replay

Rome wasn’t built in a day…

…and apparently it will take a lot longer to get rid of my post-pregnancy tummy…or ass! I am not complaining in any way as getting back in my pre-pregnancy size this fast after giving birth was a big and welcome surprise, but that doesn’t mean that I do not want my abs to get back to where they were asap! I am well aware that this will take time as it took nine months of expanding to deliver the miracle that soundly sleeps in her bed as I am writing this, but I am willing to start working hard to get back to where I was in March last year. I am also well aware that this will be a long and hard road especially since I plan to continue to feed Leia with breast milk and the moment I start dieting (not some sort of crazy diet, but rather a light one) my milk starts to decrease in quantity so I have to be careful with that. So, on that note, my tummy and ass will have to wait a bit because…priorities!

As I mentioned before, I feel quite lucky that mom jeans and high waisted anything is fashionable right now as I have an extra layer to cover up and keep everything in place. These jeans I was wearing last Saturday when we took these photos are not the coveted mom cut, but rather a relaxed crop cut, but I love them nonetheless for the fact that they are crazy comfortable, a light wash (perfect for spring) and because of the cool catus embroidery that immediately got me thinking about summer. Yes, they are also a size 34, which means that I am still not wasting money on clothes that I will not wear once I’ll be back in shape and surprisingly they are from Bershka. I say ‘surprisingly’ because I can’t remember the last time I shopped from them mainly because I think that I am over their age-target (read that : ‘I feel too old for their stuff’).

On me:
Jeans – Bershka; Sweater – Bershka; Sneakers – MTNG; Bag – Atelier Lemnia; Bling – Tous (bracelet and ring); Watch – Apple

Since I worked up the courage to go into their store, I also bought this lovely spring sweater (that does absolutely nothing to keep me warm), specifically choosing this colour to match my rope sneakers that I bought in Madrid last spring. This lovely bag that I am sporting is my second addition from Atelier Lemnia (I just LOVE them!) and was a gift from close friends. It is the perfect size to fit my upmost necessities: phone, lipliner, lipstick, keys and gum and it is the perfect size to allow me to have my hands free and care for princess Leia.

On D:
Jeans – ZARA; T-shirt – Replay; Sneakers – Replay; Vest – ZARA; Bling – Fossil and Tous; Watch – Apple

D also went for the same color scheme : khaki and blue. He chose his distressed khaki pants from ZARA – yes, like I said, ZARA makes some amazing pants these days – and paired them with a Replay t-shirt. He added a little twist to his attire by adding a splash of orange with his belt and sneakers (also from Replay). Since last Saturday was a bit chilly and he still is in the healing process of his (almost) finished sleeve, he decided to keep warm with his trusted vest from ZARA. Btw, notice how cool his tattos are? I can’t wait to see the finished sleeve in about a week or so… and I also can’t wait to share it with you! Accessory-wise, beside the all-present Anex Sport stroller, we both wore our Apple Watches, D chose both his Fossil and Tous bracelet while I opted for my now-omnipresent Tous bracelet and ring set as well as my sapphire ring.

Since yet again I am on active mommy-watch (as I probably will be for the next few years) I will have to conclude this post right now, but, as a sneak-peak into our next post, I have to say that it will probably be about princess Leia if she decides to give me enough time to put together a post worthy of her (text and photos). There are also a few things that I want to share with you about what we’ve learned during these first 10 weeks of having a kid as there are some lessons that I would’ve gladly not learn the hard way. Until then, I’ll just leave you with these pics!
L.

March 23, 2017March 23, 2017

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Stroll, stroll, stroll in the park – Anex Sport

Wow! Two blog posts in one week…we are really getting the hang of this baby/us balance! It is about time to start reviewing all the baby stuff we bought pre-Leia and give you some insight on what was important for both of us upon buying everything. Today I want to talk about our stroller, the Anex Sport. Naturally, since the lovely spring weather started, we have been testing this stroller every day and on Sunday we actually decided to take some photos for old times sake. Nope, this will not be a review where we show you all the ways this stroller pulls apart and all the very practical gizmos it has. For those types of reviews I suggest you do as we did and watch some YouTube videos. Nope, we did not do a video either mainly because I find video editing to be some sort of alien activity for me right now. This review covers our own personal experience with the Anex Sport stroller and why we chose it as we both had some pretty strong boxes to tick and if you’ll continue reading you’ll soon realize just how different we are when it comes to this matter. Of course, none of us wanted to compromise on quality and safety, but other than that we both went in totally different directions when it came to making a list of our ‘musts’. I have to also mention that this stroller ticked all the boxes on the below lists and that it was actually the only one that managed to do that, or at least that was the situation last autumn when we bought it.

