I Went on a Date with 17 Men at Once

Also known as "speed dating." But we'll get to that later. For now, let's look at the week that was...

Monday:

I was lazy here, and the outfit suffered. It needed a belt, for one thing, and possibly better accessorizing. I liked the fun floral addition on the shoes, though.

Tuesday:

A maxi skirt on a TUESDAY?! Yeah, now that every Friday is a jeans day, there will be no more "Maxi Dress Fridays." I considered making a different day a regular "Maxi" day, but decided it was time to simply allow the maxi dresses and skirts back into normal rotation. On this day, I paired my black maxi skirt with a new cream blouse with black trim from Target. (Find it here.) A little pop of color with the red flats helps vary the look.

Wednesday:

Bringing back the same floral flats from Monday, this time with white skinnies and a maternity blouse from Target. Simple, classy, cool.

Thursday:

... I forgot to take pics on Thursday. I wore my burgundy skinnies, a cream-colored 3/4-sleeve sweater, my tan boots, and gold necklaces. It worked fine.

Friday:

Epic fail on my part. Remember when I talked about the right way to wear a t-shirt and jeans? Yeah, I didn't do it right here. I should have rolled my sleeves, I should have tucked in the shirt, and I should have worn different shoes, because the jeans are too long with the flips. Awkward.

Well, just goes to remind everyone that I'm not perfect. In case anyone forgot.

So about that whole "dating 17 men" thing. A friend invited me to a speed dating event that his church was putting on as a fundraiser for a mission trip. I was like, "Um, sure," mostly because it just feels like speed dating is the kind of thing that every single adult female should try once. Like a "bucket list" kind of thing.

What did I wear? This:

(Yes, my sweater has a hole. So sue me.)

I knew this event was probably going to be almost entirely (it turned out to be entirely) populated by Asians, who, more often than not, tend to run on the shorter side (which is neither good nor bad, it's just a true). Now, for some ladies, this might lead to the decision to wear flats, so as not to seem too intimidatingly tall. For me, I see no reason to beat around the bush, so I just put it out there with 3.5" wedges: "Here I am. I am tall. If you can't handle that, look elsewhere." Out of the 45ish people present (34 participants, plus 10ish helpers), only one person was taller than I was. There were also only two white people--me, and the friend who came with me. Well, nothing like standing out from the crowd, right?

At least I can now say I've gone speed dating, right?

Priorities

You all may not realize it, but there are some things that are just more important than this blog. Things like preparing for my Woodleaf talk, recovering from an exhausting (but awesome!) Woodleaf weekend, and, of course, grading (you know, that thing I'm actually paid to do as part of my job?). So... yeah. Sorry about the absence.

The good news is that my Woodleaf talk went well, I managed not to catch the dreaded post-Woodleaf cold, and I'm still doing well keeping up with our new mandated grading deadlines. So I hope you all understand that sometimes the blog fades to the background.

For now, some pictures!

Pre-Woodleaf Week:

Wednesday's outfit was definitely the least good of this set, but it worked fine. Tuesday's outfit starred an argyle sweater vest because the English department has started themed dress days on the days of our English department meetings, and the first one was argyle!

I also like the sassy head sash on Thursday. SASS.

Post-Woodleaf Week:

Sadly, I was so rushed Friday morning that I forgot to take photos before I left the house, and I forgot to take photos when I got back at the end of the day too. That's okay, there's plenty here already.

I really liked Tuesday's dress with the ankle boots and leggings. It just... worked really well. The Wednesday outfit was less great, but it still worked just fine. Thursday's outfit is a great example of how simplicity can still work great. Just a white shirt and black ankle pants, but the leopard flats and red scarf add just enough to keep it from being plain.

So there you go - that's what I've been up to lately. How about you?

Missed Another Week

Clearly I'm getting busier as the year goes on, because it's getting tougher and tougher to find the time to blog. But I will persevere! Let's see what this week brought us in fashion...

Tuesday:

I ended up really liking this, mostly because of the pegged pants with the tall wedges. Now, I will take this opportunity to talk about ankle straps. Generally, this look would be a pretty big "stumpifier," shortening the look of the leg line. The end of the pants coming right before another hard "line" (created by the ankle strap) would make the legs look shorter. If I didn't already have REALLY long legs, I wouldn't have done it, so if you're a shorter-legged person, keep that in mind. For someone with shorter legs, a non-strapped pump or espadrille would have worked much better. Just say NO to stumpification!

