You Know Me So Well!

Today was my First Day at the New Job - and following yesterday's poll, I realized, wow! You guys really know my style!

Here's what I wore:
Pencil skirt: check! (30 votes) Blouse/shirt: check! (15 votes) Belt: check! (16 votes) Kitten heels: check! (17 votes) Bold jewelry: check (21 votes) Also, good job on predicting neutrals and pattern mixing!

I fooled you, too, though. I wore sheer (the shirt) and strapless! The single votes for those are mine - of course, I always vote on my own polls.

The skirt is new - I got it at the same boutique as the fab New Job Jacket.

Oh, and blazer: check! (19 votes):

It was sort of sunny today, and this jacket is a heavy velvety brocade, so I wore it as outerwear (only worn once, here).

I did wear a scarf, because it got chilly!

I walked to one of my company's offices this morning for the HR orientation, then walked about 8 blocks to my main office (it's only about 6 blocks from my old office, so I'm actually on exactly the same route to walk as before).

For those of you who've asked, I will indeed be able to continue doing my Tuesday WW group - I'll just make up the time missed. Pretty sweet!

My first day was good - I liked all the people I met and it seems like the job will be right in my wheelhouse. Lots of different things to do - and you can bet that in a year, I'll be running things like clockwork!

This skirt deserved some detail shots:

It's hard to see but it's a felted wool, with patches of fuzzier wool with loops of yarn felted to it, and random stitches. Above is the front of the skirt.

And here's the back:

I like the pockets.

The stuff:

You can see the nice brocade texture in the jacket there.

A close-up:

Naturally I went with bold accessories: my watch necklace, my silver ring and big white gold hoops.

I also did cufflinks:

These are L's and are 60s or 70s vintage, I think. The silhouette is of Pallas or Athena.

When you open the "lock" mechanism, you can see the "Hickok" stamp on them:

The opposite side says "USA".

Jacket (Nine & Company by Nine West, thrifted), shirt (Banana Republic, thrifted), bustier (Le Chateau, consignment), skirt (Solola), shoes (Kenneth Cole Reaction, swap from Cat), belt and necklace (Plum), ring (gift from Cindy), earrings (gift from L), bag (Ollie & Nic).

Weekend Outfits - Winterizing Summer Dresses

I occasionally view my Stats tab on Blogger, just to see what people are looking for when they end up here. By far one of the most searched-for topics is "how to wear a summer dress in winter" (closely followed by "dress like a song" which gets them this post). So they find this post, which I did a couple of years ago in response to a question from Faithful Reader Alison.

Well, here's another post for you folks to find! It's been so freakin' cold the last few days, I swear, my hair is going to crack like shards of ice and fall from my head. Anyway, I've been winterizing some dresses for a couple of special occasions.

Last night, I went as my mom's date to an awards night put on by the athletics club she (and my dad, when he was alive) belongs to. I'm so proud that she won Racewalker of the Year - AGAIN, for the fourth time! I cried with pride as they reviewed all of her accomplishments. You kick butt, Mom!

I spent a lot of money on this dress in London and I aim to get a lot of wear out of it:
As Sal over at Already Pretty will attest, Desigual makes the most divine, interesting and unique clothing I've ever seen. I fell in love with this dress as soon as I saw it, in the Desigual store near Carnaby Street in London. It was 169.00 pounds (over $300 Canadian), making it the most expensive piece of clothing (including shoes) that I've ever owned.

You should see the amazing jackets they make using the same technique of patchwork (if you do an image search on "Desigual coat" you'll see a bunch). I didn't get a jacket, though, because they button up on one side (like this dress does) and they only looked right when they were done up. That's not very practical, in my opinion.

I've worn this dress four times previously (here, scroll through the other stuff - there are some good close-ups in the last post from the first time I wore it), always bare-armed, sometimes with a jacket. This time I added my long-sleeved turquoise tee underneath and I had a cami underneath that! I'm pointing at the rooster, in case you are wondering.

Even with the layer underneath, I was still freezing, so I wrapped this orange scarf around my neck a few times and pinned it in place.

I've got my eye on you!

I wore thick purple tights, wooly socks and boots. This worked quite well to keep myself warm.

Close-up of the top:

Mom gave me this pin for my birthday and I've been remiss in wearing it. I liked how it went with all the different buttons thematically and kept up the round theme with the bird ring.

The stuff:

Dress (Desigual), tee (Plum), scarf (vintage, thrifted), ring (Lavichy), boots (Aldo, consignment).

