Hair and the Law

  Sometime last week, someone asked me if I was pregnant.  I vehemently said NO!  It got me thinking though, not about pregnancy, but about my body.  The question made me feel chunky if not outright fat.  I mean, why else would anyone ask if I'm pregnant if I don't look larger than normal, right?  This made me feel bad.  And I realized how my feelings about myself are tied to my feelings about my body.  For many women, their body is their self and there is no separation.  For others, their perception is tied up in their hair.  I feel that way sometimes too.  When my hair is long and wavy and behaving, I feel young and sexy.  When its up and sleek I feel professional.  Luckily for me, I'm able to go from one extreme to another.  Other ladies, however, have a more complicated relationship with their hair.  My friend Neubia is one of these.  Her hair isn't just a thing on her head, but rather its a symbol of culture and heritage that is inevitably intertwined with her sense of self.  So I asked her to write a post on her hair and the choices she's made with regard to it.  Here is her story:

Law school sucks! Sorry, there is just no other way to put it. What makes it suck more is when your freedom of expression (i.e. individuality) is hampered as a result. Of course, now that I am a lawyer practicing in Fayetteville, NC, I understand that my alma mater, in voicing concern with my stylistic choices, was simply trying to prepare me for what I would face in the real world.  So what is the faux pas freedom of expression I've engaged in . . .

I HAVE LOCS! Some of you may know them as "Dreadlocks."   Screw that! There is absolutely nothing dreadful about my hair.  Hence, the shortening of my choice of hair style to just locs, rather than dreads.

I came into law school with natural hair. That is, I did not use chemicals to alter the texture of my hair.  Most of the time, I wore an afro. Sometimes I would wear braids or twists.  During my second year, I decided to embrace the tight coils that my hair often created on its own. One of the first comments I received when declaring that I was locing my hair (because in my early stages of locing, it just looked like I had twists), was whether I was considering a career at a firm.  Well, truth be told, I wasn't, but even if I was, if a firm is unwilling to hire me because of the grade, texture and stylistic choices I make with my hair, then I am unwilling to work there!

Making the decision to loc is not easy.  When most folks think of locs, they think of a chain such as this . . . Bob Marley, pot, rebel, Rastafarian, slacker, etc.  Well, as much as I enjoy Bob Marley, and consider myself a bit of a rebel, I am not a pothead, and I am a Christian.  I am also . . . (DUN, DUN, DUN) a lawyer.  That's right, people who wear locs are successful business types with expensive ass degrees from private schools, too.

There are 0, count it 0 other attorneys in this city with locs.  The word on the street is that the one guy who did have locs fell prey to the pressure and cut his off.  I refuse to conform! When I walk into court (most of the time to observe for now because we have local rules that take some getting used to) all eyes are on me.  In fact, one morning, I walked into the lawyers only area behind the courtrooms (exiting a courtroom) and was chased down by a bailiff.  "Can I help you?" he barks with his hands on his assault a black person belt.  "Excuse me?" I reply wearing WTF on my face.  "You can't be back here if you aren't a lawyer."  "Well, good news for you sir! I am a lawyer. Were you going to arrest me?" I proceed to fire off questions to him in rapid succession, none of which he is able to respond to because his face is still on the floor.  He walked away, likely still in awe that I, yes, the chick with the locs, was a lawyer. FFFFFFF you and the bus you rode in on!

While this moment was as heartbreaking as it was entertaining, I consider it one giant leap for nappy girls everywhere.  Do not underestimate us because we make the choice not to introduce chemicals into our world.  We can run with the rest, and indeed the best of them. So the next time you see someone with locs, take off your cap of ignorance, and don't make assumptions about them.  Each one, teach one.

Shopping Habits

    Right around the first week of the year, I was talking to my mom about my Christmas shopping.  I mentioned that her present to me was an order of clothes from L.L. Bean.  She then asked if i did a lot of my shopping online.  At first I thought not really, but really thinking about it and then reading Kat's post, I actually do a lot of my shopping online.  I do it for a number of reasons too: convenience, price, my home is my dressing room and quality.  It is significantly more convenient to order something online and have it arrive at my door than having to go to the mall as well as other non-mall stores to try things on and then come home with nothing at all.  Its also more convenient to try things on at home where I have the rest of my wardrobe to try things on with, its all about context.  Lastly, online deals tend to be way  better, for the most part, than in store deals.  As a result, I'm able to afford better quality of clothing at a lower price due to my online shopping. 
    Because I do so much of my shopping online, I've come up with a technique.  It's not fool proof or perfect, but it has brought me reasonable amounts of success.  So in the interest of sharing, here it is:

