Ruffle, Lace and Stripes

Ugh.  We went to Costco after work to pick up milk - the chocolate milk is almost $2 less than at our local super-market.  To avoid a huge bill we have recently been buying only if something is a staple or on sale.  So today we got cereal and chicken, both on sale. 

The ugh part is that there were all sorts of food demos - I tried deli cuts on bread, havarti cheese, barbecue sauce on a chunk of hot dog, kettle corn, bear paw cookies etc etc.  By the time we were done I was sampled out, and in no mood for dinner.

Why don't they ever have sliced watermelon, or blueberries to sample?

Today's outfit is my New Year's skirt with a multi-fabric lace top, my witchy tights and a ruffle jacket.  I am not sure about the tights - a solid colour would've probably been better.

The scarf was a gwp - one year I was buying a long coat and my mom took me to a little store downtown.  They had exactly the coat I was looking for (I still wear it to this day) and when we bought it, my mom asked if there was a gift with purchase and lo and behold I was allowed to pick out a scarf!

Today I wore:

tuxedo tank ... old navy

lace top ... merona

skirt ... della spiga

tights ... CK?

shoes ... privo?

jacket ... tradition

scarf ... ? gift with purchase

Necklace Overload

It is finally getting a touch warmer these days.  I wasn't sure about today's outfit - thinking it might be overly cool temperature wise.

The t-shirt is sleeveless, but has a built-in necklace.  It has a droopy sort of neckline too, which felt a bit bare so I decided to go overboard on the necklaces and added another one.

 
It still felt overly exposed, perhaps because of the long months with turtlenecks and scarves.  Here is a closer look:

The sweater is actually about 4 or 5 years old; it was only $8! from a liquidator (since closed).  I liked it for the knitty, crochet-y-ness and the hoodie:

And of course, the visibleness (for Patti's Visible Monday linkup) are both the stripey tights and the loose hair.  Also linking to Glamamom.

Big Stripes and a Boar

I bought this big stripey vest thing on a whim and am not sure if I like it or not.

The colours are nice, but the top is a little skimpy (not sure if that is the right word).  I feel like it should have wider shoulders - or maybe I just don't have the right body shape for this garment.  Mongs @ My Thrifty Closet has a good post on body shape this week, and it might be I have something to learn.

I had the urge to wear this chunky necklace even though it didn't really go:

A former co-worker came down for lunch the other day and then talked me into going in with her on a Buy 2 Get 2 sale as she could only find 2 items she liked.  The chunky necklace was one of the items and I wanted to try it out.

And I held the top of the vest together with a pin:

Here is a picture for better detail:

This is actually a pewter Scottish Clan MacLaren pin. Their rallying cry is "Boars Rock".  Nothing to do with me though, the only Scottish in my family is MacIntosh, methinks.

Service Excellence

When I fell the other day, my watch also broke so I took it into the repair shop.  The watch is quite old and there are only a few places in town which can repair it.  I took it to a little shop which I'd been to a few times but years ago. 

The first time, I switched out my leather strap for metal links and the little old watchmaker kept the strap and the extra links - I was super skinny and all the links would've made the watch loose and floppy.

The second time, the watch was fogging up and running a little fast.  When I got it back, the little old watchmaker had not only fixed it, but cleaned the links and polished the scratches in the crystal.

The third time, over 15 years later, having gained some weight, I went back to add the extra links.  The attendant insisted that they did not have my links, but when she went to look, there was a little wooden drawer tray with the links in it! so the watchmaker was able to add them back in.

I was very impressed.  Fast forward to last week.  I took my watch to the same place and just picked it up.  I was quite pleased that they fixed both sides, not just the one broken side.

But, when I took a look at it, the watch was not cleaned.  I mentioned it and the attendant said I never asked for it to be cleaned.  I told the story of my prior experiences and she took it away to be cleaned.

Then I asked about my leather strap and she said if it was years ago, it wouldn't have been kept and a new strap would cost me $300!  I mentioned the little wooden tray and she said no, the links would've come from somebody else's bracelet.  There are always loose links lying around.  I found that a little hard to believe.

Now I feel very disillusioned.  All these years I had such a warm fuzzy feeling for this shop.  The little old watchmaker must have passed on or sold his shop; I am quite disappointed.  Things are not like in the old days.

Today's outfit is another rainy day, keep-air-flowing-around-the-wound outfit.
You can't tell, but the sweater is a nice soft Parkhurst one which is coming back into favour.

I'm smiling but not for long - my teeth are wobbly from the fall and might need to get fixed.