Live from Coldville!

Woo, Robert and I have successfully moved to Coldville!  Maybe I'll talk more about it when I have more time, but suffice to say, it is a continuing work in progress.  We have closets (mostly--I still have some sweaters/jeans that didn't fit in my closet so I need to get another chest of drawers for them, and there are some things I haven't found yet), we have a kitchen, we have computers with Internet set up, we have one bathroom in enough order to shower in, we have mattresses on the floor to sleep on....but we're very, very far from truly moved in.

It was a tough move because I was feeling really sick on Friday with a migraine and a sinus infection.  Even not doing any of the actual moving of boxes, it was exhausting because I spent from 8 a.m. to almost 5 p.m. on my feet or sitting in a kitchen chair or on my stability ball while the moving happened--not crashed out in my bed, on my sofa, or in my reclining chair as I would have wanted.  In the afternoon, once we were at the new apartment, I was so tired that I lay down on the carpet with my coat over me and took a nap for about half an hour. I was absolutely frigid all day.  Even when it was 70 degrees inside, I had my ankle-length wool coat on and was still shivering.  But a lot of the day it was quite a bit colder inside because the movers opened the windows while they were working (and getting overheated, which I totally get).

I'm feeling better today and finally a little less tired as I got a full night's sleep plus a couple extra hours sleeping on-and-off before finally getting out of bed around 9:30 this morning.  Robert decided he needed to go to work today but I decided to stay home with a personal day, as originally planned, even if I don't get a lot of the serious unpacking done.  Getting caught up with laundry, cooking, and all the normal weekend chores before starting a new work week is going to keep me pretty busy anyway.

Now for the previously scheduled post:

Friday Before a Three Day Weekend and I'm Wearing a Suit Jacket -- Friday, 1/16/15

But that's only because I felt weird about dressing down on the day we were having user orientation on our new data software (even though I wasn't presenting anything and the users were all in jeans and whatnot) and because I really did want to try out another of my 88 cent bargains from the thrift shop.

Yep, we went live with our project, exactly according to schedule, which is kind of a miracle in itself.  The data aren't really quite right (long story) but I get it that for our department head, we needed the credibility with executive management that we could deliver on time more than we needed to get every kink in the problematic data process sorted out before going live with it.  (After all, she was able to tell our phase one users today that we're still working some things out so they shouldn't go to the bank with the numbers quite yet.)  Our department head was pretty much in the very best mood I've ever seen her today after our user orientation session.  What a relief to her to have reached this critical milestone.

Anybody out there have experience with "agile development"?  This is the model we're using, and I definitely have some questions about it.  It's kind of crazy....my team comprises the "developers," and I guess that's what we are, but I don't think any of us really have experience with anything that people like my sister would recognize as a development project.

So anyway...as you might be able to tell from the relatively high stance of this blazer, and its somewhat pronounced shoulder pads, it's an older, no, let's call it "vintage" suit jacket, and probably a size larger than I would usually buy.  But for 88 cents, I loved the subtle maroon/black pattern and thought I could rock an 80's style slightly oversized blazer well enough.  And the color matched my awesome ankle boots, so what's a girl to do?

*Black/black striped T (thrifted, Talbots)
*Maroon suit jacket (thrifted, Le Suit, 88 cents)
Black/black striped pants (thrifted, JCP)
Black tooth/claw necklace (Outfit Additions)
Maroon ankle boots by Dolce Vita

Here's a close up of the jacket and top.  Oh what a difference some light makes.  See, it's not black as the photo above would suggest!

I enjoyed wearing basic black pieces with subtle black-on-black stripes -- horizontal on the top, vertical on the pants.  I love the thin fabric of this knit top; I think it will be perfect for wearing under a sleeveless dress once it's a big warmer.  And these boots basically always make me feel like a bad-ass.  Put the boots with the tooth/claw necklace on this outfit and I think I'm out of the primary "matronly and horribly outdated" zone where this blazer would otherwise be perfectly happy to gravitate to.

Verdict:  This jacket isn't going to be one I go to all the time, but I found it both comfy and just a little bit dressed up as well as very easy to wear with black, and there are times that's just what you're looking for.  I feel like I've already gotten my 88 cents worth out of this purchase; it's all extra from here.

What to Wear When Giving Your Boss a Heart Attack

All About the Scarf -- Thursday, 1/15/14

I woke up and felt like crap -- a developing sinus infection, I think -- and really did not want to go to work.  But I did because I needed to meet with some people to figure out what we're doing at a training session the next day.

This was a remarkably simple and comfortable outfit to wear in our over 30 degrees F (!!) weather.  A long-sleeved T, a jacket, a silk scarf....no sweater, no base layer.  Amazing.

