Friday, October 11, 2013
In the Lull
It's been a slow week in Job Search Land, but I did apply to four jobs this afternoon. It is what it is.
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Domesticity
Yesterday: Blue, White, and.....Green?
My instinct was to match the navy and white with some shade of red, of course, but I decided to try something different. (Recent posts have made clear to me just how much I fall back on that combination.)
I used my common strategy of using a coordinating scarf to bring disparate colors together. (This is basically my only personal dressing pro-tip.) I liked the subtle pattern mixing of stripes with the flowery print. (Sorry for the cruddy photo.)
New items:
*Navy striped shirt from Lands End
*Pleated navy skirt from Lands End (from their school uniform collection, mega-cheap)
*Green cardigan from Liz Claiborne
Wearing this outfit reminded me of two people:
(1) It had that RB cool weather compensatory dressing thing going -- you know, if you wear enough long layers on the top, even in winter you can wear shorts. (Note: this is related to, but distinct from, what I think of as Colorado compensatory dressing, in which putting a heavy sleeveless ski vest on top of any clothing combination makes it cool weather compatible because you are keeping your core warm, after all. This is especially awesome when it involves a t-shirt, hiking shorts, and a down ski vest.) (And it is light-years more valid and stylish than the weird Austin thing wherein people wear jeans, a coat, a hat, mittens, etc., in winter with flip flops. For the love of Christ, people. Buy a pair of real fucking shoes already.)
(2) I never really understood my mom's abiding love of the 3/4 length sleeve until I started doing a lot of cooking and washing up for myself, but now I get it. It was pretty sweet wearing this cardigan yesterday while cooking -- no bunching up of long sweater sleeves followed by the almost immediate un-scrunching, ensuring that the ends of the sleeves get wet and/or gross.
What was I cooking? A variant on a favorite recipe, made acceptable on my neo-paleo diet with a few revisions. I think it's just as good as the original version.
Chicken Junot, Neo-Paleo Style
Serves 4
1 - 1.5 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breasts
Italian seasoning, to taste
Garlic salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
2-3 portabello mushroom caps, sliced [and cut into smaller chunks]
1/2 red onion, sliced [I cut each long strip into thirds or so]
4 T. butter
1/4 c. chicken broth
1/4 c. red wine
1. With kitchen shears, cut chicken breasts lengthwise so that each chicken breast becomes two thinner pieces. (You can also pound them to make them thin, but I think cutting them is MUCH easier. My cheat method does not do any tenderizing but whatever.)
2. In a large skillet, cook mushroom and onion in 2 T. butter until tender; remove from skillet.
3. In same skillet, melt 2 T. butter, add chicken pieces, and sprinkle with herbs/spices. Cook chicken over medium-high heat until cooked through, turning to brown evenly. Remove from skillet.
4. Return mushrooms and onion to skillet. Add broth and wine. Cook, uncovered, for about 3 minutes or until mixture heats up/thickens slightly.
5. Serve chicken with wine sauce.
Note: I find that the chicken heats up just fine in the microwave later, cooking about 2 minutes. I always add more butter (actually butter/olive oil spread) after re-heating to moisten things up a bit. Mmmmm....butter and red wine and more butter. Love it.
I actually made a double recipe (two skillets) at once because I don't mind eating the same thing a couple times a day if I need to. At the very least I mind that less than having to spend more time cooking more different things.
Today: Unseasonably Warm
I had hoped that it would be warm enough again to wear this new dress before the fall weather really set in for good. I wanted the chance to wear it on its own, rather than under/over a bunch of layers, because I think the details are simple but pretty. Today, with a high of 79 degrees, seems a good day for it.
New item:
*Pink dress from Lands End
Of course, it won't be that warm until afternoon, so I'm wearing it with a lightweight cardigan for now.
My instinct was to match the navy and white with some shade of red, of course, but I decided to try something different. (Recent posts have made clear to me just how much I fall back on that combination.)
I used my common strategy of using a coordinating scarf to bring disparate colors together. (This is basically my only personal dressing pro-tip.) I liked the subtle pattern mixing of stripes with the flowery print. (Sorry for the cruddy photo.)
