Guest post - Maternity wear as regular wear

Here is the first of some awesome guest posts I have lined up for you guys and it's a very timely subject - Aya of Couturgatory is here with some thoughts on maternity clothes as regular clothes - something I'm thinking about quite a bit now that baby is here, there are a number of items I kind of want to keep wearing because I ended up really like them!  Anyway, Aya is awesome, so I'll turn it over to her!

Hello everyone! I'll be taking the place of your regularly scheduled Bethie the Boo today. My name is Aya, and I thought an in-theme post, as we celebrate the arrival of Baby the Boo, would be styling maternity wear when you are not pregnant.

  I am not nor have I ever been pregnant, but I have a few maternity wear pieces, and I really dig them. Maternity fashion has come a long way, and I love that ladies no longer have to spend pregnant months with nothing pretty to wear.

  Maternity wear is of course made with stretchy fabrics, so they easily fit my broad shoulders, they're designed to drape beautifully over the ever-changing size of a pregnancy, and they're soft.

  I find the ruching often present on the sides of maternity garments to be flattering to the waist, whether you are convex or concave

  Here are some photos of maternity clothes I've styled on my blog:

 

  This is a Liz Lange) for Target maternity dress. That's not a typo, there is a close parenthesis printed on the inside. Fashion people! The asymmetrical draping gives it a Greek goddess feel. To give it a little shape, I added an Audra Jean harness on top.

  Maternity dresses and shirts look great over leggings. I used pinstripe jodhpurs to add some pattern and visual interest. Low heels are a practical footwear choice if one happens to be a new mother. During pregnancy, a women's body releases hormones that looses the connective tissue holding her joints together. Due to this and the increased weight, her feet may widen, and low heels with good arch support can help keep the foot's shape.

 

  This is a Gap maternity shirt. Again, its material is as soft as a sweater, but light and stretchy. It has ruching that lengthens the front slightly in contrast to the sides, which lengthens the torso and is flattering to the waistline. It's a great underlayer under vests, and goes equally well over skinny jeans and skirts. I consider it one of the more versatile layering shirts I own. Oh, and did I mention it's warm? Great for fall. :D

  Thank you for having me over, Bethie's friends! I, like you, am looking forward to her return, and in the meantime, stay tuned for all of the other awesome guest posts that will be shown here.

Inspiration Monday - Birthday Girl

Hello everyone!  It's my birthday!  I'm 32 today. And we had a good weekend of pre-celebrating!  First up though, is Inspiration Monday with two birds.  Today's model is Sienna Miller in the cutest leopard dress ever.  I'm seriously going to look for something like that for post-baby!

My take on the look is pretty laid back - but I do what I can at this state of my pregnancy!  I'm comfortable, so I guess that is good right?

So back to my weekend, I started my day on Saturday with a manicure and pedicure with my bloggy buddy Lori - it was fabulous.  We had bought Living Social deals awhile back and I tell you it was a great deal and I'm so glad I had it done this far into my pregnancy - it was the best treat to have my feet done!  I highly recommend it if any of you ever find yourselves pregnant, do yourself a favor and get a pedicure, seriously.

After that I met back up with my Pants Monkey and we headed off to the fancy theater to see Catching Fire. Worth every penny I swear, the seats were comfy, they had gourmet snacks, Mr. Monkey was able to have some alcohol, no kids, best way to watch a movie!  The movie was fantastic too, maybe even better than the first.  I really can't wait for Mockingjay now even though I've heard rumors they're splitting it into two parts.

Shirt - Oh Mamma!, thrifted

Sweater - Style and Co, consignment

Pants - Liz Lange, consignment

Necklace - S&D

Shoes - Mudd, Kohls 

We finished out our evening on Saturday with dinner at a nice Irish pub near the movie theater.  Sunday we slept in, had a great breakfast at home and then headed out into the frigid, but beautiful day to have our maternity photos done.  I think they're going to be really nice based on the one preview I already saw!  Then we went to Babies R Us to return a few things we got duplicates on and were able to purchase a few items off our registry we hadn't received but really wanted.  Did a late mass with our music group and then more or less crashed!  Good kick off to our birthdays though.  Today after work we're just chilling at home and then tomorrow we'll celebrate both of our birthdays with our families since tomorrow is Mr. Monkey's birthday! We've always shared our birthdays but I wouldn't have it any other way!

