Sunday Fun at the Park!

Today Meg from Meg O. On the Go, Michelle from The Vintage Apple and Magen from MMM Style and I all met up at the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center.  The ladies had their little ones in tow and it was so fun to see them all---especially Michelle's little three and a half month old baby since I'm expecting so soon! 

Here's a shot of the three of us (Magen was running after her adorable twin girls!):

The dress I'm wearing is new---from Forever 21 and super affordable. I saw it in the "maxi dress" section on Forever 21's website last week and then I remembered that Kristen had mentioned it in her "recent spring purchases" post. So yes, this is the second dress of hers I've copied ;) what can I say? She's got great taste!

Dress- Forever 21; Necklace- Stella & Dot c/o; Sweater- Zara (old); Shoes- Reef

The dress was a steal at $15.80---though I wish the chest part was a little more fitted. I think it's a little too loose, but it's a comfy dress and such a great color that I looked past the fit of the top. These days comfort is king. I also think it would also look super cute with wedges---but since we were walking a lot I decided against it. I purchased a size medium. I'm not sure if a small would have fit in the bottom part but the top might have worked better. 

Thank you for all of the sweet comments on my baby shower post!  It was such a fun day :) This upcoming week is pretty busy. My husband and I are going to the Sigur Ros concert on Tuesday evening (one of our favorite bands) and then my friend Heather is flying into Houston on Thursday and we have a girls spa day planned Friday.  I can't wait to relax and catch up with her.  Then Saturday is my baby shower hosted by Candice for my friends. I am one lucky gal, definitely feeling the love!

Wishing everyone a happy Sunday! :)

First Baby Shower!

Words can't express how blessed I'm feeling today.  My mother-in-law's friends hosted a beautiful baby shower for me and I'm feeling so grateful for all of the incredible love and support we've received as we celebrated our impending bundle of joy.

(The entire party!)

I was so lucky to find the perfect baby shower dress---but I can't take credit for it at all---the beautiful Kristen over at Love, Lipstick and Pearls (we are a week apart in our pregnancies!) wore it to her baby shower and when I saw how beautiful it was I knew I had to get it!

Kristen shared with me that she got the dress on Zappos.com---it's the Gabriella Rocha Hally dress in "mint" (buy it here).  It is the most comfortable dress ever! I had been searching for a long time for a dress to wear to my baby shower since I had ordered one from Forever21 but was disappointed that half of the bottom of the dress was sheer.  I absolutely love the simple style and fit of the Gabriella Rocha dress.  I purchased it in two sizes---small and medium and tried them both on when they arrived just two days later (Zappos has the BEST shipping ever).  I stuck with the size small, which is what I would have purchased pre-pregnancy.  I found that the medium had a lot of extra fabric in the back that was just gathering and bunching on me.  I think this dress will fit great post-pregnancy too and I'm considering purchasing it in a second color when I send back the size medium. So size-wise, I would say it fits TTS for anyone contemplating a purchase.  It's super stretchy too, which is a bonus for anyone with a larger chest.

(Before we left the house)

I finally wore these gorgeous J.Crew earrings. I had been wanting to save them for a special occasion and they went perfectly with my mint green dress.  I kinda want to wear them everyday...ha!

(with my mother-in-law before heading to the shower)

The baby shower was so much fun---it was nice to catch up with a lot of the ladies I hadn't seen in awhile and just to share excitement about the baby.  It was also great to get tips from everyone---a lot of the ladies care for their young grandchildren all of the time so it's great to hear their feedback about the best products for baby as well as their parenting wisdom!

(the sweetest idea---the ladies got this for my mother-in-law as 

a "grandma-to-be" essentials kit!)

Towards the end of the shower, my husband came to the house to say hello and thank all of the ladies for their generosity.  Once the guests had left, we took a few photos by the pool since we realized we hardly had any photos together where I'm pregnant.

...and then I took a few with Candice since she and I literally don't have even one photo together during my pregnancy! I love these photos! Such beautiful scenery...

...and here's a group shot of the three shower hostesses, me, MIL and Candice:

When we got home, we opened the trunk of our car and wow...

