A Stroll in the Woods

I maintain that this is a totally appropriate outfit for a stroll in the woods following a heavy rain. I regret nothing.

pants: RW Winter and Co / blouse: ModCloth / blazer: Zara / sunglasses: Aldo / boots: Kamik

Errands

I wore this on a very hectic Saturday that was filled with what seemed like one thousand errands to be run – the cats has a vet appointment, we needed camping supplies for a planned excursion, groceries needed to be bought (as well as furnace filters that could be only purchased from a special store way out in the boonies with frustrating irregular hours), etc, etc. But at least I got a lot of driving practice in (I’m planning to do my road test in a few weeks).

skirt: Vero Moda / shirt: Target / sandals: Aldo / necklace: Aldo / sunglasses: Aldo

All the Frills: Ankle Boots

I went a little nuts on ankle boots last year – I snagged three pairs last fall and they have definitely become a wardrobe staple for me. So it should come as no surprise that I found myself doing a little online window shopping the other day for even more ankle boots. Here are two of the pairs that I picked up….and I even purchased a pair that were over 50% off on sale. Can you guess which ones?

via ModCloth

via ModCloth

Weekend Reading 

• You know I love me some classy insults.
• As a dear grad school friend put it, “Rebellious aristocratic son? Declining economic fortunes of the nobility? Tension with the commoners? Well-placed visual of sheep and bucolic landscape? Check, check, check, and check. Plus the option to buy an estate and title in the Lake District!! This story's got it all.”
• Holy shit, this casting call for the biopic Straight Outta Compton is racist and sexist as hell. I’ve always had problems with Bill Maher for precisely this reason. And also his intolerant views on religion. And I’m an atheist myself.
• Might this be the secret to ending pain whilst in high heels? Read this!
• This is a really awful story about an abusive gynecologist. Which might be a lot of women’s worst nightmare.

So Much Pasta

Worn to an after work dinner date with a pal (also known as “I’ve just come from gorging myself on pasta").

jeans: Kensie / shoes: Spring / top: F21 / blazer: BB Dakota / necklace: Stella and Dot

Post-Punk

Keeping up the theme of a post from last week (coloured pants, that is), here’s a particularly obnoxious pair that are amongst my favourite. These are like a sartorial homage to my more overtly punk style of dress in high school and my early years of university. Nowadays I’m cultivating a more professional look – but always with a dash of punk thrown in.

pants: Simons / top: thrifted, Value Village / blazer: H&M / shoes: Zigi Soho / necklace: Monserat de Lucca

All the Frills: The Stag

This is a little housewarming gift that I purchased for myself (damn it, I deserve it). I’m totally smitten with this (it comes in gold and white as well and I’m already coming up with ways to justify needing them all).

Weekend Reads

• This book by David Duchovny sounds pretty whack-a-doo.
  
• Remember Designing Women? God, I loved that show.
  
• This piece from the Museum of the City of New York on the Vanderbilt Ball of 1883 is wonderfully entertaining.
  
• This is maddening. Did you know that Rosie O’Donnell likes killing endangered shark species? Neither did I.
  
• This is even more horrifying and stupefying. Seriously. And it shows the necessity of feminism. Only the brainwashed believe that seeking equality is the same as seeking supremacy.
  
• This piece about Sandy Allen, world’s tallest woman, is both fascinating and sad.
  
• Oh my God, oh my God. If you wear contacts this will gross you out/freak you out.

Purple and Leopard - A Closet Favourite

I love pairing these purplish pants with something, anything, leopard print. I can’t really explain why but it just works for me.

pants: RW Winter and Co / blouse: Dynamite / shoes: Target / necklace: F21

Holy Hell It's Hot

Well, the heat here in Edmonton eased up enough for me to feel like a normal person and not a hot sweaty mess when I went to work (or at least it had when I took these photos - the temperature has now risen back to an ungodly level and I'm thanking Satan/Cthulhu daily that my AC is installed at home). But it was still hot enough when I took these photos (you can see the misery on my face) that, at 4 pm, I left my office and went immediately to an air conditioned library on campus to spend a little time doing some research for a new project I’ve just started on the language of insult and combative strategies in interpersonal conflicts between early modern gentlewomen. Yeah, it’s a mouthful but it’s keeping me off the streets and in an air-conditioned environment so I’m running with it!

