How I wore it: nothin' but blue skies

Today we woke up to sunny skies, but the weather eventually got cooler and rainier as the day went on, which I knew would happen from obsessively checking my phone's weather app every few minutes. I decided to pull out my favorite colored jeans to make it seem sunny all day long. Although I'd never done this before, I decided to pair them with my favorite light cardigan and a striped nursing top that I'm fond of. And this time I tucked in the tank! My mustard flats and picked up the yellow accents from the cardigan, I hope, and - well - I liked the look:

Since I had gotten super-sick over the weekend and actually took yesterday (Tuesday) off as a sick day, I needed something comfortable and easy and this fit the bill perfectly. Although I don't think I've tucked in a shirt for years, I liked how this worked out. Furthermore, the neutrals on the sweater went nicely with the brightness of the jeans, I thought... It's amazing how much more I am into putting colors together than I used to be. 

Well, a movie I like is playing and I need to wash some dishes and continue with my self-imposed "improving my Hindi reading skillz" homework. 

Chalkdust out!

Striped cardigan: gift from my mom, by Ralph Lauren

Striped (black and white, though you can't tell) top: Glamourmom, by way of Isis Maternity

Turquoise jeans: Gap (online), remixed

Mustard flats: Nine West, by way of DSW, remixed

How I wore it: all dressed up and nowhere to go

Today was Easter for the Orthodox church and my husband, baby, and I celebrated accordingly. Well, more like my husband and I... Last night [Saturday], we went to church quite late and left Baby Boots sleeping, surrounded by adoring grandparents (my folks are in town!). We came home a little after 1 AM and feasted with some friends, old and new. My husband really wanted to take Baby Boots to get communion - I think he regretted not showing her off in church last night - so we went back to this same church a few hours after we'd last left it, at the time when the priest's wife told us they would be having a service before the traditional Easter Agape mass. However, after getting our asses out of bed only a few hours after going to sleep, getting dressed, and getting over there, the church was padlocked shut until the traditional mass ... which would be an hour later. So we headed back home and ate instead. Before changing into comfy clothes, though, we snapped some pictures.

I decided to finally début the white Banana Republic Mad Men dress I'd gotten from my husband for our sixth-year anniversary as a couple last year [It's kind of funny reading that post, as so much has changed. I'm STILL nursing Baby Boots now, a year later, and there was nothing wrong with my breast milk in the first place!]. I have issues with white, but I thought when would be better than a balmy Easter Sunday in May?

Now I had some issues with legwear. I gravitated toward grey tights and then I was stuck. My husband suggested my red wedges, which is what I went with, but I regret that. Any better thoughts, Style Nation?

Picture of the three of us courtesy of my father. I look weirdly disproportionate, but you can see my whole outfit in this one!

I was pleasantly surprised by the white dress, actually feeling pretty good in it, rather than self-conscious.

Meanwhile, Baby Boots is rocking a Diane von Furstenburg dress for Baby Gap that we just couldn't resist buying. In the above photo, you can see more of the pattern, but up top you can see the gorgeous pleating detail. Baby Gap is our weakness, yo.

All right, folks. Back to bed!

White dress: gift from my husband, via Banana Republic (online), Mad Men collection

Grey patterned tights: Gap, remixed

Red shoes: CL by Laundry, by way of DSW, remixed

How I wore it: late Tuesday twofer!

Ugh, guys, what a week and it's only Tuesday (night). Fortunately, it's a short week, as another school year unit is ending, meaning a long weekend for me starting on Friday (and it's Greek Easter, so yay!) and five more weeks of school after that. Yay!

Since I got so much loot from my J. Crew Factory haul (two tops and four dresses [!!!]), I couldn't resist trying out more stuff the last two days.

I've been told for years that a chambray shirt is a great neutral piece that many women need in their wardrobes, so I saw a tunic that I liked on the site and into my shopping basket it went. This might have been the piece I was most underwhelmed with, but I ended up loving it on:

This was me yesterday (Monday). I just paired the chambray top with black pants and my green Fluevogs and called it a day. I felt like a cool art teacher all day: my top was comfy, my shoes and watch were green, and my bun was towering.

Something funny happened while I was taking pictures. Baby Boots loves the flash of my camera and giggles delightedly every time a picture is taken. Yesterday, after she saw me set up the camera after a few pictures, she went to the door where I take my photos and posed! So of course I went and
stood next to her for and this is the result:

Don't know why she felt the need to lift her shirt, but maybe she's just showing me how to pose more creatively...

