I'm Sorry, What Tribe Are You From?

"Tribal" and "aztec" prints have been hot for a while now, and while I'm a fan, all I can think of when I see these patterns is that scene from Sunny where Mac talks about his tribal tattoos...silly.  Anyway, I've been looking for an easy breezy summer dress in a fun print.  This one, from Parker, was on sale at Saks and I wore it to my birthday dinner the other night at Coquette.  I love that it's a mixed print and it's a great length, even for a shortie like me.  I'll probably wear it all summer long with chunky heels or wedges, and into the fall, paired with a jacket.

Hot Pants

I'm a big fan of bright pants.  I think they're fun and easy to style.  I dig the skinny crop fits, mainly because for me, crop = regular length.  I picked these up while my mom was in town this past week - a bright blue denim pair by Calvin Klein:

And  these coral ones from the Gap:

Also thinking about a mint pair, like these, from BlankNYC - I recently got some regular skinnies from the brand and I am obsessed with them.

New Fave

It's official - Mother's Day is my new favorite holiday.  And it certainly helps that classes are finished, I'm almost completely wrapped up with clients, and am on the verge of spending an entire summer focused on my own research and professional development.  Side note -- I'm going to a structural equation modeling workshop at UNC, fondly known as  stat camp.  I'm pretty jazzed...and I miiiiight have just found a direction in which to go for my dissertation.  More later.  Maybe.  Anyway, I had the most perfect day.  Breakfast at Slim Goodies (favorite breakfast diner) with my men, intense morning Pure Barre class, biked into the quarter with my sister in law, bought a birthday dress from Anthropologie (below), and spent the rest of the evening sipping a happy hour frappaccino while weeding out my closet - successfully extracted a whole box worth of clothes.  All the while, my awesome husband got our house together so it looks fantastic for my MOM who comes TOMORROW!  In sum, despite the dark cloud of our lagging renovation that constantly looms over my little family's heads, I am reminded today of how awesome I have it.  And the best part of it was this picture gift from B.  Henry is truly the boy version of me.  Mad love to all the mommies out there.  I love this holiday.

Baby Foodie

Henry recently made his foray into big boyhood by starting solids.  I was pretty stressed about the this before he started - I'm a pretty methodical person and tend to approach things very deliberately.  I knew I wanted to make his food, so solids just sounded like one more complicated thing in our lives.  Up until about 6 months of age, Henry had never eaten anything but breastmilk.  And while that was and continues to be a huge feat in and of itself, there was some simplicity to it - all my baby ever needed was me.  No formula, not even any water.  The idea of making purees and buying baby food was intimidating at first, because they say you're supposed to only expose baby to stuff for three days to make sure there are no allergies, but also give them lots of new tastes and blah blah blah....But now that I'm in the thick of it, I can safely say feeding Henry solids has been super fun.  I haven't baked anything significant in about a year, so making my baby food in large batches and freezing it has appealed to a creative cooking side of me that hasn't made an appearance in quite a while.  Below are some essentials.

You could buy one of those all-in-one baby food makers, or you can use stuff you have around your house.  I've done the latter.  A steaming device is essential.  I have both a microwave steamer and a foldout one, shown below.

I am obsessed with my Cuisinart Smart Stick.  It's great for emulsifying everything, and it's even great for smoothies for mom.  I drink a berry smoothie almost every day.  We have a blender and food processor, but I find the Smart Stick so much easier to use because it's little and requires minimal clean-up. 

I know these things look like ice cube trays, but they are even better because you can easily pop out 1-ounce servings of puree.  I usually make a big batch of something, freeze it, then move it to freezer bags.  Henry has a huge supply of sweet potato (below), mango, avocado, and other goodies waiting for him.

I've had a ricer forever and seldom used it before.  But it's great for potatoes and other things that are a bit too tough for the smart stick.

These are my favorite feeding spoons.  I love them because they look very similar to grown-up spoons but have a gummy end to protect Henry's gummy mouth.  By the way, there is nothing cuter than a baby's gummy mouth.  It's ridiculous.

We feed Henry in his Bumbo chair.  My mother in law told me it has been recalled, which I totally didn't know, so we lovingly refer to it as the death chair.  We think Henry is perfectly safe in it while we're sitting with him so we continue to use it.  Plus it has a tray, which is really handy.  I was hoping to not need a high chair until we move to our new house, but I may not be able to wait any longer.

