Catching up

Sorry for the radio silence. I've been enjoying living in the city and spending more time outside of my apartment than inside. This is probably a good thing since my apartment is in a basement so it's not exactly bright. It's great for sleeping but not so great for the Vitamin D acquisition.

Although this was a short week, it was a busy one. Not just with work but with the socialization which is good since I tend to be a hermit if I'm not forced to interact with people.

Here's Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday's outfits. I skipped Thursday since I was totally uncomfortable all day.

May 21

Cardigan: Club Monaco (last worn here)
T-shirt: Joe Fresh (worn a lot)
Skirt: Smoking Lily (last worn here)
Shoes: Fluevog Mini | Gorgeous (last worn here)

Pretty nondescript and totally serviceable. Jersey t-shirt, jersey skirt,

I feel a little bit guilty about wearing Joe Fresh ever since the Bangladesh clothing factory collapse. Such a terrible tragedy where so many people died in the aid of making cheap clothing for those of us in North  America. I haven't shopped at Joe Fresh or any of the other companies that were linked to that terrible event in quite a while. Now that I'm in Toronto I've been trying to shop at store that sell locally made items. They might cost more but I know I'm supporting my community.

Some people asked to see a close up of the necklace that I mentioned here.

I love it! My sister really knows me. :)






























May 22

On Wednesday, I wore this. <Chandler Bing> Could I BE any more stripey?</Chandler Bing>

Jacket: The Gap (hangs head in shame)
Shirt: Melissa Bolduc from Fresh Collective (last worn here)
Skirt: Melissa Bolduc from Fresh Collective
Shoes: Vivienne Westwood for Melissa (last worn here)


I wore these shoes because it was supposed to rain. It did a little bit but not much when I was outside.

Maybe I should recreate this with some similarly stripey shoes?

Look! There's a stripey underskirt! Yes, I'm so matchy matchy!

I've bought a few things from Fresh Collective since I moved to Toronto.  I walk past it's Queen Street store twice a day so it's quite enticing to just pop in. I must put blinders on!


























May 24

Dress: Bitter Root Vintage on etsy (last worn here)
Boots: Fluevog Hope | Desire (last worn here)

Today I had to brief my new Deputy Minister on some stuff and then we had a lunch to say goodbye to a coworker and then cake for a coworker birthday. Lots of socializing. That can be too much for a "highly sensitive person". 

I'm very used to briefing senior officials so I wasn't too worried about that. However I ended up on quite the sugar high after the birthday cake.  WHOOOOOO!!!!!!!

I like that I work with more people in my new job than I did in my old job. Everyone is pretty awesome too. It's really helping me leave my hermit lifestyle behind.

I'm currently watching the Ottawa-Pittsburgh hockey game. I'm conflicted because I kinda want Ottawa to win so a Canadian team will still be in the playoffs but I like Pittsburgh because Sidney Crosby is from Nova Scotia. Realistically I should say "Go Pittsburgh" but in my heart I want Ottawa to win.

Happy Weekend everyone!

Catching up.

I finally have cable and wireless internet! WHOOOOO! Donovan from Rogers is a wizard! He set up the modem fairly quickly but the cable/PRV installation took a little longer. Turns out my TV is a little old and it didn't like the HDMI cable that he was using so he had to jigger something out of regular coaxial cable. I spent most of yesterday getting caught up on Game of Thrones. Go TEAM IMP! :)

I may not have been blogging but I've still been taking outfit photos. This is a long one...

April 22

Dress and belt: Anthropologie (last worn here)
Boots: Cydwoq from Gravity Pope's Toronto store

I bought these boots on a bit of a whim. They were on sale and in my size. I'm not sure about the "furry" uppers and I'm not going to be able to wear them again until fall. I do love the metal heel though.















April 23

Dress: Desigual (last worn here)
Shoes: Hush Puppies (last worn here)

You will see these shoes a lot this week. My feet were a mess from all the walking in bad footwear so I just stuck with these shoes which are very comfortable. Maybe not the best walking shoes but certainly better than what I had been wearing.
























I like this dress but I think I'll be putting it aside for a while. I wore it a lot during the month I was in TO with only a few things. Plus I'm not as comfortable wearing it without tights and it's definitely too warm right now for anything other than bare legs.



























April 24

YAY! "New" clothes!!

