How I wore it: driving and jazz

Hey, guys! I hope you (Americans) had a nice Memorial Day weekend. Our Monday off wasn't so much a Monday "off," as a "summer Monday" for my husband, as his school has let out, and just a normal "2010-2011 Monday" for me, as I haven't worked in a real job in almost a year. Either way, though, we had a blast. My husband, who's an excellent driver (homeboy learned in Athens: he can parallel-park in the most teeny spaces), has decided to FINALLY get his American license, so he got his learner's permit last week and was practicing with a friend yesterday. I tagged along. He did a good job. And, yes, I, too, plan to learn how to drive at some point.

(No, I don't know how to drive. Stop judging. I'm a stereotypical New Yorker who lived in the main part of Philadelphia for nine years. Never needed to drive. Now I kinda do. Stupid relocating...)

Anyway, after spending some time melting with sweat at our friends' home (they don't have A/C and it hit about 85 degrees yesterday), we went out again to try out a newly-discovered pan-Asian restaurant with a gluten-free menu and then to listen to a friend's jazz quintet. Which was AMAZING (and I don't tend to like jazz). This is what I wore:

"I'm a little teapot, short and stout..."

Guys, I legit need to work on giving better face in photos. Maybe the three episodes of "America's Next Top Model" I watched on Sunday will give me some pointers... 

As you can probably tell, the weather continues to be nice and warm in my New England abode. Yesterday it was just an issue of choosing a dress and sandals. That black dress is the same one I wore here and I don't think I've worn it since then. Due to my winter weight loss, the fit is the best it's ever been, but the shoulder ties continue to piss me off and I'm seriously considering not packing it for the summer this year, although I did miss it last year...

Ach, decisions, decisions. In other news, how are YOU all? 

Black dress: The Hempest (a hemp-based store in Boston), remixed

Brown sandals: gift from friends, remixed 

How I wore it: "long weekend" Friday

Although I don't work full-time, I still enjoy the good spirits that abound before, during, and on Memorial Day weekend. With the weather being so absolutely amazing here in the Boston area, it felt as if people were in a better mood than ever last night. I had a nice French tutoring session with my girls yesterday, followed by a lovely dinner with friends at a nearby restaurant (they live quite close to us) which has a whole gluten-free menu. Since the weather was so lovely, I decided to pull out my favorite color combo with my favorite sandals:

Could I look more affected?!

Yeah, it's time for my turquoise sandals to make an appearance (along with all the turquoise jewelry possible), and damn, am I happy about it! 

Not much more to tell, peeps. It was a fun night and the weather continues to be lovely. We just bought a patio set, so we had breakfast in our mini-yard this morning. Long walks await. Happy Saturday, y'all!

Black dress: Gap, remixed

Patterned modesty top: Express, remixed

Turquoise sandals: Nine West (Athens), remixed

How I wore it: summer socializing season start!

It's true, people. Starting on Tuesday, the weather has been glorious, with no end in sight (watch me have jinxed that). After just one hour of tutoring today, my husband and I met up with some friends/colleagues from Philly who're visiting Boston for the week. We had delicious, delicious Mexican food. Mmmm, Mexican food. We just got back and I'm just full and happy. Mmmmm...

Because the weather was so pretty and I'd been missing it so much, I decided to wear my beloved maxi dress:

Oooh, SERIOUS

Because of the jersey's stretching quality and my winter weight loss, the dress is a little big/drapey on me, meaning mostly that - were I wearing one underneath - my bra would be visible. To solve matters, I wore a tube top beneath. Perhaps not the most elegant of solutions, but worked fine in a pinch. 

Today was the first day that I've worn sandals out of the house. These sandals are very near and dear to me; one of my friends from Philadelphia (with whom I stayed when I visited in January) brought them back for me from Central America when she and her husband took a trip there - as I had taken in their cat for a week (who's actually a tuxedo cat - FORESHADOWING), it was a sort of thank you souvenir. Well, I received them in January of 2006 and they've not faltered a step in the five years that I've worn them. Yay for legitimate handiwork!

Meet my shoddy homemade pedicure!

