Snow day

By snow day I mean day with some snow on the ground.  There were only a couple of inches on the ground, but our family felt it was cause for celebration since we hadn’t had any snow yet this winter.

My kids loooved the snow. They didn't do any of the classic playing-in-the-snow stuff, but my son played out there for hours!

Anyway, I had planned on getting dressed today, but decided to just wear my pajamas and the cardigan my husband got me for Christmas.  It’s a deep red, and I love red.  I also love black… but I hate black and red together.  Hmm.  Deep thoughts.  Can you tell I’ve just been a strange, sleepy funk all day?

If you look hard you can see my second attempt at a fishtail braid... Not as hard as I thought!

I mean, the snow was a nice change, but it made it so dark all day and when it’s like that and a day like Saturday (often this means no structure whatsoever, just laying around, playing, etc.) it just feels like it’s late morning all day long.  Am I the only one who gets this feeling?  Maybe everyone else stays on schedule so it doesn’t feel that way to them.

Anyway.  I’ll get dressed tomorrow, because it’s Sunday!  Yeehaw.

2012

Hallo.

I think I’m going to start blogging here again.  I keep saying that, but I think this time I want to make myself accountable for my resolutions (every year I say I’m not going to make any, but then every year I do…) and talk about my (hopeful) evolution as a person.  No wait, not that… What do I mean?  I’m hungry and sleepy, that’s what I mean.

I saw Teen Wolf on New Year’s Eve.  It’s the second time my husband and I have watched a werewolf movie on a holiday, so I’m pretty sure it’s a sign.

sweater: gift from Adrien, skirt: clothing swap, tights: Target (Assets), shoes: Target (does anyone read this? can I stop?)

My resolutions are as follows:

1) Work out at least 3 times a week.  I’m including yoga, swimming, running, walking, dancing and strength training in this one.  Anything goes, as long as I enjoy it and feel like I’m getting a decent workout.

2) Add at least 5 healthy meals to my repertoire.  I tend to make the same few things over and over again, for better or worse.  I want to shake things up a bit.

3) Simplify and declutter.  Clearly this one is more nebulous, but I’m going to ponder the steps and perhaps do one tiny thing every day.  It seems that for me, change is more welcome when it comes gradually.

sunflare. boom.

travel tangent

San Diego Airport - 1999

Ever since I was a kid I’ve had a yearning to travel.  Back then, I had no sense of place.  I had the daily routines in my hometown mapped out in my head, and everything seemed closer together than it actually was.  I burned for the open road.  I put necessities (notebook, pen, a favorite toy or book) into a handkerchief and tied it to a stick because I’d seen children in books do that before a long journey.  In the weeks before our annual trip to visit our cousins in central and northern California my stomach would squeeze and I would obsess about what I would pack, the places we would stop for gas, the golden-green softness of the hills along the road, the smell of the air in their towns, the feel of the carpets in their houses, the sounds of their voices and the games we would play.  In Utah where my grandparents lived, the light was brighter.  The air sharper and dryer.  The main floor of their house was warm, their basement cold and dark and refreshing.  Imagine how I felt whenever we strayed to other locales.  Exotic cow fields in Idaho.  Cool, moist forests in northern California and the baked Grand Canyon in Arizona.  There were the strange-smelling, brightly-colored pools and streams in Yellowstone.  The hot, close air and more filtered light of Washington D.C., full of history.  The first time I remembered flying on a plane was a dream come true, with the plastic trays and the little bags of nuts and squares of green and brown below.  At night flying over cities I wanted to name their stars.  My eyes were wide and open.  I consumed it all and only wanted more.

on the road to the north shore, Oahu - 2005

I loved being able to dream about these places, to have them forever in my memory, but I was still always planning and dreaming of other places.  Further off places where people didn’t always speak English and had beautiful cities and countrysides but still had the same hearts and families and feelings.  Time passed and I grew weary of southern California.  I wanted to wander long and hard.  I wanted to leave my old self behind and see who I could be somewhere else.  We went to Hawaii and it was deliciously different without being completely foreign.  The air was warm and light and promised rain.  I tasted fresh pineapple, so different from the stuff in the can we usually ate.

view from the plane back from Cancun - 2007

I moved to Utah at 17 after high school, married at 19 and we went back to Hawaii together.  We were so lucky and were able to travel more than we would ever have been able to if left to our own devices.  With help from family or my husband’s work, we went to the Mexican riviera twice.  We visited my husband’s family in Indiana and I felt at home in all the green humidity.  We went swimming in the Atlantic in South Carolina.

packing for Playa del Carmen - 2009 (notice the two shelves of travel books in the background? I have even more now!)

