jay oh bee
Color Blocked
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One final tonight and then I am done with summer school. And tomorrow is another big, BIG day in my life, one that I shall blog about soon and I’m still trying to think of the right words. I’m really excited for it though.
The hair was a little dirty today and taking photos was proving to be impossible, so I sat down in the chair before I left for work and took the self-timer superfast. I don’t take usually take outfit photos everyday but I committed to the 21 Day Challenge and gave my mom a color blocking how-to lecture, so I couldn’t not snap a picture! I think this was my best color blocking venture.
Learn one thing from me: When I commit, I commit. It’s very hard for me to abandon a promise that I’ve made.
In honor of dirty hair, I’m posting this lovely fact from the Harvard Business Review, found via Corporette, one of my favorite career-related blogs.
For women, an increase in personal grooming time is associated with lower earnings; for example, if a nonminority woman doubles her daily grooming from 45 minutes to 90 minutes, her earnings drop an average of 3.4%, say Jayoti Das and Stephen B. De Loach of Elon University. Men differ significantly by race: Grooming has no effect on nonminority men’s earnings, but for minority men, a doubling of daily grooming from 40 minutes to 80 minutes yields a nearly 4% increase in average earnings. The researchers say grooming signals social identity, and while it has adverse consequences for highly groomed women, it may counter negative stereotypes of minority men.
So next time you rush out the door, just tell yourself that you’re preparing for a raise. Even though the percentages are so teensy tiny, you might want to take a few minutes to brush your hair for peace of mind.
I put together red and mint because my friend Brooke said it was inspiring her lately, and she inspires me. Next time I do red and mint, I’m doing it better. Something like this.
Photo from Lookbook.nu via Pinterest.
Or this more coral and mint look.
Found via Pinterest. And people, when you pin things, make sure you click on the actual post link, not just the site URL! Otherwise you can never find the true image source.
Wearing: Cardigan: Old Navy Shirt: Ann Taylor Skirt: H&M Shoes: AldoBy the way – BlogHer sent me The Kid to review. It is the sequel to Precious. I didn’t really like it — want to know why? Read my review!
Terrifying
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Mixing patterns scares me. But you know what I have learned? Don’t color code the items in your closet. I used to. Then I got married and we moved to an itsy bitsy apartment where we shared a closet and the color coding went to the wind. So now that things are more randomized, sometimes I will look into my closet and see two things together and say “oh that matches!”
Boom, outfit. See, it pays to be a type B personality! OK, it doesn’t pay anything, but there are benefits. The drawback is that I lose my phone all of the time. The perk is that I can do a zillion projects at work and not get stressed. In fact, I think because I am more laid back, I can accomplish more.
That said, there are certain people who I know are reading this and saying “she’s lying, this just isn’t true.” Because I am definitely an organized, super conscious person for the big things. Is my desk at home cluttered? Yes. But is my calendar at work lined up with deadlines, important dates blocked out and backed-up with a paper version? Of course.
I suppose you could say that home is where I let loose, so that the other things in my life can be organized.
And my uncolor-coordinated closet is how I discovered that red polka dots and leopard print look great together.
When I took these pictures, I pulled up behind the library. I am not sure of the hours, but it seems to always be closed. Thank you state budget cuts for preventing people from being able to read.
So I start taking pictures. Then I look over and this guy in a truck was totally watching me. I thought the truck was empty! It was a little awkward. He wasn’t five feet away from me in these pictures. I smiled and said “well, I’ve started now, so you’re going to have to put up with a show.”
And goodness, is it evident that I have a love affair with Aldo shoes and accessories? My red bracelet is actually swag from the Best Buy booth at BlogHer. It was made by women in South America and they are paid a living wage. I really don’t know the connection of computers and jewelry much more beyond that. I’m still thinking through what I am going to do about the ethical fashion choices.
