Tag: shopping

Fashion Friday: Winter Wonderland

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It’s Friday!  Huzzah.  Time for some fashion fun.

As I made my way through my fashion transition from full-time career attire to home-for-a-year mom looks, I learned a lot about myself when it comes to clothing.  One thing I know for sure is that I care about what I wear and what I look like.  Call me vain, but that’s the way it’s always been.  I tried the “mom uniform” for a while, including wearing my active wear out and about.  I can rock that look sometimes, but what I’ve learned is that I just feel better when I put together a proper “outfit”, even when I’m hanging out at home with my son.

Now that winter has finally arrived in Toronto (it’s mid February and we finally have a decent amount of snow on the ground), I thought I’d share a casual and fun winter-inspired look:

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I found this top when I was in North Vancouver, spending the day with my hometown bestie, Leah. It was on sale at a little boutique at Lonsdale Quay for $40.  It was a bit out-of-the-box for me, but very cute….bonus: it’s forest green, NOT black!  The gold foil dear head adds a bit of glam to an otherwise casual look.

These boots are my absolutely favorite boots.  They were a splurge at the Brown’s Shoes outlet in Niagara.  Marked down to $150 from over $400, they still required some justification, but I am SO glad they came home with me.  I bought them when I was pregnant and couldn’t wear them as my feet were so swollen!  Thankfully, they fit now. They are my go-to flat pair of riding boots.

The jeans are my usual American Eagle hi-rise Jegging.  Yes, they are the gift that keeps on giving.

Finally, my “snood” – yes, that’s a word.  This one I picked up at Garage (seriously haven’t shopped there since I was 22, other than to buy this!) but you can find similar ones at Indigo.  Again, I love that it adds a bit of glam while remaining casual.

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I sort of the love the deer-head and faux-fur look.  Sorta contradictory.  Sorta an oxymoron?  Whatever it is, it feels very Canadian Winter, so that’s what I’m going with.

Happy Fashion Friday everyone.

M

Friday Fashion: Work Wear

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After an overwhelming response to my uncharacteristically raw post from last Friday, I thought it best to return to our regular scheduled programming…for now, at least.  I will be back with more #allthefeels posts soon, especially as I figure out childcare, return to work, transition my life yet again.  Ugh.

Anyway, this week marked my second day at the office since going on maternity leave in mid-April.  Sure, I’ve had my share of lunch visits and parading baby H around, but this was actual roll-up-your-sleeves work.  I absolutely loved it.

Nana came for the day and watched baby H from 11am-5pm.  I felt a spring in my step and a giddy excitement as I headed downtown on the subway.  Of course, part of the fun was choosing what to wear.

My style always ends up leaning towards ultra preppy (this has pretty much been the case since I was 13, with a few weird stages along the way).  I opted for a classic yet casual look  because, yes, I am one of those lucky people who works in an office where jeans are totally appropriate every day of the week:

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Top: Theory, purchased second-hand from a friend (woo!) for $50.00 – it’s all one piece (sweater AND collared shirt)!

Pants: AEO Denim X Cafe Hi-Rise Jegging.  These are my go-to pants because they are so comfy.  And at just $40 when on sale, I buy two pairs: one for being home with Harrison, and one for work and going out.  I think I own about 5 variations of these pants.

Purse, Necklace and Spike Bracelet: Stella & Dot

Considering I obtained these items when I myself was a stylist for Stella & Dot, they were basically free :).  Hit up my girl Kelly for awesome accessories.  The necklace and bag that I show here are no longer available, but the Spring 2016 collection just launched and it is G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S.

Shoes: Ann Taylor, purchased on sale for $30.00 – no longer around; last season.

Total outfit cost (excluding accessories): $120

Here’s a close up of my fab bag and snakeskin flats:

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And to top it all off, some classic red lipstick.  This is my ONE tube of red lipstick that my sister helped me pick out ages ago.  It’s L’Oreal and it is the perfect colour for me:

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Happy Fashion Friday everyone!

Melissa.

IKEA date night

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Date night has been a little lacking these past weeks as Saturday nights are spent passed out on the couch after a full day of work, and weeknights are spent (trying to) catch up on household chores that didn’t get accomplished on the weekend!

We originally were going to do the “wait at the doors when the store opens” trip to IKEA first thing in the morning, but I convinced Christian that we could turn our little shopping spree into somewhat of a date night.

Our mission? Get the materials for our first IKEA hack! Haven’t been to the IKEA Hackers website?? You are missing out on a lifetime of furniture recreation opportunities! Go there….NOW….I will wait…..

Ok, so back to “date night”: our mission was to purchase PAX wardrobe sliding closet doors for our newly built upstairs hall closest, as well as interior shelving to help create storage inside. After conducting a lot of research, we quickly learned that other sliding doors are either a) way overpriced, or b) just plain ugly. IKEA Pax are inexpensive and come with a 10 year warranty! We’ve had the full wardrobe system in our bedroom and its been going strong for 3+ years.

But back to date night. Our first stop was food, including this odd sparkling pear drink that was rather delicious:

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Horse, or no horse, we were getting meatballs:

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After a romantic dining experience in the IKEA cafeteria (for future date night reference, they are licensed!) it was off to pick up our goodies. Our original plan for interior shelving was to use Expedit, but we quickly realized that adjustable shelving was way better, so we instead picked up the deep Billy Bookcase. For the exterior doors, the glossy white ones we wanted we on sale (score! Like these ones but in white). A few $1 ice creams later, we were ready to rock and roll

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The best part of the night was actually fitting everything in our car. Saving on the doors + saving $50 in delivery = successful trip to IKEA!

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Mark my words: never buying a car without a hatchback again!

Happy shopping 🙂