Here's the last of the cool mom series! Did I mention dresses are my favorite garment? Well they are! With the right length and coverage, they can definitely be part of mom fashion.

I chose a loose drape dress with a strap in the same fabric as a belt. The loose fit can appear baggy but the strap tie cinches the waist to give the outfit more shape. The dress is very comfortable and there is lots of room to move around in.

The straw hat works very well with the pattern on the dress. Together with the mirror sunglasses they make a statement pulling together the whole outfit with a divine late summer vibe.

A light-weight stroller with a colorful canopy is perfect accessory for a petite mom like me who like to be fashionable and chic with the little one!  

Which of the five cool mom outfit is your favorite? Let me know in the comments below! Till next time!

Dress: H&M - Similar here

Hat: Forever 21 - Similar here

Sunglasses: Sunglass.LA - Here

Watch: Feral - Here

Bracelet: isensp - Here

Shoes: George - Similar here

Stroller: Britax - Here

I like simplicity when it comes to being a mom. With a sweater and denim shorts I breeze through the day comfortably. It can be boring, however, with such a combo. I like to give my outfit a bit of a twist!

This top I bought from the Frank + Oak warehouse sale I've been wanting to share with you. The material is quite nice and thick though that I think is more suitable for cooler fall weather. The design is very simple with a small surprise slit at the back. As beautiful as it is, I think it's probably better for it to be in another color when working with kids; especially kids with spaghetti and red meat sauce *lol*.

The focus of my outfit today is my statement pair of shiny metallic platform shoes. They are how I kept my outfit fun and youthful. I was eyeing another plain metallic shoes. When I saw these Stella-McCartney-lookalike with star details, it was kind of love-at-first-sight. Who doesn't love stars? They are so much fun! I threw in my glam with these lovelies and they work perfectly well with the casual weekend look. I felt like a rock star wearing them because they were attracting the eyes and attention! I'm definitely going to play with them and see if I can work with them with the dressed up's.

Do you like my cool mom outfit #4? How do you wear your glammed shoes? One more cool mom outfit next for the last of the cool mom series! Stay tuned!

Top: Frank + Oak - Similar here and here

Denim shorts: Garage - Similar here

Shoes: Top Rated Footware Plaza Store - Here or Stella McCartney - Here

Watch: Feral - Here

Bracelet: isensp - Here

Sunglasses: Sunglass.LA - Here

 

Pants are best friends for parents who run around with their children. They provide maximum comfort and there is no worry about having a "show off". For the remainder of summer, instead of shorts, opt for capris/Bermuda pants like I did! They are a bit longer and transition easily into cooler fall weather!

I chose a salmon red capris for the color pop. The relaxed fit matched with a plain loose black crop top gives a spark of laidback vibe in the outfit. I love mixing red against black as they compliment each other so well and makes the red stand out so much more. If you are more conservative, a plain tee would also work well a chill relaxed look.

Footwear is of course another consideration when chasing after children. Comfort is key. I completed my look with a pair of pointy flats to dress the capris up and focused on a more feminine look.

What do you think of this combo? Let me know in the comments below! More cool mom outfits on the way! Stay tuned. Till next time!

Cargo pants: Suzy Shier - Here

Top: Urban Planet - Similar here and here

Sunglasses: Sunglass.LA - Here

Watch: Feral - Here

Bracelet: Jisensp - Here

Shoes: George - Similar here

Baby doll dresses are one of my favorite garments. They are super cute and SO easy to style in many ways. They are flattering on all body types as they hide away areas of concerns many people have, such as the not-so-toned tummy, hips and thighs. You don't have to be thin to look good and sexy in a baby doll dress. They are comfortable and chic for anyone including, as the second part of this series, moms! You can most definitely look like a chic stylish mom in one. Baby doll dresses are, not surprisingly, great as maternity clothing! They are a lifesaver and also money-saver when you are expecting a bundle of joy! I remember living in them when I was pregnant with my baby. Many think that Baby doll dresses ARE maternity clothes, but I disagree! Let's talk about how to pull off baby doll dresses without looking preggers and frumpy!

1. Choose the right length

I believe the perfect length to don a baby doll dress is just above the knees. This length along with the empire waistline accentuates the best parts of your body, great busts and the most slender part of the legs. Baby doll dresses are very flowy and hence making them very sweet and feminine. Too short of the length would heighten the risk for a "show off" on a gusty day with the exaggerating flare. Having them just above the knees expresses your sophistication with a hint of sexiness.

