Summer Work Uniform: Lace Colorblock

H&M cobalt blue lace detail top // Forever 21 burgundy lace pencil skirt //

Pitaya yellow faux patent leather skinny belt // Merona faux calf hair leopard print flats //

Photography: self; tripod and remote

Happy Tuesday! Though I was a public school kid growing up, I quite admired the look of uniforms. Since college, I've developed my own personal formula for a no-brainer uniform. By now you know my year-round go-to is a top+skirt combo, always tucked in and usually belted, often mistaken for a dress. It'd be nice to have this many dresses, eh? This morning I grabbed two lace pieces and added a yellow belt to make it into a primary color palette for clinic. Props to the women who can strut in clinic for 10 hours in 5 inch heels and not complain a peep, but a few inches of vertical help aren't worth the toe-squishing for me (and my patients are kiddos so I'm usually taller ... usually).

New concept: take < 10 pictures and magically blogging the way out of my outfit backlog become less of a dreaded, harrowing task. Apparently everyone has figured this out years ago but obstinately, I keep snapping away for different poses to fulfill my OCDish-ness. From now on I hope to streamline this process so that even during my busiest weeks I can still update. Last week: swooned by crooning Bruno Mars in concert, painting a night skyline while munching on cupcakes, chasing giant butterflies through the conservatory greenhouse, attempting to birdwatch, spontaneous dinosaur origami making, getting lost in a 32-room bookstore, David Sedaris, Pacific Rim, buffalo chicken grilled cheese. Have a great rest of the week and stay cool in this heat!

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Kelly Green + Stripes

Pitaya kelly green satin tie top // Black lace cami (underneath) // 
H&M pleated black and white striped skirt (similar) // Poshlocket gold and silver striped bracelet (c/o)

H&M gold snake coil chain necklace (steal) // H&M black bow flats //
Revlon Lip Butter in Lollipop //

Photography: Cassandra (I miss you!)

From a similarly windy hot summer day summer (8/16/12), a lightweight unique top and mini skirt (with biker shorts underneath because Marilyn'ing doesn't quite work for the caught-off-guard/elegance-challenged/short skirts) make for an easy, breezy, casual look. This is a would-be St. Patricks' Day outfit if the holiday were worth celebrating after you've hit twenty one: 1) you're still a child at heart and refuse to be pinched 2) you're Irish 3) you like to drink lots of watered down light beer. On scorching breezy days like this, I wish for a beachcruiser to ride around the park in and a pool on my rooftop.

My thighs don't lie - though they've atrophied after a year of sitting in a chair all day, working on that flat butt while hunched over Powerpoint notes, my "Marion Joneses" are still loud and proud. This mini skirt length is too short to hide them even with their A-line shape, but that's okay. Beefcake and SWOLE are the new thigh gap, haven't you heard?

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Summer Citrus

H&M orange pleated midi skirt // Forever 21 embroidered sheer peasant top (deal) //

White tshirt (underneath) // H&M black bow ballet flats ($10 steal) //

Photography: Angela

FANTA ORANGE. It's almost unthinkable that this outfit came from last summer in the August heat, at the beginning of med school (8/8/12). Back when I was still getting settled in, back when I had no idea what I was doing (still figuring that out), back when my best friend by the same name was still in town. It's a blessing that we have known each other since 1st grade and through my many, many moves we are still close and keep each other updated. She means so much to me and kept me afloat last semester as I was trying to figure out how to face sad discussions of illness and death in class after losing my Mom, how to study, whether I belonged. Thank you.

Commonwealth is a hipster sandwich bar right around the corner from my place, and they have $5 deals every Wednesday. Interesting tidbit: I ran into Destiny from America's Next Top Model Cycle 19 and got the guts to introduce myself and have a conversation. I really enjoy their Three Little Pigs sandwich (ham, pulled pork, egg) and Into the Woods (vegetarian arugula, goat cheese, mushrooms), and sauces that go with their traditional/sweet potato fries. They also have bottled Mexican Coke and Mexican Orange Fanta, matching my outfit colours (along with the Blogspot logo).

I also spent a good deal of Sunday organizing my Threadflip closet - this site is kind of like a blog sale social media hub, less crazy than Ebay (which I'm too lazy to learn how to use), and allows buyers to see the exact final price they'll pay for each item so they won't be flabbergasted at the shipping costs at checkout. If you enjoy my outfit posts and would like to get your hands on some of my pieces, take a look and shipping is free!

