Cinco de Mayo y Los Zapatos!

Feliz cinco de Mayo mi amigas! This is going to be a bit of a mash up post. Some old outfit photos from way back on April 18th, some photos of Duschenay Falls from my drive home Easter weekend and talk of Jeffrey Campbell shoes. These photos are taken on the terrace of my new apartment. I was having a rather cruddy day so I just took the photos I needed and left it at that.

Blouse - Thrifted from the Salvation Army

Skirt - Thrifted from Value Village
Belt - Ardene's

Shoes - Spring

I've had this shirt a while, but it's finally been relegated to the donation pile. It already had the bad habit of riding up, since my bosom is a bit too large for it, but now it has other issues. I mentioned in my last post how I'd lost weight. Well from the front, the shirt looks fine. But from the side...

Holy extra fabric, Batman!

There's probably going to be more stuff headed to the donation pile for this reason, but I'm not certain how I feel about that. I love some of my dresses, and now they're getting too big... And it seems almost inappropriate to alter a vintage dress, you know? I guess we'll see what happens. I do like the idea of having room for new clothes though, heh.

These are photos I took of Duschenay Falls on Duschenay creek just outside of North Bay, Ontario back on Easter weekend. All the spring melt has the creeks and rivers swollen! It's too bad it was so gloomy and overcast - not to mention it was getting late - because this place is so beautiful when the sun is shining.

And now for talk of Jeffrey Campbell! Until quite recently, I hadn't a care for high fashion or designer labels. I didn't recognize any or know any other than the extremely obvious like Gucci and Chanel and such. Well, I think Jeffrey Campbell's shoes are my first designer fashion love affair. I must own a pair of his shoes! And of course I've gone and fallen in love with a pair I'll never be able to get my hands on now. I'm talking about his Splendid sandals that I have been seeing just about everywhere in the blogger world. Shoe envy? Oh yes...

Usually I wouldn't dream of paying for such an expensive shoe but I hear such great things about them that I think I'm going to give it a shot. The fact that "comfortable" is something I hear a lot about JC shoes definitely helps. But since the ones I want are pretty much impossible to find, these are different ones I'm considering. It definitely needs to be narrowed down to one pair though.

These are most likely going to be my eventual purchase.

At least, I like them the most right now.

So what do you think? Do you dig Jeffrey Campbell shoes? Own a pair yourself? Which out of the ones I'm looking at do you like most? Am I out of my mind? ;D Hope you're all having a great day. Cheers!

Hello World, I missed you!

As of late last evening, I am finally connected to the internet in my new apartment. Which means... outfit photos! This is actually what I wore to work Friday April 15th, before I had even moved. I have been in love with this outfit since, I just feel so Joan Harris in it. I've worn it once a week so far and would probably try getting away with it more often if I could. It just feels so ladylike, yet saucy. (Yes, saucy is the best descriptor I could come up with!)

Blouse - Thrifted from the Salvation Army

Skirt - Thrifted from Value Village

Shoes - Spring

I wore this skirt a lot in winter because it's thick and heavy and did a great job keeping me warm. But I was always pairing it with an itchy green sweater for some reason. Then with warmer weather, that sweater was way too hot so I impulsively chose the blouse. And it was like a light turned on and I could see! Why on earth had I not done this before!

I've actually had these shoes for years. I bought them back in 2009 I think, and barely wore them. Suddenly this year I've been gravitating toward them like a moth to the flame. They're super comfy and easy to walk in, and I think they're so cute. I think I was just too insecure to wear them much before.

It was so lovely out when I took these photos too. The sun was warm and shining brightly and it just really felt like spring. (Now if only it would be like that again!) I've worn the blouse often enough before too but I think this is my favourite way to style it. And I am totally fine with re-wearing the same outfits over and over if I happen to love them. I am down with that.

 

There's another reason I really love this outfit though. I recently lost more weight (wee!) and these photos really drove that home to me. It might seem strange, but I just sort of didn't notice the change. It was so progressive and gradual, that it took me putting on last year's spring clothing and their being way too big before I realized the truth. I mean, I knew I weighed less. I just hadn't really noticed it yet.

My weight loss is bringing about some changes in my body, smaller clothing and bra sizes for one thing, that really need some getting used to for me. I'd always been the big girl with the large bosom and now that's a-changing. Have any of you lost a lot of weight? Did you have any difficulties adjusting your mental image of yourself to your new body?

I hope you're all having a great week! Cheers!