Dress: Charlotte Taylor (last worn here)
Shoes: Fly London (last worn here)

This outfit was appreciated by my work mates. I'm not sure if everyone realized they were giant ants but no one said "yuck".

I need to replace this cardigan soon. It has served me well but it's starting to pill and lose its shape.






























April 25

I was glad to be reunited with these striped shoes!

Shirt: Smoking Lily (last worn here)
Belt: from Lut Boutique in Vancouver (last worn here)
Skirt: Chalet (last worn here)
Shoes: Poetic License (last worn here)

I have decided. I hate this belt. I hate the zipper, I hate that it's mostly elastic, I hate how it fits. So I'm going to purge it. Out out damned belt!

I took a back photo but it just showed how wrinkly this skirt gets after a day of sitting. DELETE!

April 26



Here's my "Canada Day" dress. It was starting to get HOT.

Dress: thrifted (last worn here)
Shoes: Franco Sarto (last worn here)

Stripes are big right now. As are asymmetrical hems so even though this is an older dress that I found in a consignment store in Halifax, it feels pretty "current".

True confession time (and a PRO TIP). I had to hold the front closed with a big paperclip. Quite a fantastic improvisation if I do say so myself.

And I quite like the back of this. Whoever designed it was thinking when they matched up those stripes into "consummate Vees".






























April 29

This is a long post. I'm running out of stream.

Cardigan: Knit by me (last worn here)
Dress: forevamore on etsy (last worn here)
Belt: from a store in Winnipeg
Shoes: Hush Puppies (see above)


























I like how the back drapes down.

And fishnets! Whooo!

May 2


Ok, this is the last outfit since I forgot to bring my camera on Friday.

Dress: Thrifted (last worn here)
Leggings: ?
Shoes: Hush Puppies (AGAIN!)

Black two days in a row. Must be feeling dark.

I was wearing my "I believe you have my stapler" Office Space pin. Only 1 person in the office got it.

Ok, my next post with be later today with today's outfit and the opening of the new Fluevog Store!

I apologize for how this post formatted. I messed around with it trying to fix it but I mostly failed.

Ace Frehley naked

Someone found my blog by searching for "ace frehley naked". I think my work here is done.

In other news, today I drank a latte. Not really news unless you know what I haven't had a coffee since 1995. It was possibly not a good idea since after I drank it I wasn't able to do much productive work and I felt kind of gross. It's not like I don't drink caffeine since I drink tea and Coke Zero like it's going out of style but it didn't really sit well. It tasted pretty darn good though.

Yesterday after work I hobbled over to the Eaton Centre to get a pair of shoes that I could walk home in. Yes, I could have taken the street car and it wouldn't have cost the same as a pair of shoes, but where's the fun in that?

I got these Hush Puppies at Town Shoes. And while there, I ran into a guy who used to work at Cora's in Halifax who is now the Assistant Manager at Town Shoes. o_O. Small world? Yes!

Not exciting shoes but they got me home without stopping and curling up on the sidewalk in pain. So YAY to Hush Puppies! And really, black flats with corset type lacing? Seems good in my book.

Top: Smoking Lily (last worn here)
Skirt: Ziliotto (last worn here)
Tights: Hue (last worn here)
Shoes: Hush Puppies

Look at me! I'm looking over my other shoulder! I'm CRAZY! First coffee, then changing my poses! What's next?

After work I went to the Hollywood Laundromat to some some laundry. Then I went to dinner and had some awesome cherry pie for dessert.

Yes, I do believe I am happy.

Good night!

It's time to begin, isn't it?

It took me a long time to walk home tonight. First because I went into a store on Queen Street that I never would have gone into since the window is full of platform heels and flouncy prom type dresses and discovered that they carry VIVIENNE WESTWOOD clothing and shoes. *thunk* The owner showed me four pairs of heels including these Scarlet heels (which I thought were much more expensive than this).

The other reason it took so long is that I have a blister the size of Cape Breton Island on my right heel.

I'm in significant pain in this photo. I'm surprised my eyes aren't bulging out of my head.

Shirt: Spaksmannsspjarir in Reykjavik (last worn here)
Dress: Smoking Lily (last worn here)
Boots: Fluevog Presence | Intuit (last worn here)

Not really all that exciting. I'm getting really tired off my limited wardrobe and now my move is delayed until next Monday or Tuesday. :( I was hoping to be out of this place by the weekend but it looks like I'll be here and likely being kept awake by the bar downstairs.

