goldenpig

When I saw MsMary's post about "Everything comes back around" it was so apropos, because I still have all the stuff from before my fashion hibernation, so maybe it's back in style now? And I was so tickled that I have some of the exact same pieces that she was wearing, like the bee blouse and the Burberry tote. My matchy matchy also extends to love of twinning, so here's my copycat of MsMary's two outfits and poses! And because I can't resist a theme, it's Bees and Honeycomb. The bee blouse is EmersonMade and both Mary and I rocked the pussy bow bee blouse back in the day. (Are pussy bow blouses "out" now, or can I still wear them?) The honeycomb blazer is actually from MsMary herself, I got it at a YLF swap I attended in SoCal over 10 years ago! So fun!
https://youlookfab.com/welookf.....und-part-2

If you know me, you know how much I love matchy matchy. When I have a handbag that matches my outfit perfectly, it makes me so so happy! This is why I cannot have a small capsule wardrobe and I have a hard time letting go of purses! I love having the theme/detail repeated throughout the outfit. Here I have a navy and white striped long sleeve La Ligne T-shirt, navy and white MZ Wallace bag with lobster charm, and navy stripe wide leg track pants which are new from Rag and Bone. I wore my Rag and Bone "bird poo" pajama jeans back in the early YLF days (https://youlookfab.com/welookf.....jama-jeans), so it's nice that they still make sweatpant jeans! And navy and white stripe Onizuka Tiger Mexico 66 slip on sneakers. Total comfort for mom on the go weekends, and I love being hypermatchy! It's my favorite MOTG shirt because it's casual but is slightly dressier than a plain T. I'm thinking of getting the similar La Ligne navy and white sweater (https://lalignenyc.com/product.....ords%3Ax%3)

I also like matchy matchy throwbacks to similar outfits then and now. I couldn't find a WIW of me with this exact shirt and bag, but here's another one of me with white and navy MOTG stripes with my favorite color orange thrown in with the handbag and koi fish loafers. https://youlookfab.com/welookf.....laying-koi And little boys! How funny that all of my WIW's back then had the baby toys in the background and kids underfoot. Nostalgia is bittersweet, I miss those babies!

Also, I love matchy matchy family outfits--I bought so many matching Tea Collection clothes for the kids (but that era of matching family outfits is sadly over, sigh). Throwback family Santa pic from my YLF days in 2013 with my beetle print blouse and kids all in matching Tea. We've been getting kid & family Santa pics every year, and this year the kids didn't want to do it but I made them, because I couldn't bear to have that tradition be over forever, but they were too embarrassed to let me post the pics anywhere!

In 2014 we did a family photo shoot at Baker Beach, the kids all wore Tea again and I wore a Michael Kors water print dress. I still wear that dress whenever we do family beach photos. It's stretchy and the draping is forgiving for apple shapes and it doesn't wrinkle, so it's great for travel. And it matches with the beach theme. I usually wear it with a seahorse necklace, but this time I wore a manta ray necklace with a Tahitian pearl that I got when DH and I celebrated our 25th anniversary last year by going to Rangiroa to dive with dolphins. I made DH get some couple photos with me there. I wore a Tommy Bahama dress that I also have worn for years, and I wore a traditional floral headdress.

I had planned to take family Christmas photos in 2024 at the same Baker Beach with the view of the Golden Gate Bridge (exactly 10 years later! I loved the matchiness of that), but the photographer got sick, then we got sick, and then it was raining, so the shoot got postponed three times. By the time we ended up doing it, it was in June 2025, so we ended up getting some photos of DD in her graduation gown as well. I still wore the same water dress from 10 years ago, and even made DS1 do the same flying pose!

Here's our Christmas card (with personal details redacted) so you can see just how much they've grown! DS1 is now taller than DH, and DS2 has just started his growth spurt. I can't believe how much time has flown since I first joined YLF, when DS1 was just a baby! They are 18, 15 and 12 now. DD was here for winter break, but just went back to college and I miss her already!

Hello again! Team Burgundy checking in! It's funny, I was just thinking about posting again on YLF about my new burgundy trench, and lo and behold there's a post about burgundy! It's been so long since I've been here that I'm not sure if anyone still remembers me (other than the people I kept in touch with on Facebook)! I first joined in 2011, 14.5 years ago, after I had my second child. My uniform at the time was fleece jacket, mom jeans, diaper bag and Merrell Mocs. The YLF community helped me develop my fashion sense and I had so much fun creating a whole new wardrobe. I even loved dressing up throughout my third pregnancy.