I cannot get over how much I love this scarf.  I love the pattern, which has an Art Deco-esque feel to me (not that I really know what that means, to be fair) and the color combination.  And it's the perfect length for a casual-yet-classy drape around the neck look.  (Not so long it drapes into the sink when you brush your teeth after lunch, either.)

*Light blue long-sleeved T (Kohls)
Brown quilted jacket (thrifted)
Light brown trousers (Kohls)
Brown/black/blue silk scarf (thrifted)
Brown ankle boots by LifeStrides

Oh, as for the boss heart attack -- our department director came by when my group was strategizing in the late afternoon about the training on Friday and said how awesome it is that we have our project up and running, etc., and how great all the visualizations look, and said in a lighthearted way, maybe we should copywrite these.  And I said, Yeah, before [the consultant company we're all unhappy with, who provided those terrible visualizations of two circles, etc.] steals them!  I was joking and yet...man, the idea that after all the crap we (and especially she) has put up with from those people, and how bad their stuff has been, and everything...the idea that they would piggyback on our work really got to her.  She was like, If that happened, after everything, I'd come down on them like... and she couldn't even finish the sentence.  In that moment I realized that she is not just unhappy but a couple steps away from a Taz out / Hulk Smash on those guys.  And since she is not a generally rageful person from what I've seen over the past 9+ months, the situation with the consultant is likely even worse than I thought.

What to Wear in a Long Meeting

Stripes and Florals AGAIN -- Wednesday, 1/14/15

OK, the meeting was only 3 hours, but that's still quite a bit of time.  I was warm enough and quite comfy in an outfit that's basically jeans, T, and cardigan.  (The warmth factor was helped significantly by the fact that it got up to 20 degrees F!  Yes, 20 degrees above zero.  The Festivus miracles just don't stop.)

I had an unexpected bonding moment with a co-worker over how much we both hate wearing turtlenecks, although he doesn't mind ties and I like scarves -- the critical aspect being that both of these can be adjusted and loosened.

Oh, a funny thing.  We spent quite a bit of time in the meeting convincing our project manager that we could have an emergency around the data to our new visualization software project that could require an immediate intervention from our IT department.  The project manager also updated us that one of the IT people supporting the project was deeply unhappy with the SQL written by our consultant because it was very vulnerable to hiccups.

Then we tried looking at one of our visualizations and the data didn't appear, which was weird because my officemate and I had just been working with it the previous afternoon and it was working fine.  Turns out that due to a combination of a 3 minute interruption in server connectivity overnight while the SQL was running to update our data and the poorly written/vulnerable code supplied by our consultant, two variables were not written to our dataset, which broke the visualization.  Have I mentioned our go-live date is tomorrow??

So how's that for a great example of the shoddy work from our consultant creating an emergency which the IT department needs to immediately step in and fix.  And kudos to them, they did.

I don't know whether I've mentioned that the visualizations developed by the consultant were so crappy that we (most of whom have had no training or experience in the software) have been developing our own from scratch rather than try to salvage their junk.  I kid you not when I say that several of the consultant's visualizations are one circle representing the percentage of our population who are Whatever and another circle representing the percentage who are Not Whatever.  Yep, just two circles sitting next to each other.  ARGH!

That's pretty much what they look like, for reals

So it's now become clear that both the visualization side and the data side of this consultant's work has been sub-par.  Sad.

But I'm not sad to have worn stripes and floral print together to work again.  If it ain't broke....wait and the overnight data refresh will break it.  Until then, pattern mix to your heart's content.

*White/grey floral T (Kohls)
Grey/black striped cardigan (Kohls)
Grey 5 pocket pants (Rafaella)
Black scarf (Target)
Grey ankle boots by Seychelles

More Stripey Fun

Florals and Stripes, Together Again -- Tuesday, 1/13/14

I really didn't want to go to work.  I woke up tired, with a headache, and it was like -10 degrees outside.  Bah.  But with a flask of caffeinated iced tea in my bag, I headed off and made it through the day.  However, our group had 3 of 15 people out sick.  If I'd called in, we would have been at an over 25% sick absence rate.  Surely that would be very silly.  And I managed to actually get some work done (despite my headache being a come and go thing all day) so I guess that was good.

Robert and I even spent 30 minutes on a short packing blitz after dinner.  Every little bit helps, right?

Last time (the only time?) I wore this jacket, I wore it with the same scarf (though I did tie it differently).  That scarf is just crazy useful because it has black, white, cobalt blue, white blue, green-ish blue, and blue-ish green, thus making any outfit with various shades of blue and/or teal look a little more cohesive.  But next time, yeah, time to wear the jacket with a different scarf....or a necklace, if I want to get really wild.