To solve the show-off problem, you can pair your baby doll dress with fitted pants or leggings and wear it like a top, like how I did for my first look! It also make you worry-free of wardrobe malfunction with you are chasing after your toddler! 

2. Finding the proper shoes

If you don't have a little one to running around with, heels and pumps make excellent combo with a baby doll dress for a more mature flirty look. Otherwise, flats are great for all seasons, as well as kitten heels like the ones I have. The white fitted denim pants created a more mature vibe, so I chose a black pair with white polka dots to keep it fun and youthful. It's a plus that the polka dots also compliment the pearl details on my dress. 

For my second look, I just wore my baby doll dress as is. I decided to have fun with my footwear and went with a metallic gladiator sandals. They are perfect to run around in and breezy enough for the late summer weather. I love how the straps extend up to just below the knees providing an illusion of extra coverage. When the weather becomes cooler, you can easily transition your baby doll dress outfit by switching to boots! Knee-high boots or over-the-knee boots are my favorite to pair with a baby doll dress to elongate my petite body. Again, opt for shorter or flat heels for increased comfort when working with your little ones!

3. Glam up... Slightly!

Put on a little bit of make up! No need for it to be heavy; natural nude makeup is sufficient enough to avoid the "morning sickness" look. Add some detail and glam to your outfit with small metallic accessories. I prefer minimal jewelries when I'm playing with my little one (you can't really have many anyways as kids just LOVE to pull on them!). A strappy watch with gold detail like the one I have provides the perfect touch!

Have you (mom or not ;)) tried the baby doll dress? Give it a go and fall in love! I'd love to hear your experience with the dresses and how you style them! Let me know in the comments below! More mom outfits coming up next! Stay tuned. Till next time!

Baby doll dress: Zara - Similar here and here

White denim pants: Memeilily Online Store - Here

Polka dots shoes: Minnie Mouse for Payless - Similar here

Gladiator sandals: YX Girl - Here

Watch: Feral - Here

Sunglasses: Sunglass.LA - Here

Bracelet: Jisensp - Here

  

 

Summer days are full on right now and what's better than spending some quality time with some fam jam at the park? Now that my little toddler monster is running around, a park with a large open field is our favorite place to go. Planning an outfit that is chic and flexible enough to move in can be challenging when you have a little one trying to pull you out the door! I've already established that I do not wish to be in yoga clothes all day everyday, so I gotta come up with something easy. I'm going to share with you in the next few posts about how I like to dress like a cool mom!

I played with the culotte trend again and this time I chose a much heavier fabric: denim. The dense fabric gives the culotte more structure and shape. This helps open up the legs and allow airflow. With a little bit of breeze, a denim culotte wasn't too bad on a hot day at all even with all the chasing after a toddler!

I balanced the heavy culotte with a light flowy crop top with lace/crochet details on the chest and the sleeves. They were also another outlet for me to cool off! The white against light blue denim is a classic summery combo with a youthful cheery vibe. I love the design of the flare sleeves. They give the outfit a feminine touch. This top can actually be worn as an off-the-shoulder. I decided to keep it as a scooped neck so that it's easier to move around in.

I've always had anxiety donning the crop tops (and still do!). I, like many others, feel intimidated on how much skin would show with their short lengths, especially after now rocking with a post-baby waist and belly! I've since then learned to play with bottoms with higher waistlines. High-waisted bottoms allow me to dip my toes into the world of crop tops in a more subtle way without going overboard, or simply feel "fat". It provides a peek-a-boo effect that only show a small glimpse of my tummy. 

I completed the look with a dainty gold necklace and similarly small bracelet to add a bit of shine and glam. Minimal accessories is sometimes a necessity when working with a toddler! We'll discuss about that some other time!

See how I styled another culotte here.

Do you think this is the way to go for a cool mom? Let me know in the comments below! Till next time!

Top: H&M - Similar here

Culotte: DYYZLL - Here

Sandals: American Eagle - Similar here

Bracelet: Shuangshuo - Here

Necklace: Zhenshecai - Here

Sunglasses: Armani Exchange - Similar here





Just this past weekend I hosted a birthday party for my son. Can't believe he's already 2! Where did the time go? I took the opportunity of the Harry Potter 20th Anniversary recently and made the party a Harry Potter theme. Guess what? It's actually Harry's birthday this past Sunday too! What a coincidence ;) I'm gonna show you today how I pulled everything off!

Almost all of the decoration I personally made myself with help from Google and Pinterest. There are so many creative people out there that I admire so much! Every decoration I made was like mini projects on their own and I had so much fun with them!

