How I wore it: splash of green

Knowing that this week would be significantly cooler than our last few weeks of highs in the 80s, I knew that I wanted to wear my black jeans and my green Fluevog oxfords. But I was stuck from there. I hate figuring out last-minute what to wear, so I looked through my closet/dresser last night, trying to figure out which top to wear. Finally, frustrated, I decided to just wear all black and let the shoes do all the heavy lifting.

Which kind of worked?

I dunno. This isn't the kind of outfit to wax ecstatic over, but I can't say that I wasn't pleased by its simplicity. My only complaint is this shirt: it has no stretch to it, so I'm constantly pushing up the sleeves and trying to adjust it correctly over my pants. It gets SO DROOPY by the end of just one wear. I find a long-sleeved black tee kind of a necessity, so that's why I don't get rid of it, but I'm definitely finding myself looking for excuses as to why I shouldn't wear it: maybe it's time for it to go to the donation pile...!

I was excited to wear real pants today - I've been biking in leggings + dresses a lot, so it was nice to wear jeans. I tend to wear sportier shoes when I bike, but it was kind of nice to have the low heel of the Fluevogs to hook onto my pedals. 

I gotta say: for an outfit that barely came together in the end, I'm pretty pleased with the results. Maybe sometimes we just gotta go for the monochromatic + splash of color! On the other hand, I'm hoping to wear new/new to the blog clothes this week, so stay tuned!

Black top: Gap (online), remixed

Black jeans: Old Navy (online), remixed

Green shoes: Fluevog, remixed

How I wore it: sleeve on my heart

One of my favorite guilty-pleasure long-reads is the novel Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts. It's supposedly based on true events and it's a fun adventure read, but it's not great literature. I bought it in India for 740 rupees when I was studying in Pune in 2004. I had brought very little reading material with me, being mindful of my suitcase, so I quickly found myself with nothing to read. I went to a bookstore with some friends and I found Shantaram, bought it, and have been devouring it regularly since then.

Anyway, in the book there's one character, an Indian named Vikram, who loves the whole cowboy/Sergio Leone aesthetic and tends to dress in black with pointed-shoe cowboy boots, a hat hanging from his neck, and (American) western designs on his shirts. One character, famed for her cleverness in wordplay, says that he's the kind of person who wears "his sleeve on his heart." The narrator/main character says that he finds this kind of remark slightly unkind and confesses that he admires a person who can live out his obsession so whole-heartedly.

This is a long introduction to say that I wore my Beatles sneakers today. Along with some other stuff:

Meet Monkey, y'all.

When I bought this buffalo plaid dress last year, I had no idea how often I'd wear it. I mean I more than got my money's worth for it: it's good for biking, it's excellent as a winter layering piece... it's great. As I was going through my closet this morning, I was wondering if today would be my last wear of it, though, as I have so much in this pattern, and this silhouette isn't particularly one of my favorites. However, once I had it on, I changed my mind. Three different people complimented the whole look, and you'll be indifferent happy to know that I decided to keep it. 

Not much else to say about that. Back to the shoes, though, which you can't really see... I don't know. Anyone who meets me knows pretty quickly what I'm about (India, Beatles, biking...), but I like showing it, too. I like having a ukulele necklace and a lot of Beatles clothes. I like wearing my sleeve on my heart. Or, in this case, my feet. I mean, I know how to dress appropriately for any occasion: what's wrong with having a little fun the other days?

Buffalo plaid dress: Old Navy (online), remixed

Black leggings: Adidas, by way of TJ Maxx, remixed

Beatles sneakers: ArkhamPrints shop, on Etsy, remixed.

How I wore it: duplicates

Oof, we are experiencing our first full work/school week and it's a killer! I'm tired and grumpy and underslept and it's only Tuesday. How is it only Tuesday?!

Despite my exhaustion (or maybe it's what's causing my exhaustion), I'm still gamely on the bike every morning. The weather warmed up beautifully after a short cold snap, so we're getting cool mornings (in the low 60s) and hot afternoons (in the low 80s). Dressing for these weather variables and the bike has been a challenge, so I've been dealing with it as best I can ...

