Bigass Weekend Wrap-Up: Invisible Pants and Ruffles; Ultra-Cautious Birthday

Hello, my friends! I hope you've all had a lovely weekend, and stayed safe. I've been deploying Clothing as Armour this weekend quite a lot. 

Although I didn't go anywhere in this ensemble, I wore it all afternoon (even the shoes!), and through our Saturday Zoom meeting with our dear friends.

• Top - Pant-Man, vintage 60s, thrifted; first worn here with brown suede and the same shoes in December 2019
• Pants - Zara, new with tags, thrifted; purchased here for $26.95
• Shoes - Arnold Churgin, thrifted; last worn here (2nd outfit) for Ronnie's birthday party in February

I need to change the settings for taking my pictures inside, now that we have bright sunlight.

My pants are completely invisible!

I did double ruffles, with the ruffles legs on the cropped white pants, and these big bell sleeves on this amazing vintage top.

 I felt very groovy, baby.

I spent the afternoon on Saturday reading out on the deck.

I may have swooshed my legs a few times - these pants are a hoot to wear! I can't wait to wear them with actual people and show them off!

The stuff:

I was very proud of myself for wearing my shoes in the house all afternoon. Like in a real outfit!

Circular bling:

My mom's vintage belt sat on my hips. That big square cuff is squishy silicone!

• Belt - vintage 60s, Mom's
• Cuff - Materia Design, thifted
• Earrings - vintage fair
• Fulvia Ring - Wendy Brandes
• Turquoise/silver ring - local

Vizzini kept me company on the deck while I enjoyed the sun.

"Oh-ho! I see that pesky spot is back!"

He was transfixed by it.

"It will not elude me this time!"

He sat and waited for it to reappear, even after I went back to my book.

"I can wait."

But apparently not, since he then went on patrol of the window ledge of the deck.

"I am on the lookout for renegade seagulls."

He doesn't miss a thing.

"Squirrel!"

He finally settled down in the sun.

"I'm just chilling with this crazy snake thing."

We got ready for our Zoom hangout.

"Cats are included."

They are! We saw our friends' cats, Marble and Ooma.

One last look at my swingin' outfit.

These pants were fabulous to wear - very comfortable, not see-through! - and they are washable, which is exceedingly important with white pants. Also, look at those sweet ruffles!

After a late night of board games, we were up early for a Very Ultra-Cautious and Carefully-Planned Adventure.

Our dear friend Karen has Stage 4 breast cancer, and it's in her lungs - it's been extremely rough on her, and with the pandemic social distancing, it's been even harder to give her our emotional support.

• Top - M by Missoni, thrifted; last worn here (3rd outfit) for brunch with Betty in February
• Space jeans - H&M, consignment; last seen here (3rd outfit) in that same outfit in February
• Shoes - Miista; last worn here in February with fuzzy stripes and two-tone jeans
• Jacket (below) - Burberry, thrifted; first worn here in November 2019

It's Karen's birthday on Tuesday so our friends Greg and Rosanna proposed a cautious gathering where we were all extremely rule-adherent. Please know that we did everything possible to ensure everyone's safety.

L and I walked to their house, which was about an hour north of town.

We also planned to sit on the ground, so I dressed in very comfy light clothes that I could walk in for a total of 2 hours.

A scarf both for sitting on, and for wearing.

• Pashmina - Portolano, thrifted

I was happy to have my new-to-me Burberry jacket in its proper season.

All bundled up. It was chilly in the shade, but overall, we had a beautiful day.

 This cut of jacket is difficult on me - it's not super-flattering.

 But not everything has to be!

 I love the colour and the bell sleeves. It's a very stiff fabric.

The stuff:

I wore black lace socklets, which I took off so that I could scrunch my bare feet in the grass.

Silver bling:

Some favourites.

• Silver/gold cuff - JPL, vintage fair
• Silver pendant/earrings - M&M, consignment, Vancouver
• Silver/onyx ring - Toccara, vintage fair
• Silver/crystal ring - Uffizi Gallery gift shop, Florence, Italy

I promised pictures of the big fat pink blossoms - here they are!

"Rock on, man."

L is such a stylin' dude.

"Namaste."

He carried our picnic lunch (tuna sandwiches, apple and Asian pear slices and a thermos off coffee for me, and a beer for him), and a blanket for us to sit on.

We walked through some lovely areas - check out this glorious Victorian home.

It's a designated heritage home. The colours are typical of houses of this era - they were very colourful. We have tons of houses like this in town.

More blossoms.

Some streets are lined with these trees.

We saw this very steep hill that we thought was on our way.

"I'm sure it's just over this hill!"

Sure, I'll go for it. I'm just in awe of all this glorious nature.

"I hug the world!" 

We discovered a reservoir at the top!

The seagulls down there eyed us warily.

What a view from the top of the hill!

That's downtown in the V between the trees - you can see the ocean in the far distance.

Gary Oaks all over the place.

Unfortunately, this was not the shortcut we thought it was, but who doesn't love a scenic route?

More downtown - that crane is in our home neighbourhood. Those mountains are in Washington State, in the US.

More downtown - the white blob is the sports/concert arena.

I liked these Foo Dogs.

They are doing an excellent job guarding this house.

Black tulips.

Greg and Rosanna used cut logs and sticks of pampas grass to lay out "plots" for people to sit in that were 2 meters from each other. 

Some of our friends came out to show Karen the love, both for her birthday and to support her and Nick.

L and I were at the far end of the huge yard.

Rosanna and Greg, with Yvonne and Randall, and Casey in the distance.

Andrew, and Cat in the red chair.

Nick on the lawn and Karen in a chair.

Chris brought a martini.

His wife Alison works in a care home for the elderly, so she can't risk even a well-separated venture - we all totally respected that, of course!

Out dear Karen...

So much love to her and Nick.

We kept our distance - I promise! We would never do anything to jeopardize Karen's health.

But if we're going to bend the rules, she's someone I would do it for. She's family.

A couple of deer crashed our quiet picnic, skirting around behind one of the fenced in (anti-urban deer) gardens.

You can see one to the left of the yellow flowers, and one near the trunk of the tree on the right.

Greg and Rosanna let their cat have the inside run of their other fenced-in garden.

 But she retreated to an upper window to snooze and watch us.

"Suspicious activity noted."

We walked home along chestnut tree-lined streets a few hours later.

It was a sad afternoon...

...but we had our "Purr Therapist" ready and waiting for us.

"What? I'm expected to snuggle?"

He wasn't exactly forthcoming!

"I cuddle on my own terms, Woman."

But he came down eventually and was smothered with love from L and I.

"Oh, joy."

I hope you all had a great weekend.