Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Navy is the New Black

This is sort of a weird outfit for me in that it doesn’t involve a lot of black. I mean, some black and a fair amount of navy but still, I’ve been mostly wearing black almost daily for the past few weeks (something about the final waning of winter and the true onset of spring makes me want to reach for darker and somber colours, I guess) so this is pushing things outside of my most recently defined comfort zone. It also constitutes my most recent attempt to get more wear out of this lacy cardigan that my eye is always drawn to when I open my closet but that I never seem to wear all that frequently.

Yeah, I’ve got a lot of things going on with this.

dress: Simons / necklace: c/o OASAP / cardigan: thrifted, Value Village / boots: Dr Martens / tights: Winners

Monday, April 28, 2014

Seasonally Inappropriate

The onset of spring and summer always puts me in sort of a goth mood. Weird, I know.


dress: H&M / shoes: Aldo / tights: Target / watch: Kenneth Cole / necklace: Monserat de Lucca via Shopbop

Friday, April 25, 2014

All the Frills: The Cartography Corner

Just like the slightly weird pillows featuring historical personalities that I seem to be unwittingly collecting, I seem to also have amassed a large number of reproductions of historical maps – of which this is just one. They’re the kind of thing that a lot of historical sites in Connecticut sell (as one of the first thirteen colonies, etc) and I know I’ve also picked up a few in Edinburgh the last time I was there. It’s a good thing we’re moving into a house of our own soon – I’ll finally be able to display these things properly. Maybe I can even have a nook of the house that I christen Cartography Corner? Yes, that’s definitely the answer.



Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Timing...and Why I Lack It

The upside to warmer temperatures is a return to semi-regular outdoor photos.

In other, unrelated news, I got offered a one year contract as an assistant professor of early modern European history at an institution where I really wanted to work. And I had to turn it down. Because, while I would have jumped at this chance a year or two ago, having a permanent, steady, reasonably fulfilling job that pays well and allows me to buy a house and be planning a trip to Scotland is just too good to walk away from for a one year gig, no matter how good the opportunity seems. But that doesn't mean I'm not still cursing the horrible timing of all this and consuming a healthy amount of wine and cheese (okay, it's probably not a healthy amount, but give a girl a break).

tights: Winners / dress: H&M / cardigan: can’t recall / boots: Steve Madden

Monday, April 21, 2014

Rubber Boot Weather

Edmonton get a lot of snow over the winter. So when the temperature starts to rise there’s a lot of muck and water in the street. Like a lot. Enter my old rubber boots!

boots: Kamik / pants: RW Winter and Co / blazer: F21 / top: Aritzia / necklace: Aldo

Friday, April 18, 2014

All the Frills: I'm a Giant!

On my last excursion to Edmonton’s own Antique Mall (also known as the place I would live at if I could) I came across this absolutely adorable tiny Italian-English dictionary. How could I resist? I mean who doesn’t love feeling like a giant?




Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Fancy Shoes

These are my wedding shoes. They are very impractical and very lovely and were the only costly thing about my wedding (hello discount wedding dress!) and most of the time they live tucked away in a box in my closet. But I do enjoy pulling them out every so often and wearing them out for drinks. But I am very, very careful when I wear them. Very.

pants: Banana Republic / shoes: vintage / sweater: Zara / necklace: Monserat de Lucca via Shopbop / bracelets: Aldo

Monday, April 14, 2014

Italian Masterworks

I wore this a few Saturdays ago to go to the Alberta Art Gallery to view an exhibit of Italian Renaissance and Baroque pieces on loan from a Glasgow collection. It was amazing and made me really happy that my local gallery is able to mount such beautiful exhibitions but also a bit nostalgic for the museums of NYC and London which I really feel I should have tried to see one last time before I stopped living in those places (or close to them). That said, I have visited the Met about thirty times so maybe I’m just a museum junkie?

blouse: ModCloth / dress: Zara / coat: ASOS / boots: Steve Madden / purse: Urban Outfitters

Friday, April 11, 2014

All the Frills: Pillowy

I’m not exactly sure how I managed to amass all these specialty pillows but somehow it’s happened (I think they were all gifts). I especially enjoy my English history set of Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I. Although I still think it’s weird you can get that on a pillow.



Weekend Reading:


Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Wackily Sized Leggings

This is vaguely ridiculous but I ordered a pair of leggings from ASOS and grossly miscalculated the conversion of British to American sizes (which is weird because I lived in London for a bit and got pretty damn good at making that conversion on the fly as I shopped) and wound up with a pair of leggings that are like 4 sizes too big. They are, however, perfect for the waning of this particular Alberta winter in which I have, several times, needed to layer wool tights and an additional pair of leggings underneath because it’s been -40 out with the windchill. Advantage me!


 
leggings: ASOS / tunic: Target / boots: Target / necklace: Aldo / bracelets: Aldo / watch: Swatch

Monday, April 7, 2014

Purgatory

I have a section of my closet that I call “purgatory.” Essentially, it’s where I move things that I’m contemplating passing on to someone else and, based on a rule that I’ve arbitrarily created and imposed, things live for about six months and then, if they’re not worn in that time period, off they go.

This blouse lived there for a while but I decided to pull it out and wear it. And, having done that, I think I’ll put it back into the regular rotation section of my closet. I sort of forgot how much I like it…
blazer: BB Dakota / blouse: ModCloth / heels: Marshalls / pants: Dynamite

Friday, April 4, 2014

All the Frills: The Necklace Tree

Several years ago in Connecticut I got this awesome Halloween decoration. And after Halloween that year I decided that it was simply too awesome to pack away in my holiday decoration storage box and that it would, in fact, make a perfect jewelry tree. And I was right.


Weekend Reads:

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

My Favourite Form of Charitable Giving

I wore this to a fundraiser recently – the University of Alberta’s Mac n’ Cheese Affair.

Basically you buy a ticket and get to eat a lot of mac n’ cheese with the proceeds going to the Campus Food Bank.

I’m not going to lie, it was pretty awesome. And I picked up a few great things in the silent auction portion of the evening…so, bonus!

dress: Simons / blazer: H&M / boots: ASOS

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Not a Real Doctor

I may have a PhD in history and Renaissance studies from Yale but the shirt says it all, I’m not a real doctor…in the life-saving sense at least. But if you ever need anyone to take about gender and identity in the early modern world, or maybe the social history of early modern England, then I’m your gal!

shirt: Buy Me Brunch / jeans: Zara / necklace: c/o OASAP / boots: Target