Pregnancy Style: 14 Weeks

Please note: belted cardigan/dress to emphasize the ambiguous in-between belly I have going on right now.

(I'm going to do belly photos at the end of each pregnancy week--since that's when the week technically counts--because pregnancy math is weird.)

So yes, I'm growing a bit! I've felt much better lately and haven't needed to take afternoon naps nearly as much as I did before. My clothes still fit--so getting dressed hasn't been strange yet--although I do tend to wear outfits that either obscure the belly completely or emphasize it as much as possible, because like I said, the in-between stage is pretty awkward and I'm paranoid that people will think I'm either super bloated or all pot-bellied out. 

I've been eating a lot of greens this week. Turnips, chard, kale, whatever, I want it. And I can't seem to stop eating those mini Babybel cheeses that are so, so horrible for you but ugh, cheese! My weakness.

I started having insanely vivid dreams at about 4 1/2 weeks and they've stuck around pretty consistently, and a few weeks ago they turned into nightmares. Something notable from Do Chocolate Lovers Have Sweeter Babies?:

Pregnant dreamers have a shorter labor than nondreamers--nearly an hour less, on average. Among the dreamers, those who had vivid nightmares had significantly faster deliveries than those who had pleasant dreams only. They also have a significantly decreased risk of postpartum depression (Pincott 28).

I have no idea if it's true, but I'm going to hold onto that bit of information to make me feel better because I don't want to go to sleep and dream about a vet torturing Weetzie! Noooo!

Target cardigan
UO dress
Belt from another dress
Hue tights
H&M flats

When I Set Sail, Will There Be Enough Wind?

The lady behind one of my favorite Etsy shops in the whole world, My Selvaged Life, recently emailed and asked if I would like to photograph one of her new necklaces in exchange for keeping it (like I did with these gorgeous pieces). Yes, please!

The necklace is lovely, of course. Mint green and cream with an image of a ship at the top and a little workable locket (!) at the bottom. I think it's just perfect to wear for a day of walking around the river, looking out at the water and boats*.

If you love her shop as much as I do, My Selvaged Life is offering you guys free shipping on anything using the code PANSYLANE. Take advantage and snatch up some pretty things!

Thrifted/shortened dress
F21 cardigan
Belt from another dress
Sock Dreams tights
Favorite heels, Seychelles
Necklace c/o My Selvaged Life

*A sailboat randomly went by while we were taking photos and it was hilarious and perfect.

Birthday Weekend & A Surprise

 

 Friday was my 27th birthday, so we celebrated by having dinner with a few friends and then taking a day trip to Charleston yesterday. We only had a few hours to explore so we didn't do very much, but it was fun to walk around the historic district and look at all the old houses and to hang out in Battery Park for a little while. We had lunch in an awesome out-of-the-way cafe called Five Loaves and shared a piece of strawberry layer cake. Nom! I definitely want to go back and visit Magnolia Cemetery and do a bit of antique/vintage shopping. My first impression of Charleston was that it had a vibe somewhere between New Orleans and Wilmington, although the palmetto trees make it very distinctly Charleston. Lovely!

The dress was a gift and became my birthday dress for the weekend (I wore the same outfit on Friday night, but whatever!). I love these little Target dresses.

 

13 weeks

The surprise (which I've already been talking about on facebook and twitter, so it's not too much of a surprise) is that I'm pregnant! My due date is October 18th, which makes me almost 14 weeks along. I have no idea how I managed to keep it a secret from the internet until last week, because there were so many points in the first trimester that I wanted to ramble about being tired and queasy and extremely happy yet not quite convinced that it was really happening, because we wanted it for so long and I was almost too nervous to believe it. Apparently my belly popped a little over the weekend without me realizing it, because a friend pointed it out Friday night and I had to go home and look. It's still not very impressive, but it feels like a big deal to me!

I want to start integrating pregnancy style and baby/nursery crafts into the blog (hopefully without alienating anyone), although of course I'm still going to do outfit posts because there is so much inspiration online and I'm determined not to slack!

Target dress
UO cardigan
Gal Stern tights
Aroha Silhouettes necklace
vintage silver flats, Etsy

It's FINISHED!

I know! Unless you follow me on Ravelry you probably have no idea what I'm talking about, but-- my granny square blanket! It's finally done!

This thing seems like such a time-consuming monster, and it has taken me quite a while (since October), but really that was because I had to put it on hold for Christmas knitting and then again in February while I waited for Knit Picks to restock the yarn I needed. So it didn't actually take me anywhere near six months to do-- more like two, maybe.

One of the reasons we picked a neutral sofa was because I really wanted to make a brightly-colored blanket for the back of it. And it looks so nice, yay!

I chose Knit Picks Swish Worsted and it's so soft and lovely. It was very bumpy and bulky pre-blocking and I wasn't sure I would be able to stretch it all out, but the yarn blocked wonderfully.

Specs:

• Summer Garden Granny Square pattern
• Knit Picks Swish Worsted in Cornmeal, Big Sky, Allspice, Cobblestone Heather, Eggplant, Peapod, Serrano, Carnation, Goldenrod
• 14 squares x 14, 196 total 
• Five rows of granny edging, one row of shell edging 
• Roughly 57" x 54" 

In Progress: 

After adding the gray border.

Pre-blocking. 

Ta-dah! 

Red Hair With A Curl

I've taken to curling my hair most days because I'm trying to grow it out and have quickly realized that it's at a really awkward, unpleasant, blah kind of stage. It tends to look boring and shapeless when I leave it straight, so I either have to curl it under or curl it all over. It turns out different every time because I haven't quite got my technique down yet-- sometimes it's super curly, and sometimes (like in these photos) it's just sort of flippy and poofy. It's all very new to me! I spent the last several years with either a pixie cut or a bob, both of which require little to no actual styling. So I'm trying! Recommendations for short hair tutorials from youtube or other bloggers would be awesome.

I wore this outfit to my first farmer's market visit of the season because it's nice and springy and flowy, and then (the irony!) I almost froze myself to death. Because of course it was cold Saturday morning, of course! And the farmer's market is on the river! And I.. totally didn't think about that! Facepalm. It was still a fun trip, though. I picked up some strawberries because I had been looking forward to them all week, and several new little plants to go with the things I've been growing from seed. Chocolate mint (!), miniature white cucumbers, garlic chives, and another basil seedling to go with my other two.

Target dress
F21 cardigan
Chinese Laundry tights
Vintage espadrilles, Etsy
Moth necklace, My Selvaged Life