If you do ONE thing for your pregnant self…

September 3rd, 2010 by prettymaegan | 2 Comments | Filed in Summer 2010, advice from the internets, babywearing, maternity wear, prettymaegan

I know, I know–beeelieve me I know–the moment your belly pops you become an automatic advice-target. Everybody has a pearl of wisdom to share with you, most of it unsolicited and nearly all of it utterly obnoxious by your third trimester. So, I realize I am wading in troubled waters even as I make this truly worthwhile suggestion: get your bump photographed!

Why? Most obviously, it’s an opportunity to capture this rare moment in your life. Although it certainly doesn’t feel like it nine months in, you won’t be pregnant forever and your body is accomplishing some pretty amazing feats. How wonderful will it be to share pictures of this magical time with your grown up baby someday?

Perhaps less obviously, you should schedule a maternity photo shoot because you will feel so amazing about yourself during and after. As you are so craftily growing another human being, your body is probably also sprouting random hairs, swelling, and stretching in ways you never deemed humanly possible. Simply put: you’re probably not feeling very awesome about yourself these days. Enter a talented photographer, a beautiful setting, some modern technology and voila–you’ve transformed into an earth-mother-goddess! Include your husband in on the action and now you’ve had an amazing bonding experience and he has a newfound appreciation for your rotund physique.

Convinced? If so, here are a few tips…I knew you were just craving some more advice, right?

1. Timing: our photographer suggested between 32-36 weeks. We hit it right in the middle at 34. While you might be tempted to go earlier, like during that second trimester honeymoon period, later really is better because the full bounty of your bump is much more evident–case in point:

2. Attire: go simple, go classic. These pictures will likely be an investment and they are, perhaps, capturing a once-in-a-lifetime experience. So, avoid trendy get-ups that will make you shudder in ten years.

3. Make-up: Go neutral. Again, you’ll want to look back without embarrassment. So, just amplify your natural prego glow and go!

4. Finding a photographer: Do your research and find a photographer with a style that fits your personality. Some maternity photographers are all about the nearly nude pics. Others are more nature-based, while some specialize in urban shots. Once you find a style that appeals to you, talk to her or him and make sure your personalities mesh well. Do you feel comfortable baring your belly around this person? Does he/she make you feel good about yourself? These are make or break questions to ensure a glow-inducing experience.

5. Preparation: Ok, if you do three things for your pregnant self: get a mani/pedi, a haircut and/or color, and avoid direct sunlight/salty foods the day or two before–let’s not tempt the cankles and mask of pregnancy gods, ok?

Finally, share these pics with pride! Seriously, pass ‘em my way, I can’t get enough of prego pics these days.

The tipping point

September 2nd, 2010 by prettymisty | No Comments | Filed in Hair, prettymisty

I knew it was coming. The day I would wake up and realize my hair was sitting comfortably on my shoulders, even when it was fully dry.

That day, pretties, was yesterday.

PrettyMisty's longish hair.

Eep... Sorry about the blur...

It really does happen all at once like this for me. Granted, it may be in part because the humidity in Georgia finally broke a little this week. (Highs in the low 90′s? It’s FALL y’all!!)

Still coping so far, and very excited about the romantic updos in my future.

Oh, and, I got a bone to pick with PrettySarah, for claiming we’re too old for insanely long hair. I am totally going for the motorcycle mama/aging hippie vibe. And I think that’s super appropriate.

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The perfect fall fashion

August 29th, 2010 by prettyvirginia | No Comments | Filed in Fall 2010, fashion craving, prettyvirginia, sophisticated style

One of the reasons why I have been absent on this site is that I have gained some weight over the summer that I am not too thrilled about.  (Not that anyone is ever thrilled about gaining unwanted weight).

However, I’m back to calorie counting and exercising  (ugh), two things that I am not a fan of.  But, I have found a reason to try to get all this weight off as fast as possible…

These photos are from Real Simple Magazine’s Portrait of a Lady in their September 2010 issue.