For more Inspiration Monday looks, head on over to two birds over here!

The number game

Hello everyone!  We've made it to Hump Day!  We're halfway to that coveted weekend!  And next week is a short one with the Thanksgiving holiday!  We've got this!

So it's really interesting to me the foods that will spike my blood sugars and the ones that don't.  I have to check my blood sugar an hour after every meal for the Gestational Diabetes.  It's all about balancing your carbs - not necessarily the sugar.  And you have to eat SOME carbs.  So, here's an example of how funny I think this is - yesterday for lunch I had a spinach salad with some chicken, a small yogurt and a breadstick.  My number was in range, but on the high side of normal.  For dinner, we had nachos with cheese and meat and well, taco chips of course.  Chips you would think would really be something that would spike me - nope.  My after dinner number was on the low side of normal!  Potatoes and rice spike me.  Pasta does not. With bread it kind of depends.  Sometimes yes, sometimes no.  It's just all big old game, but at least I'm still winning!

Shirt - QT Maternity, consignment

Sweater - swap

Pants - Liz Lange, Target

Shoes - Steve Madden, thrifted

Necklace - Stella and Dot 

I told Mr. Monkey I don't know that I want to test at all on Thanksgiving Day - not only is it going to be a carb heavy meal, we're going to be eating at odd times that day too!  We'll see.  The end of this wackiness is in sight at least!

Improvement

Well hello again!  Thanks for letting me be a crankypants yesterday - today has started off much better.  And yesterday improved as it went on.  Oh the trials of a pregnant woman.  

The biggest bright spot in my day yesterday was getting our tickets in advance to the new Hunger Games movie.  We're going to go on Saturday and treat it as a birthday celebration since we both have birthdays next week.  We're splurging and going to a fancy movie theatre - they have fancy snacks, nice seats and a bar.  How can you beat that?  It's expensive, but it will be worth it!  Probably will be the last movie out we'll get to in awhile too, so might as well go all in!

I really love how this sweater still has tons of room for my expanding bump.  Some of my maternity items are getting a little snug already, but this one I know I can wear pretty much to the day I deliver!  It's so comfy.  And so are these dress pants actually.  I'm pretty much to the point that I'm wearing them to work about once a week I think!  Love them.  I also love that once again, I'm rocking high heels.  And I decided to bring out my favorite thrifted find ever - my patchwork Coach bag.  I thought the colors were screaming Fall, so it was time to pull it out of storage.  Just goes to show you never know what you'll find at the Goodwill!

 Sweater - Oh Baby, consignment

Pants - Liz Lange, consignment

Jewelry - Stella and Dot

Bag - Coach, thrifted

Shoes - Merona, thrifted

Also helping my mood yesterday was Mr. Monkey and myself getting a bunch more done off of our checklist for baby, every little thing we take care of makes me feel good!

Inspiration Monday - SO a Monday

Well.  It's SO a Monday today you guys.  It's not even 9:00 yet and I managed to spill the old coffee grounds from our coffee pot at work all over the bathroom floor here.  And I somehow misplaced my camera, so today's outfit is photographed with the self timer on my iPhone.  Let's hope this day starts to turn around!

It is Inspiration Monday with two birds and today we have Miranda Kerr in a skirt I wouldn't be caught dead in at this stage of my pregnancy - but I like what I did manage to pull together.

Bad lighting for the photos, but otherwise I really do adore this outfit.  It was a chore getting it all put together I tell you - the Pants Monkey was laughing at me this morning as I struggled into my leggings and boots.  But I made it work!!

White shirt - swap

Blazer - b. a resale shop

Skirt - Liz Lange, thrifted

Leggings - Steve Madden, via DSW

Boots - from mom

Buttonflower - MMD

Earrings - S&D
Necklace - gift from friend 

In spite of my whining about Monday, we did have a good weekend.  Our music group threw us a shower and we got another bigger ticket item crossed off of our list so that made me happy.  We also went to a car seat install clinic, so now I feel like the car seat will be safe and secure.  We also managed to have some lazy time with breakfast on Sunday and dinner on Sunday night, so that was good too!

