Anne of Green Gables

Academia: Things are quieting down from the beginning of the semester, for which I am sooo thankful. It's nice to be busy at work, but it's also nice to have quiet days after the busyness. Yesterday I had a few minutes to sit in my office armchair and put my feet up on my desk chair. It was delightful.

Sartorial: Another delightful thing that happened over the weekend is that my mom came and took me maternity clothes shopping! I thought everything would be too big still, but it all fit perfectly, so apparently I'm showing more than I thought. I can't tell y'all how nice it is to have clothes that look right on my body and don't make me feel like a sausage squeezed into a too-small casing. I got three dresses, two skirts, and a pair of jeans. And may I just say, why aren't all pants made like maternity pants? They're so stretchy and wonderful. A friend of mine called them "reverse Spanx." Instead of squishing you in, they just expand to let you be as big as you want to be. I must find a way to keep wearing them forever.


This is one of the dresses I got, and I feel so pretty in it. The ruffly collar and the flowers remind me of Anne of Green Gables - they seem so feminine and old-fashioned. Of course, Anne didn't get pregnant until book five of that series, and then I doubt her maternity dresses were 100% synthetic fabric (or that they even called them "maternity dresses" back then... they were probably just "dresses"), but I like to think that if Anne were not fictional and walking around today, this is what she would have picked.

Okay, I'm imagining a fictional character from an Edwardian-era novel shopping at Motherhood Maternity. It's definitely to stop writing and go to bed. I'll be back soon with more new maternity clothes and less rambly weirdness, I promise.

Recommended Reading

Academia and Sartorial: It's Homecoming weekend at my university, and when you live in a town that owes its entire existence to a university, Homecoming tends to shut everything down. The university, all of the schools, and many businesses are closed today for the Homecoming parade, and there's a big pep rally tonight. Cary and I are skipping all of that because 1) we've done it all several times before, 2) our football team kinda sucks right now, and 3) my grandmother's 80th birthday party is tomorrow. So we're at my parents' house for the weekend instead, and this is what I wore yesterday for work and the drive down.

Fun Stuff: Friend Friday is all about books today. I love to read, so I'm really excited about this. We're supposed to share either our five favorite or five that we've read recently. I'm going with my five favorite. In no particular order, here they are:

1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I've mentioned before on this blog how much I love this book, but I'll say it again. This is the best book ever. It has everything you'd ever want in a book. I named my cat after one of the characters. It's that great.
2. The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien. I'm counting the whole trilogy as one book, since that's how Tolkien wrote it. Best part: Frodo and Sam's final climb up Mount Doom. It's such a great trilogy that I hate to say there's a worst part, but here it is: the Council of Elrond. Five minutes in the movie, fifty pages in the book, during which the plot completely ground to a halt.
3. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I know it's not politically trendy to like Ayn Rand right now, but I really loved this book. Beyond the philosophical message of the book, which is definitely interesting whether or not you agree with it, it had strong characters and a great plot. And now I know what "Who is John Galt?" means, so I feel like I'm on the inside of an inside joke when people say it.
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling. It was hard to pick one Harry Potter book above the rest (shout-out to Prisoner of Azkaban), but Deathly Hallows really had it all: a fast-paced, heart-pounding plot, a killer battle scene, a make-out session inspired by house elves, and formerly tame characters being total badasses (what's up, Neville Longbottom and Mrs. Weasley). Plus, the whole book (and really the whole series) was a wonderful reflection on love and death, and the power the former gives us over the latter. Definitely not just for kids, y'all.
5. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I read this book approximately 587 times when I was a kid. Really, every little girl should read this book. Even though it's 150 years old, what it has to say about young women and how they relate to each other and the world still holds up.

So there you have it, y'all. My five favorite books of all time. There are tons of books that I love, but these are the five that will stick with me for the rest of my life. What about y'all? What are your favorite books?

Trixie

Pigtails make me 13% more fun.

