Sunny skies

A beautiful sunny day and warm weather deserve a lot of appreciation in this climate. My way? Not wearing a coat for the first time in the last month! Wow, that was big!

Pearl gray

I have been waiting impatiently for an opportunity to wear this colorblock moto-style cardigan these past 6 months or so. It was too warm for Arizona and too cold Michigan. Finally this weekend, with sunny skies and 78 degree temperature, it had its moment in the sun. I had a nice relaxing day, eating squash soup, wandering in bookstores, lingering in a coffeeshop, buying pumpkin spice candles and enjoying a mellow afternoon in a comfortable style.A good day for wearing a beloved cardigan for the first time!

Friday meetings

The nature of academic culture somehow leads to scheduling most meetings and seminars on Friday. To me it means dressing up on a day other people call casual Friday! It is fun and unusual and I like it! Anyhow, I was attending three meeting and one seminar ( meeting a lot of new people for the first time) and a bit of polish was a good thing.

 

Don't be fooled by the short skirt into thinking it was warm, I had to pair it with black tights.

Plaid coat

Remember my Fall shopping post? So far I have stuck to my guns and have resisted temptation and not bought anything extra for this three months stay in colder climate. Also it helps that I rely on public transportation and all the shopping centers are far from my house and require a couple of bus changes to get there. But being in Midwest requires wearing plaid and having it on my list for a couple of years, I finally decided to buy this orange plaid coat online. It is from Tulle and was 40% off which helped justifying the purchase. As I said before, you can't be in Midwest and not wear plaid!

A color feast

Just a jumble of my favorites Fall colors, burgundy and orange and caramel... hmmm, make it wine and pumpkin and caramel. So yummy!

Maple leaves

I'd forgotten how much I love the turning leaves specially maples, all those golds and oranges and reds... There is this tree in my commute route which is all in flaming red. Totally gorgeous! It makes me want to match every day I see it... so today I wore my red coat too!

Blue cashmere

This is one of those outfits that looked better in my mind than in the mirror. The problem was the shoes, since these ankle length pants need high heels to balance them out. But for a whole day of working in the lab I couldn't even think of wearing heels. So I spend the whole day looking like a midget!

The “No Makeup” Makeup

One of the most elusive skills in my life has been learning the tricks to the No Makeup look. I have read and practiced a lot of tutorials, at least a couple of new ones every season for the past 10 years. Yes, that’s a long time for not learning a trick! The problem? Every last single one of these tutorials relays on brown, bronze and nude shades. None of these colors are flattering to my complexion, I finally found out. Bronze or brown eyeliners and shadows make my eyes looks tired, feverish and half closed. My eyes are a very dark brown, my eyelashes and eyebrows are black and my skin is fair with equal amounts of blue (pink) and yellow undertones, basically impossible to work with! If I use brown and yellow based eye makeup, my skin turns sick looking and haggard. I can’t use blush either since I naturally blush a lot. So I finally perfected my personalized “No Makeup” makeup this summer. 

-For Skin: a good CC cream with enough coverage to hide all the discolorations. My favorites are IT Cosmetic CC cream and Revlon CC cream.
-For Lids: a creamy shadow pencil in a shade closest to my skin tone. Favorites Clinique’s Chubby stick shadow tint in “Bountiful Beige” and Covergirl Flamed out shadow pencil in “Ginger Flame”.
-For Eyes: I line the inner rim of my eyes (only the tops) and fill out any space between eyelashes with black eyeliner. A not-too-greasy pencil is the best. My favorites: Stilla Smug stick, Clinique Quickliner or Lorac liner pencil work great.
-For Lashes:  I apply a tiny bit of black mascara to the tip of my lashes. Taking care not to leave any clumps or smudges, just clean curved (natural!) lashes. My current mascara is Clinique Lash doubling mascara.
-For Lips: a barely there color that matches my lips natural light pink/coral. Again Clinique Chubby Stick 
Moisturizing Lip Color Balm in Chunky Cherry or Revlon Colorburst balm stain in Cherish. Although I am still looking for a perfect match.

There you have it, the secret of No Makeup look for someone with a complexion like mine. A great thing about this routine is that it also works with a high impact lipstick like an intense red or poppy. 

Red for courage

I have a lot of negotiations to do today. It is mostly about convincing people to do the right thing but... one thing that always scares me is confronting others. I just know it won't go over that well. Ah well, a little bit of color psychology might help, no?

Fall rains

I was enjoying my day under a weak sun, eating BBQ and buying chocolate and waiting for the bus and then suddenly it was raining cats and dogs. It didn't help that the bus was 20 minutes late. What is not pictured here is my totally chic umbrella. Anyhow I survived!

Foliage

Fall is here and by here I mean Ann Arbor, MI! It's my all time favorite season. Happy Autumn!

 

 A little arrangement  of acorns and maple leaves on my desk to welcome autumn.

Friday meetings

Meeting my supervisor for the first time in person and another meeting with everyone in the team, what fun! That was sarcasm in case you were wondering! ....and on a Friday no less... and when I feel a little under weather.... really fun!

Hidden cold

Does this outfit give the illusion of a pleasant pre-fall day? Well, I said illusion, didn't I?! In reality I have layered a black long sleeved tee under the dress and am wearing ribbed tights!

Ditching in blue

After 10 days of going to school (work really!) and back, not taking a break and worrying over everything, today I decide to take a breather and ditch work in favor of a little window-shopping, a relaxing time in bookstore and eating lunch in one of my favorite cafes.... yeah... and grocery shopping. The whole escapade took about 4 hours, with a full hour spend in transit. This public transportation thing is very inconvenient!

