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!

The Paper Doll Project!

Today is the day! I decided to give the Paper Doll Project a go this month, and I'm so happy I did. I was excited to see that I got paired with Louise from Coffee and a Cardigan (so I excited I may have giddily clapped my hands and pranced about... maybe) and I definitely had fun both styling and being styled.

Blouse - Purchased from Cookies and Creme on Etsy

Dress - Purchased from Sally Jane Vintage on Etsy

Shoes - Spring

So I have to go ahead and say I would never in a million years have layered this blouse over this dress. And I probably spent a good ten minutes fussing in front of a mirror, tugging and turning and trying to figure out what I thought of the outfit. In the end - as my easy smile proclaims - I decided the outfit was indeed awesome. It also helped that upon showing it to a friend, she exclaimed "Oh, you're so 70's! Like a Brady Bunch girl!" which amused me to no end.

Louise suggested I put my hair up in a messy bun. Well, I tried! There were about a bizzilion bobby pins in there, but the whole thing was rather precarious. I know, I know... what kind of girl with hair as long as mine doesn't know how to make a bun, right? But in all seriousness, this is the first time ever that my hair stays up like this. So I was rather amazed. I didn't even expect to be able to make something stay long enough to take photos!

Of course not long after I was done taking photos, the bobby pins all started falling out and soon enough I had a floppy confused pony tail dangling around instead of a bun. Sigh. At least the bobby pins I used to hold the flower in place stayed where they belonged! I'm glad I had a bouquet of these, I was able to just snatch one up when Louise mentioned a flower in my hair.

I was looking at the photos after though, and felt like something was missing... Then I realized I hadn't worn any earrings! Which is rather peculiar for me since I feel absolutely naked without them. Ah well! I hope you all liked the outfit Lousie chose for me. Happy Wednesday everyone! Cheers!

Sunny Sunday Memories

My mother lives 5 hours away so I didn't get to spend Mother's Day with her. I kept busy though! I wore this outfit on Sunday, May 8th, to run some errands and buy groceries. The top I actually just thrifted this past Saturday when I was hunting for some wardrobe basics. It has a great braided neckline and cute tie-off sleeves, and I only paid $6!

Blouse - Thrifted from Value Village

Skirt - Yard Sale, $1

Belt - Ardene's
Purse - Aldo

Sandals - Thrifted from Value Village

I bought this belt a while back but so far hadn't been able to find an outfit I was comfortable incorporating it into, but finally the time has come! I wanted something to break up the long expanse of brown in the top and this belt was perfect. I like the contrast between the belt's geometric woven pattern and the skirt's fluid floral.

You can't tell, but this skirt is huge. I could easily wrap it around myself twice and still have fabric to spare. I rarely wear it because it always winds up hanging on my hips - which is fine with me - except most of my tops are too short and I wind up with a flesh gap I just won't stand for! This new top is perfect to pair with it though and I know I'll be wearing this outfit more than once this summer.

I paid a whole $1 for those shell earrings!

Sunday was an absolutely beautiful day. It seems all our days are beautiful lately and I am so happy about that. I've had the patio door wide open letting in fresh air and sounds of the city in the evenings before bed. I doubt I'd be able to sleep with the door open - it's pretty noisy out there - but I love my terrace and knowing I can pop out there any time I like. The tree growing up from the sidewalk below is finally blooming and sprouting leaves and it's lovely having that in my view.




I was in a pretty good mood, and it was so cheery and sunny out, I couldn't resist snatching up a bouquet of flowers. I imagine most folks assumed they were for my mum, it being Mother's Day and all... But a girl should be allowed to randomly buy herself flowers! They do certainly add some cheer to my living space.

That pillow cover was crocheted by my grandmother, and the shawl draped over the other chair was knit by my mother. You can see my little jade plant back there too! He seems to be the only thing with roots I've managed not to murder. I named him Frank.

I'm excited for tomorrow's outfit post because this month I participated in the Paper Doll Project. I was paired with the lovely Louise from Coffee and a Cardigan. I can't wait to see her in the outfit I styled and I'm excited to share the outfit she styled for me too. Hope you're all have a great Tuesday. Cheers!

I'm late, I'm late!

I've got four days worth of outfit photos piled up. I guess it's kind of good to have some saved up for rainy outfit days but... I really want to share them all now! I'll just stick to sharing stuff from way back during Easter weekend for today though... before I forget. Like I forgot to wear a watch today and now my arm feels naked because I always wear one. Are you watch-dependent like me? I still have a slight watch tan from last summer, I wear mine so much.

Sweater - Thrifted from Value Village

Dress - Purchased from Sally Jane Vintage on Etsy

Leggings - Somewhere in a mall

Shoes - Spring

Here I am sporting my favourite "grandpa sweater". After watching The Big Lebowski, all I wanted was a grandpa sweater. It took me a little while, but I finally found it. And I love this thing. I practically lived in it while moving into my new apartment.

