Pin to Present

Pinterest look found here

Linking up with Anne today for Pin to Present...

While I love the denim on denim aspect of this look I found on Pinterest, I can only wear jeans on Friday and on the weekends. It's been a long time since a blazer has been a weekend appropriate choice for me based on how we spend our free time. Most times I don't even feel like I want to step up my game that much on our casual Fridays, so because of that I paired it with the ever so professional black jeggings and wore it on a Wednesday instead. :)

Learning to Let Go

For me, and I'm going to assume for most moms out there, the entrance into motherhood started out with a whole lot of physical pain. But it doesn't take long for the emotional pain to take its' place. Exhaustion and emotional messes triggered left and right. Frustration every time you hit a trying time that you don't know how to resolve - is it teeth, is it belly pain, is he hungry?! It's a good thing they've got those cute faces, the giggles, and those great bear hugs they give to constantly remind you that this is worth it and the best (although the hardest too!) decision you've ever made.

I thought I had mastered those emotions and while they're still tough, I know I can hang. But motherhood just threw me another one of those famous curve balls recently - realizing that we're reaching the point where I am not the absolute center of every second of every day in my sons' life. You guys, this has been really hard for me!

Up until now I've been his go to person, the one he cries and goes to when he's upset and the one he clings to so many nights the second I walk through the door after work. The tides are changing though, with "daddy" seeming like it might be the new favorite word around here, and the one he loves to run off and find every morning. It's hard to make myself let go a little bit, but thank goodness he always comes running back to me at some point!

Blush

tee, cardigan, pants: Target / boots: Kohl's / scarf: World Market

Blush is one of those colors that I used to love and wear pretty frequently back before my closet shifted to what I think now is a lot of grays, blacks, and tans. Every time I would wear it I would gravitate toward a more feminine and light look I guess you could say and my go to pairing would be with something gray. I still love that combination, but wanted to get a little more creative so after browsing through my closet settled on this navy cardigan that I’ve owned for longer than I can remember and I have to say I like it! Have you tried any color combinations with blush lately that you’ve really loved? Below is my default gray to fall back on, but then a couple of other combinations I think will be next on the list to try.

Linking up over at Work Clothes, I Suppose (you know, only 5 days late!), and with I Do deClaire...

My Kind of Saturday Morning

My son has not been the best sleeper, and when I see other women who had their first child near when I had Jacob already pregnant with their second, I swear this lack of good sleep (good being the key word here) is the main reason that has us seriously considering staying just a family of 3. But I really think it could be worse. Recently he’s been on a streak where he’ll go to bed sometime between 7:30 and 8:00pm and then wake up around 3:30 or 4:00am and he’s really hard to get back to sleep.

A few weekends ago, on Saturday he made it until 5:45am before waking up and doing the routine of fighting sleep. Will you question my sanity if I tell you that I didn’t mind it? Although I would love to sleep in for once, I was as rested as I ever am and by the time I got him back to sleep an hour later I knew my husband would be occupied with his long workout soon and that I would be left alone to not have to share my breakfast, enjoy a hot cup of coffee, and have control of the remote. ;)

Although I love our family time together, this kind of time is glorious isn’t it? The only problem is that when it happens I get that sense of urgency to do the things I want or need to do. Hurry! Do the dishes because if you do it while he’s awake he tries to climb into the dishwasher and you’ll be annoyed that you didn’t do it if you wait until later, watch my show on the DVR, eat breakfast, you should probably shower so your hair can actually be done for once a weekend, maybe write a blog post, put some more energy into the never ending de-cluttering project. And then that sense of hurry, hurry, hurry because he could wake up any minute kind of sabotages my ability to just chill the hell out and enjoy myself.

So I’m working on it, starting with writing a post while watching my show (because motherhood has been such a huge lesson in multitasking, am I right?) and adding a little bit of Bailey’s in that cup of coffee, and then being really excited to see his happy face waiting for me at the edge of his crib.

