How I wore it: bike grease!

Today was my second day back to work. Ugh. Well, so it goes. I have to admit that it was fun to see my coworkers, meet the newbies, and start thinking about actual work again. But, still, I will miss the summer, which seemed all too short, even after seven weeks abroad.

Yesterday, for our opening meetings, I actually dressed pretty schlubbily (but I did wear celebratory contacts!), as I happily returned to bike commuting - good thing, too, as I got rained on in the morning. But today, knowing that the main space where the faculty and staff were meeting would be pretty cool, I decided to wear a more "me" outfit:

Tilted!

I don't know if you can tell, but there are many spots of bike grease and general schmutz on my legs. So it goes when you hoist a bike on and off a train, often in a big hurry. When I first started bike commuting about a year ago, I pretty much had to come to terms with being generally grubbier than I would like at work - as much as that would've horrified me a while ago. Now I can live with it, but it can still be a little embarrassing. In other news, as much as I love those jeans, I always am amazed by how unflattering they are in pictures. Perhaps it is time to retire them? I cuffed them up a teensy bit for easier movement and so that my Chucks wouldn't get in the way. 

I bought that Indian shirt in Zara in June. My family and I were invited to a wedding in Greece (on Lesvos, which is why we were there) that took place in July. I didn't know what to wear, so my husband and I rambled up and down Newbury Street - a tony shopping street in Boston - and decided to stop in Zara for a look. I ended up buying that shirt, a beautiful embroidered Moroccan jacket, and a very 70s-style saffron-colored jumpsuit, that I ended up wearing to the wedding (no pictures, alas, until at least next year, as I left it in Athens). I was on the fence about the shirt, as I have A LOT of Indian/Indian-inspired clothes, but my husband loved it and it was on sale and I haven't regretted it once. I wore it often in Greece and was pleasantly surprised at its versatility: I wore it with shorts and swishy ("harem") pants and, now that I'm back home, I've been wearing it over skinny jeans. I got a nice compliment on it from a colleague, so that was encouraging. 

You'll notice that I'm also proudly holding my Nutcase Union Jack helmet, which I modeled for y'all back here (I am hot, no?). Although I was so happy after I bought it, I've actually taken it out on rides and worn it very little because the size isn't perfect: the medium was too small and the large, which I bought, is a touch too big, even when I adjusted the size to its smallest setting. However, I got inspired by Bike Pretty, a sort of fashionable biking lifestyle extravaganza, and I decided that I would like to bike prettier! After getting inspired by this post, I adjusted my Nutcase further, futzing around with the straps, and its fit became much better. Granted, the whole frame still seems too big for my head and I definitely don't look as cute as Melissa does in hers, but I don't know...it adds a fun element to my morning commute and makes me feel that much cuter when heading out of the house than my normal black monstrosity. 

Anyway, that's it on my end. For the first time that I can remember in my academic career, we are starting classes before Labor Day, as the holiday hits a little later this year. However, since all of our opening schedule has always revolved around Labor Day weekend, the administration at work has been really decent about timing, meaning that there are no meetings scheduled tomorrow (staying home!) and that we can sort of figure out our own priorities on Monday and Tuesday (I'll go in one of those days) before new student orientation on Wednesday and first day of classes on Thursday. Yowza!

Bike helmet: Nutcase, bought in Bicycle Belle in Somerville, remixed

Embroidered shirt: Zara

Jeans: Old Navy (online), remixed

Chucks: Chuck Taylor store, remixed

How I wore it: winding down

My first outfit post in over two months! Amazing!

Today was my second to last day of summer vacation (*shuddering sigh*) and it was busy with, of course, medical appointments (we came home last Monday: on Wednesday and Friday I had medical appointments, on Thursday my husband had one, today was the dentist for me, and tomorrow we go to the vet). So, yes, I had to go to the dentist today. I took a longish bike ride in the morning and decided to go with the spirit of biking to my appointment, although I took the subway for it:

I bought two elements of the outfit in Greece this summer: in Molyvos on the island of Lesvos, as a matter of fact. I'm not one to own short/cropped tees, but I was so charmed by the breeziness of shirt, the bike pattern, and a weird summer confidence that I bought this sucker. Today I paired it with my black jeans, which are a little higher-waisted than some of my other jeans, so that worked out well for us. 

The sandals were also bought in Molyvos, from a little leather shoe/sandal shop. This kind of chappal-style sandal was super-popular in Greece this summer  - I saw a lot of Athenian babes wearing similar shoes, but I liked mine the best... and for sixteen euros, who am I to complain? Here's a close-up:

They're very comfortable: I broke them in in one night in Athens, walking long distances with my husband and our house guest to get from home to dinner and back (it was the night of the Parliamentary elections, so there was no service in one of the main subway stations that would've been our transferring stop, so we ended up walking miles). Anyway, they were comfy from the beginning, but after that first night they became like slippers. I really like them and they seem to go with everything. What do y'all think?

