Look of the day and Pram search started

Today it is a miserable day (again), so all my summer maternity dresses still linger unworn in my wardrobe.

 Dotti heart jumper with Cotton On long sleeve black top underneath.  I paid full price ($50) for this jumper which I never do at Dotti as everything always goes on sale there eventually, but I loved it so much.  It did eventually go on sale for ten bucks cheaper but I figured I had got quite a few wears out of it by then to justify the buy!  Cotton On top $10.
Jeans West blue maternity jeans and my favourite Adidas shoes (wearing thick bond socks to prevent chill!). I posted about my Adidas on my other blog.



Because it is so cold I also had to put a red coat from Jay Jays on ($29.95) and a grey Cotton On scarf ($10).

And a pretty headband for my hair, just because I heart headbands.  This was actually an expensive headband considering its from Tempt - $9.95.







I stopped in at the Handmade markets this morning and bought some cutesy/glamour singlets from Erin Louise which I will post about on my Everyday Girl Blog.  Then I parted ways with my girlfriend and took hubby pram hunting.  We only went to one store (I am still finding baby things overwhelming - there is to much choice and to many decisions to be made).  But we found as pram we really like straight away Phil and Ted's Smart Stroller: http://www.babiesdirect.com.au/_products/Prams+++Strollers/Strollers/PHIL+++TEDS+SMART+++PEANUT+PACKAGE-138-77218-.aspx?utm_source=%3Fgoogle_shopping&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=Shopping. Compact, lightweight and small is our criteria.  I will need to get on all the baby forums to research reviews about this pram - Stay tuned :-).

the search for the belly belt and the adventures on the way (plus I start the pram quest)

While searching for a replacement for my missing belly belt, I managed to pick maternity leggings and new work dress but no belly belt!  I bought my previous belly belt from Target for $12 – this is a bargain, online and in store belly belts are around $20-$30.  However when I went back to Target to pick up another belly belt they have drastically reduced their maternity wear range and no longer stock Catriona Rowntree’s maternity line anymore either.  They had no belly belts anymore either L, but they did have 20% off their maternity range so I picked up a pair of maternity leggings for $16:

These are so soft and comfortable; I like the feeling of having the belly bit pulled up securing the leggings!  All my leggings were seriously falling down every 5 minutes so it is worth $16 to have this comfort!

On my expedition to find the belly belt, I wandered into SES, even though I wasn’t going to buy ANYTHING from there.  But I found this awesome work dress, it is a reasonable length (sometimes SES work dresses can be a bit short), it is a beautiful colour and it actually moulds around the baby bump really well – it could easily be maternity wear.  The dress is actually really good quality for SES as well for example the dress is lined which is very rare.  It definitely looks a lot more expensive then the $14.95 I paid for it (marked down from $24.95).  Cant wait to wear this, keep an eye out for my looks of the day!

Belly Belt.  So after searching so hard I gave up and purchased from ASOS for $10 (and also added in another purchase see other blog for post).

The quest for the perfect pram begins!  I have decided its time to actually get serious and start researching, I will begin with the checklist from BubHub to figure out what I am looking for and then begin my search – stay tuned: http://www.bubhub.com.au/info/articles/pregnancy/checklist_for_buying_a_pram_or_stroller.shtml.

Only 13 weeks until New Years Eve! And I have Joined AA – ASOS anonymous

13 weeks to New Years Eve means my baby is 27 weeks baked!  Today’s outfit below:

Kmart zipper bow ballet slippers - $12, Kmart have been a mecca lately for cheap awesome shoes – kinda how Target used to be.

Valley girl dress $29, this has been a fantastic casual work dress and I have had gotten lots of wear out of it (even know with baby bump!)

Leggings – Generic pair probably $10

Veronica Maine cardigan - $60.  This and a cue cardigan I have are awesome, you get what you pay for!

Ally black jacket - $50.  I bought this at the start of last summer and thought why did I pay full price for this, meanwhile 10 months later this jacket has appeared over and over again in chain stores at the same price, so I started getting my moneys worth early J.

Necklaces – turquoise locket chain and blue dove chain.  These were more expensive then my normal jewellery and I bought them from boutiques, I think

the locket was $40 (what was I thinking, but I do love it) and the dove was $20.

Grey scarf - $10 cotton on

So I have officially joined ASOS anonymous, after only just yesterday declaring that there will be no more ASOS purchases I caved again.  I bought the below floral peg trousers.  I have no maternity pants apart from Jeans West jeans, mainly because I will be in the tropics so figured I didn’t need any.  But they were only $19 and I figured I have 6 weeks left of work so will be able to get a few wears out of them.  Also its been a bit cold snappy where I am as well so I haven’t been able to wear any of the summer maternity clothes (apart from shorts on a rare 23 degrees day the other weekend) or dresses.  Will review when I receive.