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Strawberry Banana | Spring Transition Work Outfit

H&M light pink scallop edge blouse // Thrifted Escada bright yellow pencil skirt (steal) //
Pitaya patent yellow skinny belt (steal) // H&M opaque black tights // 
Target Merona faux calfhair scallop edge leopard print ballet flats (steal) // 

Photography: self, tripod and remote

'Ello there! Welcome to my new and improved blog design, clean and minimalistic. Thanks to JJ for helping me work out all the kinks in this old tangle of code and sharing his artistic eye. Last week/Spring Break was a fantastic blur of food, reading, snoozing. Key highlights include reinventing Lunchables with gouda cheese, crackers, and deli slice turkey, watching The Croods and Hercules, dusting off my interior design/DIY renovation skills, observing strange animal behavior at the zoo, exploring the botanical gardens, discovering a vegetarian reuben that features savory wheat-meat (cray, I know) all with JJ. What I would give for another week to spend with my best friends in Arizona and Kentucky and my St. Louis babies.

This was my work outfit for today (4/1), featuring a silky light pink blouse with a scallop edge that I picked up on sale this weekend. Something needs to be done about the way it poofs unruly when tucked in, but besides that the girly touch makes this top very special. My much beloved bright yellow pencil skirt is also too big, so soon I will be searching for a tailor to fix up these two pieces. A quick fix to make the skirt more playful was to tie a yellow skinny belt to cinch it like a paperbag waist style.

Spring is just around the corner (I hope), and here's to rekindling old passions. A fresh blog face has made me more excited to post and share tidbits from my daily life again, especially because of the busy-ness. As Ferris Bueller says, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

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Knotty Nautical | Fuchsia

H&M striped tshirt dress // H&M eggshell white cardigan // 

Merona/Target hot pink fuchsia loafers with brown tassels and back detail (get it here) //

Bracelets from H&M and Forever 21 // Revlon Lip Butter lipstick in Lollipop //

Photography: self; tripod and remote

A very simple school outfit that cost me a total of $7 head to toe. Won a $75 gift card from the H&M grand opening last week and this striped tshirt dress and eggshell white cardi would have been $13 + $18 but they were free! Target sales added this bright pair to my collection of flats: hot pink loafers with weird brown tassels and shoe versions of elbow pads in the back in a nice brown. These were hella on sale too but unfortunately gave me big open blisters for a week. Now my ankles are so calloused that it doesn't matter ack. Matching hot pink lipstick, kisskiss.

Having to give strangers the apologetic/nothing-to-see-here-whistling face is so weird when you see someone in the med year above you that you kind of know and it's just awk to Awktown. Anyway, adding to the sweat from 100 degrees Freakinghotheit (definition: noun; a new unit of temperature. Can you use it in a sentence? "Today in the Midwest I soaked two shirts and the thermometer read a zillion degrees Freakinghotheit, no wonder.") was this rightful social discomfort from 10 more undergrads walking by walking their dogs, big and little. Fast forward an hour and I'm sweating so much my pores are practically donating their own version of blood without my permission. Enter kickboxing session, not knowing what to expect, going along the lines of my adrenaline-fueled motto of "DO EPIC SHIfT" ... I had no idea would lay me on the floor like that! Core, crunch, kick, punch! That hour felt like eons and afterwards we went out for froyo and chrysanthemum bubble tea, undoing all that work. Aimless shopping at the Barnes & Noble and the haul consisted of a biochem textbook, medical Spanish workbook and sparkchart, scrubs top, review guide for the next standardized exam (once you think about a career in medicine, you commit to taking multiple choice exams until you're wielding a reflex hammer with a cane attached to it .. so basically forever).

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Little Blouse on the Prairie

H&M monarch butterfly cropped top (4) // H&M grey chiffon pleated midi skirt (4) //

H&M chiffon bow black flats (US 5/Euro 6) // H&M gold snakelike segmented necklace ($6) //
H&M faux leather biker jacket (4) //

c/o Poshlocket gold and silver Celeste roped bracelet, H&M multicolour friendship bracelets //

H&M small faux leather crossbody bag // H&M gold glitter mini envelope purse //
Lipstick: Covergirl LipPerfection in Rapture

Photography: JJ

BUTTERFLY IN THE SKY. A spring-minded school outfit for warmer February days (2/22). Inadvertently almost all H&M ... my my they've been making bank off of me. The monarch top is so boho and carefree, matched with a flowing off-grey (tinge of purple) chiffon midi skirt with pleats, oh pleats. If only every day of the year were like this :)

I was planning on crossing off things on my mall to-do list on Friday, but the weather took a turn for the worse. Cold, windy, dreary. Despite the Debbie Downer weather, I still went berserk at the mall over florals and leather, met up with more friends, and had a blast of a 22nd birthday with my best college buds. They surprised me with Moscato, cheesecake, champagne, and watching Paranormal Activity 3 together, and best of all, themselves! The weather gods stopped being poo and today was sunny gorgeous, high of 75 but with super strong whisk-me-to-Oz winds.