I was pretty active until about 8 years ago, but things just got busy with work and the three kids, we started investing in real estate so I couldn't keep spending a bunch of money on clothes, and then COVID hit and because I was working at the hospital during the pandemic, I started wearing scrubs all the time because they were washable (we used to come home and jump straight into the shower in the early days). Then it just became easier to wear scrubs during the day and pajamas when I got home and fleece jacket and jeans on the weekends. I was right back to where I started pre-YLF! I stopped wearing all my heels because I wanted my feet to be comfy, so I only wore sneakers and flats. Somehow over the years I gained 25 lb and a few pant sizes, blame it on aging/perimenopause maybe, but I also haven't been that diligent about diet and exercise. Although we have been pretty active with the kids, scuba diving (they're all certified and my oldest is a divemaster), and camping with the scouts (we went canoeing in the Boundary Waters this past summer). So fashion took a back seat for a long time. Can you believe my oldest just started college?

Recently I joined a Facebook group where they post WIWs in their Tieks ballet flats and it reawakened my love of matchy matchy (they love to match their shoe color to their outfits). I started wanting to make more of an effort to dress up, and pulled out some of my old outfits, but they don't all quite fit (see #1, my Kate Spade trench doesn't close anymore and the H&M plaid skirt doesn't zip up all the way). Being an apple is so annoying! My clothes fit everywhere but the waist and then people ask you if you are pregnant, womp womp. That was my last post before I signed off YLF, complaining that people kept asking if I was pregnant. Yet I'm even heavier than I was back then, ugh!

Anyways, I still like my old style for the most part, but I wanted to get some clothes that fit better. I just don't have the money or time to buy a completely new wardrobe. For a long time I've wanted to get a Burberry trench (although I was just searching the archives, and one of my first few YLF posts was "What's all the fuss about Burberry trenches?" and I said "I'd never pay $3000 for a coat!"...ok yep that didn't age well, haha). Another time I posted that if I ever were to get a Burberry trench, it would be a burgundy satin, not a soul sucking beige. Well that was prescient. I found this "mahogany red" trench on the Burberry website and was completely obsessed. It was perfect. I had to have it, even at full price. I bought two sizes, US 10 and 12, because they were the last two available on the website (besides size 0). My Kate Spade trench was a 6 and too tight, so I figured since I had grown a couple of sizes, that either 10 or 12 would fit. Well they were both too loose, even though supposedly Burberry runs small! But no US 8 available in the entire USA! I found a US 8/UK 10 on the UK Burberry website, but they would not ship to the US and the US Burberry customer service refused to help me. So I ended up buying it on the UK site and having a third party shipper send it to me, paying for shipping and extra tariffs. It ended up being my Christmas present, even though DH thinks I'm nuts for spending that much on a coat. I think it's worth it!

It's not really a keep or return (too late, tags are off!) but I am curious to know what you think of it on me? I hope the fit looks ok. It is maybe a little bit wide looking, but I think a size down would be too restrictive (anyways there aren't any smaller sizes available). I also think the color suits me more as a Deep Autumn (somehow I knew I was a Deep Autumn before because I posted about it on YLF, but I forgot about it). I recently did an AI color analysis using pic #2 and it said I was a Deep Autumn, which is good because my favorite colors are pumpkin, rust, teal, mustard, burgundy, eggplant, navy, etc. This mahogany red/burgundy color matches so much of my wardrobe.

I have a ton of burgundy stuff. Not all of it still fits perfectly, but the skirts fit if I leave it a little bit unzipped at the top (this was my trick to extending my wardrobe when I was pregnant, I managed to wear a lot of my regular stuff for quite a while during pregnancy). I do need to go through my wardrobe and sort stuff (I still have most of my stuff from the YLF days 10-14 years ago!) and pack some of it away. But I don't want to completely get rid of everything just yet, because I'm starting to work on my health again this year and I may be able to lose some weight and fit into my favorites. For now, I've refreshed my jeans wardrobe (Rag and Bone sweatpant jeans are still a thing, hallelujah!) and bought a new burgundy plaid skirt similar to my previous one in a larger size. I may go back and find some of my favorite pieces on Poshmark/eBay in a larger size too. I've been shopping Nordstrom, Amazon, Saks etc. and clothes shopping is not easy. My size is all over the place, I've had to buy and return so much (I brought two big bags back to Nordstrom today)! I'm anywhere from a small to a large!