Final Destination and Look of the Day

Today I recieved my last ASOS purchase, review below.  I am tempted to pick up just a 'few' more things while the prices are awesome, ASOS are being a bit cheeky cheek at the moment as they have sale items in their normal maternity range that are not appearing in their sale section!

This cost $9.59, you really cannot beat a bargain like that. I LOVE this, its exactly what I wanted and it will look awesome with the light short kimonos and big loose open shirts that I pictured it with in my previous post about this dress.

Word of warning, it is tight and clingy and not forgiving.  Its also a bit sheer.

 Work day today, I kinda went for comfort today and skipped the collared shirt with the vest/cardigan combo and just wore a loose Ally shirt.  Skirt fits nicely over bump still, an old Cue purchase that was on sale for about $40.  Sportsgirl tights that probably wont last much longer, though they did survive the winter so I am pleased with that.  Boots cost $5 last season Cotton On, they are only worth $5 as well as they have deteriorated badly and this was probably the last wear. Dotti grandpa cardigan a staple for work and Jay Jays $30 coat. I added a turquiose and amber necklace.




I wore this Mimco head band pushing back my hair in a top bun.  Mimco head band is a bird thats rust coloured (to lazy to actually take a photo of my headband).  I love Mimco headbands they are so quirky and if you can get them in the sales they are ok priced.  This one was not on sale, I used a lotto win to buy it (last lotto win I ever had years ago, must be being punished for wasting my lotto win!).  I have quite a few mimco headbands and they have improved their quality over the years, the early years headbands are long gone - stretched and broken :-(.

ASOS Overload

Yesterday I received my ASOS order with below dress and two other goodies, I have one more order due for delivery tomorrow and then that’s the end of my ASOS adventure for now!  I definitely have been able to get some awesome maternity bargains so have been happy, but I really don’t need anymore clothes at the moment, since I am yet to wear any but a pair of shorts!  Other things that I have started thinking about now as time gets closer (not close enough yet!), is breastfeeding – none of the ASOS tops or dresses are breastfeeding friendly.  This dress looks exactly how it appears in the picture, I am not sure why but I had a different idea of it in my head so when I tried it on I was a bit disappointed.  But after matching it with my wardrobe accessories, I realised that its perfect especially for late pregnancy.  I will be able to dress it up and also wear it casually.  The material is beautiful and soft as well.  It was $47 reduced to $23.

Celebrity Maternity Fashion

I am on a maternity clothes ban, due to accumulating a considerable haul of maternity clothes, yet still wearing my norma clothes! (except for jeans - yay for maternity jeans).  So to ease my shopping demon, I am shopping online for rocking Celebrities pregnancy fashion, starting with Nicole Ritchie and after two pregnancies there are heaps of choices, Nicole is one stylish expectant mumma:

I like that this is Spring/Summery, although I am not sure I can pull this off as well as Nicole as she seems so tiny! This looks like a long clingy top, I have some short tank dresses that I could match with leggings to get this look.

I love this look because its exactly a style that I have already put together, Kimono and a little black dress :-).  Cotton on have some nice cheap Kimono's at the moment and I got a little black dress from ASOS (see previous post)

This is a great look for Hot Summer and late pregnancy. I have a singlet exactly like this that I bought then never wore cause it was to 'floaty', now I will have something for it float around lol.  I have a denim maternity shorts from ASOS that hopefully will still fit me late into the pregnancy.

Again another Kimono look I am loving with casual jeans and black tank top/singlet.  This is the last one I am going to put for now because there is a billion other Nicole Ritchie looks I am lemming that I can put up further down the track.





This website has been awesome in finding celebrity maternity style: http://www.instyle.com/instyle/package/general/photos/0,,20154436,00.html.

I like to move it move it

For the the first 12 weeks of my pregnancy I didnt exercise at all (and ate really bad food as that was all that would settle my morning sickness). It was also the dead of Winter, so to motivate myself to exercise I decided I needed inhouse eqiupment.  After researching my options I bought a cross trainer for the following reasons; low impact on the body, worked out arms and legs and could accomodate a growing belly!

I lost pretty much nearly five months of fitness and to be honest I wasnt in the best fitness beforehand (still good but not at my best), so now I have my 'glow' and all my energy back I am trying really hard to make up for loss time.  I am trying to do at least 20 squats every second day, 20 mins on the cross trainer every second day, with a 45 min session or two half hours on the weekend, I walk everywhere I can and if I am waiting somewhere I fidget/walk around to try and burn up some energy - last but not least I take the stairs at work all the time (I am on the fourth floor). 

Now its Spring and the weather is getting much better, I cant wait to break lose the non-trackpants exercise gear and start to really make an effort outside as I am lucky enough to live next to some scenic walking tracks.  Wont be doing it this weekend though due to random cold rainy windy snap! But long weekend next weekend is looking good - the best bit is I dont have to buy any new exercise pants as they are all stretchy anyway and sit under the bump :-).

