Happy Mother's Day

I have a great love for all the mothers in my life, and I hope each and every mom of you has a wonderful day with your children! I baked up a special moka cake for the occasion, just a few days after baking a birthday cake for a friend. The weather's gotten quite cold - cold enough to cover all my garden plants - so it's no surprise I'm back to baking again.

Leather jacket - Danier

Skirt - Thrifted from the Salvation Army

Rubber boots - Thrifted from Value Village

This photo is back on April 25th, which is why things are still brown and grey compared to the lush green outside now, but the weather is essentially the same. I just couldn't bring myself to post this on a beautiful sunny day. Today suits this!

The first cake was a simple vanilla cake with confectioners frosting, for my friend (and incidentally also a momma) Karen's birthday. It was good, but sooo sweet. I won't be making it again. I imagine if someone likes very sweet things that would be the cake for them. The second is a moka cake, génoise layers soaked with coffee syrup, with coffee butter cream icing and toasted almonds. It was a recipe from my Cordon Bleu collection. My writing abilities are rusty, I'd really need to practice again. I'll be bringing the Mom cake to my parents' later today, and I can't wait to eat it. I hope you all had a great weekend. Cheers!

Braided

It's windy out today, and instead of just sticking my hair up in a bun like I tend to do, I gave myself braided pig tails. They tend to make me feel childish but I like 'em anyway. Just as how I like things with garish patterns and bright colours. Whoever owned this top before me - it was actually probably a dress - hacked off the bottom of it a little unevenly but that doesn't stop me wearing it.

Top - Thrifted from Value Village

Jeggings - Hue, from Fancy Sox

Leather Boots - Thrifted from Value Village

I've been on a roll with outfits this last little while... I'm not exactly certain what's brought this about but I hope it keeps up. Now I have to pack up the wee baby gecko that was in one of my recent posts to bring it to the pet store. It's the last baby from the last clutch hatched out from my breeding crested gecko pair. I separated the adults last summer though so no new babies this year.

That's definitely a good thing because I don't need to deal with incubating eggs or itty witty babies while moving, that's for certain. No matter how cute the wee things are when they're fresh from the egg. I'll have to keep a tight reign on myself once I have moved though, because I'll have more space for critters in my next home. I just have to keep reminding myself that my currents beasties are still getting bigger and are going to require more room in the eventual future. But anyway, I hope you're having a good day. Cheers!

Fuzzy Wuzzy

I spent last winter with a scarf wrapped around my head because I couldn't find a hat that satisfactorily kept my ears warm. Not so this winter! I bought these earmuffs way back in early September, knowing they would be perfect once things got chilly, and wearing them always makes me happy. Other people love them too - or so I assume - because the moment they spot my fuzzy muffs people start to smile. They are rather preposterous but that's part of why I love them.

Fox Fur Earmuffs - Trading Post on Highway 17

Neckwarmer - Gift from the lovely Anne

Leather jacket - Danier

Sweater - Thrifted from Value Village

Skirt - Thrifted from the Salvation Army

Boots - Thrifted from Value Village

Since I've stopped working in an office, my form of dress has started to change again. I hadn't realized how much my job influenced my style. With having a strict uniform at the Cordon Bleu and just wearing basics in the kitchen at work, it's got me gravitating to outfits that really bring me pleasure during my free time.

I'm starting to feel like I have too much clothing. Most of it goes unworn, languishing in my closet and drawers. I sense another intense wardrobe purge is coming on, but it's going beyond that. I just have too much stuff in general. So many things just weighing me down, things I don't actually need.

My priorities are changing with me as I grow. While I have no real interest in living a completely minimalistic lifestyle, I do feel like a lot of what I keep is being kept for the wrong reasons. How much do my childhood mementos really mean to me if they're buried in a box in the storage closet? I've been carting some of this stuff around with me for so many years, but I never stopped to think why I was keeping it. This winter is going to hold more changes for me, and I'm hoping come spring that I will have managed to shed a lot of this excess stuff. I hope you're having a really great weekend so far, I know I'm enjoying mine. Cheers!

Characters

Do I look like myself? I felt like myself when I wore this. Other than being a little self-conscious about the whole pants thing. It's still taking some getting used to for me. I love cool autumn weather for being able to wear my leather jacket and hoodie together, so snuggly and comfy.

Leather Jacket - Danier

Hoodie - Fairweather

AC/DC shirt - Very Old

Jeggings - Hue

Boots - Thrifted from Value Village

I haven't really got much else to say about all this. It's nothing new for me, just echoes of a style and way of life long past. But I'm forever evolving and changing and I think this might be the New Era of the Pant. You'll see :P Cheers!

Leather Layers

Happy Monday everybody, I hope you're having a good one! How were your weekends? Mine was really nice. I cooked up a big batch of corn chowder, and then made way too many citrus butter cookies. And I worked on my zombie novel and made myself a necklace to match today's (that I am currently wearing, not posting) outfit.

Jacket - Danier Leather

Dress - Purchased from Reluctant Damsel on Etsy

Boots - Some shop on Sparks Street

Cardigan - Thrifted from Value Village

Shoes - From my grandmother

The first photo is walking-to-work-Cel, and the second is at-work-Cel. Work-Cel involves much less leather haha... I can't help it though, I love leather and most things made out of it. Speaking of which, these are my new (although now a few weeks old) leather boots! They rubbed the back of my right ankle raw the first few days but that seems to be all sorted out, and they are some good walking boots for me.

I've been falling behind with my blog reading and blog commenting, which I mostly blame on NaNoWriMo. Must. Achieve. Daily word limit. Must not give up. My zombie novel seems to be going good so far though, and I got through the weekend while keeping my word count where it needed to be. I'd been worried the weekend would put a kink in things. But I had a really good writing session Sunday morning that saved my skin.

I used to write stories and tales all the time in my teens. I'm not really sure why I stopped, considering how much I enjoy doing this. I guess that's what NaNoWriMo is all about... getting people to start writing!

This isn't the greatest outfit. The dress has been posted about oodles of times before, my hair looks like crap and my face is all weird and I look horribly tired. But eh, sometimes, I just look like a tired, frazzled, frumpy person and that's all there is to it. At least I'm not wearing sweat pants!

I hope you all have a groovy week. Cheers!