Work wear

I managed to reach the impossible goal for every student: a job where they let you work from home. 

I had my first "teleworker" day, and discovered.... that I hate working from home.  I'm far too social.  And because we had friends staying over night, I did have to get dressed that morning, anyway. 

Bright Colours

Yesterday, a girl came on the bus wearing a teal jersey dress and a long bright pink cardigan.  Both were much too small for her frame... however, the colours looked great on her. 

I kept thinking: "I can do that!" so I got my creative juices together and came up with this outfit... even managing to keep with the colour scheme AND wear some under-used shoes. 

There are a reason these shoes are under-used.  They were BOGO at Payless a number of years ago (like 2004 or 2005), and despite having worn them obsessively that summer, they never really got that comfortable "worn in" feel.  They still hurt like brand new cheap shoes.

Unintentional day off!  Ooops!  We came home Monday night to find the power was out in our building.  We never found out why, but it did come back after we went to bed.  However, it took about 24 hours for me to get my brain back after that... I would never have survived as a pioneer!

The power outage threw a wrench in my plans to get everything ready for work the night before. There's no point in digging through boxes of shoes when you can't see!  I went with a still under-used pair of shoes, but one that has at least seen the light of day this summer. 

The outfit isn't that spectacular, but I do like the necklace.  The jacket is also new: I picked it up on a thrifting mission.  I love the fact that it's white eyelet.  I had some fun playing up the prairie-ness of that when we were out on Monday (pic & post to appear later)

And wow my hair is a mess!

Underuse

One thing I like about the somewhat anonymous yet public world of blogging is that you can really pick and choose which comments you listen to, and which ones you completely disregard.  And just because someone disagrees with you, it really isn't the end of the world: after all, you've never seen the person face to face!

I had these thoughts when I was planning this outfit.  I knew I wanted to wear either capris, skirt or dress because Monday is the only day the office isn't frigid.  When I settled on these black capris, I remembered Sheila's comment about the weight of the shoes I paired with them last time.  While I liked the contrast in weight, Sheila's someone whose opinion I value, so I pulled down the boxes of shoes to see what else I could use. 

Well thank goodness I listened to Sheila, because I had completely forgotten about these shoes!  In summer's past, these were my favourites that weren't relegated to being stashed in a box in a closet, but always on display! My goal for this week is to see how many "underused" shoes I can wear!

Social Event

Well that hiatus was longer than expected!  I did return on the day expected, but just didn't have the energy to blog.  I barely had the energy to dress.

But we went out last night for a going away party for some friends.  I had 10 minutes to dress.  Now Scott called this outfit: "intense".  I'm not really sure why... but he assured me that it was a good thing.  I wasn't intending to mix black and brown: I wanted to wear these gladiator heels I bought 4 years ago.  However, the brown version of the shirt I did end up wearing was donated years ago... a decision I'm not convinced was a good one. Anyway, I went for brown accessories, and I think it all balanced out - pulled together and some what effortless!

Out of the Province

I'm being called away on a family related issue... while I knew it was in the plans, I got a call today that kind of sped things up.  I'm told its non-urgent but convenient.  Anyway, despite the fact I look damn cute today in a very casual way, I dont' have time to snap a pic... I don't even really have time to write this.  Anyway, I'm taking an extended weekend, so don't expect back until Tuesday

Seriously, that was it?

So we're in the midst of a massive restructuring / consolidation / merger at work, and so our new head honcho has been around lately.  Initially my concern was to make myself appear smart, intelligent, and, of course, hire-able.  We didn't quite know when he was coming around, but we'd heard rumour of Tuesday or Thursday, so I'd been dressing my best on those days, some what difficultly as my feet aren't doing too well.

We found out this morning we weren't scheduled for a meeting (which turned out to be a good thing... he's been likened with the grim reaper), but he would stop by for a meet and greet.

At 3:15 I figured it wasn't happening. However, just as I was about to leave my desk to grab a cookie from the cafeteria downstairs, he arrived.

Perhaps I'd read too much about the Queen's arrival.  Perhaps the grandness of his title went to my head.  Perhaps this is the way people feel when they meet anyone of importance.  But in any event, the introduction came and went without any great pomp and circumstance, realizing: "hell, he's just a person". 

