Shoes

Inevitably we trip over a huge pile of shoes as we walk in to the house. There is a wooden box of shoes on the back porch in the garage and then there is my handy-dandy shelf inside the back door packed with shoes. The problem? All of a sudden everyone in the family is having a shoe crisis. My husband wore through the sole on his work shoes -- does lovely things to socks. Mandy has one pair of shoes that fits. Jeff asked me Sunday morning what shoes I wanted Mandy to wear and we tried on about 5 pairs from sandals to boots and only 1 pair fits, size 7 already! And Emma has worn through her shoes so that she looks like a refugee from a manure farm. And then there is me; I am happy throwing my pudgy, swollen feet into my Chaco sandals, but winter is coming. My stock of shoes have been purchased on the cheap and I almost get blisters looking at the fine selection.

We have all these shoes cluttering up our lives and we can't wear most of them. I'm coming around to "quality over quantity" thinking and wish to get rid of the piles of nasty shoes and have good shoes that will last and not give blisters or wear through the soles after 3 months.

Kids are hard because their growth spirts are unpredictable. Emma has grown 4 inches since early spring! But her feet have grown pretty slowly over the years. For Emma we purchased some good quality Roper boots. Try to wear through the soles on these babies! They even have a steal toe. We purchased them a little big, so hopefully she can wear them for awhile and then Mandy can wear them. So far, Emma has worn then every day this week with shorts, skirts, and her currently high-water jeans (on to the next problem).

We haven't decided what to get for Mandy and she will continue to wear her one pair of shoes that fits out in public until I have a moment to think about it. At home she can be barefoot -- the sad life of a second born. She tried on some killer cute boots too, but they were too hard to get off and on. Mandy is a hard one to keep up with. On her last birthday she was wearing a size 3 shoe. 4 sizes in a year makes me less inclined to spend "real" money on shoes for her.

Then there is me. I am so very tired of my blisteringly cute shoe collection. I have one pair of tennies that I wear for walks and the rest are painful. Painful, I tell you. I decided last spring to buy some good shoes and my requirements are that the shoes should go on and off easily, be comfortable, and look good with jeans, jeans, and um, jeans and my multitude of neutral colored shirts and sweaters. I'm a wild one and wear both black and brown, so I imagined a shoe that is bold. Hold on to your seats:

I really like these shoes from Keen in "Matter Brown." But what color are they, really? On all the sites I've looked at they vary from red to pink. But the description is brown. I would do burgundy/red, but not pink. Hmm. My birthday money is already simmering a hole in my online shopping pocket.

I need to find something for the hard-working man in the family too. The flapping sole doesn't look too quality. It should be pretty easy to replace his shoes, but I just need to get to the store.

I think shoe issues are a common problem for families. And today I am going to go through our stash and eliminate the nasty and give away the salvageable. Next time you see us, our feet will be singing and the fear of accidents caused by back-door-entry-shoe-pile-tripping should be completely gone.

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Post-pregnancy fashion

We are going to Mexico for my cousin's wedding in late November. I am super excited since our vacations usually have "road trip" or "third world country/mission trip" in the description. Jeff and I and a baby, presumably, will be at a swanky resort and I am quite certain that nothing I have in my present wardrobe will be appropriate. With this in mind, I set about to do some summer clothes shopping for the trip and encountered these obstacles:

• I AM 9 MONTHS PREGNANT and have no idea what size I will be in 3 months
• I AM 9 MONTHS PREGNANT and can't try anything on that isn't the size of a tent
• I will be about 6 weeks post-partum and will be breast feeding a newborn
• I don't want things in my wardrobe that I know I will never wear outside of Mexico since there are other ways I would like to spend my clothing budget

The summer clearance sales are underway and I found some good deals with all things considered. Here is what I found:

This dress is from TJ Maxx and was $7. A good bargain makes my day and I found some fantastic ones at that store. It was originally over $50. It is pretty stretchy, has a built in bra, and is still fancy enough to work for the rehearsal dinner or other wedding events where the dress code is "beach chic." The necklace is from Target. I love that place.