Today, I went to my regular WW meeting (down a pound! Woo!), and had a bunch of errands to run. I needed to be warm, as it is still trying to snow, and also needed to be light on the scale. Did you know that a pair of jeans weighs nearly 2 pounds?

I'm trying not to cough. But there you have it - same formula: one light dress, one long-sleeved tee, one pair of tights, one pair of boots. Voila!

Dress (Gap, consignment), tee (Press), Boots (Aldo, consignment).

Fake Boots, Games and Making an Effort

Being currently out of work, it's really easy to fall into the "wear my robe around the house all day" trap, which is directly related to the dreaded "jammie pants" syndrome. My wonderful husband, L, doesn't deserve to see me always looking like a schlump, so today I am making an effort to look nice for him. We're going to hang out tonight, maybe (maybe? who am I kidding? ha!) drink a bit of wine and play some board games.

Do you like board games? I love playing games. I grew up playing cribbage, Rummy, Rumoli, Monopoly, The Game of Life, Scrabble, Yahtzee and various other games. As an adult, I continued to play crib, backgammon, Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit (I kick ass, but History is my weak category. No one can touch me on the Entertainment version).

Since I met L, I've gotten into role-playing games (shhhh, don't tell anyone, D&D is super-geeky). But he's also into playing strategy games like Risk. Risk is not my cup of tea, but I love other types of strategy games. My favourite by far is Carcassonne, a tile game where you build your own board. It's great with a group (and easy to learn), and awesome with just two people - it's different every time you play, so you never get bored (board? ha, see that?).

We have several versions of Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers, The Castle (a two-player only game), and The Discovery (my personal favourite). We have most of the expansions and mini-expansions, and our original game has all kinds of random tiles mixed in from these. We sometimes play "Calvinball" versions where we make up our own rules.

I also really enjoy all the versions of Fluxx. What? You don't know Fluxx? Fluxx you! You need this game! Anyone of any age can play Fluxx! It rules! If you're super-geeky, there's Monty Python Fluxx! Look for it in your local comic shop.

Um...yeah. Anyway, I'm making an effort to look night for our game night tonight.
This is my super-soft faux suede thrifted BCBGMaxAzria dress last seen here. Added my stripey tee underneath for warmth, as well as my patterned grey tights and black knee socks in an effort to help this look like a more dressy outfit. Does it kinda look like I have flat boots on?

Hee, see the curly tail in the above pic?

Someone wants an early dinner!

I tied a black scarf obi-style at the waist - not as uncomfortable as a belt (I'll be doing a lot of sitting on the couch, hunched over the coffee table) but still dressy. And because it compresses my stomach just a titch, it will remind me not to eat too many chips tonight - weigh-in tomorrow!

I hope you all have an awesome weekend!

Dress (BCBGMaxAzria, thrifted), tee (Majestic, swap from Caro), tights (Hue), socks (McGregor).

Tuesday WW Group - Teal and Purple (and Some Pictures of Inigo)

Apparently my Fluevogs caused quite a stir last week! I had many comments on them today, so I have promised to wear a different pair of shoes every week to my Tuesday Weight Watchers Group. Good thing I have the blog to refer to!

I pulled together today's outfit from some of my new Plum purchases:
Yes, I know the tights are more blue than teal, but whatever, I think they go just fine. The cardigan is new - it was 50% off, so $24. It's a nice cotton and spandex blend, so washable (yay!). It's the same brand and similar cut to this green cardi (warning, picture-heavy post) I picked up second hand last year.

The cardigan is a nice basic in a good colour, but my love is for the skirt - it's got pockets!

Plus, it's purple, it's brocade, it's designed and made in Canada - and it was $25, regular $85. Sweet!

Also, check out the nice waist detail:

It criss-crosses in the front - isn't that awesome? You can also see the 3 black sparkly buttons on the side, just above the zip.

The stuff:

These are the shoes I bought for my birthday back in October - only worn them once (here).

Oops, forgot to put my new belt in the photo:

It's the same purple as the skirt, also from Plum, and was $4 (and it's leather).

Because I was wearing a black cami under the cardi, I was going to go with all black or all-silver jewelry, but when I started poking around in my jewelry box, I found this fabulous silver bracelet that L gave me (again, for my birthday, I think):

I quite liked the pops of red in it and the ring. You can also see the 3 black sparkly buttons on the skirt - they're roses! What a cool detail. I love stuff like that.

Cardigan (Kersh), cami (Esprit), skirt (Plum), tights (can't remember), shoes (Me Too), belt (Plum), bracelet (gift from L), ring (gift from Cindy), earrings (over 15 years old).

