I woke up like this...

...

Yup, that's me first thing in the morning. Awful picture: no make-up, puffy from sleep... but look at all that hair!

... And this is how I'm going to sleep/ringing in the new year in an hour or so:

Yup, I went to my girl Cheryl today and chopped off a few inches. I'm thrilled. Can't wait to show you more in 2015!

(Also, I was fiscally irresponsible and bought these today. I'm so ashamed about how much money I spent, especially since I'm always bitching about money. Oh, well.)

Happy new year! 

Happy Holidays...

... from moi, Baby Boots, and Baby Boots' new play kitchen!

She has her eyes closed and she's still upstaging me...

For whatever you and yours celebrate (or don't), I hope you have a happy one! 

How I wore it: Pajama Day

Today was Pajama Day at school. Naturally, I didn't participate, but I wore a flannel-y skirt…

That's the best you get today: I'm tired

Because the colors are all wonky, I promise you I'm wearing a blue and black patterned skirt. And shoes. Boots, rather. You might recognize this skirt as one I bought five years ago, when I still worked at my old school of the draconian dress code. I would wear this skirt on ridiculously cold days and sneak boots underneath it. Now that I can wear boots whenever I want, I get less rule-breaking thrills from this skirt, but I still enjoy wearing it on cold days, and it looks great with my witchy, pointy Fluevogs. 

You'll be happy (or indifferent) to know that my corneal abrasion is doing better. My ophthalmologist says that the abrasion itself is 100% healed and I just have to take care with the structural integrity (his words - I didn't care to go into more detail) and just make sure to keep my eye(s) hydrated. Gross.

Speaking of injuries from my daughter, she just bonked her dad in the face with her head after her bath. I was sure she'd smashed his cheekbone from the strength of the strike, but it seems that a bitten tongue is the worst he suffered. Naturally, she refused to apologize, so we just stuck her in bed and said good night to her without reading her any stories. Sometimes when she's tired, she's SO NAUGHTY and I feel like a bad mama. Oh, well. At least she's down for the night…

And I think I'm next. Good night!

Black top: H&M, remixed

White tee (underneath): H&M, remixed

Skirt: Gap, remixed

Boots (not visible): Fluevog, remixed

How I wore it: TGIF. For real.

OMG, you guys. Remember how, in my last post, I told you that I'd had a rough couple of days? That my beloved new Sorels were drying because they had been caught in our awful Tuesday floods and then that Wednesday morning I had felt super-sick and was sort of bearing the brunt of that for the whole day?

Well, a few hours after I posted that, I was reading to Baby Boots before putting her to sleep: she was lying in her bed and I was sitting on the floor next to her. She got excited about something we were reading, flung out her hand and…poked me in the eye, scratching my cornea. I took yesterday (Thursday) off work because my eye was so teary/painful and went to an ophthalmologist to confirm that I had a corneal abrasion. I did and now I have to wear a "contact lens bandage" in my right eye and put in drops twice a day. It could be a lot worse, but… dang.

At least I'm not wearing an eyepatch.

So, yeah, this has been a sucky week and I couldn't be happier to see it come to an end. I hope to take it easy over the weekend and not strain my eyes too much and hopefully be right as rain again on Monday. Phew!

So anyways, since it snowed yesterday, I decided to not take my chances (I was going to wear "pretty" boots) and put on my practically-totally-dried Sorels with a new workhorse:

I don't get it: this dress really inspires me to go nuts. And wear my hair down, apparently.Anyway, I added my oatmeal sweater and new leg warmers to the whole shebang and I was marvelously comfy and warm all day. Unfortunately, I seem to have gotten a couple of blisters on my toes - maybe from walking a lot yesterday and today in these boots? I totally hope that won't be a lasting issue…

So that's my Friday! What's up with you? Any war wounds from this week?

Sweater: Old Navy (online), remixed

Buffalo plaid dress: Old Navy (online), remixed

Black leggings: HUE, by way of Lord and Taylor (Boston), remixed

Leg warmers: TJ Maxx

Boots: Sorel Joan of Arctic, by way of zappos.com, remixed

How I wore it: my first, my last, my everything

Hey, y'all! Today was a difficult day for me, I have to admit. Yesterday it rained all day long in the Boston area, rain like I've never seen - it was worse than the monsoons I experienced in India ten years ago. At one point, I stepped into a puddle that reached my knees and my poor feet were soaked for ages - Sorels aren't that effective when the water seeps in from above. So my lovely new snow/rain boots are - as we speak - drying out in my bathroom with newspaper in them. So today I pulled out my old trusty blue Fryes - boots I've worn for many winters and, as it wasn't raining too much today, I survived with warm, dry feet. However, these boots have warped from so much use, I guess (I got them a little over five years ago), and they mangled my feet today. I keep on wanting to toss 'em, but on days like today, when my other boots are of no use, they really did come in handy.