We both wanted the following things from the stroller:
– Coconut mattress
– Height adjusting mattress as we noticed baby-Leia likes her head a bit higher than the rest of her body-though we did not know that at the time, but we thought that it was a great feature.
– UV resistant materials.
– Waterproof bag in the lower part of the stroller – this allows us to safely store stuff without having to carry an extra bag everywhere. It is unbelievable how few strollers have this amazing feature as most of them just have a basket and in my opinion everything you store down there gets covered with a thick layer of dust – MAJOR NO-NO!
– Antibacterial and non-allergic materials all over.
– Light and easy folding system.
– Waterproofing all over.
What I wanted in a stroller:
– No velcro anywhere – I think that velcro is the worst for hands and nails as it just scratches everything. Again, you have no idea how many companies use this type of material for their stroller. On top of it all, I dread the thought of baby-Leia’s skin coming into contact with velcro.
– A comfortable breaking system – for most strollers, in order to unbreak the damn thing, you have to put your foot underneath the break which usually means that your shoes get dirty and scratched and I love my shoes too much to put them through that.
– Big, easy to push buttons for all the pieces that come apart – I have to think about my manicure because with a small baby there is virtually no time to fix chipped nails!
– Light and small frame as it has to be able to fit into my Mini – this was actually the only one we found that matched this criteria, but this was not mandatory as I have a lot of space to walk around our apartment complex without having to actually drive anywhere with the stroller, but it is nice to know that it fits.
– Detachable bedding for obvious sanitary reasons.

On me:

Jeans – Replay (yup, pre-pregnancy); Sweater – ZARA; Boots – Ugg; Jacket – Mango; Scarf – Hermes; Bag – Furla; Hat – Mango; Sunglasses – Dior; Watch – Apple

What D wanted:
– Big, rubber wheels because a) they look cool and b) for those moments when we want to go off-road.
– Great suspension because his little princess can’t be disturbed while we walk on the horrible pavements of Bucharest
– Easy access to the front wheels blocking system – with most strolles you have a button in the middle of the wheel which means that your hands get really dirty when you need to block the wheels while this stroller has this button on top of the wheels and far away from the growd or the dirty parts.
– Light aluminum frame.

On D:

Jeans – ZARA; Sweater – O’Neill; Vest – ZARA; Shoes – ZARA; Sunglasses – Ray-Ban; Bling – Fossil; Watch – Apple

The Anex Sport stroller was the only one that ticked all the boxes, but there was no way of saying that we will love it or that baby-Leia was going to love it until we tried it-though I did try to convince D that we can test it with our dog inside but he just thought that I was under the influence of pregnancy hormones and ignored me. Come warmer weather, we couldn’t wait to actually get the little pincess and go out to test it! After a few weeks of testing it, we decided to take some photos and post this review here. This stroller is just great!!!! It is very easy to fold and unfold, easy to assemble and great for long walks thanks to those suspensions and the big wheels. I find the bag underneath it especially great since, being spring, there is no actual way of knowing how warm or cold it will be in 15 minutes and I can just toss a blanket there knowing that it will not get dirty and nor do I need an extra bag to protect it. It ‘drives’ wonderfully both in a straight line as well as on a curvy alley. All the usual bumps and kerbs are virtually non-existent for the sleeping baby-Leia so those suspensions really serve their purpose. She seems to enjoy her walks quite a lot and we have actually used the stroller inside our apartment to help her ease those horrible colic episodes. We both love the zip closing system as well as the way all the exterior materials feel. We are beyond happy with our choice and we sincerely recommend this stroller! As a price point, this is not the cheapest, nor is it the most expensive option out there, but it does feel and look like those really expensive strollers that you can find, but as we have discovered, it is more practical that most of them!

Stroller – Anex Sport

When it came to buying baby stuff we approached things with a ‘divide and conquer’ state of mind meaning that D took it upon himself to buy most of the tech-y stuff (stroller included) while I chose everything else (feeding stuff, matress, furniture, carpet etc). This does not in any way mean that we did not talk about each option and we always took the other ones wishes very serious. Since he was the one that had to watch/read 1000 reviews on strolles he got to choose the colour and he decided on this lovely elegant brown and black combo. Obviously for this photoshoot we had to match with it. With the new 2017 collection, Anex offers a very wide variety of new and exciting colours, so if you are in the stroller-buying stage check them out!

That about covers the princess’s means of transport and our first baby stuff review. We will try and post as many reviews as possible, but time is something we don’t really have so bear with us until we really get into a routine with baby-Leia.
L.

March 3, 2017

evenlymatched7 Comments

That Red Cup Of Happiness…

I have always been a coffee lover, well since I was 16 anyway… And to make matters even worse and cliche, I have always had a soft spot for Starbucks coffee, particularly the special edition blends. YES, I am well aware that there are some other coffee shops with waaaay better-tasting coffee, I will not deny that, but for some reason, I always come back to Starbucks. So you can understand my disappointment when I wasn’t able to take a sip of the amazing Pumpkin Spice Latte edition simply because I know that too much caffeine is not good during pregnancy and I cannot for the likes of me get out of the house without my morning coffee. I just can’t and that is final! So I am stuck to one coffee cup per day and right now I am not complaining as I just adore the Christmas blends that Nespresso released.

