Coral Overload

This is another skirt which I've wanted to wear for a while; it's from the Sears Outlet. Unfortunately, I don't remember the price - I should write these things down - it was probably about $7 since I don't like to pay more than $9 for a skirt.

I hadn't planned to wear a jacket, but it seemed like it might be cold and the only thing that matched was the one from the swanky lunch.


By fluke, I hauled out my French squares top and the colour went quite well and then I added the polka dot scarf.

I wasn't sure what with the jacket being so suit-like and the skirt being so floral and un-suit-like, but there were lots of colours and textures; here's a closeup:

The skirt is nice because it has flippy walking pleats in the front which add a bit of swing and swoosh.

And it is certainly visible; Big J said he could see me from the top of the escalator when he picked me up from the station.

Today's post is linked to:

• Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style
• Monday Mingle at Glamamom
• Watch What I'm Wearing 

Where is Pelican Cove?

When I was in a green-buying mood, in addition to the flippy skirt, I also got another one which is a little straighter, a little shorter but still has a bit of a ruffle.

The tag says Pelican Cove; there are lots of Pelican Coves around the world but I think this used to be a jeans brand a long time ago.   This is the skirt which every time I look at it, think: I could make something like that.  Not including the ruffle, it is just a straight tube with some elastic at the waist - I think.

I wore it with a t-shirt and looked quite long-bodied so tied a scarf around my waist to break up the dark expanse of green. 

Add some accessories and we're off!  This is my Dollar Store necklace with another one from a liquidator's.  I'm very surprised that it's usually the Dollar Store items which get the compliments.

3 Strand Dollar Store Necklace

Here's a closeup of the print on the skirt - I wish they'd lined up the print a bit more.  A quality designer item would have the prints lined up I'm sure.

I thought the pebbly-ness of the scarf matched the dragon scales on the skirt.

Lace Curtain Top

This is a spur of the moment outfit - I wanted to wear the skirt - it's from Sears and I got it on sale last year I think but haven't worn it yet.  And I had a lace top found on the same trip as yesterday's disk necklace.  Big J hates it, but I am already thinking it will go with lots of stuff. 

I call it my lace curtain top because the material looks like something you would find on a curtain, only grey. It has an elastic waist and I think it might've been lovingly home-made since there are no tags.

The scarf was a last minute addition - I was on the train and my neck was cold and it just happened to be the scarf that was in my purse.  I think it turned out quite well - adds some colour to an otherwise monochrome outfit.  Had I styled it myself, conservative-dresser me would've done the matchy-matchy same colour thing and it would've looked less interesting.

For a couple of days now, I've been putting milk in my tea (instead of drinking it asian style with nothing) and I think it's causing me to bloat up.  I felt very tummy conscious today and am not sure if it was the skirt I wore or the tea.

Although I actually feel heavier than a few days ago, the good news is, due to the tummy bloat I weighed myself and am now down to 155 and a half pounds!  Yay!

Big Disk

It's amazing how the clothing we wear is so attuned to how we feel, what we see and of course the weather.  I've been feeling cold even indoors so decided to go with my taupe cardi again.

I wore it with one of those stretchy tops that look like they are made of little pyramids all joined together.  These tops start off tiny - about the size of a three-year-old's shirt.  This one, although new, was quite stretched out so it was only $3; I've never worn it much previously perhaps because I usually tried it with all dark colours and it just did not work.

I think the taupe cardi lightens it up though, so it looks okay.  I also wore a new to me necklace that I found on the weekend.  It was $5 which seemed a bit steep, but I liked the big disk thing - it reminds me of a jade necklace except that the colour's all wrong.  I really should try waiting for the 50% off sales for these impulse buys, but then they wouldn't really be impulse buys would they? 

It wasn't warm enough to doff the cardi until I got home, but here is what it looks like without the sweater.

I was off to visit clients again, so finished with some sturdy shoes.

More for Less

Do you ever buy something on a regular basis and then one day think that the package or box or bottle looks smaller?  or that it is less full?  It happens to me a lot, but I usually never have an older package on hand to compare.

So I was at Costco the other day and bought some Lysol wipes.  I noticed that the package came with four containers and remember thinking didn't it used to be three? but thought nothing of it.  I put the new wipes away as we still had a few left under the sink.

The old wipes came with a white lid (above) while the new ones had a nice happy looking yellow lid:

 

But what I didn't realize until today when I opened a new batch was that the new ones were in a much smaller package.

Here they are side by side:

We Kill Germs !!!

And here is a view looking down on the tops, you can really tell the difference in diameter:

The old ones had 3 containers of 110 wipes each making a total of 330 wipes.
Although the new packages have 4 containers, each only has 80 wipes for a total of 320.  Somewhere in the mix we got downsized: more packaging but 10 wipes less.