Also I had an upset stomach much of the morning, so that really put a damper on the whole day…

Anyway, at least I brightened up my mood by my outfit choices:

My green hooded tunic is actually a maternity top. I wore it a couple of times in my pregnancy and a few times since Baby Boots was born. There's not much to say about this basic outfit: green top, blue jeans, and dark blue boots. At least they look really good, despite messing up my feet. 

It will be sad to bid adieu to these boots. They were my first-ever Fryes and they served me well. As I mentioned, I got them in the fall of 2009 and for much of my life in Boston/Cambridge, they've been my main rain and snow boots, but now that they're so messed up (for real, they give me a weird limp now), I've had to edge them out of my wardrobe gradually. I won't toss them yet - not until I have proper rain boots, as well - but their time has definitely come.

As Baby Boots saw me taking photos, she wanted to be part of it, naturally:

I love that her bun and my wisps are on the same side of our heads…

You can see in this photo how my right boot especially is all messed up. You see how I'm standing, as opposed to what the heel of my boot is doing? Yeah, not fun. 

Hope all of you are well and healthy!

Green tunic top: Old Navy Maternity (online), remixed

Jeans: Old Navy (online), remixed

Blue boots: Frye, by way of Zappos.com, remixed

How I wore it: Brrrrr!

You guys, today we woke up to 18 degrees. It's probably the coldest it's been all season. I guess that's not bad, as it's December, but, man, was it hard to be outside today. I have to be outside quite a lot on a normal work day, as I pick up Baby Boots from preschool and get there and back home on foot. And, if it's not raining, I walk to my commuter rail station (about a mile), so… lots of layering for me today!

I decided to take advantage of what seems to be the only day this week that it won't rain and wear a tried and true outfit:

I bought this maxi dress in the summer of 2010 and it's still going strong. It's a little stretched, which can be an undergarment problem (as it's got a racerback), but as I wasn't going to wear it without a thousand layers, it wasn't too big a deal. I decided to pair it with an old purple cardigan and the light blue boots my husband bought me in Spain in the spring of 2011. I've worn this particular dress with these particular boots A LOT over the past couple of years and the combo never fails to make me happy. 

However, as it was freezing both indoors and outdoors for much of the day, I layered a semi-new (to the blog, at least) vest over the whole shebang:

Pardon the douchey expression…

I bought this neat-o asymmetrical vest off Zulily the year before last. It's Desigual! A couple of bloggers I love (Sal and Sheila, for starters) are big fans of Desigual and I've always admired their designs. I also like that it's a Spanish company - what can I say? Sometimes I'm very chauvinistic… Anyway, a colleague of mine turned me on to Zulily and the day I joined, they had a sale on Desigual stuff, so I bought myself this vest. It's super snuggly and all those colors means that it either goes or clashes with everything, so I'm always safe with it… 

Today I decided to wear my clothes with a set of Chilean jewelry I've never featured:

Like all my Chilean jewelry, this pendant-earring-ring set was bought for me by my father on one of his many trips home. This rock, known as "piedra cruz" [cross stone], is native to Chile and, as you see, seems to look like a cross when cut. Neat, huh?

I've been continuing to try to treat myself with more kindness and not beat myself up about my winter hibernating body. Are y'all respecting yourselves as well?

Happy Monday!

Vest: Desigual, via Zulily.com

Scarf: Urban Outfitter, remixed

Purple cardigan: gift from my mother, by way of Lord and Taylor (New York), remixed

Striped maxi dress: Gap, remixed

Blue boots: gift from my husband from a store in Madrid, remixed

Jewelry: gift from my father

How I wore it: snuggly

Hey all! Today I wore an outfit that I had already worn in a slightly different iteration over the weekend. I'd been looking forward to it all week and little wonder:

It's all my favorite elements in one outfit! Grey, black, leggings, and boots. Man, a couple of years ago, I would've just called it a day and worn this every day. I don't think the proportions are perfect - as much as I like these loose sweatshirts, they are a little unflattering, but, hey, at the end of the day, comfiness is important, too. Maybe the sweatshirt is too long for the short dress, too. Stuff to think about… 

Also? I came to a realization last night and this morning. And this might be too personal, so I'll give you a chance to not engage for a sec…

Okay, so here it is: I'm sick of hating my body. Now this is not a mindblowing realization. God knows, Sal makes a career of telling us why/how we shouldn't hate our bodies. But honestly? I've been in a weird grapple with my body for over twenty years. That's tiring, y'all. And another stupid thing? My body isn't objectively problematic. And that sucks. It sucks that I have this perfectly fine body that I obsess about because of stupid things such as my mother's criticism when I was younger or the fact that I can't bike because it's fucking cold outside and I'm scared of biking too late at night. I mean, yesterday I had an unpleasant evening - TMI alert - I had my first mammogram. Breast cancer runs in my family on both sides and my doctor wants me to start getting checked now, as opposed to waiting till later (results came back normal: yay!). So, although I wasn't scared per se, I was anxious about the repercussions of all of this. I decided that I deserved treats. So after the appointment, my husband and I drove to the grocery store and stocked up on treats I like: roasted corn snacks and yoghurt-covered raisins. So I ate some of those, had a small dinner, and generally felt boss about life. A couple of hours later, I felt fat and gross for having eaten yummy little unhealthy-ish snacks as well as dinner.