Anyway, there you have it. It's pretty much my favorite dressing time of the year: a dress and sandals - what else do you need in life? 

Striped maxi dress: Gap, remixed

Olive tube top (beneath): Express, remixed

Brown sandals: gift from a friend

How I wore it: birthday / party

Guys, how long has it been since I posted?! Saturday?! I mean, in my defense, while dealing with German academic bureaucracy and working on my dissertation, I haven't exactly looked stunning (or, rather, dressed), but this is just ridiculous.

Anyway, today is/was my husband's 32nd birthday (a year ago today was his 31st! Weird, huh?). I decided to put on contacts and throw on a cute dress, even though we didn't end up doing anything festive. He wanted a backpack for his birthday, people. When he came home from work, we ate sandwiches and watched 'Arrested Development' (best. Birthday. Ever.). But at least I dressed fun for it!

Smirking! And notice how I totally pulled out the stops in terms of shoes...

Those of you who've been reading for some time (and have sharp eyes), will recognize this dress from the last time I wore it, almost a year ago, and will remember that I mentioned that this is the dress in which I got married almost three years ago - and also my header image. 

I also took a better picture:

This look of total love and affection is only seen by my cat

One of the reasons that we didn't celebrate my husband's birthday today/tonight is because we had a birthday party last night! We had a few couples over and they all brought food, so it was beautifully low-key evening. I dressed in a similarly low-key fashion:

Again, didn't even put on real shoes

Just a fun, black t-shirt and a pair of neutral pants! Those pants are actually my mother's (along with a black pair I haven't yet débuted), which she gave to me when I was in New York a couple of weekends ago. Well, she offered them to me, they fit, and now she's having regrets because I took them so far, far away. I'm thinking I should wear these when I can before I have to give them back and listen to more lectures about "Hey, I bought these! They're mine!" Y'know? In the meantime, I LOVE them!

So there you have it, folks. I've been gone for days, but I have a lamely good reason (dissertation! PJs!). Big celebration in my home these days. Bunnies still in the yard. 

Good times.

Tuesday's party outfit:

Black embellished tee: Gap, remixed

Khakis: stolen from my mom, Ralph Lauren

Flip-flops: Urban Outfitters, remixed

Today's birthday outfit:

Flowered dress: Ann Taylor Loft, remixed

Flip-flops: Urban Outfitters, remixed 

How I wore it: distractions

Greetings, all! Sorry for the long absence! I actually had planned-out and cute (if I do say so myself) outfits on both Thursday and Friday, but due to late-night socializing (and, on Friday, a spectacular fainting spell during said socializing - yes, I'm one of those people prone to fainting. Yes, it's ridiculous. And, yes, it happened during the first half of a new music concert IN SOMEONE'S HOUSE. Fortunately, it happened between pieces. And, yes, I'm fine.), I didn't have the stamina, patience, or energy to post. Just imagine me wearing a lot of black and you pretty much got it. Yay!

After such a long period of rain and clouds, today dawned sunny and pleasant. I think it reached, like, 65 degrees. And, let me tell you, the Cantabrigian women were out to celebrate - shorts, sundresses, and tank tops ruled the day. I did my part:

This outfit is "rebellious" for me because I didn't pack an extra cardigan or jacket.

I wanted to continue the all-in-black I'd been rocking for the past two days, but break it up with something - reuniting with my short-sleeved hoodie did the trick and there you have it. A perfect outfit for taking a long, slow walk with my husband. Honestly, what with my stretchy black skirt and comfy tops, I felt as if I were wearing PJs all day. But fancy PJs.

In other news, we have some regular (as of yesterday) visitors in our yard:

Meet one of three baby bunnies (or hares, according to Woodsman the Greek) that has been coming by and eating our grass! I saw one of them yesterday afternoon and a second one a couple of hours later. Today there have been at most three hanging out at the same time. It seems that, for safety, they hop into a den between our neighbor and our yards, but we're not sure. No mommy bunny has been seen. My husband and I spent about an hour today at our door taking pictures of the bunnies. 

... Awwww.