A-C's "Guide" to Online Shopping

1.The Click

Coldwater Creek Blazer

    If I'm looking at a store online its because I've been drawn in by a promotion or sale.  This is almost always the case as I rarely just browse stores for fun.  The sale has to be for a store I already like or have heard good things about too.  I'm not a random online shopper, so I stick to stores I know or know of.  To get these promotions I subscribe to emails like Ann Taylor, Talbots, Old Navy, Banana Republic, eShakti and the like.  Also, every now and again I check slickdeals.net.  A lot of great promotions get posted there such as my ruffle blazer.    

Talbots Dress

2. Skim

    My next step is to figure out what the sale is about and skim the items that are on sale.  Is there anything at all that I like?  If I look around and only find like one thing, I *might* click on it and look, but generally, unless there are several things that I like, I tend to move on.  I think its shopping my attrition, eventually I'll get lucky if there are a lot of things that catch my eye.  Reduce the sample size and my odds go way down. 

3. Click

    Next I open in new tabs everything that has caught my eye and is within roughly 20% of the amount of money I would feel comfortable spending.  If an item is more than that but absolutely amazing, I'll open a tab for it.  But its got to be spectacular.  I generally end up with at least 15-25 tabs open at first.  

4.  Weed

Talbots Skirt

    Now I weed through my tabs and actually look at all that I've clicked on.  How does that jacket look in a decently sized picture and not in a thumbnail?  Is that skirt or dress long enough or too long?  Is that blouse navy or black?  All of these things and more can be answered by looking at the larger image of items as opposed to the often tiny thumbnails provided at first.  I go through and eliminate anything that I don't find cute.  On the flip side, I make sure to keep things I find cute and attractive.

5.  Weed (again)

    This time I weed by price.  I have to decide, assuming the fit and color (to come in a bit) are right, am I willing to spend $X on that skirt, dress, blouse, jacket?  I look at each item individually and decide if that individual item is worth it.  I also look at the items collectively and compare which ones are more worth my money than others.  

Bravissimo Dress

6.  Walk Away

   This is one of the most important steps.  Most of the time I need to walk away from the screen, from all the wonderfully tempting deals and just chill, elsewhere.  Sometimes minimizing that particular screen is enough.  Sometimes I go in to my closet and imagine how the items I've been looking at fit in to my wardrobe.  Other times I just play with Bella.  The point is, I walk away from the computer to keep myself from impulse buying.  Sometimes its a couple of hours.  Other times its been days.  It depends on the sale, the store and the item.

7.  Fit and size

    One of the most important aspects of shopping, whether online or in person is the fit of a garment.  You can have the most beautiful dress in the world, but if its too small, short, big or just not cut to your figure, it will be a bad buy.  In order to aid me in figuring out fit and size, I check out the store's size charts.  I also check out reviews if the site has them.  In addition, lately I've been doing the customer representative chat thing.   I'll ask them specifically to help me choose a size and in return I get the actual dimensions of the item in whatever size(s) I think will fit me.  Because not everything will be available in the size I need or will flatter my shape, this step will also cut some of the items from my list.

Nine West Pumps

8. The Cart

    Now I finally add everything I've approved in terms of style, color, price and fit in to my cart.  And then I look at the total.  When I look at items individually, I tend to think, "wow, $35 for this blazer is amazing!"  But when you have 2 blazers, a sweater, a skirt and a dress, it all adds up.  By putting it all in the cart and looking at the total, its really hard to deceive yourself.  

9.  Weed (again!--3rd time's the charm)

   Looking at the total, how much do I *really* want to spend today?  Is everything in my cart a real steal or just filler?  This is the time where I get ruthless.  Its time to decide how much total I'm going to spend and what is really worth buying.  

eShakti Dress

10. Coupons

    Lastly, I do a google search for promotions.  Yes, I know I started out by going to a sale, but sometimes you get lucky and can add a 10% off coupon or a free shipping deal to a sale.  

11.  Buy!

   Now that I've exhausted myself and overthought every aspect of this purchase, its time to buy.  

    I can honestly say, that if I go through each of these steps, I am generally quite satisfied with the items that end up on my door step. Yea, paying for shipping sucks, but being able to weed through things and really think through a purchase rocks.  It virtually eliminates impulse buys and keeps my wallet (more) full.  Sometimes I do step away again before I buy or ask a friend what they think somewhere along the way.  But its not always true, so I didn't include that in my 11 steps.   So yea, this is my process when I shop online.   

