Welcome to Spring St. Louis!

Good Afternoon Readers!

Spring is here! I haven't put away my coat yet, but I moved a few warm weather pieces in my closet from the back to the front with the hope of wearing them soon!  Yesterday afternoon was quite warm and sunny, but when I left for work it was still a bit chilly, so I chose a wool dress, cardigan, and tights.  By the time I was done teaching, however, it was so warm that I went home to change before my night class!

The dress that I wore was an unbelievable find that I scored at my local Nordstrom Rack in Brentwood- originally $288, but purchased for only $22! It was a bit loose, but fortunately the seamstress for the store was there at the same time as me and she was able to tailor it to my shape.  The last time I had a dress tailored for me was the last time I was a bridesmaid!  She did such a wonderful job, that I'm hoping for a few more chilly days so I can wear the dress again.

Retail Details:

French Grey Wool Ruffled Dress: Nordstrom Rack

Turquoise Green Cardigan: Martin + Osa

Red Suede Belt: Vintage (from my mom's closet)

Dark Grey Heathered Tights: Hue (from Nordstrom Rack)

Silver Pointed Flats (not pictured): Nine West

Hot Pink Camera: Canon SD 1400 IS (purchased from Peoria Camera)

Messy apartment: courtesy of studying for exams

Why I Love St. Patrick's Day

Connemara- Photo by Me

Good evening Readers!

I love Ireland.  In college I took a mini-mester ("J-term") class on the Irish Renaissance Literature that took me on a 10 day adventure through Ireland visiting places where history happened, walking where famous authors once stepped, sleeping in a castle, climbing hills, eating potato and leek soup with brown soda break to my heart's content, and capturing snapshots of the country's beauty with my camera and journal.

Cliffs of Moher: The wind was so strong that you could lean against it!

Monk's Pub: One of my favorite restaurants in the world in Ballyvaughan

I revisited this romance 2 years later through another mini-mester class (2 weeks this time, as a "May term") in the form of an independent study of nonverbal communication in Ireland.  On this visit, my love for this island expanded even more with a visits to new places, like The Aran Islands.

Dun Aengus, Aran Islands

Kissing the Blarney Stone

 My third (but hopefully not last!) trip to Ireland was with two lovely friends (Kellie & Rachel) during our Spring Break in 2008.  We brought only our purses, backpacks, and 1 suitcase and traveled across the Republic, staying in mostly hostels- even though we managed to experience rain, snow, sleet, and extreme winds within a 30 minute span of time (Waterford)- this was one of my favorite vacations ever! No one in our trio was old enough to rent a car (without a major fee), so we trekked across the country with a Irish Rover pass in one of these buses:

 Ireland has a very special place in my heart, and it is because of this fondness that I LOVE to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.  I don't drink Guinness, but I do my best to enjoy rich chocolate and wear green.  This year, I went a bit overboard with my green wardrobe. . . Here I am in verdant St. Patrick's Day splendor with a painting I made of a scene from Ballyvaughan:

 Retail Details:
Mint Green Cashmere Cardigan: Martin + Osa
Seafoam Green Ruffled Tank: Anthropologie
Green Tank: Target
Beaded Leather Belt: Anthropologie (this season)
Olive Green Cords: AG (Stevie) from Anthropologie
Olive Green Jeweled Flats: Via Spiga (Nordstrom Rack)

*All photos, except for the ones of me, were taken by me.

First Day of Classes!

Greetings Readers!

Today was the beginning of yet another journey of teaching Public Speaking. I wasn't as nervous today as I was at this time last semester- but I did have a few small fears. Last semester, both of my classes were filled with outstanding students- 36 amazing individuals who made me laugh, taught me interesting facts, and who touched my lives. As I prepared for this semester, I thought "Is it possible that I could have another batch of students like that again?"

Well, today was only day one- but I can already tell that the 40 students I met today in my classes were also a wonderful batch of students! Today we read the syllabus, went over the schedule, watched a youtube video of a kid with stage fright, AND did brief introductions. I learned my students names (okay, I'm still learning those), their hometowns, majors, year in school, interests, and interesting facts about each student.

While I wasn't very nervous, last night I still had a few butterflies in my stomach. So. . . I did what I (almost) always do before an important day- I planned my outfit. I think this outfit was one of my favorites so far- I couldn't stop smiling while I was wearing it! After teaching, my friend Megan took a picture of me in the hallway- but a few hours later I accidently dropped my camera (my little pink canon) and it broke. So. . . it may be a few days before I can get that picture up on this blog. So, to substitute the picture I've collected a few shots from the web to give you a sort of picture of this outfit.

Since this is an unusual format for my posts, I'll start these retail details from the bottom and move up

Here are my shoes:

(available here for $20 at bergners.com)

My tights were a color similar to the shoes, and I purchased them from the aerie store in Peoria, IL. I think the tights are available in some stores, but not available online. Here is a link to a similar pair in black, for just under $10

My dress (the leading cause for my unstoppable smile today) is from Anthropologie and it is from Tracy Reese's Plenty collection. I think we might see more of this dress in future posts!

My belt is also from Anthropologie. I'm not sure who made this belt, but on the website it was listed as the "Windmill Bow Belt." What I like most about this belt is that it is navy blue AND black- which means I can wear it with almost any color, including black and navy.

Since the weather outside is still rather frightful, and because I'm not sure if Public Speaking instructors should wear sleeveless, lacy dresses. . . I paired the dress with my favorite cardigan- a deep lavender cashmere delight that's nearing retirement. I've worn it so much that it has a small hole in one of the sleeves. This cardigan is from Martin & Osa (tear. . . if they were still around, I would buy more)

I also wore the necklace from Juicy Couture that I've worn in a few recent blog posts as well as a grey feathered headband from aerie.

I hope everyone had a very wonderful Wednesday!