Quick update

Hi all -

I haven't disappeared off the face of this earth, although it might so appear. My intentions were good: I still have an outfit shot from (sigh) twelve days ago to post. Winter vacation (and my maternity leave) began. I graded and wrote comments. I've gone Christmas shopping. My family's in town. My husband and I cooked. We packed a hospital bag. I'm past 37 weeks and now just waiting.

So there's been a lot of stuff going on and I haven't been reading blogs or commenting or commenting on my own or even looking at pretty pictures. But I'm around! It's just a little fetus/baby-crazy here and I need to sort of remind myself of my other interests soon...

Hope all of you are well and enjoying your winter holidays! I miss you, Style Nation!

How I wore it: krazy klown

What up, everyone? I would do my weekly apology for not writing more often, but, let's face it, we're all over it. I have exactly one month before my due date. The fact that I'm actually wearing anything other than pajamas is a minor miracle with how motivated I feel.

Thank GOODNESS that it's the last week of classes before winter break (and before my three-month maternity leave! Thank the heavens for private school two-week-long vacations in winter and spring). The kids are not so much motivated and the teachers are desperately trying to keep it together by pretending that we're totally motivated. But there's a chance that I might have investigated whether or not my 'Finding Nemo' DVD can be played in Spanish (it can! That's two classes taken care of!)...

I've been repeating a hell of amount of outfits recently, but today I inadvertently came upon an outfit combination that I actually kind of like. I also combined colors like a boss. Or a crazy person. You decide:

For some reason, this magenta-striped t-shirt seemed to call for my purple cardigan. Which in turned cried out for my amazing technicolor dream scarf. Dudes. Colors AND patterns mixed in the same outfit? I'm like a real fashion blogger! 

(I looked for my multicolored headband, but I couldn't find it. That would've taken this outfit up to an eleven.)

Guys, it's getting to the final countdown (good luck getting that song out of your head now. Just think of Will Arnett and thank me later) and I'm totally ready for it. I feel as if every time I go to my OB/GYN I get something else I have to freak out about (that always turns out to be a false alarm). Thankfully, both the baby and I are totally healthy. But I'm tired, slow, sometimes swollen, and big. Real big. The scale is at a number that it has never been at before, ever. And I know it's so shallow to be concerned about my baby weight, but I'm keeping it real. My other concern is that I'll never get into shape again. I miss running so much, especially with this relatively mild winter, but I just can't imagine building that stamina again. (Again, I know that everything will be fine and these are pretty obnoxious first world problems. Again, trying to keep it honest.)

Also, on another frivolous note? I'm growing out the hair, as you know... any tips? I'm all fluffy and unkempt. Any cute hair accessories you could recommend, people who have grown out their hair? I clearly have become more shallow since 2007, when I last grew it out. I have headbands, clips, and grips. Let's do this.

Scarf: Urban Outfitters, remixed

Purple cardigan: gift from my mom, via Lord and Taylors, remixed

Striped tee: Old Navy Maternity, remixed

Corduroy pants: A Pea in the Pod, remixed

Grey booties (still hate that word): Aldo, remixed

How I wore it: For You Blue (and, um, some other colors)

Dudes, I did not mean to drop off the face of the earth. You know how it is, though, right? You come home all tired and you maybe take a picture and you promise to put it into your computer, but then you have to do some corrections and then "30 Rock" reruns are on Comedy Central and next thing you know, you're falling into bed.

Right?

So that's what's been going on with me...

So on Tuesday of last week, it was November 29th. 2011. Does anyone know why that date might be important to me?

Anyone?

If you guessed that it's because it was the 10th anniversary of George Harrison's death, you got it. I've gone into my all-encompassing love of the Beatles, especially George, before, so I won't go into it. I just wanted to look pretty for it, so I wore a couple of new (and new-to-me) things for it:

Note: I do have a head. I just cut it off, because ... no.

