Weekend Outfit - WW Meeting

Went to my regular WW meeting for the first time in a couple of weeks. As always, I wore something nice and lightweight:
My new-ish teal cardi (last seen here, ha, with the same tights), my bright orange corduroy skirt (last seen here, scroll down - I am wearing that same necklace today, too), and flat shoes for walking.

I also wore my chartreuse jacket (last seen here) because it went so well with my new purse.

I also had long brown leather gloves on for the morning.

A shot of the purse:

The handles and the bottom of it are wood. It was on for 50% off, so I got it for $12.50.

Check out the cool pattern:

I think that green blob is supposed to be a dragon - rar!

Jacket (Alison Wonderland, consignment), cardigan (Kersh), skirt (Jacob Connexion, consignment) , shoes (Kenneth Cole Reaction, swap from Cat), necklace (Lavishy), earrings (gift from L).

Well, my exciting news for this weekend was going to be that we got a new kitten companion for Inigo, but it was not meant to be: no kittens at the SPCA for another month. I'm disappointed, but we'll go next month and get a new family member.

In the meantime, as I type this, Mr. Drooly-pants is sitting on my lap. Here he is when we got home last weekend and unpacked our Fluevogs:

Kitties and tissue - an unbeatable combination.

Heh, he's digging for mice:

There must be one there somewhere, buddy!

Weekend Outfits - and Some New Stuff

Whew! Monday already! Where does the time go?

I got dressed twice this weekend (aside from lounging around in my robe). Once, for my Weight Watchers meeting and weigh-in:
Down 0.6! Woo hoo!

I've worn this dress a billion times...okay, I may be prone to exaggeration. Those are my Tsubo Acreas (last worn back in July). I wore them walking around town all afternoon (I hit two more thrift stores and have all kinds of cheap goodies).

Dress (I.N.C.), shoes (Tsubos).

L was out of town this weekend, so Elaine and I went to see "Black Swan" (I loved the campy, over-the-top feel of it), and then went for drinks after. To go with the overwrought drama of the movie, I went with this slinky sequined tank dress:
It's one of my Plum deals from the clearance - it was regular $129.00 and I got it for $20!

(See who I'm looking at? I see a wee little head just peeking in the bottom of the picture).

I'm wearing a new-to-me cornflower blue cotton/Lycra tee that I picked up in a thrift store for $9.50 (which is probably a bit too much for H&M, but at least the tee has never been worn).

Dontcha just love the ruched sleeves?
Sorry that the photos are dark - black is the hardest to photograph at night and the flash looked ass.

Here's a better shot of the top:

I layered the tee under the dress for a bit more coverage - the necklines are the same.

But I know you're all squinting to see what the shoes look like. These are one of the sale pairs I got for $40 back in December:

Oh, *swoon*! Look at that rich purpley-blue! That part is suede, the black patent parts are patent leather. I love the stitching in the "fan" shape and the black ribbons.

The ribbons end in black leather hearts:

I had to double-knot the bows to make them stay done up.

The original price on these babies:

$139.95! Sweet! This brings my Poetic Licence collection to one, two, three, four, and now five.

Dress (Esprit), tank (H&M, thrifted), shoes (Poetic Licence).

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).

Best Intentions

After a few martinis (and maybe some wine), I woke up very dozy and achy on Saturday morning. I fully intended to go to Weight Watchers, since it was the launch of the new program for my Saturday group, but I got up an hour late and by the time I clued in that I was an hour late...I was far too late.

So I went for lunch with L and the guys anyway:

I first wore this top here. The long-sleeved tee is new from Dots.

My supposed hangover got worse and worse as the day went on...and my throat got sore, and my sinuses stuffed up. Dang, I'm actually sick!

Today, I was planning to go to Lawrence and Carollyne's Christmas Cake party as I do every year (outfit from 2009 here and 2008 here). However, the gift of the flu is not a very welcome one.

It's back to riding the couch and watching football for me!

Edit: in my addled brain state, I accidently deleted comments from A-Dubs, Knitwit, Megan, and at least 2 other people - so sorry, guys!

Blouse (Casual Freedom), tee (Kersh), skirt (Bebe, swap), shoes (Expressions, consignment).

Weekend Stuff and Keeping Busy

Whew! I finally feel like I'm a bit caught up on everyone's blogs (if I missed commenting on yours, let me know) that I read regularly. Life has been rather hectic lately, but hey, I've gotta live it, you know?

