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: Brrrrr!

You guys, today we woke up to 18 degrees. It's probably the coldest it's been all season. I guess that's not bad, as it's December, but, man, was it hard to be outside today. I have to be outside quite a lot on a normal work day, as I pick up Baby Boots from preschool and get there and back home on foot. And, if it's not raining, I walk to my commuter rail station (about a mile), so… lots of layering for me today!

I decided to take advantage of what seems to be the only day this week that it won't rain and wear a tried and true outfit:

I bought this maxi dress in the summer of 2010 and it's still going strong. It's a little stretched, which can be an undergarment problem (as it's got a racerback), but as I wasn't going to wear it without a thousand layers, it wasn't too big a deal. I decided to pair it with an old purple cardigan and the light blue boots my husband bought me in Spain in the spring of 2011. I've worn this particular dress with these particular boots A LOT over the past couple of years and the combo never fails to make me happy. 

However, as it was freezing both indoors and outdoors for much of the day, I layered a semi-new (to the blog, at least) vest over the whole shebang:

Pardon the douchey expression…

I bought this neat-o asymmetrical vest off Zulily the year before last. It's Desigual! A couple of bloggers I love (Sal and Sheila, for starters) are big fans of Desigual and I've always admired their designs. I also like that it's a Spanish company - what can I say? Sometimes I'm very chauvinistic… Anyway, a colleague of mine turned me on to Zulily and the day I joined, they had a sale on Desigual stuff, so I bought myself this vest. It's super snuggly and all those colors means that it either goes or clashes with everything, so I'm always safe with it… 

Today I decided to wear my clothes with a set of Chilean jewelry I've never featured:

Like all my Chilean jewelry, this pendant-earring-ring set was bought for me by my father on one of his many trips home. This rock, known as "piedra cruz" [cross stone], is native to Chile and, as you see, seems to look like a cross when cut. Neat, huh?

I've been continuing to try to treat myself with more kindness and not beat myself up about my winter hibernating body. Are y'all respecting yourselves as well?

Happy Monday!

Vest: Desigual, via Zulily.com

Scarf: Urban Outfitter, remixed

Purple cardigan: gift from my mother, by way of Lord and Taylor (New York), remixed

Striped maxi dress: Gap, remixed

Blue boots: gift from my husband from a store in Madrid, remixed

Jewelry: gift from my father

How I wore it: Maxwell plays the fool again

Happy Monday, y'all! It was so hard to go back to work after what was, essentially, a one-day weekend. However, I was happy to try out a new look and wear a new bauble. Let's explore, shall we?

Stiff!

I have a problem, guys. I can't stop buying fun leggings. Is that a thing? It's all the fault of the biking. I keep on thinking that they're good investments to keep my legs warm while I bike to work, especially on these mornings where I wake up to temperatures in the 40s. These were no exception. 

That black dress I'm wearing has become such a workhorse. I mean, I wear it a fair amount over the summer, but I never imagined it would become my most-worn basic layer this year. I guess, since it's pretty short, I only feel comfortable wearing it to work over leggings, so I just sort of gravitated toward it for my new commuting patterns. 

I love my black Fluevog booties and I love them with leggings, but I don't know if I'd wear them again for biking. They're pretty big on me, and I felt as if I didn't have that much control over the pedals. Not a feeling I'd particularly like to repeat. I mean, it wasn't that bad, but I'm glad that tomorrow will be warmer and I can just wear normal shoes again. 

You can't really tell in that picture, but I'm wearing a new necklace. I ordered it last weekend and it arrived on Saturday:

A ukulele necklace! It's kind of a lame thing to buy for oneself, but I honestly think that learning to play the ukulele (or starting to learn how to play the ukulele, to be honest) has changed my life for the better. It brings me so much peace and I think it's doing wonders for my mood - also, it has to be good for my brain to learn a new skill, no? I bought this necklace from Etsy.com, from GirlBurkeStudios. This shop has a lot of charms for enthusiasts of different activities and I'm grateful and happy to have this tiny little ukulele with me when I can't actually play my real-sized uke. 

Well, my friends, I should go and start making dinner for my family. Hope you're all having a great start to the week!

Black sweatshirt: Old Navy (online), remixed

Black dress: Old Navy (online), remixed

Leggings: Threads 4 Thought, bought at Whole Foods

Black booties: John Fluevog, remixed

How I wore it: T.G.I.F!!!!