 

Of course there are plenty other things you need to make and serve food to your baby, but these are the things I've found most useful.  Making food is for your kid yourself is cool because you know exaclty what they're getting.  And on days when I don't have time to whip something up, I can always either pop out  some frozen puree or do something simple and no-fuss, like smush a banana or avocado slice.  I know things will get complicated soon when Henry requires a more balanced diet, but we're loving how things are going at this eating stage in his life. And it certainly doesn't hurt that full bellies = better sleep at night.

Dr., Dr.

I absolutely lived in these shoes in middle school.  I had them in burgundy.  I was a big fan of Dr. Martens back then, and apparently, am one now.  Saw these in Lucky mag last month and am obsessed:

 

Seriously, how cute are these?  May not be summer appropriate, but I still love them.  Something to lust after...

Mawwiage, That Bwessed Awwangment.

Love the Princess Bride.  So does a special person in my life who is getting MAWWIED!  And I'm in the wedding party!  Yippee!  I've never been a bridesmaid before!  Never even been in a wedding (except my own).  We get to pick our own dresses and I've already gotten mine.  I've needed an excuse to get a BCBG dress.  Technically this is BCBGeneration, the cheaper version of BCBG, but still.  It was on super sale and although I'm not a fan of chiffon, I'm digging this look.  I worry that the weird rusching makes one boob look bigger than the other but my sister in law (who was with me when we got it) swears it's just the angle.  Excuse the crazy hair and silly baby in the picture.  It was a hectic shopping trip...

I clearly took a blog-cation this past month or so.  And you can't blame me.  It was about that time...that perfect storm of finals, papers and conferences.  The March-April lack of blogging has been my M.O. (or is it m.o.  modus operandi...do you capitalize latin?  Did I even spell that right?)  Throw in a baby who decides to all of a sudden become a rotten sleeper and a house renovation that refuses to get finished and there you go - no blogging.  Which should also communicate to you that I've had no fun this past month.  This isn't entirely accurate, but it pretty much sums things up.  But with the end of school around the corner, I can say pretty confidently that I'm back, baby.  More posts to come.  In the meantime, look at this cute baby. Henry had a great Easter with a visit from one of mommy's super great friends, Drew (aka Tito Jru Jru).  He had so much fun he fell asleep.  That's Henry's M.O./m.o.

Henry at Twenty

My baby is 20 weeks old. And he's changing every day. Granted some of these weekly pictures are at times as many as 10 days apart and not 7, I've done a pretty decent job of taking these wedding table number pics. He's so itty bitty in the first pic. But 20 weeks later he's healthy, happy, and ready for St. Patrick's day with his Dropkick Murphys onesie. He gets the coolest baby award, hands down. And I'm not biased at all.

They See Me Rollin'

Since this video was taken, Henry has risen to new rolling heights.

I'm off to Vancouver for a few days to present my research. Thank God for all the videos I take of little H. I'm going to miss him like crazy.

PB = Post Baby. and Pure Barre.

As I type this, I am sitting in my cluttered living room with a baby sleeping on my lap, articles about dissociation following childhood trauma for my next class lecture strewn around me, a pile of unread Real Simple, Elle, and People Stylewatch magazines in the corner, and a not-quite-finished knitted baby sweater on my table, among many other things.

Life after Henry has been hectic. Being a mom is hard. Being a grad student is hard. Being both is...?? I'd say impossible, but I'm still here, right?

Just keep swimming.

One thing that has totally helped me survive is Pure Barre. I miiiiight be addicted. While I'm not entirely positive I'll ever be able to banish the flab away that settled nicely in the place that Henry called home for nine months, pb has helped me keep my energy and self-esteem up. I'm within 10 lbs of my pre-pregnancy weight. Granted that's a function of weight naturally coming off post-baby and maybe also to breastfeeding (although most moms tell me they were never able to shed the last of their weight until they stopped breastfeeding), it feels good to almost be back to my normal self. Pb is great - workouts involve working your muscles to fatigue using small isolated movements and then stretching them out. You do exercises on the floor as well as using a ballet barre. When I did my first workout I felt like such a slob because I couldn't even make it through the warm-up. I still struggle through the workouts now, but it's a good struggle. I love the burning feeling in my arms, thighs, and "seat," as they say in pb. And I can even almost do a full split now! Pb is uber pricey, but I invested in the Baby Bounce back and New Client specials. Been going 3-4 times a week. Totally worth it. And it helps that the Magazine St. location is about 4 blocks from my house. If you're local and wanna join me one of these days, please do. The first class is free!

