Flowers and Denim on a Weekday (Oh, and A Butt Shot)

Today, there were glimpses of sun, and not just on my lapel:

I do like to make my own sunshine. And as you can see from the glare on my picture, it's actually light outside! Will wonders never cease?

This jacket is new-to-me: it's another Smoking Lily item (I adore their clothing - here's a post with links to my Smoking Lily items). It was $26.95 in a consignment store and you can bet I snatched it up! It's a stretchy denim with aqua denim piping all around the edges, and aqua on the cuff linings:

The skirt is my mystery skirt - I thrifted it in Seattle a few years ago. It doesn't have a label, just a little tag with a leaf on it. I love the heathery green tweed of it and the embroidered flowers on the bottom.

I'm wearing a red top underneath to tie in with the red in the flowers. My second day with no neutrals! Colours are the new neutral!

Detail of the jacket:

Hand silk-screened detail on the inside back.

The stuff:

I would love to show when I last wore these, but it's nearly impossible to search on a brand called "Me Too". Actually, I think I remember when I wore them last...yup, here. Hmmm...I need to wear that skirt again.

A close-up of the bits:

That is a most excellent flower. The earrings were a gift from my dear friend Sherylyn.

Note: no kick-backs from Smoking Lily - I link because I love.

Jacket (Smoking Lily, consignment), top (Planet), skirt (mystery, thrifted), shoes (Me Too), flower (Roberta's Hats), earrings (Shi Studio, gift from Sherylyn).

Oh, and yes, that is my butt over on Wendy Brandes' blog, doing an imitation of a Loverboy album cover. I was browsing online late the other night and well...the rest is history:

I guess you could say I got lucky!

Leopard Week! Cat's Surprise Party

The reason why I couldn't elaborate too much on what the deal was with our Craft Corner Deathmatch the other night was that we were making decorations for our dear friend Cat's 40th birthday part - a suprise party!

We had been making giant tissue paper flowers to decorate Caro's house - they turned out gorgeous.

So, the Core Four of the Winesday gals met up to go for dinner. It still being Leopard Week in my week last night, I wore a leopard dress!
I picked this up at The Bay on Wednesday - it was regular $89, marked down to $59.99, then marked down to $44.99. There was an extra 50% off, but when it got scanned in, the sale price came up at $26.99...so it was $13.49! Score!

I'm wearing my tube/smoother undergarment (not as tight as Spanx) just to even things out under there:

I felt pretty sexy in this all night.

We had a lovely dinner, some drinks and then headed back to Caro's place for more wine...and everyone jumped out and surprised Cat! She had no idea and was amazed that we'd all kept it from her for two months. Woo! I love surprises.

The shoes:

I'm just not feeling the super-high heels these days. These were just fine at a sedate 3".

I'll be doing the Leopard Week summary tomorrow.

Dress (I.N.C.), shoes (Guess), gold hoop earrings (gift from L).

Leopard Week! Leopard with Leather

I'm doing leopard today, but this is my last day for Leopard Week. I enjoyed my daytime outfit:

The return of the $20 leather dress (last seen here)! This was probably a little heavy for my weigh-in at WW today (I was up a pound, boo), but I had fun with the leopard tights and another leopard scarf (tied around my neck).

Aside from the outfit I'm wearing tonight, this is pretty much it for my leopard collection. I think I am going to look for more when I'm out thrifting now, though! I love that this dress has pockets - so comfy! I wore this out for lunch as well, so it got lots of looks.

The stuff: Those boots need to go into the re-heel bag for the cobbler.

Dress (Truly, Part Two), tee (Banana Republic, thrifted), tights (Le Chateau), boots (Miz Mooz), belt (Le Chateau), scarf (Fairweather), earrings (gift from L).

Leopard Week! Funky Friday

Welcome to Leopard Week! Go here for links to participants.

I plan to extend leopard week to tomorrow, as I have a special occasion tomorrow night and I have some crazy leopard action that I want to show off. You all can continue if you like - enjoy leopard! I will post a round-up of my favourite leopard outfits from all of the participants on Sunday.

Not much going on today/tonight, aside from meeting up with my ex-cohorts from my last job in about half an hour for drinks (eep, I'm running late!). Of course, I had to go a little over the top - it's Friday! Woo hoo!
Inigo is studiously ignoring me.

This is my awesome ruched leopard pencil skirt (last seen here, with exactly the same taupe top and necklace). I wanted to show off these fab booties that I picked up a couple of days ago at The Bay:

Inigo deigns to notice me. This calls for some lovin'!

Seriously, aren't those awesome boots? They were regular $170 and I stalked them until they were marked down to a more decent price, and then an extra 40% off. They ended up being $47.99.

The top business:

My thrifted boyfriend jacket tops it off (last seen here, with leopard, how cool) and my cuff, of course.

But check out these bad boys:

See the leopard lining? It's like secret leopard! And how could I resist all those studs and buckles? *swoon*

Jacket (Banana Republic, thrifted), top (Ellen Tracy, gift from Caro), skirt (Le Chateau, consignment), belt (gift from Ruth), booties (Libby Edelman), necklace (Plum), cuff (vintage), earrings (gift from L).

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).

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).

Another WW Meeting...and Lunch Out

WW meeting number two went well - although, wooo...funny how quickly you get out of the habit of getting up at 6am. Heh.


I had another new pair of shoes I just HAD to wear: Plus, I needed to break out the glitzy clothes for late December glamour! I last wore this vintage Alfred Sung skirt here (holy moly, last Feb/March!).

I really loved the neutral metallic colour of the shoes but the floofy bow really pushes them up a notch, so I kept the rest of the outfit (aside from the green lame lace skirt) also neutral.

Sorry, blurry - hard to keep my balance!

I last wore the jacket back in June (here) - it was a little cool, but I have a hard time finding really unique plain brown jackets.

Oh, but I know you're dying to see the shoes:

Pretty sweet, eh? My mom's vintage necklace added a bit more green up near my face (to bring out my green eyes!).

These were the best score of the four pairs I got:
$174.95 and I paid $40.00. Wow.

Mom gave me this awesome purse for Christmas:

I love the colour, and it's a really nice quality vinyl.

Jacket (Pelican Cove, consignment), top (Ellen Tracy, gift from Caro), skirt (Alfred Sung, vintage 80s, consignment), shoes (Jeffrey Campbell), necklace (Mom's, vintage 60s), purse (gift from Mom).

Today, L and I went out for lunch, then bought groceries. Of course I dress nice for groceries!

These jeans are new! I adore black jeans, and these were marked down to $27 at Plum, from $90. They are pretty long on me, but I'll see how they shrink after I wash them. It's not like I suffer from a lack of heels to wear.

The top was last seen here - the bright sunny colours make me feel happy!

I also got some new outerwear accessories at Plum earlier this week:

It's that 80s shade of green - really vibrant. The gloves and scarf are acrylic wool; the gloves were $4 and the scarf was $7. I love long gloves.

And if I'm going to do yellow and green, then I have to wear the yellow leather jacket:

Woo! Bright!

My new little wrist-twist:

I like the neutral metallic leather and the studs - cool clasp, too. It was $7, regular $45 (I hit the Club Monaco accessory sale selection again). Gotta have my rock 'n' roll, man!

I needed a) heels with these long jeans and b) comfy shoes and c) something that went with the outfit. My python wedges fit the bill:

I totally cheated and wore taupe socks with them! Bwahahaha! The jeans were so long, you couldn't see them, even when I was sitting down.

I also wanted to wear this awesome new belt buckle (I just attached it to the belt that I use for this buckle worn here):

I'm a huge fan of pin-up girls - and I fell in love with this lovely beauty. This buckle was 1/2 price for $12.50. I got it at the same store where I got all the shoes.

Top (Liz & Co.), jeans (Dish), shoes (Aerosoles), gloves/scarf (Plum), jacket (Danier Leather).

A very Happy New Year to all my fellow bloggers, readers and commenters. I am honoured to know you all, and thankful for your kind words, encouragement and I celebrate your general awesomeness. I hope you have a safe, happy and fun-filled evening tomorrow night!

I will be posting my New Year's Eve outfit (we're throwing a party!) after the fact...and stay tuned for the 2010 Major Awards!

Florida, Fashion and Festivities!

Ho ho ho! Hope you all had a fab Xmas! As I mentioned, it's been a busy last week for me - so I'm catching up now.

We went to Florida last weekend, as L's 40th birthday present (his birthday was in June, but no football then). It was a crazy time to travel. I should have listened to Inigo:
"Don't go!"

I had to wrestle my bag away from him so I could pack.

We traveled very light. This is what I wore for my travel outfit (it was 11+ hours each way):
I wore the same thing coming home, only a different long-sleeved top and tee.

I layered to stay warm on the plane:

My bare legs were chilled - thank goodness that stripey scarf opens up really huge (and it's cashmere so lovely and warm).

Jacket (Gap, consignment), t-shirt (Upper Playground), long tee (Esprit), skirt (InWear), shoes (Vans).
We stayed in South Beach, at a fabulous Art Deco hotel that had been recently renovated:

We had a big suite, complete with kitchen.

We checked out the beach, of course:

It was only two blocks from our hotel. Those rain clouds presaged a 10-hour stretch of torrential downpour, and although rain doesn't bother us (hey, we're from the Pacific Northwest, we practically have webbed toes), both L and I were so sick on the Saturday, we crashed in the hotel and slept during the rainiest bits.

I did manage to stick my feet in the Atlantic Ocean:

Ruth's black dress (I also have a cami on, but it's hard to see), and a scarf for a belt. I'm holding my orange sandals, which were pretty thrashed (I left them behind). I had planned to dress up for dinner on Saturday night, but we ended up dashing out to TGIFriday's for a quick dinner, then watching a movie in the hotel while we sniffled and honked.

Dress (BCBG, gift from Ruth), shoes (can't remember).
On Sunday, we met up with Kim and Spence and their daughter, Eloise, to go to the game. Self-portrait with L, all decked out in our Dolphins gear:

L looks really excited to be going to the game!

Sadly, our team lost, but it was awesome actually being there. We headed home on Monday - we had delays in Miami and in San Francisco (our flight didn't end up leaving until 12:30am) and ended up getting home at 3am. I'm sure glad I didn't have to work on Tuesday!

After spending a day doing nothing (movies and TV), I girded my loins for my Christmas shopping. I also met my bestie, Janet, for lunch:

Nice bright colours, thigh-high boots and some punk accents.

My outerwear:

I felt very Christmassy.

Coat (Mario Serrano), plaid tee (TMT), yellow tee (Mexx), jeans (Esprit), boots (Pegabo), gloves (Parkhurst), belt (from Ruth), cuff (old).
I had to get groceries and finish up my shopping on Thursday:

A bit more casual - I've been living in my jeans lately.

Black tee (BCBG, consignment), red tee (Kersh), jeans (Esprit), boots (Aldo, consignment).
I spent a few hours wrapping presents. Kitty helped.

I had to sacrifice a piece of tissue so that he could sit on it and stay off my wrapping paper.

We did our stockings Christmas morning. I was spoiled, as always.

"The Walking Dead, Vol. 12", the new Stephen King, the new Kim Harrison, "Never Let Me Go", a new crossword puzzle book, my usual page-a-day calendar of Forgotten English, a large selection of chocolate bars (yay!) and some mini vodkas (most chocolate and vodka has now been consumed).

L also got me a lovely top, but it's too small, so I'll see if I can exchange it at Plum tomorrow.

We do a stocking for the cat (aw...this is our first Christmas without Othello). We get some new mousies and toys, and wrap them up with a bunch of loose catnip and tissue. Inigo gets very excited about this:

He was flipping mousies all over the bed.

We had our breakfast, got dressed and headed over to my ex-sister-in-law's for presents with the nieces, then Mom came home with L and I and I did a roasted chicken. It all turned out pretty good except that a) I burnt the stuffing and b) my mashed potatoes' bowl broke in the oven and made a mess (but we saved most of the potatoes). Otherwise, tasty! I'm making soup out of the leftovers right now.

I dressed Christmassy:

Since we walked, I went with my boots again.

Sweater (Tobias), skirt (Nygaard, consignment), snowflake bracelet and earrings (Metropolitan Museum gift shop).
A very Merry Christmas from my fam to yours!

Inigo stuck his paw out just as the timer went. What a ham.