Grey hoodie: Gap, remixed

Black tube top (beneath): Express, remixed

Black skirt: Dress Barn, remixed

Plaid flats: American Eagle by Payless, remixed

How I wore it: irresponsible

So my husband and I just finished watching 'The Hangover' (in preparation for the sequel next week) because I'm a responsible adult who's supposed to be working on her dissertation. Don't worry - I did some work! But ya gotta eat, right? And, yes, usually my husband and I watch TV/movies while eating our meals. We're disgusting.

Even more irresponsible? We spent quite a few hours out today. You see, my husband is technically on summer vacation as of a couple of days ago (although he has a few more adult classes to teach), so - being unused to actually HAVING him around and at leisure - I'm taking advantage of his free time and we're trying to hang out together as much as possible. We moseyed around and window-shopped. In the rain.

This angle makes my hair look weird and bumpily fluffy

You can tell that I'm very excited about continuing to wear my new rain boots. Now, Miss B in my last post astutely commented that I had been yearning for rain so that I could wear the boots. But, I gotta admit - I'm tired of waking to 40-something-degree weather and rain/fog/drizzle/potential apocalypse. At least the boots still give me a bit of a thrill when I put them on and added some badassery to the jeggings and David Bowie tee (not like David Bowie needs more badass help). 

While window-shopping, I fell in love with two garments. The first was a dress from Banana Republic that I saw in a photo in the window. I think it was this one:

photo from the website linked above

Sorry for the blurriness: the photo's original size is teeny-tiny. Pretty, no? I love the straplessness and the pretty olive paisley pattern. 

I also saw a long (seemingly?) button-down from Brooks Brothers, but I can't find it online, so...use your imaginations: it was awesome. Alas, though, we're not in a position to buy expensive clothes right now, so I had to drool longingly from a distance. Oh, well.

Good thing I was responsible about something, no?

David Bowie tee: Gap, remixed

Blue jeggings: HUE, by way of Lord and Taylor, remixed

Blue boots: Steve Madden, remixed

How I wore it: twofer

Hey, all! Ugh, the weather in Boston has been so miserable these past few days and it's supposedly gonna stay that way till the weekend. Booooooo... I've also had so much to do that I don't know where all the hours in the day go. Now that it's crunch time (seriously - I have to submit my dissertation in a couple of weeks!), there are a lot of last-minute things I need to deal with: brief summary of my thesis in German? No sweat! Force my parents into finding my MA diploma to photocopy it and send it off to the Prüfungsamt at my university? Piece of cake!

Ahem. Anyways.

Last Thursday, oof, five days ago, no, six (it just became Wednesday here), was a sunny and slightly cool May day. I had an early afternoon appointment to get my hair cut and then had to kill a few hours (including a productive library visit) before tutoring. This is what I wore:

Yes, I do own multiple inappropriate dresses-cum-tunics. Why? Look how summery and light I look! Now compare and contrast with today's (Tuesday's) outfit:

Worst. Leg placement. Ever.

What you see there is a cashmere cardigan, thick tights under a jersey dress, and my new, tall rain boots. Oh, New England spring. You're so bleeping annoying.

Anyway, there you have it. I'm so comatose with exhaustion that I can't write anymore (dissertation-finishing is hard, y'all!). Here's to better posts in the future!

Thursday

Brown tunic: American Apparel

Pants: Gap, remixed

Boots: gift from my husband from a shoe store on Ermou Street, Athens, remixed

Tuesday

Purple cardigan: gift from my mom, by way of Lord and Taylor, remixed

Black dress: Gap, remixed

Blue patterned tights: Gap, remixed

Blue rain boots: Steve Madden, remixed

Love back to the place that loves you back

StyleNation, I've missed you. Right around as I was going to post my tutoring outfit on Thursday evening, along with the caveat that I wouldn't be around for a couple of days due to a totally last-minute, unplanned trip to NYC/Philly, Blogger crapped out. Everything seems to be back to normal, but it did eat the comments to my last post. Alas.

