The Muse: Read All Over

 What's black, and white, and re(a)d all over? Its an old joke, but I'm going with newspaper colors today to link up with Marionberry Style's Trend of the Month Linkup. Last summer I talked about black and white versus white and black in a post and this dress is one of the prime examples I have. Its predominantly white so it pairs up nicely with more black accessories. I haven't worn this dress in a while because its on the small side, and while I've lost some weight I think I still have some time to go before this dress (which is a size 4) fits like I would like. But putting it on helps put things in perspective.

Its school vacation week, unfotunately I haven't been able to do much besides spend my time at the dentist. I cracked a tooth back in October and found out it wasn't salvagable. Tomorrow I have to go see an oral surgeon (gulp) about having the tooth extracted and having an implant to replace it. That plastic bag on the doorknob actaully is my goody bag from the dentist (I got to pick what color toothbrush I got, I went with purple). I also tried to experiment with indoor pictures some more and used my bathroom, which has a predominatly black and white color scheme as the perfect backdrop for today's post. It is a very cramped space however which is why the pictures are not exactly roomy. While we don't have the smallest bathroom in the world(that goes to my friend Miles, his downstairs bathroom is so small the door doesn't really shut) its close. If you sit on the toilet you can put your feet in the tub. It also is the only bathroom without any electrical outlets, so all electrical things, like drying hair must be done in the kitchen. Very glamorous I know.

Dress: Karen Millen
Sweater: Bleev via T.J. Maxx
Necklace: ShopHollyDolly via Etsy
Shoes: Candies via Kohl's
Purse: vintage Sankyo camera case, found object

As Promised this is the other camera case I salvaged from the AV closet at work, its newer and not as large or distinctive as the gray case, however its still an excellent, really unusual bag.

Also this necklace is one of two I bought from Holly Darling's Etsy page(her real name, it sounds like a character from Peter Pan), she's the fabulous blogger over at Holly Dolly, while she does mostly bow styles she's also added leather collar necklaces and some beautiful new leather and suede tassels.

The Muse: Cool Runnings

I feel like you read a lot about "your colors" when you read magazines, I've said before that the only fashion magazine I really read is Vogue, who places themselves a bit higher brow than such bourgeois things but in the past especially as a teenager I remember reading a lot about the seasonal colors including quizzes to tell you what you are(she really shouldn't be wearing Spring colors with her complexion, or I'm definitely a Autumn!) Beyond that, I think we tend to break things down more today as warm, cool, or neutral, usually with the emphasis on neutral. Not sure if I have a position, what I can say is I think this outfit features cool colors, and right or not it's very much a Winter outfit. That and why not name a post after the movie about the Jamaican bobsled team?

 Blouse: Weston Wear via Anthropologie
Skirt: United Colors of Benneton
Necklace: Green Ink
Shoes: Merona via Target
Purse: vintage camera case, found object
Coat: vintage, Lawrence of London via Circa

I feel the need to add that this was undoubtedly my most awkward photography session yet. It was late evening and I was in the hallway outside the Friends of the Public Library bookstore. Frightened senior citizen kept jumping and scurrying away whenever the flash went off. Which explains the abundance of seated pictures, far less conspicuous than using the self timer.

Also how amazing is this vintage camera case from the 1950's, I salvaged it from our AV closet cleanout a few weeks ago at work. The camera went to the prop closet for the theater company, but I snagged the leather case is beautiful and I've been stopped several time about it. I also salvaged a slightly newer black plastic one I'll have to roll out soon.

The Muse: Floral in Winter

 Why wear floral in winter? Well personally I think it helps remind us that the world won't always look like my yard does in the pictures below. I confess, I have been lazy. Today was my third day off from school due to the blizzard of 2013 and despite the fact I didn't post over the weekend. I shoveled, I cleaned snow off low-lying branches, I drove over a road that was closer to moguls to pick my mother up at work after she spent two days there, but I didn't post. Honestly we had it pretty good. We never lost power,  a first for us, though I feel after loosing it for nine days after Hurricaine Irene we were due for a break. We had enough warning that we were well prepared and everyone was safe. I also didn't have to shovel the whole driveway because our plow guy showed up just as I was starting. Overall life is good.

