If you’re not already shopping, you need to be! Let’s be real. Black Friday starts earlier and earlier every year and this year is no exception. ShopBop is having their sale already and you can get up to 50% off some major essentials with HOLIDAY until Tuesday, 11/30.

This is my favorite time of year to refresh some of my go-tos or to add things I feel like my closet is missing. This year? Here’s what’s in my cart:

• These jeans have been my favorite high waist pair for years and I always look for them on sale to add new washes to my mix. They’re perfect for concealing the mom-bulge I still have
• I’m also super into comfortable shoes these days. My heels haven’t seen the light of day in over a year and I’ve been on a major clogs kick lately. This fuzzy pair look super cozy, but this pair will be cozy and add some height. Win win! Or this pair for added glam.
• This elevated sweatshirt takes basic and makes it zoom-worthy
• Speaking of zoom-worthy, the collar on this sweater will be the perfect framing for any video calls
• Finally, this gorgeous shearling coat because toppers are all I can think about with temperatures dropping

The post Black Friday Came Early! appeared first on PreppyPanache.

My absolutely favorite time of year is the fall because of sweater weather. It’s the one item of clothing, other than jeans, that I have the most of. To me, nothing tops a cozy sweater paired with comfy pants or throwing on a cardigan to chase the chill away. The epic wool closet that I have for both kiddos already is borderline ridiculous.

That’s why, when there are sales, such as the ShopBop style sale going on now, I make sure to stock up on some of my favorite styles, colors and fabrics. Use STYLE to get up to 25% off between now and 10/14 (Thursday).

Here are some of my favorites for this coming fall:

• I’m loving the balloon sleeves on this and this, which isn’t overwhelming because of the neutral colors
• Surprisingly, I’ve been into brights lately, especially reds, and this one seems perfect for the holidays
• The contrast between the feminine scallop detail and the strong shoulder in this sweater is perfect
• A great wrap style is perfect when still nursing
• So is an old man cardigan or a collegiate-style
• I’ve never found a green cardi I could pass up

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It’s that time of year again where there’s a sale announced every day, or multiple times a day, and you’re tripping over yourself trying to figure out which one to hit up. There’s a simple answer to that. Hit up the ShopBop sale because there’s a lot of great stuff that you should be getting to make the rest of 2020 bearable. Use shop20 to get 20% off your orders of $200 or more.

For yourself, because 2020 is all about #treatyoself right?

• The coziest sweater to lounge around in the house in
• A simple top like this makes being cozy at home a little more professional for those zoom calls
• There’s no better time to stock up on cashmere basics
• I’m a sucker for collars like this one
• The details on this sweater are perfect
• These jeans are a staple in my wardrobe
• The yoke are on these jeans are great
• I have these in three different washes
• There’s a reason these jeans are classics
• Another pair with an amazing yoke

For those times when accessorizing is just too much, but you’re on video calls all day long.

• For just a touch of sparkle
• A modern take on a classic piece
• Bold and beautiful
• Pearls are always a good idea
• And if those pearls aren’t your thing, maybe these will be

When you actually have to leave the house

• I’ve been living in these clogs
• But these are equally as amazing and so very very cozy
• Feel like being wrapped in a bear hug?
• When your denim jacket isn’t quite warm enough
• An elevated take on a denim jacket

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My darling Nugget,

Today is the first year that I get to celebrate Mother’s Day as a Mom and not as a daughter/niece/granddaughter. Almost 10 months ago to the day you made me a mom and I can’t begin to tell you how much that has meant to me. My heart bursts just thinking about you, the time we’ve had so far and all of the fun adventures we have to look forward to.

Right from the start, you were an easy baby. Always so easy to calm, sleeping very well and never exhibiting any real fussiness once we got to know your cues.

Your dad and I talk about trips we want to take you on, how curious we are about what you’ll grow up liking, if you’ll play sports, whether you’ll have rhythm in spite of your Spencer genes, and just general parental musings.

I’m sure we’ll embarrass you as most parents do at some point, but just know that we love you beyond measure and that love is growing every day.

This first Mother’s Day isn’t at all what I was expecting and in some ways it’s better than I could have hoped for. We’ve been spending so much uninterrupted time together lately that it’s really given me a chance to focus on being your mom.

