One

It's hard to believe, but Maia turned ONE this weekend! She loves giraffes so we took her to the zoo where she got to feed one. We also had a nice little party for her with some friends. She had so much fun! :-) Here's my little one-year old:

Mama, PhD

The last two months have been pretty amazing and I've got some exciting news to share! I graduated with my PhD last month and just accepted a position as an Assistant Professor of English at a university not far from home. I'm excited about my new job and that I will get to stay close to family. Maia has also had an exciting few months as she continues to grow and learn new things. She will turn one next month! How did that happen?! She's close to walking on her own and has been walking around holding onto the furniture and zooming around pushing her musical walker for awhile now. It was so special having her at my graduation ceremony. She ended up falling asleep but was a good girl throughout. Here she is asleep on my shoulder after the ceremony. Maia & Mama: Almost walking on her own: That little giraffe is her favorite toy! :-) Well, I've got to get some writing done this afternoon before we head off for a little house-hunting this weekend in our new town. Have a great weekend everyone!

Happy Easter!

Time for An Update

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything! I've had a few people write me asking for an update so I thought I'd share the latest news and a picture of my little sweetheart. :-)

Here's Maia last month when she turned 6 months old:



She's been happy and healthy these last few months and continues to amaze us everyday. I can't believe how fast she's growing and all of the new things she's learning. :-)

The other thing keeping me busy was my dissertation which I finished and successfully defended last month! Yay! I'm so relieved to be graduating with my PhD in May. Hopefully I can find a full time professor position in the next year or two and we can settle our family somewhere finally.

That's my news for now! Have a great week everyone! :-)

Little Pumpkin

These are some pictures from last week that I forgot to post. I love that it's finally fall here! Maia got her own tiny pumpkin -- it's just her size. :-)

My little pumpkin in her cute hat:



Comfy fall outfit:



Black Dress (Ann Taylor Outlet)
Brown Sweater (Steinmart)
Belt (Target)
Black knit tights (Target)
Boots (JCPennys)

Maia the Bee

We had a fun Halloween yesterday sitting on the porch handing out candy until it ran out. Maia was a bumble bee and was very cozy in her little fleece costume. She was intrigued by all of the kids and costumes! :-)



the wings on the back:



I was pleased with myself for getting such a good deal on this costume. It's from the Gap but I got it on Ebay for 99 cents plus shipping!

Mommy & Maia: Weekend Edition

This has been a busy weekend for me but I still got to spend some fun time with my family. Here are some snapshots of me and my girl. She's growing like a weed and I'm constantly pulling out new clothes for her to try. She's definitely outgrown lots of her old clothes in length! In the first picture she's wearing a dress as a tunic top over pants because it's really too short as a dress now but still fits on top. You can't see the pants in the picture but they were a cute pair of white stretch pants with pink trim on the bottom that just happened to match the dark pink in the dress. I love how she's looking right at the camera (at Daddy actually) in this shot.



Here she's wearing an adorable plaid overall outfit one of her grandmas sent her. So cute!!

OOTD: Bow Skirt

I love the bow skirts that Emma Pillsbury wears on Glee, so I tried to recreate that look today with my bow belt and this pencil skirt. :-)



Turquoise striped blouse (gift from MIL)
gold necklace (Anthro)
Bow belt (Anthro)
Pencil skirt (Banana Republic)
Wedges (Target)

OOTD: Purple & Brown

I'm up early this morning working on Midterm grades that are due this afternoon, so I thought I'd do a quick post of yesterday's outfit. It's not so bad being up early when I've got a smiling little baby next to me on the couch. She's such a happy baby in the morning that she makes me smile in spite of my usual morning grouchiness. :-)

This wasn't a super-exciting outfit but this dress was so comfortable that I fell asleep in it on the couch after dinner. It got a little warmer during the day then I expected so the tights and boots weren't really necessary, but I liked them anyway. This is my first time wearing these new boots on the blog. I got them recently from JCPennys on sale. I've been wanting a pair of Steve Madden knock-offs and these are pretty good quality.



Purple Dress (Target)
Brown Sweater (NY&Co)
Braided Belt (Anthropologie)
Brown tights (Walmart)
Boots (JCPennys)

OOTD: Mixing Neutrals + Pops of Purple

We're finally getting some cooler weather here so I pulled out the tights and boots and plan to enjoy my fall weather, even if it's fleeting. :-) I think this outfit looked more interesting in real life than in does in this photo. I mixed grey and light brown and then added purple accents with the belt & tights.



Grey Old Navy dress
Brown Target cardigan
Purple Anthro belt
Purple Old Navy tights
Anthro Berry-Stitched Boots

I don't know if it's noticeable in this picture, but I got my hair cut recently. It's still long but less unruly. :-)

OOTD: Tropical Maia

Maia's outfit was so cute today that she gets her very own OOTD post! She's a little fashionista with the pattern mixing of her striped socks and floral pants. ;-) heehee It's still pretty warm in Florida so this passes as a fall outfit here. :-) She wore this to go out to lunch with her daddy today while I was teaching my classes this afternoon. :-)

OOTD: Ruffles & Paisley (and Maia in denim)

I'm catching up so these are pictures from last week. I only had about 5 minutes to get ready for school on Tuesday and I already knew I wanted to wear this dress but decided to pair it with something other than my usual navy or white. I like the way this long tan sweater with ruffles down the front looks with the dress. I tried the belt over and under the sweater and thought it looked best this way.