Wearing: Necklaces: Aldo Shirt: Anthropologie Skirt: Ann Taylor LOFT (also worn here) Belt: Aldo Shoes: AldoBy the way, want to win $100 in fabulous make-up? You could enter to win. I would love you if you would.
The social experiment
Posted by: | CommentsI love social media. And I try to stay up to date with the latest and greatest. So I’ve gone through the ordeal of “circling” all of my friends, most of which are already on Facebook. I like the idea of having circles, especially since some conversations can be more “adult” and I have 15-year-old Facebook friends. So the idea of circling, and only messaging certain people appeals.
However, being social works best when you go to where the people are. I tell this to clients I consult with — figure out where your customers are hanging out already, don’t try to get them to all migrate to a new platform.
When we were leaving for Palm Springs, I tried a little test. I asked for book recommendations on both Google+ and Facebook. My result was overwhelming that most of my friends are hanging out on Facebook. I pasted screen shots below. For this, I got little value from Google+. I mean, I love the people who commented, absolutely.
Where are you hanging out online these days?
Please note, it isn’t that I want to make some sort of crazy declaration that “Google+ is dead” or whatever people like to prematurely, I just don’t get friendship value from it yet. I do enjoy following people on Google+ that are “rockstars” in my profession, people that I wouldn’t normally interact with like Brian Solis or Jeremiah Owyang. It is great to see the links they post. So that is a benefit, and it is worth looking at my stream just for that.
This is the amazing book list I got from Facebook. I have wishlisted half of these, and I plan to wishlist them all.
As for what I ended up with, I downloaded Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption
P.S. Do you want to win a Mary Kay prize pack valued at over $100. Enter my giveaway!
My office supplies
Posted by: | CommentsI am a little addicted to collecting office supplies and stuff for school. Alright, by a little addicted, let me tell you that the highlight of taking the GMAT was buying pretty new things to study with.
Now I’ve absolutely got my favorites and the other day as I was packing things up to start summer school again, I started taking pictures of my favorite things. I swear, pulling out a cute notebook makes class from 5:30-9 at night just a little bit easier.
The first is this cork notebook cover with a pug. It is from Sheekoo. Love it. It just covers a regular cheap-o composition book, so I can reuse it to my heart’s content. Looks like Mimi doesn’t have the pug ones in her Etsy shop, but she does have Guide Dog ones (she’s a volunteer for Guide Dogs for the Blind, Inc.) And that metal thing on the top is a pen holder I picked up in China at Muji.
I am completely in love with my Kindle. And I love the cover just as much. It is one of The New Yorker covers, and to go with it, I subscribed to The New Yorker on the Kindle. I need to fully post about my love (and some not love) for the Kindle, but I can say that I 100 percent love my cover.
These are my pens from Muji. Seriously, what am I going to do when they run out and there is no Muji? I can order it online I suppose, but not quite as much fun as going to the store — which I completely dragged my friends to at night in Hong Kong when I am sure they would have rather been going to do something more fun. It was heaven for a supply girl like me.
Also, no study trip is complete without multi-colored post-its.
So this isn’t exactly an office supply, but I love my business cards for the blog. They cover all of my personalities — from being a MBA candidate to loving clothes and all things beautiful. I’m excited for BlogHer to pass them out, but I use them as networking calling cards now too.
Much thanks to Laura of VPG Printing for creating them. She was golden.
My best organization method is to have a separate bag for every event. So my FUMI bag is for work, my pink backpack is for working out — it is my backpack from college, it was cool then to have a huge bag — and my Marc Jacobs bag is for all things school. The puppy is not included, but she thinks she is.
That way I never forget a pen or a highlighter or my calculator or something crazy and important like that. I just have to switch my wallet and cell phone.
What are your favorites in the office? What must be on your desk at all times, be it for study or work? And if you are addicted as I am, can we start a support group.
A day in the life
Posted by: | CommentsI was figuring out my schedule with someone and got a “you are so busy!” response. Before I apologized, I caught myself. How are we doing on the not apologizing ladies?