The First of Many

I'm working on a little sweater for Henry. I followed the 3 month variation in hopes of getting myself to finish it in time for my little baby to wear it. Look how big he's getting!

I wouldn't exactly call him a chunker but he is putting on weight. The sweater pattern kinda looks like a letterman's jacket, which is why I picked it. And I even checked my gauge which I'm usually too lazy to do. I'm finished with the back and the right side panel. I've got the left side to finish, then both sleeves, and a button placket. I'm trying to get through both sleeves this weekend. Sounds ambitious, but bear in mind this thing is pretty little. This is the year I become a better knitter. And I will do it by making lots of stuff for my little babe.

Booties (Not for Babies)

I've always wanted to get a good pair of booties and have been on the lookout for a pair with the perfect silhouette for months. I finally settled on these from Matt Bernson, on sale at Piperlime. And they are perfect - sexy shape, heel at just the right height, and they somehow slim my ankles. I urge you to go to the Matt Bernson site and read the description. Reminds me why I like his brand so much.

12 in '12

I attempted 11 goals in 2011. I succeeded in four. Granted that I succeeded in a few (and really big ones at that), my progress towards the ones that didn't pan out is downright laughable. Check it--

1.Buy a house
Yeah buddy.
2. Eat more vegetables
Yup - pregnancy and the well-being of your child is good motivation.
3. Weigh one hundred and twenty-something pounds
NO. Oh my lord, no. I went in the opposite direction of one hundred and twenty-something pounds.
4. Floss more
Suprisingly, nope.
5. Sew something significant
Not even close.
6. Propose and defend my thesis
Yes, yes, yes!! Proposed in the second trimester and defended at 39 weeks pregnant.
7. Read more.
Ugh, no.
8. Go to more shows
Nope.
9. Pay off credit card debt Not even close.
10. Wear more makeup I guess. 11. Scuba dive somewhere. Preferably in the Philippines.
Definitely not.

I like this multiple resolution thing, despite my 37% success rate. Shoot for the moon, right? So 12 in '12 it is. And here they are:

1. Floss more.
This remains important.
2. Exercise more.
I at least want to put to use the investments I made while pregnant: 4 months of Pure Barre membership, 4 home DVDs, and 5 yoga classes. None of those things were cheap.
3. Come up with an awesome dissertation idea.
If this can get done in the first half of the year I'll be very, very proud.
4. Go on dates with my husband.
This is muy importante, especially now that we have a little babe.
5. Take more family walks.
These must include Henry AND Gus. The handful we've taken have been so much fun. And they usually involve bubble tea, gelato, and other treats.
6. Make my house beautiful on a budget.
Pinterest will be integral for this one.
7. Spend more on clothes but buy less of them.
This is a tricky one and warrants explanation. I really only love the clothes and shoes and accessories for which I've shelled out a pretty penny. Nicer stuff lasts longer and I'm more proud and excited to wear it. So I'm gonna cut down on the mall shopping, not that I do much in the first place. Don't get me wrong -- I'll still look for deals, but I only want to get higher end stuff from clutch places online, boutiques, and vintage places. There's a great vintage shop around the corner from me (will blog later) that will be my new go-to. I'd just rather have one beautiful dress with a label I love than 4 from Banana Republic and the Gap that I'll wear once each.
8. Take sewing lessons.
Oh, what a sewing failure I am. Luckily, I live across the street from 504stitches. Check her out. Lessons are very reasonably priced and literally steps away.
9. Take a vacation that is not related to a wedding.
We had so many weddings to attend last summer! This left little in the travel budget for a vacation. So we're due.
10. Consign
I have way too many clothes. And I think my feet may have permanently grown. Time for an overhaul.
11. Take more pictures of Henry
We are so bad! We could be worse, but I want to be better. Henry is too cute to be under-documented.
12. Be crafty as hell.
Baby, new house, and having very little money should make this happen.

I Hate Birds

But I'm really feelin' feathers lately. And yes I hate birds - I find them dangerous, creepy, and weird. Anyway, feathers, or rather, interpretations of feathers, have been catching my eye. Take this necklace from Jewelmint, for example:I also like this little headband. Felt feathers - maybe a little too adorable, but still...something to consider.
And finally, this iphone case. Hot.

Nostalgia

My bestie and I were flipping through some old yearbooks today and it only seemed fitting to post about these fun bracelets. Braced-lets, that is. She and I were definitely guilty of getting overly excited about our chosen braces colors. So silly.