A Bit Off the Grid...

So I'm sure (or at least I hope) y'all have noticed that I've been absent from bloggerworld for a week or so. Everything is fine; I've just been really, really busy. Work has been nuts; I'm taking a trip to another English language school tomorrow to see how they do things, and my impending absence has made all the students think they need to talk to me RIGHT NOW. Fun stuff.

But the even bigger goings-on are that Cary and I are leaving Friday for a weeklong babymoon in Paris! I am so, so excited. We love traveling together, and wanted to have one last "just us" trip before Baby C arrives. I can't wait to be done packing and preparing to leave work, and just be there, eating a croissant. French food, here my big belly and I come.

So I won't be around next week, but I will have plenty of pictures to post when I get back, including outfit photos. Trying to pack for a completely different climate (highs in the low 60s in Paris, highs in the mid 80s here) while pregnant is tricky; I didn't want to buy any cool-weather maternity clothes because I'll be at my biggest in August in Florida, but I also don't want to freeze to death during our trip. The answer seems to be lots of layers. Tune in in two weeks to see if I was right!

It's a...

Academia: Among all the exciting days in my life, Tuesday was probably in the top five. Cary and I went for an ultrasound and got to find out the sex of our baby. I'm so psyched to tell y'all. Are you ready? It's a...

...girl!

I couldn't be more thrilled. I think I would be equally excited if she had been a boy - I'm really just happy to be having a baby - but I keep thinking about how close I have always been with my mom and imagining all the fun girl stuff my daughter and I can do together. Cary is excited too; he made a t-shirt that says, "It's a girl!" and wore it to school today to announce it to the kids in his fifth grade class. I can't wait to see him in action as a dad.

Plus, all the adorable baby girl clothes! I went in Gymboree after my ultrasound and saw a bib that was in the shape of a giant strawberry, complete with ruffly little green leaves. Who can pass up that kind of stuff? Keep an eye out late this year, y'all; you may see some mother-daughter posts on this blog. Having a girl makes it way too easy to have a super-stylish kid.

Sartorial: I was feeling very girly yesterday (must be all the extra estrogen), so I wore this. I couldn't think of anything better to be wearing when I told my colleagues and students that I was having a girl. Baby C kicked me a lot while I was wearing it, so I think she liked it too!

Kelly Green

What's going on with my face here? Is this "Pregnant Women are Smug" face?

Academia and Sartorial: Happy early St. Patrick's Day, y'all! Today is Green Day on Everybody Everywear, so I'm busting out the luck o' the Irish a few days ahead of schedule. I got this kelly green t-shirt in Target's limited maternity section over the weekend, and I really like it - partly because it actually fits, but mostly because I love love love this shade of green. It's such a happy, bright color, and I feel happy and bright wearing it.

I'm a little disappointed that St. Patrick's Day is on a weekend this year, because part of the fun of working with international students is dressing up for holidays. I normally get to wear lots of green on St. Paddy's Day, lots of pink on Valentine's Day, and costumes on Halloween. Oh well. I am going to a friend's 30th birthday party on the 17th, so I'll wash this and wear it again then.

What about y'all? What are your plans for St. Patrick's Day? Any green outfits set aside already?

To Everything There Is a Season

Academia: This week is spring break for my university, but unfortunately not for me. We have our half-semester check-in this week, so I'm not getting a spring break right now. (I am taking a vacation at the end of the month though... stay tuned for all the exciting details!) So I wore this yesterday to give a seminar, answer student questions about insurance, etc. Not thrilling, but all in all, an okay day.

Sartorial: Yes, these are the same pants I wore on Monday. I also wore this cardigan yesterday, although I didn't manage to snap a picture. I'm finding that wearing maternity clothes is kind of like a 30 for 30 remix, except it's more like 9 or 10 for 150. Here's what I currently have in my pregnancy wardrobe:

5 dresses
2 pairs of work-appropriate pants
1 pair of boyfriend jeans
2 skirts
2 shirts

I plan to add to this list, of course, but for the next five months, I also plan to repeat items of clothing with no "but I have a style blog" guilt. To everything there is a season, and right now is a season of sticking with clothes that I like and are comfortable. And after the baby comes, I plan to have a season of "huzzah for normal clothes again!" shopping and skinny jeans wearing. Because I'm sure that's what the writer of Ecclesiastes 3 meant.

I Can't Believe I Watch...

Academia: Guys, I'm writing this as I watch the "Women Tell All" episode of The Bachelor. Holy crap. I can't believe I care about this show. I started watching this season as part of a discussion group on Christian femininity at church, which seemed like a legit reason to tune in. We talked about what it's like to be a woman in our culture, and how that relates to our faith. It was great.

But then the discussion group ended and I CANNOT STOP WATCHING. And weirdly, I can't stop drawing parallels between this and The Hunger Games. The women may not be getting killed off in a brutal fight to the death, but otherwise it feels pretty much the same. Except I was excited to share my love of The Hunger Games with others, but I feel the need to start every conversation I have about The Bachelor with a disclaimer: "Well, I was part of this Bible study..." Because Bible study makes this less lame, right?

Sartorial: There are three things that make this outfit Bachelor-inappropriate: 1) All of my limbs are covered, 2) These pants are comfortable, and most of the ladies' clothes on the show look like medieval torture devices, and 3) Spanx cannot do anything about my belly. And I'm pretty sure this wouldn't work for The Hunger Games either. Nothing about this outfit says "protection from the elements," "camouflage from enemies," or "flammable dress to impress adoring public."

Trip to the Vet

Academia: I've told y'all before that Cary and I have two cats, George and Atticus. We love them dearly. George is 13 and spends most of his time looking dignified; Atticus is three and spends most of his time finding ways to slowly drive us insane.

While George has been completely indifferent to my pregnancy (as he is to most things), Atticus sensed something was different before I ever took a pregnancy test. His behavior has been a little more off than normal for the past four months. He started sleeping next to me right away, which was sweet, but he also started peeing all over our house. Not so sweet. Having our couch smell like a litter box is less than cute.

So Tuesday I took Atticus to the vet to see what his deal was. I was expecting a diagnosis like, "Your cat is a big jerk who is trying to shred your nerves one accident at a time." I mean, that's how this whole refusing-to-use-the-litter-box thing looked to me. The vet took it a bit less personally than me, fortunately, and said that my changing hormones, pheromones, and whatever other -mones are causing Atticus extreme stress. Peeing on our stuff is how he lets us know how stressed he is. The vet prescribed feline Prozac. And then I felt like a big jerk for getting mad.

So off I went to Target, where I had to fill out paperwork with Atticus's first and last name, date of birth, allergies, and medical history in order to fill his prescription. I felt a little silly ("Are you sure you need the cat's first and last name?" I kept asking), but they insisted it was necessary, and I don't want my house to smell like pee.

The vet said it can take up to four weeks for this to completely work, so we'll see. In the meantime, I'm congratulating myself on successfully tricking Atticus into taking his first dose of Prozac, and heavily investing in stain and odor removal products.

Sartorial: This is what I wore for all of that. My house may smell like Eau de Crazy Cat Lady, but at least my clothes are cute.