Buccos, Baby!

First of all, is the new blogger layout blowing anyone else's mind? For real...I feel like a grandmother on a kindle here. "what's this new fangled thing? Don't know why we need all these fancy-shmancy do-dads. Things were just fine in my day. We had to edit our HTML by hand and we liked it". Oh well. Time (and technology) marches on. I'll get used to it, but forgive me if everything looks a little wonky in the meantime.

Anyway. Last Sunday was potentially the coldest day in the history of spring. So what did we decide to do? Go to Pirates game, naturally.

Thanks to work, we had free tickets in the box, so while it was miserably cold out, we had the luxury of watching the game from a cozy clubhouse, complete with a full spread of food and drink. (We even had the Penguins/Flyers game on for some bonus Pennsylvania sports action.) I typically love a baseball game no matter what (being outside, eating hotdogs, singing songs about old-timey snacks...), but the box is where it's at- if only for the food. We got to gorge ourselves on hot dogs, wings nachos (with sour cream and chilli, not just that orange cheese-ish product the rest of those stadium suckers have to endure), salad, bruschetta, chips and nuts. (not to mention soda and beer). But as much as I love the food, the sunshine (not applicable last week) and the latin rap songs introducing each batter, (and I do love that very much) a new favorite part of the gametime experience is the gear.

Now, I don't actually own any Pittsburgh jerseys (or even a t-shirt) but with a little one around, I'm using anything as an excuse to dress her up. (surprising absolutely no one.) The day before the game involved a quick trip to our local Once Upon a Child for a discount "gently used" Pirates get up. (Yes, our store has an entire Pittsburgh-wear second. Again, surprising absolutely no one.) We scored a practically brand new Pirates onesie, and Piper was thrilled to rep her team. (Don't let Dustin know I said that...He is still convinced she's going to be a Phillies fan.)

And again, despite Dustin's wishes, she even sported a new bow in her scraggly fuzz.

(stop it with those adorable black and gold shoe/socks. Too much!)

And folks, we might just have a baseball fan on our hands here. I'm telling you, she loved every second of it. Maybe it was the bright colors, the crowd noise, or because we cuddled her for hours on end, but she had a blast, and wouldn't take her eyes of the field. 

Or more accurately, wouldn't take her eyes off her own reflection in the glass, or the giant TV just on the other side. Girl loves a screen. (even if it's just my camera phone...)

We did venture outside just long enough to snap a couple pics before our ears fell off...

And while she was a trooper, Dustin eventually tired of my (apparently excessive) picture taking. How do I know? This face:

No for real...stop taking pictures...

After the initial excitement, baby girl drifted off into dreamland for innings 4-7 at least (can't say I blame her..baseball is a slow burn) Tragically, she missed the Pierogie race- practically my #1 reason for attending. But she rallied toward the end, and we made it out of the park without a tear.

P.s. The Pirates lost. But shhhhhh....she doesn't have to know...

Insta-update

Photo A Day April continues, and it's safe to say that I'm insta-addicted. Plus I'm a complete hash-tag convert. (#obsessed #dork) Check out the last few days of insta-goodness.

(I changed the format from last time, so each photo pair is one day....cojobo's are on the left, bowdend's are on the right)

 11. Where you ate breakfast

12. Stairs

13. Something you found

 14. How you feel today

15. Sunset

16. Flower

17. Something you don't like

 18. Hair

19. Orange

What to Wear- Baby Piper Edition

Somehow the last week or two has turned into an unofficial Bowdenisms Fashion-and-Beauty-a-thon. If there were any guys (other than my dad) who still actually read this blog after all my new-mom yammering, then I've probably successfully chased them away with the flurry of clothes, nail polish, and haircut posts. Sorry fellas. Rest assured Dustin is still around...he's just trapped under twice as much girlie stuff as usual. It was bad enough with just me in the house, but now that there's a little lady around? I've got all the more reason to embrace all that's feminine...Even the blog can't escape.

...Which brings us to possibly the cutest topic mashup possible: Babies + Fashion. mmmmmm.