After having fretted for hours over the appropriate outfit for this occasion, I quickly realized: it didn't matter what I wore... he's on a cross-region tour, and I'm only one face he will be meeting.  Even if he did remember me, he's so high up in the echelons that our paths would never cross again. 

So am I regretting my choice of clothing? Yes.  This damn skirt is too tight to allow me to walk my usual long strides. And it's a little cold for our air conditioned office.  And I probably should have spent another day in runners before switching over to ballet flats.  But was it a waste?

I'm going to be optimistic and go with no.  The outfit made me feel confident.  I found myself looking in my reflection of every window, thinking : "That is a confident, capable, professional woman"... and you never know who else that I might not normally notice, or try to impress, may have thought that as well.

(And on a less serious, profound note: the reason I love this outfit? Between the curve in the skirt, the fact that wearing the skirt/belt right at my belly button actually gives me a longer torso, and the fact that the sleeves have enough volume, I couldn't be more in love with my shape today...and I don't mean the not-so-savoury person who was blurting rather rude "compliments" about my figure while I waited for the bus... oh the joys of working downtown!)

Emo kid

I hate emo kids.  Not because they're whiny for no reason, not because they wear the waist of their pants below their butt.  But because they have taken bold pinstripes and sneakers as some of their more notable fashion choices. 

I didn't have much of a choice as to footwear this morning.  I'm having massive feet issues.  My feet aren't massive, but the issues are, that is.  I've got blisters from going barefoot yesterday (thanks for the advice ladies!  It seems that the issue is that my heels are ridiculously small, so they like to slide around in shoes), and, possibly more concerning, my poor little toesies!  I've had feet / knee issues for years, and I know that when they start to hurt, I need to wear good supportive shoes.  But of course, we've had lots of important people milling around the building, so I've been in heels.  But today, I just couldn't handle it.  I needed some good insoles and some flat shoes. 

Of course, most of my pants are the length that need to be worn with heels.  Except the pinstrip pants.

Sigh.  Tomorrow is a big meeting, so I have to bring my "A" game... which might mean wearing flats all day, and slipping into pumps for an hour. 

I forgot!

Scott worked a rare 12-8 shift, so I felt kind of like I was on my own for the evening.  Of course, this threw off my usual schedule.  Not only did I forget to cook supper (I may have ate the better part of a bag of ketchup chips - a treat Scott despises), but I also forgot to blog.It's rather dark and threatening to storm here, so it feels even later.  Ooops!

Oh well.  Today I thought we were having a meeting with one of the most important person in our region (which encompasses about half the country geographically), so I dressed to make an impression.  Sure, he would visiting lots of people on this trip, but how could I not standout in bright pink?!?! 

Of course, I didn't feel quite as confident when I got to work, so I was a little relieved when I found out the meeting was for another couple days... so I've got a bit of time to create a memorable, confidence-inspiring outfit.

Question for all of you out there:  these are leather shoes, so I wasn't that concerned when I decided to go barefoot in them.  However, I'm covered in blisters now.  How do you wear shoes without having to resort to pantyhose?

Shades of Purple

Scott and I spend a lot of time together while on our computers.  In our old (one bedroom) apartment, it wasn't so much by choice: both of our computers were in the living room.  In our current apartment (two bedrooms), my desktop is in the "office", while Scott's computer is still in the living room.  Of course, we have become so accustomed to each others presence, I do most of my leisure surfing on my netbook on the couch beside Scott's desk.

This worked out quite well when we were choosing colours for our wedding - we could both have MS Paint open on our respective computers, playing around with colour combinations. In fact, it was quite serendipitous that we came to the same conclusion: the default purple and white, with the default yellow as a highlight. 

Having felt quite confident in our decision, we began comparing HOW we were presenting these colours... when we realized that while we were both looking at 128-0-128... but they were definitely different colours on each of our computers.  The solution is obvious: find a shade of purple that we both like on a paint chip / fabric swatch / concrete object.  However, my solution is to order up a Pantone fabric sample... that way I can make sure not only do we have a clear idea of what our colour is, but I'll also feel all the more confident knowing the purple we choose is the "right" purple for Summer 2011. 

