Happy Thanksgiving!

I've been trying to do a fall appropriate outfit here on the equator and third time is a charm! It was raining the other day so I took the opportunity of the cooler weather to wear one of my favorite long-sleeve shirts (and I only have three here!) Everyone says that animal print is a neutral so I tried out that theory with this cheery Modcloth polka dot skirt. It's a bit much but I ended up really loving the combo. To go along with the prim look, I put on my Mary Janes and tied a ribbon around my collar. 

I'd like to think that if I was home for Thanksgiving, I would wear something like this. Instead, my boyfriend and I ate pasta at the National Museum and then watched a modern dance performance (and NO, I did not drag my boyfriend - he really likes going to new things like this). The museum is so beautiful at night and the area is all decorated for Christmas. Although, it's definitely weird seeing Santa in his suit when it's blazing hot outside. Even though we had a yummy meal, extraordinary entertainment and I was with my boo, don't get it twisted - what I wouldn't do for some green bean casserole, buttery mashed potatoes, squash casserole and pecan pie. Mmmmm! Eat some for me! What are you doing for Thanksgiving? I hope everyone has a lovely time with their friends and family and has bunches to be thankful for! I know I do. 

 Skirt Modcloth (it's on sale right now! If you hurry, you can get it for $13!) | Shirt: Liz Clairborne (Goodwill, America) | Shoes: Homeplus, Korea 

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This Must Be Dirty Pop

Oi! It's been such a long time since I've posted! Sorry, y'all! I've had a lot on my plate because I've been moving... I let you know where my next home-away-from-home in another blog post soon! 

A while back, I went to a K-pop concert. My good Korean friend works for a company that hosts concert events and was able to help us out  with tickets- we got such stellar seats!  We saw Wonder Boyz, Ladies Code, Norazo, and a ballad singer. Norazo's performance was my favorite - it's a 2 man group where one is the energy (dancing and jumping around) and the other is the face (verrrry attractive guitar player). Wonder Boyz had some pretty smooth moves, too. We had a great time, even though the concert was a lot different from what I'm used to back home. We saw 5 performers/groups and the entire concert lasted only 2 hours! Everyone only sang about 2-3 songs each. The concert started exactly when it said it was going to and ended at the scheduled time as well. And the biggest difference of all - folks didn't really dance. They stayed in their seats until the performers asked them to stand up! My friends and I all wiggled in our chairs to the beat but some audience members were falling asleep! 

Because I didn't know what to expect from this concert I tried to go with comfort, style, layered warmth. Y'all know how much I love a good sweater dress and this pink animal print is just the right amount of funky. I put on the leather vest for extra warmth but also because I like how it hits me right at the waist. 

I think my favorite thing is all the jewelry. I'm normally too lazy put on a bunch of stuff but I love how it looks when I do. I'm obsessed with bracelet parties; one of the fun things is how versatile it can be. You can go boho,  mix-and-match metallics, or play with different textures. Chanel said before you leave the house, take off one thing but with bracelet parties, before you leave the house, I say ADD one more thing! 

Sweater Dress: Clothing Swap | Vest: Korean thrift store | Boots: DSW | Rings, Earrings and Bracelets: Gifted or Clothing Swap 

I Spy Style: Bong Yeon

My friends and I were in Seoul this weekend for a K-pop concert and we were wandering around town when we saw this gorgeous gal. I really wanted to take her picture but I was shy and nervous about asking. Luckily, with my friends encouraging me and Lynn offering to use her Korean skills, I was able to get these shots of 봉연 (Miss Bong Yeon). And boy, am I glad I did! The more I look at these pictures, the more genius it is to me.

Let's just recap what 봉연 is wearing exactly: an electric blue coat, animal print scarf, red paisley print dress layered over a sheer white layer and then a black one, orange studded boots, a flower headband and cat-eye make-up. It's amazing! It sounds like so much but she makes it work so well. First, I love how she mixed the two prints together. Then on top of two loud prints, she went ahead and added extra color to her outfit. Then there's all the layers going on. And yet, everything she's wearing seems effortless. 

Thanks, 봉연, for letting me take your picture!  

The K-pop concert was awesome and I'll post up a few pictures of my own outfit coming soon. What did you do this weekend?

Eat Like a Pig, Look Like a Lady

Lately I've been pushing myself to really get better at layering for winter (something I always seem to be reminding you is not my strong suit, being from Georgia). But for this outfit, I went back to what I feel comfortable doing. No layers - just ONE sweater and ONE pair of tights (I usually wear a t-shirt or tank top, and extra tights for added warmth). It's good to challenge yourself and push your style but it's always nice to go back to what you really like. Luckily, the weather was willing to cooperate. 

I wore this outfit to my expat Friendsgiving dinner last weekend. It was very important I wear something where I could sit easily sit on the floor (it's Korean style and foreigners here don't have enough seats or space to sit 20 people). When I pulled out this tulle skirt, I knew it was perfect. It's an absolute stellar length for me to sit on the floor no problem and still look put together. I bought this skirt years and years ago at a thrift store and at the time, it looked so badly 80's. It had an elastic waistband (which turned out to be very helpful after eating lots of turkey!) and no one was really wearing any tulle. I didn't care. Flowly materials like tulle always instantly grab my heart so I took it home and kept it in my closet until I was brave enough to wear it (7 years ago I wasn't as fashionably adventurous) or until it came into style. Thankfully, both happened and I'm so glad I kept it around. I absolutely love it. I call it my "grown-up tutu". It's got the feel of tutu but not all the volume. And man, to twirl in this thing! So fun. 