Yikes, you guys. It was just the first full week of classes and all of my colleagues and students are wrecked. Why has this year been so much more tiring than other years? I don't know, but I'm constantly exhausted, frazzled, and achy (…well, that has more to do with the constant biking/walking to get Baby Boots).

So I am super grateful that today is (finally) Friday. So I wore a cute outfit. Well, cute-ish. For my new standards:

To be honest, I don't know how much the leggings do for this (especially since they're pretty much full-length leggings and I like the knee/calf-length ones), but they're super-necessary for biking, of course. Well, anyways, I've had this dress since the spring of 2013 and have worn it a bunch. It was surprisingly good for biking, along with the leggings. I

I was hoping to wear cuter flats, but my feet were killing me after a lot of walking in unsuitable wedges yesterday and then I stubbed my toe super-hard this morning and suspect that I might have broken it. So comfy moccasin slippers it was! 

I always get excited, as you know, when my jewelry matches my outfit:

…And match it does. These two pieces are peridot, my birthstone, and pieces that I've had for years. The pendant I got from my parents for my 11th birthday, one of the first "nice" pieces of jewelry that I ever had. I wore the crap out of this chain/pendant combo: at one point, I never took off the necklace and even went swimming in it. All the wear and tear have banged it up a bit, but I still adore it. 

The ring was my 12th birthday present from my parents, bought to match my pendant. This ring means a lot to me, although I have bittersweet memories attached to receiving it. The original ring was too small for me, so we went to Macy's to get it resized. The saleswoman, upon hearing our request, looked at my hand (keep in mind, I had just turned twelve), and said, "Oh, I see. You have fat fingers." 

Yup. 

A saleswoman told a preteen girl that she had fat fingers. My mom is still furious about it.

Funnily enough, my fingers have remained the same size since then (the ring still fits perfectly around my ring finger, for which it was sized) and, hey, I'll be honest: I sometimes catch myself looking at my fingers to see if they are, indeed, "fat." Maybe they are. Who knows. I don't particularly care anymore, but - 21 years later - I can't really understand the brutal honesty that made this lady say that to me…

Green dress: J Crew Factory, remixed

Grey leggings: Calvin Klein, by way of TJ Maxx, remixed

Moccasins: Minnetonka, by way of Lord and Taylor (NYC), remixed

Peridot ring and necklace: presents from my parents from Macy's (NYC) 

How I wore it: power outfit

Today I went into work with more than a little trepidation: not only was I working on slightly over five hours of sleep, but I was concerned about the probable meeting I was to have with my boss about my request for an extension on getting my contract back to the office. I wanted to saunter into work looking calm, cool, collected, and confident. I decided that I needed a "power outfit." In my last school, one of my favorite students loved the color red and whenever I wore a red dress, she'd say, "Señora, you're wearing my power color!" and that stuck with me. So in a silent nod to her, I decided red needed to be in my power outfit.

... That being said, I had no idea what to wear. The weather was supposed to be nice and warmish, and then rain and, well, Massachusetts in the spring. I didn't want to wear my new boots because I didn't want to be distracted. Then I was so tired that I went with some tried and true elements, some stuff that I liked from my last post, and called it a day. I will admit, though, I was kind of psyched with the final result:

Check out how tilted my camera was!

Oh, well, I didn't reinvent the wheel, but I did feel comfortable and cool the whole day. As I've said before, that shirt is a workhorse. I love it. As you know, I love me a good buffalo plaid and, as a child who came of age in the 90s, a checked flannel shirt is all right with me... 

In the end, there was no meeting and I got granted the extension: on Wednesday, I'll meet up with the head of school just to touch base, but her e-mails to me today were cordial and sweet, so I'm not as scared as I was this morning.

From a distance, you might see that I'm wearing a pendant: it's the same one I'm wearing in Saturday's outfit. It's pretty new: I got it from the same store where I got my fish pendant,  Paperface Studio. You can't really tell what it is from far away, but if you look closely, you may see that it's a Day of the Dead skull:

Some might find it morbid, but I love it. I don't come from a culture that celebrates Day of the Dead, but I love the symbolism behind the skeleton/skull figures and I couldn't resist when I saw this silver "sugar skull"! It is dainty and delicate, but has a satisfying heft to it: I love the detail!

All right, time for bed. What would your power outfit be?