 Back to the florals, according to the groundhog spring is coming, but boy do those six more weeks of winter seem to want to linger. Of course if I ever long for spring I can always pop into my mother's bedroom as I did to shoot these outfit photos, it looks like an English garden all the time in there! She's very girly and I wasn't sure about the wall color when she picked it (its called Poppy Petal) but its grown on me and the white furnaiture helps to mello it out. That being said I had to play with the color a lot to get phots where I didn't resemble a pumpkin. Florals are very feminine and I think a lot of women are afraid of them because eople won't take them seriously. Luckily I don't work in a very male dominated profession, because I love florals, in fact I love prints of all kinds. This lace dress and floral skirt seemed destined for pattern mixing. Though they looked better at the beginning of the day, somehow the bottom of the dress slipped out along with my bra strap in every picture. Charming I know, but hopefully a testimonial to a hard day's work. Also, this may not bother anyone else, but it sort of bothers me so I'll fess up. I rarely wear head to toe anything. In fact it greatly bothers me to go to a fashion blog and see Top: Target Jeans: Target Belt: Target....etc, etc. etc. Not to pick on Target, but it can be any store. If all you wear is J.Crew, or Banana Republic, or whatever, why am I reading your blog? I could just look at their catalogue. I think fashion blogging is about being creative and resourceful, about exploring the unexpected in fashion. When I see a head to toe outfit from one store I see convenience not innovation. This is my per peeve, and one I confess I'm breaking here because other than my accessories I'm wearing head to toe J.C.Penny, though a range of brands. Again, nobody probably even noticed, but I had some sort of misplaced guilt about it.We all have our little quirks.

The view out or front door at about 10 o'clock Friday night, 14 inches or so in and falling at a rate of close to 5 inches per hour

I was tasked with lightening the load on these tree branches which were dangerously close to crashing through the living room windows

A very glamorous look after cleaning trees off at the height of the blizzard

 Dress (worn as a top): I Heart Ronson via J.C. Penny
Skirt: Worthington via J.C. Penny
Belt: Target
Necklace: some shop on Martha's Vineyard
Stockings: Worthington via J.C. Penny
Booties: Payless (old)
Purse: Lulu via Marshall's

The Muse: Easy Breezy

There has been a lot going on in the library where I work. I mentioned in my last post we're running a Valentine's Day COntest on Star-Crossed Lovers, We give the kids half of a famous couple, for example Romeo. They then have to supply the other half of the couple (Juliet), the story that made them famous (Romeo and Juliet), and who wrote the story (William Shakespeare). Naturally they were disappointed when they discovered that none of the couples in the competition were as easy as the one I used for the example. So far our famous couples have been:

Holly Golightly and 'Fred' from Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
Daisy Buchanan and Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald
Angel Clare and Tess from Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Mr. Rochester and Jane Eyre from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Cathy Earnshaw and Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

We have a couple of kids in hot contention from the prize, both boys and girls surprisingly. The winner gets 14 (in honor of Valentine's Day) passes to come to the library, which doesn't sound very exciting but in the world of high school its worth more than gold. We'll continue the contest through the 15th, which is the last day before February vacation. Yesterday we had parent-teacher conferences, which can make for a very long day, because lets face it, no parent comes to see the librarians. 


We also hosted the science fair last week which meant we were closed because the fair was set up in the library. This did not mean a quiet reserved day however, because of limited judges we ended up judging most of the day, I judged 9 out of the 12 projects. Judges got free pizza for lunch however which more than softened the blow. That and I just love science fair, I was a huge science nerd in high school and went to the state science fair my junior and senior years, so it brought back a lot of fond memories for me. Finally despite all the madness my car finally went into the shop to be repaired after I got rear-ended back in September, and while it looks fantastic, my mother and I sharing a car for over a week left everyone with frayed nerves, even if we do work opposite shifts. These photos were taken the day of the science fair, behind the nursing home where she works right after I dropped her off. It was the last really nice day we had (even though I'm wearing a coat in some of the pictures it was like 60 degrees out, a cruel tease as it dropped back to the teens the next day) and I took advantage of it by lightening up my wardrobe.

Scarf: second-hand from my grandmother
Dress: Hero and Leander via Anthropolgie
Stockings: Worthington via J.C. Penny
Boots: Nine West
Brooch: vintage, Rhode Island Antiques Mall
Purse: Target (old)
Coat: Chalet via Heart and Soul

A glimpse at the Science Fair below (having a camera with you to take outfit photos somehow volunteers you as unofficial photographer):

Every project had five judges, my signature is at the top (this project actually won grand prize) the last signature is David Vito, a former science teacher that the fair is named for

Kevin a Chemistry teacher (in the green) and Duncan a Biology teacher (in the plaid) tally up their scores

My boss Diane learns all about the physics of billiard balls

Diane and Scott, our principal (its not an optical illusion, he really is that tall, he's 6' 6") learn all about which over the counter pain reliever is safest

Alex, our fearless leader calculates the winners for the day, determining who will move on to the regional fair at Bristol Community College

The Winners!

I tried to find a photo of me in my school uniform with my backboard from my junior science fair, I know it exists but I just couldn't find it. This was the awards ceremony from the science fair my senior year. My friends and I took the top three prizes that year. Miles (to my right) took grand prize, Matt (pink tie) and his partner Dan took first prize as a team, and I took second place. Matt went to Harvard, Dan went to the University of Chicago, and Miles went to Brown. One of these things is not like the other. But boy, was that scarf cute worn as a headband! It was the first thing I ever bought from Anthropologie, it cost $50 and I thought that was a fortune!