Hearts, But Make It Winter

Sweater (also comes in red!) - LOFT / Coat and Boots - J.Crew / Jeans - Madewell / Bag - Tory Burch / Sunglasses - Amazon

Yaaaaaaay, winter! Said no one in February ever. 

I'm not here to complain about winter or anything, because it hasn't even been terrible this year. It's really just that I finally understand what parents have always talked about when they said winter was a tough time to be home with your kids. If we're home too much, Mia starts to get a little squirrelly. She wants to be out and about, no matter the weather! 

Over the weekend we didn't have a ton of plans, so to get Mia out of the house we ended up taking a long walk to Half Acre Balmoral brewery for lunch. You might wonder why we're always taking our baby to breweries, but hear me out. When you are a new parent bars basically disappear from your life, but a brewery is a kid-friendly way to get the bar experience. You can enjoy a drink, but without the loud music or people who are overconsuming. While we were out last weekend, the whole brewery was full of parents and babies or young kids. There was even a set of parents with a brand new (I'm talking a month old, tops) baby introducing the baby to their friends! So cute. And every time we go it's like that. I once saw a mom toting a huge bin of legos into a brewery along with three little boys, clearly intending to stretch out the visit as long as possible. 

We personally love Half Acre because the food is so good in addition to the beer, and they change the menu all the time. If you go, I personally recommend going on a Sunday for their brunch menu - their breakfast sandwiches are always so good! 

Okay, are you ready to talk clothes now? I still get dressed like I always do, but between Mia, the weather, and the current number of hours of daylight I've been having a tough time actually taking pictures of my outfits for you. I'm so glad I managed to take pictures of this outfit though because I have some awesome pieces I want to talk to you about! 

The Sweater 

I usually am SO TIRED of sweaters by this time of the year, but this fall/winter I unintentionally ignored my sweater collection because I was so excited to have button-downs back in my life again (since I was pregnant last fall). Remind me again next year to wait on sweater season until January, since you know, it sticks around until May. 

I also am loving sweater season because I have been in sweater-shopping mode, so I have a few new options in my closet and am not just rotating through the same three every week. This heart textured sweater is so fun. I love that it works for Valentine's Day, but it's so subtle that it will work for the rest of winter too. The slight puff shoulder is also giving me life. While the sweater can go sweet depending on what you wear it with, that detail in the shoulder makes it work for a slightly edgier outfit too. Is this edgy? Okay no but you know, it's a hint of edge and that's just about as far as I go. 

The Boots

Did I want to wear snow boots with this? No, I would have much rather added a pair of mules! But you know, Chicago's icy sidewalks didn't quite allow for that shoe choice. That being said, I'm so happy to have these fur-lined hiking / snow boots in my life. They are slightly elevated over a typical snow boot, which makes me more excited to pull them out. I've been wearing these almost daily for walking Mia to daycare, and they are so freaking comfortable. Not to mention beautiful in person! Mia also tries to put them in her mouth every chance she gets, so I think she's pretty into them too. 

The Hair

Not to toot my own horn here, but was I having a particularly good hair day when we shot these photos? I think it's because I finally got rid of my hair brush after FIFTEEN YEARS. Yes, you read that right. I'd had my hairbrush literally since high school. It was basically completely coated in products and falling apart. I finally decided to make the switch to this one (2 inch size), and my hair has been looking so good ever since! More volume, shinier, and less weird bending at the ends. If you've been holding onto something like my hairbrush just because it still works, you don't have to! Go get that new hairbrush (or you know, whatever YOUR hairbrush is) and don't look back. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk. 

Sweater (also comes in red!) - LOFT / Coat and Boots - J.Crew / Jeans - Madewell / Bag - Tory Burch / Sunglasses - Amazon

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Some Winter Basics

Coat - J.Crew / Sweater - J.Crew Factory / Jeans - Madewell / Mules (also available here and here) - Sam Edelman / Bag - Tory Burch / Sunglasses - Amazon

An outfit post, oh my! I know, I know, I haven't been living up to the whole style blogger thing as of late. It's a whole lot harder to run outside to snap a few photos when we have to get Mia down and out too, and honestly since I mostly work from home now I'm not getting dressed a ton anyway. 

BUT. 

I had to share a few of my new favorite things with you. Because what kind of friend would I be if I didn't share? 

