office tempin' day 2

Another day at the office. And, because it amuses Tina, this is my Sober and Serious Young Office Worker outfit. ;)

Simple, but I like the way the sleeves of the blouse peek out and add a pop of color at my elbows.

Cardigan: kersh essentials via Costoco

Button-down: Old Navy ages ago

Skirt: j.crew outlet

tights: no idea

Earrings: Fred Meyer's

Watch: Target

office tempin', day 1

Over the break I've been lucky enough to get my old office job back for a few weeks to save up some cash for next semester. The work can be dull, but the people in this office are absolutely wonderful, which more than makes up for it.

Here's my Responsible Young Office Worker outfit:

My one pair of nice pants, a soft sweater, a button-down for crispness, and a belt to add polish. Please pretend that I am wearing my black mary jane heels, which I wore all day at the office.

I'm looking forward to seeing how many different office-appropriate combos I can get out of my one suitcase!

Sweater: Banana Republic outlet

Button-down: TJMaxx

Pants: Sears

Belt: TJMaxx

Earrings: GNW via Fred Meyer's

Watch: Target

Christmas Eve camel!

I hope everyone had a very relaxing and enjoyable holiday! I've been bumming around in jeans and comfy old sweaters for a few days, baking and eating and opening presents and eating and walking in the snow and...eating. But I did get all dressed up for Christmas Eve services at my church.

The day after I got home, my mom and I headed out to Target (one of the forgotten perks of being at home - my mom loves to take her daughters shopping!) and I found this beautiful green sweater dress on the sale rack. Hooray! Super warm and cozy, and I felt so pretty with this ruffle and the ladylike tie at the waist. Thanks Mom!

Yes, I am wearing red and green. If you can't dress like an elf on Christmas Eve, when can you?

My church has huge wheely camels for the nativity play. I thought they were magical when I was a kid, and frankly, I still think they're pretty awesome.

Merry Christmas!

Dress: Target
Tights: Hue via TJMaxx
Shoes: Fred Meyer's
Earrings and necklace: borrowed from mom

packing challenge

UPDATE: Of course, the minute I post this, E. from Academichic totally puts me in my place. I'm in awe.

I will just admit it: I am not a good packer. I start out with all the best intentions of packing light and efficient, and then I start to get nervous about all the situations I might encounter and all the things I might need, then I start making elaborate plans (well if I wear the boots under my pants then I could bring these flats to go with skirts but they don't go with this skirt...) then I get worn out and just bring everything. Which is how I end up barely squeaking in under the 50 pound limit for a one-month trip home. It's humiliating.

I would like it to be known that I once spent two and a half months in Southeast Asia living out of a backpack and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It was liberating. Now I'm that girl at the airport who can hardly lift her own mondo suitcase of clothes. Lame.

Anyway, I am taking this trip as an opportunity to reflect on how I can become a better packer. My goal is to figure out at least five items I could have done without.

Let's start with what I brought:

The trip: one month at home in a very cold climate which will include three weeks of office temping, casual nights with friends, casual and moderately dressy holiday events, plus some outdoors activities

Bottoms, shoes, and accessories:

Pants: 2 pairs of jeans, 2 pairs of dress pants (gray and black)

Skirts: 1 denim, 1 corduroy, 1 black, 1 fancy print

Dress: 1 gray knit

Shoes: black heels, gray heels, leopard print flats (not pictured)

Accessories: 1 red pattern pashmina, 1 plaid square scarf, 3 belts (brown, black, red)

Tops:

Button downs: white, burgundy, plaid

Cardigans: white, purple, black

Sweaters: black and blue turtlenecks, purple short sleeved, heavy green hoodie (not pictured), purple sweater vest

T-shirts: black, green, red long-sleeved, black long sleeved (not pictured)

Fancy: satin button-down, silver tank top

Not pictured: underwear and socks, pjs, workout gear, layering camisoles

So this is what you'll see me wearing (and re-wearing!) over the next several weeks. When the trip's over I'll do an assessment and see what I could have left behind.

mea culpa

Hello dearest readers,
Apologies for being MIA! After finals (I passed - whoo!) I went away for the weekend with the boyfriend and then packed up all my stuff to come home for the holidays. I'm now mostly settled in and C and I have been brainstorming some fun posts for you. Stay tuned!
~B

finals week wear

This is basically a retread of Sunday's outfit, but featuring this pretty cloth belt (a good alternative to my occasionally pinchy leather belt, since I was taking a final last night and didn't want to worry about potential pinching).

