Bigass Weekend Wrap-Up: Friday Space Neutrals; Leopard Cowgirl Brunch and a Wee Shop; Mom's 80th Birthday in Fireworks

Welcome back, my friends! Another weekend that was far too short for the amount of stuff we packed into it - we have loads to look at, so let's get started.

Friday's work outfit. I've been playing with space-adjacent themes in my looks this week, and we're capping it off with my space jacket. 

I'll point out the woven grosgrain ribbon detail on the front hem of the top, best seen in this pic.

• Cotton stretch jacket - Smoking Lily; last worn here exactly a year ago with orange leopard in May 2024
• Silk top - Grey by Jason Wu, thrifted; last seen here in September 2024 with space pants and emerald satin
• Skirt - GP & J Baker X H&M, consignment; last worn here in January with a vine-y sweater
• Shoes - Summertime Moonbeams, Fluevog, consignment; last seen here (3rd outfit) in February for Greg and Cat's shared birthday

I wore the top on its own for the morning. 

It's silk, so I prefer to wear it solo as much as possible to avoid sweating in it.

I love the high-low hem. 

This skirt knit is tan and black honeycombs, outlined in sparkly silver. 

A jacket that I've had for 12 years.

It's a stretchy denim brushed with silver to make it shiny. And big pockets! 

Incognito.

No scarf needed on the way home. 

Accoutrements and stuff: 

It was quiet in the office - you could hear my clomping in these shoes. 

• Silk scarf - fake Louis (Lewis!) Vuitton, thrifted

Space bling: 

All smooth shapes. 

• Silver/gold cuff - JPA, vintage fair
• Crystal/gold bracelet - thrifted
• Magnetic brooch - Star Trek Communicator badge, MoPop gift shop, Seattle
• Earrings - Biko, consignment
• Pearl necklace - thrifted
• Silver Anneke & Lars ring - vintage mall
• Silver/crystal ring - Soul Flower
• Gold-plated silver ear-cuffs - consignment

After a fun evening with pals Emma and Daylan over for a movie (we introduced them to Dog Soldiers, a werewolf movie), L and I were up early to meet up with Nick for brunch at John's Place, followed by a much-needed grocery shop.

I built the outfit around the snap-front cotton embellished cowgirl shirt that I thrifted a few weeks back.

• Shirt - Topshop MOTO, thrifted; purchased here for $4.50
• Satin camisole - Molly Bracken, consignment; last worn here in October 2024 for my birthday
• Denim skirt - Ganni, consignment; last seen here with yellow bookends in February
• Leather boots - Coach, consignment, Vancouver; last worn here in March with my cover girl skirt

I paired it with the leopard, lace-trimmed camisole first, then realized I could go full leopard. 

I love the paper-bag waist of this skirt, but I dislike that white back showing. Well, we take the good with the bad, right?

Pockets! And that asymmetrical hem! I had a lot of compliments on this at the diner. 

And I felt very cool and badass in it. 

I tucked the shirt in so the high waist would be seen.

It was cloudy but mild in the morning. 

No outerwear required. 

Don't you just love this time of year? 

Accoutrements and stuff: 

These boots are so awesome - the heel doesn't feel high at all, although I wouldn't want to walk or stand too long in them. 

• Purse - Rebecca Minkoff, consignment

I was tempted to wear the teddy bum-bag, but L has taken a vehement dislike to it. Heh. 

Mixed bling: 

The lace cuff felt right with the outfit. 

• Lace cuff - handmade in Nashville
• Mixed metal/leather cuff - Jenny Bird, consignment
• Silver/crystal ring - Soul Flower
• Brass leopard ring - thrifted
• Silver earrings - gift from Petra

I had a quick look around in the Beacon Ave Thrift Shop while L and Nick waited to be seated. 

This gorgeous windowpane plaid blazer caught my eye. 

It was in the ladies' section, but it's menswear. 

The pockets on the outside haven't even been opened! This has barely been worn. 

I knew it was menswear when I saw the two inside pockets. Sigh, women's clothing would never have those. 