One of my 2026 goals is to start wearing more "real" outfits from my closet. I've dug out my closet and am starting to wear some things I bought in the larger size but never got around to wearing (like the dress in #4/5). And I found my Burberry purse, and it's also Mahogany! And I found Burberry ballet flats with burgundy stripes on DSW. I'm in matchy matchy heaven (if you don't know me, that's like one of my signature style rules)! And I bought some cherry red platform Doc Martens to edge up my feminine outfits, I like the contrast of urban warrior princess. But I also like cutesy Kawaii like Tokidoki Jujube diaper bags (which I still use even though we are long past the diaper days).

Anyways here are some of my burgundy outfits, most of this stuff is old but I threw these on so I could see what still fits--doing a burgundy post was motivation for me to start the closet edit process. They are not fully styled with jewelry and everything, but which of these outfits work (or don't work)? Can stuff I bought 10 years ago still be in style? Is UWP and RATE Kate Spade still in? I seem to remember someone else had a teal Burberry trench--was it Janet? I missed you Angie and YLF, I know I've been a fashion zombie, but it's nice to be back from the dead!
Natalie (goldenpig)

I haven't been posting here in a while, but I had to come back to post a tribute to one of my first and favorite fashion designers/icons. I was so sad to learn of Kate Spade's death. When I joined YLF in 2011, I was wearing either fleece, mom jeans and Mocs, or maternity clothes even though I had given birth 1.5 years prior, just because I didn't have anything that was up to date. One of the first designer purchases I made was this Kate Spade polka dot dress, and it transformed how I looked at myself. I developed more confidence, revamped my wardrobe and even developed a new style persona (Demure Bombshell), heavily influenced by Kate Spade. I loved the polished ladylike style with a sense of fun and whimsy. I have a big collection of her novelty purses! Even though my style has gone in a new direction (adding UWP and RATE elements), I still come back to colorful, fun and ladylike as my main style. I am so sad for her family, especially her 13 year old daughter. Even though she seems like she was so successful and had it all and had such a sunny persona, you never know what someone is going through. Personally, I have had at least 5 or 6 people close to me suffer from depression/mental illness, and one family member who had a suicide attempt and a friend who did kill herself. Mental illness is so common and it doesn't discriminate. If you are suffering, please reach out for help. It is treatable, even if it is a long and hard road. If you aren't dealing with those issues, someone you know is, even if you aren't aware of it. Please reach out to those who might need help. Ask how they are doing and listen. 
All my love,
Goldenpig (Natalie)

I haven’t bought new clothes in a long time, but still enjoy wearing and remixing my old clothes. Some oldies but goodies: my Tory Burch beetle shirt and dragonfly necklace, and my H&M floral pants that my husband called clown pants because of how loud they are (in his opinion!). The turquoise sweater is old and pilled, but was a great color match and kept me warm on a rainy day. Also orange always makes me smile!

Should I get rid of this sweater--does it make me look pregnant?

I'm sorry to sound like a broken record, but I keep getting stupid comments about me being pregnant. This time one of my coworkers thought it would be hilarious to tell another coworker I was pregnant so coworker B came up and congratulated me and said he heard I was expecting. Then Coworker A came and told Coworker C (in front of me), "Did you hear what evil person B did? He was saying that Dr. N was preg...." I angrily told him to stop and that it wasn't funny. But the stupid thing is that then I cried because I was so upset and angry at him. I'm so embarrassed that I cried at work. It stings because one of the doctors is actually pregnant--not me! I am so sick and tired of these comments. It's not just him, my patients ask me this at least once or twice a month. One of my other coworkers asked me this (not in a joking way, he was serious). Even my own 4 year old patted my tummy recently and said "Is there anyone in there?" (ETA: I'm not mad at anyone except for coworker A, because he did it on purpose to make fun of me--he is known for playing practical jokes on all the staff, but they are sometimes a bit inappropriate or offensive).

I'm not overweight or obese, I have a normal BMI. Yes I have a tummy, I had three babies so I don't have a perfect bikini body. I don't have much time to exercise because I'm so busy with kids and work. When I'm on call, I'm often working until midnight and last week I was up till 3 am one night because of emergency procedures.