Gap.com and Piperline.com had some good deals as well and I shopped from the convenience of home and imagined myself skinny -- or I should say, skinnier. This skirt is also stretchy and will travel well. I got the sandals to hopefully go with most of my outfits. My world now consists of hiking style Chacos and chipped toe-nail polish. A total transformation will need to happen in the next few months.

This shirt and the next one are to wear with the white skirt. I'm not too sure how nursing will work here, but it was only $5. How could I argue with $5?

I love clearance sales. Really I do! This shirt was from Gap.com as well and was $9.99. I can actually see wearing this next summer, so the "splurge" is okay.

This is my favorite dress and I couldn't leave it at the store even though it was SO over budget. Can you believe $14.99? I am such a cheap-skate. I think I can make this work for the winter with a brown sweater or jacket, right?

I also bought another $7 dress, a $5 pair of white capris (that is as much as I am willing to pay for white pants of any kind), a rather vibrant pink top for $3.97, and new swim suit that should hide the post-pregnancy jiggles -- I have come to the point in my life where a skirt on a swim suit is good idea. Over-all I am pretty happy with my expandable/breast feeding friendly clothing selection for the trip. I hope that it will work if I lose 7 pounds or 20 pounds or none at all since I will be throwing desserts in my mouth as fast as possible including brownies, chocolate chip cookie dough, pie of any kind, and Blizzards of any flavor.

Jeff's fabulous vacation wardrobe is easy: Dockers and polo shirts, shorts and t-shirts, and a new pair of flip-flops.

The deals on baby clothes in size 0-3 months at this time of year are amazing. For the baby, I got a few cute short sets and a little white sun hat. I think he needs to be "beach chic" too, so we are all set. Except for the baby not actually being born yet and having no birth certificate or passport for the little one. But who is worried?

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The plight of the tall pregnant lady

I am 5'10". I checked the statistics at halls.md.com, and I am taller than 97% of the American population of women. If I took into account the number of you who follow by blog who are female, reduced further by the percentage of those who are pregnant or have been pregnant, I would probably come up with less than .01% of you who understands firsthand the plight of a tall pregnant lady. There might be more who care to hear me explain, so I will press on with my post.

Finding maternity clothes that fit my tallness is quite difficult. During my first pregnancy, I resorted to the horrible look of high-water pants designed for a women who are 5'4". The shirts were always too short, so I showed off the lovely full panel at the top of the pants. During my second pregnancy, it became easier to find longer lengths in maternity clothes because the manufacturers took notice of the 3% of the pregnant population walking around looking ridiculous. I looked considerably more fashionable during Mandy's pregnancy, but paid the high price for maternity clothes.

This time around, I've discovered a secret to having some cute clothes and paying less. I buy things in the women's section that are styled loosely. The dress above is from Target and I got in on sale for $23. The empire waist and flowing skirt work perfect for my growing bump. A very similar dress at Motherhood Maternity is $49.

At home I love to wear yoga pants. I haven't once done Yoga in them, but they sure are comfortable for laying around eating sugar-free bon bons. Target now has long lengths in their Champion semi-fitted athletic pants for women. The cut of these pants is actually flattering and perfect for maternity or not because of the wide, low waist band. They are only $20.

I've also found great success with women's shirts that are styled long and loose. My favorites are ones that have a bit of cinching at the bottom. Maternity shirts are $20-$40 for just a regular t-shirt that is often not as long as a regular women's shirt -- don't ask me why. This shirt is from Gap and is $15. Check out Gap Maternity and almost the identical shirt is $34.

For the next months of my pregnancy, these kinds of shirts will get me by just fine. If you are one of those pregnant ladies who gets an absolutely huge belly, this won't work for you. Like my hair-dresser who had twins and couldn't touch her fingers over her belly.... nope. You are regulated to the maternity section only.

