Winter Floral

Happy Monday, Stylenation! How was your weekend?  Mine was super productive, although I probably should have spent a little more time relaxing as I'm anticipating a pretty busy week at work. My busiest time of the year is from about mid-January until the end of March, and based on various deadlines I have coming up, the next few weeks might be rough. Yet I still prefer working at such a crazy pace to not having anything to do at work. I kind of thrive under the pressure of deadlines. Anyone else feel that way?


Cardigan and Headband: Loft
Blouse: The Limited
Pants: New York & Company
Shoes: Clarks Indigo
Ring: Gift from Fella, via Dublin, Ireland

Early Spring Cleaning

Inspired by Thursday's closet cleaning, Fella and I spent our entire Saturday cleaning our apartment.  We have a 2 bedroom apartment, but until today, the second bedroom was pretty much unlivable, just used for storage.  We completely cleaned that out, and our walk-in pantry.  It was exhausting, but much needed and I definitely feel a sense of accomplishment.  It's nice to continue the de-cluttering.  As with my closet, I threw out a lot of stuff that's been moving around with me for years now.  Things I didn't really need, but couldn't part with.  I put together another bag of clothes to donate, and found a couple pairs of work pants that had been missing from my closet for a while.  So all in all, a pretty productive Saturday.  To reward ourselves, we're having a rare date night - going to see the new "True Grit" at our neighborhood theater and then heading out to dinner.

Have a nice weekend!

Cardigan: Target
Tank: Old Navy
Pants: Loft
Boots: Kohl's
Necklace: Embellish (gift from Fella)

January Blues and Closet Cleaning

Yay, it's Friday!  And January's almost over!  I'm once again sporting some blue (the color of the month), but unlike other January blues I've worn, this one is bright and pastel.  So that makes black and blue a little less blah, right?  And although I have a seemingly endless amount of cardigan sweaters that would go with this top, I instead went with a nice open, drapey cardigan, since I like the style so much when Cynthia wears it.  This is Gap Body, so I don't know, maybe I'm supposed to wear this at yoga or something?  But it's soft knit and super cozy, and has nice detailing that makes it look work appropriate, as well as lounge-appropriate.  See?


I had some free time after work yesterday, so I finally started the daunting task of cleaning out my closet.  It's been feeling really cluttered lately, which kind of stresses me out.  I was returning an ill-fitting dress at the mall on Wednesday night, and the clerk and I were wondering why we buy things that we won't wear.  I bought a dress around New Year's, but once I got it home I wasn't sure I liked it.  I waffled for a while, but finally returned it. The clerk told me she does this all the time, but has a rule that if something sits in her closet for a month, she isn't going to wear it, so it gets returned.  I wish I had that kind of rules, but instead, things sit in my closet for a while (years in a lot of cases), only to get worn a couple of times. An interview with Lisa from Archives reminded me of this.  She says "Now that I see how much money I've wasted at fast fashion stores on items worn somewhere between 1-5 times, I definitely regret my reckless spending. If I could go back in time, I wish I had been saving all that money. " 


I've also been reading Shakespeare's Feminine Ending's posts about paring down over at Fashionable Academics.  Today she said she is getting rid of things that are not worn, not liked, or don't fit.  And when I looked in my closet, I had a lot that fits into each of those categories.  In fact, I have at least 2 big boxes full of things that don't fit in my basement.  I guess I've been saving them in hopes that I'll be a size 10 again someday, but even if I am, will I want to dress like it's 2004 again?  Has it been worth it to move these clothes to all 6 of my Chicago apartments in that time?  Hmm.  Having things that don't fit kind of makes sense.  Even having things that aren't worn kind of makes sense, since my cluttered closet has prevented me from seeing things that I'd otherwise wear.  But what about things that I don't like?  Why would I even have such things?  I think some of it is my tastes changing, but in a lot of cases, it was things that I liked, but didn't like on me.  So needless to say, I pulled 2 bags of clothes out of my closet that I'll be donating, and a few things that I might try to sell before donating.

Seeing all of these clothes that I'm getting rid of because I won't wear them again has helped me identify exactly what I had been wasting my money on.  I used to shop a lot, just for the sake of shopping, and I'd buy things that didn't look good or didn't fit right, and just stop wearing them.  I have more than enough clothes, so I think that at this point, I should only be buying things if I really need them, if they're flattering, and if they're so versatile that I can get a lot of wear out of them.