The banner above I made simply with Microsoft Words. I wanted to have the banner with Gryffindor house colors. I just searched "Gryffindor color flag" and this just conveniently came up. I copied and pasted the picture 13 times (there are 13 letters in "happy birthday"!) and added word art of the "happy birthday" letters on them. Didn't take me that long at all. Then I simply cut them out and taped them on 2 pieces of black yarn cut the length I wanted on the fireplace. On hindsight, I totally should have had "happee birthdae" instead like how Hagrid spells it! That would have made it more fun!

The Hogwards Express 9 3/4 sign was another easy picture find thanks to Google. I typed "9 3/4 black sign" and multiple sign showed up. Originally I was just going to have a horizontal one taped on the wall. But since I have an accent brick wall at home, I thought having a more authentic sign like the one in the movie would be cool. With the sign sticking out of the wall, I needed something more structured. I took some cardboard boxes and cut them out the shape of a printed sign. I then hot-glued it perpendicularly to another small piece of cardboard. Voila! It became a decent looking train station sign! Hanging it was a bit tricky since taping didn't work well. I ended up putting a small thumb tag between the cracks and made a small hole on the sign so that I could hang it.

The Hogwards flag took quite a bit of patience! I knew I couldn't find one with a super awesome resolution because of copyrights. I took the best/biggest picture of it that I could find and blew it up with Photoshop. I printed it in small sections and taped them together. It turned out a lot better than I thought! Most definitely if you look very closely, you can tell it's paper taped together. So I decided to put the food table right in front of it to keep people from walking too close. Problem solved ;)



I added some detail to the fireplace with these little cuties from IKEA. Small decorative flasks, bottles Here and candle holder Here with feathers I found at the dollar store. It gives my home a little bit more like a Hogwarts classroom!

 

This is an authentic ward I got from Harry Potter world at Universal Orlando! It's been sitting on the fireplace since we got back from our trip in June. Looks a bit lonely on its own so I decided to put a baby Hedwig on top of it! I squee'ed just looking at it. It's so adorable. Thank you TY for making such loving stuffed animals!

 



I didn't have flying owls unfortunately at the party so this is the best I could do. A mobile made of Acceptance letters for Harry! I used a template here. All I needed to do was type in the name and address, cut it up and hang with fish wire on a large craft ring from the dollar store. Aren't they lovely?

A way to keep folks from enter my hell of messiness upstairs. A simple find on Google again, cut and hung with black yarn.

  

A good feast is what every Gryffindor loves! We had a potluck and there was so much food, but here's what the table looked like before more food came in! *laugh* I had the table set up with the Gryffindor house color. I used a black table cloths with a red one folded as a runner. I taped a printed Gryffindor flag at the end of the table as added detail.

I used a triple planter from the dollar store as a utensil holder. The tin made the table look a bit more rustic, which I loved. The plate 4-tier stand is second handed but it works so well for parties like this. It saved me a lot of space too on the table!

The beverage dispenser set from London Drugs is at a very affordable price. I had citrus water and pumpkin juice in them. I love how they had a chalkboard plate for me to label what's inside. Here is the recipe for the pumpkin juice I made.

 

 

 

 

Costco Wholesale is also a friend at parties! Appies and food bought in bulk made things so much easier and cheaper. I made pumpkin pastries to go with the theme (recipe here). The mini chicken tacos were so cute and the spring rolls were actually pretty delicious! The honey garlic chicken wings could have been better! Next time I would use finely cropped garlic instead and add more salt for the marinate. Recipe here. I bought a pre-marinated pork ribs because I ran out of time and threw it in the Instant Pot to reduce the cook time. Turned out not too bad I suppose?



 

Party City is an awesome party supply store was a recent-found gem. What's better? It's 10 minutes from home! There I found these cute containers for my Honey Duke Shop candy bar and beautiful fun plates and napkins. They were perfect for my theme!

T&T Supermarket is doing so much better with their bakery. Look at this beautiful cake! I looked around for a Chocolate Gateau as it was mentioned a couple times during Harry's feasts at Hogwarts. Most of the chocolate cakes I found didn't have the glazed finish and they were quite pricy. This cake was both within my budget and fits my style! They called it "Ganache". It's not exactly a chocolate gateau but I think it passed as one... And it was chocolaty and yummy too! This I had them write on the cake "Happee Birthdae" just like Harry's cake from Hagrid!

 

My fur babies also seemed to have enjoyed the party too! We had so much fun and we thank our guests for coming again and spoiled our little wizard. Happy birthday to my little pea!