New items:
*Navy striped shirt from Lands End
*Pleated navy skirt from Lands End (from their school uniform collection, mega-cheap)
*Green cardigan from Liz Claiborne
Wearing this outfit reminded me of two people:
(1) It had that RB cool weather compensatory dressing thing going -- you know, if you wear enough long layers on the top, even in winter you can wear shorts. (Note: this is related to, but distinct from, what I think of as Colorado compensatory dressing, in which putting a heavy sleeveless ski vest on top of any clothing combination makes it cool weather compatible because you are keeping your core warm, after all. This is especially awesome when it involves a t-shirt, hiking shorts, and a down ski vest.) (And it is light-years more valid and stylish than the weird Austin thing wherein people wear jeans, a coat, a hat, mittens, etc., in winter with flip flops. For the love of Christ, people. Buy a pair of real fucking shoes already.)
(2) I never really understood my mom's abiding love of the 3/4 length sleeve until I started doing a lot of cooking and washing up for myself, but now I get it. It was pretty sweet wearing this cardigan yesterday while cooking -- no bunching up of long sweater sleeves followed by the almost immediate un-scrunching, ensuring that the ends of the sleeves get wet and/or gross.
What was I cooking? A variant on a favorite recipe, made acceptable on my neo-paleo diet with a few revisions. I think it's just as good as the original version.
Chicken Junot, Neo-Paleo Style
Serves 4
1 - 1.5 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breasts
Italian seasoning, to taste
Garlic salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
2-3 portabello mushroom caps, sliced [and cut into smaller chunks]
1/2 red onion, sliced [I cut each long strip into thirds or so]
4 T. butter
1/4 c. chicken broth
1/4 c. red wine
1. With kitchen shears, cut chicken breasts lengthwise so that each chicken breast becomes two thinner pieces. (You can also pound them to make them thin, but I think cutting them is MUCH easier. My cheat method does not do any tenderizing but whatever.)
2. In a large skillet, cook mushroom and onion in 2 T. butter until tender; remove from skillet.
3. In same skillet, melt 2 T. butter, add chicken pieces, and sprinkle with herbs/spices. Cook chicken over medium-high heat until cooked through, turning to brown evenly. Remove from skillet.
4. Return mushrooms and onion to skillet. Add broth and wine. Cook, uncovered, for about 3 minutes or until mixture heats up/thickens slightly.
5. Serve chicken with wine sauce.
Note: I find that the chicken heats up just fine in the microwave later, cooking about 2 minutes. I always add more butter (actually butter/olive oil spread) after re-heating to moisten things up a bit. Mmmmm....butter and red wine and more butter. Love it.
I actually made a double recipe (two skillets) at once because I don't mind eating the same thing a couple times a day if I need to. At the very least I mind that less than having to spend more time cooking more different things.
Today: Unseasonably Warm
I had hoped that it would be warm enough again to wear this new dress before the fall weather really set in for good. I wanted the chance to wear it on its own, rather than under/over a bunch of layers, because I think the details are simple but pretty. Today, with a high of 79 degrees, seems a good day for it.
New item:
*Pink dress from Lands End
Of course, it won't be that warm until afternoon, so I'm wearing it with a lightweight cardigan for now.
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Hercules Grapples With a Common Question
Confused about this issue, Hercules the clueless clownfish asks a mermaid.
She has demonstrated herself time and again to be a caring, patient person, so it's not unreasonable that Hercules approaches her first. (But it's too bad that he is asking about this of woman who is a bit on the over-protective side who is also a being without any obvious reproductive organs.)
He tries very hard to make sense of this response. (Confused Hercules is freakin' adorable.)
This line of thought takes him nowhere, so he branches out and asks others about the origins of babies. Really not helpful, guys.
Cue rimshot.
Now here's a piece of information from a shark that's both true and potentially enlightening...
but Hercules attempts to understand it in light of the other disinformation he's received.
Oh, Hercules -- you should have asked Sally!
THE END
She has demonstrated herself time and again to be a caring, patient person, so it's not unreasonable that Hercules approaches her first. (But it's too bad that he is asking about this of woman who is a bit on the over-protective side who is also a being without any obvious reproductive organs.)
He tries very hard to make sense of this response. (Confused Hercules is freakin' adorable.)
This line of thought takes him nowhere, so he branches out and asks others about the origins of babies. Really not helpful, guys.
Cue rimshot.
