What is Beauty - Big or Small? 100 Million Plus Sized Women Need Clothes Too!

Ever since I was about 12, I always wanted my own clothing line. My parents used to get mad at me because they would buy me jeans and I would cut them up and make them into jean skirts. Sometimes my cutting ideas would come out fabulous and other times not so good. Well flash forward 30 years and here I sit drawing fashion for our upcoming line - Hear Me Roar Designs.

Our line is designed for "the Real People." Who are the real people you might ask? They are the ones that get insulted by traditional fashion. How? With size 0 and 2 size models what kids of a message are we sending. Subconsciously we know that seriously being a size 0 and not eating is not healthy but we all want to toss on that slinky dress and saunter out the door. We have grown up in a world where "thin" has become known as beautiful as super models are size 0 and 2's.

Some designers do not even make their clothing line beyond a size 8 saying that it would be an insult for their line to clothe anyone bigger than that. Interesting considering that 67% of women wear a size 14 or larger. If you take that number down to size 10 and larger you are not talking about 90% of the population. So who is left? Teenagers that have not yet gone through puberty and the Super Models.

We hurt our ego's by looking in magazine after magazine and thinking "I want that dress because I want to look like that when I go to........" The only trouble is that you are never going to look like the model in the magazine because the model is a size 0 or 2. So what happens is we order the dress and it arrives in the mail. We are all excited as we try it on and then reality sets in. It doesn't look like it did in the magazine. What happened? Reality? HEAR ME ROAR!

Remember when you went for that job promotion or that job interview or any time when you had to go up against someone who was much smaller than you? Research proves that job related obesity discrimination exists and is growing everyday. A study showed human resource directors pictures of people and asked them which one would be more qualified to do a particular job. The human resource directors chose the thin people in the pictures for the supervisory positions and only chose overweight people for low paying jobs. This study showed a correlation between obesity and unemployment and obesity and low paying jobs. HEAR ME ROAR!

In another study over 15% of supervisors said they would never hire obese people for any position under any circumstance; over 45% of supervisors said they would not hire obese people for most circumstances.  HEAR ME ROAR!

Those of us that are considered to be overweight are also discriminated by the very people who should be helping when we are overweight due to a medical cause. Doctors have a predisposition against overweight people believing that they are lazy and non-compliant. They require these patients to get prescription refills more frequently and return more often then thin patients as they feel they do not follow directions. HEAR ME ROAR!

WE are discriminated against in housing. If you are trying to rent a place landlords think you are going to break their fixtures in their bathroom and that because you are "lazy" that you will be home more wearing that home down more. HEAR ME ROAR!

Children who are overweight are subject to teasing, name calling and discrimination by teachers. Children may tease the children about the size they wear and may call them Fat and Lazy.

Clothing designers feel that because we are overweight, remember we are talking about size 10 and up that we all want to hide our bodies. I am a size 2X and I don't want to hide my body. They create loose clothing and unflattering attire.

We would like to end that. From now on when you are reading the popular fashion magazines, you can look through them knowing that Hear Me Roar Designs has the latest off the runway looks for you. Now you can look like the fashion diva you deserve to be. You've worked hard, you look great. Show off that body don't hide it. We all have parts of the body we don't like, so that just means that you accent something else, we don't hide anything. Naturally, we don't dress like we should be on the corner either. Our line offers a balance and everything for your every mood.

Watch for the line - Tell your friends, keep up with us on Twitter and on the site at Hear Me Roar Designs

We are looking for a shoe manufacture to partner with as well as a maker of lingerie. If you are interested email us at Hear Me Roar Email

Thank You!

Michele

Review of Steak N Shake - Las Vegas

Tonight we decided to give the family well most of the family a treat by taking them out to Steak N Shake at the South Point Casino in Las Vegas. We being a party of 8 were seated within 10 minutes which was great even though it was a Wednesday at dinner time. We were given an extra large booth with a chair on the end. I had the Triple Burger with Fries economically priced at $3.99. My husband had the Double Cheeseburger with bacon and fries at $4.59. Two of the kids had kids meals and the rest had burgers. We were waited on right away given drinks when ordered and offered more time to look at menu when needed. Our food was hot. I was surprised at how skinny the fries were but they were good. We were told we had to try the shakes so I had a penut butter cup shake which was very good, my husband had an interesting shake where half was orange and half was vanilla, very good he said. Each shake ranged from 2.99-4.25.