Of course, Pantone swatches aren't cheap... so as I was test driving my argument on a friend at work, I couldn't help but notice that today, I'm wearing 4-5 different shades of purple:
 - medium purple pinstripe
 - light purple cami
 - red-ish purple skirt
 - purple-ish brown shoes
 - purple amethyst necklace

Evidently we've made the right intial choice... I seem to like purple!

Negative First Anniversary

Scott and I will be married in a year... well, a year as of yesterday.  We decided since we'd be celebrating every year after that, why not celebrate the year before that!  He planned a wonderfully romantic evening - with the only thing that I had to do was to buy the champagne and make myself pretty. 

I bought the dress used... a photographer had used it for a photoshoot and there was something I just loved about it.  Plus, a dress like that for $30 seemed pretty good.  Sure, I had to dry-clean it but it all came in under $60, so I was happy.  I might make the straps a little shorter, as I am rather short through the torso, but it fit surprisingly well for being purchased online!  I'm also planning on using it as my rehearsal dinner dress. 

It took me significantly less time to get ready than Scott thought it would so we even had time to take pictures... outside too!

He wasn't quite happy with me for pairing the dress with purple shoes (and later a purple sweater), since he was planning on wearing his purple shirt.  Of course, my newly fashion-interested fiance had to go out and buy not one but three new dress shirt to ensure we wouldn't match.

Post will be late, if at all existent today - it's our negative first anniversary!

Steppin' it up

Every once and a while I get a job at work that makes me feel like I'm actually doing something productive, useful and professional.  Today was one of those days.  Of course, those days also usually turn out to be the most frustrating, because generally it requires working with others... I always assume that my report cards from preschool read: "doesn't like to play with others" because that's how I feel these days!

In any event, I needed something that made me feel somewhat business like in our casual work environment.  It was thrown together at the last minute (I spent my morning e-mailing people... more on that later), but was comfy.  Mission achieved!

As for the morning e-mail: I finally got my research trip approved and I will be heading to Toronto in mid-August!  Woohoo!*

*As many academics out there can probably tell you, archives can be very picky about who they let view what.  In my case, the archives had no issue letting me see things, but doing anything with them (photocopying them, publishing even the slightest quote in the most insignificant masters thesis), well that had to be approved by the author herself.  Fortuantely, the U of T archives was nothing but accomodating and jumped through the hoops for me! 

One track mind

When I said I was going to wear pink and olive green, I didn't think it would be today.  Evidently I didn't get all that create outside that idea. 

I definitely was happy to just grab and go this morning.  I thought I'd beat the mid-night insomnia but after 4 or 5 solid nights of sleep, I definitely didn't sleep well last night.  This morning, I felt more tired than I had after having slept poorly for 3-4 continuous weeks.  I suppose my body, which had adjusted to the lack of sleep of the multiple weeks, adjusted to sleeping well much more quickly. 

The outfit fulfilled two requirements: would be warm for the overly air conditioned office (which will only get worse: our director is away on vacation for an extended period of time, and so the acting director is enjoying his power over the thermostat) and would allow me to wear comfortable shoes.  I had been wearing some super comfy, possibly oversized sneakers all weekend, and it may have taken my toll on the feet.  Sigh.  As such, I may have been a little too casual. 

Wow, I'm unbelievably tired... maybe if I go to bed now, I'll actually get some sleep!

PS - sorry for the bad picture... it wasn't a good day at work, and I was quickly taking pictures so I could changed into jeans and a hoodie and go shopping with a friend!

Hmm... this is it?

I was surprisingly upset that I didn't have the guts to take a chance and wear my pink & green outfit last week, so this morning, when I wasn't entirely sure what I was going to wear (having planned the week's meals instead of the week's outfits... apparently I can only be so organized at one time!!!) I thought it would be a good opportunity to try it.

Label me less than impressed.

I love this light green shirt paired with saturated colours, because it usually makes it pop, and appear to be a more vibrant green.  Apparently, that is not the case with pink.  Pink just made it appear more yellow, something I can't say over which I was all that fussy.

However, I didn't realize this until I was at work, and there was nothing to do, but convince myself I liked the combination.

I think next time, I'll go for a more saturated green, or a more olive green (and pair it with a paler pink).

Scott had the day off of work, and I was much too lazy to set up my tripod, so I gave him a quick photography lesson.  I, of course, got doubly self-conscious, and decided to ham it up a bit too much.