I may quite possibly have an event to attend this weekend (*cough* baby shower *cough*) so I needed to get a pretty outfit together.  If there was no such thing as cameras, I'd be going in jeans, a pretty shirt, and flip-flops.  BUT, of course, there will be a zillion pictures taken and I'd like to look worthy of the "pregnant glow" cliche.

So I set out to find either a) a really pretty/cute blouse to wear with my black maternity pants or b) a really pretty/cute dress.  The problem here is that it's nearly impossible to find attractive plus-size maternity clothes.  I don't know how the maternity shops are near you, but the one near me has such an eensy weensy teeny tiny plus-size section that I sometimes wonder why they even bother.  The store is fairly big, but I'd say 90-95% of the merchandise is straight-size only (no lie).

Thankfully, I haven't gained much weight so I'm okay with the two pairs of pants, two pairs of jeans, and few tops I bought.  Most of the time I still just wear tops I already owned.  But this was different; I needed something pretty and special - and, hopefully BLUE (because I love blue but also since The Force is a boy, I'm guessing the shower might be blue-themed, especially since everyone knows blue is my favorite color).  My bridal shower had a Tiffany blue theme and even TJ (then 5 months old) was stylin' to match:

I look sleepy and TJ looks concerned.
(Funny enough, I wore that shirt and those earrings to work yesterday.)

So I went to the maternity store, time and again, looking for something, anything - with no luck.  Then one day, I see this dress on a mannequin:

Perfect!  Navy blue, adorable, not too cheesy... the problem?  Only in straight sizes.  Damn!

But I looked at it and thought maybe there's a chance... so I grabbed an XL and into the dressing room I went and, miracle of miracles, it fit AND looked cute!  I sent a quick picture message to my sister, confirmed it was cute, and bought it right away.

But then there was the problem of accessorizing.  I definitely needed a little cardigan to go over it (I only owned black ones) and needed to figure out shoes.  I found a little white cardigan pretty easily (would have preferred navy, but couldn't find one) but I did NOT want to wear white shoes (ew) and if you've ever looked for navy shoes, you know the pickings are slim.  They're either good to wear with denim or if you need something in the orthopedic range.

On top of that, it was around 90 degrees yesterday (seriously, wtf??) and I believe my feet and ankles were a bit swollen.  Lovely.  I've been lucky with that so far, but I think my luck just ran out.

So I headed to shoe Mecca - aka DSW - and perused, coming across these lovely, cool shoes:

1. Dr. Scholl's Habit Flat (in platinum) - this is what I bought to wear to the shower.  (As an avid Clinton and Stacy watcher, I know that my shoes don't have to match my outfit, they just have to go - and these, as a neutral metallic, go.)

2. Kelly and Katie's Midnight Navy Flip Flop - I bought these too, shhh.  But they're seriously the most comfortable flip-flops I have ever tried on.  They even have arch support!  I picture them being really useful this summer as I'm home on maternity leave and taking the baby (or the dogs) out for a walk.

3. Penny Loves Kenny Cami Flat - I didn't buy these, but I fell in love with them because they remind me of the shoes I wore to dance class when I was little.  I tried them on and they looked terrible on my feet but I stood and looked at them for another minute because they're just so adorable.

4. Naughty Monkey's Tiara Sandal - First, who doesn't want a shoe named after a naughty monkey and a tiara?  These shoes were a total pleasant surprise because I expected them to look terrible on my feet, but they didn't.  Even in my hot pregnant state, they looked really pretty and dainty (no easy feat, let me tell you, har har).  I didn't buy them, though, because I have no need for them and I do need to be practical about money.  (Wah.)  But they're so gorgeous; I know I'll be thinking about them for days.

So I'm all set.  Bring on the ladies and all the ooh-ing and ahhh-ing over adorable little outfits!