FBFF - Fitness and Fashion

Happy Friday everyone! I am ever so glad the weekend is upon us. It seems like this week dragged on forever. I attribute this to my lack of home phone or internet (which hopefully will be connected tonight) and the poopy weather. It's been wet and windy here all week. They actually closed off a large section of the road in front of my work to not only auto traffic but foot traffic too because the winds were so strong they were ripping sections of the buildings' exterior tiling off

Anyway, I'll just jump right in to this week's FBFF, which is all about physical fitness.

1. Do you keep some kind of fitness routine? Why?
I was trying to for a while, but to be honest, I don't work well scheduling in exercise. For one thing... I like sleeping, and so waking up earlier to get some exercise in just really does not appeal to me. And going out of my way to go to a gym, with the time it takes to get there, change, exercise, change, and go home... not my bag. Not to mention that my body isn't always capable of certain actions and I need to roll with that. I usually randomly throw in 50 jumping jacks or a few dozen squats or something before grabbing a shower in the evenings if I'm in the mood.

2. Has working out, maybe training for a marathon or something of that nature, helped with your own perception of body image?
Two years ago I was seeing a personal trainer at a gym. This is what it did to my body image: I felt like a giant fat cow. Maybe I just had a horrid personal trainer, but he told me I needed to lose a set amount of weight before I'd be healthy and I wound up injuring my back and getting depressed from the whole ordeal.

3. When you are hitting the gym or just going out for a long walk what do you wear? Is it about functionality or fashion? 
I am not a person who was pretty clothes in which to exercise. Back when I was going to the gym, I just wore sweatpants and an old band t-shirt. I mean, it's going to be getting all sweaty and gross anyway right? I do walk to work everyday (lucky me!) though and I like to dress in functional clothing that are at least slightly flattering. I had a bit of a hard time finding sweat pants that didn't make me feel frumpy or naked though (I have a thing about pants) and settled for a mix between sweat pants and harem pants. Then I just wear a nice tank top and off I go.

4. Do you feel there is a cultural perception of what you ‘should’ be doing for your own physical fitness?
I think people expect someone trying to get into shape to be going to the gym and doing all these crazy exercises and jogging and junk. I recently lost a lot of weight, but I didn't prescribe to any of the popular methods of such. I actually barely exercised (other than my regular walking) but instead changed my eating habits (not a diet, but a permanent change) and that was a far easier and safer (no back injuries from snacking on raspberries) way for me to lose weight. Today's culture seems obsessed with the fast and immediate way of getting into shape and that's just not one I buy into. 

5.  Dream big… what would be your ultimate fitness goal. 
I want to be stronger, more toned. I've achieved most of the weight loss I really feel I need for my body to be comfortable and healthy (I went from about 185lbs in the spring of 2008 to 135lbs now in 2011) but now I want to pay more attention to building muscle. I've always been a strong girl, doing manual labour growing up and in my teens, so my legs are very muscular as is but I want stronger arms too. I just want to reach a point where my body feels strong, healthy and capable. Luckily, I'm quite near that!

FIN.

In the word's of Porky Pig, "Th-th-that's all folks!" Cheers!

Go away black cloud!

It's been gloomy, dark and raining here for days. More of the same for the near future too. Which makes the fact that my internet connection date has been pushed back even further all the more frustrating. Trapped inside and no internet!

As you can imagine, I was not a happy camper when I found out last evening that the technician had not properly done his job connecting me. I was told it would be another 1-4 days before another technician could come over and "repair" what the initial guy had not been able to do correctly in the first place. Dark clouds indeed. Especially when I'd finally gotten all caught up reading most of the blogs I follow. And now I'm behind again.

I have outfit photos I'm just dying to share but until then... I think I'll share a bit more about my pets! My post mentioning them seemed to stir up some interest, and I'm always happy as a clam to talk about them.

First of all, my pets are my babies. I might not want a child with my own DNA but these little creatures are the next best thing for me. My ball pythons will live up to or even over two decades, and if any of my tarantulas are female, they could live as long too. These pets are not a momentary thing, they're a lifelong commitment for me and it's my job as their caregiver to make certain they have long, healthy lives.

Someone asked how my cat deals with all these critters! Well, he's a normal kitty, and if he could, he'd be allll over those guys in a split second. So this means I need a room just for the animals, one the cat isn't allowed into unless I'm there too to keep an eye out. Now, I live in a 1 bedroom apartment. So I am living in my apartment a little as if it were a bachelor instead.