Now here's a piece of information from a shark that's both true and potentially enlightening...
but Hercules attempts to understand it in light of the other disinformation he's received.
Oh, Hercules -- you should have asked Sally!
THE END
Monday, October 7, 2013
And More New Stuff
Red, White, and Blue #1
I wanted to try out this mixed-media shirt I bought from Nordstrom that is a drapey woven material in the front and a knit in the back. (Is this a shirt version of a mullet? Business in the front, a party in the back?) Despite the modern shirt, the overall look appears to be from the 1950's. That's OK.
New items:
*Red mixed-media shirt from Nordstrom
*Blue cotton skirt (thrifted, Old Navy)
But I quickly got too cold and had to add a thrifted cotton blazer (Old Navy).
Blurry Olive and Cream
This is a terrible photo of an outfit that I liked a lot -- the textures of the sweater and skirt were interesting. (Not sure why I'm so shaky when I try to take my photo sometimes but it leads to really bad photos.)
New items:
*Cream wool-and-lace sweater from Nordstrom (on sale for $30!)
*Embroidered olive cotton skirt (thrifted)
Apres Interview
When I got home from my interview on Friday, I left on the shirt and jewelry I was wearing and just put on other clothes to go with them.
New item:
*Flowery blouse from Kohl's
When I got (inevitably) chilled in short sleeves, I added the cream lace cardigan. (I love this thing.)
Burst of Color
It had been two days in neutrals, so it was time to get colorful again.
New item:
*Flowery peasant blouse (thrifted, Old Navy)
And you can already see this coming, right? I added a cardigan.
Red, White, and Blue #2
My new t-shirts from Lands End arrived, and viola, not see-through.
New item:
*White t-shirt from Lands End
But I didn't even pretend for a minute that I wasn't going to need more coverage for warmth's sake; it was rainy and chilly this weekend. Back to the Sally stand-by "Add Cardigan and Scarf" formula.
Leopard Goodness
I am crazy about leopard print, and today I finally wore my new leopard cardigan. I had tried so many different ones, but this one (despite having a crew neck, not my preferred neckline on a cardigan) was tops. (And yes, I like leopard and maroon together.)
New items:
*Leopard print cardigan from Lands End
*Black buckle flats from Nordstrom (Me Too brand; these are the sisters of the red flats I've been wearing)
I did not bother photographing this, but in an amusing inversion of the week's pattern, during the middle of the afternoon, the sun was out and it got warm enough in the apartment that I removed the cardigan and cranked up the A/C. About 45 minutes later it was cool enough to put the cardigan back on, unbuttoned (though really, I would have been perfectly comfortable without it, I wanted to wear it, damn it!).
In other wardrobe-related news, I started working on an outfit database in Access this afternoon with the thought that it would be nice later to be able to do a search on different colors (e.g. red and blue), individual items (e.g. Lands End leopard cardigan), etc., and retrieve photos of outfits meeting these criteria. I haven't used Access in its last couple incarnations, so I thought that this would also be a possibly helpful refresh/update of my skills. I put the tables together easily, and the part that I expected to be harder (incorporating the photos) turned out to be very straightforward in Access 2010. But man, it's been a while since I've made a form and the interface feels different from what I remember. Tomorrow I'm going to have to pull out my Access Bible and get back to basics. Good times.
I wanted to try out this mixed-media shirt I bought from Nordstrom that is a drapey woven material in the front and a knit in the back. (Is this a shirt version of a mullet? Business in the front, a party in the back?) Despite the modern shirt, the overall look appears to be from the 1950's. That's OK.
New items:
*Red mixed-media shirt from Nordstrom
*Blue cotton skirt (thrifted, Old Navy)
But I quickly got too cold and had to add a thrifted cotton blazer (Old Navy).
Blurry Olive and Cream
This is a terrible photo of an outfit that I liked a lot -- the textures of the sweater and skirt were interesting. (Not sure why I'm so shaky when I try to take my photo sometimes but it leads to really bad photos.)
New items:
*Cream wool-and-lace sweater from Nordstrom (on sale for $30!)
*Embroidered olive cotton skirt (thrifted)
Apres Interview
When I got home from my interview on Friday, I left on the shirt and jewelry I was wearing and just put on other clothes to go with them.
