Hey, look at me, back with some pictures of the clothes I put on my body!

So, how many of you, like me, have new year’s resolutions to clean up your space and are KonMari-ing? If you have Netflix, you’ve probably seen the show Tidying Up with Marie Kondo or you’ve at least heard of it. I bought the book a few years ago so I was already familiar with the KonMari method of tidying when the show came out. If you’re not familiar with KonMari, you organize by room instead of my stuff. Then, you take EVERYTHING out of your closet, drawers, etc. and hold each item to determine whether it “sparks joy.” If it does, you keep it, and if it doesn’t, you get rid of it.

The idea of taking every single piece of clothing out of my closet at once is still too daunting, but as I’ve mentioned a few times on the blog, I’ve been taking pieces out a little at a time to ensure my style reflects who I am now, and to help me achieve my goal of living a somewhat minimalist lifestyle. Freshly inspired by Marie Kondo and her show, I’ve taken even MORE pieces out of my closet in the past few weeks and I’m still feeling great about the pieces that remain, as evidenced by the return of my office-bathroom mirror selfies!

Anyway, on to the outfits!

I’ve been blogging for several years now — even thought it certainly doesn’t feel like it’s been that long — and I was curious as to just how much my style has changed over those years. It’s always interesting to go back through the blog to see my outfits and the way I’ve evolved from year to year.

In Durham, where I live, breweries and bottle shops are very dog and family friendly. Most of the breweries have areas separate from the bar where parents can gather with their friends and kids to have a beer and play a few board games. Some of them even have nice outdoor spaces where kids can run around while parents hang out with their pals. I’m thankful for this because it allows Nick and me to go out for a drink last-minute without having to find a babysitter. And after a ridiculously long week, that’s exactly what we did. We headed to a small bottle shop near our house with Sebastian in tow. And this is the outfit I wore!

Regardless of how family friendly it was, I still felt a little like this:

via GIPHY

We weren’t out for very long, maybe an hour at most. I had one glass of wine, and Sebastian slept most of the time so I don’t feel bad about it. But I did want to feel like I was actually going out instead of having a drink at home in my pajamas so I grabbed this new pair of jeans I got from a recent Stitch Fix. I wasn’t sure how I would feel about the frayed hemline of these jeans but I slowly warmed up to them. While these may not be the first pair of jeans I reach for, I definitely wear them a bunch. And I will probably wear them even more now that the weather is starting to cool down ever so slightly.

A few weeks after Nick, Sebastian, and I went to the bottle shop together, we met up at the bottle shop with our neighbors who have a kid who is slightly older than Sebastian. It was a fun time all around. I’m sure the bottle shop won’t be the last crazy place we take our baby.

True story:

via GIPHY

Where’s the craziest place you’ve taken your baby?

Shirt: via Le Tote | Jeans: via Stitch Fix | Shoes: Banana Republic | Necklace: Old Navy | Watch: Target | Clutch: Nordstrom

Monday is feeling a little like this outfit looks: not that great.

First, the outfit: It’s one of those combos that worked better in my head. The problem is the pants: they’re a pair I had before I got pregnant when I had a little more weight on my bones and now they’re just too loose to pair with this flowy top, so the whole thing looks too big. I have another pair of pants in mind that I think will look much better; they’re tighter and longer. Jeans look pretty good with it, though.

HOWEVER, this shirt is awesome. It’s from a new local boutique in Durham called Liberation Threads and their principal business practice is to only sell goods that are ethical and fair trade. This shirt is made from the leftover fabrics of other clothing, and it’s so soft and comfortable. I love the open back because it’s on trend without making me feel like my whole back is on display. Anyway, I only discovered Liberation Threads a few weeks ago and plan to become a regular there.

Next, the Monday: All Mondays are bad enough and, while there isn’t anything in particular about today, I’m just not feeling it. I had a not-so-great Friday and the weekend wasn’t long enough to offset the fatigue of having to be back at work and in the swing of things today. I’m sure these feelings will subside soon, but I’m just over it, y’all. Over. It. As I mentioned on my Facebook on Friday, I’m having a woe-is-me moment. I’m trying really hard to stay positive and keep things in perspective but I’m completely failing at it. I’m sure it won’t take long for me to see that things are fine and life is grand, and then I’ll bounce back to my usual happy self. But right now, I just feel sad and hopeless, and I don’t know what to do to not feel sad and hopeless. Maybe I just need a nap.

Top: via Liberation Threads | Trousers: Karen Kane via Stitch Fix | Shoes: via Ross | Necklaces: Old Navy

I know this is likely just a bump in the road and I’ll be fine. I just have to make it through another day. Another stinkin’ Monday.

I returned some Christmas/birthday gifts and with the extra cash, I headed to Target to shop for purses and instead found this scarf. I was drawn to it immediately because of the beautiful colors and floral pattern, and I knew I had a lot of stuff I could wear it with but especially these cobalt flats. Like most of us, I usually try to match or coordinate my accessories and this combination was surely a match made in heaven.

this combination was surely a match made in heaven

I wore this outfit to tour a few day care centers near my house. Why was I touring child care centers, you might ask? Because on Thursday I accepted a job offer to work in the Development unit of a local women’s health organization as their development and program coordinator! I can’t tell you how grateful (and relieved) I am that they hired me knowing I’m 8 months pregnant AND knowing that they’re giving me maternity leave when I’ll have only been there for, like, a month. It only took me three months, which was only half the time it took me to find a job when I graduated from my masters program. This is definitely going to make life easier for my little family.

Back to the outfit: It was so nice in NC yesterday that it got too warm for the scarf. In fact, I removed it completely when I took Mia for her late afternoon walk. Now that I’m going to be working again, Nick and I did some shopping over the weekend for office-appropriate clothes should be able to wear both now and after the baby (with the help of my trusty belly band) and I can see myself wearing this scarf with most of the outfits that I bought. That means you’ll probably be seeing it a lot more on the blog!

Sweater: Banana Republic | Jeans: Mavi maternity via Stitch Fix | Scarf: Target | Shoes: Old Navy | Earrings: Spencer’s