Jennifer’s

Twenty-six weeks in, here are the ten things I cannot live without:

1.  Gap maternity skinny jeans:

2.  Gap maternity easy straight jeans:

3.  Gap leggings:

4.  Steve Madden booties: (these are not quite the pair I own, but close enough)

5.  Too Faced Natural Eye Shadow Collection:

6.  Asics Gel-3010:

7.¬† Palmer’s Lotion: no stretch marks yet, fingers crossed!

8.  Origins Make a Difference moisturizer: my face was coming off in layers before I started using this cream day and night!

9.  Origins Clean Energy: again, used to combat the dry, dry skin I have this time around!

10.  John Frieda Root Awakening Health Infusing Shampoo and Conditioner:

So, my birthday is in exactly 16 days.  (You can consider this a friendly reminder to get to shopping!)

Last week I stumbled upon this piece of heaven from Kate Spade:

Seriously, how cute is this?¬† I love every last detail of this look; it’s so quirky and feminine and I am pretty sure I would be a happier, much nicer person if this ensemble were mine.

Given that I am a great wife, I like to give my husband, who is also great by the way (sorry for the sappiness, but you know, just in case he reads this I have to help my case out), a few hints in the birthday buying department.  So, as soon as I came across this divine design I notified him that I had found the BEST BIRTHDAY GIFT OF ALL. TIME!

Let’s get real for a moment shall we?¬† I would love for nothing more than to adorn my closet and body with every. single. piece from Kate Spade’s fall collection, but given the price point (the outfit and purse combo above retails for just over $1500) I’ll not be wearing a stitch of it unless by some miracle of the fashion gods I find a slightly damaged garment at Last Chance.¬† And, I am good with that; part of what makes shopping fun for me is scouting out bargains or replicating a high fashion look on a teacher’s salary.

But…I am pretty sure I would sell a kidney or maybe some eggs to buy that¬†adorable ¬†owl purse.¬† It’s $425, which I know is a crazy amount of money to spend on a purse.¬† And those of you who aren’t into fashion, if you’ve even read this far, are probably like who cares?¬† It’s not that cute.¬† Well, first of all hello…did you even look at it?¬† It’s an owl for goodness sake, and yes, it’s $425, which would cover my car payment and insurance and a few other bills, but trust me, none of those things would leave me feeling as grand as that crazy, overpriced owl purse.

…back to birthday wishes.¬†¬† I know the economy is bad; as a reminder, every two weeks I receive a sucker punch to the very kidneys I may¬†have to sell in order to feed my kid, never mind buy the owl purse,¬†of just how¬†grim things are.¬†¬† With that in mind I, kindly I might add, told Brian he could just buy me the purse.¬† A savings of a cool $1090 from me to him!

He countered with the following:

This crocheted, handmade goodie retails for $30.¬† Clearly, an even bigger savings for Brian’s pocketbook, but at what price?¬† (My happiness, that’s what!)¬†

Who exactly is supposed to carry this? (I can’t even call it an imitation or knock-off? You did look at the original right?)¬† Obviously, I am not turning eight this year, but I pray that no pre-teen would carry this monstrosity either.¬† I get that someone’s creativity and hard work went into creating this purse, but so did someone’s for the Kate Spade creation.¬† And let’s be frank, there’s a reason why the first bag is selling at the price point it is and the other is being peddled on a¬†glorified crafters’ site.

And yes, I know Brian was teasing, but I never, never joke when it comes to my birthday or fashion!

This has been a tough couple of weeks, you guys.¬† (This little combo from JCrew¬†may have gone a long way in helping me stomach the whole back to school, shipping my kid off to pre-school three days a week thing.¬† I’m looking at you, Mr. W.)

Unlike in year’s past we really did not have much time the week prior to get ready for our students’ arrival.¬† Due to budget cuts, we had a furlough day, which meant the district was short one day in which to over plan pointless meetings.¬† Instead of recognizing we might be able to do without the same lame power point presentations they’ve over killed the past, well forever, they decided to cram it all into three days and give us an afternoon to prepare for the upcoming year.¬†

And sure, a crazy truly passionate teacher might have come up during the summer to compensate for the shortage of prep time, but I refer you to the furlough day and the decreased pay, so the likelihood of that happening is carry the seven: 0%!

