Another Friday!

Tomorrow is a holiday (Canada Day!), so today felt like Friday. Woo! I'm so happy to be home! We're going to go see "Toy Story 3" tonight to celebrate.

As I mentioned yesterday, my VP was disappointed in my shoes yesterday, so today I kicked it up a notch or three:
I basically just matched up stuff to the shoes. Easy-peasy. I need more orange and turquoise in my wardrobe.

This skirt is great, but extremely see-through, as is this thin sweater. I had to wear a full slip underneath the whole outfit. Fortunately (or not), the weather is still not in summer-mode, so I didn't boil to death in all the layers.

Yeah, but it's all about the shoes! Who cares about the rest!

The stuff:

I was pleased with the jewelry with this, actually. I love these pieces.

A close-up:

The earrings are heavy, but I love all the colours in this set.

Sweater (Kersh), skirt (Ann Taylor, thrifted), shoes (Poetic Licence), jewelry (Lucky Brand, gift from L).

In Which Things Do Not Quite Go Right

Following a stressful evening last night, I woke up rather muzzy-headed. I forgot my tea on the kitchen counter, I did things out of order. I barely remembered to put on make-up! Horrors!

I was very happy that I'd picked an easy outfit for today:
Classic! The jammie dress! Its bold, dark pattern hides everything, the neckline and sleeves are uber-flattering without being bare, and it feels like wearing pajamas.

I also went easy on the shoes since I didn't want to scare my new director, who I met today. My VP was extremely disappointed that I didn't have more kooky "kicks" on, so I promised I'd wear some crazy shoes tomorrow.

The stuff:
Woo! The red lining of the shoes really pops! I always fall back on the same accessories with this dress, but I like them. I have worn this dress a fair bit: here (July 23/09), here (Feb 11/09), here (July 24, 2008), here (May 7, 2008, where I mention about 4 more wears previous to me having this blog).

Not bad! I must be at about $4.50 per wear on it now, since I only paid around $40 for it way back in 2007. I know it's not any older than 2007 because, of course, prior to that I weighed 50 lbs more than I do now.

Dress (I.N.C.), shoes (Guess), necklace (consignment), earrings (don't recall).

Boring Monday - Boss in Town

Sorry I haven't been around much the last week to your blogs - I will get caught up at some point this week! My life has been a little nutty lately.

The Boss is in the office again this week, and my new director was supposed to be in the office today. I didn't want to make a crazy impression on him, so I went with "safe":
The shoes are the most "out there" item - funny, they used to be one of the most outrageous items I owned. Bah! Not anymore!

The skirt is a little big on me, and the red cami is much brighter in person. Otherwise, this is a big puddle of "meh" for me.

The stuff:
The leopard Dr. Scholl's inserts make another appearance (they're permanent - I have a lot of them in my shoes!).

The jewelry:

Funky ring and my fake Gucci bracelet.

Sweater (Future Paradise, consignment), cami (Mexx), suit skirt (Jacob, consignment), shoes (Steve Madden), belt (Plum), bracelet (gift from Mom and Dad, Italy), ring (no brand).

Book Blurb - The Raw Shark Texts (and Some Scenes of the West Coast)

Oh, I have had a lovely weekend! First, I finished another book! Yay me!

It was..."The Raw Shark Texts" by Steven Hall:
Stats: 428 pages of words, pictures, pictures made with words, flip book animated pictures. Started June 10th, finished June 26th.

Blurb: This book is all about words and their power. From the moment our antagonist wakes up now knowing who he is (until he finds a letter addressed to himself...from his former self), to the attack of a virtual shark built of ideas and concepts that swims in a murky ocean of ideas, to the final battle aboard a shark-hunting boat (made in the "real" world of cast-off equipment, but in the flip-side world, it's a real boat based on the mass-idea of shark boats that everyone has from seeing "Jaws"), this book keeps you thinking...and thinking.

It's a book about ideas, memory and love. I grooved on it, but was distracted a bit by some of the gimmicky things (like the 50-page flip book of the shark swimming midway through). The characters felt familiar (like they were straight out of a Neil Gaiman book, must be a British writer thing), the plot was complex enough that I couldn't see what was going to happen and the writing is solid. If you like a bit of a puzzle and some brain exercise with your fluffy lit, you might like this.