My next dilemma would be finding jeans that are long enough. Only a few stores carry long lengths in jeans that I can afford (Gap, Old Navy and Motherhood), but they still are hard to find. In one store, a sale's lady recommended I stick with capris when I asked about long length maternity jeans. Thank you. I have capris, but it is 43 degrees today. 

Aren't maternity pants just the most beautiful things you've ever seen? No? One of my friends said the top panel reminded her of something you would roast a turkey in. I can't get that image out of my head.

I couldn't bring myself to spend $35 or more for jeans when I just know the weather will warm up as soon as I do. In desperation I looked at Ross Dress For Less and I found a great pair for $14. They are barely long enough, so if they even darken the door of a dryer, tears will be shed. Wonderful husband, are you reading this? No dryer! These jeans will get me through. Get this: the brand is called Puff Lady. What crazy bunch of men came up with that brand name for maternity clothes? For $14, I'm not going to complain.

Thanks for reading this post if you are not tall. I appreciate your compassionate comments, even if you are secretly thinking I shouldn't whine about being tall. If you are tall, maybe my fashion secrets will help you. It would be the first time in my life when anything I know about fashion helped someone else. And that would just make my year. Or you can pass on some more secrets, or better yet, all the maternity clothes from some trendy, rich, (and tall) lady.

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Fashion foibles

It seems like Emma came out of the womb with her own agenda. Thankfully as a baby, her way of doing things matched up well with mine and I often congratulated myself that Emma was so scheduled and easy. My friends and family and finally baby Mandy helped me see that each child is different. Emma's scheduled nature was part of her determined personality that would show itself later.

Currently, Emma's personality shows itself in the clothes that she chooses to wear and my life isn't always easy.  She changes her clothes at least twice on any given day and sometimes 4 or 5 times. She must wear a skirt every day and making her wear jeans is tough; you'd think you asked her to commit the ultimate fashion blunder. Jeans? How un-cool. She must wear a dancing dress (not a skirt) to watch any movie that has dancing in it. Emma would prefer to never wear socks and only tights on Sundays. Pretty shoes are also only for Sunday. 

I've learned to work around her fashion quirks because she is very opinionated about everything, even what she wears to bed. When she is happy, I am happy, unless she looks ridiculous and then she gets to change. That's my motto.

On Black Friday I found some clothes at Gymboree for Emma. She was beside herself with glee that I got her a dancing dress and a skirt to wear every day. Those were her words, said in the most gushing tone. She was so pleased and that made me feel pretty good about my bargains.

It's so nice to go out in public with Emma when she is wearing a darling matching outfit from Gymboree. It is everything I longed for when I dreamed of my little girl. She is so pretty and well behaved that she is a joy to take places.

I have moments like these and I take a picture because there are other moments, before we leave the house, that are not so lovely. Like yesterday when Emma came out wearing this outfit:

Look how pleased she is with herself. This picture was before I sat down and had a serious conversation about modesty with her. The black "shorts" are really the diaper cover that goes with her size 4T Christmas dress. A diaper cover, seriously. I should have hidden it the moment I saw the Children's Place dress included it, but I never anticipated this challenge. So, we had our first conversation about modesty and she totally didn't get it. I explained over and over again and finally ended up telling her that her legs would get cold so no, they are not shorts and no, she could not wear them. End of story. I know having 2 daughter that these kinds of conversations will be ongoing in our house. 'Till next time...

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Are you ready for leggings?

I stood staring at the display of leggings, filled with mixed feelings. Part of me loves the look of this trendy "new" style and the other part of me is reminded of stirrup pants from 1889 and I am frighted.

I broke down and bought them, fearful all the way. I convinced myself that I am a stylish woman, capable of pulling off the look.

I am still reminded of 1989. Although the outfit I wore to church on Sunday was fashionable, I was quite convinced everyone was looking at my bare ankles and shuddering in horror with thoughts of slouch boots and neon scrunchies from yesteryear.

Ladies, my question is, are you ready for leggings and all the memories they bring with them?