... by duplicating successful outfits from the past. Don't expect me to post much this week, folks: all my outfits are ones that I've worn/biked in before and today's was no exception:

Except for the leggings and shoes, I wore this outfit almost exactly a year ago. I bought these newish leggings last spring and the Chucks have become my favorite bike commuting footwear.

I know that these crazily patterned leggings and flat sneakers do no favors for my legs - they are curvy and muscular enough as it is, without being stumpified further by a problematic hem, a busy pattern, and flat, rounded shoes. But you know what? I don't care. It was very cheerful to look down at my leggings all day and I was functional and comfy throughout my hours at work. I call that a win. 

I'm off to collapse: have a great week, folks!

Green dress: J Crew Factory, remixed

Leggings: Threads 4 Thought, by way of Whole Foods

Chucks: Converse store, remixed

How I wore it: think pink

I never was a kid who was crazy into pink as a little girl. Nor was I the kind of kid who hated it, rejecting all the feminine froufrou that I was supposed to like. It was just...there. I don't remember wearing much of it as a kid - probably because my mom doesn't particularly like it that much, I don't think, and she didn't tend to dress me in it.

In my adolescence, like a typical New York kid, I discovered black and never looked back.

But as I've grown older, I've shown a marked preference for pink accessories: my old Filofax was pink, my iPad cover is pink, and I chose a bright turquoise/pink phone case last year when I updated my cell. You saw my Marimekko dress last week and I think it's clear...I do pink, now.

Today I didn't bike into work because it was pretty drizzly all day long. So I decided to wear my man-repeller pants with some colorful elements:

No comment on Baby Boots' amazing color story today. Or her bewildered expression.

I've owned that striped tank top for a couple of years now - you can see it in one of my posts over a year ago, but the denim jacket is pretty recent - from the spring. The pants continue to photograph awkwardly and I think that is mostly the fault of the camera angle: if you could see my ankles, as you could in real life, the line of my legs/pants would be a little less stumpifying. Since it was cool today, I kept the jacket on for most of the day, although I did take it off when overly impassioned in class. 

You can't see it well, but I added a fabric rose hair clip in my bun today. Since I kept my jewelry simple (light silver pieces), I thought it would be fun to add some visual interest to my hair. I bought two of these rose clips in CVS YEARS ago...I think even before I cut off all my hair in 2011! The first time I wore one of them in public was earlier this summer, when I went to a friend's place for dinner wearing this exact same outfit. I liked the effect, so I recreated it today. 

And that's all, folks! I'm exhausted from our four-day week (not even a full week!) and I'm ready for the weekend to start. I have exciting boot news to share, so stay tuned!

Jean jacket: Old Navy (online)

Pink striped tank: Gap

Black pants: Gap (online), remixed

Chucks: Converse store, remixed

How I wore it: Chucks on with Saint Laurent

You guys, it was the second full day of classes today and I am COOKED. I was able to bike commute today and it made everything bearable, as did the temporary cooler temperatures (it has been HOT here), but oh my word. Who would've thought that two full days of classes could be so tiring?

As I mentioned yesterday, while I liked my back-to-school ensemble, it was missing something. Between the lack of glasses, the different silhouette, and ... I don't know ... some sort of missing ingredient, I didn't feel like myself very much. And that can be tough. But today? Hoo boy, I felt like myself.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a full-length picture of me today, so you'll have to imagine all of the following elements together...

When I went shopping on Newbury Street back in June for our summer trip to Greece, I entered the Marimekko store there on a whim. And we left with a dress for me, a tote bag, a dress for Baby Boots, and an outfit for our little goddaughter in Athens. The dress I chose is COMPLETELY different from my previous style, but oh my goodness, I love it so much. Here you go:

now on sale!