Also, I swear when I was at work I actually tucked my little nylon socks into my shoes better so that they didn't show but walking home from the bus stop I guess my foot shifted so now it's sock city. Oops.

pants: Nordstrom Rack / top: H&M / shoes: Aldo / blazer: BB Dakota / necklace: gift from my BFF

All the Frills: Home Edition

As some of you may know, the helpmeet and I recently bought our first place!

Two years ago, when I was a freshly minted PhD on the academic job market, I never would have thought we’d be putting down roots in our hometown. I saw it, instead, as a temporary place to regroup following graduation. But I landed a great non-academic job in the non-profit sector and found I could teach some history classes at local universities and continue to write and research in my down time (and, I’ll admit, I’m a bit of a sell-out in that I LOVED the steady, stable (and high) pay cheques I was getting after 6 years of living like a quasi-hobo in Connecticut on a grad student stipend) and Edmonton started to seem more and more like a good place to settle in.

Anyways, we’ve bounced between a few apartments in the past two years and then fell in love with our townhouse style condo (and if my dream academic job does ever come around we can always sell it and relocate). And, after a couple of weeks of moving hell, we’re pretty much all settled in. Here it is!

Our delightfully cool basement/movie watching room

Basement

A favourite print

The entrance to our second floor, open concept kitchen and formal living room

Finally, a dedicated wall for all the diplomas! I have 5 - a BA, two MAs, and MPhil, and the PhD

Excuse the dishes drying in the sink and the shameful looking cat in the corner

Again, ignore the lounging cat

Formal living room

Books, books, and more books

Dining room

I like to pretend I work at a fancy antique store with this table, and I can slide open the display case to show people my trinkets

Upstairs doors to the laundry room

Landing at the top of the stairs

Bedroom

Bedroom

The most perfect ensuite bathroom ever!

Weekend Reads: 

• Ugh. Sometimes people are really gross. Like these academics defending pedophilia.
• The situation unfolding at Jezebel is really interesting…and touches on the still contentious intersection of feminism and race.
• I feel like a good 2% of my day is now spent marvelling at the selection of cracked out shoes on ModCloth. Like these gems.
• So a bunch of people actually thought Steven Spielberg killed a dinosaur. And they got angry about it. People are pretty dumb.
• The US draft is back…sort of.
• Looking for a summer read? May I suggest some books about sparkly things?

Heat

There is absolutely nothing at all remarkable in any way about this outfit – what’s remarkable is that, considering how ungodly hot it was outside that day, I’m not melted in these photos and haven't totally snapped and tried to throttle someone. Yeah, I really don’t like the heat. I tried to stay cool in a loose fitting, cotton top (I refuse to give up my black duds though) but it was still pretty miserable. So miserable, in fact, that all my plans the night before to get some research done for my latest academic project were totally derailed as I was forced to take an extended heat nap in my deliciously cool basement.

top: Zara / pants: Nordstrom Rack / shoes: Zigi Soho via Nordstrom Rack

Boyfriend Jeans

This is the last set of photos I did in my old apartment before I moved. The only part of the apartment that did not have boxes strewn in front of it was this little sliver of wall by a door. Not the greatest place for photos, I know, but I had to work with what I had. I picked up this top at Value Village on a recent thrift excursion and, even though it was an XL and, hence, oversized on me, I paired it with loose boyfriend style jeans and a more fitted blazer to anchor things – and I like the way it turned it out!

On a side note, I may be addicted to these jeans. They're so damn comfy and relaxed and, basically, just perfect for summer wear.

jeans: Kensie / shirt: Joe Fresh via Vallue Village / shoes: Zigi SoHo via Nordtsrom Rack / blazer: F21