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).

Casual Friday: Floofy Layers

Ah, Friday! How long you have taken to arrive this week! However, I forgive you now that you're here, aside from that trip to the dentist this morning. Thank goodness I have a nice boozy dinner planned for this evening with my old boss from Fairweather, Tammy. Yee haw!

I'd planned to wear my new combat boots with today's outfit (the ones in my concert-going outfit here), but they just didn't look right. I'll take some time this weekend and build an outfit around them. Perhaps I'll document how I build an outfit - would anyone be interested in that?

Anyway, this is the outfit, and shoes I ended up wearing:
Someone (I've forgotten who) in Style Nation wore a denim dress recently and I gushed over it and I said, "I need to wear my denim dress again!" so here it is. Sorry, I have a terrible memory - thank you for the inspiration, Inspiring Blogger!

I've worn this dress a billion times* as seen here, here, here, here, here and here, and probably a few times before that. I'm wearing a grey cami underneath the dress, and my black velvet vest (as seen multiple times here) over top.

*numbers may be estimated
The underskirt is my black floofy Noa Noa one (last seen in my Hallowe'en costume, but last worn normally here).

The shoes are going to go sit in the "take these to the cobbler" bag for approximately a year (i.e. until I remember to take them in) to get them re-heeled as the stupid plastic heel caps are down to the nails after only one previous wear. I hope I don't have to walk on any hardwood floors!

Jewelry:

Got sort of a burnished silver thing going on.

My tights are new - the colour is called "cobblestone":

Leg on table pose! You can see the nice herringbone texture here.

******

So, I keep forgetting to mention, I am training to become a leader at Weight Watchers! As you may or may not know, I lost a lot of weight about five years ago, starting in 2006 (I did a post on it here). I have maintained my weight for 3.5 years (I hit goal in early 2007 and became a Lifetime member in May 2007), and I continue to go to my Saturday morning Weight Watchers meetings every week I can for the support, and to give and get inspiration from my fellow women and men who are on their own weight loss journeys.

A couple of weeks ago, one of the receptionists (of course, I know everyone at my meeting) asked if I had thought about becoming a leader. I considered it, interviewed on Monday with the Territory Manager (it was very informal) and did a webinar on Tuesday. Tomorrow, I shadow my mentor leader, and then next weekend, I do two days of intense training. I am pretty excited about this - it's not a full-time job (heck, it's not even part-time), but it's something I think I can do to give back. And it's something I can do while I look for work.

Note: I don't intend to push WW through this blog, but I've always been up-front about being a member. It's just a program that works for me, and I like it. I'm not getting any compensation for talking about WW, and I don't want any. You won't see any WW ads on my blog, or any other ads (I am not a personal fan of blogs loaded with ads - that's not how I roll, baby - but I don't judge what other people do with their blogs. We're all one big Style Nation family, right?).

Anyway, I'm looking forward to this new adventure (think of the outfits!) and wanted to share it.

Dress (Ricki's), vest (Surrey Classics, consignment), skirt (Noa Noa), belt (Plum), tights (Hue), shoes (Miss Sasa, consignment), earrings (Aldo Accessories), ring (can't remember, maybe Nine West?), cuff (St. Paul's Cathedral gift shop), necklace (handmade).

Shopping Trip! How I Shop at Winners

Ah, I just love a long weekend - Thursday was a holiday in Canada (Remembrance Day), so I took Friday off too. The lovely Cat also had the day off, so we met up for brunch and went shopping at Winners (I had my $60 gift card to spend!).

A trip to Winners is not to be taken lightly. Many people find it overwhelming: all those racks just jammed with clothes, people and shopping carts everywhere, and so much to look at! It's exhausting just thinking about it.

That's why I plan very carefully in advance, starting with what I'm going to wear. I nearly always wear a dress to shop at Winners (or any other big store, like Value Village) simply because it's easy to take on and off. Who wants to mess with jeans or a button-up shirt in a fitting room? Not me!

I've numbered my key areas below:
1. Earrings: small rhinestone studs. They're not going to snag on anything that I try on, or likely to go flying off if I pull tops overy my head.

2. Wide neckline: this makes it easier to get the dress on and off without messing up my hair, knocking my glasses off or rubbing off my makeup on to my clothes.

3. Statement necklace: no rough edges anywhere on this, so no snagging on sweaters. It also helps keep this outfit from being totally boring.

4. Tights: these pair also have control top, so if I'm trying on any skirts or dresses, I know exactly how they are going to fit. I also went with a neutral colour (these are heathered grey) so that they don't distract from whatever I'm trying on. Tights are not useful if you're shopping for pants, however - if I were shopping for jeans or dress pants, I'd go bare-legged but with high socks and boots.

5. Slip-on low-heeled shoes: I walked to town in these, then shopped for 3 hours, then walked home from town. My feet felt fine! Slip-on shoes are essential for shopping; messing about with buckles or laces is a huge pain when you're trying on shoes, or have to take off your shoes to try on a dress, skirt or pants.

Dress (Max Studio), tights (probably Hue), shoes (Kenneth Cole Reaction, gift from Cat), necklace (Shi Studio).

