WEEK 27 of PREGNANCY




 Fashion tips: It's hot right now in Florida. Add the fact that you are pregnant and you are on fire. I am glad we have a/c in our office so I can still wear something with long sleeves and be somewhat casual professional. I found this dress at Marshalls and it's one of these dresses that I feel I will be wearing even after pregnancy. www.marshallsonline.com/
I paired the dress with some sandals - open toe. Let me tell you about what happens to your feet when you are pregnant.


Swollen Feet during Pregnancy 

My boss who just had a baby had warned me. Your feet and your ankle will be so swollen you can hardly differentiate your body parts. Top it with the hot weather the past week my feet had swollen at a point that I can't wear closed shoes. They just don't fit, they rub against my skin and they are just uncomfortable. I don't even try to wear heels anymore. With my back problems it was advised to wear flats with cushion or support.  So my tips for fashion during pregnancy is to buy a nice pair of flat sandals that have some type of support and buy half size bigger so if you feet get bigger during the day you still have room!!!


Raw Vegan Lasagne

This is going to be known as one of my best recipes. First I want to say that this is an adaptation to a Zucchini and Green Zebra Tomato Lasagne that appears on the recipe book Raw Food, Real World by Matthew Kenney and Sarma Melngailis. I will mention through out the recipe if I take some of the sauces from them. I have made many similar recipes to this one before even reading about their version. If you think about it, it’s a carpaccio with zucchini (popular in Italy) or a caprese without the cheese. Though they really take a step forward making it an entree that is superb. I would recommend anyone to buy their book. It taught me a lot in terms of grains, nuts, natural sugar products, etc.



This is a pretty time consuming recipe for a raw lasagne:) You need to make 3 different sauces. I am writing here my adaptation.
1 Sauce Marinate
Fresh herbs from my organic garden (oregano, Italian and Greek basil, parsley, rosemary, thyme, one leaf of arugula, clove of garlic). These herbs must be chopped finely. You can use a half moon or blender or knife. Add half lemon juice. Cover with olive oil, extra virgin. Add salt and pepper and put on a side.
2 Sauce Ricotta Like (Taken from the Book)
2 cups of pine nuts; 2 tablespoons lemon juice; 2 table spoons nutriotinal yeast; 1 teaspoon sea salt; 6 tablespoons filtered water. I personally added some other type of nuts because I did not have a lot of pine nuts.
“Place the pignoli nuts, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times, until throughly combined, Gradually add the water and process until the texture becomes fluffy, like ricotta” (p. 174). 
3 Sauce Tomato
one cup of sun dried tomatoes including the oil they come with; one big spoon of chopped red onion, one small red tomato chopped, some lemon juice and olive oil. Add 1/4 cup of cured black olives in salt (Greek ones). I also added some small pieces of a lemon. Yes a lemon not its juice.;)
Mix all ingredients in a blender or mixer until you get a sauce that reminds of gazpacho. 
4. For the assemble:
One zucchini

3 different types of tomatoes: one green, one black, and one yellow. They are expensive. I pay 6 dollars for one!! But they are so beautiful and good. 
Slice the zucchini with a peeler along the side. They need to be very thin and long. Do this until you are done. Place in a bowl with the first sauce to marinate. Leave some sauce for decoration (one big spoon).
Slice the tomatoes thin. Set aside.
Now take a nice beautiful plate. In the middle lay 2 zucchini next to each other. Top with the sauce #2, then Sauce #3; top with tomatoes (probably 2 at the time, so you can do one green, one yellow, etc). Top the tomatoes with the zucchini and keep going until all ingredients are gone. Top with sauce #1, basil leaves, fennel, and arugula. 
For more pictures refer to the old post on my food blog
Geometric Shape




Geometric prints and shapes will be in for a while and they do transition very well into other seasons.
So how do you pull them off?

1). Don't over do it. Pick one item like pants that has geometric shapes and be more conservative on the top.

2). If you are one of the IT girl you could possible pull off an 'all geometric' outfit, but I am telling you for most of us regular girls, only do one item per outfit, unless you want to look like Arlecchino.

3). You can use geometric prints to your advantage by hiding perhaps wide hips, heavy bottom, or vice versa. For example if you have pronounced breast opt for a bottom (skirt or pants) that have a geometric print while leave the top with a neutral and solid color.






