I Can't Complain

Kindergarten Fashion Report

I guess it's not technically a kindergarten fashion report, since the actual kindergartners were all wearing pretty much the same thing  - plaid jumpers or blue shorts with white shirts.  They did all look awfully cute, though. 

Anyway, today was my weekly reading day in K5, so I naturally wore a new outfit in hopes of impressing a roomful of five- and six-year-olds.  I realize this is bordering on pathetic, but a girl's gotta take whatever compliments she can get, you know?  And hey, it worked - when I came in I got a BIG chorus of "Mrs. Bomber's Mommy, I LOVE your shoes!" And "Mrs. Husband's Last Name, you look pretty!" 

(Almost no one there calls me by my actual last name, which I find slightly hilarious - yesterday when I was there helping out with Mother's Day cake decorating one of the Bomber's teachers announced to her class that they needed to all pay attention and go up when Mrs....um... when H-bomb's mother calls them.  It's not that she (and everyone else) doesn't know my last name, but it's such a mouthful, especially in comparison to the Bomber's last name, that no one wants to attempt it. I'm not complaining, it just makes me laugh.)

So, today's outfit was a big hit:

The tunic sweeater is from Boden. It is so super-comfortable, I want to wear it every day. I'd buy it in every color if it came in anything else besides tan and grey. The leggings are just leggings - from Delia's or Target or some other source of generic leggings. 

The shoes are Annie, and I found them when I decided I needed lime green shoes and Googled "lime green flats".   I knew that some day all those skills I've been honing doing legal research for the last 8 years would come in handy.  "Lime green flats" to find lime green flats - that's why they pay me the big money, folks.  I got them from Amazon for an absolute song, too.

Scarf and belt are both old pieces in my wardrobe.  The scarf is from a Bass outlet and the belt is so old, I can't even remember where I got it.  It's surprising how much use I've gotten out of a lime green chain link belt. The bracelet I bought last summer at Broadway at the Beach in Myrtle Beach for like a dollar. I love it way more than a dollar's worth, though. It's really cheerful and summery. And I got a serious compliment on it from one of the little fashionistas today - she told me she wanted one like that for her mommy. :)

Here's how I look in all of this:

You can't see my shoes, and there's no cat box today, but you do get a bonus picture of the potted plant in my office lobby. Come to think of it, the potted plant coordinates nicely with my outfit, doesn't it? Or.... I coordinate nicely with the potted plant. Which doesn't sound nearly as fashionable.

Just a few more weeks of school, which means just a few more weeks of ego-stroking...er, I mean reading to the kindergartners.  That's probably a good thing, though - the stress of finding something exciting to wear every Thursday is really starting to get to me.

Oh, and happy Confederate Memorial Day to all you crazy kids who celebrate it.  I have to work, but I hope you'll print some money or secede from the union or something, for me.

What I'm Wearing: Thursday Edition

My friend Stylishboots did an impromptu What I'm Wearing today (which was, as always, quite stylish), so I thought I'd follow suit, and do one, too.  Here's what I've got on today:

Jacket, pants and blouse are all from NY & Company.  The jacket & the pants are actually exactly the same color, despite the difference in color in the pictures.  I really try not to buy outfits exactly as they're presented by a vendor, but this one really caught my eye, so I look a little like a NY & Co. mannequin. 

Shoes are from T.U.K - I actually bought them a few years ago, but didn't feel like I had anything to wear them with.  I found them again in February, emptying shoe boxes for Valentine's Day mailboxes and suddenly I'm wearing them with everything.  As an aside, I wore these to story time again today and got comments from the bookkeeper, all three teachers and two junior shoe fetishists, plus the one who didn't comment but did fiddle with the buckles while I read.

The jewelry is new - the neighborhood tour of historic homes was last weekend, and we hosted two lovely sisters who make their own jewelry on our porch as part of that. They gave me the jewelry as a gift for hosting them.  As soon as I saw the stripey earrings, I knew what I was going to wear them with. They were also a big hit with the kindergartners, by the way. 