And then I went to England with my younger sisters and our mother.  The air was so different there.  Less tight and more moist than Utah, and often filtered through clouds.  I felt I could finally relax and stop squinting and seeking shade.  It felt like I was finally able to reach that itch and scratch for all I was worth.  I missed my husband and my two children, though, so much that it ached and I had to keep my mind occupied to keep from crying sometimes.

Adrien and Shannon with their fresh, new travel journals on the plane to England - 2010

When I got home, I felt strangely satiated.  I didn’t immediately begin planning my next dream trip.  I clung tightly to my small children and kissed their fat cheeks.  I sat next to my husband on the couch and happily watched TV with him in the evenings.

waiting for the tube, London - 2010

It wasn’t until several months later that I started dreaming again.  The whispered call to get in the car and just take my family somewhere far away.  Now I read the blogs of nomadic families and it all seems so easy…  if it weren’t for this thing, or that thing.  Is it even possible to let everything go and just wander?  Do I even want to?  Traveling has given me that sense of place that I lacked as a child.  I know that home is with my family.  I hope I’ll be able to travel again, especially if I can take my new family along so I can show my children the world.  But for now, home is where my children leave cheerios on the carpet and run around naked and screaming.  Home is where our garden gives us red tomatoes and my husband and I sit on a used couch we bought for $25 five years ago.  For now, home is here.

hot July ain’t good to me

This post is for Katie since she said she missed seeing updates.  Honestly I’m pretty sure it’s just her (she?) and our Mom reading at this point.  And that just makes me all kinds of less nervous and more liable to let things slide like lyrics that only barely make sense as post titles.

So yeah.  Shannon and I are awesome.  Sorry, Adrien, it’s just plain facts.  Stuff happens when you’re off cavorting/cataloging secret artifacts in the nation’s capitol.

Badow.

totes presh

Also, Shannon is incredibly creative and talented.  She refashioned (sorry Shannon, can’t think of a more apt term that you hate less) a few skirts lately and I’m hoping she’ll post about them here sometime soon.  Very soon, cause she’s going to Italy.  I-ta-ly.  Like, as in, there’s a snail in your ear.  Tangents… right then, here she is in all her skirty glory.

wut, you want this?

Honestly I haven’t had much free time lately.  See, I have this adorable babe that prefers not to sleep in her bed.  That’s just silly.  Why would you sleep in a bed when you can sleep here?  I mean, really.

I whip my hair back and forth. I mean my existential hair, of course.

That’s my Harry Potter O RLY? Owl t-shirt, btw.  Almost as comfy as my Do-you-not-know-who-I-am? T-shirt.

Sooo… yeah.  I don’t want to say my self-esteem is shot lately, because I feel pretty good about life in general and I’m happy with my family and things.  I think it’s just my self-image… if that makes sense.  Everything’s changed (again) and I’m tired.  Tired of not sleeping and worrying about various baby things and tired of looking different than I used to.  It’s not a new story, it’s a tired story.  Ha.

Also, the story/novelish thing I’ve been working on for almost a year (which is mostly in my head because there is a grand total of 18 pages written down, mostly non-linear and confusing to anyone who is not me) is a little too serious (or perhaps just serious enough?) and I tend to get all emo when my husband is out of town for work and I really shouldn’t blog at 3 in the morning especially when I’m listening to things by Lindsey Buckingham and why do they even bother making soy ice cream because it doesn’t even taste good.

And this is why I don’t blog regularly.  Or this is why I don’t talk to people.  Or both.

You know what I’m saying?

So that’s a no, then.

Your Cuteness

Megan had a baby last week.  I went to visit her in the hospital and took many a picture of her and the babe.  I am getting them developed today and will have some to post (maybe, Megan willing) a little later.  Anyway, when I went, she took some pictures of me because she said I was cute.  The skirt I stole from my roommate, the shirt is from Wal*Mart, and the shoes are from Tarjay.