I am trying to eat better and exercise when I can, but short of getting plastic surgery (which I don't want to do because of potential risks of complications, since I have kids, who ironically are the source of my issue), how can I get these comments to stop? It's really wearing me down and making me feel bad about myself. It doesn't seem to matter whether I wear loose baggy clothes or fitted clothes (it's way worse when my clothes are fitted). I don't want to starve myself or spend all my free time at the gym (I try to do exercise videos at home after the kids are in bed, but lately I've been having to catch up on my charting at night). When I'm done with work, I'd rather spend two or three hours with my kids before they go to bed instead of staying late to go to the gym. Sorry to unload, but I am so demoralized and need a shoulder to cry on!

Hi YLF, it's been ages since I posted, mostly because I've been so super busy with work and the kids, but also because I haven't been in a real fashion mood for a long time now because of my spare tire. I'm about 20 lb up in the past 4.5 years since baby #3, and carrying it all in my midsection. I still get asked if I'm pregnant a lot by my patients. Even last week my 4 year old son patted my tummy and said "Mama, is there anyone in there?" Ugggh. It's extra annoying because one of the other docs I work with IS actually pregnant right now, yet I'm the one getting all the pregnant questions. I had to really thin out my closet with a lot of things I still like, but don't fit any more. I lost maybe half my closet. But I don't feel like shopping for "fat" clothes so I have just been making do with what I have. Even today I tried two dresses on and realize I can't wear them any more because of the belly pooch. I tried a bunch of stuff on for NAS, but the only thing I kept was this black pleated skirt. Nothing else looked good on me. 

I know I need to get stricter with my diet (ever since November I've been in a constant state of frustration at all the disasters and the evil things happening in the world, and probably sheetcaking in response). I also need to get in better shape, but never seem to have the time to exercise. I've been on call for the past week and basically working from 7 am to midnight every day. I come home and barely see my kids for an hour before they go to bed and then finish dictations and charting. Cannot wait for Friday when I'm off call and have a day off...to go to the dentist and volunteer at school! I think it's been extra busy this week because some of the nearby hospitals closed due to the wildfires, so more patients are getting transferred here. We are safe but our thoughts are with those who are affected. It was super smoky around here for the past week--the air quality was supposedly as bad as Beijing. Kids had to stay indoors for recess (they even cancelled school Friday). Outdoor activities like swimming and soccer were cancelled all of last week and got cancelled again today. My daughter is trying to convince the school to let her hold a bake sale for the fire victims (she organized one two years ago for the Valley fire victims).

We were really stressed out because a couple weeks ago, our black cat Cranberry (who is normally a 100% indoor cat) disappeared when a worker that came to the house left the door open and she ran out. We could not find her all day and night even searching up and down the whole neighborhood (DH says he saw someone call the cops on him because he was wandering around with a flashlight looking under people's houses!). We even posted a lost cat flyer on Nextdoor. I thought she was gone for good, especially when I saw a coyote in our backyard! DH camped out in a tent in the backyard all night to watch for her and she finally came back at 5 in the morning! Happy ending--we and the kids are so relieved and her brother Melon is so glad to have her back too.

Anyways, I thought I'd show a glimmer of my old fashion sense so that you don't think I've completely dropped off the face of the earth! In my usual M.O. of light/dark ladylike vs. shadow persona dressing, I wore the same outfit in Kate Spade vs. UWP versions. One with pastel pink cashmere sweater with white tulle skirt for a mom's night out to see Hamlet, and then a grey/black pleated skirt version. And threw in a matchy matchy cat and cat purse (#6) just for fun. I love it when my accessories match. I'm so glad to have her back. And yes I confess, I'm totally sucking it in for the pics. ;)

Everlane pink cashmere sweater
Bailey 44 white tulle skirt
Halogen blush studded flats
Charming Charlie rose gold flower necklace
Stella and Dot rose gold thorn bracelet
Kate Spade cat purse

Theory grey sweater
Vince black pleated midi skirt
Topshop sandals
Michael Kors studded satchel
Hospital $5 jewelry sale necklace
Spring St. bracelet

My daughter and I celebrated International Women's Day by wearing red and pink and reading about "Rad Women Worldwide." My daughter's favorite hero is Malala, because "she was the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize and because she is brave and wants all girls to be able to go to school." Bonus pic of her at age 4 (she has been picking her own outfits since she was a toddler)...this pic totally captures her. She is fierce, independent, and unstoppable! #girlpower

