Thursday, January 31, 2013

Burgundy, black and polka dots

I just finished my dinner which was a spinach, tomato and cheddar omelet. I don't particularly like cooking - I can cook but I just don't enjoy it - so I generally make simple, quick things and I try to make them have a little pizzazz by adding spices.

That's my attempt to lead into my description of this outfit - simple but with a little oomph.


Cardigan: Joe Fresh (last worn two days ago)
Dress: Trina Turk (last worn here)
Tights: Joe Fresh
Shoes: Dorothy Perkins (last worn here)

Plain black dress with a buckle for interest. Burgundy tights with subtle polka dots. My "Miss Piggy" shoes with metal on the ties to match the metal on the dress. Simple with some added visual interest.



My coworker liked the outfit better with the visible tattoos though. I tend to agree.


Don't tell my I don't have this pose down pat. I have no idea how I took the exact same photo here without the cardigan.

My hair! So frizzy!



And now lets turn our back on January and turn the page to a new month. Bring on February.


Wednesday, January 30, 2013

MAGIC POWERS!

First of all, thanks to Marianne on xojane.com for mentioning me (and Sheila and Amber) in a column yesterday. It drove my blog visits to over 100,000. That's pretty exciting to me. And XOJane is Jane Pratt, of Sassy magazine, the best magazine of my youth! Doubly exciting. Whoo!



Blouse: Joe Fresh (last worn here)
T-shirt: Old Navy
Skirt: Desigual (last worn here)
Shoes: Cole Haan

These aren't the usual kind of shoes that I'd wear with this outfit. But I had to show you the new magic power I have acquired. The power to change the colour of my shoes using only my will.

All I have to do is think really hard, look super duper adorable, point at my feet and then



SHAZAM!!

*thunder* *lightning*



...WHITE SHOES!

Magic!!

I think this is a most excellent development considering my shoe love.

*tee hee*

(They're actually these. When you photograph them using a flash the reflective coating shows as white.)



Or are they....?

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Clashing Animals

I didn't realize until I got to work that I was mixing patterns. Squirrel motif with cheetah print? Can you say "CLASH?" *haha*


Maybe that's why I look so displeased.

Cardigan: Anthropologie (last worn here)
Dress: Anthropologie
Belt: Megan Mae (last worn here
Tights: Joe Fresh!
Shoes: Fluevog Presence Hi | Desmond (last worn here) (too long ago!)

It also wasn't until I got to work that I realized that the shoes didn't quite match the turquoise dress and cardigan. Oh well!


Once again someone was in the kitchen watching me, hence the goofy face.

This really is a very simple dress and quite similar to this dress. Blue? check! Jersey? check! Short? check! Ooops.

I probably wouldn't  have considered buying these tights a year ago, but my coworker has them and wore them and I was convinced that they were something new I should try. It's good to break out of your comfort zone every once in a while.


Tomorrow we're supposed to be hit by a bit of a weather bomb. Snow, freezing rain, and then about 20-30mm of rain over the next two days. Yuck. I never know what to wear in the rain other than my bright yellow rubber boots. Wool is usually a good choice since it dries quickly.

I know I won't be wearing pants though. Nothing worse than wet pants!

Monday, January 28, 2013

Grellow and Burgundy

I'm BAAACCCKKKK!  I had a nice time off and was able to relax after a bit of a stressful time at work. But after being at work for about 20 minutes today all that rejuvenation disappeared.  Isn't that always the way?


Dress: Joe Fresh
Cardigan: Joe Fresh
Belt: Smart Set
Tights: ?
Shoes: Fluevog Writes | Simone (last worn here)

Both this dress and cardigan cost $10! Bargain!

I broke out of my comfort zone with this outfit. Normally I would have stuck with green or yellow accents for this dress but I through the burgundy was an interesting addition.

I didn't try the dress on before buying it. It's a medium which is what I would normally wear but I probably could have gotten away with the small. (!) I haven't worn a size small in almost a decade.


This dress has pockets in the front and the zipper goes down the back on the far left which is kinda weird but actually makes it easier to zip and unzip.