But now it is Monday and I just hope that the way the morning started isn't an indicator of the entire day!  It's early yet though, there's plenty of time to turn this ship around right?  Optimism!!

For more Inspiration Monday outfits, head on over to two birds over here.

One month to go

I love everything about my outfit today.  It's comfy, everything fits.  It's cozy, it's keeping me warm.  And I still can't get enough mint, so I'm happy to have minty colored items that actually fit.  Oh AND I'm rocking some heels today.  Yep, you heard it.  My due date is one month from today and I am rocking heels.  And they're not even that uncomfortable!

 Mint shirt - Liz Lange, consignment

Sweater - swap

Pants - Liz Lange, consignment

Necklace - S&D

Shoes - Eitenne Aigner, thrifted

It's crazy to believe in one month (or more...or less...eek!) we will have our little guy here.  There is still much to be done, but I think we'll be ready.  I have had waves of panic, but also waves of calm.  I just ride each of them as they come!  The Pants Monkey said it best the other night "If he came tomorrow, we'd be ready.  If he goes past his due date, we'll still never be ready."  And he's right.  So, I'm just going to enjoy this last month as much as I can, because while it's hard to believe at some points, I may miss this time when it's over!

Koi

It's Koi day for the Pantone Fall Color Challenge - which as I said yesterday I actually struggled with a bit, but I made it work!  I had a 25% off deal on Cartwheel for one Liz Lange maternity item from Target, so I bought this cute maroon and orange polka dot t-shirt last night - which you totally can't see the polka dots, though I got a close up in a picture further down.  Then I pulled out this fun scarf I picked up at the two birds garage sale last year.  Added a warm sweater from the swap this weekend because it is chilly and it slushed outside this morning and I'm good to go!

I really do love orange hues, I don't know what it is.  I have said time and again it never used to be my favorite color, but in the last two years I've really grown to love it and find myself grabbing more and more of it!  It is definitely perking up a gray day today!

 T-shirt - Liz Lange, Target
Sweater - swap
Pants - Liz Lange, Target 
Scarf - two birds garage sale
Shoes - Steve Madden, thrifted

You still can't see the dots real well when I take off the sweater.  So, I took a looking down at my bump shot and then you can see the dots.  And you can now see what I see when I look down.  I can still see my feet if I lean over the bump a bit more, but to look straight down, they're definitely gone!

What do you think about orange?  What is your favorite color for Fall?

Make sure you check out Heidi's blog today for more Pantone Inspired outfits!  Click the link below!

Would rather be brunching

This entire outfit is courtesy of the Just Between Friends consignment sale I went to with my mom a couple of weeks ago.  I bought plenty of stuff for the baby too, trust me, but the prices were pretty darn good on maternity stuff too!  If you're a mom and you've never checked out one of those sales (they're all over the US from what I understand) look it up and head to the next one in your area - I still can't believe all the things I got for only $30.

My doctor appointment went really well yesterday.  The doctor we met was lovely!  I am happy to know there is more than one in the practice that I like enough if they're the one there on the day.  I had to laugh too, she complimented my outfit (the one pictured here, I wore it yesterday) and asked if we had plans other than going to work. She said "oh you should go out to breakfast, you just look so nice!"  Made me smile.

Sweater - Motherhood, consignment

Pants - Liz Lange, consignment

Necklace - Stella and Dot

Shoes - Mudd, Kohls 

And of course, it's Wednesday, my one busy day of the week, so I better dive into it.  Make it a great day everyone!!

Doctor, doctor, give me the news

Man, I really need to get back to taking my pictures at home again you guys.  I am failing at this photography thing lately!  This is an outfit from last week and I tried several different spots in my office and it just wasn't working great!  Sigh.  Also, I'll try to get back into the habit of jewelry close ups again, had some requests for that yesterday.  Again, this outfit is from last week though, so what you get is what you get for today!