I don't know if you can tell, but there is exaggerated drapery in the waist/hip area, which would've been anathema for me in the past, but when I tried this dress on back in June, I fell in love. I took it with me to Greece and wore it about once a week, if not more often. It was definitely my "cool girl in Athens" dress. 

Here is a wrinkled view of it in a terrible selfie:

I am hot, no?

Yikes. I didn't realize how wrinkled my dress was (all day?! ALL SUMMER?!) until I took this picture. But you can KIND of see how it falls on me from kind of an upper view. I guess I'll have to take a full-body picture later. I'm sure you'll see this dress again before too long...

Here is how the bottom half of my body looked:

Yup, I wore my new Chucks for the very first time! They were comfy and great and all the kids really liked them. Only one kid commented on my dress, but he happens to be an amazing tailor/designer, so I'm glad that he of all people stopped to compliment my crazy drapey dress. 

Because I was biking today, I wore my shorter black leggings under the dress: perfect combo. 

And just because, here's a selfie of the ladies of the house:

Forgive the weird Baby Boots shot: she is entranced with 'Monsters Inc'  and I didn't realize how odd she came out. And, yes, she is also wearing stripes. 

Aaaand THAT is how my head looked today. Glasses and all. And I loved it.

My American reader(s), are you excited for this three-day weekend? Woot woot! Have a great one!

Striped dress: Marimekko

Black leggings: Adidas, by way of TJ Maxx, remixed

Beatles Converse sneakers: Arkham Prints shop: on etsy.com

How I wore it: fifth first day of school

Today was the first real day of school at work, an actual day - after a little over a week of meetings/preparation/terror - where I saw my students and taught class. Today marks the beginning of my FIFTH year at my job. I actually calculated that it's my 27th first day back to school (non-consecutive), which also makes me realize that I've been a student / teacher for wayyyyyy too long.

Anyway, I had an outfit in mind for today for a while back and I did end up wearing it. Since it was the first real day back, I thought I'd "dress up" for a bit, wear contacts, and not bike. Thursdays are my general day off from biking anyways because of after-school faculty meetings, but today's was cancelled. I still decided to take the day off from cycling in order to take advantage of a free commute (the school bus!) and to wear my new-to-me duds. The commute was horrible, as they started doing a full-scale construction job in the center of the next town over, which happens to be my stop when I bike. The school bus got super delayed there too (it stops there), so you really can't win. Ugh. I'm leaving early tomorrow and seeing if I can somehow maneuver it.

Enough about that, though. Let's cut to the chase. Today I decided to wear a dress that belonged to my mother. It was one of my favorites of hers: she bought it in 1979 (so it's older than I am!) and it was, like, a "big" purchase. She's worn it a lot on nice summer/vacation dinners out and I have a lot of fond travel associations with it. She was cleaning some stuff out this summer and I happened to see the dress and mention that I'd always liked it, so she just fobbed it off on me. I don't think I look as good in it as she does, but here it is:

Nice of me to do my hair, huh?

Despite having that drawstring at the waist, it still kind of droops on me. It's weird: my mom and I have a very similar body type and we're roughly the same size and I'm taller than she is, but...I don't know: I don't wear it with the same panache that she did. Could another issue be the dress-up factor? I find it hard to wear clothes that my mother rocks because I kind of feel like a little kid grubbing around in her closet. Anyways, I think that one thing that would really help would be to belt this sucker. With a real belt: that way we could define the waist and just go a long way in reflecting my true shape. It's a lovely dress, though: raw silk! And a few different students commented positively on it, so that was nice. I have a more "me" outfit planned tomorrow, though, so I hope I feel more like myself. 

So I've owned those mustard/yellowy flats since 2009! They're such a versatile workhorse, but oh my God. They squeak like crazy (this is relatively recent) and they've started rubbing on different parts of my feet and leaving angry marks. Is it time to get rid of them? I love them SO MUCH, though. What do you think?

Well, tomorrow marks the second day of school and then we break for a long weekend! Not a moment too soon (kidding. Maybe?)!

Dress: my mother's, no label, bought in 1979

Yellow flats: New West by way of DSW, remixed

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

How I wore it: meh

Hey, all.