I missed blogging. Glad to be back.




Thursday, January 17, 2013

Dressed in yellow, she said hello...

Just got home from having drinks with three people I used to work with at another government department. We all successfully escaped that place. We went to a bar that I used to frequent quite often but haven't been to in about 4 years. It hasn't changed much so it was quite familiar. And it was happy hour so I had 3 beers for $10.29!


The last time I wore this blouse and boots I ended up wrangling chickens in the country.

Blouse: Vintage Givenchy (last worn here)
Skirt: Reitmans (last worn here)
Boots: Fluevog Operetta | Mirella (last worn here)

After yesterday's snow, I wanted to wear something bright and sunny. I'm not sure this colour does much for me but it's nice to think "I'm wearing GIVENCHY!"  And with a Reitman's skirt that probably cost me $15.00.


I think these boots look a lot better on my feet than they do sitting in my closet. They really look kind of yucky when not being worn or combined in an outfit.

My Fluevog nemesis Rebecca (and I mean that in only be most good natured way), Winnipeg style, wears them awesomely in this outfit so I also paired mine with green tights.


I probably wouldn't have posted this outtake if I wasn't a tiny bit drunk.  Someone walked into the kitchen just before the timer went off. This will forever be known as my DERP face.

I'm now off work until the 28th. I'll be posting sporadically until then.




Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Indecisive

I tried on 5 or 6 outfits this morning before settling on this. I rarely wear this blouse - probably because hasn't fit me for a few years. Good thing I held onto it.



Scarf: Gift from my mother
Blouse: from a store in the Glebe in Ottawa
Blue Skirt: Trapper Jane (last worn here)
White Skirt: Smart Set (last worn here)
Tights: Peek Brooklyn (last worn here)
Shoes: Manolo Blahnik (last worn here)

My mother has finally admitted that I'm not going to outgrow the skulls so she bought me this scarf for Christmas.


Not sure what I'm doing in this picture but I appear to be having a good time. Action shot!

Again, the best things about this skirt are the pockets. I was able to store my office dog tags and a bunch of change in them so I was fully prepared to run outside 4-5 times to feed the parking meter. I don't normally drive to work but I did today because I had a doctor's appointment first thing.



Three days of this week behind me...one to go! Unfortunately, or fortunately, I have no meetings tomorrow. That usually means that the day just drags on forever. Let's hope I'm able to keep busy!

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

I know who a square is...

I'm a little late with the blog today because for the first time in 12-18 months I went out to my knitting group. I stayed an hour because I had to run a few errands afterwards but hopefully I'll get back into the grove of going to hangout with mah knitters.



Cardigan: Pretty Things Boutique
Dress: Bitter Root Vintage on etsy (last worn here)
Fishnets: Sock it to Me (local store)
Shoes: Fluevog Wonders | Ayers (last worn here)

My coworker told me that I shouldn't wear a cardigan with this dress. I would normally agree but 1) it was cold and 2) I usually keep my ink covered at the office.  It does kind of hide it's fabulousness.



Look! I'm standing in a different pose! Like Wendy Brandes! She smiles more nicely than I do though.



Another one of my coworkers went a little gaga over my tights though a woman on my bus gave me the stink eye after wrinkling her nose at them. Poor woman doesn't have much fun in her life I'm guessing.

Two days down, two days left and then I'm off for 9 days. YAY!

Monday, January 14, 2013

Angles



Saw this on Facebook this morning. Seemed apt though today ended up being a very quiet day. Just how I like my Mondays. And this is a short week for me plus I'm taking next week off so let's hope that Tuesday-Thursday are equally calm. That probably jinxed it.


Dress: Bryn Walker (last worn here)
Belt: Megan Mae (last worn here)
Hosiery: Wolford (last worn here)
Shoes: Messeca (last worn here)

It was strangely warm today. It's unheard of here for it to be +10C in January. I didn't even bother wearing a hat or a scarf or winter boots today. It won't last though so I'll be back to bundling up tomorrow.

Wolford's pantyhose are amazing. I've worn these at least 6 times and there's zero damage to these. That makes them worth the money in my book. Stupid drugstore hose barely last one wearing.



