10 Things I wish I knew before going to Grad School

Hi loves,

Well, the thesis defense has come and gone! I will recap the experience in another post coming soon! I did live stream it, although I never got around to announcing it on here, but if you follow me on social media, you should have seen the announcement! It was saved to my Facebook page, so you can replay and take a look! I refuse to watch it again...hahah!
These last couple of days post defense have been a lot of reflection and stressing out about the things I have to finish up before moving on to the next stage, which includes finishing some experiments with whatever time I have left at UCLA and moving two times.
I'm also showcasing an outfit I put together as a conference or social look - with a blouse and a skirt my aunt sent me from Cyprus! I decided to pair orange with a black, patterned top, but I would also just go with a solid black top!

I wanted to share some tips with you, 10 things I wish I knew before going to Grad School, as I feel like I have a lot of wisdom I can share, and help people with things I had to learn the hard way! I wrote a similar post on ways to take care of yourself in grad school, which you can also check out for some tips!

1. You are among the best of the best. 
Something I struggled with was not being the smartest in the room, and putting myself down for it. In order to even get to graduate school, you had to go thru an interview process, and were hand selected to join a few others in a cohort class for whatever department you are joining. You are among the best of the best. And it's ok to not be THE best. It's impossible. At times I felt stupid for not understanding topics as fast as my classmates, and just know that its ok. Everyone learns things differently and at different rates, with different methods. When I did study groups, others would catch the material fast and I would still not understand it. I studied better on my own.

Going Out/Conference Formal/Social outing Look - Recycling Pieces to make the most of your Wardrobe

Happy Monday!

Today I'm bringing you a new outfit post featuring recycled pieces that you might have seen on the blog before (Ie. in this holiday outfit post HERE). Since I've spent a lot of traveling lately, my bank account is crying right now... so I decided to recycle pieces to create a whole different look!
In this outfit, I wore the bright red lace top I featured  before, with a black bandage mini skirt from Topshop from a few years ago! The outfit was simple and I wore my favorite Nine West heels that I have worn at conferences and are comfy enough to wear for a few hours. This is an outfit you can wear to a conference social (I wouldn't wear this to give a talk, but for getting drinks after the conference is over, I think it's fine!).
The accessories make the outfit shine, and I am rewearing one of my favorite bracelets, the Tassel Bracelet from the Yayoi Collection from Boyajian Trend Gallery, and a rhinestone bracelet from H&M I believe (given to me by my friend Samira!).
I used my little black pocketbook that doubles as a wallet from Express. and I curled my hair using my flat iron. If you are paying attention to my social media, I did cut my hair recently, so this was taken before I cut my hair (and I'm missing my long hair! T_T), but I will have some tutorials soon about styling short hair for the lab!
The best thing about this outfit? I didn't spend a dime, and I created a somewhat different look/look for a different occasion.

Conferencing it up - Poster Presentation Outfit

Hey loves!

Hello from San Diego! 

It is officially conference time at the ASBMB meeting, and yesterday I presented my poster and talked some science! I have been attending various talks and workshops all weekend, and it has been a really great experience thus far! I have been on the go since Friday, and my plans were to blog each day, but after a long day at the conference center listening to talks, I get back to the hotel and collapse on my bed! I have been chronicling my day to day outfits on my instagram (go follow me there, @phd_fashionista, to keep up to date), but I thought I would actually write a post about my outfit for the poster presentation today! 

I wore this pretty patterned top/blouse that I got from Express, and I paired it with black dress pants I also bought from Express, called the Editor, I really like the flattering cut of the pants! I tried on a pair of their ankle dress pants and with my body/legs, they actually made me look even shorter! So a bootcut pant is definitely my friend! 

I paired the outfit with the same comfy Nine West heels that I have worn in other outfits (and to be honest they have been worn into the ground, time for a new pair soon!), and some simple accessories. My necklace was a birthday gift from a great friend, Dina from Leafandcrown.com, she hand laser cut the necklace as a part of her new zodiac collection! How cool is that?! my friends are so talented! And I also used my black tote bag from Zara, I love how chic it looks and it is big enough to fit a lot of my things! 

I'm a huge fan of wall art, so when I saw this wall I had to take a photo in front of it!

