Kelly Green

What's going on with my face here? Is this "Pregnant Women are Smug" face?

Academia and Sartorial: Happy early St. Patrick's Day, y'all! Today is Green Day on Everybody Everywear, so I'm busting out the luck o' the Irish a few days ahead of schedule. I got this kelly green t-shirt in Target's limited maternity section over the weekend, and I really like it - partly because it actually fits, but mostly because I love love love this shade of green. It's such a happy, bright color, and I feel happy and bright wearing it.

I'm a little disappointed that St. Patrick's Day is on a weekend this year, because part of the fun of working with international students is dressing up for holidays. I normally get to wear lots of green on St. Paddy's Day, lots of pink on Valentine's Day, and costumes on Halloween. Oh well. I am going to a friend's 30th birthday party on the 17th, so I'll wash this and wear it again then.

What about y'all? What are your plans for St. Patrick's Day? Any green outfits set aside already?

Mental Fist Shaking

Academia: I think my university is the only public institution in the US that doesn't celebrate Presidents' Day. 364 days a year, I love, love, love working there, but on Presidents' Day, my alarm goes off, I look at my blissfully sleeping public schoolteacher husband, and I mentally shake my fist at the powers that be. And that's how yesterday went for me.

Sartorial: I'm also starting to mentally shake my fist at my wardrobe. I don't have enough maternity clothes to make a full wardrobe, but none of my pre-pregnancy pants or skirts fit comfortably anymore, so every day I just look at my closet and sigh. This in-between stage of pregnancy is killing my style mojo.

I felt better over the weekend when my friend Lilly, whose due date is one week before mine, said she was feeling exactly the same way about her clothes. She always looks really stylish to me, so that gave me hope that maybe I'm not looking as blah as I feel when I get dressed every day. I think a good solid hour of shopping for more clothes that actually fit would give my style mojo the boost it needs. I hoping that can happen this week; stay tuned for results.

I know I sound super whiny today, y'all. I promise I'm not fishing for compliments, and I hope to be back to my non-whiny self in my next post. Thanks for bearing with me.

Land of the Living and Growing

Check out the To Kill a Mockingbird necklace Cary got me for Christmas!  I love a man who indulges my nerdiness.

Academia: I am beginning to re-enter the land of the living, y'all. I've progressed from the "pounding sinus headache" stage of the cold to the "hacking up a lung" stage, but it's progress. I got a reasonable night's sleep Wednesday night and am starting to feel a bit more human. I also found out that I'm allowed to take Robitussin, huzzah! Plus, the hacking cough scares off students who don't really need anything but just want to complain, so I've been surviving working sick pretty well. I'm not feeling great yet, but I'm not feeling like a zombie anymore either. Maybe by next week I'll feel like a person again!

Sartorial: I wore this Wednesday, which was not a great day health-wise or weather-wise. I hadn't turned the corner with this cold yet, and it was chilly and rainy all day. A nice loose blouse over my increasingly weird-to-dress belly and some dark tights were just what I needed to stay warm, dry, and comfortable.

I don't think I would have tried a loose shirt over a pencil skirt before getting pregnant, because I felt great about having a small waist and I liked emphasizing it by tucking in my blouses. I like my growing body too, but having a constantly changing shape has challenged me to dress it differently than how I normally would. I liked how this blouse draped over my belly without hiding it. It's certainly a change from showing off a tiny waist, but I have a feeling I'm going to love this kind of showing off even more.

Professional but Fun

Academia: Check-in week continues, and thankfully it's a bit calmer than either check-in during the fall semester. Yay! I wore this yesterday to help a friend with an academic culture seminar, and to drive new students to visit apartment complexes. Rather than being in my windowless office, I was about on an unseasonable 70 degree day. Can't complain about that!

