Hello!

December 2016 (Christmas Eve in Boden)

I miss blogging so here are some photos from the last few months where you can kinda see my outfits!

July 2016 (Rosie's newborn photos; also in Boden)

November 2016 (on vacation in St. Barths, wearing a Liberty print dress)

September 2016 (when we sold our house; wearing LOFT)

December 2016 (at Disney on Ice, wearing Old Navy)

March 2017 (on spring break with my sister at Disney World, wearing Old Navy)

I'm with or holding children in almost all the photos. So it's a fairly accurate depiction of my day to day life outside of work. I need to get back into the habit of taking outfit photos at work, especially now that daylight lasts a bit longer. I've got a bunch of new pieces that fit my still-transitioning but fairly settled postpartum body and I'm excited to share. I have no clue how regularly I will update but I'd like to start trying. Thanks for reading!

Welcome Rosemarie Jeanette!

I don't know if anyone ever checks here or not but... Hey, I had a baby and I went up for tenure and we bought a fixer upper and Emilia started school and we sold our house and we moved and and and...

It's been a lot but it's all good things. I'm posting sometimes on Instagram (@jesspgh). My outfits are rarely clean right now so they hardly seem worthy of documentation. I am also on maternity leave and undecided on a good spot in the new house to take photos. I will be back when I have breathing room. Thanks so much to anyone who might be still checking in here! I hope you are well.

Pregnancy Outfit Repeats, Postpartum

During the first half of my pregnancy I found myself wearing a lot of stretchy things from Anthropologie, Gap, and Old Navy to try to cope with the summer heat and my changing figure. Now that I am 7 months postpartum, I am doing the same. Although my body is different from before, I see glimpses of its former self now and then. In a "body after baby"-obsessed culture, it can be difficult to maintain self-kindness and realistic expectations. I'm also sure if I prioritized gym trips I would see better "progress." But with little free time to spare, I am busy writing, cleaning, grading, and running as many errands as I can. The gym can wait.

This outfit is a repeat from two Mays ago, after the end of my first trimester. I wore it to teach my summer class and to a few other functions recently. Including a kid-friendly outdoor summer concert series, called Weather Permitting (at Shadyside Nursery for those of you who are in Pittsburgh).

Details:
Anthropologie top and skirt
Etro sunglasses
Marc by Marc Jacobs Mouse Flats

Emilia is wearing Tea Collection

BTW, I drew the winner of the Shabby Apple Giveaway. Congratulations to commenter, Flaneuse who won by liking Consume or Consumed on Facebook! Thank you to Shabby Apple and everyone who entered!! I will be launching a new giveaway soon so stay turned.

Postpartum bodies and newborn photoshoots

My very sweet mother-in-law gifted to Chris and me the opportunity to have Emilia photographed as a newborn by one of her coworkers who also has a side business as a photographer (Keja Photography). We hoped to get a few family shots while the photographer was in our home because ... we don't often have photographers in our home. So just 6 days postpartum, I found myself facing the conundrum of dressing my new mom body for the camera. Thankfully, my ankles decided to come back to me that morning and I was generally feeling on the mend. Of course we were both pretty sleep deprived. Chris and I hadn't slept much in the hospital due to adrenaline, interruptions, and the tasks of taking care of a new baby. By the time we got home, things weren't much different. But I grabbed one of my favorite maternity dresses (by Maternal America), put on some make up, and smiled for the camera. The baby was a total trooper and slept through most of the pictures. My mom and mother-in-law played dutiful photo assistants.

Although it is easy in this new state of physical transition to be critical of myself, I'm glad I decided to be photographed. A few months ago I read an article by Allison Tate about keeping mothers in photos... she writes that so often moms of all ages shy away from having their picture taken, lamenting x, y, or z random self-critiqued aspect of their physical appearance. The results are that negative self-talk becomes normalized (further) and children wind up with fewer photos of their mothers throughout life. I didn't want to capitulate to the temptations of bashing my post-baby body, even if it feels very unfamiliar to me and (similar to pregnancy) brings its own set of physical discomforts.

Like anyone else, I have good and bad body image days. This was true before and during pregnancy, as I am sure it will be now that I'm postpartum. I will say that during pregnancy it felt as though my pangs over body image were amplified in part due to the unknown and uncontrollable aspects of inhabiting a pregnant body. But no matter how critical I felt toward the end and how unfamiliar my postpartum body feels to me currently, I am determined to embrace positivity and cut myself some slack for my daughter, if not for myself. It's hard enough to grow up weathering the pervasive social expectations heaped on women and girls without also hearing it from one's parents.

Besides, this body grew and nourished my eventual child. Knowing that, I can't knock it too hard!