 My bed is actually in what would usually be the living room, and the actual room with a closing door has all the pets, my sofa and gaming TV and various other whatsits and such that I don't need in my face during my day-to-day. I actually think this is a far more ideal use of the space for me than a regular set up. Not to mention it keeps the cat from causing any chaos with the critters.

This is Pumpkin, a juvenile male tarantula. He's still got a lot of growing to do before he reaches his full 8-10 inches in legspan.

Believe it or not, this was Pumpkin when I first got him 

as a spiderling back in April 2009.

Now technically speaking, I'm not supposed to have my pets in my apartment. But thankfully Ottawa has a city-wide by-law that allows any tenant to have pets - within the law - so long as they do not do any damage to the unit, whether or not the landlord approves. And since most folks haven't a clue about my pets, it's not too much of a problem.

 

This is Rorschach, my 2yrs old spider-morph ball python.

I will admit I'm rather worried at the prospect of moving out West next year. It's one thing moving all these guys across the city - which I did in my car, veeery carefully - and another thing entirely to move them halfway across a continent. I've found some reliable reptile-shippers though, that I am hoping will help simplify things come time.

Until that time though, I need to try and not acquire any others. Which is going to be difficult since I really, really, really want to get my grubby little mitts on a Kenyan Sand Boa. I hope this post was interesting! I promise I'll get back to my normal subject matter once I can actually access the internet from home... Happy Wednesday everyone. Cheers!

P.S. The Styling Dutchman is having a great giveaway, check it out! 

Fluff

Since I can't upload any outfit photos - which is really frustrating - I'm just going to make this a fluff post with some outfits made out entirely of Topshop items. I'm also going to be skipping out on the FBFF questions tomorrow because, for one thing, I'll be in the middle of nowhere with no internet or computer, and simply because this week's questions didn't quite tickle my fancy. But anywho, these pretty things definitely get my attention! If only I had oodles of money...

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

 1 2 3 4 5 6

 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Putting these outfits together has taught me something. I am a slave to matchy-matchy colours. I tried to push myself out of the box with colours and patterns but as you can see - especially in the last one - I tend to turn outfits into an exclusive colour party, where only the select colours few may attend. *is a dork* Anyway, I hope you all have a lovely Easter or Regular Weekend for those of you who don't celebrate. Cheers!

Internets Down

Well my move on Saturday went quite well. We managed to avoid the rain-hail-snow-rain that overwhelmed us in the evening, which is very good. Annoyingly, my internet and phone services were not properly moved over and I'll be disconnected until Tuesday next week. *sigh* This same thing happened to me when I moved into my previous apartment in August last year, I swear I'm cursed.

Anyhow, because of this fact... no outfit posts until after Tuesday! Technically I should be busy unpacking anyway so this will probably help my productivity but... until then, only other-stuff posts. And today's other-stuff post is to thank the lovely lady at Pull Your Socks Up for a blogger award. I gather I'm supposed to share 7 things about myself now! Here goes!

Thing 1: I have been living on my own since the age of 17, when I moved out and away to attend college here in Ottawa. I've lived by myself, with a boyfriend, with several different room mates, and just recently had my parents living with me for a while, and now I am back in an apartment by myself. People often tell me I seem very mature for my age, and I think a large part of that is due to my being self-reliant from such a young age and going through a lot of events that most folks don't go through until they're older.

 Myself back in March of 2008. Big difference eh?

Thing 2: I have a lot of pets. I've posted some photos of them here and there but never talked about all of them. I currently share my living space with 1 cat, 1 western hognose snake, 2 tree frogs, 2 crested geckos, 2 ball pythons, and 8 tarantulas. I've had my cat since I was 16, but I started accumulating all the others in January of 2009. As you can see, it has snow balled just a tad, heh.

 My crested gecko, Stickers.

 My two Grey Tree Frogs, Tic and Tac.

Thing 3: I am currently in an extremely-long-distance relationship with a lad living on the border of Alberta and Saskatchewan, some 3000+ km's away. We met, of all silly ways, on a webcam site called J-TV way back in my college days in 2008. We started chatting on MSN, and in July of 2009 I flew out to Alberta to visit him and attend a music festival. I fell head over heels and we've been intertwined since. I'm going to be moving West to live with him in the summer of 2012.

Thing 4: I am only child! I will admit I'm a little spoiled, but not in the way of being given tons of things. My parents were never rich people and money was tight, but I always had their attention and they are always there to lend me a hand.

