Officially Sweater Weather

I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas. I spent the holidays with my husbands family in in the great white north of Sudbury - 30 cm (1 foot) of snow greeted us. It seems like a lot, however, there have been times when the snow banks were so high they covered cars and all you could see where the rooftops of homes. The kids just loved the snow, snow ball fights and tobogganing every day. We ate too much, went to church and enjoyed being with family.

We are back home where we finally got snow, 10 cm in fact. Its been something like 645 days since Toronto has had 10 cm of snow. I'm getting ready to shovel the snow with the kids but before I do I just wanted to show you what I was wearing yesterday before the fall. Its sweater weather!! The one I'm wearing is perfect - I can eat as much as I want (and I did) and no one is the wiser.

Hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas season or just the time of year.

Sweater - Ted Baker

Jeans - Adriano Goldschmied (old)

Booties - Coach (old)

Purse - Coach (old)

Necklace - Stella & Dot

Bracelet - J Crew

If you are missing something in your wardrobe Lilla P may be able to help. My giveaway is still open for a $100 gift card. Lilla P is six away from reaching 2000 likes on Facebook and they are promising their fans a nice surprise when they reach 2000. Let's help them out.

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Fair Isle Fun

I am really enjoying fair isle sweaters, something about me in a ski chalet hanging out. Now I went skiing this year, in February, while I was in Banff. I hadn't skied in 20 years and just got up one morning and decided I would go skiing alone while my husband was in a series of committee meetings. I didn't  really ski, I tumbled down the hill and bruised up my body. After the third attempt (being a parent we tell our kids to try something more than once) I took off my skis and walked down the rest of the mountain.

Anyway, I still love the "ski chalet" look.

Its What I Wore Wednesdays, so head on over to the Transatlantic Blonde to see what other bloggers are wearing.

My giveaway for Lilla P is on, good luck on winning the $100 gift card.

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Sweater & Booties - The Gap

Shirt - Banana republic

Jeans - J brand (old)

Bracelets - Links of London, Pandora (old)

Necklace - Ann Taylor

Handbag - Coach

Cranberry

With American Thanksgiving weekend officially in full swing and Black Friday sales underway in both countries it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. I think I'm ready. 

Dress - Banana Republic

Bracelet - Cocoa Jewelry

Booties - Coach

I'm linking up with Walking With Style and Grace again. Please take a look to find some other fantastic bloggers.

Denim Pearls & Patent

A dress - this one is casual and denim. Easy. So I added pearls and a skinny patent belt. I have lots of skinny belt options. I had fun dressing it up a bit. I will be dressing it down in the future, but you know me. I'm fancy.

Just a bit of a rant. This dress came with a skinny denim matching self belt. I have never met a self belt I like. I think they give you the self belt to tell you "Hey you, I need a belt. Here is a really pathetic one. Now go and spend more money on one that is nicer. We could have taken the guess work out of this and given you something nice but we didn't feel like it." The nicer take is "We think you are very creative and this self belt is a place holder. Now have fun and amaze us." It all depends on your mood. Guess where mine is?

My giveaway for Yoga Jeans is still on and here are the rules - You must "Like" Yoga Jeans on Facebook and you must comment on a post. Easy. This is an international giveaway and you can chose whatever jeans you like. I'll say that the giveaway is worth $125 depending on what jeans you pick. Good Luck everyone!

Dress - The Gap (here)

Belt - Cassis (old)

Necklace - Joe Fresh 

Shoes - Coach (old)

Watch - Michael Kors

Bracelets - Stell & Dot (here and here), Bitter Sweet

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I Love this Sequins Skirt - Not Sure if the Feelings are Mutual

I bought this skirt with my good friend Mary last year. I wanted a casual skirt that was fun, there it was in Ann Taylor. Now as a rule I am a pencil skirt girl. When I put this one on I thought it was too short for me. I didn't want to wear it and couldn't wait to take it off. Mary coaxed me out of the dressing room and told me she liked it. She then proceeded to lecture me on following my own advice and getting out of my comfort zone. Damn teachers.

The thing with this skirt is I can't figure out what else to pair it with. It has an athletic waist band feature (like jogging pants with the pulls) and that is what has me stumped. I'm wearing my most confident smile because I fake it till I make it. The sweater is very nice and looks nice with the skirt but, I don't know... I want to do better than nice. Any suggestions?

Just so you see what the back looks like. I don't care that the grey's don't match.

Here is my rule of thumb if you are wondering if something is too short. Place your hand right down against your leg/thigh, if the skirt is below the tips of your finger it is probably too short. I'm fine, my fingertips are still touching fabric.

I also get asked about mixing metals - you can do it. Metals are all neutrals so have fun. I mixed silver, gold, rose gold and gunmetal in this one. I will not be going to fashion jail for this one.

I am sporting a Shellac manicure. I can't do all the nail art (I'm still having flashbacks from the 80s) that is so popular but having the ring finger a different colour is easy and fun.

Skirt - Ann Taylor (old)

Sweater - The Gap (here)

Tights - Wonder Bra

Booties - Coach (old)

Watch - Michael Kors

Bracelets - Stella and Dot (here and here), Ann Taylor, Joe Fresh, The Bay

My giveaway for Yoga Jeans is still on and here are the rules - You must "Like" Yoga Jeans on Facebook and you must comment on the post. This is an international giveaway and you can chose whatever jeans you like. I'll say that the giveaway is worth $125 depending on what jeans you pick.

