Anthropologie Petalblush OOTD

Anthropologie Petalblush dress, Spanx tights, Bass booties

This is another oldie but goodie in my opinion. Anthropologie's Petalblush sweater dress was from 2013 but five years later, it still yields a lot of compliments. I think it has aged pretty nicely. I wore it to teach on yet another chilly spring day.

My semester is winding down in theory but I'm swamped with on-campus events, an upcoming conference presentation, and a huge stack of papers to grade. Hoping to update more frequently when something lets up. But it seems unlikely that anything will be letting up any time soon...

Fair Isle OOTD

I had forgotten about this OOTD from last January and figure since it is supposed to snow this weekend, I can still get away with sharing it. The dress was a Christmas gift from Chris and I wore it to host Christmas dinner at our home for the first time. I wore it again to campus early in the spring term. I worried it was a bit too body conscious so I paired it with a drapey cardigan and was cozy and warm on one of the record-breaking polar vortex days.

Details:
Design History Fair Isle sweater dress (now on sale)
Calvin Klein cardigan
Spanx tights
BCBG velvet low heeled pumps
Kors watch; Ann Taylor bracelet; Yurman necklace; Amber pendant

An "I kept the Petalblush Sweater Dress" OOTD

After reading the hilarious Jenni of Gnome Lover's review (here), I couldn't help but think "muppet tragedy" when I looked at the Petalblush Sweater Dress hanging from my closet door during my decision period. But then I was running late to work one day and saw a quick and easy solution to the usual "what do I wear?" dilemma, and on it went! I am glad cause I think it is a pretty great dress, despite the muppet trim (which sheds, by the way... annoyingly!). 

As you can imagine from the above description, I wore it to campus for teaching. It yielded many compliments from students and staff making me even more certain of my decision. It might wind up being my outfit for Christmas Eve dinner (my Italian family observes the Feast of the Seven Fishes which is something we look forward to all year!). Thanks for reading!

Outfit Details:
Petalblush Sweater dress from Anthroplogie (fit reviewed here)
Spanx tights
Dumond (very low) heels

What I wore the night I went into labor...

I have a lot of maternity style outfits and brand reviews to get through on here but am a little busier than usual. So I wanted to share my outfit of the night I went into labor.

Target fox sweater dress (knockoff of this)
Maternity Tights by Assets
Payless flats

Baby Emilia Irene is doing well. Although I'm tired, same goes for me. I'll be sharing photos soon enough.

If it was socially acceptable...

Sweater dress from Bluefly (similar here, here, and here)

Missoni for Target tights

Aquatalia boots (zip version here)

Kate Spade tote (this season's equiv: here, here, and on sale here)

MBMJ jacket

(If money was no object) I would swath myself in cashmere knits on every chilly day. And not just cashmere sweater dresses like the one above. If the price was right I would totally buy some lounging pants and a zip hoodie. I'd wear a soft, drapey swobe. As I get older I notice that when I'm relaxing at home or in recovery mode I just want to be comfortable. And when I wore the above outfit to campus, I chose it because I was recovering from the flu. A 24 hour bug hit me like a ton of bricks over the weekend. My immune system is usually pretty strong. I don't get sick that often. And this is a good thing.

Although there are many benefits to working as a professor, I rarely find myself willing to cancel committee meetings, classes, or (as was the case on this day) interviews unless I am so ill I cannot move. If I can get out of bed, if I have (enough of) a voice, if I am not grossly contagious, and if I can drive to campus without putting anyone in danger, I will usually power through. I was feeling pretty exhausted on this day, as I was still in recovery mode. I was confident that I wouldn't be getting anyone else ill. I kept a safe distance, used a lot of anti-bacterial gel, and opened windows to ventilate when I was in closed quarters. I simply could not reschedule my agenda for that day. So I needed to be comfortable but look passably professional. I think it worked out well enough.

Don't forget to enter the Redraven Studios giveaway! You have until tonight.