Goin' it Solo

It tends to garner strange reactions from people when I tell them I actually enjoy the 5 hour car rides by myself, whenever I go visit my parents. But it's 5 hours where I don't have to talk to anyone, I don't have to worry about anything except driving, and I can listen to my music as loud as I want - because there's nobody there to say otherwise! It's think time. It's me time. And I dig it. Especially when I get to do it on days as nice as this past Saturday.

It was warm, sunny, and positively wonderful. There was one frustrating thing about the day, and that was that the traffic was so heavy. I just couldn't chance stopping to take photos most of the time because it would have been dangerous to pull over. I took the above photo from my car while stopped at a traffic light, heh.

Dress - Purchased from Gotta Go Vintage on Etsy

Shoes - Spring

I pulled over at a rest stop and picnic area - the Trans Canada Highway in this area has absolutely gorgeous rest stops - and was super excited to get some photos. Of course I only too soon found out that once the breeze let up, black flies would come to torture me. Insane numbers of them would fly out of nowhere the minute the wind let up. And those suckers (no pun intended) will eat you alive in no time.

I didn't stick around too long because of the insects (an elderly couple arrived, unpacked lawn chairs, cracked beers, and then hastily made a retreat back into their vehicle the minute the breeze let up) but I'm glad I got a few shots in this dress. It's definitely going to be a summer staple for me.

There's something about the land in North Ontario that just speaks to me. The rolling hills, the lakes, rivers, creeks, swamps, and ponds. It's a very wild place, the further north you go, the further apart the settlements and the smaller those are too. (I was actually wondering if I'd find a gas station before running out of gas on my drive back, that's how sparse things are out there, even on the highway).

This is land that was populated by Native Americans not so long ago. My own French-Canadian ancestors were the loggers, miners and coureur-des-bois that helped open up this land. My great-great-grandfather was a lumberjack, one of the men who used to ride the logs down the rivers to the mills. I really do love this land, and it's a part of me as much as I am a part of it.

I hope you're all having a lovely week. There are more photos from my weekend - including a few dorky ones of me fooling around with fish - that I'll be sharing in another post. I also got a few more well-lit photos of this outfit, which I am happy about. And tomorrow is Friday, wee! Cheers!

It's been a Long Weekend

Hello everyone! This is my first day back at work after an extra-long weekend, and yet it was still not long enough. I headed to my parents' on Saturday and got home late Monday evening. My Friday and Tuesday were all about running errands and getting things done. (I must have walked a million miles yesterday!) This is what I wore to do some quick groceries on Friday evening.

Romper - Purchased from Reluctant Damsel on Etsy

Shoes - Spring

Now that the maple tree in front of my apartment is all leafed out, I decided to take a few photos in front of it. I am Canadian, and this is my maple tree! And my terrace wall is extremely uncomfortable to lean against, I will have you know.

I keep worrying this romper makes my hip/pelvic area look gigantic. One minute I feel like hot stuff, the next I feel like I look like the crazy lady unaware of how to properly cover myself. Oh bodily proportions, how you do confound me!

My cuff actually has this awesome spider encased in resin on it. I'm a sucker for weird jewelery. I actually had bought the cutest little broach shaped like a spider on the weekend, but it fell off not 5 minutes after I bought it, and then the little stones started falling out and I had to return it, boo!

The sky was pretty crazy as I took my photos. A storm was rolling over the city. I would look North and see clouds blowing East, then look South and see clouds headed West! I love a grumbly late spring thunder storm though, there's something about a cool breeze and the heavy humid air and the smell of rain on the wind.

I have a bunch of photos from the weekend I need to clean up, but I can't wait to share them with you. Speaking of sharing, I have a question for you other bloggers! For the most part, I'm totally chill and open when I write my posts, but for some reason, I still feel shy and almost embarrassed when people I know read them. Even though I'm not sharing anything embarrassing, it still seems so personal. Do you ever feel shy about sharing your blog with the people in your life?

I hope you're all having a fantastic week. Cheers!

Thank you Anika Burke!

