Conference Fashion Inspo Line Up - Thesis is Near

Hello loves!
I am back again with a new post, this time I'm sharing some of my lusts and wants for conference fashion inspiration! I am done with writing my dissertation and now all that is left is formatting and compiling the chapters together, and I have an over 150 page document!! How's that for 6 years of PHD! I am almost a Dr!! My Dissertation defense is on June 8, but I am not too stressed out about it.
Instead I am trying to pick out what outfit to wear, as I want to look polished and sleek!
I am also presenting at a meeting towards the end of June - I am going to be presenting my latest publication work, for the first time, and I am really excited! It will be after I have my PhD but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to present my work and network!
Well, anyway, here are some of my picks for conference fashion, and I have been a huge fan of dress pants, pretty blouses, and pretty heels/booties. The links are shoppable, so you can easily find the products if you happen to fall in love with a certain product!

I hope to be bringing you more guides like this when I have more time during this summer!

Conference Fashion Inspiration:

What is your favorite blazer/blouse/dress pant combination?
Let me know in the comments below!

xo
Andrea





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Conference and Interview Looks on a Grad Student Budget - Shein

Hey loves!

Happy February!

It's been a rather hectic couple of weeks since my last post, but I have finally been able to get some more inspiration! I went thru a dark period of helplessness and sadness about current world situations, but I have finally found my way to deal with it, by being active about issues that are important to me... but it is draining my energy!

This weekend I was finally able to recharge and relax, and prepare for an interview for a job post-PhD!

Here is some inspiration for outfits to wear to a conference, interview, formal networking event, whatever, and you can be fashionable while at it! And in addition, they don't break the bank! Thanks SheIn for great deals! I picked dresses, tops, and a lot of blazers - blazers are very versatile, and can be reborn with multiple pieces, so you can get one staple piece and pair with multiple tops and bottoms! This is especially helpful if you are traveling for conferences, minimizes the amount of clothes and outfits to bring! A good blazer is always a good thing to have as a part of a capsule wardrobe! 

These dresses are simple and flattering - with some cool detail like bell sleeves, fun patterns, and special hems! I want all of them in my closet, and with the prices, I'm sure I could afford them!

I really like the detail of the tops, especially the scalloped white top - such a pretty top to pair with a nice pair of jeans or dress pants! Could see myself wearing that to lab or a special event!

Dresses
Bell Sleeve Pencil Dress	Porcelain Print Pencil Dress	Black Scalloped Hem Keyhole Dress

Pearl & Clasp - Beautiful Elegant Earrings

Hey everyone! 

Happy Monday!

I wanted to feature a classic accessory I styled in my fashion post last week - when I styled this MakeMeChic dress, I accessorized with some simple white and blue pieces that I featured, but I wanted to focus on these classic Dangling Freshwater Pearl earrings from Pearl & Clasp.

They have a huge selection of freshwater pearl stud earrings to choose from, but I felt that these dangling earrings were in my style as I don't wear many studs, and these ones were perfect. These little pearls are 5-6 mm and are "A" quality as far as pearls go! They are super pretty and just a classic addition to any outfit, for going out, for lab, or even workwear/conference wear! I even wore these during the holidays, was a really nice and classic look along with simple and dressy outfits!

#BossLady Chic with Romwe - Conference Outfit

Happy Friday!!
It's almost the weekend and what a week it has been!!
With the results from the recent elections, I'm still trying to process the results and what that means for us as a nation and for science.
I am on a twitter party right now for Science Communication, every week called #sciparty, and we are discussing just how important it is for us scientists be able to communicate our science and research effectively to the common person. It is so important we have the skills to be able to explain our findings to everyone, so everyone can understand that without research, we can't make advances to cure diseases and cancer! If you have any questions about research and the importance of funding research, please contact me, I'd love to chat!

Which leads me to this weekend, I am attending an on campus symposium tomorrow, all day, and I am presenting my research at a poster session! I jump at every opportunity to present my work, whether its on campus symposium, national or international conferences! The dress code is business casual, and I am going to wear this Black Floral Print Sleeveless Bodycon Dress from Romwe.com. It is the right length, midi length hitting right at the knee and slightly below, so its not too short, and also covers up on the top!  It is Bodycon style though, which for some might think it will be too tight, but that is why I ordered it a size up in Medium, and I think it fits perfectly. It is not uncomfortable while still showing a silhouette and still being classy! And this floral print is amazing! I am in love with it! I can't wait to present my research in this outfit! It is also a good #bosslady outfit for oral presentations! AH I'm in love!

Travel Diary - Part I - Lisbon, Portugal - Conference and Sightseeing

Today I bring you Part I of my Travel Diary, Conference and Sightseeing in Lisbon, Portugal!

