GAADfly

Although I'm somewhat extremely terrified by it, I will be joining the likes of Style Underdog, Cynthia, and Rad and going on The Great American Apparel Diet (GAAD) as of January 1.  I've given it a lot of thought, and I'd like to spend this next year focusing my financial resources on some things other than clothing.  I'd like to make a dent in my student loan debt and to donate more to some charities.  I'd also like to do some traveling and run some more races.  So I will not be buying any new clothing during 2011.

I will allow myself emergency job market related purchases if the need arises, and I'll allow myself a couple of new footwear purchases.  (I'll need to replace my running shoes in June if I run the number of miles I intend to by then, and I'll allow myself a pair of Fryes or Fluevogs when I get a couple of publications off of my desk.)  At the end of every three months without shopping, I'll allow myself $50 for thrifting and accessories.

But in the meantime, I have so many clothes that I haven't even worn yet, more still that I've never worn on the blog, and even more that I've only worn a couple of times and should definitely get more use out of.  I offer you Exhibit A:

 Dress - ModCloth (remixed), Cardigan - Anthropologie (Xmas gift from M.), Boots - Coconuts Rosetta (DSW), Tights - We Love Colors

I received this cardi from M. for Christmas.  I purchased the boots in San Antonio when I was shopping with my sister, but I hadn't worn them until today because of 30x30 and traveling, and I've worn this ModCloth dress maybe 5 times since I bought it last fall....

I have some other sartorial resolutions and some thoughts on where I'd like to see my blogging here on FA go in 2011 that I'll be posting sometime soon.  For now, I'd love to hear your thoughts on GAAD or on shopping bans and budgets.  Would you consider joining GAAD?  And I'd love to hear what's working well for those who are GAADflies!

23/30 & 24/30 Grading Extravaganza

On Sunday and Monday I spent pretty much every moment I had grading research papers.  Outfit 23 is weekend grading casual and outfit 24 is more on the professartorial side of things since I taught and had a meeting that day, as well.

30x30 Items: 7. Dark Wash Bootcut Jeans - Express + 17. Blue Floral Tunic - H&M + 24. Purple Cardi - August Silk + 30. Grey Slouchy Boots - Steve Madden

Accessories: White Belt - Ralph Lauren (Filene's Basement and remixed), Necklace - Gift (and remixed), Nail polish - OPI Funky Dunky

30x30 Items: 6. Grey Wide Legged Trousers + 14. Multi-colored Jewel Tone Blouse + 22. Olive Green Cardi - New York & Co. + 29. Red Mary Janes - John Fluevog

Accessories:  Scarf (thrifted), Nail polish - OPI Funky Dunky

On Monday I was so busy that I actually asked M. to take my outfit photos while I was grading papers.  I apologize for the poor quality of the photo, but honestly this last week of of the term has been kicking my ass.  And it will only finally be over after an 8am meeting and some other obligations tomorrow morning.  I still have finals to give and to grade next week, but I must admit that I am already looking forward to the winter break and getting to see family and having some time to get some solid work done on an article.  What are you most looking forward to about winter break?  What do you have to accomplish before then?  Non-academic readers, I'm curious how you cope with balancing blogging with busy times at work.  

2/30

Those of you who have been reading our little corner of the intertubes for awhile might recall that I jumped onto the shorts and tights bandwagon last winter.  As I was putting my 30x30 list together, I had the sudden realization that the winter in the upper Midwest is likely to kick my ass and that I had better wear shorts and tights and/or make hay while the sun shines.

30x30 Items: 8. Shorts - ModCloth + 19. Grey Top - Zara + 24. Purple Cardi - August Silk + 26. Bondgirls - John Fluevog

Accessories: Necklace - Etsy (remixed), Tights - Target (remixed)

Saturday the sun was shining, and I wore shorts paired with tights.  I didn't make any hay, though.  Instead I spent the entire day on the couch grading papers and/or watching college football.  I'm trying to be more environmentally friendly so I had my students upload their papers, and I've been grading them on my computer using the comments function and pasting my rubric onto the end.  I'm not a complete convert to the system yet, but it definitely saved me the time it would have taken me to print out 90 papers.  Time that I then spent working on an article, watching an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and taking a rare gratuitous butt shot.

