Look! Free Coffee

Today I was an observer for my workplace's candidate interview process.  To ensure fairness - that all applicants are treated equally, I sat in on the interviews.  This is a month-long process; I can see how it can get very gruelling asking the same questions over and over.  

I have on my usual workplace "uniform": skirt, top, jacket.  I went for total black and white which I think is one of my winter stand-by colour combinations (the other is brown).

The jacket is a casual faux suede with eye-catching white stitching and gold buttons.  It's also a very dark black.

It was rainy and since I also had some client meetings, I didn't want to wear my army boots, so went with Franco Sarto double-zip booties.  Whoever invented the double-zip shoe - kudos.  Soo easy to put on.

And why do I have such a silly grin?

Well, our coffee supplier decided to toss out their packaged coffee today - yes, toss out.  They were introducing a new seasonal blend, so out with the old, in with the new.  Such a waste.

I stepped in and volunteered to take it home.  There was quite a bit so I sent round a note for co-workers to help themselves.  Even so, there was a lot leftover -- quite the haul for a thrifty person like me!

today i wore:

flower shirt ... jacob

scarf ... ?

jacket ... st john

skirt ... jessica

tights ... dollar store

booties ... franco sarto

Dex by Any Other Name

It was Jeans Day for United Way so I wore my grey jeans.  Instead of collecting money like in previous years, we just got stickers to wear.  I think it was more an awareness campaign to donate by payroll deduction.

Although they have more than 1% spandex, these jeans are still not bagged out, so I can wear them in public.

I teamed them with a short-sleeved tunic/sweater.  The sweater has funny pyramid shaped studs across the front.  It's Dex, but I think of it as Dexter for some reason.

The sweater is thick but short sleeved, so I never know what to wear underneath to avoid the cold arms syndrome.  I wore two long-sleeved t-shirts: a black one with a light grey one underneath.

The black t-shirt is actually a hand-me-up from my oldest son.

Then I tied a hair scarf round my neck - not sure if I like the result.  It's a little too shiny and bow-like. 

today i wore:

grey t-shirt ... kenneth cole

black t-shirt ... generations

tunic/sweater ... dex

jeans ... calvin klein

booties ... doc martens

That Paisley Shirt Again

Do you like to match your clothes to your bag?  I certainly do; so today was another brown day so as not to have to change my purse.

I think all the items in today's outfit have been seen before.  I have on my Wanko jacket again.

It has become a favourite; it's a knit jacket, so is curve hugging and the best part is that it fits easily under my coats.

I also wore that paisley shirt from Spain over a reddish/burgundy t-shirt.

It was quite cold yesterday so today I wore a longer skirt and my big-mistake tights. 

You can't see them because I also wore knee-high socks over them but here is a pic:  They are from the dollar store - can you tell? 

Actually, I think the dollar store got them at a liquidator's or something because the price stickers were stuck on (instead of printed on) and the tights had a manufacturer's name and address.

Surely this was a production line mistake?  Why would they make tights with a mismatched print?  and a big seam down the side of the leg?

I'm glad they only cost $1 and not the suggested retail price of $15 which was on the package.  Now I'll know to check the pattern before buying.

today i wore:

reddish t-shirt ... old navy

paisley shirt ... ? ... mercadillo, spain

brown jacket ... wanko

long skirt ... london fog

tights ... dollar store

knee highs ... secret

booties ... pera mela

Floppy Snake

Finally we have some non-rainy weather so I decided to wear something other than army boots.  It was also flu shot day, so I needed something with roll-uppable sleeves.

This jacket has an interesting texture and print - its sort of snake-like, but is glittery too and catches the light with movement perfect for Visible Monday. 

I like the jacket's casual comfy roominess - great for layering other items underneath.  And it is quite soft - almost a faux suede.

I teamed it with a turtleneck tunic and a floppy sleeved print blouse.

I am thinking of adding small buttons with a loop to this blouse so it stays in place under jackets. It is on my refashion, mend, sewing to-do list, which seems to just grow and grow.

The shoes are a bit hard to see, but they are the 3 button slipon booties from Franco Sarto.

The other item in this outfit is this wonderful purse:

The photo really does not do it justice. It's a wonderful rich brown colour with tones of burgundy - I just had to use it today.  The bag was super-cheap and some of the zipper pulls still had those little plastic protector thingys on them!

today i wore:

jacket ... ?

turtleneck ... joe fresh

blouse ... beechers brook

skirt ... reitmans

tights ... zellers

shoes ... franco sarto

bag ... la diva for town shoes

Tapestry Handbag

I was rushing home from convention and for some reason, as soon as I got home I changed out of my clothes, so today's post is going to be a bag post.

As you know, I'm a tapestry bag addict and am always on the look out for a cute bag.

I found this one the other day - it has beautiful brown tones and is a small hand-bag size. 

The name all over the bag is Diverso Italy - I think it is one of those names which manufacturers use for a designer sound.

The bottom is protected with a liner, and it's quite roomy for a small purse.

It even has one of those credit card pockets, but I prefer to use a wallet.  There are lots of zip pockets, so it can hold keys, transit pass etc without everything getting all jumbled up.

I've already used it once - it's so cute.  and it was such a good deal that I was smiling the whole time.

Faux Royal Turkey

I have been so unbelievable busy, aaargh!  But, thought I'd better do a post today.  This top is one of those which I think of as "not sure if it's ugly or cute  but I really like it" prints.