I was given the opportunity to attend a Biological Methylation Meeting in Lisbon, Portugal, where I was able to meet the experts in the field, whose papers and publications I have been reading since I started graduate school! It was such a great experience, and it was 5 days full of science, all directly related to my field of work! I've been to other conferences, that were more broad and general, and I didn't enjoy them as much as I enjoyed this conference! I was just putting up my poster during the first session (my session was the second one) and I got stopped immediately and was talking about my research the whole two hours, and then the whole two hours at my actual session! It was such a great feeling to have people who knew about my research and were genuinely interested - talking science for 4 hours and getting so many good ideas of things to try! I even won the poster award, along with a travel award, which gave me some funding to help with my travel expenses!

Traveling to conferences is a BIG thing I would suggest to anyone who is in grad school. I have taken advantage of conferences to feed my travel bug, and it has opened up so many doors and networking opportunities! And if your boss/advisor can pay for you, it is a free ticket to travel (most of the time!). I have always taken advantage of vacation time after the conferences I've been to - Like last year I was in Barcelona for a conference and I traveled to visit my family in Cyprus afterwards, and this year I traveled to France after! So definitely a way to enjoy your time by having an international conference and using it as an excuse to travel around! Of course, any travel after a conference is on your dime, but compared to the full price of a plane ticket TO europe, its not too bad :) and I had some savings that I put aside especially for a european trip that I utilized to pay for this trip! It was amazing, because after I passed my candidacy exam, I told myself, when I graduate, I'm going to travel around europe, and I made a list of all of these cities I wanted to visit, and I made part of it happen! Graduation happened and I got to check off a few cities (not all of them, but a few is better than none!).

Scroll down to read more about the various photos I took (all with my iPhone 6!! Amazing camera for a phone!).

The conference even organized a wine tasting tour in the Marfa province, which was about a 45 min drive from where the conference was being held, and it was really great drinking wine in the countryside with professors and experts in my field! It was unreal and like a dream!

Co-chairing a Symposium - Conference Fashion

Hello loves!
I am back with a Conference outfit post!
Sorry for lack of outfit posts, I've been SO scatter brained and swamped since the beginning of the month - I went to a conference in San Diego that I talked about previously, and I co-chaired a Grad Student and Postdoc led session, where I was able to invite two key speakers and selected from the abstracts for student presentations. This is the outfit I wore, it was perfect amount of formal and dressy while still a little casual for drinks for the reception afterward!
I've been a teaching assistant since the beginning of the month and it has been a little (A LOT) stressful, since it has cut up my free time that I can work in the lab. My Tuesday/Thursdays are teaching days, and I have a lot of other commitments such as organizations and other groups I am involved in, so most days I don't find a chance to even sit at my computer! I've been so stressed that I barely find time to sleep nowadays. I'm dreaming of a vacation where I can completely unplug from the world and just relax!
This shirt I received from my aunt as a gift, from Cyprus, the pants are dress pants from New York and Company, simple black heels from Nine West that I've had in my closet, and my large tote back is from Zara.

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!

Conference Style Guide: What kind of Handbag to bring to a Conference

Hi loves!
Since I have been to so many conferences this past year (and still on planning on going to a few more before I graduate), I have become experienced with what kinds of bags work or don't work for carrying your things at conferences without sacrificing style!
I am coorganizing a symposium at the ASBMB 2016 Meeting in San Diego in April, and hopefully attending another conference or two by the summer - so there are a lot of opportunities to network but so many opportunities to be stylish as well!

What do you usually carry with you at a conference?

Barcelona Conference Fashion - Chambray dress, fringe and a Blazer

Hello from Barcelona loves!

Today I bring you an outfit I am wearing to the conference here in Barcelona! It's been a long day of traveling from LA, and after settling in the hotel room, I decided to check out the convention center, check in to the conference, and sit in for some talks before heading out and seeing some sights and getting dinner!

Since it will be 90 degrees F (~32 degrees C) all week here, I decided to mostly wear dresses to the conference! In order to make the dresses look more professional, I am pairing them with a blazer and some heels! 

I have to present at the poster competition tomorrow, so I will be wearing something similar! I am excited to present my research internationally and get great ideas about my research and other research going on in the community! 

I have been eyeing the chambray trend for a while now, and I finally bought a chambray dress from eShakti. I previously posted about new trends at eShakti and this is one of the dresses I fell in love with!  It is long enough to be sophisticated while providing a flattering look with a sweetheart neckline! I added the plain black blazer  (Steve Harvey Collection) on top to wear inside the convention center, since it is too hot outside to be wearing long sleeves, but sitting in talks all day inside will become a little chilly with the AC! I also wore this fringed black purse I got from Ross - Brand "Perfect Image" (store similar to TJ Maxx), I can't remember the brand, but it was $12 and I have been eyeing this kind of purse for months now (as if you couldn't tell from my posts!). I tried to pack lightly so I brought a few pieces I could match with different outfits, so you will be seeing similar pieces adapted to different things! I have a tendency to over pack, but I was determined to pack smart this time! (I had to pack for both a 4-day conference and vacation!)

