Category Archives: daily look

work it

outfit1_MG_0488

I’m going on week three back at the office, which means week three of high heels and pencil skirts. Lucky for me, that’s one of my favorite combinations. My top and shoes are from Target, Skirt from Zara. Bag is good for airplane rides.

For me, this combo of a plain top, professional skirt and high heels is a quick and easy uniform for days when I’m not feeling that creative or awake. When I wake up late and am rushed, I know this will look put together and polished. And the best part is, there are endless combinations. Whether it’s a forest green skirt, cream top and leopard heels like this look, or a black skirt, black top and orange heels, like the look I wore yesterday. The silhouette works on me and is professional, so I can play around with the colors and patterns.

back to work

back to work outfit

I went back to my office last week for the first time since Hurricane Sandy. It was like the Twilight Zone. I had notes on my desk about reports we did three months ago. My calendar was open to October. I found a box of pop tarts in my drawer–they were still good.

I tend to wear more skirts than pants, but I felt good in this outfit. Pants from the Gap, shoes from Target, blazer from Penneys, top from the Loft. I like how the polka dots in the shirt pick up the same colors as the leopard print in my shoes. It gave me just enough pep in my step as I walked around the office for the first time in almost four months.

cold weather gear

look of the day

As you might have heard, the Northeast got quite a blizzard last weekend. New York got some snow but definitely not as much as other places. I spent most of the weekend inside and crafting, but when I did run out, I made sure I was bundled up and waterproof. Mostly.

I’m wearing rain boots from Banana Republic, and a coat and scarf from Penneys. The rest is basic leggings, black top, black skirt from an assortment of places, none of which I can remember. I stayed warm and my feet stayed dry.

Have a great long weekend if you have one! I’m heading out of town, so I’ll see you Tuesday.

work-from-home outfit

Since Hurricane Sandy, my regular office has been out of commission. We’ve been rotating between a few of my company’s other offices and working from home. So my professional work outfits have transitioned into comfortable work-from-home outfits. Like this one:

at home

I’m wearing a large tunic sweatshirt thing and leggings from I can’t remember where, a scarf from Penneys, and a puffy vest from the Gap a few years ago. Yes, I am wearing leggings as pants. And yes, it is awesome. This is a far cry from the professional self I like to portray at my office, but who wants to wear pantyhose if you don’t have to?

Working from home was sort tricky for me to get used to, but now I think I’ve got a pretty good thing going. Here’s my desk.

desk_MG_0403

I have a few guidelines that work for me and my job, which will be different, I imagine, for everyone else.

  • I must get up. I can’t work from bed. I know this. I like to have a designated space to work, so when I sit there I’m ready to work, and when I leave there I can switch to playing. 
  • Mute the TV (most of the time). I have a lot of articles coming to me at once sometimes, and I need to focus on what I’m doing. For me, that usually means silence in my apartment. Which is actually a nice change from offices that can get noisy.
  • Have a start and end time. Because other people rely on me to be available at certain times, it’s easier to have a very clear start and end time. Sure there are times I will need to work late, but I generally keep regular office hours. This makes it a lot easier to turn off my computer at the end of the day and focus on home-work after work-work, even though I’m in the same place.
  • Make sure #fatcat gets attention. Because if he doesn’t, he jumps onto my desk in the middle of the day and plays with the mouse. My computer mouse.

I think we may get to go back into our building in the next few weeks, but if I keep working from home or need to again, I’ll be prepared. Even if I look less professional than normal.

Do you guys work from home? What are your tricks?

layers on layers

#fatcat and I are under two blankets on my couch right now. Maybe you don’t read the same Twitters that I do, but in case you haven’t heard, it’s cold in New York. And as much as I wanted to stay in and keep snuggling, I had to go to the grocery store today.

So I layered up.

cold weather gear

From the top down: I made the hat I’m wearing, and it’s the warmest one I have. I have on a tank top, my warmest sweater, a gray sweatshirt from American Apparel, a scarf from Target, and a jacket from JC Penney. Jeans are from Penney’s (I think) and under those are tights (Hue, from Macy’s). Then there are socks and boots, not pictured. On my hands are handwarmer/mitten combo, from Target.

And I was still a little cold. But not bad, really. Until my scarf started to blow off while I was holding my groceries and was one block from my house. That was a pretty long block.

How do you stay warm? I hope everyone has food in the house so they don’t have to go out tomorrow–I hear it’s going to snow. Luckily I have some hot cocoa and new books to keep me occupied!

(today I’m #thankful for shelter, and that #fatcat is safe and warm with me. I’m also #thankful for chick peas. I’ve been really into them lately.)

new year, new polka dot blouse

I spent the weekend nursing a cold, so today (as part of my ongoing #thankful list) I’m thankful for cough drops and hot tea. And excellent TV. (I spent the whole weekend watching Homeland, and I don’t regret a second of it.)

patterns

But what better way to pick yourself up and feel better than to throw on some of your favorite patterns? Never heard that cold cure before? Trust me on it. Polka dot blouse from The Loft (I’m pretty sure), bag from the Brooklyn Flea, leopard shoes from Target. Skirt from my mom (I think she got it from JC Penney). Watch is also from Target, in the boys section.

For a lot of us, this is our first full week back at work, and I’m definitely still missing the holidays. But I guess it’s time to hang up my New Year’s hat, pick up my cough drops, and get to work.

polka dots

I love polka dots.

 

Like a lot. So much so that I wore two kinds of polka dots at the same time. Whatchu think? I think it can be difficult to take a playful pattern and make it seem grown up. And I think the key is structure and fabric type.  A structured blazer looks like work, and a silk dress seems more adult than cotton.

Please excuse the wonky picture taking. I’m still working on things like having a tripod.

yellow

Necklace and bag from H&M. Shoes from Zara. T shirt from Topshop. Skirt from JC Penneys.

It’s been fantastic fall weather in New York the past few days (except for that crazy wind and rain yesterday, which quite literally blew me away), so I turned to some fall colors. Mainly a deep yellow. (I wouldn’t quite call it mustard. Suggestions are welcome.)

I paired this not-quite-mustard yellow skirt with one of my favorite T shirts. I love gray. It’s a soft, comfortable color and it goes with everything. And because I dressed it up with a necklace and skirt, I totally got away with wearing a T shirt to work. When it got chilly, I threw on a black pashmina. All that was missing from my fall ensemble was a pumpkin spice latte. Or a pumpkin beer.

Other ways I wore this skirt here and here.

ok, well

mellow yellow

Ok, you guys saw this coming right? Whenever I get a new bottom, pretty much the easiest outfit I can make is to match it with this top because I long ago decided that this top goes with everything. Here I paired the top (Lands End) with a skirt from Penny’s that you saw last week, shoes from Zara, necklace from Dannijo, watch from Target and clutch from Banana Republic.

Other things I wish I could wear with that skirt:

 

brb while I go pack this outfit in a box. Speaking of, it’s now 10 days until #movingday. Here’s my (almost) empty kitchen cabinets

 

and the boxes in my now very full kitchen

 

I’m getting there. Slowly.

dress up

Sometimes, you just need to dress up. For a meeting or an interview or just to put a little pep in your step. Shoes are Target, bag is Vera Bradley, skirt and top are from JC Penny’s. Haircut from Rosie at Fringe.