Please ignore the strange faces, I have no excuse:

She’s here

Maya Elizabeth - June 14th, 2011

I don’t know if anyone else still reads this, but in case you haven’t heard already, my daughter Maya was born last Tuesday.  She’s so sweet and a very laid-back baby (unless she’s hungry, tired, etc… lol)  =).  Recovery is a long process, so I’m not sure how long it will be before I blog here with an outfit again!  Hmm… how about a goal?  I’ll make a goal to get an outfit post here within a month.  I think I can manage that!

black on black (on black)

Literally. My supervisor at work even commented on the amount of black I was wearing. It just felt right when I was getting dressed this morning. Although I didn’t notice until today how much color people wear around here. Also these leopard shoes are getting kind of gross.  Time for some new ones!

top: gap; capris: gap; flats: old navy; belt: forever 21; earrings: forever 21

For those of you that wanted to see the “environs” of where currently am – here’s the view out my window (and my really messy bed…no one else sees it so I don’t really care):

yaaaaaaayy

My Personal Guide to Maternity Style

Oh hi, I'm not in a bathroom...

I love looking at cute pregnant women and hearing about how they navigate through the beautiful awkwardness that is the pregnant body so they come out with great style.  Personally, I’m no expert and I wish I had a better eye, but there are a couple guidelines I’ve noticed and tried to follow (key word: tried).

First of all, just to make things easier on yourself in the long run, put away everything that doesn’t fit or that won’t fit for several months (or longer).  Not only is it depressing to see all the cute clothes you can’t wear, the extra clothes getting in the way create clutter and madness.  Get tubs, boxes or bags and just hide everything you can’t wear until your baby is several months old or so and you’re feeling braver.  As long as you don’t mind stretching out your regular clothes, keep out everything that’s long, stretchy and/or loose enough for at least the beginning of your pregnancy and then put those things away as they start to get too small.  There are lots of clothes that will work the whole time, though, like leggings and other things in stretchy materials.

Then, let’s just pretend that you’re already considering comfort.  I don’t need to tell you to keep comfortable because you’ll just do that naturally on your own, I hope!  Beyond that, here are the main points to consider when evolving your regular style into maternity style. 

1)  Fit

This one is pretty obvious, especially since the same goes for everyone, not just pregnant peeps.  The key here is to just make sure you don’t look like a circus tent or a big bell or something.  This is actually pretty simple until you get to the end of your pregnancy and then you (or just me) want to give up and wear whatever will cover the massiveness that is your body and not be uncomfortable.  So, make sure you have at least a handful of very long, very stretchy t-shirts (The best one I have is from Shade and it’s 96% modal, 4% spandex.  They don’t make that one anymore but they do have cotton modal ones here).  You can wear these alone or as undershirts under shorter or less forgiving tops.  If you keep things slim-fitting (but not uber tight – you probably don’t want to look like you’ve been stuffed into sausage casings) then it will highlight your figure and be more flattering.  I had to be more careful this time since I had more chub around the middle and my old low-rise maternity skirts cut into my love handles.  However, if I went up a size or two in bottoms (or used over the belly waistbands instead of under the belly ones) then it was just a smooth line all the way down.  Another aspect of fit to take into consideration is how you’re carrying.  My first two pregnancies I carried pretty low and out front, but not quite as much as this third pregnancy.  After I got to 6 months this time around, I realized that even maternity jeans did not have a low or stretchy enough waistband.  So I wore my regular low-rise jeans and used the old hair tie through the button-hole method.  Of course this meant most of my shirts were too short, so that’s where the really long and stretchy t-shirts came in handy.

2)  Proportion

E from Academichic.com always has great proportion in her outfits

This is pretty similar to fit, but I did want to make a separate section for it since it’s slightly different.  And skinny, all belly types don’t really need to worry about this as much, but remember the circus tent/bell shape principle?  Well you’ll want to make doubly sure to watch for that one if you have a bigger booty, like me.  This happens with most dresses, honestly, but one way to try and avoid this is to use belts or scarves either above or below the belly to highlight your actual shape.  Granted, I just couldn’t be bothered to do this sometimes so I spent more than a few days looking like I was much bigger than I actually was.  And honestly, I was comfortable, so I was willing to let it go (as long as I didn’t see my own reflection!). 

