Friday, October 31, 2014

All the Frills: Antlers

As you may know from seeing other corners of my house here on the blog, I have a thing for antlers and, more generally, just bits of bone, in my home décor. Over thanksgiving my father-in-law very generously donated this set of antlers to my collection. So, yeah, I was pretty thankful.
Weekend Reading:



Wednesday, October 29, 2014

The Coziest Cardigan of Them All

I picked up this cardigan at Value Village a few years ago and it’s become a standby for me. In addition to coming camping with me every single time that I go (it’s just so cozy to wear around the fire at night), I toss it on with leggings and boots perhaps more frequently than I should in the fall. Again, it’s just too cozy not to want to wear all the time.

leggings: ASOS / boots: Geox via Value Village / top: H&M / necklace: Aldo / cardigan: Value Village, original tag torn out

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Researching

My current article project is coming along nicely but, in the course of question period following my paper presentation at the most recent conference I attended, I also got a few great ideas of things to incorporate into my draft monograph. On the day I wore this I spent a weekend afternoon taking a break from the article research and hauling my laptop to one of the library on campus to write for a few hours. Comfort is key for such activities!

top: H&M / cardigan: Target / boots: Zara / pants: RW and Co

Friday, October 24, 2014

All the Frills: All Hallows

Because Halloween (also known as my absolute favourite time of year) is almost upon us, I’m using this week’s edition of All the Frills to feature some of the Halloween decorations that my helpmeet and I put out this year. Do you decorate for Halloween or dress up?




Weekend Reading:


Monday, October 20, 2014

Sweater Weather

My next favourite thing about fall (aside from it being jacket weather again)? It’s also sweater weather!


jeans: Winners / ring: XO Veronika / watch: Kenneth Cole / bracelets: Aldo

Friday, October 17, 2014

All the Frills: The Last Jacket for a While (I Promise)

I’m featuring yet another jacket this week! I swear I’ll stop next week but I just have so many fall jackets (I may have a problem) and I really wanted to feature a few of my favourite ones. Like this blanket style coat that I picked up at Winners. It’s beyond cozy….




Weekend Reading


Wednesday, October 15, 2014

End of the Season

It’s soon going to be too cold to wear skirts sans tights so I decided to get in one last wear of this gold lame pleated number (which looks ridiculous with tights but is like the perfect fall skirt) when the helpmeet and I headed for a little date night. Because the skirt is a tad on the fancy side, I dressed it down a touch by pairing it with a sweatshirt.

skirt: Urban Outfitters / shirt: thrifted via Goodwill / shoes: Target

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Jacket Addict

Have I mentioned how happy I am to be wearing all my fall and winter jackets again? I picked up this one at Century 21 on my last trip to New York and it’s basically my go-to fall coat. I wish I could wear this year round…

jacket: Century 21 / scarf: H&M 

Friday, October 10, 2014

All the Frills: Jacket Weather

I’m featuring another of my favourite fall jackets on the All the Frills today because, well, I have a mild obsession with fall jackets and have amassed quite the collection over the years. This little number is undoubtedly a personal favourite. I love the quilted faux leather sleeves and it’s the perfect fall colour. Toss on a chunky scarf and I am good to go!



Weekend Reading 


Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Efficiency

So these photos were taken in the IKEA parking lot by this weird little shed thing they have there. I was killing two birds with one stone (the birds being that I needed to get a new shelf at IKEA and I had also hoped to do some outfit shots that day). As you can see, I’m highly efficient.

Pants: H&M / shirt: Target / necklace: Aldo / jacket: Joe Fresh via Goodwill (this jacket is actually still in stores, whoever bought it must have bought it like two weeks ago, worn it once or twice, and then donated it) / shoes: Aldo

Monday, October 6, 2014

In Conference

Fall is definitely in the air and I couldn’t be happier. Strolling about outside, looking at all the beautiful colours and breathing in the crisp air, I reckon that to be a near perfect day.

In other news, my conference this past weekend was a great success! I got to reconnect with some wonderful academic colleagues, have some great impromptu chats about history-related things, toss around some new ideas, etc. It was great. I also feel that the panel I presented as a part of was very successful. We had a big turnout (actually, I think we had one of the bigger turnouts of the conference) and the participants seemed really interested in my paper. I got a lot of wonderful compliments and very solid questions asked, both in the formal question period and in more social settings outside the formal program. It was a lovely feeling. I capped the trip off with a visit with some family in the area and then a truly terrifying Greyhound bus ride back to Edmonton. Seriously, the Greyhound is awful. It was definitely the one crappy part about the trip.

I also have an amusing anecdote for you. Typically when I give a paper at a conference I wear my glasses rather than my contacts. And the reason I do this is so that I can take off my glasses to read my paper so that I can see the words on the page (I make it like 15 pt font because my glasses enable me to things at a distance) but not see the faces of audience members when I look up as I read. I just find it calming because, if someone is frowning or shaking their head when you present their ideas, it can throw you off and be a shot to your confidence level and I've found that it makes me a bit flustered leading into the question period when I prefer to enter that stage confident. Son, anyways, that's my little trick. And it usually works perfectly because, at every single conference I've presented at so far, which is over twenty I'd guess, you always just sit at a table with your fellow panelists at the head of the room. This time though there was a lectern and we were all supposed to walk over and present behind it. So, my turn rolled around and I took off my glasses (as always) and gathered my papers and made my way to the lectern. And then had a mild panic attack when I realized that the papers were about half a foot lower than they would have been if I were sitting. So I couldn't see the words. I mean I sort of could but just barely. And I'd left my glasses on the other side of the room and everyone was now staring at me waiting for me to start. Luckily, because I always want my conference presentations to be good, I practice the papers that I'm giving about fifteen times leading up to a conference to make the length, cadence, etc. is right. So I had huge chunks of the paper memorized and just went for it, leaning over a bit more than probably looked right when I needed to see the words on my papers.


pants: RW and Co / shirt: Zara / scarf: Hudson’s Bay / shoes: Zigi Soho via Nordstrom Rack / purse: H&M

Friday, October 3, 2014

All the Frills: Shells

This is probably going to sound a little weird but I’ve been super into shells lately, in the sense that I’ve been integrating them into my living room décor scheme. There’s just something about the way they look placed next to books that I just find really pleasing to the eye.

I'm other news, I'm off to a conference this morning (the Western Conference on British Studies, to be precise). I don't present my paper until tomorrow but am really looking forward to a great line up of panels this afternoon. See you all on Monday!




Weekend Reading


Wednesday, October 1, 2014

The Last of Summer

Worn for a day of running errands and then a few beers on a patio, soaking up what was likely the last summery day of the year a few weeks back. Now, bring on fall!

tank top: H&M / leggings: ASOS / boots: Target / cardigan: Pins + Needles / necklaces: Monserat de Lucca via Shopbop / watch: Kenneth Cole / sunglasses: Aldo