Grrr. Argh.

Le sigh. It's Sunday again. The bad kind. The kind that at a little past 6:30 in the evening, in twelve hours, I'll be ready to go back to work. WOE IS ME. It was a good, albeit chill, spring break: the first two-week spring break I've had since 1999, when I was still in high school.

I wish I had another week!

No pictures today, folks. I've been too lazy to document my admittedly cute outfits. Alas. Back to skirts and hose it is. However...I do plan to wear my cute teaching outfits again. So, without further ado, here's my plan for the week!

• Monday: white t-shirt and tweedy brown skirt; purple cashmere cardigan; brown-grey stockings; mustard-y flats
• Tuesday: the basic black dress; cardigan will depend on the weather; off-black stockings; red patent-leather wedges
• Wednesday: grey striped v-neck t-shirt; beige corduroy skirt; nude stockings (?); mustard-y flats; green cashmere cardigan if needed
• Thursday: grey dress; grey or off-black stockings [depending on weather]; black flats or polka-dot flats [if, again, weather reports are to be believed]
• Friday: burgundy jersey dress; grey patterned tights; mustard-y flats

Sigh. I feel the whole cycle is starting again. Hopefully with the nice weather promised, I'll start getting more inspired to wear more fun clothes.

I'm actually a little more nervous than usual about going back to work. The reason? My hair. It's true. Although I haven't had a dramatic haircut or anything, my hair has changed obviously. I have thick bangs now. If it were any other place in the world, I'd think nothing of it. But at a school, where (pre-) adolescent criticism is rife, it'll be breaking news. One of my colleagues ever-so-subtly dyed her hair a slightly darker brown during Christmas vacation and the first thing I heard that Monday was "Mrs. A. dyed her hair!" I galloped to find her and I didn't notice anything new about her hair. In fact, she told me that her husband hadn't even noticed anything new. 

Now that I actually do have tangibly new hair, I wonder how it'll go down. I foresee girls' faces pressed against my classroom window, trying to get a glimpse of my new hair. I don't really like being the center of attention like this and I just hope it finishes quickly. The last time I had a dramatic haircut, I was 23. I had just been dumped by a (severely unsuitable) boyfriend with whom I had been very much in love (God knows why); I was so depressed and cared so little about what other people thought, that I fulfilled an eighteen-year-old wish and chopped off all my hair, Mia Farrow-style. I was in graduate school at the time and I had few people to answer to: my professors, my friends, my students. Now believe it or not, few professors give a damn as to what their female students' hair looks like (at least in my field), so there was little comment. My friends loved it. My students were surprised, but they got over it pretty quickly [I lost about a foot of hair], especially as I saw them rarely.

However now? I'll be dealing not only with my students, but with every student who sees me constantly, be it on the school bus or in the halls. My colleagues. My bosses. It'll be weird, I presume.

...Watch no one notice anything and all this angst will have been for naught. 

But this is exactly the reason why I got my hair cut during the first week of a two-week vacation. I wanted to get used to it first before feeling weird and self-conscious about it while being observed by others. Since I feel fabulous, I can just cheerfully say, "Yup! I cut my hair!" when commented upon tomorrow. 

One of my colleagues, who always has a lovely little angled bob says that she cuts her hair (really, trims it) only on Fridays for the same reason: she wants to get used to it first and be aware of any issues before showing it off to the world. 

Does anyone else do that? Sort of have the home test-run before showing off something new to the world? Wish me luck! 

How I wore it: rock & roll nerd

Today my husband and I decided to actually do something together, as this week our spring breaks coincide. Frankly, going to the doctor, eating lunch, and taking a two-hour nap on Monday didn't really count. So we decided to go to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in order to see the Egyptian display.

I decided to kick it old-school, by kind of showing my "roots." Rocker t-shirt, skinny jeans, badass boots, new fringe...I'm such a hipster.

Actually, I'm too lazy to wear anything exciting, I wasn't sure about the weather, and I wanted to remind myself as to who I am when I'm not prancing about in a suitable frock, sensible shoes, and hose.

Behold:

You've seen the elements of this outfit before, except for the David Bowie t-shirt. As it's March in New England, I dressed it up with my favorite cardigan (the grey and black striped one) and my grey wool coat -- I'm still pretty sure I saw an old lady on the subway glare at me in horrified fascination. I look as if I'm up to no good, yes?

But instead of raising hell, I was salivating to see Egyptian coffins. Although I'm a semi-professional Indologist, one of my first loves is amateur Egyptology. I first learned about ancient Egypt in 6th grade and fell in love with it: the people, the mythology... My sixth-grade history teacher also turned me on to a mystery writer named Elizabeth Peters, who has a Ph.D. in Egyptology from UChicago. I now own every single book she's written. I think she's marvelous.

Plus, I have Cleopatra hair.

Since the only clothes on my body with color were my blue boots, I decided to jazz it up with jewelry. See those red things hanging from my ears? I got those as a wedding present from our best man and his wife. What do you think they are?