I purposely paired up this dress with the XX's on these tights. I love it when a plan comes together.

Bye bye Monday. Thanks for being painless.

Saturday, January 12, 2013

High saturation

Saturday has been pretty lovely so far, despite the fact that I haven't done much other than get a prescription renewed, return my refundables for money, reinflate my tires and take my friend out for breakfast because she's had a bad week. Oh, and I also went to Victoria's Secret to buy another bra in a style that I quite like.

Strangely I was the most dressed up person at the mall. Most people were wearing regular weekend jeans and sweaters but I also saw way to many sweatpants and uggs or flannel pajama bottoms and uggs. WHY?? WHY?

























Cardigan: Pretty Things Boutique
Dress: Eshakti (last worn in my first post)
Tights: H&M
Boots: Fluevog Radios | ARD 
(last worn here)






New hair - or really back to my old hair. The red seems much more visible now on the left side. I think that's because my bangs are a little thicker.

Off to have a nap and then out for dinner at a friend's house. Going to play some games. Fun!

Friday, January 11, 2013

Fragile Bird

It's been a bit of an emotional and stressful week. I'm closely identifying with the City and Colour song Fragile Bird.



However, it's Friday and I got my hair done after work today and then had a lovely dinner with my BFF so let's put the week behind us! YAY!




Dress: Stills (last worn here)
Tights: Modcloth
Shoes: Fluevog Wonders | Ayers (last worn here)

I've mentioned on here before that my least favourite colour is pink. So tell me, why did I buy these tights? It's not like I saw them in a store and they were $5 and I thought "what the hell". I actually consciously ordered them from Modcloth.  Odd that. I'm not sure if I even like them since the gradient isn't very "gradienty". It's more like these tights are half pink/half black. Feedback appreciated.


One more week and then I'm taking a week of vacation. Good buy crappy ass week! Bring it on January - I can take it!




Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Fairy shoes

I wasn't going to blog today because after looking at these photos I thought "UGH! My crap day is evident all over my face. I CAN'T post these." But I'm not always going to have a good day so why not go for realism? I take photos of myself, everyday, at my job so I'm going to have up days and down days.

Today was a very down day. BUT, I'm feeling a bit better about things right now, I had a lovely conversation a little while ago that gave me a little pick up, so without further ado ...



Jacket: Jennifer Glasgow from The Workshop in Ottawa (last worn here)
Skirt: Desigual (last worn here)
Shoes: Poetic License (last worn here)

SO glad I'm getting my hair done on Friday...

These shoes always get a lot of comments. One lady described them as "fairy shoes" and a man on an elevator asked me if they were my dancing shoes. I think if I tried to dance in these I'd hurt myself.



Turning my back on the rest of the day. Here's to tomorrow being better.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Comma comma comma comma comma chameleon

Not sure if I've mentioned on here that I'm Acting Director again for a few weeks, or potentially for 6 months depending on the outcome of an interview I had before Christmas. Because of that I had a very busy day today. So busy that apparently I couldn't even brush my hair before taking these photos.

I had run out at lunch to do some errands so I have windblown/hat head here.


Dress: Makenew (last worn here)
Belt: Noujica (last worn here)
Shoes: Dorothy Perkins (last worn here)

I think I need to have about an inch cut off the length of my hair. It's starting to look a little limp.

I was wearing a jacket with this dress but the photo I took with it on was pretty terrible so just use your imagination.


I dubbed this dress my "punctuation dress" when I wore it the first time. Seems pretty accurate.

Sorry about not having much to say. Hopefully tomorrow will be more interesting.

 


Monday, January 7, 2013

It's a wrap

I'm working on cleaning up my house and divesting myself of some things to try and get organized and I found this dress in a bag of things that I was planning to give away. I pulled it out and ironed it and decided to give it another try. I think I remember why I was planning to remove it from my wardrobe.