So I mentally started writing this “day in the life post.”
By the time I get out of bed, I generally know what I am going to wear. Either it was decided the day before, or decided upon while pretending to get a few more minutes of sleep.
On this particular day, I had decided the night before, when seeing a friend because I was telling her about my new dress from Anthro. Since I was seeing her the next day, I knew I had to wear it.
I get out of bed at 7 a.m. to make it to work before 8:30. Generally 8:15 is my goal. I cannot get up any earlier without a dang good reason.
Work consists of managing projects, social media, media in general. Sometimes I take lunch, sometimes I get something to go and come back and work. Sometimes I take the full hour to myself and go for a walk. Or, I meet with friends. Those are my favorite days.
On this day, we took a retiring coworker out to lunch. In the public sector, retirements are celebrated quite a bit, and I will be sorry to see this friend go. I’m excited for him though.
We went to The Reddoor, which I can’t wait to go back to. Absolutely charming. I had the macaroni and cheese and the grilled cheese. And the sweet potato fries. I told you I celebrated my birthday week with cheese.
Of course this puts me in an absolute food coma and I end up working late just to get things done. Especially since the previous week I took off work to go to girls camp. My strategy of trying to move things off my desk as quickly as possible is completely defeated with a week off work.
I consumed no less than 5 glasses of water at lunch — those of you who have ever dined with me are not surprised. We got back from lunch and I ran straight for the restroom. When I got back to my desk, my coworker surprised me with birthday flowers. Gorgeous. I work with good people.
I get home at 6 p.m. I get busy. I hear the laundry whirring as I walk past and know that husband has started a load — the only remnant of husband’s presence in the house. He’s at the library. I check, I have 12 minutes.
The heat wave that we’ve been having is delicious, but it heats up our house to an out-of-control state. I grab a thawed Dream Dinners out of the fridge and gag when it says to heat the over to 400 degrees. I do it anyway.
I strip to my undies because the house is a furnace. The following tasks are completed in my skivvies, in attempts to fully use the 12 minutes from the laundry. I realize my bras need handwashing, so I start that soaking process. I clean up the kitchen. I take dinner out of the oven, and because I have to be somewhere in 30 minutes, I simply separate it all into 3 gladware containers and put it straight into the fridge.
The dress comes back on and I realize I have 10 minutes. I decide to clean up dog poo. Because it is hot and when it is hot outside the yard gets smelly. I don’t want it to be smelly.
I put flip flops on to do this. I finish. I put my heels back on and switch the laundry. I look at the bedding and realize there isn’t time to wash that. I realize I can take the trash out if I hurry.
It is at this precise moment, while hurling a trash bag into the receptacle that I realize I could never own Louboutins, as much as my heart desires (I have about half of the funds earmarked for my MBA graduation). At least now now. Walking around in almost $100 Enzos makes me nervous.
Something tells me that a lady doesn’t throw the trash out in $600 Loubies.
I text husband, who is at the library studying this whole time, about the status of the laundry and get to my thing, stopping on the way to take these outfit photos in a deserted parking lot. A maintenance guy stops to watch me. I wave and leave.
Home at 9 p.m., I draft a presentation on Powerpoint for a project I’m working on. It was due the next day. I blog.
Bubble bath is mandatory. It always is on Wednesdays. My muscles need a recharge, and by 11 p.m. it has cooled down enough for a steaming hot bath to be acceptable. I like it hot, hot, hot.
I land in bed feeling productive. The next day I don’t wash the sheets. In fact, I go out with a friend. I decide to switch them with clean ones in the closet and wash both sets next week. Procrastination is hobby numero uno.
Wearing: Bow necklace: Carole, from Nordstrom. I actually won it at the Pursuit of Pretty Things event! I forgot it until I took the dress out of the shopping bag. Dress: Anthropologie Undershirt: Downeast Basics Shoes: Enzo Angiolini ‘Martini’ Pump
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