Anyway, I pre-planned this post, I have a routine OB appt today that is at a later time than I usually take. Because the practice I go to has several OB's on staff, they encourage you to at least meet everyone once because any one of them could be the one that's there for you on the big day.  So while I have a doctor I like there quite a bit, it was time to start spreading it out a bit and meeting others as well.  There is one doc I really do not want at all, he put the fear of God into us months ago at our first appointment when he couldn't find the heartbeat and while I appreciated him being proactive about it, the alarmist approach was not appreciated.  So I'm really hoping he won't be the one on call that day!!

Shirt - Oh Mamma, thrifted

Pants - Liz Lange, consignment
Necklace - DIY by me

Overall the staff at my clinic is really great, I can't stress how important it is to be comfortable with where you're going when you're pregnant - in order for me to do that, I actually chose a practice that isn't the health practice I work for.  I just figured it would be awkward and uncomfortable to be having those kinds of exams by people I talk to on the phone for facility type issues!  So while I think it's good to support your own business, it's also important to protect your own privacy too!

I swear I am awake

Good morning friends!  Back at it on a Monday.  I look sleepier in these pictures than I am - I blame allergies.  I actually was quite rested this weekend even if it was a hair on the busy side!  It's been nice and cool at night and that really aids in sleeping I've found!

Saturday I went to the baby/kid/maternity/etc consignment sale with my mom.  We got to the sale right about the time it opened.  I tell you - I got a few more items for myself to get through the rest of the pregnancy into winter - but I also got a bunch of outfits for baby boy and the stuff was SO cheap!  There will be another one of these sales in my area about three weeks before my due date and I think if I'm up to it I might have to go back!

Pink shirt - Ruff Hewn from friend

Gray shirt - Liz Lange, consignment

Skirt - Old Navy

Shoes - Rampage, DSW

Necklace - Maurices 

Sunday I had my first baby shower with my mom's family - it was really nice.  It was a rainy cool day so there was no better way to spend the time honestly!  And we got some really nice stuff for our little man, including the stroller we wanted and lots of clothes - in varying sizes which is awesome.  I was worried we get all newborn things, but we have stuff that may take us up through the first year.  One of my cousins was also sweet enough to get a couple of things for me - some nice pajamas for after.  She worked in OB for years though, so I guess she gets it!  Overall it was a nice weekend!  How was your weekend?

29 and feeling fine

Happy Friday!! It's so nice that it's finally here!  Been having a hectic morning but things seem to be settling down now!  I have so much more to do in the morning now that I'm checking my blood sugar and also I have to make sure to pack myself snacks and all that fun stuff.  It's just crazy.  I know it will all become routine fairly soon though!

The class went well yesterday and so far so good, my following the diet is working well so far, my numbers have been in range.  And I've always said knowledge is power - so I'm glad to know about this stuff and how to control it!

Tank top - Mossimo, Target

Cardigan - Camy Couture

Jean skirt - Liz Lange, consignment

Sandals - Mootsie Tootsie, from cousin

Necklace - Clothes Mentor 

I've been wanting to wear this outfit for awhile now, I had this idea in my head over a month ago, but every time I'd think about wearing it then it would get chilly for a couple of days.  Today we're having a last hurrah of summer, so I figured it was a good day to finally give it a go.  I'd totally do this again not pregnant with a regular jean skirt instead of a maternity one!

29 week bump shot for you all!  I feel like he grew quite a bit this week.  My app tells me I'm under 80 days now which sounds like not all that much, but then when I say I still have 11 weeks that sounds a little better.  I can get a lot done in 11 weeks!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Mintstripes

Instead of "pinstripes" I'm wearing "mintstripes".  Get it?  Ok, weak attempt at humor.  I'm tired today.  Darn pregnancy insomnia.  And external noises keeping me awake.  There were a bunch of sirens in our neighborhood around 4 in the morning or so.  Fun!

I got artistic with my bad self again last night.  My sister in law had a Groupon for one of those "paint your own pottery" places.  We had done that kind of thing on a trip to Maine many years ago now and always wanted to do it again.  This deal gave us the perfect opportunity to finally do it.  I picked a travel coffee mug and I'm pretty excited about how it turned out!  They had all sorts of cute things for holidays or your kitchen or just cute things you could put in your home.  I'd like to go back sometime!