It's by Attitude and the exterior is 100% linen - it was $28.00 which felt like a very good price. It fits L perfectly and he's claimed it (I always give him first dibs). 

This blazer was in the men's section...but turned out to be a women's cut. 

It is too big for both L and I, but it's so gorgeous. 

Wonderful woven fabric in burgundy, dark brown and cream with lovely cast metal buttons. 

And as you can see, the missing "button in pocket" is there. 

There's also a button hiding behind the content tag. 

Made in the USA! I like seeing that - it tells me this is old. I'd guess this from the last Vest Era, which is early-to-mid 90s. 

It's by Wah Maker Frontier Clothing, guaranteed authentic, and I paid $16.00.

I thought that was pricy until I saw them ranging from $69.00-99.00 online. All the ones I found were strictly men's so I wonder if this was tailored to add the vertical darts in the front? 

This shirt was cool, but not to L's tastes. As he noted, he's got to be very fussy about shirts, as he has so many now. 

The colours are teal, white and a terra cotta shade. All of the patterning is lined up very nicely. There's a front pocked on the right. 

It's by Hugo Boss and was $22.00.

I spotted this on a resale site for $138.00, marked down from $212.00. Wow. 

I did a quick look through the $2.00 rack and pulled out this Lurex skirt.

It's a light grey-ish silver. 

53% Lurex, 33% acrylic and 14% wool.

It took me a minute to read that awful font - it says "JUMP" Eve Roth. And since it's made in Hong Kong, I'm going to date this as early 90s. I bet it had a matching jacket with ginormous shoulder pads! 

And finally, I couldn't resist this piece of Indiana Glass Company's "King's Crown" glassware, even though I don't collect this colour. 

My hand in for scale - it's a sherry glass.

It was $2.00 - a good price. 

It's from the 1970s. The colour I collect is amber (and some green).

L and I spent a much-needed afternoon and evening chilling out and playing board games until the wee hours, but we were up bright and early to get ready for...not just Mother's Day (happy MD to all you moms out there!), but for Mom's 80th birthday! 

Mom did an "open house" style of party, inviting all her friends and family to drop by during the early afternoon, when she has the most energy. L and I got there early to set up and meet & greet (I was also the unofficial photographer). 

For Mom, I wore a pretty linen dress, which long-time readers will recognize as my "fireworks" dress. I know they are abstract flowers, but they remind of fireworks, so there. 

• Linen dress - JG Hook, thrifted; last seen here in May 2024 with orange shoes
• Shoes - Half Truth Tanya, Fluevog; last worn here in February with my grey Gigli dress
• Leather coat (below) - Danier Leather, thrifted; last seen here in July 2024

It's a lovely thick linen. 

I layered a vintage slip under it. 

I gave my relatives a twirl.

They were very impressed. 

I had my red leather blazer on for most of the time, as I needed pockets for my phone and my camera. 

My purse hung on a chair for a few hours.

Accoutrements and presents.

I gave Mom a bunch of dark chocolate and separate cards for her birthday and Mother's Day. Her main gift was 3 more copies of her book (they are very pricy to print and ship from the US). 

• Purse - Roots 73, thrifted
• Silk scarf - Halston, vintage 70s, thrifted

The stuff: 

My shoes were much admired. They are holding up well after 14 years. 

Green bling: 

One piece from Mom (and Dad) and a cuff I bought when Mom, L and I were on vacation together in London. 

• Filigree cuff - St. Paul's Cathedral gift shop, London
• Silver/malachite bangle - thrifted, Sidney
• Silver/malachite earrings - thrifted
• Glass bangle - thrifted
• Silver/green stone ring - thrifted
• Silver/malachite ring - consignment
• Silver/aventurine ring - consignment
• Silver Celtic S pendant - UK, vintage 90s, gift from Mom & Dad

L and I dressed up, because of COURSE we did. 

Someone's taken a shine to his new linen blazer! It looks fabulous with the yellow shirt and the white/grey pinstripe pants. Love those shiny Fluevogs! 