You'll still have to wait for Thursday's outfit post (trust me: it's not that exciting), because today I want to throw out some love to my favorite city in the near vicinity. As you're all no doubt tired of hearing, I lived in Philadelphia for nine happy years. And, as you can probably tell, although I rarely come right out and say it ... I don't love New England. So I'm constantly whining about missing Philly. My husband had a world premiere with a Philly chamber music group this past week and he wheedled me into coming to the second concert, which was yesterday afternoon. We weren't in the city proper for too long before leaving for the concert venue and then for the airport, but during those few hours of mugginess and warm weather (I was too hot. Oh, Philadelphia, I miss your 70-degree weather in the spring), there was no rain and we got to reacquaint ourselves with some old haunts.

Every once in a while, when the yearning for Philly gets too awful, I resort to the internet for help. I've been known to peruse the Wikipedia page (sad, but true). But, most importantly, I've trawled through the blogopshere to find stylish inspiration from some sassy Philly-based ladies:

• Heart City Vintage was the first Philly-based blog I ever read and I quickly became hooked. I'm not much of a vintage-wearer (I used to be, somewhat), but Hannah's finds and stylings constantly leave me amazed, not to mention her adorable pictures in her South Philly street. 
• You probably know of Veronika, of Tick Tock Vintage, also a beautiful vintage-wearer living in South Philly. I want to be her. Or, failing that, maybe just meet her one day. This lovely lass has enviable clothes, hair, and legs (just sayin'...). I love that she dresses so fun and I love that she's also a lower-school teacher. Read her blog and get lost in her different activities, from Philadelphia estate sales to her amazing DIY wedding. Sigh.
• I only discovered Stylish Thought, by Fajr, a couple of weeks ago. She's a savvy (also, gorgeous) writer who cares strongly and infectiously about the subjects on which she writes. Sometimes the City of Brotherly love is an active participant on her blog and that makes me happy. As does almost everything else she writes. Check out her Philadelphia shopping guide! 

So, ladies, if you've ever wondered why I love my adopted hometown so much, I would definitely recommend moseying on over to any one of these lovelies to find out. These three blogs for me definitely showcase the wonder that is Philly to me. Not only are these women obviously intelligent and articulate, but they also have their own beautiful sense of style - each one is different from the other, and that - that - is what I love about Philly: about how you can see startlingly beautiful people who are beautiful for all sorts of different reasons. I myself am not being particularly articulate right now, but that's what Philly does to me. Go. Look.

(In other news, it looks like I'll officially be defending my dissertation in July. Eeek!)

What are you doing the rest of your life?

So I really dislike 'Sex and the City,' although - like many women of my generation - I've probably seen every episode of the series (never the movies, though). I think Sarah Jessica Parker is a terrible actress and I find most of the characters repellant. The most cringe-worthy moment of the entire series for me is when Carrie sees those famous shoes in the window and coos the now-iconic line, "Hello, lover!" I never imagined myself in those circumstances...

... Until today. For fun, I bought myself the June issue of 'Glamour' while I was shopping for groceries. After breakfast, I lounged on my couch and flipped through the magazine. And I came upon a Tiffany ad for a "new" Elsa Peretti line (according to my mother, one of the first things she did with Tiffany, so maybe a reissue?). And I went to the Tiffany site. And found it.

The new necklace of my dreams:

photo from the Tiffany site.

This little beauty is a sterling silver bottle pendant with a turquoise stopper! And it's a mere $625! Granted, they have smaller, simpler, less expensive (and just as beautiful) models, such as this one, this one, or this little beaut, but - as you can imagine - I love the turquoise on the model shown. Although I would gladly accept any of the pendants. There are even gold ones, but I didn't even check their prices... 

I've never been a huge Elsa Peretti fan, I'll be honest. I think many of her designs are beautiful, but a little too chunky for my taste and, let's face it, if I'm in Tiffany in the first place, I'm not gonna be looking at silver hearts, y'know? But these bottles? Which can hold flowers? I'm totally sold.

Now, I'm not proud I did this, but I called my mom at work and slobbered about the pretty necklace. She giggled and said that she remembered when they first came out and people actually did wear them with flowers inside (gasp!). And she reminded me that my thirtieth birthday is under three months away. Think she'd spring for a joint "your daughter's 30!"/"your deadbeat daughter finally has a Ph.D. in a useless field" present? 

... Why not?