You would think the cost of the extra material for the container would be way more than those 10 little wipes.

I hate that feeling of paying more for less.

Black is Black

Our family's plan is to watch one movie each weekend during the summer holidays and as expected with 3 males in the family we have seen Spiderman and Avengers. Last night we went to see Dark Knight Rises; if you like Batman movies, I thought this one was pretty good - Anne Hathaway is great as Catwoman. So I was still in a dark frame of mind and since it was a miserable rainy day, I thought something black would be in order.

This is the MNG top from the mercadillo in Spain worn with a turtleneck underneath and my basic knit skirt (Kenneth Cole) and my Docs.  I like this type of pullover semi-tunic tops and Big J does too.  Don't have to worry about belt buckles, ties or buttons.  Just a basic rainy day look.

For Visible Monday, and Monday Mingle I blinged it up with these accessories; they are from a liquidator's - but I think the necklace is Avon of all things.

They feel dressy and I'm never sure if I'm overdoing it.  But I like them, they look like stuff from another time don't they? 

Snake Purse Repair

The hand-me down snake purse from my mom has become my favourite. 

I have quite a few purses and usually try to use a different one every few days.  When I kept coming back to this one, it got me thinking why do I like it so much? What makes a great purse? 

Your must-haves for a purse might be different, but for me, I think a great purse should have the following characteristics:

• Size: a purse should be big, not briefcase big, but big enough to hold a duo-tang - I have lots of stuff I like to carry around with me.
• Have some outside pockets, with zippers or snaps so I can get at my transit pass, and access card without having to open the purse itself.
• Have a zip top closure - I don't like it when things can fall out.
• Have a few pockets on the inside - both zippered and non for pens, gum, candy and what have you
• Be a handbag - I like the practicality of a messenger style bag, but nothing beats the look of a handbag; ideally the handles should be long enough to slip over my shoulder when I have a coat on
• Be able to stand up to a few drops of rain - Lotusland is wet

So, when I damaged the snake purse during yesterday's fire drill, I was none too pleased:

Luckily the ripped piece was in the desk drawer, so I slipped it into my wallet for repair later.  I used that Weld-Bond non-toxic glue again. 

Here's the before:

And here's the after:

It's not perfect, but you have to look quite closely to see that it's been fixed! Not bad.

Fire Drill

When I was putting on my shoes this morning, it looked like it might rain so I grabbed the loafers.  As it turned out this was a good choice.

We have an evacuation drill every year at our workplace and today was the day.  When the alarm sounded, I did my bit as female searcher and then we all trooped down the stairs.

Going down and around 19 flights of stairs relatively quickly always makes me dizzy.  Luckily once we're outside, there's a short period of waiting for the all-clear, and then a longer wait for the elevators to return to our desks. 

It was a lazy day for getting dressed so I just grabbed a tee and matching scarf.  The tee is from Costco from a few years ago; I don't think it was on sale, so it would've been about $9, if it was on sale it would've been $6 - and strange to say: I really cannot remember.

The cute thing is it has a rather asian looking print on one side and a matching one on the back of the opposite shoulder.  I'm sure this tee used to be tighter on me, so the fibre is working.

I read on Jane's blog (the Small Fabric of My Life) that Steven Covey of 7 Habits fame passed away a few days ago.  I feel older.  His works were the basis for a weeklong course we had at work and his teachings still remain with me today years later.

Now I'm off to fix my snake purse - it caught on the drawer in the rush to get out of the office and a bit of it peeled off.  I'm hoping it can be salvaged as it has become my favourite.

Three Necklaces

Aarrgh! It's cold again, or at least in the morning.

The plan was to wear all creamy ivory colours today, but the day started out grey and threatening.  So I switched in taupe in order to be able to wear a cardi and dark shoes.

The skirt is one I got a few years ago for $7 at Winners (the Canadian TJ Maxx).  Anything under $9 for a new skirt is a pretty good price methinks.

Not sure if this look is a bit too busy in the front but I like the self-belt on the skirt - it covers all sorts of unsightly bulges.

And if you have to take off your sweater, there is still something of interest to catch the eye.  The tee was only $3 at the liquidators and I always regret not buying all the colours.  They had red, pink and black also.  It's just a standard collared tee with some gathering at the front plaquet, but is soft comfy and great for when you want something other than a crew neck.

Not sure if I went overboard on the necklaces - three this time, but I think it looks okay:

And they all kind of match, colour-wise anyway don't you think?

Black and White and Red

As some of you may know, Big J and I have been trying to stick to a healthy diet with more fibre than we usually get.  Apparently women need about 25 grams of fibre and men need 35. 

