Mom-Day at Colquitz River Park in Threadpainted Roses, Grad Lunch, and a Shop

Welcome back to Mom-Day Adventures! Mom and I had a short walk along Colquitz River Park (last visited here in March), followed by a meet-up with my brother Dave and his youngest daughter Syd, who had her middle school graduation ceremony that morning.

Mom and I met up at the parking lot at Tillicum Mall, and went for a walk a bit further along paths we last visited a few months back, when it was more brown than green. 

I promised I'd wear Linda's skirt and I did! 

I spent some time finding the right combination of things to really let it shine. 

• Blouse - Nanette Lepore, thrifted; last worn here (2nd outfit) in May with psychedelic jeans
• Skirt - J. Jill, gift from Linda; received with gratitude here, yesterday
• Sandals - Wonders; last seen here (2nd outfit) earlier this month for lunch with L and Mom

The skirt is a bit too big on me, and the best solution was to hike the waist up and belt it. 

A peasant-style white blouse gives me sun coverage and compliments the roses. 

My PANK moto jacket would look fabulous with this - it was too hot for it today, though. 

I wore little shorts underneath and was perfectly comfortable. 

I freshly purpled my hair in the morning. 

It matches the purple in my favourite rose. 

Incognito. 

I wore my scarf tied to the purse for most of the day. 

Summer is here and it's gonna be a swooshy one! This skirt is a PARTY to wear! 

A neighbourhood character (he's a downtown busker) lives on our street and spotted me today at the bus stop. He was effusive in his praise of my look, to my amusement. 

Accoutrements: 

I didn't have a scarf that was quite right - this was my closest match with the bits of pink mixed in. 

• Purse - Michael Kors, consignment
• Silk scarf - Halston, vintage 70s, thrifted
• Belt - vintage 80s, thrifted

Ha, I will suffer with my vintage Halston! 

The stuff: 

These sandals are shockingly comfortable, and they go with everything!

Green bling: 

My niece's favourite colour, as it happened. 

• Glass bangle - thrifted
• Silver/malachite bangle - Mexican, thrifted, Sidney
• Green crystal ring - vintage 70s, Mom's
• Olivine/coral ring - Hawaii, c. 1977, Mom's
• Earrings - Stella & Dot, consignment, Vancouver

We parked at the red X, and walked along the green dots to the red dots, which was a new area walked for us.  

I'm impressed by how far we walked overall - that's out and back to the X (which was Montana's, where we ate lunch).

We had scudding clouds overhead and temps up to 25. 

There weren't too many people around - we encountered about 8 walkers, 4 cyclists and 2 dogs. 

Approaching the Silver City Cinemas. 

We veered off to the right, following Colquitz River. 

You can see the Island Highway in the middle distance - that's the route L and I take to go up-Island on our way to see my family (Courtenay) and his (across the water to the mainland in Powell River). 

But we are a marshy wetland area here at the southern tip of Vancouver Island. 

We walked out on this observation platform. 

Butterflies and dragonflies flitted and buzzed about, while raptors circled on the thermals high above us. 

This area was all just mud last time we were here. 

We haven't had our usual rainy spring, so the water is quite low. 

Mom in her classic black and white. 

Love it!

Dappled sunlight. 

Towering trees. 

It smelled amazing, all green and clean. 

These paths connect up to bird viewing areas, as well as local residential neighbourhoods. 

A bridge, how delightful! 

Wooden bridges have a satisfying thumb when you walk on them. 

These two trees were touching across the water. 

I wonder how many years it took to reach each other? 

Two very old spindly trees. 

Holding hands. 

A great shot of Mom laughing. 

We've both missed our adventures. 

Time to head back. 

We'll explore more of those paths another time. 

This one's for Kezzie (link here 'cause I love, as always). 

Interesting fungi! 

Mom and I arrived first, followed by Syd and Dave a few minutes later. Pictures! 

Syd and Mom. Happy Grad, honey! She had green Converse high-tops on! 

Me and Dave. 

I'm the big sister. 

Our server Lauren sweetly took a picture of us. 

We enjoyed a yummy lunch, laughing and talking and catching up. 

Mom and Dave. 

Dave's bending over - he's over 6' tall. 

I bussed to town and cut through Centennial Square, past my favourite fountain, a fantastic mid-century (1963) modern sculpture/design (about it here). My city has announced they are removing it (story here), which breaks my heart. 