Checked shirt: Old Navy (online), remixed

Grey tank: H&M (Athens), remixed

Red skirt: Dickie's brand, from a store in Philadelphia, remixed

Black tights: Gap (online)

Grey booties: Aldo, remixed

Silver skull necklace: Paperface Studio

Pisces fish

The other day I bought this little guy from the Paperface Studio shop on Etsy. It just caught my eye:

I think if I link, it goes to my own receipt, but I got this image off of Etsy

Anyway, I don't know why I got so into this little fishy, but I did, ordered it (along with more stuff), and it arrived home on Thursday. Today was my first day wearing it out. As you know, I care very much about February 25th because it's George Harrison's birthday (he would've turned 70 today. Sigh.). He was a Pisces. He even sang about it on his last album. So what better day to début my koi fish necklace?

Here's how it looked on:

As you can see, I totes approve. The colors are doing no favors to me or to the necklace, but you can see the length and relative size of the charm. Nice, huh? I got a couple of people (both adult women, no kids) mentioning how much they liked the necklace. I was pleased.

And I couldn't let you go without letting you see my FACE, right?

THERE I am, taking selfies in the office, the way I do. 

Yay! Monday's almost done! 

How I wore it: old school

These last few days have been somber at work. We learned over the long weekend that a colleague had  suddenly fallen quite ill and the mood has been grim at school. As you know, I don't have a dress code anymore, but between just wanting to feel more in control and presentable AND the fact that I no longer pump at work, I thought I'd pull out an old favorite today that I hadn't worn for about two years.

That's my daughter's blurry head in the foreground

Forgive the colors. I have a brighter one below. While the dress is over three years old and it was an old standby at my last job, I have never worn it "out" with boots, as boots were verboten at my old place. Since my classiest, dressiest boots are my black Fluevogs, I went with those and then decided to jazz up the whole thing with royal blue tights. I dug the effect. 

No feet, but better color! 

I was surprised by how many people were surprised by my outfit at work. I guess they're so used to seeing me dressed like a slob that a fancy work dress is shocking! 

I liked this outfit a lot - I felt very myself in it - but I'm not sure if the blue tights are necessarily working for it. I personally think they're a lot of fun and, since you don't see much of them, it's not too off-putting, but it does kind of shock the senses. I tried to pull it together with my jewelry, but I don't know if anyone noticed that:

With such blue tights, my only choice was lapis lazuli, naturally! On all of his trips home to Chile over the years, my father has always brought me back oodles of lapis stuff. Here is a fraction of the tip of the iceberg: my favorite lapis ring, my favorite lapis earrings, and a simple silver cross with lapis accents. I did like those elements of the outfit.

Anyways, it was hoot to get back into my old gear. It felt kind of like dress-up, especially knowing that I don't have to wear that sort of outfit every single day...

Grey dress: Banana Republic, remixed

Blue tights: Gap online

Black boots: Fluevog, remixed

Jewelry: gifts from my father from Chile

Christmas present!

Hi, y'all!

Soon enough you'll see my new boots, I promise. It's hard to get a picture after work, though, what with the baby wanting to take a nap on me as soon as I get home. I might have to do the iPhone in the ladies' room soon...

Anyway, my husband surprised me with a beautiful Christmas present a couple of weeks ago. We had noticed this particular piece in the window about a week or two beforehand and he was so smitten with it that he took the baby on a road trip to Brookline [not that far] to get it for me (thereby giving me a few blessed hours of sleep/work/shower time). On Christmas morning he made me close my eyes while he put it on me. The baby didn't care.

What do we think of my fun office?

Gorgeous, no? I wore it to my family's celebration later that day and my mother put it beautifully; she said, "It's so delicate, but - at the same time - bold." I think that's a great way of expressing it: it's so delicate and pretty and girly, but, WHAM! It makes a statement.

I actually asked my husband for another specific necklace way back in October or November, which he promises he ordered as WELL. It's kind of in the same vein, but a little rougher/harsher. We'll see if it arrives and I can show it off as well!

All right. Time to open my office door so that I look welcoming...

