Simple gifts

A couple of years ago, when I was working at the crazy school where I had the insane dress code, one of my best buddy colleagues showed up to work wearing a beautiful watch, of a kind I'd never seen before. If I remember correctly, the watch itself was simple, but the strap was wrapped around her wrist a few times and some charms were hanging off it. Although I've worn the same watch since I was eighteen (the simple steel one you see in most of my photos - most recently), I was immediately drawn to the unique style of my friend's watch. I asked her the brand and she told me and I promptly forgot about it.

Fast forward to January or February of this year, while home during maternity leave, I'm on my husband's iPad incessantly (while I nurse Baby Boots) and I stumble across this website. I immediately recognize both the style and the name from my colleague of about two years ago (how could I forget a simple name like 'La Mer'?! Aren't I supposed to be a French teacher?! By the way, I'll be teaching some French this year). I browsed through the entire collection and fell deeply, madly in love with the wrap styles and the ones with the charms and the studs and everything. I can't link to all the watches I love, so I just urge you to go to the site and browse. I'll wait.

Okay?

So anyways, I've always been a one-watch kind of girl, but in late 2010, my godmother gave me a gorgeous Esprit watch which I wear every once in a while and I have no problem alternating it with my usual steel, despite the concerns I wrote about back then. For the past months, I've kind of wanted a new watch that would fit me a little better: I love the white one, but not for every day. I've had the steel Fossil since Christmas of 1999 and I'm a teensy bit over it. However, the idea of even dropping a little bit of money on such an unnecessary purchase gave me pause - I have two perfectly good watches, not to mention a cell phone; I barely wear a watch during my downtime with Baby Boots; what's the point?!

So anyways, yesterday I read my daily e-mail from Gilt Groupe and wouldn't you know it ... La Mer watches were on sale! Bam. Done.

When I get back to the States, I will be the proud owner/wearer of this:

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Choosing a color was difficult. I dithered between pinks, purples, greys, chained models, and black. I asked my husband for help. In the end, he liked this one the best, as the color jumped out at him as something very "me." I liked the fact that the watch face was round, as I tend to prefer that shape over square/rectangular. And, as you can attest, I love teal/turquoise-y notes, so I think this watch will be perfect for punching an outfit up. Also, before I became a full-time teacher, I always wore bracelets, but I find them uncomfortable now because of writing on blackboards (or, in the case of my school, whiteboards) and grading and computers and whatnot [and, as I always wear a watch, having them on my left hand was unacceptable]; now, with this funky watch, I'll still have some wrist decoration! 

I'm very excited. 

From the age of 18 till now (almost, gulp, 31), I've obviously gone from considering watches utilitarian only to also decorative. What side of the fence do you fall on?

How I wore it: baby baptism

Hi, all! Oh, it's nice to be doing this again...

Anyway, although it's just past midnight for me, it's still Monday in my brain. So when I say "yesterday" I mean Sunday. So, yes, "yesterday," we had Baby Boots baptized into the Greek Orthodox church, just like her father (and mother!) before. The only Orthodox baptism I've ever seen has been my own, which doesn't really count, because it wasn't the classic "kid gets baptized" ceremony, but rather "unwilling adult gets dunked." I'm told it's different with babies.

Anyway, the ceremony took place in a convent a few hours north of Athens (road trip!). The convent is dedicated to Saint Nicholas the Younger (I...don't know who he is) and it consists of three nuns. The abbess is pretty much a spiritual advisor to my mother-in-law and she was the first person that my husband and his mother turned to at the very difficult time of Baby Boots' dramatic birth. Some members of the family firmly believe that the baby's continuing good health are all due to the abbess' prayers and the saint's intervention. We thought it only fitting to have her baptism there.

Anyway, I don't want to get too much into the ceremony because I won't do it justice, but the baby behaved like a champ, enjoyed the attention from her relatives, and looked adorable in her baptism outfit. Here she is with her proud father:

Now, THAT is an outfit. It involved: a dress, a cap, socks, shoes, an under-cap (because the baby was smeared with oil), underwear, and a slip (again, the undergarments protected the fancy dress from the oil). As soon as we got photographs and went to a local taverna for lunch, we stripped her down to her underwear layer. It's still Greece in July, after all. Oh, and I'm forgetting the fancy diamond-and-white-gold cross she got, too. FANCY!

