Ugh. Just Ugh.

Worn in June for our last bit of baby shopping – it seriously seems like such a long time ago now. I was hideously uncomfortable by this point – I got some crazy rash on my stomach amid all my stretch marks (turns out it’s a thing that happens to some women in the third trimester and it can be indicative of a pregnancy-related liver issue, which wound up being one of the reasons for my emergency C section) and, alongside just all the other standard 8 months pregnancy stuff, it was driving me totally batty by this point, making a day of diaper and onesie shopping not a fun experience ... the look on my face basically says it all.

jeans: Old Navy / shirt: Old Navy / shoes: Toms / cardigan: Target

Looking Like I'm About To Pop

I will never get over how I could look so giant and pregnant in some things back in June (like this outfit, for example) and relatively not pregnant in other things. Guys, pregnancy is a magical mystery ride full of wacky optical illusions.

leggings: Thyme Maternity / shirt: Old Navy / shawl: ModCloth / necklace: snagged on my last trip to London / sunglasses: Aldo / sandals: Birkenstocks

All the Frills: Drink Service

A few years since acquiring it I remain smitten with this drink service set that I picked up at my local antique mall. And I finally found the perfect coaster set to pair with it. I tell you, I’m really on a roll these days!

Weekend Reading

• This story is from my local paper. I think the person making these calls is less of a “phone scammer” and more of a sexual predator though…
  
• An ode to my beloved Lisa Vanderpump of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
  
• I absolutely love that this incident of a man cutting bangs on a horse devolved into someone calling someone else a “cuntcake.”
  
• The jury selection transcript from that idiot Martin Shkreli’s trial is pretty hilarious.
  
• What happened to this woman in her delivery is basically my worst nightmare.

Innovative

This isn’t actually a maternity dress but it did a pretty decent job in the last month or so of my pregnancy of serving as one – I just bought it a couple sizes larger than I needed and then added a tie from another piece of maternity clothing. Three cheers for moderate innovation!

dress: ModCloth / leggings: Motherhood / necklace: Stella and Dot / boots: Target / jacket: Joseph Ribkoff

Shower Outfit

Worn to my baby shower in early June! I love this so much because it’s sort of like the anti-baby shower outfit. Which basically made it perfect for the occasion.

leggings: ASOS Maternity / shirt: Old Navy / shoes: Spring / jacket: Joseph Ribkoff

All the Frills: One Month Old!

Obviously Eleanor is older now, but I couldn’t resist sharing these photos of her at one month – I mean, how adorable!

Weekend Reading

• I will never tire of adorable things about cats on the internet.
• I’m avoiding talking a lot here about the shit show that’s happening south of the border but this piece is a great read.
• Yeah, I need to start working on my mommy tummy (also, I hate that term … but the struggle is real).  
• This new Disney campaign seems pretty cool.
• Do not click on this link if you get grossed easily. Seriously.

Leopard Woes

I ostensibly stopped in at H&M recently to buy a new pair of maternity nylons in June (they’re cheaper there than just about anywhere else) and totally got mesmerized and drawn into the web of this leopard jacket. I seriously have a leopard problem…

jacket: H&M / leggings: Thyme Maternity / boots: Target / necklace: Stella and Dot / shirt: Old Navy

Comfort First, Part 2

Like the Birkenstocks I featured in my last post, these Toms were also one of the few pairs of shoes that I could comfortably wear back in mid-June. And, honestly, even they were starting to feel really tight by the end of the day. I was compensating somewhat for my misery by wearing this green cardigan (as I’ve remarked a few times here, green is my favourite colour next to black) ... you know, just so that I didn’t look totally grim. Although I think the expression on my face belies that attempt.

leggings: Motherhood / shoes: Toms / cardigan: ModCloth / dress: ModCloth / sunglasses: Aldo

All the Frills: Makeshift Baby Space

So, while we do have a full nursery set up on the second floor of our house (by our bedroom), we fairly quickly realized that, when we were on the main floor (where the kitchen and the TV and the couch are), it was a huge pain to have to keep running up and down the stairs to do diaper changes, get clean blankets and onesies, etc. So we cashed in some accumulated air miles and got this little playpen, change table, crib combo. And because Eleanor doesn’t show much interest in sitting in the fancy vibrating chair we got for her, we’ve been using it as a place to store extra clothes, etc. As you can see from the below photos, it really is the height of glamour over here.

Weekend Reading

• The Atlantic recently ran in interesting piece on the problematic presentation of feminism in Game of Thrones.
  
• The historian taking down an alt-right idiot on Twitter is brilliant. The ending is my favourite part.
  
• I can barely wrap my brain around this horrific news story.
  
• I’m fully obsessed with these AMAZING images.
  
• Some of my favourite Housewives one-liners are here! But some are sadly missing…

Comfort First

These Birkenstocks may not be the most stylish of shoes but I was getting to the point where my feet were swollen and socks were just a nightmare to get on so the sandals became totally necessary in my last few weeks of pregnancy. Comfort first!

leggings: ASOS Maternity / shirt: Old Navy / jacket: Zara / necklace: Simons / sandals: Birkenstocks / sunglasses: Aldo

I Will Never Quit Leopard

Investing in a leopard print maternity dress seemed like the most appropriate thing I could possible do as I entered my third trimester some time ago. I 100% stand by the decision…

dress: ASOS / shoes: thrifted via Value Village / jacket: Joseph Ribkoff / necklace: Jenners / watch: Kenneth Cole / bracelet: Stella and Dot

All the Frills: The Dejected Cats

So my adorable fur babies, Conkers and Penelope, are settling into their new reality of no longer being the only babies in the house. So I wanted to pay them a little extra attention to this week and feature them here…because they truly are pretty adorable.

Weekend Reading

• I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, agonizing, etc about breastfeeding these days…and I’ve learned it’s an incredibly contentious topic. Anyways, I found this article fascinating.
  
• Man, this is an incredible archaeological find.
  
• You’re going to want to read this piece about Salvador Dali’s perfectly preserved mustache.
  
• I have always been fascinated by nineteenth-century death photography.
  
• Pregnancy can be a really frightening and emotionally fraught time – I’m not ashamed to admit that I felt a lot of fear during my pregnancy (and the trauma of my emergency C section was basically all those fears coming true) and when I read this heartbreaking article it drove the point home for me that pregnancy is joyous, but also scary.

Thank God For Casual Fridays

As I sit at home with baby Eleanor, a month into my eight month maternity leave, I'm looking at these photos from June and thinking "thank god for Fridays at work where I had no meetings and could head into the office wearing only relaxed and casual things!"

jeans: Old Navy / shirt: Old Navy / shoes: Toms / sweater: ModCloth / sunglasses: Aldo