Oh the wisdom of Dr. Seuss

"Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!" -- Dr. Seuss

Remix - Blue maxi dress

This maxi-dress isn't a neutral shapeshifter. It's pretty much always a big ol' swath of blue patterned cloth, and that blue patterned cloth is fabulous. 

I love the color and the pattern so much. I can't even remember when I first bought it, but I know I thrifted it back when I was a small-town reporter. It's adorable on its own, but I love it the most paired with blue. Blue on blue! That's some monochrome I can get behind!

A magenta-flowered cardigan and baby bump also work with it well. And flip flops! Well, it's a maxi-dress. Maxi-dresses were made to be worn with flip flops. 

It also looks great with a baby! I feel like the looks don't change dramatically when pairing the maxi-dress with different things (including adorable, tiny people!), but that's fine and dandy. It is always a fabulously-patterned, blue-on-blue dress that's the perfect length and ridiculously comfortable. All hail the maxi dress!

Style Icon: Diane Keaton

I love all eras of Diane Keaton -- especially her Woody Allen movies -- but I'm focusing on modern-day Diane Keaton because she still has it and maybe even has more of whatever "it" is than she used to. Seriously. The lady is fabulous. 

Sexiest lady in a suit ever. Work it, Diane. Work it.

And she can combine feminine elements with her menswear. Great skirt. Great shoes. Great hats. (Oh your hats, Diane!) Great gloves. Diane Keaton is always all covered up and yet still such a knockout/bombshell/babe in an "Aw shucks, who me?" kind of way. 

Yes, you, Diane! You're a babe! And you played beer pong with Jimmy Fallon and flirted shamelessly. 

Seriously. Shameless, that flirting. That is why you are my hero. Diane Keaton: Beer pong player. Style Icon.

Loving It

Lately I've been loving...

1. Thomas swinging in a baby swing.
2. Watching "Foyle's War" on Netflix. It's a mystery show set in England during World War II and is very, very British and fabulous.
3. Speaking of mysteries, I'm reading my students "The Westing Game," and that is a darn good mystery. I highly suggest reading it even if you're a full-on grown up!
4. Hot tea. Because of it being cold and because of my having a cold.
5. Sunshine in the snow -- what a cutie pie.

Snow Day!

We had our first snow day! Really, it was more of an ice day, but we'll take what we can get!

I know some people are 8-feet deep in snow, and this probably looks comical to them, but, hey, we're enjoying it! It's Thomas's first snowy experience, and he seemed pretty into it.

I was pretty into his awesome thrifted (by my parents -- where do you think I get it from?) red snow fleece hooded romper situation. How cute is that kid? Snow gnome!

Snow days are not free to teachers. We lose work days and eventually spring break days if there are enough, but whatever. I needed a day off! The three of us have been sharing a cold (I'm resigned to the fact that we're all just going to have colds all winter. As long as we don't get another flu-type situation, it's going to be okay!), and I was happy to get some rest!

I wore those boots because they have really great tread. You don't want to trip on the ice when you're holding a sweet and precious baby! Happy ice day to all!

Style Icon: Lady Mary Crawley

Lady Mary Crawley: Girl can sure ride a horse.

She also does an excellent job wearing hats.

Seriously. She's really, really good at wearing hats.

Like, so good at it. (She's good at wearing pearls too. And little white gloves. Oh, Lady Mary Crawley, you are so very proper and feminine.)

The details of all her outfits KILL me. You can watch this show just for the fashion.

She can be so cranky and cutting, but she always looks so amazing while saying rather biting things. I admit to being behind on my watching. I binge on it on Netflix and then don't watch it until another season shows up. I do sort of keep up with it via the Internet and spoil everything for myself. I don't know why. I can't help it. The twists! The turns! I want to know what's up! While I might know some major plot points, the fashion still stays a pleasant surprise!

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!

Beautiful things

 So... sometimes I am drawn to beautiful things, and then I'm like "When am I really going to wear that? There's no need in my life for something like that!" And then I'm like "I need to start living a life that does have a need for something like that! It's not that I shouldn't buy this beautiful thing, it's that I should change my whole life!" With these boots, I was like "Those would be really cute on someone else." And then I was like, "Nope. Those would be really cute on me. ON ME. I am going to be that someone else those boots would look cute on!"

