Printed Cities OOTD and a mid-semester check in

I wore my London print Millie skirt to campus the other day. And that night I fell down a "London print" wormhole, searching for other options. Apparently Cath Kidston has offered many London themed prints. I am unfamiliar with Cath Kidston so if anyone can speak to sizing, please let me know.

This semester has been intense due to my teaching two new courses at the same time. It's daunting to keep up with two syllabi worth of new readings, new lectures, new assignments, new exams, new evaluation rubrics, etc. I should have planned my rotation more carefully to avoid having two new classes run in the same term. I do love the subjects and think the materials are resonating with the students so it's not for nothing. And to quote Leslie Knope quoting Theodore Roosevelt in the Parks and Rec series finale, "Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is a chance to work hard at work worth doing." Whenever I feel bogged down by my job I try to remind myself of the good fortune in getting to do this work and have this kind of career. I really do love it even if I don't always like it. And that quote really helped remind me.

I am also trying to work on a journal article and revise my book. I'm continuing to advise Covey and occasionally blog for that. And on top of everything, we've been doing some home improvement projects (that Chris handles primarily but I take over childcare, pet care, and other household duties that we otherwise try to share). So there are many plates spinning but spring break is around the corner and then we'll blink and the semester will be over. 

This week it was Chris's 35th birthday so it has been fun to celebrate him. Emilia made pictures and bent wrapping paper scraps around her most treasured figurines "for daddy." I reflected with awe over how much work he has done on our home on top of working full time (in a demanding, stressful, high-pressure environment), cooking more than half of our meals, being a present and loving husband and father, and teaching a class. He's really amazing and I'm lucky to get to grow old with him. Happy Birthday, Chris!

Details:
Old Navy waffle knit shirt
Boden skirt
Spanx tights
Ferragamo My Joy flats

Some seriously belated (mostly) repeat OOTDs

You can tell by the foliage in the first two photos that these are fairly old ootds. Things have been crazy with Emilia's first birthday, her party, Chris's dissertation defense, Thanksgiving, and the end of semester crunch at work. I am so happy to report that Chris's dissertation defense was a great success. I'll update with a bit more on it soon. Same with Emilia's party!

But I have been busy because of all of the above, not to mention holiday planning, shopping, and decorating... So I have fallen behind on blogging. As much as I continue to love documenting my consumer wants, thoughts, and buys (as well as outfits), out of necessity blogging becomes a lower priority than my real life obligations. I didn't even get to write my gratitude post for Thanksgiving 2013, which is one of my favorite opportunities to reflect on and consider my blessings. Although Thanksgiving has come and gone, I still plan to put together these thoughts. They will just be late. And for those of you who continue to read this less-frequently-updated, unglamorous (especailly compared to the slick professional bloggers!), somewhat haphazard space, I want to say that I am truly, deeply grateful!

Details on outfit 1-- wore to campus for a day of meetings:
Old Navy striped terry dress, Spanx tights, MBMJ metallic mouse flats

Details on outfit 2-- wore for teaching (which upon further inspection might have been a little too casual)
Orly Kiely for Uniqlo dress, Orla Kiely bag, Spanx tights, MBMJ flats

Details on outfit 3-- Was dying to wear one of my favorite dresses again. Fits a bit more snugly but I'll take it! Wore for teaching and meetings
See by Chloé dress, Spanx tights, Ferragamo My Joy flats

Details on outfit 4-- Ditto outfit 3 as this is another favorite dress that fits a bit differently. Wore for teaching
Marc by Marc Jacobs dress, Spanx tights, MBMJ flats

Some of my working mom readers might notice that none of the above are especially breastfeeding/pumping-friendly. Now that Emilia is 1 and eating more solids, I haven't needed to pump at work unless I am there for an especially long day, in which case I keep a slip and cardigan to throw on for pumping. Even though my office door locks, I am not the only key holder and I am paranoid...haha. But we are continuing to breastfeed at least for now and I pump before I leave and as soon as I return home on those days when I manage to avoid it at work.

Birthday OOTD and the challenge of dressing while babywearing

Last year for my birthday I was newly (and quietly) pregnant, celebrating (and conferencing) with Chris in San Diego. This year for my birthday, we flew for the first time with Emilia to New York City to attend a friend's baby shower. On top of considering breastfeeding accessibility issues, I had to contemplate how to dress around/for babywearing. The weather seemed like it was going to cooperate and although we could have checked them, we had no desire to lug a car seat and/or stroller to the city. Perhaps when E is bigger it will make sense to bring an umbrella stroller but she's too little for those so the only option would be the entire travel system. As someone who typically eschews our stroller any time we'll be navigating a crowd, babywearing is the perfect solution.