So, screw it. I'm done. Or at least, more honestly, I'm going to try to be done. My body is capable of wonders: it walks me a couple of miles a day to go to work and get my daughter. It is capable of biking without tiring for hours. It grew a person. It enjoys intimate time with my husband. I shouldn't hate it anymore.

Who's with me? 

Grey sweatshirt: Old Navy (online), remixed

Black dress: Old Navy (online) remixed

Leggings: Old Navy (online), remixed

Grey boots: Frye Paige Cuffs, by way of eBay, remixed

How I wore it: profesh

Hi all!

Woo, I disappeared for a few weeks there, didn't I? Stuff got a little bit busy and then it was Thanksgiving and then I was busy and trying to rest and…whatnot. Hi.

How were your Thanksgivings (for my American reader(s))? Mine was nice. I had a five-day break, but it felt short. Today we went back to work, but just the teachers, as it was Professional Day.

After four (out of five) days of wearing leggings, I decided to damn the haters and just wear my teal corduroy jeggings with a sweatshirt and call it day. Even though I didn't, I wanted to feel as if I could curl up and take a nap anywhere at a moment's notice:

Yikes. I mean, I know that leggings aren't pants, but still. You know what, though? Screw it. I was super comfy and cozy all day today and got lots of compliments on my bright "pants." I think on a real day, I wouldn't dare to wear this sort of outfit - my legs are far too weirdly-shaped (thick and curvy up top and then tapering down low) for such a short, non-tunicy top. Oh, well, win some lose some…

How do we feel about it being December…?

Grey sweatshirt: Old Navy (online)

Pink striped tank (underneath): Gap

Teal corduroy jeggings: HUE, by way of Lord and Taylor (Boston), remixed

Flats: Target, remixed

How I wore it: mismatching yeti

Today the skies opened and it rained all. Bloody. Day. Long. Even though my department was meeting a potential part-time hire today, I decided to embrace the weird and try out my early Christmas present…

…See, I'm helping chaperone a bunch of high-schoolers on a trip to Quebec in February, so I requested some hard-core winter boots from my parents for this coming Christmas. Based on Sal's recommendations in the past and the fact that almost every New England woman wears them between November and, like, March, I decided to go with Sorel's Joan of Arctic line. Although the temperatures were never that frigid today, between the pouring rain and the rawness of the day, I decided to just do the wacky:

… I wasn't kidding

Um, so yeah. I decided to just throw on my new standby, the buffalo plaid dress, and a sweater on top, but for some reason I really wanted to mix patterns (or clash hideously, however you see it), so I pulled on the Fair Isle leggings, as well. Add my paw-like boots and, um, I have a look, all right. 

… True story, I loved it. 

I don't know, I just felt like a BADASS all day long, stomping around in my big-ass boots, different patterns and colors all over the place. I don't know, it just worked for me. I mean, I fully recognize that I look eccentric at best, but screw it: I felt like a million bucks.

Here's some more clowning around, courtesy of Baby Boots and me:

Monkey see, monkey do…

Happy Monday, folks!

Sweater: Gap, remixed

Buffalo plaid dress: Old Navy (online), remixed

Fair Isle leggings: Old Navy (online), remixed

Boots: Sorel Joan of Arctic, via zappos.com

Fine leather goods

So many pretty things today, people!

First off, I took Baby Boots out for a walk in her stroller while my husband had to do some work. Since I knew she wouldn't be running around (we were running errands), but rather tucked into her "buggy-ride," as she calls it, I decided to pull out some new-to-her accessories:

Why, yes, those are little red baby cowboy boots. Why do you ask? 

This summer, we all went to Estes Park, Colorado to spend time with some college friends of mine. One day, just the three of us were walking around the town and we got Baby Boots these, er, boots on a whim. I have a slight issue with the fact that my not-even-three-year-old is wearing a shoe with a slight heel (I feel like one of those moms on 'Toddlers and Tiaras'), but she loves them and insisted on keeping them on when I kept on asking her if they were comfy today. She stomped around the house happily. 

… And let's admit it, they're adorable.

But please don't tell my mom.