Do you have a particular process for shopping online?  Are there certain things you *must* do before you buy?

Sticking to it

     Since staying home full time to study, I've been working out a lot.  By a lot I mean like every day.  This is *so* out of character for me.  I've pledged plenty of times that I would workout more often or that I would lose a certain amount of weight.  Pledging and doing are two different things, however.  This time around, I'm doing.  I've known for years that I should workout more.  That the health benefits far outweigh the discomfort of getting off my ass and working out.  Its just that there was always something I could blame as being in my way.  If it wasn't studying, then it was working,or I was too tired or there was much more interesting tv to watch, etc.  I just let the excuses add up.  So its no surprise that it was nearly impossible for me to stick to some sort of routine.  

     This time around things are different.  I think its because I'm at home all day long and time isn't such an obstacle.  That and working out ends up being a break from the grind of studying.  I know that working out every day won't last.  Once I take the bar and go back to working, its going to be hard to work out 3 days a week, let alone 6.  Nonetheless, I think this time at home studying will serve as a sort of reset.  By making it a daily activity, I hope that working out will become habit.  A good habit.  One that will not just change the physical appearance of my body, but will change my health for the better.  Speaking of changing my body, I've already lost 2.5 inches around my waist and another 5 pounds from my last weight plateau.  Being able to see these changes already makes it a lot easier to stick to my routine.  I can see my accomplishment taking shape so it makes me want to keep at it.  I want to lose my tummy pooch and lose more weight and just get tone and fit all over.  What's your favorite way to keep to a workout schedule?  What's your favorite way to exercise?     

Closeup of Yoga Pants

     Because of my new found devotion to working out I figured I would need a workout wardrobe.  I invested in a pair of Old Navy Yoga pants to add to my really old black yoga pants that I've had for years.  (I honestly have no idea how long I've had them.)  In addition my little sister got me a long sleeve workout top for Christmas.  (not pictured)  This pink top was also a gift.  My friend Claudia entered a Glamour giveaway and won the top.  It was too big for her, so she offered it to me.  Its a wee bit too big for me around the waist, but fits the boobs just fine.  
      Here I'm also wearing a pseudo-thrifted item.  Some of my sister's friends visited my parents a year or so ago and one of them left this track jacket.  My sister offered it to me and I've been wearing it when I walk outside in the cold.  Its pretty great as I'm able to throw on some thin layers to keep me warm without being bulky.  I also get to add to my slowly growing workout wardrobe.  So that's a plus.  Do you too also use a new activity as an excuse for getting clothes?  (I'm sure I'm not the only one!)


The Details:

Top: Champion Double Dry Seamless Vented Tee Available Here and Similar Here and Here

Yoga Pants: Old Navy Available Here and Disco Pattern Here

Track Jacket: Old Navy Similar and More Here

Sneakers: Reebok Easy Tone Available Here and

Other Colors Here

Smash!

     Ya know what one of my favorite parts of blogging has been?  Crashing through self-imposed boundaries.  This outfit, for example, crashes through SEVERAL.  Let's go down the list, shall we?
    1. Long Flowy top.  Normally I steer way the hell away from these types of tops.  I have big boobs and flowy tops just make me look big.  Because there's no defined waist, flowy tops just hang down from my largest part, the boobs and make it look like the rest of me is that big.  In reality, I have a much smaller waist.  I got this pink pin-tucked top when my sister returned from my parent's house with it over her Christmas break.  Mom didn't wear it ever so she asked if I wanted it.  I said sure not knowing how big the top would be.  I had no idea how to wear it until I asked Sally in the comments to this post. 
     2. Super skinny pants.  As mentioned above, I have big boobs.  Normally I prefer to balance them out with wider leg pants.  Skinny pants tend to make me look like I'm a big ball balanced on itty bitty toothpicks.  Not the cutest look overall.  But I got these pants anyway.  I've wanted pants that I could easily tuck into boots without squishing them up around my ankles.  When I went to Old Navy a couple of weekends ago I stumbled upon the sales rack and found that the super skinny cords were on sale for $8.79!  So of course I tried them on, figured out that they fit into my boots easily and got them.  The other advantage to these pants is that I didn't have any non-jean casual pants before I got them.  Besides, why not try out a trend for less than $10?  
    3. Denim jacket.  I've owned this jacket for years.  I may have worn it once before.  The reason is that I'm not a big fan of denim on denim.  A denim suit just doesn't do it for me.  And since I didn't own non-denim casual pants before these skinnies, there wasn't anything for me to wear my denim jacket with.  Until now that is. 
    When you add all these together you get the outfit to the right.  And let me tell you, I love it!  Part of it is the look and a whole other part is that I've crashed through some self-imposed boundaries all at the same time with some great results. 