Ironically enough, I was reading this issue while on the elliptical machine at the YMCA.

This is my ideal fashion.  I love love love everything these women are wearing.  I love the time period, the colors, just everything.

Especially these pants.  And her hat.

So, here’s my goal:  I can not buy any of these new fall fashion items until I need new clothes because of weight loss.  My birthday is in a month…I’d like to own a couple of these pieces by then.  :)

Thrifty Shoes

August 27th, 2010 by prettyvirginia | No Comments | Filed in Buy of the week, Fall 2010, prettyvirginia, shoes, under $10

Hi.  Remember me?

Yeah, I know.  It’s been a couple of months.  The last time I talked to you all, I was telling you about my summer make-up (or lack there of).

Well, I’m back!  And I have to show you what I bought this week:

Aren’t they phenomenal?!  I bought them at a thrift store here in Colorado Springs!  It was the cutest, most organized, cleanest thrift store I had ever entered.  Two cute little old ladies were running it.

The best part about these shoes (besides the fact that they are gorgeous and pointy!) is that they are Anne Klein and I got them for $5.

That’s right.  Five dollars.  :)

Oh, these shoes and I are going to be great friends.

How’s THIS for pretty, suckers?

August 27th, 2010 by prettysarah | 4 Comments | Filed in Fall 2010, Hair, high maintenance, prettysarah

Yep.  That’s a bag on my head.  I am using it to trap heat and let the coconut oil soak in (also to protect my furniture because coconut oil looks and feels a lot like Crisco.  But it smells way better.).

Yep.  Coconut oil.  From the oil aisle at the grocery store.

My stylist swears by it as a natural deep conditioner.  And you know I am usually all about the natural products.  Once a week, she says, I should wash and condition my hair like normal, work about 2 TBSP of coconut oil through the mid-shaft/ends of my hair, braid it, and bag it overnight.  In the morning, I am supposed to rinse it and style as usual.

The day after the first treatment, my hair was a little greasy.  But 3 days later, it looks better than it did when I left the salon.

This is m on August 20th, after my first haircut since January 28th.

I totally love it.  My old highlights have almost grown out.

She tapered my bangs a teeny bit, so I can wear them to the side and they blend in.  They are juuuuuuust long enough to tuck behind an ear on the side that is NOT swept across my forehead, and my ultimate goal is to be bangless completely before too much longer.

I accumulated a lot of damage in the 7 months between haircuts (yikes!), so she cut a lot of long layers to shave off as many damaged ends as possible without destroying the length.

When she first blew it dry and straightened it out, it looked like shit and I was really nervous, but then she did her thing and finished the cut dry, using tiny, sharp scissors to thin and layer even more.

She also cut it at a slight a-line, so as it grows, it will not look mullet-y in back.

Then she made me promise to stay out of the salon until January at the earliest because my goal is LONG hair (like inappropriately long for a woman my age), so I;ll need to bite the bullet and keep growing.  I have made it through the first awkward stage with bobby pinned bangs and endless buns and chignons, but this is the second awkward stage– shoulder skimming hair that just sort of hangs there.

To keep my hair happy, I have also added some non-natural products to my routine, and I LOVE THEM (even though they might kill me someday.)

I use 3 key products from Kerestase:

Oleo Relax– 4 pumps on wet hair, mainly through the middle to end of hair

Nectar Thermique– a walnut-sized amount, on wet hair, paying special attention to the ends

Lumiere– this finishing cream is amazing– and is being discontinued, so stock up now!  I use a pump, and the key is to rub it in your hands until it feels slick, then apply to any dry or damaged looking sections.  It turns a good hair day into a FANTASTIC one.

I have thick, frizzy, curly hair, and these 3 products give me flawless shine, body, and polish.  My hair is smooth and straight on rainy days and on the humid dog days of summer, even.  I cannot recommend these products enough.

