Currently viewing the tag: "style or lack thereof"
When it comes to department stores, Macy’s is generally my go-to. Good prices, good brands. I don’t feel woefully inadequate, like I do when I walk through an overly fancy store. And I don’t feel underwhelmed, like I do in a super-discount-mart. When I got married, I registered and got my china there. They’re my long-time good buddies.
This summer Macy’s is rolling out their new focus on one of the hottest places South of the equator: Brasil!
They’re bringing in some of Brasil’s best designers to create pieces in their clothing, home and accessory lines. You can go online to check out designs by Francisco Costa, Carlos Falci, Marcelo Rosembaum, Isabela Capeto, Neon, Cecilia Prado, Art da Terra, Maria Oiticica, Romero Britto, Paula Hermanny, Sol de Janeiro and Phebo with everything from dresses to swimwear to jewelry to skincare.
(There’s even an app for that!)
To celebrate, Macy’s is rolling out Carnival-inspired celebrations at over 300 of their stores starting this Thursday! (You can check the calendar for a store near you here.)
Here in the Boston area, you can head out to the Natick Mall (hands down the best mall in the Boston area, as I’m sure you already know) for two events at the Macy’s in Natick.
First on Thursday at 6pm get into the Brasilian spirit with samba by Moves & Vibes and Jiu Jitsu by Capoeira Brasil Boston. Plus there will be a DJ on hand with authentic music and you can get a taste of Brasilian cuisine! (If you haven’t had it before, you are in for a real treat.)
Then you can bring the whole family on Saturday at 12 pm. Upstairs in the Kids Department there will be balloons, face painting and soccer! (But since this is a Brasilian celebration, we should probably call it football.)
On the main floor in swimwear, check out the swim fashion show. As an added bonus, anyone who purchases a swimsuit will get the chance to make a kanga style sarong.
And not to leave out the men, there’s a Virtual Soccer (Football!) Challenge in the Men’s Department where Dad can show off his skills.
It’s not all fun and games, Macy’s will also be donating a portion of your Brasil Boutique purchases to The Nature Conservancy to help their efforts to save the Amazon Rainforest, one of Brasil’s greatest treasures.
So if you want to have a little fun or do a little shopping, the Natick Mall’s Macy’s is the place to be this week.
I was compensated for this post by Charlene Chronicles.
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I posted last time about my big Saturday at a blog conference. It was quite the busy day, but the weekend wasn’t over. On Sunday was Charlene’s big Gender Reveal party. A great idea for a second baby. Charlene got an ultrasound and told the tech to keep the gender secret. The tech wrote the gender down and Charlene brought it to a bakery where they’d make special cupcakes with either pink or blue filling. Even Charlene didn’t know what it would be! Such a fun idea for a baby shower for baby #2.
I guessed girl, since Charlene has a boy about Graham’s age and this way our babies would match. Also because she has a torpedo belly, which means girl in my book.
Now when I’m going to an all-day blog conference with a baby in tow, I don’t spend much time on my outfit. I have exactly one pair of jeans that fit. I have some v-neck tops that make for easier feeding. End of story.
But for a party? I had to go to my closet. And what I found there was very, very sad.
Maternity dresses made me look pregnant. I already have the post-baby belly, but I don’t want it to look like a pre-baby belly. My selection of tops is limited since my nursing bras are not made to be hidden well. Nothing too tight, nothing too loose, and not much to work with. What was a girl to do?
After trying on literally everything, I settled on a cardigan (unbuttoned), a ruffly maternity tank I bought for work, and a skirt with an elastic waistband. (Thank you for the elastic, Old Navy!!!)
Since I had only limited control of my clothes, I decided that I would at least look cute from the neck up. I showered. I put on makeup. (For the conference, I only did absolute bare minimum.) And I pulled out a new hairstyle:
Source: beautylish.com via Jessica on Pinterest
The sock bun, passed down to me by my mother. (Or rather, my mother’s pinterest board.) (The Bug just walked by the screen while I had this picture up and said, “Mommy!” Not exactly, kid, but thanks.)
This was my first effort with the sock bun and as I am hairdo challenged I was worried, but it worked like a champ. I got it on the first try. My hair was a little curly and wet, but it still did the trick.