The dress is a hand-me-down from my sister-in-law. And the necklace is the new Tiffany necklace that my parents bought me for completing my Ph.D. As you can see by the sad bandage on my left arm, I went to the doctor that day and EVERYONE mentioned my necklace. And one nurse complimented my boots. I felt like a badass pregnant lady, let me tell you. 

Isn't the maternity dress cute? I thought George would appreciate the paisley patterns. Since I wanted to wear my new necklace, I had all that figured out, but not the earrings. Until I had a "Eureka!" moment:

I know, right? So proud of myself.

Anyway, November came and went, and then December appeared. Here's what I wore yesterday:

Note: I'm not doing goofy "model-posing:" I was straightening out my hair issues. Oh, well.

That dress, which you've seen before, is becoming obscenely short (and let me not get into my issues with SHORT maternity dresses. The hell?!), so I wore it over leggings so that I wouldn't feel weird. I was hoping that my leggings and black socks would incorporate with each other better so that I'd have more of an "opaque tights" look (without actually wearing tights), but you can totally tell. Oh, well. I don't think black and bright red particularly go with this dress, but I still felt kind of cute. Until my husband told me that I reminded him of Minnie Mouse. Oh, well. I did get complimented in the bodega next door to my house (where I was making a totally necessary Cheetos run), so take THAT, husband. No one else made a comparison with Minnie! Whatever, she was a babe.

So, yeah. That's what's been going on. As my wardrobe becomes more and more constricted and I get more and more tired, I can't promise that I'll continue to be fashion-blogging with passion, but I'll keep trying, as much as I can. I've missed you, Style Nation. I apologize for not visiting blogs, leaving comments, or responding to my own comments. I'm still here! Just lazy.

Tuesday, November 29th:

Patterned dress: Motherhood Maternity, handed down by sister-in-law

Boots: Steve Madden, remixed

Necklace: Tiffany

Earrings: Chico's, remixed

Monday, December 5th:

Printed dress: A Pea in the Pod, remixed

Black leggings: Old Navy Maternity, remixed (?)

Red shoes: CL by Laundry, by way of DSW, remixed

New jewelry update

Ugh, short post tonight, y'all. I am TIRED. Coming back to school after a five-day weekend was pretty intense. I swear I saw real fear in my students' eyes when I attempted to teach them something (just as they saw the real fear in mine when I realized I had to teach them ... something).

Anyway, I wore two of the three things I received unexpectedly around Thanksgiving. Here they are:

You get crappy Photo Booth pictures because it's Monday

Here are the earrings my uncle and aunt sent from Buenos Aires. Pretty, no? I love the almost Moorish design of the metal (stainless steel, I believe) and the orange stone in the middle. Super-subtle, super-pretty.

You can see a chain hanging around my neck in the above picture. Because it was hard to get a real picture, I kind of tried to help:

So this is how the pendants look hanging from the necklace. But, as you can see, I'm holding the chain up pretty high. The charms themselves hit at around my belly button. They make an enchanting clinking sound when I walk. As I said before, this isn't really my usual style, but I'm so glad my husband bought me this necklace...

Anyway, I'm off to hit sleepy-time. Another long day tomorrow! And the next day! Until Saturday!

It's good to be a blogger

This has been one of those weeks where I've been really happy about my harmless little blogging habit. For one thing, I met up with my girl Kelly again for tea/pastries. It was such a fun few hours (Baby T was there, too!) and I know that I never would've had the opportunity to meet such a cool lady had it not been for our blogs. Yay for blogging!

Something else kind of nice happened this past week that had to do with blogging and I've been putting off writing about it for fear of not doing it justice. A little over a month ago, a nice lady from eShakti.com contacted me about reviewing a sample garment. We both agreed that it would be a challenge, due to my current condition, but the offer still stood and what can I say - I was curious; I've known about eShakti for a while now and I've never had something custom-made for me except for one salwar-kameez in Pune, so... I was game.

