Field Trip...

Going to wineries and doing tastings and tours is a favorite past time of mine!  I have been blessed/lucky to have done trips to Niagara on the Lake here in Ontario, Nappa Valley in California, and even twice to Reins, France, the champagne region, for tastings.  I am what you would call a full blown wino!

For my girlfriend Julia’s birthday she wanted to go to {Joseph’s Winery} in Niagara for a tasting.  Of course I attended with a smile ear to ear.  I wanted to wear something fresh and summery yet polished as to not look to bummy to enjoy my favorite past time.  Dress the part right?!

The outfit is meant to look like a dress but it’s not.  It’s a tank worn with a skirt that I yanked high up and added a belt.  Both dress and top are both from {Old Navy}, and the belt is from {Cotton Ginny} (how old eh).  Black T-strap sandals and a COACH cross body bag to complete the look.  What I like about this outfit is the little details; my colourful earrings that are not overtly loud, the eye-lit detail on the skirt, 

and of course the ruffle on the shirt collar.

Julia thanks for taking this picture, and I hope you had a great afternoon in Canadian wine country, I know I sure did!

Gripe...

GRIPE DAY!!

Now I realize that animals on shirts are very popular this fall.  They seem to be popping up on all the major clothing sites; however this is one I cannot get behind.

Markus Lupfer did this ‘fluffy poodle dress’ for {ASOS} and for me it’s a no no! It reminds me of a large scratch and sniff fuzzy sticker!!!  Lol Even the model advertising the shirt doesn’t seem happy!Oh, I should also mention this lovely poodle attire is $570 bucks too!

That’s my Wednesday Gripe!

Finds...

Something I love as a wee bit of a clothing whore is when I can find an item I have seen on celebrities or in magazines either A in my size and B at an affordable price.  Well it has happened again.  Check out this {Forever21} find online that is pretty much the identical replica of this Halston Heritage Chiffon layered dress at {stylebop}.  Jury is still out if I could pull this off.  Not sure how the layers will fit with my boobs and all, but I cannot wait to get to a store and try it on, perhaps, even buy it!  I mean it’s a steal at $33 compared to the $1000-ish one.  Oh, if you’re racking your brain trying to figure out which celebrity wore it recently, Sarah Jessica Parker wore it in the SATC movie.  Fingers crossed everyone this dress works out!

{Image}

Summer Fun...

With summer coming to an end, so does the ability to wear bright colours without standing out.  This past Friday I went out with friends to send off our buddy Jamie who will be visiting New Zealand for a month.  With a few days left in August I pulled out my coral summer dress, paired it with a bright and fun flowered bib necklace.  To make the look more convertible into fall I paired it with a black cardigan and flat T-strap sandals.  Earlier in the summer I wore the same dress to my high school reunion, but paired it with a white cardigan and cognac wedges.  Same dress two totally different looks.  So pull out those bright summer colours for this coming long weekend, and soak up what is left of these hot summer days!

party goers!!

Adore...

Last night was the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, and it was quite the show!  This year the ‘red’ carpet they made it ‘black’ for a change, and BLACK was for sure the colour of the night; majority of the ladies that graced the carpet were in shade of black, gun metal and silver.  Here are all the gorgeous ladies.  My favorite of the black dresses was of course Adele and Britney Spears, both obviously having a soft spot in my heart musically as well.

And as far as the person who wore the brightest colour; 

that honor goes to the recently pregnant and glowing Beyonce.

And worst dressed goes to Nicki Minaj.  Really?!  Anyone else think she reminds us of Little Kim in the 90’s?  Just bad, ugh just bad.  Thank goodness she is talented so I can overlook this look…lol

 Hope you all enjoyed the show!!

Inspiration...

 Afternoon Anthropologie Style... 

My perfect Saturday would be waking up, a French pressed coffee, a newspaper, blog-roll (of course) and then a trip to the market, a bakery and a cheese shop.  All while placing these items into the basket in the front of my retro inspired bicycle.  My iPod would be playing Florence and the Machine and Adele on loop as I whiz thru the downtown streets.  Now of course this fantasy takes place in Paris, I had someone do my hair and makeup, and oh yes, the weather is warm with a chilly breeze.  And later this afternoon I would meet friends in a café, eat macaroons and debate light fare topics; ah, the dream continues, lol.  Now this is the outfit I would wear on this perfect Saturday morning.  All the clothes are from {Anthropologie} a store that fills me with wonder and amazement at their clothes and home products ALWAYS.  Hope that this coming season I can find pieces like these to add to my closet, so that a little bit of my dreamy Saturday will come true!

This coming weekend is a busy one for me!  Tonite I am sending a friend off who is heading to NZ for a month, so martinis are in order!  Tomorrow I am doing a winery tour in Niagara on the Lake for another friend’s birthday.  And then on Sunday, back to Niagara, to do a 5km CHOCOLATE race, yes you heard me CHOCOLATE!  So a busy weekend I will have, pictures to come on Monday.  Hope you all enjoy your weekend too!