I was very excited to come home from work yesterday because I knew something special would be waiting for me. When I started really getting into the Style Nation, I started noticing one particular company being name-dropped a lot when it came to bags: The Cambridge Satchel Company (linking to US site). I've always drooled over their bags - and the assortment of colors! - but the price and the pounds sterling kind of intimidated me. Well, wouldn't you know it, Gilt Groupe, of which I am a member, had them on sale last week. As I may have mentioned, I'm trying to be fiscally responsible these days, but my husband encouraged me and after thinking long and hard about color, I went with their trademark "fluoro" 15-inch "batchel":

source

Their official site doesn't have it in the color I got it, but that's the model. My color looks more like this:

source

Now that's bright! I practically glowed in the dark when I wore it tonight on my date with my husband.

Speaking of which, this is what I wore on my date out for gluten-free Italian food (I ate a whole pizza by myself. I'm disgusting):

Forgive the face: did I mention I ate a whole pizza?

It's the return of my OTK crimson Fryes! My favorite of my Fryes! And my short-ass buffalo plaid dress! Honestly, I was feeling this outfit. It was snuggly and warm enough for walking around before and after our gargantuan dinner, but I also felt chic both for the baby-sitter (one of my advisees) and the restaurant. Win-win! 

Anyways, I hope you're having a lovely Saturday night. I'm trying to train my daughter to go to bed without me gently holding her to sleep every night and I can hear her tossing and turning and whimpering in her bedroom, so I might have to go deal with that…

Sweater: Old Navy (online)

Buffalo plaid dress: Old Navy (online), remixed

Grey leggings: Calvin Klein, via TJ Maxx, remixed

Red boots: Frye Shirley OTK boots, via endless.com, gift from my husband, remixed

Return of side braid

I haven't braided my hair in a messy, loose side braid since, oh, 2011…

But my hair is getting long and I thought today would be a good day to try again. My hair is slightly shorter than it was three years ago; plus, it's layered, so the braid is a little less awesome, but it was kind of nice to let go of some control today via my hair:

My office looks homey, no?

And there it is. The braid itself is shorter because the "tail" has to kind of be longer because of the layers, but I only readjusted it a couple of times (during my free blocks, of course) and I was pretty happy with it. 

In other news, I can't believe that my hair has grown so long again! I kind of want to cut it all off again, but I know my husband will have a nervous collapse. Also, what with Baby Boots and wanting to send her to college, I don't really have extra funds to drop $50 a month for a haircut (which is what happens when I have short hair). 

That being said, I bought two new things this past week. I'm not good at limiting myself…

How I wore it: blue jay way

For some reason, I had it in my head today to wear today's particular outfit. I think, since I only have work three days this week (yesterday, today, tomorrow), I figured that between the potentially crappy and/or cold weather of yesterday and tomorrow, I decided that today would be the day to wear today's dress/tights/boots combo that I thought of. And here it is:

Because the color's not awesome, let me tell you that the dress is navy and the tights are more of a royal blue. I got this dress at (where else?) Old Navy last winter and it's been on moderately heavy rotation since then. I completely forgot that it existed between last spring and, like, last week, but I'm glad I remembered its existence. I like its shape, that fit-and-flare that I tend to gravitate to in my favorite dresses. I love its sleeve length and I don't mind the little cognac-colored belt it came with. It pairs nicely with boots in that color, as you see with today's Fryes. The dress is a little short for my standards, but apparently I've been, um, wearing shorter dresses? I don't know. I just am continuously shocked after the fact when I see pictures of myself. 

I usually get someone (by which I mean students) telling me how much they like my dress whenever I wear this one, but today only a couple of my colleagues remarked on it. My students are probably disgusted that they've seen me in it so often [I wore it a fair amount last academic year…] What did surprise me, though, is how many people (again, primarily colleagues) remarked upon my boots today. I mean, I've had these bad boys for almost two years now, and they have been in pretty high rotation since then! It's okay, though - my boots enjoyed the admiration. 

In other news, I think it's time to hang up the reflective jacket for the season… The weather's starting to get crappy (rain was promised yesterday, but it was gorgeous out and tomorrow it might SNOW) and, more importantly, today I kept an eye on the time and realized that I would actually probably feel a little unsafe and uncomfortable out on my bike at the times that I'd be riding on home. I mean, I ride in very safe areas, traffic-wise (except for one awful underpass/mass riot), and I have my extremely bright apparel, but I think I'd be stressed all day if, say, I knew that at 5 PM (the absolute latest I'm ever out on the bike on my commute home) it's already gonna be dark. I don't know. I feel like such a wimp for giving up, but I just need to figure what I value more: my 30 minutes a day of biking or my peace of mind… What do y'all think?

