Mom and I headed out to Swan Lake to enjoy the sunny but crisp day. We last visited the Lochside Trail side back here in November 2023, and the Nature House side here in July 2023.
Not the kind of day for walking around in costume, but one can always "bound," which is to pay homage to a source without actually going full-on cosplay or costume.
Enjoy a 2020 Flashback here of all of my and L's costumes going back to 2009, plus 2021's Brunch Zombie (here), bounding as "Totally Not a Vampire" in 2022 (here), and a Star Trek-inspired outfit in 2023 (here).
Another Jammy Dress! I'm just in a Jammy Dress mood.
The colours are so nice, and did you notice the cut-out on one shoulder? Very futuristic.
The wool-blend dress is two shades of blue sewn together in a mirror pattern, so that the V at the hem matches on the back.
Orange and blue are so good together.
I'm nodding to Delenn from "Babylon 5," Guinan from "Star Trek: Next Generation," and Laura Dern's character from "Star Wars: The Last Jedi." Why not mix 'em all up?
It's a wonderful detail - and I love the two rich blue shades.
Outerwear - there are bits of orange in the shoes.
Done up.
I look totally normal. Not in a costume at all.
Incognito.
All my blues showing and ready to go.
Accoutrements:
"A Trip to Wonderland" is what the purse says. That's also giving me space vibes! Plus, it's clear, so very futuristic. I like that it's from the 1998 World's Fair, also a nod to the future.
I hoped it wouldn't rain - the clouds were very grey and gloomy! - as I didn't want my shoes to get wet. We lucked out and not a drop of rain fell, and they did not get wet from the leaves.
- Purse - vintage 1998 Hermes knock-off from Expo '98 in Paris, thrifted, Vancouver
- Wool scarf - Vera, vintage 80s, Mom's
- Wool gloves - Parkhurst
The stuff:
A better look at Luke and Yoda.
Space bling:
Mixing my metals, and sticking to very clean lines.
We were treated to intermittent sunshine, with a chilly wind. Brrr! I was glad I'd layered up.
See? It's looking for victims!
Hi, guys!
- Magnetic Communicator badge - MoPOP gift shop, Seattle
- Earrings - Biko, consignment
- Silver/gold cuff - JPL, vintage fair
- Hinged eelskin bracelet - vintage 80s, thrifted
- Silver/kyanite ring - consignment
- Silver/concrete ring - Raul Caballero, Oui Jewelry
- Lapis lazuli ring/Fulvia Ring - Wendy Brandes
Our server at lunch admired all my accessories.
Mom and I, arriving at the parking lot of Swan Lake.
Cloud Drama!
I see Mickey Mouse ears!
A short stroll through the trees to the Nature House.
I'll never say no to an inviting path and tunnel of trees.
So many Hallowe'en-ish things in the Nature House.
A Great Horned Owl!
A lot of beautiful dead moths and butterflies.
Such pretty colours.
BAT!
And a bunch of ginormous bugs. Terrifying!
I bought a reversible tote bag in the gift shop.
A glimpse of the shimmering waters through the trees.
Handsewn by Donna, for $15.00. The pattern is bats and spiderwebs.
Heading down to the boardwalk.
The boardwalk wends through the wetlands area.
We could hear birds - and I spotted a hummingbird - but otherwise it was silent.
I checked the tall tree to see if there was an eagle or heron.
We pointed it out to a person with a huge telephoto lens, and he showed us a really good close-up picture and said it's probably a white pigeon.
SOMETHING else is up there!
It's...white. What could it be?
Mom and I decided that since it was Hallowe'en, it is clearly a ZOMBIE PIGEON. Pfft, what did that guy know?
Cloud Drama II: Wispy Bits.
The trees look delightfully spooky.
The walkway across one end of the lake.
It bobs and moves as you walk on it.
Cloud Drama III: Puffy vs. Wispy
Some cattails on the edges of the lake.
It was windy out there on the water.
You can just see the roof of the Nature House past Mom's head.
Cloud Drama IV: Light and Wind
Love the sunlight sparkling on the water.
Cloud Drama V: Show the Sky!
I like the pops of yellow from the trees on the other side.
Cloud Drama VI: Sun, What Sun?
You can actually see the sun in the very centre of the picture.
We could hear quacking, but it took a while to find them.
