Make it Happen

Shorts? Joe Fresh (cut from pants) Shirt? Winners Cardi? Gap Bag? Winners Shoes? Thrifted

I cut a pair of cargo pants into shorts. And just like Gretchen and the word 'fetch', I really want to make this look happen. I realize I cut right through the cargo pockets and rendered them absolutely useless (as demonstrated below) but in the world of fashion we can just market that as whimsical or quirky.

If we hadn't been going out for a walk yesterday when I wore this, I would have put some fakester glasses, striped socks and python pumps on, instead of my beat up and beloved oxfords. And then I would have carefully taped an outfit picture of mine into the fall 2011 J. Crew catalogue. In 1997 I thought fashion trends started in a Sears catalogue; now, as a wise fashion blogger, I know that the only way to make a trend happen is to have it styled by J. Crew. And somebody please tell Gretchen that fetch is only going to happen if it's a hash tag. Right? My shorts are so #fetch!

A Weekend

This weekend Matt and I took a very quick little trip to Montreal to see some friends. I feel like we should have strapped on our fanny packs and touristed it up around one of my favourite cities but we spent most of the time relaxing on a friend's back deck. We also should have taken more pictures but we slacked on that too.
Happily, we caught the most important highlights of the weekend so we could share them with you.

There saw a pretty teenage cat on a neighbouring patio. 'Stop making that face! We're going to be friends real soon.'

I wore one of my favourite dresses and I ripped the back seam out. I'm smiling because I didn't know that the dress was ripped yet...

I changed into another dress and a beautiful friendship blossomed between the neighbouring cat and I.

Was your weekend this awesome? Didn't think so.

P.S. A big thanks to Emily, a hot babe I like chatting to online, who let us use her condo this weekend. She posted some pictures of us that don't involve ripped dresses or cats... they are still pretty good though.

Summer Ventilation

Dress? DvF, Off Saks 5th Ave. Shoes? Coach, Winners Bangles? Mexico and thrifted

I am pretty sure I was a smug kid when I found this silk DvF dress at an outlet a few years ago for $15. I imagined it would be an oft-worn, easy breezy dress for my favourite summer activities. Summer activities that would include beach strolls, farmer's market runs, sangria making and churning butter. I have varied interests, you see...
But I've learned that backless isn't synonymous with easy, breezy style. The bra that you wear with a backless style is science in and of itself. Sometimes you apply the bra cups perfectly and sometimes you make really loud, obnoxious jokes so that no one notices that your chest is supported in a lopsided manner. The tan lines (once again) are hard to avoid and then there is the twinge of self consciousness that comes with walking around with an exposed back. For all those reasons this cheery dress has never quite become a summer staple.
But when you have a heat wave and no real air conditioning in the house and it is so hot that you hate everyone and your cat's hair is crimping; all those details seem rather minor and you feel smug again for only spending $15 for such a pretty and ventilated dress.

Tanlines, Tears and Thrifting

Dress? Thrifted Shoes? Kate Spade, thrifted Clutch? Thrifted Bracelets? Crazy lady at The Ex

I really like this dress. That made it an excellent choice for the thrift edition of EBEW. However, I think I may have asked too much from this dress.

It wasn't enough that it was a classic, silk, leopard print, wrap dress that I bought during the 50% sale at Value Village... I expected the dress to give me the gift of grace and poise as well. Maybe because I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror (whatever, I was actually staring, not glimpsing...) and thought for a second that I was a blonde Kate Middleton. All that fanciful thinking of grace, poise and Kate Middleton did me no good on this particular day because I let my emotions get the better of me in a frustrating moment and I broke down in a fit of tears. And then I cried some more because I was embarrassed that I was even crying in the first place. It was an cycle of weeping, really. A thrifted dress, no matter how excellent, has no control over my tear ducts.



And while I have no grace and poise like Kendi's imaginary friend Kate, we do both face wardrobe malfunctions from the wind. The one without tanlines is the princess and the one with tanlines (I know... they kill me too) is the landscaper. In case you couldn't tell who was who...