I got this sweater this summer at a clothing swap and have been salivating for a long time just thinking of wearing it! And then when Phillip Lim's Target line came out and I couldn't even look at the Target website, I was so sad. But I consoled myself when I pulled out this sweater. It's not Phillip Lim, but it's similar. I love animal print, I love color and I LOVE red and blue together. C'est parfait! 

The only accessory I added besides little silver studs was my cowboy necktie, the turquoise bolo. I bought this bad boy back in Georgia and even though I'm very much the suburban girl, it reminds me a little of a home. This piece is always fun to wear because it's always a new challenge to put it with unexpected outfits while making sure it doesn't look like a costume (I never wear the bolo and my cowboy boots together). 

The outfit, the weather, the FOOD and the company turned out to be pretty incredible this day! What did you wear for your Thanksgiving?

Sweater: Clothing Swap | Skirt, Belt, Bolo: Thrift Store | Shoes: Homeplus 

Classic Comfortable Style for a Cool Autumn Day

This outfit is all about comfort and keeping warm while still looking teacher-y. I was going to wear a more fun, funky, fashion-forward outfit but as soon as I put it on I thought, wearing this is too much work right now. I'm lazy. I just want to be comfortable. So I grabbed this instead and I'm happy I did! This Gap shirt is amaaaaaazing. It's part of their supersoft tee collection. I paid $5 at Goodwill for it, but honestly, I think it's worth the real price (or at least sale price!) It's got this amazing stretch, obviously it's incredibly soft, and it's also a lot thicker. I've been wanting to wear it for a while but it's been way too hot. 

Going along with the theme of keeping things simple, I grabbed my trusty jean jacket and leather backpack on the way out. I've had this jean jacket for 10 years. When I worked at Goody's in high school, I wanted this Levi's jacket so bad. At the time, it was around $50 and I wasn't about to pay that. I waited and waited until it went on a super-duper sale (to be fair, I think I might have hidden it in the underwear section or something too; always moving it around). I think I eventually got it for under $10!  Luckily my patience paid off this time. I've had customers go and buy "my" clothes from under my nose when I wasn't so lucky! For a while jean jackets weren't really worn but I'm glad I kept it, because denim is everywhere. But a jean jacket is a classic - that's a style that always comes back around! 

Another classic style that's come back around is leather backpacks. As we know, the 90's are in full force for 2013 and this bag trend follows it. I'm so glad it does because this is the perfect bag for me! For all of my teaching jobs, I spend an hour one way on public transportation. This means walking to the bus stop or subway station, waiting for it, standing on said transportation and then more walking and waiting. Carrying a purse with folders and books on one shoulder really started to kill my back. With this bag, I don't end up looking like Dora the explorer or an employee at R.E.I. 

What are your two go-to tried-and-true accessories?

P.S. For all my Korean chingus, I got these adorable fleur-de-lis loafers at Homeplus! (Korean grocery store that's a weird, smaller version of Wal-mart). Heck yeah! 

Jacket: Levi's | Shirt: Gap (Similar) | Skirt: Target | Scarf: Korean Street Vendor | Purse: Korean Thrift Store | Earrings: Gift | Shoes: Homeplus

I Wanna Be Formal, But I'm Here to Party, Too*

*Business on the top, party on the bottom! 

Yesterday I was in a rush to get out the door. All I knew was that I was going to be wearing jeans because my dress pants were dirty and also because well... you know... 

Technically I don't think I'm supposed to be wearing jeans when teaching so I figured I'd wear a blazer to look more professorial. And then a blouse, too because it always seems to be so warm in the classrooms and if I had to take off that professorial blazer, I didn't want to look like one of the students. Basically, I figure if everything else about my outfit gave me the appearance of being well-dressed, maybe no one will noticed I was actually wearing jeans.  

I didn't even mean to plan it this way, but apparently this blazer just loves hot pink.  I grabbed this blouse to wear with jeans because I know it looks luxe. A friend with (expensive) great taste gave it to me during a clothing swap. It's made of beautiful, light-weight material (had to wear my beloved cami underneath it) and the color is off the charts. The only problem is, it's a little boxy and I always forget about that. I think next time I'm going to either tie it at the belt-line or tuck it in. 

Lately, I've been pretty lazy when it comes to make-up. Clean skin, bronzer, mascara and lipstick and that's it. But this day I put a little bit more effort into it and dang, now I remember. THAT'S why folks love make-up so much. It makes ya look pretty darn good! I'm also trying something new with my eyebrows. I can't tell if I like it or not yet. What do y'all think? (Or do you even notice?) 

A pair of my favorite earrings! They're cupcakes! 

Blazer: American Eagle Outfitters | Shirt: Clothing Swap | Jeans: Cello | Shoes: Goodwill | Necklace: Flea Market | Watch: Citizen | Earrings: Naughty Cat | Ring: Clothing Swap