The Color of Spring

A splash of color means spring is in the air. If any of you have roamed the halls of the mall lately, you would've gathered that the color of the season is coral - a subtle shade of orange. I love coral (especially coral colored jewelry) so I'm happy to introduce it into my wardrobe this season.

I've gradually used it, either as a fun summer nailpolish color or as my pashmina/scarf for fall. But now its time to make it a statement. Here are some great coral ideas for spring/summer. Time to get out of this winter rut and plan our fab summer outfits mama's!

essie nailpolish - available at ulta.com

Chanel bag in coral

Beautiful dress available on asos.com

why not use coral as a pop color for your walls? apartmenttherapy.com

Aldo shoes - "Starace"

And of course, my ode to mammas and mamma's to be - why not look as fab as Paula Patton in this stunning coral evening gown.

Maternity Bras

Maternity bras are so crucial to our comfort postpartum. Regular bras are important as is for our posture, for the way our girls look under our tops, and for our own self confidence - whether we use push up bras to enhance what little we have, or to cover our babies up so they don't come popping out. These same reasons hold true with maternity bras - and then some.

I had no idea what kind of bra to get so i figured a safe place to buy them for a good deal would be from the Maidenform Outlet in Jersey Gardens, NJ. I bought 2 bras -a white and a beige colored one. Boy are they ghastly. They're cotton and oh so boring. Now, I'm a lacey bra kind of girl so these bras were not my cup of tea. But i knew i would need them so i bought them. I think i spent about $30 on each of them. Trust me, i would've rather put that money towards a nice Victoria's Secret bra....

Recently, I saw that Target had maternity bras as well - for $12 each so I bought 2 more - a black one and a beige one. These had a feeble attempt at looking feminine with a lace trim on the back strap- but they were still pretty grandma-ish.

Now for those of you entering mommyhood, don't waste your money - go straight for the target bras. The bras i bought from Maidenform were garbage. I've had them for 2 months and the underwire is already popping out from the fabric. The seams are coming loose as well. For a brand and a store that's made specific for intimate apparel, I'm so disappointed.

Go with the tried and true, Target.

Tight fit

Clothes (and subsequently confidence) are getting harder and harder to choose from these days so i'm relying on my accessories and jewelry to make my outfits.

Here are some recent pics (not too happy with them) but want to be honest.

34 weeks pregnant

About to eat some yummy spring rolls at Pho 96 on Buford Highway, Atlanta

wearing:

old navy brown billowy cotton tank

black leggings from target

Steve madden white/gold slippers (not shown)

blush 3/4 sleeve grandfather sweater from Zara

dogwood gold statement necklace from J Crew

Gold menswear-like watch from Michael Kors

OPI nail polish in Mediterranean Nights

35 weeks pregnant

standing outside my townhome, with my beautiful flower bushes in the background

wearing:

h&m stripe dolman top

gap maternity jeans in dark rinse wash

steve madden white/gold slippers (not shown)

gold menswear-like Michael Kors watch

new Spring 2010 statement necklace from Designs by K Cayetano

OPI nail polish in Tropical Punch

Although nothing can probably bring a girl's spirits up about the way she looks/feels in her 3rd trimester, here are some things i like to do to pick me up:

- i try to get regular mani's and pedi's. And if i really want to save, i just get the pedi since there's no way i can reach my tootsie's and i give my nails a nice fresh coat of nailpolish once a week
- i always accessorize since these are the only constant pieces in my wardrobe. I usually wear a statement necklace to dress up my otherwise blah outfit. I usually wear my Michael Kors menswear inspired watch b/c i think its such an eye catching piece. I usually use my Louis Vuitton bag since it fits everything and really says it all
- i always put make up on - even though there are days when i'm not in the mood to put any on
- i treat myself to something i love every once in awhile such as a a decaf iced coffee, a slice of tiramasu, a pecan bar...
- i relax and read a cool book about someone who inspires me
- if i can't get my hands on a book, i read some posts from my favorite blogs

NJ Baby Shower

Its better late than never! I got some great photos that my cousin Alex took at my baby shower in NJ, held March 27, 2010. I know its over a month late, but here it is. I still have to get the ones from the MN shower! Yikes!

Everything came out great. My sisters, my mom, and my friends did an amazing job with the planning.

Think blue!!!

Candy Bar!!Cupcakes and cake!yummy dessertsDelicious food my mom cooked :)Opening gifts with my amazing guestsMaternity Outfit:

literally bought that morning because I couldn 't fit into my original outfit

Simply Vera Wang: Navy satin dress

Kohl's: white shawl sweater

Lauren Conrad -grey stretch belt with stud closure

TJ Maxx - silver sandalsCute favors -courtesy of my dad :)

Maternity Style Monday

Chic Intuition had a great post last week on Maternity style - wanted to share this pic with you along with other celeb pics sporting their baby bumps. I've paired some of these pics with pieces from my Designs by K Cayetano collection.