Academia: Thanks for indulging my ranting yesterday, y'all. I promise I won't do that too often. My day yesterday was much better than my evening out on Friday, thank goodness. Work was peaceful, I left at a reasonable hour, and after much persuading by my mother than endorphins would make me feel less stressed about our baby-making struggles, I went to a zumba class for the first time in forever. And I did feel better. You were right, Mama.

Sartorial: With the retro plaid, the wide-leg jeans, and the French pigtails, I felt a bit like a twelve-year-old in 1975 yesterday. Probably not a look I should go for every day in my professional life, but it was so much fun to wear! I tried to think of a perfect word to describe how I felt, and it was spunky. I felt like I could win a baseball game against a team of ragtag boys, or solve a neighborhood mystery using only my trusty notepad and my keen mind. I often cast myself as the heroine of a novel, depending on my outfit. Obviously, today's outfit turned me into Trixie Belden. And my pigtails were perfect for keeping my hair back in zumba. I spent the day on a spunky, endorphin-filled high. I love when clothes do that.

Broader Horizons

Skirt

Academia: I work in a job that puts me in touch with nearly every continent on Earth every day. I have students from Europe, South America, North America, Africa, and Asia, so every day I learn something new about one of my students' many cultures. Having the world come to me every day makes me want to go out and see more of the world. I first traveled outside the US when I was 18, and while I was always interested in other cultures and countries before then, that trip is what began to make those other places real.

Sartorial: The t-shirt I wore yesterday is my favorite souvenir from that first trip. The summer after my high school graduation, I went with a high school study abroad program (which also included recently graduated seniors) for three weeks to Cambridge University, England. After poring over Shakespeare, the Brontës, and Harry Potter for years, seeing the country I had imagined for so long was a dream come true for 18-year-old me.

I remember how shocked I was that England really was foreign. It wasn't the US with a British accent; it was Britain. I remember another student talking about Walmart with one of our British counselors, who said, "What's Walmart?" It was the first time I realized that my culture and my way of life were not the way the whole world lived, and probably weren't even close to the way most of the world lived.

I've traveled to places that are significantly more different from the US than the UK is since then (Turkey being the most different so far), and now I deal with those differences every day at work, but it's no exaggeration to say that my trip to Cambridge, truly a baby step in terms of world travel, was a life-changer for me. And so, like so many tourists faced with life-changing events, I bought a t-shirt. And it's one of my very, very favorites.*

*But I might not feel the same way if my commemorative t-shirt had said "Mind the Gap." Thanks for having good taste, 18-year-old Emily.

Do What You Love, Love What You Do

T-shirt, Brian's Etsy Shop

Academia: It's Friend Friday! Today's assignment is to talk about a great piece of advice I've been given and how that advice has affected my life. One of the best pieces of advice I've ever gotten came from my dad just before my freshman year of college. I was wondering what I should major in, and my dad told me to study what I loved. He said not to worry about how much money I would make or whether my major would lead to an obvious career path. "Just do what you love," he said.

So I majored in English, with no clear idea of what I would do after graduation. I think every English major goes through a period of thinking their only career options are high school English teacher or barista, neither of which particularly appealed to me. But you know what? I figured it out in my senior year, and now I have an awesome English-related job that I love. Yesterday, a student called me an angel. How many jobs have that kind of off-the-charts positive feedback? And I got to spend four years reading novels and writing poetry, while my friends were failing organic chemistry and cramming for the MCAT. Studying what I love was the right choice, and it has led to a lot of happiness in my life. Thanks, Daddy.

Sartorial: In honor of my English background and my dad's good advice, I wore my favorite literary t-shirt yesterday. A better appreciation of great literature was another perk of majoring in English, and TKAM is one of the very greatest. Every time I wear this shirt, I want to reread this book. Fashion that looks good and reminds me of something I love is my favorite kind of fashion.