Photo by Rebecca Deaton Photography
Can you tell I’m happy to be out of the house? I may not be the height of style but I felt good and that’s the most important thing, right?
In the spirit of the evening, I wore a pink cardigan and blue earrings. Charlene had pink and blue necklaces out so we could wear our votes.
Photo by Rebecca Deaton Photography
It was great to see more of my blogging friends. And I was surprised at how much suspense was in the air as we waited for the big surprise.
Photo by Rebecca Deaton Photography
And I was right! Girl!
It was a special night. And not just because we got to share Charlene’s good news and hang with friends. I also got to finally meet one of my blogging idols: Melanie, The Coupon Goddess. It’s thanks to Melanie that I started couponing, got a binder, etc. I’m not as good at it as she is, of course. I’ve read her blog faithfully and have always been bummed that we haven’t been to any of the same events so far.
Photo by Rebecca Deaton Photography
It was a good deal for both of us. I got to meet Melanie and Melanie got to meet Tessa. (Tessa seemed pretty happy about the deal, too.)
I also FINALLY got a chance to see Cindy, the woman behind the scenes at Isis Parenting, who I’ve worked with for months via email and Twitter. Technically this was not the first time we met. 
That was February, 2011, at my very first blogger event with the Boston Parent Bloggers. So many of them are now my friends even though I was super shy and barely spoke to anyone that first night. Cindy and I are RIGHT BY EACH OTHER in the picture (she’s on the far left in the back row, I am in the pink sweater just in front of her) so clearly our relationship was meant to be, right?
I look at this picture and smile. A year ago my life was so different. Graham was just diagnosed. I was out of work. I didn’t know anyone in Boston. Now Graham is doing amazing, I am happily home with two (!!) kids and I have friends. And the friends part is basically all thanks to this blog. Oh, blog, I do love you.
Thanks to Rebecca Deaton Photography for the beautiful pictures. A big thanks to the great sponsors of Charlene’s party: Magic Beans, Punchbowl, Tiny Love, Spa Week, Sage Spoonfuls, Happy Baby, Goldenview Ultrasound, GUND, MAM, Peapod, and Treat Cupcake Bar. You can get all the info on them from Charlene’s post.
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I’ve got a whole slew of special offers at the end of this post, so make sure you get all the way through it!
Maybe it’s because my pregnancy had me housebound for a couple months. Maybe it’s because I spent the months before that working and crazy busy. Maybe it’s just the excitement of a new baby. But I’ve been feeling super social lately.
When you have a new baby and you leave the house, everyone is ready to give you a medal. It is basically the lowest bar you’ll ever have in your life. Appear somewhere that is not your house. A medal for you! You don’t have to look good. You don’t have to have makeup on. It’s not necessary that you have showered in the last week. You don’t have to wear clothes that fit. Just be somewhere. Medal.
For me it’s been really easy to get out and about this time around. (Definitely wasn’t last time.) At first I took advantage of having help around the house from my husband, my mother and my mother-in-law over the course of several weeks. I went shopping. I got a massage. I went to dinner.
But I upped the ante one weekend when I saw that a local blogger would be unable to attend Blog Better Boston and had a ticket available. The deal was sealed around 3 a.m. while I was up for a feeding and when Eric woke up that Saturday I asked him if it was okay if I took off for at least part of the day. I said I’d take the baby with me and he was fine with it.
So Tessa and I packed up and went to a blog conference, specifically the brand new Blog Better Boston.
So if I haven’t met you and you’re at #bbbos come find me! I’m hard to miss, I’m the chick with the stroller.
@jessicaesquire
Jessica
I didn’t know how long we would stay. I brought the stroller and a fully stuffed diaper bag. I took a seat in the back and settled in.
Luckily Tessa kept it down to just a few squawks. We did diaper changes on the floor of the restroom and feedings in the back row.
I know I’m not the most popular blogger here, but I’m pretty sure Tessa is the most popular person here. Babies are such divas. #bbbos
@jessicaesquire
Jessica
I know everybody loves babies, but WOW everybody loves babies. I swear Tessa had a little tractor beam that pulled in everyone within a five-foot radius.
Since she was such a hot commodity and since there were free drinks we figured we’d join our pals at the afterparty. The Mommy Bloggers gathered the wagons and dished. We passed the baby around. Ovaries swooned. (Baby #4,Annie! You know you want it!!)