That said, as much as I love my daily Nespresso coffee I just can’t resist the annual red cups from Starbucks. I just can’t! So you can imagine the struggle I have been experiencing ever since they were released this year. That said, I have also been experiencing pregnancy brain on a whole other level lately and thus it only dawned on me a few days ago that I can have DECAF! Yes, DECAF! I know, it basically sucks, but that is the best I can get right now while still enjoying the Christmas blends and so I will go with that and have as many of the lovely, fattening and sugary red cups of happiness as I can this December, sans the whipped cream of course!

On me:

Dress – ZARA; Boots – Steve Madden; Bag – Atelier Lemnia; Sunglasses – Dior; Bling – Swarovski (bracelet1, bracelet2 and ring) and L’Art de Medeea necklace; Watch – Apple

Which brings us to today’s post! Ever since I realised that I can actually enjoy a red cup all I could think about was what type of outfit should one wear to fully show the appreciation of that DECAF lightbulb! And what better outfit than one that simply screams Christmas. Well, at least it screams Christmas to me. The deep tartan print of this dress is as Christmas-y as it gets. It is from ZARA (of course) and it will probably become a Christmas favourite, as, aside from the lovely print it also has enough room to fit a 34-week pregnant belly therefore it will have enough room from now on to fit the entire Christmas dinner. I felt the need to pair it with the khaki-green Steve Madden long boots because for some reason I felt they went well together.

On D:

Shirt – Replay; Jeans – ZARA; Shoes – Converse x John Varvatos; Sunglasses – Ray-Ban; Bling – Fossil and Constantin Nautics; Watch – Apple

Naturally a little red clutch could not miss the opportunity to match the red cup and my personal favourite right now is the one from Atelier Lemnia. Since it was a lovely sunny warm day outside I decided on skipping the coat as I have pregnancy heat waves anyway and also because the hot liquid I was so psyched about kept me all warm and happy throughout the photoshoot. I also wore my sunglasses because, as you can see from the photos, we had yet another day of perfectly clear skies. As per usual, I wore my favourite pair, the Dior SoReal.

D, despite being happy for my new found coffee independence, did not really feel like dressing festive and opted for a more comfortable but equally nice outfit and obviously for a full-caffeine drink. He decided to wear a classic denim shirt from Replay and his black skinny jeans from ZARA. I fully appreciated the fact that he knows not to match his denims as that, in my opinion is a big fashion faux-pas! He also wore his black Converse x John Varvatos sneaks as well as hie black Ray-Ban sunglasses. All in all, he kinda matched my outfit in a sense that his too was comfortable enough to bring to Christmas dinner – which to be honest starts at lunch and ends late in the evening.

As for the bling part, I did go a bit overboard because I chose not one, but two Swarovski bangles, a Swarovski multi-ring and a beaded necklace, which is from L’Art de Medeea. I decided on the beaded necklace because I liked the way its colours worked – not matched – with the colours of the dress and I did feel that the dress needed a bit of bling as it seriously lacks in that department and hey, it’s December, the month of bling. D was a bit more toned down than me and only opted for his Fossil and Constantin Nautics bracelets, while we both wore our Apple Watches.

Thus far, this December has been really good to us both temp-wise as well as precipitation-wise and despite the fact that I really wish to get a fully snowed-in photoshoot, I seriously hope we will not get much snow in Bucharest at least until we are home form the hospital with the little bundle of joy. Looking at the weather forecast, not much will change this week and that means that we will take more and more pics of the last weeks of pregnancy.

December 14, 2016December 14, 2016

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Civic Duties: DONE!

Yesterday we voted! I do not want to spend more time on the subject as I think that politics is just like religion: everyone is entitled to their own opinion. We did however, use that as an excuse to snap some more pics of the 34th week of pregnancy and fully took advantage of the 14 degrees C and the perfectly clear skies – yes, apparently the weather is a bit nuts these days in Bucharest. Since both of us have our ID dress at our parents’ this called for a full Bucharest tour to be able to vote. First it was D who voted and right after that it was my turn. When all our civic duties were done we decided to snap some pics near my parents house thus changing the usual scenery a bit.

As you can see, D is wearing a t-shirt and I am wearing a dress with no coat on as it was just that warm outside and needless to say lovely. The dress is yet another XS find from ZARA that currently fits nicely but I have a feeling that in about two-three weeks I will have to wear it as a tunic over jeans because my belly is growing at a very fast rate and this dress is on the short side. But I love it anyway because it has a very fun print, it needs no ironing and it works with a lot of things in my closet, plus the lovely black and yellow combo. I just can’t wait to try it on when I am back to my old shape again and see how it fits. To be honest I can’t wait to try all my newly bought dresses once I loose all the baby weight. Maybe I will do a series called ‘Double Take: during and after pregnancy dresses’. I strongly urge all future mothers to not give into the temptation of buying maternity clothes, just be careful with your diet and you’ll fit in most of your usual sized dresses – the cut is the only thing that really changes but at least you’ll be left wth clothes that you can actually wear post-pregnancy.

