Thirty Pounds

It’s been my goal to lose weight forever. That’s not surprising considering it’s the goal for a lot of people. Since packing on nearly 50 lb during my last pregnancy and only losing about half afterward, that goal should weigh even heavier on my mind now (pun intended).

The last time I dropped a lot of weight was in 2008/2009 because I had a specific goal to work toward–my wedding! I didn’t shed as much as I originally planned, but I fit in the dress, and that’s all that matters as far as that moment in time goes.

My husband tries to be my cheerleader, but considering I generally give up on counting my Weight Watchers points after a day and a half, it’s a lot easier to be skeptical. But recently, he gave me another finish line to strive for. He made a deal with me that made a lot of sense. When I lose 30 lb, we can start trying for Baby #2.

I work a lot better with deadlines, and one my “resolutions” was to try to get pregnant this year. And, losing 30 lb would put me just under my pre-pregnancy weight. So it’s a win-win situation because getting pregnant at my current weight AND gaining another 50 lb would not be good. Ugh, I’m already not looking forward to being pregnant again, but I would like another baby sometime soonish.

So here I go. I need to be held accountable, so maybe I’ll have to find a community and tag along with some bloggers who track their weight loss. I don’t know if I’ll be brave enough to post the actual number on the scale, but I’ll at least find a way to post my gain/loss progress. And in the meantime, you all should judge me if/when I fall off the wagon. Positive reinforcement’s always good, too, I s’pose.

Eight Degrees

Sweater: Express (gift); Pants and Watch: NY&Co; Bracelets: Target and Charming Charlie; Boots: Target

That's how cold it was when I quickly took these pictures—8 degrees.  Luckily, I was blocked from the wind, so it wasn't too bad for the couple minutes I was out there.  The wind is what gets you here, I tell ya.  I'd be much happier about the cold and the snow if we didn't have to deal with the crazy wind.

Since I'm finally ready to jump on the big watch trend, I wanted to experiment with some different cheap versions before I commit to giving a good chunk of money to Mr. Michael Kors.  Yesterday, I experimented with huge and white; and today, I have less huge and rose gold.  At this point, I've ruled out all rose gold, but I'm not opposed to two-tone; I'm inclined to go with silver, but my Fossil watch is silver, so I find myself torn.  Can you tell I'm bad at making decisions?

In other news, wet-to-dry hair straighteners don't really work.  At least mine doesn't.  But drying then straightening my hair takes too long, haha.

I guess those are all of my random musings for the day.

Officially a Toddler

I guess since Bridget is now WALKING, she's officially a toddler and no longer a baby.

Flashback to newborn Bridget

My mom was watching Bridget Monday, and when I came home, I asked her whether she had seen Bridget stand up on her own. She kind of half-smiled and handed me her camera to show me the videos she had taken. My jaw dropped! I had never seen her walking without assistance before!

(For those using a reader: video embedded - click to view post in a browser)

Hubs and I tried to get her walk more once he got home, but she was pretty tired. She also doesn't seem to like walking on the hardwood floor as much probably because it's not as comfortable to fall down on. Looks like we'll be replacing the area rug we got rid of in the living room after all.

Now that I have a toddler, I have a feeling it's only a matter of time before baby fever creeps back up...

Mixing Prints Like a Crazy Person

Top, Sweater, and Tights: Target; Skirt: self-made; Belt: Luci Boutique; Watch: Charming Charlie; Shoes: shoo  

It was just a tad cold out, but not terrible.

There are a couple things I haven't gotten down yet style-wise:

1. How to mix prints without looking like a crazy person.
2. How to wear this bold striped circle skirt I made without looking like Frump City, Population: 1.

But here's my attempt for wear*it Wednesday (hosted by fingers, chopsticks and bobbins this week).  I'm mixing a peacock feather T-shirt with the striped skirt and my watercolor floral flats.  At the beginning of the day, I had the sweater unbuttoned and outside of the belt, but I felt this was less crazy and frumpy.  In the end, I kind of liked the result.

Coat: MICHAEL Michael Kors via Costco; Boots: Marc Jacobs via E-Collectique

His Style: Nerdy Business Casual

My husband is a pretty private person except around his close friends, so I only talk about him vaguely on the blog to try and respect that although I am pretty much the opposite. But he was so excited about this hand-me-down tie from his dad that he allowed me to take an outfit picture of him.

Since a recent promotion at work, he's felt the need to dress up a little more, which is a-OK with me. Pro - he looks handsome; Big Con - more ironing. Among the guys on his team, they've also started Tie Tuesday, and he's been waiting anxiously for the perfect Tuesday to reveal his awesomely nerdy new-to-him Spock tie. I must say, I dig it. Goofy ties make life more fun.

Stylin' in Harajuku Mini

On Me - Shirt: William Rast for Target; Sequin Vest and Socks: Target; Jeans: NY&Co; Boots: Vince Camuto via giveaway; Necklace: Charming Charlie
On Bridget - Boots: Pedoodles via Zulily; Everything Else: Harajuku Mini (Target)

I was really excited about Gwen Stefani's Harajuku Mini kids' clothing collection at Target.  Since I put it on Bridget's Christmas list, I held back buying any for her until the holidays were over.  She ended up receiving a really cute outfit from my brother and sis-in-law including winter hat (she got really mad when I tried to put it on her) and knee socks.

I love the animal on the butt!

I went with the pop star Target designer collaboration theme, too, with a William Rast shirt.

After work, I killed time at the mall, mostly at Charming Charlie, and switched out my accessories for the clearance items I stocked up on before going out to dinner for a friend's birthday party.  It was a lot of fun hanging out with some of the ole college crew, and we went to Cold Stone after dinner for ice cream.  What else would you do on a brisk 20 degree night?

The Calm before the Snow Storm

Sequin Tee: Express; Shoes: Kohl's; Everything Else: NY&Co

wear*it Wednesday is hosted by shopfreak today, and the theme is sparkle.  I've seen quite a few bloggers rock the sequined top over a button up, so I gave it a shot today.  Because the sequins didn't really come through in the photos, I kept the first one dark.  You can kind of see the sparkle there.

It'll be interesting to see if we get as much snow tomorrow as they're talking.  Today was another nice nearly 50 degree day; and tomorrow, we're supposed to get 8 inches.  But we never get as much as they say.  Note to self: leave early tomorrow so that I don't have to deal with all the crazies on the road.