Wow, that's a lot for a Friday post!  Have any of you taken on similar efforts to de-clutter?

Cardigan: Gap Outlet
Tee and Necklace: New York & Company
Jeans: Gap
Shoes: Loft

Snowed under

First, a shout out to my Style nation professor-buddies La Historiadora de Moda and A-Dubs, who are remaining stylish and cool in spite of hectic academic work loads.  Here's to some relaxation this weekend!
This is the face of exhausted, working-all-day-but-the-semester-hasn't-even-started-yet-Rad.  I'm trying to have patience, because I'm almost done with my Project that Won't Die.  (And if I'm lucky, I'll be working on it again in a few months).  Today is my perfect snow day.  I'll work like someone strongly motivated by an upcoming deadline, and hopefully take a quick walk at some point to enjoy the urban winterscape.
Yesterday, I wore Blokey's favorite striped top (he isn't a huge fan of me appropriating his shirts, since I have about 4x more clothes than he).  Here's my also late take on stripes, although this is too far off Breton. I used to exclusively wear men' shirts (wasn't this a thing in the 90s?).*  I still usually like men's shirts better than women's, but I think I look slightly better now than back in high school/college, because I'm not wearing those unflattering army green carpenter pants that I practically slept in.  (That was a thing too, right?)



As duty calls, I'll be blocking my favorite interwebs distractions points of interest.  So I'll see you Monday, Style Nation.  I may need advice for the first day of school by then.
Have a lovely and warm weekend!

Top: BDG
Jeggings: Hue
Boots: Born

*I am thinking about No Signpost in the Sea and Kelly Bean's recent posts about young women, femininity, and self esteem.  My sister tells me that there isn't much choice other than super girly, body-conscious clothes or athletic clothes available for girls her age.  Is it just me, or did we have more choices (edit) back then in the "anti-fashion" nineties to be more or less feminine than young girls today? I am thinking in terms of role models and widely available clothing for the younger (below 18) set.  For example, the young actresses on 90210 back in the 90s wore a variety of gendered styles, compared to the actresses on 90210 today, which seem to mostly wear very feminine and body conscious, body-baring clothes. I wasn't the only one wearing men's style oxford shoes, baggy jeans, and men's oversized sweaters on my much younger body back in the 90s.  Anyone?

Fashionably Late

I'm a little late to the stripes party going on over at Everybody, Everywhere, but better late than never.  Technically the theme was Breton stripes, but I don't own any.  I do own plenty of other striped things though, so I couldn't pass up thte h.  I tried this top with various cardigans and dress pants for work, and I just didn't like it.  Maybe it's me, but the top felt like it needed to go with denim.  I dressed it up for the office by wearing a denim skirt, tights and nice flats, and a big ol' necklace.  And look, I'm even sporting double stripes (on a cardigan that may look familiar to Cynthia).


So about the necklace.  After seeing a clear, beaded necklace on E-Jo earlier this month, I realized what my jewelry collection was lacking.  I found this at New York & Company, on sale, and used a coupon, so it ended up being maybe about $10.  Not bad for a cute, super versatile piece.  I mean what doesn't clear go with?


Who else is sporting some stripes?

Cardigan: Gap
Tee: Gap Outlet
Skirt: Loft
Tights: Target
Flats: Clarks Indigo
Necklace: New York & Company

Past stripes

Today is Breton Stripes day, it appears.  And I'd love to throw in a picture of myself layering my striped shirt under a dress, but sadly, my mental haze during the last stages of finishing a project this week, I have no idea where my camera (it's a very slim, green point and shoot) went.  I am assuming that Buster dragged it off and hid it as payback for me taking away his chickpea/soccer ball.  Hopefully, I'll find it soon.
Today is also exactly one week before my spring semester starts.  I know that this will elicit no sympathy, as many members of style nation have been back at the semesterly (or regular work) grind for a while.   I like to spend the last week before classes start fretting over my syllabi and generally feeling nervous.  But then when classes actually start, I am generally pretty calm.  I don't understand the nervousness given that I've taught one class 10 times now, and the second class will have a lot of repeat students.  Maybe I'm just excited.
In the meantime, here is an pictures of older younger Rad (2009) surrounded by my old housemates (back when I lived in a hipster hovel in Crown Heights and every week or so, I'd participate in an art project).  This is one our "bug's eye perspective" art projects gone silly.  I don't know why we decided to all wear stripes that day.  We're laughing because the artist (left-most) had to set the timer on the DSLR on the ceiling and then jump to join us on the floor.