It was a nice sunny, but crisp, day. Shopping in outerwear can be exceedingly annoying; there's nothing worse than getting sweaty and feeling bulky when you're shopping - it will wear your patience. I went with a thin 3/4-sleeved jacket:
This allows me to get my hands right into the racks without sleeve cuffs getting in the way.

A few warm accessories keeps me from freezing my butt off:

Someone was hiding in the side of the photo (see him?).

Long suede gloves to fill in the gap with the short jacket sleeves, and a nice wooly soft cashmere scarf (thin and lightweight). Both of those items easily went into my purse while I shopped.

Jacket (Smart Set), scarf (Club Monaco), gloves (Le Chateau), bag (Ollie & Nic).

Heading to the mall in the Loser Cruiser!

Oh yeah! I find riding the bus a very Zen-like experience. You miss a bus...another will come. There is no stress...you just get off when you want.

And we arrive!

The store is starting to get their Christmas stuff in (already? man!).

We headed to the hosiery, belts and purses section first:

Scouted for deals - I always find interesting stuff in the hosiery department.

I always use a shopping cart at Winners. Just toss everything you are even remotely interested in into the cart, and sort through it later. If you plan to go back for something, odds are that it'll be gone when you return.

Cat and I have a good start: some knee-highs for me, some tights and a belt for her:

I always head to the shoe department next (I get very excited about shoe departments, giddy almost). Check out the awesome boots I found: They're sort of a black-purple mix. Love the studs, too. I squealed about these for a good hour. I'll be wearing these soon!

I also do a scout of the mens' shoe section - I know how L's shoes fit on my feet so I am pretty good at picking out shoes for him. These rockin' shoes were too good to pass up, especially at $32.00:

He loved them!

After we combed all the shoe racks (you have to check through all the size sections, because people move things around), we headed over to the clothes section:

Dresses and outerwear first. I go through the clearance sections, then scout through for anything that catches my eye. Because I already have a black winter coat and several black dresses, I narrowed my focus to colour.

We then moved into the actual clothing sections, dragging our shopping cart with us and parking it at the end of the aisles so we could keep an eye on it and make sure no one pilfered our fab finds.

I start at one end and work my way down:

I search for interesting colours, patterns and clothing that feels nice. I'll also check out how an item is faring from being handled on the racks. Satins that are getting fuzzy in the shoulders and cashmere sweaters that are starting to pill just from being together are a big "no, thanks" for me.

The racks are not as scary as they seem, because there is so much duplication. You're likely to see the same sweater 50 times in all sizes. This makes the racks faster to go through, since you can skip over the duplicates and watch for the unique items.

By the time we've done the racks, it's been about 2.5 hours of shopping. I'm getting tired! Time to head for the fitting rooms, which are back in the shoe department.

Because they only allow a limited number of items in the fitting room, we parked our cart and started going through stuff we could try on in the aisle, like sweaters, coats and jackets:

You can eliminate a lot of things this way, and save yourself time in the fitting room. I tried on a coat, 3 sweaters and a jacket (as well as those boots again) in front of the big mirror.

I only had to take 4 things into the fitting room, which sped things up and made the try-on experience much easier. I ended up with a sweater, a cardigan, a top, some knee-highs and a pair of boots! I'll be wearing them all this week!

And that's how I shop at Winners! This type of shopping strategy also works in other large department store type of environments, like Value Village or a big thrift store.

(Note: I have no affiliation with Winners - this is just one of the places that I shop a couple times a year. No compensation was received by me for this feature.)

Weekend Outfits and an Overdose of Cuteness

Another weekend, almost over. Why are they just not long enough?

I wore another light dress to Weight Watchers on Saturday:
I was able to my quick-change at the field after Ultimate very handily in this.

The weather's been a little cooler in the mornings, so my jackets are now back into rotation:

Dress (BCBG Max Azria, gift from Ruth), jacket (Ann Taylor Loft), shoes (Expressions? something cheap), belt (Nygard), earrings (Plum).

Today, I met Elaine for lunch and then we spent four hours thrift shopping. I got a bunch of great items (some are more for autumn, so I won't be wearing them right away). I wore my usual shopping outfit: a dress that goes on and off easy (no zipper, buttons or belt), slip-on shoes, minimal accessories, and a jacket:

The dress was a thifting deal from last year ($9), previously worn here and here. Wow, I can't believe I haven't worn this in over a year! That's crazy.

My python-print leather jacket (thrifted in Vancouver over a year ago for $20):

My feet are tired!

Dress (BCBG Max Azria, thrifted), jacket (Bebe, thrifted), shoes (Kenneth Cole Reaction, gift from Cat).

Okay, I promised cuteness. Are you ready? It's awfully cute!

Last night, Inigo was in his usual crashed-on-L's-lap position:

I had to grab the camera quickly while L rubbed his tum.

The face of utter contentedness:

Moved in a little closer....

I see you!

Happy paws reached for me:

He really does this all the time. He is such a gentle, loving cat.

Full-on sex-ay kitty:

He just lays there like that. Such a funny kitty!

Hope you had a great weekend!

