Polka dots and puff balls

My last name used to start with G, but since I got married, it starts with an M, and it's way, way easier to find an "M" sweater than a "G" sweater, and I have been taking advantage of this for sure. 

Also: My pants have polka dots, and yet I still don't seem to like them. This is unheard of! I mean, they're okay, but they're only okay cause of those polka dots (man I love polka dots). Those shoes are my nude ballet flats. Love them. Also: They match the color of my skin almost perfectly. When wearing this outfit, I totally weirded out a dude in the grocery store parking lot. He was all like "Is that chick barefoot?!" And then he was like "Oh. Okay. Nude flats." At least that's what I interpreted from his facial expressions. 

Let's turn our attention from my mediocre pants (and relatively lovely flats) to my basically perfect baby. No pressure, Thomas, but, you know, you're practically perfect in every way. I'm not saying your're Mary Poppins, but I'm also not saying you're not Mary Poppins, you know? 

Okay, fine, he's not Mary Poppins, but he is practically perfect when wearing this ridiculous winter sweater with a puff ball -- a puff ball!!! Three exclamation points. He's that cute.

Layers

Two layers of solid awesome. First layer: Sheep sweater.

Second layer: Charlotte's Web shirt. Solid awesome. Both layers.

Also pretty amazing and awesome: The addition of Thomas in our new-to-us hiking backpack. We got the new backpack at my brother's house. His adorable kiddos are too big for it these days. I can't wait to take it for-real hiking!

(Sidenote: I wore this shirt to school, and all my students were like "I love that book!" and I was like "Nerdy shirt for the win!")

Style Icon: Dorothy Dandridge

Dorothy Dandridge is such a gorgeous, stunning, straight-up movie star. I love all the glamour shots of her in amazing dresses.

She's intensely glamorous when she's casual too.

Can we talk about the little gloves? Can we talk about the dress? The earrings? The little bag? Let's talk about them. All those things are fabulous. Dorothy Dandridge, you are looking fabulous.

Isn't she such an other-worldly screen goddess? And she was way more than a pretty face (or, you know, other-wordly screen goddess face). She was a singer and dancer and the first African American woman nominated for an Academy Award. Way to be an awesome style icon, Dorothy Dandridge!

And yet...

Here's me standing on the porch of my parent's house in the mountains wearing a mighty-fine dog sweater. It's nice. It's a perfectly nice moment in time... and yet... and yet it needs something more...

Yes! An actual dog to go with my dog sweater! Perfection! And yet... and yet... there is something missing. My heart is calling out for still more...

Mmkay. There we go. Dog sweater. Dog. Husband. Baby boy. Now this photo is complete!

Spots and stripes

So my new black and white polka-dot coat is my new boyfriend, and I wear it all the time, and it goes with everything, and I love it, and I took it to meet my family at Christmas, and I just really think we're going to have a great, lasting relationship.

Turns out, black and white polka-dot coats go with everything. That's according to me.

I especially love pairing it with other black and white things. Pattern mixing at its most basic and graphic! My two favorite prints hanging out and looking good! Oh yes. 2015 is going to be full of black and white polka dots (and lots of black and white stripes too).

Pretty Ladies

Here are some pretty lady bloggers who have entertained me through the holiday season and beyond:

I just started reading Eccentric Owl in the past month, and I'm really digging it. Kristina is a bespectacled stay-at-home mom who wears lots of layers and writes about the joys and, well, non-joys of being a new mom.

I basically love everything Anna from Melodic, Thrifty and Chic wears. Everything. All the things. She just knows how to put an adorable outfit together. I mean look at her knit hat with ears and that great combination of colors!

Jane of Always With Yoo has one of the prettiest, sweetest blogs out there. She's not really an "outfit" blogger, but when you see her outfits, they're always cute. Even cuter is her dog, Piri, whose life is covered at length on the blog. I am a full-on fan of that dog. Piri rules! UPDATE: Wait! The blog was taken down! Sadness!

Caitlin of Healthy Tipping Point is also not a style blogger of any sort. She's a lifestyle/health/mom blogger. She just had baby number two, and I'm loving following their family's adventures. She somehow managed to go to Disney World with a toddler and a newborn in tow. That's crazy, but it looks like they had fun!

Becky of Pink Cheetah Vintage is all about buying second hand first. That's a mindset I can get behind! Look at how fabulous and sort-of Stevie Nicks she is in that dress! Plus she lives in Asheville, one of my all-time favorite cities.

So those are just a few of the tons and tons of blogs I read. I'm totally addicted to them, but I guess there are worse habits to have!

Pants, straight up

Robert says these pants look like PJs, but they have a zipper and a button, so they are straight-up pants.

Non-PJ pants are thrifted. Shoes, coat and purse are all eBay. Shirt is Old Navy and a "tall" size. Tall sizes are amazing! I can't believe I just now made this discovery! My torso is so long! I have such a tall torso! I need tall shirts!