Cardigan: Billabong
Tank top (which is clearly too short): H&M
Jeans: Blank
Socks and skull slippers: Target

Red, White & Blue

This outfit has inspiration from a couple sources. The first place was RAGS against the MACHINE, where Terri is picking all of her outfits this year according to a color of the month. This month's color is blue, and I've so enjoyed seeing her blue ensembles thus far, and naturally, it's made me want to wear blue. The other place I drew inspiration was from Linda's 4th of July outfit a couple of weeks ago. I thought about adding red to blue myself earlier this month, when Charlotte suggested I brighten up my winter looks, and I really liked Linda's use of a white sweater with red and blue, despite it being winter (I don't know, that old rule about no white after Labor Day has stuck in my head forever, even though I know we don't have to subscribe to those anymore).  And how little do I wear white when it's not spring and summer?  A quick scan of the blog shows that I haven't worn this cardigan since August!



Cardigan: Target
Shell: New York & Company
Skirt: The Limited
Tights: Target
Shoes: Naturalizer, via Piperlime
Necklace: Embellish

Being Womanly?

Happy Saturday! I hadn't planned on doing a lot of weekend posts now that I'm not participating in some sort of challenge, but I'll be honest, I have some time to kill today. I'm currently having my piano tuned (well, my Grandpa's early 1970's-era Baldwin, which currently resides with me).  And if you've ever witnessed a piano tuning, you might know that it's a couple of the most boring hours ever. But I can't leave.  And Fella took Jude to the groomers to get him out of the house, since he thinks everyone who comes to our apartment wants to play with him.  He would, no doubt, be jealous of all the attention the piano is receiving.  Thus far this morning, I've had some virtual coffee with La Historiadora de Moda and Style Underdog, completed my taxes (yeah, I'm a nerd about doing that early), found a good blondies recipe to make for tomorrow's football party, and bought tickets for Fella and I to see Arcade Fire and the National in April.  Pretty productive for a Saturday morning!

Yesterday I received a compliment from one of my co-workers that's been stuck in my head. I wasn't even dressed all that nicely, but she said to me "Some days I look at you, and I think to myself 'Someday I hope I'm a real woman too.'"  She went on to say that it's because I'm always so put together, and because of all the cute accessories I wear. I find this comment so interesting on a few levels.  It's interesting that she ties my style and accessorizing with being womanly.  And it's interesting to me from an age standpoint too.  I started at my company when I was 23, and most of the women I work with are at least 10 years older than me (many old enough to be my mom), so I never considered that they perceive me as being anything but a kid.

So all of this made me think: what does it mean to be a real woman womanly*?  I think it's definitely subjective and different for all of us.  For me, I think a lot of it is tied to the way I present myself, but I also feel like it's related to my friendships with other women. Last night, I had a great girls night, and interacting with my girlfriends definitely makes me feel womanly.  And hanging out with all of the women in my family at a bridal shower last weekend felt pretty womanly too.

So, what does it mean to you to be a real woman womanly?
*Edited to add: Charlotte brings up a good point in the comments about the qualifier of "real" in this whole post. I guess I didn't see the original remark to be that way, but I think Charlotte has some good thoughts about it. I'm not implying that any woman isn't "real" and I hope my co-worker wasn't either. I truly think the original intent was to say that my co-worker feels that I'm "womanly," rather than "real" versus "not real," "unreal" or "false." I apologize if this offends.


