A Couple of Weekend Casual Outfits

On Saturday, the "Core Four" Winesday Women met up for lunch. Winesday is a group of women who get together every 6-8 weeks. Everyone brings a bottle of wine and something yummy to eat, and we gab, drink and eat until the wee hours. It's a wonderful way to connect with the amazing women in my life. I treasure it.

Cat, Caro and Vero and I are the original four (or the Core Four). We get together a little more frequently, because when you have a bigger group, it's sometimes tougher to get a little one on one time.

The weather was lovely, so I went with my halter sundress and denim shirt (to keep my arms and chestular region from getting sunburnt):
My orange sandals are good for walking.

We sat out on the grass at a restaurant down by the water, from 1 pm until our husbands joined us at 4 pm.

Me and my gals. Aren't they beautiful? We're all enjoying a nice refreshing wheat beer.

Today (Sunday), L and I were supposed to meet friends for an early breakfast - they didn't show up (my guess is that they forgot it was Father's Day today) so L and I had breakfast on our own, which was fine. We don't have anything to do for Father's Day, since both of our dads are long dead.

I'd done a little thrift shopping on Saturday before meeting up with the gals, so I wore a couple of new items:

I've been looking for a new denim pencil skirt for ages; like Audi, I'm always trying to find one that isn't slit too high (why are they slit so high??). I fell in love with this acid-wash one! It even has gold embroidery and sparklies on the pockets.

Other than that, this is my usual weekend uniform of layered graphic tee. Check out the back of the skirt:

Sparkly pockets! The skirt was $7.99 at Value Village.

The shoes are also new to me: $14.99 at Value Village. They're by Stonefly, a brand I've never heard of, but they are super, super soft and comfy, and they were barely worn. I needed a good flat walking shoe, and this concrete grey is a great neutral.

Hope you had a great weekend!

Denim shirt (Mexx, consignment), yellow dress (no label, consignment), orange shoes (Rinaldi).

Striped tee (Majestic, gift from Caro), t-shirt (Leonard Cohen tour shirt), skirt (Cache, thrifted), shoe (Stonefly, thrifted), belt (gift from Ruth).

Casual Friday and Special Occasion: Art Gallery Outing!

It's been a very busy weekend! Lots of social stuff going on, and not enough time to get caught up here until today.

First up: Friday's outfit for work: My sailor pants, my sequined top and my old brown wedge sandals (sorry, no "stuff" shot). Pretty simple.

A shot without the jacket (I didn't take it off all day):

I guess I should make some sort of effort to use this appliance called the "iron", but I'm lazy. Ha!

Elaine and I went to an evening exhibit at the local art gallery - we had a few drinks, walked down, wandered around and looked at the art, had a few more drinks, then came back to our house and hung out with L and Nick for a couple of hours. Fun times!

I love people-watching at the art gallery. Lots of folks admired my dress: Including Inigo. He always knows how to get right in the shot.

Let's try that again, without cat:

It was actually semi-warm Friday evening, so I didn't have to wear a coat. After being one of billion women in black the last time we went to one of these events, I had to wearing anything but black this time!

Back shot:

"I've got my eye on you!"

Elaine admired my madd Paint skillz in making L look like George Clooney and asked to be Isabella Rossellini. I obliged:Looking fab, girlfriend!

Denim jacket (Anne Taylor Loft), sequined top (Express), pants (Noa Noa), sandals (Nine West), earrings (Plum), belt (gift from Mom).

Dress (Desigual), shoes (Portia), bag (Expressions), cuff (thrifted).

Lazy Monday - Saturday Repeat (and a Special Guest)

I went shopping on the weekend - once again, I fully intended to shop in non-second hand stores, and once again, I couldn't find anything that justified a purchase. So I went to my favourite consignment stores and I found a dress and a jacket (jacket will be worn this week, dress might be saved for Valentine's day).

I also took a couple of bags of clothes in to another store, and got $90 in credit, which I promptly spent on a dress, skirt, sweater and a pair of boots (they'll all get worn this week) - they came to more than $90 total, but the owner knows me and gave me a straight trade! Sweet!

Anyway, today's outfit exemplifies Lazy Monday:
That's me on Saturday, before I went to Weight Watchers, before I went for lunch and before I went shopping. I got so many compliments on the outfit I thought I would wear it again today. So I did.

On the weekends, I also put some effort into my outerwear:

Black cloche hat, black scarf and black leather gloves, with my dark denim trench coat.

The stuff:

I added the bracelet to today's outfit, but otherwise, it's all the same. No, Rebecca, I didn't immediately rebound and go for sky-high heels! Those were awesome shopping shoes.

The Special Guest today is L, who looked so dashing in his Saturday casual wear that I had to take his picture:

The poor man has no head.

This is a variation on his "rock star" look: fab jacket, rock concert tee (Rush's "Snakes and Arrows" tour - woo!), new jeans I got him for Christmas, silk scarf and groovy ankle boots. Doesn't he look spiffy?