Paisley Dress (LOFT)
Ruffly Sweater (Steinmart)
Gift Bow belt (Anthro)
Charm necklace (Maurices)
Shoes (Target)

Here's my little cutie in her denim jumper. She's ready for fall (if the temperature would just cooperate and stay consistently cooler). :-)



Have a good week everyone!!

OOTD: Wearing Maia's favorite color

It's been too long since my last post! In addition to spending lots of time with my baby girl, it's been a busy fall semester at school. I have been taking some OOTD pics though so I'll try to catch up next week and post them.

Here's today's outfit. Recently we discovered that Maia's favorite color is yellow. She loves the yellow duck and giraffe in her animal book, and her favorite toy is her golden-yellow musical lion we call Leo. So she definitely liked my outfit today with the bright yellow cardigan. This color makes her smile really big and giggle. It's SO cute!!


Green-Striped Dress (Shabby Apple)
Yellow Cardigan (Target)
Belt (Target)
Shoes (Target)

My little girl is almost 3 months old now and I can't believe how big she's getting! This is one of my favorite pictures of her lately. I love this flower dress from her Aunt. :-)

Beach Baby

This weekend we made a little trip to the beach and Maia got to dip her toes in the ocean for the first time. She didn't seem to mind the water at all! We had planned to sit with her on the edge of the water but couldn't find a bathing suit or swimmy diapers small enough so I just put her in a tank top and regular diaper and held her over the water, putting her feet in up to her ankles. I think she liked the squishy feel of the wet sand. Isn't she cute in her ridiculously large sun hat?! ;-) We went late in the afternoon and I had her covered in sunscreen just to make sure she didn't get too much sun.



Here we are standing by the water, enjoying the ocean breeze.



All three of us after lunch with the grandparents:



Have a great week everyone! I've got so much work to do this week that I'm glad we had a nice, relaxing weekend before the craziness begins. :-)

OOTD: Fall is right around the corner

In honor of the slightly cooler temperatures lately, I've been putting together outfits with more fall-like colors and fabrics.

Here's my outfit for class yesterday. I love getting to wear my beloved "deer & bird print" dress (a.k.a. the Southward Stop Dress from Anthro) again! I paired it with a short sleeve cardigan, purple belt, and wedges but I'm looking forward to adding purple tights and boots in the months to come.



I wore this sweater skirt from Ruche on Sunday when Sara and I went to the movies. We saw The Help and I was pleasantly surprised that it was as good as the book. I don't say that often!



And of course, here's a Maia picture! ;-) She's getting so big!



Maia and Jeffy on the couch. My spot is right between them. :-)



Is anyone else excited about Fall clothes? It's my favorite time of the year!!

OOTD: Peppered & Striped

Just a quick OOTD post!

Thursday's outfit for class:



Yellow Cardigan (Target)
Bits of Pearl Blouse (Anthropologie)
Lace Cami (Old Navy)
Silver necklace (Anthropologie)
Peppered & Striped Skirt (Anthropologie)
Black Sandals (Kohls)
Maia's striped outfit -- gift from Sara (Mommyland)





Have a great holiday weekend everyone!!

OOTD: Coral & Dots (and Maia too!)

Yesterday we started week 2 of classes. Besides enjoying being back in the classroom teaching my wonderful students, I also really love putting together outfits for class! ;-) It's fun to have a reason to dress up. For yesterday's outfit I pulled out this old skirt that I love because I can wear so many different colors with it. It's also a great summer-to-fall transition piece because the colors work for both seasons but the material is light-weight enough for the warm weather that we've been having. I paired it with this coral cardigan that I got on sale earlier this summer.



J Jill Skirt
brown shirt with beading (gift from MIL)
Coral cardigan from LOFT
Target wedges & belt

While I'm at school Maia gets to spend time with her daddy and they are developing their own little routine. It's funny how he's found things to entertain her and keep her happy that are different than the things I do with her. She loves to have some "tummy time" on the couch next to him while he works on the laptop (but doesn't really like to do this with me for some reason). He found a radio station on the TV that she loves listening to -- her favorite music used to be what we called "Lawrence Welk" songs but lately she's been into this "Groove" station that he found. heehee :-)

Here she is snoozing next to her brother Jeffy:



Showing off her cute little bum! We both happened to be wearing coral and dots that day. :-)



Mommy & Maia:

Book Club: The Help

I just finished The Help over the weekend for the book club that Carol at In Pursuit of Pretty Things is organizing. Has anyone else read it? I thought it was really good and I'm looking forward to discussing it with the other book club members. If you've read the book or plan to soon, go over and check out Carol's post and plan to join us for the discussion!

Back to School OOTD: Color-Blocked

It's been a busy few days here! My sister came for a visit over the weekend to see Maia and she really enjoyed getting to spend some time with her. Then Maia turned one month old on Monday! I can't believe she's already that old. The time is flying by.

Yesterday was my first day back at school teaching twice a week for a few hours. Luckily my husband gets to work from home on those two days so he was able to take care of Maia while I was gone. He said she did great! I missed her a lot though.

Here's my first day of school outfit:



Color-Blocked Sweater Skirt (Anthropologie)
White Blouse (Ann Taylor)
Necklace (Anthropologie)
Wedges (Target)

And a couple of cute Maia pictures ;-)

Happily gazing at her Aunt Gina:



Snoozing:

Anthro + Baby

Check out Molly's recent blog post about Anthro-lovers rocking the baby bump: HERE. I sent her a couple of pictures of my favorite Anthro outfits that I wore while I was pregnant and she included them along with some other very stylish ladies. I love seeing how others styled their bumps and remained fashionable! ;-)