Archive for May, 2010
Look of the Day & Pregnancy Update: 22 Weeks
I’m not in the camp that is completely against leggings as pants. Like anything, it depends on the person wearing them. Or maybe I’m just using pregnancy as an excuse not to give a fuck. Either way, here is my look from today (photo taken at Walgreens). Leggings from Target, black tank from Express, Husband’s cardigan, knockoff Jimmy Choo handbag, and my favorite thrifted ($8) cowboy boots.
I am just over 22 weeks pregnant and the second trimester has been easy for the most part. Baby moves all the time, so much so that doctors have had to “chase” him around to find a heartbeat at recent visits. He also kicks hard enough to be felt and sometimes seen from the outside! Now that I am showing enough that strangers are unlikely to mistake my bump for a beer gut, I am very much enjoying being pregnant. I will probably miss it.
It seems like a lot of pregnant women can’t stand their husbands, but I could not be happier with mine. He is truly amazing, running out for random food items and never commenting on slips in my beauty regimen or sanity. Not to mention that the man was born to be a dad.
On the beauty front, I learned an important lesson this week about how much your skin changes during pregnancy. A few days ago I went tanning with a friend (with the fan on full blast). I have olive skin and have previously never really burnt. Sometimes I would come home from a particularly hot tanning bed with a sore bum, but the redness would always transform to a luscious tan within 24 hours. Not this time.
Now several days later, my back is still red and painful enough that I can’t wear a bra. I was scolded by my OB when she squirted Doppler gel onto my bright red belly. Hopefully my experience in the actual sun this spring-summer will be better. I’m glad to have realized how drastically my skin has changed during pregnancy before I decided to do something really stupid, like get a tattoo.
Sunday Link Love
Refinery 29: 4 New Ways To Wear A Scarf Not sure that these are new but I always love scarf inspiration – I really want to rock some head scarves this spring/summer!
Apartment Guide: Bedroom Decorating for Beginners Our bedroom is always the area that is neglected when it comes to furniture and style. Will remedy this!
Jezebel: Sex And The City 2: Plot Analysis For Mere Mortals =)
Real Moms Real Views: Real Moms DIY: Tutu Tutorial An cheap and easy tutorial for baby tutus.
Refinery 29: I DIY! Make Your Own Fendi Shoe Accessories Designer inspired fabric-wrap heel.
Refinery 29: Try Summer’s Bright Makeup Trends Now! Best of the best inspiration for summer makeup!
Fashion Of My Soul: Bloggers for COACH Blogger-designed brands for the popular fashion brand. My favorite is the fringed shoulder bag – what’s yours?
Made By Girl: Animal Theme Nursery Not quite my style but definitely inspiring. I love leopard print in baby nurseries as well.
P.S. I know I totally overused forms of the word “inspire” in this post, but that is the point of Link Love after all!
Sunday Link Love
Nubby Twiglet: WordPress Database: Back it Up! This couldn’t be better timed – a plug-in for one-time or automatically scheduled WP backups. Good luck to anyone who was hacked this week! 
Cleavage: Nice Girls and Guys Finish Middle (Class) This reminds me of a lot of people and is a must-read if you are single!
The Oatmeal: 10 Words You Need to Stop Misspelling YES YES YES.
Our Life Upstate: What Breasts Are Really For Spoiler alert: It’s both!
PhD in Parenting: Fox News Video on Bedsharing An informative story on co-sleeping deaths with surprising (and yet not really surprising) stats. Crunchy Domestic Goddess elaborates. I personally intend to co-sleep with my baby.
Vogue: Hair Coloring 101 with Leigh Lezark The shade she’s using is an exact brand and box color I’ve used many times. I’ll pay for a cut but my hair color is always DIY. Vaseline is a must!
New Beauty: How cutting your hair can help clean up the oil spill “Matter of Trust collects as much as they can of the 300,000 pounds of human hair and dog fur that are cut every day, turning it into innovative rugs and “booms” that naturally sop up oil.”
Frappelattes: Having Sushi Today? Learn How to Eat Sushi the Right Way Forgot to link this one up last week! I commit many a sushi faux pas at my fave casual sushi belt but these are tips worth reading if you plan to dine at a fine Japanese restaurant. My own sushi tips: Try everything once, and don’t ask for that disgusting orange mayo sauce!
Cupcakes and Cashmere: Watermelon-Lime Popsicles A perfect recipe for the beginning of summer!
Polished Mama Pregnancy Safe Nail Polish
After learning about the unhealthy chemicals in most nail polish, I was excited to try truly pregnancy safe nail polish from Polished Mama. I received a free bottle of bubbly pink Craving to review and I tried it on both my fingers and toes (and on the husband’s toes).
I was skeptical that Polished Mama Nail Polish could possibly be as good as commercial nail polish, but it glided on surprisingly smooth and better than any mainstream polish brand I’ve tried – really! It didn’t become tacky, even on the second coat, although I found I only needed one coat for great color. The polish dried incredibly fast as well.
The nail polish shade I received was Craving. It is more bubblegum in color than shown on the site but I’m sure I can’t get a better shot of it myself. I suspect it would look great on any skin tone but I especially liked it against my olive skin.
Almost better than the polish is the Polished Mama Moisturizing Remover. LOVE. With no acetone or hazardous chemicals, you can enjoy the scent guilt-free – which is good, because it has a lush coconut lemongrass fragrance that seemed to hang in the air for an hour. While it took a little longer to use than a chemical nail polish, it’s worth it for the moisturizing benefit. In fact, I now use this moisturizing remover to clean my nails prior to any nail polish application. It leaves nails and the skin around them clean and soft.
Polished Mama Nail Polish retails at $8.50 a bottle and is available in an array of shades, all named for pregnancy – I love Stretch Mark and Goddess Pose. Polished Mama also sells manicure kits that would make a great gift to a newly-pregnant friend – the odorless polishes are perfect for sensitive pregnancy noses. Obviously you don’t have to be pregnant to use this brand – it’s a high quality polish, and I hope Polished Mama comes out with more shades!
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