Inigo has been hanging out on this box lately (it's the one that was full of recycling, which has now been emptied and is sitting on its side):

I love his dear little white paws.

I changed out of my "good" clothes when I got home, and into my "house" clothes. I got this long-sleeved grey tee yesterday in a thrift store for $7.50. I put the cami I had on with the work outfit over top of it, and tossed on my black jeans. I was laughing at Inigo. See why?

Rar! Attack of the monster kitty!

Grey top (Jacob, thrifted), cami (Esprit), jeans (Dish).

I got another shipment of supplies from WW today. Inigo wasted no time in jumping in the box:

Hee!

In My Comfort Zone

I'm gradually rolling out all my Plum goodies that I picked up last week. First up: this top/dress that didn't grab me on the initial run through the store:
When I scout a store with the intent to buy and/or try on stuff, I grab all the things that immediately leap out to me. Then, for my second go-round, I pull out things that intrigue me, scare me (yes!), or are a little outside my comfort zone (especially if they're on sale). You never know until you try things on!

I loved how this dress fit, and I'm totally (dude!) having an 80s flashback with the batwing sleeves.

There are two zippers off the neckline that sit at the shoulders - you can't see them very well in these pictures (sorry). It made for a very forgiving and comfortable outfit.

This is a very thin viscose knit (nice and soft, with some stretch), although the material is a bit see-through. I kept pulling down the hem when I was walking. Good thing the tights are thick! I think I might wear this with my skinny black trousers. The dress was $23, regular $85.

I wore this to my regular Weight Watchers meeting (I hadn't been in six weeks, what with being sick, going to Florida, Christmas, New Year's, and visiting L's folks) - it was perfect and light for my weigh-in. Only gained 0.6 lbs over the holiday season (and considering the amount of booze and junk food I consumed, that's amazing), but that has strengthened my resolve to exercise more.

I bought one of the WW workout kits: Punch! it's called. It's a DVD and a set of weighted gloves, and it has Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced kick-boxing/boxing moves. I did the Beginner mode (30 min) yesterday and I was actually sweating!

I did my fab yellow leather jacket over all this business:

All dressed up for lunch with L after my meeting. He dressed nice for me too (in his skinny purple jeans), and one of our regular waitresses, Sarah, asked us what the special occasion was. Heh, just bein' with my sweetie.

The stuff:

These boots have earned their price tag a dozen times over (I got them new, on consignment for $79.99).

Jacket (Danier leather), dress (Kensie), boots (Aldo, consignment), necklace (The Bay), earrings Aldo Accessories).

Happy New Year's!

I hope you all had an awesome New Year! We had a party, and I spent Saturday on the couch, then Sunday having food poisoning, so I'm getting back into blog life slowly.

I had planned to wear something entirely different, but then had a last-minute spaz and changed into this dress:L had bought me a top for Christmas, but it was too small - I returned it for this, as they didn't have any more of the top in stock at Plum. I fell in love with the dress when I tried it on - such a good fit.

I also found these shoes the other night while I was waiting to get my eyebrows waxed and then have drinks with Elaine:

They're pretty sweet - they were $50 on sale at Aldo (and they're leather).

My spazzitude was carrying over into my pictures (and I was running late with people arriving any minute!) - you can see my frustration.

And yeah, I just left my hair in "mad scientist" mode all night. It was fun.

Kitty always helps when I'm having a bad photo session:

L and I did our "fam" photo with Inigo:

L is so much taller than me (he's 5'10"), so you can't see his top hat, but doesn't he look dapper? Inigo looks awkward.

Oh, but let's move on! Shoes:

Yeah, those are pretty freakin' awesome.

The bling:

Those are my new-ish feather earrings I got while out shopping with Ruth before Christmas. The bracelet is a gift from Toronto from Elaine - I was admiring hers (which is a bit thinner and I think a different colour metal), and then she hauled this out for me! What a sweetie.

It's actually a long loop of articulated metal circles - you can shape it however you want:

Very bendy.

I had a lot of fun playing with it - and because it's metal, it's nice and strong.

I also (finally) printed out the picture that Megan did of me for my birthday (actual outfit seen here) and framed it, so now that is up instead of the Dolphins clock.

Dress (Max and Cleo), tights (Hue), shoes (Aldo), earrings (no brand), ring (Soul Power), bracelet/necklace (gift from Elaine).

Today, I dragged myself out of bed quite late, and L and I went out to our fave diner for lunch. I was all ready to take my casual outfit picture, but someone had other ideas:

He's standing right in my pose spot.