Happy Friday everyone! And a long weekend to boot! I'll be at my parents' for two nights starting tomorrow, so no internet, but I'm hoping to get a little mini photo shoot done on my way there. Before I leave though, I want to give a shout out to the lovely Anika Burke. She's had a brick and mortar shop out in California for 6 years, and has a great shop online. You can find her on Facebook, too, which brings me to my point.

Pretty much daily on Facebook (and on several blogs), Anika Burke has giveaways! And I won two! The girl who never wins anything! So, thank you very much Anika! I really love the necklace, earrings and ring I won.

 

 They came in the most adorable packaging!

I wasn't certain how I'd feel about a giant black ring, but this thing is awesome. I can't wait to wear it out sometime. It's a bit hard to tell because of the colour, but it's actually a rose.

I had totally forgotten that the necklace came with matching earrings too, which was a nice surprise. I don't usually wear large, long necklaces like this one, and it's going to be a bit of a challenge for me to wear it without feeling odd. Style challenge! It's so pretty though, I have to wear it somehow.

Anyway, I hope the weekend is filled with fun times, laughter, sunshine and joy for you all! Cheers!

This is how I thrift

Happy Wednesday everyone! The week is half done and it's a long weekend on the way. Plus, I booked Tuesday off so I get 4 glorious no-work days in a row. Sweet. Plus-plus I'm going fishing and I am super stoked for that. These photos are nothing special, just some quick shots I took of the outfit I wore thrifting back on May 7th. Yes, I wore vintage wooden platforms to thrift.

Tank top - Fairweather

Skort - Sears

Shoes - Purchased at Funk your Junk

I wanted to be wearing clothes that were easy to change in and out of, and that would work well when trying on seperate tops and bottoms. And the shoes actually worked out great since I just had to slip them on and off, none of this laces or buckles business.

I've been in love with these since I bought them. I paid $22 for them, which I think is a fair price. They are so fun and clompy. I think they're going to be best worn with socks from now though, my toes were chafed by the end of the day to say the least.

I really wanted to debut these babies on the blog with a super awesome outfit post. I clearly have fallen terribly short. But I'm still at a loss at to what to wear these with since they're rather a peculiar colour. I mean if I wore pants, I'd just throw some jeans on, but I don't. And none of my jean skirts are the right wash. Sigh.

I love how the studs are like little flowers, so cute. The leaf ring on my thumb is something I picked up at Aldo for $6. Within a few days of light wear, I'd already rubbed off the outer coating and it's now turning me green. I should know better than to buy junk jewelery already!

I really need to put together a totally funky outfit for these platforms. They deserve to be showcased in awesomeness! Plus I just watched Dazed and Confused last night and all I want to do is dress like it's 1976, hehe. I hope you're all having a good week! Cheers!

I remember the sun... I think

It's been all gloom and rain and overcast skies here since Friday with no signs of things changing until at least next week. Oh sunshine, where did you go? I miss you. I want spring again! This is far too cold for mid-May, really now! These photos are from way back on April 24th (I knew backup outfit photos would come in handy). It was a nice warm sunny Sunday... come back, sunny Sundays!

Dress - Thrifted from Value Village

Sweater - Thrifted from Value Village
Orange Top - Thrifted from Value Village

Sandals - Thrifted from Value Village
Purse - I can't quite remember

Can you tell I dig thrifting? I always love when my outfits wind up being totally thrifted (okay so not the purse). Something nice about knowing you saved oodles of money. I've actually gotten a few of my friends into thrifting now, so I might actually have thrifting buddies too!

The rain on Friday put a damper on my friend's birthday festivities and I wound up not joining them to go dancing when I wasn't feeling too good. I did get to go out dancing on Saturday night though, to this awesome funk/reggae/rock/blues/awesomeness band called The Hammerheads. I've been to a few of their shows down at The Rainbow and it's always a good time and a great crowd ready to dance.

I snatched this purse up for $4 in the clearance section of a shop. It was discounted from $20 for fading since it had been displayed in the front window and the sun did its work. I didn't mind one bit and brought it home.