What about you?  Any hair secrets to share?

Fall Clothes Blues

August 21st, 2010 by prettysarah | 3 Comments | Filed in Fall 2010, prettysarah, shoes

Okay seriously, people.  I need your help.

So far, these are the only new-for-fall members of my closet:

Tell me what’s on your must-buy fall list (and feel free to leave me some links, too) because I need to shop.

Hot Website: HauteLook

August 21st, 2010 by prettykate | No Comments | Filed in advice from the internets, prettykate

Have you heard about HauteLook.com yet?  I forget the first time I heard about it, although there was a booth at the BlogHer Expo.  It is a member’s only website (free to sign up, they don’t spam you at all) that offers great 48 hour sales on all kind of designer clothes, jewelry, home goods and kids stuff.  I get an email once a day telling me what is on sale that day and I can click on the site and try and score 50% to 75% off.  Pretty cool.  They even have a new Sunday Farmer’s Market feature for gourmet food items.

As a lover of designer clothes on a pauper budget I like getting a crack at great sales without having to spend hours scouring the internet on my own.  So far I haven’t bought anything through HauteLook, but I have been tempted several times.  I also like that they send me one email a day letting me know about the latest brands on sale, and I can click or ignore as I choose.  There has been no other spamming of any kind, so signing up didn’t put my name on any kind of lists as far as I can tell.

Now, I’m going to be perfectly honest here, and tell you that if you click on this button (not supported on WordPress, so please click the link to my review blog and then on the HauteLook button. Sorry for the inconvenience) and register for the site, I will get $3.  I realize that this reads like a totally sponsored review, but I assure you, that $3 is the extent of my self interest in telling you about this site.  The fact is I was a member of HauteLook long before I went to BlogHer and was given this offer, and I had planned to tell All Kind of Pretty about the site anyway.  After all,  this blog is the perfect forum to let other fashion minded women know about this great tool for finding sales.

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BlogHer’10: What I Wore

August 13th, 2010 by prettykate | 6 Comments | Filed in What We Wore Wrap-Up, evening out, prettykate

So, originally I intended to give you all a sneak peek at what I was going to wear at BlogHer, but, um, yeah.  I was kind of preoccupied figuring it out and generally spazzing about going in the first place so that never happened.  But here we are with a quick recap of a few of my outfits.

Friday day:

This is what I wore to walk around NYC on Friday (minus the cardigan!).  It was super comfortable, and I felt like a snazzy stylish urbanite as I walked around gaping at the city and taking photos. In fact, I have already worn it again since I’ve been home, that’s how much I like this dress.

Friday night:

This is a Diane von Furstenburg dress I got from Ebay a couple of years ago for wedding season.  I loved it then, i love it still.  Comfortable, bright and way more flattering in person because the draping gives hints of your curves underneath as you move – in photos it kind of just looks like a potato sack.

Saturday day:

This is my favorite maxi dress.  It is actually a Liz Lange maternity dress from Target, but it hangs so nicely you don’t have to be pregnant to wear it.  I’m pissed because the last time I washed it it shrank about 3 inches in length, but that just shows off my sandals better.  BTW, I’ve had those sandals two summers, wear them all the time, including walking around NYC, and the bottoms are spotless – I think I could return them to the store if I wanted.  Amazing. I am easily amazed.

Saturday night:

This is my 80′s-tastic Sparklecorn dress.  I’m not sure anyone realized I was wearing it as a tribute, and not bceause I think it is the height of fashion, but whatever.  I liked it.  And it was totally worth the $15 I paid for it at Marshall’s.

In general, I am proud of all the outfits I put together for my trip to the big city.  if you skip the weeks of freaking out about nothing fitting and trying things on to put outfits together, then it wasn’t that hard to do everything I wanted to do while also looking cute and stylish.  Gives me incentive and inspiration to try and continue this at home in my regular life.  (said while sitting around in dumpy t-shirt and cut off sweatpants)

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Shoe trauma

August 13th, 2010 by prettymisty | No Comments | Filed in prettymisty, shoes

Previously, on PrettyMisty’s shopping binge, our heroine scored five dresses and a bag for work. And now, the conclusion…

I need shoes.

