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!

Spring-like stripes

This dress is new. I want to buy one in every color. I love it. The stripes! The flared skirt! The everything else! I figure flared dresses 100 percent count as second-trimester maternity wear and therefore its 100 percent okay I bought this new.

See? Super bump friendly!

I thrifted the cardigan years ago, and the combat boots come from eBay. I love the blue of the cardigan with the green of my new dress. It's almost spring-like, isn't it? Well, spring is only a month away! (Allegedly. The weather has turned freakishly warm here, so I'm a believer.)

Until then, I'm going to enjoy my boots and layering and lack of allergies. Spring -- you have gorgeous weather and beautiful flowers, but you are a mixed blessing. I'm cool with you holding off for a little while yet.

Guess what?

 It's a boy!

And also: Look at my fabulous, thrifted green dress! It's so fabulous, green and thrifted!

Happy Monday!

Style Icon: Janeane Garafolo

What is Janeane Garafolo's style? Bespectacled. Messy. Kind of awkward.

In one of her stand-up routines, she talks about a time when a barista told her she looked like Janeane Garafolo "No Offense."

If I ever got that comment, I would say "No offense taken! She's fab." I would say this based on Janeane Garafolo's fabness.

She looks like who she is -- a smart, funny, cool chick who's not afraid of tattoos or multiple accessories. If I ever told someone they looked like Janeane Garofolo, I would say "You're welcome" afterwards.

Lessons in hitchhiking

It Happened One Night is one of the best screwball comedies ever. So funny and so chaste. I credit movies like this for my career in reporting! Old movies were so full of excellent, attractive, often under-cover reporters and hijinks are forever ensuing.

This hitchhiking scene is my very favorite:

Loving It

Lately I've been loving...

1. All the snow photos I took. The snow is gone, but the memories remain!
2. Marchesa's latest runway show For the Highlands-Prowling Woodland Fairy in You
3. Root beer. Not as good as beer beer, but still pretty good.
4. House of Cards on Netflix. Oh man. All the people are so terrible. Why do I obsessively watch it?
5. Big ol' chunky necklaces. The bigger and chunkier, the better.

One crazy winter

My big goal for spring break was to clear out our guest room, which is really more of a storage room where guests occasionally sleep.Since the snow days stole some of spring break, I decided to go ahead and tackle the project. The result? A whole bunch of stuff donated to our local thrift shop. 

That room had a ton of clothes in it, and I had to grit my teeth and donate things I never, ever wear. Boo. Hate it. Boo. It needed to happen.

These items obviously went into the "save" pile. No way I'm giving up on you heart dress! And you, sweater vest, you make me feel like an absent-minded professor! I've always really admired the style of absent-minded professors... (Both dress and sweater vest were thrifted.)

As crazy as me donating piles and piles of clothing was (I will miss you clothing piles!), it was not at all the craziest thing that has happened this crazy week. First, we had a snowstorm (never happens). Then, the Charlotte region had an earthquake (never happens). Now, it looks like a heat wave is coming up (happens quite a lot actually). What the what?

Melting snow

The snow stuck around for the weekend, dripping and melting and still pretty darn pretty.

I spent some of my time snow-bound looking at necklaces on eBay. That's my new online time waster. I'm really into necklaces lately, and I think it's because I'm pregnant, and I know no matter what size my belly, that necklace is always going to fit!

The one I'm wearing here is second-hand Anthropologie, and I coveted it when it was on the site, but I didn't want to pay that Anthropologie price, so I was happy when it showed up on eBay. I'm basically a necklace stalker. A cheap, cheap necklace stalker.

The whole outfit is second-hand except for my boots. I bought the skirt years ago. A lot of my clothes are going to make excellent maternity clothes. This skirt has a super stretchy waist, and I think I'm going to be spending significant time in it.

I've also had the purple sweater forever, but this was my first time wearing the black shirt underneath it. I bought it months ago when I went on my first pregnant shopping adventure -- thrifting with the belly in mind. I used to avoid shirts with this cut because, you know, I worried they made me look pregnant. Now? I don't mind that look so much!

Style Icons: The Outsiders

The Greasers look so much better than the Socs (as in Socials as in preppy boys from the right side of the tracks). Greasers don't need sleeves! They know how ot wear bluejeans and boots and chucks. They have dirt under their fingernails. They have swagger. Gotta love a Greaser. You've just gotta.