The Details:

Denim Jacket: Old Navy Women's Denim Jacket

Blouse:Antilia Femme  Similar in Black or in Pink

Skinny Corduroy Pants: Old Navy

Boots: Candie's Similar Boots

My Closet

    "A place for everything and everything in its place"

      One of the best parts of our move in August is the master bedroom closet.  It is HUGE!  The Fiance and I divided it up more or less up the middle and we each have more space than we did in the old house combined.  For this I am *very* grateful.  Unfortunately, its allowed me to keep a lot of stuff that I need to go through and get rid of.  But that's not what this post is about.  This is about how I organize my closet.  I saw this post on Kendi Everyday and figured I would show you my closet too. 

     This past weekend The Fiance suggested we organize the closet better.  For the most part it was fine, but he wanted to put some towels in the closet.  So we switched around his shoes and I put my belts on hooks behind the door.  This freed up space on the built in shelves in the closet.  I took advantage of the extra freed up space to fold some bulky sweaters that work best folded than hung up.  One of the shelves is mine to put my bras and other under things on.  I've found that bras last longer if I have a shelf to lay them on.  In this picture you'll also notice that I have a step ladder in my closet.  Its not because we couldn't figure out another place to store it.  Rather its because I'm short.  I can reach almost everything in the closet EXCEPT for the very top shelf where I've been storing my scarves.  Smart, right?  I'm looking for somewhere else or another way to store them, any ideas? 

     The other thing that I have plenty of is shoes.  I am lucky enough to have a shoe rack where all of my heels fit.  Believe it or not they're also organized in a specific way.  The top row is work heels, ie the ones I wear most often.  The second row is heels that I wear every once in a while and the bottom row is special occasion heels along with those that are currently not in season like my gold thong sandal heels.  Sadly, not all of my shoes fit in it.  I have a few pairs of boots that don't fit.  They're found laying on the floor under my pants, long skirts and suits.

    This last picture shows  another aspect of using all the available wall space to my advantage.  Like hanging my belts in the picture above, I've been hanging my pins and brooches.  I have been using the little doll face my aunt made and sent me for this use.  Its always fun to look in my closet and see that happy little face smiling back at me.  If you're interested in having a smiley face brooch holder of your very own, I'll be posting them and several other crafties on Etsy this weekend.  This wall is also where I've placed my laundry hamper.  In our old house there wasn't enough room in the closet to put both my and The Fiance's closet and stand in it at the same time, so I really appreciate being able to put EVERYTHING I need and want in our closet and still have room left over to actually get dressed in there.  
     Despite having all this room, there is a whole bunch of other clothes that I store in a chest of drawers in the bedroom.  Luckily for me my chest of drawers doubles as the stereo stand and The Fiance's chest of drawers doubles as the TV stand, so its not like they're in the way.  The clothes that gets stored in there is stuff like socks, undies, PJs and T-shirts.  Now that I've shown you how I organize my clothes and shoes, its your turn.  How do you organize your clothes?  How often do you revamp your organizational methods?  Found something that you just can't live without and are dying to share?

And by the way, see the little button to the right of this post?  I would *really* appreciate it if you nominated me for the About.com Reader's Choice Awards in the category of Favorite Fashion Blog 2010.

Comfy Jewels

      I was looking through my Picasa album to figure out what pictures I hadn't posted yet and found these from November.  I have no idea why I didn't post them at the time.  Maybe because I took them in the kitchen instead of on the porch?  I don't know.
     This is one of my favorite big comfy sweaters.  It is exactly as it seems, warm, big and comfy.  The perfect attributes to a sweater, as far as I'm concerned.  Little did I know when I purchased this sweater, that it is also the perfect color for me.  According to this article from Shine on Yahoo, its the perfect color for me.  I've read several articles all over the place that claim to tell me what colors are best for me.  None of them have ever made sense to me.  This one, because of its simplicity, does.  After reading through the article, I determined that I'm a Sunrise and as such jewel tone colors are supposed to look best on me.

