The Magic of a Good Dress

First things first: I’ve been added to Firmoo’s blogger awards contest, and I would LOVE it if you could click through to this page and vote for me! You can do it once a day from now until December 14th. All you have to do is click “vote” — no registration, no entering your email, nothing. Just vote and you’re done! Today I woke up suspecting I would need copious amounts of coffee to make it through the day, and I was not wrong. Last night was one of the hardest nights Asa has ever had going to sleep; he fought bed for a full hour and a half before we finally got him down, and then he woke at 3:30am for no reason. I was hoping that would mean he’d sleep in this morning, but he was awake and ready as ever — if a bit more cranky than usual — at 6:30am sharp.

Ever since he started waking up predictably at 6am, I’ve let my husband get him up and take care of him until he had to leave for work. I usually got up about 10 minutes before he left to take over, and being the awesome husband that he is, he didn’t complain. But I have been realizing that it’s harder for him to get ready for work and take care of the baby at the same time, so this week I’ve been trying to get up within 15 minutes of Asa. I’ll be honest: it’s not fun. I am not an early morning person, and getting up earlier than seven always leaves me feeling groggy for half the day. But I know that eventually I will have more kids and sleeping past six will not be an option, so I think it’s better to get used to the early mornings now. Plus, it makes my husband happy. Which makes it totally worth the ugh of earliness. (Yeah, yeah, I know: six am is not actually super early. Believe me, I do really know. I used to get up at 2:30am for work. But right now, it feels early.)

And then, when Asa refused nap for an hour and a half, I was just about at my wit’s end. So, I was very thankful for a brief quiet moment when he finally fell asleep. I was thankful for the pretty morning light, for this fantastic dress that I finally tailored to fit me, and a freshly brewed pot of coffee when I was done.

And then he only slept for 45 minutes or less. I’m so glad that he’s generally a very good-natured baby, even when he’s exhausted. I don’t know how I’d survive otherwise!

Can we talk about the fantastic print on this dress, though?

I saw this dress at Goodwill, and before I even put it on I knew I was going to buy it. It’s from the 60’s, has horses and ferns printed on it, is colorful, has an amazing collar, and I mean seriously… I could not resist. It was a little large on me, though, so after I bought it it sat in my mending pile for a few months, and it wasn’t until December began to approach that I finally fitted it better to my figure. Because…. it needed to be in my month of dresses.

And surprisingly, this is one of those dresses that looks better on camera than I had expected it to; I don’t usually wear the sheath-type cut because it’s not that flattering on me, but this one is just roomy enough to be forgiving of my mama-squish. I think I’ll be wearing it a lot the next time I get pregnant; I like these silhouettes better when I’ve got a baby belly to show off. Plus, it’s stretchy. Which is a must when pregnant. I have quite a few dresses with me, despite house-sitting and only having half my wardrobe, and I should probably be ashamed to admit I might even have enough dresses right now to wear a new one every day this month. I just… I like dresses. I did buy most of them at thrift stores, though, so that should count for something, right?

I’m excited to wear a few new dresses as the month progresses; tomorrow I hope to wear an adorable cherry-print dress I picked up that needed hemming and some sleeve alteration, and after that… I know I have others in my closet that I rarely wear. Aside from it being a wonderful cause for charity, Dressember is also really great because it makes me wear clothes I have been passing by lately. Since I don’t usually post outfits on Saturdays and Sundays, you can check my Instagram (which you can access on the internet via that link) or Facebook page to see those days. Barring any super lazy days, I’ll be trying to do better than last year, where I wore the same two dresses five days in a row one week. Then again, I was vastly pregnant last December, so that is probably a good excuse. Vintage thrifted dress, thrifted belt, brooch, and longsleeve shirt | JC Penney Boots | Target tights | Earrings c/o Oasap | glasses c/o Firmoo

If you are also doing the Dressember challenge, please share your pictures or blog links with me! You can comment with them, or share on my Facebook page, or tag me (@eccentricowlblog) on Instagram! I want to do a link up with my favorite Dressember outfits each week, so please share away!

And if Dressember is just not your thing, you can donate on my campaign (100% of the proceeds go directly to the International Justice Mission), or I encourage you to create your own challenge for charity as Skye is doing. It doesn’t have to be dresses, it doesn’t have to be donations to IJM. Find a cause that resonates with you, and support it however you can. December is, after all, the month of giving.

I hope you are all having a good week! Happy Tuesday!