Can you?

It's Friday! Let's celebrate by looking at Toulouse Lautrec's dancing girls! Can you do the Can-Can? (I cannot.)

Duy Huynh

I love the worlds Duy Huynh creates.

Chagall

I love Chagall. This painting reminds me every relationship needs a rock and a balloon.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I think Valentine's Day is pretty stupid, but cherishing your love is not! When I worked in an office, I felt like there was a weird competitive vibe about who got flowers and how big they were and blah blah blah, which is so lame.

Since getting with Robert (Yep. I decided "getting with" was the best way to describe the beginning of my relationship with the man I married/had a baby with/will adore forever.), we started an awesome tradition of not going out and not buying flowers/jewelry/whatever and instead buying art. Art is the best! This tradition has turned us into official art collectors, which is awesome.

Anyway, this year we bought this rooster, and he is an amazing rooster. ("You're getting the chicken? I'm so glad someone is buying the chicken!" the guy who checked us out said.)

We too were glad to buy the chicken. Happy Valentine's Day!

Art

I love art. Love it, love it, love it. I love it all. So when I heard that Charlotte got a new piece of public art, I was like "We must see it!" And then we did, like, a year and a half later. Hey man, I've been pregnant and then a mamma to a newborn and then a mamma to a baby! It's not so easy to get out these days! Anyway, we saw Buddy Bear there, and he's pretty cute. I cozied up to him like the buddies we are. (What's the deal with the Marie Antoinette on his belly? I don't know. Maybe I will look it up and let you know some time. Or just come up with your own interpretation. It's art!)

Not so cute -- this bunny/bird situation. But still awesome. That was at the McColl Center for Visual Art, which is free and open to the public and one of my favorite places.

It also had a pretty butterfly wall. So much pretty! And I wore my pretty polka-dot dress and Bigfoot necklace. Gotta look good when you're checking out art! (Not really. You don't really have to look good to look at art. But if one owns a Bigfoot necklace, one should wear said Bigfoot necklace as much as possible. It's a service to humanity.)

Merry Christmas!

Christmas -- a day to believe in Santa Claus and Norman Rockwell paintings!

Also: Here is a picture of Thomas in a Christmas sweater because what is Christmas for if not for Christmas sweaters?

And, okay, you probably also need to see this picture of Thomas with a ukulele. 

Merry Christmas!

Style Icon: Andy Warhol

Wig. Glasses. Sometimes no glasses. Black clothes. Ties. Someone glamorous by his side. This was Andy Warhol's signature style.

Edie Sedgwick is my favorite Andy Warhol arm candy. She really was pretty fabulous. Andy Warhol -- fabulous as well and also odd and socially awkward. 

I am of the opinion that anything you call art is art. It might be really terrible art, but I'm not going to tell you it isn't art. (I will say it's bad art. Or boring art.) Everything Andy Warhol did? I think it's for sure art. Even that stack of tomato cans. It's all about context. It's all about branding and American consumerism.

And his look is minimalist and consistent. A part of me really admires this. A part of me wishes I just had an interesting haircut and wore minimalist clothes and that was my look. More of me, however, digs the Edie Sedgwick vibe. Maryjane shoes and a feathered coat? Yes please!

Rothko

Rothko is my favorite artist ever. That is all.

Once

This is what I wore for our second date night since Thomas was born. My co-teacher came over to babysit the little nugget, and Robert and I hit the town to see the musical "Once." It was super good. The best part about it (and there were plenty of good parts) happened before the show even started. The set is a bar, and a half hour before the musical starts, the bar is open and you can walk up on stage and get a drink. It was so, so awesome to stand on that big stage and look out at the audience. As a sometimes actress (community theater for sure), it was really exciting. It was also exciting to sip red wine from a straw (covered cups only to protect the set) and hang out in the Irish world of "Once." 

