High heels, high expectations

This morning I posted an optimistic Facebook status:

I was glad it was so well-received, but I think that my reality fell flat of my hopes today. Sometimes you've got to crash and burn in order to learn something, right? You've got to take your critical feedback in stride and get right back on the horse. 

If you've got to fail, at least you can look like a winner while doing it. 

Blazer: Camden Market, London
Blouse: Thrifted
Skirt: Target
Tights: (probably) Forever 21

Shoes: Madden Girl (hand-me-up from little sister)
Brooch: Antique
Rings: Meijer jewelry counter
Photos: Hakala Imagery

This brooch is the most fabulous thing. Some close-ups of it in action, and me looking about as frazzled as I feel.

Tomorrow is a new day, folks. Fall down seven times, stand up eight.

Cool colors, warm heart

Today it was so lovely outside that I didn't even need a coat to keep me warm... just a big cable-knit sweater and a scarf!

If you ever see me 'round campus, this is what I usually look like: bundled up with some oversized shades on, hunching my shoulders and gazing blankly into the distance. So hip, I know. 

Today I've had a couple of meetings (one virtual, one in the writing center on campus), and I went grocery shopping because I was all out of...

• Vegetables
• Ground ginger
• Pico de gallo
• Black beans and rice
• Deodorant
• Multivitamins

...which are basically all of the things that I need to survive in this world. Between that and my recent haircut, I'm feeling more like a well-adjusted human being; although I did manage to lock myself and the puppy out of the house for nearly six hours last night, so let's not speak so fast on that.

I meant to duplicate my house key at the grocery store too. Damn.

Dress: Hand-me-up from younger sister, tag says H&M
Tights: ???
Sweater: Old Navy
Scarf: Shop in Pittsburgh's Strip market

Sunglasses: Somewhere in Ann Arbor?
Bag: Nine&Co for Kohl's
Earrings: Forever 21
Booties: Love Culture

Rings: Tres Joli and family heirloom
Nails: Maybelline Express Finish "Minty Minty"

Photos: Hakala Imagery

Detail shot on the earrings and manicure:

Please enjoy this final image, wherein I resemble some sort of deranged small child. Happy weekend, everyone!

Splitting at the seams

I will update my blog more than once a month! I will! I will!

This outfit and its accompanying accessories and details are quintessentially grad school. And by that I mean this: they are falling apart. 

This dress is a vintage find from an art fair last summer. I cut out most of the lining because it was completely shredded, but there still is some work to be done (like re-hemming the bottom, fixing the collar, sewing up some holes that are forming under the arms, etc.; I knew I should have listened to my grandmother when she tried to teach me how to sew)... but I couldn't resist wearing it on this crisp autumn day. Though it is frayed and worn, it remains a sight to behold.

I think that I also love it because it reminds me of this Dior number that Rachel Weisz wore at Cannes:

You will notice that my left shoe also looks rather ragged. That's because my parents' dog ate it a couple of years back. These Oxfords are an old souvenir from my two months spent in London, so they are well-loved and well-traveled.

Also, there are few things that I wouldn't do for some time to get my hair cut right now. This is the shaggiest it's been since 2010, and I feel like an old English sheepdog.

Some details:

Dress: Vintage, via Ragstock

Tights: Forever 21
Oxfords: Primark

Typewriter Necklace: ALikelyStory at Etsy

Rings: Tres Joli at Etsy and Grandma's class ring

Hairpiece: ???

Nails: CoverGirl Stay Brilliant "VioLast"

Photographs: Hakala Imagery

The first year of grad school is teeming with holes, I think. I am ever-aware of the holes in my knowledge, holes in my budget, and (with my newly embraced single status) holes in my heart. How fortunate am I to be surrounded by family and friends and mentors equipped with all manner of needle and thread to help mend me.

"I whip my tail back and forth!"

Today's outfit post features a very special guest model. Her name is Willow.

Willow is my roommate's pit bull puppy. She is snuggly, snorty, and sweet... but, as we swiftly discovered, not the best at holding still for pictures. Even when we entice her with promises of toys and treats.

Distracted puppy is distracted.

I had a crappy day yesterday, so I decided to amp up my style to prevent a further mid-week slump. I am a firm believer in the Dolly Levi school of fashion—that is, to put on your Sunday clothes when you feel down and out. Nothing like a shift dress and your favorite heels to kick it up a notch, am I right?

And it worked! I felt cool and confident, and a man on the bus told me that I "belonged in Hollywood." I feel that I will always be a Midwestern gal at heart, but it's the thought that counts.

Blouse: Forever 21

Dress: JC Penney
Shoes: Forever 21
Necklace: ???
Nails: Color Club's "Pardon My French"

Photographs: Hakala Imagery

Ah, Willow. Next time we will do better at this whole picture thing.

Storybook

Today I wanted to steal away into my imagination. 

My sense of invention was one of the things that kept me occupied as a kid and as a teenager. I did a lot of daydreaming then (and now), which is why I often cite my fantastical imagination as the spark that lit my powder keg of prose. I read, and then I wrote about the worlds I read about—for books are so terminal and finite, and they leave so many avenues unexplored. 

