Irregular Programing

I can't really say posting outfit photos is going back to the regular swing of things around here when it seems to be the complete opposite. Zombie Walks, pastries, festivals... But I guess that's the point of having my own blog, I can post anything I want to here. Years from now I'll prefer scrolling through this stuff than forced outfit shots, I'm certain. However, I do still take the occasional outfit photo and here's a new outfit I enjoyed wearing in mid-October.

Leather Jacket - Danier
Neck warmer - Gift from Anne

Sweater-dress - Eva-B in Montreal

Leggings - Can't remember

Boots - Thrifted from Value Village

Glasses - A pharmacy in Chéticamp, NS

What possessed me to buy a wooly sweater-dress in the middle of July is beyond me, but I think the face on the front had a lil' somethin' to do with it. I'm a sucker for cheesy stuff. And this is definitely that. My friend Laura saw it on me and instantly said "So 80's!" which explains a lot methinks.

I haven't got a whole lot else to say at the moment. I had a Demo Assistant shift at school this morning, helping a Chef during an Intermediate Pastry demo while he made Délice Caramel (which I also got to enjoy, yay!) and now I'm home for the afternoon until I head back for a Canning Workshop this evening.

Tomorrow I've got a Prep Kitchen Assistant shift which will probably be a bit more stressful since the Cuisine Chefs are less than enthused about having us Basic Pastry students in their kitchen, with our lack of general cuisine skills. I'm still looking forward to it, even if I am nervous. Everything's that made me nervous or frightened so far has turned out to be totally groovy for the most part so this is probably going to be that way too. I hope you have a great Monday and a good start to your week. Cheers!

Love All The Trees

Earlier this month I went for a walk through the Arboretum by Dow's Lake to take some photos of the changing trees. I was still a bit early in the season to really catch the trees in their full splendor, but it was a lovely sight nonetheless. And as much as I dislike winter, there's nothing like a crisp fall afternoon with the sun shining down!

Neck warmer - Gift from Anne

Jacket - Thrifted from Value Village

Jeggings - Fancy Sox

Moccassins - Sears, Hush Puppies

I didn't feel like carting my tripod with me all the way there so that explains why my outfit photos are still being taken on my boring old terrace. At least the maple tree behind me is sort of starting to change over! I've had this jacket a little over a year now, and I'm still so happy to have thrifted it. It's perfect for the nippier days and the cooler nights.

I'm going to head out for a little evening stroll with my good friend Tina soon - it's great now that she's living nearby again - to enjoy another lovely clear night. There's barely a breeze and the sky is void of clouds so the moon - even less than full - is shining its light down on everything. The yellow and orange leaves look so otherworldly in their moon-glow. I hope you're all having a lovely week so far! Cheers!

Another Newbie

You might recall a little less than a month ago when I shared photos of my first ever crested gecko hatchling. Well yesterday I got home from work to discover that an egg from the next clutch had hatched during the afternoon! I was thrilled, and I'm in love with the wee thing already. Its clutch-mate (since crested geckos lay 2 eggs at a time) still has yet to hatch, but I figure it'll join its sibling in another few days. Before photos of the new baby gecko though, here's a new outfit.

Top - Fairweather

Skirt - No idea, some mall shop

Leggings - Sirens, I think

Sandals - Thrifted from Value Village

I wore this last Saturday to help my friend Chrissy (who took these photos) start packing up her apartment. In retrospect, wearing a white top while packing was kind of a bad idea and I wound up getting pretty dusty, but nothing a good wash won't clear up. I bought this orange tube skirt and one in pink for $5 each, only to realize they're near transparent. I wore this orange one as a tube top a little while ago actually, so while I can't wear them on their own, they're still proving very useful for light layering. Now if only I'd noticed my leggings were uneven...

Getting dressed that day made me realize how few shorter tops I actually have that aren't long-sleeved. I went through a phase where everything had to cover my butt, which is fine and dandy, but sometimes I want something that doesn't have the ability to stretch near-to-my-knees. Methinks I'll have to do a spot of thrifting to remedy this sometime soon. And now... the gecko babeh!

This photo is slightly blurred - I apologize - but I didn't think it would be very polite to blind the wee thing with a camera flash not hours out of its egg. You can see that the egg on the left is much bigger than the empty one on the right because it's still full of gecko cuteness. The eggs grow and expand as the little geckos do, so once they're empty they tend to collapse into themselves, unlike hard-shelled bird eggs.

I really love this last photo because you can see that the baby is still all wrinkly in its newness. If I'm really lucky I'll go home today to find that the second egg has hatched open. It was still intact when I left at lunch time though. It's so exciting knowing there's a little life in there, I can't wait to see what it looks like. I hope you're all having a good week so far. Cheers!

Red Hot Shoes

I can go outside again! It's finally not bitter cold outside! It's supposed to be gorgeous all weekend, which is great, although it's too bad I'm still a little under the weather. This cold really kicked me when I was down and I spent a few days feeling really rough and not even leaving my apartment. Today's the first day I really feel 'normal' again, although not quite back up to full speed.