Cardigan, Pants and shoes: Loft
Tee: Target

Actually cold

Woah, looks like its getting actually cold here for the next few days.  OK, not like Minneosta cold, but below freezing, which it hasn't been very much this winter.  I keep thinking how one doesn't even need a winter coat in this part of the country, because winters are mild, but maybe when it's a high of 17, I'll be glad I kept my wintry type coats (nothing serious, but mid-weight wool numbers to be worn with layers.)  To kick off our temporary cold snap, I'm wearing wool tights, which are too warm for sitting around in the apartment.  Blokey and I are going to do what all fun loving young couples in Brooklyn like to don on a Saturday afternoon- e-recycling!  One would think that it would be relatively easy to safely recycle electronic goods in this fair city, but it's actually quite difficult.  The Lower East Side Ecology Center has been hosting events all January, but dang, I wish public and more redaily available options were available.  Perhaps electronics recycling is only an issue for households with a big open-source geek (not me-I'm just reaping the benefits).  And then we're run some more errands.
I'm happy to report I slept about 13 hours on Thursday night.  And took ALL of Friday off of thinky work (laundry and other tasks were done).  I'm so relieved to be closer to finishing my goal.  Thanks to Style Nation for your encouraging words!
(I don't know why I'm smirking here.  Maybe that's just my crooked face).

Cardigan: Uniqlo
Stripey shirt: JCrew, Swap Brown shirt underneath: Banana Republic, thrifted
Skirt: BR, also thrifted
Tight: Hue (wool)
Boots: Palladium
Belt: Swap via Pineapple Mint Vintage

Go Bears!

Happy Friday!  I don't have a very exciting outfit today.  I may have otherwise, but in honor of the Bears v. Packers playoff game this Sunday, they've declared it "jersey day" at my office (this is about as exciting as Hawaiian Shirt Day).  Not that I actually own a jersey, but I have some cheapie Bears t-shirts.  And it's pretty hard to pass up being able to wear jeans and a t-shirt to work.

To celebrate the Bears in the playoffs, we're also having a chili cook-off at work today!  I don't think my entry will win, although I do have a pretty tasty recipe (it includes a can of High Life and my secret ingredient, cinnamon), but it's nice to do something fun at work for a change.  I know, it probably seems like we have nothing but parties, food days, holiday celebrations and other excuses for fun at my office.  But we've earned it.



I picked up this cardigan at a Gap Outlet in Indiana on my way home from Ohio the other day.  I really liked the space-dyed print, but wasn't sure what I could wear it with.  But, duh, it's a neutral, so probably everything.  And it'll help me fight the cold, -1 degree weather we're having here.  Eek.

What are you up to this weekend?  Anyone else watching the NFL playoffs?

Cardigan: Gap Outlet
T-Shirt: Old Navy
Jeans: Gap
Winter Silks: Cuddl Duds, via Target
Shoes: New Balance, via Nordstrom Rack
Watch: Fossil, gift from Fella's parents
Earrings: Bohm via Hazel, gift from Mom

E for Effort

I haven't slept since I woke up around 9AM yesterday, so please forgive the blurry photo, silly face, and any obvious typos.  I thought this combo would look delightful and comfy, but from my sleep deprived vantage point, it reminds me of low rent Elizabethan page boy.  But hey, I give myself points for trying to work some color in.  And my manic working through the night plan helped me get up to speed on my project.  Now, I think I'll catch a couple Zs before heading into the office to take of some business. 
I hear that it is massively snowing in parts of the country, and it will hit here soon.  This is part of the reason I tried to get everything done last night, as I don't trust things to remain open, available, and smoothly running when there is snow.  Sorry, New York, you are great a many things, but you (and your millionaire mayor) stink at dealing with snow.

Dress: Uniqlo
Tunic: Target (Thakoon) via Buffalo Exchange
Jeggings: Hue
Boots: Paladium
Belt: swap via Pineapple Mint Vintage

Plaid Pants

These pants are another closet orphan of mine, only worn once.  I have no idea why they're showing up so dark in this picture.  They all turned out that way, despite the natural light shining in on my apartment this morning.  I had it in my mind that there was an issue with the length.  At 5'9, this is a pretty common problem for me.  Pants that are "regular" length are generally just a little bit too short, and pants that are "long" are often too long.  I was going to pair this solid tank and cardigan with some solid gray pants, but this morning Cynthia's comment about cute prints kept resonating in my mind.  How boring would 3 different solids be?  I remembered that I had a couple pairs of plaid pants in my closet, and dug these out.  I think the length is alright, so I must have been remembering these pants wrong.  Or I've shrunk in the past year :)


Plaid close-up.  This was the only non-NSFW shot I had.  Woops.

