Chicken as high fashion accessory!

I love this Depression Era inspired editorial featuring Kendra Spears!  Now that the fall weather is upon us, I'm really in the mood for longer skirts, and I got some great tights for my birthday.  No chicken yet though...

HB

I have the greatest friends in the world!  This is my birthday pumpkin-pie, which followed an amazing home-cooked meal, generous wonderful gifts, and an evening of relaxing and perfect socializing.  And all I had to do was show up.  It was almost a surprise, minus the stress and secrecy of an actual surprise!  It was the perfect start to my next year.  Thanks girls!

tied up

 I have a couple of really beautiful silk scarves, but I don't know how to wear them.  I feel a little bit silly doing a full-on head wrap or turban, and unless I was going for a ride in a convertible I don't think I could pull off the look below, but I can't just let these beauties sit in my closet.  I'm going to make an effort to try a couple of the neck-bow ideas above, and hey, if it's not working for me, I just take it off, right?  It's not like a hideous blouse that I have to put up with all day or go half-naked!

Hmm, somehow she makes it looks so effortless!

Wedding Belle

 I spent the weekend at a friend's wedding in Central Washington.  I only took pictures for a few hours in the morning, but there was a beautiful warm light in the cabin where we stayed.  Brides are always so gorgeous!  I spent the rest of the day being a bridesmaid, but I'll share more pictures when I get some.

Looking ahead

I kind of don't want to get ahead of myself, but it was hard to resist having a peek at some of the Spring collections.  The colours in this collection by Jill Stuart are so pretty and I love the silky prints. I just can't do the head-to-toe black thing, I'm not that person.  Colour is too much fun, and I'm constantly surprised that different shades and combinations can look so fresh and interesting season after season.

Yesteryear

This beautiful lacy top fooled both of my bosses.  They both asked if it was an antique, and if they were convinced, then it's worth ten dollars (!!) at the thrift store.  It doesn't have a real label in it, but it still had the little baggie with the spare button on the inside, and the care label is all in Japanese.  The only thing I recognize is a phone number, so I might investigate a little further, just out of curiosity.  I'm pretty sure the fabric is a silk and cotton blend, and there is a lovely variety of different lace trims, and all those sweet pintucks!

They say that this is the last day of sun, so I wore shorts to take advantage of it.  The knee socks helped with the cool morning!

words

I need to get used to typing on my new laptop - you know how every keyboard is just a little different?  So I'm just going to write a blog post about a few things that have been on my mind.

Firstly, the power of positive thinking.  Cheesy when I put it that way, and I'm not talking about The Secret, using your thoughts to attract the things that you want.  What I've been thinking about is just trying to look at life from a more optimistic perspective.  I don't think that I'm a negative person, but sometimes it's easy to get sucked into complaining or groaning about life, and maybe I'll make an effort not to do that.  There can't be any harm in trying to enjoy life more, or at least focusing on happiness.  Today, when I was doing basic stuff (looking at pants at the thrift store, canning pickles, taking a nap) I reminded myself how much I love doing these little things, you know?  Like rolling over in bed and thinking - wow, this is so amazing and comfortable, I love napping!  My life is packed full of things that are good and I should celebrate them more.

I'm also going to try to upgrade things that I don't like to things that I don't mind.  It's not realistic to be all hearts and flowers and love everything, but certain things can be allowed to roll off my back, like waiting in lines, doing the dishes, being almost out of gas.  I'm curious to see how my outlook changes if I make an effort not to worry about these little things.  Again, it's kind of trite self-help junk, but a little experiment like this can't hurt.  In this same category will be to try to stop worrying about  upcoming events I'm not looking forward to.  Who knows, maybe they will turn out better than I think - they usually do, in fact.

OK, second topic is fashion week.  Specifically, all the coverage of all the well dressed ladies at all the shows. Every style blogger photographs the same couple of dozen bloggers, models, editors etc., and every outfit shows up so many times; it's just so boring.  You know that they all dress with the knowledge that they will be broadcast around the Internet, and it seems so carefully crafted and obvious.  I miss photos of regular girls wearing interesting outfits, spontaneously looking cool, going about their business.  That's so much more inspiring to me than professional muses striding from show to show and "candid" shots of overly styled ladies talking on phones, clutching designer wait-list purses.  Once is enough, but those same outfits get re-posted so much it almost becomes a parody.  Oh, but I wasn't going to complain.  So how can I put a positive spin on something annoying?  Well, I won't waste time looking at style blogs, so I'll have more time to do better things.  And hey, good for those ladies, it's great publicity for their magazines and whatnot, and maybe it raises the profile of the designers they wear, which is good for the fashion industry.  Yes, good for them.  I'm not even being sarcastic!

fall shopping spree

Big new purchase today, and no, not fall fashion related.  I bought a new laptop!  The old one, which was a loaner from my brother, had a little run in with a splash of red wine, and finally got beyond the point that I could deal with the glitches.  That, plus the broken screen, broken hinge, and wonky start-up...  So this new baby is my first ever computer of my own!  Decades of sharing, borrowing, and co-computering have come to an end, and it's kind of empowering to be able to choose my own wallpaper and set my own bookmarks and stuff.  It's also nice and light and sleek and I spent as little money as possible so I'm not panicking with regret.

Cooler

 A change in the weather means not having bare legs for the first time in ages, and wearing a few new things I've been saving for cooler times.  I finally bought the oxfords, and I'm very happy with my purchase.  They are really comfortable, and make me in the mood for boyish clothes and fun socks.

I also love this rustic print denim shirt.  It's very 70's rec-room/ sleeping bag.  I'm excited about wearing lots of long sleeves now!

Labour Day (not quite) Long Weekend

Life is so busy right now.  Between work and renovations and a social life and all this sunshine ( and a broken laptop?) there's just no time for blogging.  But that's OK, I'm having lots of fun, and once the rains begin I'll be back in hibernation mode.  This past weekend my friends and I met up in Nanaimo for the best ever surprise spa baby shower for the lovely and adorable Marissa.  We had such a good time and it was a much needed break from drywall dust!

While I don't have any desire to be going back to school next week, I might kind of want to dress like I'm going back to school.  I felt like this was my take on a nice school uniform, thought the blouse is much too sheer to pass inspection.  I found the prettiest bra to wear under it at the thrift store though; very modest, no padding or underwire, more like a camisole.  That's all I want in a bra these days - soft and simple.