Updates, and a couple of outfits

So I've ended up taking a bit of a blog hiatus due to some things going on with my work at the lab... Basically, I had a meeting with my adviser two weeks ago to discuss the performance I’d had as part of my thesis evaluation. He was quite honest with me, and summed it up as “disappointing”…I agree, I didn’t really push the boundaries of the performance or the technology. But it was very hard to hear that my adviser really wasn’t thrilled with the work. It looks like I'm going to have to make quite a bit more progress on my master's thesis work by the end of April in order for it to be acceptable for me to be potentially kept on as a Ph.D. student. So that's been difficult for me, but it does mean I may have a chance still, if I can do something really impressive. So...hard work on writing and redoing one of the pieces from my performance, having to make it really amazing. Hopefully I can pull that off. So I spent last week being pretty hard on myself about all of that, wondering what I was doing “wasting my time” with non-work-related things like fashion blogging and being with friends and such. But I think I’ve gotten a bit more perspective in the last few days, especially as I'm currently on a bit of a vacation (a trip to Florida with the boyfriend and his family that had been planned months ago before all the thesis-related stuff happened). So I’m back to blogging here and there.


This outfit is from last week on Tuesday…I had work at the lab and a dinner meeting/demos of my work. I hadn’t worn the shirt before, as it’s a recent-ish dollar-a-pound find, and I’m not entirely sure what to make of it…the top is an awkward length, hitting me at mid-hip, so it feels too short to wear over pants like a tunic and look good on me, and too long to tuck into a skirt (or at the least, too stiff…there are pockets in it and all sorts of details, so a very stretchy or thin skirt ends up showing the fabric bunched underneath. I’m not sure I got away safely with this skirt.


Also, I really need other flats I can wear easily other than these old Sketchers ones! Luckily, my mother and I went thrifting at the dollar-a-pound yesterday and I did find a pair of flats that I suspect I’ll start wearing very soon. I just have a difficult time with the fit of most styles, where either they’re too tight and cutting into my heel/toes or my heel is loose enough to rub against the back and be hard to keep on my foot. That’s why these black flats with the little strap across work well for me. How do you get flats to stay on your feet without straps, though? Any suggestions?


This outfit was a couple of days earlier than the other. This wrap dress is probably one of my favorite dresses...I thrifted it a couple of years ago and it's gotten quite a bit of wear since then. I really like the print and the colors...and it's proof that a wrap dress is an easy option!