I didn't take a picture of myself at home this morning, so I had to resort to  pervy bathroom pictures of myself this morning - I hope you all appreciate my sacrifice.  Actually, because a major water leak upstairs, I couldn't even take pervy bathroom pictures in the bathroom on my floor - I had to go someone else's floor.  Luckily, I didn't get busted this time.   Anyway, I take pretty poor photographs, and I photograph pretty poorly, so it should be no surprise that I take incredibly poor photographs of myself.  This is, no kidding, the best of the lot:

I tried a bunch without the flash, but the lighting was too low and my hand too unsteady to get a non-blurry photo, so this one will have to do. It's a good thing I have this law thing to fall back on, since my career in self-portraiture is obviously not going to pan out.

Blatant Pandering

Last week there was very little action on the shoe fetishist front.  I switched days from Thursday to Friday, and when I got there they were all abuzz about their visit from some short, trap-busting, candy-pushing Irish guy.  The only way they'd have noticed my shoes if they were green satin boots with turned-up toes.  And I totally forgot to wear mine. What? YOU don't have leprechaun shoes in your closet?

Anyway, today, in what I like to think of as "playing to your audience"  (but is really most accurately described as an act of blatant pandering,) I made a point of wearing shoes I thought would appeal to your average five-to-six year old.  Specifically, these:

If you think those shoes are all kinds of awesome, you are in good company with a small gaggle of five year old girls, and one of their teachers.  (I can only assume the other teacher just didn't get a good look at them.)

The best part about these shoes is that while they're not new, I haven't worn them much, so it's like having a new pair of shoes. (In fact, I discovered them in a shoe box I was emptying out to use as a kindergartner's Valentine's Day card mailbox.  It's kind of appropriate that they used shoe boxes, don't you think? But I digress...)  Anyway, it's a good thing I dug these up because I gave up shopping for Lent  (I know, right?! I hope someone reading this is already working on my application for beatification....) so I can't just go out and buy something. 

Easter is only a few weeks away, though, and I've already started scoping out shoes to add to my kindergarten-approved collection. I wonder if these:

are too much for daytime wear?

 

 

 

 

Kindergartners Are Closet Shoe Fetishists

Since right after winter break, I've been going over to the Bomber's school once a week to read stories to his class.  It's absolutely one of my favorite parts of every week - I'm really enjoying getting to know his classmates and there's nothing like the rock star treatment a visiting parent gets from a group of five-year-olds to buoy your spirits.  But after going over there every week for the last two months, I've learned something else about small children that I never knew before: they dig shoes.

And really, this kind of makes sense.  They're all still pretty low to the ground, and for most of them, a grown-up's feet are a LOT closer than their heads.  And not only that, but no one's feet ever scolded them or told them to stop doing something they wanted to be doing. Heads? They do that stuff all the time. 

I have to admit, I didn't quite put it all together at first. The first day I went over to read, I thought all the scuffling to be in the front row, and touching me was just because of that whole five-year-old-rock-star treatment.  The next week, though, I went over there wearing these:

They're made from a sort of fuzzy microfiber.  Not quite faux suede, but fuzzy enough to have a little texture.  The kids sitting closest to my feet were FASCINATED by them. One of them rubbed them absent-mindedly the entire time I read, while another had to be restrained from putting his face on them.

The next week I wore these:

Not even remotely fuzzy, so I figured I was safe.  Instead, one little girl actually wrapped her arm around my leg and stroked the boot from ring to ring, stopping every few strokes to hook her finger in one of the rings and try to pull it off. The little boy from the previous week preferred the toes.

The following week was the booties again, and more fuzzy admiration. A pair of brown leather booties garnered virtually NO interest, but I suspect that had to do more with the fact that they were out of sorts from being stuck inside on a rainy day, than a critique of my footware.  At least, I hope so. I'd hate to think my favorite brown shoes didn't pass kindergarten muster.

