a confession.

I have realized this past week, more than ever that I have become a bag lady.The computer, folders, makeup, books and other miscellaneous but necessary items have combined to make one bag too large to hold all of them. This results in my having quite a large collection of totes to carry around everyday, so many that I actually need one entire seat on the bus just to hold them. I might be a bit nerdy, but that doesn't mean my bags have to be.

from http://www.seabags.com/tote-bags/claw-tote-gold.html

Here is where my obsession with Seabags comes in. They're a local company out of Portland, Maine that recycles sails and makes them into the cutest and durable totes. I now own a couple, including my favorite with a grey whale tail, and rely on them everyday to make me look a little less geeky on my way into the gallery space.

international bling.

Some of my favorite pieces of jewelry are those that I collect on trips through Latin America and the Caribbean. In particular, I have a fascination with these bracelets that I found in Buenos Aires that are painted like Russian nesting dolls.

Now the smaller bracelet I bought from JewelMint, but I love the juxtaposition in the bigger bracelet of something both Russian and Latin. In a lot of ways, it captures what I love about Latin America and the art - the influence of more than one culture and the mestizaje which shows up in the art that I study. That, and this bracelet is just really pretty.

the santa fe blues.

Let me start off by saying that I adore Santa Fe. Not necessarily the main part around the plaza with overpriced shops, but the small galleries off Canyon Road and fun cafes along the main street are delightful. But the last few times I have made the drive up there, I have been a little turned off by the tourist prices (and tourists themselves!) in this beautiful town. My boyfriend and I drove up there for a visit the other day, and spent more time trying to find someplace affordable to eat than looking around at the scenery on a beautiful day. It is very hard to justify paying twenty dollars for a plate of enchiladas when I know I can pay six for an even better plate in Albuquerque. And one store we went in was selling nothing for less than 200. I love clothes, but I also do appreciate a little value when buying something to wear, especially considering graduate school stipends. I just find it very hard to enjoy myself when you are stuck paying fifty dollars for lunch for two, especially when it's easy to find food for much cheaper in Albuquerque. Although we did have a lovely day, and a great reasonable lunch at Tecolote Café, it's just odd to me to have such high prices in a state usually as reasonable as New Mexico. My boyfriend did buy me some beautiful earrings though, and we had a great (cheap!) dinner at Dion's back home in Albuquerque.

My beautiful, new copper star earrings. 

five blogs i love.

One of the things I really love about all the blogs online is the promotion of other blogs and ideas. This has also resulted in some newfound obsessions of mine in the form of outfits I want to try, crafts I need to do, and recipes I can't wait to eat.

adorable Valentine's card from afancifultwist.typepad.com

5. Atlantic-Pacific: I'm not sure where I found this blog, but the outfits are adorable - and more importantly - doable. Many of the pieces are staples from J. Crew, Gap, or other places that are relatively affordable or easy to find. Not to say that some bags and such aren't extravagant, but the high-end mixed with the normal clothes gives a hint of luxury that is achievable and wearable in real life.

4. A Fanciful Twist: This blog was introduced to me by one of my colleagues, Kristen. Her sister, Vanessa runs it, and fills it with whimsical designs and musings. She also runs her own shop on Etsy where you can buy posters of her designs. Lately, I've been really loving her printable Valentine's Day cards (see above).

3. Cupcakes and Cashmere: Another blog with wonderful fashion tips and other how-tos. I discovered this one from Ebbe, who writes Champagne for Ducklings (see below). The Home Improvement section is a particular obsession because it gives simple and beautiful design tips.

2. Champagne for Ducklings:  This blog is run by a college classmate of mine, Ebbe. I'm slightly in love with her photography, which is lovely, moving, and just plain fun. The recipes, often French-inspired, are also really great and easy to make.

1. Big Girls, Small Kitchen: This one I've been following for years, and I've mentioned it before. It's become especially useful in the last year because you can sort by ingredients you can't eat, which in my case, is lots of stuff. Not only that, the recipes are easy, simple, and completely doable when you're in a constant time crunch.

Now, give me more! What are your favorite places to find fun things to wear/do/cook?

the pantyhose conundrum.

I really, really like my jobs. Working in an art collection is really great, and I love getting to learn so much while managing an entire collection by myself. I also adore teaching debate. I never really fancied myself the teacher type, but helping out with the debate team at my high school is oftentimes the highlight of my Tuesdays and Thursdays (and many a weekend in far-off locales like Dallas and Minneapolis). Unfortunately, as much as I love this part of graduating college and getting a real person job, I cannot get into pantyhose, which are often de rigueur in chilly winter months.

