Flogging My Blog in Fluevog

Another crazy weekend! This coming week is our wedding anniversary, and is our custom most years, L and I go over to Vancouver to visit friends, do a little shopping and hit the Fluevog stores.

My outfit was purely for function:
The top is new-to-me - picked it up on consignment for $18. It's comfy soft cotton and is a small leopard print. The boots are my old standbys (easy to get on and off for shoe shopping) and the tights were essential for warmth and for trying on shoes as well.

I did wear my yellow leather jacket, fingerless gloves and a scarf with this for walking around (we did a LOT of walking), but was in a hurry to leave the house, so no pictures of the outerwear.

Top (Jones New York, consignment), skirt (InWear, consignment), boots (Aldo, consignment), belt (gift from Ruth).

Inigo did not want us to go:

Maybe he thinks if he looks cute enough we'll stay home?

Last time we went to Vancouver, for our friend's surprise 40th birthday, we took a helicopter. This time, we did the cheaper route:

A seaplane! Most people take the ferry as it's relatively cheap and you can drive your car onto it, but it's actually a huge time suck - we always end up having take an afternoon off work and stay an extra night so that we can get a decent amount of time in Van. Factoring in all the costs vs. the time, this actually worked out cheaper!

We left bright and early Saturday morning:

Goodbye, home! I sat on the wing (the plane only holds 10 people or so at a time), so that's what that is in the corner of the shot.

Looking south, we flew by many small islands:

See the line of mountains on the horizon line? That's Washington State.

This rocky island has a house on it:

I wonder if someone lives way out there.

On this island, I saw a house with a tennis court:

I scanned the water for a pod of orcas, but no luck.

We did see lots of ferries, of course:

The ferry takes an hour and thirty-five minutes and it's still over half an hour drive on each end to get to the city. The seaplane (and helicopter) only takes 35 minutes, harbour to harbour.

We also saw lots of log booms being towed by tugs:

That's a real West coast sight. The logs are felled further north on the coast, then brought down south for processing and shipping off worldwide.

Soon, the Vancouver harbour came into view:

I see Canada Place - it's the building with the white sails. And there's our float plane docks!

This morning, we went for breakfast and then headed back down for our flight home:

The moutains on the North Shore are so beautiful.

On the way back, my view was of the Canadian islands (the ones to the south are belong to the US):

Another ferry making its way from Vancouver.

And here we are, back home:

The big white mountain in the far background is Mount Baker, in the US.

But let's get back to...Fluevog:

That's their design studio - John Fluevog works there!

I was utterly charmed by the cool interior - the store is basically a glassed-in space between two heritage buildings (that were built during the Gold Rush era/late 1890s).

Check out the windows on the wall. That's of course a picture of John...but I can't keep my eyes off the shoes!

They were laid out so precisely, grouped by style, on the ground floor. The staircase on the left leads up to the design studio on the mezzanine:

That's our wonderful Fluevogologist (seriously, that's his title, I have his business card) Wes, who helped L and I try on and decide on shoes. Shout out to him, and to the two ladies we met (I hope you got the green boots - they were fabulous). I gave them all my blog business card, and laughed to L that I was flogging my blog in Fluevog.

A shot of the coloured glass panels in the ceiling:

The light streaming in made it look darker than it actually is. It's a huge open space with amazing natural light. What an inspirational environment to design in!

I bought L a pair, and he bought me two. I will be rolling those (and a couple of other pairs from two other stores in Vancouver) out over the next two weeks. Yes, two weeks - we must savour the Fluevogs and not overdo our ecstasy. I will be doing "A Fluevog A Day" so that you can see every one of my 10 pairs. I am a dedicated Fluevogophile!

But I will show you L's two pairs...just as a taste.

The first pair is from the Imperials family, the "Marquis":

They are a very dark navy blue. Dig the red lining. Such a fabulous shoe!

It has the Imperials logo on the toe:

A crown entwined with "JF" and lots of scrolly bits.

I love that Fluevog soles have detail too:

So cool.