On me:

Dress – ZARA; Boots – Rachel Zoe; Bag – Christhelen B by Musette; Hat – ZARA; Sunglasses – Dior; Bling – Swarovski (bracelet and ring); Watch – Apple

Whenever I have a dress that is a bit on the short side of the spectrum I like to pair it with over the knee boots, as you might have noticed, especially since these boots are current obsessions of mine mainly because they tend to make legs seem longer and slimmer than they actually are – trust me on that one. Plus they are super-sexy and comfortable provided you do accept the fact that every once in a while (often!) you gave to re-position them on your thighs as they do tend to run down as you walk (some double tape might help with that). Aside from the mini-dress-over-the-knee boots combo, I must point out that I found another black bag! This is not new, I’ve actually had it for 3 years but only recently found it and therefore I decided to switch from my usual Chloe black bag. Plus I just love the golden details that go perfectly with my Rachel Zoe boots as well as my ZARA hat. You can find lots of similar options at Musette.

On D:

T-shirt – Replay; Jeans – Review; Vest – ZARA; Shoes – Replay; Sunglasses – Ray-Ban; Bling – Fossil and Constantin Nautics; Watch – Apple

D didn’t really feel like wearing black, so he opted for the softer version of grey and dark khaki. He proudly wore his newly acquired ZARA vest that he first spotted a few years ago (different colour, though) and I suspect he prayed a lot to the ZARA Gods to remake that model. He is the type of shopper that sees something that he likes but only wants desperately to have it at least a year later. Well, this is one of those few things that he actually found two years later in store and thus had to have it. He also wore his lovely Review jeans and a Replay t-shirt that he bought especially as he wanted something to match his Replay orange-soled sneaks. All in all, everything he wore matched wonderfully: the dark khaki of the vest with the khaki t-shirt, the orange sole of his sneaks with the orange print on his t-shirt that also sort of matched the orange-brown part of the vest. I just love it when everything goes well together and not necessarily matches perfectly!

Bling-wise, we did not really put too much thought into it as we were only going out to vote, but we did however manage to look decent. I wore my Swarovski bracelet and ring while D wore his usual Fossil bracelet alongside a Constantin Nautics bracelet. We both wore out Apple Watches, as usual and it turns out we are both fans of these smartwatches despite not really thinking that might happen. Since it was really sunny out, we both wore sunglasses, I, my Dior SoReal while D wore his Ray-Ban black sunnies.

December 12, 2016

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Dottie!!!

Recently I have started loving dresses, especially since they are a huge confidence boost for me right now as they all are non-maternity and my size (XS) and still fit me nicely. The only real issue is the fact that finding small sized maternity hosiery turns out to be harder and harder every day. Aside from the basic black – which I only found two pairs of – all the other nice autumnal colours are either size L or XL. That is the only frustrating part about shopping right now, but that too is a confidence booster as I feel that I’ve reached the eighth month of pregnancy without much damage to my figure despite the cravings and the fact that I wasn’t able to go to the gym.

Another great thing thus far about my pregnancy is the fact that I felt great throughout this period and hope this will stay the same for the remaining two (almost) months. It is rather true that recently I have been starting to really feel the fact that I am pregnant with all sorts of uncomfortable sensations mainly in my back but that is nothing like the actual pain I’ve been told/read about, more like an inconvenience so there is nothing to whine about. I have been loosing my breath more often than before and switching from one side to another during the night turns out to be more difficult than anticipated (just ask D who had the pleasure of meeting my pregnancy pillow face first one night – I swear it was not intentional), but aside from that everything has been going smoothly.

On me:

Dress – ZARA; Vest – H&M; Boots – Rachel Zoe; Bag – Chloe; Hat – ZARA; Bling – Pandora, Swarovski and Tous; Watch – Apple

So after a quick recap on how I am feeling thus far, it is time to talk a bit about the outfits we are wearing in these photos. Yes, again, I wore a pair of over the knee boots, but like I said a million times, I just love them! This time I chose my black Rachel Zoe boots because I like to keep a balanced rotation where my boots/shoes are concerned and realised that I haven’t worn them in quite a while. I paired them with a new dress from ZARA that D bought for me while I was having my hair done – yes, I did not try it on upon buying, but it is a size xs and fits me perfectly. As you know, I am trying as much as possible to buy as few maternity clothes as possible because I really want to make sure that I spend my money right and that I will be able to wear the stuff I buy for as long as possible. For example, there is absolutely no reason why I will not wear this dress over and over again after the little princess comes and I get back into my pre-pregnancy shape. Had I invested in a maternity dress I would’ve ended up with a loose, long and shapeless dress after springing back into my usual shape – so to all mamas-to-be out there, try to buy as few maternity clothes as possible.

On D:

T-shirt – G-Star Raw; Cardigan – ZARA; Jeans – ZARA; Shoes – Replay; Bling – Fossil and Tous; Watch – Longines

Since this was turning out to be yet another black and white outfit, I decided to finish it with my Chloe black bag – yes, I still haven’t bought another black bag so this will have to do for now. I also started really enjoying hats recently and therefore I just had to wear this black fluffy one from ZARA. In order to keep myself rather on the warm side (although it wasn’t a particularly cold day) I opted for my long black vest from H&M that I bought at the beginning of this autumn.