Tunic - Thrifted from Value Village 

Jeggings - Hue 

Shoes - Thrifted from Value Village

I caved and bought myself some jeggings. The odds of my wearing them as actual pants is pretty slim and this is probably the closest to that I will get. I'm still just really not comfortable with everybody being able to see every single curve and cranny, you know? However I am totally comfortable rocking these killer shoes. Red suede for the win! I scored these when thrifting with my friends Kirsten and Omar last Friday. I was happy to trot them out for a late breakfast with my grandparents today.

 

Things are going to be changing big time for me, in the next several months. I was notified a few days ago that the library in which I work will be closed in April of 2013, part of the recent sweeping budget cuts the Canadian Government has passed. My position will no longer be necessary, and this puts me in a special place. Long story short, I can either have them try to find me another job when the library closes, or I can take a large lump sum of money as well more optional money for education.

 

 

I have no idea what I'm going to do with myself yet, except that the 2nd option seems to be the one I will take. I really hate my current job and if I can get out, with a nice chunk of money, that sure looks good to me. I hope you are all having a really fantastic Easter weekend for those who celebrate, and a good regular one for those who don't! Cheers!

Flouncing Around

This awesome skirt was another of the gifts I received from wonderful Heather. It's awesome and flouncy and demands to be spun around in. All the time. Everywhere. So I spend a lot of time twirling instead of walking.

Top - Garage sale, from mom

Skirt - Gift from Heather

Leggings - Who knows?

Boots - A shop on Sparks Street

I'm pretty frustrated. I recently purchased online a new terrarium for one of my snakes. I took the day off yesterday to be home to receive it... only to open the box and discover my $285 purchase had a shattered left side and cracked front. After an unhappy phone call and some e-mailing, the company promised to send me a replacement at no cost, but only because I'd had previous issues with them (someone canceled my original order several days in and I had to re-order) but that usually they'd make me deal with UPS.

They said they'd crate the next one for extra measure but I really hope it arrives in one piece. It's stupid because they say on their website that they aren't responsible for damages during freight, but don't allow the option to purchase insurance. All I know is, that if the next one arrives damaged, I'm taking that company down. It's still small and independent, and in the reptile community, it doesn't take much to ruin a company when it turns out they do bad business.

I noticed in the damaged one's box that the sides only had small squares of styrofoam instead of full ones, and it looks like the smaller size actually put pressure on the terrarium and caused it to break. Seems obvious to me, so if it repeats itself... I will not be a happy camper. There's no reason you can't spend an extra $0.50 for a full sheet of styrofoam and save your clients from receiving a useless $285 box of shattered acrylic.

I really want this work week to be over. It just feels like such a major waste of time being at work. Winter is always the time of year that most makes me hate my job and the way we all live our lives. Society is so maddening. But anywho. I hope you're all having a good week. Cheers!

Embroidered Love

I'm super happy to be sharing this outfit with you all! This lovely embroidered blouse was an excited purchase I made on Etsy a while ago. I saw it minutes after it was listed and I just knew it had to be mine. And since the asking price was $12, I wasn't going to argue, and promptly purchased it. I am so happy I did!

Tunic Dress - Purchased from Mr. Idaho's Vintage on Etsy
Leggings - Some store in a mall
Sandals - Dr. Scholl's, thrifted from Value Village

Belt - From Heather at Moonshine Junkyard
Purse - Thrifted from Value Village

I wore this out just to do groceries and run a few errands. I never expected it to be such a hit! Three separate cashiers complimented me on the blouse, it really made my day. It's little things like that that make a difference.

I picked up this amazing leather purse for $8! The purse, these sandals, and the purse and sandals from this post were all purchased at the same time actually. I got super lucky! I wasn't even going to go thrifting, but after contemplating spending $30 on some sandals at Walmart, I figured I'd get more bang for my buck at the thrift store... and I was right! I left with 3 pairs of shoes, two purses and a nightie and still spent less than what the one pair of sandals at Walmart would have cost me! And everything was like new, to boot.

I loved this outfit so much it was all I could do not to wander around smiling like a ninny, especially after all the nice compliments. The leggings work great with this, but I look forward to trying to style it some other way. This feels a lot like wearing pants to me and in the summer it'll be too warm for the leggings anyway.

I spent my weekend pretty much just packing and playing too much Sims 3 (I admit, I'm addicted) but it was enjoyable nonetheless. When you're packing everything away to move someplace else, you wind up finding things you don't see much of most of the time. I spent a good half hour reading old diary entries from when I was 14 years old. Seems like a lifetime ago when it was less than a decade!

Oh, and before I forget... I've joined Chictopia! I kept hearing about it and being linked to it, and finally actually took the time to look. Seems like a fun community. I'm loving seeing so many outfits, and it's a whole new source for fashion blogs since so many of the people already blog about style.

I hope you all had a great weekend! Cheers!