Bigass Long Weekend Wrap-Up: Pattern Clash; Stripes and Circles; Dark Floral; and Cat Pictures Galore

Hello, my friends! Here we are at the end of our BC Day long weekend. While many people pick this weekend to kick off their vacation time with camping and other outdoor shenanigans, for me, this is a nice quiet time of year. 

I'm loud in appearance and demeanor, but I need quiet in my head. This is Friday's work outfit, and it was a lot of patterns - it was very popular at work, as my colleagues took it all in.

This is my entry for "Visible Monday" over at Patti's Not Dead Yet Style. Go!

• Silk blouse - See By Chloe, thrifted; purchased here for $19.99
• Skirt - Compania Fantastica, consignment, Vancouver; last worn here in June with birds
• Shoes - Sol Sana; last seen here in May with blue and silver

It all makes sense if you start breaking it down. It's not really that much of a clash as it first seems.

 The blouse is a mix of stripes and dots (almost an animal print); the dots go well with the polka dots in the skirt.

The red of the sleeves goes with the orange. These are complementary colours with blue, so they work.

 The sleeves are also pleated, as is the skirt. Matching texture helps pull things together.

The blouse has bits of black in it too, so I went with black/silver shoes.

 And a reddy-orange lipstick helps make it all cohesive!

My hair did not stay this curly; by the time I was at work, it barely had a wave left. Sigh, only in pictures!

 My blue leather purse is just right - I pare down my purse stuff for Fridays.

• Leather purse - Danier Leather, thrifted

The stuff:

 The shoes were chosen to pick up the black in the blouse's tassels and shoulder patterns. These are also very comfy shoes for the office and a little bit of running about on errands after work.

Silver bling:

 The tassels of the blouse are trimmed with silver beads, which led to my choice of this silver (aluminum) belt, and matching accessories (all round, to go with the dots!). I even did black tassel earrings to match!

• Belt - vintage fair
• Studded silver/resin cuff - Alexis Bittar, consignment, Vancouver
• Bangle - local
• Earrings - thrifted
• Onyx/silver ring - Toccara, vintage fair
• Lapis lazuli ring - Wendy Brandes

I took a lot of Vizzini pictures this weekend, as we were home mostly. On Friday after work, I relaxed while L was out with a friend.

"I see, so you are here to entertain me?"

That blue and pink blob on the benches is the "Peepy Bird"; it makes a chirping noise and is one of his favourite toys. We have to cut all feathers and edible bits off his toys to keep him from eating them.

It's been a hot weekend, and he's been rather floppy.

"All these pictures, and where are my tummy rubs?"

There have been brushings and lots of tummy rubs. He's gotten a lot of attention!

"Ack! I wasn't ready!"

Ha ha! Caught him in the act of yawning! Isn't he a fierce-looking boy?

I enjoyed the waning light on the deck and did some art, playing around with my Zentangle stuff after work.

I made this 3 x 3" tile for my coworker Stefanie - I was attempting to describe what Zentangle was to her. This took about 2 hours - it's freehand, felt pen and pencil. It felt good to do something creative - it's been a while since I "arted".

On Saturday morning, L and I walked to town for breakfast at the Ruby (no Ulti this weekend), and a quick poke around downtown after.

 I wanted to wear these striped pants again.

• Top - Talbots, thrifted; last seen here in April with grey trousers
• Pants - INC, thrifted; first worn here in June for the Day of Indolence
• Shoes - Sorel; last seen here in May with all black and white

I had a lot of side-eye looks while we strolled about. These pants are bold.

 As it got into early afternoon, this entire outfit was way too hot to wear.

I do adore these trousers - they are the most comfy thick t-shirt fabric (and they are pull-on!).

I wish they had pockets, though.

 I love the lace-like circles in this top.

Why pack a different bag? That blue one from yesterday works just right.

The stuff:

These shoes are low enough to wear for walking, although they rubbed a small blister on one toe.

Black and white bling:

 Circles and stripes too!

• Studded silver/resin cuff - Alexis Bittar, consignment, Vancouver
• Black and white cuff - vintage fair
• Shield ring - Nine West
• Silver double-stone ring - vintage mall
• Silver/onyx ring - Toccara, vintage fair
• Silver pendant/earrings - consignment, Vancouver

Vizzini was hiding under the bed when we got home.

"Curses! You found me!"

It's the coolest spot in the house.