Overall great low cost place to take a family when you want better than fast food prices combined with old school charm.

More Items for Free or Next to Free

Went shopping today. My big scores included 15 bags of Chex Mix from Walgreens at .15 each after Register Rewards. Also shopped at Smith's at bought 3 more bottles of Old Spice Body Wash at .49 each; 6 Old Spice Deodorant at .49 each; 3 bottles of Herbal Essence Conditioner for .79 each. Next trip was at CVS where our entire shopping trip was $4.36 and we purchased 1 Clairol Hair Dye, 2 bottles of CVS Vitamin D and a gallon of milk. Went to Walmart and got paid .24 to buy 12 packages of floss and another .30 for 10 packs of pens.

Everyone asks me how I do it. The key is stocking up when the product is low and everything goes down at some point in the year. When the price is Dow, way down purchase what your family would use in 6 months, possibly 1 year on some products which will be discussed in my upcoming book and videos soon to be posted to You Tube.

You also need a supply of coupons to make it happen. Keep reading, become a fan follow my blog for updates on book and videos.

We have a family if 11 and we cut our grocery cost down from $350 a week to way under $100. If we are running low on money we don't spend anything that week and only eat what's in our stockpile. Stockpile, still another video.

See you soon.

Mommy of 9

Going Shopping 4 Free

I will begin posting a blog entitled Shopping 4 Free. Here I will highlight what items I will be picking up for free. There may be more than one post a week as I will post the blog entrees as I discover the items. After all we all want to score something for free.

This week I will be getting Schick Disposable Razors priced at $1.97 using the $2/1 coupon at Walmart. I will be getting lots of razors, after all I have 9 people in my family that shave.

Also from Walmart, I will be getting free dental floss. Oral B Floss 55 yd is free after the $1 coupon from last weeks, 01/01/12, newspaper

I will be getting free boxed macaroni n cheese from Target using a printable Target coupon.

For upcoming sickness in our home I will be getting Triaminic Fever Reducer. Free after the $3/2 mfr coupon and $5/2 Register Rewards.

Other free items from Walgreens include:

- MuscleTech Smart Protein Bar Free after $1.99 Register Rewards


The keys to remember is that store ads run in cycles so when something is free you should aim to get a 3-6 month supply of that item for your family as long as it is not perishable. Anything more than that is taking a chance on your family not being able to use it because the product may lose its quality.

That is all for now.

Happy Couponing

Mommyof9

Halloween Disappointed Kids Come On Vegas

All day Brendan and Logan could not wait to put on their costumes to go Trick or Treating. I told them as soon as my husband aka Dad got home they could change. They were just so excited about Halloween. Then I started readin online how many towns across the Northeast cancelled Halloween, boy wouldn't my kids be upset about that. That's like canceling Christmas to some kids. I can remember being young and my parents spending weeks making me the perfect costume. Imagine how upset those parents are.

So finally they finished all their school work for the day and their dad came home. Emily wanted to be dropped off at a friends house a half hour away. I was just like no way. Then I realized we were missing a member of the family. Dylan was going to a Halloween party. Everyone was getting ready to leave just as the phone rings. It's Dylan and he needs to get picked up right away. I was thinking this is rediculus, this holiday is mainly for Brendan and Logan not the oldest kids.

So my husband was off for and hours drive to pick up Dylan. I had my 22 year old TJ start taking them around the neighborhood before it got dark.

The weather was great, nice and warm. Meghan, my 15 year old daughter who has a vision impairment fell while going door to door and cut open her toe, luckily it wasn't bad enough for stitches but it sure was bleeding.

As soon as my husband got home he picked up Logan brought him home as he was tired. The kids were all very discouraged as they had been down several streets and most homes had their lights out and even those that did have lights on we're not answering so even to get even a small amount of candy took a great amount of effort.

At our house Logan sat in front of the door for about an hour waiting for any Trick or Treaters but no one ever came.

I am just wondering if this trend is just in my neighborhood or elsewhere too?

Let me know!

TLC Extreme Couponing Guests Making Couponers Look Bad

Last nights TLC Extreme Couponing featured their youngest participant ever. He was a high school student who from what I got from the show was saving items for college. He had the usual laundry detergent, deodorant and body soap. They this is when it got interesting. He laughed about having this huge supply of maxi pads and not knowing what the wings were for. Then he showcased a mammoth supply of baby formula and bragging how it was free.