How I wore it: at last

People, today was a cloudy, cool day in the Boston area. It wasn't gorgeous weather, but what can you do? I know that I was longing for rain, but ... after seeing other bloggers in summery clothes? I'm ready for 75+ degree weather. And sun.

But...


When I left my house to go to an author signing/reading, the grey clouds were heavy and low. The light threatened rain. I peered out the window so many times that finally, I just thought, "Eff it. It looks like rain. I'm wearing them."

So I did. I wore my new rain boots:

... And wouldn't you know it: I was only caught in a couple of sprinkles. That's okay, though - I was so happy to finally wear my cool rubber boots! They were über-comfortable: I wore them on my walk to the bookstore, about a mile away and there was no discomfort issue in the least. Thumbs up to Steve Madden! 

This actually wasn't the outfit I'd planned with the new boots (I planned on wearing the dark blue jeggings to create a long line of the leg between the pant and the foot), but I had a mind-change last minute, so I went with this look. I liked the light grey as a base with the navy on the bottom and turquoise on the top. 

I continue to adore these boots and can't wait to test them out in real rain. They're gonna be a huge wardrobe staple, especially next year, when I'm working and don't have the luxury to spend stormy days at home...

Turquoise tunic: American Apparel, remixed

Grey jeggings: HUE, by way of Lord and Taylor, remixed

Navy boots: Steve Madden Tsunamii

More imaginary shopping

Folks, I promise you that I had cute clothes on both on Saturday and Sunday - yesterday's outfit was even totally photographable and blog-worthy, but? After a long day of hanging out with my family, taking two longish train rides, and engaging in a battle of wills with my five-year-old niece, I came home too exhausted to do anything but watch 'The Killing' and gnaw on some leftover gluten-free pizza provided to me by aforementioned niece's parents. So just use your imaginations: I looked totally adorable yesterday.

In the meantime, I've fallen in love with yet another unattainable object. The other day, at the gym, I was catching up with 'The Daily Show' on the elliptical and the invited guest was Rachel Maddow, whom I've known of and liked for some years now, when my now-husband first introduced me to MSNBC over five years ago. Anyway, I've always thought that Rachel is adorable and - as I used to watch her especially when I was growing out my hair - envied her adorable short hair. Now that my own hair is short again, I've glommed on to another one of her trademarks: her amazing tortoiseshell glasses. "Gee," I thought, "I wonder where hers are from. I bet the internet knows." Well, guess what? The internet does know. And it has pointed me to a new obsession:  MOSCOT Eyewear. As we all know, I've had a burning love for thick horn-rimmed glasses since, oh, 1998 or so and this New-York-based company delivers the goods and how.

These are Rachel Maddow's glasses, according to the internet and a quick Google search:

source

These are the Moscot Nebb in Tortoise (I think? The colors are wonky on that particular glasses' page). Aren't they amazing? They're like a chunkier version of the glasses I had before my Ray-Bans (never featured here) and a cooler version (and tortoiseshell! My fave!) of the Ray-Bans I currently own. Alas, though, they cost $475, so, without being able to have insurance do anything, unlike when I get new frames next year ... I won't be getting them. 

I've decided that my next frame, due for a change in early 2012, will be tortoiseshell and - barring I find anything amazing at the store - Ray-Bans again. These are my top choices:

source

Original Wayfarers FTW in dark avana! My eye doctor last year cautioned me against going with the originals because of how deep they are. I'm gonna insist on trying them on next time. Aren't they awesome? 

However much I bitch now, though, I'll consider trying my current frame in another color:

source

My current frames are the Wayfarer Squares, which, as you can see, are not as deep as the originals. They only come in sunglasses, it seems, but that was no problem: the guy just switched out the lenses.

Mmmm, tortoiseshell. Now to wait until February of 2012! 

How I wore it: bright May

Folks, it's a girly riot today. I'm currently on my couch watching 'Mean Girls' - although I've had dinner, I'm contemplating popcorn and a raspberry hard cider. If I'm up for it and not asleep, I'll put in 'Miss Congeniality.' Tomorrow? 'Les demoiselles de Rochefort.'

... It's Friday night, folks.