So I hunched down with him:

Silly kitty!

Inigo wouldn't move, so I just stood over him:

Psycho eyes and back-pointed ears! He's not happy.

T-shirt (Upper Playground), purple tee (Kersh), jeans (Seven7, swap from Caro), boots (Miz Mooz).

First WW Meeting...and Some Thoughts on the New Program

So I do have a few things that I'll be doing outfits for in the near future: Weight Watcher meetings! I had my very first one today as a leader, and this is what I wore: New top from Plum - it has tabbed sleeves, which really take me back. I remember having a shirt with tabbed sleeves back in high school (1984-5 for those of you keeping track). Things always come around, don't they? I liked this top due to the cut - it gathers at the waist, then has that nice finished bottom. I love details like that.

My meeting went fine - there were only about 6 people there, so it was quiet. I have another one that I'm filling in for (today's was also a fill-in) tomorrow morning, and it should be quite a bit busier.

Mr. Kitty was in the room but not in the picture today:

He kept an eye on the whole business, though.

The shoes are also new:

Look at that fabulous heel! Swoon! Because these have a very high vamp (the part that scoops on the top of your foot), I wanted to wear a darker tight with them so that they don't stumpify my legs.

A close-up of the stuff:

The shoes are suede, regular leather and the heel and platform are patent leather. My usual black accoutrements, otherwise. You can see the nice pink and red plaid of the top there, too - it has deeper red sort of splotches on it as well.

The shoes are Poetic Licence (I have three other pairs of Poetic Licence, seen here, here and here), and have the distinctive purple "ribbon" sole:

That $139.95 is the regular price. I paid $40.00. Score!

Top (Plum), cami (RW & Co.), skirt (Tobias), tights (Miss Sixty), shoes (Poetic Licence), belt (Plum), bracelet (Le Chateau), earrings (The Cobbler).

***********

A few people have asked me in the comments what I think of the new WW PointsPlus (PP) program. Now, I've been a WW member/lifetime member for over 4 years, and a leader for about a month, and I've gone through a couple of changes in their programs. This one is easily the biggest.

Disclosure: as mentioned, I am a leader and am employed by WW of Canada. I am not being paid to write about this or answer any questions about it. I did get free supplies of the new gadgets, gizmos and books as part of my training. All opinions of WW and the program are my own.

What I like:
0 PP Fruit: It has always bothered me that previously it was a better "bargain" to eat a 1-point processed bar than to have a 2-point banana. Obviously, the banana is better for you! Whole food is always better than processed foods. So having all fruit be 0 PP is awesome - I think that goes a long way towards weaning people off processed sweet snacks and steering them towards whole foods.

More science: I like that there are more factors involved in calculating the PP values in food. In the previous system, we only used fibre, fat and calories. But calories are different - they are not all the same, you can't just single out fat and fibre and leave carbs and protein out in the cold! It always felt like something was missing.

It also meant that some carb-y items were deceptively low in points (like my 1 point wraps that had huge amounts of fibre per serving)...which with my lawyerly/loophole-seeking bent, I would seek out and eat a lot of, even though I knew those couldn't be as good or as "cheap" as the numbers were telling me. And now...they're not. My 1 point wraps are now 3PPs, which, to be honest, seems about right.

A more balanced approach: We used to cover exercise 4 or 6 weeks in (I forget), and whole/less processed foods were mentioned with the "Simply Filling" technique for non-tracking types (like me). The emphasis was on points and tracking, and that's pretty much it. Now, they're pushing exercise right away, and "power foods" are the focus (just a new name for whole/low-processed foods). I also like that there is a "no food is forbidden" attitude - that hasn't changed. I'm not going to stick to any eating system that forces me to give up my chips, chocolate or booze.

What I don't like:
Having to learn a whole new set of points/PointsPlus: Yeah, yeah, I know, I did it once, I can learn a new set of numbers. But I'm lazy! I knew all the old points. I don't really want to have to learn all these again. I also don't like saying "PointsPlus".

But...I'm a leader, I have to "walk the walk" if I'm gonna "talk the talk". I went through my cupboards with my calculator and a permanent felt marker and labeled all my food with the new PPs. *sigh* I'm getting used to it. And I'm tracking for the first time in oh, three years!

Not getting a free calculator: I liked the little cardboard sleeve slide-rule thingy. It was great! It was free! Sure, you can get most PP values from the little book they give you when you join, but who wants to carry that around?

