Seasonally Inappropriate

I have a pair of great new black skinnies (P.S.- why is shopping for jeans such a nightmare lately? Must everything be loose on my tush and sausage-casing tight on my calves?!) that have, admittedly, been on heavy rotation already. But, I just can't seem to let go of my white jeans yet. It's appropriate to wear them until the week of Thanksgiving, right? Can I then call them "winter whites" and carry on?

P.P.S. Teething is a big, nasty B-word. Slobber on everything and baby harumphs.

Casual Fall and Life Lately

It's the peeeerfect weather in Suzhou right now. We're in the midst of sunshine days with a nip in the air- perfect for jeans and something with long sleeves during the lunch hour. And, for the most part, we can still get away with no socks and lighter layers on little Violet if I wear her since we're sweaty torso to sweaty torso, but I fear those days are going away soon. Now, if only I could find socks that fit her.

Sorry for the long absence, friends! We've been traveling some, but mostly I have been enjoying the bejesus out of wasting my days staring into Violet's eyes, spending hours making fart noises at one another, taking long shuffling walks with the dog. Life is wonderfully slow lately and I'm so grateful for this little moment in time where I can finally enjoy my kid after all of the undeveloped digestive tract yelling, the thrush and nursing nightmares now behind us and in a good groove. It's days filled with lots of really great little moments of fingers tangled in my hair, raspberry spit-bubbles being smeared all over my cheek, that one crazy dimple that shows up on her upper right cheek when she smiles her crooked whole-faced grin, especially when she's super proud of herself for sitting on her own for a few seconds. I'm really loving it.

Making Buddies

This kid is so her dad's clone. Blonde, blue eyes, and really loves going out. I'm a homebody, no question, but Violet is so nosy and happy to spend her days walking around Suzhou making friends. It really cracks me up- the 35-65 year old women are more likely to be judgey and unpleasant about how she's so small, or she must be cold, or why isn't she wearing a hat or socks. However, men of all ages, from college boys to retirees, are the absolute cutest about making a silly face for her and waving, which usually illicits a grin or concentrated eyebrow twitch and there's kind of nothing more adorable than a man who is melted into a pile of giggles and mush by a baby making eye contact.

Flashback: Scarf and Chucks

If you're thinking my foot and neck gear looks familiar, you're right on. Lazy dressing and accessories at its worst. Recycled scarf and Converse pairing, because the casual grey is oh so good. And slouchy maternity jeans and white long sleeved tee. So simple, so easy. I love no fuss looks like this, especially when I was pregnant. Because, really, who was I trying to impress?

White Jeans and Little Things

Whew, glad I got such a heavy post off my chest earlier this week. On to lighter-hearted things.

One. I have, to date, killed three pairs of non-maternity pants so dead they had to be thrown away. Zippers may be fixable, but popped seams and ripped fabric? Nope. Not coming back from that.

Two. The cutest foggy morning slug inched along and crossed our path as Miles and I had our early morning walk. A tiny 1 inch trail of slime behind him; unbearably cute.

Three. My love of Peanut Butter (crunchy and overpriced, of course) with apples and carrots for lunch is still going strong.

Four. We went to Beijing last weekend. I'll tell you more later.

Five. I nearly fell off the sofa trying to paint my toenails. It may be time to start going to get pedicures instead of doing them myself. Bummer.

Standing Out on St. Patty's

I was so hopeful these jeans would fit still. I bought them on clearance in a size above my normal and dryer shrunk the crap out of them the last few years pre-pregnancy. Now that my hips got all wide and funky, they're a little too tight, but I couldn't not wear them- this springy color combination was begging for white jeans. And the most fun part is this weird little scarf in my hair has been my St. Patrick's Day go-to little bit of green(it has green cherries and little fuchsia vines on it) for years and years now and I just decided to go for the loud and bright complimentary look. And all my adorably reserved office mates thought it was the most awesome thing ever.

So, moral of the story is this: in the last week of work, wear whatever you want to and all your colleagues and every other Chinese person on campus will stare unabashedly at you and your pregnant belly. No disguising being one of the only white girls working at the University and dressing up anyway, let alone sporting a huge baby bump, so give 'em all something spring-like to stare at.