Myself at 14 with my parents.

Thing 5: I have a terrible temper, extremely little patience and am prone to being overemotional. Small things affect me far more than most people and I have a hard time keeping a hold on my negative emotions sometimes. I also feel my good emotions all the more strongly though, and that I can't complain about.

Thing 6: I am turning 23 this year, I have a college diploma, a permanent government job... and I have no idea what I want to do with my life. I hate my job, and I hate what I went to school for (which is Library and Information Technician) but I don't know what else to do - well, I don't have any ideas that are realistic. I'd looove to own a fun little shop someday though, with funky clothes and vintage stuff and hand made things. Maybe someday?

Thing 7: I do not ever want to have children. Everybody who hears this tells me I will change my mind. But I really, really dislike children. I don't even know what to do with them. My youngest cousin is 15 so I never even spent time around young kids without being a kid myself. I've never so much as held a baby. I fail completely at interacting with children without making them cry. So no kids for me!

I know I'm supposed to nominate 7 other bloggers but to be honest I'm just too stressed with this whole internet thing and I have to leave work soon and that means no more internet at home and bleh... I really hope my evening goes better. Later all!

FBFF Gratitude and Love

Happy Friday everyone! *does the Friday dance* This felt like such a long week for me, what with packing and moving worries. But tonight my parents arrive to help me finish packing and pick up their last things, and tomorrow the move! Exciting, exciting times. (Plus I admit I look forward to being able to walk across the street from my new apartment and have me some tasty 'pho soup with the parents tomorrow night, once all is said and done!)

Now for this week's Friend Friday! The topic this time around is gratitude towards others, those people who have helped us along, been there when we needed them, taught us important things, or simply helped us grow into a better person.

1.  When it comes to be personally – I owe a lot of who I am to: My father. He is the person most responsible for making me who I am today. He instilled in me a love and respect for nature, a pride in my own hard work, and the belief that I deserve as good as everybody else. He taught me that even when times are tough, you have to keep going, but that things will get better. I learned from him to love unconditionally, and to love freely, and to be true and loyal to those I love. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be me.

2. When it comes to be professionally – I owe a lot of who I am to: Honestly, no one. Very few of my relatives work in any sort of office environment, and those that do were never ones I was ever very close to. My professional life, and how I act in the professional world, is all based on how I perceive others to require or want me to be. I behave, keep quiet and do the best I think a job deserves.

3. When it comes to the art of blogging, I’m grateful to these people for helping me through some rough spots: I've never really had any "rough spots" with blogging. I have had some slow moments where I didn't post much, but mostly due to things in life taking the front seat, and blogging just not being important during those moments.

4. One blogging challenge I’m grateful happened because it made me stronger was… Again, I've never really undergone a huge "blogging challenge". I may have fallen into fashion ruts from time to time, but I just learned to start posting about other things if I really didn't have the desire to post outfit photos. I actually enjoyed posting about other things, making dream outfits and doing this FBFF thing for example.

5. To my readers, I’d like to say… I really do appreciate all of you more than you'd know! Comments from you brighten my day and bring a smile to my face. I do consider you my friends in a way, especially since I read many of your blogs, and it's wonderful when you start to really know another blogger and build a friendship and history. I love being able to post an outfit, and say I got a certain item from so-and-so who just happens to be a reader too. We share a connection that others don't understand, but it's marvelous and I'm glad to share it with you!

FIN. Oh I liked those questions, especially the first and last. Soul searching and an honest sharing of good feelings is always nice. But speaking of sharing! I want to share a few quick photos with you of some new boots I got yesterday. Or maybe they're socks. Or woolen mukluks? I've been calling them sock-boots anyway, heh.

I bought them at a small stall in the Byward Market yesterday for a whole $20. Considering I've seen a very similar pair on Etsy, dirty and worn looking with age, also selling for $20, I think I did good.

There's a thin leather sole on the bottom, but it really almost feels like walking around in socks. They're super comfy, and I so look forward to wearing them at a festival this summer and dancing my silly little heart out in them. They don't look like they'd be too complicated to make either. Maybe if I learn how to knit I could make and sell some... hmmm...



I also bought the most amazing vintage wooden and suede clogs this week, for $22 at Funk Your Junk in the market. But those are so spiffy, I want to save them for a special outfit post once I can go out and do a proper fun shoot somewhere.

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend! Cheers!