Monday, January 14, 2008

This Is Who I Am: 8 Random Facts about this Blogger


 1)      I have a twin sister. She is the same age as me (you would be surprised how many people ask that) and we are not identical. We are actually complete opposites in just about everything, but I guess that’s what makes us complement each other so well.

2)      I only dated my husband for 3 months before we got engaged. Some might think I was crazy – it sounds crazy just writing it here – but it happened so naturally. I am usually a more methodical person who plans out my life as much as I can, but this came unexpectedly!

3)      I grew up in Wyoming. I lived in a small town in Wyoming until I was 12. Some of my favorite memories there were: building igloos in the snow, sledding off the roof, dodging a moose on my friend’s property, and going to barn dances with my “boyfriend.”

4)      I’ve been wearing business attire since high school. I joined Future Business Leaders of America in high school and was a state officer my senior year. My sisters and friends would make fun of my grown-up style, so I made up a new style called “trendy business.”

5)      I love baking cookies. I have been baking cookies since the age of 8 and prefer cookies to any other desserts. Some of my favorites are oatmeal, snickerdoodles, and chocolate chip.

6)      I have had three serious head injuries. At age 5 I fell off the bleachers at a rodeo, at age 7 I hit my head on the metal edge of the playground, and at age 18 I was the victim of a car crash. My mom says I got smarter with each one. I just think my head’s a little tender.

7)      I competed in a beauty pageant. Maybe I did get a little messed up from the head injury, because shortly afterwards I decided to try out for a “scholarship program.” I didn’t do too bad – I was a finalist in a couple local shows and got about $1800 of scholarship money.

8)       I collect ladybug stuff. I started drawing ladybugs next to my name in middle school and pretty soon I started receiving all sorts of ladybug paraphernalia. Nowadays I try to keep it subtle, but if you were to look on my desk I have little ladybugs on all my frames and desktop accessories, and at home in my kitchen. Ladybugs are known in most cultures as a symbol of luck.

This post is part of a tag from fellow bloggers Brandon A at Newly Corporate and Tiffany at Personal PR. I agree with Tiffany that blogging is about relationships and getting to know each other enhances our relationships and networks, and hopefully this gave you some insight into who I am.

I encourage anyone reading this to create their own post and leave a comment here once you’ve created one. Auf Wiedersehen!

Posted by Melanie Lopez at 19:24:28 | Permalink | Comments (7)

Friday, December 28, 2007

How to build your first corporate wardrobe

So you scrounged up a suit for the interview, but now you have to wear business attire five days a week! Suddenly you seem to have nothing to wear (okay, so you have clothes, but they’re mostly from college with Hollister branded all over them). The business suits I did have were juniors-department-store-polyester-rayon ones, not made to last more than wearing them once or twice a semester.

You don’t have to sacrifice your style to wear business attire, but you also don’t have to spend a fortune. Here are some tips to building up your first corporate wardrobe:

Refresh your sewing skills. No, not to make your own clothes (unless you’re really brave) but to repair them. Do an inventory of your closet and see if you can find any work-type clothes that are of decent quality but maybe just need a button replaced or a hem re-sewn. You can also use a sewing machine to alter your clothes for the perfect professional fit.

Find wardrobe staples. These are the basics of your wardrobe that you can mix and match to create different looks. Depending on whether your work is business professional attire or business casual, you should invest in at least one nice black suit, a few pairs of trousers or slacks, a few blazers, a couple pairs of khaki pants, and some button-up shirts and cardigans or sweaters. I always make sure I have long-sleeve shirts or sweaters to wear even in the middle of summer so I don’t freeze in my cube!

Don’t break the bank. Go shopping during big sales and download coupons from online or get added to their mailing list. You don’t have to go to 5th Avenue to shop, but try for the nicer department stores. Another thing I have done is to allocate myself enough money to buy one or two nice pieces of clothing each month. After a year or so you’ll start to have a really nice wardrobe coming together.

Don’t skimp on the shoes. Some nice black pumps or boots are essential for work. Find a pair that you can wear for a while, made of real leather and no more than 2.5 to 3″ high. If you are dying to get some new wedges or that cute new sandal, don’t spend a lot of money on them because you know you aren’t going to wear them longer than a year.

Buy trendy accessories. As I mentioned above, if you want to be trendy go for the cheaper items that you can use and not feel bad about throwing away after a year. Spend the bigger bucks on basic things that will last. No one will know you picked up that necklace at Forever 21 if you are dressing it up with a nice suit or pants. Be careful though – you don’t want to cheapen your look with items that are too teenager-trendy and make you look like you’re still in high school.

Take care of your nice clothes. Maybe I was lazy in college but I rarely ever brought anything to the dry cleaners. Sure, your clothes can be washed and dried with everything else, but they will wear down faster and compromise the quality of your new duds. Do yourself a favor and follow the directions on the tag so that you can wear them longer and keep them looking new.

To sum it up, put your money in the quality not the quantity. It’s so embarrassing when you get to work at realize that your lapel is unraveling or when you notice that you’re the only one with huge 4″ chunky heels! Being a professional means looking the part, and building up a nice corporate wardrobe will give you more credibility and self-confidence.

Posted by Melanie Lopez at 21:19:36 | Permalink | Comments (1) »