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