Normally, I feel fairly ready, and by ready I mean copies made, room cleaned, rosters printed, and desks dusted.  I am never, in fact, actually ready to give up the lazy days of summer.  So moral is low and temperatures are high, which all has made for a super, duper back to the grind attitude.

Our child care situation has changed significantly this year as well.¬† Isabella is home two days a week and the other three she is enrolled in a pre-school.¬† What can I say about that that won’t bring tears to my eyes?¬† NOTHING that’s what.¬†

It has been an emotional roller coaster around these parts.  Isabella seems to like the idea of school and KIDS, but only if she is not actually going to school with kids.  I get that at some point in her life she is going to have to actually get accustomed to the idea of a school that houses other kids, but dear moses, she is not even two yet.  It must be horribly discomforting to consider that three times a week you are being deposited into a situation that is less than ideal in your mind.

Isabella is shy, as are Brian and I.¬† I deal with shy kids, painfully and otherwise, all the time.¬† I get that for Isabella school is a mixed bag of emotions: on the one hand there is the learning and the snacks (mustn’t forget the food, the sort of food I would never give her) and the kids (who she now sings about at home, so that’s good, right?), but there’s also the kids (about 14 others) vying for a little bit of individual attention and over whose voices she must try to make her tiny, sweet voice¬†be heard.¬†¬†

This being heard and getting noticed for herself is hard for Isabella as she only talks in whispers at school.  I think she is finally starting to talk louder, but the whispers really bother me.  She is loud and talks non-stop at home, so my guilt gets the better of me and I start to consider if school is so traumatic for her that the whispers, which start in the car on the way to school, are a sign she feels insignificant in the face of all those kids.

I mentioned the crying, right?  We could float away on the tears that have fallen the past few weeks.  At first, Isabella did not cry , but a couple days in she realized this was a permanent thing, and so she started clinging, grabbing, and crying when we would drop her off.  That too has passed and now we are a much more heart-breaking round of crying: the stoic crying.  She starts crying silently at some point on the way to school, in between her whispered answers to our questions, which causes my heart to break and so we are both a mess when we go into her school. 

I swear you would think¬† this is the first time we have had to part instead of the third school year, but it isn’t any easier for either one of us.¬† Everyone told me it would get easier, which is absolutely a complete and horrible lie.¬† I feel more and more miserable each time I load her in the car and drop her off at school.

I do take comfort in the fact that she is talking more and more at school and that she has always been happy when we pick her up.  I do like the idea that she is learning to interact with other kids and adults.  I do think it important that she learn to navigate the world as an introvert and that she discovers ways to make herself seen and heard, in her own quiet way.  I do hope that she learns cool  things and continues to think knowing lots of stuff is the absolute best (I am pretty sure she is ready to tackle the Brittanica ). 

I can remember, though, situations from my own childhood where I quietly suffered through something because I had resigned myself to the idea that my parents chose this for me and so I had no recourse to change my circumstances.¬† Every kid needs to learn that sometimes there are things we have to do that we don’t want to do; I totally get that.¬† I am just not convinced that a child needs to learn the lesson at two while being left by her mom and dad.

I also get that after a while Isabella will adjust and going to school will be a breeze, but I also get that it could very well appear she has adjusted and that going to school is a breeze.¬† I am very, very worried about the latter possibility.¬† Isabella has a phenomenal memory, so I worry that the memory of those first miserable weeks or months will stay with her.¬† I can still recall, with shocking clarity, the pit in my stomach (I seriously just got the feeling as I think about this) I had my first day of kindergarten.¬† And while I generally came to love school, I can also recall those couple of years (second and sixth grade for me) that were nine months of Dante’s Inferno because of classmates and the teacher.¬†

I hope that for Isabella school really does become fun and that when she looks back on it she only recalls the joy of making friends, doing crafts, eating forbidden snacks, and learning, learning, learning.¬† And if she does recall the bad, I hope that she can forgive me and realize that however sad she was during those times I suffered more…the true mark of motherhood.

I am a major fan of dresses and wear them so frequently that recently a student asked me if I only wore skirts and dresses because of my religion.¬† I said, “Yes” to which he asked what religion.¬† I responded, “Fashion!”