I admit that I like the shorts and tights thing - the 90s were formative years for me, after all.  However, I don't foresee myself ever wearing short in the classroom or to department meetings.  What about you?  Have you jumped on this bandwagon?  Do you consider shorts + tights classroom appropriate?  Library appropriate?

Giveaway Winners and 1

Before I forget I want to announce the winners of our Fluevog Artwork Giveaway.  They are #14 Clare of Between Laundry Days and #33 Suzanne!  I'll be in touch soon to figure out how to get you your loot!

Even though this challenge wasn't technically starting until today, I began the remixing madness on Friday.  I wore my first 30x30 outfit Friday to spend the day grading student papers at home, harassing my foolish dog, and then going out on the town to drink some wine with some awesome women who are also faculty members at my university.  We get together about twice a month for dinner and drinks, and I feel very grateful for their friendship and camaraderie.  

30x30 Items: 7. Dark Wash Bootcut Jeans - Express + 16. Black & White Striped Top + 21. Yellow Embellished Cardi - New York & Co. + 29. Red Mary Janes - John Fluevog 

Accessories: Cameo Necklace - Etsy (remixed), Socks - Target (remixed)

Forgive me for not being overly verbose today, but I still have a shit ton of grading to do.  And I want to meet my word count goal for the day for the article draft I'm working on.  How was your weekend?  Are any of you NaNoWriMo-ing or trying to steal the energy of that event and channel it into your academic writing like I am?

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?

Decorating My Own World Redux

I've written a number of times in the past about how I often work from home because I'm an academic.  While I haven't been getting nearly as much work done as I should here lately because of the move and its accompanying errands (and all the orientations and campus errands that I have had to run as a new faculty member), I have still been trying to get at least a little reading, writing, or syllabizing done each day.  Getting dressed, as always, helps me to dilineate work time from coffee and blog-reading time spent in pjs and tv and blog-reading time spent sans shoes with my feet up on the coffee table.

The day that our new furniture finally arrived last week was no exception.  Having been reunited with my shoe collection a couple of days before, I decided to wear my Louboutins.¹  Once the furniture arrived, I pretty much gave up working in order to start arranging furniture and hanging things on the walls, so the shoes came off.  But for a couple of hours earlier that day, my feet were in my shoes and my hands were at my keyboard typing away about course objectives, schedules of lectures and readings, and paper assignments.

1. Blouse - Liberty of London (Target), Skirt - H&M (remixed), Shoes - Christian Louboutin, Bangs - Botched by yours truly

On another note, I wanted to thank all of you who commented on my last post about gendered assumptions.  While I can't force M. to correct people, I will continue to go about doing so with as much grace as I can muster.  It frustrates me that so many of you have had similar experiences.  If that isn't a sign that the work of feminism isn't over, I don't know what is.  

Reader Request: Packing for a More Fashion-Conscious Country (or City)

One of the great perks of academic work in many fields is the chance to travel for research or conferences.  Four years ago I put most of my stuff into storage, packed up two suitcases with clothes, a few books and pictures, and went off to Spain for a year and a half. Sometimes, though, a shorter trip is in order.  I've gone to Mexico for research twice for a period of a few weeks or two months, and to Spain for a couple of weeks a couple of times.  One of our readers, Scuttleboose of Lose the Boredom, requested some tips on how to pack for a two-week research trip to a more fashion-conscious country in a carry-on, so I thought I would share my tricks.

If blending in with the locals is important to you, my first recommendation is that you do some internet research to see what the trends are in the country/city that you are traveling to.  Look at what the local style bloggers are wearing and saying and what the fashion mags are touting.  Ask friends who have recently traveled to those places or friends who live there what the locals are wearing.  Also check out The Glamourous Grad Student's City Chic series in case the city you're traveling to has been covered by anyone recently.  Even if you don't care so much about looking like you are from Milan, or Paris, or Buenos Aires, or wherever it is you are going, research the weather if you haven't been to the location before.  If you're traveling to use archives, I strongly recommend that you verify that the archive in question does not have a dress code and make sure that you know their policies about notebooks, writing utensils, whether or not they require you to bring gloves, etc. before you start packing.