While I was taking photos for Project Not-Naked New Mom (working title), I thought it would be fun to document what Piper wore too. You see, she has pretty much the opposite problem that I have: too many adorable pieces that she looks too good in. The girl is roughly 170 days old, and she has about 470 pieces of clothing. (Not kidding...this is approximately half of her closet:)

  

I've tried to rein in my shopping habits, but it's tough. I can't resist an animal bum patch, I can't turn down a miniature stripe ensemble, and I can't say no to a pair of socks that look like shoes! Can't! So Piper's closet is overflowing with adorableness, and every day is a miniature catwalk (or more accurately, a cat-daddy-has-to-carry-you-because-you-can't-yet-walk). And though we take approximately 1,000 pictures of her a minute, somehow there are still outfits that no one gets to see (the speed at which I snap photos is apparently outmatched only by Piper's ability to poop on her clothes. So very quick, that one). So why not highlight a month of our mini-maven here?

Check it:



Yeah I know...as adorable as the tiny outfits are, they're still a lot cuter w a baby body filling them out. But it is fun to see a months worth of her "looks" side by side. I am still figuring out what I want Piper's style to be (you know, for the brief time I get to dress her before her opinions- and probably a bunch of princess dresses- take over.) Before she was born, I had some ideas on what I thought I'd dress my daughter in...and some of that has held true, but there have been surprises as well:

• I thought I'd want to avoid pink...but she just looks so good in it! That may sound dumb, but it's true. Her skin is all glowy, and warm colors just suit her. 
• I also tried to stick to gender neutral things as much as possible- both to avoid an overly-girlie girl, and also to help with reuse later. But now I'm finding that I'm having a hard time resisting frilly tops, and sweet little dresses. I'm still trying to stay classic and not overwhelm her with over the top cupcake type styles.
• My goal was to dress her as much like a mini-me as possible. Not because my style is awesome (please.) but because tiny people dressed like big people is adorable. When I see how many grey and navy pieces she has (and stripes!) I see that I've stayed somewhat true to that, even when some more juvenile (animals again!) themes sneak in. I have at least managed to steer clear of message t's. I know some people love them, but outfits branding her as "daddy's little princess" or "future troublemaker" just don't charm me. I figure she'll be able to speak for herself soon enough- no sense in rushing the sass.
• Without shoes to complete an outfit, or a scarf to add color, I've had to learn the baby equivalent of the go-to accessory. Turns out it is socks. They can be a pop of color in an otherwise neutral outfit, or add a girlie touch when the rest of the outfit is gender neutral. Or they can be shaped like animals, which is just irresistible regardless of the rest of the ensemble.
• Headbands are just a no go. I tried a little in the beginning, but her 99th percentile size head just doesn't jive with elastic bands. Plus- besides actually not fitting her giant noggin, for some reason they just don't seem to fit her personality either. No one is a bigger baby headband fan than my mom, and even she agrees they're just not Piper's thing. We're slowly venturing into the world of bows though, and as long as she has a couple strands of hair to clip on to, I think that will suit her just fine. 

So there's a month long glimpse into what is shaping up to be a longterm struggle with baby clothes addiction. Anyone else a sufferer? Trust me that as we approach sundress and swim suit season it's only going to get worse!

Insta-Update

We're going strong with the April Instagram Challenge. Check out our first ten days of snapshots:

1. Your Reflection | 2. Color



3. Mail | 4. Someone who makes you happy



5. Tiny | 6. Lunch



7. Shadow | 8. Inside your wallet



9. Younger you | 10. Cold

It's been fun to share little snippets of our day, and I'm loving following along with other friends who are participating. If you're on instagram, come and find us so we can follow each other!

Hair Today...Gone Tomorrow

Hold on to your horseshoes...because something crazy happened around here....

Yep. I chopped off my hair. Well, not all of it- I maybe lost four or five inches? But for me it was a pretty big deal. I haven't had "short" hair since my sophomore year of college...so um...yeah, a while. I have a bit of a hair comfort zone, and I tend to keep the same style, trim after trim: Long layers, side part, usually sideswept bangs. Every once in a while I get crazy and mess with the formula, (real bangs!) or knock people's socks off by taking it out of a ponytail, but for the better part of a decade I've kept it pretty predictable (hopefully predictably pretty?)