I didn't dress up nearly as fancily as my daughter, but I liked my own look, too. My husband was kind enough to snap some pictures of me several hours after the ceremony, when I already looked more than a little disheveled:

That green maxi is one of my Old Navy purchases. It's empire waisted and has a deep V neckline, which is perfect for a nursing mother. The straps are actually braided and knotted in the back, so I bet I could adjust the neckline enough to make the modesty tank top underneath unnecessary. Then again, I don't take chances in church. I even had a little scarf over the whole shebang in order to cover my chestal arena. 

I was very comfortable for the whole day, especially considering that it involved multiple nursing sessions and two long car rides, not to mention standing around in church for about an hour. However, I can't wait to wear this dress again and dress it down for a nice, normal, "hanging out in Greece" look...

He was making me laugh with funny faces. I'm as easily amused as my almost-7-month-old daughter.

Blue nursing tank: Glamourmom, ordered via LactationCare.com

Green maxi dress: Old Navy (online)

Orange sandals: Nine West, remixed

If there's anything I can do...

You know how yesterday I mentioned that I haven't really been online? Well, checking my e-mail, I discovered that you, my lovely readers, have been given an offer from eshakti, a fabulous online boutique that lets you customize many, if not all, of your orders! Although I was late to finding the e-mail offer (it had been sent to me on Friday), it's still valid until July 31st (that's next Tuesday!), so check it out!

If you enter promotional code CH27KZS (not case sensitive) while ordering, you will get 10% off your order! Doesn't that sound fun? The store is having a 40% off sale as we speak and you can use this code on the items on sale, too! While you can use this coupon multiple times, it's not applicable for their overstock category. 


I don't do much clothes shopping for myself these days for a multitude of reasons (still a little self-conscious about my postpartum body, need access to the chestal arena, etc.), but one dress that caught my eye (and it's on sale) is this little number: 

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Droooooool, am I right? I might still buy it... and, despite not being applicable with the coupon, a certain denim maxi I saw in the overstock category (empire waist! Easy nursing access! In a slightly larger version than my pre-baby size so it won't make me feel bad about myself! On sale!). Oh, and I'm in love with every single dress in this category... Damn it, eshakti! Now I want to shop again. 

So, good luck! Have fun!  

Who are you? Who, who? Who, who?

Oh. My. God. Internet, I've missed you so much. Not just you, Style Nation. But all of the internet. My husband and I have been in Greece for almost three whole weeks, but we've only gotten a reliable internet connection as of ... yesterday. This means that I've not updated (duh), read no blogs (I'm literally MONTHS behind on all my favorites), and barely even checked my work e-mail.

Damn.

So, what's new, guys? I'm in Athens. Life is good. The baby is loving all the attention she's getting from her paternal relatives and she also got baptized today.

Some observations from the past few weeks months that might be of worth:

• Baby Boots is eating solids now! It's very exciting. 
• I ordered a bunch of cute clothes from Old Navy that are suitable to nurse in and will even be showing them off on this here "blog" soon, as soon as I remember how to take photos and what a blog is. 
• A few weeks ago, I ran out of my regular black eyeliner and so I went to Sephora and bought what seemed to be the new version of it (also in black, still called Perversion). I freakin' hate it. It's as waterproof as they say and, even with make-up remover (which I never used to use), I end up pulling off a few eyelashes every night in an attempt to get the stuff off. It also burns my eyes like crazy when I put it on, which doesn't seem ideal in a cosmetic that you put near your eyes. Anyone out there got a recommendation for a good, true liquid eyeliner (like the kind with a little brush) in black? With minimal to no burning of the eyes? 
• I can put my hair up! Granted, it takes about a gajillion bobby pins, a little alligator claw pin, and a tiny little elastic (to put up the tiny lock of hair that counts for a "ponytail"), but it's up, all right. 

You have no idea how much it takes to make that hairstyle stay in place. Oh, there's my baby.

Aaaand that's about it. I'll tell y'all about Baby Boots' baptism tomorrow and even SHOW YOU MY OUTFIT! Crazy.