Once you have a sense of these things, make a list of things to pack.  Think in terms of remixable pieces.*  Figure out a variety of combinations so that you can minimize the number of pieces you need to take to create two weeks' worth of outfits.  I'll give a few examples.  A jersey dress could be worn to the archives or the library with a cardi and a belt (many archives tend to be chilly even in the hot summer months) and flats and to go to dinner and drinks by removing the cardi, changing shoes, and adding a statement necklace.  Don the dress for another day at the archives by wearing it as a skirt and adding a blouse and a belt.  A pair of jeans could be worn with a blouse for the archives during the day  (unless your archive is like the Vatican and has a no jeans dress code) and a tunic for night and a tank top and your comfiest flat sandals for doing touristy activities on the weekend.  They could be worn with a tank and cardi back to the archives or library.




Find me on Polyvore

Items that I would not leave home without for a summer archival trip:
- a pair of versatile and comfortable flats
- a cardigan or two (I usually wear one on the plane because I freeze on planes and in airports)
- a dress that can go from day to night by switching shoes and accessories
- an umbrella
- laptop and camera and flashdrive
- necessary documentation to get into the country and archives
- power converters/adapters etc. for laptop, camera battery charger, etc.
- pencils (I never use them except at archives)

In order to maximize space in your carry-on suitcase, I recommend either rolling your clothing (this also minimizes wrinkling) or using vacuum packing bags.  (A friend of mine vacuum packed her ginormous down comforter and brought it with her to Europe, and this event solidified in my mind their miraculous powers.)  If you plan on taking a pair of boots, I recommend wearing them on the plane in order to gain some extra space in your luggage.  You can always stash a pair of flip-flops in your purse and switch out for a long flight.

I'll ask those of you who have traveled abroad for research (or for fun) to share your tricks for saving space in your luggage and your must-have items in the comments.  What's your methodology for packing for a research trip?

Oh, and don't forget to enter our CSN stores giveaway!


* Unless I sauce or wine myself, go to a smokey night club, or end up running 15 blocks in an item of clothing, I tend to wear pieces of clothing 3-6 times before washing them.  (Underwear excepted.) It's better for the life of the clothes and the environment.

Not the Shoes I Planned

Yesterday I went to do some work on a project in a coffee shop and to meet up with AUH.  After running into some colleagues of hers (who for some strange reason thought that she was tutoring me . . . but hey, I liked the idea that I look young enough to be in college, as it gives me fodder for the blog and it strokes my vanity) and having a coffee, we dropped by the public library so she could take some stuff back and went for a little walk through one of our local parks.

I hadn't planned to wear the shoes that I did with this outfit that I wore yesterday.¹  However, when I went to leave the house I couldn't find the pair that I wanted to wear so I grabbed this pair of heels.  That seems to be the story of their life.  You see, these shoes were an "emergency" purchase on a trip a couple of years ago.  I had packed my trusty big backpack for two months of research in Mexico City and Puebla.  On my way to Mexico I flew through Dallas to spend a few days and to attend a friend's wedding.  Although I admitted to being a hasty packer a couple weeks ago, normally I am very type A about getting ready for a trip.  I make a list; I verify that outfits look cute and occasion-appropriate before putting them in my luggage; I take extra under garments and socks; I put my pjs on top so they are easily accessible.  However, in spite of all this careful preparation and packing, I somehow inexplicably arrived in Dallas with my cocktail dress for the wedding but no shoes -- aside from running shoes and functional (cute but not in anywhere near the same register) flats.  I had picked out a pair of shoes, thought I had put them in the backpack, but must have taken them out at some point for rearranging and not realized I had forgotten to put them back into my bag. 

1. Shirt - Cable and Gauge, Skirt - Easy Wear (remixed), Shoes - Alex Marie (via Dillards), Belt - Kensie Girl (remixed), Earrings - Target (remixed), Barrette - Goodie (remixed)

Another Dallas friend and I dashed off to a mall, and I found these shoes in Dillards.  They weren't too expensive.  They seemed to be pretty comfortable.  I bought 'em.  They turned out to be a wise choice, as they got me through the wedding and a night of dancing with only a little bit of tired feet at the end of the night.  That's not bad for heels that haven't been broken in at all.  I've worn them a couple of times since that trip, but it seems like I only ever grab them when I can't find the shoes that I am planning to wear.

Do you have any item of clothing that you only seem to wear in certain circumstances in spite of the garment's inherent versatility?  Have you ever made an "emergency" purchase that you've ended up being really happy with or really disappointed with? 

Bicycle, Bicycle!