What do they look like? When the gift giver asked me to guess, I thought they were maybe dried out rose petals. Nope. They're dried out and painted fish scales. Isn't that AWESOME? They're super light and they clatter intriguingly when I shake my head. Totally work inappropriate. On a day like today, when the wind was terrible, it was kind of frightening to feel them fly away from my ears, but they kept it together.

The ring I'm wearing is my cheap Accessorize ring that turns my finger green. I thought -- although it clashes pretty hideously with my earrings and my boots -- that it was the perfect rocker ring to wear with the rest of my outfit.

Alas, I only have four more full days of spring break and then it's back to the daily grind. The good news, of course, is that the next big vacation is SUMMER. Too bad the weather doesn't seem to want to remind me of that...

Blue boots: Frye Veronica Slouches, by way of Zappos.com, remixed
Black jeans: Bulldog by Urban Outfitters, remixed
David Bowie t-shirt: Gap
Fish earrings: gift, bought in Ten Thousand Villages, Cambridge
"Turquoise ring:" Accessorize store in Athens, Greece

Send in the clowns, part II

So now that I have awesome Bettie Page-esque hair, I thought to try again -- can I pull off bright red lipstick?

I gotta admit: I kind of like it more now. The whole vibe is a little more retro and bright lipstick friendly. What do you all think?

Right? It's just a little more classic, I think. Less clashing.

I dig.

Lots of news

So it's not like I meant to not update for five days. Quite the contrary, in fact. I had my best friend over, who's a total fashion babe; I wore cute outfits almost every day; I lugged my enormous camera around, but... I was too busy staring at myself in the mirror.

Because? ... I got bangs.

YAY.

I'd been wanting bangs for almost a year, but I didn't have the guts to do it, as I know it's kind of a big commitment. And many friends told me what a pain in the ass they were to maintain. And then I started looking at pictures of Jane Birkin, Anna Karina, Zooey Deschanel (modern girl crush!) and saving them onto my computer and I couldn't wait anymore. I bugged people who were good visualizers [art teachers at my workplace] and told them to visualize bangs.

So, knowing that my best friend since birth was going to be with me, I sleuthed some salons and made an appointment. Friday was D-Day. I showed the stylist my pictures and told her that this was my dream. If I didn't have the hair or face (+ big glasses) for it, I was in her hands (considering I chopped off all my hair when I was 23 and kept it like that for almost three years, I'm not so scared of trusting stylists with my precious locks). She decided to go for it. AND I'M SO GLAD SHE DID. It was a bit of a shock to my system on both Friday and Saturday, but as of yesterday I'm digging it enormously. I plan to keep it like this for a while. My husband loves it -- naturally; his first love was Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra. My best friend loves it. Even my parents semi-love it. With my dramatic eyeliner routine and my new hair, I can show the world my love for the 60s.

I love it down, but I SUPER love it when I wear it up, which is how I wear my hair most of the time:

That was me last night, trying to figure out a pose to give the people what they want. And by the people I mean Facebook, because all my friends are demanding pictures.

Oh, and by the way, I wore clothes today. I went to the doctor for a quick check-up and, to my delight, after getting my blood drawn, got a bandage on my arm the same color as my shirt:

BADASS! I don't really have much to say about this outfit: I sometimes like primary colors.

The end!

Red top: Tony's, a small boutique in Philadelphia's Old City
Dark blue jeans: Bulldog by Urban Outfitters
Blue boots: Frye Victoria Slouches, by way of Zappos.com, remixed

How I wore it: Happy douchey holiday!

So it's St. Patrick's Day. And that's kind of a Big Deal here in Boston, where my husband and I are almost the only non-Irish people we know. I'm not a big fan of the holiday, myself. For one thing -- not Irish. For another thing, the idea of public intoxication icks me out a little bit. Actually, a lot. Also, I live in fear of being pinched by strangers for not wearing green (although this has never happened to me).

But, since I was hanging out on my lonesome today, obsessively watching Lady Gaga videos working on my dissertation, I thought I'd wear some green in honor of the great man who got rid of Ireland's snakes and invented green beer.

Hi, who doesn't like to iron? This girl. You can get but a teeny glimpse of my shoes which are also (*gasp*) GREEN! Here you go:

If I were up to my own devices, I'd probably wear this outfit with some super-casual shoes, like my moccasins. However, if I had to go outside today of all days, I would definitely keep on the green flats and probably add my green cardigan to the mix.

The funny thing is that, as much as I'm mostly a neutrals-wearing lady at heart, green is actually my favorite color. I don't wear it that often -- I don't have that many green articles of clothing [I think red ism my favorite color to wear, which is a big difference] -- but I do love it. And, hey, if a lady's got green shoes, when better to pull them out?

You're looking at what was probably my uniform about four years ago. I didn't yet own skinny jeans and I tended to pair tight tunic tops (or "dresses," as they're sold) with my existing pants, which tended to be on the flared side. Funny how much can change. I actually own four of those tops (green, brown, grey, and blue) and I wore them constantly. My first and second dates with my husbands featured two different-colored ones. I bet he wishes I owned shirts that actually stopped at my waistline.