PS Taking a picture of my own feet was much harder than I thought. And yes, the red shoes are so very cute. Thank you.

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Cracked Up

How low can you go should not refer to women's jeans, yet it often does. Through the mid 90's to the present, we have watched the waist bands of jeans plummet further and further. Advertisers attach winning phrases like "ultra low" and "low-low rise" to these pants that barely cover our behinds. The pants may have a lower rise, yet our bottoms have not shrunk to accommodate. We feel a sense of glee when we put on those oh, so trendy low rise jeans and we stand in front of the mirror, hip flung out to the side, just like the pasty white mannequin in the store front wearing 10 sizes smaller of the same pair of jeans. We may turn around and peer at our backside too see if it is covered and yes, it is! Boy, that 6 inch rise really makes my butt look small, we think. We just ignores the roll of extra tummy skin that sits like a muffin top above the waist band. We decide to wear a longer shirt with this nifty new pair of jeans and it will cover anything that may peek out in the unlikely event that we need to sit down or bend over.

Since the beginning of low rise jeans, we've told ourselves the same lies in the dressing room: I will never have to bend over in these jeans. I will sit only in chairs that have backs on them, so no one will ever see that my butt only fits in these jeans when I am in the upright position. We get home with the nifty new pair of jeans and wear them in real life, where pasty white mannequins have never been. In real life, bending, lunging, stooping, squatting, kneeling, and sitting occurs and we quickly realize the pants are not helpful. Instead of staying put, they reveal the butt that never really fit in the jeans and our cracks are on display. The first few times this happens, we feel the rush of wind on our backsides as the low rise waist band drags down underwear that can't stand the pressure. Oh, no! we think and reach back to discover in fact, 3 inches of butt crack is showing off to the world. Tugging up on the waist band, we quickly discover that it isn't budging. We then tug down on our shirt that was supposed to be covering everything in the unlikely event we needed to bend, lunge, stoop, squat, kneel, or sit in these jeans. Whatever event that caused the bending, lunging, stooping, squatting, kneeling, or sitting is quite necessary and we give up our useless tug of war and continue on. Let's just ignore the fact that we just showed our backside to everyone standing behind us. The embarrassing incident is quickly forgotten when we stand up and everything is tucked back where it belongs under the waist band of our ultra low rise jeans. This happens again and again as we live our real lives wearing low rise jeans until one day we stop caring. We no longer even reach behind to tug up on the jeans, down on the shirt. Oh, well, we think. It happens to everyone. It is the fashion.

It does happen to everyone, if we succumb to the fashion of wearing ultra low rise jeans. But I am truly tired of seeing women's butt cracks and we must stop this crisis. Visible butt cracks (VBCs) are everywhere and I think everyone has given up. Whether it is a woman bending over in the grocery store to get something from the bottom shelf, or a mom changing a diaper of a toddler on the floor, we see your butt crack. And we don't want too. One solution to the problem is a belt. It can help keep those jeans in place and not creep down, taking your precious, concealing underwear with them. A belt is great, but it doesn't do miracles. If the pants are too low, they are too low. The only real cure for this epidemic of VBCs is to not wear pants that you cannot move in. We are not size 1, pasty white mannequins in store windows who will never have to move. We lead real lives and we have to have jeans that conceal while we are bending, lunging, stooping, squatting, kneeling, sitting. When we try on jeans in the dressing room, we can't pose like the mannequins any more. We can't succumb to the lie that our shirts are long enough. We must bend, lunge, squat, kneel, and sit before we decide the jeans will be discrete enough to not show VBC to the world. If you can't tell in the dressing room mirror, find a kind woman in the mall and say, "Hello, nice to meet you. Can you see my butt crack in these jeans?" We shouldn't be embarrassed. After all, we were going to show it too them in any event if we had to bend, lunge, squat, kneel, or sit in front of them in our nifty new low rise jeans. Any woman should be thrilled to help you because it would mean one less VBC for the rest of us.

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