After much contemplation, I have decided to indefinitely postpone buying the awesome cruiser that I'm so tempted by.  There are several reasons for this: there is nothing wrong with my current bike, I haven't been biking all that frequently over the past couple of years so until I'm biking several days a week every week it's not a purchase I feel I can justify, I'm moving in a few weeks and I don't want to have to deal with moving one more largish item, and finally, after buying this bicycle dress, which I wore yesterday, I'm broke.¹

1. Dress - Anthropologie

Belt - from another dress (remixed)

Sandals - Steve Madden (remixed)

Necklace - Boutique in Santiago de Compostela (remixed)

Sunnies - Oscar de la Renta (thrifted and remixed)

Bag - Target (remixed)

Bike - Schwinn (remixed)

I couldn't afford a new bike.  However, I could afford a basket for my bici.  I've been wanting one for years, but just never got around to it.  I might never have either, if I hadn't been participating in this round of LGRAB's Summer Games.  Here I am admiring my handiwork.

By the by, I was also wearing a pair of pettipants under my dress so that I didn't flash random joggers on the bike path or former students on campus. 

I also wore this outfit to a little dinner party last night that my adviser hosted for me to celebrate my successful defense.  I think this dress is going to quickly become one of my summer favorites -- as well it should so that I can get the cost per wear down to a reasonable number.

I'm going to a Pride Party tonight and then I'm heading out of town for a few days to house hunt and get oriented in my new town.  What's on your agenda for the weekend?  Do you have any bike rides planned?  Any fun social outings?

Jumpsuiting Up

First off, let me say thank you so much for all your sweet comments on my defense post!  A few of you asked for more details about the defense itself, and I'll write something up on that over the next couple of days.  Now on to the important topic of jumpsuits!

After months of bemoaning the return of rompers and jumpsuits and proclaiming that I would not get behind this trend for reasons of washroom convenience, this past weekend I suddenly found myself browsing the sales rack in Anthro and grabbing a jumpsuit.  Next I was in the fitting room trying it  on.  Then I found myself at the cash register buying the jumpsuit.  It was as if my 1980s self had gone back to the future to find it had no parental supervision and a bank account.

When I got home and showed my precious cargo (which included that cursed Tahari dress) to M., he looked very quizzically at the jumpsuit.  I assured him that it was indeed awesome.  So awesome, in fact, that it made me forget the war that pants and I are having.  I wore it¹ the other day - carefully planning an extra 20 minutes into the day for getting undressed and redressed every time I had to go to the bathroom - and threw a cardi on for the meat locker-like temperatures in the buildings on campus.  I know heels would have worked better, but I had some serious blisters going on so I opted for comfort.  

 1. Jumpsuit - Anthropologie

Cardi - Necessary Objects (remixed)

Shoes - Mia (remixed)

Jewelry - Etsy (remixed)

Belt - Kensie Girl (via Filene's Basement)

What are your thoughts on jumpsuits (and rompers)?  Are they cute?  Cute on other people but not you? Something that should have remained trapped in the 80s? 

Yellow With a Pop of Neutrals

Since the semester is over at SLAC and I'm not teaching this quarter at R1 institution, most of my days are now spent working from home.  Although there are occasional days when I get into a good work rhythm while drinking my second cup of coffee on the couch and decide to stay in my pjs most or all of the day, most days I find it helpful to workout, take a shower, and get dressed.  Like Herr Doktor, I find getting dressed for work a useful way of setting boundaries when writing at home.  The other reason to get dressed here lately is that I've also had a fair number of friend defending their dissertations, which means going out to get a celebratory beer or dinner (even though I usually can't stay out too late) with them.  I wore this outfit¹ a few days ago to spend the day working at my writing desk and a few hours in the evening celebrating the successful defense of a friend and colleague in my department.

 1. Dress - Signature by Robbie Bee (remixed)

Belt - NY & Co (remixed)

Socks - Target

Scarf - ??? (thrifted and remixed)

Shoes - Mia (remixed)

I love wearing outfits that are largely neutral with just a few pops of color.  However, that day I decided to flip the paradigm and wear a big solid block of color with some pops of neutrals.  The scarf is brown and grey so I added a grey belt and socks and brown shoes.  I have to admit that although I rather like the style of visible socks with cute shoes or even sandals that is trendy right now, that day I was wearing socks purely for practicality, as I had a couple of painful blisters and, even with band-aids on, I wanted an extra layer between them and my shoes.