To everyone’s amusement, when my burger came out (with a fried egg on top) I had a very fitting dish for a breastfeeding mama. Look closely:
That, my friends, is a boob burger, is it not?
And right behind that boob burger is a boob-chomping baby under my nursing cover. If you’re wondering, it was one seriously tasty burger. (The Seoul Burger at the Think Tank, if you’re wondering.)
And now for a moment from our sponsors. Blog conferences are ripe with sponsors and I like to highlight the ones I particularly enjoyed. Plus a lot of them offer promo codes for our readers so make sure you see what’s available!
There were a LOT of style and fashion bloggers at the conference, which was a bit intimidating for the mom-types. My sneakers were definitely not 4-inch heels, and my t-shirt and fat postpartum jeans were from the Gap. But the great thing about having a room full of style bloggers was that a lot of our sponsors were oh so stylish.
I’ve put together a Pinterest board of my favorite offerings from the sponsors. Here’s a couple of highlights that I love.
Lace Affair, at laceaffair.com, has all kinds of clothing and accessories but I stuck to just one thing: dresses. They had some gorgeous ones to show us and I could not get away from that part of their site. I am all over this black and white garden-party dress and I think I’m really going to buy this red-and-white number.
Definitely give them a look, and save 20% with the coupon code BLOGBOSTON.
Stephanie Johnson makes small bags for travel and convenience in a variety of styles and colors. This is the Riviera Maya collection, which I know is kinda loud but I find it crazy adorable.
You can get 25% off purchase until May 1, 2012 with the promo code “Boston”.
Eyefly is an offshoot of Bluefly.com (LOVE) but they make glasses. Really cute glasses. When I saw their display I wanted to try them all on. Even better, all glasses are $99 and prescription lenses are free. Here are the frames I really want to buy:
You can save 15% with the promocode BBBDMTM
There were two jewelry sites there. The first is Gemvara, which has a lot of lovely, simple pieces but also lets you customize. You can go diamonds or emeralds, or keep it cheap with other gemstones in the same item. Their pieces are classic and I honestly could have pinned almost all their pendants and rings because I liked them so much. I have been wanting to get something to commemorate my two babies and I found two great ways to do it at Gemvara. First, there’s a little birthstone necklace, simple and classic. Graham and Tessa’s birthstones are Ruby and Amethyst.
But what I like even better are these little initials. I want to put them both together on a chain, a little “g” and a little “t.”
Gemvara is offering a discount, just go to the site gemvara.com/bbb2012.
The other jewelry site was InPink, which has a really wide variety of pieces and GREAT prices. Looking through their site reminded me that I am probably too conservative when it comes to my jewelry and I should branch out more. Like with this branch ring:
Or this pink necklace and earring set:
Gemvara is great for important pieces, I will probably point my husband there in the future. InPink is great for smaller purchases, have a friend’s birthday coming up? You should be able to find something there.
InPink was lovely enough to give us gift cards. So now I have to decide what to pick. Along with those two pieces I’m also considering these:
Thoughts, dearest readers??
I had a great time meeting bloggers. Conferences give me the opportunity to ponder where I want the blog to go. Definitely helps me feel connected and motivated. I hope to make the blog better all the time.
Giveaway alert!!
I’d also like to offer my readers the chance to WIN A $50 GIFT CARD from INDi Custom Premium jeans. You can find them at Indicustom.com. While this won’t cover a full pair, it’ll cut a nice chunk off the price. You can customize your pair by style, wash, color, and more and shipping is free! If you’d like to enter, leave a comment with your favorite cut of jeans. (Is it bad that I still love flare? These days I’m mostly boot cut, though.) Honestly, I’d use this myself, except I’m in no condition for new pants right now.
Thanks to all the Blog Better Boston speakers, staff and sponsors. As an attendee I received a $50 gift card from InPink, a Stephanie Johnson clutch, a $50 gift card to INDi, and a pair of Eyefly glasses. I was not required to blog any of these items and have simply posted items that really caught my eye.
