Bigass Weekend Wrap-Up: Spring Visit; L's Closet Swap; Easter Flashbacks (and More Dots)

Hello, my friends! I hope you all had a fabulous long weekend. Instead of Weekend Silliness, I have a regular ol' Bigaass Weekend Wrap-Up for you. It hasn't been a silly kind of weekend. 

Dressed up for a walk over to Nick and Karen's - I chose a classic yellow with black and white accents.

• Jacket - Stella McCartney for Adidas, consignment, Vancouver; last worn here in July 2019 with hot pink
• Dress - Sam Edelman, consignment; purchased here for $53.99
• Shoes - Lola Ramona; last worn here in July 2019, the same outfit as the Stella jacket!

As you can tell, I dyed my hair on Friday - it's Feria's smoky pink from the drug store. My white/grey roots were grown out to the point where my pink "wash" stain colour wasn't sticking, so time to give my hair a boost. This will fade out to a pale pink over the next week or so. I did my hair in twists while I did my make-up, so it's got some weird curls going on. Eh, it was windy - didn't care.

I loved wearing this dress, and am looking forward to wearing it again. I've had many yellow dresses over the years.

It has a lace layer over the yellow lining, with rows of fringe, which are quite fun to play with. I'm a fidgety person - I like clothing that gives me things to fidget with.

It's a great fit, very comfortable.

As it was windy and it's still a bit chilly, I layered this black and white daisy nylon bomber jacket over it. The daisies have yellow centers.

I'm showing off the striped rubber soles of my shoes.

Zipped and hands in pockets.

Yellow can be a bit much on its own, so I like black and white accessories to pop off it.

The stuff:

I love these shoes! They are very comfy to wear - did you notice the leather bows on the heels?

• Cuff - vintage fair
• Onyx/silver ring - Tocarra, vintage fair
• Pearl/gold ring - Erth, consignment
• Earrings - vintage, vintage fair

I missed the "bling" picture because someone was being really distracting.

"What about MEEEEEE??"

Gee, Vizzini, do you want some attention?

"This tum isn't going to rub itself, Woman!"

L and I both dressed up in our spring looks - while I was getting ready and doing my pictures, he chilled out on the couch.

"The Man loves me more than you."

L is wearing a very spiffy pair of black and white shoes, floral socks, steel blue pants, a thrifted Desigual shirt, and a lovely pale blue blazer.

"I am always dressed up."

Yes, you look very fine in your "tuxedo," Vizzini.

We went for a short stroll through out neighbourhood to visit Nick and Karen.

Still some blossoms on these trees.

L in his finery - the rhododendrons are starting to bloom now.

Looking so fine, L!

In the far distance, you can see the mountains of Washington State, to the south of Vancouver Island.

So much greenery in our 'hood.

I've always loved this house.

I want a tower like that!

Nick and Karen. They are up on their balcony two floors from the ground, so we were maintaining social distancing, don't worry!

Please send your good vibes Karen's way - she is very sick (not COVID), and it's been unbearable not to see her. Hugs to you, my dear Kare-bear.

We spent a little while talking, and then L and I strolled home.

These rockery plants remind me so much of the garden we had when I was a kid.

And I love seeing these bluebells grape hyacinth (thank you, anonymous commenter!)growing wild in this yard.

I'm a fan of overgrown gardens.

Many of the houses we passed had these "heart" Canada flags in the windows, showing support and togetherness while we weather the pandemic together.

The local newspaper includes them in its print copies - it's touching to see how many of them are up.

When we got home, Vizzini had barely moved.

"Like I was going to waste the warm spot the Man left?"

What a lump!

Saturday afternoon was the perfect time to do L's closet swap for his spring/summer clothes. This is the "Before" picture.

It was much, MUCH faster this time than the huge closet clear-out we did last September, as L keeps most of his clothes out year-round. We tidied up, pulled out about two dozen items that were strictly winter (darker colours, thicker fabrics - those double-knit 70s shirts he owns are too hot to wear in the summer, for example), and stored them away, then hung up all of his short-sleeved shirts and summery things.

Here's the "After" shot:

"Tah-dah!"

All nicely folded, and hung up. Good job, L!

We dusted and cleaned out L's belt buckle collection.