I really liked my outfit today and it got its usual seal of approval from my fashionista advisee (the pants, which you will see below, I've worn three times in not-very-different iterations), but the photographic version is sadly limited...

Meh, right? I love these pants, which I ordered from the Gap: they are a nice, thick fabric with a big, pleated waist and cropped at the hem. I love them on and I loved them in the picture online: they remind me of Bianca's whole look, but when I tried to photograph them today, not so much... Between the camera being above me (stumpifying and not able to show the cropped quality) and the light issues (columns of black!), you can't really see them. Sorry.

I took a sideways mug shot version of my outfit and it's almost worse:

You can see where the pant hits me on the leg, but you can also see that I have a phantom pot belly as the pants are a smidge too big on me. Yay for losing weight healthily, though, right?

Ugh, what can I say? Sometimes things look better in person than in poorly-placed cameras. Sometimes things look better mentally/shop windows than in execution.

I still love these pants, though.

As a PS, though, how boss would this outfit look with my new glasses that should be coming soon? 

Chambray shirt: J Crew Factory [online], remixed

Black pants: Gap (online)

Houndstooth shoes: Target, remixed

How I wore it: cool cat

Folks, it is GORGEOUS outside! 80 degrees and sunny! I have today off, as it's the last day of our final little break between school units (our next one is in five weeks and it's SUMMER VACATION!) and I got all my grading done on Saturday evening. I've had a tough few days - my husband's best friend from Greece came to visit for a business trip and he is the HOUSEGUEST FROM HELL. So I thought that today would be a welcome lonely day.

It's only a little past 2:30 PM as I write this: plenty of time to get in a bike ride before strolling to pick up Baby Boots and then going to a playground with her.

But earlier today I had to go to the dentist and decided to look cute(...-ish) while doing so. Behold!

Ah, yes, my old red skirt workhorse, a Beatles tee, and my newish (about two months old) Chucks. Pas mal, n'est-ce pas? 

Say good-bye to those glasses soon. On Friday I went to the Warby Parker store in Boston to put in an order for the glasses of my dreams. The store was beautiful and a perfect glasses-buying experience: I called it "an Apple store for glasses" to my husband. It was full of Beautiful People and Beautiful Glasses. I kind of...want to work there. As always, as soon as I start mentally cheating on my current specs, those specs start to look real good to me. Oh, well. If I miss them, I can just get new lenses for them next time I go to my optometrist. 

Back to the outfit: 20-year-old me would've LOVED this outfit. Honestly, this is kind of how I dressed a lot when I was 20. I definitely bought the skirt that year and I paired it a lot with tees and bright sneaker. Okay, plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. 

(lots of French today. Sorry. Did I mention that I also teach French?)

Anyway, that's all on my end. I'm pretty psyched about the weather and it's supposed to stay lovely throughout the week. My family and I are going to Maine (Portland area) for the first time on Friday afternoon for the weekend and we're very excited! I'll keep you posted on everything!

Beatles tee: Old Navy (online), remixed (?)

Red skirt: Dickies brand, from store called Guacamole in Philly, remixed

Chucks: Chuck Taylors store

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

How I wore it: second day at school

Yay for Friday! I will admit to having been at an emotional/psychological low point over the weekend, but this week really picked up: I got my hands on some books that I've been wanting for YEARS (I spent way too much money on them, but they're MINE. As soon as they ship from England.); I've been reading some really delightful Sanskrit; my draft for the talk I'm giving next month is going well (I think); I discovered a band that I didn't know (The Devil Makes Three) and I'm loving listening to them. Life...is pretty rad.

Today promised to be the last nice-ish day before it gets snowy and deadly cold again. So I decided that I'd wear my new Fluevogs again, but this time with a more unusual pant silhouette:

How good is Baby Boots' mustard sweater?!