For those of you who don't know, eShakti is an online retailer which believes that every woman has the right to look her best. They offer sizes 0 to 26: you can choose to tweak the garment you choose to be made to your personal measurements (and even change the length of sleeves/hems around, if you so choose!) or you can just get the standard model. Isn't that awesome? I think it's an amazing store.

Now, I mostly drool over their dresses, but I've decided to put that aside until I'm more like my normal figure. I decided to be sensible and go with a cardigan (alas, it's no longer available online, so I can't link to it. Boo!). Well, after procuring a measuring tape for seamstresses, figuring out my measurements, and getting everything sorted, this week, my cardigan finally came and I was thrilled. I do have some reservations, though, but I think that was due to my own carelessness, rather than the company.

Whoah.

Stuff I wasn't too pleased about:

• I'm pretty sure the color was a little more turquoise online. I was slightly disappointed to receive a darker, more generic blue color.
• Some aspects of the cardigan don't seem to match what I remember asking for: I'm pretty sure I requested to have the cardigan made to hip-length. I know I have a long torso, but seeing that picture above, DAMN. That might be the shortest cardigan I own. And at this moment, being pregnant and depending a lot on leggings, this really limits the use I'll get from this. 
• I'm not a huge fan of the "bathrobe" effect that I get when you view me from the side. Again, though, that might be the nature of the 8-month-pregnant beast and most probably not the fault of the awesome company. 

Stuff I'm pleased with:

• The fit is pretty flawless, measuring issues on my part notwithstanding. This picture is the first time I've seen the cardigan from the back and I couldn't be more pleased. Love!
• The fabric is wonderful. It's a soft, subtle fleece that I can see myself enjoying for many years. 
• Contact with the company: the ease of ordering can't be beat, even when asking for a garment made to measure. Every time I had a question, Jennifer (the representative with whom I was in touch) wrote back immediately with patience and grace, even e-mailing me independently when my measurements didn't seem to make sense. Talk about your customer service.

So, although this cardigan wasn't exactly what I envisioned, I still really like it. Its overall look is pretty cute and it'll be a fun challenge to style it. I think I would've had more luck ordering it in a standard size and then making it work for me in my current condition, but at least I know that it'll be roomy enough for me if I ever return to my pre-pregnancy body. I mean, it's really cute, right?

I think that when I get back to a semblance of my old shape, I'll indulge in buying a dress from eShakti. No thoughts yet on whether it will be made to measure or standard size: I'll be a lot more careful with my measurements and my choices if I decide to customize it, but I know I'll get a good quality article of clothing whatever I choose. Thanks for this opportunity, eShakti!

*Note: eShakti.com contacted me to review a sample garment and sent it to me for free in exchange for the review. Apart from the sweater itself, I received no other compensation. 

Thankful and frivolous

People, it just turned midnight here, which means that it's officially Saturday and that my update comes eleven days after my last post. BOO. In my defense, though, a lot has been going on. Has it? Well, maybe a little.

ANYWAYS.

For my American readers, how was your Thanksgiving? Ours was lovely and I'm going to tell you about some of the highlights...

"We have so much to be thankful for," said my mother as we all raised our glasses of wine (or, in my case, ginger ale) to toast our meal. As I looked around the huge dinner table at my five-year-old niece and her four-month-old brother, I couldn't help but agree. My husband and I had had a tough week before Wednesday. Without going into too much detail, we had our first scare last weekend, which turned out to be a total ... I don't know ... false alarm? Well, it turned out to be nothing, either way, but we were fervently grateful that - as far as we know - we're bringing a healthy baby into the world. While I'm usually not one to, y'know, make a list about the things for which I'm thankful on Thanksgiving, this year was extra special.

And it didn't hurt that I got loot.

(Dudes. Can I ever not have a pure emotion tempered by common greed? Probably not.)