January Spending

sweater: exact / necklace: exact / blue pants: exact / jeans (dark wash): exact / jeans (medium wash): exact /
pants (olive): exact / jeans (not pictured above): similar

Discount Fashion Warehouse – 3 pairs of Express pants at $14 a pair + $14 sweater = $56

Target – blazer (not pictured) at $10.68 + necklace at $14.99 = $25.67

Kroger – blanket scarf (not pictured) = $6

JCPenney - blue pants + jeans (not pictured) = $12 after credit from return 

Total = $99.67

Since spending this past fall clearing out a ton of the clothes I didn’t wear, I’ve tried really hard to stay away from spur of the moment purchases and to be a lot more intentional about the things I do buy and for the most part I think I’ve done a pretty good job. I even went into Target with a gift card back in December and left with only socks for my son! :)  

I haven’t been wearing as many skirts or dresses for whatever reason, so pants have been my go to option every day. Before getting pregnant I had put on some weight and even had to size up at one point. Looking back, I realize I had some pretty unhealthy habits I had developed, like snacking way too much, drinking too many calories in the form of alcoholic beverages (many of our weekend plans involved getting drinks!), and just portion sizes that were too big. Obviously the drinking stopped when I got pregnant, and the feeling of eating until I was stuffed made me sick to my stomach so smaller more frequent snacks and meals became the norm. Thankfully the portion control stuck once the new habit was created, I don’t often have drinks outside of a couple total some weekends, and keeping up with a little one hasn’t left much time to sit around and snack.

I give you that long story to pretty much say that I had dropped enough weight that most of my pants were too big and stretched out and I needed new ones. Not that I’m complaining because I feel really lucky, but I always feel like pants can be hard to find when you need them rather than just want them. I got lucky at JCPenney with their clearance sales when I was returning another pair of pants I got for Christmas that didn’t fit, but it took a couple of trips to Discount Fashion Warehouse to find jeans, black jeggings, and olive colored pants that fit since those are the options I basically live in.

The next few months I’ll be taking a closer look at the skirts I kept, really determining which ones fit well and will still get lots of wear, then picking up a few more since I rely on those much more in warmer weather. I’ve been seeing a lot about LuLaRoe on Facebook and a good friend of mine speaks really highly of the brand. She’ll be hosting a little shopping event like they do sometime in March, so I plan to use that as an opportunity to try on the Cassie style skirt that I’ve got my eye on. I'm really hoping it's a good option! 

Our Valentine's Day

Having a child has made a holiday that in the past I've cared very little about, like Valentine's Day, a whole lot more fun! Last year Jacob was only 3 and a half months old so I didn't feel like there was much more I could do than just send cute little cards with his picture on them to the grandparents. But this year I thought it would be fun to make cookies together and then when I saw this heart stamp idea on a family member's Instagram as an idea for a Valentine's craft, with an empty paper towel roll in our recycling bin and red paint already in stock from a previous crafting attempt I couldn't help but throw a bib on and give it a try. Granted it kept him entertained for maybe all of 10 or 15 minutes and I spent a big chunk of the time trying to get him to keep the paint away from his mouth (check out that after picture where he was too quick for me and stamped his mouth!), but it was a fun little project that gave us some artwork to send along for his Grammy's fridge. :)

Getting it Together

shirt: Target, sweater: Old Navy, jeans: Discount Fashion Warehouse (Express brand), boots: Kohl's, necklace: The Jones Market

I’m linking up today with Anne and Jenn for their #momstyleremix (you know, only almost a week late), talking about how jeans work for me as a mom. I read Anne’s post and what she said about jeans and a sweater being just as easy to put on as a sweatshirt and yoga pants completely resonated with me. For the longest time I had no shame and would regularly leave the house on the weekends in either yoga pants or sweatpants. I attribute part of that to some weight gain I had that left me not feeling as comfortable in jeans, but that’s potentially a conversation for a different day. Thankfully I’ve lost that extra weight and am back to feeling much more comfortable in my skin, and since then I’ve found that it is just as easy to reach for jeans and a sweater (chunky cardigans are currently my personal fav) and the result is feeling much more like a momma who maybe has her life together just a bit. ;) 

On Repeat

sweater: Discount Fashion Warehouse, pants: Target, boots: Old Navy

Totally simple looks have been on repeat lately and I feel like the fact that I wore khaki skinny pants here instead of black is about as crazy as it’s gotten around here. :) Although we’ve had such a mild winter so far, I am looking forward to nicer weather and the shift in my style that usually accompanies it. I’m starting to miss lighter colors and patterns, lightweight jackets, flats, and being able to wear ankle pants without feeling completely out of touch with what season it is!