Monday night was a tough night, as my husband and I had a long conversation about all sorts of things and it was eye-opening and draining and tough and cathartic. So today I couldn't really think too much about what to put on, so I went with the ghost of an idea that I'd had while looking at my new clothes. Since I needed a pick-me-up, I was bolder than I otherwise would have been:

Forgive the face: I'm trying not to crack up as Baby Boots examines the camera

I got this cool dress in the blue color you see above and in cream with big navy polka dots. The dress is short on, as you can see, shorter than I'm generally comfortable with, and shorter than I'd expected. I asked my husband, who was half-asleep, if the dress was too short to teach in and he assured me it wasn't. And he was right - I didn't feel self-conscious when standing up...it was sitting that was the issue! Well, that and wrinkles. If I ever wear this dress at work again, it will definitely be in cooler weather, with leggings, so that I just feel more secure. This time I paired it with black tights and my tough black Fluevog booties. It was more rock n'roll in my mirror and my brain than what the camera is telling me, but I felt badass all day long and my ninth-grade female students loved the dress. The other cool features?

Pockets!

And?

Exposed zipper, which I love!

Okay, I'm starting to catch more and more typos! Time to go to sleep!!

Monday

Chambray tunic: J. Crew Factory (online)

Black pants: Ralph Lauren, stolen from my mom, remixed

Green shoes: Fluevogs, remixed

Tuesday

Blue dress: J. Crew Factory (online)

Black tights: Gap (online), remixed

Black boots: Fluevogs, remixed

How I wore it: new loot

I've been having a lovely weekend, folks. Yesterday, Saturday, we went to some friends for lunch and had dinner with a former colleague of mine - a professor in my alma mater whose first year was my last year there as a grad student. Since then we've been friends and correspondents and he's really trying to find me a job. In fact, my alma mater will be advertising for a Sanskrit lectureship in the fall, to start the school year 2014, and he's told me I'm his top choice, so he's given me hints to how to strengthen my sort of "advertising" as a potential hire, not necessarily for this job, but for more hard-core tenure-track jobs in the future. Anyway, it's given me a lot to think about and a lot to worry about (most notably, my lack of time to myself), but it was great to see him and my other friends earlier in the day.

I had gotten a 25% off discount from Gilt for the J. Crew Factory and my loot came in on Thursday. Yesterday I débuted the most casual item from the haul and paired it with my still-new light Old Navy jeans and my newest Fluevogs:

Please welcome my cat, Amalía, into the photo

Casual tunics for the win! I was drawn by the simplicity of this item and I'm glad it's in my life. I actually liked the whole look a lot, but I'll be the first to say that my badass 'vogs definitely look better with a darker pant than with this super-light wash. I can definitely see, though, this look with sandals or light summer shoes for a simple outfit in the next few months. 

And that's me! Today we had brunch with some former students of my husband who are each pursuing graduate school and it was lovely. A nap for all, and now Baby Boots is busy having her snack. A happy, quiet weekend.

Hope the return to the week isn't too terrible for y'all!

How I wore it: redux

Happy Friday, y'all! This week has been ridiculously long and tiring for me and for all of my colleagues. The weather continues to be lovely and springlike, so I decided to try my red dress again, but this time in a new iteration. And wouldn't you know it, I kind of liked it!

The tall, messy bun strikes again!

Instead of colorful tights and caramel boots, I went with neutral tights and colorful shoes. And a colorful cardigan that I - weirdly enough - never thought to pair with this dress. It might have been a lot, but I really loved how I looked and I got a few compliments from teachers and students. 

So that was my way of honoring a springy Friday. How do you celebrate beautiful weather?

Striped cardigan: gift from my mom, by way of Ralph Lauren, remixed

Red dress: Calvin Klein, by way of TJ Maxx, remixed

Grey patterned tights: Gap, remixed

Green shoes: Fluevog, remixed

How I wore it: overboard?

Hi all! Today was another glorious day, made even better with some retail therapy (I got a big shipment from the J. Crew factory and I just bought some stuff for Baby Boots from the Gap), which I can barely afford, but whatevs - at least I'll look good going into debtors' prison (I kid, I kid).

The weather was again beautiful today and we had a bit of a special schedule at work, one that involved almost no teaching on my part, so I wanted to go a little more casual than I did yesterday. So I brought out my turquoise jeans that I love so much and haven't worn since the early fall, as, duh, bright turquoise. They seem to me a more warm-weather pant:

I decided to wear the jeans with black: my cool, embellished t-shirt [wow, that link seriously depressed me: remember when I used to look like that?!] and old black flats made the cut. Of course, being me, I went totally crazy with accessories and wore all turquoise jewelry, but what can ya do... 