But then came the craziness of pregnancy hormones, and my poor hair was thrown for a loop. I'm normally a pretty heavy shedder (Dustin had no idea what he...or the shower drain...was in for when he married this mop), but for nine months I swear I didn't lose a single strand. I had heard that pregnancy often resulted in a thicker mane, and while I didn't notice it much at the time, in hindsight I realize how true that was for me. I wasn't exactly being asked to star in shampoo commercials, but my hair was more easy to work with, and just generally not as thin/frizzy/stringy/blah as normal. I worried that after I had the baby my locks would go back to their previous not-so-noteworthy state, but I don't think I was ready for the pendulum swing that happened 3 months (on the dot, I swear) after Piper was born. All of a sudden, I was shedding like a polar bear at the Miami Zoo. (Do they even have polar bears there? I suspect not....because they would probably be bald.) Every morning I would end up with a shower full, a hairbrush full, handfuls- well, full, of hair. It seemed my scalp was making up for lost time, and going into hair-loss hypermode, to balance out the year of follicular success. And after two months of this constant shedding, my mane was looking a little sad. Split ends, fuzzy strands, thin, limp locks. I was fighting against it, trying to straighten, curl, smooth or otherwise coax it into its former (relative) glory. But finally threw in the (hair)towel when I found a row of tiny Piper-length strands growing along my hairline in the front, and sprouting out of my part. My head had obviously given up, and rather than bothering to hold on to what we once knew, had decided to just start over, lining up the hair equivalent of shark teeth- another tiny row to take the place of the previous set. Trust me when I say this is only half as cute as it sounds. Which is already not-very.

So, long story long leads me to long hair short. I pinned some images of some celeb looks (yep, Tori Spelling makes more than one appearance there. No shame. Between she and Heidi Klum they have like 8 kids. Who better to be my hair role models?) put about five minutes of thought into it and told my stylist to make the cut (giving her the warning that I desperately wanted to avoid a "Mom-cut"...which is a vague but terrifying realm of lackluster bobs I'm not ready to cross into).

And I pretty much love it.

(and Piper seems to be a fan/still recognize me, so that's a plus). I can't stop the shedding, or magically make my hair thicker, and the baby hairs aren't going anywhere, but it's already a vast improvement. I'm still messing around with straight vs. wavy, and experimenting with how to style it, but I'm excited to have a new look (and an adorably stumpy ponytail).

Oh- and if it all fell out tomorrow? My little cowgirl was worth it. And from a vain mama like me, that's saying something.

Nail Files

So I may still be figuring out my style as a new mom, at least there is one part of my body that remained unchanged- my nails! It's no secret that I love me some nail polish, so while I work on coming to terms with my changing shape, and new wardrobe needs, I've been having some fun switching up my manicure.

Check out the last month of polish pics:

Soaking up some serious literature. (Hunger Games book 3!)
American Apparel-Summer Peach, OPI-Designer De Better (on ring finger)

St. Patrick's Day date (and St. Patty's Day brew!)
Essie- Mint Candy Apple

Spring '13 meeting at NY design office
Forever 21- yellow

The Hunger Games movie premiere (I actually waited in line, people. That's dedication).
China Glaze-Stone Cold

Training video for retail stores
Jewelbilee (i.e. some cheap accessory store)- Orange

Sometimes it's the little things....What small pleasures have brightened your day lately?

What to Wear- New Mom Edition

A year ago I did an experiment to document each day's outfit for a month, mostly just to see how often I wore the same grey hoodie (turns out: a lot.) The results were a fairly monotonous run of neutrals, but it was fun to get a glimpse at my wardrobe rotation. Seeing all those outfits at once pushed me to mix it up a bit more when I repeated the project the next month, if only to prove that I do in fact own more than two colors.

Now twelve months later, I find myself in need of another fashion kick-start.