Great Ideas (maybe) and Cotton On finally have a sale

So I really wanted this oioi studded leather nappy bag: http://www.bambinipronto.com.au/Product-studded-hobo-nappy-bag-1873.aspx.  But having already bought a Mimco nappy bag it was going to be hard sell with the Hubby to justify that kind of purchase.  So Sportsgirl are currently having 50% off already reduced sale (started a week ago so there is pretty much nothing left instore now!), and I stumbled upon this bag that was originally $69.95 final sale price $19.95.  Its really similar to the oi oi one and about the same size as well, of course it doesnt have side bottle bags or alot of handy pockets inside..but I think I should be able to cope (I can hear mothers laughing at me :-D).  I plan to get a hand bag liner for it: http://www.bambinipronto.com.au/Product-handbag-liner-1136.aspx.  It will be some time before I can post an update to say whether this was successful or not!

Update on last posts rant about Cotton On not having a sale, today they started a 30% off online shopping plus free delivery: http://www.bambinipronto.com.au/Product-handbag-liner-1136.aspx.  I have run out of $$ in the money bucket though and it doesnt get refilled until after the sale ends, so I will just still keep checking instore hoping for a sale...

More ASOS and dressing the bump purchases

 I am starting to get a bit worried that I may have to dress my child in clothes I have made out of all the maternity clothes I have bought lol.  I actually wore my denim maternity shorts I got from ASOS on the weekend because the weather was so beautiful.  I was relieved that they were so comfortable as when I tried them on originally they were quite tight, but they loosened up straight away and I heart them! I am still waiting for the maxi dress I ordered last week (previous post), but I was procrastinating today and using ASOS as the tool to do it when I saw that some of their sale stock had down.  Luckily all I have in my savings bucket is ten dollars which allowed me to pick up this dress (free delivery).  I am picturing it as not only a dinner/going out dress but also wearing it casually by putting the below Cotton On kimono/shirts over it.  I havent bought the Cotton on tops yet though... I am not loving Cotton On's prices and lack of sales at the moment :-(.

Frugality and Pregnancy

To be able to still make my fashion purchases without going into debt (I dont own a credit card and after a long time digging my way out of debt only have a mortgage and a car loan), I have learnt how to be frugal while still enjoying the good things in life.

One of the ways I have utilised frugality in my pregnancy is to save money by buying no pregnancy books (I have bought two Iphone pregnancy apps though - Sprout (not worth it) and BabyBump (def worth it!).  However since I have found out about little babe I have had the latest pregnancy books on my book shelf.    I am huge book reader so get all my books from the public library, turns out you can get pretty much every latest pregnancy book from my local library.  If I see it at the book store - its at my library as well, and maybe because pregnant ladies like to have the comfort of their own books, it means nobody wants the books from my library! I have about 40 out (guilty face), but noone has reserved them and the few I have had to return I have been able to borrow again straight away.  They also have all the Mother and Parenting mags as well and all the Mariam Stoppard books.

 

One more for the road

I snuck in some more sneaky ASOS purchases from the sale, including one more maternity dress.  I am refusing to buy any more until I actually wear some of the maternity stuff that I have bought.  The maxi dress was $23.00, I will review on arrival (please please please do not be see-through material!).  I am picturing lots of Maxi's and long necklaces and a big belly :-). 






I think I will need some more shape wear though, the nude breastfeeding strapless camisol and shorts have been so awesome already, I think I will need to get them in black as well.  Queenbee gave me a discount voucher with the last order so maybe I can budget next pay to pick them up, they express delivery the next day as well :-).

Although I havent bought anything for the baby yet, I am starting to linger longer at cute baby clothes.... we wont be finding out if we are having a boy or girl so thats been a pretty good deterrent to buy anything!  Buying neutral stuff has little appeal.

ASOS maternity clothing review number two

Here is the rest of my review of my ASOS maternity wear order:

This was $70 (not in the sale section!) I bought this in prep for the potential Xmas party season just before baby is born and my bump will be HUGE.  This fitted perfectly and is jersey so will have alot of give around the belly.  Love it :-).

This was $13, its very see-through (its cheesecloth).  Very cute for beach/picnics.  Would need to put a slip under it or at least some spanx shorts to make it wearable for anything more formal then the beachy casual environment!

 This dress was $18 and is gorgeous.  I can just see when I have the huge bump this will still be so comfortable and look great. The material is very soft the colour is flattering.










 This top was $13 and I bought one in black as well. They are really soft, I am surprised at how cheap all the clothes are but how good quality they seem to be!