This outfit was a last-minute decision. Robert helped me pick it out. I love this striped dress. On my wrist: bangles and my Fitbit. I wear my Fitbit all the time because I'm trying to get lots of steps (a Fitbit is like a fancy pedometer), but it isn't the most fashion-forward accessory. I've decided I like it more when there are bangles hanging out next to it. 

We went to see the show at the Belk Theater in uptown Charlotte, and parked in the city's best parking garage: The Hearst Tower. I am all about its multiple pretty levels. We were on the Dr. Suess level this weekend. So fun!

You've got to love those random beanie hats! Also: You've got to love my shoes. I mean, I guess you don't have to, but I sure do. They are very, very high. Platform + heels = Me falling twice. That's just math. Fun, fashion-y math. 

Mariell Amelie and being an only child

I have two siblings and my husband has one. Thomas has no siblings, and we're thinking about keeping it that way. We're also thinking about having another child in a few years. Our minds are not made up, but I have become curious about only children. There are a lot of myths surrounding them that I don't buy into, but I also wonder -- do they get lonely? Or do they just become the kind of people who are comfortable being alone? There's a big difference between loneliness and reveling in a relationship with one's self.

Anyway, the photographer Mariell Amelie is an only child and her self portraits are so full of beautiful isolation. Check her out here.

Loving It

Lately I've been loving (as shown through the way-too-many Instagram photos I've been taking)...

1. My Birkenstock sandals. I'm going to wear them from now until they completely fall to pieces. I don't know why people refer to them as "ugly." They are beautiful! Comfort is beautiful!

2. These two fellows. Loving them.

3. Our first "date night" out. Thomas' aunt babysat, and Robert and I went to a friend's '80s party. It was totally tubular!

4. My friend who hosted the '80s party is married to a Catawba Valley potter, and he had his awesome work all over the house. We own three things by him -- all pretty small. I want to own 1,000 things by him especially the really giant, strange face jugs.

5. These are my new shoes, one size bigger than my feet used to be. Nude, ballet flats. Pretty cute!

6. Thomas as a surfer dude. Giving a little side-eye.

Splatter

This mom and her baby like the rain because it makes for cooler weather! I broke out my new-to-me splatter shirt for a visit from my family and later a walk in the neighborhood. I bought the shirt (Anthropologie via eBay) thinking I could wear it while pregnant, but then I got a little too pregnant for the shirt. It's cool. It fits my two-week postpartum body just fine.

My mom pointed out my shirt matches the elephant painting in Thomas' nursery. They're both full of artistic splatters!

Such pretty splatters! Joyful splatters! Splatters of beauty!

The painting is the first thing we bought for the nursery. The nursery itself is still a bit disorganized. Our baby came early! I was so convinced I was going to end up two weeks late and miserable! Instead, he shows up four weeks early, and I get to spend a whole extra month with him before I'm scheduled to return to work. I'll take it, Thomas. I'll take it.

It's no big deal the nursery isn't perfect yet. We have time. Right now, we hang out in our bedroom and the living room. I've been watching Anthony Bourdain travel shows and googling the cost of trips to Japan. It makes sense that I have a little wanderlust since I'm going to be planted securely inside for most of this summer with my precious baby boy. So we're making plans. Want to go to Japan in five years Thomas? How does that sound? Sounds good to me!

Chevron stripes and bad musicals

I wore this after a long day at work to go see a not-very-good musical. I was tired so I wanted to be crazy comfortable. I was also going out on the town so I wanted to look cute.

The top is thifted. I think it was only $2. It's not an official pregnant lady shirt, and it falls off my shoulders a lot, but I kind of like that. The pants were store-bought and they are my favorite pregnant-lady pants, but it's starting to get too hot for them (just when they were fitting perfectly!). The shoes are Isaac Mizrahi for Target, and I wore them on my wedding day. We had a very cost-efficient (and super fabulous) wedding.

