Mom-Day in Butterfly, Zebra and Leopard

Woo, what a week! I'm so glad the weekend is nearly here. If you missed it, I've updated yesterday's post (here) with pictures from last night's concert. 

Today was Mom-Day, and we couldn't have asked for a nicer day! 

We worked on our puzzle, had lunch, then finished the puzzle! Very satisfying. Thanks for having me over, Mom! I love you! 

Sneaking in one more wearing of this amazing butterfly/zebra/roses blazer. 

Dolly would have approved. 

• Cotton blazer - Escada by Margaretha Ley, vintage 80s, thrifted, Powell River; last seen here in June with white and orange
• T-shirt - Leonard Cohen tour shirt, thrifted; not tracked, I literally sleep in it
• Skirt - Cleo, thrifted; last worn here (2nd outfit) for Vero's birthday adventure a few weeks ago
• Shoes - Marquis Swordfish, Fluevog; last seen here in March with black jeans and ruffles

I was dripping with sweat by the time I got to Mom's and was like this all day. 

Not with my shoes on! I quite liked the yellow spotted socks, which are Fluevogs. 

I went from that to this:

I did up the top button of the jacket to keep it from flapping around as I walked to town, bused and walked to Mom's. 

It was windy, so I wore my scarf in my hair. 

My green backpack carried our lunch (beef stew), music for us to listen to while we puzzled (Rankin Family and Loreena McKennitt), and two books I took from a Little Library. 

Rear view.

It goes to infinity. 

The stuff: 

Good walking shoes. 

• Leather purse - thrifted
• Silk scarf - consignment
• Droopy leopard brooch - Parklane, consignment
• Zebra brooch - consignment

I did a brooch on each side of the collar.

Bold bling:

A bright jacket needs bright accessories! 

• Enameled cuff - Lauren G. Adams, consignment
• Turquoise ring - consignment
• Steel/Lucite ring - Calvin Klein, thrifted
• Gold-tone leaves bracelet - thrifted, Sidney
• Crystal/gold necklace - Swarovski, CA's mum's 
• Gold-tone necklace - Givenchy, vintage 80s, vintage fair
• Wood/acrylic ear-balls - Sziska, thrifted, Sidney

I blended into all these rich late summer colours in nature. 

I love this car. And look at those gorgeous trees! 

The bright yellow against the blue sky. 

So inspiring. 

The sheep farm.

No sign of sheep, though. 

Wait a minute, what is this!?

SHEEPS! Look at the curly horns on the ram! There were two other people, one who fed apple to that sheep with the white face stripe. 

A lovely walk, listening to the birds. 

All the usual suspects on Merlin: chickadees, juncos, wrens and sparrows, along with crows, ravens and turkey vultures circling overhead. 

I arrived at Mom's and I had to see her progress on her next picture. 

This is the base image, ready to be coloured. Exciting! Multiple versions allow Mom to experiment with colour and shading, and make sure she's got good balance. 

She's been working on the puzzle since we last did.

I was assigned the plaid blanket and then we both worked on the wood parts at the top. 

A mere three hours later! It was a wonderful afternoon in harmony, with the sun shining. 

Thumbs up! I can't wait for the next puzzle! 

Before I sign off for the weekend, more leaf-watching shenanigans. 

Barnabas watching. 

If he's doing it, Whateley is not far behind. 

What's going on? 

Must go see! 

Who messed up this chair? Why is that lampshade askew? 

Hmm, I wonder. 

It's very entertaining watching them discover all of this only for the second time in their lives. 

And there we go - have a great weekend, and please stop by on Sunday for tales of adventure. Thank you for being here.

Black and White and a Fin for Lyle Lovett

Hello, Gentle Reader, and once again, I am in a hurry! L and I are off to see Lyle Lovett live in concert! Please do check back tomorrow for more pictures of the concert (I'll add them to this post), and speaking of...do check out a few added pics from yesterday's Book Club (here). 

I selected this outfit specifically to do my office work all day, plus a lot of walking, and then sitting at the concert (and walking home!). We saw Lyle live in July 2012 here, with pictures here.

• Ruffled cotton blouse - J. Crew, consignment; purchased here for $34.00
• Denim/brocade "fin" top - 3.1 Phillip Lim, consignment; last worn here in June (same shoes) with my bronze skirt
• Skirt - Cydney Mar, thrifted; last seen here (2nd outfit) in June with orange and copper for L's birthday lunch with Mom
• Sneakers - Converse; last worn here for a haircut in June in stripes

I had a gorgeous view of the Castle today. 

Ooh, glowy morning light...

I finally got around to styling up this white ruffled cotton blouse that I bought a couple of months ago. White shirts are not terrible exciting to me - they fill a niche for layering and that's it. I do really like the crispy ruffles on this one, though. 

My fin top which is always fun to waggle at my coworkers. The long skirt is worn bare-legged with wee shorts. I was not sure if the Royal Theatre would be warm or cold. 

Incognito. 

Doing the ol' scarf and glove thing for the chilly mornings. Did not need the gloves after work, but it was really nice to have them after the show for the walk home. 