In the Ergo with Chris

On its surface, babywearing isn't a topic that relates to my usual outfit or shopping related content. But I've learned that just like dressing to breastfeed, you have to really think through a wardrobe strategy when babywearing. It's so easy to overheat if you aren't careful. But underdressing brings its own concerns. Still, wearing a baby while they're in a thick, bulky bunting seems impossible. I had to think long and hard about what kinds of layers would fit under and over the carriers I planned to used. And I had to think just as carefully about how to dress baby. A sweatshirt-weight bunting with a hood from the Gap (here) was perfect for spring temperatures.

Now that we're home and the trip was a success I am so glad we wore her all weekend. It was not only easy but she felt secure and safe while wrapped up. She napped when she needed to while we walked around. I nursed her when she was hungry. Of course, our schedule was very different but for a few days that wasn't a big deal. We have great memories of our first flight trip as parents!

It was so easy just to strap her onto one of us and go. We have a few different carriers and each bring their own wardrobe related anxieties. The Ergo is Chris's favorite but the backpack style straps make for awkward layering constraints. The Moby is complicated because of the trickery required to wrap it correctly. The K'tan is probably my favorite currently, because it is like a pre-wrapped Moby. It adds less bulk than the Ergo and it is way faster to put on than the Moby but offers similar styles for holding/wrapping. I do think that once the weather turns from warm to hot babywearing will become much less comfortable due to heat. But for now when things are temperate, it is perfect. I had such a great birthday weekend and will probably share more photos soon. Sadly the one above depicting my baby shower outfit is the only "outfit photo." Outfit photos are a lot harder to get these days.

Details:
Tibi Hudson and Houston shirt dress in green colorway
Burberry Brit jacket (current season version here; similar here)
Spanx tights
Ferragamo My Joy flats
K'tan

Quick Primary Colors OOTD

I wore this to campus to teach. Fluttering Flora has been a staple of my "Pregnant in Anthropologie" wardrobe because I bought the gray gently used via ebay, early into pregnancy. I was excited to see the deep sale cuts to the dress and nabbed it in blue. I paired it with fall versions of primary colors and am surprised and glad it still worked, despite the size of my belly.

Click to check in on my week by week belly shots.

Outfit Details:
Fluttering Flora dress from Anthropologie
J. Crew Factory Rosette cardigan (similar)
Wolford tights (buy them here or here)
Ferragamo Varina flats in Oxblood (buy them here or here)
Redraven Studios bib necklace; Kors watch (here or here); Linea Pelle studded wrap bracelet

BTW, I have been having some issues with Disqus commenting and apologize if you have tried to comment without success and/or had your comment eaten by this unfortunately buggy comment client. I've been told the issue is resolved but I am still contemplating a return to Blogger since it now allows replies. Thanks for bearing with me!

Red all over

Tibi dress

Redraven Bib Necklace

Spanx tights

Ferragamo Varinas

Bracelets from Target, Gabes, Kate Spade

An argument for taking my nice camera to campus can be found above. The blur is ridiculous. And it is part of why I've slowed down my rate of outfit posts. Of course the real reason I haven't been able to post as much is because of my work responsibilities at the moment. But the outfit photos and the deteriorated quality connects with that. This outfit is from Valentine's Day. I am that far behind on blog stuff. 

At work I have less "down" time than ever before so I take two quick photos that I barely review and call it a day... Perhaps taking my nice camera to campus would ensure that those two photos had a stronger chance of being decent? I am still getting the hang of the camera, its settings, and its accessories. But that might be a good goal to set for the not so distant future?

You can't see it but I am wearing the pretty bib necklace I bought from Redraven Studios. It sort of matched the print perfectly. But it also didn't allow the necklace to be showcased. After I wore this I paired the necklace with plainer dresses so the necklace could be the focal point.

Recent outfit

See by Chloe dress

Spanx tights

Ferragamo Varina flats

Jewelry: gifts, mbmj, Linea Pelle, KJL

I wore this to campus for teaching on my long day. One of my courses meets once a week so everything is condensed. By the end of the day I am usually pretty spent. And I've learned that it makes sense to wear flats if I will be on my feet a lot. This was comfortable but I also felt pulled together enough.

I am pretty sure February will go down in history as my most busy month. Committee work, course prep from teaching two new ones this term, grant applications, and my own publication deadlines amount to very little sleep. But things are going well and it is a good learning experience.  Thanks for reading!

