Virginia wrote:What did you wear on your first day back to work?
I wanted to be comfortable, clearly feminine, but classy. I've been looking for good outfits for work for a while now and went with my favorite. I settled on a long blue-green sweater top with a collar that can be buttoned up into a turtleneck but I prefer to leave mostly folded open, leaving a stylish asymetrical neck line mirrored by half-sleeves that also fold back. Black slacks with white flecks and a wool-like texture. Thin hose-like sheer black socks. Short boots with a 2-3 inch heel. Subtle dangly titanium earrings anodized green and pink.
I'm hanging out with a very different group on Thursday so I get to recycle the look again, which I'm already looking forward to!
~ Kimberly
“To escape criticism do nothing, say nothing, be nothing." - Elbert Hubbard
Susan wrote:I hope your first day in work as K went well, I suspect you had a few curiosity seekers but more importantly how have your colleagues adapted?
it's too early for real insight, but I'd say they were initalky a little hesitant to approach me. I guess they weren't sure how comfortable I'd be on day one. I made a point of seeking as many people out as I could to chat about their holiday break, and that seemed to pit people at ease immediately. If I had just hid in my office it would probably have increased the awkwardness.
~ Kimberly
“To escape criticism do nothing, say nothing, be nothing." - Elbert Hubbard
More than a month into my new life and for the most part everything has been going swimmingly.
I just celebrated the latest anniversary of my first day at work, a day with a warm and sunny forecast, by picking out a spring-worthy outfit complete with a nice knee-length skirt to wear to the office. Not a big deal in retrospect, but it still felt like another step forward in being accepted as a woman in the workplace. It didn't hurt that also I had an invitation waiting in email this morning to a gathering of the women in leadership positions in our organization. Or that two women stopped me at different points during my day to complement my shoes. I'm positively giddy!
I realize I sometimes leave the impression that absolutely everything is going right, or that it has all been easy for me. Comparatively, that might still be true, but I've put a lot of effort into setting a pace that's relatively comfortable for those around me. I knew that the start of the year was going to be particularly hard on my wife and so I've made an effort to spend lots of time with her, to share even seemingly trivial things that happen during my day, and to celebrate her recent birthday with a week of gifts focused on our life together.
I've also focused on not letting the things that don't go so smoothly get to me. The places my old name still shows up, the inadvertent pronoun and name slips, my father who seems content to snipe at me with one-line throwaway email messages rather than real communication ... they're all frustrating but not worth dwelling on. Not when I consider how much I have to be thankful for, and how good it feels to get up every day and be me.
~ Kimberly
“To escape criticism do nothing, say nothing, be nothing." - Elbert Hubbard
