First Comes Abject Terror, Then Resignation, Then Acceptance

Tomorrow I have to give a very important presentation. Very important. I’m terrified. Can you see the fear in my eyes?

shirt: F21 / blazer: F21 / leggings: American Apparel / boots: Kohls

Don’t worry, I work well under pressure. I’ll be fine. In the meantime, how stunning is this retro portrait of Lily Cole by Damon Baker?

Jitters

This outfit is my ode to Fall and the gorgeously unique color palette that it inspires. As we move ever closer to winter (my second favorite season) I am reveling in these last few glorious weeks of autumn.

sweater: H&M / scarf: TJ Maxx / skirt: Target / boots: Thom Browne / necklace: the Met / t-shirt: Gap / purse: Target / watch: La Mer

It's Tuesday today and that means I am two days away from that big presentation (a 50 minute lecture/talk about my dissertation followed by 40 minutes of questions from a room full of people that I fully expect to be highly insightful and perhaps critical of my work). I don't really get nervous about stuff like this - I mean I regularly present my work at conferences and deal with speaking in front of classrooms full of students every week - but I am getting pretty scared about this. I'm also thinking a lot, a lot, about what I'm going to wear.

Bow Blouse

I was eyeing Canada’s own Joe Fresh clothing line’s website recently and came across this adorable blouse. I posted on Facebook inquiring if any of my Edmonton and Calgary family and friends wanted to do a little shopping for me and mail me a care package (Joe Fresh, get on the online shopping bandwagon and let me order stuff online!).

And so, a month later, here it is. And I am happy.

I also met, over Thanksgiving, one of the architects working on the design for the soon to open Joe Fresh stores in NYC...so that was super fun.

blouse: Joe Fresh / jeans: Express / boots: Thom Browne

Also, are you looking for a fun dress to wear to holiday parties this year? Well, look no further than Motel Rocks and the awesome Gabby sequin dress. I am seriously enamored with this frock – it’s fun and flirty and has the perfect amount of sparkle for some holiday cocktails. And the best part is that, between now and December 4, you can use the code SEQUIN15 and get 15% off anything on the Motel Rocks. Happy early holidays!

Trenchant

When the weather reaches that glorious autumnal point where it’s not too cold but there’s a lovely chill in the air, I become full on obsessed with trench coats. Full on.

pants: Asos / loafers: Gap / trench: Michael Kors / cameo: shop in London, can’t recall which one / scarf: Old Navy

Paired with a pair of gorgeous boots and a satchel, trenches are the perfect sophisticated and chic fall look!

Thankful

I am not looking forward to having to put this jacket away when it gets colder. Not at all.

skirt: Gap / tights: Target / jacket: Target / booties: Aldo

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I’m posting some ridiculously pretty Elie Saab eye candy over on Facebook today – check it out and “like” me while you’re there.

Pants Like Rich Caramel

I think it’s pretty safe to say that I am head over heels for these pants from Asos. They are so comfy and I love the warm caramel color. Yup, it’s love. I’m getting a lot of wear out them this week because its Thanksgiving break so, yay, no classes for a week which means no teaching for me. In a week I present a very important paper though, at a very important colloquium, so I’m kind of in stress city right now. But at least I’m happy with my pants.

I love the look on my face here ... I look both mean and uncomfortable at the same time

pants: Asos / shoes: Converse / top: New York and Company / cardigan: thrifted, Ann Taylor / necklace: ModCloth

I’m soothing my fevered brain by looking at the Alice+Olivia 2012 Spring look book. It helps.

Lumberjack

This is my homage to lumberjack style. I also wore this top to my conference in Fort Worth and I have to say, it cleans up pretty nicely with a blazer and skirt. I also wore it to the disastrous conference that was Denver.

blouse: Talbots / pants: Target / flats: Aldo / scarf: F21

Empires in History

A while ago there was a two day symposium on the theme of empires in history at my university. This is what I wore to it, after I loaded up an appropriate amount on coffee before hand, of course. I made it through the first half of the first day and then got totally snowed with grading and various other projects. So basically I made a valiant attempt at engaging in two days of scholarly dialogue before retreating to my solitary (yet equally scholarly) pursuits. Whatever, my work has pretty much nothing to do with empire anyways. Still, I felt a bit guilty.



pleat skirt: via Amazon / shoes: Target / blouse: Old Navy / cardigan: F21

For those of you who follow along on Facebook and Twitter, you will know that I pretty much just had the worst weekend of my life. For reals. My cold made my miserable the entire time I was in Denver and something crazy happened with my eye that involved a ridiculous amount of swelling, my ocular cavity becoming totally bloodshot, and me missing most of the conference to sit in my room and nap, feel miserable, and apply cold compresses to my eye. Regardless, I pulled it together for my paper this morning and I think I did fairly well. It seemed well received although a few of the questions were challenging ones and I had the feeling that at least one person in the room was pretty unconvinced by what I was selling. But that's the way academia works I suppose and the fact that my interpretation may not be universally agreed upon at least confirms me that I'm working on something worth studying because it's a debated topic. So yeah, good conference more or less! And now I'm off to the airport for a hopefully uneventful flight.

Denver!

Has anyone else noticed that I am just wearing the heck out of these faux leather shorts this fall? Well, now you know. Seriously, I love these things. I’ve taken to wearing them at least once a week on the days when I don’t teach. Are there any items in your closet that you find yourself particularly drawn to lately?







shorts: F21 / leggings: American Apparel / boots: Kohls / blazer: F21 / watch: La Mer / cuff: F21

I have safely arrived in Denver (well, I feel like utter crap as a result of my cold) and I'm blogging now as I wait for room service to deliver my chicken noodle soup. Hopefully I'll be feeling better tomorrow for a full day of conferencing!

Look Out Denver!

Check it out, you can see one of my cats chilling out in the window behind me. That’s totally useless information but I felt obliged to point it out to you. This is me being semi-professional as I head out to attend a lecture.

skirt: Gap / blouse: F21 / blazer: H&M / shoes: TUK / satchel: Target / necklace: ModCloth

I'm still feeling disastrously under the weather with a terrible cold but tomorrow morning I am putting on my big girl pants and boarding a plane to Denver for the North American Conference on British Studies. I'm really sad that I'm so sick because this always such a great conference and this year so many friends that I haven't seen in years will be there. Between panels and dinner, lunch, cocktail, and coffee dates I have a full few days planned and am hoping to be able to sneak at least a bit of rest so that I feeling slightly better for my own paper presentation on Sunday morning. That's right, the dissertation road show is traveling to Denver for a spirited talk on honor among early modern elite women in England and its connections to estate ownership and household management! Get excited!

Check out the Facebook page for conference updates throughout the weekend (I'll let you know if my head explodes on the plane as a result of this cold).

Fall Perfection

I kind of really love this weekend look – faux leather shorts and boots and a comfy grey top, what’s not to love. Right? Right.

shorts: F21 / boots: F21 / tights: Gap / top: Gap

I am also falling ever more surely in love with the most recent Mango look book (featuring Tali Lennox and styled by Enric Galceran) – I love the stripe and leopard patterns offset with the leather. This is perfect fall style in my book.

Off White Leopard

I recently picked up this off-white dress from H&M … I figure it will make a good layering piece for teaching with a blazer on top and some tights. Most of my dresses are black or other dark colors so I thought this might mix things up a bit. This is how I wore it go out for dinner though … sans blazer and layered over a long sleeved t-shirt (because it’s seriously chilly here in the evenings you guys).

dress: H&M / coat: H&M / boots: F21 / shirt: Target