This decision is important

Last month, my husband and I went to our usual optometrist for our yearly eye appointment. My prescription has changed a tad, but I don't have insurance for new frames. I was looking at some frames (Prada and Persol), one of which was my husband's favorite (the Pradas), and one that I liked, although so similar to my current green Ray-Bans. Since I was eaten up by indecision AND I didn't have insurance for new frames, I let it go.

Fast forward a few weeks and I am consumed by covetousness for new glasses. The issue is that I love my current Ray-Bans and I honestly thought that they would be my glasses for life, but the truth is that I like a little change every once in a while. And I wanted to go back to a thick frame (I think it's more flattering on me) and I wanted to play with a light tortoiseshell look. Well, I spent all of last weekend researching frames online and I finally - as I told y'all - decided to go for a free trial from Warby Parker to see if the ones that I liked online would translate into a good look on my face. The worst that could happen, I figured, is that I wouldn't like them and I wouldn't have spent any money on that decision. No big deal either way, especially considering that I still am quite fond of my current frames.

So I chose all tortoiseshell frames (most light, but one dark, as they didn't have any other option) and they all arrived yesterday, which I found out right after writing my last post. Tremblingly, I tried them on and...

... Crap. I liked them all. Man, I really must be jonesin' for a change. But the pair that I was most in love with, well, it went well. And I think that something is in the cards. But let me show you, because, yay! Pictures!

So before we start, here's the baseline: me in my current specs, hair not done in any special way, soon after coming home from work/bike ride/daycare pickup. Enjoy:

Magical.

So first up, the Preston frames in gimlet tortoise. Now I actually tried these on two years ago, when Warby Parker kindly sent me some frames to play with and talk about (first pair). I liked them then and I liked them now. Here's how I look now in them:

... Fun, right? Although they're smaller than what I tend to like on me, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I did like them on. My husband was "eh" on them. 

So then I tried on the Durands in woodland tortoise, which looked promising online. They certainly delivered, with a deeper lens, but a thinner overall frame:

I call this pose "douchey scholar"

Yay, am I right? I liked these. Nothing hugely special, but definitely workable in a pinch and I wouldn't mind wearing these babies for a while. I was pretty happy with these.

The next pair is actually quite similar, the Haskell in burnt lemon tortoise, but there's something about them that I liked even more:

... I don't know. Slightly bigger? Slightly more pronounced shape? When I tried them on in front of the mirror yesterday, I definitely exclaimed aloud over them. These were a super good contender for me and - if I hadn't liked any of the other ones - I would've definitely gone for these. 

However, I reeeeeeally liked the next pair, the Duval in whiskey tortoise. These were the ones that only came in this color and in blue and my time for blue glasses is over. Behold:

In the words of the kids these days, yaaaaaas! I liked these. Their angular quality reminded me of what I love about older-style glasses and my old Wayfarers. I mean, right? So at this point I knew that I would have to make a difficult decision, but I also knew that there was no doubt that I was getting a pair of new glasses. 

I had saved my favorite (online) pair for last, the Kimball in marzipan tortoise. Every time I saw a picture of these frames, either on the site directly or in the margin of my Facebook feed (because of ads), I would drool over them a little. When I showed them to my husband online, he also dug them. So here they were, finally in my hot little hands.

Simply put, yes. What I'd been wanting for the past few weeks were large light tortoiseshell frames. That's exactly what these are. I think that this look is much more "me" than what I've been currently doing for the past two years. Granted, a lot of my enthusiasm comes from the fact that I wanted to like these so badly, but, damn, son! I LOVE them! And they're my clear winner, although I like them so much that I'm worried about making the wrong choice ("Do I really like them that much? Yes, right? Hey, why aren't you answering me?! This is IMPORTANT!"). 

More importantly, though, what do y'all think? Any clear winners for you? Any words of wisdom? I turn to you, internet friends... 

How I wore it: she comes in colors

Hello, all!

While enthusiasm is again high, let's see what I can do here.

I stayed home from work yesterday to take care of a minorly ill Baby Boots. Today we had a baby-sitter, but I had to rush home from work in a cab (no biking, and it was perfect weather, too! Boo!) to make sure the baby-sitter could get to her rehearsal on time...

Anyway, since I realized I wouldn't be biking, I decided to go in a pencil skirt - I don't know. This combo spoke to me and I went for it:

Those were not the pajamas Baby Boots was wearing when I left the house this morning

I decided to pull on my newest Fluevogs and wear a color combo that I enjoy, dark blue and forest green (the first time I wore this anchor top, I wore it with my dark green pants). In terms of tights, the best ones I could think of were these royal blue dealies, which I'm not sure how well that worked out, but oh, well. 

I don't really like this grey cardigan I'm sporting (despite being made with some silk!), but it gets the job done. I think I ordered it last year around this time, or maybe even later in the spring/early summer because I've always wanted a plain, light, grey cardigan. This one checks all the boxes, but it's very unstructured/non-stretchy (it's hand-wash, too, so it never really "snaps" back into shape after getting washed). It's super unflattering on me, but it's one of those things that I bought more for usage than for style. Because of that, I don't mind scrunching up the sleeves, which I tend to do all day long.    It looks awful buttoned, let me tell you that for darn sure...

Anyway, that's it on my end. I'm a little distressed, personally. Right after I wrote my post the other day, I got an e-mail from my contact at the university where I want to teach offering me some part-time Hindi courses...that meet in the morning. So I can't really take them without quitting my job, and it's not worth it for two sections. GRRRRR.

Hopefully my Warby Parker free trials (supposed to come tomorrow!) will make me feel better about everything. I think you'll be surprised by the ones I chose to try on...

Grey cardigan: Gap (online)

Anchor tank top: J Crew Factory (online), remixed

Green pencil skirt: Old Navy (online), remixed

Blue tights: Gap (online), remixed

Boots: Fluevog, remixed

coming out of hibernation

Yikes.

Sorry, all.

It's been a while, huh?

I think I can be forgiven, though, no?

In the months that I've been absent, a lot has happened.

Namely, the Boston area was walloped by its snowiest winter ever. EVER. Let me get that through to you. I've had five snow days. It has snowed and snowed. I basically wore my yeti-Sorels every single day. I went to school in two pairs of pants more than a few times. Gross.

In the meantime, I also chaperoned a school trip to Quebec (for just two nights), went to my yearly nerdfest (academic conference), this year in New Orleans, gave a talk at an illustrious local university that has made noises about hiring me in the future, and continued living my life.

The weather has started to get a lot better over the past couple of weeks, so I've started tentatively biking again. I even commuted via bike twice last week! Of course, now it's rainy and will be so forever, so who knows when the next time will be.

In the meantime, my husband and I bought a hardcore rowing machine, so I've been keeping relatively in shape with that. It's a good excuse to watch 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' every night, which was my favorite show back in the day, but I haven't watched since it finished.

Do y'all remember that a few years ago, I was just down in the doldrums and felt myself to be in a fashion rut? Cutting off my hair helped a lot, but I got bored again and then I had no time to think about it because I got pregnant and got a job quite precipitously. Well, I'm back in the rut.

I desperately want to do something new to my hair, but I don't know what. I'd love to chop it again, but it's too expensive to maintain. I kind of, but don't, want new glasses. So I actually today ordered a free five-pair trial from Warby Parker again to see if I can find a relatively cheap way of changing my look.

So that's what's up! I hope to start posting more again...