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.

All Day Dress

Academia: Today was commencement day! Yay! End of the semester! Yay! I'm blogging so late because we celebrated the end of this insane term by going out to dinner with Cary's parents and Brian, and then going to see The Help. I will have some more coherent thoughts about it later, but to sum up, it was very faithful to the book and I loved the book. It was a wonderful way to wrap up the term.

Sartorial: This is what I wore for commencement. I always try to dress professionally for work, but commencement is a chance to be a little dressier and more festive than normal. This dress makes me feel awesome about my body, and it's conservative enough for work-related events. I switched out the heels for flats for the rest of the work day and the movie, and I'm pretty sure I could have pulled off sandals too. Versatile is one of my favorite things for clothes to be.

The End is Nigh

Academia: The end of the semester is upon us! Huzzah! Today is the last Monday of this awful semester, Wednesday is the last day of class, and Friday is commencement. I'm not normally excited about the end of a semester, but if you've been reading along, you know how wonky this semester has been. Between now and Friday, I'm going to be caught in a whirlwind of exams, grading, committee meetings, volunteer orientations, and so on, but after Friday, I can do things like sit down to do paperwork and actually finish it in the same sitting. Yay!

Sartorial: I usually save jeans for Fridays, but I'm dressing up this Friday for commencement, so I decided to have Casual Monday instead. I wanted to wear these shoes again and my new blazer, so I picked the rest of the outfit to match. The blazer is a bit military-looking, so I liked adding some very feminine touches like the pink shirt and string of pearls. I love a little juxtaposition in my wardrobe. And for more juxtaposition, tune in tomorrow for EBEW's Mixed Prints Day!

Swelter and Simplicity

Dress, Cardigan, Brian's Etsy Shop

Academia: As promised, here is what I wore on Friday. Friday was a day of a lot of running around. I went to a doctor's appointment at lunchtime, and then I left work early to go on a church leadership retreat. The retreat was about two and a half hours away from here, and we all got to stay at a hunting lodge that looked like it fell out of the Old West. Except for the shuffleboard court and enough bedrooms for 17 people. It was pretty awesome, and we all felt like our church might be in need of some more retreats. Like soon.

Sartorial: The thermometer in my car said 100 degrees on Thursday, not counting the humidity, so when I got dressed on Friday, I wanted to be as cool as possible. I've worn this combination of cardigan and dress several times (here, here, and here), but it's cool, comfortable enough for a long car ride, and basically a blank canvas for accessories. One thing the 30x30 taught me was not to be afraid of repeating outfits on the blog, because accessories really can make a difference in the overall look of an ensemble. I loved this combination of animal prints, and I loved that I wasn't sweating buckets. Sometimes simpler is better, especially when the temperature is in the triple digits.

Dr. Jones, Dr. Jones

Dress, Brian's Etsy Shop 

Academia: I could be wrong about this, but I think that deep down inside of every academic, there's a little academic who wants to be this guy:

Via

Indiana Jones is pretty much the coolest professor ever. He looks good, he's brilliant, and somehow he found a university to work for that almost never requires him to physically be at the university. He fights Nazis with a whip, outruns giant boulders, and wears a cool fedora. If I were Indiana Jones and an apartment complex screwed over one of my students, all I'd have to do is growl intimidatingly at them and they'd let the poor student out of their lease, which seems completely reasonable since the apartment included a broken shower that they still haven't fixed. You know, hypothetically.

Sartorial: My dress may not say, "I retrieve ancient religious artifacts from the desert," but I'm pretty sure my blazer does! I adore my new dress, but I needed to cover my shoulders for work, so I added the blazer and Cary said it looked very Indiana Jones. I got really excited and added the animal print shoes, because, you know, nothing says "badass treasure hunting professor" like animal print. Just give me a fedora and I'm ready to melt the faces off some bad guys. I'm looking at you, hypothetical apartment complex.

The Call of the Wild

Dress, Cardigan

Academia: Today, there was a squirrel in our teacher resource room, which our admissions coordinator caught and released into the wild. But today refused to top out weirdness-wise with the squirrel, because then there was nearly pornographic photo shoot in front of our building, which was a whole different kind of "the wild."