Winter/Spring 2015 Outfit Recap and Reflections

Hello lovlies!
Happy Friday and first of the month!
Today I bring you a recap of my favorite outfits since the beginning of 2015, since this past Winter and Spring here in LA (if you believe that LA has seasons, which it does not, so you won't see a great variation), now that it is May and the temperatures are rising (today it was 93 degrees! eek! Good thing I am inside in air condition all day, although it would be nice to enjoy the weather at the beach!)
Ever since I invested in a nicer camera and lens, I have been able to bring you much better quality outfit of the day posts, and I am so in love with the process of blogging, photography, and posting about it. It has become something I look forward to doing, even at the end of an extremely tiring day in the lab. And the blogger community is amazing - I have met so many amazing people in the last few months ever since I started branching out and going to networking events, and I am happy to say that some have become my close friends. It is a great feeling!

April 2015: Twist and Turn Open Back Top by Dina Arrieta

     

See more on Original posts:  1st look and 2nd Look

20 Conference Essentials: A packing list!

Hello everyone!

Today I bring to you a Conference Essentials packing list!

After attending and blogging for the recent conference in Boston, I decided to come up with a packing list to help you prepare for a conference or meeting, for whatever topic it may be, scientific, educational, blogging, etc.! 

I decided to check my bag, so I could fit all of this in a big bag, but you can always scale down for a carry on bag!

ExpBio Day 5 - The Final Presentation

Hello everyone!

Sorry for the lateness of this post, but I was exhausted with all the running around at the end of the conference! I bring you the last post in my series of Conference Fashion posts for the Experimental Biology Meeting I went to in Boston this week! The last day of the conference was Wednesday, and I was presenting my data in a poster session (see last photo of the post!). I was sad to be done in Boston, as I fell in love with the city and the city life. I was also sad the conference was over, as I had learned so much going to all of the talks and interacting with all of these great, intelligent people! 

A lot of people came to my poster, and I was excited because most of the people I saw give talks came to talk to me and hear about my research. I got a lot of great ideas and had some amazing conversations about new research in the field! I am inspired to go back and do more experiments!

I wasn't going to photograph my last outfit, as I had a really hard time deciding what to wear (I changed about 4 times, all too early in the AM before I had to pack my things and check out before setting up my poster at the convention center! can you say STRESS??!). BUT, I am really happy with how my outfit turned out, very professional and sleek! 

I decided I wanted to wear this greenish-turquoise statement necklace from Forever21, so I tried to put together pieces that would be simple and work well with the color and piece! (Statement necklace dictating the outfit for the win!)

Exp Bio Day 4 - #ExpBioFashion

Hi everyone!

Today's post comes to you with some awesome fashion from people who have been attending the conference! I met a lot of great, interesting people at various networking events, and while I felt a little shy to pop out my camera and ask to take photos of people's fabulous outfits, the topic of being a fashion blogger for the conference came up - and I got a lot of positive feed back! 

Being the only one at the conference from my lab and not knowing anyone else attending, I had throw myself out there and just meet others, start conversations, and have a good time. I met a lot of great students presenting their research, not only graduate students but also some undergraduates, in addition to professors and recruiters.

Each night of the conference there was some kind of networking event hosted by various committees, and I made sure to make an effort to attend as many as I could. Not only were there free drinks, but  some good food and company. Worst thing that can happen is I get bored and I can leave. I ended up staying the whole time to each event I went to and had a great time with the people I had met!

I was able to take photos from a couple of fashionable people I had the pleasure of meeting, and they were more than willing to let me take their photo! 

ExpBio 2015: Day 3 - Reppin the Blue and Gold

Happy Monday!
Today is Day 3 of the Experimental Biology 2015 conference here in Boston, MA, and it is getting good!
I woke up early today to head to a Post Translational Modifications Session on Arginine Modifications, and it was great! I learned a lot about the research that is going on in my field, and I got to meet another professor who I have collaborated with/tested some enzyme activity. The session was 2.5 hours long, but it seemed to fly by. Each talk was about 20ish minutes I believe, and there are some really interesting things going on in the arginine modification world! One of the most interesting things I learned is about Arginine Phosphorylation in bacteria! If you are knowledgable about the eukaryotic proteasome degradation system, you know that proteins get marked for degradation by ubiquitination, which then signals shuttling/entrance into the proteasome and then the protein will get degraded.
Apparently, some bacteria, specifically Bacillus subtilis have an arginine kinase, that originally was identified as a tyrosine kinase. First off, I didn't know that arginine could get phosphorylated. Second, this phosphorylation is thought to work as a degradation marker for the proteasome in these bacteria! I did not know about this. The fact that arginine, which is positively charged, can become a bulky entity with now a large negative charge, I guess it just never crossed my mind!
After this session, I attended a bioinformatics session on how to find proteins with unknown function through online database searches and groupings. I learned how to use new online tools that I will check out to learn more about my enzyme and its orthologs!