Scarf: Urban Outfitters, remixed

Navy dress: Old Navy (online)

Blue tights: Gap (online), remixed

Boots: Frye Paige Riding Boots by way of countryoutfitter.com 

How I wore it: leggings enthusiast

Today we all took a bike ride to central Cambridge for a playdate between Baby Boots and one of her good friends from daycare (who now attends a different center). It being a lovely day, us being on our bikes, and me becoming a typical Cantabrigian lady, I decided to come out to my daughter's friend's parents as a leggings lover. Woo!

Dat face, though…

Some fun patterned leggings (the same ones I wore here for my foot selfie last month), a hipster dress (uh, shirt), and colorful short boots, and I'm all set. For my ride, I just pulled on a hoodie and a vest and was warm and cozy in the 50+-degree weather. I was between wearing these boots and tall grey ones (my original grey Fryes), but I decided to go for the contrast, especially as I had blue on my shirt, as well. I don't know. I dug it. 

And that's me! How have your weekends been? I have two more days in which to write comments and go bike-riding, so I'm in a pretty good mood…

Grey patterned dress: FluffyCo, bought in Magpie, a store in Somerville, remixed

Grey Fair Isle leggings: Old Navy (online), remixed-ish

Blue boots: a gift from my husband, bought in Madrid, remixed

How I wore it: dressing for success…or health, at least

This week I've been feeling a little under the weather, trying valiantly to stave off a cold and get through this last week of the academic unit (another four-day weekend ahead!) - not that my classes change (yay, language classes!), but it still feels like the end of a chapter at school and for my students. I haven't gotten sick for real as of now and I think that staying active (biking when I could, walking when I couldn't bike) has been helping me: that's generally the way it is. If I can distract my body/mind from getting sick, I usually feel a little better.

Yesterday (Friday) dawned cold, grey, and drizzly after seemingly endless rains the day before. However, the weather gods said it wouldn't rain for the rest of the day and I had a certain outfit in mind, so I went for it:

You guys, as disloyal as I feel to all my Fryes (um, five pairs), I really think that these cowboy dealies are fast becoming my favorite boots. I love how my legs look in them, they make me feel like a badass, they add a certain edge to every outfit, and not a day has gone by that I've worn them that people haven't commented. 

Yesterday, I thought to wear them with an all-black palette (wow, I didn't think when I ordered that short Old Navy dress a couple of summers ago that I'd wear it all the time in all seasons), but the problem was, of course, the layering. I put my old green cashmere cardigan over the whole shebang, chose turquoise accessories (and a turquoise scarf, not pictured), and went on my way. And it was worth it: two different female students lauded my outfit to the heavens and a bunch of different people (kitchen staff, colleagues, students, moms at daycare, and a random stranger) complimented my boots. Special!

You may also notice that I'm wearing my hair down, which I rarely do. It's, in fact, the second time I've done so this school year. I'm paranoid about harming my hairline by wearing my hair up all the time, so I decided to give it a bit of a rest. I always feel like an unkempt male lion when I don't do up my hair, but I can't deny that I felt pretty sultry with it down… 

Green cardigan: gift from mom via Lord and Taylor (NYC), remixed

Black dress: Old Navy (online), remixed

Black leggings: HUE, via Lord and Taylor (Boston), remixed

Cowboy boots: Corral via countryoutfitter.com, gift from husband, remixed

How I wore it: new beginnings

Hello, all! Today was a day full of new accessories and new-ish (new to the blog, at least) clothes in general. Sometimes there's nothing like wearing new(-ish) duds to make you feel as if all is right in the world.

I bought this awesome buffalo plaid (we know how I feel about this pattern) dress online at Old Navy a couple of weeks ago and wore it once before (not documented). When I first got the dress, I planned to wear it the way I did today, but that first day, the weather was too warm and sunny for boots. Today? Right on point:

Pay no mind to the play mouse at my feet…

Baby Boots is such a ham. She loves having her picture taken and now insists on posing with me and holding my hand for the camera. 

Anyway, so that's my new dress. It's fun, huh? It's also short. I mean, thank goodness I've gotten so into leggings lately, because DAMN. I felt a little inappropriate today between my short hem and my tall boots, but -

Oh, what's that? The boots? No big deal. JUST THE SAME BOOTS THAT I'D BEEN LUSTING AFTER SINCE NOVEMBER OF 2008 AND FINALLY GOT LAST MARCH. 

I don't know where to link to, as I've told this story a bajillion times (I think), but the boots you see above are pretty much the reason I'm so obsessed with boots. On election night of 2008 (six years ago today - did you vote?), I came across these beautiful Frye lovelies in an Urban Outfitters where my friend and I were killing time before going to a party. Not knowing anything about boots (or Fryes, for that matter), I looked at the price and hurriedly put the boots down, although knowing in my gut that I'd never seen such pretty boots. Wouldn't you know it, they were limited editions, never to be made again. There was much mourning. A few years ago, Sal talked about setting a saved search on eBay when looking for a particular item, so I decided to try my luck. After years of getting e-mails from eBay about Frye Paige boots in size 10 appearing, I finally spotted this pair - my pair, in my size - for sale this past spring. After a tense auction, I won them, and here they are. I love them so much. In a perfect world, they would've been new (gently used), but whoever owned them before took amazing care of them and they're almost perfect. The leather is this buttery, soft pebbly leather that's just so good. The grey is perfect. You…see why they started my boot obsession (or compensation?), no?