But...all the new stuff is heavily marked down (reiteration of disclosure: I got my stuff free as a leader), and it's not THAT expensive, considering I use it every day. You can also get an app for your phone to look up PPs if you have an online membership (I don't have a phone and I haven't looked at the online system - I spend enough time on the computer as it is!).

I'm resistant to change: I think I am not alone in this one. I know a lot of people don't like change, especially when they see WW as an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" situation.

This isn't really a criticism, though, is it? This is just me, bitching about change. Hee.

However, my criticisms against the new stuff really aren't that major. I still think WW is one of the most balanced programs out there. I like that they aren't settled into a rut and are updating to stay with recent technology and science. The best thing about the program, to me, has always been that they encourage you to examine why you overeat, to be mindful of what you eat, and to make positive changes towards a more healthy lifestyle. It's not about the quick fix, a diet or rigid food options - those never work in the long run. It's about keeping the weight off and keeping healthy.

I know that 5 years ago, I would have put on about 6-8 pounds over Christmas, easy. This year, I made it through travel, sickness, work stress and all the other holiday stuff with only a 1 lb gain. I'm proud of that, because it shows me that I can - and I did - change how I think about food. It's in the deep grey matter now.

Do you have any questions for me about WW, or about food or eating in general? What do you like or not like about the new program?

Boxing Week Shopping and a Movie

Eee! I had to go out in public for the first time in days - it felt weird getting dressed.

Once again, I walked, so my outfit was built around my shoes:
As I planned to exchange/return a top L got me, I knew I'd be trying stuff on. Normally, I wouldn't do pants, but I thought I might be trying on pants/jeans, so I didn't want to have tights on (they are rather awkward under pants).

This is the second wearing for this cardigan (last seen here), and these are my standard skinny pants (seen here). Aside from my feet being freezing, this was not a bad outfit for trying on things...and yes, I tried on a lot!

I had to exchange the top (all out of my size), and then I just happened to go into one of my favourite shoe stores that had their usual blow-out on shoes (I bought four pairs). There will be much new stuff to show! Now, I just need to find places to wear them all...

We went to see "True Grit" - we're both huge fans of the Coen brothers, and loved this movie. It has some humour and I loved the language in it. Recommended!

Cardigan (Bobeau), sweater (Kersh), pants (Kensie), shoes (Expressions, consignment).

Dinner Out and Lunch & Shopping with Mom

As I have spent a good portion of my days this week either in my robe or in my "at home" clothes, I'm going for any excuse to put on a "real" outfit. I have a feeling I'll be doing the casual uniform a lot!

Last night, L and I met Casey and Nick at the pub for a few pints and dinner. We walked down, so I picked warm but comfortable pieces:
Hee, see Inigo on the left? He wants dinner too!

This is my olive leather skirt (last seen here), a long-sleeved purple tee and this t-shirt that I wear a lot.

My lovely (and practical) Miz Mooz boots.

Because it's a little chilly out, I did some outerwear stuff:

The olive-coloured hat is a somewhat structured fuzzy angora thing - I found it in a vintage store years ago and always forget to wear it. I'm also wearing my purple scarf and grey fingerless gloves, along with my swag leather jacket.

Hat (Boutique "Katy", vintage), scarf (Fairweather), gloves (Parkhurst), jacket (swag from old job). Long tee (Press), tee (Lisa International), skirt (Danier Leather, thrifted), boots (Miz Mooz), necklace (Foxy), earrings (gift from L).

Today, Mom and I are going to wander down the avenue to another pub for lunch...do a little shopping, get caught up before Christmas. We're walking, so again, I had to base the outfit around the shoes. I totally forgot about these (have I mentioned I need to clean out my closet??):

I got those in the summer at Value Village for cheapy-cheapy ($15), last seen here. I did tones of grey to match the cloud in my head (I am still sick - the hacking cough starts soon).

I am not picking my nose, I'm trying not to sneeze:

The top is cream/grey striped, the tee is multi shades of cream and grey, the skirt is a grey/black herringbone, and the tights are sort of a bluey-grey. Oh, and a first wear for this little thin silver headband - picked it up at Club Monaco some time ago for about $7.

I promise I am wearing my yellow leather jacket (this one) to offset all the grey.

I am so ready not to be sick anymore:

My hair is fading out to a nice colour.

Long-sleeved tee (Majestic, gift from Caro), tee (Plum, gift from L), skirt (Mexx, gift from Celia), shoes (Stonefly, thrifted), necklace (Claire's), earrings (Aldo Accessories), headband (Club Monaco).