Experimental Bio 2015 Conference Day 2 - Fashion and Recap of events!

Hell everyone!

Welcome to my Day 2 recap of the Experimental Biology 2015 conference!
Today I decided to go for a little more dressy, I recently bought this dressy midi skirt, a la Kim Kardashian (or so it reminded me of her), so I wanted to wear it out. This morning I changed outfits maybe 5 times before I decided on this combination.
I bought this dress skirt last minute at Ross, by Eci New York. It was the perfect size and super flattering. It wasn't tight or too fitted, I could easily move in it as it was made with stretchy fabric. I also wore a coral blouse top with a jeweled neckline I bought at Charlotte Russe. It was perfect because I didn't have to wear a necklace or jewelry after!
Since this is Boston in March, I had to make sure I wore a cover up. I originally was going to walk out of my hotel room without a jacket since it was super sunny outside, but then I realized this wasn't LA. And boy, was I right. IT. WAS. SO. COLD.
Since I grew up in Massachusetts, I didn't think the cold would be such a big deal. But it was, when I wanted to wear something cute like this outfit. The leather jacket that I love (from Express) was definitely not warm enough, because I was FROZEN wearing it. Do not be fooled, I look happy in these photos but I was freezing! Tomorrow I will be better prepared, with a more warm jacket and pants most likely!

Experimental Biology 2015 Conference - Day 1 Fashion and Recap

Hello!
I am reporting to you live from Boston, MA, where I am attending the Experimental Biology 2015 Conference, as a member of the ASBMB! I am going to be blogging about the conference daily, so be on the look out for new posts from now until Wednesday! This is different than my regular posting schedule where I post twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays, so I hope I don't overwhelm you with my posts! And I will be talking about some science, but I will try to integrate conference fashion as a relevant topic!

My Conference and blogging essentials: My camera, my conference badge, my iPad to take notes and update social media, and a staple, a statement necklace!

Statement Dress to Impress - Spring has sprung!

Spring has sprung, and tomorrow marks the first day of spring (for all of you who aren't in SoCal, for us here in LA, its been summer since the weekend!)! 

On Saturday I headed to a fashion event in Beverly Hills with Samira, a fashion blogger from Stylemesamira.com! Post coming up to recap the event next week! It was a rather hot day (90 degrees F!), and so I busted out my favorite black dress shorts that I have had for years, I believe since I was 16! 

I really wanted to wear my new Midnight Waters Necklace from the Yayoi Collection at Boyajian Trend Gallery, so I tried to come up with an outfit that it would be the centerpiece! I love figuring out outfits to go with statement jewelry pieces, and this was a great opportunity since it was a nice day out! I wore a plain white tank top from Forever21 that I got for $2! and a gray mini vest that I have had for some years, probably since high school as well!

I wanted to wear heels to the event but I knew I would be standing/walking around so I wanted to be comfortable. I wore these heeled sandals that were super comfortable that I bought in Hawaii, from a local store in Waikiki called Island Fever.

I then quickly curled the ends of my hair, which came out nice and took me only 10 minutes! I was amazed at how fast I have become at curling my hair. It also helps that I hadn't washed my hair in a couple of days -- this makes for easier to curl hair! I wore it half up so I could get some of the attention on the necklace!

Conference Fashion with Statement Pieces

Some fun news -- I will be a Meeting Blogger for a conference I will be attending for the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) at the end of March in Boston!
I'm really excited because I will get to blog about the science and fashion! I will be presenting my research in a poster session, as well as attending talks from renowned researchers, networking, and making connections with scientists! Stay tuned for outfit posts from the conference as well as some scientific posts - not sure yet if I will be posting here but more info to come soon!

Here is a professional conference look I styled with some statement pieces -  a plain white tank top with a pretty black pencil style skirt with pleats, a perfect canvas for bright, colorful accessories!

I fell in love with this Sasassi Necklace from the Minu Jewels collection of Boyajian Trend Gallery, as well as a lovely green cocktail ring from their Ona Chan collection! I also included a basic Black Gold bracelet from the Yayoi 'Element One' Collection, also available at the Trend Gallery! It was such a cute, subtle, but still statement piece, and very unique from other bracelets I have seen/own/worn!