I have to submit my dissertation to my committee members and the grad school for formatting approval early next week, so I'll be spending most of the weekend finishing up final revisions before my defense.  I do have a wedding reception to go to on Saturday evening, though, so that will give me a chance to get dressed up, to get out of the house, and to see some good friends.  What are you up to this weekend? 

Dusting off the Wheels and Social Cycling

I had been meaning to dig my bike out of the basement (its winter home and this year its fall, winter, and most of spring home) a couple of weeks ago.  My husband and I had even planned to go on a bike date last week, but then the weather turned rainy and his family came into town, so my bike stayed in the basement until the other day, when I finally decided there was no time like the present to air up my tires and bike into campus to run some errands, drop off some library books, and meet with one of my committee members.

I also took the opportunity to participate in Let's Go Ride a Bike's Summer Games.  While on campus, I left a note on a cute cruiser with a basket.   I hope that the bike owner thought that it was cool rather than creepy.  Maybe the fact that I wrote the note on the back of a neat flamenco postcard, which I had been using as a bookmark, helped to push it into the cool category.

It's only about 2.5 miles from my house to my campus office at R1 school, but since it was a very hot day and I hadn't been on my bike in almost a year (for shame, for shame), I decided to dress pretty casually and to wear flats.¹  I used to have a bit of a reputation for biking around campus in heels, but that was a few years ago when I lived much closer to campus and rode every day.  Maybe I can earn that reputation on my new campus next year.....

 1. Shirt - H&M

Capris - NY&Co. (remixed)

Flats - Steve Madden (remixed)

Sunnies - Esprit (thrifted and remixed)

Backpack - ??? (I've had it for years)

Bike - Schwinn

The outfit photo is from after my return ride, and I was a bit sweaty and dusty.  If I had been smarter, I would have hosed my bike off a couple of hours before heading into campus, as my bike was embarrassingly dusty from it's basement exile.  Oh, well.  Now it's been washed off and is clean and just waiting for a date ride with M. sometime in the next week or so.

When's the last time you rode your bike?  Do you tend to dress differently if you're cycling or walking into campus/work than if you're driving/taking public transit?

Fashion and Vinyasa Flow

While I don't have any fashionable yoga outfits (yet), I wore something with flow to LHdM's last Friday to get myself into an om-frame of mind before settling in for 6 hours of writing. I wanted to wear something casual that still had a bit of a neckline and cool "this is not just a t-shirt" features like the flower on one side and draping sleeves.

Unfortunately, the sandals that I was wearing broke off on my way to LHdM's, so I'm looking even more casual than I had intended....and wishing that LHdM also had size 10 feet....

And this is my "I can't believe I'm doing tree pose on a tree stump in jeans after writing all day and having wine" face. It's very detailed.

Jeans: Target

Shirt: H&M (thrifted)

Do you usually wear other things with your already semi-quirky shirts? How do you usually dress jeans up?

Pajama Dress

I have to tell you that this dress, which I wore on Monday for a day of writing at home and on campus, is probably the most comfortable thing that I own.¹  I'd say that it's even more comfortable than yoga pants or pjs.

1. Dress - Target (remixed)

Shoes - Steve Madden (remixed)

Necklace - Boutique in Berkeley (gift and remixed)

Earrings - Target (remixed)

Purse - Express (gift and remixed)

Sunglasses - Oscar de la Renta (thrifted)

Right now comfort is an absolute necessity.  I tell you the final stages of dissertating have not been good for my back, my waistline, or my ability to fall asleep.  If it weren't for Bailey, I'm not sure I'd ever get outside on the days that I'm not teaching, but at least she gives me an excuse to go to the park.

I know I've this worn dress and these shoes together here on the blog before, but right now most of my mental energy is being devoted to the beast (my dissertation, not Bailey).  I added different earrings and a necklace, so that should count for something, right?

Well, I'm off to teach my last class at the small liberal arts college where I've been a visiting faculty member this year, and it's definitely bittersweet for me.  On the one hand, I'm relieved that the semester is drawing to a close because I desperately need more hours to devote to massively overhauling one of my chapters into two.  On the other hand, I'm also very sad to be leaving an institution that I've fallen in love with over this past academic year.  

What about you?  For those of you who are professors, teachers, or students are you taking or marking final exams yet?

