Bigass Weekend Wrap-Up: Lettuce and Snakes; Book Club Picador in the Park

I'm back, my friends! I hope you've all had a fabulous weekend, doing whatever it is that makes you feel joy. 

As for me, I played Ulti, had brunch, went to a mall (a MALL!), hung out and played boardgames, and distributed my pick for Book Club, which was held in our usual park locale. 

Unlike previous years/decades of me wearing a dress and changing into my Ultimate Frisbee gear at the field, I didn't put on "real" clothes until after we'd finished our game on Saturday, had brunch and had come home and showered. We're playing at a new field this year, and frankly, I can't be bothered to do that whole rigmarole of changing. Screw it, I'm eating brunch in my workout clothes. Don't care! 

L wanted to pick up some books/magazines for a friend, and I vaguely remembered that I had received an Indigo gift card at some point in the past. Digging around, I discovered that not only did I have a $20 gift card, but I had a $100 gift card to the same mall (likely a birthday gift from Mom a few years back). 

I haven't been in a mall in YEARS. I'd better put on some Clothing As Armour! 

• "Lettuce" Dress - Taylor, consignment; last worn here (2nd outfit) in August 2020 for brunch with a haori
• Shoes - Lucky Brand; last seen here (2nd outfit) in June for a Zoom call with Mom

It was hot and windy, so I didn't bother drying my hair - it's wet here from the shower in these pics.

Squeezing in a wearing of my Lettuce dress, so named because of the rows of cotton eyelet ruffles around the hem. It reminds me of lettuce!

We drove to Mayfair Mall - my hair got spun around like cotton candy in Vlad the Jag, which actually made my shaggy mullet look even cooler. 

Masked up - a bit blurry. 

I was anxious that there would be huge crowds in the mall on a Saturday afternoon, but it was quite spacious and not too bad, although there were far too few people wearing masks for my preference. I popped into the MAC Cosmetics store and treated myself to a new lipstick and a couple of eyeshadows that were on sale. 

• Mask - by Mom

With my cool shades on. 

The ladies at MAC enjoyed my outfit, noticing the hair, the snake jewelry and the bag. There were a LOT of people in athleisure-wear in the mall, so I stood out. 

The stuff: 

Easy shoes for a short amount of walking. These are a good neutral - and of course, once I'd decided on snakeskin shoes...

Snake bling: 

I wore my snakes! I hope there will another vintage fair soon - I'd like to find some more! 

• Purse - Enid Collins "Roadrunner", vintage 70s, consignment
• Snake necklace - vintage expo
• Snake cuff - Whiting & Davis, vintage 80s, vintage fair
• Earrings - Stella & Dot, consignment, Vancouver

L and I both bought several books (I'm a bit of a book addict), and happily used up our gift cards. At home, after a look at what books each other had chosen (we have about 50% overlap in tastes), we crashed and had a nice long nap before dinner and boardgames in the evening. 

On Sunday, after a sleep in and a big breakfast, L dropped me off at Beacon Hill Park for Book Club. 

I'm ready for sun, heat, wind and cold. You never know in Victoria! 

• Cardigan - no label, thrifted; no longer tracked
• Top - Jones New York, thrifted; last worn here in May with much pastel blue
• Picador skirt - vintage 1950s, thrifted; last seen here (2nd outfit) in August 2021 (Flashback there too, scroll way down)
• Shoes - Hopeful Sunny, Fluevog, thrifted; last worn here (2nd outfit) for a long weekend Canada Day shop in July

I always enjoy wearing my wonderfully gory Picador skirt - it's very old vintage but in great condition. This is my 12th wearing of it.

I have always paired it with solids, so again I tried a pattern with it. Go, me! So adventurous! 

This striped top is navy and white, and has two little navy ties off to one side.

Stripes go with everything. 

I added the cardi for sun coverage and in case it was cold from the wind. 

Showing my pantaloons - I planned to sit on the ground, so just getting a bit of extra coverage.

Here's the outfit without the cardi, and showing the full circle skirt. 