I didn't get a picture of the back, but this is the full cuff detail (these are the now-disappeared Paige Cuff models, after all):

Frye Paige Cuff (Slate) - Casual Women's Boots   (see more cuff bangles)

I love that contrasting buckle on the back.

Mmmm, so anyway. I really liked this outfit. 

But, I also have to think about my outerwear choices now, as we set the clocks back on Sunday morning and now I come home after the sun sets. I want to keep bike commuting as long as I can and I don't want to feel unsafe biking home just because it's 4:30. So… I bought a really reflective running jacket. Aaaaand a new helmet, just because it was there:

Upon arriving at work. I am such a Fashion Babe, no?

The jacket is neon, obnoxious, and VISIBLE. The helmet? Ahhh, well, it's an indulgence. I've had a deep love for the Union Jack ever since I got super into the Who in college - there was a time in my life where I had a Union Jack somewhere on my person at almost all times. I'd seen this helmet around for some time now and I'd always resisted it because I had a perfectly good, serviceable bike helmet already. Well, on Saturday I went to a fancy bike store (which mostly serves twee biking ladies) to look for reflective outerwear. Since they didn't have quite what I wanted (I got my jacket at a City Sports), I decided to drown my disappointment in an indulgent new helmet. My husband thinks that I'm being a disloyal Argentine; I think I'm showing off my love for Quadrophenia. 

So, whaddaya say? Today I felt great having all this new stuff to enjoy. Do you ever feel like that?

This was the take where we yelled "Cheeeeeese!"

Plaid dress: Old Navy (online)

Black leggings: Hue by way of Lord and Taylor (Boston), remixed

Grey boots: Frye Paige Cuff, by way of eBay

How I wore it: mermaid

Today one of my colleagues said that I looked like a mermaid. I had done a bit of a color experiment with my lower half that in the pre-sunrise early morning looked great. When I walked out of my house, though, I wasn't sure if I had matched all the elements okay, but - as I said - my colleague told me that the colors all went together as if I were a mermaid and, hey, who doesn't like mermaids?

Baby Boots ran into the shot to be in the picture, too.

So, this is what we've got: a chambray shirt, a dark green pencil skirt, teal (you can't really tell, but they are) tights, and light blue cowboy boots. That is…a lot of greeny blue tones, yes?

All of that being said, though, I felt great all day. The boots - their color, embellishment, and height (remember: I don't wear heels so much) - made me feel tall, slim, and glamorous from the moment I put them on. I'm gonna be frivolous here: I love the way my legs look in cowboy boots. I know, not important in the long run, but dang, it helps. 

The green skirt is from my famed Old Navy spree of two years ago (I just think y'all have never seen it) and I'm a big fan of it. After last week's successful foray into tucking tunics into pencil skirts, I decided to try it with today's more neutral look. I'm glad I did. I felt very neat and retro with those elements. 

The boots were just good for ass-kickin'. 

So, who's excited for Halloween? We are! Baby Boots is going to be ridiculously cute tomorrow night, if I do say so myself: I hope to be able to share some images with you over the weekend!

Chambray shirt: J Crew Factory, remixed

Green skirt: Old Navy (online)

Teal tights: Gap, remixed (?)

Cowboy boots: Corral, by way of countryoutfitter.com

Let's do the Time Warp again!

Last fall, Lopi talked about her love of old school Reebok Freestyles. I think I remember people actually wearing them back in the day, so - intrigued - I went onto the Reebok site and started playing around with the concept of designing my own sneakers. I played around with some of my favorite colors and came out with a pretty awesome working model. Then my husband designed his own and we bought each other our self-designed sneakers for Christmas/Epiphany.

As you know, I'm not much of a sneaker wearer, but there's something about these (the boot-ness? The combo of my favorite colors?) that I can't resist. So today, on a day that threatened rain and 70-degree weather and lots of slippery kitchen work, I decided to pull out my babies:

Note the mud stains. These are well loved, people. Also, this is the radiator in my office. Intriguing!

There's not much to say about them. I love them, I love having ankle support, and I love that I "made" them [I was always wondering why these colors spoke to me … until I realized that my daughter's stroller is the EXACT SAME COLOR]. The kids at school love them (when I first wore them last year, there was almost a riot), and they were perfect with a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and a flannel over the whole shebang. 

Sometimes I am comfy.

