A Good Thing

They say that once you find something good, you don't mess with it. That's what this outfit is like for me. It fell together one day, and like a flash, it felt right. And so whenever I wear it, it's always the same, right down to my jewelery. The only things that might fluctuate are my shoes and my makeup.

 Top - Thrifted from Value Village

Dress-as-skirt - Gift from my aunt

Shoes - Gift from my grandmother

Earrings and necklace - Made by my mother

I love this dress for how it flows and moves. It's light and airy, but can still keep me reasonably comfortable on these cooling fall days. My top has many lives, as part of regular outfits and sometimes as a pajama top. I'm attempting to pare down my wardrobe - as always - and this kind of multi-use is important with doing that.

Another perk to this outfit is that it very well hides the fact that I've gained a lot of weight this year. I'm really not happy about it, and I know what I should do about it, but there's a huge gap between wanting and doing and achieving for the moment.

I've been a dedicated mineral makeup convert for quite a few years, and the only products I wear that aren't from Earth Angel Minerals on Etsy, are my mascara and eyeliner. For the curious, my eyeshadow in the above photo consists of a base of Dark Grey on the outside of my lids, and Matte Snowflake on the inside of the lid and up toward my brow. Over this I brushed Moon Goddess (a purple shimmer) and Borealis (a white shimmer). I've come a long way from being obsessed with golds and greens. Anyhow, time for me to kick back for a few hours. Cheers!

Soup Kitchen

My home smells like soup a lot recently. I've been practicing stocks and soups for class, and yesterday I made a pureed soup of carrot and ginger. I have so much fun going through the steps, watching it turn from raw vegetables to a delicious, bright, flavourful soup. It's like kitchen magic.



Later today I might make a batch of Leek and Potato soup but we'll see. I've already got food coming out of my ears as it is. Considering I'm trying to lose weight, that's not exactly ideal. I weigh the most now that I have in two years and I'm not particularly pleased about it. I suppose it can partly be blamed on things like this Moka Cake I made for my mother's birthday this past week.



It's a white génoise cake, with coffee butter cream, toasted almonds and chocolate covered coffee beans on the rosettes. I'm very happy with how it came out, although I think I did use a little too much coffee syrup soaking the cake layers. I can always get better. I haven't got too much else to say, and until I feel better appearance, I don't think there will be too many outfit photos. So food it is. Cheers!

Another Day

I've fallen out of the habit of taking outfit photos - which is a shame because I've been wearing some pretty neat stuff lately - but I think part of it is due to the changing of the seasons. It's almost always windy out, and often cloudy or raining. And while I love Autumn, the smell, the crispness of the air, it doesn't really lend itself to my going out there in short sleeves for photos with my half-broken camera.

Necklace - Made by Me

T-shirt - Thrifted from Value Village

Belt - Ardene's

Skirt - Vintage from Kilo Shop in Paris

Mocassins - Sears

I suppose I can just start taking them indoors again like I did this photo back in early September. Eventually I won't have much choice either way. I'm spending a lot of time in my kitchen now, even more than usual. I'm trying to practice a lot of the recipes from school, which I think I mentioned before, but cooler weather always drives me to my kitchen.

This is some Scallop Seviche, with jalapeños and cherry tomatoes on a chiffonade of lettuce. It was actually really delicious and I'll definitely be making this dish again. I attempted to make a vegetable consommée this past weekend but due to some stupid mistakes I messed it up. I'll be trying again though, because I'm stubborn and it's something I really want to be able to do.



My parents were doing work on their bathroom late last week so my mother brought her ball python Fluffy to my place until they were done. I couldn't resist piling him in with my two boys, Galen and Rorschach. They make such a cute pile o' pythons!

I should probably start getting ready for my baking class this afternoon though. We're making the Choux Pastry Swans that I practiced last weekend. Should be a good class. Cheers!

All About Food

While I've been slacking taking outfit photos - a little unfortunate because I've worn some pretty creative stuff - I've been absorbed with food. I'd had quiche on the brain since Paris because I was eating some nearly everyday. I finally made myself a vegetable quiche on Friday and it was so satisfying.