DUCKS!
"Ducks!" we both cried.
Uh-oh, one of them looks like a Zombie Duck!
Run, Mom!
Ack, the Zombie Pigeon is still there!
It's looking right at us! Quickly, to the car!
I'm hungry, let's get lunch.
I did a little online search - it's actually a Eurasian Collared Dove, which is a rare sighting at the lake (resource here, link here about it). I giggled at the description of it online - apparently it's a "chunky" bird.
Time to head back.
Up the hill.
We both vigorously kicked leaves up in the air.
Squirrel!
Not a zombie, phew!
Yoda and Luke in the leaves.
A few people cooed over my shoes.
We went to Uptown - Mom had some errands to run after lunch.
Looking appropriately spooky for Hallowe'en in her red, black and grey sweater, with a very fun spider and web double pin. Thanks so much for the walk, Mom - I really needed that taste of nature, even if the Zombie birds were out in full force. I love you!
Wow, that's a lot of pumpkins! I also see a giant skeleton, cool.
We went to Brown's Social House and enjoyed a yummy lunch - fish tacos for Mom and a tuna poke bowl for me.
I bussed back to town and had a quick browse in the WIN (Women In Need) store on Pandora Ave. I found this awesome hat with faux fur trim.
I seem to be collecting big furry hats (I blame Vix, hers are the best).
The red part on top is wool.
Made in Canada, awesome! That's dot-matrix style printing, which puts this in the 80s/90s.
It's by M'sieu Leon, a Canadian Hat of Montreal, Canada.
I thought $9.95 was a very good price.
I could not figure out if all the letters on this seriously-so-soft plus scarf spelled out anything. It has no tags at all.
But for $6.95 I was not going to let it sit there.
I had it on my mental list - a long vintage slip.
The use of "Antron" nylon dates between 1960 and 1970, but this is Antron III, which is still being made.
This is a mid-calf length, with a big slit on the side with triangles of lace sewn on.
It's older than it looks - it has a Union label on it, so we know it's pre-1995.
It's by Something Special by Maidenform, and was only $6.95 (I see these for over $40 at vintage shops).
I know that the Metric System was rolled out in Canada in the early 1970s (I learned it in elementary school), and things were required to be in both English and French as of 1974. So I would guess this is from the mid-1970s.
This was the treasure of the day - a very thin sweater.
It's a big snooze on the hanger - when I tried it on at home, I said, "WOW!" as it looks completely different.
This was the treasure of the day - a very thin sweater.
Here's a look at the texture.
It's a two-tone coral, with the shiny threads being more in the orange tone.
The sleeves are actually a 3/4 length and are belled.
Very awesome!
It's been well-loved - note the wear on the label.
Made in Italy of cotton and viscose.
It's M by Missoni! Based on the style, I'd guess this is from the 1990s. It's a very wide neckline so I'll have to wear a camisole.
It was a bit pricey at $39.95 - I spotted a few online in different colours for between $60 and $150, so I did get a deal!
Vizzini and I hung out in the closet.
"Now you sit down and we look at our selves in the mirror."
He really grabs on tight to my shoulder and sits across my body.
Aw, love you, little buddy.
"Who are we talking to?"
Our friends out in the world, Vizzini! Note you can see my enchanting house dress and cat socks in the mirror behind me!
And now, my friends, sending my best to you all and thank you as always for dropping by. Pop in on Sunday for more tales of adventure, won't you? Take care.
I guess the dove was actually a bat dressed up as a dove, lol. I wished Halloween was a big thing here, I did watch Halloween yesterday on the telly. Your mothers pin is the best!
ReplyDeleteHa ha, I love that theory, Nancy! Hallowe'en has just exploded over here in the last 5 years - I saw so many folks in costume this year, mostly adults.
DeleteI'm glad you managed to escape the zombie birds unscathed! Scary stuff!
ReplyDeleteHalloween's becoming a big thing here and there's lots of fancy dress, I saw a zombie cutting someone's hair in a salon yesterday as well as the Incredible Hulk opening up one of our many tattoo parlours. We went to the dentist yesterday and had to fight through the cobwebs and skeletons to get into the treatment room.
Fabulous photos of you and Vizzini. Love the Missoni jumper! xxx
Ha ha, yes, terrifying, Vix!