Free Fallin'

A few major steps to manage in our website redesign project, administrative stuff for a faculty meeting, and whatever other madness comes along this week, and I'm outta the office. Just in time for some sunshine coming up!

The bad news? It rained at the end of last week and I slipped on the metal steps of the stairwell of the faculty cafeteria on my way out and landed right on my tailbone. No butt meat or cushion, just tailbone. I don't think it's cracked, just a mean nasty bruise and a little back muscle tightening. And kiddo is completely fine; in fact, I didn't even feel any jostle in my belly when I landed, but daaaaang, it's hard to sit in an office chair all day now. The other bad news? I broke my own fall with my right forearm and sat directly on my right middle finger. The worse news? What should have become a really rocking forearm bruise to rival the mystery table run-in bruises my sister gets faded perfectly after I used coconut oil on it. I didn't even get a chance to long-distance show it off.

To all my pregnant blogging buddies- watch your ass. Literally. A banged up tailbone hurts like none other when you go down with extra little person weight. Oh, and coconut oil is filled with miracles and rainbows.

Cultural Shifts

Third Trimester. Boom. And it's a bump that's finally a bump, not just a burrito, which makes me really happy. Every few weeks, I get really hungry and kiddo grows like a weed, and next thing you know there's more happening out front. And I'm really grateful so far that family genetics have been good to me and I still feel fine.

I've noticed a cultural difference in attitudes about pregnancy over here. We passed a woman last night who must have been right around the same due date as me. And, while I'm still pretty nimble and limber, thankfully, goooooosh, she was waddling. I've not seen a woman who was visibly pregnant walking like she didn't have a softball balanced between her thighs. It's crazy. I don't know if the Chinese physique really does get very uncomfortable much sooner, but I'm inclined to believe that women are expected to appear faint and helpless and not lift a finger during pregnancy. The wider the waddle, the more effective the baking of a kid? And most of them don't seem to be loving it even a little. Babies must be for grandparents. Because mamas look pretty blah about the whole thing. Weird.

Stretch Dresses

Being a beanpole and pregnant all at the same time is proving to have it's own set of interesting dressing conundrums. I'm finding out pretty quickly that while pants (toootally unbuttoned and worn with a belly band) are my most layerable and warm option for the cold and clammy Suzhou winter, there's something tragically uncomfortable about the situation. I'm finally getting a little bit of a belly, but that must be nothing but other organs migrating north. Because this kid is still hanging out way low. Which means I'm trying to cram not only pregnancy weight, but the entire body mass of a 20 week kid below a waistband. All you mommies and pregnant gals out there- how did you carry? Any tips for my sitch? I'm going to go try looking for a maternity fashion store out in the city over the weekend, but I'm not feeling very good about my chances of locating anything even close to flattering.

Let me paint you a word picture of one young mama to be that I saw in the fall who was probably around the 35 week mark. It was daytime highs of 65, no real need for bundling, and this lovely gal was wearing the following: a dull ivory turtleneck under a Cosby sweater, which was in turn under the most humpty-dumpty in jodhpurs pair of overall-jumpsuit hybrid khakis I've ever seen. And the scary thing? Darting and seams that made it tragically clear that the offending leiderhosen were meant to be maternity wear.

I will not succumb, I promise.

So, moral of the story is that I will be seeking many opportunities to buy el cheapo stretchy dresses from H&M in a few sizes too large to maintain some semblance of ladyhood as I get more and more basket-ball-y. I'll cross my fingers for Rob to find a pair or two of maternity pants when he goes back to Houston in a week to bring back for me, but I'm going to have to find a way to keep making my regular pants and repurposed dresses work. Because if my fears are confirmed, I will not be doing any Chinese maternity brand shopping.

Like Sardines

Isn't it fun when life gets busy and fun and you get super blasé about documenting anything for your blog?

And when you return you have this junker outfit that you managed to capture? Nothing actually fashionable, or creative, or interesting.

Whatever.

We've been occupied, and I like it. Hop over here for a quick rundown of what we've been doing.