Giveaway Rules: No purchase necessary. By leaving a comment with your favorite cut of jeans you agree to the rules of this giveaway. One entry per household. Limited to entrants over 18 in the US. Contest begins as of the time of this post and ends on Monday, April 9, 2012 at 6 pm Eastern Time. The winner will receive a discount code for INDi, a retail value of $50 US. The number of eligible entries received will determine the odds of winning. The winner will be selected using the “And the Winner Is” plugin. Winner will be notified by email and must respond within 24 hours to receive their prize. If the winner does not respond within that time, a new winner will be chosen. The prize will be sent by me within 30 days of the end of the contest. Don’t Mind the Mess is not responsible for any problems with shipping or receipt of the prize. This contest is governed by the rules of Massachusetts, void where prohibited.
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When it comes to baby gear, I learned last time that there are a few items worth splurging on even when you’re on a budget. For example, our stroller. Last time I bought a used Graco Stroller Frame for $15 on craigslist. Got the job done quite well and super cheap.
But I’d abandoned that stroller before baby #2. Why? Because it flat-folds. And that means it takes up the entire floor of my trunk. It drove me kinda crazy last time since we have a tiny car, so I knew this time around I would shell out some more cash to get an umbrella fold stroller frame.
On the left is my new Cybex Callisto. On the right is our Maclaren Volo umbrella. (Also from craigslist.) The Maclaren is about as tiny as you get, and the Cybex isn’t much bigger. It was definitely a worthwhile purchase. I am grateful that I can load my trunk with groceries again.
Yesterday I added another splurge. A diaper bag. Originally I’d planned to get one just like I had before with Graham, a Skip Hop Dash Deluxe.
But the one I ordered was lost by UPS. And when I started looking for another one I found that they are apparently getting discontinued. (There are still some on Amazon and other sites, but not on the main SkipHop page and not in most stores.)
Around this time I started to think that maybe I didn’t want a messenger style bag. Maybe I could just stick with something that looks more like a purse so I can take it with me everywhere. Thus began my epic search for a new diaper bag. One with lots of pockets. One with plenty of space. One that wasn’t too big or bulky. One that had a place to put my wallet and lipstick along with pockets for diapers and such. One that I didn’t hate.
It was a rough go. Finally I had to reach out to the masses for advice.
My diaper bag hunt is going badly. Want one that isn’t too bulky with a secure compartment for wallet, stroller clips, not messenger style.
@jessicaesquire
Jessica
And the masses sent me to the people who make actual purses. So I decided on a last minute trip to the outlets. I came home with this:
I now own a Coach bag. A baby bag, but still.
I do love it. I love the color. I love that it’s reminiscent of a 60′s air hostess bag or a bowling bag. I am grateful it doesn’t have the Coach logo all over it. And it fulfills my general requirements. (Except for stroller clips, but I’m pretty sure I can live without them or find some.)
It is a purse-purse, it is one that is actually my style, and I use these justifications to make up for the fact that I paid over $100 for it.
It does come with some problems, though.
For example, I now own a Coach bag. I am not that kind of girl. I bought my last purse at Marshall’s and felt bad that it was $60. And while my new bag doesn’t have the Coach logo, it does say “Coach” on it. And it makes me worry that people will see that “Coach” and think I am a certain type of person. When I am most definitely not.
This shouldn’t worry me. I’ll tell you why it does. Because I am that kind of obnoxious, super-judgmental person who looks at what someone is wearing and judges them.
Like when I took Tessa to the pediatrician, I saw a Mom there and examined her head to toe. Shiny flats. Straight jeans, rolled up at the bottom (I’ve been seeing that lately, is that back in?). Name brand puffy vest. Preppy shirt. Big wedding ring. Name brand sunglasses on her head. Shiny gold giant purse. And her toddler was immaculately dressed. This is a terrible habit of mine. And I assume everyone else does the same thing.
Of course, if I were to examine myself I would look beyond the cute Coach bag. I would see the jeans that are too long and loose to be in style. I would see the t-shirts from Old Navy. I would see the frizzy hair. I would see the lack of makeup. And I would think, “Oh, she is frumpy but has a nice bag.”
Still. It makes me self-conscious kinda. My stroller does, too, actually. While I hunted until I found it at an excellent bargain price (last year’s model, on ebay) it resembles the fancy shmancy strollers that cost over $500. And I worry that people will look at me and think I am the kind of person who would drop $800 on a stroller.