And have you weighed in on whether or not there is a distinction between fashionable and stylish and if this distinction might be gendered?  Since I tend to use these two words interchangeably and tend to focus on their meanings as verbs rather than nouns, I don't really view them as distinct as Herr Doktor and many others do.  What do you think?

Decorating My Own World

This term I often spend almost all day at home by myself on Mondays and Wednesdays.  M. teaches on those days and leaves for his commute relatively early and doesn't return until about an hour or so before dinner time.  I could easily justify spending the entire day in pjs or yoga pants, and sometimes I do spend all day in them, but most days I like to dress for myself even when I'm home alone.  I like to decorate my own world.  It also helps to give me a sense of a delineated workday  -- something that can often be a challenge for those of us in academia.

On these days, since I'm just dressing for myself, I typically wear my quirkier clothes.  Today I just wanted to feel pretty, and one of the prettiest prints that I own is on this little cotton dress from the Red Dress Shoppe.¹

1. Dress - Red Dress Shoppe (on clearance 2009)

Cardi - H&M (remixed)

Socks - Target

Sandals - Lumiani 

Necklace - Etsy (remixed)

Earrings - Gift (remixed)

Purse - "Prada" (remixed)

Unless we are in the classroom or holding office hours, the unstructured nature of our schedules can be both a good thing or a bad thing.  Our work and our projects are almost always in the form of drafts and rarely are they final.  There's always another book to be read, another experiment that needs to be run repeatedly, another source to check, another sentence that needs to be expunged, another idea that needs mulling over.  This can make it hard to stop the workday at 5pm or 7pm or 9pm or 1am sometimes.  I have tried over the past year or so to do work between 9am and 5pm, to start then and end then, to create some lines of demarcation between my academic life and my outside life.  This hasn't always been successful, but it's often working out, showering, and getting dressed that creates a divide between sipping coffee and puttering around on the internets and making substantial progress on those drafts.

When do you do your best work?  Is it from 9-5?  Is it during the night while the rest of the world is sleeping?  Do you ever dress just to decorate your own world?

Yellow Dress Challenge Day 3: Colorful Comfort

First of all, I want to say thank you all for your comments and votes on my hair conundrum yesterday!  I'm not going to do anything for a couple more weeks, but the general consensus about going shorter ended any remaining indecision.  I will be getting my hair cut a week or so before my defense.  In the meantime, I'm going to get as much updo action out of my longer hair as possible.

For the third day of my dress challenge, I went with a colorful and comfy combination of dress, wrap sweater, and flats.¹  I had to make a brief trip into campus to run some errands, and I met quickly with one of my advisers while I was there.  I spent most of the day reading and writing at home, though, with the sunlight and fresh air streaming in through the windows.

 

 1. Dress - Signature by Robbie Bee (remixed)

Wrap Sweater - Banana Republic (remixed)

Flats - Steve Madden Girl (DSW)

Earrings - Target (remixed)

Would I be more productive working somewhere else, such as a the library or a coffee shop?  Maybe, but my dog has such horrible separation anxiety (she's on drugs for it, but they only do so much) that it breaks my heart to leave her for more than two or three hours at a time.  Plus, when I work at home, I have constant access to cups of hot tea, which give me the energy to read, write, and take breaks to stretch and jump.

I've been trying to rev myself back into excitement mode about my dissertation because I know enjoying working on my project will make this round of revisions before my defense much less painful.  I've been working to rekindle the excitement that I felt in the earlier stages of researching and writing.  I've been doing some free writing and re-reading some archival documents in an attempt to relight the fire.  It hasn't entirely been successful, but I am infinitely less frustrated with my project now than I was a week or so ago.

How do you rekindle the romance between you and your research or the work you do in your profession after you've passed the "honeymoon" stage?

Campus Casual

I have to admit that I don't really like to go into campus on the days that I'm not teaching.  There are too many distractions.  The biggest one of these is that there are too many colleagues to run into and chat with.  In other words, I spend more time than I should socializing and don't get work done on campus.  At least I have difficulty getting my own work done on campus....

I am not teaching this term at R1 Institution, but I'm serving as a research assistant, which brings me into campus once or twice a week.  Today I had to make the trip into my department to take care of some research tasks and to fill out some forms related to defending my dissertation and graduating.  I also needed to pick up a few books from the library.  Knowing today would be another long one, I decided to go for casual and comfy when I was getting dressed this morning.¹

 1. Shirt - H&M

Cardi - New York & Co. (remixed)

Jeans - Express (remixed)

Flats - Me Too (remixed)

Necklacy - Etsy (remixed)

Ring - Boutique in Salamanca (remixed)

(I really need to throw these flats out.  They are so beat up, but I just can't help my hoarding....)