So that's it for now. Starting Wednesday, I have meetings and next week marks the beginning of classes. BOO!

Bike tee: bought in a boutique in Molyvos, Lesvos

Black jeans: Old Navy (online), remixed

Red sandals: bought in a store in Molyvos, Lesvos

Announcement

You guys, I totally had a post planned out about how Baby Boots is totally my style icon and how we were inadvertently dressed similarly today and ha ha how cute are we?! But I didn't get a photo in time and next thing I knew, I was wearing (so-called) harem pants and an old tank and sleeping, so, yeah, different post.

People, my jet lag is SO BAD. It's never been this bad, even after I came home from a summer in India. Granted, I was eleven years younger, but DAMMMN. It has an exciting sprinkling of insomnia mixed in, too. I wake up every morning at about 4 or 5 and then just STAY AWAKE. Sometimes I nap (school hasn't started yet). Basically, I've been watching a lot of 'Parks and Recreation' and crying (I really like that show, okay? And I'm really tired). I bought some natural sleep remedies today at Whole Foods, so I'm hoping that maybe I'll do better tonight...

Anyways, let me make this amazing announcement I've been hoping to make for a few days:

I've decided to be a little less subtle about how much I like the Beatles. 

Yes, for my birthday a little over two weeks ago, I bought myself Beatles-printed high top Chucks from this shop on Etsy [check it out! There are so many awesome prints!]. They arrived today. I cannot WAIT to wear them. I'm thinking first day of school, yes? Too much? 

Aren't they amazing, though? Why have I never thought of it before? BEATLES SNEAKERS. I mean, the mind boggles! 

[Totally not kidding, Baby Boots and I are watching 'Yellow Submarine' on the couch right now as we speak. I have a problem.]

Anyway, thanks for indulging this bit of silliness. Hopefully I'll have real outfits up here again soon. Watch this space.

Whoops

So... we're back from Greece and I didn't post once.

My bad?

We spent a whirlwind seven weeks in Athens/Lesvos/Sparta that felt like both the longest and shortest vacation ever. Baby Boots got to bond with her relatives and speak a lot of Greek and I was able to spend a little time doing the things I love: hanging out with family, biking, playing the uke, and reading Sanskrit poetry for fun.

I bought some new clothes, I wore a lot of new-to-the-blog clothes, and I photographed nothing. In fact, this is how most of my pictures went:

Selfie of the three of us at the castle on the top of the city of Molyvos/Mithymna, in the island of Lesvos/Mytilini, where we went for a wedding. You can see the top of a blue halter top I've owned since I was 24. Baby Boots is wearing a salmon-colored jumpsuit. FASHION.

We had a house guest in mid-July and we took him to the Acropolis, along with Baby Boots. I asked my husband to get a picture of us and, unbelievably, I am in fact wearing two new items of clothing that I bought in Molyvos:

That bike cropped tee and Panama hat were both bought on the island. Alas, I left the hat in Athens, but the shirt came home with me. My hair is a mess, which is why the photo isn't bigger. Magical.

We went out a few weeks after that and I took yet another selfie:

Same bike tee, although you can't see it. Baby Boots is rocking that smile, though. 

In the midst of all that, I turned 34. Yowza. This means that my husband and I have been together almost ten years (I was 24 when I met him). I started high school almost exactly TWENTY years ago. I am solidly in my mid-30s. The last year, 33, was a good one: I learned to take care of myself better, mentally, by doing things that I love, such as biking and playing music. I realized that I couldn't let myself be defined by what I do professionally (or, in my case, what I don't do professionally, i.e., teach Sanskrit). Despite all that, I ended up giving my first talk, at a big university, no less. There are hints of better things in the future on that end, perhaps. If that doesn't pan out, though, I think I'll be okay. I have high hopes for 34. And I hope to be better dressed than ever - or at least, wearing what makes me happier than ever.

So I leave you with this: a photograph that, while douchey and contrived, manages to be my favorite of the summer. I took it relatively early in the trip, when I was alone in our Athens apartment, in front of my computer, doing what I now love best (or at least tied for best):

High messy bun, big glasses, eyeliner and ukulele: that's me!

(Oh, hey, that tank top is relatively new...)

So, no. No Fashion Babe post today. But I hope you get a sense of what I was up to and don't mind the rambliness of this post. I have a lot that I'm looking forward to sharing in the upcoming days and weeks and - I hope - months. I'm sorry for not posting while abroad. See you soon!