The second pair he got was the Tokyo "Kobe":

I love the very long pointy toe (very punk) and the Angel (a long-time Fluevog motif) buckle on the strap.

Of course, the bottoms are special too:

"Tokyo" with John's signature.

Please note that I did not get any compensation from Fluevog, discounts on shoes or anything other than great service - I link because I love.

In addition to doing "A Fluevog A Day"....

I have all my outfits planned for the next two weeks - I'm exhausted!

Casual Friday - Uniform, and Special Occasion - Ronnie's 40th!

Friday was a busy day! First of all, I had some GREAT news: the project that I have been doing at work that was hugely stressing me out for the past 3 months? Tanked! Gone! I am back to doing what I am good at, what I get results at. I am so relieved.

I also really liked my outfit, my usual casual uniform:
Long sleeved tee: check! Graphic tee: check! Denim pencil skirt: check! Funky leg look: check! Great footwear: check! Polished but cool accessories: check!

I added a tweed blazer and fun bag (it was very warm all day - this is the only outerwear I wore):

I think I could put this look together in my sleep now. Heh. I used to really struggle with finding a casual look that suited my personality (a little bit of rocker chick, slightly sophisticated, yet polished), but this uniform is very comfortable and fits the bill.

These low boots worked great for showing off my knee high socks - and yes, I am bare-legged!

Friday night was our friend Ronnie's 40th birthday party. Happy Birthday, Ron! Ron's a good ol' boy, a real down-home Canadian, and he's married to my dear friend Caro. If you wanted to meet someone really Canadian, Ron is it. Hockey jerseys, jeans, and lots of beer and distilled liquor - that's a typical Ronnie party.

But of course, I prefer to stick out in a crowd:

That's my new green satin off-the-shoulder Club Monaco dress - it was $40 in one of my favourite consignment stores. Isn't it gorgeous? It looked like nothing on the hanger - that's why you need to try stuff on!

The back:

You know, I love this new lighting technique from Kasmira, but now you can see how pasty-pale I really am!

I did do a little dancing in the kitchen once I had some wine in me:

Rebecca, I don't recommend you wear shoes like these! Those heels are 6" less a 3/4" platform.

Shout out to Anita, a lovely woman I met at the party...one of those kindred spirits.

L also dressed up, although not as much as me. He did his rocker look (as demonstrated in "How to Dress Up Your Man"):

Rock on, love!

He's doing a dark blue velvet blazer, a patterned shirt, his naughty lady belt buckle, distressed jeans and red Fluevogs. Doesn't he look great?

Tweed jacket (Jacob Connexion, consignment), graphic tee (Truly, Madly, Deeply..., consignment), skirt (InWear, consignment), socks (don't remember), boots (Hispanitas, consignment), necklace (Plum), belt (gift from Mom), earrings (Plum, gift from L).

Dress (Club Monaco, consignment), fishnets (Hue), shoes (JLo), earrings (Plum, gift from L), bracelet (The Bay), ring (Sarah Coventry, vintage 70s).

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).

Woo, Wasn't That a Party?

In case you were wondering, I am now 42 years old. This is an interesting age. I am 21 twice (woo hoo!). And 42 is also the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life in Douglas Adams' "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy":

"Forty-two, " said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm.

But what was the question? We don't know - but what an answer!

Okay, let's get to The Dress:
I know! Isn't it killer? The seaming is amazing, and I love the "red storm" pattern of it.

L and I love to dress up for parties - check out the zoot suit he found in Seattle (accessorized by yours truly):

Yeah, baby! We really cut a rug in our fab party clothes!

Practicing my dancing:

Look at the heels on those babies - they killed my feet, though. Note to self: get some more Dr. Scholl's inserts.

The stuff:

All new black accessories from my fave place for good cheap jewellry, Le Chateau. The two bangles were on sale for $4.99, the earrings were also $4.99, and the ring was $15.

A close-up:

We had about 20 people, and the last of them left at 3 am.

Oh, I got a Winners gift card from the Winesday Women! More "banned" shopping! Hurray!

Dress (London Times), Fishnets (Hue), shoes (Calvin Klein), accessories (Le Chateau).

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.