I got to the office today and a few of my co-workers started chuckling at my outfit - apparently a whole group of us ended up wearing black and grey today.  What are the odds?  I guess we're all feeling some winter blues and dressing in neutral palettes.  Thanks to Stylenation reminding me to be a little more colorful in my winter dressing, I'm the only one in my office who injected some color into the black/grey ensemble.

Do you ever find yourself unintentionally dressing like your co-workers?

Cardigan: Loft
Tank: Gap
Pants: Target
Boots: Rampage
Necklace & Brooch: New York & Company
Bag: Rosetti via Kohl's

Too close?

I've seen so many other bloggers mix camel and black (or grey), and I really like camel/caramel, but is this sweater too close to my skin tone to work?  Style Nation, your advice is sought after.  I originally thrifted this sweater to wear over collared shirts at school (in place of the black and dark brown cardigans I typically wear) but I am feeling all blended in wearing it with a collar-less shirt.  My mom wears camel shirts often, but she uses her colorful scarf collection more frequently than I.
I am a few days behind on the project, so I'm back to work.  Hope every one has a happy Tuesday.

Sweater: Loft (thrifted)
Dress: Land's End, thrfited
Tights: Target
Boots: Palladium

Shower Wear

Happy Monday, Stylenation!  I just returned home from a quick and very busy weekend in Ohio.  I was in town for my cousin's bridal shower, and spent a wonderful afternoon with many of the lovely ladies in my family.  From my 86 year old Grandma to my 4 year old cousin, we gathered 4 generations of women, all of whom have been so influential in my life.  The women in my family are strong, independent, ambitious, adventurous, confident and beautiful in their own ways, and those are all traits that I aspire to.  It's so nice to get a reminder of that every now and then.

I put together a pretty simple outfit for the shower.  I've worn this dress/cami/necklace combo before, as well as the colored tights (look!  I finally got on board with Rainbow Tights week!) and these shoes.  I think it works pretty well together, but I'm glad that No Repeats is over with since this is pretty close to being a repeat outfit.

I've been completely away from computers all weekend, so I'll need to catch up on all of your blogs!  How was your weekend?  Anyone have a 3 day weekend for MLK day?

Dress & Cardigan: Target
Cami, Necklace & Tights: New York & Company
Shoes: Clarks Indigo

Norway via Brooklyn

Hello Style Nation.  I've been a delinquent blogger lately.  After "ending" my No Repeats challenge, I just sort of let the stresses of my project take over, living in all black and yoga pants for a couple days.  Plus, the heat was not working since late Thursday, and this made me even less likely to crawl out from under the Slanket.  And the cold is still somewhat kicking my butt, but I think I'm going to emerge the winner of our struggle (in about 4 days).
On a funner note, I had the privilege of going thrifting with Jesse.anne.o and her friend S., both of whom were stellar thrift buddies.  I was intending to stick to accessories but I broke my GAAD goals, and ended up with about $19 worth of new sweaters (3), a new shirt, and a new professorial skirt.  All in all, I felt it was a worthwhile and economical cheat.  And maybe just what I need to continue not shopping for a little while (I may allow myself a cheat next time I visit Anne, although I will try to keep it professional shoe oriented).
The crazy thing is that I read The Waves' post on her own shopping desires during GAAD and I thought, "I'm gonna go thrifting and probably break GAAD anyway."  I did this not only because I wanted new stuff (I've now been on GAAD for about 6 months) but also because of the stress related to my uber-project (of which I am making strides, but can feel overwhelming).  I plan to do a big closet sweep, after March 18 (when my next two projects have to be done). 
Here is one of the new sweaters.  Blokey calls this "crazy but cute."  I was probably influenced by other bloggers wearing Scandinavian sweaters.  This one was quite boxy, wee short in the arms, but has awesome clasps that allowed me to close the sweater in a different way, and the arm length was remedied by a slight longer undershirt. 

Happy weekend, Style Nation.  I am actually taking a few hours off tonight to spend time with friends, but then back to the grind.