Sweater (Jacob, consignment), camisole (Smart Set), skirt (Le Chateau, gift money), shoes (Expressions, consignment), earrings (gift from L), bracelet (Plum).

Special Occasion - Nick's Birthday

After a full day of dragon boating yesterday, I came home and napped for two hours. Then I got ready for Nick's party. This is the dress I got at the Swap-O-Rama:
It's black, good ol' polyester, and very simple. I straightened my hair and popped on some easy accessories.

I do love the slits up the sides:

I felt very sexy in it. I also showed off my pipes all night, haha!

Elaine and I:

Awesome necklace and lucite hoop earrings, Elaine!

And L did his casual rock star look:

Working his blue patent Fluevogs!

The stuff:

My red Fluevogs, and some rhinestone jewelry. The ring is handmade (can't remember by who), the bracelete is vintage and the earrings are cheapies from the mall.

A close-up:

Sparkly!

Dress (Le Chateau, swap), shoes (Fluevogs, "Listen Up"), bracelet (Mom's, vintage), earrings (Fairweather?), ring (Oscar & Libby's).

Special Occasion - Daisy's Birthday Party (with Special Guests)

A special occasion like a 30th birthday is good reason to get dolled up:
Even if 30 seems like it was oh, so long ago...

My wonderful bubble-hemmed skirt that I wore on Christmas gets a lighter look with the black fitted top last seen in the outfit that I wore to Alice Cooper. Add the gold sandals and a big chunky pearl necklace and we're good to go. Not much bling (I wore a ring and stud earrings) as the skirt is pretty blingy on its own.

L agreed to be a guest, in his new-to-him Ed Hardy shirt (picked up in a consignment shop) and his funky red Fluevog Iggys:
A shot of the back of the shirt (that's all embroidered in wool).

And the lovely Karen also agreed to show off her gorgeous self:
Rockin' the pencil skirt! And check out these Jeffrey Campbell shoes:

Oh my god, I want!

Thanks, hon!

Aw! So happy.

Top (Le Chateau), skirt (Kenzie), shoes (Guess), necklace (Aldo accessories), ring (not shown, Expressions), crystal studd earrings.

Special Occasion - Cat's Birthday (and Guest)

Friday night was Cat's birthday, so a bunch of us Winesday gals and our hubbies and a couple of Cat's friends gathered for some Jamaican food (yum!).

Of course, I had to get dressed up! It's kind of hard to tell because of the dark colours, but the black dress is tied in a bow at the waist. I've never worn this dress and frankly, I'm not sure why. It fits perfectly, has a classic Audrey shape and cut and duh, it's an LBD!

Edited to add some pictures of the boots, dress and hat after the fact.
I've also never worn these boots! They are dark blood red. For some reason when I bought them (about 2 years ago), it didn't seem appropriate to wear them, but fashions have changed and dang! I need to wear these more!
This is my "flower pot" hat. It stays on my head with an elastic and there's a pouf of feathers that sprout out the top (makes for tight quarters in a cab). I found it at a consignment/second-hand store for $24 about 9 years ago. I haven't worn it in years! It's definitely vintage.
Here's my special guest: the lovely Caro! Looking tres foxy in her asymmetrical hem t-shirt dress and fab boots.

Giving some love: Aw!

My funky martini purse:

and my jewelry:

Hope your weekend is going swell!

Dress (Esprit), hat (no label, consignment), boots (Aldo), earrings (?, gift from Mom), ring (Melanie Lynne), purse (Sterling Shoes).

Special Occasion and Special Guest - Theatre with Mom

I bought season tickets for Mom and I to go to the local theatre, so Friday night we headed down for the first show.

Theatre for Mom and I has been a special thing since I was about 14 years old. We had our tickets and even though we were probably fighting back then, we'd get dressed up and go out for a night. I have fond memories of all the plays and musicals we've seen over the years. It's a tradition I'm glad we're still doing.

This is my new dress from my shopping trip with Ruth:
I love the draping on the bodice. We walked to the local pub for dinner pre-show, so got to wear somewhat practical shoes. Yes, I can actually walk about a mile in my Fluevogs!

A close-up of my accessories for the evening:

L bought me that purse last year for Christmas. It is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. The back is solid of the fabric on the ends. And check out the inside:
If you look up Spencer & Rutherford (www.spencerandrutherford.com) they are designers from Australia who make the most fabulous bags I've ever seen. How L found one of their bags in this sleepy town (and he got it half price - and I know it was still over $100!), I'll never know. The details on this bag are just amazing: the metal frame and handle has etched flowers on it. The strips of fabric on the front have hand-sewn sequins and beads on them. And that lining!

As noted in the title, I have a special guest in this entry: my mom! Looking fab in her finery!

Mom: silver knit top (Melanie Lynne, Christmas gift from me last year!), skirt (Chloe), shoes (Mantles, used to be mine), necklace (Melanie Lynne, Christmas gift from me).

Me: dress (Banana Republic), tights (Hue), shoes (Fluevog), gold necklace and bracelet (Jones New York).