I have been thinking about this a lot lately as I have been asked many times by professors to contemplate my "point in the disciplinary landscape:" to think about what has brought me to the field of rhetoric and composition.

As I think about the sense of wonderment that began it all, I also think of my former roommate, Ashley, who has a similar passion for fantasy. Ashley moved to Japan late last summer to start teaching English at a school in the Hokkaido countryside (see her blog about those adventures here), and I miss her monstrously. Today's outfit is inspired by her love for wild, fantastical scenes; it makes me feel like I belong in Hansel and Gretel, or maybe Narnia. I even brought props that Ashley could oft be found curled up in a corner with: a teacup and a well-loved book. 

Blouse: Thrifted

Jumper: Forever 21
Tights: ???
Boots: Forever 21, well-loved (read: falling apart)

Brooch: Painted by my great-aunt
Ring: Grandma's class ring
Nails: Maybelline Express Finish "Minty"
Photos: Hakala Imagery

If you look at previous photos, you'll see that I really do have thumbs! Promise.

Also, I love the pattern and texture on this jumper. The fabric looks like it belongs on some grandmother's couch, along with a couple of cats and a doily or something.

Of course, all these adventures are happening inside my head, but why on earth should that mean that they are not real?

"Teach me to be more adaptive!"

Today's lesson: do not make jambalaya in your class clothes. If you do, you will inevitably splatter vegetable oil all over your new skirt, because that is the way that the universe works (this is why we cannot have nice things, coincidentally).

I was able to salvage the skirt, thanks to the saintly folks at WikiHow, but my pride remains wounded. I once had a boyfriend whose mother refused to wear aprons because they were purportedly a tool of the patriarchy, but now I feel that I truly understand their value.

Top: H&M
Skirt: Banana Republic
Belt: Forever 21
Shoes: Forever 21
Necklace: Forever 21 (probably?)
Ring: Vintage

Nails: Sinful Colors "Verbena" and OPI "Pamplona Purple"

I am still learning ~*appropriate fashion blogger hand placement*~ so that I don't look like an ape, obviously.

Thanks for taking these photos and making me your forest nymph, Jill.

I had planned for a cutesy rain photoshoot, but by the time we got outside, the sun was peeking out. Today was truly a day of flexibility—between the jambalaya fiasco, listening to tales of dynamic research questions in seminar, and consulting with my first client ever at the campus writing center. I struggled with the consultation at first: without revealing too many details, this client had a range of difficulties facing him as he attempted to compose his paper. I found it difficult to prescribe specific solutions to the issues that he was struggling with, so instead I highlighted the strengths that were already present. I offered praise and encouragement. I expanded upon the good parts. 

I did what I knew best—and what I could with what I was given. Sometimes that is all that you can do. Sometimes you can just scrub your skirt with a little dish soap and hope that the rest will come out in the wash.

PS: I am watching one of my favorite concert recordings as I blog, hence the title. Name that musical?!

Grad School, Day #1

My eighteenth year of school began with an outfit with a rather unusual theme for me: Americana! I was listening to my friend's folk playlist and felt strangely drawn to the ol' red white and blue. Must have been all that banjo. 

In any case, my day was anything but all-American: I had Chinese food for lunch, discussed classical rhetoric in my first graduate seminar course, and came home to watch some 90s BritCom. It was a delightful and low-key first day of the rest of my life, even though I know that my graduate study-fueled existential crisis is imminent. Better gather my rosebuds while I may, or something. 

Please enjoy my chronic derp-face.

Top: New York & Company (bought secondhand)
Skirt: eShakti
Shoes: Forever 21

Bag: Cambridge Leather Satchel knockoff, found for £20 at Camden Market in London
Ring: gift from high school boyfriend (if you are intimately familiar with my romantic history, please enjoy guessing which one)

Some details...

PS: You'll notice that today's pictures are not only in focus (a huge upgrade from previous ones), but actually rather lovely! My roommate, Jill, has agreed to serve as the unofficial Grammar with Style paparazza. If you're from the mid- or southeast-Michigan area and have a hankering for some portraits, please take a look at her art portfolio and Facebook page. She is truly the best!

Interviews and Opportunities.

I love this orange dress. It makes me feel like a super career woman who can meet deadlines faster than a speeding bullet, and wield her red pen of truth with unyielding precision.

Forget the jewel-toned, elbow-padded power suits that our foremothers wore: this is my power dress.

Today, in between my classes, I had an interview for a graduate position. I felt like I rocked it with my boundless enthusiasm, carefully articulated responses, and well-placed humor. It's amazing what a shift dress, a good home manicure (see my dove gray nails?) and kickin' pair of high heeled oxfords can do for your confidence.

Dress: Dorothy Perkins
Tights: Hue
Shoes: Bongo, via TJ Maxx
Necklace: Forever 21 (Easter gift from my Mum)

Coat: Banana Republic
Scarf: Bought at a cheap import place in Pittsburgh's Strip neighborhood last weekend

PS: Sorry for the grainy pictures! I took them in a hurry so I could bask in the gorgeous weather outside.