Celebrating Moms

Brunch, roses, quality time? Count me in! I was lucky to get spend Mothers' Day with my mom and mom-in-law.

It started off with some yummy food (brunch is becoming a wonderful tradition) and ended with some much needed outside time. It was a gorgeous day - sunny and 23 - to wander around the golf course and stop in to some open house condos.

Getting dressed was a flurry... I actually didn't have anything picked out to wear until the morning of!
Luckily, my tried and true formula (blazer, top, jeans) seemed to do the trick.

Details

Blazer: Ann Taylor

Jeans: Joe Fresh

Top: Dynamite

Shoes: BCBGeneration

Necklace: Forever 21

Bag: Kate Spade

I might have to get another pair of white jeans, maybe distressed ones. I can't seem to stop reaching for these! 

XOXO

Glitterary Girl

Fresh Start Season

The white stuff officially melted completely from our property on April 29 - three days ahead of my prediction. With sprinter behind us, the weekend was gloriously warm and I was excited to put on fancy pants.

Details

Shirt: Mavi (super duper old)

Pants: H&M

Shoes: BCBGeneration

Sunnies: Coach

Watch: Guess

I'm slowly getting used to the new hair. It definitely feels healthier and looks fuller than my blonde. I've had a lot of people say it looks like it could be my natural color, which is nice! It was a bit scary the first time I washed it. Lots of red ran down the drain! It still looks the same to me though - no fading yet!

These pants are recent and I think I'm going to go buy them in at least one more color. They are so comfortable and only $18.

XOXO
Glitterary Girl

Detail Fail

Don't quit your day job, R.

Necklace is wonky in every single photo. Le sigh. Good thing I love him.

Details

Vest: Vero Moda via Envy

Shirt: Joe Fresh

Jeans: American Eagle Outfitters

Hat: Le Chateau

Earrings: Beck & Boosh

Necklace and Bracelet: Stella & Dot

Shoes: BCBGeneration

Sunnies: D&G

These earrings are so cute! Agggh wonky necklace!

Enjoy your weekend! I'm having another girls' day on Saturday - full of good friends and fall fun. It's a day of surprises so I'll tell you all about it next week. Til then...

XOXO
Glitterary Girl

Fun Dress on Repeat

Our trip to Vancouver was centred around the marriage of our friends Andrew and Stephen. Their ceremony was held in a beautiful location in Gastown and the reception was down the street at Parliament Interiors. My lack of photos from the event is sad - the grooms were having far too great of a time to be worried about pausing for photos (which is exactly how it should be).

Details

Dress: Peter Pilotto for Target (last seen here)

Cardigan: Vero Moda via Envy

Shoes: BCBGeneration

Bracelets: Stella and Dot

Clutch: Coach

Walking to the ceremony in the drizzle did not do wonders for my hair, eh? I'm glad I didn't spend money on a blowout (which I was heavily considering) as I'm sure it would have fallen flat in minutes.

I'm linking with My Fridays Fancies for a floral theme today.

Have a wonderful weekend!

XOXO
Glitterary Girl

Rebel Without a Jacket

Does anyone else hate dragging a jacket around while shopping? It's just one more layer to slow a girl down in the dressing room. My last day in Vancouver, I was determined to be productive. I was heading to the Joe Fresh stand-alone store which is such a treat compared to my usual grocery store Joe experience. I admit, I was a wee bit chilly.

Details

Cardigan: H&M (current)

Shirt: Smart Set (on sale!)

Jeans: American Eagle Outfitters

Shoes: BCBGeneration via Winners

Bag: Coach

Bracelets: Stella & Dot

Necklace: Tiffany & Co

Earrings: Gift

When I find a cardigan I like at H&M, I buy it. My most-loved and most-reached-for cardigans usually come from there. This Smart Set shirt was one of my choices for the Opposites Attract feature I did for Halifax Shopping Centre a few months ago, so of course I nabbed it when it went on sale!

Have a fabulous weekend!

XOXO
Glitterary Girl

Too Rainy

Vancouver gets a lot of rain, but usually it's of the friendly sort. Pop an umbrella, and you're good. The day these photos were taken, it was monsoon-like. The outdoor chairs at Milestones in English Bay were blowing over and there was no way to take blog pics outside. So here you have the inside of the St Regis Hotel.

Details

Jacket: Old Navy

Shirt: Smart Set

Pants: H&M

Shoes: BCBGeneration via Winners

Bracelet and short necklace: Stella & Dot

Long necklace: Origami Owl

I had to swap out the jean jacket for a raincoat! I have a feeling I'm going to be wearing this denim jacket a lot in the months to come. Even though it's less than a year old and hasn't been used much, it has a soft worn-in feel to it.