Here you can get a better picture of my shoes and whatnot. Also, have I mentioned that the weather is GLORIOUS? I feel almost bad for all the bitching I did about the three-day storm. Our reward is beautiful spring weather, with temperatures up in the 60's and bright sun. Don't believe me? Check out the unearthly halo of light springing from behind my head in the above photo: that's how lovely it is out, folks.

Anyway, if you're out partying for St. Patrick's or cowering at home afraid of the crowds, like me, I hope you have a great day!

Green "dress": American Apparel
Khakis: Gap
Green flats: Kenneth Cole Reaction, by way of DSW

How I wore it: Might as well jump

It. Has. Been. Raining. For. Three. Days. Straight.

God help us, in the East Coast we've been destroyed by a storm that hit us Saturday and HASN'T LEFT. Anyways. It's supposed to be lovely for the rest of the week, so I'll keep thinking positive thoughts. POSITIVE THOUGHTS.

Anyways, since I've been on break and...had to wake up at 6:15 AM this morning to go to jury duty, style hasn't exactly been on my mind. But I thought I had to confess something to y'all.

Here is a typical lounging/working outfit for me:

On me you see my husband's grey sweater that I wear all the time. ...And? ...My jumpsuit.

Yes, I own a jumpsuit. AND I LOVE IT.

For some reason, I got obsessed with jumpsuits last year. My husband and I spent three months in his native Greece this past summer and I vowed that I was going to find a jumpsuit for myself. Not that I particularly saw them as being in fashion in Athens. But I saw some here and there in shop windows and I decided that I would find a cool black jumpsuit for myself in Athens without having to resort to, like, Forever 21.

On our last full day in Athens, we were walking on Ermou Street (which I've mentioned before) and while we walked by an anonymous cool boutique, I saw this cool purple jumpsuit in the window. I dragged my husband in and went to look at colors. They only had rich purple and white, so I clearly went with purple because holy God I try to avoid white at all costs. The rest is history. It came home with me.

Now my only problem is that I rarely wear it. I wear it at home all the time. I've worn it once out for a neighborhood fair during Labor Day weekend with a sweater over it, but I haven't yet ventured out in full-on jumpsuit mode. I thought that it would be the perfect flying outfit because it's like wearing pyjamas, but who wants to wear a jumpsuit for many hours on a plane when you need to take frequent bathroom breaks? And do I dare to wear it through the streets of Athens where Greek female judgment is terrible and swift?

[I must also confess that it's made of extremely unforgiving jersey and I might need to work out more if I'm gonna take it to the streets.]

As for styling it, I tend to wear it with a belt when I'm actually trying. At the store, I was told that it should be worn with high heels, but I think that might be a little much. Gladiator sandals? I feel that that would be pretty awesome.

We'll see if I even pack it this summer. For now I love wearing it as a disco Spanish-correcting queen at the home.

Grey cardigan: husband's, from H&M
Purple jumpsuit: from a store on Ermou Street, Athens, Greece

Send in the clowns?

Good morning! Did you remember to change your clocks? I didn't, but thanks to modern technology, my cell phone and computer both did and thusly I was able to change the clocks in the rest of the house.

It's been pretty blah in the household. My husband was super-sick with bronchitis this week and is only now starting to feel a little better. It has been raining nonstop for over twenty-four hours and I'm starting to go crazy. The good news? I don't have to go back to work for another 15 days. AWE-SOME!

Anyways, I've been struggling with a mythical idea for the past, oh, six months. That wondrous, magical beast:

...red lipstick.

Pick up any fashion magazine and they will all swear on their lives that red lipstick is universally flattering (especially if you pick a color with the right undertones that match your skin, blah blah blah). And I love the way it looks, in theory.

However, I'm a little shy about it in execution. In my head, I'm rocking my big glasses, rocking my eye make-up and also looking awesome with a casual swipe of red lipstick. However, in my head I have no acne, have willowy arms and straight hair, live in Athens, and have a cat, so... sometimes fantasy and reality are a teeeeeensy bit at odds, yes? If I look around, it looks great on other people. Gertie always looks fantastic with her bright red lips and glasses and pretty, pretty hair.

At the end of last summer, I got obsessed with buying bright red lipstick. I did some internet "research" and settled on Urban Decay's Revolution lipstick and went to buy it as soon as we got back from vacation. [For the record, I also bought Midnight Cowboy and I LOVE it: I wear it almost every day.] I still love the color: it really is a true red. But in reality?

It's a little awesome, right? I just can't tell if it's clownish or not. Since yesterday we had to make a quick, pre-shower run to my husband's office in the rain, I put on very drab clothes, scraped my hair into a bun, and decided to fancy it up with red lipstick. I like the look, but is it too much?

My theory is that it might be a little overwhelming with the green eyeliner. Maybe I need to wear black eyeliner on the days that I wear bright red lipstick. However, the more I look at the picture, the more I like the look on me. Opinions?