I started playing Sims Medieval on Saturday afternoon and I have to admit I'm a bit addicted. I'm already a fan of the Sims games but this is so fun. You play the role of The Watcher (kind of the religious figure in the land) and you get to send your Heroes on quests to better the kingdom. I just finished a quest where the Blacksmith and the Priestess had to work together to forge a special blade blessed and imbued with the love of the Watcher. (maybe it sounds a little weird but I love it) Anywho, if you already dig the Sims, definitely check this out.

I hope you are all having a good Monday! Cheers!

Spidery Improvisation!

Happy Friday the 13th everyone! I was a little worried Blogger would never get back to normal today but looks like things are fixed. Do you believe that Friday the 13th is an unlucky day? Considering yesterday's post was deleted and all the comments on my Paper Doll Project post have disappeared, I could believe it. Hopefully nothing else wonky happens because losing posts is no fun!

I'll be skipping out on this week's FBFF questions again. Partly because I have to re-write yesterday's post, but also because the questions once again don't really interest me or relate to me.

Dress - Purchased from Moonshine Junkyard on Etsy

Shoes - Fairweather

As per my usual habit, this is what I wore yesterday. I hadn't worn this dress in a while and the last time I wore it, I realized only too late - I change once I get to work since I walk - that it was now much too large for me. I was so sad! I love this dress! It was my first ever vintage purchase and kind of started me off on a whole new path in life. And then I got an idea. Broach to the rescue!

I gathered some of the extra material and used a broach to pin it into a more figure flattering shape again. The elastic on this dress lost its elasticity ages ago, otherwise I probably wouldn't have to do this. But I kinda like it better this way anyway. And I get to keep wearing one of my favourite dresses! I got a bunch of compliments on it yesterday actually, which was wonderful.

I was at the mall, browsing dresses (I was lured in by a 50% off sign) when I spotted these platform wedges. I mentioned before how I'd been planning on buying some Jeffrey Campbell shoes. Well, I managed to talk some sense into myself and while I still want a pair, it is not to be. At least not right now. So I settled for these. Originally $60, I paid $30. Awesome! And they're actually super comfy and easy to walk in too, which is what sold me when I tried them on.

The little ruffles kind of remind me of lasagna noodles. Maybe I shouldn't be sharing that my shoes remind me of food, but they do! I also really enjoyed having my cute little spider broach with me all day. I love it, but I always feel awkward pinning broaches to my already attention-getting bosom. This is a far preferable way for me to wear one. I guess this week is just the week for wearing broaches in new and useful ways.

I'm heading to a pub with friends this evening for some beers and to celebrate someone's birthday, and then off to the monthly psytrance event for some much needed dancing. I hope you all have a great weekend! Cheers!

Great skirt, not so great photos

So I'm still experimenting with where the best place to take photos is out on my terrace. And this place, not the right place at all. Of course the photos in my camera didn't look dark in comparison to the even more horribly dark photos from beforehand. And so I wound up with these, which is too bad because I am in total love with this outfit. I wore this back on Tuesday the 10th.

Shrug - Thrifted from Value Village

Tank top - Hand me down

Skirt - Thrifted from Value Village

Shoes - Thrifted from Value Village

Sunglasses - Purchased at Young Jane's Vintage

Lizard pin - Gift

The skirt and shrug are both new thrifted purchases from this past Saturday. The shrug originally had two ribbons that you were supposed to use to tie it shut. I thought they looked like crap, removed them, and promptly pinned it together. Much better! Not to mention I can mix things up using different pins! And the skirt... I looove the skirt. I cannot express how much I love it. The pattern. The way it moves. The ruffle. The rickrack. Love!

I am really loving the warmer weather we're finally having... not simply because warmer weather is lovely, but because it means less outer layers! It feels easier for me to style outfits without having to worry about snow or slush. The ability to wear sandals outside to run errands is just wonderful!

I plan on taking this outfit out for a photo shoot somewhere green and wild soon. I really want to get some better shots (the tank top is a dark brown, which you really can't tell here!) and wearing it is so fun. Too bad they're forecasting rain all weekend! I hope you're all doing well. Cheers!