I've been wanting another wool winter coat, because as much as I love this one I feel a little silly with the faux fur collar in all situations, like when we dress up or when it happens to be 30 degrees in May in Chicago. I ordered and returned 5 or 6 coats this fall until I came upon this one. It's cute and simple, but the details like the gold zipper and ribbed cuffs really elevate it. I also am loving the warm camel color - I've always wanted a camel coat! As far as sizing, I'm in my normal J.Crew size in a tall. It's slightly more fitted than the Chateaux parka but still an a-line. 

Then we have the jeans. It's amazing, I get compliments on these every time I wear them. The button fly is surprisingly flattering even though I carry my weight in my mid-section. They are a 9" high rise, which for me goes right above my belly button (I have long legs and a short waist). I went down one size, and honestly could have gone down two because they stretch out easily. I am wearing a tall, and every time I wash them the ankles get a little more frayed making them a tiny bit shorter. The frayed ankles do look a little weird with booties and winter boots, but are really cute with mules, loafers and sneakers. 

And of course, that leads us to the mules. How much can one talk about loving a pair of shoes before she starts to sound a bit crazy? But really, these are one of the most comfortable pairs of shoes in my closet, and I wear them just about every chance that Chicago lets me. They go with surprisingly just about everything in my closet, and have the ability to take a basic outfit to the next level. I love them so much I'm thinking about ordering them in black too. 

Is that enough incoherent rambling about one outfit? Okay cool thanks, let's call it a day :) 

  

Coat - J.Crew / Sweater - J.Crew Factory / Jeans - Madewell / Mules (also available here and here) - Sam Edelman / Bag - Tory Burch / Sunglasses - Amazon

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Happy Valentine's Day!

Tee - Gap / Maternity Coat (sold out!) - Old Navy / Maternity Leggings - Blanqi / Booties - Steve Madden / Earrings (similar) - BaubleBar / Necklace - Stella & Dot / Bag - Tory & Burch

Happy Valentine's Day! Hope you're feeling loved today <3 <3 <3

We took these photos over the weekend during a surprise snowstorm (or at least, it surprised us!) and it ended up being too cold and windy and wet to take any more photos than this or to take my coat off. You know, gotta protect that little baby! But just know that this tee is supposed to be for nursing, but it has a wrap front that actually stays closed over my cleavage and isn't too too deep. Plus it's not one of those weird nursing tops that definitely looks like a nursing top with slits in the sides or a weird opening in the front, I think this is something you could wear anytime. Oh and it's only $25 - win!

Tee - Gap / Maternity Coat (sold out!) - Old Navy / Maternity Leggings - Blanqi / Booties - Steve Madden / Earrings (similar) - BaubleBar / Necklace - Stella & Dot / Bag - Tory & Burch

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A Little Pink for Valentine's Day

Maternity Tee and Coat (sold out noooo!) - Old Navy / Sweater (similar) - LOFT / Maternity Leggings - Blanqi / Boots - L.L.Bean / Bag (similar here and here) - Sole Society / Necklace - Target

I'm 38 weeks along this week - nine and a half months!! We temporarily thought we would be inducing next Monday and I was starting to get really excited about meeting baby girl, but we ended up not being able to get a spot. I guess we'll just keep waiting and see when she decides to make an appearance. You know, like every other baby in history ;) I've been feeling pretty uncomfortable for the last few weeks - I just don't think my torso is long enough to accommodate this little girl! But I still feel like I don't look as pregnant as I thought I would - I always figured my belly would be a lot bigger! (Jeff is at least humoring me by agreeing with that opinion haha ;) I just feel like people still don't always realize I'm pregnant! I literally was talking to a coworker last Friday about how I wouldn't be at an upcoming event, and he thought it was because I was taking a vacation. Like, no buddy, my maternity leave starts in a week ;) It probably doesn't help that it's sweater weather, all of the layers tend to cover things up. 

This is the time of year when I start getting bored with outfits in general (I'm pretty sure last February through April I just cycled through the same five sweaters every week) but having my maternity mix and match wardrobe of tees and layers is helping a little. A little pink and white are feeling perfectly pretty as we lead up to Valentine's Day. 

I'm not super into the holiday, and always struggle to decide what to do. I loved when we had a cute neighborhood restaurant across the street from us so we could just slush over there (usually in terrible Chicago winter weather) and escape all of the crowds and fighting for cabs and whatnot. This year, we're going to go a little low key - Jeff is going to be cooking something at home on Valentine's Day itself, and we'll go out to dinner the next night instead. That is, as long as we don't have a baby by then! 

Are you into Valentine's Day? Have any fun plans?? 