D really wanted to do more colour than me and opted for a light pink t-shirt form G-Star Raw that I can’t seem to find online despite him buying it a week ago (I’ve linked and alternative). He matched his t-shirt and my dots with his socks (Happy Socks I think) which made me very happy the moment I noticed – when I took the photos. He also wore his black ZARA jeans and a grey cardigan also from ZARA. I just love the big chunky cardigan look for men during autumn as I feel it looks infinitely better then a jacket. He finished the whole outfit with a pair of Replay sneaks that were actually a much-needed splash of colour in our photoshoot.

We both wore quite a lot of accessories… I went for my Pandora bracelet that was filled by my family and friends (I have one that was filled solely by D) and the Crystaldust bracelet from Swarovski. I also could not leave my Tous ring at home especially since I feel it works wonderfully with the Pandora bracelet. As per usual I wore my Apple watch while D wore his Longines watch. He also decided to wear both his Fossil bracelet as well as his new Tous bracelet and I have to say that I really love it when he puts this much effort into choosing his accessories.

Hopefully everything will go smoothly from now on and by this time next week I will be able to show you both the completed nursery as well as some pics from the upcoming Baby-Shower this weekend.

November 24, 2016

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Finally…some autumn shades!

Finally we are wearing a bit of brown! Beige actually, but the important thing is that we are matching with our decor! Remember when I told you that I have some more over the knee boots on the way? Well this is one of the pairs! Yes, over the knee boots and Uggs are my current go-to uniform and I just love it! I mean there is nothing more comfortable than Uggs, as I mentioned in the previous post, and in my opinion nothing sexier than over the knee boots so I am and will abuse both of them! We are not really accustomed to wearing being and/or brown therefore there are not many pieces in our closet in that colour but after seeing these pics we are going to take some measures to fix that. Well D is, because I am still not comfortable buying lots of clothes but I do admit that from time to time I tend to go wild and buy stuff that I know I will wear post-pregnancy. We did feel the need to compliment our beige outfits with one of our favourite colours: blue and I honestly love this combo and will probably wear it quite a lot.

Does the dress seem familiar (yes, it is a dress)? Well that’s because it is one of my summer dresses that I also wore here and that surprisingly still fits and feels great over my bump. Having recently discovered that I can layer basically any sweater on top of a summer dress, this look will probably be repeated lots of times during this season as I do still have a lot of dresses that are summer appropriate that still fit nicely. The secret with the sweater is that, right now, I am mostly wearing the sweaters that I used to wear as dresses last year. Because of the growing bump, they do not cover as much as they used to so a bit of layering is necessary. Regarding the details, the dress is from H&M and the sweater is from last year’s ZARA winter collection but I did link an alternative.

On me:

Dress – H&M; Sweater – ZARA; Boots – Public Desire; Bag – Love Moschino; Hat – Mango; Sunglasses – Gucci; Bling – Swarovski (ring and bracelet), Tous, Tomorrowland, Pandora; Watch – Apple

The boots! Let’s talk a bit about the boots. They are from Public Desire which are having a hype-moment on the internet right now and are some of the most affordable boots I own (actually the most affordable). They do deliver great quality for the price and their delivery service is great – I got them within a weeks from ordering. Naturally, I got them in another colour as well – which you will see shortly – and I have to point this out: they are extremely comfortable especially given the fact that this model is 11 cm high and I am 7 months pregnant. The hat is from Mango and I bought it last summer while in Milan. I did link an alternative and you can find lots of beige wool hats at other brand as well. Since the outfit crossed the hippie border a bit I felt the need to add a soft leather boho bag from Love Moschino that I got a few years ago. Naturally my big Gucci glasses could not miss the opportunity to see the light of day especially since we did get a bit of sun the day we shot these pics.

On D:

Coat – ZARA; T-shirt – H&M; Jeans – Replay; Boots – ZARA; Bling – Fossil; Watch – Ingersoll

D is a bit more newly dressed than me because hey, if I can’t buy clothes for myself, he might as well do it and I seriously love the fact that he shows interest in the new collections more and more these days and I enjoy going shopping with him very mush – no, I do not point out to him what he should or should not buy as he has a pretty strong sense of style, I’m there to confirm and urge him to buy stuff! Like this trench coat over here! He just looks so amazing in trench coats but for some reason he never owned one before, so I made him buy this lovely and very comfortable one from ZARA. If only they did a similar model for women as well as I feel that women’s are so rigid and uncomfortable. The boots are also new and also from ZARA and I think they match perfectly with the trench coat. Lately he has been known to wear comfortable basic white t-shirts and the ones from H&M are just great: they feel and fit perfectly to his frame and are very cheap so there is no panic if he stains them with his new tattoo. The jeans are some of his most reliable jeans from Replay.