We just feel really thankful and blessed.  I've already unpacked most of the items in the nursery and some of the bigger items (like the swing, bouncer and pack n' play) will stay in their boxes for the next few weeks as we finish the nursery and figure out a place for everything.

Next weekend Candice is hosting my second shower for my friends and I can't wait! I also can't believe there are just seven and a half weeks left until we meet our baby girl...

Thank you for reading and hope you're having an amazing weekend!

Recent Outfits

I'm not going to lie, I pretty much wear my GAP maternity skinnies everyday.  I was starting to get back into wearing dresses and then another cold front hit and I just gave up. These days, I just wear what's comfortable (and warm!) and these pants have made dressing for pregnancy easy.  They go with almost everything, they fit great and they're super comfy. I've been wearing them since second tri and couldn't rave more about them.  They're not as fun and exciting as a brightly colored or printed skirt, but they get the job done and with just two months left in my pregnancy, buying maternity clothes isn't high on my priority list (though I'd love these pants in pretty much every color, they aren't available). 

These are a few of my recent outfits:

GAP pants, Kate Spade shoes, Liz Lange for Target maternity tank, Aritzia blazer

 Forever 21 necklace (I extended the length with another chain)

GAP pants, Tory Burch Reva flats, Old Navy chambray shirt (in tall), 

Artizia blazer, T&J designs necklace (c/o)

GAP pants, Zara flats, Forever 21 v-neck tee, Banana Republic cardigan, 

Stella & Dot necklace (c/o)

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend!

Ruched

I've talked about this in my weekly pregnancy updates, but aside from pants, I haven't been wearing a lot of maternity clothes.  I'm fortunate to have a lot of looser tops in my existing wardrobe so a lot of the outfits I'm posting aren't anything new if you've been reading my blog for awhile---they just fit differently now because of my shape and it's fun to document that.

I think during a first pregnancy buying maternity clothes can be very exciting.  I've definitely checked out Motherhood Maternity, A Pea in the Pod and GAP's maternity selections, but the truth is, I didn't really want to spend a ton of money buying new clothes that I would only wear for a short period of time.

I actually know several bloggers who also transitioned a lot of their existing wardrobe into their maternity wear, so it was fun to follow their pregnancies and see how they were styling some of the items that they wore pre-pregnancy. 

Obviously I'll eventually get to the point where I will need maternity clothes, so I realize that I'll have to transition into the pieces my co-worker generously passed along to me, but until then, I've been enjoying experimenting with the pieces already in my closet.

One of those pieces is this dress I got at Banana Republic.  I actually purchased it early into my pregnancy anticipating that I'd be able to wear it as my belly grows because it has this great ruching and is super stretchy---and long---which is key when your belly makes everything shorter.

It's such a simple piece and I've enjoyed wearing it through all three trimesters.

Dress- Banana Republic (similar, under $40) |  Necklace- Stella & Dot c/o (similar, similar) | Shoes- Zara (older)

How long were you able to extend your existing wardrobe during your pregnancy? Leave me a comment below!

Dots for Spring

After months (and months) of wearing pretty much exclusively pants, I was so happy to finally slip into one of my favorite dresses.  Getting dressed in the morning for work these days is kind of an adventure because I never quite know how things will fit since there are pieces I haven't worn in quite some time.

I was happy that this J.Crew silk dress still had enough give to accommodate my new shape. I think it has maybe a few more weeks left to it before I have to move on to stretchier dresses so I'm taking advantage while I still can!

Dress- J.Crew (similar, love this too) | Belt- J.Crew (similar)| Shoes- Kate Spade (similar) | Cardigan- Zara (similar) |Necklace- overstock.com 

Hope your week is off to a great start!

91 Degrees

...is what the temperature reader in my car said when I was driving home from work.  I've been wishing for warmer weather, so I certainly got what I asked for!

I know I've been a horrible style blogger lately and I truly apologize to those of you who come to my blog just for that content. I know not all of my readers are interested in following my pregnancy updates and you're really here just to see the outfits---so I'm trying to get back on track with them now that we have more daylight to work with and my husband can snap some quick shots when I get home from work (thank you, H!)

Needless to say, today's outfit was not the best choice for a 91 degree day.  Fortunately the heat wave didn't hit me until I left work for the day.