Someday, I hope you’ll learn what it means to be a mom too, but in the meantime, I’ll just leave you with this. Nothing in the world could have prepared me for the love I feel for you every minute of every day. The day you were born, I was no longer just myself, but yours as well.

I love you so much sweet pea. Thank you for choosing me to be your mom.

The post A Letter to My Daughter on my First Mother’s Day appeared first on PreppyPanache.

For us, it wasn’t a matter of if we needed childcare, it was a matter of what type of childcare we’d be using. Almost right off the bat, and even before we were pregnant, we knew we’d be using a daycare of some sort.

Even though my parents live close, they’re not the type of people who’re going to start babysitting 5x a week. They have lives, they still work, and taking care of a baby is hard!

I quickly wrote off an in-home situation for a number of reasons. The biggest one was that we needed to have care year round whenever we needed it. Daycare operations typically closes the same holidays as companies which was fine by us. But an in-home one is subject to the person’s vacations and I just couldn’t deal with managing one other person’s schedule on top of our own.

After vaguely toying with the idea of a nanny, it was similar to the in-home offering. I also wanted Sloane to get socialized with other kids early on.

This lead us to our current situation where a mix of my parents and daycare are our childcare solution. We’re lucky {I don’t know how often I can say this} that they live so close and are healthy and active enough to watch a baby. It truly takes a village!

Our Childcare Schedule

Early on we decided that one of us needed to be home every day in case of emergencies.

Mondays and Thursdays I work from home and after she takes her morning nap, I bring her to my parents’ house, or one of my parents picks her up. Depending on how my afternoon is wrapping up, I’ll have her dropped off or pick her up by 5 so we can start our evening routine.

Tuesdays and Fridays the Hubs is home and he takes her to daycare five minutes away from ~11am-4:30/5. When he picks her up, he usually then picks me up from the train station.

Wednesdays is a little trickier because we are both in the city, until recently. My mom comes over by 7 and stays at our house until Sloane wakes up. They usually spend the morning at our house and then go off and do whatever they have planned for the day. Then Mom picks me up at the train and drops us back at home.

Finding a flexible solution for all of us has been a saving grace. It’s kept me as sane as can be expected and while I miss Sloane when I’m home and she’s not with me, the time I have to concentrate on work, the blog, my new knitting store, and just decompressing has been huge!

The post Our Decision About Childcare appeared first on PreppyPanache.

Having never heard of the fourth trimester, the term fifth trimester was even more foreign to my ears. Apparently this refers to the first three months you’re back at work. Who knew?

I went back to work outside of the home at the end of October. I say outside of the home because being a FT mom is a ton of work and we’re in a day and age where that has to be acknowledged.

To be perfectly honest, I was dreading it. I was crying every time I thought about leaving Sloane and sending her to daycare. This started eight weeks before I was even set to return to the office. We’ve been lucky enough that my parents want to watch her and we worked it out so that on days I’m home she’ll go to my parents and on day’s Matt’s home, she goes to daycare. So really, I don’t ever have to drop her off with strangers which makes it easier for me.

Setting up boundaries around my time was huge. Right from the start, I started WFH 2x a week and kept my pumping schedule at work fairly consistent. I work in an industry where meetings are a huge part of my day and ad hoc conversations as well. I’m fairly upfront about why those times are blocked on my calendar and it’s worked out ok so far.

As the months have passed, it’s gotten a little emotionally easier, but the scheduling continues to be a challenge. When Sloane’s sick, she can’t go to daycare, but we can’t always rely on my parents to be available. They have lives too! It seemed like she was always getting sick at the beginning, but it seems to have mellowed out so far.

I’ve recently been appointed the Co-Chair of the Working Parents Network of my holding company so we’ll see where that leads. I’m excited to get going with it as I think there are so many things as an organization we can do to make being a parent and an employee a symbiotic and valued balance.

Someone once told me that it takes three months to get back into the swing of things and another three months to feel like you’ve got a good groove going on.

Right now I’m just trying to take things in stride and not get too worked up about things. I can’t be as hasty as I was when it was just me, nor would I want to be. Being a parent has taught me about thoughtful deliberation and I’m trying to apply that to all aspects of my life.

The post Navigating the Fifth Trimester appeared first on PreppyPanache.