Check out http://www.chicintuition.com/ for great inspiration boards or trend updates.

Of course, Nicole Ritchie made maternitywear cool. I love, love, love her line in A Pea in a Pod, if only it wasn't so priceyThis is my rocker Athena necklace, its actually a long, 36" necklace that can easily be thrown over your head. It was just shortened for the picture. This is a tribute to my famous Athena line, known for its leaf pendants. For this season, I decided to punk it up by doubling the gold chain with a black/dark metal chain. I accented the gold leaf with a gunmetal black bead and a glass pearl to keep that feminine element alive. Nicole Ritchie has a very easy style and i thought this would be perfect with the casual outfit above.Although i have a lot of statement pieces, I didn't want to take away from Nicole's jacket design so I paired her outfit with another opera length necklace that could just be thrown over the head. Its my Sakura Medallion necklace. The chain is two toned like my rocker athena. But this one is a bit dressier since i pair the gold chain with a shiny, thin silver chain. The gold medallion has elements of swarovski crystals embedded within the japanese cherryl blossom, Sakura, design. Kourtney Kardashian - i've always loved her trendy, but easy going style, so its no surprise that I follow her maternity style religiously. Now if only my delivery can look as spa-like as hers did on TV!I love pairing boyfriend blazers with statment pieces, so i've paired Kourtney's outfit with one of my absolute favorite pieces, Eden's Crush. It has so many different elements to it. It uses elements of the ever popular clear lucite, military green glass square beads, dark matte silver chains, shiny silver chains, you name it, its probably there. Christian Soriano - came across sketches by the famous Project Runway winner that looked cute at this stage. I haven't seen the final product, but from these drawings, i would say, i'd be a fan. These dresses i would probably pair with my 3 wishes necklace. Of all my necklaces, this is one that i wear the most - just because of its versatility. It has 3 clover leaf charms accents with elements of swarovski crystals. Each clover leaf is a different finish, white, yellow, and rose gold.

Baby Shower

Last weekend my mom, sisters, and friends in NJ threw me an amazing baby shower at the house. I was hoping to have some pictures to post which is why it took me so long to write this, but so far i don't have any. I just have a few that I wanted to share.

It was so nice seeing everyone and catching up with people. I do have to say, I hate being the celebrant b/c i feel like don't have enough time to hang out with everyone and i always worry whether people are having fun. But it was a great turnout.

My dad unfortunately was in the philippines but i know he was just as excited. Baby showers are his forte :) His thing are baby bottle favors with candy inside - of course that's what he prepared for the party -they came out great! He got personalized ribbons made. It was kind of funny they said, "Karen's baby" and i kept thinking, it definitely takes two to make a baby - but i know, the shower was for me.

My sister really wanted to display the favors nicely so we got this awesome 3 tiered silverset from HomeGoods (i looove this store.) The display was fab!!

While we were at HomeGoods, i found the best thing ever!!!!!! The world's roundest pig - i was so excited to get this for Wil - not for baby, for Wil - i just knew he would love it. In fact, he hand carried him on the plane back to Atl. Luckily the flight was empty so "baboy" (wil's name for him) had his own seat :)

Sorry, i look gross, i was so sweaty that day from doing errands with my sis. But i was wearing:

Banana republic creme long sweater

Zara miliary green tunic with emroidery on shoulders

Target Maternity skinny jeans that my mom bought for me at 8 weeks-they were a bit tight at this point....

Steve Madden gold ballet slippers (not pictured)

Louis Vuitton Bag

My mom did such a great job cooking and getting everything ready. I tried to help as much as I could, but i got tired so easily!!!

Eddie even helped make cupcakes, well he helped a lot more than that. Let's just say, he doesn't like being the Wil proxy. He gets stuck doing all the dirty work. lol. Wil was stuck in Atl for work.

My friends, Arch, Cheryl, and Joanne coordinated the games which were a hit.

My favorite part of the shower that was new to me, was included in the invites, was a little insert that read something like this:

A card is nice, its sentiment is sweet,

But a book will keep baby on his feet.

For years to come baby will read

Longing for stories will never be a need.

A shelf full of wisdom for all to give

For baby to keep as long as he shall live.

Filling the shelf should not be hard

If you would please sign a book instead of a card.

My sister came up with this and it was such an appropriate idea. I loved it. In fact, i've been reading baby books from these every night. I'll have to post a pic of the bookcase once its all set up :) Hopefully i'll be getting more pics of this shower and even the mn showers. As soon as I get them, i'll post them up.

Ikea Date

This week, Wil and I went on an Ikea lunch date :) I'm a cheap date. lol. We of course had the swedish meatballs lunch and finished it off with $1 icecream cones - what beats that?