DeleteIt's pretty amazing - people really embrace the dressing up, which is nice to see. For so many years, it was rare to see adults dressed up.
Thank you!
Even the clouds were in on their version of Halloween! Thought I saw some Ghostbusters in one of the photos, and all of them were striking, the type of clouds that would have me simply staring in wonder. I love Helen’s sweater and think your new-to-you red and black hat goes perfectly with her sweater…
ReplyDeleteFor a Halloween outing you had some great finds, nothing scary about any of them. ;) How fitting that you found the (hopefully) perfect black long vintage slip! And of course, Halloween means cuddling with the perfect black cat called Vizzini. ❤️
We had a smaller than usual wave of adorable Trick or Treaters who, oh my gosh, each said Thank You! The parents hang out in the street socializing as their children go house to house and the whole group - parents and children - make their way down the block before heading to the next block.
Thank you for the semi-spooky walk through Sean Lake and the breath of fresh Fall air! Three cheers for the blues of your jammy dress and quiet shoutouts to the Sci-fi wonders!
See ya’ after the weekend! Cheers, Laurie
Sean Lake, never heard of it. ;) How did that arise from Swan Lake! Fast fingers flying and slow eyes not catching a typo….ahem….
DeleteHee, an easy typo, Laurie - the e and w are next to each other on the keyboard.
DeleteI did see a Ghostbuster at the restaurant! We really enjoyed our outing - the Cloud Drama was non-stop. Shhh, don't mention that or she'll want the hat! ;-P
Yes, plenty of cuddles for Mister Vizz.
Oh, how fun, and even polite! That sounds like it was a fun night.
Loving the sci fi inspired outfit!
ReplyDeleteI'm a big fan of dramatic cloud formations. I bet there's an online community devoted to them somewhere!
I like the idea of a zombie pigeon, although there are hundreds of them in the fields close to my house, so maybe not...
That really is a lot of pumpkins!
Thanks, Claire! I bet you're right, but I can't be bothered to look it up.
DeleteI like your inspired outfit not costume - that dress looks so good on you! And I'm glad you got to enjoy a mum day on Halloween, despite the zombie birds! I like the letter print scarf as well :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mica! It was such a lovely day to be with each other. I like that scarf too!
DeleteLove the sci-fi vibe. Very cool and fun.
ReplyDeleteI'm jealous of your (1) ability to publicly dress in pretty clothes and (2) opportunity for days with your mom. I'm deeply, genuinely glad you have these pleasures in your life. Getting a taste of them through reading your blog allows me to live vicariously. Thank you for that.
Aw, thank you so much, Ally! Both of those things I am grateful for. I hope I can keep living it up to your standards! <3
DeleteIt's been a while since I tagged along on one of your Mom day adventures. What a joy to be back!
ReplyDeleteExcept perhaps for the bugs :-)
I absolutely love your outfit and I would have fought you for that gorgeous thin sweater! xxx
So great to see you again, Ann! <3 Sorry about the bugs (I don't mind them dead like this, ha ha). I'm excited to wear that sweater!
DeleteJammy dresses are so nice and you have a great body to wear them. I think you need some curves to pull them off, so no jammy dress for me haha. You and your mother cover quite a lot of ground on your trips, don't you? Impressive.
ReplyDeleteYoda and Luke are great with the jammy dress. Never seen such shoes before.
Greetje
I work hard for it - I do a lot of core/stomach/shoulder exercises to keep my posture and waist. Mom and I go to a lot of different places - since we both grew up here, it's nice to revisit places we have memories with.
DeleteIrregular Choice only did these shoes for a short period - I was lucky to get 2 x pairs (the Han and Leia ones are my other pair).
I so enjoy your wee outings with your mom, Sheila. And I've never seen so many pumpkins on display either! Sending you lots of love, Anna xxx
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear that, Anna! I know, right - a lot of pumpkins! XO She
DeleteLove the Missoni! Such nice sleeves.
ReplyDeleteI INSTANTLY said Deanna Troy as I glanced at your outfit- you look amazing in it!!!! The colour is fab and the shoulder is so cheeky and futuristic! Live long and prosper,xx
I love the sleeves - it's really hard to tell how big they are when it's on the hanger. Nice! Yes, that's the Troy vibe I was going for!
Delete