Ain't No Mom Jeans

Friday Fun (And Reader Finds!!)

WOOT WOOT Weekend, Mamas!  The last two weeks have been very, very long.  I have been inexplicably sick (with a cold!  It's just a cold!) for over two solid weeks.  This nasty virus has robbed me of motivation, sucked me of enthusiasm, and taken my patience out for a looong vacation.  Grrrrrrr.

Even my kids have been attempting to cheer me up.  "Mom, it's OK!" Raines said to me yesterday.  "You're the best mom EVER EVER...even if you're always grumpy!"

Awesome.  Let's put that on a mug for Mother's Day, shall we?  "World's Greatest Always-Grumpy Mom!"

(NOTE:  Mike, you had better freaking NOT.  Just so we're clear.)

So.  For this issue of Friday Fun, I have exactly ONE find.  Happily you, lovely Mamas, have been doing a little shopping while I've been sniffling, and have been emailing me all sorts of fun finds.  

Stephanie is pregnant and is wondering if this pair of silky, printed, elastic-waist pants from Anthropologie would be rad, or bad?  Call me crazy....but I kinda love them.  Add a white tee and flat, metallic sandals, and WOW.  Summer perfection.  Either color is gorgeous, but I'm leaning to...pink?   

Helen writes:

After moving to New Jersey from LA in January I was looking for a long sleeved dress that is relatively warm, nursing friendly and pretty enough for a date night.   I stumbled upon your post about affordable dresses on Zappos, and that's how I discovered the Patagonia brand dresses. I ended up buying two of them!

Helen ended up with Patagonia's Bay Laural Wrap Dress in black (currently on sale for $36!!), and the sleeveless Margot dress (also on sale for $36).  They are both nursing friendly, and Helen reports that they can also help disguise a small pooch, as well.

Belinda's been on the hunt for the perfect boyfriend jean, and thinks she found them.  I agree!

Heidi makes a pretty convincing CPW (cost-per-wear) argument for this gorgeous maxi dress:

I really, really loved your style resolutions for 2013 article a few months back, and thanks to you I have the beginnings of a decent wardrobe that's not full of things that sort-of-but-not-quite-fit for the first time in five years!

I love, love, loved the gray maxidress you featured two years ago, but couldn't find it anywhere when I started looking for something to wear this summer. I live in Jordan right now, and it's already 80 here most days so summer starts a bit earlier for me. A few years ago I would have bought a couple of dresses that I sort of liked from Old Navy and never have felt good about them...but I remembered your point about cost-per-wear and held out until I found something I loved. And I did! This maxi dress from Shopbop is exactly what I was looking for: beautiful drape, pooch-hiding blouson top, modest enough that I can get away with wearing it here in the Middle East, but still sexy thanks to the V-neck and the drape of the skirt.

Instead of a half dozen crappy dresses, I have one that I truly love and that makes me feel beautiful.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for encouraging women like me to find what makes us feel good about ourselves and giving us pointers as to how to get there!

Yay, Heidi!  Love this!

Jenny found a fleece moto jacket in taupe.  Yessssssss!  Only smalls are left, but they're on sale for $40!

Patricia has me dying for this scarf....so Lem-Lem-ish, yet roughly half the cost...

And lastly...my one lone contribution:

I love this shirt.  Pooch-hiding, nursing-friendly perfection.  Sadly, I did not buy it.  Yup - too grumpy.

 

Here's to a weekend without tissues, red noses or phelgm!  

Wow.  And here's to never having to hear the word 'phelgm' on this blog ever, ever again.

Now I'm off to find my Kindle.  My sister got me hooked on Game of Thrones during my long two-week lie-in....and I'm totally hooked.  (Although, I may never sleep peacefully again.)

What are you doing this weekend?  Something fun, I hope?

xoxo,

S

 

 

Mom Street Style | Hipster Cruiser Mom

I may have mentioned this before, but, I have to tell you again: I have serious Mom Street Style issues.  I’m not sure if you’ve ever had to confront people to talk to them on the street before, but (despite the fact that they are without fail pleasantly surprised, flattered and delighted), it is still super-difficult to work up the nerve to confront fabulous-looking mamas, but I see so many of them. 

As such, from time-to-time I’ll throw together a Polyvore collage to illustrate said fabulousness.  Like this one, inspired by a hipster mama I saw riding her cruiser (with her babe on the back) around our neighborhood, on her way to the best burger joint in town.

She was perfectly dressed for cruising on the rare brisk early summer day here, with a jaunty tilt to her fedora and a perfectly mussed low bun.  At once a bit retro and very now.  Adorable, and—whilst I was juggling three babes a hungry/cranky husband and a thirsty dog on the patio—totally unapproachable : )

 

Cruiser Mom by dynamama featuring boyfriend jeans

This ensemble may be a bit warm for July and August, but I’ll file it for next spring and switch out a felted fedora, darker jacket and tweed TOMS for fall.

Happy cruising!

- M.

Crops, Capris, Pedal Pushers (And the Scary Stuff In-Between)

Ok Mamas.  We promised.  We promised to give explicit detail on the whole cropped pant thing.  Ever since we made this bold (obnoxious) statement in our 2012 Style Resolutions for Moms article:

 

 

 So yes, to summarize:  Dowdy capris that hit at mid-calf:  Bad.  Slim cropped J.Crew pants:  Good.

Right?  Right.

But that's not really all there is to it.  Not all of us (myself included) have gone running out to J.Crew for their adorable cropped pant.  Most of us (me again)....already have some sort of cropped pant/capri/pedal pusher hybrid in our closet.  So what to do?

I pulled my one-and-only pair out of storage for this little exercise.  Here's mine:

Oh good.  It hits at the widest part of my calf.  

 

I....don't....know.  I don't know about these, Mamas. 

But here's the deal:  I really, really really want capris to work.  As Mamas, we often have to fight varicose vein issues, or crazy-pale legs from lack of sunbathing time, and one really can't dispute the practicality of cropped pants for just about any summer activity:  short enough to be cool, long enough to climb, run, jump and cartwheel.

So I went right to the cropped pant source:  My mother.  My mother could outfit a cropped-pant army.  She has been buying cropped pants and capris since....well.  One can never reveal a lady's age.  Let's just say it ends in "ixty-something".  But Mom didn't disappoint:  She has a capri-pant motherlode.  And none of these straight-forward, sophisticated, Jackie-O style pants*.  We're talking capris in suspicious lengths.  Odd colors.  Strange cargo pocket placement.  Cropped pants from Old Navy.  Target.  And even....Younkers.  With brands like Plugg.  That's Plugg with two G's!  Two!  Wanna bet those came from a Juniors section somewhere?

*To be fair, my mother keeps all of her suspicious capris at the lake house.  To be used only for gardening, etc.  She does have her fair share of sophisticated, Jackie-O style pants too.  But it's waaay more fun to make fun of her for those Plugggggs. 

Anyway, I chose three of my Mom's...challenging cropped pant/capri/pedal pushers to try and style (and you can bet I grabbed those Pluggs). But first?  Definition time!  What the heck is the difference between cropped pants, capris, pedal pushers, etc?  

(HUGE thanks to reader Sonja in Portland for this awesome graphic/diagram idea!!)