the gift

Tommy Hilfiger chambray shirtdress, Macy's

belt, Old Navy

Cejon scarf, Ross

     I wore this outfit on Monday. I happened to walk by the vice principal in the hallway, and she said, "I appreciate that you are always dressed so professionally." I mentioned that being dressed a certain way helps me to feel more confident in the classroom, and she agreed.
    It's hard to find words for how pleased I was to hear this! I am a quiet and rather awkwardly shy person (explains the online verbosity, right? ;)). Over the past few years, I've experienced the satisfaction of starting to create and purposefully wield a personal style that can give people a hint of who I am and the pride I take in my profession. I'm still basking in this comment, and it was a potent reminder of what a powerful gift we can give to others when we take a moment to notice something about them - and to express our appreciation.

  
     Another gift I received recently is that, thanks to a comment on Gracey's giveaway post, Blue Nile asked whether I'd be interested in doing a holiday giveaway. I hope to get the giveaway up and running next week! Next week will be a crazy one at school, though ... as my colleague so aptly puts it, the kids will be "googly-eyed" with holiday excitement and last-week-of-school-before-winter-break giddiness. Time to break out the pile of read-alouds, fun activities, and learning games and shelve the two-column notes and introduction of any new concepts ... 

Try-it-out Tuesday: houndstooth and lace

"Pacific" lace tee, Hollister

Halogen skirt, Nordstrom Rack, gift

White House Black Market blazer, thrifted

leggings, Macy's

belt, Old Navy

Dr. Scholls Allycats booties, HauteLook  

        Pattern mixing is still a mystery to me, but I find that sticking to black and white helps me look more cool vs. circus escapee. (Speaking of pattern mixing, Cori of La Vie Petite gave some great tips here.) It was pouring and chilly the day I put this together, so I started with the leggings and boots since that's not something I can wear year-round.

      

       I wore this lace top for last week's Try-it-out Tuesday, and I'll be doing a lot more remixing for February and March, as I've signed up for a two-month shopping ban with Tanvi. I am excited about maximizing what I already own, getting creative, and saving some $$ in the process.

Try-it-out Tuesday: summer layering

     Summer layering? The idea makes no sense, particularly in very warm Hawaii. Nonetheless, I gave it a shot with the lightest layer I could think of ...

My inspiration:

                                                                                      Source: thisisnotnew.com via Carrie on Pinterest

My take:

Rafaella crinkle-silk blouse, thrifted, Goodwill

Studio M shirtdress, Macy's

cardigan, Banana Republic, from Mom

belt, Old Navy

     I did wear the cardigan in class (the AC in that room is strange -- it's either freezing or warm and stuffy), but I thought it would be too much to wear the belt, too. It's one thing to unobtrusively extract a sweater from your bag, another thing entirely to extract a sweater and a belt ...

     Note to self: remember, you can smile while wondering whether the camera's focused, or the exposure's right ...  :)
     Happy Tuesday!

Try-it-out (Thursday): all thumbs & imaginary travels

     I can't figure out why I'm having such a hard time getting Try-it-out Tuesday photographed and posted by, well, Tuesday. Perhaps it's that school's over and I'm just not leaving the house much? Perhaps the real time-suck has been Youtube how-to hairstyling videos? Recently I've spent some time watching these videos then trying to (futilely) re-create these styles with my own hair.

Rafaella silk shirt, thrifted from Goodwill for $4.99

 denim pencil skirt, Old Navy

Dansko Sakura sandals, Nordstrom Rack

broken and randomly re-knotted necklace, Forever 21

beaded wrap bracelet, Macy's, very old

         My hair is quite long and I'm not planning to cut it for another month.  Initially, I thought it would be fun to find some cute new ways to wear it. I've figured out that: a) I have exponentially more hair than most of the folks posting these tutorials, which means more hair to fumble around with, and b) I have no patience for braiding my hair. Which means this very simple twisted ponytail is a big deal around here (it's OK if you're laughing). ;)

    After wearing this all day, I realized what a great outfit it would be for traveling stylishly. Lightweight crinkled silk shirt = easy to wash and wear as well as cool for hot days. Dark-wash denim pencil skirt = feminine but still comfortable. Chunky-heeled sandals = cool and perfect for walking tours. Add in some inexpensive jewelry and you've got an outfit.

     Sadly, the only traveling I'll be doing this summer will be courtesy of some riveting books borrowed from the public library. I'm not complaining - it's a great way to spend some much-coveted free time. :)

roundup: gingham and tigers

      A peek at last week's outfits ...
      I usually think of gingham as sweet and a bit country, but I decided to take it in an edgier direction via accessories last week. The jeans are from my generous friend R. She got these jeans as a hand-me-down from a friend, but it didn't quite fit R. So she passed them on to me. Bonus points for the fact that R's anonymous friend seems to have the same inseam I do!

Lauren buttondown, Macy's, passed down from Mom

Rock & Republic jeans, passed down

manaia necklace, Seattle

bracelets: HauteLook, gifted

 

In Maori culture, the manaia wards off evil 

Bracelets in earth tones

   One of the third-graders told me on Tuesday that my dress reminded him of a tiger. Well, if tigers had stripes in navy, citron and white ...

Alfani dress, Macy's

skinny grommet belt, Old Navy

    I know a lot of people would think this belt doesn't match, but I like how it adds a quirky touch to the dress.
    Come back tomorrow to check out Try-it-out Wednesday! :) 

lessons in boldness

    I put this outfit together on Wednesday, and realized it's a promising sign of style progress. As my profile blurb notes, I'm trying to become a "pencil-skirt rockin', artfully accessorized woman."
I looked at this, and thought, hmm ... not bad. :)

 Merona buttondown, previously loved by E.I.

pencil skirt, Calvin Klein outlet

necklace, eBay

belt, Old Navy

      First off, thanks go to Katie of Hems for Her for inspiring me to pull out my pencil skirt. See her workin' that skirt here and here. It is so inspiring to me to see a teacher dressing with such confidence and verve. I've been guilty of sporting the tee and jeans look in the classroom a lot, but I'm realizing that how I present myself is key as well. If I put all that thought and care into my lessons and relationships with students ... why not show students how much I enjoy my work by dressing with pride?

    I have to admit that I almost chickened out on wearing the colorful necklace. I was headed for a work meeting and wondered if this necklace was too much. But then I decided that if I wanted to wear it, I should wear it. To me, it elevated the whole outfit from ho-hum professional to fun yet polished. Looks like I'm learning how to have fun with my accessories, one eBay necklace at a time ...