FRIDAY Q&A: NAP DRESSES, EXTERIOR HOUSE PROJECTS, WHEN I KNEW I WAS READY FOR A BABY, AND MORE

Happy Friday! We’ve had a few days of sunshine in CT and it’s made the biggest difference in my outlook this week. Technically we have 22 days until the start of spring but I’ll happily celebrate 35 degrees and sunny over 20 degrees and snowy right now. Maybe it’s time for me to try some kind of sun lamp? Does anyone have one and love it? Do share! Without further ado, ten of your questions from this past week!

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1. Is the Hillhouse nap dress worth it? What size do you wear? How would you style it for Easter when it’s still a little chilly here in the Northeast?

I ordered two after the most recent drop (this one and this one) and I love both! There’s not much I find both comfortable and flattering at 31 weeks pregnant but these check both boxes for me. The white is sheer so better to wear around the house but the blue can definitely be worn out and about. I ordered size XS and the smocking makes it super stretchy so I think my regular size will work through my third trimester and postpartum. I would wear it with a cashmere sweater (this, this, and this are my go-tos) over my shoulders and ballet flats or Stubbs & Wootton slippers. 

2. I wanted to ask about your ordering tile/hardware/finishes for your interior projects. Do you tend to order the materials yourself or does your contractor do it? I know you often share links to thinks on Wayfair, so wasn’t sure if that was actually where you were purchasing a lot of it. I know contractors often add a markup when they order on your behalf and I’d love to avoid that, but I’m also scared of ordering the wrong thing in the wrong quantity or something and derailing the progress! Any insight on your process would be great.

Great question! It’s been my experience that our contractor actually gets lower trade pricing with local vendors and extends that discount to us, so I’ve ordered our countertops and tile locally through his account at Ideal Tile in Stamford. I do my best to track down the same brands on Wayfair, Home Depot, etc. if possible for readers who aren’t local or are DIY-ing! And then there are super specific items that I feel much better about ordering from a showroom vs. online (for instance, I would feel confident ordering a faucet online, but I don’t trust myself to figure out which shower valve we need behind the wall), but I’ve gotten measurements from our contractor and ordered things like the vanity in my parents’ loft, cabinet hardware, and all our lighting fixtures on my own online. I guess I’d say it’s important to find a contractor you communicate well with and ask whether he or she can be flexible about where different items come from! If you’re willing to do some of the legwork on your own (either ordering online or picking things up locally), your contractor might be perfectly happy to let you manage those aspects of the project.

3. How did you find your architect and builder? I’m also in CT!

We found our architect through our realtor and our builder through our architect. I’m happy to share their information if you send me an email!

4. Can you share some of your yard plans?

Yes, I definitely will! We’re waiting on permits to be approved so I don’t want to share too much before we have a concrete game plan, but the general idea is to renovate the existing enormous and outdated pool (which takes up the vast majority of our backyard!) into a smaller rectangular pool that can accommodate an automatic pool cover (my #1 priority with little ones!) and let us reclaim some of the surrounding area to use as a stone patio and grassy area for the boys (and Rory!) to play in. Excited to start documenting once there’s more to share!

5. What does the outside of your house look like? Any renovation plans there too?

You can see glimpses of our front door here and here, but I won’t be sharing a full photo of the front exterior of our house for privacy reasons. We have a couple windows we’d like to add and part of the roofline we’d like to alter before painting the whole thing from yellow to white, but those are definitely not on our project list for 2021!

6. Ideas for a November navy bridesmaid gown that I can rewear and not break the bank?

I think this, this, this, and this are all beautiful and all under $250!

7. How did you know you were ready for a baby?

I always knew I wanted to have kids at some point, so for me it was seeing friends of ours start their families and noticing a change in myself from thinking “omg way too soon for me, I want to travel, etc.!” to thinking “aww, I can’t wait for that chapter, I’m so excited to see Will as a dad, wait I think I’m starting to feel ready.” I don’t think there’s really ever a convenient time to do something as life-altering as embarking on becoming parents but for me personally it went from something I knew I wanted sometime in the future to something I was longing for in the present.

8. Did you do anything to prepare to get pregnant? Extra vitamins, etc.?

The only thing I did both times was start taking prenatal vitamins a few months before we started trying. These are the ones I’m currently taking and they’ve been way easier to get and keep down than the ones I took during my first pregnancy (I have a code MACKENZIE for 10% off your first three months if you’re interested). I feel deep gratitude that getting pregnant isn’t something I’ve struggled with thus far and never want to come across as insensitive to anyone whose journey is taking longer than they’d like. 

9. How would you describe your parenting style?

Ever evolving! I think Will and I both absorb a lot from having my parents live with us and seeing how they interact with Teddy, but we also do a lot of reading and consulting our pediatrician on various questions that we feel like we don’t know the answers to. I think I’ll learn to trust my own intuition more with each new little one, but for right now I have no problem asking for help from people who know more than I do! I did just read this book and thought it was a great introduction to the toddler phase Teddy’s just entered into.

10. What is your most random pregnancy symptom this time around?

The one that’s killing me right now is restless leg syndrome. It sounds like one of those ailments you hear about only in TV commercials but I swear it makes it 100x harder to fall asleep at night! If anyone has any tips, I’m all ears. 🙂