33 weeks today
Alabama Chanin X Elizabeth Suzann organic cotton Marlena midi dress (small) | sold out
Birkenstock Birko-flor arizona sandals | purchased secondhand from Slowre
Wearing/Buying
Well, you’ve seen exactly what I’ve been wearing this week! I’m going to try and keep this up for the next few weeks; I love posting outfits and random notes on them everyday. Reminds me of the good old days 😉
I wear this ES X AC dress often at home, and you can see that it has accommodated my belly rather well. It’s very interesting how I’ve reverted back to non-maternity pieces in my last two months when I couldn’t stand them earlier in my pregnancy.
I haven’t bought anything lately and am really trying to hold off until after baby, but am tempted every so often by a maternity/nursing bra. A lot of my bras are too tight and uncomfortable now, and I really prefer to just not wear one at all, but that’s not practical all the time. I do try and layer tank tops sometimes, but it’s getting too hot for that. Ugh. I will probably appreciate having one or two nursing friendly bras though once the time comes and will order some eventually. If it turns out that I can breastfeed successfully.
There are just SO MANY IFs right now. I have a very hard time with IFs….but I think life will be full of them from now on.
Reading/Watching
Another piece on Maxine Bedat’s new sustainable initiative – via Goop.
Choice fatigue and the rise of influencers
Fashion’s Long Hunt for the Perfect Vegan Leather
HBR – Actually Consumers are buying sustainable products
Personal style – Style Wise – inspired by Goblin Shark. I’ll have more to say on this next week, but in the meantime, I’ll just reiterate that I absolutely do NOT believe in “personal style” as it is portrayed on minimalist blogs, etc., nowadays. I strove for that (i.e. jumped on the bandwagon) many years ago when I experimented with minimalism, and building a cohesive neutral-based wardrobe full of items that would last FOREVER (rolls eyes), but it never really felt right to me. It felt contrived and boring. Still does. I’m grateful for having been able to work through my feelings on that and get to the other side though; there are lots of issues surrounding minimalism/consumerism/anxiety/control I needed to address. Now, I just buy/wear whatever I want, wardrobe cohesiveness & “personal style” be damned. I suggest everyone else do the same 😉 It’s more fun this way.
WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITHOUT POLDARK?? Nothing is filling the void right now. Nothing. I am watching Luther, and the Handmaid’s Tale, but I so enjoyed binging on Ross Poldark. LOL. Who am I kidding, it’s a soap opera, but set in the 18th century, so it feels slightly more virtuous.
Doing
Feeling like shit ATM. Sinus pressure/pain is killing me right this second, I can barely hold my head up. I am sitting downstairs in the kitchen watching the baby birds be fed by mamas and papas, which is fun. I especially enjoy watching the baby cardinal; he/she looks so different from the parents – all splotchy, with just a touch of red. And I’ve seen an albino sparrow a couple of times recently – I didn’t even know there was such a thing, but I guess there’s no reason why there wouldn’t be?
Actually, if there are any other bird nerds out there, it’s not albino, it just has leucism because he has some very light coloring. Here’s the difference.
I hope you had a great week and a weekend full of doing what makes you happy.
Grechen, it’s not too soon to get fitted for nursing bras. That was the best, most comfortable thing I did when I was pregnant. I went to Petticoat Fair in Austin, but I’m certain you’ve got something similar where you are. 🙂
Really liking the color of the dress!
Agree about the minimalist blogs…frankly at this point I am more inclined to read dieworkwear.com and other ‘men’ blogs for inspiration. Alas, while I will always love black and gray, I am finding that as I age (hair color and skin tone changes) that incorporating more color is necessary so that I’m not mistaken for the walking dead! Bonus, that I have no desire to be a carbon copy of someone else!
In line with the vegan leather https://www.heddels.com/2019/06/vegan-leather-made-pros-cons/
Have a great weekend!
Just commenting to say that I have owned the Marlena Midi (sold due to it not fitting me as well as I wanted) and stalked photos upon photos of people wearing the dress — all of this occurring since they did their launch. I have to say this one thing: I have never seen it look so good and so flattering on anyone else before! Maybe that’s not the kindest thing to say on the internet, but you just wear it so well! I honestly had no idea it was the marlena and instantly clicked to figure out what dress you were wearing. Rock it!
Can you use a neti pot? with distilled water only. May help with the sinus pressure.
I.LOVE.THAT.DRESS! I wanted it, waited too long to pull the trigger, and now it’s gone. 🙁
But I’ll live. Oh, re:Nursing bras…you might change sizes after you have the baby. I found that my boobs grew to be giant milk factories, and I’m a charter member of the Itty Bitty Titty Club!
Poldark…virtuous until Ross takes his shirt off…and I start thinking all sorts of thoughts. Haha. Speaking of which, I’ve been watching Outlander, which goes from good to “jump the shark” and back again. Jamie is one seriously HOT Scott. And he and Claire have serious chemistry on-screen. I’m excited for the return of Endeavour on PBS. And searching for another British or Scandinavian police procedural in the dark and moody vein. Another Broadchurch, or Shetland, or Hinterlands.
I never comment here but I just have to say that I so totally agree on what you are saying regarding personal style!
I have been very into getting a personal style following certain guidelines and it did help me to get more clear what I like to wear and what not.
But I also feel that it can be overwhelming and restictive and I’m now in a state that I just don’t want to buy anything anymore because I’m afraid to make the wrong choice LOL.
So I need to be more relaxed and just buy what I love without over analyzing it.
What a pretty dress on you! I just stumbled on your blog don’t even know how, mysteries of the internet I guess. I love it though. I’m a huge fan of James Perse, actually wearing one of my favourite long jersey tanks now :). I used to love the minimal look of black and white and grey all over but it does get boring. I get more colorful the older I get, I guess.
You’re in the final stretch of your pregnancy- yay! I had bad sinuses during my pregnancies too, I still remember, even though my babies are 14 and 19 now LOL. And about nursing bras … I got HUGE while I was nursing, much bigger than I thought possible, so you may be surprised as well! I’m a planner too, but yes, the world of IFs gets bigger (but so do the unplanned possibilities )
Re personal style and minimalism: If one is lucky, including affluent enough, one wears what one loves. What one loves involves how it fits, how one feels wearing it, how functional and comfortable, how well designed to suit one’s needs and body, the color and fabrication, etc. The wearing of these well-loved clothes creates a pattern, a daily and seasonal rhythm, and from that evolves personal style as part of one’s identity.
Imposing a style from the outside, aka officially internet sanctioned minimalism (TM) feels coercive, whereas voluntarily wearing a kind of dress indicative of ones communal identity is a quite different kettle of fish. There are so many ways to dress simply and to pare down the size of one’s wardrobe without giving up fun and color.