I didn't see it, but apparently there were bikini-clad teenage girls posing seductively and smoking cigarettes for a photo spread called "Smokin' Hot on Campus." In attendance at this photo shoot were the girls, the photographers, my boss (only for the 30 seconds it took her to rip them to shreds and throw them off our non-smoking campus), and almost every male student we have, at least half of whom are from conservative Muslim countries and often aren't really even used to seeing women's upper arms in public. Among the many issues I have with this, here are the most salient:

1. Our campus is non-smoking, and we have been reprimanded repeatedly because our students won't stop smoking on campus. So thanks for the good example, "Smokin' Hot" ladies.
2. A university isn't church or anything, but it is where people go to learn and better themselves. Seriously, a little respect for the educational process.
3. Does anyone really still think smoking is cool?
4. The name of the talent agency representing these ladies was a play on words that referred to losing one's virginity. So, yeah. Gross.

Sartorial: I felt positively puritanical in this outfit compared to the bikini girls. But unlike them, I was appropriately dressed to be on a college campus. Or, you know, anywhere not called "the beach." I've already worn this dress and cardigan together in my 30x30, but I like the combination so much and I tried to change up the accessories so it didn't look the same. And hey, I was clothed and I wasn't smoking. Win-win. (Win.)

Quest for Yellow

Dress, Cardigan, Shoes, Brian's Etsy Store

A student randomly gave me this yellow flower today. Thanks, student!

Academia: Today was pretty stressful, so I won't bore you with complaining about it. Instead, I want to talk about clothes! Yay clothes!

Sartorial: It's Yellow Day at Everybody, Everywear. I don't own a lot of yellow. I love the color, but I'm afraid of it; I'm so blonde and fair-skinned that I worry I'll look ill if I wear it. This summer, I branched out and bought these yellow shoes, but I wanted to add some yellow accessories for EBEW, and had this belt, as seen on Dotty of Dash Dot Dotty, in mind. So I headed to the mall, on a quest for yellow.

The Forever 21 in my town has found numerous ways to disappoint me, and yesterday's shopping trip was no exception: they had no yellow accessories at all, except for this owl necklace, which isn't even completely yellow. It was, however, $3.80, so I snatched it up, and got rung up by Topanga from Boy Meets World. Did you know she worked at F21 in a small Southern college town? She does. She has apparently ceased aging too, and actually appears to be forever 21. If only Mr. Feeny worked at Barnes and Noble, my life would be complete.

After being bummed out by F21 (minus meeting Topanga), I went to Victoria's Secret. I had birthday money to spend, and hadn't bought a new bra in an embarrassingly long time. I would have spent more time feeling embarrassed about it, except that almost immediately upon entering the store, I ran into a former student. A guy my dad's age. Shopping with his wife. So. Awkward. We all chatted politely and pretended we weren't standing next to a giant display of thongs, but yeah, it was weird.

So that is where my quest for yellow led me yesterday. I walked away with a necklace, some lingerie, a sneaking suspicion that Shawn Hunter might tend bar near the university, and a new number one on my list of places I'd rather not see students. Thank you, EBEW. Thank you.

It's Like a Heatwave Burning in My Heart (and My Skin, and Basically Everywhere)

Cardigan

Academia: A fairly normal day. Business meeting. Seminars for new students. Calls to the infirmary for old students. Hikes across campus. But all in the hottest, most humid weather ever. It was 90 degrees and 100% humid, and it would rain for 10 minutes at a time, which only served to make things more humid. It was like walking around in a sauna. It's like this every summer, but after a week in California, it seems particularly awful. I promise I won't gripe about the weather every day. It was just gross today, and I'm mad I'm not still in Monterey.

Sartorial: I had to look business-like today for all my activities, and I swear I tried to get up the will to wear the only pair of heels I put in my 30x30, but I just couldn't. With all the walking and sweating I knew I was going to do, I put the sandals on and figured people could just deal. And they did, as far as I can tell. Probably they were too busy trying to keep their own sweat under control.

Aaaaaand that's about as much time as I want to spend thinking about other people's sweat. And probably about as much time as you want to hear about it. So let me just go lie under a ceiling fan, and I'll see y'all tomorrow.

The Treadmill

Academia: Ever have a day when you felt like you were running on a treadmill? That's how today felt for me. I ran around all day, and I feel like I got nowhere. I don't know how that happened. Running should get me somewhere. But instead, running got me in exactly the same place, reading O Magazine and watching close-captioned reruns of Judge Judy. Is this metaphor falling apart? Running on a treadmill is not good for my writing. (Metaphor within a metaphor? Someone stop me!)


