Bigass Weekend Wrap-Up: Celebrating Friends; Friday Rust and Teal; Shubooties for Shopping; Getting Our Glo On

The last long weekend of the summer...ah, what a lovely summer it's been (and still 3 weeks to go, let's not rush things!). This was a quiet weekend for us, as we mentally prepare ourselves for a couple of months of busy weekends. Gotta charge those batteries before I can be "go go go" again. 

The face of someone looking forward to a weekend.

 I built this outfit around this new-to-me teal t-shirt that I recently acquired, but first...

Some celebrating of my blogger friends is called for!

• This is my outfit for "Visible Monday" over at Patti's Not Dead Yet Style. Go! 
• My dear friend Melanie of A Bag and a Beret is gonna be famous! She's one of the faces of Nordstrom Canada's "True Nord" ad campaign (her post here)! What!! So proud of her! Also, I'm famous by proxy, since we made a movie together a couple of years ago (go here to giggle your ass off). 
• Dear Anna of Anna's Island Style is also getting her share of Fame, being a face in a Woman and Home ad campaign (here)! Way to go, Anna! 

AND, last, but not least

• Wendy Brandes has been a blog-friend of mine nearly from the beginning of our blogs (2007 for her 2008 for me, and I own 2 rings that she made: the lapis lazuli ring here in 2012, and the Fulvia Ring, purchased here in 2013), and I've been a fan of her ongoing video series. I requested some tips recently for determining age on vintage items, and she came through! Wendy and her good friend/designer Stacy Lomman made a 17-minute video (worth watching the whole thing - some excellent info there), and they gave me a couple of shout-outs! I'm definitely getting famous through my amazing and talented friends, it seems. *grin*

So much awesomeness. Now, clothes.

• Sweater - Sparkle & Fade, swap from Sarah; last seen here in August with secret accordions
• T-shirt - Banana Republic, consignment; purchased here for $20.98
• Trousers - Cartonnier, thrifted; first worn here in June with a tropical pattern
• Shoes - Design Lab; last seen here in June with this same cardi and 70s apartment colours

This was the perfect Casual Friday outfit for the office. It was pretty quiet all day - one last gasp of vacation time for my coworkers.

 The usual pose - hands in pockets!

I read somewhere that leopard and/or animal print is huge again for fall. I can do that! Note the addition of my "homegrown vintage" leopard scarf to my ponytail.

 I liked the addition of this - it was a windy day and it fluttered about when I was outside.

A blurry, ghostly shot of me deploying the Swoosh Factor of this cardi.

 You might be able to tell how excited I am by this.

First wearing of my new-to-me bag.

 Adequate!

A shot with the cardigan off so that you can see the t-shirt. It has really nice drape.

 I was also proud of myself for doing a "half-tuck" on the front of it. Ooh, I'm all fashiony!

The stuff:

 The return of my 10 cent shoes (really, that's what I paid). Good enough to keep!

Animal bling:

 My scarf is from when I worked at Fairweather back in 1999-2000.

• Scarf - Fairweather, c. 1999
• Bangle - "Gucci", gift from Mom and Dad from Italy, c. 1987
• Bronze ring - P. Sarpaneva, c. 1970, vintage expo
• Copper/turquoise ring - Grandma J's
• Feather earrings - thrifted

The earrings had to go on right before I left the house, and had to be removed as soon as I got home.

I wonder why??

"They look so delicious!"

 They are total cat-bait. Little kitties want to eat them.

L and I had very quiet evenings, full of music and board-games. My favourite thing to do! We had no Ulti on Saturday - too many people on vacation! - so we strolled to town for breakfast before each of us heading out to our preferred stores for a shop (the CD/record store for L, second-hand clothes for me, duh).

 I had to break out my new shubooties (that's what L calls them). I always like to test my new shoes right away to see how they do for a simple walk to and from town.

• Sweater - Judith & Charles, consignment; last seen here (3rd outfit) in June with a spotty Kate Spade skirt
• Skirt - H&M, consignment; last worn here with an alien necklace in May
• Shubooties - Sorel; purchased here for $69.00

Somehow, L and I always seem to be dressed in similar colours. He's in a pinky-purple Alice Cooper tee and a pink-patterned shirt, with purple Fluevogs.

 And there I am, in my dusty pink patterned skirt.

L was naturally thrilled that I wore these awesome shubooties. "Oh yay" were his enthusiastic words.

 They were excellent, I'm happy to report. I walked to and from town and shopped in them for about 4 hours. My feet were tired, but that's a lot of standing and walking. No rubbing anywhere, though!

Hands in pockets, and a "What will I find shopping?" gaze.

 It was a bit overcast on Saturday, and our temps are in the low 20s, so a light sweater was just right for warmth and coverage.

I used my new bag again.