Color jeans





If you live in Florida forget about wearing jeans in Spring or Summer or Fall. I pack my pair of jeans in April and don't get them out until December. And this is because I live in North Florida. But if you live in a cool or normal city you really can go funky, chic, and crazy with colored jeans. I like prints on jeans or very earth tone colors, like the ones from Conleys. I am sure you can find a similar pair everywhere or you could even try to dye your own. The supermarket sells color dye, although I tried one time and made a huge mess.

If you are concerned about the environment like me here a list of sites that focus on fare trade and green practices

1. Battilion: the garments they sell are made with organic fabrics, hemps, and organic wool. They sell a variety of styles from casual to professional work outfits. 

2. Kuyichi: They use organic cotton, recycled organic fabric, plastic, and alternative fabrics like hemp.

3. The Reformation - Love love love this brand. I will write a post about them soon because they are to die for.





Stripes Dresses: Outfit for the office 

Stripes





I am obsessed with stripes. There was a period in my life that no matter which store I would enter I would be drawn to stripes clothes, even if it was the same stripe t-shirt I just had bought in another store.

Stripes are not even easy to wear because horizontal stripes on the top can make you look bigger than you are and even stretch your breast. Yes, you could look like you have really horizontal long boobs. 

TIPS: Try stripes clothes at the store. If you are boo sty, you might want to avoid big stripes on tops. Go for thinner stripes and avoid tops without zippers in the front. 

Striped dresses for work are a must have in the summer. I bought one at Zara made out of silk and I just love wearing it with black ballet shoes and a clutch. It's perfect. 

This one is from Zara too from the new collection. The shoes are ugly. 


This is the one I have by Zara but I don't pair with these ugly yellow shoes. 

Pregnant friends: believe it or not I can hide my belly with stripes. I wear the dress above and it just looks adorable. 




Second Trimester of Pregnancy: Week 24

Since my morning sicknesses have gone away beginning week 22 I felt great. I had energy, was in a great mood, etc. I decided to join the gym back just to do very light weight and only once or twice a week. Nothing major. I heard it is very beneficial to the baby and birth to be active, so I figured I would go back. Saturday, I had the brilliant idea to work out in the morning and then all day moving furniture (light), cleaning, organizing the entire house, you name it. I even went out to check out a new brewery and to hang out with friends. 

The following night I woke up at 4AM having slept on the left side and exposing my back side to the a/c. [I do not like a/c] Results? I ended up at the hospital for an unsurreal lower back pain that caused me to puke and emit blood (from my nose) like an exorcist. 

I have never ever felt such a pain. I initially thought I was in pre-labor, then I thought I had a kidney stone, but after all tests and a persistent pain after days my primary doctor confirmed: I had pulled the lower muscle so bad that my leg went numb and my back was just crying out loud. I did not know you could puke from a pulled muscle, neither I knew you could actually cry for the pain. I still can't believe I pulled a muscle. I feel like an old lady. 

My doctor obviously knows me very well and while he was checking me out he asked me what I had done the previous days. He then told me to please stop lifting and doing anything around the house, like moving furniture. I guess, I thought I was invincible even with a baby growing in my belly. You hear so much about pregnant women working out or not changing their lifestyle. Well, I don't believe that at all. Look at me and I am quite an active person. 

I did an ultrasound today just to make sure the baby is doing well since I have not heard much movement. Apparently, she changed position and that is why the movements changed too. But she is good. She is currently 1.9 pounds.

If you ever find yourself pregnant and puking with a lower pain go to the women's pavilion at the hospital. Then if they can't determine what you have go to your primary doctor and then request an ultrasound. I was in such a pain for days that I did all kind of visits. You get to be paranoid when you are pregnant because you worry for the baby. You certainly want to make sure your baby is safe.

I also refused to take any medications like muscle relaxer. At the hospital they had to give me pain killers and anti nausea remedies but I was in real bad shape and I was not really alert.

What to do with strain muscle during pregnancy

1. Call your doctor or go to the hospital to determine if the back in the pain is associated to your pregnancy, kidney stone, or pulled muscle. 

2. If it is a pulled muscle visit your primary doctor who will determine diagnosis and treatment.

3. Rest: don't lift or bend. 

4. Physical Therapy - I also got sciatica and could not lay down for the pain so I slept with my back straight against the sofa. Literally I was sitting. Well I didn't sleep for over one week from the pain and the position. The doctor suggested to do physical therapy. i have my first session next week, which really did not help the fact that I have been in pain for over one week. 

5. Patience - You will learn about how to be patience and how to function with constant pain. 

Good luck everyone, I am doing much better now. 


In pain at the women's pavilion in Tallahassee suffering from strain muscle and vomit. 


Happy belly during week 24th