Thrift Day. Shop That Trend

Everywhere you look, people are stacking bracelets. It's vat all de kool kids are doing (...said with the dutch accent of my friend's mom, not my mom this time. There is a difference...). You could dig out your friendship bracelets from Grade 6 and catch that trend before it goes the way of Kevin Richardson from The Backstreet Boys or you can hit your local thrift store and grab an armful of bangles. That's the best part of thrifting. Before F21 catches on to a trend (so... 3 days), you can often thrift that same trend.
I found all these bracelets at Value Village last week... I was quite impressed with how well they worked together and the whole cluster came in at under $8. And I think Value Village is expensive, so I am sure you can find some for even cheaper. Which is good... because we like it cheaper. We're like those crazy coupon people... except I have an armful of nice quality bracelets for $8 and they have a basement full of free deodorant.

Oh... and p.s.!!!! It's the Thrift Edition of EBEW this week Thursday!

Work Shorts and Siblings

Silk shirt? Thrifted, of course Shorts? Joe Fresh Shoes? Coach Clutch? Thrifted Necklace? Banana Republic Bracelets? Thrifted Pictures? Taken by my oldest bro...thanks!

The story that comes along with this outfit is semi-interesting and slightly long winded. I shall try to keep you entertained...
I came home from work a few weeks ago and as I was talking to Matt about my day, I touched my butt (I have tried to make this sentence less awkward but I can't change the truth...) and found two huge tears across the back of my shorts; pretty much exposing my entire right cheek. It was like my shorts just disintegrated off my body. When exactly my shorts tore and who all got a peek of this goodness, I shall never know... perhaps it is better this way.

Replacing work shorts mid season is a difficult thing because the middle sizes on all the good shorts (finding good shorts in the first place is like Goldilocks and the bowls of porridge...) are gone. I cheated on Old Navy when I found some at Joe Fresh.

My new shorts and I were a good match at work. Last week I wore them to clean out a pond. We smelled like a bog monster that day. But it was an early work day and so as to not let free time go to waste, I went to a thrift store on the way back home... because I am not ashamed of my dirt mustache and pond reek. I found this silk shirt and I tried it on with my work shorts and I really liked how they looked together. So, before I destroy these work shorts as well, I figured they could go out on a 'hey, I showered and did my hair' day too. The moral of the story is; if you treat your shorts with respect, they will not tear across your butt cheek. Or something like that...

And now as reward for reading my long story, I will throw in a picture of my younger brother. He's single, he's even funny sometimes and I saw 4 pictures of the cat on his iphone. He wants to be a Sears model when he grows up. So do I.

Some Kind of Thrift Party

Dress? Thrifted Belt? Thrifted Shoes? Jeffrey Campbell Necklaces? Stolen from my Mama and Cuba

I got this dress for $1 in Texas while thrifting with Kendi. I almost left this dress behind because I had found so much good stuff already that I was too lazy to buy more. Glad I bought it though.

Laziness often stops me from going to garage sales because it involves getting up early on a Saturday. Laziness often stops me from finishing the last 25 miles of a marathon. Laziness always stops me from starting the first mile of a marathon. It nearly stopped me from buying a non-see-through-off-white (so many hyphens, so little time) dress with great details, fit and pockets... for a dollar. If I had left it behind, I would still be boring Matt with my thrift regret. Happily, I can bore him with outfit ideas instead.

In other happy news, the sweet and sassy ladies (ultimate words of flattery...) who run EBEW are hosting a thrift edition next week Thursday, July 21. Usually style ideas are suggested and then voted upon but I slipped both ladies a toonie (that's a two dollar coin for your non-Canadians) and they agreed that Everybody Everywhere should bust out their best thrift duds for an extra special edition of EBEW. So, if you have a thrift find that you are extraordinarily proud of or one that you know will induce pangs of jealousy (within me), make sure you read all the details here and post next week. Then make sure you submit to EBEW and ogle what others submitted as well. I can't wait! Well, I can... but I don't want to...

