Blue dreams

NO, I don't have time or energy for dressing up. Just enough to look pulled together and be warm.... that's my goal for the next couple of days!

Cream caramel

It is too cold for me and my flimsy winter wear don't stand a chance against this weather. I am giving them a work out however. Case in point: this new coat is not as cold-proof as I hoped. Good thing I layered a merino wool sweater under my dress. Sweater goes over the dress usually, you say? Needs must and all that, my dears!

A symphony in blue

I love cobalt blue, so much so that I didn't feel the need to accessorize this outfit. I didn't want anything competing with my favorite color!

Friday meeting

What did I tell you about meetings on Friday? Apparently it has become a tradition. Well, I make it a tradition to dress up for it. What I don't like is having the meetings late afternoon which usually extends to after 5:00 PM. Please let me go home!

Snow leopard

I like the snow leopard print more than the tan and brown one, maybe because I don't like tan and brown that much. Whatever the reason, these days I am hooked on cold gray and muted colors. I blame the weather!

Sweet and wild

This color scheme feels very sweet to me with the colors coming from cookies and caramel and chocolate. On the other hand, the prints are a bit wild and edgy... then if you look at the textures: the calf hair of the shoes, the snake print embossed bag, the silky top, the cashmere two texture cardigan...
all in all, a lot is going on this outfit... but because of the color scheme, it feels mellow and sweet and totally pulled together.

Of course there is a coat and scarf involved as well. I just didn't want to crowd the picture.

Gold and gray

At the first glance, this is a wild color scheme. I have to explain though, it was rainy and gray and I was freezing and needed a dose of optimism. Gold always cheers me up!

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!