Thursday, February 4, 2010

Make it work

The babe and I have been sick all week. This has taught me two things

1. You do not get sick days when you have kids. You can say you're going to have a sick day from laundry, cooking, and showers but in the event of a blowout or some other catastrophe you'll be lucky if you get 2 out of 3.

2. Staying home all day with a baby is harder and infinitely more boring for both of us then packing him up and going somewhere, even if we are sick.

So today we went shopping. For clothes. For me. Last year shopping for clothes was not that fun and I felt like I was trying to dress an elephant, but at least I knew where to go.

MATERNITY.

Now, not so much. Walking past the petite section so does not inspire me, and the regular women's section just seems so... matronly? Not always but, well, maybe always. Which makes me think I am shopping in the wrong stores first off...

*Interlude: Tyson and Logan frequently have "jam sessions" where they play the prerecorded music on the keyboard and sing and play along. Just now Tyson found a version of "O Mio Babbino Caro" and was singing along in his opera voice. About 10 seconds later I heard Logan crying. I assume he was moved to tears by Tyson's beautiful rendition. This might be why half my blogs never make it to publication.*

...And we're back.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is I often find myself in the junior section of the store. Which just seems wrong to me. And yet still so right. I mean, I'm young, yeah? It's not like I'm that mom trying to dress exactly like her daughter. Although I did notice one of my young women wearing a shirt that I just bought. But she's only {calculating...} 13 years younger than me.

Crap. I am that woman.

I know it too. As I'm wandering around picking up things to try on I can hear voices in my head "Do you see how these sizes are odd numbers? That means those jeans will not fit your new mama hips." and "Sure honey, maybe you were a small but do you see what you're nursing with? Not. Gonna. Happen."

And to those voices I reply, "Hush Stacy and Clinton! I do not have $5,000 to spend on 14 pieces of beautiful but outrageously expensive clothing. I am going to wear this shirt and I'm going to rock it."

Then I accidentally bump into a teenager with my stroller, replace my small medium with a large and text my sister asking her opinion.


In addition I asked her to please disregard the ugly hair and also, I would like to be addressed as Chesty LaRue from now on.

But this looks ok, right? I'm obviously unsure of what to do with the belt thingy, never mind that I'm attempting my red carpet/mannequin pose for a self portrait, cell phone style.

Meanwhile Logan is in the background calling my bluff and wondering why I keep pulling my shirt up without feeding him.

Good grief this is running long. Basically what I'm trying to ask is where do I belong? What section am I supposed to shop in? And lastly, should I be embarrassed about going home happy with this $9 shirt from the Junior's section?

Please advise.

11 comments:

  1. haha. so many things about this blog made me laugh. like the fact that you hear stacy and clinton's voices inside your head while you shop.

    and that, just like logan, graham gets a little over excited when i pull my shirt off and then totally disappointed when it goes back on and he has not gotten a snack.

    and i too have the same i am in my mid 20's where i am supposed to shop dilemma. i think i have finally let go of my junior department days...it was a long struggle and they junior department prices fought back hard, but for the sake of stacy and clinton i just had to give it up.

    and this comment is getting really long, but since you asked for advice. i have lately found myself in stores like ann taylor loft, gap, banana republic outlet, target. if you shop during their sales, you can find pretty decent quality stuff for good prices...we could always make craft day into a day at the woodburn outlets...

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  2. I LOVE that shirt on you. You are totally rockin' it!! I am so with you, though--I don't know where to shop either! I know I'm not 16 years old anymore, and I really don't want to look like I think I am, but I don't want to dress like my grandmother, either! If you solve this dilemma and find a great place to shop for a 20-something mom, PLEASE let me know!

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  3. I always shop in the junior's section, I just like the clothes better. I often wonder when I'll start shopping in the women's section and wonder if the juniors think I'm old.

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  4. The shirt is gorgeous, but the wearer is more so. You now look like the beautiful young woman you always were.

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  5. Okay, Chesty LaRue, first of all don't worry about shopping in the junior section. I do it too and I'm exactly uh...one year and six days older than you! I think.
    And second of all, the shirt looked great, you look great, and don't listen to those dumb little voices in your head.
    Thirdly, I'm going to go shopping at Downeast Basics and New York and Company. My favorite stores at the moment. Maybe you could give them a try.

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  6. I wish I had Stacy and Clinton and $5,000 to get those 14 articles, too! I think you look great. You've always had good style.

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  7. Totally have the same story. I was about 5-6 mos. preggers with Brooklyn and at a ward function, wearing a shirt from Target (yes jr. section) that was kind of, you know, roomy in front - like tunic length I guess (rather than wearing real maternity clothes like a regular grown-up pregnant woman) and this Beehive blurted out, "Hey I have that same shirt!" *awkward pause for both of us* and I don't really know which of us it was more awkward for.

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  8. I think you look hot. Not the "I'm still holding on to my teens" kind of hot. More like the "I am a rocking mama" kind of hot.

    Basically, you are displaying the appropriate amount of hotness in that top. And it was only 9 bucks? Score.

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  9. Hi! Stoppin' by from MMB. I so have been there. I get most of my stuff from Target clearance now, and I like their "misses" stuff. I also like that for the most part, their junior's dept. flows seamlessly into a more mature department. Kohl's has a great misses dept., too. Between Vera Wang and Daisy Fuentes, they've got a great thing going. And they have awesome clearance, too.

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  10. Looks like you found the JCPenney sale! Way to go. You look great! You know, the matronly things didn't appeal to me either at your age, but now I think they are rather nice. What does that say about me...? Ems once told me that there was no way I could ever be her size and wear her clothes. When I asked her why, she just said it wasn't right for a mom to be the same size as her daughter. Pshaw I say! So far I haven't been able to do it . . .

    BTW, enjoy being Chesty LaRue. When you stop nursing things change rather drastically, and not for the better.

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  11. I say shop where you want. Especially if the item is on sale for $9.00.

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