Also, fun fact: my hair is (barely) long enough for a high, messy bun!

Ugh, so shiny. But smiling at Baby Boots!

It's true; one of the aspects I miss from having super-long hair was my ability to wear gravity-defying buns. Well, with patience, an elastic, and a baby alligator clip, I can kind of approximate my old look! 

On that note, let's talk haircare. I tend to avoid that topic because I barely can take care of my own locks, but I'm starting to give it the old college try. First off, my hair is pretty thick. I'm not kidding: when I make an appointment at my salon, the computer automatically pops up a note saying that I get extra time because it actually takes longer to cut my hair because of its thickness. Anyway, because I tend to oiliness, I used to really avoid conditioner, but I realize that without it, my hair is dry and tends to frizziness. So every other day (unless I go swimming or work out, neither of which has happened in, um, a while), I wash and condition my hair. And then I don't do much. No product, barely blow-dry it, etc... BORING. So I've been hearing a lot about Moroccan/argan oil and how it's amazing for every hair type, blah blah blah. While I'm always eager to try things, I'm pretty skeptical about panaceas such as this one, but while at the pharmacy, I decided to give a try to a Moroccan oil treatment (just went with this one at random). Well, I used it on my towel-dried hair on Tuesday night and just a couple of hours ago, and I might become a convert. My hair felt fantastic on Wednesday morning, soft and silky, but not oily. Even today, when it would usually tend to look oily or too dirty to keep down, it was totally manageable and I could've worn it down with no problem. I look forward to seeing how it feels tomorrow morning. 

What I liked about this product was that it made my hair soft and smooth, but not oily/shiny. So what happens on the days when my hair is a little oily and it's obvious? Well, I go the opposite route! I use this every once in a while to sort of dry out/texturize my hair and give it more of a matte look. Even though it's not a traditional hairspray, I spritzed it on this morning when I got my desired high bun in order to give it less sheen and to, um, get beachy hair. Which is what it's for. I very much enjoy it.

I know that this seems diametrically opposed (want shiny clean hair! Want beachy, salty texture!), but as my hair is kind of always in flux, I like having different products that do different things. Do you have any fun hair tips?

Black t-shirt: Gap, remixed

Turquoise jeans: Gap (online), remixed

Black flats: Me Too, by way of DSW, remixed

How I wore it: spring, spring, spring!

Today was a beautiful day in Massachusetts and all my fellow citizens were celebrating. We woke up to temperatures in the 40s and they went up to the mid-60s by the end of the day. After yesterday's cold, raw, wet day, this was a welcome change - and it will be like that for the rest of the week, they say!

I decided to wear a maxi dress that I haven't worn since the early fall (and haven't featured since last July). Since the weather was still brisk when I woke up, I decided to pair it with a cardigan and short boots. I loved the way I looked and I got some compliments, but I have a few nits to pick, of course:

What is up with those stiff arms?!

(Well, first off, the dress was super-wrinkled, but whatevs)

Although I love them dearly, my husband has been complaining about my little cashmere cardigans for ages. He says they make every good outfit turn immediately into a dowdy old lady look. I thought he was just being silly until I looked at this photo and realized how darn, well, mumsy I look with this conservative cardigan over a slam-dunk of a dress. Of course, I did need a cover-up, so... what else could I do? Methinks it's time to invest in some lightweight, flattering cardis, what do you guys think?

It's a sad time in the Boots household, as I realized today that I have to say goodbye to the boots I'm wearing with this outfit. 

These wonderful cognac leather boots were bought for me by my husband in Athens for Christmas 2008. They've survived four years of hard wear. Their soles have been replaced once. However, upon taking them off today, I noticed that my heels felt very sore and potentially blistered - and I noticed that the boots' soles/heels have worn off and torn through and...considering I have twelve other pairs of boots, I think it's okay to retire them. I'M JUST SAD ABOUT IT! 

Alas.

Anyways, I must fly (as usual) to try to get to bed before it gets obscenely late. Good night!

Purple cardigan: gift from my mom, by way of Lord and Taylor, remixed

Green maxi dress: Old Navy (online), remixed

Modesty top (underneath dress): Express, remixed

Boots: gift from my husband, by way of a shoe store on Ermou Street, Athens, remixed