The weather was gorgeous today, people. My walk to my favorite running path was like a Disney movie: geese, chipmunks, and bluebirds doing my laundry. I had my French lesson with my two teenage girls and decided to dress brightly for the occasion, especially after yesterdays' cooler weather (but no rain!):

My green tunic was a little too boobular for a semi-professional French lesson, so I put on a light scarf, dupatta-style, to cover up my chestal arena. In other news, my sad, faint suspicion about my seersucker pants came true: one of my girls asked me if I was wearing my pajamas. DAMMIT. They still continue to be my favorite non-jean pants. They're comfy enough to feel as if I'm wearing PJs. And now, apparently, it looks like it, too. 

It looks as if there'll be rain in the near future, folks. And potential (AAHH, Kevin Gnapoor's rap! YES! My favorite part of the whole movie!) family festivities on Sunday. Rain boots? Festivities? Sounds like good weekend plans...

Green tunic: American Apparel, remixed

Seersucker pants: Gap, remixed

Moccasins: Minnetonka, remixed

Scarf: H&M

How I wore it: the hell?!

People, it did not rain today. And I was pissed.

I had such a fun, new-boot-showcasing outfit planned! But I woke up to a clear morning and a day filled with sun and clouds, but very little rain. Some drops fell on my three-minute walk between my tutees' home and the subway station, but they weren't worth pulling out an umbrella, let alone having put on knee-high boots made of rubber.

... Boo.

So, instead, I went with Plan B, which... was not well thought out. I had another top in mind beneath the long sweater-vest, but it was a little too revealing, so I went with a simple black tee. In that picture, you can see that there's not much flattering going on there. My man-arms sort of seem to seethe out of those short sleeves and the clingy vest conspires to make me look hippier. Boo. You guys, my rain outfit was so much cuter! 


Lord, my Thursday tutoring gig brings me down. Oh, well - there's not much more to go until summer vacation (and never going back because of having a job come September!) and the bulk of my pocket cash comes from two hours of teaching Spanish...

What, you think I only took an unflattering shot?! Here I am smiling like a goon at my cat...

The good news is that we learned something special today: if you want nice weather, all you have to do is ask me to pray for rain. 

Black t-shirt: H&M, remixed

Black sweater-vest: gift from mother, Brooks Brothers, remixed

Jeans: Gap, remixed

Grey booties: Aldo, remixed

Rain: I don't mind

Ahhh, is there anything better than listening to Queen hard-core for the first time in about five years while baking surprise brownies for a very stressed husband (yes, I am an awesome wife...)?

... I didn't think so.

I think most people know this about me, especially if they've spent any time with me, but I HATE the rain. A lot. Although I'm frickin' sick of snow, I still prefer it to rain. At least you can walk in it. With rain, I always mess up the umbrella, my glasses get wet, and the surroundings look so saaaad. I'm also afraid of thunderstorms. So, yeah. I don't like the rain.

... But all that might change, because people? My Steve Madden rain boots arrived today and I'm in LOVE. I've never had a purely utilitarian piece of clothing be so darn pretty, but lord, I love 'em.

I didn't put on make-up today, so you just get the lower leg shot. At least I put on vaguely cute and totally unseasonal shorts for the purpose of this photo shoot! 

Aren't they cute? And, dare I say it? ... Even flattering? If you want to know the sad truth about me, throughout college and grad school I wore my 14-hole Doc Martens as rain/snow boots. When I moved to Boston, I bought a pair of real snow boots, but they died the middle of last school year, so I just wear my tough, blue Fryes for inclement weather. So now I have real rain boots! Which are cute!

I love that I could theoretically wear these with any of my clothes and not look like a galoshes-wearing dork. Metal details at the top and heel? Love. I mean, wouldn't these be awesome if I juxtaposed them with a cute dress for work? Or even pants, because my new job doesn't have a dress code. I got goosebumps. 

So, yes, I'm pretty in love with the overall attractiveness of these boots. But my favorite detail?

Definitely the yellow contrasting zipper. For some reason, I can't WAIT to wear these to work next year. Finally, I won't look like an ungainly drowned rat in the rain! 

So, as you can tell by all my gushing and squeeing, I really want to jump in some puddles now. Fortunately, tomorrow's forecast calls for cooler temperatures and showers. 