(Also: I would wear all those outfits. Especially the Mickey Mouse one.)

Sunshine's style

When it snows, Sunshine Dog gets to wear her sweater, and she is the cutest in it!

It's so fabulous and bright red against the snow.

And it's comfortable enough to run around in! Look at that doggie go!

She can't deal with the lack of grass on the ground ("Where are my smells?" she asks with her eyes. "Where do I pee?!"), but she sure does look romping around in it.

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!

Winter Wonderland

 Well, it sure did snow.

It started around noon and kept going through the night. This is one of the biggest snowfalls of my life. True story. I've lived in California and North Carolina and those places aren't known for their massive snowfalls.

 I wore my coat with a hood because it was sleeting by time we ventured out to walk the dog.

My boots came in handy! (And check out my favorite wordy dress. Love that thing!)

Like all North Carolinians, Sunshine isn't used to the snow. She was so cute romping around in it.

We didn't stay out long. It was freezing, go figure! I think next time I take a walk in a winter wonderland, I'm throwing on some jeans!

Snowstorm time!

Snow, snow, snow! Charlotte is shocked! It's coming down so fast, and there's no signs of it stopping!

Also: I wore earmuffs because they are awesome.

Loving It

Lately I've been loving...
1. Romantic doughnuts
2. All the strawberries all the time
3. "Call the Midwife," excellent television programming
4. Reading "Insurgent"
5. Barbra Streisand singing "Second Hand Rose." (She only wears second-hand clothes.)

Brunch in my grandma sweater

I wore this thrifted tunic (dress? tunic-y dress?) and my thrifted grandma sweater to have brunch with an old friend and eat country ham and eggs and drink lemonade. (Oh how I love the lemonade.)

I love this embroidery and the purple color. It was warm enough to go without a coat Sunday, but snow is in the forecast. I guess it's just that kind of winter.

I enjoyed the semi-warmth and sunshine while I could, and so did the geese in the pond across the way.

My favorite part of this sweater is its sweet, little buttons. The sweater has no tag so maybe it was handmade? It's such an old-fashioned, old-lady (in the best way) sweater. I've been breaking it out a lot more than I used to. It seems to fit my mood these days.

Big news and a polka-dot dress

Hey! Guess what, guys? I'm pregnant! Having a baby! Knocked up! There's a bun in the ol' oven!

Also I'm wearing a thrifted polka-dot dress, which is in and of itself exciting. Baby and a polka-dotted dress! This is all too much for one post!

I'm four months now, and I've spent the past three months being sick all the time, but that seems to be subsiding, and we're very excited to be pregnant and wanted this very, very much. Yay baby!

Yay polka-dots! I am thrifting with a growing belly in mind.

I'm also doing a little pattern-mixing here, which I realize is something lots of people do lots, but is sort of new for me. I've decided I might start treating black and white polka-dots as a kind of neutral. It works, right? The cardigan is thrifted as well (Isaac Mizrahi for Target), and I bought those bangles in Dublin on our honeymoon.

So that's my big news. I've broken it to my family, my friends, my coworkers and very recently my students.(Half of them were on to me because I was so nauseated so much of the time, and the ones in the know informed the ones not in the know.) It's a pretty crazy, exciting time!

North by Northwest

When I was in high school, I took a class called "Mass Communication," and that's when I decided I was going to major in it. And I did. And then I became a reporter. (And I took some pride in the fact I knew what I wanted to do ever since sophomore year of high school unlike people who weren't sure what they wanted to do sophomore year of college. But, you know, then I changed my mind, went back to school and became a teacher. It's a woman's prerogative to change her mind, that's what they say isn't it?)

Anyway, part of that class was about film, and I watched some really great classics in there -- Citizen Kane, Battleship Potemkin, Jaws and North by Northwest.

And oh how I loved North by Northwest. That plane scene? The best.

Style Icon: Bellatrix Lestrange

Bellatrix Lestrange -- absolutely bonkers and beautiful.

Her hair is full of evil. Full of evil. 

She's my favorite evil character in the Harry Potter books/movies. She's so wackadoodle and crazed, and Helena Bonham Carter/ her costumer really brought her to (crazy-evil-witchy) life.