Accessories wise, while you can’t see D‘s I am letting you in on a little secret: he was wearing his beige Ingersoll watch and his brown Fossil bracelet. I, on the other hand, decided to go in full-rings mode and wore my new favourite Tous ring alongside two Swarovski rings, a Pandora ring and my Tomorrowland ring. I just love these little rings that you can stack and wear in multiple ways. I also wore my Apple watch and my Swarovski bracelet.

That about covers today’s post and I must confess that lately the weather has been horrible but I do hope that during the weekend we will be able to go out and shoot some of my picks from the Kenzo x H&M collaboration – yes, I could not help myself! And also some new pairs of over the knee boots…

November 10, 2016

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It’s getting chillier and chillier!

As you can see, D is not in a t-shirt, so the items must be going down! As a a matter of fact, the sweater he is wearing is brand new and he bought it on the day of the photoshoot the moment he realised that he forgot his jacket at home. Yes, it’s starting to feel more and more like winter is coming – no pun intended as the show I am quoting from is months away, while we are left here to endure a cool October. I was really going for a badass motor theme with this photoshoot, but D here simply forgot (or did not get the memo) his leather jacket – maybe next time.

You know what I’ve noticed when we got home and I took a quick look at these pics? The fact that aside from black coloured items and a very low camera angle, another really curve-forgiving strategy is to just find a bench and sit down! That way, none of the extra kilograms will show and I’ll end up with some really nice pics. That said, I will not pose without a bench nearby ever again – or at least until I loose all the baby-weight. Other than that, we obviously had a great time shooting (hence the large amount of photos) and we are going to keep on taking pictures at dawn, because hay, the day is getting shorter and it seems like we have loads of stuff to do every single day – will this be the way parenthood is going to go?

On me:

Pants – H&M; T-shirt – Atmosphere; Jacket – ZARA; Boots – ZARA; Bag – Chloe; Bling – Swarovski; Watch – Apple

Moving along to the black-badass-themed photoshoot… This is another pair of pregnancy pants also from H&M and I can not believe they make such comfy but badass clothes for pregnant women, I mean, moto-inspired black pants for the baby-bump? Yes please! I felt like pairing them with this badass silver t-shirt that has a huge butterfly skull on it and is one of those blouses that keeps surviving all the wardrobe hauls from the last four years and still sees the light of day regularly. I got it from Atmosphere (so, no, it is not a designer piece) while in London ages ago and I will try and find an appropriate alternative online.

On D:

Jeans – Replay; Sweater – Bershka; Shoes – Converse x John Varvatos; Bling – Fossil; Watch – Tissot

Also, the big skull demanded some black leather chunky boots that I’ve also had from ages from ZARA. The thing with these boots is, that I have a love-hate relationship with them. One year I love them and another I absolutely hate them and they do not see the light of day. This year it would appear they are on my good side and despite having them for quite a large number of years, you can still find similar ones at Mihaela Glavan or ZARA. The bag is meat again my black Chloe as I still can’t seem to find a good alternative currently – hoping for some pointers from you guys! The jacket is yet again an old staple piece and I feel like everyone should own a moto-jacket and right now you can find loads of options.

D really wanted to be badass himself and carefully chose his clothes specifically for that, but then he realised he forgot his leather jacket at home and was forced to buy this lovely, lovely Bershka sweater. Naturally this plum hue is one of my favourite for fall and I will try and match it for a future photoshoot. For the badass part of the outfit he wore his lovely Replay Hyperflex jeans and his Converse x John Varvatos hi-tops. As for accessorising, he kept things simple with his Tissot watch and Fossil bracelet while I wore my Apple Watch and a Swarovski bracelet. For some reason we are becoming slackers in the bling department as soon as the temps drop.

You will see more and more photos of me on a bench and from impossibly low angles as well as during the evening as that’s how things are going to stay from now on, but we will try and keep things fun in the clothes department as much as we can.

October 25, 2016

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Blackout…

Black is not just for sad days, to be honest, the minute the sun stops shining I turn to my dark clothes so you will probably see lots of dark clothes during this winter. I admit, I love black nowadays because it is such a forgiving colour. I haven’t met anyone that doesn’t look good in black and for me, especially during this period, it just feels right. We will try and do some more colourful shoots but given the fact that my body is only going one way (bigger and bigger) black is officially my comfort colour. This does not mean that navies or burgundies are out of the question because those, to me, are autumn/winter neutrals, as I have already made my case in earlier posts. Trust me, come a sunny day and I will bring back brighter colours, but for now, dark is my go-to.

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On the day of the shoot I was in a great mood mainly because I worked out the courage that morning to actually try out most of my autumn clothes and I was surprised that everything that had a bit of elasticity to it still fit me. For now at least… Thank God for bandage dresses and skirts! I realised that I had a ton of options for exactly this period so as long as it doesn’t rain, I am going to take full advantage and shoot as many pieces as possible as I have no idea if my clothes will still fit me nicely in a week or two. Unfortunately, D is rather busy these days so we are going to have to take photos according to both his schedule and autumn’s showers. Keeping my fingers crossed for as many opportunities as possible!