Girls' Day at the Sauna

T-shirt, Brian's Etsy Shop 

Academia: I'm happy to report that yesterday was much less stressful than the day before. Our professional development week continued, and I'm having a great time hanging out with my colleagues. We have several new teachers on our faculty this semester, so my girlfriends and I invited some of them to lunch with us today. I think they're going to fit right in, because we had a lot of fun together and everyone seemed to click. I love having colleagues that I like. Nothing breaks up a tough day better than a few minutes of girl talk in between classes, and I have plenty of work girlfriends to talk with.

Sartorial: After dressing for battle two days ago, I wanted to be a little more relaxed yesterday. This was also because our PD sessions are on the other side of campus, about a 20 minute walk from our building, and August in the Deep South is the most miserably hot and humid month of all the months in all the hot places in all the world. No one goes outside unless they absolutely have to, because outside feels like a sauna full of sweaty football players from about 9:00 in the morning until 9:00 at night. So for a 20 minute hike in the armpit of a sauna-ed up offensive lineman, I went for floaty cotton and flats. And I seriously considered wearing a bikini today. But don't worry. I only do that during spring break.

Harry Potter and the Versatile Dress

Dress 

Academia: God bless my boss for insisting that I take a vacation. So far today, I have slept until 9:30, read, done some laundry, and had lunch with out-of-town friends, the kind of people I haven't known very long but are so energizing to be around that I can tell we're going to be good friends. My soul needed today.

Also, Cary and I are driving to Orlando to go to Islands of Adventure this weekend! It was a last-minute decision, but we thought we needed to escape into something fun, and what better way to escape than to pretend we're going to Hogwarts? I'm going to drink my weight in butterbeer, y'all.

Sartorial: For a laid-back day, I wanted a laid-back outfit. This dress is so comfy and cool, and with a new headband and brightly colored sandals, it's perfect for today. I know I've worn this a million times, but it's just so versatile and feels great on. It can go from laying on the couch to lunch to Cary's work party to the car ride this evening without breaking a sweat. Although it would be kind of weird if a dress did break a sweat. Maybe at Hogwarts.

Raiders of the Lost Updo

TOMS, James Avery

Academia: Half day at work, and a long weekend coming up. My boss is awesome and insisted that I take some days off between semesters, so I'm out tomorrow and Monday. At home, reading more fantasy novels. Watching Indiana Jones melt faces in Raiders of the Lost Ark. All in all, not a bad day.

Sartorial: My hair isn't quite long enough for a blogger bun, but it is long enough to pin under in the semblance of a bun. It's so hot out, and while I like having longer hair, I don't like it getting sweaty on the back of my neck, so I'm exploring the world of updos. Thoughts on this one?

Dorky and Proud

Shirt

Note about bracelet: Tunie was my grandmother, and this bracelet was from a pre-my grandfather boyfriend :)

Academia: It was suuuuuch a quiet day today. I went to work for six hours, where I filed some papers and responded to some emails, and then I went to the library, which is one of my favorite places to be on a hot summer day. Other favorites: the beach, the movies, and the United Kingdom. After the stress of the semester and our ongoing treatment for infertility, I needed some escapist fiction, so I found myself in the  fantasy/sci-fi section.

I've spent years trying to convince myself that I am not a fantasy novel reader, imagining all fantasy novel readers to be Renaissance Faire-going, sword-owning, cape-wearing people. And then I realized that I've read Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings like 18 times, I watch Star Trek: The Next Generation, and my first celebrity crush was Han Solo. Not Harrison Ford. Han Solo. Since there's pretty much no way anybody besides me was convinced I wasn't a dork already, I went ahead and checked out two fantasy novels. And I'm halfway through the first one already - The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card. And I love it.

Sartorial: One of the things I love about not having students around is that I don't have to dress up. Yay for sneakers at work! But if I ever wear a cape on this blog, please e-slap me. Capelets are okay though. Not the same thing at all.