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Stepford Wife

Sometimes I get into these moods when I'm picking out my clothes, I pick out a uniform or a costume. Today I am channelling my inner Stepford wife. I love this cardigan from H&M (not a big fan of their disposable fashion, it goes back to fit and being six feet tall), its part or their baroque line. The coral colour and the rhinestone buttons are what attracted me to it in the first place. In the store they had paired it with brocade pants in gold and coral. I loved the pants, I just wouldn't wear them because of my "lifestyle" plus they would be too short on me. I'm pretty sure that Avril from Schoolgate Style tried them on and she looked fab.

Anyway back to being a Stepford wife...certain cardigans say perfect suburban wife and this one was screaming it when I paired it with my jeans. I felt like my name should be Bitsie or something and I was going to make sure that my home was the epitome of perfection for my man. Hahaha! It's fun to play make believe.

 Now the question becomes tucked or untucked?

This cardigan is great but it likes to ride up because of my height. So for me I prefer something underneath. Just a cautionary tale.

Hooking up with Transatlantic blog for WIWW!

One more thing...I still need your votes. I made it through to the top 25 and I'd like to try and reach the top 15. If you can please vote by clicking here or on the badge that says Circle of Moms. Last time I checked I was #19, you can vote once every 24 hrs. Once the voting is done I will stop posting this annoying message. Thanks!

Cardigan - H&M

Jeans - Paige Denim (old)

Booties - Coach (old)

Belt - Tory Burch (old)

Watch - Michael Kors

Bracelet - Stella & Dot

Fancy Python Pants

My husband does not like my python pants, he can tolerate them much more than a maxi skirt, but not his favourite look. He says they are loud, I say they are fun. My daughter got a pair of python pants as part of her back to school stash (hers are a sand colouring like my leather python skirt), he was not impressed. My husband is a good sport about me posting his fashion likes and dislikes. We all have our things.

These pants are fun for me, I wanted to dress them up and this blazer is the best way to do it. I figured I may as well use my clothing as much as possible, especially if the pieces are classic and easily intermixed.

When I saw these pictures I didn't like the booties with the outfit. I wanted to try something different. It just cut me all wrong. So I ended up disliking the way I styled the outfit. I should have added a pair of coloured heels or flats.

Liking the outfit even less when I see the above and below picture. Plus when you are taking pictures of yourself you miss things like in the picture below. Can you spot what's wrong?

I changed out the blouse and added lots of pearls and put my pointy Choo's on and I felt all better.

I honestly think you could wear this outfit to work and go out for drinks with friends right after. For me I'll just take my kids to a swimming lesson in this outfit. Or maybe a date night, it's been a while.

One more thing, please vote for me! I am trying to be one of the 25 Top Canadian Mom Bloggers. I am under the tab of pending blogs.

Denim - CJ by Cookie Johnson

Blouse - 1st Judith & Charles (old), 2nd Ann Taylor (old)

 Belts - 1st Tory Burch (old), 2nd Ann Taylor (old)

Necklaces - Gold F 21, Pearls Le Chateau (old)

Booties - Coach (old)

Shoes - Jimmy Choo (old)

Watch - Michael Kors

Bracelets - Stella & Dot, The Bay

Red White & Blue

Summer is still holding on, so nautical outfits still seem appropriate. I think most of us notice the weather change in the early morning and late evening as it cools down. I went to the grocery store & Costco yesterday morning and my son was wearing shorts and a t-shirt and he was cold when we were picking out our produce and milk products.

Tomorrow I'll be flipping this outfit.

This blazer is very light weight and perfect for this in between weather we've been experiencing.

Blazer - Zara

Jeans - James Jeans

T-Shirt - Joe Fresh

Shoes - Cole Haan (old)

Necklace - Banana Republic

Watch - Michael Kors

Handbag - Coach

Nautical - J Crew Navy Blazer & Green Skirt

In one of my first posts I talked about how much I love nautical...well I channeled that love for my mother's day outfit this past Sunday. I took a striped t-shirt from Joe Fresh and built a fun outfit around it. The best part was the hit of colour with the green skirt.

On Saturday I celebrated my 37th birthday, so this weekend was very busy, full of family and friends. I have decided that for this week I am featuring outfits that any birthday woman would want to wear - go out to dinner in, have some drinks and celebrate getting better with age. Enjoy!

Don't have a green skirt? Try red, yellow or a khaki skirt. Pants in any of these colours work as well. 

I really love navy for that reason, it allows colour to really shine. Moreover, black can be harsh against our skin (especially as we age), where navy softens everything. Bobbi Brown has a great navy eyeshadow that I use as a liner instead of black. It looks fantastic

For my petite friends - or anyone who wants to look taller - a nude shoes just elongates the leg and gives us extra height. I could have worn a brown shoe (like the colour of my hand bag), but these shoes just disappear and draw the eye up to the outfit.

The gold buttons and gold hardware just showcase the gold jewelry even better.

This is how I roll ladies - black Chrysler minivan! Wouldn't have it any other way.

Blazer & Skirt - J Crew

Shirt - Joe Fresh

Shoes - Jimmy Choo

Bag - Coach

Watch - Michael Kors

Bracelets - Coach, gifted, The Bay