As for the corduroy dress... I love it too. (Okay, I love most of my wardrobe, which is why it is part of my wardrobe.) It's from the 60's and has a metal zip. It desperately makes me wish I had some white go-go boots though. I'd rock it. Can't wait to wear it bare-legged too.

My parents just recently moved too into a new apartment inside an old converted schoolhouse. The stone wall behind me is the school's original foundation. Pretty cool eh? The front of the building still has the school's name and the mounting bars for flags. On top of their place being in a nifty building though, they're right on the edge of nature again.

Prickly raspberry plant stem!

They don't live on the lakeshore like they used to, but they can hear loons from their patio and they're planting a vegetable garden. I can't wait to get my paws on some ground-fresh carrots and crunchy little cucumbers!

Like I said, these are all photos from Easter weekend. Those of you living way down south are probably rather shocked to see snow! Mid-April is still a pretty chill time up here in Ontario. It's funny seeing large patches of bright green flowers popping out of the ground just feet away from compacted piles of ice and snow.

 

We made a quick visit to the town's dock to check out Lake Nipissing. The region recently went through an amalgamation and the dock was one of the casualties. When the town was incorporated into the larger township, it was decided the dock was unnecessary and now it and the surrounded boathouses are just going to ruin. You can see how warped the dock is here behind my dad, and how badly some of the buildings are suffering. All that is just from ice pushing things around in winter.

We actually had the chance to see an osprey hunt for and catch a fish while we were there. There's an old abandoned water tower (there's only the tower left) and a family of hawks lives up on the top now so there's always a great chance of seeing impressive birds around the lakefront.

I'll be going back up to visit over the May long weekend and I really can't wait. Every year we go barbotte fishing and it's great fun. Actually, last year we kept hooking snapping turtles, which was a pretty intense thing. (Don't worry, we love turtles and made certain they all got away with as little harm and stress as possible.)

It is so gorgeously sunny here today, and it feels glorious. It'd been raining so much, and finally out came the sun and it's like the trees just exploded in green. I was walking around at my lunch time in a nearby park and I was just luxuriating in all the fresh green everywhere.

I hope you're all having as good a Monday as Mondays can be! Cheers!

Cosmic Fried Eggs and FBFF

Okay, so I happen to be wearing this outfit today. But these photos are from last Friday on April 29th. I'd actually worn something else during the day but switched into this to go to a friend's art show at a gallery in the market. Sadly I had some issues while doing some laundry in the new building for the first time and wound up not going. Woops!

T-shirt - Thrifted from Value Village

Dress - Thrifted from Rebuilt Resources

Shoes - Spring

I snatched up this dress over Easter weekend when I went thrifting with my parents. I paid $9 and it needed a little repair work since the fabric from one of the straps was fraying on the edge but it only took a few minutes and now you can't tell. I love the fabric too, the design makes me think of crazy psychedelic fried eggs.

My kitty Caramel watching me from inside.

I wish I could wear this without the t-shirt, but it's cut in a way that ALL my bras show around the arm area. And I'm too modest to wander around showing everybody my bra. Hopefully this weekend will involve some much needed basics shopping (thrifted of course!). I realized I have tons of funky pieces but no basic solid coloured pieces to mix them with! This isn't a new problem, but it's definitely getting more pronounced.

My super awesome spider watch, gift from a friend.

A woman complimented my dress while I was out window shopping for shoes, which definitely made me happy.  It's also fitting since this week's FBFF questions are all about shoes.

1.What is your go-to pair of shoes?
I'm actually in a really awkward shoe stage in my life. I like to walk a lot, but heels aren't good for walking. I'm torn between fashion and function. For the moment, I'm depending on several different colours of this pair from Spring. They're cheap, comfortable for reasonably long walks and come in a variety of colours.

2. What goes into your shoe buying decisions?
Price, comfort, look. I will only pay so much, a shoe has to be a certain level of comfy and I have to find it absolutely irresistible to the eye.

Earrings also gifts from the same friend.

3. The majority of the shoes in your closet are what color?
Browns and blacks for the most part, although there's some grey and plaid and a random leopard print. The colour spectrum of my shoes is growing however!

4. When it comes to design shoes what are your favorite brands and why?
Like I mentioned in yesterday's post, I am in love with Jeffrey Campbell shoes. Why? They have a fun, funky vibe and I hear good things about their comfort level.

Disgruntled kitteh is disgruntled!

5. If price wasn’t an issue, you’d own which shoe?
Any shoe I felt like wearing, pretty much hah. I could have left with a dozen pairs just while at the mall over my lunch break today. I really do love me a good shoe. Or three.

I do not like green eggs and ham!

I hope everybody has a great weekend! Cheers!

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!