We decided to get baby's dresser from here. There are a lot of dresser sets that come with cribs - but we decided the dresser was where we could cut some costs. Yes, longevity is not as good, but for now, it will do. I think by getting an ikea dresser we saved about $200. We decided on this 3 drawer dresser, the Hemnes. It was $149 last year and we got it for $129 - not bad. We got it in the black/brown color to match baby's crib.

This is the crib, we finally decided on for baby. Wil's parents were nice enough for order this for us!!!It should be coming in next week. I think that's when it'll really hit me, when i see baby's crib all set up. Then it'll really feel like a nursey.

We got the StorkCraft Monique crib in black. I usually look for the color espresso but some reason in this line, the espresso looked so light!

That was a beautiful day to head to Ikea. We went to the the one at Atlantic Station so we got to see more of Atlanta as we made our way there. Here are some of the things we spotted:

Atlanta's version of the Arc de Triumph! I'm sure there's a name - but not sure what its called.

A new meaning to the word "Drive through."Beautiful skyline of the City of AtlantaIt was a hot day, but luckily my feet weren't as swollen so i didn't feel the need to cover them up in jeans or a maxi dress. Here I am at 33 weeks wearing:

HM peach cotton top with flutter sleeves with tonal embroidery

Target maternity khaki shorts (not really my cup of tea- but you really need shorts here in Atlanta)

Louis Vuitton Bag

Banana Republic resin/gold accent/crystlal bangle in white

Steve Madden, white and gold sandals (not pictured)

We'll be heading to Home Depot/Lowe's to look at paint chips/border ideas for baby's room. I think the baby blue walls with brown furniture will look sooo adorable. Stay tuned for that!

Garden of Eve

I am so spoiled. My mom took me shopping last night for maternity clothes - it was so nice and i definitely appreciated it. I know i'm lucky. I did some shopping in Old Navy, the Gap, and most especially, H&M.

I can't even tell you how excited I am for their Garden line. I wanted to buy everything. Not only were the sillouette's flowy and feminine, perfect for pregnant women in the spring and summer, but the colors were totally me. There were a lot of khakis, taupes, whites, and especially blush pinks. Their pop colors were a bright, fun floral theme, as well as a blue lapis. Of course I stuck to the neutrals but if i could buy the whole collection, i would. Even my little sister got some great styles for her honeymoon. You can't go wrong with this collection. I found a great collage of pics of the collection on http://www.thebudgetbabe.com/

Of my whole H&M Haul, this is my favorite buy. I loved it so much i bought it in pink AND white. i love the casualness of the cotton fabric with plain body. But i love the embroidered wing like arms that dress this shirt up and make it "stylish."

This shirt would look great with shorts and my new sandals from GAP :)

What makes this buy even better is that i read online this morning that these garments are made with materials and fabrics that promote a more sustainable world. Gotta love that!

Tuesday Shoes-day

Yey! My mom really wanted to buy me some maternity clothes - i was happy because Lord knows i needed it. So while i was at the Gap picking out some maternity jeans that actually fit me, i came across these beautiful sandals!!! i saw a cute version at Zara for double the price so when i saw these at the Gap, i was very happy. They're called "Crinkle Flower T strap sandals." Retail for $34.50. They had an amazing display with various colors to choose from- you can't help but want to buy a pair. I decided to go with the grey/olive green color. I thought this was a trendy but neutral color that would go great with the whites and blush pink colors of this season. My only qualm with this is i didn't know what size to get. My foot size is really a 5. I got a 6 since its not even made in a 5 and because i knowmy feet are expanding during this pregnancy. I tried them on at home and while my foot length fits perfectly, my feet are swollen so they're a bit on the wide side and the t strap is kind of digging into the side. its doesn't hurt, it just enhances the marshmellow look. But i don't see myself getting a size 7 just for this reason. So, i'm just hoping my swelling goes down soon so i can wear these gorgeous feminine sandals soon!!

from fashionista to pregnantista

As I start this blog, i'm entering my 3rd trimester...i have to say its challenging to feel fabulous at this point. Its exciting to know that a little one is on the way, but its tough having to shop for XL clothes! Let me make the disclaimer though that i try not to shop for maternity specific clothes. I do this for 2 reasons: 1) they look frumpy with their tie in the back 2) they are VERY expensive. I would definitely be a smaller size if i bought maternity clothes - like that psychological game they play with you? :)

so follow me on my adventures this year trying to look good, preparing for baby :) and living my life to its fullest. I love getting comments and hearing what you have to say so feel free to comment or ask me anything.

I promise to post recent pics (haven't taken any yet from this week). but to show you how i started when i first got pregnant, here are pics taken during Minnesota's Fall Fashion Week in September 2009.