Weekend Round-Up: A Day with Friends, and Officer Vizzini on the Beat

What a lovely weekend it's been. Nothing much of anything, although there was a flurry of cleaning (the house smells of bleach and lavender). 

L and I went for breakfast on Saturday morning.

The skies opened up and poured rain! Although it wasn't too too cold, I covered up more. But still - colour!

My Kraft Dinner yellow sweater was last seen here in early January, with black leather and the same power lines belt buckle.

My denim maxi skirt hasn't seen much action lately - I last wore it in a punk-inspired ensemble in November 2013 here. Aside for the aforementioned cleaning flurry (and a subsequent nap), I wore this skirt from 9:30 am till 2:00 am.

The barely-seen boots were last worn here in February.

My outerwear ensemble.

Complete with crazy hat! I have to thank Judith of Style Crone for inspiring me to wear hats more. Why not?

I don't mind the side-eye. I give good side-eye right back.

Also, I am wearing orange lippy - a spring trend I wholeheartedly embrace!

Yeah, I'm wearin' a hat, what of it?

The coat is a lovely wool Betsey Johnson that I thrifted (it's even made in the US!). I last wore it here (2nd outfit) on a December 2013 Saturday.

Here's a better look at this magnificent beast of a hat:

The pin is a Smoking Lily gold leather heart

It's beautifully soft and stays perched on my head without any clip or elastic - and without giving me hat-head!

It's an Henri original: 

Based on the shape, I'd say it's from the '50s.

Check it out - this precipitated many lewd comments later on in the evening.

"Genuine Supreme Beaver" with some crazy spelling of Czechoslovakia

This was a really sweet gift from my dear friend Elaine.

Jacket (Betsey Johnson, thrifted), sweater (Spense, consignment), skirt (InWear, consignment), boots (Gold Button), belt (Tony Lama, thifted), buckle (locally-made, gift from L), hat (Andre Original, vintage 50s, gift from Elaine), pin (Smoking Lily), necklace (Global Village, gift from Mom), earrings (local, gift from L), wood ring (Dots), purse (The Trend, thrifted).

A whirlwind cleaning of the condo ensued after breakfast and some chore shopping (as opposed to fun shopping!), L and I napped for an hour before heading to town to meet up with 10 of our closest besties for drinks and general carousing at the pub. Cat and Ross and the two of us had already planned an evening of Arkham Horror, so we left after a few hours.

There were points for wearing green for St. Patrick's Day. You can bet I will be green head to toe tomorrow!

Changed out the top for a green combo of lounge-around-the-house long-sleeved tee layered under this green sweater, which is an old Winner's purchase, and was last worn here (3rd outfit) in October 2013 for a weekend brunch.

I also swapped out the higher-heeled boots for my new-to-me Fly Girl shoes. Good for walking to and from town in the rain! I last wore them here (3rd outfit) a couple of weeks ago in another maxi skirt outfit - I need to wear them with a short skirt before I pack 'em away for fall.

As above, except: Sweater (Max Studio), tee (Plum), belt (vintage 80s, thrifted), necklace (gift from Mom).

With the warmer weather, Vizzini is busy catching up on the neighbourhood business. 

"Seagulls, cars, garbage bins...all as it should be."

Check for our neighbour's cat:

"He's not on at his post! I'll be reporting that."

 I like watching Vizzini's paws as he navigates the narrow ledge of the deck.

"And..gotcha! What's going on behind my back?"

 Squirrels are beginning to poke around in the Gary oaks.

"Begone, vile rodent!"

 Vizzini's so fast, he's often a blur.

"You gulls, back to your roof!"

 He sees all.

"Gotta check this end of the deck now - is that a bug?"

 There's always time for a quick break.

"And back to the --- *lick*"

 He never misses anything.

"What's that up there? A door frame?"

And around again he goes, on his patrol.

"It's safe to go about your business now, ma'am."

And all is right with the world. 

Hope you're having an awesome weekend!

Formal Friday: Lemon and Rainy Florals, and a Wee Shop

Hey-oh! Friday, Friday, Friday! Off to drink wine and hang with L, but first, clothes.

Spring, spring, spring! It feels right around the corner and bam! I am all about the colours now. I'm identifying some of the trends that I like - it's fun to change up one's style in a seasonal way. The trends never last too long anyway, right?

