Freeze Panic

Academia: It's Valentine's Day, y'all! I love celebrating love, and even more importantly for this blog, I love that it's Everybody Everywear Day. Okay, lame segue. I'm still trying to process Sunday's episode of Downton Abbey; my brain cells can only do so much at once. 

Sartorial: For Everybody Everywear today, everybody is wearing red or pink for V-Day. I was thinking about my red satiny shirt with the ruffly collar, or one of my new maternity dresses. I was going to be so cute. And then we had a freeze.

For those of you in colder climates, a freeze is probably not a huge deal, but for Floridians, cold weather is a cause for panic. We are a people incredibly poorly equipped for cold weather. There are actually very serious consequences freezes have for citrus farmers, but for the rest of us, we just don't have the clothes for it. I'm not kidding. When I was five, we went to South Carolina to visit my grandparents at Christmas, and my mom had to put plastic bags over my canvas sneakers to keep them from getting wet in the snow. Blazing, inferno-like heat we're good with, but cold makes us spend entire days sniveling, "Can you believe how cold it is? I can't believe how cold it is!"

The temperature we have to reach to go into full panic mode varies depending on how far south we live. Up here in north Florida, panic ensues at freezing; in Ft. Lauderdale and points south, anything below 70 degrees is cause for freaking out. Seriously. I went to the Keys in January a few years ago. When I left home in the morning, I had to scrape ice off my windshield. When I got to the Keys that evening, it was 65 degrees and people were apologizing for the excessive cold. 

I've found that sartorially, my fellow Floridians deal with the cold in two ways. The first way is to throw on all the warmest clothes we have, sometimes in multiple layers, with absolutely no regard for social context. Jeans and sneakers at work on a Monday? Yes, because it's sooooo cold! The other way is to pretend the cold isn't actually there, and continue to dress as though it's July. This is more of a "mind over matter" approach. If I'm wearing shorts, that means it's not cold, right?

I'm a multiple layers kind of girl, so this is what I wore to work yesterday. It was 30 degrees when I left home. This is my warmest sweater and my thickest jeans. Under the jeans are hiking socks, and over the jeans are boots. Over all of this I put a trench coat, a knitted scarf, and an old pair of gloves that I found in the back of our coat closet. And as I pulled into the parking garage, car heater blasting at 80 degrees, I saw a girl in shorts and flip-flops, willing the cold away.

Love Actually

Academia: So, Love Actually night happened last night. Yay! The movie was just as delightful as it always is. I can't really pick a favorite part because the whole movie is so awesome, but my top three are probably Colin Firth's stumbling proposal in Portuguese, Hugh Grant dancing in 10 Downing Street, and the whole Liam Neeson father-son storyline. Plus, my sister set up a hot chocolate bar so we could have yummy drinks and cookies while we watched. Hot chocolate + Love Actually = a perfect December evening.

Sartorial: I wore a sweatshirt and leggings to movie night, but I wore these fun tights to work yesterday. This is the first time I've tried out chestnut-colored tights, and I think I like them. They were only $5 at Target, so I may need to go back and scoop up some other colors. Any recommendations? The only other color I have right now is black. What else do I need?

Anticipation

Academia: Y'all, I fell asleep at 9:30 last night and it's now 7:30 in the morning and I'm rushing around trying to get ready for work. And by "rushing around," I mean, "still lying in bed, trying to summon the energy to get up." So today I'll just leave you with a quick list of the things I'm looking forward to most about Christmas break:

1. Sleeping in
2. Spending time with my family
3. Visiting Tybee Island for New Year's
4. Love Actually viewing with my sister (and if we can talk them into it, our husbands)
5. Christmas parties

Sartorial: I'm also really looking forward to the weather continuing to be cool so I can wear my winter clothes. Here in the Deep South, winter is so fleeting that my winter clothes are kind of a novelty. I only get to wear them for two or three months and then it's back to sandals and skirts. By March, I'll be tired of being cold, but for now, it's a pleasant break from being hot and sweaty.