Sartorial: I used to belt this dress, but this belly seriously has come out of nowhere, so I decided the tights were restrictive enough without adding a belt. I really liked the gray dress with the chestnut tights and the animal print shoes; to me it looked professional, but still fun. "Professional but fun" is pretty much my motto for dressing for work, so I was happy in this all day (other than being a bit squeezed by my tights).

Double Duty

Academia: Pictures didn't happen on Friday, so y'all are getting a special treat today: weekend clothes! And weekend clothes that aren't sweatpants and a t-shirt on top of that. I wore this to church yesterday, and then to the movies to see The Muppets (which I loved... "Rainbow Connection" always makes me tear up). And then I fell asleep on the couch in it, and can I say how great it is that clothes I wore to church can double as couch napping clothes?

Sartorial: I've worn variations on this outfit a lot, but that's just because it's oh so comfy and still looks polished. Let me reiterate: church and a nap in the same outfit. Win-win. Win.

Perks

Brian's Etsy Shop 

Academia: There are so many awesome things about my job. A student once told me I had four hearts, which was definitely a high point. I overheard one student tell another student who was being rude that he had "bad customer service," which I wouldn't call a high point, but was still pretty funny. And at the end of the semester, when all the teachers are running around in a flurry of grading, my job is actually winding down.

As a student life advisor, I work really hard at the beginning of each semester, when the students are new and still settling into life in the US. At the end, though, they're all housed, immunized, and insured, and there isn't as much for me to do. Although now that I've said that, I'm sure someone will set their apartment on fire or break their leg or something. So this week at work has been a bit more relaxing than a month or so ago. And at the end of a long semester, that's certainly a plus.

Sartorial: Another perk of my job is that I can wear leggings to work and absolutely no one cares. Bazinga.

Holiday Food Camouflage

Academia: So remember when I said I had interesting things to say, now that I'm back from my blog vacation? Yeah, not so much about my day yesterday. It was pretty routine. So, moving on to the clothes!

Sartorial: I got this idea yesterday to wear loose clothes to try to camouflage my holiday food belly, but looking at these pictures, I'm not sure it worked. I think I just look loose and baggy all over. So in the future, I think loose + loose probably won't work. The holiday food belly will just have to hide some other way. Suggestions, y'all?

Cat Nap Clothes

Brian's Etsy Shop, Bracelet 

Academia: Hey everyone! I'm back after several days off, and I'm feeling refreshed and ready to wear some clothes. Not that I haven't been wearing clothes all along (imagine the awkwardness/chilliness if I hadn't), but now I'm recharged and have some interesting things to say about them. I think. We'll see. 


Sartorial: Mondays in the all-you-can-eat holiday season call for stretchy clothes that look dressier than they feel. The combination of Christmas cookies and leftover weekend sleepiness makes me want to sleep late and read a book all day, but since I have to do things like pay my mortgage and feed the cats, I put on jersey clothes, don't belt anything,  drive to work, and try to catch a quick nap in my office armchair at lunch. And count down the days until Christmas break, although I try not to let on to the students that I'm doing that. Even though they obviously are.

Early Thanksgiving

Brian's Etsy Shop 

Academia: One of the very best parts of my job is the opportunity to introduce our students to American holidays. I love wearing green on St. Patrick's Day, putting on a pirate hat for Halloween, and handing out candy on Valentine's Day, but my very favorite holiday tradition at work is our annual Thanksgiving potluck, which was held on Friday evening.

Here are the reasons I love the Thanksgiving potluck:

1. Sooooo much good food. One of our teachers takes the afternoon off to cook the turkeys for us, which are always delicious, and our students all bring food from their countries. And since our students all have different cultural norms when it comes to punctuality, we get new dishes continually for the first two hours of the dinner.
2. It's like eating with a really, really big extended family. Our students are all far from home, and they turn to each other to provide the sense of family they miss from the very beginning of the semester. By the time we get to the Thanksgiving dinner, students from different countries are taking pictures with their arms around each other, trying food from each other's countries, and learning words in each other's languages. Being around that kind of camaraderie would make anyone feel good. The food is really just a bonus.