Although I generally dislike pastels on me, this lemon yellow cardi is saturated enough to work with my colouring. And I do adore yellow. I last wore it here in February, as a gateway outfit with houndstooth. I'm down to $3.00 per wear on it after 2 outfits!

The cami underneath is Liz Claiborne. I only wear it for layering. I liked the rich orange of it with the red and orange in the skirt.

The skirt's colour palette of cooler than the mostly warmer tones I usually wear, but I'm liking it. I last wore the skirt here in January with leather and ruffles (another spring trend I'm all over).

Outerwear:

I love this raincoat! It started out a little sunny, a little rainy, then whoosh! Tropical downpour...followed by sun...then more rain. Typical.

The stuff:

I last wore my Presence Impulse shoes here in November, with cranes and snowflakes. My feet were happy in flats today.

Cardigan (no label, thrifted), cami (Liz Claiborne, thrifted), skirt (Attention, thrifted), shoes (Presence Impulse, Fluevog), earrings (the Cobbler).

Thinking about my spring wardrobe and colours, I went to the mall (I know! the horror!) after work. I went to Jacob to look at their Made in Canada items, and Le Chateau to look at their Made in Canada items; there was an excellent selection in both stores, with lots of dresses, pants and jackets on sale.

However, I had already found a dress at Migration, a small local business that sells all locally-made items, including clothes and jewelry. Check it out:

It's a gorgeous blush pink lace lined with blush pink satin. I hear blush is the new black (ha!).

It's by Walk in Clozet, and I can find nothing about them (although wow, I want a really big walk-in closet now). The dress was half off the already-reasonable $79.95.

Check out the awesome sleeves:

They split open! How cool! And the lace is flowers and spider webs! Awesome.

I also went to the Bay for more micro-fishnet nylons. I found a couple of cool pairs of socks for $4.00 a pair.

Do I dare wear them under shoes like shown on the tag?

I couldn't find where they're made on the tags or on the socks. But I am letting this go, as I am not into buying second-hand socks so much.

I also went to MAC in the Bay to stock up on some spring colours:

A nice pinky blush (I usually wear a darker coral) called Rosy Outlook, and three new shadows. The purple is Plum Dressing, the cream is Shroom (a long-time favourite that I was nearly out of), and the gold-y brown is Amber Lights, a colour suggested to me by reader Sheila (thank you!). MAC is all made in Canada! Woo!

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Special bonus! Playing in my closet with my new dress.

Oh yeah, I'm totally going to wear that out some time soon. Gawd, I love that fur hat.

Special special bonus: boob shot!

This is what happens when you push the button but haven't set the timer for the stair picture.

Happy weekend, everyone!

Draggin' My Feet

This week is draggin', especially because I have a couple of days off soon. Might be the weather, which has decided it must rain in time for the weekend. 

Or it could be that I'm wearing dragons. Hah!

We had a huge visit of VPs from all over Western Canada at my office today. Best outfit needed! "Very professional, but still very Sheila," one of them told me (he's met me many times).

Looks like boxy blazers are back in style. Good thing I still have my awesome black boyfriend blazer that I thrifted ages ago. I last wore it here in December 2013 with a very Christmassy blouse.

The sleeveless blouse underneath is part of my dragon ensemble - it's scales! I first wore it here in November 2013 with pants (I know! Pants!).

My yellow skirt is just to die for. I *heart* it so much. I first wore it here in February with leopard and angora. Naturally, I got some kind of mark on it during my day, but it came out with my trusty Folex. All these light colours for spring - you've got to have your stain remover!

The stuff:

Many oohs and ahhs over my shoes. "Look, dragons!" I exclaimed as I hoisted my legs in a very unladylike way over my desk. You didn't actually think I am anything other than a total nerd when it comes to my clothes, did you?

I last wore them here in April 2013 with my green checkerboard dress. I don't wear them very often anymore, but I still love them. Never giving them up.

I mean, how often do you find shoes with dragons on them?

The bling:

A belt I'm fond of, my chain leather cuff (to go with the hidden chain on the neckline of the blouse), and a dragon pin of L's (it's stamped D'Orlan) that I think I found in a thrift store. Can't remember, too long ago!

Jacket (Banana Republic, thrifted), blouse (Rachel Roy, thrifted), skirt (Mister Leonard, thrifted), shoes (Aldo), belt (Gap), cuff (handmade), pin (D'Orlan), earrings (real gold, gifts from L).