How about y'all? What are you looking forward to about the holidays?

Drink Up, Me Hearties, Yo Ho

Brian's Etsy Shop. Also, my angry pirate face. Arrrrr. 

First pictures with my new, free camera! What do y'all think? 

Academia: One of the very best parts of working with international students is getting to do cultural holidays reaaallly big. Like, wear a costume to work on Halloween big. I haven't dressed up in the last few years, but this time I figured, how often to I get to wear a costume? Exactly never. So drink up, me hearties - I decided to go as a pirate.

All the students seemed to think it was fun, albeit a little weird, that I had dressed up, but the reactions from my colleagues were way more interesting. My friend Victoria saw me in the hall and at first glance said, "Oh, are you a pirate?" Then she looked closer and said, "Oh my gosh, are you a really cute pirate?" Why, yes. Yes I am. I mean, aye. Arrrrr.

Sartorial: Honestly, I decided to be a pirate because I already had or could borrow the pieces of the costume. I've worn the tunic, t-shirt, leggings, and boots in normal, non-piratey outfits, but the addition of Brian's jewelry and Cary's Jack Sparrow hat (he uses it as a thinking hat in his classroom) took the whole outfit from cozy fall ensemble to buccaneer chic. I didn't have the Jack Sparrow eyeliner, but I felt quite swashbuckling all day anyway. Avast! Arrr! Yo ho, y'all.

Puss in Boots

Academia: Fall is here! A cold front came through on Wednesday, and so the high temperature yesterday was about 68. I got really excited, as you can see by my tights and boots. It'll be back in the 80s by early next week, but for now, the weather is perfect for shaving hot chocolate with out-of-town cousins and snuggling under a down duvet, which is exactly what I did last night.

Sartorial: The theme of this Friend Friday is Halloween. I love costumes, and have nothing against Halloween, but since I live in a college town, all the adult Halloween activities seem to revolve around getting hammered and dressing up as a slutty [insert character here], e.g. the Slutty Pumpkin. I haven't really done Halloween in a few years, so this should be interesting...

1. Do you have plans for Halloween? What will you dress up as this year? My only plan is to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters. I love doing that, especially early in the evening when the littlest trick-or-treaters are out being adorable. I don't think I'll dress up, but I always try to have the best candy on the street. No sketchy paper-wrapped taffy here.
2. Where do you go for costume and makeup inspiration? When I dressed up for Halloween as a kid, I always wanted to be pretty, not scary. So I got a lot of inspiration from Disney. I haven't dressed up in several years, but wearing a princess costume still appeals to me, so I'd probably still take my cues from the Mouse :)
3. What was the best costume you've ever donned? When I was six, I decided I wanted to be Puss in Boots for Halloween. So I dressed as a cat, and wore cowboy boots. It was awesome. My inner literary critic was so pleased with herself. I was a character from classic literature! Yes, my six-year-old self had an inner literary critic. But no one got it. Everyone just said, "Oh, a cat!" My inner literary critic was highly offended.
4. What's the most creative costume you've ever seen? I didn't see this because it happened before I was born, but my mom says that one year, my dad convinced her that they should wear all black to a Halloween party and tell people that they were "shadows of their former selves." Not shockingly, no one got it, and they had to spend the whole night explaining their costumes. I love it though. And now the whole Puss in Boots thing is starting to make sense.
5. No holds barred - if you could dress up as anything, what would it be? Scarlett O'Hara. I need to wear a hoop skirt and a pretty ball gown. They just look like so much fun. Plus, Scarlett was the queen of refashioning - she made a dress out of curtains long before Maria von Trapp ever thought of doing it. She should be the patron saint of fashion bloggers.

So there you have it, friends. Apparently I'm destined to always want to dress as literary characters, be it the hero of a fairly obscure fairy tale or the original steel magnolia. What about y'all? Are you dressing up for Halloween this year? What have been your best (and worst) costumes?

