how do I love thee: denim jacket

There aren't too many things from my high school style that I would still be interested in wearing at 30, but there is one major exception to that rule: the denim jacket. I can't get enough of it lately! It just goes with everything, from colored pants to skirts and dresses, and it crosses seasons (and pregnancies!) so well too. In particular I love how it gives dresses such a good fancy/casual vibe.

The ways I love wearing my denim jacket include:
with a little black (maternity) dress | with white jeans

with a floral shift dress | with ponte pants | with a pencil skirt 

with a t-shirt dress | with a striped dress | with red pants

(And there's also with a little white dress, with a maxi dress, with a bright colored skirt, with patterned shorts, and with white corduroys.)

I wore a denim jacket with almost as much frequency in the later years of high school, though probably not with quite so much variety... the chinos and Birkenstock clogs are thankfully not in the picture any more. I can say at least that that particular denim jacket actually would still be a totally suitable-looking one for these days, but at some point in the intervening years I stopped wearing and thus got rid of it. When it occurred to me a year or two ago how many modern grown-up outfits it could be used for too, I replaced it with a great deal on one from Land's End Canvas.

I love the current one because it's fairly dark denim and just the right length to work with dresses and with pants. These are some other great options if you're looking to fill a denim jacket-shaped hole in your wardrobe. Love the idea of a white one for summer too!

Sharing on Mix It Mondays, Monday Mingle, and the Summer Style linkup since clearly I get a lot of summer use of this thing!

how do I love thee: ponte pants

It's exciting to be back to my regular wardrobe, but some days the transition from maternity to new mom wear has been a bit rockier than I thought it might be. It probably has something to do with the seasonal transition that seems to happen every time - when a season rolls around again, I tend to find myself wondering what on earth I wore during that season last year.

I do recall though that my black ponte pants were a staple of my wardrobe in the colder months last year, and I rather liked most of the outfits I made with them. I've found in the last few weeks they're working well for new mom lifestyle, so a little roundup of some ways I've worn these favorites to re-inspire myself in putting together the upper half of the outfit - and perhaps you too!

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Skinny ponte pants are so great - like leggings but thicker and with a regular zip/clasp waistband (so I say they count as real pants), so they have the comfort of a sweatpant but can be worn for many occasions, dressed up or down. Clearly I like to wear with blues/chambray, but there are zillions of other outfits with such a versatile neutral.

Now don't you want a pair of your own? Mine are from Loft last year; they have some similar options now, and I've spotted a bunch of others lately from other retailers too...

And for more inspiration, a few other wardrobe staples I've declared my love of remixing: 

bubble necklace | striped tee | white jeans

Sharing on Fizz & Frosting's Mix It  Mondays, AJ Wears Clothes, Long Distance Loving, Style Elixir and Pleated Poppy.

how do I love thee: bubble necklace

Franziska and Whitney are hosting a 5 days, 5 ways remixing get together this week, and for today, the theme is accessories. Which seems like the perfect time for an ode to my favorite necklace.

They're not very original by now, I know - you can get versions everywhere, from Etsy and Ebay to JCrew and Baublebar - but this bubble necklace was a big purchase last summer after I coveted one for a while... and it has seriously been worth it. The color is gorgeous, it goes with nearly all of my wardrobe, and it adds a fun twist to almost any outfit. Plus this necklace never fails to garner a compliment or two, which really makes an outfit feel awesome.

I easily came up with way more than 5 examples of how I've worn it:

professional blazer | casual blazer 

signature style | nautical style 

date night dress | beachy maxi dress 

winter stripes | summer stripes

summer leopard | fall leopard

And I should give credit to Peter: while I heavily hinted that I would like a bubble necklace, he bypassed the knockoff versions I conveniently left up on the computer and birthday splurge gifted the "real thing" to me. Clearly, I love it.

p.s. my version is from JCrew Factory - slightly smaller than most versions, which is much better on short people like me.

Sharing on 5 days, 5 ways, WIWW, and Friday's Fancies (since this necklace never fails to make me feel just that!)

how do I love thee: VA rotation

At the beginning of October Peter started a three-month rotation at the VA hospital. While it's not always his favorite place to work in terms of some of the setup and staff, it's pretty much always my favorite for one big reason: the schedule. Much of their time is spent in clinic, rather than the operating room, and they don't always have patients to round on, so that means having much closer to regular person office hours.* Yay. My love of the schedule is summed up by all of these perks:

1. earlier dinners: more clinic days and fewer patients staying in the hospital means arriving home at more normal people dinner time, which makes me happy (and less hungry). And sometimes Peter even does the cooking, like his special pasta dish.

2. lazy Friday mornings: usually Fridays have only afternoon clinic, so if there aren't any patients to round on in the morning, it means sleeping later (maybe even 7am!) and eating breakfast together. Like on this day when I sat on the counter while Peter made us pancakes.

3. actual holidays: residency schedules generally don't respect regular people days off, like the weekend or holidays, but at the VA, there aren't scheduled clinics/surgeries on federal holidays... And this three-month block is the best for those - Columbus Day, Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas (I mean, I don't even get those first two off!). We pretty much always celebrate a bonus day off with breakfast out.

4. help around the house: less time spent at work equals more time at the house; this timing worked out perfectly for the kitchen cabinet painting, thank goodness, since Peter was around enough to help me with half of this ginormous project (and was very good about offering to do so after my little "I hate painting" meltdown early on).

5. a walking companion: more time at home also equals more joining Ginger and me for walks (plus he even scoops the poop... now that's true love).


*lest you think that he's getting off too easy, there are still enough weekend call shifts and VA home call duties (read: occasional pager in the middle of the night - the worst part of the VA, in my opinion...) and required lectures/reading/courses that add up to still working a plenty long work week. But there's most definitely more free time and sleep than regular residency work weeks, so we'll take it.