I broke my awesome black wedge sandals last summer. MUST replace. And new brown sandals would be nice too, as my current pair is pretty beat up.

It’s my own fault really. I have standards. No crap between my toes. No ankle straps. Heel required, but not too high. So that lets out probably 80% of everything that exists. Take out the granny sandals that make up most of what’s left, and consider my size and budget restraints (10/under $50). Now we’re talking slim freakin pickins.

Too skinny.

Alfani slide sandals.

Too pinchy.

Alfani "Erin" slides.

Too old-lady-y.

Payless Comfort Plus slide.

In other words, just not what I needed. I walked away from shoe after gorgeous shoe. Like these…

Cole Haan leopard pump

Well actually a knockoff version of these at TJ Maxx. Real leather though, and a slightly lower heel. Sooo comfortable. But… $60! And I could only think of two things I had at home I could wear them with.

It’s the end of Day Four. All hope is lost and resolve compromised. I’m trying on crazy things now, with ideas about seeking their brethren in black on the internet. A kind salesperson says, “I think we might have this one in black.” It’s beautiful. Comfortable. And reasonably affordable.

They didn’t have it in black. I was beaten.

Awesome Jessica Simpson slides. In red.

My shop-addled brain convinced me I had loads of clothes I could wear with these shoes. They would go with my new red bag! Red matches everything!

Yeah, so does crack, apparently. I’m struggling with whether to just return them. I only have a handful of clothes they can go with. They definitively don’t match the new red bag. I still don’t have black shoes or brown shoes to work in. I’d have been better off buying the leopard. Which, of course, were gone from TJ Maxx by the time I went back for them.

I’ll have cash for more shoes in a couple of weeks. What do you think? Should I keep them?

I do love these shoes…

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For me, this is a binge

August 11th, 2010 by prettymisty | 1 Comment | Filed in Summer 2010, prettymisty

Call it a reality TV challenge: You have $300 and you need to buy at least a week’s worth of work clothes. Plus accessories.

See, I start a new teaching gig next week, and for the first time in seven (you read right, seven) years, I’ve got to get up and pull myself together every day. Except, I don’t get paid until after I start work. Duh… So the hubby and I have been cutting mad corners, saving up for this buying binge.

Funny thing about my house in the suburbs. There’s not a mall within 20 minutes. But there are like, five within 30 minutes. Granted, a couple of those are strip malls, but you get my drift.

So it took four days and five towns. A quarter tank of gas. And all my motivation. I hate shopping. It stresses me out. But shockingly?

Five dresses.

Presto! One week's work clothes.

So from left to right: purple hombre, Dress Barn; pink floral, TJ Maxx; coral/khaki block, Marshall’s; purple paisley, Dress Barn; and brown beaded, also Dress Barn.

Looking at this picture you get a crystal clear vision of my “style.” Empire waists and A-line skirts. Or failing that, an interesting neckline. Hey. I know what my assets are.

At this point it’s still Day Two and I’m only into my budget for 120 bucks. So I picked up the bag I’ve been eyeing at Marshall’s for weeks.

Fossil large hobo.

I swear this is red. Stupid camera.

This is a MONSTER bag by my standards. I could put my head in there. Go on. Laugh. Most of y’all can fit one of your children in your bags, right? This one will hold my papers. MONSTER I say!

Shoe shopping gobbled up the next three days. I’m saving that saga for a separate post. (Hint: total strikeout.)

In the meantime our universal remote control gave up its will to live. And I refuse to fumble around with three remotes. What are we, cavemen? So I gave up $40 of wardrobe budget for electronics. I am what I am…

Anybody else back-to-school binging?

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