Sartorial: We had a short-lived cool spell on Friday and Saturday (by which I mean it wasn't 80 degrees), which was perfect for an early Thanksgiving. This shirt over a bulky skirt probably wasn't the best choice for disguising the food baby I left the potluck with, but I was warm and I had a belly full of turkey, so honestly I don't think there was much to complain about.

Schoolteacher

Academia: I've been sitting here for an hour trying to think of something to say about what I did in this outfit, other than "I ran around all day and didn't get to eat lunch until after 2:00." But since I ran around all day and didn't get to eat lunch until after 2:00, my creative faculties are suffering a bit. All I've got is "my feet hurt" and "What up with How I Met Your Mother last night?" So yeah. Sorry.

Sartorial: I wore this ensemble to church on Sunday (I always test-run new outfits at church) and my sister said all I needed to become a stereotypical old-fashioned schoolteacher was a ruler and a bun. I didn't want to go quite that far, but looking a little sterner at work couldn't hurt. Maybe I should start making students clap erasers or scrape the gum off the underside of desks if they don't turn in their immunization paperwork on time. That would be totally appropriate, right?

Anatomy of a Disney World Outfit

Academia: Cary and I spent Friday at Disney World in Orlando. We are experienced theme park goers - Cary actually worked at the Magic Kingdom in college - so today I thought I'd share the essentials of dressing for a day at a theme park. So without further ado...

Sartorial: When dressing for a day at a theme park, there are two major things you need to consider: the weather and your feet. Allow me to break them down one at a time.

Weather: You're going to be outside all day, so it's really important to fully understand the weather of wherever you are. If you're going to Disney World anytime between late April and late October, dressing for the heat is crucial. You really can't overestimate how hot and humid Florida is in the summer. Wear breathable fabrics (think loose cotton), bring a poncho, and above all, don't forget your sunscreen. SPF 30 at least.

We were lucky to be at Disney World in November, which is a lovely time of year in Orlando. High temperatures Friday were around 68 degrees Fahrenheit, with lows around 50. I'm a total wimp when it comes to any temperature below 75, so layers were important for me. I started the day dressed as you see above, took the jacket off in the early afternoon, and put it back on around sunset. We saw lots of other tourists from up North who were perfectly happy in shorts and t-shirts, but this native Southerner would have been miserably cold. When it comes to winter weather, know thyself, and dress accordingly.

Feet: I can't overemphasize how crucial it is to wear comfortable shoes for a day in a theme park. You probably know that you'll be walking a lot, but what you may not be thinking about is how much time you'll spend just standing in line - usually 30-60 minutes for the most popular rides. For me, standing in line is just as stressful on my feet and back as walking, so comfy shoes are key.

I wore TOMS on Friday, and they worked pretty well for me. Sneakers are good too; I've worn my Chuck Taylors in the past. Shoes I wouldn't recommend: anything with a heel, flip-flops, new shoes. Trust me: wear your oldest, most broken in shoes. Exception: TOMS, which never need breaking in.

So there you have it, how to dress for a theme park in two easy steps. Just remember your sunscreen and your sneakers, and you're ready for a day of Space Mountain, ice cream in the shape of Mickey Mouse ears, and congratulating yourself on not buying a hoodie with Eeyore on it. Because cartoon hoodies are never necessary. Even at Disney World.

Escape and Oxfords

Academia: Just a quick post today because as you read this, Cary and I are heading out for a few days of don't-worry-be-happy escape from our lives at Disney World (which, if you've been reading long enough, you can guess is within fairly easy driving distance from where we live). I'm writing this on Wednesday night and we're trying to pack and clean, so all I have to say is yay Disney, and check out my new shoes!