Amanda from chailoveyou.blogspot.com wearing a great scarf

Anyway, the main object of proportion is to help create a longer line.   One way I did this was to make sure that if I had anything like horizontal stripes, I kept the stripes very small.  Same goes with patterns, keep the pattern proportionate to your body or smaller.  Also remember that the pattern might look odd stretched over your belly (especially with non-maternity clothes), so try on any dresses or tops to make sure the pattern doesn’t get warped.  Other ways to create a column-like effect are to wear longer jackets or sweaters (especially with a stronger and more structured shoulder) and leave them open, and to wear things like scarves and long necklaces to draw the eye up to your face.  This leads me to my next section…

3)  Accessories

Melissa from dearbabyblog.com wearing a scarf-belt and a cute hat with her black dress (photo by Cat Wilborne -www.catwilborne.com)

When you’re pregnant, people tend to stare at your belly, and sometimes at your chest.  If you want to keep their eyes moving, draw more attention to your face.  Near the beginning of my pregnancy I bought a bunch of necklaces from Forever 21 and spent less than $10.  Although if you have a bigger chest, watch out for longer necklace chains without pendants because they might go hither and thither without your permission.  Other things like hats, earrings and the afore-mentioned scarves work well, too.  These accessories won’t give you any trouble if you end up swelling from summer heat or edema, as rings, anklets and sometimes bracelets will (although looser things like bangles should be fine).  Anyway, getting a few new accessories will help you keep from getting bored with your ever-shrinking wardrobe.  Oh, one more thing.  You might also need a few pairs of new shoes, since many women’s feet swell or even grow when they get pregnant.  Keep in mind that everyone is different, though, and that your feet might shrink back again after you have the baby.

4)  Keep your own sense of style

Taza from rockstardiaries (taza-and-husband.blogspot.com)

You don’t have to change much to dress a bump.  Yes, it gets more difficult as you grow, but you can still dress in much the same way as you did before, and you should.  Why wear dresses all the time if you preferred jeans before? 

Miss James from bleubirdvintage.typepad.com

And likewise, why only wear things with an empire-waist if you prefer simpler t-shirts with clean lines?  Or if you like vintage dresses, there are hundreds that will work for a pregnant body. 

ohdeardrea.blogspot.com

Whether you want to experiment with your wardrobe options or just buy a few things to get the maternity shopping out of the way, looking good while pregnant doesn’t have to be exponentially more difficult than looking good was before.

So yeah, that’s what I’ve learned through experience and observation.  If you want to see my file of maternity inspiration photos, you can check it out on pinterest.  And now I think I’m going to go have an ice cream soda…

p.s.  Click on photos to be taken directly to their source.

far and away

So while Megan has been growing a baby (she’ll be here so soon! – at least I hope) and Shannon has been digging her life away, I’ve been out in DC doing an internship all by my lonesome. Well, I’ve been out here for 2 weeks anyway. It feels like a lot longer than that though.  Anyway, the reason I haven’t posted at all until now is because of this:

except add maybe 5-10 degrees for the high for each of these days...

Seriously, one of the days last week it got up to 103 degrees. Ugh. Anyway. So I haven’t posted because when I get home after work I am covered in sweat and it’s disgusting and the only thing I want to do is take off as much clothing as possible and park myself in front of the air conditioner for a while.

Today has been the first day since I’ve been here that it has been a reasonable temperature (i.e. I don’t want to die when I step outside) – it’s maybe 80.

Cut to the chase…here’s an outfit picture! Sorry it’s not very exciting and my hair is kind of wonky:

shirt: old navy; cardigan: jcrew; skirt: nordstrom rack; flats: anne klein; necklace: h&m

Mom and Dad are coming to visit this weekend! That will be only the second time in 3 weeks that I will play tourist since I’ve been out here. It’s kind of boring to go sightseeing by myself.  Instead, most of the time I’ve been here has been spent with these people:

Don’t judge.

Lavender’s green, lavender’s blue

lavender top: Anthropologie (2010); jeans: Gap (2010); scarf as headband: Target (2008); sandals: secondhand; necklace: Forever 21 (2011)

 I’m still here, still pregnant.  Just when I feel like I have no more room left, the baby grows even more!  I have a very, very small handful of shirts that are still long enough.  I’m going to try and blog about the rest before I finally pop.  I’m almost 9 months (I’ll be at 36 weeks on Monday), so that should be soon!  Oh please let it be soon…  Honestly I’m super uncomfortable and I know I’m going to be super exhausted (even more) afterward and have to deal with all the painful postpartum stuff, but I just can’t wait to hold her.

hoo boy