Day 5 of 30 Article Saturday

I was up until 3am finishing an article last night, and I get to spend today grading and revising yet another article. My favorite part of 30 for 30 is that it forces me to get dressed every day. I work from home 5 days a week and the weekends can be an abyss of pajamas if I am not careful. But I work so much better once I am up, showered, and dressed for the day.

Boris anxiously awaits his morning walk. 

Jacket:: Gap

Shirt: AE

Jeans: MEK

Shoes: Converse

Necklace: Claire's

These are my poor MEKs that are in hospice. You can't really tell, but there are some holes in unfortunate places.

Sometimes when I don't feel very motivated, I visit this website called FlyLady that one of my friends had fanned on her Facebook. Intriguing. It is this little purple lady with wings who motivates you to clean things in your house. I am baffled, but it works. It is like she is yelling at you in a "favorite Aunt" sort of way.

It was she who scolded me to get "dressed to the shoes" in one article I read, and I have somehow never forgotten that tip. Doing so does help my working-from-home work habits. Sometimes you just need a cartoon lady to kick your butt! :)

Time to walk the boy (yes I am the worst; I made him wait while I posted this) and then read articles, summarize articles, splice articles into my own article, edit, retype and so on. That, my friends, is my typical weekend!

Don't buy

Saturday. I am supposed to be revising an article but instead have been looking at J.Crew's 40% off sale/Free shipping on $100. Argh. I will refrain. It isn't that hard. It is annoying to see the things I have been waiting for (heather grey cashmere turtleneck sweater!!) go on sale so drastically. But I know J.Crew will make these items forever, and I have enough in my closet.

But if I WERE normally employed (non-GPTI salary) and had some extra money to burn, this is what I would buy:

• Cashmere turtleneck sweater in Grey Heather $119+40%
• Factory Always Striped cardigan in Navy 39+40% The contrasting stripes are great!
• Always Perfect button-down in white $60 [reg price]. They stretch after a while, and I am on my 3rd one.

 And I am oddly attracted to:

• A cashmere Henley in an unexplainable orange-red color called Cherise $99+40%. Not sure what the attraction is... Yes I do: it is all the bloggers wearing really bright skirts lately against the snow/grey skies, and the closest thing I have is a (dark & somber) maroon fluted skirt from Ann Taylor Loft '05.

Unfortunately, I just looked up how much I would be saving and the total cost would be about $167 down from $256. I want those items! But I am refraining. I have stuff to wear here. And $167 is groceries for a whole month, and gas, and if I spent that much at J.Crew, it would only be for three items. Yes, one is regularly priced at $158 , but I will not die if I don't have it. It would just be nice...

I have been really proud of myself for not spending hardly any money on clothes this school year, but I think I could do better. The only items I have bought were some neutral cardigans (on a drastic sale) from J.Crew in mid-October. It is harder to refrain from basics like sweaters or cardigans or white shirts because I can see where I would immediately wear them, or that having them would help me wear XYZ. Shoes are less of a problem. I used to buy a few pairs of shoes per season, but the only ones I have bought this school year were my running shoes (which I desperately needed) and the boots I found for $50. I am glad I already have what I need to get through most of the days.

I feel better about blowing off that J.Crew sale! I just need to get a grip sometimes.

UPDATE
Was just reading a blog post about not being able to find work after earning advanced degree...sobering! Now I am extra glad I refrained from that sale.