Sunrise: “In the morning, the sunrise palette colors are clear, clean and crisp,” says Eiseman. “Primarily blue undertones evolve into jewel tones.”
Coloring : Fair-skinned, dark-haired brunettes; fair-skinned silver-haired women; fair-skinned cool blondes; dark, blue-black skin tones with dark hair; and olive skin with dark hair.
Palette : Shimmering jewel-tones like emerald, sapphire, aquamarine and amethyst.

Messy kitchen over my right shoulder!

 I guess it makes sense.  I mean the sweater does look good, right?  And I am most definitely a fair-skinned dark-haired brunette that can occasionally be an olive skin chick with dark hair.  I'm not 100% convinced that these are the *only* colors that look good on me, but they are some of my favorite to wear.  So I guess this color scheme is a good place to start.  Its not, however, a reason to throw out all my pink, black, white or red tops though.  Just a starting point.

    If you've been looking for a color scheme to help you figure out your best colors, because of its simplicity, I definitely recommend the article as a starting point.  If, however, you know what you look good in, then it probably really won't rock your world any, but it might be a good read anyway.  Are you a sunrise, sunset or sunlight?  

The Details:

Sweater: Target

Tee: NY&Co

Pants: Gap

Heels: Aldo

Necklace: Banana Republic Outlet

Pity Party (part 1)

I've been thinking about this post for a while now.  I wasn't 100% sure I wanted to write it, let alone post it.  You see, I feel like my blog is one facet of who I am.  If I put too much of my every day feelings into it, then it breaks that illusion and ceases to be what I thought it was.  I know that every once in a while I update about my life and how things are going in the "real world," but this post is different.  So---if you want to avoid a whole lot of navel gazing, self-pity and self-doubt, go ahead and skip this post.  If not, here goes. . .

- - - - - -


    If I ever write a book about my life during the next few months its going to be called "I failed the bar and then my life was a catastrophe."  You read that right.  I failed the bar exam.  By 8 points.  Passing score is 346 and I got a 338.  When I first read my score I was relieved.  It meant I knew the stuff.  I KNOW the law.  But then I realized it also meant that the pain I was feeling on the days of the exam were enough to derail my concentration enough so that I failed.  Sucks might be too mild a way to put it.  Rather than make this one really long jumble of words and emotions, I'll give it some order, I'll go in a timeline/subject matter sequence.
    The bar exam was the last Tuesday and Wednesday of July.  Jenn and I drove to Raleigh Monday afternoon, checked into our hotel, checked in with some  of our friends and went out to eat dinner.  Our plan was to make it a chill evening.  After dinner and before bed, I was getting all my stuff together and realized that the extension cord that I had bought a week earlier was 2 prong.  My laptop charger is 3-pronged.  So off I went at too late an hour for starting such a gigantic exam the next morning to Walmart to buy a power strip.  Once I got back to the hotel I realized that it was too late, around 11 pm, for me to take tylenol PM and wake up the next morning without feeling groggy.  Little did I know at the time, but this was going to screw me over.  I didn't sleep.  I may have fallen asleep for 2 or 3 hours, but it was SO not enough.  The next morning sucked so bad.  My chest hurt, my back hurt and I was running on pure adrenaline for a while.  I took a bunch of ibuprofen in hopes that it would kick in quickly enough for me to be able to continue the exam and concentrate.  
    It wasn't enough.  My scores tell me that during the morning essay section I didn't do as well as on the afternoon portion.  It could be because of different subject matter in each, but I think it was the pain.  I was so distracted and worried about the pain in the morning that I did poorly on the morning section.  That's not to say that I didn't do well.  I actually scored 8/10 on 2 essays.  I also scored 2/10 on 2 essays.  The 8s were both in the afternoon, the 2s were in the morning. 
    I spent the whole of the 2 days in pain and wishing I could sleep.  Just a little nap would be enough.  I powered through the rest of the exam realizing I didn't have much else of a choice.  The bar exam isn't like any other test I've ever taken.  In high school, if I wasn't up for an exam I could skip the day and take it again some other time.  Same was mostly true for undergrad (so long as there was a valid reason).  Law school exams were brutal, but at least the deans knew that I was dealing with pain and if the pain got to be too much they would allow me to postpone exams.  The bar is such that in order to get special accommodations an applicant has to apply for them and show medical documentation  and then it gets decided on by a committee of some sort.  Since I had been fine for so long without any kind of pain, it didn't occur to me to even try for special accommodations.  Thinking back on it, I doubt that even if I tried I would have had them granted.  Chest and generalized body pain, while distracting, doesn't seem serious enough.  
    Anyway, by the time I was mid-exam, even if I wanted to, there was no way I could ask for a timeout from the exam.  As it was I worked as efficiently as possible while taking breaks to walk around and drink plenty of water and down lots of ibuprofen so that I could survive the whole process.  
    Leaving the exam I was ecstatic.  I felt pretty good about my performance.  I knew the stuff pretty well.  But its a curved exam and my score would depend on the scores of everyone else.  I had to hope that I was smarter and better prepared than at least 30% of the people in the room.  Surely I was. Right? Yes, of course.  But really?
    Turns out I may have been, but it wasn't enough.  I still failed.  By 8 points.  