Wednesday:

Hellooooooo, wrinkled pants! I really need to find time somehow to look at the pictures I take before I leave the house in the morning. These pants really needed to be ironed, but I just had no idea until now, looking at these images. Well, other than that, I liked this. I liked the wide-leg pants paired with a fitted top, and I liked the line splitting the color block in the tee. I probably should have dressed up a bit more in the shoe category, but I really just wanted to wear some flips. I was selfish. Sorry.

Thursday:

I almost wore this exact outfit with mint pants instead of burgundy, and then I realized it looked terrible. The black just didn't go at all with the mint, so this was much better. I love this top - from Target - and I had a great pair of earrings to go with the polka dots. All in all, while it wasn't my best outfit, it was perfectly good.

Friday:

I ended up LOVING this for Maxi-Dress Friday. The collared shirt under the dress worked well, and I added this belt which originally came with a totally different dress. The dangly gray art-deco-ish earrings offset the belt really well, and I put some sparkly black sandals under it all. Definitely a win for Maxi-Dress Friday, in my opinion.

Thanks to everyone who weighed in on last week's best/worst poll. I find that deliberately seeking out "worst" opinions makes me sad - I already know which outfits don't work as well - so let's just stick with bests. What's your favorite from this week? I think I'm going with Friday. :)

Talk to you soon! Stay beautiful, friends.

Only a Week? Felt longer...

This week, for any number of reasons, felt VERY long. I kept hearing a voice in my brain saying, "Life is very long..." and then I would wonder if the week would ever come to an end. Eventually it did, and when it did, I slept for about 15 hours straight. Not with a bang, but a whimper.

So I apologize for not being able to get a post up during the week, but now you get SEVEN outfits all at once! Yes, that's right, I don't just have my work outfits from this week, but also what I wore on the weekend. So let's get started...

Monday:

This wasn't terribly exciting, but it also wasn't terrible. The trio of necklaces did a lot to spice up the look, and as I always say, there's nothing wrong with a simple outfit once in a while. I do wish the cropped pants fit a bit better, though.

Tuesday:

Looking at this now, I kind of wish I'd been bolder and popped the collar. I think it would have worked. Otherwise, I liked this. The shirt has a flattering tailored cut to it, with small white print, and the white pants are a nice neutral with it. The headband with the side ponytail was cute and fresh.

Wednesday: 

Let's be honest - I just gave up here. It was overly warm in the morning, I was tired and running late, so I just threw on a fitted tee and skinny pants. Now, there's nothing so bad about this outfit, but it's not exactly engaging. I was just too tired to care, though.

Thursday:

This was a nice pairing - tailored "faux-denim" trousers, ruffled shirt, gray Mary-Jane pumps. The ruffle got a little annoying after a while, but otherwise, I liked this one. I also finally wore the teal banded watch I bought last spring, which had previously not come out of its box. (Why? I have no idea.)

Friday:

First blue-and-gold (aka "JEANS") day of the year - hooray! It had been such a long week by this point that I just wanted something soft and comfy, so I paired my skinny jeans with a casual top from Target and my most cushioned flip flops.

Saturday: 

Saturday was a lazy day, and I got dressed to go sit at a coffee shop and finish the book I'd been reading (Silver Linings Playbook), not to actually be productive in any real way. It was hot enough to merit the shorts, but only with a somewhat more covered top, so I picked a long sleeved floral top and pushed the sleeves up. The low scooped neck is balanced by a necklace, and with my hair up I decided on dangly earrings.

Sunday:

I was filling in for someone in the nursery, so I planned to wear a longer top so that I could sit comfortably without worrying about whether I was showing skin unintentionally. (Plan ahead!) I wore my sorority flip flops (go Chi O!) because the burgundy straps matched my shorts, which are hand-me-downs from my mom. Again, the lower neck of the camisole under my tunic is offset by a small silver necklace, and with my hair down I kept my earrings to plain diamond studs.

So there you go: One full week of outfits in the life of Miss Doyle. Let's pick our best and worsts...

Best? I'm going to go with Tuesday.
Worst? I'm picking Wednesday.

You?