Ain't No Hollaback Girl

T-shirt

This is my "I'm going to the beach!" dance.

Academia: Well, this week got weirder. Universe, you win. One of our teachers had emergency surgery this week (one of many teachers out this week, which created a fun sub shortage), and I've been subbing for his class. Today I found out that he's only coming back part-time, so I'll be teaching his class for the rest of the semester. In addition to the other class I teach. And my official job as an advisor. It's only for three more weeks and I really don't mind because we were in a genuine pinch, but this week has just been bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S.

Fortunately, I'm no longer in my town. I'm on Tybee Island, Georgia! Cary and left after I fled before anything else weird could happen got home from work, and will be here until Sunday. I love this island - it's beautiful, quirky, and apparently the summer home of Sandra Bullock. My mom and aunt have been dedicatedly observing her house, and there's a car there, but no sign of Sandra as yet. There's only one grocery store on the island though, and she's got to eat sometime, so staking out the IGA might be in my near future.

Sartorial: Today was the first day of the 30x30 that I felt truly stumped. It seemed like all of my tops and all of my bottoms had already been paired up, and it took some careful study of my closet to come up with something that was new, work-appropriate, and comfortable for a long car ride. I think this outfit turned out okay though.

Also, one of my friends from work emailed me this TED talk by Jessi Arlington about remixed and thrifted fashion. She said it reminded her of me, but on steroids. And she doesn't even know I have a style blog! I took this as a high compliment. Check it out; although we may not all aspire to be quite as extreme as this blogger in our remixed thriftiness, I think there's a lot of inspiration to be had here.

Chantilly Lace

Academia: I wanted to get a jump on Everybody, Everywear and post early today, but I'm posting so early that nothing has really happened yet. So instead of a recap of what I did today, I offer you some predictions. I predict that our student medical services will call at least once because they can't understand our students. I predict that at least one student will have a weird problem that will have been impossible for me to anticipate, either involving their health or an online purchase that they want to return/reschedule/file a complaint about. I predict that I will have at least one discussion of yesterday's storm with either another faculty member or a student. I'm pretty sure I'm going to instigate that discussion - see yesterday's post on our Storm Ride of Death. Finally, I predict that at least one student will stop by just to say hello, and will probably say something that makes me laugh. Come on, that one student!

Sartorial: Today is Everybody, Everywear's Lace Day. I was a little stumped by this one because I don't really love/own that much lace. I liked lace on my wedding dress, but I'm not a huge fan for everyday wear. So I had to bring it into the outfit in small ways. If you look carefully at the hem of my skirt, there's some lace there. My scarf is also lace, which I was unsure when I first put it on because it feels a bit bridal to wear lace on my head, but now I'm okay with. This outfit also had to fit within the parameters of my 30x30. All these constraints pushed me a little out of my sartorial comfort zone, and I actually think I like it. Stay tuned; by the end of the 30x30 I may be dressing like Lady Gaga. No, I won't. I think she's tacky. Go ahead and write me off as visionless and bourgeois. Wearing a dress made of meat is still tacky.

... And the Livin' Is Easy

Necklaces: Katogo Long, doubled, and Katogo Short 

Full skirts inspire me to flamenco dance.

Academia: Y'all, I need to add a class in the second half of the summer. Everyone is getting along fine so far, and so today was a slow day. I worked on a packing list for our trip to California in a couple of weeks and researched hiking trails in Yosemite National Park. I read blogs and went home early. I'm not trying to invite a bunch of crises on myself, but the pace needs to pick up a little bit.

Sartorial: Another day oversleeping, another ironing-free outfit. I really liked the bright pink shirt with the bright green sandals, and the Bead for Life necklaces tied everything together well. And the skirt has an elastic waistband, which is always a good thing. And I buckled the belt one notch skinnier than the last time I wore it. Healthy eating FTW!