And we cleaned out his jewelry box, adding another golden glass dish for L's bolo ties, necklaces and bracelets (he is a dressy guy - he wears all that stuff!).

Here's his jewelry box closed - we have to store the key inside it, as "someone" likes to chew on tassels...

It's a Bombay Company jewelry box - we got his and mine at the same time, well over a decade ago.

This is the inside tray - it holds L's pins on either side, and his rings in the middle.

I love that L all these fun accessories. He actually wears them, too!

In the bottom of the box, under the tray, is his collection of vintage cufflinks (some with matching tie-tacks).

They don't get worn much, as he only has a few shirts that need cufflinks. I have borrowed a few of these over the years, as cuffed shirts have rotated in and out of my wardrobe.

Easter Sunday is traditionally when L and I would head over to Mom's house to see my brother and all of his four kids, plus assorted exes, friends and partners. Not this year, unfortunately, so here's What I Would Have Worn.

I realized after I took these pictures, that I did black and white dotted accessories again! I do like a good dot pattern, though.

• Cardigan - Gap, thrifted; purchased here for $14.95
• Cami - not tracked
• Dress - Alfred Sung, vintage early 00s, thrifted; purchased here for $22.95
• Shoes - Sol Sana; last worn here in September 2019 with pixels and polka dots

First wearings for both this new-to-me polka-dotted cardigan and this totally-used-to-be-a-bridesmaid's dress.

Sunday was beautiful and sunny. L and would have cabbed over to Mom's place to see my family and hang out for a few hours, but instead, we're going to read and listen to music.

Flashback time! 

Just for fun, here are some previous years' outfits that I wore for Easter at Mom's - I don't seem to have worn anything specifically for Easter from 2008 to 2010, and it looks like we missed 2013 and 2017.

2011: sucking back my coffee. Back in the red hair days.

I still have the boots and the leather vest. It must have been cold - I'm wearing dark tights!

2012: Aw, there's my old kitty, Inigo - this is not long before he died. This was a very casual look - I still have the t-shirt, although it's strictly for sleeping in winter.

I miss those lavender Camper shoes - I wore them to death, then gave them to Cat.

2014: I just gave this vintage strapless dress up last year (it might still be in the giveaway pile, I can't remember), but I have the orange shoes still, as well as the belt. Not the cardi, which went to one of my coworkers, who wears it to work, so I get to visit it.

The shoes are in the "to be repaired" pile - they're rather battered after all these years.

2015: Ah, my blonde streak has appeared in my hair.

I still have this dress, although it didn't get worn this past fall/winter (it's a keeper, however). I also have the shoes - and the tights! I'm amazed that they are over 5 years old.

2016: I have most of the jewelry and the funky sandals still from this outfit - looking forward to wearing those again.

And I am in full-on purple hair mode!

2018: Growing my hair out and going lighter.

I don't have a single one of these pieces in my wardrobe anymore - no regrets.

2019: There, that looks more like me, doesn't it?

I still have everything in this outfit, accessories included!

Back to this year's look.

The dress creased like mad, just from sitting and eating my breakfast - it was lovely after I steamed it, really!

I would wear this entire look to work, although not with the hat.

I might have to do that later this summer.

Here's the dress without the cardigan - it's very low-cut, so I layered a black camisole under it to cover up my bra.

I love a classic fit-and-flare dress.

That's a very low back.

Dresses that require specialty underwear annoy me - thank goodness for layers.

The stuff:

I adore these shoes and am happy to have them back in circulation - they are amazingly comfy.

Black and white bling:

Once I had the shoes and cardi picked out, the accessories practically chose themselves!

• Hat - Catawampus 
• Cuff - Swarovski, consignment, gift from L
• Silver/amethyst ring - vintage mall
• Crystal ring - Uffizi Gallery gift shop, Florence, Italy
• Bracelet - Coro, vintage, Mom's
• Jet/rhinestone necklace - Grandma J's, vintage 60s
• Earrings - thrifted

And here's a close-up of the straw/feather hat - it's held on with an elastic (which I didn't even bother to hide, ha ha). My hair is getting longer - I can clip it up at the back again.

My bangs/fringe are also growing out, so I swooped them over to one side for this look.

I hope you all had a wonderful long weekend - I don't have Easter Monday off, so back to work for me! Thank you so much for stopping by!