During a cellular biology seminar on Friday, I was inspired by a Ben Franklin quote one of the presenters said: "Energy and persistence conquer all." My persistence fuels my strength but the energy is a bit lacking. Recently, there are a lot of honestly fun and happy moments and there's also periods of grief and really missing my Mom. Talking with people helps, and especially being able to connect with others going through similar hardship. Thanks to every one of you who have offered hugs and words of support ♥. A giant bowl of basil pesto chicken soup also helps warm up the spirit. Mmmm foodie.

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[SOLD] Urban Outfitters Blue Velvet Loafers

Do you remember these blue velvet loafers (size 6) that I picked up from Urban Outfitters a month ago? I'm selling them for $28 + shipping (United States only) - I paid $36 for them and they're sold out on UO online. They simply won't fit my little feet after a lot of trouble hunting down shoe pads and trying all sorts of methods. After all this stretching, it will probably fit size 6-7 no problem. Otherwise, they're quite new - I wore them to school once and for outfit pictures another (total 2 times). If you're interested, email me at angie [at] pandaphilia [dot] com.

See more pictures here. See my styled outfit post with them here.

Blue Velvet Loafers

CRUSHING ON CRUSHED VELVET. Urban Outfitters Cooperative navy velvet loafers in size 6, $36. The colour is a darker richer navy than these photos suggest (more like the last photo). Definitely too big on me, even with thick socks. Time to hunt down some super thick insoles. The soles are also super slippery on smooth surfaces - many faceplants barely avoided in the cafeteria. They make a clacky noise when I walk. For some odd reason, they just called out to me when I was shopping with Sydney and they seemed to go with everything. A trusty pair of fashionable flats, be it loafers, oxford wingtips, or ballet flats are a MUST for my daily trekking around campus. Do shoes/clothes ever do that to you or am I the only one crazy in the world who makes friends with inanimate objects ...

But loafers are yummy like a good loaf of my family's cranberry walnut bread. If these really don't work out with some extra thick Dr. Scholls, then a lucky reader will take them away :) By the by, this was 5th day of the 12 Days of Fabulous brought to you by yours truly, the Pandaphiliac.

Readers - do you prefer flats or heels for everyday?

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Fauxtail

H&M tweed fall coat (Euro 4) // Kersh camel upside-down cropped sweater (S) //
Forever 21 satin bow peplum skirt (S) // Forever 21 grey sweater tights //
Merona leopard print scallop edge flats (5.5) // H&M leopard print ultra-skinny belt //
ShopRuche messenger bag (c/o PetiteLittleGirl) // Aldo faux foxtail accessory //
Aldo snake and gifted turquoise rings //

Photography: JJ

First off, thank you thank you thank you to all of you, my lovely readers and supporters for helping me reach the big milestone of 500 followers! It means so much to me that you take the time out of your day to glance at my outfit photos, to read my long rambling tangents, to comment and make me smile in the midst of a sea of stress. I can't believe this epic win after a rage-faced start to an insane week: multiple projects due in all my classes, Stats exam finished an hour ago, immunology every breathing moment galore. There's an upside to all this: I just received 25/25 secondaries to all the med schools I applied to + California finally responded too. Things are beginning to look up as I once again try to stop overbooking myself and spread out my work but the entropy of my universe is always increasing like it's some rule-bound natural law. Glad this wave is over. Bracing myself for the next one.

This is what I wore to the Kate Spade Fall Fete event last week (it felt like eons ago) on a perfect chilly fall day (9/15). Again, mixing the old with the new. New: this H&M coat!! I am so in love with how warm and chic it is - non-puffy, a pretty pattern, lined with rose satin (plus nabbed for only $15). Also new: this Aldo faux foxtail! I was really inspired by Rumi Neely and Taiwanese night markets and finally saw one at the mall and ordered it online for $10; these leopard print flats have a ponyhair-like quality to them oooh fancy. Old: one of my fave skirts from F21's French-inspired collection a while back; always stylish messenger bag I won from Sydney; those ancient sweater tights; versatile camel sweater from the Styleta Fashion Show last winter.

Now to kick back and watch some Glee! So freaking excited for TV starting up again. Meanwhile robins and squirrels are everywhere - it looks like they're amassing a giant pre-hibernation war on the campus. 

I miss you so much Chickee. Grow big and strong! *sniffle*

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