…And that's a wrap on that.
(Click on the individual shots in the slideshow to go to the original posts.)
9 Months Of Maternity Style (Slideshow)
Latest Posts
DIY Lip Stains You Can Make In Your Kitchen
Why buy lip stains when you can make them at home?
Also: Apologies to my husband for the little incident at the end. Oops.
Links & Love & Stuff
We had dinner at Apple. It was as cool as you'd expect (they give you free apples and have a spectacular burrito bar, and there is a street called "Results Way," which is amazing). P.S. Still pretty excited about my new glasses.
Looking for a great gift for a mom-to-be that's for her, as opposed to yet another onesie for her newborn? Try HelloFlo's new postpartum care packages.
Not So Brave
Just thinking about this day today, and feeling emotional and excited and a little scared.
The truth: I'm feeling more than "a little scared." I'm really, really scared. More scared, in fact, than I was the first time, because now I know just how big of a thing it is to bring a baby into the world. The first time I figured, what, it hurts? Big deal. But now I know that it's not about "hurting," it's about one of the most exhausting, overwhelming and - yes - painful ordeals you can put a body through, and I know about all the stuff that can go wrong…and I'm scared. And that fear makes me disappointed in myself, because shouldn't I just be pure joy at this point, days before I meet my daughter? Shouldn't I feel like Christmas is coming?
I don't feel that way. I know that joy is on the way, of course I do…but right now I feel scared. And I guess I'm mostly scared that I won't be as brave as I want to be, because I wasn't last time.
But that's why I've been spending time every day looking at these photos: because seeing them reminds me that there's something much bigger waiting for me on the other side of the pain and the exhaustion and the everything-that-might-go-wrong, and that's that no matter what happens, I know this: I get to fall in love. Again. I almost can't believe it. I know there's "a baby" coming…but my daughter? That doesn't feel possible; it feels too big and too forever to be real.
Pre-Baby Prep
A few last-minute things I've been checking off my list prior to Goldie's arrival:
1. Gel Pedicuring. Have I mentioned how amazing gel pedicures are? They are amazing. They last forevvver, and since I am lazy about getting to the salon generally and anticipate extra-laziness about making time for the salon in the coming months, this is a good thing. I went for neon orange sort of by accident - it looked coral in the sample, and then turned fluorescent on my nails - but hey, it's August, and toes that look like little glowworms never killed anyone. (I was going to get a gel manicure, too, but my nails are looking like they need a break from polish, so I'm going the cleanly-filed-and-bare route for a bit.)
2. Bang Trimming. Not "bangs," exactly (I'm over them for the time being), but rather "a few shorter pieces of hair in the front part of my head." Why? Because when I have zero time to deal with styling my hair, my go-to solution is to throw it all up into a messy bun, and then just blow-dry those shorter front pieces with a round brush and let them fall where they like.
Five Must-Have Pregnancy Skincare Products
Want to hear something exciting? My skin has been kind of awesome this pregnancy. Which I totally didn't anticipate, because it was kind of terrible last time.
What this total departure from any semblance of consistency has taught me: your skin is guaranteed to be nothing if not unpredictable when you're expecting. It might be better than usual, it might be worse than usual…but it will almost certainly be different than usual.
How to handle the upheaval: keep your skincare routine as streamlined and simple as possible.
Fog Town
{ Scenic overlook en route to Half Moon Bay }
I've heard about the San Francisco fog, of course. But still…I didn't expect it to be quite this dramatic. The first time we drove from San Jose into the city, Indy saw the dense cloud of fog that hangs over San Francisco and said to us, "Look! The clouds are coming down!" Which is exactly the kind of thing that the child in a Stephen King novel says before some apocalyptic event or another, and the fog was already making me think of one of my favorite King novellas (The Mist, where a dense fog rolls across a lake, bringing with it murderous creatures and more or less the end of the world), so...
Shiver.
How To: Organize Your Scarf Collection
Q. OK @ramshackleglam, so I have about 262,728 scarves...how in god's name do I store them?! They're always a mess on my closet floor! Help!
- Olivia (via Twitter)
A. Ah, one of my favorite topics: excessive accessory ownership!
On The Coast
You know by now how much we love road trips. Mostly because of the adventure, the not-quite-sure-where-we're-headed-ness of it all, the willingness to see a sign along the side of the highway and turn onto a dusty road to follow it just because we're curious and we've got nowhere to be. But sometimes it's good to at least start out with a goal in mind - a place to set our GPS to that we know we'll end up loving - and that's what we did on Saturday.
Ever since I wrote that we were coming out here for the summer, I've been getting emails from readers that have been some of the most thoughtful, wonderful emails I've ever received. You've sent me words of support and encouragement that have made me feel not-so-alone while living in a place where I don't really know anyone at all, but even more than that: you've sent me lists.
I love lists.
And the lists that you've sent of things we simply have to do and see while we're out West have been such a gift. They've helped me make this summer not just "nice"…but one of the best ever.
Five Things I Kind Of Wish I Had
For the final installment of "Five Things" (previous iterations: Five Things I'm Glad I Brought and Five Things I Totally Didn't Need), let's talk what I wish I had packed before boarding that plane back in June.
Now, obviously I could just go out and buy any of the below items. But I'm not going to because a) I'm stubborn, b) I'm trying to keep the crap I have to lug back home to a minimum, and c) I can technically live without them. Certainly for four more weeks. I may not like it, but I can do it.
Nice Blanket and Pillowcase. The bed here is comfortable - a king, whee (Indy has a queen-sized and is taking full advantage of it, with full-on middle-of-the-night splaying and upsi-downing and such) - but the bedding? Not so good. I mean, it's totally serviceable, just…well, you know that kind of fuzzy neoprene-ish brown blanket that you find layered under the comforter in motels? It's that. Aesthetics totally aside, it would have been really nice to have my own light blanket (and pillowcase) to curl up with at night.