I'm holding onto the refrigerator because I'm dying from PAINNNNNN... Poor feets.

On my way home I passed a woman who looked at me suspiciously. A minute later I heard someone behind me holler at me. She was walking back to me and asked "where's a good place to eat around here, someplace hip and funky?"  I didn't want to tell her that I've been here for 3 weeks and so far have eaten at The Golden Turtle Vietnamese place 7 times and at the Lakeview diner about 9 times so I suggested what I thought might be "funky" or "hip".

I did suggest The Saint (i might have called it "The Priest" though)  which I have eaten at so I hope she went there. They have a drink called the Knob Cobbler. o_O

It's 8:30 now. Best do my dishes and tend to my blister. Good evening all.

And you fell and you fell, Through the dark blue waters

My first Monday at work and I survived! Yay!! The day started off beautiful and sunny and then I ended up walking home in the rain. I guess I could have jumped on a streetcar but I kind of like my morning and afternoon walks.

Strangely, I'm wearing a jacket!

Jacket: Mary P (from a store on Queen Street I don't remember the name of)
Scarf: Alexander McQueen (last worn here)
Blouse: Gold Case (from same store as jacket)
Skirt: Smoking Lily (last worn here)
Tights: Hue (last worn here)
Shoes: Fluevog Big Presence | Desmond (last worn here)


Black is such a hard colour to photograph so in order to see any kind of detail I had to really blow out the exposure which I why I look so bright.

Even after doing that you still can't tell that the blouse has very small pleats in it. I'll call it my accordion blouse.

I don't think I've mentioned that the temporary place in which I'm living does not have a television. I'm kind of losing my mind! I don't really know what to do with myself with no TV. So I downloaded Season 4 of Sons of Anarchy. Gun running, drug muleing, violence, sex...what more can a girl want?

Ooops....almost forgot to post my bling.

Same dress, new day

Sorry about the radio silence. I was in Toronto for 3 days and then I scooted down the road to visit my family for Easter. Had fun (aka, got drunk) hanging out with my sister and brother-in-law at an old favourite pub and then eating a lot at my parent's house. I don't think I went outside from Saturday-Monday. It's still cold here. C'mere spring! Luckly the forecast is for 10C tomorrow!

Yesterday was my first day of work and I didn't have a chance to find a new covert place to take my outfit photos but today I was told about a lunch room that no one uses so I was able to slip away and take a few snaps. Only one turned out so I'm going to have to refine my technique.

 Yes, I wore this dress in the last post. Cut me some slack! I only have a tiny wardrobe with me.

Cardigan: Pretty Things Boutique (worn a zillion times)
Dress: Smoking Lily (worn in the previous post)
Tights: American Apparel
Shoes: Miss L Fire

Uhhhh...these shoes might be newly acquired. I may have also bought some Fluevogs.

I didn't get a good photo of these shoes, just a crappy iPhone shot but they look like this. So totally adorkable.

I bought them at a shoe store on Queen Street that apparently has no name. There's no name on the window or above the store. It's not Balisi or Heel Boy. Yes, I have scoped them all out even though I'm going to have to be much more frugal than I was in Halifax.











Oh and I may walk by this place every day. Queen Street in Toronto is going to be the death of me. And Fluevog is opening another location in the Distillery District hopefully before International Fluevog Day/My Birthday.

Since this will be my "meaning of life, the universe and everything" birthday I will definitely be splurging and buying something on May 15th. 

I may have threatened to go to work wearing a bathrobe...










In other news, I may have an apartment but I'm not going to talk about that until I sign papers and exchange money but I'll tell you about an experience I had yesterday viewing an apartment.

I saw a listing on Craigslist and contacted the poster. She emailed me back saying that she could meet me between 7:30-8:30. I said that 7:30 would be best and asked for the exact address since people here just refer to locations by cross streets such as "Queen and Spadina" or "University and Dundas". She didn't reply so I walked (OMG so much walking my feet are a mess but I'm going to have a great butt shortly) to the general location which was an under construction high rise. At this point I should have turned around and walked back to my temporary apartment but I stuck it out. At 7:40 I called her and she apparently didn't see my email so she said she'd be 20 minutes. She arrived in a Mercedes wearing $1000 heels (which were gorgeous btw. And she was only like 22 years old) and we went up the elevator.