I don't even know myself, people! 

How I wore it: I got a beautiful feeling

People, things are moving. Yesterday I bought my tickets to Hamburg and I sent out a request for a cute apartment I found. I just got an e-mail saying that my new rain boots should be here by Wednesday. I just signed and put my job contract in an envelope, to be mailed out tomorrow... life is good.

Another way life is good? Today my husband had a neat-o concert in our neck of the woods, so I decided to fancy it up and go. I even put on contacts! I wore the particular dress I wore because I'd been planning to wear it this past Good Friday to church ... only we never ended up going to church out of deathly exhaustion. So I was glad to have an excuse to sling it on today. But, because of the transitional weather, I didn't know what footwear to put on:

Oh, hi, hooves.

Although this might be the least flattering picture ever of my legs, I didn't dislike the vibe between the grey booties and the fancy purple dress (and, in hindsight, it would've been funkily cute for the cabaret-like venue in which the concert was held), but I wasn't sure how okay it was. So when my husband called to confirm our meeting place and time, I enlisted his help (I'm in pink, for my blog colors, he's in blue for being Greek): 

"You know that purple Calvin Klein dress I wore for Easter last year? What shoes would go well with that? I can't wear my heels without leaning on you."

"How about your green shoes?"

"You mean, the ones I threw away about a year ago?"

"Okay, do you have any black shoes?"

"Yeah. They're plain, though. Flats."

"Wear them anyway."

So I did:

While the end result was less than fascinating, it didn't stumpify me. So I approved.

The concert was fun, the Vietnamese food we had later was even more fun, and now I'm exhausted and ready to do a crossword before bed.

GLAMOROUS!

Purple dress: Calvin Klein, by way of Macy's, gift from my husband, remixed

Black flats: Me Too, by way of DSW, remixed

(Grey booties): Aldo, remixed

How I wore it: spring in the city

Yesterday was my husband's and my long-awaited day to hang out, go shopping, and generally celebrate our good fortune for the upcoming months. We're both so happy and relieved that I'll be working starting in September, that we'll have two paychecks again, that I'll (barring horrific German bureaucracy) have a Ph.D. to my name, that we'll be in Greece in less than two months...

We're mostly excited about the double paycheck. Let's be honest. And how better to celebrate that excitement than by buying stuff with what we have NOW?!

So out we went. We started at DSW (I desperately wanted flat oxfords. I didn't find any.) and made our way up Newbury and Boylston Streets for shopping fun. Since the day started out breezy, but ended up lovely and sunny, I wanted to reflect the beautifully changing seasons by not wearing anything too heavy or dark:

The darkest elements on my body are my hair and glasses! I built my way up with this outfit: I wanted to wear my fun, light, striped jeans and then I thought that wearing a crisp white button-down on top would be fun. Some pattern mixing with the shoes, and a fun choice of (Greek) jewelry, and I was on my way.

Anyway, as I mentioned, we went to DSW to search for some cute oxfords. They were not found. So, instead, I dragged my poor husband to the Steve Madden store and ended up ordering these:

photo from www.stevemadden.com

Those would be the Steve Madden Tsunamii rain boots in navy. I'd originally wanted the olive, but they didn't have it in my size. They didn't have any in my size (10) in-store, actually, so I had the navies ordered. I've been enjoying this fall/winter's Steve Madden collection, with its contrasting zippers, a lot this year, and I'm excited to have my very own, utilitarian boot with such a fashion. Check out the back!

photo from www.zappos.com

Fun, right? I can't wait to wear them in the rain. They're supposed to come to my home this week (I hope by Thursday, cuz it's supposed to rain then and I have tutoring!), but they'll have use for a long time in this part of the world. I'd actually been wanting rain boots for many months, now. I usually wear my blue Fryes in bad weather, always feeling guilty. These'll go a long way to allay my guilt. They're also totally appropriate for work. Yee-ha! 

White shirt: Brooks Brothers, gift from mom, remixed

Olive top (barely visible beneath): Express, remixed

Jeans: Express, remixed

Buffalo plaid flats: American Eagle by Payless, remixed