Rainy day slouch

I wanted to wear something oversized and slouchy, and, boy, did this outfit fit the bill! It had been raining for days (weeks!) so the boots were necessary, but it was also unseasonably warm so the short sleeves worked fine.

Thomas's outfit is 100 percent thrifted. He's looking fab as always. We wore these outfits on one of the last days of winter break (Oh how I miss winter break) doing typical Mommy and Tommy things -- reading books, buying groceries, going to pet stores to look at the birds.

Sidenote: Robert is not on board with the "Mommy and Tommy time" adorable rhyme. In that: He does not want Thomas to be called Tommy. His solution: We'll just call me "Momas." This is obviously a ridiculous idea.

Seeing Santa

 Thomas went to his first concert! And then he saw Santa afterwards. Both events did NOT go smoothly. I kind of saw the disaster coming, but my parents really wanted him to go, and I often "see disasters coming" and in reality everything ends up just fine. With Thomas, I try to take a "We'll try it" approach to public events... which has resulted in some awful brunches, but also some really amazing times.

Anyway, the concert was held in a very cool museum with an adorable kids section, which was great (and a creepy folk art section I did not enjoy because folk art is not at all my thing). Pictured above: adorable kids section of the museum. The concert was sit down, and I thought it was going to be casual, but then all these older ladies arrived in Chanel suits, and I was like "Whoa Nelly." Also: It was bluegrass (yay!) mixed with a string quartet (uh-oh). Thomas, in his flannel and his one-year-oldness, might have been able to hang through some bluegrass, but a classical music concert? Not so much. So he didn't stay long, but we did get to see Santa!

Santa totally scared Thomas, and there was not going to be a one-on-one moment with the Jolly Old Elf, but Thomas was cool with staring at him from my lap. Merry Christmas!

This is what I wore to hang with Santa. That sweater vest situation is my new favorite thing. So graphic! So comfortable! So warm! And the thrifted pants and second-hand clogs are my old favorite things (Love them. Wear them all the time.)

Happy holidays!

Remix - Denim jacket

Oh the jean jacket. So clean. So classic. So American. So easily remixed. 

I know the jacket was thrifted. I know I found it years ago for about $5 or so. I don't remember what I thought when I found it, but it was probably something like "Everyone needs a jean jacket. I don't have a jean jacket. I am lacking something everyone needs! I will buy this now."

Ever since, whenever I needed a jean jacket, I had one. Going to a Super Bowl party? Throw on your jean jacket! Shopping for a maternity bathing suit? Might as well do that in a jean jacket! Going to a matinee play? Put on that jean jacket, it might get chilly! Hanging out with giant a sculpture by Nikki de Saint Phalle? That sculpture would look really good with a jean jacket! And so on.

That '70s outfit

This is my '70s outfit. My Love shirt and brown clogs (oh those brown clogs are getting so much play these days) and high-waisted flare jeans. I used to be all about '50s style -- flared dresses and adorable heels, but I've now jumped ahead a few decades. The '70s were just so laid back, man. (In my mind. I wasn't actually there. But it seems like at least the clothes were pretty chill.) Related sidenote: I am really into John Denver right now. He was so aggressively uncool with his granny glasses, overuse of the phrase "far out" and constant cheerfulness. Way to be cool with your un-coolness! Coming soon: John Denver, style icon. (Did John Denver ever wear clogs? Discuss.)

In black and white (and color)

I used to love windy, rainy Saturdays. They were once my favorite kind of day. But, man, windy, rainy Saturdays make it a lot harder for me to keep my baby boy happy. This kid wants to be outside! And we've had a slew of rainy Saturdays, and I'm over it! Mommy and Tommy want to go play! (When we named Thomas, we said he would only ever be Thomas, never Tommy or Tom, but I break the rule when I talk about us having "Mommy and Tommy time" because rhyming is the best.)

