Dark and Fuzzy

"Dark and fuzzy" refers to my pictures, taken late afternoon in my walk-in closet. All the lights were on but it didn't help much. It also refers to my faux fur jacket that I've been wearing non-stop this week.

 

Last night the Kid and I went to school. The teachers gave us his report card and we talked a bit about progress and other school related stuff. But the main event happened after - the Kid got to have dinner at McDonalds which doesn't happen too often. He loves the stuff. I stole 3 chips off him but that was it.

 

Anyway, I went with the burgundy jeans and black and gold everything else.

 



It's hard to photograph black in any light. This is the best I could do with the close up.

Sideways pictures have become a usual feature of this blog. It's the only way I can fit in the picture and still be close enough.

The trip to the mall didn't include just McDonalds. That was a treat for the Kid. I wanted a treat of my own, so I bought this little gloss by Chanel. It's #164 "Plaisir". Alex of HRH Collection highly recommended it in her video here. I tried it on last night. It's a very nice milky gloss without shimmer and it'll go perfectly with all my nude lipsticks. Thank you, Alex.

As soon as we got home the skies opened up. It rained like crazy all night and all morning. The poor Kid had to wade through rivers in order to get to his school bus. And I got soaked walking Boomer. Poor dog waited as long as he could but then started whining, so I said - screw it - and we just went out. Of course, we came back and ten minutes later it stopped raining. Oh well, who doesn't like the wet dog smell in the house!

Stay warm and dry, everyone!

Rain Again

Rainy weather came back with a vengeance today, so I decided to post some photos of my outfit from the last time it was really cold. Again, apology to any Canadian readers from Alberta that might stumble on my blog, they have it "really cold" at minus 28 degrees. We never go below zero and rarely below plus 10. But everything is relative and if you live with high 30s celsius most of the year, windy and rainy +12 equals snowy blizzard.

 

But I digress. Today I'm posting my OOTD from January 12th. I wore my nice and cosy sweater dress. I wore it only once this winter (so far).

 

 

The addition of a grey leopard scarf was a no-brainer. I had a choice between a necklace and warmth and I chose warmth.

 

My thrifted vintage coat finally made an appearance.

I think that the buttons are this coat's best feature.

Throw in some black boots and you're ready to go.

I would have repeated this outfit today, but I didn't have to go anywhere. I stayed indoors, did some translating and drank lots of tea. And did some ebay shopping... It'll take about two weeks to get the items that I ordered. So hard to be patient! But more on that later.

Stay warm and dry, everybody.

Snake and Stripes

 

Finally after at least half a year I had my haircut today. My hair was getting too witchy and broomy, that's the best description I can manage. I asked Tamara to tidy it up while keeping most of the length. I think she did a great job and I promised myself to go see her more often.

 

This is what I look like today. There is absolutely no way I can repeat this style myself but I can flatiron it and be happy with the result.

 



 

I decided to wear beige today and combined my stripey sweater with snake jeans and new studded booties. The colors were similar so I felt brave enough to put these two patterns together.



Zara trench pulled everything together. This experiment proved to be successful in my opinion.

But the following experiment with novelty nail polish failed miserably.

Having spotted gold and pink manucure in a magazine I tried to recreate it with the same colors. I managed to paint the pink evenly and the result was pretty close to the original. Here it is in bright sunlight.

But in real life it looked like I had pink nails with dirty unkempt edges. So off it went. I think I'll paint it dark next time and maybe add some sparkly bits.

Mint and Brown

 

Unless something comes up I always spend Fridays grocery shopping, getting bits and bobs for the weekend meals. And I visit my friend at her shop go chat and catch up. Yesterday was no different. The weather was nice so I went with the mint theme again. But this time I wore mint head to toe, adding some brown accessories.

 

The accessories consisted of brownish belt and suede booties from Mango.  Makeup was pretty much non-existent, I just lined my eyes with dark-gray pencil (Clinique Almost black, I think it's been discontinued ages ago but my pencils last me a million years).

I really wanted to wear this leopard scarf but it was too hot. My scarf collection is not getting any air this winter. Too bad, we have just one winter month left, I should do something about it.

I bought this suit just over a week ago at the secondhand store and finally picked up the skirt on Friday.

The suit didn't really photograph well, must be the photographer's fault. But it looks really nice on. There is only one problem. This is not the country for clothes like this (that's probably why the suit's previous owner gave up and took it to the secondhand store). But I think I can find a way to wear the skirt and the jacket together. We'll see.

I think I'd like the skirt even more narrow at the bottom but it'll do for now.

Lately I've been trying to put together head-to-toe color outfits, must be Veronica's influence. If you haven't read her blog yet, you should definitely do it. I'm going for my long overdue haircut tomorrow and I have some ideas in mind. It all depends on the weather and my mood.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Happy Weather Day

The weather was happy today. Warm, sunny but not too much. I wish we had more days like this. It's usually too hot or too cold for lightweight stuff I wore today. Thursday is a chore day for me, but I try to have a bit of fun while out and about.

 

I popped into H&M and went into my fave dressing room. It's a corner dressing room, it's large and perfect to take my own pictures.

Of course, I couldn't go there emptyhanded, so I picked up the sweater I liked so much a while ago but didn't get (full price seemed a bit steep). But today I got it at 50% off. In fact, I'm wearing it right now at home.

I loved today's combination of colors, they looked and felt like Spring. I must admit, I quite like myself in this picture (shallow, but what the hell). After all, I've lost 9 kg already and it feels great. I feel great.

My jewelry was sunny and happy too. Turquoise, carnelian and pearls, a perfect mix. I have a bracelet that goes with the ring, but didn't wear it today.