Necklace from Mattei Galleria in Brookline, MA

Tardy and acquisitive and opinions

Hey, y'all -

I'm pretty embarrassed by how delinquent I've been in blogging. What with the schedule of school/husband's work/daycare, things are always in a mild state of chaos at home. On top of it all, my mother was in town and my dad came in yesterday for a few days, as Baby Boots caught a bad cold from daycare and everyone's pitching in to help while my husband is busy at work and I'm busy writing grades and comments (second long weekend of the year!). Anyway, hasn't been conducive to me taking pictures of my - admittedly - AWESOME outfits. That's the irony of it all: I've been really feeling my outfits lately - and have some even MORE new threads to show off - but what with being remiss in taking photos...alas.

Oh, and I haven't been reading anyone. I've barely been ON the internet. I'm just horrible. I thought about giving up blogging a few times, but I would miss it too much. I'm hoping to get back in the swing of things ... soon. I don't know when. Perhaps when Baby Boots isn't hacking so much?

In the meantime, I've discovered things about myself when I'm stressed:

• I stress eat. A lot. I was losing baby weight, but I think I undid all the good work with gluten-free cookies bought yesterday. 
• I could look of pictures of glasses all. Day. Long.
• Etsy and I are becoming BFFs. 
• I enjoy looking at pictures of boots on the internet.

Shocked?

Some things that I've become disturbingly into during this past grading period:

source

I've had a hidden fascination with cowboy boots for about 10 years due to my high school best friend, who would ROCK her cowboy boots with a cute skirt [hi, Sido!]. And over the weekend, there was a giveaway and I saw that there were turquoise cowboy boots with fleur de lis embroidery (on the back) and I have a $10 coupon and shipping is free and...I can't stop thinking about them. Style Nation, what say you? Should these be my twelfth pair of boots?

I've also gotten intensely into this:

source

I really want to get one of these beautiful pendants with the Arabic carved onto them - the stone is supposedly ruby! But which one? I kind of like A because it's so subtle, but B is so striking... What opinions do you have on these? 

In other news, I have mysteriously acquired $200 worth of credit toward a fancy optician in the Boston area. And I'm planning to basically go nuts. I love my current Prada glasses, but I think now that I basically got this gift dropped into my lap (since - as much as I'd like to buy all the things I'm featuring - I don't really have extra money to spend on things, I'm planning to ask my parents for the difference as a Christmas present), I'm gonna go nuts. I'll try on my fantasy glasses and, if those don't work out, will just go crazy for amazing frames. 

In other news... I'm thinking a lot about my future. I don't want to share too much, but let's say that I'm starting to sniff out bigger and better things. We'll see what happens.

So that's what's been up with me. How about y'all?

How I wore it: the Mondays

Right. I'm going to try to write this in, like, two minutes flat. It's about an hour later than I like to go to bed and I'm exhausted.

... But I really liked today's outfit:

I'm pretty sure I look like a black block with a blue-ish cardigan, but that top? Is really a nursing top that's a flutter cardigan and "tank top" beneath all in one. Super convenient. Note, also, my enormous necklace - not in the mood for a scarf! 

Here's another angle:

How's everyone's school year going so far? I have a decent class and a crappy class and both are on my last nerve today. I'm, in fact, seriously thinking of moving in another direction with my life. We'll see...

Nursing top (black tank and teal cardigan): Japanese Weekend

Black pants: Ralph Lauren (stolen from my mother), remixed

Black flats: Me Too, by way of DSW, remixed

How I wore it: song 2

Today was our second and last full day of faculty meetings. We have to go in tomorrow for departmental stuff and on Tuesday for new students' orientation, with real classes starting on Wednesday.

After yesterday's fancy look, I decided to tone it way down today and go in a new direction, wearing a bunch of new clothes that I bought on my second-to-last day in Greece. I LOVED how I felt in this and it's much closer to what I want my aesthetic to be (haven't I always called myself a rock n'roll nerd?):

Vaguely pissed look optional!

When I was in Greece, I noticed that a lot of the Fashion Babes were wearing tight, distressed light blue jeans with simple white tops. So I decided to get my own. They're already a little looser than I'd like (and the leg isn't as tapered as how the girls wore them), but I freakin' heart these jeans. I've never owned distressed jeans and, yes, I feel like a tool for buying pre-distressed clothes, but holy God, did I feel like a rock star today. The simple grey tank along with the pops of color with my scarf and new watch just added to the whole thing. Granted, maybe it's not the most fashionable/flattering look ever, but I felt so, so great in this. I used to have a pair of light denim flared jeans that I loved until they fell apart: I think these will be a great replacement, especially as I won't be wearing them to work on normal days (my students do not need this side of me); perfect weekend wear. 