How I wore it: Maxwell plays the fool again

Happy Monday, y'all! It was so hard to go back to work after what was, essentially, a one-day weekend. However, I was happy to try out a new look and wear a new bauble. Let's explore, shall we?

Stiff!

I have a problem, guys. I can't stop buying fun leggings. Is that a thing? It's all the fault of the biking. I keep on thinking that they're good investments to keep my legs warm while I bike to work, especially on these mornings where I wake up to temperatures in the 40s. These were no exception. 

That black dress I'm wearing has become such a workhorse. I mean, I wear it a fair amount over the summer, but I never imagined it would become my most-worn basic layer this year. I guess, since it's pretty short, I only feel comfortable wearing it to work over leggings, so I just sort of gravitated toward it for my new commuting patterns. 

I love my black Fluevog booties and I love them with leggings, but I don't know if I'd wear them again for biking. They're pretty big on me, and I felt as if I didn't have that much control over the pedals. Not a feeling I'd particularly like to repeat. I mean, it wasn't that bad, but I'm glad that tomorrow will be warmer and I can just wear normal shoes again. 

You can't really tell in that picture, but I'm wearing a new necklace. I ordered it last weekend and it arrived on Saturday:

A ukulele necklace! It's kind of a lame thing to buy for oneself, but I honestly think that learning to play the ukulele (or starting to learn how to play the ukulele, to be honest) has changed my life for the better. It brings me so much peace and I think it's doing wonders for my mood - also, it has to be good for my brain to learn a new skill, no? I bought this necklace from Etsy.com, from GirlBurkeStudios. This shop has a lot of charms for enthusiasts of different activities and I'm grateful and happy to have this tiny little ukulele with me when I can't actually play my real-sized uke. 

Well, my friends, I should go and start making dinner for my family. Hope you're all having a great start to the week!

Black sweatshirt: Old Navy (online), remixed

Black dress: Old Navy (online), remixed

Leggings: Threads 4 Thought, bought at Whole Foods

Black booties: John Fluevog, remixed

How I wore it: remember…?

… Remember how I used to work in a school where I had to dress in skirts/dresses and hose every day? And no boots, just closed-toed shoes? Because… ladies?

Well, I decided to channel that yesterday and today for parents' visiting weekend at my work. I wish I had gotten a photo of yesterday's outfit, but my camera lost battery power just when I was about to shoot. So you'll have to make do with today's slightly more sedate version of "CLASSY POWER TEACHER"!

Behold:

Remember THIS photo location?!

Yup, an old pencil skirt, a drapey black tee, fun patterned tights, and old grey flats. Not the most inspired outfit, but sort of fun to look like a (semi-) responsible adult again in my wacky little progressive school.

Baby Boots continues to be sick - she actually got a full-blown cold last night - so we spent the rest of my day taking care of her and the rest of the weekend looks as if it'll be much the same. Alas. I'm just hoping I won't have to miss work on Monday…

Happy weekend!

Black tee: Gap, remixed

Pencil skirt: Banana Republic, remixed

Grey patterned tights: Gap, remixed

Grey flats:Adi shoes, ℅ CSN Stores (now Wayfair, I believe), remixed

How I wore it: COLOR!

Woo, it's been a stressful week. Baby Boots got sick on Tuesday morning and we've been scrambling to stay home/miss the least amount of work possible/get sitters. I stayed home on Tuesday, my husband stayed home yesterday and today, and we got a (PRICY) sitter for tomorrow, which is a big work day for both of us.

The weather has been pretty yucky this week - Monday was my only bike day. Since I spent Tuesday in harem pants and an ugly Beatles tee and yesterday I had to help out the cafeteria workers (every teacher and his/her advisees does this a couple of times per year), I've been dressing pretty messily. Tomorrow, Friday, I have to pull out all the stops for parent visits, but I decided to look cute today, too, and defy the rain gods:

What's up with my legs always disappearing on the blog? Time to turn more lights on.

Now that's colorful! I have owned that bright pink corduroy pencil skirt for two years (when I did a whole Old Navy autumn spree that I still haven't fully documented), but I've not been too creative in styling it. In fact, when I was planning to wear it, I was thinking of wearing a black/white buffalo plaid button-down, although I was grumpy from my lack of creativity. However, I had seen a Glamour article in which a stylish lady paired a striped oxford shirt (quite similar to mine) with a bright orange pencil skirt. Inspiration struck, and boom.

It was a pain to keep my shirt tucked in all day, but I was really happy with the look. One of my colleagues liked the whole look and I got a lot of positive comments on my bright skirt. Yay!

