A day in my pants - That Pencil Skirt

A day in the life of a working mom is filled with twists and turns. You never know when you’ll have a spare minute where you can rush out to a music class, you don’t always know when you’ll have to run to a Doctor appointment or when you’ll be invited to drinks that you can actually make, and that important meeting or introduction in the office could happen at any minute. M.M.LaFleur has been one of my favorite workwear brands for a long time because of how personalized and accessible their Bento Box experience is, but I recently discovered how to style their pieces in a more casual way. I am often in a dilemma where I need to be casual, formal, professional and trendy in a given day and M.M. Casual has provided me with the ultimate solution for clothes that get me through my day… MY WHOLE DAY – no matter the twists and turns.

To show you what I mean by this, I kept a journal from a “typical” day I had last week so you can see where I went and what I did in my MM.LaFleur Rio Top and Oshima Pant (two of my go to’s).

ALSO – you can use code thatpencilskirt50 to receive $50 off your first M.M. LaFleur purchase including what I’m wearing below!

5:30AM

I’m not sure if it’s a blessing or a curse that I am a morning person. On most days my alarm goes off and I jump out of bed anxious to start the day (weird.. I know). Scarlett wakes up at around 6:30, so in order to spend quality time with her in the morning, I like to shower and get dressed before she wakes up. Today, I have a jam packed day so want to reserve time to do my hair nicely instead of throwing it in a messy low bun (my signature work look). I throw on my M.M.LaFleur Oshima pants because they are comfortable and go well with 60% of the tops in my closet. They’re a dark navy, which I prefer to black. Reserving my mental energy for the day ahead..

6:20AM

Jason and I race to take Scarlett out of bed. We hear her talking to herself saying “Elmoooo… Elmooo.” She dreams of Elmo and we literally hear her say “Elmo” through the monitor ~20 times a night. Both of us want to be the first to take her out of her crib because it is the sweetest moment of the day, but Jason wins. He brings her – still in her sleep sack – into our room and plops her into our bed. Comfy Oshima pants are on so I can crawl back in bed and cuddle with her for 30 minutes.

7:00AM

I feed Scarlett her bottle and start my job as a line chef in the kitchen. A scrambled egg and some frozen pancakes I made yesterday for Scarlett, an egg over easy with two Van’s waffles for me, and scrambled eggs and avocado toast for Jason. Scarlett conveniently reaches over and grabs the avocado off of Jason’s plate and smushes it in her hands. I pick her up out of the high chair not realizing that her left palm is filled with avocado. She also knocks over the half drank bottle and milk spills all over my Oshima pants. A little dish soap and water takes the mess out of the M.M.LaFleur Rio Top, but TG the whole outfit is machine washable – so it will be good as new by tomorrow.

8:00AM

Scarlett enters the torture chamber known as her changing table and I wrestle to get her dressed.

8:30AM

Our nanny shows up and Jason and I walk out the door for work together. We part ways and I decide to walk the rest of the way to work instead of taking the train since it’s nice out.

9:35AM

5 minutes late for my first meeting of the day that happens to be with my boss… and his boss. I’m presenting something important Thankfully, I have a blazer thrown over my chair that I forgot to take home the night before. Thankfully, this bright blue M.M.LaFleur Rio top looks fab under it. It’s so important to look professional when you are trying to impress your boss. Professional doesn’t have to be boring, though, so I love this bold color. Meeting goes well, phew.

12PM

After sending some emails, I rush out to meet an art entrepreneur for lunch. I don’t forget to take the blazer off 🙂 and I throw on a cool looking open toe sandal to transition the Oshima pants and Rio top to look less corporate. We meet at the Whitby Hotel, which has great food and even better people watching. She wants to talk about how we could collaborate together and has some interesting people she may be able to introduce me to. Not the right moment to look too “formal and finance” but the color and cut of this top keep me looking trendy.

3:00PM

Take a call from an accountant who I have partnered with before on the road. Try to be discreet that I am standing in front of Bergdorf Goodman and not sitting at a desk. I pick up some mascara I ran out of after the call.

4:45PM

Scarlett’s weekly music class is held on her friend’s terrace. I hop in a Via and rush over to join the class. It’s me sitting cross-legged on the floor next to five of my friends and their babies. We have Kenny Loggins in the background, the New York skyline around us and babies crawling and running around out of our reach – perfect time for wine. There is one friend I want to talk about business with so we walk out together and stroll around with the babes for a few extra blocks so we can talk. I threw on a pair of sneakers so I don’t look overly dressy to be hanging out with a bunch of babies.

6:00PM

Dinner, bath and bedtime for Scarlett. Our nanny stays to help so I can finish up some emails for the day. Aside from a little Aquaphor that I accidentally get on my pants from Scarlett’s after bath rub down, my outfit from the day still looks okay to wear out for dinner.

7:00PM

The baby is about to go to sleep and Jason and I decide to go out for a date night. The open toe sandals make this top and pants look perfect for a hot date – or not so hot if you take into account that we’re currently staying with my parents while our apartment is under construction 🙂 We head to my all time favorite restaurant on the Upper East Side, Le Charlot. I throw on a little lipstick on the walk. We debrief over tuna tartar, Cajun chicken, more wine… and a strawberry tart (my favorite)

9:00PM

Home in time to watch the Game of Thrones finale (no, it’s not live, we just haven’t had any time to watch it since it was released two weeks ago.) I throw my M.M.LaFleur pants and top in the hamper – because YES, the whole thing is machine washable and will look brand new after a run in the laundry machine – and get ready for bed.