Friday night, we had dinner at Sherylyn's (she of Yummyland fame), and holy moly, she is an amazing cook! We had feta dip with cucumber and pita to start, roasted chicken breasts stuffed with olives, feta and sun-dried tomatoes, lemon potato wedges and tabouli salad for dinner, and peach crumble with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert. Dee-lish!

The Dan Mangan concert was incredible. It was in a converted church, where we sat in pews. The sound was so amazing, and everyone sang along. We didn't get home until nearly midnight, so it's a miracle I was able to look this awake on Saturday morning:
I knew I was going to be doing the Celebrations portion of the Weight Watchers meeting as part of my mentoring as leader, but I didn't realize the leader was going to have me open and run the first part of the meeting. Hello! Not prepared!

Thank goodness the outfit distracted from the panicked look on my face (I hope!). I soldiered through with aplomb!

This skirt is one of my Dots finds from over a year ago (see here and here - really? Only twice? I thought I'd worn it more than that).

My groovy shoes:
Those tights are actually teal - they always photograph super-hero blue.

Mom's 60s choker:

It's made of sandalwood and amber.

Sweater (Kersh), skirt (no label), shoes (Pink), choker (Mom's, vintage 60s).

I was busy for most of yesterday putting up my Christmas tree. As I have mentioned in the past, I used to work in a year-round Christmas store. I did that for 11 years at the end of the 80s and through the 90s, and I amassed an amazing collection of Christmas ornaments. I usually only put my tree up every other year, though (we do Festivus on alternate years, hee hee), as it feels too much like work, even now, to put up both trees (I do two) and garland, and village, AND nutcrackers (oh yes, I have it all). It's a lot of work and it takes days.

So, when I took my trees down two years ago, I packed up my theme ornaments for the small tree together with the coloured matching ornaments off the big tree, so that this year I could do just one tree. I'll do a few posts of my tree (and my village, which is freaking awesome) closer to Christmas, but consider this a teaser:

Yes, that is the starship Enterprise.

And yes, this is the Millenium Falcon:

And someone helped me decorate:

"I must bite this metal icicle!"

And then he had the nerve to look innocent:

I see your paw on the tree skirt, Inigo. You aren't fooling me.

Working on the Weekend

Whew! I am exhausted today. Do you think anyone would notice if I slept at my desk?

I did my WW training all weekend, and while it was fun, I'm glad it's over. I walked to and from the hotel, so I had to have functional walking outfits (the snow is completely gone, by the way! Wacky weather!).

This is my long denim skirt (first worn here):
I'm wearing my little ankle cowboy booties:

The blouse was last worn here.

Blouse (Vintage DCC Missy, consignment), sweater vest (Esprit), skirt (InWear, consignment), boots (Miz Mooz).

On Sunday, I had to do a mini-meeting presentation (with flip charts!), so I went a little brighter:
My lovely "painty" skirt, last worn here in July. I like that a lot of my skirts can easily translate from summer wear to autumn/winter wear by layering them with tights and adding boots.

Sweater (no label, consignment), skirt (Nine West), boots (Miz Mooz), belt (Le Chateau), necklace (Plum).

Long Weekend Update: I Need Another Long Weekend!

Hey! Is it still the weekend? Man, I am exhausted! I've been through one day of Weight Watchers' leader training and I am already set for another weekend.

So...it snowed again on Thursday, so I figured I'd get some exercise and shovel our condo's driveway and sidewalk:
It was snowing as I did it, which is why it's still a bit white. I was getting such a good workout, I did the neighbouring apartment building's sidewalk as well, right to the road in the distance.

Then I hoofed it to the grocery store, in my extremely fashionable (not really) snow gear:

Yes, that's very attractive.

I then changed into my football-watching gear:This what I typically wear around the house. Jeans, long-sleeved tee and some large layered piece over top.

On Friday, Ruth and I went for lunch and some shopping:

My second wear of the red velvet blazer (first seen here) and the stripey ribbon skirt (first seen here). The snow had all melted by then, so I walked to town and back. What a lovely time!

Jacket (Zara, consignment), sweater (Expression, consignment), skirt (MNG, consignment), boots (Aldo, consignment), choker (60s vintage, Mom's).


Friday night, my mom, my ex sister-in-law and my two oldest nieces went to see a local production of "The Wizard of Oz". Of course, Crazy Auntie Sheila had to get dressed to the nines!

I love that dress so much. This is the second time I've worn it (first here).

I broke out the long black velvet gloves to keep myself warm in the theatre and for walking to and from the car. Gloves are awesome for that! These gloves are about 10 years old.

I love the unevenness of the neckline:

One "sleeve" is narrower than the other, so it naturally dips off one shoulder.