Since having Piper, I've been dealing with the typical new mom body-blues. I was fortunate in that I gained a pretty textbook amount of weight during my pregnancy, but even that "normal" number wasn't exactly my favorite thing to see when I looked down at the scale. And while I knew I wouldn't be back in my "skinny jeans" the day after she was born, I don't think I was truly prepared for the challenges of postpartum dressing. (Ironically, my college thesis was maternity and "4th trimester" fashion. Turns out I may not have deserved that diploma.) Some of my struggles were expected- For the first month I pretty much lived in nursing tanks, elastic waist cargos, and yes....my maternity jeans. I wasn't in love with my in-between body with the flushy-push middle, but it was still early in the game, so I tried to go easy on myself. But as I hit the two and three month mark, I was disappointed to find that my body was still unfamiliar to me, and dressing continued to be a daily struggle. There seemed to be all sorts of restrictions on what I wore, for a linty of practical and aesthetic reasons. As I was a relatively modest dresser before, I didn't think I'd have an issue finding tops that accommodated my desire for a little more coverage...but everything in my closet seemed too tight, too low cut, or two short to cover up my constantly changing bust size, and slowly shrinking waist. And tops that did fit, still had to pass the "how easily can I yank this up and down every two hours, without exposing my business to the world" test. Not an easy test. Add to that a need for pattern to cover up the inevitable dribbles and drips from a messy infant, and you can start to see how narrow the selections became. Pants were only slightly less problematic. I seemed to always be between sizes (so many sizes), and found that the constant movement of wrangling a baby (lying on the floor for tummy time...Deep knee bends to lull her to sleep...Lugging a diaper bag, and carseat...) wasn't exactly jiving with my low-rise jeans.

Mercifully, it did get easier over time. Thanks to a giant baby, frequent breastfeeding, and an honest-to-goodness effort at exercising (a first in years), I managed to drop the baby weight somewhere around the three month mark. But it turns out it's not just a matter of pounds. Though I'm now (full disclosure) around ten pounds lighter than my pre-pregnancy weight (don't hate me...I fully expect it to come back with a vengeance when my little piglet moves on to solid food) I'm still having some wardrobe troubles. Now my old pants are too big, making me look sloppy and saggy. (Yes, I know...complaining about being too skinny is about as obnoxious as it gets ...Cue Chandler: "My wallet's too small for my fifties, and my diamond shoes are too tight." But trust me that though the scale may have a smaller number, the shape of things has certainly changed...and not always for the better.) And because I'm still nursing (though it's now mostly pumping at work) my wardrobe still has to have an accessibility (and camouflage) factor that I never thought about before.

I was growing weary of my choices, and tired of wearing the same old things over and over again. I felt trapped, forced into a tank+hoodie uniform that didn't suit me, and certainly didn't make me feel more confident about the new body I'm trying to embrace. So I thought it might be a good challenge to resurrect the idea of daily fashion snapshots. I hoped that having some accountability would keep me from wearing the same cami-cardi combo day in and day out, and force some creativity back into my wardrobe. Yes, I realize that once I went back to work, the fact that people actually saw me every day should have served as motivation enough to try a little harder...which it did. But there's something about actually seeing all my choices on paper that forces me to step it up a notch, so that's what I did.

I give you...my month of fashion, with a new mom slant.

And looking back? I don't feel half bad. Sure, my wardrobe still leans heavily on layers, but that's always been my style, and is dictated just as much by weather as it is anything else. I've found that while there are just certain things that don't work for me anymore (or at least right now), there are a still a ton of things that make me, me: scarves, an armful of bangles, horizontal stripes... I still have many of my sartorial signatures, despite a few new fashion limitations. And the exercise of documenting my outfits did push me to reach deeper into the closet to find pieces I normally would have skipped, try combos I might not have thought of before or finally purchase a few new things to fill some obvious gaps in my wardrobe. I don't claim to be a style inspiration, but now I have a bit more confidence about dressing my figure in-flux, and 20+ outfits I can rotate next month (I'm not photo'ing April. don't judge.)

So how 'bout it moms? Did you have similar struggles? Do you have tricks to looking your best, when you're not always feeling so fine? Or maybe you don't have kids, but still relate to my fashion-rut troubles? Tell me I'm not alone....

(and p.s. yes, I wore sweatpants and fake-uggs on day 12. It was to bookclub, and I'm not sorry in the least.)

He is Risen

Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!

Earth and heaven in chorus say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia!



Love's redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids him rise, Alleluia!
Christ has opened paradise, Alleluia!



Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once he died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where's thy victory, boasting grave? Alleluia!



Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like him, like him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!



Hail the Lord of earth and heaven, Alleluia!
Praise to thee by both be given, Alleluia!
Thee we greet triumphant now, Alleluia!
Hail the Resurrection, thou, Alleluia!