- - - - 
In writing this story, I realized that it may take me several posts to complete it.  So bear with me.  Regularly scheduled programming will be coming soon. 

Vinegar!

    I love Vinegar.  Yes, it's amazing for chips and salad dressings, but that is not at all why I love it so.  This story starts several, dare I say maybe 10, years ago.  At the time we were living in Spain and one of the lady day talk shows was showing all natural recipes to make your hair gorgeous.  I remember them doing some form of a vinegar rinse and was mighty curious about it.  However, since at the time I was approximately 15 years old and did not have control of the kitchen nor of the grocery list, I couldn't try this rinse out.  
    Now fast forward to last year.  I was searching online for a quick easy way to clean shower heads.  I came upon this site.  Somewhere in the back of my mind I remembered the vinegar rinse segment from a decade earlier and went about searching for what has turned out to be one of my favorite hair treatments EVER.  It is actually located o the same page near the end.  Here it is:

* Remove residue and styling product build up from hair: After shampooing, rinse your hair with a mixture of 1/2 vinegar, 1/2 warm water to remove all the build up and get rid of that dullness.

    Sounds super easy, right?  And it is!  All I do is put a cup to a cup and a half of vinegar to about the same amount of warm water in a mixing bowl, take it in with me to the bathroom, pour the mixture in my hair and sit in the filled up tub for about 10 minutes to let it soak in.  I know that the directions tell you to use the vinegar mix AFTER you shampoo.  But I do it before I shampoo and condition my hair as I don't want my head to smell like a bag of chips or salad dressing when I get out of the shower.  I know that washing my hair after the vinegar mix probably makes it less effective, but at least this way I don't end up smelling funky or making my pillow case smell funky as I normally wash my hair before bed.
    A word of caution: if you have scabs or scratches on your scalp due to scratching, the vinegar will sting, A LOT.  I did the vinegar rinse for my sister once and she had a few open spots from scratching her scalp and when the vinegar got in the wounds it stung. 
    The overall benefits are worth the sting.  My hair ends up super duper incredibly soft after a vinegar rinse and completely clear of all the gunk that shampoo, conditioner, leave in conditioner and anything else that I put in my hair from time to time that gets left behind despite washing it regularly.  Also, as I understand it, vinegar balances out the PH of your scalp as well which for some people is enough to clear up dandruff problems.  I definitely recommend this treatment and just know that you'll be impressed with how soft your hair can be too!


*This is my own review of something I tried.  No one in any way asked me to or encouraged me or is paying me for this.*   

Shades of Gray

    I took advantage of the wonderful turn in weather to whip out my tights.  I'm not sure if NC finally got the memo that it's officially fall or if it turned cool because of the rain the past week, but it is gorgeous out! I love when the weather turns cool.
    The cool weather also really makes me want to wear cooler colors.  Grays and blues are particular favorites.  I also love jewel tones when it turns cold.  I find that strong and bright colors keep me happy when the weather is less than ideal.  
    Anyway, so these are my gray flower patterned tights.  These are some of my favorite tights because from afar they look like plain gray tights.  However, when you look closer you can see that the tights have a subtle flower pattern.  It's like a secret super cool fashion statement.  It makes me happy. 
    So I have a question for you all.  What do you think of the proportions of this skirt?  Normally I think it works fine, but in looking at the picture to the left, I'm not 100% sure anymore.  If the skirt had a higher waist, I think the look to the left would look ok.  It might be that I've lost enough weight as of late so that the skirt no longer fits where its supposed to.  Either way, to me it seems that the skirt is too long or too low slung or both.  It just feels like too much solid black that isn't as flattering as it could be.  What do you all think, is this all in my head or am I on to something?  What would you do with a skirt like this, shorten it or tailor it to a higher waist or . . . ? 