Quick Paisley OOTD

Tibi Dress (similar on sale, in a vibrant print, or in a solid here)

Cece Cardigan (also here)

Spanx tights

Salvatore Ferragamo Varinas in Oxblood (similar in chocolate or black)

This dress is an old favorite of mine because it features paisley and a pussy bow. I wore it to campus for meetings. It is a little short for teaching. That's all for now because we are in the home stretch of the semester! So much grading.

There's still time to enter my Shabby Apply giveaway!

Men Don't Make Passes At...

New York and Company chambray dress shirt

Lauren Moffatt "Daisy Quarters" skirt

Spanx tights

Salvatore Ferragamo Varinas

I noticed from looking through recent blog posts that I have neglected my beloved glasses for the last few months.  I often do this in summer. The lure of the option to wear non Rx sunglasses during sunny, summertime weather is enticing. This particular summer was exceptionally hot with fewer rainy, dreary days than usual. My decision to wear contacts so often made sense because of it. But on Monday, the weather was cloudy and rainy so the act of putting in contacts felt especially taxing. I decided not to bother.

Then I realized that I hadn't yet taught while wearing my glasses this semester, so I found myself conflicted. Should I wear glasses and potentially provoke student commentary about my looks (which makes me uncomfortable)? Do I want to wear contacts all semester? Ultimately I opted for glasses. And I didn't receive any commentary at all about them, thankfully. 

Although I don't think students pay a lot of attention to what I wear/how I look I do realize they pay some attention. I know this from previous comments and compliments over the years, some of which wound up in my official university evaluations from students. Perhaps this kind of thing should have embarrassed me, because it meant my outfit choices that semester were especially remarkable (in the sense that they were worth remarking about)? At any rate, I do wonder if I push too far the limits of sartorial flexibility afforded to academics. In some ways, I guess it mattered both more and less while I was teaching as a graduate student. And maybe I am over-thinking things entirely. I am prone to that.

What do you think? Those of you who are teachers/profs: do you think carefully about making drastic physical changes during terms/semesters/school years in an effort to minimize commentary from students?

Another Patriotic Look: Anthropologie OOTD

I managed to visit the new Pittsburgh Anthropologie at Bakery Square when I returned from Chicago this week. My full review will be up on Effortless Anthropologie on Monday afternoon, so look for that. I will be posting some additional reviews here that day. But I happened to wear an outfit fitting for this weekend so I wanted to share.
Grommeted tshirt from Forever 21
Daisy Quarters skirt by Lauren Moffatt from Anthropologie (similar here and here)
Salvatore Ferragamo Varina bow flats in oxblood red
Cynthia Rowley bag (similar here, here, and here)
Vintage necklace

Ok so this outfit is a little more blue, ivory, and pink than it is blue, white, and red but taking liberties is part of the American way. Happy weekend!

Off Fifth Review: What I Bought

We arrived a little late but my friend Erin was one of the first ones in and reported that at opening, there were Chanel bags and $70-some dollar pairs of Louboutins. By the time I got there, the store was bustling with people, even though the parking lot didn't make it seem busy. I went right to clothes and found the things I blogged below to try on. After that I looked at the shoes that were in a clearance type section (but weren't an additional 40% off, sadly). They had tons of bufalo cabachon miu miu flats in all colors but for more than double what I've seen them go for on ebay. They had a few pairs of chanel pumps with pointy toes in small sizes and for high prices. And no cheap Loubs to be found. I guess those were snatched up early.

I did find a few pairs of Ferragamo flats, including Varinas. These run small and narrow on my feet so I was unable to squeeze into the orange size 7s. But I did get them in blood red.

After coupons they ended up being about 75% off.

I noticed there was no women's intimates section. But the sunglasses selection was humongous. They also had an ample portion of the store dedicated to fine jewelry and watches. While I was in line to pay, I noticed a woman who hadn't passed over the large bag section. She was buying a Chloé Paraty in size medium for over 65% off retail after coupons. Although that was still too rich for my blood, she found a bargain on this very coveted bag.

The men's section was impressive and they carried contemporary and high end brands you would be unlikely to find in the downtown Saks store. Overall, I thought the store was a great addition to the shopping landscape in the tri-county area. The workers seemed only slightly overwhelmed for an opening day. The service I received was courteous and attentive. And when I got home I found a 30% off one item coupon in my mail, so I guess I will have an excuse to go back in a few weeks to see what is new. I just hope this Off Fifth doesn't become a carrot to soften the blow of the company deciding to close our downtown department store. At least for now it seems like the downtown store is safe.