New glasses!

So remember how excited I was last month about going glasses-shopping? Yeah, so we ended up going, I ended up choosing an awesome pair, and... then I had to wait for almost three weeks before my frames get to the store and get 'em ready.

Well, I got the fateful phone call (that my glasses were ready) on Tuesday and we were finally able to get to my eye guy. So...

*drum roll, please*

Meet my new glasses!

Curse you, unclear Photo Booth pictures!

So you can't see them so well here, but they're dark tortoiseshell and thinner (but deeper) than my black Ray-Bans. And I'm in love.

This is what they look like not on my face:

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Coooool, huh? I ended up not even trying on the Ray-Bans I swore I'd try on (and the guy didn't even have the new ones I liked). I fell for these in about three minutes straight and that's how it happened...

Anyway, no better pictures for the moment, but you'll be seeing these babies over and over again, no worries!

Thanks, everyone, for the kind comments on my last post. The adventures of feeding Baby Boots continue, but we're dealing with them and she's already gaining weight, so yay! Your support helped me enormously and I'm learning to deal with the formula. Thanks again!

Bright spot

Today was a tough day, folks. At her two-month appointment, it was revealed that - while perfectly healthy - Baby Boots wasn't gaining as much weight as she should. So we've started supplementing her with formula and I feel really conflicted about it. Also, she had some shots, so she's been cranky and fussy all evening, not to mention with a slightly elevated temperature. Anyway. It's been a crappy day and I kind of feel like a failure of a mother, although I'm going to keep doing my best. *big breath*

But one thing did go pretty well: my anniversary present arrived! As you know, last week was my husband and my six-year anniversary as a couple. And what did we give each other? Gifts from the Banana Republic Mad Men collection! You may recall that we got into 'Mad Men' last summer and since then, we've almost caught up all the way: we have one more episode to watch before the 5th season premiere in a couple of weeks. Anyway, everyone who knows me knows that I salivate over 60s fashion; my husband recently admitted to falling madly in love with Don Draper's style. Anyway, as soon as I heard that Banana Republic was coming up with a new collection linked to the show, I knew that there was anniversary present fodder for both of us.

So I got him this belt, which arrived on the exact right date, and these pants, which should be arriving home. And what did he get me?

This dress:

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And it arrived today.

DUDES. I need to tell y'all right off the bat that I have a lot of conflicting and mostly negative feelings toward white. And a white dress? Potentially unflattering and bridal! However, neither of us could stop looking at the picture on the website. Well, I tried it on when it arrived and it fits fine (wooooo!), but I was in no place to take a photo. It looks better on the model anyways...

Style Nation, how would y'all style this dress? I'm planning summer outfits for it, with both bright sandals and bright jewelry (Baby Boots' baptism, perchance?). I'm curious to know what y'all think, too!

How I wore it: something about the chase

... six whole years!

Yesterday (Wednesday, as technically it's now Friday, but in my brain it's still Thursday - OK, fine, March 7) was my husband's and my six-year anniversary as a couple. As it's a rather special anniversary, what with Baby Boots and all, we decided to do something nice. We went to a favorite restaurant in our old neighborhood in Boston, baby in tow, and scarfed our food quickly while holding the little one (or, in my case, nursing her). She behaved well, although she had a major freak-out once we arrived home; it wasn't the most relaxing dinner we've ever had, but it was quite fun to dress up and show off the babe. Hey, my motive aren't ever that pure...

Anyway, I'd done a small Old Navy nursing wear order a few weeks ago and was excited to wear a new dress in a favorite color:

Ever-flattering photo by my husband. Do you get the sense he's a wee bit taller than I am?

A turquoise nursing dress! What are the odds?! I paired it with matching jewelry, including a wee little pendant, as Baby Boots' grip is quite death-like and I didn't want to bother her with my bigger turquoise pendant. As I've felt rather ungainly over the past few days, it was nice to doll myself up with a flattering (trust me: this photo is ghastly - it looked a lot better in person) dress and fun tights and a favorite pair of boots. It was worth shoveling mussels down my throat in five minutes flat! 

Kitty also needs love...

Anyway, I wish I had some better photos to take, but that's what you get when you ask your non-camera-savvy husband to take pictures well past midnight after your baby has been exercising her powerful little lungs for a couple of hours...

Maybe when our wedding anniversary rolls around in June, we'll all be more used to social evenings out!