I spent many hours hanging out here as a teen in the 80s, writing angsty poetry while sitting in the arches. My Dad proposed to my mom right near here. In 1979, I watched a speech by former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau here (my grade 7 class was on top of a parkade). Mom and I walked through here many times on the way to the MacPherson Playhouse (the building on the left). I wish they would just leave it. 

Moving on! I got a healthy tax return just this week, so I treated myself to some purple boots so that I stop whining about my old purple boots that hurt my feet. 

These are by John Fluevog, and are called the Official Samedi (link here).

Official is the family - I also have the Official Sabado, my tall lace-up boots in blue and black (pic here). They have a nice wide toe area (Toe-Approved!), but aren't too bulky. 

Samedi is the model name. It's "Saturday" in French. These are pretty plain, but that is thick supple leather.

I love the rich magenta purple, and slightly more violet soles. 

And they can be worn with every Fluevogin' thing. These were 47% off the original price of $749.00 - still pricey at $399.99.

I treated myself to one of their gorgeous silk scarves which were also on sale. It's the pink and green scarf I was looking for to go with my outfit! 

This is the Truth Island scarf, and originally was $149.00 - it was marked down to $69.99 (link here). 

It's 35 x 35", so bigger than my other Fluevog scarf. It's mulberry silk, the most very luxe and expensive silk (about it here). 

Ha, the island is a Truths shoe (look here), now I get the name "Truth Island." 

"Vogville Island" in a very groovy font. 

The detail is superb and the print is just as crisp on the back of the scarf. 

Fluevog angels (note the F in the wing). There's the same F in the corner motif. 

The flower in the corner is made of a circle of Fs. I approve of the shell.

And this secret jellyfish and its two starfish pals.

Fs everywhere (look at the flower). That's a good compass, although I now wish I'd oriented North at the top. 

There are little prints of Fluevog stores on the island. 

And wee islands off the big island. This one has a palm tree with yet another F. 

I scooped a handful of buttons. I'll be wearing the top one for Pride all month. 

The robots are funny. 

After splurging at the Fluevog store, I headed over to Flavour Upstairs for a quick look around. 

"Dinner. Now."

I've had my eye on this velvet/satin dress for some months. It was too tight when I originally tried it on, but L and I have both been cleaning up our acts and it fit just right this time round. 

It's a rich very dark brown-almost-black. The neckline is low and quite daring. Boobs ahoy! 

It's got massive pockets - my hand is fully spread out inside. 

The pockets are lined with the same thick satin as the sleeves, neckline and hem. 

Made in Portugal. I suspect this is from the early 00s - I couldn't find any images of it online, aside from one listing on a Japanese site.

It's a cotton, viscose, elastane blend, and [spoiler] you shouldn't wash it. A good steam will do the trick. 

This is 'S Max Mara, not to be confused with Max Mara - it's a sister line that launched in 1998 and is still around. Their dresses run $480 and up. 

$44.99 felt too expensive (says the woman who just bought $400 boots), but I happily grabbed it at $29.99. 

I scored on the "Staff Favourites" rack - good taste, staff! This is a fantastic optic top! 

And y'all know how much I love graphic patterns, and black and white.

It had no label, but I found the brand in the content tags. 

It's by Mexx! We had a Mexx store in the downtown mall until 2009-ish. 

The material is a polyamide, and is a stretchy mesh. It's an excellent layering top. 

The keyhole is at the back of the neck. It was $19.99 which felt like a deal. I used to shop at Mexx - this would have been around $75.00. 

I gasped when I pulled this off the Staff rack. GROMMETS! 

Oh, so many grommets! And they are on the back too! Be still, my heart! "I really don't need a black leather skirt," I said to the lovely person who rang me up, "but...it has grommets."

Nice faux belting detail. 

Not functional, really. 

This is from the late 90s/early 00s and it's by Danier Leather. It's fully lined and is butter-soft.

Their plain leather skirts start at $229.00, so imagine how much more a grommeted version would have been! I happily forked over $32.99 for this. That's a great price. 

Vizzini, what do you think off all these new things I've brought home? 

"No gift for me?"

Aw, let's go have a cuddle, little bud. 

I hope y'all enjoyed my fam-packed (har) day!