Nautical Theme Continues...

Aaah, the weather is finally returning to classic San Diego weather: warm and sunny. However I am still a bit cold in the mornings so not ready for shorts or skirts yet but at least went with short sleeves and sandals today. The top is actually thin sweater material. It is a bit crop but not enough that it exposes my belly when I lift up the kids. It has a wide boat neck so occasionally it goes off the shoulder which is cute. I went with boyfriend jeans to match the relaxed look of the boxy top. Could have gone with a predictable white belt but decided add a touch of sparkle with the thin silver woven belt. And it helped me compliment the thin silver hoop earings. The sandals are 2 years old. They were my first 'flat shoe' purchase when I realized I can't vacation with an 11 month old in Acapulco with heels. They are comfy but not that practical to take on and off due to the buckle.
After the photo I added a single white bangle bracelet as well.

Top - Forever 21 - $14
Boyfriend Jeans - Newport News Catalog - $49
Belt - Forever 21 - $6
Shoes - Charles David - $150

Today's Activities: Playdate at a friend's backyard in the am. Sea Life Aquarium in the afternoon. Parents over for dinner at night.

TIP OF THE DAY: So, contiuing the 'shopping tip' series...
Today, lets talk about our constant battle with our weight and dress size. If you follow yesterday's advice, you will probably face this issue as you try on your own clothes. Almost every women has this issue but if you have given birth or multiple births you have probably gone through some serious weight fluctuations. If you have very recently given birth or still breastfeeding I suggest hold off on any big shopping sprees until your weight settles. But if it has been over a year, it is probably time to make some piece with your weight and size. I am not saying forget about your goals of loosing those last 10-15 (or if lucky 5) lbs. It is good to always try to eat healthy and try to squeeze in exercise to continue working towards that goal. But in the mean time, instead of hiding in your sweats or yoga pants because nothing else in your closet fits and you refuse to try on a bigger size at a store, come to some sort of an agreement. If you did go and buy a few pieces in your current size, for one you will get out of those elastic pants and two you will realize your new size is not as bad as you thought when you are not trying to squeeze into something super tight. And contrary to general belief baggy clothes do not hide your extra pounds they extantuate it. Wearing complimenting clothes in your correct size will make you look slimmer. So, long story short, go ahead and pick some pieces you like and take 3 size to the dressing room and see what your new size is and shop in that size. If you truly think you will go down just buy a couple pieces for now. Personally 'baby doll' styles and those elastic bottom blousan style tops were my best friends when I still carried the baby flab tummy.

Bon Voyage!

Decided to go a bit nautical today since the big event today was going on a whale watching cruise with my son, just the two of us while my daugther stayed with my mom. Nautical is totally in now. However, need to be careful to not go overboard. For example, striped top, with sailor pants, anchor necklace is a bit too much. I say pick one nautical piece and/or keep the colors nautical.
The T-shirt is something I bought a few months ago from Charlotte Rousse. It is tissue thin, and has an a-symetrical hemline which is cute. Has this barely seen red design (I think of a parrot) on it. Just enough for me to compliment it nicely with my red crinkled scarf. I chose simple white jeans and my white rocket dog sneakers (with socks, since I am always cold, especially on a boat).
Moms are always afraid of white but I find actually very practical. Because no matter what stain you collect during the day, with a dab of bleach pen at night you can make it disappear.
The jean jacket is quite old. It is actually something I bought when I had started showing while pregnant to my son. When my crop and slim fitting jean jackets didn't fit. So, this one is a size bigger but makes it comfy because of it. I like the vintage flower lining inside. This is one of my 3 jean jackets! Apparently you can never have enough as each is slightly different style. Since the scarf is bold enough I went with no jewelry except for the silver tiffany charm bracelet. Would have worn a watch but 3 out of 6 watches I own need new batteries. An errand I have not got around to just yet.

See this outfit would have looked killer with some heels. I would have tried it with my navy patent leather plaftorm peep toe heels. But again, this is reality and sneakers is the best I can do given my activities.