I took a picture of the empty purse in the morning. 

Showing my practical walking sneakers and sparkly socks. 

The stuff: 

I didn't want to unlace the sneakers and do them up again...and then put them back on. 

• Purse - fake Hermes, thrifted, Vancouver
• Silk flies scarf - Smoking Lily, vintage 90s, thrifted
• Leather gloves - Echo, consignment

Silver bling: 

A lot from Sidney! 

• Silver S bracelet - Mexican, consignment, Sidney
• Silver/onyx squares bracelet - Mexican, consignment, Sidney
• Silver/onyx flat bracelet - consignment, Sidney
• Silver/onyx necklace - Mexican, consignment, Powell River
• Silver clip earrings - Mexican, consignment, Sidney
• Silver/crystal ring - Soul Flower, gift from Cindy
• Silver chain ring - Mexican, consignment
• Hammered silver ring - consignment, Sidney

And Mom's lobster. 

I like the surreal aspect of just wearing a lobster. 

• Lobster brooch - Bermuda, vintage 90s, Mom's

I did take a picture of my shoes. 

Whateley helped. 

Barnabas...did not.

What a cute boy! He's showing all his "feathers." 

Stay tuned...more pics coming! 

And here we are! 

Fresh from some delicious Brickyard Pizza, me, L and Caro, checking to see if there was any merch for Lyle (there wasn't! Boo!). 

View from our seats. 

During the first act, we were on the edges of a cloud of vile farting. 

Poor Carolyn was in it, as were the ladies in front of us and on the other side of her.

Sorry for the crude detail - it was gone by the time Lyle took the stage. 

The opening act was the Hello Darlin's - they were sweet but the lead singer was mourning the death of her husband only a few months ago. It was quite emotional and both Caro and were in tears in parts. 

Lyle himself was....not as he once was. We did not check on his health (he's only 69!) and assumed he'd be the awesome show that he was when we saw him in 2012. However, since then he's been experiencing vocal issues, with his singing sounding very strained, and at times almost hard to listen to. 

I appreciated being in the presence of a legend, and I'm happy to have supported him with our tickets, but can't recommend him.

I choose to remember the experience, and the fun evening with two of my favourite people. 

One more kitty picture.

Falling leaves are endlessly fascinating. 

Bleeding Into Fall, and Book Club!

Hello, my friends! I'm in a rush, as I have to run to Book Club, so let's go! 

I wanted to style up this weird black top again, so I played around in my closet until I came up with this. 

• Mesh top - Mexx, vintage 00s, thrifted; last seen here (2nd outfit) in May for a shop with Ariana
• Pleated top - Petar, consignment; first worn here in June with white jeans and pops of pink
• Cotton skirt - Kaliyana, consignment; last seen here in April with leopard and loafers
• Shoes - Sol Sana; last worn here in August with Adidas and pleats

I liked this outfit even more, so the top can stay. I think it has a lot of fun potential. 

The blood-red cotton skirt is a firm favourite. By the way, thanks to my awesome colleague Martel for today's post title! 

I added the mesh top and that led me to white accessories. 

I'm still in my summer wardrobe, but I'd wear this in winter. 

Incognito:

Gloves and a silk scarf are just right for these cool summer days. 

The stuff: 

I added a push-pin for my bags, so they aren't all slouched over. 

• Bag - Craig Morrison Bug Bag, vintage 90s, consignment
• Silk scarf - Alexander McQueen, consignment, gift from L
• Leather obi-style belt - local, gift from L

I use this knapsack almost every day for work, but I also took it to Book Club, so it counts as part of the outfit.

Hey, where are my gloves? 

Oh, yeah, I forgot about these! They matched the leather obi perfectly. 

• Leather gloves - Coach, consignment

Black and white bling: 

My coworkers loved the pin. It says, "Secret Plans for World Domination." Appropriate for Book Club. 

• Black/white bangles - consignment
• Black/white stretch cuff - vintage 80s, vintage fair
• Earrings - W. Germany, vintage 80s, vintage fair
• Silver Anneke & Lars ring - vintage mall
• Silver/red enamel ring - antique shop, Sidney
• Brooch - thrifted

Who can resist kitties and a box? 

I caught Barnabas mid-yawn, but he looks very fierce, and Whateley looks rather startled. 

I am guilty of making noises to get them to look at me. I'm running out of sounds...

They're getting jaded. 

There was a faun grazing just off the sidewalk.

Uh-oh, I see mama right behind her! 

I took a different route. 

Never get between a mom and her daughter! 

Edited to add...pictures from Book Club! 

A selfie in the hall mirror on the way out the door! I hopped a bus to town. 

We met up at Clive's Lounge. I sat at the fountain outside the Chateau Victoria Hotel (where Clive's is located), beside this guy.

He is a bronze statue, Sheila. No need for that side-eye. 

A rather blurry picture of us before all the food arrived. 

From left: Jennifer, Caro, Cat, Ciara, Rosanna, Yvonne and me. 

There was a giant fish above our heads! 

Whoa!