Sartorial: I happened across these oxfords at Payless earlier this week and had to get them. I've been looking for the right high heeled oxfords for months, and when I saw these, I knew they were the right ones. I'm not quite sure how to style them other than with skinny jeans though. I think I can wear them with a dress and tights, but what about without tights? Will they cut my legs off and make them look short? It's still 80 degrees here, so I need a tights-less option. What do y'all think?

Sister, Sister

Sorry about the pictures today. I wanted to see if I liked the flash settings on the new camera better than without the flash. I don't. 

Also, I'm still trying to figure out the appropriate amount of zoom.

Academia: A pretty normal day at work, except I got to have lunch with my lovely sister! My sister is a nanny, and as the child she nannies for gets older and my future niece or nephew gets closer to being born, her work hours are becoming more flexible, which means that we can have lunch once a week or so. It's such a nice break in the middle of the day and I love having the time to catch up with her. Living in the same town as adults is great.

Sartorial: After wearing a fancy dress and heels on Tuesday, I swung in completely the opposite direction yesterday and went as cozy as possible - boyfriend pants, slouchy cardigan, and TOMS. Perfect for a slightly chilly (for the Deep South) November day, and for sister lunch time.

Four Hearts

Academia: So I was helping this new student find a dentist today, and when he was about to leave my office, he said, "Before I come here, other Arabic students tell me, 'If you have any problem, Emily can help you. She work with four hearts, not one.'" And that pretty much made my week.

Sartorial: Having four hearts gives me a lot of room to love clothes I probably should have gotten rid of years ago. I bought this shirt in high school and there's a rip in one sleeve, but it's so well-worn and flexible that I just want to keep it forever. Same with these shoes, which are newer but so broken in that  there's a permanent groove for each of my big toes. But I figure that even if I devote one whole heart to these clothes, I have three left for everything else, so my devotion remains.

Work Swag

Academia: A lot of cool things happened yesterday. Cary and I started early with a doctor's appointment that went very well, and we got to have breakfast together before work. Then yesterday afternoon, some visiting professors from an overseas university that always sends my boss and me very nice small gifts brought us some freaking huge gifts. Last time they were here, I got a teeny tiny memory stick. This time, my boss and I both got a digital camera. A DIGITAL CAMERA. A really nice one too - a Samsung ST93. I'm going to play with it over the weekend and hopefully will have some posts featuring free camera pictures early next week. I'll just say it again because it's so awesome: I GOT A FREE DIGITAL CAMERA AT WORK YESTERDAY.


Sartorial: We had to leave for our doctor's appointment at sunrise, which is why my pictures are inside today. But that may be a thing of the past - maybe my new camera has infrared night vision or something! It's also why I'm wearing this outfit; I wanted to be comfortable and wear clothes that made me feel confident, and the combination of this flattering dress and the comfy leggings fit the bill. This was also a great outfit for getting a free digital camera. I'm just saying.

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?

"Fall" in the South

Academia: I'm taking the day off today (Epcot Food and Wine Festival, yay!), and yesterday was the kind of easy day that segues so wonderfully into a long weekend. I started the day with a good doctor's appointment, and then I spent the afternoon out of the office - working, just not at my desk. Besides being out enjoying the sunshine, it was nice not have to nag anyone all afternoon. I was thoroughly relaxed by the time I got home, an unusual feeling for the end of a work day. It was very nice.

Sartorial: Today's visual Friend Friday is hosted by Iris of 260 Days No Repeats, and the assignment is to dress in a quintessentially "fall" outfit. Here in the Deep South, fall happens for about three weeks in December, definitely not October. It's still in the mid-80s in October, and that's a huge improvement over September, when it was in the mid-90s. By mid-October, we're all sick of being hot and we're ready to wear fall clothes, but the weather just won't catch up. So for me, a quintessentially "fall" outfit is like this one: it looks cozy and warm, but the blouse is paper-thin and the pants are very breathable, so I can stay cool while pretending I live in a state that has all four seasons. Seasons we actually have: A Sauna in Hell, What New Englanders Consider Summer, and January.