My question is why isn't he donating this to a local food pantry. There are thousands and thousands of needy families across the United States who have problems feeding their infants. Food pantries have a hard time keeping stock of baby formula and its not like he can keep them for when he has kids there are short expiration dates. He makes it look as though extreme couponers are hoarders. This is what gives us couponers who are just trying to save money a bad name.

Now you may not know this but I am an extreme couponer. You will not be in line behind me with a $700 transaction because the reality of the regular couponer is that they do not have transactions that large. I just started couponing about a month ago. You would not believe what I have accomplished in that short period of time. Going into couponing I did not expect some peoples reactions to be so strong. Some people will come up to me asking advice others will sneer their nose up and will say "oh you are one of those coupon people". When I was shopping at a local grocery store, I was told of a new coupon policy. I was trying to use 6 of the Free Dr. Pepper 10 coupons and was told that I could only use 5 at a time. I asked about this "new" policy and was told that it was because the of the Extreme Coupon show because people "like me" will buy hundreds of the product and will clear the shelves leaving nothing for everyone else. First, I only had six and second aren't the stores in business to have their shelves cleared isn't that a good thing can't they just order more? Well you know what I mean. They went on to say "you people" hoard and don't even use your merchandise we are saving it for people who use it.

Yes, I have a stockpile, a very small one so far that consists of 5 different kids of cereal, maybe 5 boxes of each; 10 boxes of pasta; 6 jars of pasta sauce; 10 tubes of toothpaste; 6 shampoos; 3 conditioners; 10 Snack Packs of Chips; 20 bottles of soda; fruit snacks; 8 boxes of granola bars; 20 boxes of Hamburger Helper and 4 mens/ladies deodorant. For a family of 11 that is a small stockpile. It may be small but I am already saving money. Week one I save like $30, weeks two through three around $50-80 and this week I decided to shop from my stockpile as we needed all our money for a trip we are taking this weekend. So this week I spent $65 on our groceries down from $250 a week. Quite a savings, eh? I am not in couponing to hoard merchandise that I will not use. One week I got a bunch of razors that I brought in to a local food pantry. That is what most couponers do. They either buy extra for food pantries or they just buy what they need. We are not hoarders.

Come on fellow couponers let's stick together and put out the good word about what we are really about.

The Worst Halloween Candy to Give Out

With Halloween knocking on our door I am already dreading the candy interrogation that my husband and I have at the end of the festivities. This is how my day will go.

First since Brendan and Logan are now home schooled I will have a little party for them. We will make mummy hot dogs for lunch, cup cakes and play a few games after all their work for the day is complete. See I am so mean. Maybe I should have them march around the yard in their costumes to make up for them missing their school parade.

When Tim, and the rest of the kids get home from school, they will hang around for a bit and then get dressed for the first part of the night that I hate. We will go door to door to door. I hate this part for two reasons. First, I feel like we are begging for food. Now we are asking for candy. Tomorrow we will be asking for boxes of cereal and milk. I also have a hard time walking even short distances because of my back trouble so even though I hate the concept of Trick or Treating after I am dropped off at home I feel as though I am missing their fun. My husband will continue Trick or Treating with them door to door to door. He will go with them dropping off one child at a time as they get tired. By around 830pm, the entire gang will be home. They will get undressed and the candy interrogation will begin.

The candy interrogation works one bag at a time. We dump the bag out on the table and begin by getting rid of all the hard candy. I might sound like a nut but I have this fear that one of my children are going to choke to death on a piece of hard candy so I just do not let them have it. I have that same fear with bone in chicken, but that's a different story. So hard candy is very bad to give out to children on Halloween because of the high choking possibility. Next, we remove all candy with a twist wrapper. This would include candy such as Tootsie Rolls, Smarties, you know what I am talking about. Does that sound crazy to you? I remove this candy because there is no way to tell if it has been tampered with, and I certainly not gonna take any chances. Sure I got extra kids but I want to keep them all, well on most days anyway.

So when out shopping for candy but candy that has a sealed package and don't buy hard candy! Till next time, Adios! I gotta go Extreme Coupon is coming on and I love that show.