Simple Saturday

T-shirt, TOMS 

Academia: Sorry, no academic action here today, unless you count buying a white board for my office door and going to my office to hang it up. I'm really just trying to knock out one more 30x30 outfit so I can finish on Friday. We're having visitors this weekend, so I spent the day cleaning, taking piles of old clothes and furniture to Goodwill, putting the finishing touches on our bedroom redo (pictures to come!), and doing all those little things that never get done without the deadline of company coming.

Sartorial: Jeans and t-shirts are my Saturday uniform. And since our guests are from the great state of Alabama, I thought I would wear my t-shirt that honors the greatest book ever written about Alabama or by an Alabaman (or, in my humble opinion, by anyone). I got a compliment on it from the cashier at Target too. Actually, all she said was, "I read that book," but I'm taking it as a compliment. 

I'm not sure what's going on with the colors in my photos though - in real life, the t-shirt is a great turquoise and not at all the same color as the jeans. Oh well. I'm spreading hospitality and literacy through my wardrobe, and that's what matters.

Finite Incantatem

Jeans, TOMS, Brian's Etsy Shop

Academia: Work, classes, blah blah. The real news today is that Cary and I went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.

My love for Harry Potter is pretty serious. On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being "What's a muggle?" and 10 being "I made my own Sorting Hat and it put me in Gryffindor," I'd put myself at a solid 8.5. I haven't made my own Sorting Hat. Yet. But I did take the Facebook Sorting Hat quiz. Ravenclaw, if you're wondering. So it was with great eagerness that I went to the movie theater tonight, and I was not disappointed. I laughed, I cried, I clutched Cary's arm, I cried some more. I even applauded. Although I really wanted to clap way more than the rest of the audience seemed to. Seriously, an ass-kicking Neville Longbottom? Even if you read the book and knew it was coming, how do you not burst into applause? So yeah, two thumbs up.

Sartorial: I didn't set out this morning to look like I was about to board the Hogwarts Express, but when I looked at myself in the mirror just before heading to the movie, I realized that I kind of did. Long, floaty black top? Long, floaty dark pants? Just slap a scarf in my house colors on me and I'm ready for Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

P.S. I put a bunch of links to Wikipedia articles about Harry Potter in this post, in case you haven't read the books and have no idea what I'm talking about. Although if you haven't read the books, I'm not sure how helpful these will really be. Sorry.

Hogwarts, here I come!

Hospital Chic

Brian's Etsy Shop

Academia: Today was a non-academic day for me, actually. I took the day off because Cary had to have minor surgery. It was a very routine outpatient procedure and he's fine (he's eating ice cream in the bedroom as we speak), but he had to be anesthetized and the whole procedure, from check-in to discharge, took most of the day. While I was waiting, I:

1. read Bill Bryson's new book, At Home. This is one of the most fascinating books I've read in years. The author, who lives in a mid-nineteenth century rectory in England, goes through the rooms in the house and talks about domestic history as they relate to each. In the dining room, he discusses the spice trade and world exploration; in the bedroom, Victorian attitudes toward sex. Bryson is one of the best authors I've read in terms of taking a LOT of random facts and tying them together in a way that is both interesting and easy to follow. I highly recommend checking this book out.
2. watched the end of the Casey Anthony trial. I haven't been following it at all, but it was the only thing on TV all day. So now I know waaaaay more than I ever hoped to about the whole thing.

Sartorial: Since today involved so much sitting around, I wanted to be comfortable above all. These pieces are in my 30x30 and I've worn them in much dressier ways (t-shirt, pants), but this combination was perfect for a long day in a hospital waiting room. And for collapsing on the couch afterwards, which is where I am now.

Extra-Curricular: Family Matters

Today is the last day of the Extra-Curricular series, which means my vacation is almost over. I'll be back on Monday, but not before one last guest post tomorrow by the lovely Allyson of Decoding Dress. Come back and read her tomorrow, and enjoy another non-academic outfit today!