Dress: American Apparel
Cami: Tristan
Necklace: from a store in San Francisco
Boots: Cydwoq (last worn here)

I have a long torso so I tend to have difficulty with wrap dresses. The tie never sits on my waist. Here its lying on my ribcage. I kept pulling at the dress all day trying to get comfortable and to have it lay flat.

You'd think that a dress made out of cotton "sweatsuit" material would be the most comfortable dress ever but it's not. I'm putting it back in the donation bag.



As you can see, I have kept these boots. I was actually able to wear them almost all day today. I think it helped that these tights are a little thicker than others I've worn with these boots. Seems to have given a little extra protection from the elastics.

So this outfit was a bit of a bust. Hopefully I'll recover tomorrow.


Friday, January 4, 2013

Hipster or Hip?

I subscribe to a number of websites that sell designer clothing and shoes "off season". Sometimes the temptation to buy stuff is strong but I've been very good lately about resisting. Until I saw this dress on MYHABIT.  It sells for $245 on Modcloth - I got it for $89!



Dress: Eva Franco
Boots: Fluevog Radios | ARD (last worn yesterday)

I like the print but I also like the style of the dress. I'm quite pleased with my bargain purchase!

The frames aren't white, more of a creamy colour, which was a surprise but that's no big deal.

After I took these photos I realized that I should have been wearing my glasses. Next time!



And holy crap, I'm wearing the same boots today that I wore yesterday! What's wrong with me? I think it's really that I wanted the added warmth. Plus they are the best boots in the world.



I have no weekend plans but I'm happy to see the back end of this week. I hope everyone has a great first weekend of 2013.

Thursday, January 3, 2013

The most perfectest boots ever

Another cold day, another wool dress, although this isn't really think enough or long enough to be warm. But to be honest I'm only outside for about 5 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes after work. I wait in my house until I see the bus coming down the hill and then run into the bus stop.


Blouse: Winners
Dress: Anthropologie (last worn here)
Tights: from Sock it to Ya (local store)
Boots: Fluevog Radios | ARD (now on sale!)

I bought these boots in the Fluevog SAD sale as a Christmas present to myself. When they came out this Fall I thought they were the perfect black flat boot so when they went on sale I scooped them up.

Most of my boots seem to be flat. I'm not a big fan of boots with heels. Odd that.

When I bought these tights I thought the pattern was bigger than it is. I'm not sure I like these really or maybe not with this outfit.

You know what I hate about winter? Static electricity. My blouse was clinging to my arms all day. Drove me batty!

BATTY!

Thank god tomorrow is Friday!

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

I stayed the cold day with a lonely satellite

Happy New Year! I didn't do anything on NY Eve other than go over to a friend's house to play some games. I was actually home by 11pm. Party animal I am not.

I'm very hopeful that 2013 will be a year of fabulosity and I'm excited to see what's in store for me. I started the year off right by making pork dumplings, banana bread and doing a lot of ironing. Here's to productivity and controlling my destiny!

Winter is here with a vengeance. -23C (-9F) today with the wind chill. My house is heated by hot water baseboards which tend to freeze when the temperature dips below -15C so before leaving for work this morning I cranked my heat to +22C. Even with that it's only 19C in my house right now. Chilly! I might have to put my electric blanket on my bed tonight.

Cold days call for a wool dress.


Cardigan: Smart Set
Dress: Sohomode from etsy (last worn here)
Boots: Anthropologie via ebay (last worn here)
Brooch: Gift from my sister for Xmas

I can't believe it's been over  a year since I've worn either this dress or these boots. Seems like a shame. I wasn't sure they would go together well but I wore the boots for added warmth in the office. My office has two walls of windows so when it's well below 0 it tends to get a little frigid.

I think I need to replace this cardigan since it doesn't hang well anymore. And it's just crappy cheap cotton so it's not even slightly warm.

I wish I could have worn the dress without the cardigan  but there was no way that was happening today.

This is a nice warm dress but it's best feature is POCKETS.



My sister bought me this brooch on a recent trip to Australia. It's from a design studio called "I design things". I think it's pretty darn adorable. And the blue matches the stripes in the plaid quite well. It's called an Owl brooch but it looks more like a songbird to me. Thanks sister!