I was on my way out of Zara when I spotted these studded booties. And they were on sale. And I couldn't say no.

It was a nice day, let's hope for an even better weekend.

Minty Day

The leopard coat I got at H&M is getting a good workout these days. Yesterday I wore it to breakfast with V. She's just been to Europe and I had to hear all about it.

 

The weather's been warm and sunny and I wore light colors and shoes instead of the usual booties. Of course, I left the house at 8:30 a.m. and my feet almost froze while waiting for the bus. But on the way home I had to take the coat off.

I wore my huge Zara necklace. It has mint bits in it (which can't be seen in this light) and it matched the pants nicely.

These pants used to be really tight. But now I have to belt them so they stay all the way up. And I love it.

I have two purchases to report. First one didn't break the bank, I got these beauties at Nine West at 50% off. They are called "Bonappetit", what a great name for a shoe!

These glasses were quite a bit more expensive but what can you do? He broke his glasses and needed a replacement fast. Just look at those eyes!

And here is my little helper doing the laundry. Thank you, Norman!

The elections are today, time to get ready and go vote.

 

 

My Red Jeans Fit Again!

It's so nice to put on last year's jeans that used to be too tight and see that they fit. So, using this Bittersweet Colours outfit as color inspiration, I wore my coated Zara red jeans with a thin cream sweater and brown coat and accessories. I've had this suede coat forever (at least 6 or 7 years).

 



Today my Mom and I went to the mall. Mom wanted to buy some trousers (but bought a purse instead). I didn't really need anything but didn't leave empty handed either.

We stopped at Aroma cafe for a nice coffee and apple and sweet cheese tart that we shared.

My purchases included Earl Grey tea and 2 pillows (for Kid and Husband).
And I finally picked up new fancy shoes that I ordered two weeks ago. They are by and Israeli company Katriz, their shoes are extremely comfortable and pretty too.

I've never had sparkly shoes like that before, so I decided to get me some.

And now for something completely different. Have you ever heard of Dog TV? Here is a quote from their website: "DOGTV is scientifically developed and Pup approved. DOGTV is cable’s first television network for dogs that is created exclusively for canines, and the humans who love them". If you're interested, check them out. But I can tell you that last night I turned it on while Boomer was asleep on the couch. I swear, he opened his eyes and looked at the TV! He never watches TV but last night he did! I'm going to continue this experiment but in the meantime I give you Mr. Give-me-a-piece-of-that Boomer. Who can resist these eyes? Not me.

So I gave him a third of my apple.

Secondhand Treasures

The storm we had last week turned into faint memory of windy, rainy, umbrella-murdering chaos, sun is shining again and the temperatures remind me of the "hot" summers we used to have in St.Petersburg, Russia. The mercury would hit 20C and we'd run around sleeveless and barelegged. Here it's 20C and we put on lightweight coats but keep the sweaters underneath. That's exactly how I dressed today while going thrifting (or, rather, second-hand-ing).

 

The bright coral-pink coat was happy to visit the store where it originally came from. Faux-leather skirt was riding up a little bit, but thanks to the thick tights it was not scandalously noticeable.

 

Tried to take my photos in the Kid's bedroom in the natural light. See paper dinosaurs on the wardrobe door? He has couple of hundred more stuck in his desk drawers.

I love this cream turtleneck sweater but I wish the fabric were thicker. I can't find good quality sweaters anywhere, and trust me, I've tried.

Today I managed to find a couple of nice things. I bought two vintage brooches. At least I'm sure that the bottom one is vintage, it has a very peculiar lock on the pin, they don't make them like that anymore. The vintage-ness of the top one is questionable, but I liked it anyway.

This faux-fur jacket is brand new, it had tag-strings on it. Nothing fancy but it should be perfect with jeans.

And finally, the main find of the day is the gray suit from Tahari. I'm only showing the jacket because the skirt has to be altered, it has to be taken in, slightly shortened and generally made to fit my body. But the jacket is just right on me. It's the second time I find Tahari clothing in that very store, and all of them size 14. Usually I'm size 12 but it depends on the garment. Like here, the jacket fits me just right and the skirt is too big. Good thing I know a very good taylor that lives pretty much next door, does a great job and her prices are fair.

Anyway, I'm happy. In addition to all that I got myself an Elvis CD which I'm going to listen to as I start cooking dinner.



Argyle

Blogger gave me another surprise today. For some reason, I'm unable to download photos from my own computer. So I went around and uploaded pictures from my phone to Picasa and from there to the blog.  It's a bit of a pain but there is a plus side - I don't have to plug the phone into the computer.

 

Anyway, until this is sorted out, I won't be posting photos of my fab sweater dress. Till next time I wear it, that is. But I have something better - at least it gives me a chuckle. And here's why.

 

My parents bought this argyle jumper for the Kid last winter at the Zara boy's department, size 11-12 years old. This year the Kid has grown upwards and sideways and the sweater doesn't fit anymore. In comes the greedy Mom!

 

I wanted to wear it with a shirt underneath, but didn't get quite the effect I wanted. The shirt is too short in the front. But I wore it anyway, trying to master the elusive (for me) preppy style.

 

I wore the jeans, boots and jacket a couple of week ago and liked it so much, I decided to repeat this part of the outfit.

 

And I wore this to the mall where I bought two things. This UVA/UVB lightbulb for Norman that is supposed to be his sunlight during winter months. And an eyeshadow for me.

It's called "Idol eyes" and it's gray in real life. I tried to post a photo from other sites but failed miserably, so I'm posting a link to the MAC website.

 

In other news, my dog and cat have been rid of fleas and worms, so all is well in the animal kingdom. For now.