The first three pics are pre-Nov 8...more fun colors and patterns. And you saw my colorful election outfit here: http://goldenpig.lookfab.com/p.....ction-week. Since then I still feel like I'm in a major funk. Like I'm in a bad dream. Each day reading the news makes me more depressed and scared for the future of our country. Been picking mostly black and drab colors and comfy casual cardigans and combat boots and wearing outfits multiple days in a row so I don't have to think about what to wear. Despite trying to watch my diet and exercising at Orangetheory and Dailey Method (though not as often as I should because of my busy work and kid schedule) I've gained 20 lb over the last 3-4 years. I'm now at my heaviest weight ever. If it was evenly distributed it wouldn't be so bad, but it's all in one place...my food baby. Ugh. I sort of feel like I've "let myself go" in terms of both my body and my attention to dressing. A lot of my clothes don't fit anymore and it's a constant struggle to conceal my apple belly. I really need to do a major edit to my closet, but I can't bring myself to do the purge of shame and take several hours to try on everything and pull out all the things that are too tight now. It feels overwhelming from both a time and emotional standpoint. And I don't have the time or inclination to shop for new clothes right now. So tired too. Been working really hard but always behind on charting. And the house is a cluttered mess. I just want to be caught up with everything for once! Sorry I haven't been posting as much lately and for the pity party. But onward and upward...I hope 2017 will be a better year for all of us!

1. Kate Spade typewriter bag and matching Vince Camuto polka dot tube skirt
2. Olive tee and gold boots with floral Fossil satchel
3. "Clown pants" floral H&M pants
4. Halogen cardigan and Paige jeans...the one pair of jeans that still fits right now. :(
5. Vince Caumto tube skirt (thank God I bought a bunch of stretchy skirts back then!).
6-9. My first political protest! The energy was amazing and it was uplifting to see so many unite against hate!
10-13. Betabrand poo emoji dress. Emblematic of my world lately...just a giant pile of poo! LOL. Perfect theme dress for work too. I even paired the poo dress with a fly bracelet. But no one at work noticed the dress all day until I finally pointed out the pattern. Then they thought it was hilarious!
14-15. The blouse is gaping at the bust (maybe because of my weight gain) and the pants are too long, but at least they match the Burberry purse.
16-18. Today I pulled out my old Eileen Fisher track joggers and it was a revelation! Hallelujah! Finally something that isn't constantly digging into my waist! And it's been an Arctic chill in the Bay Area, down to the 40's! Time to bust out the pewter puffer and the rest of my puffer collection!

Bonus family/kiddo pics:
19-20. DH and I were both on call on Thanksgiving, but he managed to cook a whole Thanksgiving meal while still working on call from home! Then I had to go in to the hospital at 11 pm to pull a piece of turkey that was stuck in someone's esophagus. Happens every year post-Thanksgiving! At least DS2 was enjoying his turkey drumstick...
21. DS1 lost his two front teeth! Just in time for Christmas! Now he can sing that song...
22. DD and her letter to Santa, asking for "my OWN bedroom" (triple underlined), among other demands...hope she isn't too disappointed that Santa can't bring her everything on her list! ;)

We always like to take the kids with us when we vote, so they can see the importance of civic duty in action (and they love to get their "I voted" stickers). So we don't do absentee ballots and go to the polls as a family on Election Day. (See prior post on primary day, when DS2 was upset that we told him we were "going boating" but he didn't get to ride in a boat: http://goldenpig.lookfab.com/p.....ng-boating). I was too fat to fit in my pantsuit anymore :P so instead I wore my most patriotic outfit with red, white and blue, complete with glasses necklace and red spiked Wonder Woman cuff (because women can be smart and tough at the same time). DD liked her President Barbie (she said she wants to switch the glasses to the Asian one so it will look like her). The kids were so excited to vote with us. Not going to lie, we were all completely shocked at the results (especially given where we live). The next day I wore all black in mourning. Then today I decided to wear all white in honor of the suffragists who fought to get women the right to vote, and to symbolize hope for the future. Circle bracelet to symbolize that we are all interconnected, and necklace with the initials of my children to remind myself who I am fighting for to make this world a better place! (First thing I did was make a donation to my local women's domestic violence shelter). We can all do this together!

PS I'd also like to introduce our new kittens Melon and Cranberry (Cranberry is the black and white one). They are brother and sister. I wanted to adopt the third sibling Peach so that each of the kids could have a cat, but DH put his foot down and said two was plenty. :( They are quite the basket of adorables, though! :)