*Navy/teal striped T (Kohls)
Navy Dockers
Teal jacket (thrifted, Coldwater Creek)
Green/blue floral/paisley scarf (Target)
Navy ankle boots by Seychelles

Oh, and it's hard to see that the shirt is striped in that photo, so here's my close up.

The texture of the jacket gives a sort of faux-stripe look to go with the actual stripes of the shirt.  I'm all over that, naturally.

Rocking the 88 Cent Jacket

Another Christmas vacation tradition is the last Friday of the month 88 cent sale at the thrift store, and once again, I accompanied my mom and her sister in search of crazy ass bargains.  I came home with a paper bag full of goodies.  I'm in the position where I don't really need anything but for 88 cents, come on!  Even wearing something once, I feel like I'll get my money's worth out of it.

Winter Brights -- Monday, 1/12/14

A versatile, if memorable, piece, this comfy warm blazer features white, black, pink, orange, blue, and green in the pattern.  A good item to build a layered outfit around for the continuing below-zero temperatures.  It was a sunny day, so my office might have been a bit warmer than usual, but still...I found myself at one point this afternoon feeling almost too warm.  Almost.  So, yeah, freezation averted in a cheerful bright jacket and vest combo.

*Black/bright tweed jacket (thrifted, Sag Harbor, 88 cents)
White/black striped button up shirt (thrifted, Old Navy)
Pink sweater vest (thrifted, Fieldgear)
Black pants (thrifted, Macy's)
Black buckle flats by Me Too

Over the previous weekend, I had put together the last 8 work outfits I needed before our move (!!) so I could put the rest of my clothes into wardrobe boxes.  (Well, I also kept out two pairs of jeans, my puffy leopard vest, my Skyrim-office-approved big white "outrageously warm cardigan," and some long-sleeved shirts for the non-work days before the move.)  You're going to see a lot of ankle boots in the days to come, since these black flats are the only shoes I have out that aren't ankle boots or my short snow boots (for commuting) or a pair of cold weather mocs (for moving day in the event of little/no snow) or my bunny slippers (for general stay-at-home awesomeness).

Stripes and Stripes

Double the Stripes, Double the Fun -- Friday, 1/9/15

It's Friday.  You've finished your first week back at work after a two week vacation and you're in the midst of pre-move packing exhaustion.  Put on a bunch of different comfortable grey colored clothing items and call it done.

Oh, and put on some socks, too, because it's only gonna be 6 degrees again today.  Even the high school girls are wearing socks!

*Grey/white striped T (Kohls) -- I'm loving these
Grey striped Dockers (thrifted)
Chunky grey cardigan (thrifted, JCP)
Grey leopard flats by Fergilicious
Chunky silvery necklace (JNY)
Not pictured: Grey houndstooth trouser socks (Sock Dreams)

I haven't written a book review in a while because (1) I didn't read much on my vacation (except the excellent Christmas edition of The Economist, which I read at Robert's mom's house) and (2) what little I have read recently were random books I borrowed from my mom and hurriedly packed up to return to her when I visited over Christmas.  I took her 2 paper sacks full of books, I think, and I returned with 3 paper sacks full of books.  I packed those sacks of books in a box, sealed it, and about 16 hours later opened it again as I realized that my plan to not play Oblivion again until after the move (it's just too time/mentally intensive and I can't really handle having that going on in my life right now) meant that I had a bit more time to fall down in my comfy chair (after work/packing/etc.) and read.  I've been enjoying this extra reading time a lot, but I doubt I will post any more book reviews (and we all know this chorus by now so sing along) "until after the move."

Loving Cashmere, Part 2

Repurposing a Christmas Gift -- Thursday, 1/8/15

Robert's mom gave me a nice plaid scarf for Christmas, just the thing for wearing with your coat on the way to work on a cold day, right?

WRONG.  It's for wearing to your cold office (with another self-gifted cashmere sweater).

I really wanted to wear this sweater by itself (I mean, without a jacket over it) but that just wasn't happening on a day with a high of 8 degrees.  I stood there all Waaaaaah, but this needs a red blazer to match the scarf and I don't have one and ... oh wait, I do, actually.

I hope you can appreciate the artistry in leaving the light wood drying rack in this photo, to coordinate with the beige scarf.  It's these little touches that elevate this blog from "what I wore mirror selfies in poor lighting" to "what I wore mirror selfies in poor lighting with random shit in the background demonstrating what a mess my apartment always is."

*Cream silky T (thrifted)
*Cream cashmere pullover sweater (Macy's)
Maroon blazer (Lands End)
Black striped pants (thrifted, JCP)
Leopard smoking slippers by Clarks
*Beige plaid scarf (gift)