Sunday, February 27, 2011

tiaraicon{30x30 pt26&27} Outrageous Outfits and the Oscars

As a Vagina Monologue volunteer we were asked to wear all black but I was feeling colourful so I added sparkly blue nail polish, a peacock necklace, a green ring and a salmon belt.  I had such a great time at the show- the performers were incredible and the proceeds went towards ending violence against women.

Today I spent the day frantically cleaning and organizing our condo, as tidiness falls to the wayside during the work week.  I am now off to a volunteer meeting for Ottawa Fashion Week (have you been reading our blog?)  and I have an Oscar Party later tonight.  I can't wait to watch the red carpet fashions and I am wearing my favourite Betsey Johnson tattoo tights for the occasion. 



Dress- Gap; Belt- Thrifted; Necklace-Gifted; Ring-Forever 21 (Gifted); Heels- Andrew Gellar; Nail Polish- Pool Party by Essence



Shirt Dress- Zara; Belt & Boots- Thrifted; Earrings- Roots; Tights- Betsey Johnson
Enjoy watching the Oscars!

Friday, February 25, 2011

tiaraicon{30x30 pt 24&25} Fond Farewells

Adieu adieu to you and you and you! Today was my last day working as an Event Planner/Executive Assistant and as excited as I am to start my new job as a Community Health Worker, it was sad saying goodbye, having been in the position full time since May.  My colleagues had cake and fruit for me in the kitchen and even gave me a card and yummy scented Cake products.  As my CEO serenaded my departure "I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello", I realized that you shouldn't close doors before you find an open window and I was proud of myself for exiting the job professionally and in leopard print heels at that!

Whenever I wear these heels to work, my co-workers are shocked by my ability to walk in them

Blazer-Smart Set; Skirt- Danier; Heels-Aldo; Necklace-Ardene; Ring-Vintage

My scarf and belt combo was inspired by A Working Mom's Closet and Silvergirl-thanks stylin' ladies!

Dress-Urban Outfitters; Scarf, Belt & Earrings-Thrifted; Boots-Aldo; Watch-Fossil

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

tiaraicon{30x30 pt 23} Vagina Monologues

I am back in Ottawa after my extended weekend stay visiting family and friends in Nova Scotia.  I had a restful and relaxing trip soaking in the hot-tub, eating garlic cheese fingers and my Dad's homemade chocolate cake, watching movies and most importantly catching up with my loved ones.

Now that it's back to business as usual, I am already counting down the days until the weekend.  This Saturday a friend and I are volunteering at the afternoon showing of the Vagina Monologues.  If you're local and haven't bought your ticket yet, I strongly encourage you to do so.  The Vagina Monogues (or V-Day) is a passionate theatrical performance which evokes conversations about ending violence against women. 

Show times:  Fri Feb 25 at 17h00 (student show) & 20h00; Sat Feb 26 at 16h00 & 19h30
Location: National Gallery of Canada
Price: $20 advance purchase or $25 at the door

I hope to see some of you there!




Dress & Blouse-Zara; Heels-Charlotte Russe

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

tiaraicon{30x30 pt 21&22} Shopaholic's Confessions

This shopaholic has a confession to make.  After 21 days of shopper's withdrawals I broke the 30x30 shopping ban!  My excuse is that I couldn't resist the fabulous Nova Scotian thrifting paradise that is Guy's Frenchys.  If you love second hand and bargain shopping then this is the place for you! Instead of flipping through racks, you root through bins of clothing.  This makes finding treasures a difficult feat which involves pushing aside mounds of tacky adorned sweaters to find that beautiful BCBGMaxazria blazer for only $4 (my biggest accomplishment!)\

I'm feeling guilty about disobeying Kendi's 30x30 rules but am justifying my decision by: 1) reminding myself that I love to shop and 21 shop-free days is a great accomplishment for me and 2) we don't have Guy's Frenchys in Ottawa so I was merely stocking up for the warm months!     