Once I pulled out this belt, I decided to try a monochromatic look with several different shades of blue. Easy, comfy, plus I got a winter wear out of this blue tank top.

Hope all those calming blues helped me pass the exam!

Sweater: kersh essentials via Costco
Blue top: Anne Taylor Loft
Belt: thrifted
Jeans: Banana Republic outlet
Boots: Madden Girl via DSW
Watch: Target

study study study

This is mega-crunch time for the semester (two papers due this morning, two exams in the next three days - aaaack!) so I've been mostly in my pjs for the past three days. I met up with a friend for a study session yesterday afternoon and decided I needed to look cute. You know, for my mental health. Looking cute has been scientifically proven* to be good for your mental health.

So, I decided to give the belted scarf thang another go. I thought this pretty purple pashmina might be a good candidate, since it's simple and lightweight.

In retrospect I wish it were just a bit longer, so I could loop it more loosely. Oh well.

I didn't have a top in a good neutral color with a high enough neck for this look, since I tend to favor scoop or v-necks, so I ended up turning this top around (yet another trick I stole from academichic - God I love that site). The back, now the front, has this pretty crocheted bit. A tank top for modesty/warmth and I was ready to go!

Also, I finally tried pulling my boots on over my jeans! What do you think?

Blue top: Forever 21

White sweater: kersh essentials via Costco

Gray tank: three-pack at Costco

Jeans: GAP

Belt: thrifted

Scarf: gift from aunt

Boots: Madden Girl
Earrings: street vendor on Cape Cod

*By which I mean, not scientifically proven at all.

last day

Today was my last day with my students, and in ESL classes it's quite common to have a potluck on the last day. It's a nice way for them to tangibly share the cultures and traditions we've been talking about all semester (I brought pumpkin pie, which they all thought was beyond weird and dared each other to try!). I've really enjoyed working with this particular group, and since this is most likely the last ESL class I'll teach at the university, it was a touch more sad than usual.

Since the last day is more casual, I wanted to wear jeans, but since I had to do a presentation in one of my other classes, I still needed to look, well, presentable.

I went with the trusty long cardigan/scarf combo, brightened up with a touch of green and my sexy secretary heels.

Sorry for the funny facial expression - I only got two shots before I had to run back inside. It was freezing out!

Sweater: kersh essentials via Costco

Green top: TJMaxx

Jeans: GAP

Belt: TJMaxx

Scarf: gifted, H&M

Shoes: Aldo outlet
Earrings: street vendor in Cape Cod

What I would have worn on Saturday...

...if I had been feeling 100%. As you know, I've been recovering from pneumonia, and I foolishly worked on Saturday (also, my birthday!). While working went okay (sigh...no dresses sold that day), I was dog tired when I got home around 4. So, instead of throwing on that new dress I told you about, I put on pajamas and slipped into bed for a three hour nap. By the time I woke up, I was still kind of tired, and it was evening, and all I wanted to do was order Chinese food and then go back to bed. So, that's exactly what happened. A couple friends dropped by for a very low-key evening, and then I went to bed. It was nice, but not new-dress worthy.

So, as a treat to you, and to myself, I put my dress on the next day and took some pictures! My computer has been rejecting the pictures from my camera, so I took a few better shots than the ones shown here but the computer just doesn't want to upload them. After being annoyed for a few hours, I just gave up. I blame the rejection on the fact that I have two five-minute videos of the Keene, New Hampshire TubaChristmas celebration that my brother was involved in (they have them in 200 places throughout the world...so fun, I highly recommend!). Videos, my camera, and my computer do not mix well for some reason.

Anyway, blah blah long story, this is totally what I would have worn on Saturday if I'd had my way. I didn't get a chance to take pictures of today's outfit, but maybe I'll throw it back on tomorrow, take some pics, and post them up on Friday (because I like my outfit today!).

Here it is (apologies for the poor lighting and messy room):What it is: a black and white dress with a black bow in the back. It makes me look a little preggers from the side, but I just love what the top does for the bosom and shoulders. I don't know, I just really like it. I think it will be a versatile piece in my clothing collection.

The skirt is very full:

So, that's fun and twirly. I don't particularly enjoy these tights with the dress, but in a perfect world I'd have some fun-colored ones (like purple! or green!) sans design.

Shoes:
Jewelery:


I like that it's black and white...you can add anything to it! I feel like a ruffly cardigan would look sweet with it. I also look forward to the day I put a long-sleeved something underneath it, to make it more winter-friendly (now that it's finally snowing!).