Despite my having turned on every light in the house, you still can't tell that I'm actually wearing my new Fluevogs, but I promise you I am. I liked wearing my short new boots with my forest green ankle pants - I think it added some much needed balance to these particular pants. I love them, but they're definitely not the most flattering article of clothing I own. In the mirror, I think they look great, but when I see photos of myself, it's...not great. Especially, as usual, my generous thighs. I think the boots balanced out the whole shebang. 

The striped top with the charcoal cardigan was just a bit of fun and nonsense. 

While we're on the subject, my Fluevogs continue to get more and more comfortable, although they by no means are the shoe I'd choose to take a long hike in. Today I had a "normal" winter day: I walked a couple of miles from home to the train station, then (after a full day of work) from the school bus stop to daycare, then from daycare back home. I was definitely ready to get the boots off my feet by the end of the day, but there was no pain at all. The leather, I hope, will mold around my foot and be like buttah soon. 

Funny story: I have a couple of colleagues who are big Fluevog fans. I showed one of them my new boots today and she fell in love - she's planning to copy me and try to get a pair over the weekend...

All right, mes amis. I'm off to lounge in bed, as I have to be up early tomorrow... Happy Friday!

Charcoal sweater: Gap, remixed

Striped top: Old Navy (online), remixed

Green pants: Old Navy (online), remixed

Boots: Fluevog, remixed

How I wore it: school début

Hi, all! Woof, what a week. I feel as if I'm doing a thousand things at once, between preparing for next month's guest lecture, working on an independent study (badly) with a student, doing my job, and maintaining some sanity. It's ... not working.

After the past couple of weeks' bad weather (bitter cold and/or gross precipitation), I decided that this week I would début my new Fluevogs to work. I had a couple of reasons: a) I wanted to show them off and b) I wanted to ensure that they were comfortable enough to wear on a typical work day.

So today was the day! I wore a very warm and textured outfit that called for a neutral boot with a pop of color:

As usual, my color's all skewed. Dammit, poor camera-->computer skills! At least y'all can see the outline of the boots and the fact that I'm wearing a textured, nubby skirt along with a wooly sweater. 

As much as I love this sweater, its short length is awkward for me. The modesty top I wore underneath (a brownish tube top, in fact) can sometimes create a weird juxtaposition with the length of the sweater, so it makes me look pot-bellied. The other issue is, of course, since the sweater is so thick, it's not the streamlined shape I tend to prefer. Oh, well. I did enjoy the outfit, though.

The boots held up pretty well. The instep is still an issue and, while I wouldn't say that the shoes are small on me, they definitely...press on my foot. I think a couple more wears will make them perfect, although I feel a little foolish, as one of my cardinal rules (especially with Fluevogs, as I've been burned before) is to not leave the store without the shoes being absolutely perfect. But they did hold up well after a long walk to the train station and they were fine throughout the day. They have a bit of a tendency to eat my socks, but we'll see how they hold up...

Here's a more flattering look at the whole look, despite the weird angle and glasses-reflection:

I...think my fatigue is coming across in these pictures. I'm sorry that the boots look like amorphous dark lumps at the bottom of my legs. I swear that in real life and in my iPhoto they looked really good. 

Oh, well.

Pink sweater: Old Navy, remixed

Olive tube top: Express, remixed

Skirt: H&M, remixed

Grey thigh-high socks (yes, that's what I'm wearing): American Apparel, remixed

Booties (I promise): Fluevog, remixed

How I wore it: busy!

I was excited today to have clear skies and a chance to wear boots that were not my huge-ass Sorels. Granted, it was very chilly all day, but hey - I'm getting *sigh* used to it. My big motivation today was wearing the gifts that my husband brought home from Greece on Saturday. At the same time. Let's see how I did, shall we?

I really liked this look when I thought about it, but in execution it was a bit ... much:

I mean, bright sweater, vest, novelty scarf, leg warmers, and what else?! Granted, it was under 20 degrees Fahrenheit all day, so I definitely needed all those clothes, but when I was hoping for "layered," I think I emerged as "boxy." 

