Working It

This is one of my favourite work outfits from the past week – I need to commit the various components of this to memory so I can recreate it.

In other news, I'me having a pretty big week. In the good news column, a panel proposal I was involved with for the upcoming North American Conference on British Studies was accepted so I'm off to Arkansas shortly after I return from a vacation in Scotland in the fall. In the bad news column, we got rear ended last night and our back bumper is pretty much done for. Crappy.

blouse: Simons / pants: H&M / wedges: Target / jacket: H&M / necklace: Aldo / sunglasses

Summer's Coming. And That Makes Me Sad.

I will grudgingly admit that one of summer’s positive points is that I can actually take photos outside once again without totally freezing. You win this round summer. Also, just ignore whatever weird thing the wind is doing to my hair....

leggings: ASOS / blouse: Dynamite / booties: Camper / purse: H&M

All the Frills: I Might be a Semi-Dangerous Lunatic

You may have noticed that I have a bit of a thing for rings. Well, this is another of my personal favourites – obviously because it’s both black and very large and sparkly. I’m somewhat predictable.

Also, my BFF got me an awesome birthday gift this year that I had to share as this little bundle of goodies is indicative of someone who knows me frighteningly well. As you can see, I am an unabashed corgi lover (I squeal with glee when I see one), I love my camping wine, I think Gremlins is pretty much the greatest set of movies ever, and I have a weakness for Lip Smackers, which I both love and constantly (seriously, constantly) lose, necessitating the need for a constant stock pile. Yeah, I might be a semi-dangerous lunatic.

Weekend Reading:

• The richness of these archaeological finds is immense, but I sort of feel bad for the guy who just wanted to find his sewage pipe.
  
• This collection of foreign covers on bootlegged DVDs is beyond hilarious.
  
• A short review of the many, many literary references in The Simpsons.
  
• Historical awareness can be disquieting and discomforting at times. And it seems that was certainly the case for Ben Affleck.
  
• I’ve had some bad days at work but some of these are especially bad.
  
• So this little quiz is really, really fun. And surprisingly difficult.

Reviewed

So I was asked by a journal to review a book for them and, guys, it’s a really tough slog. This book is just bonkers. As in I can barely decipher it. And I like to think that I’m pretty competent when it comes to this type of stuff (I mean, I am a doctor) but, wow, just wow. The main problem is that it’s not about something in my area of expertise. In fact, it’s rooted mostly in other disciplines like art history and musicology and I just do not have a grasp on the theoretical and technical ideas and terminology being brought to bear. Having read the book I am now at the writing stage and I’m finding it pretty tough to encapsulate things effectively and write a just review. Remind me not to sign up for stuff like this again…

But enough rambling. This is one of my staple work outfits - just basic black (pretty much what you'd expect of me) but with a bit of colour added care of this Stella & Dot necklace.

dress: Banana Republic / necklace: Stella & Dot

It's Magic...I'm Magic!

Every time I go out for cocktails I want to be wearing this outfit. Because I feel magical in it. Except for the way part of my necklace is weirdly flipped. If I were really magic you'd think I'd be able to fix that...

leggings: ASOS / top: Dorothy Perkins / blazer: Zara / necklace: Aldo / shoes: Aldo

All the Frills: I've Underestimated How Hard Painting Is

We finally started to paint our place! It’s hard to tell from these photos but it’s a very pale blue-grey colour. We’re planning on doing a few dark grey accent walls as well, but that will be down the road from now. Right now we have an ungodly number of rooms to paint (did I mention that painting is a lot of work?) and we’re trying to do as many of them ourselves as we can before we call in a professional to do the parts we can’t do (like the hallways in the stairwells, where the ceilings are two stories high). The home improvement train moves forward!

Weekend Reading:

• Anyone else an Archer Fan? I’m actually pretty impressed by the range of literary references here.
• Holy god this sculpture is nightmarish.
• This piece on Billie Holiday is just really fascinating.
• That’s it, I’m going to start wearing my Snuggie on the bus.
• Who doesn’t love a good priest hole?

Drama Queen

I wore this last week to meet a friend for dinner after work and gorge myself on one of Edmonton’s best veggie burgers, the Drama Queen at the Next Act Pub. Then home to get back to the research for a new paper I’m writing on social and power realtionships between early modern elite women and their female servants. Within three hours I was craving another veggie burger. They’ve basically become like heroin for me.

dress: Simons / boots: Aldo / pin: Aldo / jacket: H&M / scarf: Etsy

Chevron

As much as I’ve always been a fan of chevron prints, I’ve never actually had any in my closet. So when this top from ModCloth went on sale, I couldn’t pass it up. It’s just too cute!

top: ModCloth / pants: Zara / booties: Camper / jacket: H&M / necklace: Express

All the Frills: The Studded Blazer

This jacket is a real pain in the ass to wear (purses with shoulder straps are a nightmare, and forget about properly fitting a winter jacket over top of it), but I remain completely smitten with it. I mean, studs!

Weekend Reading:

• Forever 21 has some pretty ridiculous graphic shirts.
  
• This is a pretty humourous riff on Nasty Gal but, in all fairness, I want a shirt that simply says “Tacos.”
  
• I’m excited for this film. The Woman in Gold is one of my favourite Klimt paintings and I didn’t know it had such a fascinating history.
  
• This is a fun little piece on the history of the poisoned dress. And, bonus, it’s got some wonderful Medea references in it. If you’re into that sort of thing. And I am!
  
• I’ve been saying for years that the Anglo Saxons were really onto something. Turns out they were with this medical remedy.

Drafted!

After several months of hard work, I finally finished a first draft of my most recent article project on elite women and anger in early modern England.

And, trust me, it’s got a lot of fun snippets of early modern gentlewomen being generally snippy and mean, surrounded by some rigorous analysis of the intersection of historicized understandings of anger and its expression with things like the gender and social hierarchy of the period.

But the fun part is, of course, the ladies being catty. Here’s a little snippet of that. This is the Countess of Bath writing to a Master Savage and engaging in a little clever word play: “when I remember your name Savage I ffind it not moch dissenting from your natural disposition. For indede if I might so grossly terme it. this beastly blessinge of yours declare you to be more savage or brutish than discrete or reasonable in so cruelly cursinge me yt never harmyd you. ye shall haue no great cause to pleasure in your so doyng and in malisynge me ye feel your owne harme for none can ye do to me and then are ye in worse case than the serpent for the serpent kepithe his poyson without his owen perill and so cannot the malicious man which hurtithe himself most with his owne malice or poison.”

But enough of that and on to the outfit! I have an affinity for plaids, as you've no doubt noticed, so there was no way I could say "no" to this jumper.

jumper: ASOS / boots: Aldo / necklace: Express / purse: H&M / jacket: H&M

Dressing for the Depot

Hot on the heels of recent home improvements (we painted our fireplace, starting painting, and installed some new lighting), the helpmeet and I are looking to put in some new flooring. So we spent most of the past Saturday at Home Depot checking out our options. And this is what I wore. I feel like the plaid and vaguely western-feel booties somehow just worked for Home Depot. That’s right, I officially select my daily wardrobe based on what’s going to be appropriate for Home Depot. I am fine with my choices.

jeans: J Brand / top: Zara / booties: Target / sunglasses: Aldo

Sequined Distraction

Because sometimes you need just to wear something sequined. Especially when you're spending your day off work trying to power through a slew of revisions to your latest article while consuming copious amounts of coffee and working at a local cafe. Sequins make it easier my friends.

tunic: F21 / leggings: Target / boots: Aldo / necklace: Express / sweater: H&M