Last week, I wore these:

The buckles were a HUGE hit. There was a discussion of whether they did, in fact, unbuckle, and then a plea to be allowed to unbuckle them. Then there was an examination of how one would go about unbuckling them, if one were ever given permission to do so. (Sadly, permission to unbuckle was never granted.)  There was also some admiration for the pleasing smoothness of the leather.  I must say, they ARE pretty nice boots.

Today it's supposed to hit 81F here, and I've had to admit to myself that boot season is probably over.  Instead I wore these:

As I walked through the door, the VERY first words I heard from the VERY first kindergartner that approached me were "I like your SHOES!"  The small thrill of happiness I got from that comment has actually started to worry me a little. I mean, what if, on some dark day, I wear a pair of shoes they DON'T LIKE?!?! WHAT will I do then? How will I handle the disappointment and embarrassment? 

Here I was worrying about whether they were enjoying the books I was reading, when it turns out the real concern was they approved of my footwear. I think I need to go home and take a serious look at my shoe collection before next week...

What I'm Wearing Friday: July 15, 2011

What? Did you think I only dress up on Wednesdays?  Actually, I was inspired by my friend, Stylishboots, and her WIWW this week. She looked all pretty and summery in her white and yellow, so I decided to try a similar look, but with my signature lime green, instead:

The pants are capri length white twill from Jag, purchased from Amazon - I obviously have them rolled down, for work. The shoes are an old favorite - Bandolino Ibigail, via Zappos, purchased for my trip the DR a few years ago. The earrings are the diamond studs my darling husband bought me for our 10th anniversary, and the necklace is a chip necklace of amethyst, peridot and clear crystal that I bought for a song, from Silver Speck.  The shirt, which I didn't have a picture for, is from Banana Republic.  I wish you could see it better, but I also have a cute blue and lime green polka dot scarf in my hair, purchased on a whim from the Bass outlet. This is a huge departure for me - I'm not normally a headband kind of girl. I also have a white 3/4 sleeve sweater to put on in case the A/C gets out of control in my office.

Also, even my toes match today:

 

What I'm Wearing Wednesday: June 22, 2011

Today's outfit is all out of the archives (i.e. clothes I've had around long enough that I can't find pictures of them on the internet). In fact, these pants are so old, they fit when I bought them, then got relegated to the way too tight pile after the Bomber was born, very briefly fit again, and then ended up in the waaaaaay too loose pile after I lost 25 lbs. Never fear, though, I didn't gain it all back - I had them taken in (A LOT) by Nick the Amazing Tailor. 

The pants are a brown silk & linen blend with light pink pinstripes, which you can't see in this photo. The shirt is light pink, and I have a brown cami underneath it that you also can't see in the picture. (Great photography, eh?)  All are Banana Republic, and I think they all came from the outlet, but not all at the same time.

As usual, you can't see my shoes, but they're summer favorites of mine. They're made by Guess and the style is called Gwargentina.

The jewelry is brown wood of various kinds and came home with me from the Dominican Republic. Necklace:

And bracelet (which is actually also a necklace, wrapped around my wrist three times):

The cat box is a blue and silver self-cleaning box from Omega Paw.

   


Just checking to see if anyone actually makes it down to the bottom... It is a nice cat box, though.  Oh, and that's not my cat. This is my cat:

She's much nicer to look at than the cat box. She won't let me stand on her (or even in front of her) while I take pictures of myself, though. She's funny like that.

 

What I'm Wearing Wednesday: May 25, 2011

I realize that the vast majority of my blogging lately has been about what I'm wearing. I've been having a lot of trouble for the last few months thinking of things to say that don't involve worries about what to do with my kid this summer and whether I have all the correct forms in for him to attend kindergarten, so I've been using this as sort of an easy way to keep at it. I really hope someday I manage to write about something else again, but for now here's another week of what I'm wearing. 

No bathroom in this one - it occurred to me that I have a timer on my camera, so I spent about 10 minutes this morning racing back and forth in my office between the bookcase and my credenza trying to get a decent photograph. It's REALLY hard to take a picture of yourself from a camera placed below your waist level in which you don't end up looking stupidly down at the camera.  I finally resorted to looking away entirely, so the picture looks like I'm just standing around my office daydreaming.  Which is silly, because I wouldn't bother standing up to daydream. I can do that just fine at my desk.