 Yay for rocking out! Do you have any outfits that make you feel like a million bucks for no apparent reason? 

Infinity scarf: Old Navy online (remixed?)

Grey tank: H&M Athens

Distressed jeans: Pull and Bear

Brown sandals: gift from a friend from Costa Rica, remixed

Watch: La Mer collections

Quick earring fix

My husband and I decided to go on a date tonight. Before last month, we hadn't had a date night since long before the baby was born. Now, of course, one of the lovely things about being in Greece is that we have at least two eager baby-sitters who all but shove us out the door when we even start to make mention that we might want some alone time. Ahhh, grandparents. We went on a date last month, a little before Baby Boots' baptism; it was the first (of so far two) Athenian outing I had: a nice dinner on the top of Mount Lycabettus. Tonight we went to "downtown" Sparta for dinner out. My husband wanted some alone time with me. I wanted to wear my new earrings. Date night!

I also wore my new shorts, but I won't be showcasing those because I'm not sure where my camera is. Also, I didn't style them perfectly, so I need to work on that a little. I will say, though, that after about five minutes of me bitching that I felt "weird and uncomfortable wearing shorts and my thighs are too big and are you sure I look okay" I forgot all about how infrequently I wear shorts and was comfy as hell all night. Well, you'll see them soon, I'm sure.

In the meantime...

watching TV in the background

... now THEM'S earrings! I adore them. Despite their length, they're light and wonderful. I have the feeling that they'll be worn a lot at work. And once Baby Boots gets over her urge to grab anything within reach.

Speaking of which, our date was cut short because, when we called the house to check in on her, my dad-in-law told us that she had eaten well but seemed a little restless. We made the executive decision to go home instead of getting dessert and came home to a wailing, unhappy baby who wanted her mom. 

I'm not sure if we'll ever go on a date again.

Birthday loot, 31st edition

Greetings from Sparta! It's currently 108 degrees and we have no A/C here. Both the baby and I are doing GREAT, let me tell you...

As some of you may or may not know, August 6th (yesterday) is my birthday and yesterday I turned 31. Woo! Let this be the year that no one mistakes me for a student at work!

Since July kind of sucked for both my husband and me (deadlines to be met, no outings to be had, etc., etc.), my husband decided to make my birthday SPECTACULAR. And, boy, did he deliver.

First, he drove me into Sparta for some shopping. He first indulged my impulse purchase of shiny hairpins...

... then we went into my favorite jewelry store and I picked out a suitable birthday present...

 ... and then he surprised me by picking up the tab for a pair of shorts that I desperately needed (I don't tend to wear shorts and I hadn't bought any since...2002? 2003? I don't even know)...

All of these will be delayed gratification, though, as my hair is still a little too short to stick a decorative hairpin into (although, by God, I will try); the earrings need to be taken out when Baby Boots is not in the vicinity; and the shorts popped a button while I was trying them on (I'm gonna ask my mom-in-law to sew it back on. Nope, I can't sew buttons. Shut up.). Still, totes worth it.

After a short rest, we went here...

source

... for a trip to the beach with Baby Boots and then a late dinner by the water. I ate this:

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... It was delicious. After a late candle-blowing ceremony on homemade flan, the day ended. It was one of the best birthdays ever! I can't wait to show you the results of the shopping. Also, I went shopping last week in Athens. I have two words for you: harem pants.

Stay cool!

Simple gifts

A couple of years ago, when I was working at the crazy school where I had the insane dress code, one of my best buddy colleagues showed up to work wearing a beautiful watch, of a kind I'd never seen before. If I remember correctly, the watch itself was simple, but the strap was wrapped around her wrist a few times and some charms were hanging off it. Although I've worn the same watch since I was eighteen (the simple steel one you see in most of my photos - most recently), I was immediately drawn to the unique style of my friend's watch. I asked her the brand and she told me and I promptly forgot about it.

Fast forward to January or February of this year, while home during maternity leave, I'm on my husband's iPad incessantly (while I nurse Baby Boots) and I stumble across this website. I immediately recognize both the style and the name from my colleague of about two years ago (how could I forget a simple name like 'La Mer'?! Aren't I supposed to be a French teacher?! By the way, I'll be teaching some French this year). I browsed through the entire collection and fell deeply, madly in love with the wrap styles and the ones with the charms and the studs and everything. I can't link to all the watches I love, so I just urge you to go to the site and browse. I'll wait.