Now that I'm home again, I can start getting some work done....  Where do you like to do your work or your studying?  At home?  In the office?  In local coffee shops?

Color Me Concluded!

Yesterday, I wore this comfy and bright outfit to go over to the lovely AUH's home for brunch and a work session.¹  She had some editing work to do, and I had my introduction to revise and my conclusion to write.  My dear friend and co-blogger fortified me with plenty of coffee and amazing ricotta pancakes with blackberries for the final push before I turned my dissertation into my committee today.

 1. Dress - Red Dress Shoppe (remixed)

Cardi - Say What (remixed)

Tights - Target (remixed)

Boots - Fluevog (remixed)

My new glasses - Coach

After I finished the conclusion, AUH was all to happy to accompany me to a nearby Goodwill for my first thrifting experience since before the shopping ban.  It was a day early, but I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate concluding than by going thrifting.  For the price of $7.44 I bought a lace top, a long cardigan, and a dress.

Today I printed out the beast, made copies, and gave them to the members of my committee.  There is still some work to be done: editing footnotes and compiling the final bibliography, as well as formatting it according to the university standards, but it feels amazing to reach this point!  Finally, the end is in sight! Hopefully, my committee will agree that it is ready to defend.  This evening I'm going to drink a bit of wine, watch Chuck, and relax.  Unfortunately, I have to tackle a bunch of student papers tomorrow, but for tonight I am allowing myself to feel like this:

How do you tend to celebrate major career milestones?

Don't forget to enter my birthday giveaway if you haven't yet!

Trending Topics, Take 2

On Tuesday I spent most of the day working on dissertation revisions from home.  I might not have been inspired to change out of pjs that day, but a little before noon a package, containing ModCloth birthday loot from a friend, arrived for me.  I mentioned in a previous post that I haven't owned a pair of shorts -- aside from gym shorts -- for years.  Well, now I do.  The length of this pair of shorts is way outside of my bare skin comfort zone, so I paired them with my wonderfully thick and vibrant magenta nylon/licra microfiber tights from We Love Colors.¹  I'm glad I gave this trend another shot because I actually really loved the result! 

 1. Shirt - ??? (Filene's and remixed)

Shorts - ModCloth

Tights - We Love Colors (remixed)

Boots - John Fluevog (remixed)

Scarf - thrifted

When I hit a wall in my work in the afternoon, I convinced M. to go for a little walk with me and take some photos.  It was the perfect weather for pairing tights with shorts and wearing 3/4 length sleeves without a jacket.

I still don't think I would wear tights and shorts to teach in, but I might venture to campus to the library in them.  What do you all think?  Would you wear shorts (over tights) to give a lecture?  Would you wear them to do research at the library or archives (not at the Vatican, though, of course) or lab?

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Dress Challenge Day 3

I spent most of the day working on my dissertation at home, but since a couple of friends came over to join M. and me for what we call a "Think Tank" I felt inspired to shower and dress¹ before they arrived at 10am.  Think Tank is a concept that I got from a friend of mine who is a professor in another discipline.  The general idea is that everyone works on their own project but at the same time in blocks that are about an hour long with 5-10 minute breaks in between and a longer break for lunch.  Sometimes people share a few paragraphs of writing for feedback or use one of the blocks to read over someone's chapter manuscript or an article they hope to publish.  The breaks serve as an opportunity to get up and stretch and share progress on how things are coming along.  The format doesn't work for some people, and everyone has to be disciplined enough (or at least have one person who is bossy enough) to make sure that the breaks don't get too long, but it has been a tremendously productive way of working for me when I'm able to attend one or host one of my own.

 1. Dress - Shabby Apple (remixed)

Shirt Dress - Target (remixed)

Magenta Tights - We Love Colors

Boots - ??? (gift and remixed)

By the end of one, though, I'm usually mentally exhausted, and I definitely was yesterday.  I was feeling better but still a little dodgy, so I decided not to go out and socialize with an even larger group of friends afterward.  However, I did reward myself for so much productivity with time on the couch with my husband and some episodes of LOST.