Just Like a Real Housewife

I wish I’d been able to get more wear out of this coat this season but this winter was often just to brutally cold to allow for it. Hopefully we’ll have an extended fall this weather and I can wear it a lot – I love it so and feel like a Real Housewife of New Jersey in it, and that’s a truly priceless feeling.

pants: Simon / shirt: Target / sweater: Zara / jacket: Simons / necklace: Stella and Dot / shoes: Aldo

Spring!

It’s not quite fully light out when I leave for work in the morning now, but it’s getting close – and it’s light enough outside that I can snap a few photos before jumping in the car. So it’s official, spring is here!

dress: Simons / jacket: H&M / booties: Aldo

All the Frills: Another Day, Another Cape

I invested in another cape. Sigh. At this point, if you sell capes, just let me know and basically all my money is yours.

Weekend Reading:

• I love that people are working to end the whitewashing of the past in historical films and tv programs. 
  
• So this show sounds like an utter disaster – but I sure did enjoy this piece about it.
  
• How do we best recover the lost stories of women’s lives?
  
• It’s horrific that someone even needs to construct a database like this.
  
• I love a good vampire panic.
  
• I am obsessed with Lohan Beach House or Lohan Beach Club or whatever the hell it’s called. It’s a very confusing show.

Florals and Me

I am definitely not usually one for florals but something in this dress (probably that it’s basically all black and has a dash of sheer fabric) spoke to me. So here we are…

dress: Simons

Warming

Well, it’s finally light enough in the mornings when I leave for work to get a few photos on the way out – it’s a small victory but a victory nonetheless! I feel like this winter has been a particularly drawn out affair (and normally I really love winter) and it's nice to see both a bit more light and some warmer temperatures.

dress: Calvin Klein / jacket: Simons / shoes: Aldo / necklace: Stella and Dot

All the Frills: Shiny Things Make Everything Better

Late February and early March, when the weather here is still bitterly cold, seem a little bit more bearable when you can be festooned in fake gems – it’s even better when they’re attached to a necklace that you bought in Scotland on one of your best ever trips, so much so that just putting on this necklace makes me happy and wistful and nostalgic (all in perfect proportion).

Weekend Reading:

• What happened to this poor woman is beyond awful, and absolutely points to a bigger issue concerning accessibility.
  
• It’s from last year but this is a form of March Madness I can get behind. And the explanations behind the bracket choices are pretty great. As is its origin story.
  
• This is a great read about a woman who abandoned her academic program to pursue a relationship with JD Salinger and, decades later, returned to it.
  
• I love me some Vanderpump Rules.
  
• Please stop shutting down the ERA. Please. Also, stop being a collaborator, Victoria Cobb.

Necklace, Lost and Found

I lost track of this necklace for a few months (Eleanor was playing in one of my dresser drawers and I had some accessories inside and, needless to say, everything got very shuffled around) and was happy to rediscover it the other day. I love adding it to an otherwise all black (well, with a hint of white, in fairness) outside for a dash of neon.

sweater: ModCloth / shirt: Old Navy / leggings: ASOS / necklace: Target

Is It Really Getting Warmer?

Work continues to be mad for me these days but, on the plus side, we’re finally coming out of the extreme cold weather we’ve had for the past few weeks and it was a balmy -17 degrees when these photos were taken. I love this dress for winter – I’m wearing a jacket so it’s not easy to tell but it has long sleeves and a bit of a high neck and is made out of very soft sweater material. It’s perfect for a frigid day.

dress: Simons / jacket: Simons / necklace: Stella and Dot

Staying Warm

Work continues to be mad for me these days but, on the plus side, we’re finally coming out of the extreme cold weather we’ve had for the past few weeks and it was a balmy -19 degrees when these photos were taken. I love this dress for winter – I’m wearing a jacket so it’s not easy to tell but it has long sleeves and a bit of a high neck and is made out of very soft sweater material. It’s perfect for a frigid day, especially when paired with fleece lined tights, which I own like 4 pairs of.

dress: Simons / jacket: Simons / necklace: Stella and Dot

All the Frills: Keeping My House In Order With a Toddler

I think I’ve done a pretty good job of not letting baby stuff take over my main living space too much (my basement is another story). Of course it’s not some great tragedy to have baby stuff all over the place but I wanted to try to preserve my living room and dining room as “adult” spaces, even while knowing that they had to work on a practical level with the reality of having a toddler (I can't believe she's already a toddler!).

Eleanor’s room is all decked out, of course, for her to play in, and the basement is littered with a lot of bigger toys for her, but we’re all home from work and daycare by about 5:30 pm and bedtime is at 7:30 pm and there are meals to cook and cats to feed in that time so the reality is that we mostly still stay in the main floor space and only hang out in her room and the basement when we have longer stretches of time and no other side jobs we’re trying to get done in that time (just not the case during the work week but feasible on the weekends). I think I’ve done pretty well of not letting toys and everything else take over the space: a high chair that’s about as discreet as I can get, a few dedicated book shelves for toys and kid’s books, larger toys tucked neatly in a corner, a toy chest that fits the aesthetic of the room, and the most adorable chair for a kid ever made (and not pictured but essential is a baby gate to keep her penned in this space so I can be in the kitchen cooking and simultaneously have my eyes on her at all times).

Weekend Reading:

• This is a great story about women taking over civic government in the early twentieth century.
  
• An insane instance of road rage.
  
• This piece about Queen Anne’s body is wonderful.
  
• I’m serious about my mac n’ cheese.
  
• As I’ve spoken about here before, breastfeeding was not for me. And I 100% felt judged for that at several points, mostly by nurses during the first few months when we took Eleanor for her various wellness checks but also by a few well-meaning friends. And it gutted me.
  
• Oh what I wouldn’t have given to be at Andy Cohen’s baby shower.