Sartorial: I really just wanted to wear clothes that would cause minimal sweating today. I tried to explain the word "trendy" to a student today and realized that my own outfit was not a good example. Boo. But I wasn't naked, and I wasn't hot. Mission accomplished.

Turnabout Is Fantastic

Jeans, Shoes, Earrings

Academia: Today did not get off to a great start. My day began with a fairly invasive and uncomfortable doctor's appointment, then segued to a frustrating situation with a student's medical records that was completely the result of miscommunication within campus medical staff. I was hating today pretty hard. Then I came home and found this:

This my birthday present from Cary! My birthday isn't for another 11 days, but we'll be in California and I couldn't have "opened" my present on my actual birthday. Cary knew I had a hard day, so he decided that today was Birthday Present Day. I have never been a fan of the dining room chairs that my mom passed down to me (and she passed them down because she wasn't a fan either), so Cary and Brian have been working on repainting and recovering these for a couple of weeks. I love them. I love mismatched chairs in general, and I love the bright colors of these. I'm sitting in the fancy green one right now. After I exclaimed over the chairs, we went to dinner at my favorite pizza place. Aren't y'all jealous of how awesome my husband is? I'm almost jealous of myself.

Sartorial: These jeans have become the security blanket of my wardrobe. I knew I would have this doctor's appointment this morning, so I grabbed the clothes that make me comfortable, physically and emotionally. And then I was perfectly dressed for pizza and beer, so it all worked out. For a day that started so rough, it ended wonderfully.

I Want to Hold Your Hand

Dress, Cardigan 

Academia: I've been an advisor in my program for almost a year now, and over that time, I've learned a lot. I've learned that Google Translate is my BFF. I've learned that you can giggle just as easily with a woman who speaks two words of your language as you can with a girlfriend, because the things we giggle about - like men - don't change from culture to culture. And I've learned that while some students never need my help, some students always need my help. This is true every day, but I saw a few "always need help" students today, so I've been turning it over in my mind this afternoon.

I think it's that moving to a new country affects different people in different ways. Some people hit the ground running and are perfectly happy figuring things out on their own. Others reach for the nearest outstretched hand (mine) and grab on tight. I'm happy working with both kinds of students, but I get to know the hand-holders a lot better because I see them all the time. I know when I see them in the hall that they are going to have a question, even if they hadn't thought of it until the moment they saw me. Living abroad is scary, you know? If I can make it less scary, even if I have to do the same things over and over for the same students, I think it's worthwhile.

Sartorial: Holding people's hands is easier in comfortable clothes, and this outfit is supremely comfortable. I didn't change when I got home because it's so comfortable. I had something different planned, but overslept and didn't have time to iron. And while this is yet another black dress belted with this cardigan, I felt happy in it, so I declare that it worked. I like declaring things. I also declare that "supposably" is not a word, that the beach at Pawleys Island, SC, is the best in the world, and that everyone should watch and love Doctor Who.

The Good Wife

Cardigan

Academia: Today is Cary's birthday, and I've been an awesome wife for it, if I do say so myself. Things I did to be awesome today:

1. Got us tickets to see Les Miserables when we're in Los Angeles on vacation next month.
2. Got the batteries replaced on all his dead watches.
3. Stayed up late to put birthday notes around the house (a tradition in his family that we've carried on into ours).
4. Got up early to watch him find the birthday notes.
5. Organized our friends to eat dinner at Five Guys.
6. Wore this dress, which is one of his favorites.

Let me be clear: Cary is a wonderful husband and totally deserved all of this. He may or may not be reading this over my shoulder right now. But it's true either way. It's also true that I'm basically the best wife ever.

Sartorial: Like I said, this dress is one of Cary's favorites, so I pulled it out and tried to remix it for his birthday. I wore a similar color combination last week, but I think this has a slightly different look. Also, I know I wore this cardigan yesterday, but it was the best choice for covering my shoulders and back. I tried wearing a t-shirt underneath and felt like I was getting dressed for my 5th grade class picture, so that was out. So in the end, this turned into several remixes at once. I think it's okay though. I felt pretty, and that's pretty much my only measure for whether an outfit works.

