Accidental Twins

While I was teaching today, my next door neighbor (classroom...not apartment...apartment neighbors, so far, appear to be drug dealers, previous students, scared of dogs, or taciturn) caught my eye with her waving. I looked outside of the room to see her pointing to her pants and top. We were accidental twins! And, let me tell you, she is the woman to match. I've never met a woman with a better shoe collection than her. She has this pair of cobalt blue J.Crew flats that I shamefully covet. If we wore the same size, I'd be raiding her shoe closet. Oh, and we share a love of pretty, on sale things. 

Craziest part of all? I was centimeters away from choosing my skinny cobalt pants to wear with boots! However, I knew the forecast called for 60 degree weather, and large classes of sophomore boys heat up a room. A hot room makes for sweaty calves. Sweaty calves make for an uncomfortable me. Uncomfortable me is no fun. So, these pants and wedges won. 

I realize that I look patriotic, and I'm okay with that. I was determined to wear both the scarf and the pants today. And a patriot was born.

(Note: The blur on her shirt is to cloak her identity. Obviously.)

The Outfit (mine, not hers, should've asked!):

Blazer: Marshall's

Pants: New York and Company

Wedges: Me Too via DSW (they are SO comfortable. I love Me Too. Haha, that sounds funny.)

Belt & T-shirt: Target

Scarf: Old Navy 

Oh, next Tuesday my colleagues (girls AND guys) and I are continuing our Trendy Tuesday tradition. If you'd like to join us, our theme is flannel and scarves. 

Interpret that however you wish!

Send me good juju

I'm welcoming you to my awkward, should-have-brushed-my-ratty-hair-before-photos, bangs-doing-a-thing-of-their-own-creation, I-don't-know-how-to-retuck-my-shirt-after-using-the-bathroom kind of day. I do hope you enjoy it. 

The past week and a half, I have spent every day (except for today) working after school with students (some of whom I have never taught) on their college essays. As flattered as I am that they value my commentary, dude, I be pooped. Quite honestly, helping students invigorates me. However, I know that staying in the building until 4 means that I will encounter every jerk off driver during my hour-long commute, and that very thought exhausts me before I even stick the key in the ignition. I know some people drive even farther to work, and that's great for them and blah blah blah, but an hour is too much for me, especially because it drains two more hours of a day that I could be filling with helping more students, actually sneaking in a work out, and tending to that overflowing hamper in the bedroom. Oh, and spending time with my husband, who drives an hour and twenty minutes to work, sounds super. 

I have arrived at my point. After three weeks on the market, we finally have another showing tomorrow night! (Our area is apparently stupid slow for real estate at the moment.) We desperately want to live closer to work so that we can enjoy life before we attempt parenthood, and we can finally hang out with so many of our friends who live in that direction. SO, if you could do whatever it is you do to make things happen, we would appreciate all of the good juju we can get.  

And if my pleas are not enough, look! My shirt has gems on it! My hair needs brushing! I'm wearing the most boring color combination ever! And I like it! Yay! Exclamation marks!

The Outfit:

Shirt: LOFT

Blazer: Kenar via Marshall's 

Pants: Express (seriously, buy yourself a pair. Disappointed you will not be. Yoda. Go get you some.)

Shoes: BCBG via Boscov's (that happens? Sure.)

Occasion: Work, which involved reading aloud to three classes and watching group presentations in two classes. These are exciting times.

Comfort Rating: 10

Comments: A 10 for a outfit in heels? Whaaat? Believe it. These heels are the perfect height and are sinfully comfortable. As for these pants, they look like dress pants (because they are), but they feel like yoga pants. I'm not lying. Express needs to make them in every color. They are experimenting with this new cut to see how customers like them before they roll out more colors. I got that intel from one of the employees because I make friends when I shop. 

I must tend to this house and some paper grading.

Toodles, home skillets.

Sequin Skirt Seven Ways

For those of you who don't know, I had four stitches in my mouth. No, the story isn't as cool as "Here Comes the Boom is actually about me. I got these stitches from MMA fighting." Just a boring biopsy. Anyway, the stitches removal was horrible. Since I'm past the age of stickers and lollipops (not of my choosing, of course), I decided to reward myself by checking out some nearby shops. When I went into White House Black Market, I happened upon this fun sequin skirt for $30! Anyone who shops at that store knows full well that their clothes come at quite the pretty penny. This one was originally $128 or something ridiculous that I never would have spent.