So, yes, the musical was not great. "Ghost" should have stayed a movie in my opinion. We have season tickets, which is awesome, and it encourages us to go see shows we would not otherwise make it out to, but it also means sometimes we see shows that are not so good. Ah well, they can't all be winners! (Sidenote: Sunshine Dog is so adorable!)

Maternity chic

I wore my birthday dress for the second time this week for a Friday night out on the town. We hit a Thai restaurant we'd been trying to go to for a million years, and it was deee-licious. Happy belated birthday to me! (On my actual birthday, I was too exhausted to go out so Robert ran out for take out and we ate in watching television -- also exciting!) Then we went to "Evita," which I've never seen and thought was pretty great. I have zero ambition to be a dictator's wife. That's what I've learned from that show. Also: I should own more gorgeous, silk robes. Evita rocked those like nobody's business!

Plays and polka dots

This is what I wore to go see the play "The Mountaintop" in Charlotte. (I totally thought this ruched top hid my baby bump, and now that I'm looking at the pictures, I'm like "not so much.")

The play was really powerful. It takes place in a hotel room on Martin Luther King's last night alive and centers on a conversation between him and a hotel maid who brings him room service coffee. I saw it with three friends, one of whom I never see, so that made it all the more awesome. 

This shirt was an eBay purchase that resulted from my stalking Anthropologie items. That store is so damn expensive, but I love its aesthetic so I prowl eBay and see what I can find. I found this adorable top -- please note the teeny tiny polka dots. The necklace is a Christmas present from my sister. The lipstick is bright red because that's how I roll these days.

 Here is my very versatile, thrifted jean jacket. The clogs are also second-hand, and I wore them because I knew we'd be walking around downtown a ton. Danskos, people, they keep your feet from hurting. That's why all the nurses and teachers wear them. (But one of my pairs is falling apart, which saddens me so!)

This skirt is first-hand and flows fabulously in the wind. I should pretty much wear it any windy day I'm planning to be outside. I just love its windswept look!

Annual art

Happy Valentine's Day!

Since our first Valentine's Day together, Robert and I have made a tradition of buying a piece of art to celebrate. That's the agreement -- no fancy flowers, no fancy dinner, no fancy jewelry. Instead, all potential Valentine's Day spending is focused on buying some awesome art. Last Saturday, we went to my friend Stacey's gallery to see if anything struck our fancy, and we came home with this piece. Isn't it the cutest? Joyful and fun and whimsical. It's for the baby's room, and it's the first thing we've bought for the nursery, which I think is so great. Happy day of love to all of you!

The Nutcracker

When I was little, I watched "The Nutcracker" all the time, not just during the Christmas season. We had the Baryshnikov version from 1977 on VHS tape, taped straight off the television, and I adored it, despite Baryshinikov's tights (found those a little alarming), because of the music and ballerinas and all the beautiful dancing. I especially loved the party scene, and after watching the ballet, I remember sitting under a table creating long lists with my dolls of all the things we needed to make our giant Christmas party just right. I guess I did grow up to be a bit of a party thrower, but I've never done anything as elaborate as I imagined when I was sitting under that table with thoughts of the Sugarplum Fairy dancing through my head. Even our wedding was pretty low-key. I guess there's still time, isn't there? I'll put that on my life list: Throw a ridiculous, extravagant holiday party complete with signature drinks and fancy outfits. Maybe I'll make Robert dress up as the Nutcracker Prince! No tights though. We'll definitely skip the tights.

Sunshine Dog and Sleeping Beauty

Here's a shot of my favorite new dress and my favorite old dog (Sunshine Dog is 13 and still going strong!). I wore my most wordy (or letter-y) dress out last night to enjoy a fancy dinner and drinks (because I was with my fanciest friend) and go see Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty, a sexy, gothic, visually stunning ballet. Look at this:

Gorgeous music (of course), gorgeous dancers, dark fairies and vampires... and sexy gardeners and parasols too! It was strange and over the top and awesome.