Think Pink! and Florals

The cherry blossoms are starting to bloom here - it's so pretty! I must get out this weekend and take some pictures. Until I do, you'll have to imagine it. Let me evoke it with some pink.

I've been on the lookout for the perfect pink skirt for a while (much like the search for the perfect red skirt). Searching for that kind of perfection is kind of fun, especially when you're poring through the chaos that thrift stores can be.

My dark floral blouse gets another airing (with super-secret hidden-in-plain-sight necklace!). I last wore it here in January, while demonstrating how I pre-plan all my outfits on Sunday.

The skirt was thrifted on the weekend here. It's a smidge big on me, but I don't mind that. Better than being too tight!

I have pale pink fishnets on. I skipped a belt because of the loose waist, and also because this blouse has a tendency to untuck when I lift my arms.

The stuff:

Sweet Coffee shoe goodness - my Sumatras were last worn here in February (speaking of perfect red skirts, there's my leather one).

My secret floral necklace. It goes so well with this blouse.

I enjoyed all the pinks, purples and in-between shades. I felt perfectly spring-y!

Blouse (no label, thrifted), skirt (Conrad C, thrifted), shoes (Coffee Sumatra, Fluevog), necklace (local), earrings (Le Chateau).

Olive the Colours! And Shoe Shine!

I am so excited to wear bright, light colours! Mind you, I'm not totally on board with this whole pastel thing, especially mint green, a colour that I particularly loathe (check me out in 2009, ranting about my mother-in-law's mint green walls of her house, ha ha). It's really hard to wear.

Not hard? Olive!

And red and blue! Because I like colour - all of/olive (hee, see what I did?) the colours. Except mint green.

My Ron Leal (namecheck: Canadian high-end designer) jacket, last seen here (2nd outfit) in January.

I've layered it over my red wool dress, which I last wore here in February with a serious multitude of reds. Not sure if I will keep this dress in my spring/summer wardrobe - although it's sleeveless, I have another lighter-fabric red dress (this one) that doesn't get as much love in the cold months.

I built the outfit around the scarf, of course.

The stuff:

My "I [heart] Billy" shoes. Which I never wear. I last wore them in May 2013 (eep!) here with a jacket I passed along. I think it's time to pass these along - they are about a half-size too small, and although I love them, I don't really LOVE them. It's a fine line.

I nearly forgot about Bella's "Shoe Shine" over at the Citizen Rosebud - go check her out, along with all the other well-shod peeps!

I spotted this scarf again the other day in my closet - I store my scarves in open shoe boxes, and my closet is in dire need of a clean-out so things are getting mess - and thought, "I need to wear this!" I put it at eye level (I'm very visual) and when I was planning my outfits on Sunday, I pulled the dress, shoes and jacket into the scarf party.

Simple accessories do the job.

Jacket (Ron Leal, thrifted), dress (The Limited, thrifted), shoes (I [Heart] Billy), belt (Danier Leather), scarf (thrifted), earrings (Joyce's, vintage 80s), ring (Wendy Brandes).

Blue Skies, Blue Skirt

Oh, spring is in the air! And in my clothes. I am jonesing for my spring/summer wardrobe, and am excited about doing the Grand Swap at the end of the month. 

Three items I will NOT be getting rid of (and which will be staying in my spring/summer closet) are this top, this skirt and these shoes. Love 'em all.

I last wore the blouse here in February with a jacket. I didn't need a jacket today!

I really love how this blouse goes with everything! Today, I popped this skirt against it (there is a little bit of blue in the berries in the fruit part of the floral of the shirt).

I last wore this gorgeous vintage cerulean skirt here in January with black and white. I just realized that neither my blouse nor my skirt have labels in them. Weird.

The stuff:

My totally neutral metallic shoes were last seen - whoa, can this be right? - back here in August 2013 with a red red dress.

It's hard to see my necklace against my pasty skin, but I liked how ladylike it made me look (not act, ha).

The cross pin is actually at the back of the blouse, at the top of the neck. There's supposed to be a button and loop there, but it's missing, so I just pinned it. I'm so creative.

Blouse (no label, thrifted), skirt (no label, handmade, vintage, thrifted), shoes (Ralph Lauren, thrifted), belt (Plum), necklace (vintage, thrifted), bracelet (faux Gucci, gift from Mom and Dad from the 80s), pin (L's Grandma W), earrings (Aldo Accessories), lapis lazuli/Fulvia ring (Wendy Brandes).