What I Wore: Family Visit

I pondered the white jeans dilemma for weeks, and came nowhere near an answer. The dilemma is this: I want to wear white jeans this summer; I really really should not attempt to wear white jeans, this summer or ever. I have 2 kids under 3, which means that (a) my clothes are never 100% clean, and act as beacons to all manner of stains and questionable substances, and (b) my hips have been through a lot recently, and deserve a kinder fate than being encased in white denim.

And yet.

I really want to wear white jeans this summer.

So a light grey pair will have to do. Compromises.

It was warm – positively summer-like – for about 5 minutes a few weeks ago, so I had to bust out this outfit. While the jeans were a somewhat thought-out purchase, the top … is another story. I mean, it had to have been a moment of hysterical blindness or something because – hello, early-2000s eye-searing pattern. Did I mention it’s sheer-ish? On the bright side (and bright it is), it’s the perfect weight for a hot day and has a cool hi-low thing happening. See:

Also, it was $13 at Winners, so hey – it could be worse, you know.

Action shot!

What I Wore: Shopping en famille

Look, I know. These pants? Not the most flattering option in my closet. I know that, and I’m forcibly reminded of it every time I look at a picture of myself wearing them. And yet … I can’t stop. In my head, I’m 26 with pre-baby hips, and I look effortless and cool in a not-annoyingly-hipster way, and … yeah, magical thinking doesn’t work and here we are. But I know what the answer is!

Stop taking pictures when wearing these pants.

Hah! Were you expecting a different answer?

Anywhoodle, this is a pretty basic outfit, and I realize now that it probably could use a necklace or something, but I wore this to go to the mall with the fam, and a necklace would be too wearing-it-for-the-sake-of-blog-photos. Know what I mean? The only reason you’re seeing this outfit, really, is because I was having a Good Hair Day. A Good Hair Day makes almost everything better, especially when you’re no longer 26 with pre-baby hips. It even makes the skies part and the sun shine. Just kidding. Good Hair is magical but not, like, weather-changing magical. I wish.

Still, never ever underestimate the power of Good Hair.

Good Hair can save a so-so outfit; its absence positively dooms many a cute outfit – the above is but one example. (Also, note to self: blush and concealer. Never forget the blush and concealer. Because, yikes!)

What I Wore: Here and There

It seems to be all the rage nowadays to call yourself an introvert, but the sucky thing about actually being an introvert is that, some days, you just want to crawl into a hole and hibernate for a couple of decades. And the mostly-awesome-but-sometimes-enormously-exhausting thing about kids is that, well, they’re always there. And they need you to be there too. Physically and mentally. I am luckier than most when it comes to child care, but even so, some days … I’m really, really tired. And I really, really wish that life came with a pause-and-be-hermit button.

What does that have to do with my outfit? Well, I still need to get dressed on those days, and sometimes I make an effort, and I end up with an outfit that looks like I made an effort. Other days, I end up with an outfit that … doesn’t. This was one of the latter. But:

[I should probably embed this into every post.]

Sometimes, I also try for a do-over. Like so:

When you hit on a combination that works (more or less), it’s nice to have the option to be lazy and just tweak a few things here and there, as opposed to putting together a whole new outfit. Is this one an improvement on the original? Eh, let’s call it a toss-up.