Shirt: Gap (old)
Sweater: Fjord Fashion (made in Norway), thrifted
Skirt: Urban Outfitters (about 3 1/2 years old)
Tights: Target
Boots: MIA

This is the End

According to the rules, today is the last day of the No Repeats challenge!  Yay!  I thought this challenge would be easy, especially having just finished up 30 for 30 which limited my clothing choices.  Having everything in my closet to choose from again proved to be a little overwhelming some days, and there were definitely days where I wished I could just wear one of my easy, fall-back outfits and not have to think about what to wear.


I did the challenge Anne-Style (obviously, I couldn't be Anne and not do it that way, could I?), meaning I could repeat items but not outfits.  I tried to repeat as few items as possible anyway, but apparently jeans are more of a staple than I thought, because I wore them 9 times during the month!  I also wore my Loft denim skirt 3 times. So you heard it here, if I ever say that I don't like jeans or don't wear them often, clearly I do.  If it weren't winter I'd branch out more with casual outfits and probably wear jeans less, but it's cold, and denim is thick and heavy, so it works.

All of that said, everything I'm wearing today hasn't been worn for at least 30 days.  The pants and cardigan were both included in my 30 for 30 item list, and I've been avoiding most of those items for a while.  All of my jeans are in the laundry right now (no doubt due to overwear this month) so I opted for cords today.  And the blouse is another one of those rarely-worn closet orphans.  And when I say "rarely-worn," I mean I've never worn it.  It didn't quite fit when I bought it, but rather than return it, I just let it hang out in my closet until it would fit.  That doesn't usually work for me, but it did this time.  The blouse is also another springy piece that I'm wearing during the winter to help brighten things up.  Florals definitely do the trick!

Because the challenge is over, and since I'll be traveling this weekend, I'm going to take a little break from blogging.  I'll be back on Monday.  What are you up to this weekend?

Cardigan & Pants: Loft
Blouse: Target
Boots: Kohl's
Earrings: Handmade by a family friend

Forgotten Dress

No Repeats, Day 27

I stumbled upon this hidden gem in my closet yesterday while putting laundry away.  I bought it last winter, wore it once and then promptly went on a 6 week hiatus from my office and professional dressing all together.  I totally forgot I had it, which is kind of crazy given how cute it is.  The fact that this has been hiding amongst my clothes for nearly a year is probably a sign that my closet needs a good cleaning.  Or that I own too many clothes.  Or both.



What discoveries have you made in your closet?  Isn't it fun to find something again like new?

Dress & belt: Target
Sweater & Necklace: Ann Taylor
Tights: Probably Target?
Boots: Eddie Bauer

Shorn and sniffly

Greetings, Style Nation!  Yesterday was extremely productive, although sadly not in an academic sense.  I readjusted my sleeping clock* (slept only five hours, had a bunch of errands to do), went to work, took care of teaching related business, food shopping (pre-storm rush), and getting my hair cut (really, our hair, since I always bring Blokey along.  Our hair stylist has a major dude-crush on him.  Or at least his hair.  He raves about Blokey's hair to any friends I send along his way).
But the problem was that I was on the verge of getting sick.  And then I wore a hat because it was chilly yesterday, so here's my new hair cut, with a bit of hat hair.  And too much product in it.  I detest hair products because they always have a lot of fragrance added, and because as someone who hasn't outgrown her greasy adolescent phase (yet? hopefully?), I don't need added greasy-ness to any part of my person.  Unfortunately, I woke up with Blokey's cold from last week full blown, but that's not bad for a snowy day.  I'm sipping on my Korean mom cold remedy, which is simmered sliced ginger root, a cinnamon stick, and lemon wedge, with a dash of honey (simmer for 20 minutes and drink throughout the day).  It also makes the house smell good.
Also, please note my A-Dubs styled blue legs, which hopefully adds to what is otherwise a very generic-Rad outfit.

What's your cold remedy, Style Nation?  And also, what's your hair routine?  I been a wash and go gal other than some poor experimentation with curling irons in the mid-late 90s.  My brother's Korean-American girlfriend wanted to straighten** my hair so badly in high school, and when I finally let her, she was horrified with the result.  It was like a perky cable news anchor gone rogue.