T-shirt, Shoes, Earrings 

Academia: A couple of weeks ago, we were in my hometown to surprise my dad for his birthday. We got there on Friday evening and spent Saturday lounging around, eating lunch with my grandmother (who sweetly spent 20 minutes looking at this blog and exclaiming about how adorable I am), and watching Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (my mom hasn't read the books and they're trying to catch up before The Cinematic Event of the Decade next month). They live on several wooded acres that are inexplicably in the middle of town, and their back porch is one of my favorite places to read, nap, and now take pictures for my blog.

Sartorial: I'm not going to get tired of this t-shirt anytime soon, y'all. It's in my 30 for 30 and I plan on wearing it all. the. time. Since my parents gave it to me, I thought it would be appropriate to wear on a day I hung out with them. This outfit is basically a combination of this one and this one, but I really liked both of those, so if it ain't broke, etc., right?

Cary's iPhone can do this! Cool!

Just One Kind of Folks

T-shirt, Shoes, Earrings

"I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks." - Scout

I want to be Scout's BFF. I love this book that much.

Academia: Today was a crazy busy day (I asked for it, I know), but I want to put that aside to pay tribute  to a book I love, or better put, THE BEST BOOK EVER PERIOD. If you've even glanced at the pictures today (or just have great taste), you know what book I'm talking about. I'm talking about To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the awesomest book in the English language and the subject of my ensemble today.

If you've read TKAM before, you know why it's so great. But if you haven't, let me tell you what you're missing. Cliff's Notes would tell you that it's about two children in small town 1930s Alabama who watch their lawyer father defend a black man wrongfully accused of raping a white woman. But beyond that, it's about children trying to make sense of a world that is often senseless, and looking to their father to know what to do next. It's about a father who wants to be honest about human nature with his children, but doesn't want to scare them. It's about the way fear and prejudice can make basically good people think that other people aren't really people. It's about doing the right thing, even when you know it can't end well. And all those "abouts" are what make To Kill a Mockingbird about my favorite book of all time.

Sartorial: This t-shirt from Out of Print Clothing is an early birthday present from my parents. They didn't intend it  to be early, but I saw the label on the package when it arrived last week so I knew what it was and I swear I have a good reason for opening it early that isn't "I just wanted to wear it." The 30x30 starts next week, six days before my birthday, and I wanted to include this shirt in my 30. And then I figured, if I'm going to open it six days early, I may as well open it now. I mean, early is early, right? That's what I thought.

The Fountainheadband

Cardigan, Brian's Etsy shop 

Academia: Same old, same old. Told students I couldn't make their teachers move them up to a higher level class, sent students who are still living in hotels to apartment complexes, celebrated that one of my closest friends at work also got hired full-time. Hooray!

Thanks, awesome husband!

Sartorial: I had two sources of inspiration today. One was this adorable headband that Cary bought me in Washington DC. Yay for gifts, especially ones that don't say, "My husband went to our nation's capital and all I got was this t-shirt." The other was Academichic's Book Cover Challenge. E. posted an outfit on Friday that was inspired by the cover of Making Face, Making Soul by Gloria Anzaldúa, and invited readers to do the same with other book covers. I thought and thought about it last night and couldn't come up with anything.

Objectivism, anyone?

Then I got dressed today and realized I matched the cover of The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, which, I have to be honest, I didn't finish because I read it right after Atlas Shrugged and was suffering from Ayn Rand Overexposure. But the neutrals with coralish red were there in my outfit, as well as the geometric patterns in both the book cover and the headband. And I felt a little 1940s, which is when The Fountainhead was written. I'm bummed that I didn't think to take a picture with the book, but mine and The Fountainhead's matchiness hadn't dawned on me yet when I was taking pictures this morning. Oh well, win some, lose some. Unless you're a character in one of Ayn Rand's books, in which case you win everything or are outed as the giant loser that you are.