The Mondays

T-shirt: Old Navy
Pants and necklace: LOFT outlet
Jacket: LOFT
Sneakers: Converse All-Stars
Bracelet: Folklorico in Savannah, Georgia
Earrings and scarf: Inherited from grandmother

I was feeling very Mondayish today. Some contributing factors were:

1. Stayed up late for the Oscars (which was pretty un-entertaining for the amount of time I put in)
2. Forgot my haircut appointment last week and now my hair is way too long and I can't get it cut until Wednesday
3. Had to go to the dentist this afternoon
4. Spent the last two weeks washing linens from a departed group of students and now my own laundry is only half-done

All of these things made me want to stay in sweatpants, but since that wasn't possible, I went for the next best thing: boyfriend pants, sneakers, and a t-shirt. Hell, even my eyes felt lazy today; I couldn't get up the energy to put in contacts, so I stuck with glasses. Overall, I was very comfy and kind of wished I could dress like this every day. And actually, I have a colleague who wears cargo shorts even in the winter, so dressing like this every day doesn't seem like too much of a reach. Sweatpants might be though.

Ode to Capris

Blouse: LOFT
Pants: Anthropologie via a consignment shop near campus
Shoes: Rack Room
Earrings: Tiny boutique in a tiny town near here
Bracelets: Inherited from grandmother

It was 80 degrees here. In February. Even for the Deep South, this is a little unusual. I didn't even take a jacket to work. It was perfect weather to try out my new pants, and inspired me to write an ode to the staple pants of the South, capris.

Dear capris,

For years you have covered my legs without making me hot, and it's time I said thank you. You have allowed me to stay cool and work-appropriate in Southern summers, which is no small feat. I have heard fashionista types decrying the way you make ladies' legs look short, but they probably don't live down here and therefore can't understand how much we need you. When the air you breathe from St. Patrick's Day to Christmas is slightly warmer and wetter than the air in a sauna, you need lightweight, shorter pants, and capris, you fit the bill. Your newest incarnation in my closet even looks like seersucker, and we all know seersucker is the grandmama of dressy Southern clothes. So from the bottom of my heart, and midway down my calves, I thank you, capris. May you always be in style, or at least enough in style to not look totally dated wearing you.

Love,
Emily

Anthropologie on the Cheap

A curtsy just felt necessary in this skirt. 

Skirt: Anthropologie via a consignment shop near campus
T-shirt and shoes: LOFT
Cardigan: Target
Necklace and bracelet: Inherited from grandmother

I wrote yesterday that I have an obsession with big, swirly skirts. Turns out I also have an obsession with Anthropologie. Actually, I have an obsession with their catalogue, because I can't actually afford to shop there. My friend Debra gets the catalogue and whenever I visit her we look at it together and cry.

Fortunately for me, there's a consignment shop near campus that sells surplus from Anthropologie and J. Crew. The marked-down prices are usually considerably more reasonable than the original retail prices, but still a little high for me, but yesterday they were having a 50% off everything sale. Yay! So I got this skirt for $24. $24! For comparison, check out the prices of the skirts on Anthropologie's website. And I love it. I love how full it is, I love the checkered fabric, I love the woven flowers. Love. It. I also got a pair of Anthro pants for $14, which I plan to wear tomorrow. Yay! Yay consignment shop!

Swirly Skirts

Dress: Kohl's
Blazer: Gap
Shoes: Rack Room
Necklace and earrings: Inherited from grandmother

Kendi of Kendi Everyday posted last week that she is obsessed with pencil skirts. Well, Kendi is to pencil skirts what I am to big skirts that swirl when I spin around. A-lines, ball gowns, hell, even poodle skirts - they all make me happy. The skirt of this particular dress would be a perfect circle if the dress were deconstructed, which means it swirls excellently. That's half the reason I own this dress (the other half being that I was going to a funeral and needed something black, or at least partly black. Yeah, not as much fun.).

All day, I found myself discreetly spinning in my office, in class, in the bathroom, just to feel the dress swirl. Then I went shopping after work and bought another big skirt, which I think I'm going to wear tomorrow. I just can't stay away from the swirliness. My inner six-year-old is totally the boss of me.

This is just too fun.