And now, my friends, you will kindly indulge me as I share some photos of my family. 

Me and Mom, when L and I first arrived. I knew I'd be busy and would forget to do our selfie otherwise. Happy Birthday, Mom! 

Rodney came to visit. 

The red rhododendron is a vintage plant, moved from the house I grew up in. 

Mom picked up a platter of bakery goodies from her local grocery. 

We also had carrot cake (instead of birthday cake - a superior choice!), fruit and ice cream, but everyone was stuffed after the carrot cake. 

Flowers from Mom's friend Sheila, who had popped by the day before. I also went outside and cut some extra flowers from Mom's garden and set up bouquets all over the party area. 

Lots of yummy non-alcoholic drinks.

Creepy dolls? Check! 

The one on the left is one I played with (not very much) when I was young, and along with the one on the right is from from Mom's childhood. That's my doll, Nancy, from when I was 7 or 8 years old. 

My lovely nieces! 

That's Hannah on the left, Sydney in the middle, and Zoe on the right. So awesome to see them all! 

My brother Dave came down-Island, as did our aunt (my dad's sister) Lois.

So grateful to you both for making the long drive! 

Mom's friend Vicky is actually my ex's mother. 

Vicky and I always hit it off, and I introduced her and Mom.

So wonderful to see you! 

Vicky and I used to play card together, and we also went to at least one concert back in the 90s, when I was with her son. 

I took a few random shot while Mom opened cards. 

From left: Aunt Lois, brother Dave, Vicky, L, Shelley (Dave's fiancée), and Mom. 

Reading cards.

Exclaiming, "Oh, goody!" when she opened all the gifts of chocolate (after saying "no gifts"). 

Same group, from the other side of the room.

Glary light - lots of windows. 

Nieces on the couch (Syd and Zoe), plus Zoe/Hannah's mom, Cynthia (brother's ex-wife). 

That's our uncle Brent in the white tee - he's married to Lois. 

Wow, a surprise guest! 

From left: Mom, Shelley, Dave and Jesse. 

Jesse is Dave's step-son from a previous relationship (step-brother to the nieces). 

Yes, I am the shrimp of the family at 5'4" - Dave is over 6', as is Syd and Jesse.

And then an even more surprise guest showed up - Matt! Matt is Dave's son with Jesse's mom. 

We haven't seen him in several years - he's now 30! can't believe it - so it was really lovely that he was able to come. You can tell Mom's incredibly happy. 

The two bros. 

Dang, it's been far too long! 

Mom and Jesse. 

Big thanks to Dave for reaching out, to help make this day extra-special for Mom. 

Long-time family friend Dianne came! 

Love this picture of Lois, and Vicky's peeking in at the back too. 

Dianne was so sweet - she knew I loved fashion so she brought me these two aprons. 

"They're very old," she said, and that's all the info I got. 

This one is baby blue, and that's all hand-crocheted.

Wow, that's a lot of work! 

This one is a butterfly print and sheer organza.

So very "Mad Men"! Thank you, Dianne! I'm so honoured to receive these. I'm not sure I'll be able to wear this one, but I think I might be able to "fashion up" the blue one. 

Lots of cards, and everyone knows Mom loves carnations. 

Mom will enjoy looking through those, once she's recovered. 

And now...a family photo! Vicky had left by this time, and L took these for us. 

The nice picture, where we all look normal and no one has their eyes closed.

Well done, Mom, you and Lois both closed your eyes. 

From left: on the floor: Dianne, me. Behind us/seated: Hannah, Mom and Zoe. Standing: Shelley, Sydney, Dave, Matt, Jesse, Lois and Brent. 

And then..."Everyone act goofy!"

Oh, you don't have to ask this family twice. Hannah, Dave and Lois with the obligatory tongues out! 

Jazz hands! 

Again, Happy 80th Birthday, Mom! I hope your motto of "Live, Love, Laugh" aptly describes your year ahead. Much love from me to you, and to all of my family for making this day so special. 

And now, my friends, I'm off to go rest up - that was a busy day! Thank you, as always, for stopping by!