Here's the individual pieces:

Skirt, shoes and tank are from New York & Co. The necklace is a pendant with ancient Roman glass, which Larry picked up at this gallery when he was in Chicago for the SFN meeting. Not pictured is a cream cardigan sweater which I've had since last year, at least.  I'm not sure it's the exact right thing, but it's the best I had this morning.  I also think I might go with a bigger necklace next time - I think the pendant gets a little lost.  Here's how it all looks on me:

"Hmmm....does that cloud look a bunny to anyone else?" 

Also, holy COW, are my knees bony! Why didn't one of you tell me?!?

What I'm Wearing Wednesday: May 18, 2011

This week's WIWW is mostly stuff I've had awhile (awhile being defined as "before I started saving the vendor's photos of everything I buy, in case I need it for WIWW), so very little in the way of preliminary pictures.  

I am wearing my new favorite shoes, these Born clogs, purchased from Zappos earlier in the spring:

 

I'm also wearing some bead jewelry that Larry bought me as a gift, from an Etsy seller, I think:

The rest is pretty standard stuff - khaki stretch straight-leg pants and a khaki stretch two button jacket (one of which is currently missing, actually) from NY & Company, a super-old black stretchy top from Ann Taylor, and black belt, also from NY & Co..   Here's how it all looks:

I really need to replace that button.  Some remind me when I get home, mkay?

 

Also, it's Wordless Wednesday on Stinky Diapers!

 

What I'm Wearing Wednesday: May 11, 2011

Another Wednesday, another picture of my bathroom.  This time the photos I took this morning in my bathroom at home were so insanely bad that I had to try again in the bathroom on my floor at work. Glamorous, eh?

Anyway, here are the individual pieces:

The jacket and skirt are new this spring. The skirt is something a little different for me - I don't normally wear animal prints, except in very small (accessory-sized) doses, but I really like the cut and style of this skirt, and I think it looks cute and fun with the safari-style linen jacket.  I really need to find a nice pith helmet. 

The shoes are old stand-bys, from Zappos at least two years ago, but I love them and they go pretty well with this outfit, I think.  The cami is also a stand-by - from Delia's. It's actually off-white with coffee-colored trim - that picture doesn't do much for it.

Anyway, here's how I look in the outfit, and also how I look in the bathroom at work: 

I totally got busted while taking this photo by one my coworkers, who undoubtedly now thinks I'm some kind of bathroom-photo-taking-perv. So I hope you all appreciate this.
 

 

What I'm Wearing Wednesday: April 6, 2011

It's Wednesday, which means it must be "What My Cat Box Looks Like Wednesday." Or something like that.

Actually, today I forgot to stand on the kiddo's stool, so you can see neither the most of the cat box nor most of my legs.  You do get a bonus close-up of my toothbrush, though. Does everyone need a moment to collect themselves from the excitement before I go on?

Anyway, here are the individual pieces:

The tunic is a recent acquisition from Boden.

The shoes are Gretta, a brand I'd never heard of, via 6PM. I got them in October for $10 during their 10/10/10 sale, and they may be the best bargain I've ever owned. It's hard to see in the picture, but they have cute wing-tip detailng on the front.

The leggings are from Delia's, purchased in the fall for a different Boden tunic which turned out to be more brown than gray, so these didn't work. Oddly, I expected this tunic to go with brown leggings, but the colors are really taupe, gun metal gray and light gray, so these poor neglected leggings have finally gotten some action.

The jewelry was a gift from Larry, acquired from Etsy, I think.

I'm not entirely sure of this outfit - I vacillate between thinking it's really cute and thinking I must look like Carol Brady in her favorite muu-muu, but it's super-comfy, so I'll probably keep wearing it regardless.  Here I am in all my muu-muu-and-toothbrush glory:

Happy Wednesday, y'all.