The Pillars of My Closet

Blouse: ModCloth
Jeans: Levi's 545s
Shoes: Target
Belt and scarf: Thrifted
Bracelets: Inherited from grandmother

I stayed up late last night finishing The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. It's a huge book and it took me a while to get going with it, but once I got to the last 200 pages or so, I couldn't stop. It's about the building of a cathedral in 12th century England, and the builders, monks, kings, and peasants involved, and it's a great piece of literature. I'm watching the miniseries on Netflix as I type. So good.

Unfortunately, staying up late reading meant that I didn't plan an outfit for this morning, and also that I overslept, so I had no ideas at all going into getting dressed. I tried to get fancy with outfits I had never even thought about before, but ended up relying on some go-to items: jeans, a button-down shirt, flat shoes, and a hair scarf (a short-haired girl's best friend). This is what I wear pretty much every time I run out of style creativity. Which, given how much I seem to oversleep and dress in a panicky rush, turns out to be rather a lot.

P.S. This is the second day in a row that I haven't worn anything from LOFT. I'm not trying to eliminate LOFT from my wardrobe (because really, how could I?), but I feel less like a LOFT one-trick pony today. I probably can't keep this up for too long.

Out of the Box

Dress: Vintage, used to be Cary's aunt's
Cardigan and belt: Target
Shoes: Rack Room
Necklace and bracelet: Inherited from grandmother
Earrings: Thrifted

This is one of my favorite dresses. I found it last Easter at Cary's aunt's house. My nieces were pulling clothes out of the dress-up box, which holds a little of everything every female family member has ever worn: 80s prom dresses, 50s hats, 70s blouses. This dress belonged to Cary's eldest aunt around 1960, and when I saw the little girls pulling it out of the box, I snagged it and tried it on myself. It fit perfectly and was in great shape, so I asked if I could have it. It had been sitting in that box for probably 30 years, so no one minded if I took it. I got it cleaned and shortened (the original hemline was a few inches past my knees). I love wearing it because it has a history beyond my own closet, and it proves that classic silhouettes work for everyone, no matter the year.

Readers, do you have any pieces with history? Did you rescue an amazing piece of clothing from somewhere unusual?

Second Honeymoon

Cary and I just got back from our romantic weekend away, which we have dubbed our second honeymoon. Our first honeymoon 4.5 years ago wasn't great for a lot of reasons, but this do-over was fantastic! No outfit pictures, and not academic at all, but I want to brag on my awesome husband so I'm posting anyway. Just humor me, readers. Second honeymoons don't happen every day.

We stayed in a romantic historic town, in a fancy hotel, in the fanciest hotel room I've ever been in.

OMGthebiggestbedever!

I love you, whirlpool tub.

Cary had the hotel leave a surprise in the room, which was waiting for us when we arrived.

Surprise! Chocolate-covered strawberries!

Surprise! Yummy cheese!

My reaction to the surprise

Outside the hotel, we took walks and ate at a very fancy restaurant.

I only wish you could see my shoes in this picture.

It was a little windy.

We had such a good time that we resolved to take a third honeymoon in another 4.5 years. We brought it before a committee and everything. Okay, not really, but we really are going to do this again in the future, because it was that awesome. And that's my recap! Thanks for indulging my bragging, y'all.

Valentine's Day, Part 2

Dress: LOFT outlet

Cardigan and wedges: Target

Necklace: Inherited from grandmother

Earrings: Gift from parents

Today Cary and I are leaving to go on our post-Valentine's Day, post-classroom move, post-huge groups of students departing romantic weekend. Yay! I was feeling in a romantic mood when I got dressed, so I pulled out the floweriest dress I have and paired it with a bunch of red and pearls. The dress doesn't actually have any red in it, but I think the cardigan and wedges work with it anyway. Matchy-matchiness is one of my brought-up-Southern-in-the-90s habits I'm trying to break. (No discredit to you, Mama. I wouldn't care nearly so much about style if I hadn't had you for a mom!)

I'm posting this before work instead of after like normal because after work is going to be a whirlwind of trying to get ready to leave. On Sunday night or Monday I'll post a couple of pictures of our weekend, even though it's non-academic, just because I think that'll be fun. I hope y'all have a great weekend too, wherever you are!

Super Pants to the Rescue

The ubiquitous blogger pose, I know. It's just that the pants look really good in this one.