Jeans: Gap...Buttondown: Banana Outlet...Shoes: Sperry via DSW...Bag: Longchamp knockoff

And a quick story: it's National Holiday, which means almost everything of significance is closed. Like President's Day or something. Except it goes on for 7. whole. bleeping. days. Which should be awesome, except it means everyone either travels, clogging airlines and trains, or plays tourist in town. We thought we'd do the cool thing and do more exploring our new city and wound up in a sardine-like nightmare bus getting out to Tiger Hill. I don't know if you guys saw it on Instagram a while back (@katebmcclure and @robertwmcclure) that we started a hashtag #tallguyinchina. Rob is so out of place in so many situations, standing literally heads above the rest of the population, but a packed bus is a special form of torture. His rear end usually ends up right in line with someone's oversized backpack, or his head gets mangled in the plastic hold-loops in the standing room area. I love the idea of public transit, but, sometimes you just gotta buck up and pay way too much for the bodily comfort of a speedy, just-the-two-of-us cab ride back across town.

We will not be going anyplace interesting for the rest of the week. We'll try again during a normal weekend.

Hope you guys are well! Any absurd stories?

Long and Slow

I've been in the midst of a funny couple of weeks. 

First: the news. I am going to be working at the School of Music office! Since the School is brand-spankin' new and kind of groundbreaking in its intention to teach music curriculum in English here in China, there's a lot of materials that are going to be put out bilingually. And some of the ladies already on staff have international experience and a pretty great English foundation, but it needs a little polish... so I get to put my thumbprint on reworking and crafting exciting new English language documents and press as we're getting off the ground. 

But, in true China fashion, getting the details worked out, contract drafted, and registration completed is taking forever. So, I'm still not working and didn't get to help prepare for the opening premier concert this upcoming Sunday. Which is a bummer, since this is our first POW! introduction to the Suzhou/Shanghai music community. And it sure would have been nice to place a critical eye on the materials, but oh well. Next project. When I'm officially on the team!

Also. We tried to prepare the paperwork for getting our shipment of boxes through customs and because Suzhou is in Jiangsu province and Shanghai (and the port through which our stuff arrived) is kind of its own thing, we needed stamps and approval from both customs' offices. Meaning backandforthandbackandforth travel to Shanghai- a day-long waste of a day trip each time. Foooorget it. Rob's colleague swooped in and saved the day by calling her shipping agent from earlier in the summer, who will be managing the rest of the paperwork and having our items delivered for us. And she's crazy capable, so I'm very grateful.

Moral of the story. It all takes literally four times longer than you think it should and is at least 7 steps more complicated. All of it.

Sigh. Of relief!

Jeans: Gap...Tank: Banana Republic...Cardigan: thrifted...Shoes: Target

Plain Jane

Being on the far side of the Pacific has, style-wise, been a little funny for me. First, I chucked some of my long time favorite articles of clothing because I literally wore them until they shouldn't be worn any more. Loved them to pieces and put them into a garbage can in the days before we left Houston. So, I'm down about 30%. Second, I kept a lot of my simple, classic, wholesome American gal clothes. Simple skinny jeans, a few buttondowns, lightweight t-shirts. Things that aren't risky or fashion-forward, but are just solid workhorse items. A glorified capsule wardrobe, if you will.

And I didn't keep summer clothing, you guys. Bad choice.

It's a great mix of perfectly slouchy sweaters and layer-able stuff with slim-fit pants. So, come fall and winter, I'll be golden, but for now, I'm sweating my buns off and rotating between this skirt and shorts (which I hate on my skinny legs- ugh, chicken knees) and a few tanks and tees.

And this desperate deficit of options, lack of first-month-in-town positive bank balance, and having a simple wardrobe means I'm stickin' out like a sore thumb. China's a little funny with fashion. Sometimes ladies look so mis-match chic, young and fresh in their boutique fashion (there's literally thousands of small clothing stores along the coolest shopping avenues here), I look like a bowl of vanilla ice cream. But sometimes these adorable young women wear the dowdiest or hodgepodged or hello-kittied looks. Perhaps another day I'll take my camera out and about with me.

Skirt: H&M...Blouse: Target...Belt: Target...Shoes: Nine West...Bag: Longchamp knockoff

Conundrum

What does one wear for meeting the Dean of the School of Music for the first time? Especially when the group dinner is being held at an undisclosed location? Rob and I (and all of the other new faculty we've been spending time with) all freaked out and didn't have an answer.

Neutrals. Definitely neutrals. And not too fussy.