This past full week of self-quarantining has been completely eye-opening for me, as I am sure it is for everyone going through this. The Hubs and I are both very lucky because we have jobs that allow for remote working. We won’t see any impact to our income because of quarantining or remote working and really all of our stresses are first world problems.

That being said, there are some things I’ve learned about my work habits that I thought I’d share with you all.

Reassess When Your “Flow” Happens

Since having Sloane I’ve been lucky enough to have a very flexible work schedule. I’ve been working from home Monday and Thursday and I usually leave the office between 4-4:30. I work the whole way home and stay online until around 5:30. Between 5:30-7:30 is when we have our evening routine and then I might login again to just check things around 8. That means my biggest chunks of work time that are uninterrupted are between 8:30-9:30am and 4:30-5 on days I’m commuting and really all day on Monday and Friday. I usually reserve these blocks of time to write/craft presentations, write thoughtful emails and when my brain has enough space to think strategically and not reactively.

However, now that everyone is remote, my calendar has blocked up with a lot of checkin video calls and I’m spending a lot more time “managing” than previously. Also, because Sloane is now home with us and not in daycare or being watched by my parents, I’m juggling being a 75% parent and 100% employee. I say 75% because the Hubs is home too.

My flow now happens from 7:30-9:30pm every day instead of in periodic blocks through the week.

Try And Maintain A Routine

When I used to work from home only a couple of days, my routine was pretty baked. However, now that I’m home 100% of the time, I needed a new routine that would make me feel like I was still getting going in the morning. Get up, get dressed, have breakfast, and then login. I try and treat each day like I would go to the office, albeit with a few key differentiators, like feeding Sloane breakfast before hunkering down at my laptop.

Make Time to Disconnect

I don’t know about you all, but when I’m remote working, I tend to be even more connected than I am when I’m commuting into the office. However, since I’ve been home for eight business days, I’m starting to feel the strain of that. So I’ve been trying to consciously disconnect for 30-40 mins in the middle of the day to take a walk or have lunch without sitting at my desk.

Show Yourself Some Empathy

Workspaces are Essential

The Hubs and I are lucky enough to live in a house where we have one bedroom turned into an office and a desk in another guest room. We also have an enormous dining room table that can act as a desk as well when we need to spread out even more fully. I’ve setup at the desk in the guest room when previously I used to work from our kitchen and our living room. Having a designated work space with a door has helped me focus immensely and gets me in the right mindset of working. If you don’t have rooms to do this in, try playing with your lighting. Blue light helps with productivity while warm white light makes things more relaxing.

I’m Not Cut Out For 100% Remote

I’m not fully an introvert, but I’m not an extrovert either. I thrive on talking to people, but I do need distance to recharge. I always toyed with the idea of finding a job that would be remote 100% of the time at some distant point in the future, but after this past week I realized it’s not for me. I like the balance of being in the office some days and home others. It’s just the way I’m built.

The post Six Things About Working Remotely appeared first on PreppyPanache.

This post is way overdue, but I wanted to make sure I had clarity of mind before sitting down to write it. To be honest, I hadn’t even heard of the term “fourth trimester” until after Sloane was born. Maybe I’d been living in a hole which is 100% quite possible.

Everyone tells you to enjoy every minute because it goes by so quickly.

In reality, it goes by so quickly it’s like it never even happened. I feel like I blinked and it was over! Sure there were tough times, I’m sure there were, but they’ve sort of blurred into the background.

No Plan is the Best Plan

At least for me it was. The only thing I didn’t want to do was to stress unnecessarily over things that were out of my control. Would I breastfeed? Would I formula feed? I had no plans either way, but was prepared for a combination of both.

The one other thing we did plan for was that once the Hubs went back to work, Sloane and I were moving into the nursery so that he could sleep more soundly through the feedings he wasn’t on duty for. I felt very strongly that since I was home and he was going to work, it was important for him to get long chunks of sleep during the week. The weekend was a whole other story though and we split nighttimes as much as possible.

Do What Makes You Happiest

If you and the baby decide to stay in PJs until 5pm, so be it. If you want to go out for a walk and get coffee, so be it. Whatever makes you happy that day, just go with it. Stay in and talk to no one or going out with anyone who’s around. Luckily Sloane was a Summer baby so going outdoors was easy and I wasn’t super worried about germs.