Blouse: Target
Pants and shoes: LOFT
Earrings: Tiny boutique in a tiny town near my town
Necklace: Inherited from grandmother

I'm going through a phase where none of my pants seem to fit. Maybe I've gained a few pounds, maybe it's the time of the month, or maybe my shape is just changing, but lately it seems that I buy a pair of pants, they look awesome for three months, and then they become so tight that I can't even look at them without feeling lightheaded. It's very frustrating.

Enter these pants. I bought them in college because I needed professional-looking pants, and wore them probably twice. They languished in the back of my closet until yesterday, when I pulled them out in a fit of desperation and discovered they were actually pretty fabulous. The high waist and wide legs looked very 70s to me, so I paired them with this 70s-looking top and felt pretty pleased about the whole thing. I'm not sure why I forgot about these pants, but believe you me, I never will again. Y'all can expect to see them a lot more now that I've remembered I have them.

Vintage Spring

Dress: LOFT

Sweater: Vintage, gift from older lady at childhood church

Shoes: Target

Necklace: Inherited from Cary's grandmother

Earrings: Thrifted

Spring has officially arrived in the Deep South! (Sorry, Northern readers.) I had planned to wear a very wintry knit dress with black tights today, but when I walked outside, it was already too warm for any of that. I had to rush to come up with something springy, and I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out.  I like the green-on-neutrals thing, and I like that my neutrals have a little bit of shine. I may repeat this outfit for St. Patrick's Day.

About the sweater. I got this sweater when I was about 10 from an older lady at church. I think it used to be hers, or maybe her child's, which dates it around the 40s or 50s (although I'm not really sure... old people used to all seem the same age to me. She could have been 50 or 90 and I wouldn't have known). I have gotten so much mileage out of it, even though it's technically a child's sweater and the sleeves are too short. I just push them up and pretend they're 3/4 sleeves, because this sweater is too awesome not to wear.

Readers, are there any pieces in y'all's wardrobes that you just make work because they're too great to get rid of?

My Waistline Thanks You, Boyfriend Pants

I'm thinking about how much leftover Valentine's chocolate is in my office. 

T-shirt: Target
Pants: LOFT outlet
Jacket: LOFT
Shoes: Rack Room
Necklace: Inherited from grandmother
Earrings: Brian Moody

I started this outfit from the pants. After yesterday's Valentine's Day skinny jeans and ensuing chocolate overindulgence, I wanted to wear something a little less constricting. I had to peel myself out of my jeans yesterday and I certainly didn't think I would eat less chocolate than normal today, so loose pants it was.

These are the loosest pants I have that aren't sweatpants, and I think the boyfriend fit is chic, so this is where I started. I added this comfy t-shirt ($4 at Target!) and jean jacket, which made me feel a little bikerish, all black and denim. So then I tried to girly it up a little with the red flats and pearls. Overall, I was happy, comfortable, and appropriately warm, and there's not much else I ask of an outfit.

Valentine's Day, Part 1

Blouse: LOFT
Blazer: Gap
Jeans: Levi's 545s
Shoes: Rack Room
Earrings: Thrifted
Necklace: Inherited from Cary's grandmother

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! We're actually celebrating on the 18th at Academia Sartorial, because Cary had to move his classroom over the weekend. As in, all the books, all the furniture, all the charts and maps and word walls got moved between Friday after school and this morning. In deference to how exhausted he is today, we're postponing until Friday, when we are getting away to a seaside town not too far from here and having a romantic weekend there. We've never really had a fancy romantic weekend before (our honeymoon was accidentally at a family resort and on our other trips, we've stayed in cheap hotels or hostels), so we're excited for this. I can't wait!

Even though Cary and I are not quite in celebration mode yet, I wanted to wear valentiney clothes today. Part of the fun of teaching international students is getting to play up cultural celebrations, so I wore my frilliest red blouse and brought candy for all my students. I then proceeded to eat my own weight in leftover chocolate and am now feeling kind of squeezed into these skinny jeans. Oh well. I also got to wear the faux suede and rosettes shoes I was talking about yesterday. I love these; they're so fun and girly. Cary says it looks like my shoes are wearing little hats, which tickles me every time I think about it. Overall, I felt very romantic in this outfit, but still professional. Perfect for Valentine's Day at work.

My valentine and me :)