Epic Blogger Meetups

Yesterday M. and I went to meet up with my amazing and stylish Canadian colleague from In Professorial Fashion, A-Dubs.  As I suspected, she is a delightful, brilliant, and charming woman with a gorgeous sense of style and our meetup was just as epic as the sign indicates.*  We met for an afternoon drink and chat at the lounge of the a posh downtown Toronto hotel, the Royal York.  I decided to trot out some new tights and to wear my favorite Fluevog boots for the occasion.¹  A-Dubs was also wearing some fantastic boots!²  Many thanks to M. for the photos!

I'm completely absorbed by whatever A-Dubs is saying in this one.

Admiring our bootage.

We had a great time talking about all sorts of things, including our blogs, bloggers, academia, academic style blogs, family, boots, and furry roommates, among other things.  It truly was epic, and I hope we can meet again sometime soon!

Today I met up with the lovely Kristin of K.Line.  I've been reading her blog for over a year, so I was very excited to meet her in person.  We met for lunch at the Windsor Arms and conversation.  Kristin is just as talented, smart, chic, and funny as I expected she would be.  We also did some shopping, and let me tell you: this woman is my freakin' muse! I was thrilled to have a shopping partner in crime, and I scored some excellent loot at Club Monaco and Cole Haan.   We didn't take any photos, but I had a wonderful time!  (No doubt I'll be showing off my purchases at some point soon here on the blog.)

It's always fun to meet bloggers and to see how similar their personalities seem to be to the personas they have crafted online.  I could easily see myself being good friends with both of these ladies IRL.  Have you ever met up with other bloggers?  Did you obsess about what you would wear?  What you would talk about?

1. Top - H&M (remixed), Cardi - Target, Skirt - Zara, Tights - HUE, Mallory Boots - John Fluevog (remixed), Necklace - Etsy (remixed)
2. Dress - Max Azria, Leggings - Groggy, Cardigan - Smart Set, Boots - Browns

*A-Dubs agreed to face obfuscation rather than head cropping so that we could advertise the epic nature of this meeting.

Thinking Pink Day 6

I'm sorry for my disappearance from the blog and from StyleNation in general this past week.  (No) Thanks to a powerful draught of the writing pedagogy Kool-Aid, I went down the rabbit hole to spend a week in grading wonderland purgatory, but I've emerged on the other side of the world stronger and wiser (never again will I assign three classes so much written work within two weeks!) and ready to blog again! 

Last Friday I went to meet a friend for lunch at a local coffee shop with amazing organic food and delicious lattes and cookies.  I took a stack of take-home essays and spent the afternoon marking there afterward, so I knew that I wanted to be dressed comfortably.  The friend that I was meeting is a stylish academic with an amazing boot collection, so I didn't think twice about donning my harem pants that day.¹

 1. Harem Pants - Market in Trastavere, Italy (remixed), Shirt - H&M (remixed), Cardi - Say What? (remixed), Shoes - Steve Madden (remixed), Necklace - Etsy (remixed)

For the sunny drive to and from the cafe, I grabbed a pair of thrifted Guess sunglasses.  Bailey wanted to model them here for you, and by that I mean she sulked like the dickens when I put them on her.  What can I say?  Bailey's preferred accessory is the scarf.  

 

For those of you who are academics, what is your strategy for grading written work?  Do you use a timer?  Do you try to grade all of the papers in one sitting?  Do you use a rubric?  I have tried all of the above, but don't feel committed to any of these methods.  

Do you think harem pants are appropriate for the classroom or for your work place?  Why or why not?

The Return of Peacockery

A couple of days ago I brought my peacock tights¹ back into the working rotation.  I wore them on Sunday, when I went to meet up with a couple of friends/colleagues at Panera for lunch and work.  Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that I intended to have lunch and do work.  I'd even brought a writing project and some grading with me, but, in the end, I didn't get any work done at Panera.  After lunch, my friends and I ended up chatting for three hours.  A number of topics, including my tights, came up over the course of the afternoon. 