Also, this watch! This was my great-grandmother's, whose name was Emilie (my parents changed the spelling to make it more likely to be spelled right). It has her maiden initials engraved on the back, so it's from the 1920s at the latest, since her oldest child, my grandfather, was born in 1929. It's in good working order, but the leather band was broken and I hadn't worn it in a couple of years. So when I was getting Cary's watches fixed, I got mine fixed too. 

Answered Prayer = Busy Day

Cardigan, Brian's Etsy shop 

Academia: It was a busy, busy day. I started at 8:00 with the first meeting of my work prayer group. I've started getting together with two other Christian faculty members once a week to pray for our students and each other. It was such a great way to start the week, and it quickly became clear that God was definitely listening when I prayed to be given lots of opportunities to help the students this week. I ended up needing to walk to the infirmary (20 minutes from my office) to help a beginning-level student get immunized because he had no idea what any of the nurses were saying to him, as well as write an insurance appeal letter for another student, two things I've never done before. It was great to help in new ways, but between all of that and getting ready for Cary's birthday tomorrow and a meeting at church this evening, I'm wiped out!

Also, I was checking blogs in a slow minute this morning and saw that I got a shout-out from Shea at Bon Chic Bon Gastronomique today. It was a great surprise. Thanks, Shea!

Sartorial: I've been searching for the perfect cardigan for this dress forever, and I think I've finally found it. I felt polished and stayed cool, except for my 40-minute round trip to the infirmary, because it's really impossible to stay cool for 40 minutes in 95-degree heat. But I loved the nude shade with the bright turquoise of the dress, and got an, "Oooh, teacher!" from a student. A high compliment indeed.

Going to the Chapel

Academia: Cary and I went to a wedding yesterday, in the neighboring town to the town where we got married almost five years ago. It was a morning wedding, starting at 11:30, and the ceremony was a traditional Episcopal service. The reception began with a cocktail hour, followed by a buffet lunch. It was a beautiful day - a lovely ceremony and a great party. I love weddings.

Also, we got to hang out with one of my very dearest friends, Debra. I met Debra the same week I met Cary, working at camp the summer after my freshman year of college. So yeah, that was a pretty good week for me. Because the wedding was early in the day and about three hours away from our town and Debra's, we all spent Friday night in the hotel where we had our wedding reception. It was great to revisit a place that holds such happy memories for us, and to spend time with Debra.

Yep, we're classy ladies.

Sartorial: To me, morning weddings, especially in the South in the summer, call for breezy skirts and blouses or brightly colored sundresses for women, and ties (but not necessarily jackets) for men. I thought this skirt and blouse fit the bill. Most of the people at the wedding were dressed similarly, but a few seemed not to have gotten the memo. A couple were in satin and sequined mini-dresses, which I think would be borderline even for an evening wedding, or untucked polo shirts. Not even for a beach wedding, y'all.

I may be a bit too judgy. I should probably work on that. But really, sequined mini-dresses to a church wedding? Really?

Debra and I getting dressed the morning of my wedding. I'm trying to pin her in place, not punch her in the shoulder.

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.

I'm No Slouch (Except Today I Am)

Cardigan, Jeans, Earrings

Sorry for the wonky camera angles. I couldn't find a flat spot in my yard.

Academia: Fridays are kind of slow at work because there are no afternoon classes. And I'm not teaching a class at all this summer so I can get accustomed to my new duties (although I may add one in July). So I came to work this morning and just kind of hung out. I did some paperwork, solved a few minor student issues, and went to lunch with my work peeps. Yeah, I'm not really a person who says "peeps." I was just trying it out. Right now, I'm in my office catching up on blogging, and I'm leaving early to pick up Cary at the airport and head to the beach (again, yay!) for our church's annual retreat. After the hectic pace of the rest of this week, having a slow day has been kind of nice.

Sartorial: Well, I caved and bought a short-sleeved cardigan at Target yesterday. I also got shorts at Old Navy, but felt weird going to work with mostly naked legs, so you don't get to see those today. I got this oatmeal color because I figured it would go with everything, and it looks much less washed-out in person than the pictures make it appear. Actually, this whole outfit is better and more vibrant-looking in person. And I'm digging the slouchy chic vibe, especially since I'll be in the car for a few hours this afternoon. Yeah, I don't really say "digging" either. Maybe I just need to stay away from slang, especially outdated slang that no one my age ever uses.