Turquoise dress: Old Navy Maternity

Grey patterned tights: Gap, remixed

Boots: Steve Madden, remixed

How I wore it: ladies who lunch

Today I had the distinct pleasure of having an old friend over for lunch. We hadn't interacted in probably twenty years or so. Her parents worked with my parents and she's a year older than I am (and her sister a year younger), so we ended up being friends - you know how that works when you're kids, right? We had a lot of playdates at each others' houses and went to birthday parties and whatnot. Sometimes her little sister and I ganged up on her, sometimes she and I ganged up on her little sister. We were charming. Anyway, she's finishing up her Ph.D. in Cambridge and we decided, after a few months of planning, to get together. So, like big adults, she came over and we had lunch. At a table! Like women.

I decided to wear a more socially acceptable version of my "mom at home" uniform:

Still couldn't be bothered to wear real shoes...

I've noticed that I'm being drawn to bright colors a lot in my "fourth trimester" gear. The nursing clothes I've bought recently (all from Old Navy, I think) are almost all in bright, vibrant colors: turquoise, pink, brilliant blue... I don't know why it is. Perhaps the months of wearing the same clothes over and over again during pregnancy made me crave color and novelty?

This particular top has been problematic in the past. The crossover/wrap style can be super-unflattering, especially if you futz with it a lot, the way I am inclined to, in order to make everything lie flat. Today I learned that the less I play with the bands, the better they look when allowed to fall naturally on the body. So I didn't touch them (except with regard to nursing Baby Boots) and I was the happiest I'd ever been with this shirt! Yay for not giving into one's OCD tendencies!

Pink top: Old Navy Maternity

Jeans: Maternity America, by way of Gilt Groupe, remixed

Flip flops: Urban Outfitters, remixed

Full disclosure

So you may have noticed a cool little banner to the right of the page, with a purty dark-haired lady in a red dress and big earrings [dammit, I wish I could just describe myself with those words!]. That, my friends, will take you to the Shabby Apple website. Do you know about Shabby Apple? It's an online boutique with some of the most gorgeous dresses I've ever seen; I first heard about them through the blogging community and I often go to their site to drool over some dresses (I've been in love with this little houndstooth number for YEARS)...

Anyway, I was contacted them to sign up for their affiliate program and I decided to do so, hence the banner. What this means, dear readers, is that if you click on the banner and buy something, I get a tiny commission off the sale. Cool, no?

I thought long and hard before signing up, and I obviously decided to do so for a couple of reasons. The first one was: "Hey! Maybe I can make a couple of bucks and pay for Baby Boots' education!" The other reason is? I truly think that this is a lovely boutique. Granted (in the interest of FULL full disclosure), I've not bought anything from them, mainly for financial reasons. However, I think their clothes are honestly gorgeous and I would never link to something that I wouldn't endorse (or have heard the endorsement of from other lovely ladies, such as many of yourselves).

That being said, this changes nothing. If you want to buy yourselves a pretty dress or something, hey, great. If you don't? The ad itself is pretty.

I just thought y'all should know.

PS - Ohmigod, y'all, there's a whole Academia collection! Time to go work on that course proposal...

How I wore it: show-off

Last night was a very important night in the Boots household: our first social event (not hosted by us)! My job was having an end-of-winter party (despite the fact that it had snowed on both Wednesday and Thursday. For the first time in months.), so I decided to sling on some contacts, put on some cute clothes (and boots!), pack up the baby (and husband), and go to a partay!

While I was happy with the outfit I'd created, I wasn't sooooooo thrilled with the execution:

I felt weird and overly formal, although I did fit in fine with the other attendees. I think that wearing comfy PJ and yoga pants have gotten me unused to wearing fitted clothes again. The issue is the same as always - while I'm not too unhappy with the number on the scale, the weight distribution (on tummy, hips, etc.) makes wearing all my clothes tougher than I'd like. Then again, as my husband says, if the clothes fit, that's enough. Of course, he doesn't have to sit down in an overly tight skirt and show an expanse of generous thigh. 

That being said, it felt pretty nice to get all gussied up, despite my initial discomfort in the tighter-than-usual skirt. My Fluevogs fit like a dream and it felt nice to to be comfortable in my boots again (no more swollen feet/legs!) and whatnot. My husband also liked the outfit. My daughter? Not so impressed...

More natural, less flattering...

Holy God, do I love those boots. 

Anyway, today I'm back in my comfy sweats and maternity jeans, but it was nice to be in society again! Baby Boots acted like a champ and socialized for a little before falling asleep. Good first party!

Black top: H&M, remixed

Black tank (underneath): Old Navy Maternity, remixed

Skirt: Ann Taylor Loft, remixed

Green tights: Gap (remixed?)

Black boots: John Fluevog, remixed