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On me:

Dress – Concepto; Boots – Rachel Zoe; Bag – Chloe; Bling – Swarovski (bracelet1, bracelet2 and ring); Watch – Ingersoll

Moving along to today’s outfits… I really wanted to shoot this lovely dress from Concepto ever since I bought it at Untold Festival in August, but I just didn’t find the time and weather to take it for a stroll, plus the fact that ever since I bought it, I thought it worked wonderfully with a chunky pair of boots. Since the said boots are not yet in my closed, I decided to try it with my Rachel Zoe over-the-knee boots and surprise: it looks great and I really feel less elephant-y and more model-y than ever during this pregnancy. It’s actually a pity that my hair did not look like a Victoria’s Secret model, but hey, the side pony worked out well enough.

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On D:

Pants – Replay; T-shirt – Replay; Shoes – Converse x John Varvatos; Bling – Fossil; Watch – Aviator

I was also excited about wearing my Chloe black bag which I haven’t worn in a few months – again, because black is not really my summer colour. I realised that I love most of the cold season items I have and now I am quite excited to actually wear them. Since the chunkiness of the boots was missing I decided to compensate by wearing my chunky Ingersoll Limited Edition watch that D bought for me last winter. Yes, I am well aware that this is a men’s watch, but I always loved men’s watches more than those flimsy feminine watches. Naturally I needed some more feminine accents so I opted for two white Swarovski bracelets (simply put, I do not have a black one) and a black ring, also form Swarovski.

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Taking all that into consideration, D also opted for black and therefore ended up wearing those lovely Replay pants that you know I adore so much. To be honest, now that I am writing this, I realised that his entire outfit is from Replay : t-shirt as well. That doesn’t bother me at all as I think that Replay does some of the most amazing items when it comes to men’s casual wear. He wore his trusty and versatile Converse x John Varvatos shoes but he could’ve easily go for a pair of similar ones from Replay. He kept his accessorising light, only wearing his Fossil bracelet and his Aviator watch.

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Now that I think about it, this whole pregnancy thing is a really nice period to actually go through and my morale is at a max these days. Yes, clothes are that important and I really was hoping to skip the whole wardrobe change and save some money for the after-birth items that I will spoil myself with. I just hope that I will continue to feel great and will be able to take as many photos of this amazing period as possible.

October 7, 2016

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Autumn is here!

Never in my life did I think that I will actually be excited about autumn… I was so sick and tired of the nasty heat we got this summer and to be honest it has gotten worst during the last few weeks – it might be due to my advancing pregnancy, but I just couldn’t take it anymore. And hey, tis the season for lovely rich shades of burgundy, navy and brows, plus if you also add the lovely fabrics we get to wear during autumn, you’ll start actually enjoying this season.

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I, for one, couldn’t wait to actually get to wear some of the things that I got from H&M‘s autumn collection, and the weather on Saturday was perfect just for that. Not too chilly – notice D is in a t-shirt – it didn’t rain, I am telling you, sheer autumnal perfection. Yes, it would’ve been a bit better had we posed on a leaf carpet, but we have three whole months to do just that! True, the calendar keeps telling me that it is not yet the time for opaque tights but pants are completely out of the question for now and it’s way too chilly to go out without them. A cold during pregnancy is not exactly something blissful or romantic…

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Shopping info at the end of the post

So, about the outfit… Ever since I actually developed a real pregnancy belly I have been proudly wearing tight dresses and felt great doing that. I do feel a lot better when I am wearing the said dresses with a nice pair of heels and lucky for me I still keep shoes that are more than six years old, like these booties from Manas Lea Foscati in the photos. I think I have them from before D and I met so, they are more than seven years old but they still look great. Naturally, there is no way I could find them online so I’ve linked an alternative. What can I say about these booties besides the fact that even though I did not think about that at the time, they turned out to be a great investment for autumn thanks to the multitude of autumnal colours that have on them. They are also surprisingly comfortable considering the 11 cm heel. That actually helped me make up my mind about buying another pair of chunky heeled ones – I am more of a stiletto heel type.

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Shopping info at the end of the post

On to the H&M dress… Besides this one still being size xs, it is extremely comfortable over my growing bump and this quite possibly might take me to the last months of pregnancy. I love the colours as well, actually any oxblood item is just prefect for me during autumn. Yes, I am one for the greys and burgundies during autumn as opposed to browns and beiges, though I have been known to enjoy a chocolaty outfit from time to time. Because the dress has a bit of navy in it, I decided to go for navy tights and my navy Michael Kors bag, while going for a completely different palette for the shoes, but it all goes well together thanks to the burgundy in both the shoes and the dress. This dress can also be worn – and I will probably wear it – with shades of grey and black, completely ignoring the colourful side of it.

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As usual, lately, I topped the entire outfit with a very nice long knitted vest from H&M that carefully hides my growing butt and also keeps me warm. The fact that it is black means that I will probably wear it all autumn long and you will probably see it tons of times. I kept my accessorises to a minimum and only wore the new Swarovski bracelet that D bought me last week. These Crystaldust bracelets are just dreamy! They look amazing and are very comfortable to wear every day – I wear mine in the house as well, because hey, who knows who might come and visit me and I can’t not be put together now can I?