The Details:
Shirt: New York & Co.
Skirt: Jones & Co.
Tights: Hanes Outlet
Heels: Bandolino





P.S. How awesome does my hair look in these pics?  No idea how the 100000% humidity didn't turn my hair into a gigantic ball of frizz, but this was a GREAT hair day. 

Ladies Who Lunch

    This Dress is from the shopping trip I took just after starting working.  The fabric isn't solid black, it has white, gray and silver threads running through it.  I couldn't think of anything else to pair it with, so I threw on this cardigan that has the same colors as the dress on top of it.  I feel like the look is a bit "ladies who lunch."  I'm hoping to find a cute colored cardigan with which to pair this dress to keep it looking young.  I'm also considering wearing the dress with a button down underneath it in the fashion of a jumper in the same way I wore this sheath dress.  Thoughts?

The Details:
Dress: The Limited
Cardigan: Sam's Club
Heels: Nine West

P.S. These pictures right here are exactly why I need to wear makeup to work---I look ill!

Two ways

Outfit 1

    I got this sweater, a twin of the rose sweater when I went shopping last.  I really like the neckline, that its a silk blend and that its 3/4 sleeve.  So of course I got it in 2 colors.  Here are two different ways that I've worn it in the past few weeks.  The first with a pair of pinstripe pants for a more casual look and the second as a bottom layer for a blazer.
     Speaking of the blazer--it's new.  Well, new to you.  I got it months and months ago at the consignment shop.  It's super cute and fitted, but I could never figure out what to wear with it.  Apparently that's my problem du jour.  Anyway, this toffee brown sweater ended up being perfect.  I felt confident and put together.  That I chose the toffee sweater and not a black one or even chose the blazer in the first place helps me feel quite non-stuffy.  I don't feel like I need to wear a matching suit every day which is lovely because 1. I have all of 4 suits and 2. that gets boring very quickly.  Sometimes I wonder if men get bored of wearing the same suits all the time.  Or do they relish not having to think about what blazer goes with which top and shoes and skirt?  Any guys out there want to provide some insight? 

Outfit 2

The Details:
 Outfit 1:
Sweater: Loft
Pants: Gap (outlet)
Heels: 
Necklace: Kathy


Outfit 2:
Sweater: Loft
Blazer: Apostrophe (Consignment)
Skirt: Jones & Co.
Heels: Nine West


P.S. I have no idea why Bella decided she had to lick or sniff my leg at that exact moment.  She's weird like that.  But I still love her!
 

Happy Dress

     Remember when I graduated from law school?  Well, underneath the robe in that bottom picture I was wearing this dress.  If you're curious as to why you haven't seen it featured here since, well, it's because I couldn't figure out how to wear it or what to wear it to.  Until last week!  I sucked it up, threw the dress on and tried on several blazers and cardigans until I came up with the combination below.  This blazer is the top half of my new suit.  It is a heather brown so its softer than a solid brown which I think ended up being the perfect blazer for this dress. 
    Speaking of this dress, I got several compliments on it.  The ladies in my new office all loved it.  Hell, I love it!  Its so summery and fresh and floral-y, it just makes me happy!  It's always nice to look down throughout the day and smile because my clothes makes me happy. 

The Details:
Dress: Bravissimo
Blazer: Worthington for JCPenney
Heels: Nine West

My Friend Neubia

    While studying for the bar, there aren't a whole lot of things to entertain.  Lately we've been playing the World Cup on our computers while watching our bar video lectures on the projector.  Another thing that's entertaining?  The Blog.  Last week both Jenn and Neubia showed up looking cute.  Since I've already shown you Jenn's cute outfit, this is Neubia's outfit post.
    My favorite part of Neubia's outfit is her shoes.  These sandals are so cute and a great alternative to the plastic ON flip flops that I've been wearing for the past 2 weeks.  To me, sandals tend to either be plastic flip flops or heels.  Neubia's super awesome sandals have shown me that a great (and cheap!) alternative exists.  These set Neubia back only $15 at Burlington Coat Factory.  I also really liked how Neubia embraced plaid and took the green from the plaid and incorporated it in her top. 