Anyway, that nice bright sweater was a gift from my husband/mother-in-law. They went shopping for it on the last day of my husband's trip. Naturally, the computer isn't translating the color well, but it's a pure hibiscus: not red, not orange, but rather a tropical shade in between. I actually have a lipstick that color! 

My other gift was from my aunt-in-law/godmother. She sent my husband home with a big, honking watch, which I love:

Professional office shot!

Drool, am I right? It's huge and I love me a huge watch. I've been on an unofficial big watch hunt for some years now and I think it might be time to finish the search. I mean, at this moment, I have four watches on rotation when - until a few years ago - I only used to have one. I don't know if it's progress or not, but I think it's time to stop...

Speaking of things stopping (see what I did there? I'm a master of segue!), I think it's time for me to hop in the shower and start the long process of getting to bed, as I have a lot to do tonight. Happy Tuesday, y'all!

Vest: Desigual, by way of zulily.com, remixed

Scarf: gift from my best friend, remixed

Hibiscus sweater: Benetton (Athens), gift from my mother-in-law

Black dress: Old Navy (online), remixed

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

Leg warmers: TJ Maxx, remixed

Boots: Frye, by way of countryoutfitter.com, remixed

Watch: Ferendi, gift from my aunt-in-law

How I wore it: sophisticated yeti?

Today was above freezing! For most of the day! It was pretty magical. You wanna know what else was magical? Having a normal schedule again. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's nice to have my husband home because I like him, but the fact that I am sleeping in my bedroom again, showering in my bathroom, and just living my usual life (I was bunking with my daughter while my parents were in town helping out while my husband was out of town) has felt pretty awesome today. I look forward to more amazing revelations about having access to one's own beauty products at any time...

Although today's temps were above freezing, it was still rainy/snowy/wintry mix...y. So I knew I had to pull on my yeti Sorels. However, I also wanted to pair them with a sleeker outline than usual, so I did...this:

The pose is stiff as hell, but it was the best photo of the lot. I've tended to wear my big Sorels with pants or thicker leggings and a tunic of some sort, but I have to admit that I kind of loved them with the ladylike silhouette of pencil skirt and fitted sweater. Again, not really sure why I liked this so much, but I really did. I tend to feel very self-conscious in this stretchy pencil skirt, but something about balancing it out with my clodhopper boots made feel like a conquering hero. Also, I liked that it made my usually-muscular legs look delicate and girly! 

On a related note, I'm freaking out about the Quebec trip I'll be chaperoning next month. Last week the temperature dipped to -26 degrees! Fahrenheit! I...will probably not be documenting my outfits while I'm there. Snow pants, anyone?

In other news, I'm very happy today. I've just confirmed with the head of the Asian Studies department at a local university that I'll be giving a guest lecture on Indian love poetry later next month! I randomly contacted a few department chairs to ask to be put on South Asian-related mailing lists and this one guy took a look at my CV and invited me to give a talk! As you can imagine, I'll be cultivating these contacts most assiduously. Sigh. It would be so magical to work at this one particular college. It's also close to where my husband works and not, you know, in a suburb 12 miles away from home...

Anyway. You wanna know something funny about my navy top I'm wearing? I've worn it before, here (and apparently before, too?). It was my dad's. If I remember family lore correctly, my mom got it for him in the 70s and he thought it was too tight (by which he thought it was too effeminate), so he never wore it. I think I inherited it in high school, when I was wearing a lot of my parents' stuff from that decade. It's very stretchy and fitted, true, and it's pure wool, so I wear it sparingly. It's not too itchy, but some days are better than others. You can't tell from the picture, but the lapels are something else. They almost reach my shoulders. It was pretty bothersome with my hair length, let me tell you...

Happy Monday, y'all! I look forward to showing you my presents from Greece in the near future!

Navy top: my dad's, Saks Fifth Avenue label, remixed

Green pencil skirt: Old Navy (online), remixed

Blue tights: Gap (online), remixed

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

How I wore it: blargh

Hiiiiii, all.