Inspiration...

 Feeling BLUE?!

 The hot new shoe colour that seems to be everywhere this past year, but I am seeing more of now is COBALT BLUE!  It’s turning up in flats, heels, sky-high heels, suede, leather, plastic even!  Below is a collection of blue shoes I have found.  Hopefully these will give you some inspiration to add some blue footwear to your closet this season.  Paired with black skinnies, or even a great dress and black tights, the options are endless for a little 

POP of colour!

Adore...

How great are these {Anthropologie} quilted fall wedges for fall!  Mmm I love a unique shoe!

Finds...

My friend Liz recently asked me to help her pick out an outfit for a night at the race track.  I jumped at this chance.  Liz is a gorgeous, dark curly haired lady that could pull anything off!  She told me wanted the look to incorporate a fascinator and be a dressier rather than casual outfit.  This is what I have chosen.

I started with the fascinator; the rich purple and rust colours with just an accent of green are a great jumping off point.  I think a jewel tone purple dress would work best, not only can it be worn in summer, but paired with opaque tights she could wear it thru winter and fall; why not get more bang for your buck!  Because nights are getting cooler, I think a cardigan in a nice neutral colour would not take away from the dress but keep her warm yet stylish.  Small accessories like this horse necklace (an ode to the night of course) and a green earring suit the fascinator without taking away its spotlight.  The green earrings are meant to pick up the slight green feathers in the head piece.  Finally rounding out the outfit is again a neutral clutch and peep toe; again this colour will go all year no matter the season.

Liz, I hope this helps/inspires to you pick out a great outfit, but no matter what you chose I know you will look fantastic!  And more importantly, I hope you have a great time out that night!

Click on the image above to see where you can purchase all the items.

Finds...

{Sarah Smile} is this great housewares designer out of Wasaga Beach.  I came across her Etsy store and saw these couple pillows and immediately thought, they have to be on the BLOG!  She has lots of great pillows and art blocks that have that perfect feminine and romantic feel that would add just that little extra to a room.  Check out her store, and as always, SUPPORT LOCAL!

 {Sarah Smile}

{Sarah Smile}

Finds...

My love of {VOGUE} and {Disney} runs deep; recently saw this artist, {dantetyler} on {cocoperez} and totally had to showcase his art!

Although in the comments of the work he says he was not thrilled with the outcome, and will not give out prints it makes me sad.  They are FANTASTIC and frankly I am sure he could make some money reproducing them too.

Check out his version of the Disney Princess’ if they ever covered VOGUE!

Gripe...

 {ASOS}

I have no idea who could pull this off, or even what city this could be worn in.  If you’re old enough to remember ELECTRIC CIRCUS at MuchMusic, then I think this could have been worn there.  Now I will say if worn with a skirt then maybe it could work as a leggings and tight top complete look.   

Although I still think that would be pushing the boundaries. 

That’s the gripe of the day, because frankly I don’t even think a model would wear that in public, would you?

Adore...

I won’t even sugar coat it, I am in lurve with Pippa Middelton’s style.  Effortless chic is how I would classify her and her Princess Sister.  Normally when the daily pics of what Pippa wears comes out  I like but don’t bother blogging about.  This outfit hit the blog world yesterday morning I was shocked.  She normally wears short dresses but this maxi is great!  Paired with the white blazer it’s a perfect summer outfit.  It makes me want to find a nude coloured maxi ASAP and pair it with a blazer.  I loved this look so much I just had to share with all of you!

 {Imnotobsessed}

Adore...

A question I always get asked is, “where did you get your frames?”, I chuckle, then have to fess up that they are not real glasses and they came from Claire’s, lol  Even once when I was on a date and the gentlemanly caller asked how long I had been wearing glasses, again I had to fess up and say they were not real. 

Most people think I am crazy for wearing glasses when I do not need them, but that’s not really the case.  I do NEED them, I need them to put on when I am not wearing makeup! I think frames on me A suit me and B make a casual outfit look pulled together.  Not to mention I think of these glasses as an accessory just like earrings or rings, and I wear them just as such, an addition to an outfit.

I have 5 or 6 pairs, here they are!

Don’t be ashamed to wear something that you don’t need!  Try on a pair of clear frames, see if they suit you.  Try dark frames, light frames, TRY THEM ALL!

But I guess now my secret is out officially, I do not need glasses, but YES I wear them!  lol

Inspiration...

This picture taken from {Mr. Newton} is a great seasonal transition outfit.  The white still makes it summery while the caramel colours and blazer take this look into fall.  Thumbs up for this outfit!

 

Summer Fun...

This past weekend rained, and poured and just when you thought you were drowning, it rained some more.

I spent the weekend up at the cottage with a few of my girlfriends.  We spent the weekend eating chips, reading five gossip magazines, and watching the entire season six of Sex and the City.  We laughed, talked men, chilled, and above all got in some major girl time battery charging.

This is pretty much what I saw all weekend.