I obviously need to get over myself. I blame living in Brookline last year, where everyone had the fancy strollers and cute flats and expensive yoga pants. I know my place in that world. I am the frumpy just-rolled-out-of-bed girl who didn’t spend an hour making it look like I just rolled out of bed. I literally just rolled out of bed. Somehow being surrounded by the preppy girls has made me cling to my non-preppy identity.
But the practical part of me wins. I had a good stroller and a good bag as two of my most important purchases for this baby. And since we have a lot of stuff already, I could justify that I didn’t get them on craigslist this time. (Things we bought on craigslist for Graham: aforementioned stroller, other aforementioned stroller, diaper champ, exersaucer, baby bjorn, peapod sleep tent, etc.)
Maybe it’s just the being-a-mom thing that makes my identity so important to me. I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m one of the few parent bloggers who doesn’t have some variant of the word “mom” in my url or twitter handle or facebook page. I feel a need to exert myself as something beyond a parent. I guess the idea of the fancy stroller and fancy diaper bag make me feel like I’m presenting myself a little bit more as a capital-M Mom. Or maybe I feel like it’s trying too hard to present myself as someone who’s still fashionable despite being a Mom, even though I wasn’t fashionable to start with.
I don’t know. I’m not exactly sure why a purse is giving me an identity crisis.
But I do know that the purse is damn cute. And I’m keeping it.
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So it’s Black Friday. I am not going to shop because I am not crazy. But I will shop online and get a few deals. And, of course, because there is a baby girl coming to this house soon I must occasionally indulge myself in a teensy bit of baby clothes shopping.
Carter’s is 50% off today and they do have some of my favorite baby stuff so I went over to pick up my standard multi-packs of baby onesies. I always like to get a couple pairs of baby pants, especially since it’ll be chilly, so I took a look to see what their was.
And this is what I saw:
RUFFLE BUTT.
I backed away slowly, as I do from many other baby girl clothes. The tutus and dresses and leggings and bows. They scare me a bit because I’ve never been much of a girly-girl. And it isn’t helped by the fact that the only baby I’ve had is a boy. There is no such thing as Ruffle Butt in boy pants.
I took my confusion to Twitter, as I am wont to do.
But seriously, Carter's, why do all your baby girl pants have ruffles on the butt? What is that? Who wants a ruffly butt?
@jessicaesquire
Jessica
That is when the Ruffle Butt Defenders arose. Among their claims:
“I wear jeans and long-sleeved Ts. My kid wears adorable leggings and pants and purple sparkly shoes and it’s NUTS.”
“YES TO THE RUFFLEBUTT!! I was skeptical too, but SO cute!!”
“awwww ruffle butt! Love!”
Sometimes Twitter is useful to show you when you’re wrong and you must accept defeat. (Like the time I asked Twitter if my husband was weird for listening to Grey’s Anatomy music. Twitter shot me down. Apparently it is not at all weird for a man to listen to girly music from a show he does not watch.)
I started to waver.
The masses are in favor of the ruffle butt baby girl pants. This girl clothes thing is going to take some adjusting for me.
@jessicaesquire
Jessica
But then the Ruffle-Butt Offensive kicked into high gear.
“I join you in your disdain.”
“We got a ton of ruffle butt pants as gifts. I’m keeping em cause she’ll need pants in Jan/Feb but not a huge fan”
“personally i don’t understand the butt ruffles.”
“I’m not a parent, but I am a professional aunt. I am also very anti-butt-ruffle.”
“just say no!”
Get ready, y’all! It’s a Ruffle-Butt Smackdown!!
Do you rage against the Ruffle-Butt? Or do you succumb to the girly sweetness?
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Find the Mess
My Life’s a Mess and That’s Okay
Jess is a procrastinator, a former working mom who is suddenly staying at home, a Dr-Dr's wife, a non-practicing lawyer, an Autism Mom, a devoted reader, a penny pincher, a coupon clipper, a new New England-er, a low-key agnostic, a nice girl, a top-notch speller, a hardcore blogger and a Twitter fiend.
The blog covers everything from coupon tips to Autism support to adorable toddler pictures to hilarious tales of my daily grind with the occasional review & giveaway thrown in for good measure.
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