Blouse-Zara; Tee, Skirt & Earrings-Smart Set; Tights-Urban Outfitters; Boots-Thrifted; Headband-Peacock, UK


My new purchases will be debuted in March after the 30x30 :)




Shirt-Gap; Jeans-Bluenotes; Boots-Aldo; Necklace-Dragon Moon; Ring-Zellers
Rummaging for treasures {www.guysfrenchys.com}
P.S. Thanks for all your sweet comments about my hair 'disaster'.  It's not so bad after all and is kind of growing on me!

Sunday, February 20, 2011

tiaraicon{30x30 pt19&20} Hair Disaster

You know the saying "if it ain't broke don't fix it"? Well, this is one quote I should adhere to.  My hair had faded a lot since I dyed it so I decided to add some more red dye.  And since I am low on funds, I bought a L'Oreal box and had my sister colour my hair.  Let's just say the red turned to purple and she missed patches of my hair.  I tried calling the L'Oreal help line but they are incoveniently closed over the weekends! I called the hair salon but they told me hair correction is expensive and can take a while.  So I'm now considering keeping this colour but just fixing the patches.  *Sigh*




Skirt-Gap; Shirt-Smart Set; Pleather Jacket-Sirens; Thigh High Socks-Urban Outfitters; Heels-Charlotte Russe; Bracelet &Necklace-Gifted; Nail Polish- Violet by Revlon





Dress-Zara; Blazer-Thrifted; Boots-Aldo; Watch-Fossil; Glasses-Gucci
Have you ever had any hair disasters?

Friday, February 18, 2011

tiaraicon{30x30 pt18} Mad Hatter

"Have I gone mad?" - The Mad Hatter

" I'm afraid so.  You're entirely bonkers.  But I'll tell you a secret.  All the best people are"-Alice

I loved Tim Burton's re-creation of Alice in Wonderland, especially The Mad Hatter's (played by Johnny Depp) quirky hat creations.  I have a soft spot for hats and sometimes wish everyday was the Kentucky Derby so I could prance around in outrageous hats without so much as a sideways glance.  Since I don't want to look as mad as the Hatter, for now I'll stick to berets, fedoras and felt bucket hats as worn here,here, here, here, here and here.

I recently stumbled across Heinous Hats- a great blog dedicated to hats with character. Check it out- you might find some inspiration for fun and fabulous head pieces.

If I ever attend the Kentucky Derby this will be my hat of choice {heinoushats.blogspot.com}




Jeans- Bluenotes; Shirt-Thrifted; Black Tee-Smart Set; Heels- Andrew Gellar; Necklace-Gifted from the boy; Fedora- Urban Outfitters

 

tiaraicon{30x30 pt17} Parisienne Athlete

I wanted to thank everyone for their supportive, sweet and constructive comments yesterday, y'll made my day!  Yesterday morning when I was getting dressed, the boy told me I looked like I should be working in a baguette shop in Paris.  Hmmm...wasn't sure how to take that comment but the more I look at my outfit photos I can see a girl scout, a flight attendant or just me trying to mix funky accessories.  I'm not sure if this outfit works but you never know until you try!

Last night, my best friend and I finally took the plunge and registered for a 10K at Ottawa Race Weekend.  I was telling Twenty York Street and Pink Beautiful Love about my plan over martinis and they agreed that I could call this a 'mini marathon' :) Running a marathon is on my bucket list and I figure since a marathon is 40K, I'm a quarter of the way there! I'm not an athlete by any stretch of the word, I ran 2 miles on the treadmill yesterday and even my eye lids were sweating! We have 100 days to train so if I'm looking slightly wild eyed and straggly (like in the third photo below) y'all know why!

{If you're wondering why I'm posting at 6:30 a.m.- I'm sitting in the Ottawa airport waiting for my flight home to NS to visit family and indulge in some down time}



Blouse, Sweater & Tights- Smart Set; Beret- Alfred Sung for Zellers; Boots- Thrifted; Scarf- Vintage

Have you ever run a marathon or mini marathon?