    When I was talking to her about her outfit, she told me that the whole thing cost less than $25.  She also told me that the reason she was looking cute was because her boyfriend was coming in to town for the night.  She wanted to make sure he knew she could look cute and didn't just live in sweats (which, by the way, is the standard girl bar study outfit).
    This started my thinking muscles.  Why do we dress cute and for who do we do it?  As Neubia told me, she was dressing for her boyfriend.  Without judging Neubia, I think a lot of women, certainly myself included, often dress for others, and especially for those we are attracted to (ie. men for straight women, women for gay women, etc).  This brings to mind preening.  I find myself in front of the mirror for much longer when I'm dressing to impress The Fiance.  And even though he is the intended audience, I also do it for myself.  I dress up and apply makeup and preen to feel good about myself.  If it didn't feel good to look my best, I wouldn't do it.  I do it for me.  
    But what about when we dress up and preen for others?  Does that make it any less good or even bad?  Is it "bad" to dress for others?  I would say that using words like "good" and "bad" don't really apply in this context.  They are overbroad and don't really apply as they are value judging words and this isn't a context in which value should be assessed.  Rather, I would say that "healthy" and conversely "unhealthy" are more appropriate.  While it is unhealthy to look outside of ourselves for approval and to judge our attractiveness and self-worth by the way others perceive us all the time, I don't think its unhealthy to look to others for cues some of the time.  What I mean is that its natural to look to others for social cues and opinions on what we're wearing and how we look.  It becomes unhealthy when we base our entire opinion of ourselves on others' opinions and allow the outside to decide how we feel inside.  So while I like to look cute and preen for special occasions for The Fiance, what matters is that I do it because I feel good, not because he requires or expects it. 

 

The Details:
Tank: ON
Pants: Megathrift 
Shoes: Burlington Coat Factory

In which I eat my words. . .

    So, it turns out that items other than sweat pants can keep you warm and comfortable while sitting in a classroom all day.  The answer is of course long skirts!  Outfit 1 wasn't nearly as warm as outfit 2 because I forgot a long sleeve sweater or jacket to layer over my short sleeve knit sweater.  Sorry for the terribly picture, by the way.  The Fiance took a couple while sitting on the couch and didn't warn me that my smile looked tres awkward so I took a couple in the kitchen that ended up blurry.  Unfortunately, this the best pic of the lot.  I'm going to have to go search the house for my tripod attachment so I can take better pictures. 




Outfit 1:
Top: Loft
Skirt: ON
Flip Flops: ON (not pictured)

Outfit 2:
Skirt: Carol Little (consignment)
Top: Loft

Cardigan: August Silk

 Flip Flops: ON

Don't forget to check out my etsy store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/ACsCrafts.  I've added new items and continue to do so regularly. 

Dressing up Yoga Pants

    Tuesday I went to my first yoga class in 10 years.  I was really excited about the class and even more so when I discovered that my yoga pants were clean.  yay!  Anyway, I wanted to limit the amount of clothes I had to change into and out of that day, so I decided I would just wear my yoga pants to my bar prep class and figure everything else based on them.  I originally wanted to try to wear this dress, but I forgot how long it is and didn't want to drown in clothes.  So rather than just throwing on a t-shirt and sweatshirt, I got fancy.  I grabbed my dark pink jersey cardigan and light pink tank top and made an outfit!  An outfit that *isn't* solely sweats and has color and is kinda cute.  
    The yoga class itself was amazing!  It was relaxing and a great workout.  I could easily feel my abs being engaged and my muscles stretching in the different positions.  And the ab workout at the end was great too!  I'm really looking forward to continuing to work out in this setting.  The yoga teacher was able to make adjustments to each position based on each person's individual limitations.  When I told her about my recurring chest pain she completely understood and explained that we'll be working on the whole body and to take it easy whenever its too much for me.  
    The only downside to the class is that now, Wednesday morning, I am really really sore.  Part of it is that I did squats 2 days ago and I'm still sore from that.  But most of my back and neck pain and the little of the core soreness that I'm feeling is because of the yoga, while a small part of it is a lack of sleep and relaxation when I got home.  I got home last night, ate, then got on the phone for 2 hours with my mom and aunt to help them set up my aunt's wireless router from afar.  Oh and my mom is in Puerto Rico and my aunt is in Miami.  And my aunt is not the most tech savvy person in the world, in fact, she's pretty damn awful at it.  When I was done with that I got to read for fun (yay!) for 30 mins, jumped in the shower, then off to bed to read.  But I was way too wound up to turn the lights off at 11:30 so I continued reading (on the iphone) with the light off so as not to bug The Fiance.  I finished off my book then managed to have some fitful restless sleep.  I'm hoping that I'll be able to relax and rest tonight because several days of soreness just plain suck.  


P.S. pictures coming later as I forgot to take them last night.