Okay?

So anyways, I've always been a one-watch kind of girl, but in late 2010, my godmother gave me a gorgeous Esprit watch which I wear every once in a while and I have no problem alternating it with my usual steel, despite the concerns I wrote about back then. For the past months, I've kind of wanted a new watch that would fit me a little better: I love the white one, but not for every day. I've had the steel Fossil since Christmas of 1999 and I'm a teensy bit over it. However, the idea of even dropping a little bit of money on such an unnecessary purchase gave me pause - I have two perfectly good watches, not to mention a cell phone; I barely wear a watch during my downtime with Baby Boots; what's the point?!

So anyways, yesterday I read my daily e-mail from Gilt Groupe and wouldn't you know it ... La Mer watches were on sale! Bam. Done.

When I get back to the States, I will be the proud owner/wearer of this:

source

Choosing a color was difficult. I dithered between pinks, purples, greys, chained models, and black. I asked my husband for help. In the end, he liked this one the best, as the color jumped out at him as something very "me." I liked the fact that the watch face was round, as I tend to prefer that shape over square/rectangular. And, as you can attest, I love teal/turquoise-y notes, so I think this watch will be perfect for punching an outfit up. Also, before I became a full-time teacher, I always wore bracelets, but I find them uncomfortable now because of writing on blackboards (or, in the case of my school, whiteboards) and grading and computers and whatnot [and, as I always wear a watch, having them on my left hand was unacceptable]; now, with this funky watch, I'll still have some wrist decoration! 

I'm very excited. 

From the age of 18 till now (almost, gulp, 31), I've obviously gone from considering watches utilitarian only to also decorative. What side of the fence do you fall on?

How I wore it: debutante

So yesterday (Sunday) was Baby Boots' first introduction to the world of birthday parties. We were all invited to the 1st birthday of a little boy whose parents work at my school. It was an outdoor barbecue/picnic; Baby Boots was the youngest baby there, but she was also definitely the cutest, and I'm totally objective.

She also behaved like an angel, which made us unreasonably proud.

Anyway, for a simple party with kids and coworker mommies, I thought I'd put on my new favorite "good" outfit. It involves a nursing tank and my new favorite jeans - it's not that exciting.

... EXCEPT:

TURQUOISE JEANS, PEOPLE! Could I be any happier?! I think not! These are from the Gap, with their whole "colored denim" campaign and I am in love. I think the style is "sexy boyfriend" or some crap like that, but all I know is that they run big and are a little high-waisted, which is perfect for the self-esteem of a new mom like me, as I was able to buy my normal size. They're a tad stumpifying, but I don't care. I love them so, so much. Of course, with a long tank, I've made my torso a little too long and my legs a little too short, so I'd consider tucking the shirt in next time. ... Or would that be too retro? Decisions, decisions.

When I wore variations of this outfit (plus sweaters and scarves and whatnot) to work, I would fancy up the jewelry a little more, but Baby Boots has begun to grab quite effectively, so I decided that it was safer to wear simple silver hoops that, if pulled, will pop right off. 

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

Black tank: Glamourmom, by way of Isis Maternity, remixed

Jeans: Gap (online)

Sandals: Nine West Athens, remixed

Go big or go home!

Now that I'm a nursing mother (a phrase that I toss around a little too often to justify sketchy actions such as buying Skittles from my school's store), I need to have access to my, er, chestal arena quite often. Even at work, where I pump two/three times a day in the privacy of my office. And, as I'm a nursing mother, my chestal arena is also a bit more expansive than it has been in the past. So how do I deal with access and modesty, especially in the high school environment?

I tend to swathe myself in scarves, which is always a good trick, but sometimes it gets a little old, as you can appreciate, especially as the weather gets nicer and nicer. So recently I've been going with a trick first taught, I believe, by the inimitable Sal. And what's that trick?

Why, a big ol' necklace!

Keepin' it classy at the French lab at work...

This big ol' necklace was a surprise Christmas gift from my husband, who knows that I love turquoise and Indian jewelry and red, and, thusly, found me the perfect stocking stuffer. I can't wear the necklace too much in my every day life, as I don't want to whack Baby Boots in the face, but it's perfect for work and it keeps my rather expansive neckline busy with its massiveness and pattern and, well, just plain presence.