Blouse- J.Crew (similar, love this polka dot version for spring!)

Blazer- Gibson (similar)

Pants- GAP really skinny maternity (buy here)

Shoes- Ivanka Trump (similar, nearly identical for $25)

Necklace- Banana Republic (similar)

After we snapped my outfit photos we took Lulu for a nice long walk---I haven't worn shorts in 6 months so it was fun to see how big my belly was wearing something so fitted!

(The tank is from Love Culture, Shorts- Lululemon and the shoes are TOMS)

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I will keep up with my outfit photos.  I remember before I got pregnant that I really wanted to document my pregnancy style and that all fell by the wayside, especially in first trimester when I was sick most nights and really exhausted.  Now that my belly is getting really big, it's interesting to see how my clothes fit (or don't anymore haha). Either way, I'm enjoying dressing my pregnant body.

Wishing everyone a great week!

Weekend Shopping & Some Outfits Lately

I had a brief work-related event to attend this morning and then I hit the village to use my GAP coupon. It was sent in the mail and gives you 40% off of a single item and 30% off of your entire purchase (including sale items) when you pay with your Visa card. Score!

I picked up a few items for our sweet little girl. As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm not buying a lot of newborn items or even 0-3. You tend to get a lot of the smaller sizes at your baby shower and so many moms have told me to focus on buying larger sizes that baby can grow into. Plus, babies pretty much wear onesies for the first few months of life so I'm saving the dresses and tops for later on.

Peter Rabbit collection footed one piece, 3-6 months- buy it here

Can't find this one online, 12-18 months

(I think this is the cutest top ever!)

Floral print ruffle dress, 12-18 months- buy it here

I also stopped in at GAP because they were having a major sale on bras. This one was on sale for $25. I like it because it's wireless and the coverage is great. Since being pregnant, I've had to go up a band size, so I've had to get a few new bras so my ribs don't feel like they're being compressed all day.

I also picked up four dress shirts for my H at Express. He likes the modern fit shirts and this weekend Express has a promo where you buy one and get the second for $19.90.  I was also able to use an online coupon on top of that promo---it was a great deal and he's got some nice new shirts to wear. I got him white, lilac, a light turquoise/robin's egg color and a blue and white gingham. You can buy them here.  

We also made another major baby purchase today---our stroller!  After recommendations from several mommy friends and doing my own research, plus the great rating in Baby Bargains, we decided to take the plunge and purchase our Uppababy Vista stroller in "Jake" (all black).  Babies & Kids 1st (I went to the location on Kirby) was having a sale to celebrate the opening of their new The Woodlands store, and they even beat amazon.com's price, so we got it today and it's still boxed up in our guest room.  I love that it comes with a bassinet and that the handle extends.  The car seat adapter is also super easy to use.  I can't wait to become more acquainted with it! We went with solid black because I like things to look simple. I'm not into prints and patterns on major baby items like strollers, car seats and pack n' plays.  Plus, it would work perfectly for a second baby whether it was a boy or girl.

(Uppababy Vista- buy it here)

If you have this stroller and love it, let me know why in the comments! I've read a lot of reviews and most people are really happy with it, so that's reassuring.

I didn't snap a lot of photos of what I wore this week, but I did capture a couple of outfits:

Banana Republic dress, Artizia blazer, Nine West shoes, F21 necklace

(I love how this dress shows off my growing bump!)

 J.Crew top, GAP maternity really skinny pants, Tory Burch Reva flats, 
Stella & Dot necklace c/o, Banana Republic trench

Though I like how my hair looks in the below photo, I am badly in need of a cut. I may try a stylist one of my co-workers goes to---she has really amazing layers.  Do you go to the same person for cut and color or do you go to different people? Let me know in the comments!

Oh, and I did organize my closet last weekend like I had planned to! I rearranged everything and stored away a few items that were never being worn. I still have to add all of the maternity clothes that my co-worker gave to me, but I don't want to put them in there until I can fill them out. Organized closets make me feel happy.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend!  We have a wedding reception to attend tonight at a restaurant downtown and I can't wait to get dressed up and eat yummy food!