Cardigan: Uniqlo
Shirt: Target
Skirt: Uniqlo
Tights: Target
Boots: MIA

*I woke up today at 6AM like a real adult!  Not like the greasy teen that my body thinks it is.
**In Korea, I have what is considered "curly" hair by the hairdresser folks since there is a slight wave to it.

Snow Day

No Repeats, Day 26

It's been snowing here all day today.  I'm working from home, so not having to go out in the snow makes it much more enjoyable.  I've got a pretty slow work day today, so after having a girlfriend over for lunch, Jude and I went outside to play in the snow.  I think catching snowballs might be his favorite thing to do ever.




Turtleneck Sweater: Gap
Skirt: Loft
Sweater Leggings: Target
Boots: Sporto via Piperlime
Coat: Gap
Hat & Gloves: Eddie Bauer

No Repeats, catch up (home stretch!)

Heart Charlie discussed her love of ankle boots and  cropped jeans on Sunday.  Since my sleep schedule is so disastrous, and I added my boots to this Sunday, writing-all-day outfit.  Next time, I'm going for a more tailored top.  Note my attempt to wear color by commandeering Blokey's top (it's his grandfather's).




Lyddie Gal informed us yesterday that another blogger is having a Rainbow Tights week challenge.  Here's attempt #1.  I do think that this outfit would have looked nicer with black or grey tights, or leggings.  Maybe because the purples are just different enough that they clash?  Also, the flash make my tights look super shiny, although they are not in real life.



This weekend hopefully is my last sequestered one.  I am making decent progress on the Monster Project (Deadline Feb. 1), and I need to move onto to semester prep and other projects soon, so hopefully I can dig out of my writing hole.  Folks ask about my weekend and I blink and think "Was it the weekend?"

Happy Monday, Style Nation.

Outfit 1:
Henley: stolen from kid sister
Shirt: Jos. Lawrence (from Racine, Wisconsin), Blokey's closet
Jeans: Levis, skinnied by me
Boots: Born

Outfit 2:
Top: Uniqlo
Dress/tunic: AA
Tights: Hue
Boots: MIA

Tall Girl with Curry

No Repeats, Day 25

Good morning/almost afternoon, Stylenation!  Yesterday's outfit isn't really worth posting (just jeans and a t-shirt since I was hanging around the house all day), so let's just skip straight to Monday, shall we?  Today's outfit draws inspiration from a couple sources.  First, from the grey/black/colorful scarf ensemble over at Tall Girl Blogging over the weekend.  I personally get kind of bored in such a neutral-heavy outfit, but I liked the way that Allison used a colorful scarf to liven up her black and grey, so I copied that.




And the curry, you ask?  That comes from the comments for yesterday's post.  I used spicy colors like paprika and cilantro to brighten up my winter outfits, upon Charlotte's suggestion last week.  Yesterday Terri challenged me to try some curry.  I love curry the flavor (it's fantastic on wings, of all things), but don't own any yellow clothing.  At all.  Unlike yesterday's green, which is pretty much a perfect compliment to my coloring, yellow is not this pink-skinned, freckled brunette's friend.  I wish I could pull it off like I've seen Sheila and Kristen (to name a few) do in the past.  Or bold enough to wear awesome yellow pants, like LyddieGal has.  The best I can do is wear it in brooch form (Brooch-wielding is, after all, my super power).

Sweater & Scarf: Loft
Pants: New York & Company
Brooch: Etsy
Earrings: Christmas gift from Fella
Ring: Gift from Fella, via Dublin, Ireland
Shoes: Nine West via Piperlime

Spice-Themed Clothes, Part 2: Cilantro & Lime

Saturday: No Repeats, Day 24

On Friday I added some paprika to my winter blues and greys, upon Charlotte's suggestion.  So here's some cilantro.  I figured if I like the cilantro/lime combo in my rice, it could work in an outfit too.  The flash sort of blows out the print and color of the tank, so here's a close-up.


This tank top was hiding in the back of my closet, typically reserved for spring and summer.  But why not wear it to brighten up the winter?  Fella and I braved the cold to go out to dinner and head to a friend's birthday party last night.  I ended up wearing my snow boots, but of course cute wedges would have been better.