Dress: four stars via Salvation Army
Salmon undershirt: Jockey outlet
Tights: Lane Bryant
B/W shoes: Payless
Jewlery: Lia Sophia (they're both blue, but it's hard to tell).

something new

Spent the whole weekend in my pjs writing a term paper, so it's a relief to be dressed again! It's also finally turned into proper winter here and I couldn't be happier. I love frost, and red cheeks, and hot chocolate, and lovely white SNOW.

As both a belt devotee and a lover of scarves, I have been wanting to try the belted scarf look (done prettily at academichic, among many others).

I absolutely loved this outfit. I felt tall, elegant, grown-up, stylish, and just plain pretty. I got several compliments on the scarf and the overall look. I will definitely be doing some more belted scarf experiments soon!
I originally put on black boots but really wanted to show off these tights, especially paired with the rich blue of the scarf. These ancient Mary Janes are the most comfortable dress shoes I've ever owned, hands down.

Two more days of classes to go...

Scarf: gift from mom
Black v-neck sweater: hand-me-down from aunt, Max Studio
Skirt: j.crew outlet
tights: Hue via TJMaxx
Shoes: Fred Meyer's
Belt: TJMaxx
Earrings: Burlington?

feeling better, but not quite cured

So, after a rather irritating bout with pneumonia and conjunctivitis, I'm back in the saddle (again). Today's plans were fairly basic. I wanted to get out of the house for the first time in days, but I didn't want to do anything too strenuous. I read on my friend A's facebook that she wanted a cannoli and, as I was feeling much better today, I responded with a longing, "yummm." Which meant, of course, that we went on a cannoli hunt!

We weren't successful in finding cannolis (YET), but we did speak with a dear friend who works in Boston about having her get some up to us this evening. Hey, tomorrow's my birthday, and I think birthday cannolis are in order.

We did get to go to my favorite soup place (Collins Bros.) and I picked up a quart of stuffed pepper soup. I believe A bought corn and bacon chowder. Delish. Then, it was off the the Salvation Army! I've been hankering for some new clothes, especially skirty dressy things, and I happened to luck out today. I bought a nice little black and white number (maybe I'll make a special birthday post tomorrow, just so you can see it).

I imagine that the day is only going to get more exciting, as it is far from over. Yip! I don't want to jump the gun on wellness, but it's so invigorating to not be curled up in bed waiting for the next hacking fit.

On to the clothes!

On A:

Where it's all from:
Jacket: Gap
Green shirt: Gap
Skinny jeans: Express
Boots: Aldo
Mona Lisa earrings: Whitehall Jewelers, which has since gone out of business (at least at our mall).






What's on C:

Where it's all from:

Black tank: Jockey outlet
Mustard sweater: Banana Republic outlet
Teal skirt: a discount store in Dover
Multi-colored scarf: TJ Maxx (or Marshall's?)
Sunglasses: Lenscrafters (they're prescription, and the hide my hideous burst-blood-vessel eyeball)
Black flats: Charlotte Russe, very old and somewhat painful

interview day

Do I look like someone you'd want to hire as a writing tutor? I sure hope so, since I had an interview at our school's writing center today.

As C pointed out in a comment, knee-length skirts are comfort pieces for me. I like the way they look on me, I like the way they feel, and I like that I feel pulled-together and chic wearing them. But I'll try to keep pushing myself to try new things. In fact, I had originally planned to try out the belted scarf look I've seen on so many other lovely fashion bloggers, but it was bizarrely warm today - over 60 degrees. In December! What is up with New England, I'd like to know.

Finals week is bearing down on me and bringing term papers with it. Wish me luck!

Shirt: Old Navy, ancient

Belt: TJMaxx

Skirt: j.crew outlet

Boots: GNW via Fred Meyer's

Earrings: hand-me-down from mom

why yes, I do own pants

I don't like dress pants generally. I dislike shopping for them and I dislike wearing them. They make me feel old and dumpy. Yet I frequently think they look fabulous on other people, such as the roommate of awesome, who wears them constantly to teach in. So, knowing that I had a couple colleagues coming to observe my class today, I thought I'd give these gray pinstripes another chance.

I like the colors of this outfit, and I felt reasonably comfortable and quite professional, but the pants just don't do much for me.

I discovered this morning that my one pair of black dress pants are now...too big. How the red ones got too small and the black ones got too big during the same three month period, I will never know. Time for more dreaded pants shopping, I guess (sigh).

Vest: TJMaxx

Shirt: American Eagle

Belt: TJMaxx

Pants: Sears

Shoes: Fred Meyer's

Earrings: ancient