It sort of reminds me of peacock feathers.  Did you know that in Spanish, a peacock is called a "Royal Turkey"?  I know, strange right?  Maybe it stems from the Peacock Throne expression.

I originally thought it was a cardigan because it has buttons down the front, but no.  It's a faux cardigan!  I didn't wear a scarf - thought it would be too much.

Here's a closer look at the print and belt.  I had to take this pic separately because my pics are just not coming out as clear as I'd like. 

But you can see how the print looks like stitching - but it's not.

We had a nice leaving lunch for a couple more staff members at a fabulous Indian Buffet, so the top was in its element.

Curvy Purple Sweater

When my brother was little, one of his favourite colours was purple; today, it is one of my favourite colours.  It's been getting colder, and I've been wanting to wear this sweater for a while, so today was a good day.

What caught my eye in addition to the colour was the curviness of the lines.  The shawl collar also has scalloped lettuce trim edges.

It's really soft too and light.  There's just one giant button in the middle to hold it closed.

I like how it opens up to highlight the waist area - although I didn't have any special belt or anything to show.  I teamed it with the grey skirt so as not to look overly dark.

I also really like the sleeves - they are super long and stick out from my coat sleeves, which I think looks more modern than when they don't.

today i wore:

l/s t-shirt ... kenneth cole

curvy sweater ...striking

grey skirt ... kenneth cole

nubby tights ... calvin klein

shoes ... privo?

+ "silk feeling polyester" scarf !

Wanko ?!?

Today is Take Your Kid to Work day, so my younger son accompanied me to work.  The company arranged some activities and then for part of the day he followed or job-shadowed me.

I wore this WANKO jacket - don't you just love the name?  But mostly open for most of the day.

What does my son think of my work?  Boring.


I missed yesterday's post due to being super busy but here are some pics:

As you can see, I'm trying out Melanie's "bra" look - it was purely by accident as I wanted to wear the tube skirt up - to avoid the thickness around the waist.

Again, apologies for the photos - but at least I (just now) think I've figured out why - we'll know tomorrow.

today i wore:

pyramid top ... fancy lady

scarf ... ?

jacket ... wanko

skirt ... reitmans

bamboo tights ... ?

yesterday i wore:

t-shirt ... joe fresh

"bra top" ... mango

tube skirt ... jessica

drapey cardigan ... lsw

tights ... dollar store

Giant Multi-Sweater

You know how each season you have a few items that you wear over and over because they are super comfy or just seem to go with everything?  Well, I think I found a repeat item.

This giant sweater has all sorts of fabrics and textures combined.  It's actually an XL size.  And it is sooo comfy.

Each sleeve is different, and depending how you wear it, you can twist the pattern to the front or back:

Even the back is different from the front:

It actually looks good worn backwards too.  I love it!

On another note: you can see I'm still looking for places to take indoor photos.  Might need to change the light in this room as everything is decidedly yellow!

today i wore

multi-sweater ... derin

skirt ... kenneth cole

tights ... dollar store

boots ... spanish army boots

Peplum It !

Today I was unsure how to wear a top.  It was not as loose and floppy as it looked on the hanger - poor visualization? or weight gain?  not sure.

My original idea was to wear it solo like this:

But I had pictured it to be looser and more drapey.  Instead it was tighter and form-fitting.  That would've been fine, but we all know how I hate that long-body look - at least on myself.  So I peplumed it by adding a belt and pulling the top up a bit:

It still felt a little body-conscious, so I added a jacket:

And of course ended up with my usual work uniform ... aaargh!

It turned out okay in the end - but what this outfit did show me is that I do not have a scarf for this colour combination!  So I had to resort to black.

today i wore

green top ... hiatus

black t-shirt ... joe fresh

jacket ... jessica

grey skirt ... kenneth cole

tights ... calvin klein

boots ... spanish army boots

Little Old Lady Vest

I've had this vest for yonks but am always hesitant to wear it because it looks like something a little old lady would wear.  But, I love the subtle colour variations and just hate having something in the closet which sits there so hauled it out for today.

It seems to look less little old lady like with a skirt and this time I wore it with brown, so that might be the trick.

I had lots of layers and even wore a sweater-jacket over the whole thing, but our unseasonably warm weather allowed me to go sweater-less the whole day.

It's also been a while since I put my hair up (it's been in a ponytail for weeks), so today I switched back; it feels better - no hair on the neck.

today i wore:

shirt ... ann taylor

l/s tee ... kenneth cole

vest ... nygard

scarf ... tentazioni

skirt ... reitmans

bamboo tights ... ??

booties ... from spain

Orange Puddle Jumper

My mom ordered me a couple of bags with her loyalty points and I received them the other day.  One is a super cute gym/overnighter bag in pumpkin orange.  Perfect for this time of year, and a nice colour for spring/summer too.

It even has a cute name: Puddle Jumper.

There are tons of pockets and its quite a good size.  There is also an open to the air mesh pocket for soggy towels/swimsuits.

It's very roomy, with more pockets for water bottle and other stuff on the inside:

It has feet, and a clear plastic protective layer on the bottom (slightly hard to see) so it won't get dirty or soggy:

The whole thing is quilted, and best of all it has perfect length handles:

 
It also has a shoulder strap which probably isn't necessary as the double handles are sufficiently long.

I don't go to the gym much so am considering using it as a work bag - I'm often lugging laptop and books from one office to another, and the bag I use is sometimes not big enough.  The other option of course would be to plan a weekend trip somewhere ... wouldn't that be nice?