Currently

Joining in on the Currently link up with Anne and Jenna today! 

Sending

Valentine’s Day cards to the grandparents. I love doing these little photo cards for them, but was struggling to find a good picture to include this time! My phone is filled with more and more videos of my son instead of pictures because his time spent sitting still lately is minimal.

Eating

I’ve been a loyal Trader Joe’s customer for several years now and love so many things about them – the fact that it’s a smaller store to navigate, unique finds, and affordable good food. My boss introduced me to this inner peas snack. They’re crunchy and just a little bit salty so they pretty much satisfy the same craving a bag of chips satisfies, just without feeling gross afterwards. Plus they’re peas, so they have to be kind of healthy, right? …Right?! ;)

Dreaming

Of warmer weather. I think we’ve had a pretty mild winter so far here in Central Ohio, my son turned one in November and I realized the other day that having a November baby means that by the time he learned how to walk and run around it was too cold to spend any significant amount of time outside with him. For now we chase him around the house, but I’m so excited to take trips to the park when it’s nice out again and just to let him run around in a nice, open outdoor space.

Smelling

My husband got an electric smoker for Christmas and so far we’ve done a smoked turkey breast, chicken, pork chops, and a roast of some kind (I think?). Not only does that thing make food taste delicious, I love the smell from the wood chips!

Hearting

Ankle boots. Is it bad if what I choose to profess my love to is a material thing? Wait, maybe I don’t want to hear your answer to that. ;) But really, in previous years I would still wear flats in the winter and just throw on my fake Uggs for the wake into and out of work. I’ve determined that now I’m just an incredibly lazy person and that’s just too much work. Ankle boots are perfect for when I’m in a weird mood and don’t want to wear taller boots and it’s just too cold for flats. Also, these boots have a rubber sole so I can walk quietly across our hardwood floors. That’s a weird reason to like them for, but hey, that’s me. If you like these, they’re currently on clearance for only $23.99 although it looks like not all sizes are still available. But if your size is there, totally worth it in my opinion!

Feeling Refreshed

How many times can I disappear for long periods of time and then pop back in claiming I’m back before you guys stop believing me? :) Like it probably did for most everyone, life got really busy in December between working full time plus a particularly busy time at work, preparing for the holidays, traveling for the holidays, and then there was the parenting challenge of my child suddenly deciding that he wanted to be an even worse sleeper than he was before so add exhaustion to that list of excuses (I’m blaming the appearance of 5 new teeth for that one).

And can I be honest for a second? I wasn’t taking any time for myself and started feeling a little bit lost on how to make sure I was taking the time my introverted little self needs to come back to my roles as mother, wife, daughter, friend, and full time professional feeling refreshed and like I’m able to give my best self to those around me. Recently things have started to slow down a little bit at work, my kid decided he likes sleeping again, and I even had a brief amount of alone time with my husband last weekend while a friend watched our son and it’s thankfully left me feeling much more like a balanced and sane person.

But I still have a lot of work to do to find a way to keep those scales from tipping out of balance as frequently as they seem to, and I think a big part of that is committing myself to something (or things I guess) that I know just simply makes me feel good and refreshed. I realize that this blog has been just that, but it’s always had the focus on personal style and focused on outfits and I think I may be at the point where I’m just not inspired to talk about clothes when I’m tired from a tough patch in life.

So where does that leave me? Feeling excited to reconnect with this space and with you, but probably in just a little bit different way. Jess Gets Dressed Sometimes is still a completely applicable name for the blog because I enjoy putting together an outfit I feel good about and then talking about it so I still plan to make that a big focus of this space. But in those times where the clothes I reach for that morning are not in any way inspiring to me, rather than disconnect I’d like to talk about whatever is inspiring me that day and share a little bit more of myself. Not just the Jess who likes clothes, but also the Jess who feels like she has completely changed since becoming a mom, who really enjoys the work she does but some days would give it all up in a heartbeat for something else, is all about a good bargain, is trying to become less of a consumer and clear the clutter in her life, and frequently feels like she barely has her shit together. ;)