I was pleased that the shoes (my awesome Fluevogs last seen here) matched the dress so well! Matchy-matchy! Yay!

Here's a close-up of the upper body stuff going on:

The earrings are new - no label, but I loved the shape and needed some big silver earrings. They were $16.99 in a local boutique. I'm also wearing my cuff from St. Paul's Cathedral.

My outerwear:

Furry jacket, faux fur scarf and my silver clutch.

Everything together:

Jacket (Mac & Jac), dress (Club Monaco, consignment), scarf (The Bay), clutch (Accessorize), shoes ("Memories, Madly", Fluevog), cuff (St. Paul's Cathedral gift shop), earrings (boutique).

Crazy Saturday - Weekend Wear (and a Book Blurb)

Saturday was a nutty day! I had to get to my WW meeting early to 'shadow' my mentor, then meet up with Elaine for lunch and an afternoon of thrift shopping. Then I had Winesday!

Unfortunately, the bus came early and I was late to WW (nice way to start, Sheila!), then my meeting/mentoring went way longer than anticipated and I was 45 minutes late for lunch with Elaine (ack! I bought her lunch), then of course, our shopping took longer...and I still had to get home to prepare for Winesday, and my mp3 player's headphones broke! You'd think it was a full moon or something! Fortunately, everyone (including my husband, who I ranted at for several minutes) was very understanding and nice about it. I hate being late for anything!

Anyway, after Saturday, I spent today watching football. Ah...

Clothing considerations: the forecast called for snow (yikes!), I had to weigh in, and shopping conditions (see my post here for how I put together a shopping outfit).

And here's what I ended up with: My recently-purchased sweater dress (layered with thick tights and a cami underneath for added warmth), first seen here. My belt is easy to take off, as are the boots (no zip, they pull on and off).

I can't stand dealing with a huge bulky coat when I shop, so I wore accessories that I could fold up small and tuck in my purse when shopping:

My new short coat did the trick, as did my fuzzy beret, black thin pashmina scarf and insulated velvet gloves.

Dress (Eric Alexandre), belt (Shi Studio), coat (Mario Serrani), boot (Miz Mooz).

I finished my last Book Club book this weekend: "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls.Stats: Paperback, 288 pages. Started November 7th, finished November 17th. Karen's pick for Book Club.

Blurb: I enjoy autobiographies, and this is easily one of the best I've read. Jeannette Walls is able to write about her "free spirit" parents' behaviour and choices (like moving a family of 5 to a shack in the desert, or deciding to become homeless in New York City) in a way that is matter-of-fact and many times heartbreakingly sad, but avoids blaming her parents for their decisions. It's hard not to condemn her parents for her childhood, but her own attitude of "this is how it was" avoids placing blame - the reader is able to see where the parents were coming from and understand them, even if you don't agree with their lives.

This was an easy read. Anecdotes are told in short bites, usually no more than 3-4 pages (making this a great reading-in-bed book), but are succinct and poignant. I strongly recommend this. Great book. I plan on reading Walls' other book "Half Broke Horses," about her grandmother's life.

Dinner Out Friday and Saturday Casual Wear

I had a quick nap after shopping on Friday, then got dressed for dinner out with some friends. I wanted to wear this new sweater I found at Winners:
Isn't that a great colour? I am so grooving on that marigold yellow right now.

That's my suede skirt that I wore first here, and those are my favourite boots (last seen here).

I have a really tough time with big sweaters, because they almost always have high turtlenecks or big cowl necks. As a woman who's...er...gifted...in the boobular region, those are no-nos for me. So when I look for sweaters, I try to find open necklines like this:
That gives the look of a cowl, but is nice and wide and shows off my collar bones - and distracts from the boobage.

Sweater (Pria), skirt (Danier Leather, thrifted), boots (Indigo by Clarke's, consignment), belt (Anne Klein pour Caleche, consignment).

L and I are going to see Leonard Cohen again this month, so my tour t-shirt made an appearance today for my Weight Watchers outfit:
I've worn this tee and stripey top several times before (here, here (ha, that's another Winners shopping trip!) and here after the last concert in 2009). I stripped off the belt before weighing in!

I wore my new cobalt blue wooly coat:

I love the semi-military look of it and the off-centre buttons. This was on sale at Winners for $59.00.

Coat (Mario Serrani), t-shirt (Leonard Cohen tour shirt), striped top (Majestic, gift from Caro), skirt (Club Monaco, consignment), belt (gift from Ruth), tights (Hue), boots (Miz Mooz).