Mo Kim

I’m lucky to live in a place 10 minutes away from both beautiful shorelines and top-notch hiking trails: in the grind of my daily work, where I’m often caught up planning out my students’ futures, the sights around me remind me to slow down and appreciate all the vibrant life around me right now. Trees tower over me; squirrels dart in and out of sight; the smell of rain and earth fills the air. In this place, in this moment, nothing else matters.

Maybe that’s why I’ve always had a soft spot for the color green: it’s been a grounding force in the midst of life’s chaos. Over the years, it’s found its way into many of my wardrobe pieces, including my favorite jacket (which I pilfered from a pile of abandoned dorm-room clothes during summer clean-up). It always feels like a reliable, sturdy color, something I know will look okay on me no matter what. Even today, as I dug through my extensive collection of T-shirts and flannels, I smiled: no matter what I chose, it would surely work out!

Yeah, to be honest, this might have been my easiest day so far. The only real challenge I felt was trying to add some variety: you don’t want your ENTIRE outfit to be the same shade of green (unless you’re the Grinch or a bush in disguise). I tried to get around this by playing with contrast: the jacket is a more intense piece, both in terms of color and fit, while the pants and sneakers are a little more relaxed. I cheated a little bit by layering the purple hoodie underneath, but hey, that’s technically a complementary color, isn’t it?

One additional challenge I gave myself today was to wear something practical, something I could really wear wherever I went – including the gym. I’m HUGE into rock climbing right now, and part of why I think I default to t-shirts and jeans so many days is they’re easy to wear straight from my office job to the climbing gym. I know, I know: I could easily bring an extra workout fit in my bag. But I’m a lazy, lazy creature, and I’d much rather stay in the same clothes all day if I can help it. Thankfully, today’s outfit ended up being pretty darn gym-appropriate, as the video below shows!

Now I’m sitting in bed, fighting the urge to doze off as I try to finish this post. Can’t complain, though – today was a fun time!

Steal the look:

• Zenni glasses with light green tint (So a fun story about these glasses: I originally got them as a cheap pair of shades, only to end up using them as my driving glasses. One day, I was rushing to school and forgot to take them off once I parked: I ended up 30 minutes into my first class of the day before a student asked me why I was wearing my green shades indoors. Despite my mortification, a LOT of kids seemed to dig the look, and now I wear these glasses on purpose sometimes! It’s amazing what a little bit of hype from teenagers can do for your self-esteem.)
• Vans zip-up jacket, green (I…genuinely cannot remember what this was called. I’ve tried searching for it on the Vans website to no avail. Nevertheless, it’s one of my favorite jackets.)
• LPS Royals hoodie, purple (My former charter school may not have offered much in pay, but they certainly had some great school swag!)
• Dockers pants, olive (Snagged these from my friend Julia’s yard sale for $10. They may not look like the fanciest pants, but they’ve held up during many, many rock climbing sessions!)
• ASICS OC Runner in Cream/Beryl Green (For the record, the rule I mentioned about not wearing the same thing more than twice does not apply to my shoes. These are just too good to pass up.)

Coming tomorrow: I try to cosplay at work without getting caught!