Next up: "When You are Engulfed in Flames" by David Sedaris.

I've mentioned my best friend, Janet, a couple of times - we don't see each other as much as we'd like to. A lot of "let's go for coffee" emails, but nothing ever comes of it. This time, when she emailed, I mentioned that I'm usually free on Sundays...why don't we go for a walk?

This is where we went:
The woods of the West Coast! This park is about an hour's drive outside the city - it's right on the coast but you have to hike to get to the water.

There were lots of slugs, like this guy:
Also, his cousins, the banana slugs. Ew, yuck. I watched where I was going - those are gross to step on!

The hike was really steep, lots of up and down on steep gradients:

Pretty snazzy hiking clothes (I jest).

I loved this little section of tiny flowers on both sides of the path:

The trees were very dense. A lot of cedar, Douglas Fir, beech, arbutus trees, and ferns and salal and moss on the ground.

It took a little over two hours of hard hiking (we were both huffing and puffing and sweating, and we're both in good shape!) to reach the water:

Yeah, we're at the top of a steep cliff. No railings here, nothing.

Just a few pleasure boats out on the water:

The trees with the red trunks are arbutus. They are very rare, and only grow in this part of the world. Their bark peels off like paper and they have big flat leaves - but they are evergreens.

We hiked along the coast trail for a little ways, but it's really steep on the ocean side:

That's just sheer cliff face beyond the path. Yikes!

We had our lunch down at the water:

The ground at my feet, all rocks, barnacles, kelp and water.

To my left, looking down the coastline:

Behind me:

You can see a bit of the path right in the center where the short big log is.

And to my right:

A pretty little inlet. We ate our lunch, but then it decided to spit rain, so we headed back. We only saw two other groups (1 of four, 1 of 2 + dog) the whole day. It's not a hike for wusses! We hiked for over 4 hours...I need a hot bath! I'm going to be sore tomorrow!

Casual Friday: The Key to My Heart

Ah, the weekend! I was in such a good mood all day yesterday: it was sunny, it was Friday, and I was wearing my new favourite denim acid wash skirt again:
*yawn* Yes, this old thing. I had originally planned to do the Stonefly shoes again, but then I felt like not having the ol' toes enclosed, you know? With all this daring pattern mixing I've been doing, my confidence has taken a turn up the rollercoaster, so I tossed these little leopard wedges into the mix.

A "top" shot:

Although it was sunny, it's always windy here, especially near the water, so I opted for long sleeves (also so that I wouldn't have to wear sunblock, ugh). I love this pretty silk blouse.

The stuff:

A nice look at the acid wash and pocket sparkles. The leopard inside these shoes is not original - they are little stick-on Dr. Scholl's liners (they come 3 to a pack for about $17), and they are great for dressy shoes that don't have any cushioning.

A closer look at the jewelry:

I got the key earrings for I think $10 a few weeks ago. They're just plastic, but I really liked them. The heart locket is actually my baby locket, so it's at least 42-going-on 43 years old.

Blouse (Kaliko, consignment), cami (Mexx), skirt (Cache, thrifted), belt (Plum), shoes (don't recall, but they were cheap from the Bay), earrings (no brand), locket (60s vintage).

A Day in the Life

A day late, sorry (my brother was over last night), but nevertheless, a day!

It's been a while since I took some pictures of my walks, so here you go. My day in summer.

I love this overgrown garden (it's much bigger):
These little heads have appeared in the last couple of months. I always say hello.

Walking down one of the main boulevards towards town:

A rare shot with no street people!

I like the mix of this church (now a music conservatory) and the crane:

I cropped out the masses of homeless people and drug addicts. Yay!

This is one of my "time checks" to make sure I'm not late:

That's City Hall. And it's 8:05 - yup, right on time.

These next two pictures are ones that I've been meaning to take for months. They are redeveloping an old department store downtown - I used to go there with my mom and my brother when I was a kid. My dad actually worked there as a stock boy when he was a teenager. Once, he took us up to the roof, because he remembered the way up.