1. Dress - c/o Shabby Apple (remixed), Cardi - Target (remixed), Tights - ModCloth (remixed), Boots - Steve Madden (via Famous Footwear), Barrette - Goody (remixed)

One of my friends remarked on the boldness of my peacock tights and raised the question of whether or not I'd wear them into campus.  I admitted to her that I would hesitate to wear these bold tights for a department meeting or a regular day of teaching, but I did say that I'd possibly wear them to give a final exam or for a class if my students were watching a film or having a review session.  (I have worn bold tights on such occasions in the past.)  What do you think? Are these tights weekend wear only or am I being needlessly sartorially conservative about them?  Would you wear these for teaching or a faculty meeting?  What about to work if you're a non-academic?

Academics Run on Dunkin'

Last week M. and I had to go downtown for our interview with the INS for his permanent residency application.  Although our immigration attorney had told us that we had nothing to worry about as we clearly had a lengthy, good, and well-documented relationship, I couldn't help but feel a little anxious.  What if they thought M. was trying to pull a Gérard Depardieu?  We had also (unfortunately) seen The Proposal a couple of months before we got married, so I had to wonder if the immigration official would ask us things like, "does your husband have Morton's toe?" or "what kind of deodorant does Dora use?" or "how many pages long is your husband's dissertation?"  Between the end of semester madness (the last week of classes has commenced) and the rounding up of documents and pictures that the INS might want to see, I must admit that I was a little frazzled last week.  (In fact I had wanted to get outfit photos downtown after the interview but forgot my camera in my attempt to make sure that I had 27 forms of identification upon leaving the house.)  

I definitely decided to go with a safer, more conservative type of outfit¹ for the interview.  It turned out fine - both the interview and the outfit.  Immediately after it was over I insisted on going to the nearby Dunkin' Donuts for a celebratory donut and a coffee (I love their coffee!) so that I could power my way through at least a little bit of work that afternoon and evening.

1. Dress - Rabbit Rabbit (remixed)

Blazer - Rafaella (remixed)

Tights - HUE (remixed)

Shoes - Steve Madden (remixed)

Earrings - Filene's Basement (remixed)

How do you tend to dress when you have to deal with bureaucracy or potentially intimidating institutions outside of your work environment?  And even more importantly, how do you take your coffee?  I drink mine with just a bit of milk or cream.  No sugar. 

Weekend Wear: Peacock Tights

One day a weekend or two ago, I met up with AUH to have ice cream and chat.  We had planned to have ice cream because the week had been sunny and warm, but the day before our meet-up the temperature dropped significantly and it snowed overnight.  To be frank, this kind of fickle weather during the Midwestern spring no longer surprises me nor does it prevent me from eating ice cream.  In a way I didn't mind the colder temperatures too much because it gave me a chance to get at least one more wear out of my peacock tights before it gets too hot for tights to be in the regular rotation.¹

 1. Dress - Target (remixed)

Shirt - H&M (remixed)

Tights - ModCloth (remixed)

Boots - Steve Madden (remixed)

Beads - Blanco (remixed)

Even though I have worn bright colored tights and even my floral patterned tights to campus and to teach in, I've never quite felt right about wearing these to give a lecture or to have a committee meeting.  Do I think they're perfect for eating ice cream, shopping for wine, and looking at weird art?  Yes.  Do I think they're just right a day on campus?  No.  These tights suggest preening to me in a way that I'm just not comfortable with for classroom wear.  

 

Would you wear these tights in the classroom or would you relegate them mostly to weekend wear, as I have done?

And is it just me or does the food in this painting look more malevolent than appetizing?  The drooping and hungry flower also struck fear into my heart!

Trial Run

I spent a good portion of the day yesterday at home prepping lectures for my first two classes of the semester at the small liberal arts school where I'm a visiting faculty member.  I'm teaching a brand new class this term, and I'm excited, but I also have a lot of work to do for it.  I required coffee and comfort.¹  I did get out of the house for a couple of hours, though, to go to my salon for the trial run for my bridal hair and makeup.

I can't believe it, but I'm getting married in a week!

