As usual, the last thing I am thinking about in preparation for this job talk is what I should wear while giving it.  I am not a stylish person, a fact that I know and am OK with.  I loathe clothes shopping even though I look good in most things I try on.  I can just never seem to justify the time and money it takes to build up a respectable wardrobe.  Most of my clothing must be versatile enough to wear in the lab and must take the abuse that goes along with getting all manner of things smeared all over it, a purpose that has adapted itself quite well to motherhood.  I own lots of jeans, tank tops, basic knit tops, hiking boots or mocs and the ubiquitous purple hoodie that has appeared in almost every picture of me since 2006.  I own no heels.  The only makeup I own is 2 tubes of lipstick.  I look horrific in eye makeup and will never wear it again—it’s a pain and it’s not for me.  The only thing I absolutely must use 0n a daily basis is a quality facial moisturizer.  Without it, I feel dessicated and old.  That said, this minimalist approach is pretty common in the Northeast where people are more concerned with staying warm than looking good.  During my infrequent trips to the south, the midwest, or the west coast, the first thing I notice is the massive amount of makeup that women wear.  And the heels.  And the perfume.

After some deliberation, I made some decisions about what to wear for my interview.  My hair is another story; I will brush it, but there’s no guarantee that it will behave.  Since losing massive amounts of hair from breastfeeding, my hair is starting to grow back in patches, where I literally have oddly-placed strips of hair that are about 2 inches long framing my face.  It’s really annoying but there’s nothing I can do about it until it grows out a little longer.

As for the clothing, I opted for a dress that I bought a year and a half ago about a week before I found out I was pregnant.  I  bought it expressly for the purpose of wearing to a job talk one day, and haven’t worn it since it was purchased.  The hitch is that (up until this weekend), I didn’t have the right shoes for it.  Because of the style and cut of the dress, I was initially thinking about getting some tall boots, but ultimately I opted for something more subdued.  I found these beauties for a relatively decent price:

Yes, they have little heels.  Very little.  And there is plenty of room in the toe.  They are super comfy—I won’t wear them every day, but they are perfect for giving presentations and going to funerals.

And I tried on the dress finally—a full year and a half since I first purchased it.  And it fits!

I decided that I need a jacket to cover up my bare arms (and to cover up any potential breastmilk catastrophes that might happen while I’m up in front of a crowd of strangers).  I rummaged through my closet and found a jacket that I bought 10 years ago for like $20.

I’m happy enough with how it covers things, so I’m going with it.  In these pictures I am wearing brown tights, but I might try a pair of black nylons to see if they look any better.  I hate agonizing over stuff that is so trivial.

So back to the important stuff—the actual interview preparation!  Things are going well.  My slides are clean and organized; I’ve practiced the talk a few times but I’m still dissatisfied with some of the transitions.  Holden is going to the nanny again this Wednesday so I can iron out some last-minute issues.  I’m still working up a budget for setting up the lab.  I’m also crafting an outline for a Special Topics course over which I have free reign regarding course content—I’ve opted to propose a “Multiple Memory Systems” course that allows me to 1) teach something interesting that I know a few things about, 2) fill in the many holes in my knowledge so that I can plan some fun experiments for the lab.   I am also coming up to speed on the research of others within the department.  I am thoroughly exhausted from all of this.  I can’t wait until it is over.