Maternity Tee and Coat (sold out noooo!) - Old Navy / Sweater (similar) - LOFT / Maternity Leggings - Blanqi / Boots - L.L.Bean / Bag (similar here and here) - Sole Society / Necklace - Target

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A Little Leopard

Sweater - Sejour / Maternity Tee and Maternity Jeans - Old Navy / Booties (also available here) - Steve Madden / Bag (similar) - Sole Society / Necklace - Stella & Dot

Oh hey there, guess who's officially full term over here?! 37 weeks!! I really can't believe that I could basically have a baby at any time at this point. Like, I was talking to my Uber driver over the weekend (after I missed my stop and had to backtrack haha - pregnancy brain!) and he was talking about how his daughter was born two weeks early, and I was like OMG THAT COULD BE NEXT WEEK. Freakyyyyy. It's still a little hard for me to picture that the thing moving around in my stomach is going to be a real baby in my arms! 

I'm very glad to be almost done with this whole pregnancy thing, not just because my body is currently falling apart (writing this with two ice packs strapped to my hands!) but also because this whole "pregnancy uniform" thing is starting to get a little boring! Are you tired of seeing a rotation of cardigans over my maternity clothes? Yep, me too! But, this is real life, it's what I'm really wearing, so it's what I'm sharing. 

I'm really glad I ended up picking up this leopard cardigan last month though, because it is so fun to wear and helps me not just wear the same three sweaters over and over. This thing is so soft and freaking adorable. I've been wearing it mainly over all black, but I think the colors will actually transition really well into spring - I have a lavender blouse in my closet that looks so pretty with it. The only thing is it's actually from a plus size brand! I got the smallest size which is a little oversized but definitely works, but if you're smaller than me you'll have to keep searching for the perfect leopard sweater. 

I realized something I haven't shared on here is the winter coat I've been wearing every day! I didn't really think about until it started getting cold was that I would actually need a maternity winter coat. I think I figured that my regular coat could get me through, but nope, that thing stopped zipping up in December. I wanted to find something warm (#polarvortex) but inexpensive since I would likely only ever wear it for a couple of months. This one from Old Navy definitely did the trick! Definitely buy your regular Old Navy size (I'm wearing a large) because it runs really big - I tried the next size up and there was enough space for quadruplets in there ;) It's lined in fleece so it's definitely warm. I wish the sleeves were an inch or so longer, but I'm pretty sure I snagged this on sale for about $40 so it was something I was willing to live with. 

Sweater - Sejour / Maternity Tee and Maternity Jeans - Old Navy / Booties (also available here) - Steve Madden / Bag (similar) - Sole Society / Necklace - Stella & Dot

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Striped Cardigan

Sweater - Target / Maternity Tee - Old Navy / Maternity Leggings - Blanqi / Booties (also available here) - Steve Madden / Bag (similar) - Coach Factory / Necklace - Stella & Dot

Another week of sub-zero temperatures, another week of indoor photos! As you probably know, this has been my maternity go-to wardrobe lately - a tee shirt, my trusty maternity leggings, and a cardigan. 

I picked up this cardigan during a trip to Target last week, and honestly, I almost bought up the whole A New Day section, everything is so freaking cute!! I had been having a rough day between a bad night's sleep thanks to nightmares, being unable to get comfortable no matter what I tried, wanting to be done with the whole "being pregnant" thing, and being stuck inside due to the cold and ice - Mommy doesn't want to slip!  There may have been some tears involved. So I decided a Target binge was in order (plus a stop at the Starbucks in my store) and I really went for it, I came home with a ton of stuff for baby and the house plus a few treats for me ;) 

Of course, driving in the cold and ice turned out to be a mistake, because when I got back to the house Jeff and I both couldn't get the car back into the garage, even with me driving and him pushing! The alley was a mess thanks to snow and ice and deep tire rivets filled with slush and we were seriously stuck. I actually ended up running to CVS to grab a bag of kitty litter (since I remembered Red Foreman yammering about it on That '70s Show years ago - lolllll) and somehow while I was gone Jeff got it back in by himself. He says he just kept trying but I suspect neighborly intervention. Phew! 

Anyway, I probably shouldn't have taken that trip to Target, but I got this sweater out of the deal, so I'm still chalking it up to a win. 

Oh, and by the way, I officially hit 9 months pregnant this weekend! So ready for this baby girl to arrive - fingers crossed she comes just a little early!! 

Sweater - Target / Maternity Tee - Old Navy / Maternity Leggings - Blanqi / Booties (also available here) - Steve Madden / Bag (similar) - Coach Factory / Necklace - Stella & Dot

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