So we've been at it for about a couple of weeks now - eating lots of healthy fruit and veggies, legumes, whole wheat, brown rice.  The best part is the fruit and the worst is the lingering odour of fish - we're also trying to eat less meat.

If anyone has a good solution to getting rid of cooked fish smell let me know!  In the meantime, since it's summer, we're going to try to cook fish outside on the barbie.

I don't feel any different on this diet, more full perhaps -  I already ate fibre and fish regularly but hubby certainly feels better.

I haven't lost any additional poundage since May so will have to either step up the activity level or reduce the fuel intake.

But, I am losing size I think - see that red Liz Claiborne belt in the photo?  I can actually fasten it one hole smaller now.  (I didn't, but could if I wanted to).


Today's outfit is all black and white prints with the red belt for the colour pop.

The skirt is the same Esprit one I wore back in February.  This time I added a sleeveless ruffly top, the polka-dotty scarf from Spain and a red belt.

Can you see the plums in the tree?  They are the small orange ones and are almost ready; they'll be a tasty addition to the diet.  We bought 2 plum trees years ago and get a big crop of fruit - enough for friends and neighbours.  They are in different parts of the yard so the fruit is ready at different times - makes for a longer yield period.

Like many of my skirts, this one is a touch big - I don't like tightness around the waist so tend to move up a size sometimes, but the floaty-ness was great for today's muggy weather.

Another Paisley Print

So our good weather looks like it's here to stay.  I've wanted to wear this skirt for a while now, but it's (in my mind anyway) a sunny day item. 

It's one of a slew of skirts that I got at a liquidator's for $8.  It was the print that first caught my eye.  It's a dense to sparse paisley print.  The top half is a tight jam-packed not-quite-sure-where-to-look print which slowly changes to a more relaxed, spaced-out one.

It's also a full semi-circular skirt which I prefer in the summer - cooler usually. I wore it with my sparkly top and locally-made necklace:

I actually had a red cardi overtop most of the day and when I got home, I thought it would've actually looked better with my red slip-ons.  What do you think? 

Hey - I've changed my Links page too - separating the fashion linkies from the other ones.  It's easier now to tell which link parties apply to your post.

So it being Monday, I'm linking to:

• Visible Monday !
• Monday Mingle

Black, Cream and Zebras

So after reading Patti of Not Dead Yet Style's Agonizers post yesterday, I decided who cares that everyone is going hoseless - I am more comfortable with hose.  I hauled out the nylons I bought that hot day of the thick tights.  I think I was the only one on the train in hosiery - everyone was bare-legged - except the men of course  :D

It's surprising what a thin layer of nylon will do in preventing friction.  I was much more comfortable and less self-conscious too.  Thank-you Patti for that wonderful post.

I really didn't know what to wear today so just went with a basic black and cream colour palette.  A ruffle tee and cream cardi over my pull on skirt.  I tossed a scarf over a necklace and was done.

The scarf is another one from the defunct True Value Vintage.  It has teeny tiny Fortuny pleats and a wild black and white print with mustard coloured zebras!

There was another pleated scarf in the store that same day in blue tones which I didn't buy and then when I went back the next day it was gone !  She who hesitates is lost.

The scarf was wound tighter around the neck during the day, but on the way home I undid it for some air.

Bright Yet Dark

It is 9 months and counting before we are all laid-off; although it's sunshine and cloud-free skies outside, many people are downright gloomy on the inside.  And so we come to today's outfit.  It's a mix of bright and dark - perfect considering.

I really wanted to wear this magenta tank, but it seemed overly bare for work, so I put a sleeveless black tee under it and then a short cardie overtop. I liked how the tee made a smooth waistband for the skirt (the skirt actually has belt loops).

The tank was only $3.00 ? new a few years ago at Old Navy - yes, Old Navy, but I liked the colour and the satiny-ness, and the little ruffles, and the elastic at the waist.  I thought it would be good for a hot day, with a tee underneath; but then, just in case I put a scarf over it all.  Not sure if it looks better with or without the scarf.

What do you think? Trying out another poll. Thanks for participating!

Ruffled Denim Skirt

I'd completely forgotten about this skirt until today.  I found it while rummaging around in the closet for something to wear.  It's an Ann Taylor Loft skirt that I found several years ago.  

I must admit that I love Ann Taylor clothing.  All the items I have fit very well, no gaping, bagging or sagging.

What caught my eye on this skirt were all the details:

• a ruffle - but not just any ruffle - this one has stitched down pleats
• peak-a-boo trim
• lace

It was hot enough to go tightless - so you see actual legs for once.

Originally I was going to go beltless like this:

But it felt very long-bodied so not having an appropriately coloured belt, I added the scarf.

Which one do you like better? I'm trying out a poll. Thanks for participating!