So there you have it, folks. When the weather gets too warm for neck-coverin', a big ol' statement necklace will do great in a pinch. 

You're welcome.  

A queen in days of old

Hi, all! I've been wanting to write about this for some time now, so I decided to finally do so before February ended just because I don't want to work on a course proposal instead.

When Baby Boots was born, my mother-in-law flew in from Greece in order to meet her (she'd actually booked her tickets to correspond with the due date, but the baby was born 17 days early, so...). She came laden with gifts, mostly for Baby Boots, but with one honking big one for me.

Namely, this ring:

Yowza, am I right? Isn't it gorgeous? I love its material (beautiful, shiny, pure gold) and the blue bead (the "olive" on the olive branch). It was bought at the same jewelry store in Sparta where I've bought (or been bought) a LOT of other things. I lurve it. I've worn it twice now, both times to church, as I tend to wear gold jewelry a lot when I go to church. 

I like a lot how it looks on the hand, too. As you can tell, I'm a big fan of unique accessories and I think this one fits the bill perfectly. It'll be yet another gorgeous piece to pack along my travel case this summer...

How I wore it: For You Blue (and, um, some other colors)

Dudes, I did not mean to drop off the face of the earth. You know how it is, though, right? You come home all tired and you maybe take a picture and you promise to put it into your computer, but then you have to do some corrections and then "30 Rock" reruns are on Comedy Central and next thing you know, you're falling into bed.

Right?

So that's what's been going on with me...

So on Tuesday of last week, it was November 29th. 2011. Does anyone know why that date might be important to me?

Anyone?

If you guessed that it's because it was the 10th anniversary of George Harrison's death, you got it. I've gone into my all-encompassing love of the Beatles, especially George, before, so I won't go into it. I just wanted to look pretty for it, so I wore a couple of new (and new-to-me) things for it:

Note: I do have a head. I just cut it off, because ... no.

The dress is a hand-me-down from my sister-in-law. And the necklace is the new Tiffany necklace that my parents bought me for completing my Ph.D. As you can see by the sad bandage on my left arm, I went to the doctor that day and EVERYONE mentioned my necklace. And one nurse complimented my boots. I felt like a badass pregnant lady, let me tell you. 

Isn't the maternity dress cute? I thought George would appreciate the paisley patterns. Since I wanted to wear my new necklace, I had all that figured out, but not the earrings. Until I had a "Eureka!" moment:

I know, right? So proud of myself.

Anyway, November came and went, and then December appeared. Here's what I wore yesterday:

Note: I'm not doing goofy "model-posing:" I was straightening out my hair issues. Oh, well.

That dress, which you've seen before, is becoming obscenely short (and let me not get into my issues with SHORT maternity dresses. The hell?!), so I wore it over leggings so that I wouldn't feel weird. I was hoping that my leggings and black socks would incorporate with each other better so that I'd have more of an "opaque tights" look (without actually wearing tights), but you can totally tell. Oh, well. I don't think black and bright red particularly go with this dress, but I still felt kind of cute. Until my husband told me that I reminded him of Minnie Mouse. Oh, well. I did get complimented in the bodega next door to my house (where I was making a totally necessary Cheetos run), so take THAT, husband. No one else made a comparison with Minnie! Whatever, she was a babe.

So, yeah. That's what's been going on. As my wardrobe becomes more and more constricted and I get more and more tired, I can't promise that I'll continue to be fashion-blogging with passion, but I'll keep trying, as much as I can. I've missed you, Style Nation. I apologize for not visiting blogs, leaving comments, or responding to my own comments. I'm still here! Just lazy.

Tuesday, November 29th:

Patterned dress: Motherhood Maternity, handed down by sister-in-law

Boots: Steve Madden, remixed

Necklace: Tiffany

Earrings: Chico's, remixed

Monday, December 5th:

Printed dress: A Pea in the Pod, remixed

Black leggings: Old Navy Maternity, remixed (?)

Red shoes: CL by Laundry, by way of DSW, remixed

New jewelry update

Ugh, short post tonight, y'all. I am TIRED. Coming back to school after a five-day weekend was pretty intense. I swear I saw real fear in my students' eyes when I attempted to teach them something (just as they saw the real fear in mine when I realized I had to teach them ... something).