Remember these awesome boots? That I've owned for four years? They're still going strong, although they've sort of become my most beat-up boots (at the end of the day, I'll always love my Fryes most). I wore them in the rain and they got super-stained (nothing a little leather-cleaner can't fix). However, the sole of the left boot started peeling off and I think it's time to bite the bullet and get new rain boots (my old ones bit the dust last year) and to purge these guys from my wardrobe, as much as I love them. I don't think it's going to be worth getting them fixed and I now I have my beloved similar Fryes and I could afford to pare down my boot collection a fair amount. So, bye-bye Steve Madden boots. I loved ye well, but I love my other boots weller and it's time to say good-bye. 

Well, tomorrow I have to teach two classes while being observed by my students' parents and then have, like, a thousand conferences with them. Wish me luck!

Grey hairband: Urban Outfitters (online), remixed

Striped shirt: J Crew Factory, remixed

Pink skirt: Old Navy (online)

Grey tights: Gap, remixed

Boots: Steve Madden, remixed

How I wore it: muted Monday

Today was a long day - the first Monday I've worked in two weeks! Crazy! It was also the chilliest day of the school year so far: I woke up to 39 degrees and, dang, I was cold on my bike ride to the train station…

It was nicer on the way back, but I think it's time to start thinking more about my layering strategies in colder weather…

When I got back home, Baby Boots was ready to be my photo partner:

Let's never speak of these photos again

While I hate how this photograph turned out and how this outfit photographed, I do like many elements of this outfit. These pants, for example, were a weird purchase. I mean, I love ankle pants. Theoretically. I think the people who best wear ankle pants are basically the size of one of my legs. However, when I saw these forest green pants for sale on the Old Navy website last winter, I couldn't resist. The problem, of course, is that my legs are quite curvy and - in this photo at least - there's not enough ankle showing and my big feet's shoes look obscenely huge. 

Also, I should have chosen maybe a less dumpy top. 

Believe it or not, my Fluevog green shoes were great for biking. As opposed to my flats, the slight heel lets me get much better leverage on my pedals. Good to know… 

In an attempt to take a more flattering picture, this happened:

When the urge hits, you have to read RIGHT AWAY.

Anyway, it was a long day and now I'm happy ensconced watching 'The Good Wife' OnDemand. Good times. Happy Monday, y'all!

Black top: Old Navy (online)

Striped tank (barely visible below): Gap

Green pants: Old Navy (online)

Green shoes: Fluevog, remixed

muted mixing

Sorry, all, for not having posted in a while. It's been a little stressful both at work and at home and I've found it difficult to get motivated to take pictures after work. It should get better this week!

(I mean, I got a new buffalo plaid dress that I DIDN'T DOCUMENT! And it's so cute! You'll definitely see it.)

Yesterday, Friday, was the end of a week full of glorious, unseasonably warm weather. We'd had heavy rainfall on Thursday, so I celebrated Friday's weather by - as usual - bike commuting. Along with my new buffalo plaid dress, I also got grey fair isle leggings (all from Old Navy. Again.) and yesterday I wore them under a short black dress. Confused as to what to do about shoes, I decided to wear my houndstooth slip-ons. It was all a little krazy klown, but by the end of the day, I dug it:

What do you think? Masterful pattern mixing or the output of a deranged mind? 

Anyways, my husband just took Baby Boots out for a walk, so I'm gonna watch some TV and strum a little ukulele.

Happy weekend!

How I wore it: it's Johnny's birthday!

So today, as I knew I wouldn't be biking because of my faculty meeting, I planned something a little special. And the fact that it was John Lennon's (would-be 74th) birthday was icing on the cake.

Meet my 2013 Christmas present(s) from my husband!

Under the sweatshirt is a Beatles tank. Duh.

So those are my cowboy boots. Um, I love them? I never knew that turquoise fleur-de-lys cowboy boots would make me go all mushy inside, but they do. I basically peer-pressured my husband into buying them for me - he's not a big cowboy boot fan, but he loved these, too. They are super-comfy, but since they basically are the highest heels I wear on a regular basis (sad), after a long day, my feet do get a little tired. So far I haven't branched out a lot beyond wearing them with jeans or leggings, but I did wear them with a fancy eyelet dress for graduation last year. It was intensely cool. 

Every single other element of my outfit is from Old Navy online. A few years ago, I only owned one thing by Old Navy and now the majority of my wardrobe is from there. The shift happened when I got pregnant: I didn't want to invest a lot of money on maternity clothes and this seemed like an easy solution. Since then, I've basically come to rely on their sales, my coupons, and their online reviews. I tend to only buy stuff that's reviewed so I can see what runs big, small, etc. I've only had to send one thing back because some of their sizing is wacky - other than that, it's been a big success. I try to buy pieces that are basic and wearable and, hey, I don't spend a lot of money! Win-win.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed meeting what may be my favorite pairs of boots ever (I know, I say that a lot). Happy Thursday night!

Grey sweatshirt: Old Navy (online)

Jeans: Old Navy (online), remixed

Cowboy Boots: Corral, by way of countryoutfitter.com, gift from my husband