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I would ask if you, amazing readers, wanted to hear about my wedding and several of you said that you did.  So I'll go ahead and tell you that M. and I were planning a big wedding for June, but the more we talked about our futures as two academics in the humanities who are finishing PhDs this year and facing a grim job market, the more we felt that it just wasn't a good idea to spend so much money on one day.  We decided that we would go to the courthouse with our parents, my sister, and three of our closest friends, including the wonderful gentleman who blogs as thechemist-coture, and get married there.  We made an appointment with the judge for the afternoon of January 22nd.  Then we are having a small reception later that evening with Middle Eastern food, our wedding cake (made to 1/3 of the originally intended scale), and bubbly.  It will be simple yet intimate, and much, much cheaper.  If we don't end up with tenure-track jobs or even one year appointments for next year, we will have a safety net, and if we do end up winning the crapshoot and getting positions, we will have the makings of a down payment for a home.

I honestly feel like it was a terrific decision.  My stress level went down immediately.  I just felt as though the huge weight of the wedding albatross had been lifted off me.

Since I had already purchased my gown and since it arrived on December 23rd, I decided that I would go ahead and wear it.  It might not scream courthouse, but hey you only live once!  My plan was and is to donate it to charity afterward because I think it's a good thing to do and because I don't have the closet space.  We had actually already paid off our photographer and since he is available next Friday, we are having pictures taken at the courthouse and at another location.  So for both posterity and vanity, I will have my hair and makeup done by two ladies who are far more skilled than I could ever dream of being.  Here's a sneak peek of what my hair and makeup will look like.

I'm only showing you the front of the updo.  I want there to be some surprises.

I'm going with a smokey eye and a dark lip.  I get my hair done at an Aveda salon here, and I love my stylist.  It is so important to have a stylist whom you can trust.  I also love their hair products and lotions and creams.  This was my first experience with their makeup products, though.  I liked them a lot.  However, my makeup artist did warn me that I should bring my own mascara if I thought that I would need waterproof.  I have a feeling that might be a good idea.

1. Sweater dress - Target (remixed)

Shirt - Target

Tights - Target

Boots - ??? (DSW and remixed)

Earrings - Gift

I had been hesitant to (over)share about my personal life, but I decided after reading comments on a recent post that one of the things readers like is the glimpse into who we bloggers are as people.  So I've shared with you a bit about the decisions that went into my upcoming wedding.  I'm wondering though how you all feel about this?  Too much information?  Not enough?  Too much personal stuff and not enough academics?  Not enough style?  Let me know.

Also don't forget that there's still time to answer our CFP!

Boldly Revising

Today I got dressed just to keep myself cheerful and on task while I worked on revisions so that I can soon become Dr. de Moda.  I thought the best way to keep myself in a good mood as I slogged through corrections and sometimes conflicting suggestions was to dress in bright, bold, cheerful primary colors.¹

 Sometimes we have to battle the earth and the elements to get a decent shot for an outfit post.  Brrr!

1. Longsleeved tee - Target

Skirt - J. Crew (thrifted and remixed)

Sweater Tights - H&M (remixed)

Cardi - New York & Co. (remixed)

Boots - John Fluevog (remixed)

Necklace - self-made (remixed)

 
Do you think this outfit is too bold for the classroom?  What about for the library?  Would it distract other researchers and readers?  Ok, now back to revising....

It's Not Easy Being Green (With Envy)

A couple of weeks ago, T. of What Would a Nerd Wear asked me to write a guest post about academic interview attire.  Even though I've only had one on campus interview, this is a topic that I've given a lot of thought to having observed many job searches.  Writing this piece, though, among other things, such as my very grim job prospects for next year, put me into a very dark place for a couple of weeks.  As I compulsively checked the wiki in my field to discover that almost all of the very few places that are hiring in my field had arranged convention interviews with candidates who weren't me, I became more depressed by the day.  I have given up hope of even being granted an interview for a tenure track job on this year's market.  I was becoming envious of friends and colleagues who had received good news about interviews and almost cried in a colleague's office, when I told her that after being asked for more materials by a fantastic institution, they had decided not to grant me an interview.  Sounds depressing, right?  Well, it is - or it was....