And they are. They are really cute on me. They'd probably be really cute on someone else too. That's because they're really cute boots. (They're cowboy boot booties. I was like "Can I wear cowboy boots?" And then I was like "My Grandpa was from Texas. He wore cowboy boots every day of his life! I like Johnny Cash! I like Lyle Lovett! I can wear cowboy boots!" Also, you don't have to have Texan ancestry or a love of country music to wear cowboy boots. You just need a desire to wear cowboy boots.)

Something else cute? Thomas. So cute. Those little feet. 

So yes,I'm totally feeling these boots. They were meant to be mine. (I bought them on eBay obviously. Does that even need to be said?) And these boots fit me and my life perfectly.

Wackadoodle weather

I thrifted this dress on a thrifting excursion with Thomas. He's a pretty good thrifting buddy most of the time. We buy books and baby clothes and every once in a while I pick up something for myself. I don't try anything on when I'm with him, though, so I bought this dress on faith. It was $4 so it wasn't too big of a gamble. Still, I was happy it fit!

It has a sweet, little flower pattern and feels kind of hippy-esque to me. I thrifted the jacket too about a million and a half years ago. 

The weather was ridiculous Sunday so Robert, Thomas and I went for a walk around Rankin Lake. So pretty! It was 70 degrees. In February. When half of the country is covered in snow. Wackadoodle, I tell you what. I have to say, we enjoyed it! (The wind was a little out of control, though.)

Also: Thomas wore his monster sweatshirt with his its amazing monster mohawk hood. So cute!

I love that little monster! (And his daddy too!)

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.)

Style Icon: Olivia Pope

I associate Olivia Pope on the television show "Scandal" with two material items: her white coat and her giant, giant wine glass.

You know she's classy because she never spills the red wine on the white coats. Pardon her troubled expression, Olivia Pope goes through a lot on that show, but she always handles it. It's handled!

I was totally obsessed with the first few seasons of the show, but I think it's recently jumped the shark. Still: I love the character of Olivia Pope. She is strong and competent, smart and beautiful. She also has a great, clean, minimalist, fabulous signature look.

I mean, that lady wears a lot of white coats.

And sometimes a white hat. Because she's a good guy. Usually. Mostly.

I mean, let's be honest, she's a Washington insider who (really-early-in-the-show spoiler alert!) once fixed an election. So really there's a lot of gray in Olivia Pope. But not in her coats. Nope. Not in her coats.

Honeymoon coat

I thrifted this fun daisy coat during our honeymoon in Ireland. (Of course I thrifted on our honeymoon!) Thomas's outfit is also second-hand. Oh how I love stripey baby sweaters! He has quite a collection.

Sadly, this coat is pretty cheap quality-wise, but it's fun to look at so I pull it out every now and then.

I wore this to go grocery shopping with Thomas. He's definitely over the flu (Thank God), and he loves to get out of the house every chance he can get. Looks like he takes after his mommy that way!

Colors popping

 Any time anyone compliments something I'm wearing these days, I respond "It's from eBay" because it is, it is always from eBay.

I still thrift. Actually, these pictures were taken right before Thomas and I went thrifting on Saturday, but I don't thrift clothes for myself much these days (although I did Saturday!). Usually, I have Thomas with me, and we look for baby clothes and baby books. I'm starting that kid thrifting young! Raising him right!

Best recent eBay buy: this bubblegum pink purse. I'm into bubblegum pink right now. It is so damn cheerful.

Second best eBay purchase: this letterman-jacket sweater.

Those bright red pants were also eBay. I am apparently all about wearing super-bright, super-saturated colors in winter. And why not? This is the time of year we need them the most!

Style Icon: Alek Wek

I admire Alek Wek's shaved head. She always has just a minimal amount of hair, and I'm like "Way to rock that out." It's not something everyone can do!

She's a model so, you know, she looks amazing in all clothes. That's her job. But I think she deserves kudos for her funky, personal style.

Please note the polka dots.

Please note her choice of pattern and texture.

Please note her overall fabulousness. Alek Wek: Supermodel Style Icon.