I'm hoping to practice a lot of my class recipes ahead of time at home. This past weekend I made Choux Pastry Swans, something we had seen our Chef make at the Cordon Bleu but that we didn't do in practical. It's scheduled for us next week now, and it was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be and I'm quite happy with how they came out.



 Next time I'll try to make the necks thinner and the 'heads' less bulbous. I brought some over to a friend's and gave a bunch to my parents - I really just wanted to make them, eating them interests me less - and everybody was suitably impressed. Then I do things that impress myself - even if just a little - and whip up tasty dinner dishes like chicken in a spicy mango pineapple sauce on lovely red quinoa.



I've also been cooking up foods with lovely vegetables from my garden. Unfortunately frosts have started at night, which means the garden season is basically over. This wasn't exactly an ideal year for gardening and I can just hope next year is better temperature and weather-wise for me. I've been pulling up potatoes and a few green peppers though, and there are still tomatoes on my covered plants.



My ornamental corn is also quite lovely and I have to finish drying the cobs. I'll definitely be planting more of it next year, it's just so pretty. I love the variety of colours and the rich purple that can grow in the stalks. I'll be planting more varieties of potatoes too, for certain. They actually have really pretty plants and flowers and that surprised me.



Anyhow, I need to get ready for my baking class. We're making three kinds of cookies today and hopefully it all goes smoothly. I hope you had a great weekend. Cheers!

Foreign Goodies

This outfit has another shawl that I picked up while in Belgium. I really like the earthy colours here. While I do wear a lot of bright colours, browns, greens and golds are my favourite pallet. Not a whole lot to say again today. I'm going to school, trying to get into the swing of things.

 Shawl -Vintage shop in Brussels, Belgium

Top - Value Village

Skirt - Value Village

Clogs - From my grandmother

It was pretty breezy that day so my attempts at photographing the shawl opened up really didn't go so well but it gives you a good idea of it. While I'm sad that summer is coming to an end, these coolers temperatures do let me snuggle in a nice light shawl and that's a welcome change.

The cooler weather is also allowing me to wear my green velvet jacket, and now that I drive most places I don't have to be as concerned about being weather-ready. I love my black leather jacket but it can be nice to wear something dressier or less practical every once in a while. Hope you're having a nice week. Cheers!

Over All

These camouflage overalls are another find I brought home from Belgium. They appear to be hand made, and there's no telling how old - or new - they are, but I've had a longstanding thing for camouflage, so there was no way I could leave these babies behind.

Overalls - Thrift shop in Brussels, Belgium

Shoes - From my grandmother

I might shorten them in the future, but we'll see. They suit me fine like this for now. I do have to adjust the straps and their button placement but otherwise I'm happy as heck with 'em. I hadn't added any camouflage to my wardrobe in years so I was due, I guess hah. Hope you all have a great weekend. Cheers!

Green Velvet

This is far from being one of my best outfit photos - or outfits - but I really just adore this green velvet jacket. I purchased it at Free'p'Star in Paris for 20 Euro. It's vintage and made in London. I'm so glad it fits me, because it would have been sad to have to leave it behind. I alllmost didn't buy it, but knew I would regret it if I didn't. It's quite a bit dressier than I usually dress - especially lately - but it makes a great excuse to break out my prettier dresses too.

 Velvet jacket - Free'p'Star in Paris

Dress - Vintage shop in Brussels, Belgium

Shoes - Salvation Army

The batteries in my camera died before I could photos of just the dress but I'll be wearing it again and hopefully get some nice shots then. I unfortunately dropped my camera and now the battery hatch won't stay shut so I've taken to duct-taping it close but every now and again the stupid thing bursts open. It sucks because the camera itself still works great but more little things are going south with it. As it is I have to wedge a piece of folded paper under the little flash thingy to keep it propped open. Anyway, I have to head out to my Healthy Living, Healthy Eating class for school now. Cheers!