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D also went for darker hues, choosing his dark denim pants from Replay. I miss my own similar jeans as they were by far the most comfortable jeans ever. Yes I am talking about their Hyperfelex collection, we both love it and I can’t wait to be able to fit into mine again! He also wore his black Tomorrowland t-shirt that matches the darker richer hues I chose thanks to the copper feather print. D finished his outfit with his denim and orange slip-on shoes from Replay. He almost did a full Replay outfit as his navy leather belt is also from Replay. He wore his usual Fossil and Constantin Nautics bracelets and we both decided on our Longines watches. Even though it was sunny outside, he did not need to wear his Ray-Ban glasses so he just pretended they were accessories as he forgot his case at home.

All in all, I am glad that autumn is here, even though I know that by December I will be so fed up with the cold and I will be anxious for spring again. Actually I think that spring is the best season ever: the temps are perfect, nature starts waking up to life, the trees are in bloom…Yup, I love spring! But I will have to be contempt with autumn for now.

On me:

Dress – H&M; Vest – H&M; Shoes – Manas Lea Foscati; Bag – Michael Kors; Bling – Swarovski; Watch – Longines

On D:

Pants – Replay; T-shirt – Tomorrowland; Shoes – Replay; Belt – Replay; Bling – Fossil and Constantin Nautics; Sunglasses – Ray-Ban; Watch – Longines

September 27, 2016

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Last day of summer…

Yesterday was the last day of summer…yes, I know we are in mid September, but yesterday was the last day of 30 degrees C and we took advantage of it to snap a few photos of our current (pregnant) situation. Do not get me wrong, these past few weeks the heat has been killing me, but that, by no means gives autumn the right to strike full force as it did today (currently 18 degrees C and pouring rain since 9 o’clock)! I would’ve loved this season to come a bit slower but at least now I know I will be sleeping ok until January, at least when it comes to bedroom temperature.

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For some reason, we both chose to wear black and taupe yesterday and I am more than happy that I managed to squeeze in a few photos of these lovely Rachel Zoe Monica sandals that I think I got last year or two years ago (yes, this is another pair of long lost sandals that I just found in our dressing-room). Honestly, I’ve loved them ever since I saw them, but yesterday was the first time I actually wore them. Despite the 11 cm heel and my growing weight, they are very comfortable and, had autumn not come so early, I probably would’ve worn them some more this year. I just have to remember all about them next year, I suppose, as there is no way I am going back to sandals this year, stilettos, certainly, but not sandals!

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On me:

Dress – Bershka; Cardigan – Bershka; Sandals – Rachel Zoe; Bag – DKNY; Bling – Swarovski (pendant and ring); Sunglasses – Dior; Watch – Longines

Taupe is one of my favourite neutral colours for early autumn and early spring simply because if you mix it with black, brown,oxblood or navy you get a perfect outfit for autumn and if you decide to mix it with pastels you have the perfect transition-combo for spring. This time we both mixed it with black – maybe because we sensed the weather will turn – and I love the result. Ever since my belly rounded nicely, I can look at myself in a skintight dress again and feel great, so I wore this rib dress from Bershka. Make no mistake, most of my skintight outfits will have some sort of layer on top and this time I chose this cardigan that you can also find at Bershka, or at least you can find an alternative as you know me right now – not a lot of clothes shopping as long as my oldies still fit.

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On D:

Pants – Replay; T-shirt – H&M; Shoes – Converse x John Varvatos; Bling – Fossil and Constantin Nautics (bracelet and pedant); Watch – Longines

I paired the lovely sandals with a perfectly matching quilted bucket bag from DKNY. I love bucket bags so much despite not having many in my closet, simply because you can fit everything in them – sometimes by using sheer force. To accessorise everything, I decided on two pieces form Swarovski, the Elvis pendant, that you can’t currently find anywhere (BOHOOOO Swarovski for discontinuing such a fun line!) and a lovely taupe cocktail ring that I ‘stole’ from my mother. I also wore my lovely Dior sunglasses for the last sunny day of the year!

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D wore his lovely black wool blend pants from Replay, that he got a few months ago in Milan – it seems like ages have passed since out Milan trip. I can’t wait to travel again and discover new cities! I hate the fact that we have no travel plans whatsoever! He also wore his H&M taupe t-shirt that feels so lovely to the touch and has this fun uneven edge. Luckily for us, D is the one that still shops for clothes and makes my job easier when it comes to linking similar items. He wore his Converse x John Varvatos shoes and at this point I am seriously asking myself if he wears them because I love them so much and he doesn’t want to annoy me, or he loves them just as much as I do… He accessorised his look with his Fossil bracelet alongside his Constantin Nautics pendant and bracelet, and we both wore our Longines watches.

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I have to admit that I am having a lot of fun with my belly right now, there also has been a lot of movement in there lately and I am so glad that I have been feeling great these past 22 weeks! We hope to have some news regarding gender as soon as possible, but until then, we have to focus on getting our home in tip-top condition!