 L is making fun of me here, and I'm trying not to laugh.

The stuff:

 I'm always happy when a pair of shoes goes well. It's often hard to tell how they will really behave until you've done a full day in them.

Pink and silver bling:

More bling than I'd normally wear for shopping, but it was fine - nothing got in the way, although I did slip the shield ring into my purse when my hands got cold and it started feeling loose. 

• Crystal necklace - Sherman, vintage 60s, vintage fair (part of a set with earrings)
• Dragon bangle - Lazy Susan's
• Steel bangle - local
• Crystal ring - Soul Flower
• Shield ring - Nine West
• Earrings - thrifted

Oops, there are my earrings. 

I went to the Patch, which has a huge BOGO sale on of their summer stuff. I took hours and tried on about a dozen things, but nothing rang my bell, so I went over to the WIN store to see if I could find anything there. 

 I found these black crystal earrings in the $1.00 bin - a good deal!

I immediately recognized the bracelet as another POLY piece. It was just $4.95.

 It has a bit of wear on it - a couple of scratches on the bronze parts, and some of the finish has rubbed off.

I don't mind a bit of wear on pre-loved items.

And there's that stamp. Nice. 

WIN has a huge sale on their spring-summer also, but nothing really grabbed me. Most of the second-hand stores in town are in transition right now before they bring in all the fall-winter clothes. WIN is also gearing up for the big annual Vintage Exp in a couple of weeks (yes, I'll be there), so they hold back some of their good stuff for that. 

I did find this beautiful velvet blazer.  

 It's a rich chocolate brown.

By Talbots Petites. I find that petites often work well for me - I'm 5'4" - although the sleeves are usually too short.

Showing the nice 4-button detailing on the sleeves. This was not $16.95, however - there is a punch on the tag (covered by the cuff in the picture), which meant it was 75% off! It was only $4.25.

It has great seaming, and two pockets on the front.

 It's also kitten-soft, being 28% silk. This would have been at least $200 new, easy. Into the fall/winter pile you go!

Did someone say "kitten"?

"Hm? Did you mention me?"

 Caught him in a classic "sneetch" pose on his post on the deck.

Our crew met up for our usual long-weekend gathering on Sunday, at Glo, which is on the waterfront - we had lovely warm sun, views of the water, and good company.

 I always dress up for the occasion.

• Top - Le Chateau, consignment; last seen here in July with a funk copper skirt
• Skirt - Trina Turk, consignment; purchased here for $20.98
• Shoes - Faith Low Reumah, Fluevog; last seen here in the same outfit as this top, in July
• Coat (below) - Christian Lacroix for Desigual, consignment; last worn here in June for a shopping day

I took a picture of my hair out on the stairs. I threw on a quick "mask" of Colorista by L'Oreal in purple to freshen up my lavender (it had some brassy areas from my former colours).

 I really liked how it evened the colour out. This will fade out over the coming week, which is fine by me. I have about 1.5" of white regrowth now.

I planned this outfit to transition from a warm day to a chilly evening.

 I wore my contacts so that I'd be able to wear my sunglasses outside on Glo's patio.

This new-to-me skirt was a dream to wear. The silk lining and waistband made it so soft.

 I love a ballet-length tulle skirt.

I changed up my purse to go with my outfit.

 And tied a scarf to it for later. I carried the coat on the way there.

My bus-hailing pose.

"Thank you for stopping for us, Driver!"

 Victoria was named one of the top 10 "Friendliest Cities" in the world by Conde Nast Traveler (link here, 'cause I love). We always thank our bus drivers when we disembark.

Coated up for later when it started to get chilly.

Just my usual Sunday gear, hee hee.

Buttoned up, with my scarf in a bow at my neck.

 Coats with pockets are essential.

Incognito with my scarf on my head. 

"Please, just ignore me and pretend your soon-to-be-famous friend is just a regular person."

I didn't wear it like this, but I did tie my scarf on to amuse my friends. 

The stuff: 

I often wear this scarf with these shoes, and this necklace with this top. I'm a creature of habit. 

• Leather purse - BCBG Paris, thrifted
• Silk scarf - Ralph Lauren, consignment
• Necklace - Grandma J's
• Gold bangle - thrifted
• Gold cuff - vintage fair
• Green glass bangle - thrifted
• Green/gold bangle - thrifted
• Earrings - thrifted
• Jade ring - vintage 70s, Mom's
• Lapis lazuli ring - Wendy Brandes

Gold bling:  

I was quite rattle-y with all these bangles. 

Mr. Vizzini joined me on the couch for another round of games when we got home. 

"I'm just going to sit here on his pillow, as befits a famous feline."

 I didn't realize he was there until I spotted his little pointy ears above the pillow.

"Who's that?"

 Just me, buddy!

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend!