Still Life With Cat and Sunny Monday!

Another rainy weekend - we actually played Ultimate in the rain and drizzle. For a few moments the sun came out (or it got brighter through the clouds, hard to tell as I think I've forgotten what sun looks like!), and a great steam rose from the field and all around us. It was very spooky.

However, prior to playing Ulty, I went to my WW meeting: Inigo inisted on sitting here.

This is my second wear of this cardigan; this is my t-shirt from London and this is the second and final wear of this skirt. I've decided I don't like it - the waistband is too big. And of course, those are my fab Fluevogs (seen here).

Cardigan (Express, thrifted), t-shirt (Upper Playground), skirt (Fenchurch), boots (Inez Sexton, Bellevues family, Fluevog).

Today, I wanted to wear this zebra skirt that I can only wear in warm weather:
I last wore it here.

Although I love the skirt with this bright yellow cardigan, it (the cardigan) is also going into the consignment store pile. Sad, but I've gotten a lot of wear out of it (last seen here, and previously here, here, here, here and here). It pills, it doesn't fit right (I always feel too boobular in it), and I'm just not in love with it anymore. I got my money's worth, though: $26.95 divided by 7 wears is um...under $4 a wear. I'm happy with that.

The outside shot:

There was actually a few hours of sun today! I think I made it appear with my yellow sweater!

The stuff:

My neutral shoes went best (I was going to wear this pair, but found that they're starting to separate the top from the soles, so off to the consignment store for them too, boo hoo!). I last wore this pair here.

I actually wore a rust-coloured cami underneath the cardigan to try to bring out the amber beads on the necklace, but it wasn't really visible.

The jangly bits:

I photographed the stuff last night before I packed my clothes in my knapsack. I realized at about 4am that I'd forgotten to pack a belt, so that got shoved in my pack when I got up at 6am.

Cardigan (Future Paradise, consignment), skirt (Plum), shoes (Seychelles, consignment), belt an earrings (Plum), necklace (vintage 60s, Mom's), cuff (thrifted).

Covered Up - Please Send Summer

Due to the unseasonable weather, I've had to keep on wearing my long sleeved items. If this keeps up, I'm gonna have to break out the tights!

Yesterday, I layered my plaid dress over my red vintage slip:
I last wore the dress here (in September!), and the slip here.

I liked how the ruffle at the bottom of the slip made a nice border. I had a hair appointment last night after work, so I wore flats for getting around.

Dress (Vero Moda), slip (Suzette Lingerie, vintage, consignment), belt (Plum), shoes (Predictions, consignment).

Today, I did my usual twist on Casual Friday (i.e. a piece of denim with dressy items): I look half-asleep there, ha!

I absolutely adore this jean vest - the fit is so good. I last wore it here. That's my gauzy silk blouse (last seen here), and good golly, I love the cut of this skirt (last seen here). I had to do some walking today and I felt very wiggly in it (hee), particularly as I was striding along in these wedges (last seen here).

Someone wanted some lovin':As always, the beeping of the camera causes the cats to stare at it.

Vest (Part Two, consignment), blouse (Kaliko, consignment), skirt (Precis Petite, thrifted), shoes (Kenneth Cole Reaction, consignment).

Have a great weekend!

Sapphire, Ruby and Turquoise - Three Days of Jewel Tones

Well, now, has it really been 3 whole days of outfits? Tempis fugit, my friends!

Sapphire Monday:
This is actually a repeat (except for the shoes) of an outfit I wore for a casual weekend outing (here). My company held a rooftop BBQ event on Monday night, and "summer casual" wear was permitted. Unfortunately, it's been raining for several days (it's July! Good gravy!), and we sat with water dripping down off the patio umbrellas eating our burgers. I skedaddled pretty quickly.

Vizzini liked the movement of my skirt: We've reversed our old feeding routine with the cats: instead of Othello eating at the dining room station and Inigo in the den, now Inigo gets to eat out there, and Vizzini gets locked in the den while I do my pictures. He would quite happily gobble down his own food and then eat all of Inigo's.

The stuff:

I liked how nicely the shoes went with this dress. Ah, matchy-matchy! My heart sings!

The jewels:

And a good shot of the silks that make up the dress. Aren't they pretty? I need to do some purples with this (mental note: need a purple cardigan).

Dress (Le Chateau, consignment), cardigan (Jessica, consignment), shoes (Feet First), ring (Aldo Accessories), earrings (Lavishy).

Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday, who could hang a name on you?

I adore this skirt (last seen here). The frigidity of the weather meant two sweaters on top (and I wore a coat!). This was a good oufit for trucking around my WW suitcase and for doing my evening meeting.

Vizzini helped:

He's so tiny!

This captures his little devilish face really well:

Aw, my heart just melts.

The stuff:

It was so gloomy out, all my pictures looked dark. *shakes her fist futilely at the grey sky*

My usual black bits:

My evening WW group - especially a couple of ladies - loves my outfits (I haven't told them about this blog) and likes to check me over when they arrive. This passed muster.

Cardigan (Vero Moda), top (Planet), skirt (MNG, consignment), shoes (Enzo Angiolini, thrifted), bracelet (Le Chateau), earrings (The Cobbler).

And Turquoise for Wednesday:

Vizzini's licking himself. I like how he sits on his haunches like a little kangaroo.

I've actually had this outfit planned since I bought these new shoes a few weeks ago ($15.00, bought for free with store credit). Score! Considering Farylrobin shoes are pretty darned expensive new (in the $200 range). These are a bit beat up (*ahem* I mean "broken in"), but for $15 I am not complaining. They were super comfy all day too!

I love khaki and turquoise together. It reminds me of the early 80s, when it was a big colour combo for me. I had a pair of khaki pants and a couple of turquoise t-shirts (one had a gold thread in it, I recall).

The outside shot returns!

Notice how I am wearing a sweater again? See how gloomy it still is?? When will summer arrive? All you people who are sweltering, please feel free to send some of your weather up to the Pacific Northwest/Vancouver area. I will send you rain and cool ocean breezes in return.

The stuff:

I love the turquoise with the cream and goldy-khaki accents on these shoes.

The pearls:

The pendant that Mom bought me in Australia - that's a cluster of real pearls that didn't actually separate to become round pearls. The earrings are just cheap junk, ha!

Sweater (Kersh), skirt (Club Monaco, consignment), shoes (Farylrobin, consignment), pendant (gift from Mom), earrings (Jacob).

Kittens, Turquoise and Backwards Sequins

Having a kitten in the house has been a challenge. Vizzini is a little devil. So far, he has slept in a plant, knocked over a full water glass, chewed on my glasses (the lenses), and tried to eat everything he finds.

Fortunately, he and Inigo get along:
Aw! Kitty love!

*ahem* This is not a kitten blog.

So! On Thursday, I wore my second Smoking Lily skirt that I found last weekend:
Hee, Vizzini is so tiny!

This skirt is the same thick t-shirt material as my Periodic Table of Awesome skirt, but is cut in a pencil shape. It was on sale for $20 but was free from my credit for trade-in.

I went all matchy and did the teal cardi and shoes:

Vizzini is not into being picked up but he's getting better. At least he has stopped attacking my nose and eyelashes.

Outside:

I had to rush off for Book Club right after this, but my feet were sore from wearing these shoes all day, so I switched to kitten heels:

Much easier for the 4-block trek each way.

Check out the silk-screened pattern on the skirt:

That's Queen Anne's lace (the flower). When I was a kid, our side garden was full of this stuff.

I wore my Shi Studio jewelry with this outfit:

The earrings were a gift from Sherylyn, and the necklace was a gift from me (hee).

Cardigan (Kersh), cami (Smart Set), skirt (Smoking Lily, consignment), belt (Plum), shoes (Me Too), jewelry (Shi Studios).

In the mornings while I get ready, the cats follow me around. Vizzini decided to pull down L's towel to make a little sleeping nest:

He totally looks guilty. Dude, that towel is not for sleeping on!

After work on Friday, I had plans to meet up with my friend Tammy for dinner. I wanted to be able to show off my great consignment find and my tattoo, so I did a classic Casual Friday outfit:

This top is new-to-me, from the same consignment shopping trade-in. It's Armani Exchange, and it's silk. I'm a regular at this shop, so Annie lets me dig through the bins of things she's priced but hasn't put out yet - this was marked at $16! Score! Even better, it was free because of my credit.

I wore the boyfriend blazer with it all day for work, but when I got to the restaurant afterwards, I took the jacket off:

The front of the top has tons of little metal strips sewn on it.

The back is a racer-back:

Yay, ink exposure!

Jacket (Banana Republic, thrifted), top (Armani Exchange, consignment), jeans (Seven7, swap from Caro), shoes (Kenneth Cole Reaction, consignment).

I had an emergency fill-in at WW on Saturday morning, but I could only stay till 10:30 because we had an Ultimate game on. My challenge was to wear something that looked professional, but would be easy to change out of at the field.

This worked great, and it was nice and cool, as well as presentable for lunch out after.

Blouse (no brand, consignment), skirt (Cute Options), belt (Plum), shoes (Kenneth Cole Reaction).

Our Ulti game was insane. We had 5 players on each side, and we were very evenly matched. The score ended up being 24-22 (for my team, yay!) - the game went on for nearly 3 hours. We were exhausted, and I am really sore today!

I came home and crashed, partly from drinking a lot of wine with Tammy the night before, partly from getting up at 6:30am to get to work that morning, partly from that marathon game. I napped for a few hours before I got ready to go to a party.

After much debating, I went with a dress I've only worn once.

Hee, Inigo is getting all stretchy in the sun - look at that turkey leg! Toes all splayed!

I last wore this dress here, back in January, with a tee under it and tights. As you can see from those pictures, this is a scoop-necked tank dress. Doesn't look very scoop-necked above, does it?

The dress is actually very thin t-shirt material, with rows of sequins sewn on it - it's quite thin and drapey, and doesn't have any darts or shaping to it. So I reversed it and wore it backwards:Which also shows off my tattoos nicely. I'm so clever.

L and I walked to down for a slice of pizza, so I threw on my turquoise cord jacket:

I stuck with the same shoes as I'd worn on Friday, as they are good for walking (and for very sore legs).

Dress (Esprit), shoes (Kenneth Cole Reaction, consignment), jacket (Gap, consignment), earrings (local), ring (Lavishy).

I hope you all had a great weekend!

The Periodic Table of Awesome and a Bright Bottom

I went for a little trip down to my local consignment shop this weekend, the one where I take in bags of clothes, Annie goes through them and then she tells me how much credit I can shop with. This time I got $150! Sweet!

Many of my clothes (as you know) are thrifted or pretty cheap on consignment and I usually get good wear out of them before I get tired of them. Sometimes I make a profit! Anyway, two of my items from yesterday and today were "purchased" with my credit.

The first being this skirt I wore on Monday:
Before we all moan, "Oh, another black skirt," I must say that this is yet another Smoking Lily find - and all of $23. And you know that means it's not just Another Black Skirt.

Oh no, my friends, this is the Periodic Table of Awesome Skirt:

Although this skirt didn't have the Smoking Lily label in it, I've seen the periodic table print around enough to know that this is one of theirs (the content label matches all of my other clothes). Plus, here's a couple of examples of it in other items by them: the original Periodic Table of Awesome (I'm totally stealing that name for this skirt now!), and a ladies' tee with it, both from their blog.

This skirt is a cotton/spandex mix, like a thick t-shirt material. The waist is nice and loose (and low, which is why I'm wearing the cashmere shell outside of it).

I'm wearing my French Connection jacket again (last seen here) and my Fluevog Coffee Sumatras (last seen here).

Here's a better look at the skirt pattern:

I like the touches of the gold flowers (also hand-silk-screened). And hey, my favourite element is there: molybdenum! Who doesn't love molybdenum??

Jacket (French Connection, thrifted), top (Ellen Tracy, swap from Caro), skirt (Smoking Lily, consignment), necklace (consignment), shoes (Fluevog, Coffee Sumatra).

Today was the first day I've been able to walk to and from work since getting my tattoo - it felt great to be moving again! The tattoo has healed up and I'm just keeping it moisturized now. We have a party to go to this weekend, so I'm excited to show it off in all its glory.

Anyway, today is also the day I let a little bit of it peek out at the office:

I love when fashion bloggers write about their tattoos (like Audi's great post here from last week), because it helps me figure out how I want to present mine, as well as to consider how I want (or don't want) it to be seen. As I work at an IT company, and I'm easily the dressiest person there, and other people have visible tattoos, it's not really an issue. However, I am the front desk person and I think it's important that I present a respectable and professional first impression if a client comes to our office (which is very infrequent).

I chose to have a little bit of my tattoo creep up the back of my neck because I like to be able to see it myself and have people see it and wonder about that lady ("is that a tattoo?").

I'm also showing off the back of this new-to-me sweater that I picked up (also $23). I love the rich bronzy-olive colour and the smocked back detail.

I also wanted to wear this bright skirt one last time before I put it in the consignment pile (I have another yellow skirt I like more) - I noticed that Megan is doing a Bright Bottom theme day in her next Fashion Challenge, so this one's for you, hon!

Here's a better look at the back detail on the cardi:

Isn't that nice? I love those extra details.

The outside shot shows the colours much better:

It's still cooler here than most places (it was up to 24 degrees today - that's hot for us!), so I can wear layers of sweaters still!

The stuff:

I wore my olive cut-out t-shirt (seen one day here) underneath everything - it was the exact same colour!

Those are my gold shoes - they are getting more and more comfy with each wear as the leather weaving stretches out.

The jangly bits:

I liked how the bronzy jewelry looked with the green.

Sweater (Kensie, consignment), t-shirt (RW & Co., consignment), skirt (Club Monaco, consignment), shoes (Aldo, consignment), earrings (Plum), bracelet (Jacob).

Halters, Sequins and a Parasol

Ah, my long weekend is over...and what fun it was!

On Friday, I headed to town to meet up with Elaine at an art show that our former art teacher was doing at a local boutique. It was sunny but with a chilly wind (welcome to July on the West coast), so I covered up: I had a quick browse through Value Village (nothing), and shopped around with Elaine for a while before stopping for a beer. So lovely.

This is my parachute skirt (last seen here), my sparkly sequined tank (last seen here, last August!) and my denim shirt tied around my waist. So good for keeping the tattoos out of the sun.

I added my fringed sandals (last worn a couple of weeks ago) for a bit of boho:

I walked to town in these and shopped for hours - no pain!

I bought this awesome handmade leather cuff at a market downtown for $15:

It's by SkinzNhydez Steampunk Gear - hi, Ian! He was one of the artists who participated in the Art Gallery event I went to a few weeks ago. I wore the cuff all afternoon.

Shirt (Esprit, consignment), tank (Costa Blanca, consignment), skirt (Cute Options), shoes (Kenneth Cole Reaction, consignment), cuff (SkinsNhydes Steampunk Gear).

On Saturday, we did our usual breakfast out. I wanted to show my ink a little, so I broke out the halter top dress:

I have had this dress for a few years now - it's survived many a closet cull. I last wore it almost exactly a year ago!

How pretty they look:

Of course, I can't actually expose that much skin to the sun - it's bad for my skin (melanomas run in my family) and it's bad for the tattoos.

Aside from sunblocking up (SPF 50, baby!), I have another weapon in my arsenal:

See it sitting beside me?

It's a parasol!

My city has a Chinatown - very old, and in places, quite seedy. It's also got some amazing shops and is fully of little hidden gems. I got this paper and bamboo parasol in one of the tourist shops several years ago for $9.99.

I opened up most of the ones in the baskets to find the one with the best design (the quality varied greatly):

This parasol has saved me so many times from harsh sun, most memorably at our friend Chris' outdoor summer wedding where 3 other guests huddled under it with me to keep from burning.

Dress (Vero Moda), shoes (Kenneth Cole Reaction, consignment).

On Sunday, we met up with friends for breakfast. Not wanting to do the parasol thing twice in a row, I opted for the tied-up menswear shirt over my other halter dress:

I liked the very balletic look of this. It was wonderfully cool and swooshy.

Despite the seeming modesty of how this looks in photos:

...this is a boobtacular dress. I never wear it without something over it (last worn with a sweater over it here).

It does show off my back very well:

I don't have a lot of clothes that will allow me to show off my tattoos - and I'm not really going to start wearing backless to work or anything, so aside from some party occasions, this is about it for building outfits around my tattoos. I just had to do it, though, hee!

Dress (Ricki's, consignment), shirt (Banana Republic, thrifted), shoes (Ingledews, consignment), rose (Roberta's Hats).

Today, Monday, I mostly stayed home and hung out with L. It was very relaxing. We did have to go get groceries, so I put something decent on:

My silver and gold ornamented tee and my purple fluttery skirt (last seen here).

Tee (BCBGMaxAzria, consignment), skirt (Le Chateau, consignment), shoes (Indigo by Clarke's).