So, this super lightweight sweater for the warm evening should do the trick. Loose, it won't touch my torso too much and make me sweat, but it's pretty covered-up.

Pants or skirt? Skirt. No, pants. The sweater looked a little weird tucked in. 

Heels or flats? Well, heels would look nicer... Crap, all my nice pumps are in our shipment. These flats will be fine.

Maaaaan, I got brutal with purging my wardrobe before this move. My dress and shoe situation is a little pathetic. And my "getting ready and looking decent" routine is a joke.

Jeans: Gap...Sweater: thrifted...Shoes: Aldo, via Buffalo Exchange...Belt: Target...Scarf: Liberty of London, thrifted...Bag: Longchamp knockoff

This is Certainly a First World Problem

So, we've decided to cough up the cash for a second VPN of my very own. Rob is a technology nut, so he loves to have access to "checking" all of his stuff (read: screwing around in a cycle of email, facebook, Detroit Tigers score, overandoverandover). And some of his screen time is legit, but mostly he likes to spend his down time mindlessly surfing and hogging our mode of bypassing the "Great Firewall," so I insisted that I get my own VPN to blog.

Oh, a VPN is a Virtual Private Network. It essentially skews signals to indicate that my computer's IP address is in America when, in fact, it is physically in China. Since I am physically in China. Normally, Chinese internet blocks websites such as YouTube, Facebook, Blogger, etc.

Being in a country that blocks most of the online goodies has been a little strange. Without the VPN turned on, I can read through my blog list on the Bloglovin' app, but not on the computer. Feedly flips me the bird either way. Pinterest works both online and through the app, so at least that's good entertainment. I can see and post Instagram photos, and can even send them straight to Facebook for our friends to see. But, I can't go to Facebook, can't post new content on Blogger, I can't click on almost any blog to comment, and, most importantly, I can't see Marion's content below the Read More line. Big fat bummer. 

Without competing with Rob for use of the VPN, I will be able to blog in peace, take my time uploading photos, writing and linking all at once in the Blogger editor (I've been writing word documents and copying them in. The formatting boogers itself every time, which is obnoxious). 

So, in short: I've been super absent, and I'm sorry. Before the move, I didn't have time or focus enough to blog, and now I don't have easy access to it. And, even though I've been reading a whoooooole bunch of  your blogs, I haven't been able to say hello, compliment all of the lovely looks you ladies have been featuring lately, cheer you guys on in your recent life-stuff, or sympathize with your head or heartaches. I hope this technological coup lets me say "Hey" a little more often.

Pants: Target...Tank: thrifted...Shoes: via DSW...Bag: Longchamp knockoff

How I Spent July

Well, hello, dear friends! I wrote a little note to you all yesterday to tell you that we've successfully made it to Suzhou, China. Today is our fourth full day in the city and we're finally feeling a little more adjusted to the time zone, have the essentials handled for our new apartment, and have been able to order and accurately pay for several meals. Big successes, all around!

Starting July 30, we moved out of our sweet apartment in Houston and drove our last few belongings that would be placed in storage (favorite dishes, good knives, artwork, etc) along with our four large suitcases for the flight to China in a trailer behind the Jeep. We took two days to get up to Ohio, stopping along the way to spend the night with a dear friend from grade school who is living in Missouri. A visit and the stopping point couldn't have been more refreshing.

We spent three weeks with family and friends in Ohio and used our time to the fullest! Half-way through, my sister was married in a stunning and perfectly simple ceremony along Lake Michigan, and I was so grateful to be able to take part in her bridal shower, last minute preparations, rehearsal dinner, meet and greet time with her husband's family, and a little bit of family vacation time in the rented house after they took off to honeymoon. (I'm pretty sure I owe you all a thorough post, the wedding was beyond perfect).

We spent a rainy Saturday hosting an open house get together and a really great group of friends and extended family made the effort to come spend the day with us to catch up and say farewell for a while. In the age of Facebook, it sure is easy to check in on people, but there's truly nothing like spending time together. Other highlights of our time in Ohio included nephew visits, godson and best friend playtime, acquainting my doggy to life at my parents (we hope to bring both the beagle and our cat over in a few months), visiting and re-getting-to-know-time with my brother, who is now a big bad 18 year old adult, and a haircut from my favorite long-time stylist (nothing drastic, just took 3 scraggly inches off the ends and shaped it up, but I received exactly ZERO good haircuts in 4 years in Houston, so this was a big highlight).

