Blondies, a baby shower, and a babysitter

Hey there,

It seems I’m not the only one with strong opinions about the ridiculousness that is 50 Shades of Grey   I loved hearing the phrases that irked you.  Feel free to add more!

The title pretty sums up this weekend:

Blondies:

I had plans to meet up with my mommy group at a park on Friday and figured a sweet treat would be welcome.  That and I had to make something for Zach’s work for a certain someone.

Enter: Brown sugar butterscotch blondie bars!

I followed the recipe for Brown sugar chocolate chip bars with some minor changes – butterscotch chips, upped the vanilla, added cinnamon, and baked for closer to 50 minutes. 

These bars were super sweet, but oh so very good.  I had a bit of a fat kid moment when it came to eating the ‘crust’ along the edges – love that part.  And they were a hit amongst friends as well.

A baby shower:

Saturday we were able to take part in a lovely surprise baby shower for one of Zach’s coworkers at his boss’s home.  The surprise went off without a hitch and the mom-to-be was none the wiser.  Success!  I didn’t take any pictures of the amazing food spread (mainly delicious Indian food), but trust me when I say my plates were shamefully large.  Oye. 

I did however snap of pic of my new maxi dress with Zach and Naava’s butt.  Lovely, no?

The dress is Max Studio and the stripes are forest green.  Super comfy and a total steal at Marshalls

A babysitter:

See that person hiding behind bean on a bike?  Yep, that’s his babysitter for the week.  Otherwise known as his Aunt Carly   I think they are both pretty darn excited for some special bonding time and shenanigans. 

How did you spend your weekend?

Maternity Fashion

I had a good weekend, and you?

Friday was nice and low key, but we dug into some healthy tacos to start Friday evening:

Saturday was fan-tas-tic!  I had such fun at one maternity store in Palo Alto, called Mom’s the Word.  I’m in love.  The ladies were fantastic and it was like playing dress up for 2 hours.  Sure, their prices are high, but the quality is worth it and the clothes were all so flattering!

For my shopping excursion, I employed the lessons of my favorite fashion pregnancy book, Bump It Up:

When you are in your first trimester or start of your second and don’t have a really defined bump, Bump It Up recommends wearing empire waists, and flowy tops.  And since you’ve got ta-ta’s draw the focus to them.  That’s exactly what I did in this maxi dress with a deep V-neck, empire waist, and long flowy cotton material that doesn’t hug the mini-bump. 

Bump It Up also recommends bolder accessories, which I’ve done with a large 2.5” pendant necklace, oversize turquoise cocktail ring, and a bigger pink handbag. 

Wedges are the perfect way to add height and elongate the body.

And of course a loose cardi is always nice, especially for those that may be trying to hide a growing bum

All the clothes above are *non-maternity* and can be worn anytime.

Okay, okay, let’s get onto the maternity goods. 

When should you start wearing maternity clothes?  They say when you’re regular clothes start to feel uncomfortable.  If people said this about shoes, I could be getting a new pair every few hours

As great as Bella Bands are, true maternity clothes eventually need to be purchased.  In your first pregnancy, you tend to not show as early, but every body is different (!!!) so you have to do what’s right for you.  I have friends that started wearing them at ~10 weeks and some that didn’t need to until after 7 months!  I wore my first pair of maternity jeans on Friday at 16.5 weeks.  (I still have 5 regular pair of jeans that zip, button, so I’ve been covered.)

Let me show you a glimpse of my piles of goodies

The above items are ALL maternity wear.

In the mix:

• J-Brand skinny leg jeans with stretch pocket panel
• Black pencil skirt with flap to go over belly
• Off-white cardi
• Yellow ruched top that also is good for nursing
• Ingrid and Isabel capris in black
• Long tanks cut on bias (for belly) in black and coral
• Purple v-neck empire dress with tie in back (to adjust for size)
• Dark skinny jeans with stretch top that goes under the growing belly

My biggest tip to those venturing into maternity wear is to go to a higher- end place that will cater to you a bit more and help you find what works.  They know what they are talking about.  Don’t feel pressured to buy anything, but do try on as much as possible.  Maternity clothes on hangers look like poo!  Once on, they are stylin’!

(Oh and please actually invest in some maternity bras.  Just going up a size in a regular bra will not give your girls the support you need – especially since they now weigh approx. 2lbs!)

And here’s another maternity look that I wore on casual Friday:

These photos showcase maternity jeans from Motherhood Maternity, which are much more affordable than some of my other purchases ( at $45) and the hubby said he liked these better than some of my regular jeans!  Go figure.

Paired with a structured military jacket, semi-loose black tee, neutral wedges, a and long necklace.

You can’t really tell they are maternity, but if I lift up my shirt a bit, you can see the skin-colored band:

These puppies are com-fy!  Now I see why some people start wearing maternity clothes so early

Okay and finally I had to invest in a super-fab diaper bag.  I mean, come on, I’m going to be toting this around in lieu of a regular purse for quite some time, so I had better get something sassy, right?

I snagged this Kate Spade diaper bag from Ruelala.com for $200 (originally $400).  I’m actually exciting to tote this around and can use it long after baby.

Phew, that was a long post.  Sorry to overwhelm

If you’ve shopped for maternity clothes, what’s your advice?

Do you have a favorite brand or style of jeans?  Do share!

Shoes-Day!

I still have a case of the “stuffs,” but that isn’t going to stop me from posting a new pair of shoes   I persevere like that

And another piece of good news?  I found a black sandal!  Well not a true sandal in every sense of the word, but definitely more Summer than Winter, so it’s going in the sandal bucket.  I’ll be showing those soon…

I wore these new shoes along with my very first Maxi dress to see my Bestie on Saturday:

As someone who is on the shorter side (5’4.5”), I didn’t really think I could pull of a maxi-dress, but then I said pssht, who cares.  Rather than invest in something super pricey, I went to my ol’ standby, Marshalls, and found this orangey/pink and blue maxi for $20!

You probably want to see the shoes:

They’re FLATS!  And I like them!  Like, actually truly like them.  Since my last pair of Kelly and Katie flats never did wow me and they lost a gemstone, I decide to bite the bullet and find a new pair.  I snagged these Kenneth Cole Unlisted bronze sandals from Endless.com for $20 (originally $40).

Look at just how flat they are..yowsa.  I like how the back strap can slide up and down so you can position it for your foot.  Although, my heels still slipped out a bit.  Overall, a Win!

Have you jumped on the maxi-dress bandwagon? 

Do you own more flats or heels?  I own probably 5 pairs of flats (not including tennis shoes) and maybe 60-ish pairs of heels – you can see which way I fly

 Most importantly, today is my Bestie’s Birthday – Happy Birthday A! XOXO, S

Throw back to Andrea’s Birthday in 2007