This is some of the tile on the end of the parkade:

I love the mix of those colours. And they remind me so much of the store.

So does the "Aisle" designations:

And see the star? That was to help you find your car. I remember Mom manouevering our VW bus through this parkade. Those are all the construction workers' trucks parked there now.

I love this church. Last year, I notices the ajar roofing piece (upper right corner):

I wonder if they have bats in their belfry?

This is the view from my desk yesterday:

Pretty, huh? You can see a bit of the water (that's an arm of the ocean) and the scrap metal yard on the left.

And this is my messy desk:

It's organized chaos.

I went for my usual walk around 3 pm:

I saw this dude on his surfboard, paddling away. Don't fall in, dude! It's cold!

This trestle is a major walkway:

Sometimes I go over that, but usually, I go down this path:

It gets really overgrown in the summer. Around August, this is prime blackberry picking.

These are my stairs:

I do 4-6 sets up and down of these, Monday to Thursday. Killer!

And then I head back to work:

This path is usually packed with people and bikes.

On the walk home, I saw this pretty kitty:

Aw!

I'm not the only one who hikes up this long hill:

This feels very long at the end of the day!

Here I am:

Peace, man!

I love this house's yard:

I'd like to sit in that chair and watch the world go by, with flowers at my feet. I did pinch some of that lavender, though. Mmmm...love the smell.

This is a Garry Oak:

They're very gnarled. I like how this one is growing up the side of this Victorian-era house.

And here I am (really):

Breaking out these awesome ombre sandals for the first time this year!

The stuff:

Yeah, those are pretty much fabulous!

Cardigan (Kersh), cami (Esprit), skirt (Le Chateau), belt (Nygard), shoes (Qupid), ring (Club Monaco), earrings (don't remember).

Sleeveless at Work

I read Angie's "You Look Fab" blog on a regular basis, and read this column today about wearing sleeveless tops for work. I don't often have time to read the comments, but I read through them all while I ate lunch. I would love to read or post in the forums, but I just can't keep up with all the people - I prefer the connections I make on the blogosphere.

And since I haven't said so recently, to my regular dozen or so commenters, thank you so much for popping in every few days with your kind words, humour and pizazz (because you know I always come say hi in return!). It means a lot to me to connect with a few people this way, and every comment is like a little gift when I log in. It's so cool. You all rock.

Anyway, as I've mentioned before, my office gets hot, especially in the afternoon. I also go for a 1/2 hour walk around 3pm (I like a late lunch break) four days a week, so in the late afternoon I'm rather...glowy. However, I always like a fairly dressy casual look in my Business Casual dress code office and that usually includes a jacket, a cardigan or sleeves:
This week, I planned my whole week's outfits on Sunday evening. Of course, I always have to take the weather into account, as well as the erratic A/C in my office, so I gave myself options this week.

I rolled the sleeves up on this thin jacket (I usually wear it done up, like here) and then shoved them up to my elbows. It was excellent temperature control.

But around 1pm, I gave in and took the jacket off:
I'm talking to Inigo. He's just been fed and is licking his lips and giving me lovey eyes.

I think this is a very appropriate top worn on its own for work. When I worked in ladies' clothing retail, our dress code was very rigid (whenever I'm in doubt on how to dress, I go back to it), and one of the things was "no sleeveless ever," always a jacket (we had to wear suits) or a twin-set. Man, we baked in the summertime in the mall.

I was really pleased with the leopard belt and this paisley pattern. Ooh, I'm so bold, look at me mixing my patterns, hee hee!

Okay, check out the back:
Besides being Wrinkly McGee (I sit most of the day), I love the little V at the top of the waistband. And oh, how I love a fitted high waist: it acted like a corset and kept me sitting up straight and tall all day.

The stuff:

Those shoes are one of my favourite pairs. Top 10 favourite, even.

Jacket (Pelican Cove), blouse (Talbot's, consignment), skirt (Bedoe, thrifted), shoes (Steve Madden, thrifted), belt (Dana Buchman, consignment), necklace worn as bracelet (80s vintage, Eatons), earrings (Aldo Accessories).