XOXO
Glitterary Girl

The New Blue Wall

For those of you who are sick of seeing the fake tree in our living room as the backdrop for blog photos on rainy days, you'll like this post. Since Timberlea Dental Centre is now open (yay), there are a few "future use" rooms that have no dental equipment ... but they do have freshly painted blank walls.

I'm still playing around with the new camera, trying to figure out lighting and all that complicated stuff. Bear with me for the shadows. The first photo is natural light only and the second is with natural plus overhead lights.

Details

Blazer: Banana Republic via Crimson Clover

Shirt: Zara

Jeans: Target

Hat: Le Chateau

Shoes: BCBGeneration via Winners

Bracelets: Gifts

Earrings: American Eagle Outfitters

This was my consolation t-shirt, bought in Toronto the day Mastercard Fashion Week began, which was the day I left. Note to self: check out what's going on and when before you book plane tickets.

The last phrase is so me.

XOXO
Glitterary Girl

High Contrast

I'm normally not a fan of black and blue together. However, if the blue is bright enough to contrast well with the black, I'm all for it!

Details

Sweater: Gap

Pants: Smart Set

Shoes: BCBGeneration

Watch: Guess

Bracelet: Gift

Necklace: Etsy

I wore this my last day in Toronto and it's a little dressier than I usually go for plane rides.  We were going to Yorkdale Shopping Centre before my flight, and I wanted to look presentable in a fancy-schmancy mall (even the food court is beautiful). 

Besides black and blue, I'm now fond of wearing pink and red which I used to hate together. 

Do you have any color pairings that you've warmed up to?

XOXO

Glitterary Girl

My Monthly Purchases: August 2013

Welcome to my first monthly purchase post! I decided to try a post like this because I always love reading these type of posts that my blogger friends do. If you'd like to see a few of the posts that inspired me, take a look at these by Here & Now and good life.

There is a formula you're "supposed" to use (4% of your take-home pay). Mine is adjusted a bit, but I try to keep my monthly damage to $140 (pre-tax because tax is dumb and varies anyway depending on where you shop).

When I decided to share my August buys, I had no idea I was going to blow my budget. So, this lovely blog reader is my budgeting fail.

Top: Banana Republic
Discounted from $50 to $12.50
Do you see the anchors and the reduced price? Explanation enough.

Blouse: Gap
Discounted from $54.95 to $10
This color is no longer available, but it is sold in another color. The material is really soft and it's hard to tell from the photo -  the pink is neon.

T-Shirt: H&M Kids
Regular price: $5.95
Yes, this is a pre-teens shirt. The picture is blurry but the LA is sparkly and has a faded city background in the heart. This is going to look great under a black blazer, I promise. I do not buy kids clothes unless I can make them work with adult things.

Martin Pants: Banana Republic Factory Store
Discounted from $79.99 to $16.99
These are no longer available on-line. I adore Banana Republic, especially the great deals at the factory store.

Gap: Coated legging biker jean
Discounted from $89.95 to $62.97 with 30% Friends and Family discount
I was aching for coated denim last winter and didn't get a pair. My dark denim legging jeans don't look great on me (hello pancake bum), and these are amazing replacements.

Additional buys with no photos:
Brown Leather belt: Gap. Discounted from $34.99 to $14.00
Four pair of trouser socks: Club Monaco. Discounted from $50 to $10
Mixed metal oversized stud earrings: Le Chateau. Discounted from $12 to $7
Orange mini skirt from Gap Factory Store: Discounted from $44.99 to $9.47

Adding up all of the above is $148.88. Almost bang-on! Yay!

But... then came the shoes.

Shoes: Nine West via The Shoe Company
Discounted from $130 to $59.99
I'm wearing a black dress to an upcoming wedding and really wanted a bright pair of shoes to add some color. I will never regret these gorgeous shoes. They are really comfy (as are my other Nine West platform heels) and will look great with jeans or dresses.

Shoes: Leopard print Keds

Discounted from $45 to $19.99 at The Shoe Company
I couldn't find these for sale anywhere on-line. They were the last pair at The Shoe Company so perhaps this particular style is no longer made.
I will get a ton of wear out of these. I love my fashion sneaks.

I also bought a pair of black flats from Winners: BCBGeneration discounted from $130 to $69.99. I wear black flats probably two or three times a week and my beloved Franco Sartos went to shoe heaven last week. The heel piece came off (thanks to rolling around in my office chair I think...) and they were looking too worn to pay to fix them. I simply can't deal with not owning black flats so that was a totally necessary buy. I was willing to pay even more for black flats, because I wear them so often, but I loved the style of the ones I bought and the price was right.

Total spending in August: $298.85

Way, way, way overbudget... but it was the first time this year I'd gone more than $20 over and I got $702.81 worth of clothes.

Do you stick to a budget? Did you find any fabulous deals in August?

XOXO
Glitterary Girl