Sunday (Mom) Styles

The day after a night of cry it out is never a good day.  Last night was day 2 of the 40th or so round of cry it out since he’s been about 6 months old. We never get far because it’s only been since winter we’ve tried and the entire house has been sick pretty much all winter. Obviously I’m not a total monster so I don’t want him to cry when he’s sick.  And I wasn’t going to do anything when we went on vacation.  So here we are again except now he’s 10 months old and can stand at the rail and reach for me while he sobs. It’s awful.  But even more awful is me waking up every 2-3 hours to feed him and waking up trying to function the next day.  I love that kid and his cries make me want to throw up but I cannot function this way. The first night wasn’t terrible.  It didn’t feel good to hear him cry but he only woke up twice and fell back asleep after about 22 minutes (going in to reassure after 3, 5, 7, and 7 minutes).  Last night wasn’t bad either – a few sounds early on and then one wake up but took just as long to go back to sleep. Who knows what will happen tonight?

The other obnoxious thing about this morning is that I drank regular coffee yesterday which I almost never do and I’ve noticed that when I do that I wake up even more tired the next day. So this morning on top of feeling exhausted because of the baby, I felt foggy because somehow that one jolt of caffeine (okay two jolts) was enough to make me NEED it again this morning.

I suggested that since we had no clean dishes we should go out for breakfast.  We did. This is what I wore:

Except this is me after returning home so I had taken off my lululemon cape which I had spilled coffee on and then gave to the baby as a blanket in the car.

This glorious picture was captured by my daughter. The baby was coming over to eat my shoes. Why are you wearing that hat? My son asked me. You look like a farmer!

The hat is from JCrew about 3 and a half years ago. I don’t have a link to the hat but I do have a picture of me wearing the hat three years ago.  Yes those are pigtails. No I was not in costume (Kind of seeing the farmer reference now…):

Blazer – The oversized blazer from Everlane. I love this blazer – can you tell? I should probably get another jacket so I don’t wear this one every. single. day.

Shirt – Dolman top from my first Stitch Fix box. Apparently I didn’t mention brands in that first review so I have no idea. I know it was a good deal and I wear it constantly.

Jacket – My varsity jacket from high school. For Volleyball. I have worn it a handful of times – always a little self-conscious of the mustard yellow sleeves.  But now I think it’s kind of awesome and it’s getting me excited for my 15 year reunion coming up!

Jeans – Joe’s The Charlie high rise skinny ankle in Tania

Shoes – No. 6 5″ pull on shearling clog boots on high heel in molasses/hazel. I got these shoes last year when I noticed a few moms wearing them at school. I liked them and being me immediately had to have them.  They took a LONG time to break in and I still wonder if I shouldn’t have sized up even more. As it is I can only wear them barefoot or with stockings. Still they have broken in at this point and I live in them all winter on not wet or snowy days when it’s too cold to wear flats.

Bag – The Somerset mini backpack. My latest go-to bag fits a few odds and ends for the kids, my phone, wallet, small notebook, bottle of water, and whatever random things I grab on the way out. I am tempted – very tempted – to get the larger size too.  That way I wouldn’t also need to carry a diaper bag. At this point, great as my diaper bag is, I don’t need the pull-out changing pad (the kid’s getting changed on the floor or seat of the minivan) or the multiple pockets to hold various baby accoutrements. I’m not quite ready to get rid of the diaper bag…it’s just that I’ve been carrying one or another for the past 5 and a half years…

I realize that the last time I did a Sunday Mom Styles I laid out all my clothes so nicely and took pictures.  I just didn’t have time or energy to do that tonight.  I’m frankly impressed I had time or energy to do anything aside from sit on my tush and watch Divorce.

And now I’m going to sit on my tush and watch Divorce.

Until next time.