Cardigan: Loft
Tank: Ann Taylor Outlet
Jeans: Gap
Shoes: Indigo by Clark
Earrings: Gift from mom, Hazel Chicago

Who needs a haircut?

 

Blokey and I are in dire need of a haircut. This pictures taken about 2 hours after washing yesterday, confirms it more than ever.  But we get it cut on the Upper East Side (I just happened to find a guy there who is cool, knows how to cut both of our hair, and talks our ear off about music or the fact he went to high school at Fame with Michael J. Fox), but it's a hassle to get there.  I will procrastinate no more!  We have appointments for this Tuesday.  Hopefully, I will no longer look embarrassing by then. Otherwise, this outfit worked well for my acupuncture appointment/errands, although I realize it's very similar to this tunic outfit from last week.  I need new underlayeriner shirts.  Going on the "to-buy eventually" list.

Today is snow storming in NY.  I am not going anywhere without snow boots.  But for purposes of fun and planning for nicer weather, this is my work from home outfit.  This blazer is the top half of this vintage skirt, both of which I picked up for a cool $10 on eBay.  It's just a bit large, but super warm.  I obviously could not teach in this, but maybe for meeting friends and running errands in Manhattan.  When it's not so wet on the ground.

 

Please excuse the cheesy pose.  I was hope the show how awesome these boots are from multiple angles, and show off the color where the light is stronger.  Also, I'm not pissed, I'm just full (there were banana pancakes recently consumed.  I'm dreaming of more).

Have a lovely Friday, Style Nation!

Outfit details:

Outfit one:
Undershirt: Uniqlo
Tunic: H&M
Leggings: Target
Boots: Palladium

Outfit two:
Balzer: Pendleton, via eBay
Shirt: JCrew, thrifted
Shorts: Levi's (juniors department of Macys?, very old), hemmed by me
Tights: Hue
Boots: Born

Blue and Grey with a Dash of Paprika

No Repeats, Day 23

Happy Friday, Stylenation!  How was your first week of the new year?  I still can't quite kick this cold, and I even woke up without a voice this morning!  Fortunately, that doesn't make a difference to blogging :)

In Monday's comments, Charlotte suggested I added "a dash of paprika or cilantro" to my blues and greys.  So that's what this outfit is trying to accomplish.  I like the colors together, but since it's a slight departure from my typical style - mainly the tucking in and belting - I guess it looks off to me.  What do you think?  Hit, or miss?

Cardigan & Tank: Gap
Skirt: Loft
Belt, tights & shoes: Target
Necklace: New York & Company

My Cohabitant and an Inspired Beer T-Shirt

When I started contributing to TCC again regularly, I think Fella may have thought it a little odd that I'd want to share my daily outfits with the internet.  He's gotten over that and is used to the idea of it all, but still pokes fun at me sometimes anyway.  He and Jude started posing after I finished my pictures yesterday, so I had to share this.  If anything, I think it proves that he's a natural.  Obviously Jude thought it was a normal blog picture.  And now you all know that we still haven't taken down our Christmas tree.  Woops.

No Repeats, Day 22

Over on MinnChic yesterday Rebecca pointed out that one of the benefits of working from home is being able to wear beer t-shirts.  She's so right, and fortunately I have a pretty decent collection of beer tees.  Well, 3 of them.  I picked this one up at the Coors brewery in Golden, Colorado a couple summers ago while Fella and I were out there for a family wedding.  I think if we were to have an Us Weekly-style "Who Wore it Best?" poll Rebecca would win hands-down, but I'm still sick, so cut me some slack on the lack of creativity.

And if you wondered, my training class yesterday went surprisingly well.  Honestly my biggest concern was that I would go into a sneezing fit in the middle of it, which would be preserved forever since our classes are all recorded and stored on the company intranet for any of our 50,000+ employees to listen to anytime.  So that not happening was a plus.  I'm not sure I'd be able to lead classes like this everyday, but I had a good time doing it.

I'm off to whip up some tomato soup for lunch since we seem to have run out of canned soup.  I could just walk to the store to buy some, but this way I get to stay warm.  How's your Thursday shaping up?

T-Shirt: Coors Brewery
Thermal tee and Jeans: Gap
Shoes: New Balance via Nordstrom Rack
Earrings: Embellish