I came away with these gorgeous vintage Evan-Picone dark purple Lattice Pumps made in Spain. A little internet research revealed they are from the 1980s, which is what I guessed. I found them for sale online in a different color for $42. My price? $4.50. I’m very excited to wear these in the future. I never thought I would thrift shoes, but these are in excellent condition.

*Abraham Lincoln: A Life by Michael Burlingame

Public History: Essays from the Field

Mickey Mouse History by Michael Wallace

Museums and the Public Sphere by Jennifer Barrett

Museums and Memory edited by Susan Crane

Defining Memory edited by Amy Levin

Memorial Museums: The Global Rush to Commemorate Atrocities by Paul Williams

Lincoln and Black Freedom by LaWanda Cox

Books completed since the semester started in January:

A Cabinet of Curiosities

*Lincoln’s Virtues: An Ethical Biography by William Lee Miller

*President Lincoln: The Duty of a Statesman by William Lee Miller

Nearby History by David Kyvig and Myron Marty

From Tape to Type

*Vindicating Lincoln by Thomas Krannawitter

Museum Masters by Edward P. Alexander

Museums and American Intellectual Life, 1876-1926 by Steven Conn

Honor’s Voice: The Transformation of Abraham Lincoln by Douglas L. Wilson

The Young Eagle: The Rise of Abraham Lincoln by Kenneth Winkle

*The Inner World of Abraham Lincoln by Michael Burlingame

Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power by Richard Carwardine

* indicates books I especially recommend

So that’s why I have not been around much. And there will be lots more to come because I’ve barely started work on my two big papers for the semester.

One current trend I’ve been wanting to try out for a while now is the open weave tight. I received open weave tights as a Christmas gift, but never wore them until this week.

When I get something new that, in my mind, is “trendy,” I always feel a little self-conscious about wearing it for the first time. I’ve learned to get over that though because chances are no one else is noticing it or thinking about it as much as I am. I’m sure a lot of people experience this.

Sometimes even once you get over the fear of worrying about what others might think, you still feel somewhat uncomfortable with it–just because it’s something new. There are some tricks you can try to minimize your discomfort. I find for myself, once I get past that initial wearing, then I feel free to wear the item however I want in the future.

Anyway, to get to the point, this is how I was feeling about the open weave tights. They were something new to me, plus I was concerned about making sure they remained work appropriate.

As you can see, my solution was to pair the tights with a longer length dress and tall boots. This minimizes the amount of the tights actually visible. By doing this, the tights become a fun little detail, rather than overtly trendy. The longer skirt on the dress also keeps the outfit work appropriate. These tights would not work in a work setting with a shorter dress.

This outfit also blends trendy (open weave tights and tall boots) with a classic look (dress with a cardigan belted on top of it).

Overall, I was pretty pleased with this outfit. It’s one of my favorites that I’ve come up with in a while. I wore this on Wednesday–my long day. Dressing up on my most exhausting day of the week helps me get through it a little easier.

So what about you? Is your style trendy or classic? Do you ever feel self-conscious about trying new things? If so, how do you overcome that?

Wednesday, as I told you earlier, I was snowed in. Thursday I planned to return to work, but my car was stuck in ice and snow and I couldn’t get it moved. Fortunately, all of my appointments that day were online so my supervisor allowed me to work from home.

Friday morning I still couldn’t get the car out, but my amazing friend who fortunately had the day off from work offered to be my personal driver. So I made it into the office and didn’t miss teaching. After work, we finally got my car out. Yay! I am happy to be mobile again.

Today I did some reading for class, made some more potato soup, and went to a friend’s new place for a small party.

Overall, this was not a very exciting week. I am looking forward to getting back to my regular routine!

Even though the snow didn’t start until later, this whole day has been nasty. We had an ice storm yesterday and earlier today. I went out this morning to get yesterday’s ice off the car. It had to have been at least a quarter inch coating the entire car. It took probably close to 40 minutes to get the windows clear. I wish I had taken pictures of that.

I didn’t go into work today; I called in sick. I actually didn’t feel well this morning. Fortunately, that went away over the course of the day and I feel better now. It wound up being all for the best though because the weather got worse right around the time I would have gone to work.

Tomorrow, or today actually since it’s now Wednesday, I get to have another snow day because campus is officially shut down. No work or class!

Click the link for video of the blizzard!

http://www.facebook.com/v/532177196186

“Silvia” by Miike Snow. I bought this song after hearing it on Chuck this week. I’ve discovered a lot of great music from that show. Check it out! (Both the song and the show–you won’t be disappointed)

“Rise” by The Frames. I just finally purchased this song after listening to it on youtube a dozen times. I have Monday night tv to thank for this one as well. It was featured on this week’s incredible episode of Castle. (If you’re not watching Castle, what are you waiting for? Go watch now. After watching “Knockdown,” I dare you not to want to watch more.)

Infinite Arms by Band of Horses. I first discovered Band of Horses thanks to–you guessed it–two tv shows that used their music, Chuck and Psych. Infinite Arms is their third album, which came out last year, and is definitely worth buying. “Dilly” is currently my favorite song on the album. (The video is kind of weird, but the song is good.)

I’ve been back for a week now and things are already starting to pick up with my own classes. Work is still rather slow; I don’t have my first appointments until next week.

Last semester was all about writing; this one looks to be all about reading. I still have a fair amount of writing to accomplish by the end of the semester, but the amount of weekly reading could be quite overwhelming if I thought about it too much. Instead, I just take it one book at a time, one day at a time. Focusing on the day-to-day keeps me from freaking out about the big picture. This week I had 622 pages to read for my Wednesday class. I wondered how I’d finish it on time, but instead I finished Monday evening, giving me all day today to read for another class. Somehow, it all gets done.

It would be easy for me to say that I got it all read so quickly because I did nothing else, but that would not be true either. In the past five days I’ve gone to the gym four times, baked pizza crust and cinnamon rolls, gone shopping, and stayed current with my tv shows. Oh, and let’s not forget I’ve also kept up with washing dishes, which is where I usually fall behind first.

All in all, a good start to the semester.

I adapted the recipe from the one at vegweb.com. I skipped the lemon rind because I didn’t have any and added lots more lemon juice. (I wanted to be sure to have a strong lemon flavor.) Everything else I left the same.

I highly, highly recommend this recipe. If you like lemon-flavored baked goods, you will not be disappointed.

I have been doing a lot of baking lately, and I have even more recipes to try. I will try to remember to take pictures so that I can share my favorites with you!

I am so. close. to being done with this semester. I have four papers due this coming week. Two are completely finished, printed out, and ready to be turned in. The third I revised today and I’m waiting for others eyes to look over it before I print it out.

That leaves the final paper, which I’ve been trying to work on tonight. It’s supposed to be 15 pages. I know what I’m writing about. I’ve read all of my sources. I just made my outline. But I am still a little concerned over whether or not I can get 15 pages out of it. As soon as I finish with this post I am going to write the introduction and hopefully come up with a thesis. If I can get that done tonight, I will feel a lot better about the whole thing.

I’ve had Bones on tonight while working on my paper. It usually doesn’t distract me too much since I know it so well. However, tonight I probably shouldn’t have chosen “The Woman in Limbo.” It is distracting me. Love that episode!

I’ve been doing a lot of cooking and baking lately, and I have some pictures and recipes to share with you soon.