All you need is love - Valentines or "Gal-entines" outfit

Happy Valentines Day (soon!) loves!
I've been so crazy busy and overwhelmed these last few weeks, as I have been saying over and over again, and I haven't really been able to do a proper outfit post. What better event for an outfit than Valentines Day? I hadn't been able to go shopping lately because of finances and trying to save money, so I had to dig through my closet for something new that I haven't worn in a while! Life of a grad student - shopping in your own closet!
This is a body con dress that I got from Asos years ago, it must be from 2010? I think I saw another blogger wear it and it inspired me to buy it. I havent really worn it because of the open back and the body con style, it really hugs every curve, and since I felt like I gained some weight recently, I wasn't comfortable to wear it. But with my new fitness journey, I feel more comfortable in my body and I lost some weight, so I felt great in it. Of course, sometimes you can see a pooch, but I challenge YOU to wear a body con! haha!
I took these photos at the "Love Wall" in Culver City, and it was the perfect back drop for a Valentines post!
I love this dress, i particularly love the neckline with the crotched lace! For accessories I just wore my Nine West black heels, a black clutch/purse from Express that I got over Christmas, and my Boyajian Trend Gallery Yayoi Collection Tassel bracelet.

Happy December - Fall Tribal Print Dress

Happy December!
I can't believe it is almost the end of 2015! Time is really flying!

I have been struggling these last couple of months with work and school, and the stress just really got to me. I have mentioned stress in my previous posts, but I have figured out the headaches I was getting every day were from a combination of stress, not sleeping enough or resting enough, and actually I think it was a migraine that remained during the last couple of weeks, which sucks.
Thanksgiving break came and I had a 4 day long weekend where I didn't think about work at all, hung out with different groups of friends, and relaxed. It was a great way to reset and my headache is gone! My baseline stress level is down, and again, it could be that I actually had a chronic migraine but I'm going to assume relaxing during thanksgiving did the body good!

I also found out I wasted three months of my research because things didn't work/had some fatal flaws where the protein I was working with wasn't what I thought it was... so that was pretty discouraging as well.

My goals for December, as it is a short month (with all the holidays), is to not stress out! to be happy in the moment, and to just take every task and every thing one step at a time! What are your goals for this month and into the new year?

Well, anyway, onto the fashion. I wore this really cute Tribal Print Dress I bought from Target a few weeks ago (Dress Similar Here) - and it was only $20! I loved the skater style of the dress, as it was flattering on my figure, and I really liked the lace pieces up by the top of the dress! I accessorized with some simple bangles and a statement necklace from Charlotte Russe (Similar Here) and a pair of simple black heels that I have styled before from Nine West (See Black Heels Similar Here). Also, I'm sporting the Apple Watch that I won, I have mixed feelings about it but it is cool to have a smart watch nonetheless!

Summer of the Dress: The Blue Dress

Hello loves!

I am calling this summer the "Summer of the Dress," as you have noticed my last couple of posts have all been dresses (and they will keep coming!).

I fell completely IN LOVE with this Blue Dress I got from eShakti! I ordered it at the same time I ordered the Chambray dress from last week, and it is one of my favorite dresses! It looked rather cute on the website, and I didn't expect it to be this flattering! It is the perfect "poofiness," that makes my waist look small and my legs look long! 

Again, I am reusing pieces I packed with me, in my attempts to "pack light," so I am wearing the same Nine West heels I wore to the conference, and the same gold statement necklace and bangles!  This time I am using my Aldo Purse that I bought a few years ago. I was in love with how the whole outfit came together, perfect for lunch or dinner or even going out for some drinks! It is the perfect summery dress!

Conference Fashion Transition to going out - Chambray dress and accessories part 2

Hello loves!
This is part 2 of the conference fashion post from Tuesday - but now I bring you an easy way to transition this same outfit into an easy going out/drinks/dinner/nightlife post by just changing some accessories!
Trying to pack light, I packed a lot of different accessories, and planned some outfits that I could transition easily by switching accessories, so I could get the most out of my expeditions out into the city without having to go back to the hotel to change! The statement necklace easily fits in my purse and I can carry my blazer! This is my look for the conference happy hour before heading out for dinner and drinks!
By just a simple removal of the blazer and switching the statement necklace, I feel like it looks like a different outfit! The same chambray dress from eShakti and heels from Nine West, and the same fringe purse! I am thinking of wearing my hair up though, since I wear my hair down a lot, and it is hot!

The original business outfit: