Fashion Weak

I sit at my computer at 8:55 AM, in yoga pants, a wrinkled T-shirt from The Gap, and a Notre Dame hoodie. My hair is unwashed, pulled back in a low ponytail, and a headband catches the strays. I’ve had two cups of coffee and will soon head for more. The kids have gone off to daycare, the husband has gone off to school, and the day stretches before me like a cat luxuriating in a patch of sun on the living room rug.

I’m a mommy blogger. This is me in action:

And yes, a few days a week I leave the house to go to a “real” job, where I don’t actually have to get dressed up but I do dial it up a notch in the name of self respect and also just in case I have to go somewhere to represent the company. I often come out looking like this:

In this photo I was at a networking event held by Girls in Tech the other night in Santa Monica at V Lounge, which in a former life was Lush, where there was no cover on Saturday nights and a 70’s cover band let us dance on stage with them. Like I said, a former life. I must give a great big shout out to William Marc Salsberry for taking this shot, in which I was showing him (on someone else’s iPhone – I was the only jackass at the event who doesn’t have one yet) what I look like when I clean up good.

So yeah, sometimes the business of mommy blogging involves putting on street clothing and leaving my children. When I left the house to go pick up my new partner in crime, Jessica Gottlieb, Brady stood at the door sobbing. I ran away quickly, rationalizing that he would not remember. He’s not even two yet! But still, his little tear-stained face was right behind my eyelids all night, every time I blinked.

Other times I can just sit right here at my desk and be networking. As I write this post I am periodically navigating over to Twitter to add the names of the many many women (and some men) who write for the Silicon Valley Moms Blog group. So far we are an autonomous collective, led by two SV mothers who steer the ship from behind the scenes like Oz. I hooked up with them from the comfort of my sweats, but I’ll drive down the 405 to trendy bars to further the effort. Jessica and I were the only mom/bloggers at the event that I knew of, and it was great to connect with other women who use the web and social media in such different ways.

And then there are the times when I really have to get dressed up. Sometimes it’s in the name of networking, like when I attended the red carpet event for LA Moms Blog which is the branch of SV Moms Blog that I belong to. Sometimes, it’s just for fun:

At a vampire party in Silverlake, CA last weekend. The red scarf around my neck is to hide the bite marks. I am shown with Bernadette and Stacie, who both read this blog. Look! You’re famous among tens, as Kathy Griffin would say.

At a wedding 2 weekends ago. I thought I had nothing to wear to a January wedding in CT, so I pulled out this shiny number that was in the back of my closet. Turns out every other woman there wore a strapless black dress. Duh, I could’ve done that.

Thankfully my social schedule has died down a bit and now the mommy events (birthday parties, Chinese New Year Celebrations, sports class) are going to be gearing up soon, so for a little while I can retire my 3 dressy outfits and get away with battle gear as appropriate dress.

But this just in: someone has invited me to be part of a photo project about bloggers that involves getting really REALLY dressed up: “hair, makeup, wardrobe, etc.” Wouldn’t that be a great coda for this post?