

    • Sarah

      I was going to ask the same. Will you give a little more detail on this process? I have one I would love to remove.

    • Kendra

      It took many treatments, because of the colors involved. And it took a couple years to finish, because I moved away after I got married, and just got the treatments when I was home visiting my parents. It was very successful in removing them. All I have left is one blue dot. I guess blue is the hardest to remove.

      The pain was similar to getting the tattoo in the first place, but the smell was worse.

      I'm glad I did it, mine were pretty low-quality.

    • Adrie Little

      WHAT?! No more details than that!?!?

      Okay, I'm demanding a more detailed post. I went all "let me tell you everything about my tattoo and spill my soul to ya and FEEELINGS" and you're just "Oh, not anymore." !??! Not fair, darling.

      Demanding a post. ; )

    • Jen Ward

      I was wondering how you were going to get by with this answer… As one who knew you when 😉 I remember you going through the process of removal and stating that when people got married they should be tattoo'd for their rings- cause you would really think twice about divorcing someone if you had to go through that pain to get it removed! (Made me glad I stopped at my one -discrete- one!) I also remember telling Matt he could not wear his wedding ring (when he was flying) but if he removed it any other time and he would need to get my name tattooed on his ring finger. (He still has the ring!) Miss you!

  2. Christina Gignoux

    I love your style! The swimsuits you like are really cute. My girls and I might be found sporting those next summer.

  3. Cristina

    You wouldn't be matching you would be coordinating–which is totally different and adorable. If you tried to rock matching rompers then we'd probably need to schedule the intervention 🙂

    I just broke down and bought the dreaded maternity swimsuit because my current tankini officially no longer covered my belly and not in a cute way. I realized I was being a bad summer mom for not taking my kids to the pool mostly because I didn't like the way I looked in my suit.

  4. Anonymous

    Kendra, Kendra, Kendra, Kendra… You cannot just leave us hanging with that tattoo reference. We want ALLL the details! haha

    Also, love your Grandma's dishes.

  5. Kendra

    Okay, okay. I had three tattoos that I got between the ages of 16 and 20, that I hid fastidiously from my parents, because it wanted to rebel against them, but I didn't want them to KNOW about it. But, eventually the cat got out of the bag, and it turned out that they WOULD still love me even if I did the ONE thing they really, really didn't want me to do. Which was, I think, probably what I was trying to find out the whole time. And they were pretty dumb tattoos. So I spent two years getting them burned off with a laser.

  6. Mary

    Beautiful swimsuit choices! Thanks!
    Purple is your color, you look beautiful!

  7. Suzy

    My first Answer-Me-This to actually do!

    1. Okay, I have a problem here – I am obsessed with buying new bathing suits! I just ordered one but there's a chance I'll return it, so we'll go with the one before that… This one in red: http://www.albionfit.com/swims/petal-suit-top-teal. It doesn't fit quite right in the top, but I love it so much that I'm trying to figure out a way to alter it to make it work!

    2. My husband, Andy.

    3. On the tongue. I switched last fall after reading a blog post about the history behind receiving on the hand vs the tongue in the US, and I'll never go back.

    4. I've considered it, but no.

    5. I just got married, so I'm all stocked up… 36 right now, I think! 12 of each of the following: formal china, casual china, and outdoor melamine dishes.

    6. I don't think I do! I travel quite a bit for work, and when I say that I'm from Texas, everybody always acts surprised because I apparently don't have that Texas twang. I guess it's because I was raised in the suburbs of Houston, not out in the woods. But I do say y'all. A lot. I even type it in work emails to Canadians sometimes just because.

    Thanks for hosting, Kendra!

  8. Emily

    I have the same swimsuit as your sister! I just made a couple of changes to it this year. I added a little swimsuit fabric to the top to cover cleavage (I'm busty), and made a longer swim skirt. I love the one it came with, just wish it was longer! I'm totally with you on the whole "modest but inconspicuous" thing!

  9. Jenny

    that picture of you holding Lulu is to die for. She is so sweet!

  10. Abby S.

    Here's my answer-me-this:

    1. My amazing MOL gave me a certificate to Rey Swimwear for my last bday, so I've got the Holly (http://www.reyswimwear.com/products/holly-in-nile-blue), which I really like.

    2. Most recent call was a dad on Lucy's soccer team.

    3. On the tongue.

    4. No tattoo.

    5. 41, I think. 8 left from our original everyday set, 12 from a second everyday set (since 8 isn't enough any more), 8 Christmas plates, 12 of my grandmother's china, and 1 red "You're Special" plate. Seems like too many!?

    6. Midwest, all the way! I don't think it's too pronounced, but my "ah" in Chicago definitely sounds like it belongs there. In Chicago.

    Glad to see that Lulu is still keeping the world cute!

  11. Erin

    I have that first swimsuit. I love it! It has been great for hiding my postpartum belly too 🙂

  12. Mama2primus

    Where is the blue polka dot with red skirt swimsuit from? I am in LOVE with it and am due for a new swimsuit!! I agree with all your swimsuit comments as well. 🙂

  13. Ashley A

    As a person who owns and proudly wears one of your "um no" suits I find it rude to say, well, "um no". Typically you're all "this is what works for ME or MY family" why then when it comes to something you find distastefully modest to you do you have to break out the "um no"?

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Hi! I’m Kendra.

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