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.

Owls about staying late?

Ha! There I am. I haven't played around with photos, blogging, etc., and I figured if I let 30/30 be the first time I went live, It'd be trouble. My apartment is trashed (and you can pretty much see all 400 square feet of it!) and I took this pic around 6:30 after the sun had gone down. I will have to play around with lighting and figure out if my camera has a self-timer this weekend.

I knew today would be madness (28 tickets in the queue :O ) and the main IT guy is still out sick. Working IT and teaching on the same days is a toughie, outfit-wise. You can get grimy crawling around behind the hardware, but I still want to look cute for teaching my course! I knew today would have to be a casual day due to the tickets, although I really wanted to debut my new boots.

Now you can see my makeup explosion...hmm the point of this one was to show the shoes!

This is a close-up of the owl print. I was paired this with an orange Dooney bucket bag but I forgot to include the bag in the pics.

Oh well. This is what I am wearing head to toe:
Necklace: James Avery
Cardigan: J.Crew ($19)
Black tank: Psst from Nordstrom Rack ($7)
Owl tank: Forever 21 ($20?)
Belt: a black ribbon likely pulled from a F21 dress
Watch: Citizen
Jeans: Seven lightweight Dojos from Nordstrom Rack
Shoes: Steve Madden ($29)

And one last pic of my helper, Boris Snoris I Adoris, my darling Boston Terrorist.

OTK boots at O-30

I am going to try to pull off over the knee boots at 32. And I am a teacher of college-age students, so that will make it extra hard to:
a) not look like a Skankarella prostitute,
b) not like I am trying way too hard, and
c) not elicit sour looks from real faculty/advisers/chairs

What I do have working for me is that my West Texas town is at least five years ago, so anything post-Ugg is still "fresh."

I hope the ones I ordered aren't ugly in real life. They come Saturday. They are at a shipping facility in Dallas right now. I just checked. In my brain, I have them on as pants, wearing them with dresses. They will never be worn with skinny jeans. No. The ones that are coming have a 14" shaft/opening, which is what I have. Here's hoping. Wish: Please, please do not look cheap, even though I stingily bought you for $49 + gift card.

UPDATE: Oo they came later that night! Here they are:

What I'm wearing:

Dress: F21

Cardigan: Macy's cashmere from Xmas sale '09

Boots: Steve Madden

I thought they'd be a bit longer/taller. I am not sure why they are a bit loose in the back (not tight on your thighs at all) but my calf and thigh measurements are about the same. I wonder if they have to meet/exceed the hemline of your dress to look really great? I am pleased with them. I will need to play around this weekend and figure out how to wear them.

The front-facing pics are bit misleading on snugness. The tops are a bit baggy (14" tops), but when you sit down they are ok. Not sure. Hmm. To alter or not to alter...?


UPDATE 01/21:
A few days later, I am really pleased with this purchase and I think the boots have a lot of potential. They aren't 100% perfect (a little loose at the top) but reading other blogs and seeing other pictures of people wearing similar styles has been inspiring. I almost went with more expensive pairs, and I agonized about buying shoes I "didn't need" for several days. For $50 though, I am really pleased with this purchase.

I like that they are made of a suede-like material instead of leather (or worse: fake leather) which would have increased the hooker potential tenfold. The material doesn't make the boots shout at passerbys; the materials let the boots act as tights/pants in a way, which was my original goal! I am really happy with these! I will be experimenting with different outfits around the house this weekend. I think they need tights in most cases.

30 for 30

I am going to try this. It is bothering me that February has 28 days but I am trying to get over that. Who is going to take my photo? I guess that is me. Off the Dairy Queen table in the park? These will be in my apt for now.

Ack it is hard to take full-length photos of yourself!

I am wearing:
Dress: F21 ($25)
Tomato cardigan: Target ($18)
MEK Jeans ($100 at the Buckle in '09)
Shoes: Jimmy Choo 100mm (from '04)
Belt: Ribbon off an H&M shirt I bought in DC '05

I do love the blue. It is so bright outside, especially with the cardigan. I took these pics around 1pm so the light might be blasting the colors down a bit.

First blog post accomplished!