Dressing Correctly - Business Casual

As I mentioned in my previous post, I just got an internship.  (Yay!)  I was told to wear business casual.  This term probably covers the widest range of clothes.  In some cases, this could be fairly casual khaki pants and a nice blouse, but in other companies this could mean just a step down from a full suit.

At school, I pretty much wear jeans and t-shirts all the time.  I decided I needed to do some research to figure out what would be good for the office and look appropriate for someone my age.  Below are some of the helpful sites that I found.  I was looking for things that would be stylish, without being too fashionable for me.  For example, my shoes are simple classic black heels that have a rounded toe.  None of this fashionable extremely-pointy-toe and excessively-high-heel business for me!  So the sites listed here are based on that side of shopping: practical, but still attractive pieces.  I also expanded it to include ideas for men.  Maybe I'll be able to expand this list in the future.  Feel free to comment with your suggestions!


Young, Polished, and Professional - This is a wonderful site.  It offers great tips for someone just starting his or her career or a new job.  The author wrote a post that was very appropriate for me: a business casual starter kit.  As I mentioned before, I'd been wearing mostly jeans and t-shirts.  I had some nicer clothes, but not too many pieces that would qualify as business casual.  The post gave me great ideas about certain pieces I should make sure I have, like a cardigan that goes with multiple outfits.  (Cardigans are also great, because, even though it's summer, the office is still very cold sometimes.)

Corporette - I have spent less time here.  It seems to offer some good advice, but is focused on a older and/or more fashion savvy demographic than mine.  This site did have a good, light-hearted post about proper etiquette during your summer internship.

Dappered - I'm not familiar with this site, but found an article about how to look good in the required dress code that could be otherwise downright boring or ugly.  For example, "pleats on pants worn on the hips are pointless.  Like trailer hitch on a Geo Metro pointless."

_______.edu - If you are in college, check out your college's career page.  They will likely have a good section on what types of clothes fall into the various workplace dress codes.  In my initial searches I found several other colleges' sites to also provide good advice.


And to close, here is an article on Forbes.com about how wide the spectrum of business casual can be.  Because of this huge range, I recommend paying attention to what the people around you are wearing during your first week of working.  If you have enough clothes to get by for a few days, but still need to fill out your wardrobe some, waiting a few days could help you have a much better idea of what is expected and appropriate.


Update: This article was published today and touched on the same topic.  It also appears to feature clothes meant more for winter.

Getting an internship

Starting in January (or maybe earlier), I had been looking for internships.  I didn't make too much progress during the semester, though, as schoolwork always took priority.  But since early May, I've been putting a lot more time into the search.  And now I have an internship!  I am very, very grateful for this opportunity.

So what does this mean for the blog?  Well, I started this both for the enjoyment of it and to do something productive with my summer.  I had been posting every other day, which worked well when my schedule did not contain many other commitments.  But when working a normal working week, I doubt that I will be able to keep that up.  So now I plan to post at least once a week, and anything beyond that will just be a bonus. :)

Homemade Peanut Butter Bars

I found this recipe for peanut butter protein bars on Chocolate Covered Katie's blog and it sounded wonderful.  It has only a few ingredients and very simple directions.  I was looking for something like a granola bar, not a protein bar.  Also, I don't have any special protein powder.  So instead I replaced the protein powder with chocolate-flavored Carnation Instant Breakfast.  I haven't put the full recipe on this page per Chocolate Covered Katie's request, but here is the recipe and below are pictures and notes about my experience making these yummy peanut butter bars.  Next time I make them, I will try covering them or mixing in them mini chocolate chips and/or crushed pretzels.


Tools:
-two bowl
-spoon(s)
-knife
-gallon-sized plastic bag
-rolling pin (optional, as you could flatten it with your hands...or a textbook)
-1/4 and 1/2 cups
-1/4 teaspoon
-1 tablespoon

I first gathered the necessary ingredients and tools.

Quesadillas and Pizza-dillas

Based on the things I've posted on this blog so far, you might think that I cook almost every night and make rather complicated meals (for a dorm).  This is not the case!  I really enjoy cooking, whether I make a family favorite recipe or try something new.  But I do not have nearly enough time to cook more than a few times a month.  So today I will share one of the simplest things that I make: quesadillas.  (In my book, making a quesadilla does not count towards the number of times I cook in a month.  But that's just my standard.)

To make a quesadilla, you just need 1 or 2 tortillas, some cheese, a microwave, and a plate or paper towel on which to set the quesadilla.  Sprinkle the first tortilla with cheese.  Then either fold the tortilla in half or top with another tortilla.  Microwave for about 45 seconds or until the cheese is melted in the center.  Enjoy!

(I realize most people probably know how to make quesadillas.  But just in case you don't, I don't want you to be left out from experiencing the yummy simplicity that is a quesadilla.)

After a year of enjoying quesadillas as a quick snack, I discovered pizza-dillas.  Yeah, I totally just made that name up.  I had a lot of pasta sauce, and freshman year was almost over, so I decided to try some of it with cheese and a tortilla.  (I had to get rid of everything in my fridge and let it defrost, so anything I didn't eat I would have to throw away.)  And voilà!  The pizza-dilla was born.

To make a pizza-dilla, put a tortilla on a plate (or paper towel).  Then spread pasta sauce (or pizza sauce) over the tortilla.  Next sprinkle cheese on top.  If you have pepperoni or some other meat or some chopped veggies, feel free to add those, too.  Note, however, that tortillas are very thin and don't support much weight.  So if you add even just a few toppings, your pizza-dilla might be very messy to eat.  Then microwave it for about 45 seconds or until the cheese is melted.  To eat this, I find that it is more managable (and fun) to cut the pizza-dilla into slices like you would a pizza.

What toppings would you enjoy on a pizza-dilla?

How to do laundry in 10 steps

Someone suggested that I post about how to do laundry, as some people might not have to learn this skill until they get to college.  I learned how to do laundry when I was in elementary or middle school, and one summer my favorite chore was ironing my dad's shirts.  So to me, doing laundry in college was never a big deal (other than how much time it takes), but if someone had never done their own laundry, I imagine it could be quite overwhelming.

Step 1:  Make sure you have enough dirty clothes to do laundry.  If you have something that you really want to be washed, then you could make an exception to this.  But I usually wait until I have two loads to do, since I can do them simultaneously and thus save some time.

Step 2:  Locate washers and dryers.  This doesn't seem important after the first time you do laundry, but initially you will need to learn where in your dorm or elsewhere they are.  My freshman year I was in a dorm that shared the machines with the neighboring dorm.  The washers and dryers were in a small building between the dorms called "the tower".  My sophomore year, my dorm housed washers and dryers in the basement.

Tomato Basil Chicken

This is a recipe that I really enjoyed at home and decided to try to make in my dorm.  It requires relatively few ingredients and is very simple to assemble.  I changed the recipe a bit to make it simpler for fewer servings; initially, it would have yielded about 6 servings.


When I made this, I used 3 2-cup glass containers so that I could have maximum flexibility about when I ate each portion and whether I froze any portions.  I bought two chicken breasts and cut them both into two pieces: one 2/3 of the chicken breast and the other the remaining 1/3.  Then two of the bowls contained one piece of chicken and the last bowl contained two smaller pieces.  This worked out great for me; each was just the size I needed for a good portion.

The ingredients required of this dish also work well for life in the dorm because they are either used up or easily used in other dishes.  Basil and garlic are probably my most used spices.  The leftover tomato can provide extra slices for sandwiches or something else.  And finally, the remaining mozzarella sticks make for a great snack; this is what they were sold for in the first place.