Onto the other note that filled my weekend curiosity.  The Kim Kardashian wedding.  No matter what your personal views of her and her brand and her family, there is no denying that she is beautiful.  When it comes to celebrity weddings, red carpets, I can never wait to see what the ladies would wear.  This wedding was no exception.  I kept hitting refresh on my sisters computer trying to see if some sort of website even got an aerial shot of her in the Vera Wang dress she was going to wear.  Now of course most of the pictures I cannot right click on and save, lol, but this one I got from {E!Online}.

I believe she went for the Armenian princess look (that's her background) and WOW, that headband is gorgeous.  Her make up is simple, not too much of a smokey of an eye, which is what she normally does.  And I think her choice not to do large earrings or a necklace was a fantastic decision since she had the headband on.

Rumour has it she changed two more times thru out the night.  {People Magazine} has the rights of the photos and is said to hit newsstands on Friday.  For more of the wedding pics click {here}.  And the 

E! two day wedding special will air Oct 9th and 10th.  I know I will be TiVo’ing it.  I mean, anyone who has that much money to spend on their wedding, I want to see what it can buy, lol.

Hope you all have a good start to your week.  No Monday Blues here!

Summer Fun...

First, HAPPY FRIDAY!  Second, sorry for the delay on the posts.  I took the day off from the office, and well, I slept in!  This weekend I am heading up to the cottage with some girlfriends, and I am very much looking forward to re-charging the batteries.

Since you all check out my blog so faithfully I am going to try and make this blog more personal.  I am still trying to find my stride in this blogsphere and I appreciate the dedication and support you have all been sending my way.

Something I started as a new years resolution was to do something every month I had never done before.  Mission accomplished so far. In July I blogged about the country musical festival I went to {here}; that was July’s something NEW.  I had never been to country festival, now I can say I have.

For this month I had been struggling to find something.  Then some of my guy friends invited me to a Toronto FC game; for those who do not know, thats the Toronto Soccer team.  So last Saturday I boarded the bus and went off to the game!  The vibe was amazing, the boys let me ask all the technical questions I needed too, I met some great people, cheered by butt off, and most importantly, THEY WON!

I have loved this personal challenge of trying to do something every month.  I have had such great experiences and have been pushing myself consistently to better my knowledge of things, and to have even more fun in my life.

Here are a couple pictures from the game.  I challenge you all to start to try something new every month.  It can be simple things like, new cleaning products, read the new genre of book, try octopus (which by the way I plan on doing before the end of the year), visit a new city.  Open your eyes, get out of your groove, 

there is so much NEW around you to enjoy.

 the game

 the boys

Jamie, and a very sweaty me! :(

Finds...

The look seen here by Hilary Duff is sooo easy to re-create.  I have chosen pieces all from popular Canadian stores, and the whole look WITH the UGGS is just over $300.  Click on the images to see where the items are from.  Now I know that seems like a lot, but, everyone has these pieces in their closet already I am sure!  So put them all together and you too can look like a casual celebrity out doing your errands!  This is look is effortless yet very much put together.

Adore...

As a follow-up to this post {here} on the ALDO Capecoral, I was recently browsing the online Payless store and saw they had their version too! But HALF THE PRICE!!  Perfect right!  They carry the shoe in a variety of colours, blue, nude, black and gold.  Now I haven’t tried it on to see if it is as comfortable as the ALDO version, but for half the price I would put up with some toe pain.  Fashion is pain right!? Hahaha

 {Payless}

So Happy when the impractical shoe is affordable.

Field Trip...

Already in love with the {Maddee}, then this shirt was posted on {Forever21} I thought where/how can I wear them together.  Then the idea of putting together an easy look that’s casual enough yet pulled together to wear to a brunch meet up with my girlfriends, and this is how I would pair them.  Great skinny black jean/pant, a great congac bag, some light gold jewelry and then some wicked blue nail polish to spice up the fun level.  Cant wait for fall brunch in the city with my girlfriend Kristy when I can wear this outfit that is effortless chic as I would put it..lol 

Now I am craving spinach eggs benny!

Adore...

print by {nickagin}

Love this print.  Most definitely words to live by.  And today is one of those days that I am battling the work computer and printer.  Just have to focus, and pray to the Microsoft Gods!  Hope your days is better!!!

Gripe...

Oh Christian Siriano how I loathe you right now.  WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!  

The winner of Project Runway has been designing shoes for PAYLESS for a couple years now.  Most of his shoes have been a great way to get a brand name for a great price and have been stunning and very fashion forward.  Then these came.  UGH!

 {Payless}

Seriously!!  Furry ankle boots…. Ugh… these are ugly.  The fur, the zipper the gold reflective heels, too much fug going on! lol  Yes, these technically are the type of shoes you find in a Walmart or Payless so don’t be surprised there.  However this is a prime of example that even though they are a ‘brand’ name it does not make them good.   

Sometimes great people make ugly things; these are that.

Enjoy the GRIPE!