A Slightly Awkward Post

Shorts? Thrifted Shirt? Gap Belt, shoes and purse? Thrifted

Last time I did an EBEW post I had writer's block. This time it happened again. I think I have an excuse though, working outside in this heat wave for 10 hours a day has started to smelt my brain.
What follows is a true story.
Because I was stumped I asked my bestie/co-worker what to write in a post about my mellow yellow shorts. She asked me if the shorts made me feel cheerful. I said no. She asked if they made me feel like the man with the yellow hat from Curious George, except for without the yellow hat and the monkey. I said no. She asked me if they made me feel like I humped sunshine. I said to her that I think I will stick to writing my own blog but you would probably be entertaining on twitter.

Here's a tip. Find friends who are weirder than you.

Time Management

Dress? Thrifted Tee? Joe Fresh Shoes? Steve Madden, DSW Necklace? Stolen from my Mama Clutch? Coach, bridesmaid gift.

I was going to wear this dress on its own. But the straps were just too short and it would have taken 3 minutes to fix them. Also the boning in the corset was sharp and I needed to expose them and file down the edges. That would have taken 18 minutes. So I put a tee under the dress in order to save me the effort. But then a glimpse in the mirror made me think the dress would look a little better if the hemline was raised, so I spent 22 minutes and hand sewed a new hemline on the tulip skirt.
If my logic and time management make sense to you, I could use you as a friend. If if makes no sense, I could use you as a therapist.
But regardless of how I allotted my time, I like how it all came out. A slouchy tee gave some new life to a 90's dress. Too bad the slouchy tee can't give me better time management skills.

Two Favourites

We've had our new house since last November and decorating it has gone a little slower than I anticipated. I would have thought DesignSponge would be knocking at my door by now but instead I got a city worker knocking on the door and telling me that our new waterline passed inspection. Good news, I guess. I think part of the delay in decorating is just that we haven't had time and the other part is moving past the bad decisions the former owners made. It's an old house with lots of charm but the former owner made some recent upgrades that stripped some of the character away. And it seems kind of wasteful to redo something that was just done, so we are just getting settled a bit before we decide how to spend our retirement savings. I'm always on the look out for cool furniture though and sometimes in the excitement of the moment I buy something that is so freaking cool only to take it home and think 'what am I doing?'.
But I don't think that about this bench. I found it at a garage sale around the corner for $50. I couldn't stop thinking about it, so I returned a couple hours later with $40. The owner said I was a meanie for only having $40 with me. I acknowledged that statement. I meant business.
Sadly the original upholstery is in rough shape but the springs are good. I can strip it, paint it and then recover the cushioned areas. I can take the easy way out and repaint the frame black or white or... if I get my floors refinished to a flat black as I wish, then I can paint the frame pink or purple or lime green. Oh boy... so much choice!

And then because I am a loving kitty mama/pushy stage mom/Dina Lohan, I forced Stella to sit pretty for me on my new acquisition. At first he wasn't so sure...



But then he settled down and posed like a champion.

It makes my cat love infested heart swell with pride to see him so handsome. It's easy to forget that when we met him, he was a street cat; covered in mats the size of fists, with his ear tips bleeding and detached from frostbite. We took him in about three years ago and he still repays us with plenty of affection and an occasional accident outside the litter box. And to see him now... he looks like like he's King of the World. Or at least King of the New Garage Sale Find. Either way, he's King... even though I named him Stella by accident.

On Being Tall but Not Blind

Skirt? Thrifted Sweater? Gap, thrifted Shoes? Aldo Purse? Vintage Roots, thrifted Necklace? F21

I realize I am tall. And when I wear heels I am even taller (really?). But apparently I crossed the acceptable line of female tallness when I wore these shoes because there was a lot of prune face going on when I walked by. Matt can vouch for that. It starts with the up and down, turns into a full on nose wrinkled, eyebrows raised and mouth pursed look and then the grand finale is the nudge to the person beside them to alert them to my freakishness. Maybe I ask for the glances or maybe I don't think that being tall should stop me from enjoying the footwear of my choice. The point of my story is that I would prefer getting the weird looks behind my back. Because even though I might stand a foot taller than you, I can still see you when you scrunch up your face and nudge your friend. The air is different up here but my vision is unaffected by the change in altitude.
But I'm a big girl. I know people sometimes act insensitively. Years ago I was learning to drive standard and someone threw a Wendy's milkshake at me. I guess that makes me the inspiration for Glee.