There is so much mom-shaming out there and it’s wholly unnecessary. Unless it’s actually harmful to the baby, and listen to your pediatrician there, then brush everything else away. It’s just noise.

Give Yourself a Break

Not feeling that fantastic after delivery? News flash! No one does. This peri bottle should have been part of my hospital bag, but hindsight is 20/20. The idea of pooping is terrifying. Stairs are exhausting. And sitting down is touch and go for a while. Your body just did something kinda miraculous so give it a chance to heal and bounce back.

Forget a Schedule

He or she is not going to want to sleep the same exact amount of time every day. They won’t wake up at the same time, or sleep at the same time. They won’t even want to eat at the exact same time. Quantity consumed will vary too, not entire consumption, but per feeding and number of times. At least in the beginning.

Your Baby Is Not a Clock

Regardless of whether you decide to tackle your first trimester as a mother with the same gusto as a seasoned general or take a more laid back approach, you’re the best mom for your baby. Trust your instincts and enjoy every minute.

The post How I Made My Fourth Trimester Successful for Me appeared first on PreppyPanache.

Hello friends! Early access to the ShopBop spring sale event has now opened! This style sale is one of my favorites where the more you buy, the more you save. Granted, it also means it’s the most dangerous for your wallet since you’ll want to reach that top tier of savings. However, this a great opportunity to amp up your Spring wardrobe with this season’s must haves, so get ready!

Now let’s get down to it.

• My favorite postpartum jeans have been from Mother. I’ve been particularly drawn to these looser fits like this. And the yoke on these look they’d be particularly flattering on a new mom bod.
• If you’re already experiencing warmer weather, or getting ready for Summer, snatch these up quickly! These are the best cutoffs I’ve ever bought, definitely worth every penny. I can’t rave enough about the fit for those with “thick” or “athletic” thighs.
• Lately, I’ve been feeling more stripes and prep and this vintage-inspired rugby hits the all the right notes.
• Asymmetry is every new mom’s bod’s best friend which is why I’m loving this button down dress.
• “Weekend” dressing has taken over all hours I’m not in the office, but that doesn’t mean it’s ok to be sloppy. This elevated sweatshirt is everything.
• If you’ve had your eyes on these sneakers, now’s the time to get them. And yes, they are super comfortable!
• This sweater has been absolutely so amazing that I bought it in two colors. It’s so incredibly soft and was super flattering both during pregnancy and after.
• I absolutely love these boots. They took a while to break in, but they are hands down the shoes I’ve been grabbing most outside of sneakers.
• Fun tops have been the one of the few ways I’ve spiced up my looks and while still staying functional. This, this and this really plus up your go-to pair of skinnies.
• And then of course I have to want this, because Spencer!

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It has been a long time coming, but I’ve finally opened an Etsy shop to sell the hand knit lace alphabet blankets that I’ve been making for friends and family for years. This has been our go-to baby gift and I was so excited to make one for our own baby girl this past summer. 

Knitting has been a part of my life since college and is the activity I lean toward in order to keep my fingers busy and my mind centered on whatever task is on hand. If I’m on the phone, watching TV or even a passenger in the car, I’d rather be knitting to keep myself occupied than scrolling through my Insta feed or mindlessly browsing the internet.

Why now?

I had thought we were over the hump of babies being born to our immediate friends and family. Since Sloane was born, I’ve made five blankets and right now I’m blitzing through one for a rush custom order. It seemed like the ideal time to launch the store when I had one finished and in stock so that I could work toward building up a stash of universally appealing colors and fibers.

While my one blanket has already sold, I have a custom order listing live so that you can see what these beautiful heirloom blankets look like in a variety of colors and materials. They vary in price depending on what the yarn itself costs and that also influences the size. They do tend to be on the larger size, so more of a crib blanket than a carseat one, but of course can be folded to layer in the car.

While not all yarn is machine washable, the ones I tend to select on my own are. No one wants to hand wash anything, let alone when they have a baby at home. Probably best to stick in the washing machine in a delicates bag so it doesn’t get ensnared on anything and dried on a delicates cycle, but it is pretty sturdy for something hand made.

I hope you’ll check out my newest endeavor, favorite my shop, leave a comment if I’ve made you one in the past and please share with anyone who’s expecting.

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