New item:
*Flowery blouse from Kohl's
When I got (inevitably) chilled in short sleeves, I added the cream lace cardigan. (I love this thing.)
Burst of Color
It had been two days in neutrals, so it was time to get colorful again.
New item:
*Flowery peasant blouse (thrifted, Old Navy)
And you can already see this coming, right? I added a cardigan.
Red, White, and Blue #2
My new t-shirts from Lands End arrived, and viola, not see-through.
New item:
*White t-shirt from Lands End
But I didn't even pretend for a minute that I wasn't going to need more coverage for warmth's sake; it was rainy and chilly this weekend. Back to the Sally stand-by "Add Cardigan and Scarf" formula.
Leopard Goodness
I am crazy about leopard print, and today I finally wore my new leopard cardigan. I had tried so many different ones, but this one (despite having a crew neck, not my preferred neckline on a cardigan) was tops. (And yes, I like leopard and maroon together.)
New items:
*Leopard print cardigan from Lands End
*Black buckle flats from Nordstrom (Me Too brand; these are the sisters of the red flats I've been wearing)
I did not bother photographing this, but in an amusing inversion of the week's pattern, during the middle of the afternoon, the sun was out and it got warm enough in the apartment that I removed the cardigan and cranked up the A/C. About 45 minutes later it was cool enough to put the cardigan back on, unbuttoned (though really, I would have been perfectly comfortable without it, I wanted to wear it, damn it!).
In other wardrobe-related news, I started working on an outfit database in Access this afternoon with the thought that it would be nice later to be able to do a search on different colors (e.g. red and blue), individual items (e.g. Lands End leopard cardigan), etc., and retrieve photos of outfits meeting these criteria. I haven't used Access in its last couple incarnations, so I thought that this would also be a possibly helpful refresh/update of my skills. I put the tables together easily, and the part that I expected to be harder (incorporating the photos) turned out to be very straightforward in Access 2010. But man, it's been a while since I've made a form and the interface feels different from what I remember. Tomorrow I'm going to have to pull out my Access Bible and get back to basics. Good times.
No News is...No News Update
I had an in-person interview on Friday that went well, and I should hear back from them in the next week or two to find out if I'm a final candidate.
I haven't heard back from my other two "live" opportunities (i.e., ones where I've had a phone and/or in-person interview with the hiring manager), and I think that one of them is almost certainly dead and the other is pretty iffy.
But I applied to two great-looking jobs yesterday and am continuing to fight the good fight here.
I haven't heard back from my other two "live" opportunities (i.e., ones where I've had a phone and/or in-person interview with the hiring manager), and I think that one of them is almost certainly dead and the other is pretty iffy.
But I applied to two great-looking jobs yesterday and am continuing to fight the good fight here.
Saturday, October 5, 2013
The Source for Basic White T-shirts
After striking out on my first attempt to find a white t-shirt, on my mom's recommendation, I tried Lands End, and all the t-shirts I got were wonderfully thick enough to wear on their own without a layer underneath. (In my world, a white t-shirt is the layer that you wear underneath. Duh.)
I can vouch for this short-sleeved one and this long-sleeved one. I got both V and crew versions, for a total of 6 white t-shirts. This is something I always run out of (both in the sense that I seem to want to wear one before my current ones are washed and that they get stained so must be thrown out), and I figure that if I over-purchased, a comfortable white t-shirt is a great all-purpose sleep shirt.
I did not get any colors other than white this time, but they have a pretty wide selection. I like that they come in regular, petite, and plus sizes, and they're only $10 and $12 (about $5 more for plus) -- and you can save 30% on top of that using a coupon code.
You'll be seeing these shirts in blog posts to come.
I can vouch for this short-sleeved one and this long-sleeved one. I got both V and crew versions, for a total of 6 white t-shirts. This is something I always run out of (both in the sense that I seem to want to wear one before my current ones are washed and that they get stained so must be thrown out), and I figure that if I over-purchased, a comfortable white t-shirt is a great all-purpose sleep shirt.
I did not get any colors other than white this time, but they have a pretty wide selection. I like that they come in regular, petite, and plus sizes, and they're only $10 and $12 (about $5 more for plus) -- and you can save 30% on top of that using a coupon code.
You'll be seeing these shirts in blog posts to come.
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