So today I had to go back to school after a lovely winter break. My husband is still in Greece and my parents arrived yesterday to help with Baby Boots, so - as I bunked with the little one - I had a tough night of sleep, due to being nervous about her waking up in the night and being tense about school starting again.

It wasn't freezing when I left the house, but the wind picked up soon after and made it brutal the rest of the day. I was pretty layered, but it was wonderful to get back home after a long day back at work.

Today I wore a pretty similar outfit to this one, but I changed around some elements and added some stuff I got for Christmas, namely a navy sweater and a Sherlock Holmes-themed infinity scarf (gift from my best friend!).

Please enjoy this awful bathroom mirror selfie:

Magical.

You can't tell, but I'm wearing dark blue sweater-y tights and my grey thigh-high socks (just a little over the knee). My new cardigan is a navy Ralph Lauren piece that my mother gave me for Christmas. It's long-ish, which I like, with big gold buttons. I was glad to have it with my short little Old Navy blue dress. 

Oh, here's a close-up of the awesome scarf from my best friend. It has some lines from The Hound of the Baskervilles (does it shock y'all that I was a huge Sherlock Holmes fan as a kid?). I took this selfie in the morning and texted it to my friend, as it was my first wearing of it. I. Love. It. I didn't take it off all day:

Even more magical.

Isn't it amazing? I'm pretty sure it's from Etsy, but I don't know which store (I'm pretty sure I've seen it somewhere and wanted to buy it). 

Anyway, that was my first day back. Despite the fact that my mom barely noticed that I had chopped off a bunch o'inches from my hair, every single person at work commented on it, teachers and students. So there you go...

Happy Monday!

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle scarf: Gift from best friend

Navy blue cardigan: Ralph Lauren, gift from mom

Blue dress: Old Navy (online), remixed

Sweater tights: Gap, remixed

Grey thigh-high socks: American Apparel, remixed

Boots: Frye, by way of Country Outfitter, remixed

How I wore it: starry night

First outfit post of 2015! Woo!

So life is a little lonely here at the Boots household because my husband left yesterday for a nine-day trip to Greece to visit his family. My parents are coming on Sunday to help me out with the little one when I go back to work, but during these next couple of days, I've been trying to plan a lot of activities.

Today I went to visit a friend of mine from high school who happens to live in the next town over. She has two little ones, a five-year-old and a three-year-old, so they're perfect playmates for my newly turned three-year-old. I had a fun outfit planned that I had worn practically identically last weekend and I planned to wear it with cowboy boots, but in the last minute, I went with my new 'vogs. How could I resist, as the colors went perfectly?

... I know, right? Their shape is dreamy. You'll get a close-up in a sec. I got this tunic at the same hipster store where I bought one from the same company (FluffyCo) some years ago. Now that I'm so into leggings, I find myself gravitating towards tunics once more. Yay? Anyway, I liked the galactic print on this one. I wore this whole outfit with a new sweater (Christmas present from my mom), but you'll be seeing it soon, I promise. 

So now let me show you what you're really here to see:

I know, right? Even thought I firmly believed myself to be done with buying new boots as of my holy grail of Fryes, I gravitated toward these on the site back in the fall. They had other colors then, a gorgeous olive and a swoony purple, but now these are the ones left. They are a dark brown leather, with that more distressed spats-like bit, and then the denim under the zipper. They're called the Keatons. And we are very much in love. They're technically a men's boot, but I don't care. They're a tad bit tight on the instep, but I can already feel that getting better. Mmmm. I love them so much. I also got rid of two pairs of boots that were past their prime in my closet, so now I have more space! Why, it's almost justifiable to spend $300 on new boots that I don't need! Mmm, I don't care. These are awesome-sauce. I love how non-clunky they are, so they create a nice line with the rest of the leg. 

And the baby likes them, too, so who am I to argue?

Star tunic: FluffyCo, by way of a store in Somerville (Magpie)

Grey leggings: Calvin Klein, by way of TJMaxx, remixed

Boots: Fluevog Keaton

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