ASOS maternity clothing (otherwise known as the 'Yay presents' post)

Took a risk and ordered some maternity clothes from ASOS (http://www.asos.com/).  I figured it wasnt that much of a risk since they were soo cheap and maternity clothes are not cheap in Australia so I figured I could resell them on in the worse case scenario.  Well best case scenario I ordered three dresses, two shorts, a skirt and two tops for $226 (free shipping), they were delivered in a week and a half and arrived TODAY :-). Here are my shorts and skirt reviews below and I will update the dresses and singlets next post:

This was about $32 and I ordered a uk10 which should be the equivalent of Aus10.  The shorts look like the pic and I love.  I should of gone up to a size 12 to give consideration to the potential weight gain not specifically in just the 'bump' area (lets be honest pregnant ladies, it aint all going to the bump :-D).  They fit nicely but a little snug, if I put on alot of weight during the third trimester, they will probably be to uncomfortable or may not even fit! I wish they were not the side stretchy maternity fit and were like the Jeans West jeans that pull up and are attached to the snug belly band.  But thems the breaks!

Again, these look just like the pic but yet again I should of ordered a 12 to accomodate any potential weight gain.  I didnt have any problems with ordering 10 in the other clothes, but denim is always a little tight -eek.  Are very cute though oh and were about the same price as the denim shorts.

Oh my gosh these are as cute as they are in the pic and soo comfortable, they feel like they will have alot of give and will last the third trimester!  They were Uk10 and I am Australian 10 and were about $21.  Perfect for summer baby belly :-).

Pregnancy book club

I have been reading heaps of pregnancy books, I love to read exactly what should be happening right now inside and out!  What can I say, I like to do my research and be prepared :-).  One of my favourites at the moment is by Australian author Emma Tom.  The most common thing people have said to me is you should get the book Up the Duff, now don't get me wrong this is a good book and clearly considered a pregnancy bible but I am loving Emma Tom's Attack of the 50ft Hormones.  It is in the same vein as Up the Duff as its a funny pregnancy diary :-).

I heart Bargains :-D

So I stumbled upon a leopard print maxi dress at Dotti that was reduced from $79.95 to $19.95 - Yay for bargains :-D.  Especially when I later saw it at another Dotti store for $39.95.  It is kinda like the below Gwen Stefani dress (but not one shouldered), with plenty of room for the bump:

Hurray for Online Shopping wins :-D

My Queenbee order arrived today http://www.queenbee.com.au/.  Online shopping is sometimes a bit of a gamble, particularly with clothing and I ummed and ahhed about this order for ages but eventually realised that I needed to get it in order to feel comfortable in most of my dresses.  It was a bit $$ (free shipping because it was over $100 but no promo discount) so I was a bit bummed that I wasnt able to find a promo offer cause Queenbee sometimes have them in mags etc.  But they fit perfectly and are exactly what I am looking for, the bandeau nursing slip is like shape wear and smoothes everything down and it seems like it will be quite easy to breastfeed in (still some time till thats tested!), the shorts are great and very flattering underneath a tight dress and the stockings are perfect as well!  Yay :-D

How to's for the How do I

So I have started preparing for moving into maxi dresses and skirts to highlight my bump and be comfortable.  But I have always avoided this look because I felt it wasnt very flattering for my body so I dont have much experience in styling the maxi look.  I envisioned I would just get around in sandals and open shoes because it would be summer, but I actually want to wear them now but it still pretty chilly where I am (by pretty chilly I mean lucky to get tops of 16/17 most days and lows are 0).  So I was thinking about what kind of shoes I would need to wear with the maxi's and was struggling, I was thinking maybe a pair of wedges, even though I am mindful to stay away from uncomfortable shoes.

Fox in Flats must of been reading my mind has had this helpful post about 7 ways to style a maxi dress for spring: http://www.foxinflats.com.au/2011/09/summer-maxi-dress-for-spring/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foxinflats+%28Fox+In+Flats%29.

Biting the maternity clothes bullet

After giving in and buying maternity jeans a couple of weeks ago, I have realised that it will be much better to be comfortable then to stress about what I am going to wear and also what I am going to fit into since Little Baby is not due till Xmas time and the belly expansion is escalating!

Maternity clothing is a million times better than it was ten years ago, but it is also alot more expensive then normal clothing!  I have been reading about how great ASOS is but have never been to impressed with anything on their website to buy it (its a UK website that ships for free to Australia).  But at the moment they are having a massive sale due to their change of season, which works out well for our change of season and I picked up two pairs of shorts, two tank tops, three dresses and a skirt for $226.  I will post pics and reviews when they arrive hopefully at the end of next week :-).

I also bought the tube/cami from Queenbee that was on my wishlist in the previous post, I researched everywhere and this really was the best product for me.  I plan to maxi dress it up alot before and after birth so this will make my life easier as well for breastfeeding.