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

tiaraicon{30x30 pt15&16} The Good, The Bad & The Hockey

Hi everyone, this will have to be a catch up blog as I spent last night lying in bed, drinking Tazo tea and reading fashion mags.  So now for my news:

The Good:
I received an exciting phone call on Monday from a local community centre, offering me a contract position as a Community Health Worker! For those of you who didn't know, I completed my Bachelor of Social Work degree in April 2010 but found it difficult to get a job in my field so I have been working in admin/event planning for the past 9 months.  I start my new job this week and I am very excited to put my compassion and altruism to good use!


The Bad:
I received my first negative blog comment the other day on my Clueless post and it cut deep.  Now I understand why Britney Spears went off the rails with all the media attention glaring into her private life! Ok, the comment wasn't shaving my head bad but it still stung.

Here's the comment:




Jennifer Hodgkins said...





wow. this post gives women a real bad rep. you're advertising that you only care about shoes and glee? wow. stunned.





Here's how I responded:
@Jennifer- I was making a joke about myself, not about women in general.  I'm a University educated Social Worker so I care about much more than shoes and Glee.  I am sorry that you took my satirical post in a negative way.



What do you think? Would you be offended if someone commented negatively on your blog?

The Hockey:
My best friend received two free tickets to the Sens (Ottawa's NHL team) game last night and she gave them to the boy and I.  I've lived in Ottawa for almost 5 years now and it's always been on my mini bucket list to go see a game so I jumped at the opportuntity.  We ate pizza, I drank a wine spritzer and I was cheering a bit too loudly (so much so that the woman in front of me was shooting me evil daggers) Well actually she might have been glaring because I was pronouncing the players' names incorrectly (was his last name not Canneloni?) and cat whistling at the youngins'.  All of this aside, I couldn't really get into the game because even though we had great seats (4th row) I could only see half the ice.  So we left after the first period, with me trying to discreetly climb the steps in my leopard print stilettos (ya I did).

Trousers-Wallis UK; Sweater-Zara; Heels-Aldo; Ring-Museum of Fashion, Bath, UK; Belt-Thrifted






Skirt-Bettie Page; Blouse-Smart Set; Belt-Thrifted; Shoes & Earrings-Charlotte Russe

Monday, February 14, 2011

tiaraicon{30x30 pt 14} Love Day

Ash of Pink Beautiful Love thought it would be fun for bloggers to post about their firsts today so I decided to write about my first date, which in all honesty was far from romantic!

I was a late bloomer and played barbies until I was at least 15 which meant boys were the last thing on my mind.  Until I started High School and my hormones kicked in.  In Grade 10 I opted out of computer class to take a Grade 11 French Immersion Biology class.  One day after discussing mitosis, one of the Grade 11 boys stopped me in the hallways and asked me if I would go on a date with him.  Would I ever! I turned bright red and gave him my phone number over bouts of giggles.  Now this guy was not a catch in any meaning of the word.  He had a unibrow and a crustache and sported blue velour sweat suits and prison garb.  He was also a drug dealer and spoke fluent gangster (but he was a suburban white boy). 

Regardless of all this, I was still very excited to go on my first date and in between dissecting frogs we discussed what we should do and we finally decided on a movie- a safe bet that wouldn't break our High School student budgets.  On the day of our date I had butterflies in my stomach and I wore tight low rise jeans and a cropped black shirt with chains from Sirens (classy!)  I didn't have my license yet so my Dad had to drive me to our local movie theatre.  When I met up with my date I was appalled to find out he had brought a friend with him! So much for romance.  Throughout the whole movie, his friend threw popcorn at us while we awkwardly held each other's clammy hands.

Biology class boy was also my first kiss and the first guy who cheated on me.  Our 'relationship' lasted two weeks and ended when one of my friends called me saying that she had seen him holding another girl's hand at the mall.  I was heartbroken and I remember playing sad music and sitting in my Dad's lap crying.  Ah young love...

My 16 year old self in the good ol' days of webcam






I'm not a red roses kind of gal so peach coloured it is!



Dress- Urban Outfitters; Tights- Primark UK; Shoes- Charlotte Russe; Jewelry- Gifted from the boy; Red teddy- La Senza; Nail polish- Cerise by Sally Hansen; Headband-Mac & Jac for Zellers 

What's a memorable first for you?