But seriously, I have always liked dresses, unfortunate ninth grade fashion whim aside.¬† My mom was a huge fan of dressing my sister and I in dresses we deemed “spinners” because when we twirled the skirt part of the dress would spin out around our little legs…nothing delighted us more than bringing home a new dress and saying to our dad, “Look; it’s a spinner!”

I didn’t wear a lot of dresses past elementary school, though, because it wasn’t considered cool during the latter part of the ’80’s and into the Seattle grunge influenced early ’90’s.¬† (Both deplorable times in fashion history, mind you).¬†

I also stopped wearing dresses about the eighth month of my pregnancy because I was large enough that by the time the material stretched around my enormous gut it was about ten feet away from skimming my legs.  I did not need to feel anymore like a whale.

Now that I’ve lost the pregnancy lbs I am back to my impassioned love for the dress.¬† I am, of course, a major fan of the LBD (little black dress) and channel Audrey every time I don mine and my set of pearls!¬† (I just need the gloves!)

There are so many beautiful dresses out there right now; I couldn’t possibly post them all here.¬† However, I have mulled through some of my favorite sites and found these lovelies for you lovelies to enjoy!

From Banana Republic:

From Gap:

From JCrew:

From Lulus:

From Macy’s:

From Nordstrom:

From Target:

Click on the images for a larger view!

Here in AZ fall is just right around…well, it seemed to be right around the corner about a week ago when the temps dipped into the low seventies.¬† I, foolishly, began envisioning outfits that involved wool, tights, sweaters, and corduroy (after Thanksgiving, of course), but then Mother Nature decided to punish us all by dropping a load of high pressure over the state which has forced the mercury upwards once more.¬† In fact, it is going to be warm enough today to rival a high set back in 1991.¬† (I was a lowly freshman in high school in the fall of ‘91;¬† I am pretty sure my fashion woes at the time involved which pair of Umbro shorts to wear to school.¬† I shudder even now, seventeen (gasp) years later that my mother ever allowed such a fashion travesty to leave her house.¬† I’m all for giving teenagers a sense of independence, but it is a fine line and wearing soccer shorts every day was definitely a gross misuse of that freedom.)

I heard something the other day that made my ears bleed; AZ is in for above normal temps until at least Feb., which means the likelihood of me ever being able to break out the fabulous winter coat and gloves I scored this weekend are pretty slim.¬† In fact, when I heard that I had such an immense feeling of buyer’s remorse that I had to take two TUMS!¬† I am really trying to rationalize the purchase by telling myself that I will be in wintry conditions for nine days over Christmas break and that if¬†we turn our A.C. really low the coat and gloves can be worn every day.

I’ve lived in the desert for nine years now and each year my feelings toward warm, sunny weather grow more complex.¬† I love that the majority of the year is moderate and that while my friends and family back home are suffering through snow and ice we are yucking it up with our neighbors at the local park.¬† BUT, (and this is written in a whisper, if such a thing is possible) I am definitely a person who enjoys wearing fall and winter clothes way more than spring and summer clothes, so you can understand how living in the desert presents a bit of a problem for me.¬† I am one of the few around these parts¬†who welcome the dark, dreary days and the cooler temps.¬†

So, while I may not be able to wear much of the items offered by some of my favorite stores this season, I cannot help myself from perusing their websites religiously!  Why, oh why, are there so many pretty things this season?  Over the next few posts I will compile some of my favorites for you to drool over as well!

The Sweaters: (compiled from Gap, Banana Republic, JCrew, Anthropologie, Lulu’s)

My BFF called the other night with a bit of a fashion emergency. In about a week she is headed to LA for a weekend full of wedding related events. One said event will find her brunching at THE IVY!!!! Yes, the very IVY where the likes of Lindsay Lohan, Ashlee Simpson, John Travolta, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez and other celebrities can be found trying to enjoy free publicity lunch.

At first Bri was thinking a dress for the brunch, but The Ivy has a more casual vibe going on so she has scaled back from an Oscar worthy gown to one that is more subtle and far less sequined! She’s already purchased appropriate eyewear so that the glare of her own greatness will not blind the paparazzi as they take shot after shot after mistaking her for the next IT girl!

Bri asked if I had any ideas and I said I would do some research and get back with her. She has a gift card and coupons to Macy’s, and since times are hard all over, I have limited my searching to their website.

Below are the looks:

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#8

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