Shirt and pants - Liz Lange, Target

Necklace - S&D

Shoes - Italian Shoe Maker, from cousin 

After we finished painting, we wandered about some shops that were nearby the pottery place and were open.  Namely several baby/kid stores that were crazy expensive.  It was fun to dream I could afford some of that stuff for this little guy but yeah, kind of ridiculous.  Although this one store had a bunch of local stuff that was kind of cute!  Oh well.  In about a week to 10 days I will have a very cute travel coffee mug, so I look forward to that!

Girly fun and TV stuff

So I mentioned yesterday that over the weekend I had a girls night with my blogging buddies Lori and Cambria.  We had a good old girlie time complete with snacking, chatting, makeovers and an insane YouTube marathon.  The fantastic Lori was kind enough to do my makeup - the iPhone picture isn't of the greatest quality, but I thought she did a pretty fantastic job.  She's going to go makeup shopping with me in the near future and give me good suggestions to improve my skills!

Anyway, I always have a blast with these gals  - there is always a ton of laughter.  They just make me smile so much - I'm so thankful that we were introduced via blogging and now I consider them more than just blog friends, they're friends.  Period.  Check out Lori's recap over here as well - better pictures of my makeover! Thanks again Lori and Cambria for a fun night and for just being awesome!

Alas that was Saturday and we're well into the week now.  It's Tuesday and I get to take my glucose screening test today.  Joy of joys.  I'm not nervous about it, it's more a hassle than anything else.  At least I have a couple of good books to read while I'm waiting for an hour!

I'm excited because the Fall TV season is slowly starting up this week.  I can't wait for new New Girl episodes! I'm also excited about the Emmys this weekend.  I'm such an award show nerd.

Shirt - Liz Lange, thrifted

Pants - Liz Lange, consignment

Necklace & Bracelet - S&D

Shoes - Mossimo, thrifted 

Some of our other favorite shows from this summer are starting to wrap up - a couple of them for good.  I have been disappointed in Dexter, so I'm not sad about that one.  But Breaking Bad.  OMG.  I cannot breathe after this week's episode.  I swear that show gets more stressful by the week.  And yet, I'm going to kind of miss it!  It's just so well done.  Uffda.  Any shows you are excited about?  Any new ones you plan to check out?

Inspiration Monday - Not so bad

Hello everyone!  Did you all have good weekends?  As busy as mine was it was actually pretty decent all things considered. I almost feel like Monday is a welcome break though!!

I'm back at Inspiration Monday with two birds this week, though my look is a pretty loose interpretation once again.  Here we have Michelle Dockery from Dowton Abbey, a show I have yet to actually watch but do plan to when I finish some of the other series I've been working on like The Sopranos and Veronica Mars.  Might go on my watch list for my maternity leave for those rare moments that my child actually sleeps or maybe I'll stream it during late night feedings!

I do adore this simple look, I chose a lighter colored shirt and slightly longer skirt.  I did try to tuck it in but it didn't quite look right.  At any rate, I adore my mint top!  Also, I totally wore this outfit last week - today it's going to be crazy hot again, so this would have been way too warm!

Shirt - Liz Lange, consignment

Skirt - Hang Ten, from friend

Necklace - Stella and Dot

Shoes - Rampage, DSW 

So I have to say, even with our busy weekend we were able to be mildly productive.  We got some good work done on the baby's room.  No, not decorating yet.  You may recall that I've said in the past that our second bedroom used to act as a giant walk in closet for yours truly.  Our garage sale helped a bit with that, but there was still a lot of other stuff.  One thing I really wanted to keep was this hanging rack that I put all my jackets and blazers on.  We did some consolidation in our own bedroom and then were able to get that hanging rack into our room.  And it isn't even overcrowded or anything!  Back in the baby's room we were able to put a bookcase for the baby where the hanging rack once was.  So, I feel like we're making progress!  Slowly but surely!

Other than that we had a pretty full schedule with our music group, but we did manage a movie night on Saturday evening and a nice lunch out on Sunday in between all of that.  So in the end, it wasn't as bad of a weekend as I thought it could have been!

For more Inspiration Monday looks check out two birds over here.