Anyway, I wore two of the three things I received unexpectedly around Thanksgiving. Here they are:

You get crappy Photo Booth pictures because it's Monday

Here are the earrings my uncle and aunt sent from Buenos Aires. Pretty, no? I love the almost Moorish design of the metal (stainless steel, I believe) and the orange stone in the middle. Super-subtle, super-pretty.

You can see a chain hanging around my neck in the above picture. Because it was hard to get a real picture, I kind of tried to help:

So this is how the pendants look hanging from the necklace. But, as you can see, I'm holding the chain up pretty high. The charms themselves hit at around my belly button. They make an enchanting clinking sound when I walk. As I said before, this isn't really my usual style, but I'm so glad my husband bought me this necklace...

Anyway, I'm off to hit sleepy-time. Another long day tomorrow! And the next day! Until Saturday!

Thankful and frivolous

People, it just turned midnight here, which means that it's officially Saturday and that my update comes eleven days after my last post. BOO. In my defense, though, a lot has been going on. Has it? Well, maybe a little.

ANYWAYS.

For my American readers, how was your Thanksgiving? Ours was lovely and I'm going to tell you about some of the highlights...

"We have so much to be thankful for," said my mother as we all raised our glasses of wine (or, in my case, ginger ale) to toast our meal. As I looked around the huge dinner table at my five-year-old niece and her four-month-old brother, I couldn't help but agree. My husband and I had had a tough week before Wednesday. Without going into too much detail, we had our first scare last weekend, which turned out to be a total ... I don't know ... false alarm? Well, it turned out to be nothing, either way, but we were fervently grateful that - as far as we know - we're bringing a healthy baby into the world. While I'm usually not one to, y'know, make a list about the things for which I'm thankful on Thanksgiving, this year was extra special.

And it didn't hurt that I got loot.

(Dudes. Can I ever not have a pure emotion tempered by common greed? Probably not.)

On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, the same day that we were told that everything was fine with the baby, my husband and I decided to take a walk, both to allay our cabin fever, but also to take the strain off my achy back, because - for some reason - my spine has decided to raise both its middle fingers to me. We ended up going to a nice neighborhood store which sells delightfully overpriced "cute" things. We bought a couple of onesies and my eye fell on a necklace that is totally not my style. But I loved it. Next thing I knew, my husband had bought it for me.

See? For one thing, it's a long necklace, which ... well, no. I don't really tend to wear those. But I fell weirdly in love with the little golden acorn and the (presumably?) maple leaf, so next thing I knew, the necklace was mine.

I'd planned to wear it during the Thanksgiving festivities the next day, but my necklines conspired against me. Anyway, at my brother's house during the festivities, my mom presented me with some stuff, including an article she had cut out about George Harrison, a magazine from my old university, etc... in a Tiffany bag. Which had a Tiffany box in it. Gleefully curious, I decided to postpone the craziness and pull out another small bag from the bigger bag, which was a gift sent from my aunt and uncle in Buenos Aires by way of my cousin, who had visited New York last month: new earrings!

Lovely, no? I can't wait to wear them out!

And then I decided to open the Tiffany box. And I nearly fell out of the sofa. My parents had remembered a wistful phone call I made a few months ago! 

Folks, meet my Ph.D. diploma. My parents got me this to celebrate me getting my doctorate (finally) in July. Although I'd been planning to ask for a necklace in this style for my 30th birthday, I decided not to because I'm soon gonna be in need of a new computer and I thought that would make a good joint Ph.D./Christmas/birthday present request. But my mom remembered and my parents went out and chose a cute size and model and bought it for me. Another long necklace in a mere 24-hour time span. 

How did I get so lucky?! 

Speaking of luck and Thanksgiving miracles, my husband agreed to show his face on this blog (not that he hadn't agreed before: it just hadn't come up) so that I could highlight a picture of us from yesterday. You'll see some old favorites on my part: leggings? Check. Grey boots? Check. Striped long cardi? Check. Spanish cape? Check.

Check it:

Photo taken by my dad via my husband's iPhone. Sorry for the small size: any bigger and we look blurry.

So in case you wanted to know what I was wearing while squealing over my new gifts, please refer to above. And in case you wanted to know how cute my husband is - well, there you go!

Anyway, my friends, I hope you're all doing well and enjoying your weekends. Lots more to write about in the coming week!