I liked the skirt so much that I decided to style it SEVEN ways (one for every day of the week!), not just the standard three. However, I included only five of the looks in my collage. 

Look #1: Work Appropriate --> Blazer & Ruffles

Ruffles are great for ladies like me who aren't working with much up top (technically under the top).

I prefer low heels because I like to be comfortable. I went with a neutral shoe and a colored top.

I think the blazer ties it all together. Since the look is for work, keep the jewelry minimal. 

(I went with zero jewelry, actually.)

Outfit Deets:

Ruffle Top: The Limited

Blazer: J.Lo via Kohl's

Shoes: Candies via Kohl's

Look #2: Casual Work Day --> Cardigan & Flats

This look is very comfortable, so it's great for a bloated day. Or any day really.

The shirt has a little sparkle and so do the shoes because that's how I roll, folks.

You could tuck in the shirt if you wish. You could throw a belt over the cardigan for more structure. 

As you can see, I decided to keep it loose.

Outfit Deets:

Cardigan: Express (old)

Top: Candie's via Kohl's

Flats: Mia via DSW

Look #3: Warm Date Night --> Sweater, Leather, & Heels

I love me some cobalt. After all, it was one of my wedding colors. I guess you could say I hold it near and dear to my heart. Anyway, I went a little matchy matchy with the shoes. I decided to throw on a little edge with the leather jacket, but I kept it in a camel color. If you threw on flats, this look would be nice for lunch with the girls. 

Outfit Deets:

Sweater: Kohl's?

Leather Coat: black rivet via Wilson's Leather

Shoes: Michael Kors 

Look #4: Edgy Night Out --> Graphic Tee, Leather, & Boots

I love this look. It makes me feel bad ass, which I'm not. PLUS, how can you not love my "Good grammar is sexy" shirt? If you hate it, then I have no idea why you're reading this English teacher's blog. Anyway, I went with a chunky necklace, but I opted out of wearing earrings. 

If you want to stay warm, throw on some black tights! 

Outfit Deets:

Shirt: Gift from husband ;)

Leather jacket & boots: NO idea

Necklace: Forever 21

Look #5: Errand Running --> Military Jacket, White Tee, & Booties (change to flats if you wish)

This look might be my favorite just because I love my white t-shirts. 

If I were running a lot of errands, I'd wear some flats. Perhaps some white converse? 

Outfit Deets:

Military Jacket: Forever 21 (found in store)

White t-shirt: Target

Boots: J.Lo via Kohl's

Look #6 (not in collage): Chambray & Sequins

I would probably put on my kelly green flats with this outfit because, if I'm being honest, I know I won't wear these heels. In fact, they've been in and out of the "to donate" pile for awhile. 

Outfit Deets:

Chambray: Rock and Republic via Kohl's

Shoes: Jessica Simpson

Earrings: Francesca's

Look #7 (also not pictured in collage): A different cardigan & the ruffles

I didn't realize this look existed in my arsenal until I made it halfway through this post. 

If you aren't a blazer girl, but you like the ruffles. Try a neutral cardigan. 

Outfit Deets:

Cardigan: Target

Heels: Candie's via Kohl's

Ruffle blouse: The Limited

So, did I do a good job? Which look(s) would you wear? Which one is your favorite? 

Linking up with Molly Buckley and The Pleated Poppy.

Professional Plaid Pants

I've been wearing primarily sweatpants for the past four days, so my mind said "uh, whaaa?" when I told it to find an outfit for work today. Confused, I stood for fifteen minutes in my closet because something was complicating my conundrum: it was supposed to be so polar bear cold that the wet wipes in my car would freeze into a block of ice (actually happened). I needed layers. Work appropriate layers. 

I thought about adding a pop of color, but I decided against it. I wanted to be white, black, and gray. 

Hey, my coat has color. 

I slept on this hair. Jealous? I thought so. 

Please tell me that the dogs make you laugh. I didn't crop them out of the picture for this very reason. 

Outfit Deets:

Blazer: NY & Co. (gray blazer)

Sweater: Old Navy (old being the key word)--(similar)

Pants: Express (old)--(more subtle ones)

Wedges: Me Too via DSW --(I love these booties)

Coat: Miss Sixty via Marshall's (last year or something)

Linked up with The Pleated Poppy. 

:)