Hectic Thursday - Neutrals

In keeping with my "determined to be positive" attitude, I dressed yesterday for how I wanted to feel. Forcing my mood from the outside in, I guess you could say.

Actually, I just really wanted to wear this belt that I got a couple of weeks ago, and I haven't worn this skirt for a while (only once, here). Hee.
Distinctly less "lumberjack" this time. I also went for lunch with Mom and wanted to look nice.

I liked how the high-waisted skirt looked with this (worn once here):

Wonder Woman! Wearing my power cuff again, too.

The weather has turned here - it's in the low 70s/low teens now. Brr...this meant a jacket was required:

My cheapy boyfriend jacket that I got in a thrift store months ago.

The stuff:

One of the most comfy pairs of kitten heels I own. I've worn them so much the brand has worn off. I've had them for about 4-5 years.

I got the belt at the Gap (I never shop there, but Ruth and I went to the Mall and she wanted to go in). It was regular $42, marked down to $19.99, then marked down to $12.99, then had an extra 30% off. Score! For leather, too.

Close-up:

Black, gold, silver sparkliness!

Oops, missed putting my ring in the picture!

Blouse (Vintage DC Missy, consignment), skirt (Bedo, thrifted), shoes (don't remember), belt (Gap), cuff (Aldo Accessories), earrings (The Cobbler), ring (Club Monaco).

And I'm Back in Black!

Well, Sal, I enjoyed the 2010 Summer Black-Out, but it was time to have a little black come back (and it's the only black this week, so that's not so bad, right?).

I also haven't done my personal laundry for a while, so I've been digging in the closet for stuff that is clean (I save up my good pieces and do a big load of delicates every few weeks):
I actually really wanted to wear these cropped pants that I've had for ages. I got the lime green suede Mary Janes on the weekend (Circa Joan & David for $6! Score!) and they just cried out for a little Audrey pant.

I felt very 50s/60s in this outfit.

I'm doing the twist. Sort of.

The stuff:

I just so happened to have these lime green wood earrings - and they went so well!

A close-up:

Two of my "souvenir" jewelry pieces: the ring from Scotland and the bracelet from St. Paul's in London.

Cardigan (Vero Moda), paisley top (Ann Taylor, consignment), cami (Vero Moda), pants (Focus 2000), shoes (Circa Joan & David, thrifted), earrings (Le Chateau), bracelet (St. Paul's Cathedral gift shop), ring (Scotland).

Blurry Colours

I wish spring would hurry up and get here...and stay! I got caught in the rain on each way to work today. My spirits were also somewhat blurred. Feeling low and unfocussed.

How appropriate that I wore this skirt, then:
Even Inigo was blurry as he wended his way into the picture. I was sad when I realized that, because we no longer have to lock him in the den to keep him from eating Othello's food, he might not be in as many pictures with me. But he seems to be a camera hog!

I didn't put a lot of effort into today's outfit at all. Simple pieces with some easy accessories.

Of course, a twirly skirt is always nice.

The stuff:

Comfy shoes, skinny belt and some yellow-y things.

A close-up:

I like the lady's picture.

Sweater (Jacob, consignment), skirt (Nine West), shoes (don't remember, the name's worn off), belt (Bianca Nygard), necklace/earrings (Plum), ring (some junky store).

Attack of the 50 Foot...Dress Week! Condiments! And some bad news...

I am always determined to wear this dress more. I've worn it twice, here (last July) and here (for another Dress Week!). Instead of mixing it with a neutral, this time I thought I'd go crazy and mix it with...yellow!
I only realized once I got to work that I was wearing mustard, ketchup and mayo - all I needed was a bit of green and I'd be relish too!

The stuff:

Went with the not-quite-matchy dark reds to go with the tomato-red of the dress.

A close-up:

More circles and swirly patterns.

And...the bad news. We found out tonight that our beloved kitty, Othello, has cancer. We love him dearly - we got him just before we got married, so he's just over 13 years old - and this is a huge blow to us. Since we don't have kids, he and Inigo are our little buddies. We're going to try to give him as much love as we can with the time we have left with him.

Othello on top of his scratching post this morning, out on the deck, looking at the cars.

Forgive my indulgence, but I'll be including pictures of him in my posts when I can. I want to have memories of him for as long as we have left.

Dress (Vero Moda), cardigan (Future Paradise), belt (Plum), shoes (Expressions), necklace (Melanie Lynne), earrings (don't remember).

Casual Friday - Too Blues

I went for shopping with new work-friend Kristina last night, so I planned my outfit accordingly for stuff that was easy to slip on and off.
Layered graphic tee, vest, skirt, tights, kitten heels. Jewelry that won't snag on fabrics.

The weather's been fab, so I didn't have to wear a huge coat:

Just the boyfriend jacket and my fingerless gloves.

The shopping trip was fine - I tried on a bunch of stuff, but only got one item. Of course, I will wear it next week! Oh, and I did find a pair of spring-y tights that I am deeply in love with.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Long-sleeved tee (Esprit), graphic tee (Plum), skirt (InWear, consignment), vest (Vero Moda), tights (Hue), shoes (Kenneth Cole Reaction, gift from Cat), jacket (Banana Republic, 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).