These black and white pants are like pajama bottoms. And that striped shirt is nice and roomy and comfy too. (Also I might be over-wearing the brown clogs. They're just really nice in wet weather!) Thomas is looking a-mah-zing. His little moccasins and jeans are thrifted. I bought his shirt on Target online because it was the cutest, and I couldn't not.

Star Wars! My husband is the one who's supposed to be the geek, but I'm the one who loves Star Wars (the early movies, obviously). How cute is he? These pictures were taken during a nice, brief break in the rain. We decided to make use of it in the park. It was really, really lovely. Thomas just walked around and picked up leaves and threw them down. We saw a hawk flying in the sky. He pointed at all the dogs who walked by. 

I don't know. Sometimes I feel like I need more of a social life or I feel pangs of jealousy when talking with twenty-something co-workers who are footloose and fancy free, but mostly I just love my life the way it is. I love spending time with Thomas. He's so fun! He's so full of smiles. Like, he's really just a joyful person, and we have such a good time together.

 I think he went through another growth spurt, and his toddling has turned into expert walking. It kills me how old he is! When you're just an adult living your life, time is kind of chill and slow. When you have a fragile, beautiful, growing kiddo, you suddenly become hyper-aware of how temporal everything is, don't you? It makes you kind of a crazy person, but it also makes you a really grateful person. Children, man. They're the best. Time is fleeting. Enjoy their youth.

Mom style

I feel like I am such a mom in this photo. I look happy, but tired. There are nugget clothes on the floor and a little nugget playing in the bath in the corner of the photo. Motherhood, man, it's the best.

I also feel like this is an awesome, accidental outfit. It's something I just threw together for mom-ing, but it's fabulous! Pattern mixing: A thing I love. Mom-ing: A thing I love even more!

Brunch? Not so much.

Here I am in a recently thrifted, striped dress that I enjoy. Thomas is wearing super cute thrifted overalls and being a full-on toddler in them. We wore these outfits to go have brunch with my friend. Brunch did not go swimmingly.

I mean, it was great to see my friend and eat an omelette, but Thomas was just not having it! He wasn't a nightmare, but he also wasn't the "restaurant baby" he used to be. For real. This kid used to sit in his high chair (and before that his car seat) and look at the world and eat with us and be totally, 100 percent chill. No more.

Thomas walks now. All he wants to do is chase his ball around. Or bother the dog. Or climb on things. He does not want to hang in his high chair while his mom has a fantastic conversation and drinks coffee. That Touch-and-Feel Elmo book that used to entertain him forever? It's not working anymore, mama!

What is working: My thrifted dress, Target sandals, pastel toes and fallen crape myrtle blossoms.

So, yes, Thomas and I wore these outfits to brunch. Perhaps the last brunch I will bring him to in a while. My friend, who has a 20-something-year-old daughter, said "I hate to tell you this, but it just gets worse." I guess we shall see!

Remix: Purple Maxi Dress

I thrifted this dress so many years ago, and I've gotten so much use out of it. Here's the thing: Maxi dresses are ridiculously comfortable. They are mumus, people. Good-looking mumus.

And despite the fact that this dress is a mumu, people seem to think I'm dressing "fancy" when I wear it. And I'm all like "It's a blanket! It's a large, loose swath of fabric! It does not get more comfortable!"

And holy moly is it roomy. Above: I am pregnant. It's that cute phase of pregnancy where you look adorable in everything.

And then there's that phase of pregnancy where you are all stomach and people can't believe you're not having twins/due tomorrow. This dress is also great for that phase! Look how much baby belly this dress can handle!

And you look good while feeling enormously physically uncomfortable. So thanks for that purple maxi dress!

Here I am obviously post-baby. In this photo, I have been thrown up on several times in the last 24 hours and am about to be thrown up on several more. (My poor baby. He was okay, just sick and vomit-y.) Love that in-between-vomit pattern mixing I made happen!

And there's that baby I've been talking so much about! So cute. The cutest.

Second cutest (or more likely 164th cutest) is the dress. It is a staple. It is a basic. It is a favorite. You know how magazine articles are always like "You must own a crisp, white shirt and a trench coat" or whatever? I think it's imperative that we all own a statement-making, voluminous purple maxi dress! And Thomas agrees.