I popped into Flavour Upstairs for a quick browse, while L bought a birthday present for Nick.

 I've owned a brown faux-wrap dress before, I'm sure - there is nothing that special about this one.

It's by Tommy Hilfiger, and it was made in Canada, which surprised me. I didn't know they manufactured anything here.

 I'm also not going to say no to a $5.00 dress! Especially when it looks great on, as this one did. I'll wear it a couple of times, then give it to one of my friends.

It's called the "Jessie knit 3/4 dress". It's super soft, and despite the instructions below, I fully intend on washing this. Why on earth is this "dry clean only"? Poly/rayon/spandex are all washable!

There's no sign of this dress online, and based on the style (last popular in the very early 00s) and that it was made in Canada, I'd say this dress is now close to 20 years old.

I have absolutely no information on this dress. It has no tags or labels, and doesn't seem to be homemade.

 It's seamed/sewn well, with elastic cuffed sleeves, and has a sort of 60s mod look to it.

The colour is burnt orange (very trendy for fall!), and it was $29.99. It's not high-end (not finished nicely enough - look how uneven the top of the zipper is), and it's not vintage (all modern finishings, and no evidence of wear).

The fabric is crepe weave, could have a touch of wool in it? but I think it's mostly polyester. It's fully lined, in either nylon, polyester or acetate. It was $29.99, which seems a bit high, but when a dress fits really well, you have to go for it! This will be lovely in the fall, and it's now stashed away until then.

Vizzini was lolling about while I was taking pictures.

"My fans would rather see pictures of me than your stupid dresses."

Okay, how about a couple of parrots? I really liked this sparkly parrot pin.

It's enamel on the tails and heads, and sparkly crystals all over the bodies/heads, with green crystal eyes.

It was not stamped, and was only $5.00.

 Same price as the brown dress!

L and I planned on having a quick nap before meeting up with the gang to celebrate Nick's birthday at the patio at Lure, but next thing we knew, over an hour had elapsed and we were late!

 Throw on some clothes and go! I've been wanting to wear this dark floral jumpsuit again for ages.

• Jumpsuit - Zara, consignment; first worn here in April with orange accessories
• Sandals - Born, consignment; last seen here (2nd outfit) in July for Ulti

It was a toss-up: do I wear this hat or carry my parasol? I went with hat.

 The dark green went well with the greens in the pattern.

• Hat - consignment

I still look very sleepy. I was out of sorts all the rest of the day - my brain has been off-kilter lately.

I wasn't really up for socializing, but did my best. My friends (thankfully) understand when I'm like this.

It takes a lot of energy for me to be with people.

I laughed at all the dark florals I saw on the sunny patio. There was an entire table of women in dark floral dresses next to us! I must be on-trend.

This is a lovely jumpsuit - shockingly nice for a Zara piece. It even has pockets.

It's fitted really well through the waist and hips too. I have a pale peach cami on that blends into my skin, covering my cleavage at the front and my bra strap at the back. There's a single button closure at the back of the neck, and a zip at the waist for getting it off/on/bathroom antics.

Ready to go! We walked to town in the hot sun, among all the tourists.

 As I'm demonstrating, the legs have big slits on them, so there is lots of flowy leg action when I walk.

Nice and cool.

 Unfortunately, once the sun passed the zenith, it was quite chilly on the patio, and I huddled under a bright red fleecy blanket.

The stuff:

I liked the leopard belt with the floral pattern. These shoes are practical for all the walking, but they are getting a little worn out.

Ring bling:

 I felt like a whack of rings.

• Belt - Talbots, thrifted
• Earrings - thrifted
• Amber ring - c. 1996
• Pearl ring - Erth, consignment
• Jade/bronze ring - vintage 70s, Mom's
• Bronze ring - P. Sarpaneva, c. 1970, vintage fair

L and I played lots of board games this weekend, and listened to music, and chilled with Vizzini. 

"I'll be supervising from my pillow, Man." 

He moves around a lot, but always keeps an eye on us.

Caught him in the act of being a lovey-boy here.

"I love the Man."

Aw, giving face-bumps!

And then back to the pillow, like the little pasha he is.

"Cuddling interlude is over." 

This morning, I looked high and low for him, and finally spotted him in his house.

"Oh, I thought we were sleeping in again?"

And I'm off to spend the rest of the day relaxing. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, and thank you so much for visiting!