In my focus to spend time with family, I preeetty much spent all three weeks in 6 articles of clothing, not including dresses for special events. Here's a little rundown of how I looked for the entirety of July:

Hope you all have had a good month (I've sort of been reading along with my favorite blogs, but I've been pretty technologically disconnected for a while).

Catch up with you all soon!

Wrapping Up

Skirt: Target...Tee: J Crew Factory...Scarf: TJ Maxx...Belt: Target...Shoes: Naturalizer...Bag: Longchamp knockoff

It's been so. darn. cold in our office the last month. AC is my nemesis. My fingers are literally freezing after having them exposed and elevated to work on the computer. Solution? Dress like it's early spring: lighter, happy colors, worn in pretty extreme layers (there's totally two long sleeved shirts going on up there), along with an oversized scarf. Oh, yeah, and then die of heat stroke once you step out into Houston's 96 F, 80% humidity afternoon weather.


Guys, it's my very last day at work today. It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, and I'm definitely glad to be trotting off to China soon.

I won't say I'm not a little sad. This job has had its challenges- grants writing (but mostly grants reporting on Education and programs which I know nothing about) is hard. And diving into it with no prior experience and being given very little training made it tougher. But, I was surrounded by really good people, extraordinary work being accomplished, and, if nothing else, I was part of a shift in the the energy of the office after a few years of tricky office dynamics and leadership. If nothing else, I contributed to creating a cheerful and positive culture and working relationships. Was the position itself my best fit? Probably not. The Gala, streamlined branding and templates, and positive energy are things I'm proud to put my name on, though.

But, as of today at 5:00, I'm unemployed. Rather, I'm officially on vacation. Rob and I are going on a cruise to Belize, Isla Roatan, and Cozumel. And then we get one final week to soak up friend time and finish painting and cleaning this apartment that's been home for four years.

And then three weeks stuffed full of family time! I just saw my family during my brother's HS graduation a few short weeks ago, but I'm beyond excited for this.

And then we're getting onto a plane to move halfway across the world.

Move. Across the world.



Whoa.

Adios, Chambray. I mean "Zaijian"

This isn't the most lovely photo, it's not even decent. But, it's kind of funny how accurate it is of life lately. The proof?
1. Dusty, disgusting mirror
2. Rumpled, filthy rug
3. Beagle furiously sniffing out all of the dead bugs unearthed in the moving around of things
4. Boxes, mostly still empty, absolutely everywhere
5. Stepstool, used daily to fish something out of a high stack
6. Empty furnishings, sad stacked dvd storage behind me, piles emptied from my junk drawer in the bedroom
7. We won't talk about the nightmare happening on top of my dresser just behind that door with the belt haphazardly looped over a knob
8. Wet hair, unbrushed, because I don't feel like it
9. Oh, yeah, and a last hurrah for some of my more attractive clothing, because I'm saving all my good stuff until after the move

Also not up for discussion? The multitude of floor-scattered sorting projects. The plethora of hangers now sadly hanging derelict in my closet since everything good from wintertime is in a duffel. Remnants of my grand plan to get gone a bunch of stuff in a garage sale. We're also without a sofa, kind of. Our houndstooth couch found a new home with our neighbors and, after June 1, the sofa we're temporarily housing for our friends, purchased from another neighbor, is going away and we'll be seat-less for a month. Lots of Hulu watching in bed and only passed hors d'ouvres parties. Mashed up with a box obstacle course in our living room.

Transition is funny. Packing our lives up into four large suitcases and carefully planned boxes of winter coats and books to be shipped in the fall is a tricky thing.

Black and White: a Formula

Skirt: Banana Republic...Sweater: F21...Belt: Gap...Shoes: thrifted...Earrings: J Crew outlet

This is from a looong time ago, as in my mid-March board meeting. Yikes, I'm behind. P.S.- this is such an easy winter-time formula. Variations of black and white, pattern-mixing graphic elements. Lazy? Perhaps, but it's so easy to look put together in a pinch. Like here, here, or here.

Rob and I did a bad thing. We started watching Lost again. I already know how it all goes down, but maaaan, I'm sucked in. Whoops.