River Jam

Our little family went to the National Whitewater Center's River Jam, which is a free concert with really expensive beer. I wore this. I didn't realize that the parking would be so bad I would have to hike to the actual center itself. It's okay. I still liked wearing this.

Let us all praise maxi dresses. They are so comfortable! So roomy! So often sporting fun prints! And you can tie them up if you're wading in the ocean or going for an unexpected parking lot hike. 

It was very hot, but we had a fun time anyway. (Maxi-dresses: good for ridiculous heat!). Southern California's weather was very, very nice. It's an adjustment going back to almost 100-degree days! (You know that Maroon 5 song "Sugar" that's always on the radio now where he's all like "You're hotter than a southern California day"? Robert was like "That's not very hot. He's saying she's mildly pleasant to look at." Truth.)

Feeling feelings

 "Let me tell you about you -- You feel strongly about everything," my husband said.

"And let me tell you something else," he continued (we were laughing) "Sometimes you get mad at me for not feeling strongly about everything."

It's true. I am an ENFP. He is an INTJ. According to Keirsey, it's a pretty perfect match in an opposites-attract kind of way. I feel my feelings, people. I mean, I feel them. I try to be a Zen bunny, but I mostly fail. Robert, on the other hand, approaches everything (almost) with pure logic. (And love! And humor!)

Want to know something I feel strongly about? This outfit. The shirt is second-hand from eBay, and it is splatter-tastic. The pants were thrifted, and they have a great uniform pattern. Look at that! One crazy, all-over-the-place print feeling its feelings and one more structured, logical print looking good too. It's a match made in heaven!

Flame

We went hiking in the mountains recently, and there were all these flame azaleas around (great name, right?), and they were so gorgeous and the exact color of this shirt. Who doesn't like the color "flame"?

I wore this thrifted top on a nice evening walk with my family and then came home and drank all the tea because I am drinking all the tea right now. Hydration is happiness, people! 

This picture makes me think of this time last year when I was all loose shirts, shorts and Birkenstocks, and I was so so so pregnant. Now my baby is almost 11 months. He's growing teeth, crawling like a pro and feeding himself little puffs. (It is hilarious. Half of them don't make it in his mouth. Sunshine Dog is loving life under the high chair these days.) We have two weeks until summer vacation, and then it's going to be mama and baby party time!

Remix - Heart dress

Oh sweet, sweet heart dress, how I do heart you. What is not to love? You are flouncy and graphic and comfy and fun.

I wear a lot of dresses with cardigans. It's just what I do. It's my thang. And since my thang is wearing dresses with cardigans, I've combined this one with several. Then I add some boots. Or sandals. Or occasionally a cornfield. This dress looks really stellar when combined with a cornfield.

It is often my "date day" dress. When me and my husband go out to do something romantic, I like to wear it. It makes me feel pretty and attractive and, despite its flouncy sweetness, I think it's just a wee bit slinky too. Heck, I even felt like a babe when I wore it super pregnant (and when I was super pregnant, I did not always feel babe-like). This dress, I tell you what, it has some positive powers!

Remix - Blue cardigan

This thrifted cardigan has always reminded me of my Grandma's china. You've seen the type -- it has the pretty, intricate blue pattern, and it's all fancy and saved for special occasions. This is a fancy cardigan, but I don't save it for special occasions. Nope. Not at all. 

Don't get me wrong. It's well suited for fancy occasions and looks quite nice next to the good china, but it also works with a pregnant-lady polka-dot tank top and jeans. It's just a pretty cardigan, it goes with almost anything. I mostly wear it with dresses to work. I pair it a lot with black, but I really like it best with some color. 

Some color or perhaps some faux fur.

Oh this cardigan, it's so cut, so colorful, so pretty and ladylike! I have never looked so ladylike in combat boots as I do when wearing this cardigan. True story. It has an inherent class that just takes over an outfit, don't you think?

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!

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!