King of glory, soul of bliss, Alleluia!
Everlasting life is this, Alleluia!
Thee to know, thy power to prove, Alleluia!
Thus to sing, and thus to love, Alleluia!

Thank you Lord.

Thank you for sunny days. For babies. For bunny ears. Thank you for cuddles. For smiles. For giggles. Thank you for the support of family. For the generosity of friends. For the love of a spouse.

Thank you Lord.

Thank you for the immeasurable, undeserved, sacrificial gift of your Son. Thank you for your grace. Thank you for your patience, and love, and wisdom, and power, and, and, and, and.....

Thank you. Alleluia. Amen.

High Five

Happy five months to our...

smug, confused, grumpy,
sneezy, happy, hungry,
curious, surprised, and sweet

...little facemaker.

She gets cuter every month, no?

I think we'll keep her.

1, 2, 3, 4.

Hoppy Easter

Yep. I gave in to the bunny pun. I'll try egg-stra hard to avoid any more lame Easter jokes... It's just cheep.

When we had Piper I knew holidays were going to change a bit. Having kids sort of forces you to make a big deal out of things...and holidays are a pretty much the biggest of "things" to make a deal out of. All of a sudden you find yourself sitting on an old man's lap, making heart shaped PB&J's and dressing in all green. And that's just the major events...now other days crop up that otherwise would have gone unnoticed. It's Groundhog Day, Pens Game Day, National Pancake Day! Each month her daycare sends home a newsletter full of info, and I kid you not there must be eight dress up days per month for various occasions. (my favorite is pajama day...Piper is ready for that theme pretty much everyday).

But the good news for me is...I love this stuff. You don't need to pressure me into celebrating a holiday, and having a baby has really just provided me an excuse to indulge all my themey, costumy, seasonal, whims. For what it's worth, I believe I come by it honestly. My mom is a elementary school teacher, so I was raised to appreciate a special event (and even more importantly: make all events into something special.)

So as Easter approaches, I'm getting pretty excited. Sure, I'm looking forward to sharing Christ with Piper, and teaching her the meaning of the holiday...but that won't really sink in for a while. For now- it's all about Easter bunnies, and Easter dresses (and maybe some egg salad for me!) First up this year, was Brunch with the Bunny! It's pretty much the Spring version of Breakfast with Santa, which is to say a fun (free!) morning organized through our office, with photo-ops, food, gifts, and activities. Um, yeah. We're in.

As a practice round to get her accustom to all things bunny, I made Piper try on some ears when we were at Old Navy the other day. She loved it! Until she didn't anymore.

By this Sunday though, she was ready to roll, but was unfortunately coming down with a bit of a cold. But she told me she still wanted to go (ha!) and she was a trooper- we ended up having a ball. She showed off her new dress and pretty smile to anyone who would look her way (which was most everyone- she's a charmer that one- and sat on the bunny's lap without making a peep (PEEP!). In fact, I couldn't get her to look at me for the photo because she was too busy flirting with everyone in line! But we were able to at least capture the bunny in all his glory:

Which is worse? His eyes? Or his mouth? His alien ears?

To be honest...I had an image in my head of what the bunny would look like, and he was just as creepy as I imagined. I don't say that in a bad way though...it's just part of the experience. Sitting on the lap of some volunteer stranger in a fifteen year old costume that spends 364 days a year shoved in a janitor's closet is a rite of passage for babies. Good enough for me, good enough for Piper.

Courtney and bunny. Spring, 1984.

But sketchy rodent suit aside, the day was a rousing success. We watched some balloon animal art (despite having never seen him on TV, Piper was pretty much enthralled with another girl's inflatable Elmo), ate some standard hotel buffet fare (french toast and donuts!) and then spent some time chatting with the other families (mostly oohing and ahhing over adorable kids. There was a little boy with a bunny on his PJ'd butt. If I ever said things like "adorbs!" now would be the time).

Pretty soon though, poor Piper started to look more and more like her big bunny friend, her red rimmed eyes evidence that she wasn't feeling too hot.

But she was still all smiles....

...and stuck it out until we decided to pack up and hop on home.

Thanks, Bunny. See ya next weekend!