On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, the same day that we were told that everything was fine with the baby, my husband and I decided to take a walk, both to allay our cabin fever, but also to take the strain off my achy back, because - for some reason - my spine has decided to raise both its middle fingers to me. We ended up going to a nice neighborhood store which sells delightfully overpriced "cute" things. We bought a couple of onesies and my eye fell on a necklace that is totally not my style. But I loved it. Next thing I knew, my husband had bought it for me.

See? For one thing, it's a long necklace, which ... well, no. I don't really tend to wear those. But I fell weirdly in love with the little golden acorn and the (presumably?) maple leaf, so next thing I knew, the necklace was mine.

I'd planned to wear it during the Thanksgiving festivities the next day, but my necklines conspired against me. Anyway, at my brother's house during the festivities, my mom presented me with some stuff, including an article she had cut out about George Harrison, a magazine from my old university, etc... in a Tiffany bag. Which had a Tiffany box in it. Gleefully curious, I decided to postpone the craziness and pull out another small bag from the bigger bag, which was a gift sent from my aunt and uncle in Buenos Aires by way of my cousin, who had visited New York last month: new earrings!

Lovely, no? I can't wait to wear them out!

And then I decided to open the Tiffany box. And I nearly fell out of the sofa. My parents had remembered a wistful phone call I made a few months ago! 

Folks, meet my Ph.D. diploma. My parents got me this to celebrate me getting my doctorate (finally) in July. Although I'd been planning to ask for a necklace in this style for my 30th birthday, I decided not to because I'm soon gonna be in need of a new computer and I thought that would make a good joint Ph.D./Christmas/birthday present request. But my mom remembered and my parents went out and chose a cute size and model and bought it for me. Another long necklace in a mere 24-hour time span. 

How did I get so lucky?! 

Speaking of luck and Thanksgiving miracles, my husband agreed to show his face on this blog (not that he hadn't agreed before: it just hadn't come up) so that I could highlight a picture of us from yesterday. You'll see some old favorites on my part: leggings? Check. Grey boots? Check. Striped long cardi? Check. Spanish cape? Check.

Check it:

Photo taken by my dad via my husband's iPhone. Sorry for the small size: any bigger and we look blurry.

So in case you wanted to know what I was wearing while squealing over my new gifts, please refer to above. And in case you wanted to know how cute my husband is - well, there you go!

Anyway, my friends, I hope you're all doing well and enjoying your weekends. Lots more to write about in the coming week! 

How I wore it: it ain't easy being green

Last weekend, I received an order from Old Navy (maternity) and was proud of myself for wearing every single item on the same day. Yesterday (Monday) I decided to bust out the more colorful aspect of the order and blind my students' retinas. Check it:

Yay for bright colors and stumpifying jeans/mocs combos! The shirt would've been perfect, had the weather not warmed up again and my classrooms not been RIDICULOUSLY over warm. I sweat through it by the middle of the first block. Don't you love hearing those little details about me?

The other thing I did over the weekend was, as I said in the last entry, to finally get my hair trimmed. I told my hairdresser (Cheryl, my hair guru) that I wanted to grow my hair out, but had no preference over how it grew, as long as it grew. So she kept a lot of length, but got rid of a lot of bulk (and mullet! And cowlicks!). No one outside of my husband noticed except for one shy ninth-grade boy whose voice I rarely hear in Spanish class. Fourteen-year-old boys can be adorable, no? Anyway, I'm thrilled with the haircut and have been feeling much better about myself than I have in the recent past. 

Look at that lack of mullet and cowlicks! Look at those perfectly formed and non-crazily-curling sideburns! Cheryl is indeed a goddess.

Now I must be off. IFC is playing an 'Arrested Development' marathon - it's like they know us!

Hooded green tunic: Old Navy Maternity

Jeans: Maternity America, remixed

Moccasins: Minnetonka,, by way of Lord and Taylor, remixed