Cozy OOTD

I wore this outfit on an especially chilly day and needed to keep wearing an over-sized cardigan I planned to only use during my commute. The dress is from See by Chloé via ebay. I was drawn to the large paisley print but when I wear it, I'm not crazy about the dolman design or the length and ruffle of the sleeves so the cardigan helps to mask them. In retrospect, the shapelessness of the cardigan made me look fairly unkempt but it was a good day for looking unkempt. I was busy evaluating student presentations which meant I was hidden mostly behind a desk in the back of the classroom.

Details:
See by Chloé paisley silk twill dress
Gap boyfriend cardigan
Spanx tights
Marc by Marc Jacobs flats

Take my daughter to work OOTD

My commute is long somewhat, so I typically do not bring friends or family to campus unless there are special events occurring (that extend invitations to families of faculty members). Unfortunately when I left campus to begin my Thanksgiving break, I forgot something. I needed my camcorder (sometimes used as back up to record student presentations) for Emilia's birthday party so I knew I had to go back.

I figured Emilia and I could make a day of it. She hadn't been to campus since the summer after she was born. And she could play in my office while I took care of some paperwork that I had been procrastinating. She and I had fun! She found and played with everything remotely toy-like and drew all over my file folders. I took care of some business and retrieved my camcorder. We stopped on the way home to have lunch and pick out some holiday decorations. So although I was annoyed with myself for forgetting something I needed during break, and felt badly to put her in the car for the hour there and hour back, we had a nice morning.  And the bonus is that my file folders now make me smile.

You can see her in the bottom right corner, sitting on the floor "organizing" some ice-breaker cards.

Details:
Gap Camo Shirtdress (on sale) -- and extra 40% off with code "wrap"
Spanx tights (also on sale)
MBMJ flats (also on sale) -- and extra 20% off with code "justintime"
Necklace from Chris

Birthday OOTD and the challenge of dressing while babywearing

Last year for my birthday I was newly (and quietly) pregnant, celebrating (and conferencing) with Chris in San Diego. This year for my birthday, we flew for the first time with Emilia to New York City to attend a friend's baby shower. On top of considering breastfeeding accessibility issues, I had to contemplate how to dress around/for babywearing. The weather seemed like it was going to cooperate and although we could have checked them, we had no desire to lug a car seat and/or stroller to the city. Perhaps when E is bigger it will make sense to bring an umbrella stroller but she's too little for those so the only option would be the entire travel system. As someone who typically eschews our stroller any time we'll be navigating a crowd, babywearing is the perfect solution.

In the Ergo with Chris

On its surface, babywearing isn't a topic that relates to my usual outfit or shopping related content. But I've learned that just like dressing to breastfeed, you have to really think through a wardrobe strategy when babywearing. It's so easy to overheat if you aren't careful. But underdressing brings its own concerns. Still, wearing a baby while they're in a thick, bulky bunting seems impossible. I had to think long and hard about what kinds of layers would fit under and over the carriers I planned to used. And I had to think just as carefully about how to dress baby. A sweatshirt-weight bunting with a hood from the Gap (here) was perfect for spring temperatures.

Now that we're home and the trip was a success I am so glad we wore her all weekend. It was not only easy but she felt secure and safe while wrapped up. She napped when she needed to while we walked around. I nursed her when she was hungry. Of course, our schedule was very different but for a few days that wasn't a big deal. We have great memories of our first flight trip as parents!

It was so easy just to strap her onto one of us and go. We have a few different carriers and each bring their own wardrobe related anxieties. The Ergo is Chris's favorite but the backpack style straps make for awkward layering constraints. The Moby is complicated because of the trickery required to wrap it correctly. The K'tan is probably my favorite currently, because it is like a pre-wrapped Moby. It adds less bulk than the Ergo and it is way faster to put on than the Moby but offers similar styles for holding/wrapping. I do think that once the weather turns from warm to hot babywearing will become much less comfortable due to heat. But for now when things are temperate, it is perfect. I had such a great birthday weekend and will probably share more photos soon. Sadly the one above depicting my baby shower outfit is the only "outfit photo." Outfit photos are a lot harder to get these days.

Details:
Tibi Hudson and Houston shirt dress in green colorway
Burberry Brit jacket (current season version here; similar here)
Spanx tights
Ferragamo My Joy flats
K'tan

Some outfits from the summer

With Labor Day behind us, I wanted to share a few outfits I never got around to posting. Both are from earlier in my second trimester so in both I look smaller than I do today. But with the temperatures still swelling, I expect I will be recycling these looks for a few more weeks. Thank goodness for elastic waistbands.

A surprising plus of this pregnancy has been last summer's clutch purchase of the Ancient Myths maxi skirt from Anthropologie. I didn't anticipate how useful its stretchy ruched waist would become. I've worn it often and the print is just distracting enough to feel like a decent belly mask.

Less adept at masking was this Max Studio foldover waist skirt with Bailey 44 column-esque stripes. Although the stripes trick the eye, because I didn't tuck my tee, the belly is pretty obvious.

Outfit 1:
Ancient Myths Maxi Skirt from Anthro, summer 2011 (similar)
Gap tee
BP sandals from Nordstrom

Outfit 2:
MaxStudio maxi skirt from Marshalls (similar)
Gap tee
Kate Spade Daycation tote (recent version on sale here)
Etro sunglasses

Slanted and bumpy stripes OOTD

When I saw the Slanted Layers top in Anthropologie stores, it was after it already made it to a temporary sale. I liked the length and hoped that the pattern could trick the eye enough to flatter an increasingly visible pregnant belly. I tried it on (in large) and it seemed great as a maternity top. Very stretchy, long enough to not require constant fussing, and more attractive than the majority of legit maternity tops I had tried recently. I bought one for the discounted price and have been very pleased with the purchase. I wear it a lot and although it doesn't hide my bump (which would be hard to do at this point) it emphasizes it in what I hope is an inoffensive manner.

I wore this to go shopping with my mom and sister. They hadn't seen me for a few weeks so it was fun to debut a bigger belly. To follow the progress of my belly, you can browse the week by week section of my pregnancy blog.

Details:
Anthropologie Slanted Layers top
Gap "always skinny" cropped maternity jeans (not so cropped on me, somehow; btw, that name... ugh)
Coach flats
Kate Spade Daycation Bon Shopper in NYC street map print
Kors watch; MBMJ bracelet