The other day I realized that before I go completely insane, I have to work on controlling my mood.  I'm still hopeful that there will be quite a few one-year and adjunct positions and that something will work out for me.  In the meantime, I'm going to focus on the things I can control: revisions, getting my dissertation defended in early spring, preparing my classes for next term, being more consistent with running (after my marathon in October, I've been spending too much time on the couch and not enough time on the running trails and treadmill and I know that exercise really helps to energize me and keep me sane), and dressing stylishly on a graduate student/adjunct faculty budget.

Thanks so much to all of you who read my blog and to those who write such thoughtful comments!  You have been a great source of positivity for me during a very difficult time.  I'm taking today off from work.  Classes are done for the term, and I need a break after all that grading before I try to refocus on my own scholarship tomorrow.  I also need to run some errands and finish up some holiday shopping, so today I'm dressed for comfort and channeling Kermit the Frog instead of Oscar the Grouch for strength.¹ 

1. GEEK shirt - I've had it for years so I don't remember where I bought it

Cardi - Target

Jeans - Express

Boots - Steve Madden (DSW)

Leather Jacket - New York & Co. (sale)

Green Faux Fur Vest - Cejon Accessories (Filene's Basement)

Has your semester finished up?  Are you done with your holiday shopping?

New Hair and New Trends

I blogged yesterday about breaking up the academic routine and mentioned that one way to do that was go to the salon in the middle of the day and get your hair done and read trashy, gossip magazines.  Well, that's just what I did yesterday.  I wanted to get in a visit to my stylist before my mom and in-laws arrive for Thanksgiving and before the final, last mad push of the term begins.  I'm really happy with the results.  I love the dark red.  It feels much more me than the blonde highlights did.

Today, in an attempt to continue preventing a potential style rut, I decided to try belting a scarf.  It's a look that I've been seeing quite a bit lately.  I put this look together with a shirt dress that I don't wear that often because don't like the tie waist very much.  I took advantage of the scarf and the belt to just knot the tie and tuck it into the dress itself.  I also thought it was time to wear my new red argyle tights.¹  I've been seeing a lot of argyle this season, too.

I was a little bit uncertain about trying the scarf-belting trend, but I'm pretty pleased with the way the outfit turned out. It was about all I had to be pleased with today, as I have a sore throat and a terrible sinus headache. I've been fighting this cold for a while, and it's finally won.  Instead of going out tonight to meet up with some girlfriends, I'm home wrapped in blankets and drinking hot tea.

 1. Short Sleeve Turtleneck - Necessary Objects (Filene's Basement)

Shirt dress - Target

Scarf - Target

Tights - HUE (Filene's Basement)

Belt - from another skirt

Spectator Pumps - r2 (DSW)

The liberal arts college where I am an adjunct has the whole week of Thanksgiving off, so today was my last class there for a week.  I'm grateful to have only one class to teach next week.  I'm hoping to get over the cold I seem to have come down with and get caught up on some of my own research stuff over the weekend and early in the week and then cook up a storm on Wednesday and Thursday.  (Look for a gratuitous apron post.)

How do you feel about belting scarves?  How do you tend to wear your scarves?  What are some of the new trends out there that you are trying or planning to try?

The Life Outside

Today I decided that I needed a couple of hours of the life outside. After two days of office hours, teaching, commuting, and teaching and a day of frantically writing a lecture and grading papers, I needed a couple of hours of time to spend on myself. I went into campus this morning to give a make-up quiz and then headed home around noon. I decided that work could wait a little bit. Sunshine was beckoning me to go outside and play. Plus, my dog really, really wanted to go to the park. My fiance and I took her to play and romp at the fenced-in dog park. Then we dropped the tired pooch off at home and went for a walk on the bike path that goes through our neighborhood. It's definitely chilly here, but I love the light. It instantly elevates my mood. After a little walking, a little tree climbing, and a little building and demolishing piles of leaves, I felt ready to settle back inside with a cup of tea, a blog, and, yes, some work too.




Don't forget about your other life! How do you stay sane at this point in the semester?