Do you see the man on the horse, sticking a "pic" into a bull? There's even painted blood! He's a picador, who would anger the bull (guess how) in readiness for the matador. Bullfighter skirts were a souvenir trend for a while in the '50s (very Hemingway). This one has a tag inside still, bit it's completely worn off from age/washing. 

I didn't need a mask at all, as we were outside, but I brought my red one anyway. 

I usually pick out the reds in the skirt for my accoutrements. 

But I also like yellow! 

"Fetch the car for me, would you, L? I need a ride to the park."

I kept my hair looking somewhat decent with my Movie Star Wrap. Coffee is so I am nice to people. 

The stuff:

Although L drove me there (thanks, love!), I had planned to walk home  - so thank you also, Cat, for the ride, darlin'! These shoes were chosen for walkability, but also because I liked how the straps echoed the stripes in the top. 

Bold bling:

My new Fluevog belt makes another appearance - I have to get the cost-per-wear down on this one! The skirt's waistband is knotted and hooked (no zip) so it needs a substantial belt to cover it up. 

• Belt - Rohesia belt, Fluevog
• Silk scarf - vintage, thrifted
• Leather/steel cuff - Rimanchik
• Lucite bangle - vintage, Lazy Susan's
• Dragon bangle - Lazy Susan's
• Silver earrings - Brenda Schoenfeld, 1992, vintage mall
• Lapis lazuli ring - Wendy Brandes
• Silver/sodalite ring - Scotland, 1996

Warning: Foot pictures ahoy! 

I remembered the last time I wore these sandals that they rubbed my baby toe. Reader and former blogger Tat commented that she used silicon "toe-tubes" and I was all..."what are those and where do I get them??" Well, I found them at the drugstore in the footcare aisle (support local!), and they were the instore brand (Life/Shoppers for my fellow Canucks). These came as a pack of 2 for $10. 

They are washable (soap and water) and reusable, and fit on any size toe. 

See? Stretchy! 

Not on a toe. 

They were awesome - no slippage, no pressure and best of all, no blisters or pain! 

Vizzini, aren't you impressed? 

"Yes, they look quite delicious."

They are totally in his elastic-eating wheelhouse, so I'll be keeping them out of his reach. 

"Well, you're no fun at all, Woman."

I got to the park first - I was the picker, so I was so excited to debut my book choice. Look at this glorious day! The field we sat on is being watered (note the dry fields in the distance), and the clover was buzzing with fat bumblebees. 

My "Cool Cats Read" bag is from Hamilton, Ontario, from when I visited Elaine years ago. I have a can of sparkly water, and a bag of cherries, which I shared, and I sat on my Ralph Lauren poncho. 

Mindy and Ciara couldn't make it (both visiting family), so we had a small group, but it was so nice to catch up. 

Caro, who just got back from camping. We all immediately ended up with our shoes off. 

Yvonne just got home last night from visiting her Mom and family in Ottawa for the first time in SO LONG. 

We discussed her book pick, "Bel Canto" by Ann Patchett. It was quite good, but the ending caught us all by surprise. We always have really lengthy and deep book chats - I love that.

Janaki and I found out today that we share a birthday! 

Peace out, my b-day twin! Love that Matt & Nat bag. 

And here's Cat, chillin' beside me. 

We laughed and talked about our lives, the book, our future plans for Book Club, and I presented my pick, Octavia E. Butler's "Fledgling" (link here, 'cause I love). I even did a little intro about Ms. Butler, who was a pioneer in science fiction as a black female writer from the 80s onward, winning multiple awards. As the picker, I bought all the copies (second-hand, local, of course!) and present them as a surprise. It's a really fun way to share our personal tastes and read outside our comfort zones - this one's going to be a doozy, I suspect. 

I arrived home to a squawking cat. 

"Where have you been? It's dinner time!"

It wasn't even 4 o'clock - he's such a liar. 

"You should just do what I want."

If I did that, he'd be a very fat cat. 

Thanks so much for stopping by!