Sunday (Mom) Styles

Everything about this snow has been perfect. It didn’t start until yesterday when we were already home for the evening.  It was beautiful when it fell and beautiful this morning with the glowing 7am light. Best of all it’s not freezing or treacherous so we were able to keep our plans to go to breakfast with the family. In fact it was so lovely out today I didn’t even wear a real coat. Welcome to the first edition of Sunday Mom Styles. Today I’m wearing this:

The Oversized Blazer in Herringbone from Everlane

V-neck boyfriend sweater in heather camel from J Crew

Long sleeve crew neck t-shirt in white slub cotton from J Crew

Supersoft Supima® v-neck t-shirt in shale blue from J Crew

 

The Charlie high-rise skinny ankle jean in Tania from Joe’s Jeans

 

Classic II short boot in chocolate from UGG

 

Round Fleck sunglasses in tortoiseshell + copper gradient flash lenses from Ray Ban 
+
Vintage Fred Hayman crossbody bag in Cognac

The trick is layering and of course wearing cashmere to breakfast with 5 children 5 and under (including my nephew), one of whom clings to me with a vise grip when he’s not otherwise busily shoveling berries and pancakes into his mouth. And then white.  White is my go to “color” for shirts because it’s classic and clean looking. Except when you have children and then it’s classic and dirty looking. If you look closely at the picture of the white shirt you can see several stains from breakfast. I was smart enough to take off the dry clean only sweater but that left vulnerable the white shirt onto which the baby rubbed a large piece of sausage and subsequently spit up.

JCrew by the way – I love it for my basics. The short and long sleeve t-shirts are comfortable and fit well and although I might be able to get them cheaper somewhere else were I to pay full price I refuse to buy them unless they are on sale since literally every other week there is a sale for either 25 or 30% off.  After awhile they tend to get those little holes in the fabric down toward the bottom – no idea why – but I understand that tends to happen to many brands. The sweater I love too and have in two colors – heather grey in addition to heather camel. The cut is boxy but not unattractively so, the cashmere feels great, isn’t as expensive as other cashmere I’ve seen and wears well.

The blazer from Everlane is relatively new to my wardrobe (under 2 weeks) and I’ve already worn it 3 times now that we’ve had some warmer days when a winter coat wasn’t necessary. I’ve gotten a few compliments on it including from my mom and sister – so that’s always nice. I can always count on them to give me the simple truth about whether something looks like crap or not (as opposed to my husband who also tells me the truth but through man-colored glasses which just aren’t as critical as the female type.

I recently switched my VIP credit cards and cash into the Fred Hayman bag. It’s so much easier than carrying around my regular bag which is a bit heavy for every day use and also makes me nervous that I’m going to ruin it by throwing in all the mom paraphernalia I’m accustomed to carrying. It’s just too nice of a bag to swing around in the minivan all day long. This way, I have my small crossbody and if I have the kids and their required accouterments with me (or just me but with a book, pens, water bottle, snack or whatever else), I can throw it all into my tote from the Chip and Joanna Gaines line for Target (Hearth and Home with Magnolia).

I’m tempted to not even discuss my sunglasses.  One day we made a family trip into NYC and my husband and I each got a pair of Ray Bans.  Great, reliable sunglasses in classic shapes that are stylish but not too extravagant. They are the kind of sunglasses I’d be very disappointed if they broke or if I lost them – as I did, as I’ll explain – but they aren’t so crazy expensive that I’d cry. So as I said – I did lose them. I looked all over the place and I just figured I must have dropped them out of my bag because they were nowhere in the house. I was so annoyed with myself. Some weeks later I just happened to find myself at the Sunglass Hut at the mall. Correction – one of the Sunglass Huts at the mall (can you believe they have two? One, I learned, is over in the high-end wing and sells Chanel. I went to the other.) The very friendly saleslady said the magic words – buy one get one half off – and so I ended up getting two pairs which were pretty similar but not identical to the ones I lost. Fast forward a few months – I found the missing sunglasses.  They were hiding in the car between the seat and the door and somehow, miraculously, never fell out. So I now have 3 pairs of nearly identical sunglasses that I alternate. I love them all.

As for the fact that I look shockingly clean – there’s a story behind that too. When the kids woke up and broke out of their gates at some point in the 6s this morning I decided to pretend otherwise and hop into the shower – yay! – and I even dried my hair using my new Buttercup Blowdryer from Drybar. It was on sale the last time I was in getting my hair blown out and I find it hard to resist a sale. Which was my reasoning for getting the shampoo, conditioner, and brush at the same time.  I know – I am ashamed. I’m sure I could get a comparable brush at Target for much less but I was involved in a Drybar product frenzy and did I mention the sale? And by the way the Southern Belle shampoo and conditioner smell amazing, as do all their products.  I don’t always dry my hair at home – who has time? But it does look (and smell) nicer when I do.

The goal is comfort + a little bit of style + you have 4 kids?

So what’s your Sunday Style?