Today's Activities: Whale watching cruise with son (packed an additional red wind breaker which I did wear when we were on open sea), since he napped on the boat on the way back and my daughter was sleeping at my mom's, did marathong grocery shopping for the week, hitting costco and vons back to back. Just enough time to come home unload, pack snacks and take the kids to the park for a playdate (mom brought my daughter back). At home babysat a friend's kids during dinner so she can get a well deserved facial.

SO, for the TIPS section I decided to start a series of tips on 'Clothes Shopping'. I don't want to list bunch of tips and ideas all at once, so everyday will expand on one idea or a tip on shopping (or as in today 'pre-shopping').

Tip of the Day: Before you shop, re-visit your closet. Since no mommy has time to tackle this project all at once, I suggest breaking it up. One day (may be 30 minutes after kids are in bed) tackle pants, the other shorts and skirts, the other t-shirts and tank tops, dresses etc... you get the idea.

As you tackle each section, if you have not worn an item for a while or worse you don't even remember owning this item, I suggest quickly try it on for fit. Anything that does not fit, separate, the ones that do fit, assess if you still like it, will you wear it with kids, or going out? Remove anything that does not fit, or you will not wear. Will cover what to do with these later. For now, use an old bin or big bags and put these in the garage or a spare bedroom closet or attic etc... This might take up to a month but you will feel so much better for one having an organized closet and second knowing everything in there is now something that fits you and things you will wear. Once done, re-visit all those items you bagged and stored away. Go through them again, separate the items you know you will never want to wear again and nothing special you want to keep for anyone else. Donate these to goodwill. If there are expansive items that you do not want and you are up for it, you can sell them to designer second hand stores (google ones in your area) and get some money for them. Also, keep some items that do fit and in good brands but not in style at the moment. They will come back in style again and you will be glad you didn't get rid of them. They just don't need to take up space in your closet. Store them somewhere else. Those flat under bed storage bins work great if you don't have extra closet space. I use the extra space in both my son's and daughter's closet but they both have large closets. Hope this helps. Please comment if you have any other suggestions on this topic. Would love to hear your ideas and comments if this was helpful.

This is another one from my list of ideas. These pants (Ann Taylor) are from my work days very long time ago. I like the idea of animal prints with bold colors like this pool blue and hot pink. After my pregnancy with my son I realized I could no longer wear the waist length t-shirts I owned. The were too short. I love the store 'Closet' for cheap purchase of basic t-shirts and tanks. They sell them in every color and style (v-neck, scoop neck, ripped, straight with lace trim etc...) and at funny prices like 3 for $10! This hot pink Tee was one of those purchases. The jacket you have seen me wear a few times now. It is from Forever 21. Even though it looks polished and dressy it is actually very practical and comfy. The material never gets wrinkled and the design is perfect to hide those mini choclate covered finger prints you tend to gather throughout the day. I also love that it has pockets to stick wet and dry wipes for those constant runny noses. The necklace is a purchase from a 'thread show' couple years back. I went with simple ballet flats (cole haan) to finish the outfit.

Today's Activities: Took the kids to the 'Diego and Dora' movie as part of the latino film festival and then got a photo with Dora. Had to tell my son Diego was napping cause it wasn't going to come for another 20 minutes and we had to get back home for naps. In the afternoon we checked out the Children's Museum (free day today) and then walked by the water at Seaport Village to enjoy the finally sunny weekend we haven't had for weeks.

So, I finally had some time last night to do some internet searching for other mom's that blog on fashion. Could hardly find any which surprised me. There was LOTS of mommy blogs but not on fashion. Found only a few but I need to comment and ask them if they are working mom's or do they just take photos of cool outfits they come up with. Cause the outfits do not seem like things you can wear when running around town with kids. If I was working that is what I would do: Make all my fashion statements with work clothes and not worry what I wear on weekends with kids. But, that was my challange and inspiration to start this blog after all. For those mom's that no longer have work to dress up for and spend all the day with kids doing kid stuff, do they give up on their love for fashion. For the past month and a half I have been able to at least prove to myself that I don't have to. With some good planning and smart purchases you can adopt today's style to your current life style. I decided from now on I would add a 'Tip of the day' to share how I shop and how (and more importantly when) I come up with the outfit ideas and how I make it work...