Amethyst sunshine

I was feeling slobby, being forced to limit my choices to what weather is allowing and what is suitable to wear on the bus. But if a dress can make your whole day, why the heck not wear it? It also helps that it's sunny outside!

Bleak and black

It is 48 degree cold and raining. Do you really want to see what I am wearing over this outfit?! No, I think not!

Cold and blue

Yeah, that sums up everything I am feeling right now. 61 degree is freezing for me and apparently I am the only one who feels this cold!... and I feel blue... homesick... overwhelmed and totally lost! Well, a bit of drama but not much!

A taste of summer

Now that I am somewhere cold and autumn-y I can safely assume the summer has ended although officially we still have another week to go. To stop the boredom this summer I composed a "Summer Bucket List" at the start of summer. Today I went through it and thought it fun to post it here and report how it all went:

-Wear more jewelry: I started stacking rings and bracelets. These days I have at least three rings on my hands (wedding ring included!). I got over my reluctance to bracelets and even wore two or three of them together. All in all, good job to me!

-Find a suitable "No Makeup" makeup routine: I did it! After years and years of playing with unflattering bronzes and browns, I finally perfected a look that works with my complexion and coloring. More on it later in another post.

-Learn to swim: going from dog-paddling and hopping like a rabbit (you know that technique when you jump up, paddle with your hands a couple of times and move forward a yard until your feet touches the pool’s floor again? No?!) to swimming half the length of the pool without touching the floor. Yes, definite improvement!

-Finish “The Cat Who…” series by Lillian Jackson Braun: out of 29 books in the series, I read 24 which is great considering I was reading a whole bunch of other stuff too.

-Try a new salsa recipe: Not a chance!

-Listen to music every day: I managed to listen to something new every other day. Not so bad!

-Have a picnic: It was honestly too hot to eat outside even at night. A firm No on this one!

-Make green/plant arrangement for different rooms: My first attempt at succulents failed miserably since the plants died two days after coming into our house. I made a succulent terrarium with artificial plants which turned out nicely and doesn’t need watering. Since I am not there to take care of live plants this worked well. I also have two orchids which are flourishing according to my husband.

I would say it wasn’t a disappointing turn out. I managed to meet most of my goals and I’m happy with what I accomplished. A very satisfying summer then!

Wasted trend

I thought I'll be extra trendy, wearing these snake print slip ons. What I forgot to take into consideration was being on campus, my audience (so to speak!) is all sneaker wearing students. Instead of differentiating, I am blending in. Such a waste of effort! But hey, my feet are thanking me!

Rainstorm

I tried to be prepared for a full day of rain with a big bag containing everything and the kitchen sink. However I forgot one crucial point: suede shoes and wet sidewalks don't mix well (or mix too well!).

Back to school

It's supposed to be exciting: new school year, new school, new city... new job... I guess I'm still too shocked to enjoy it all. Give me a couple of weeks to get settled first!

Suit up! *

exploring my new habitat (!), meetings and a dinner with an old friend. Yeah, a suit can take you everywhere!

* Barney is my hero! (Ref. How I met your mother)

Comfortable blues

For a day of running around, getting necessary things done and meeting lots and lots of new people you want to feel pulled together and at ease. My solution: structured pieces and comfortable shoes!

This new city is all green! I had to wear a color that made me feel comfortable!

Keep jogging!

This new trend of jogger pants had me on the fence until I figured the only way it won't make my already short legs look shorter is by wearing high heels. Now do you think getting tortured by a pair of new shoes for a couple of hours is worth it or not? I awaite your judgment!

Early flight

You may have remember all my hints about experiencing a real autumn this year and an impending travel. Well, I am writing to say that it did happen. Right now, I am somewhere much cooler than Phoenix ... and I'll be staying here for a few months. Excitement, new beginnings and hopefully a better future is on the horizon. Stay tuned!

Last chance

I had put this outfit together in my mind for months. I'd kept waiting for the temperature to go down but when other plans started to form and the possibility of wearing these shoes this fall become limited, I knew I had to wear it despite the 109 degree heat!

Monochrome blushing

A head to toe look of soft pink and blush, something to calm my overstressed mind. Sorry to report it didn't work that well!

Neutral overload

Did you ever feel drab and tired and wanting to hide? This is the outfit I would go for when I want to become invisible, all neutral and drab. What can I say? I was in a bad mood!

Pretty personal

I like to wear things that are meaningful and personal to me. I don't go for monogrammed shirts and bags (too pretentious) but I like my jewelery to show who I am. So I layered  my initial necklace with one showing my zodiac sign and then added a ring with my birthstone. Total effect: a banner saying "me, me, me"!

Orange you blue?

A pretty color mix: happy orange and serene blue. Just perfect for a relaxing dinner with friends!

Beautiful blue

I relay on calming effect of color navy specially when I'm stressed and harried. It is a blessing that I have a vast collection of blue and navy in my wardrobe.

Copper and cognac

I am in the mood for darker colors but the bright sunshine and high temperature is not cooperating. So I am reduced to wish for a cool breeze and plying with lots of textures for a darker moodier color scheme.

Garnet for fall

One of my favorite colors for fall is cranberry or Merlot or sangria or maroon... whatever you like to call it. But it is this deep deep blood red without any hint of purple, pink or brown in it... and I never get tired of it!

Also it matches perfectly with mauve, blush and copper!

Hello fall dressing!

Yes, officially the day we can start wearing our fall duds. But what if it is still above 105 degree in your neck of the woods? Ah well, just pretend it's fall, wear the color without the bulk!