June is (allegedly) here so so I get to reflect on my Me Made May experience and impart any lessons I learned. If you weren’t following along on Instagram you might not know that I failed miserably at posting photos each day (which is what I did last year) and there are many reasons why. Here’s what I learned:

-pregnant or not, comfort trumps everything. I’m sorry, me-made jeggings, I will likely never wear you again. They don’t fit well over my belly and slide constantly, which rolls the waistband of my underwear. This means I am not only constantly hiking up my pants like the lady I am, but I also have a huge roll of fabric on my hips under my pants. Unless absolutely necessary, I will never, ever again wear these pants.

-one can not live in neutrals alone. I spent a good amount of time planning my maternity wardrobe, knowing I would be very pregnant during Me Made May. I made such a coordinated wardrobe that everything was solid black, white or grey or had a stripe and maybe some pink. I got bored really, really fast.

-it’s really hard to take photos you like of yourself while pregnant. This was one of the biggest reasons I didn’t post that many photos. I struggled to take good-ish ones and didn’t have the time to spend taking zillions of photos before school. May was a crazy, crazy month for me at work and at home so if a I couldn’t get it in three snaps, I was done.

-I am still a dress girl. Up until May leave with my daughter, my go-to was always a skirt over pants. This changed after she was born for practical reasons – pants are better for rolling around on the floor with a baby and I gained enough weight that I got bad thigh chafe. I finally just gave in and bought maternity “shapewear” (but actually not, it’s just thin, beige shorts) and now my legs don’t rub! So now the most comfortable thing for me to wear is a dress again and it is amazing.

-buying ready to wear is totally okay, even in May. I went shopping with a friend with the actual intention of purchasing multiple items for the first time in years. It felt really weird, but also fun! What I found is that, because I sew most of my clothes, I had a really short list of things to get (hat, sandals, jean jacket, long necklace) and so I could focus on each item and really make sure I loved that thing before I bought it. Also, everything I purchased was to make my me-mades look better, so win-win!