 I wish I could make pantyhose look this cute...
http://bit.ly/wDEUYy

I've got a solution for winter. I just wear lots of cute stockings from Anthropologie and Wolford with summer dresses and sweaters and call it a day. My big problem comes in the warmer days, a couple of which we have been having lately. Of course I just want to wear dresses and more dresses because it honestly feels like spring. Well, sundresses sans legwear are not exactly appropriate for high school teachers and grad students in a semi-professional position. And wearing hose in spring is just not cool. I would rather be skipping around in a field or walking on a beach, or even just walking to class, and none of these activities should involve hose. So, please let me know if you have any solutions to make dresses work-appropriate, and in the meantime, I will be rocking many a maxi dress.

new mexico girl problems.

I'm sure many of you have heard of blogs like White Girl Problems and Betches Love This, which chronicle problems that fall upon certain sectors of the female population. However, I would like to turn to conundrums which affect another segment of the population: girls that live in New Mexico. New Mexico girl problems include things like excessively dry skin, an inability to dress oneself appropriately for the weather, and an always unsatisfied craving for Frontier tortillas. I've gone about trying to remedy these problems in various ways.

Lots of snow. 

Well first, there is no really beating the dry skin that always comes with New Mexico altitude. Yes, it is 6,000 feet where I live, and yes, that means VERY dry skin. Not much you can do about that but haul around a Costco-size bottle of moisturizer. My inability to dress myself appropriately for the weather followed me to college in Maine, and back home again. I always wear too much or too little, which results in many complaints about temperature wherever I am. Lesson? Layer and pray for no drastic temperature changes. Although my prayers lately have been washed away with all the wind here, so I must tread through ankle deep snow, all the while freezing my skinny ankles off,  because of my inability to currently wear anything but sneakers (so boots are out of the question). And as for the tortillas, I can't eat them because of the whole Celiac thing, but I can obsessively give them as Christmas presents and force their goodness upon people. However, my favorite remedy thus far is as follows: buying a purple puffy vest from Target for dogs and putting the chihuahua and one cat in it (neither of them really liked it):

Terfle and Coco and the evil purple puffy vest. 

Coco modeling. 

I hope you find similar levels of hilarity in your own snow or sun-filled lives. I, in the meantime, will be praying for summer and layering to stave off the miserable New Mexico weather. 

accesorizing sneakers.

As I've mentioned, I have patellar tendonitis so I cannot run for around six weeks. It has also severely limited my footwear to sneakers. Now I wish I was really hip and had a whole plethora of sneakers that I matched with really trendy outfits, but that is hardly the case.

The always cool Dunks, in my office, which I share with two cardboard cutouts of men and three other students. 

My wonderful, trusty running shoes, which have seen no action lately. 

What does one wear with these? Well, for me, this means spandex and workout shirts because that's really the only thing I want to wear in the winter. Voraciously accessorizing those outfits with tons of jewelry might work with boots to make you look really cool and artsy, but with sneakers all the jewelry makes you look like one of the crazy ladies at the gym who wears more bling than a Cartier shop. However, that is not really appropriate for museum work. So, more than a blog discussing my fashion-sense, this is a cry for help. Somebody, please tell me what to wear for the next 5.5 weeks of my life so I don't look like a really colorful gym rat. 

why ballet flats are (almost) always appropriate.

When I went to college in Maine, everyone assumed that New Mexico was a place of endless warmth and sunshine. Apparently, I also picked up this assumption during my years in Maine and South America. I received a very rude surprise this past Monday when I woke up to winds of 50 mph and several inches of snow. Well, I was very happy because this meant a snow day for my school (Snow days in grad school! Who knew?) and a day of having the house to myself, the dogs, and the cats, so that I could indulge in reruns of Sex and the City and How I Met Your Mother. However, I was quite upset in other ways. First of all, it ruined my morning run, which I consider sacred and my time to sort out my thoughts. Second, but most importantly, it impeded my ability to wear ballet flats.

                                                           My loves.

I think ballet flats are really great for all women for several reasons. For students of all ages, they are really comfy, which is important when you're walking everywhere around campus! I think even with jeans and a t-shirt they add a little something chic to the mix. Now that I've started working (a lot!) I find them so great to run around in, at both of my jobs. I made the mistake of wearing heels on a business trip to Dallas one day, and since then I have told myself that flats will forever be the way to go. Nothing like humidity, sweaty feet, and blisters to make you crave a pair of flat shoes. So this leads me to my present conundrum. The snow from the Monday storm has stayed, and unfortunately snow and flats do not mix. At all. I already tried and found myself scooping snow out of my shoes. This is one time I should have listened to my mother and just worn socks and actual shoes, that ya know, covered my feet. So for the past few days I have resorted to trusty wellington and cowboy boots, the whole time suffering a severe longing to stretch my feet and scratch that itch that you always get on the bottom of your foot when you wear boots.  Hopefully, tomorrow, I can return to wearing my beloved flats. For now, I leave you with a picture of the beautiful, snowy Sandias, which are making me wear many-a-pair of boots.