At the door, to the least expensive place ($1250+utilities) she discovered that the key wasn't in the envelope so back down the elevator we went. She found the key in her car so up we went again. The apartment was terrible. Just over 400 square feet with 1 teeny tiny closet. The kitchen/living room was about as big as my former office. Now I know that real estate is expensive here in TO but this was a ridiculous space. In the door bathroom, then a tiny bedroom, then a tiny kitchen/living space.

I said "Uh...this is tiny." and she proceeded to lecture me on the rental market in Toronto how it wasn't like in Halifax and it was expensive and space was at a premium and that this tiny piece of shit apartment was the only thing in my limited price range and that I should start looking in Scarborough or Mississauga.

I left feeling totally discouraged and as I walked home I started to think that I had made a terrible, terrible mistake.

As I said before, there's probably a happy ending but I'm going to save that until I have signed something....stay tuned!

Toronto. I am in you.

Title stolen from Wil Wheaton who says that on twitter whenever he's traveling to new cities. But it's true, I am in Toronto. :) I arrived yesterday afternoon and I haven't really stopped smiling since.

I'm temporarily staying in a small flat that I found on airBNB.com. I'm starting looking for a place with a vengeance but I'm not expecting it to be easy. 

Today I just walked around down Queen St., up University Ave and then down Dundas, kind of in a circle.

Here's what I was wearing.

Dress: Smoking Lily (last worn here)
Tights: ? (they are way to long so I'm throwing them away)
Shoes: Fluevog Presence | Impel (last worn here)

I wore the BIG SKULL cardigan as well.

I brought a lot of Smoking Lily clothes because they are completely washable and don't really wrinkle. You'll be seeing these pieces a lot until I get a permanent place and have my stuff delivered from Halifax.

So here's some of the things I saw today.

First thing I went to breakfast. I had The Standard, not the Disco Breakfast. I'm not sure what makes it Disco - maybe I should ask.

Walking down Queen Street I saw this sign at a Poutinerie. OM NOM NOM indeed.

I saw this adorable display in the window of The Knit Cafe. It's a knit cat playing with pompoms. Adorable! I didn't bring any knitting so maybe I should go there and get some yarn for a small project.

I went to the new Gravity Pope store and saw this special edition colour of the Fluevog Queen Transcendent | Nefertiti. I like this colour much better than the black or pink at the Fluevog store. Might have to go back....

Guess where I went next? Yup, less than 24 hours in the city and I was at Fluevog.

Terrible photo but I left with the Swordfish Postmodern Slushy (I keep calling them "Squishy"). I've been lusting over them for a few months now so it was fate.

I'm usually a 7 1/2 in Fluevogs but in these I got the 6! They fit very big. There's your tip of the day. Size down!

After going to Fluevog I walked to where I'll be working and then walked to where I'm living. It's about a 30 minute walk. Not too bad.

Walking back to my apartment, I walked past the Art Gallery of Ontario. This was on the window. I'll take it as a sign. :)

After getting back to my place I went out to a Vietnamese restaurant recommended to me. Had a yummy vermicelli bowl.

I'll have to find a grocery store soon or I'll be broke.

When walking back from the restaurant I saw this sign outside a salon. I really love grumpy cat too!

Better run. I'm going to grab a bite to eat and then I'm having a drink with someone I used to work with in Halifax who moved here about 18 months ago. I'm a social butterfly!

Blue fly

Last night my friend came over and helped me pack up the items from my kitchen that I'll be moving. We finished in 1 hour. o_O  She used to move a lot in her life so she apparently retained the skills of efficient packing. We used ever inch of space in the boxes. She's offered to help me as much as she can. I wonder what she can do with my shoes.

Cardigan: Club Monaco (last worn here)
Top: Anthropologie (also last worn in the above link)
Skirt: Smoking Lily (last worn here)
Boots: from Las Vegas (last worn here)

I thought I had lost this blouse. I haven't seen it since I was in Ottawa in November or December. I found it yesterday when I was going through my clothes. YAY!

These tights look blue in this photo but they are really a bright teal. I thought they gave this outfit a bit more interest than wearing grey or black. 

I'm off work on Monday so only 4 more days of photos in front of these doors!

Maple keys

Hello! I am back from my holidays and back at work. I went in today and there were only 5 of us in and it was so very quiet. Too quiet so the day just dragged and dragged. Luckily it's Friday so it's not like I have to go in again tomorrow.

Christmas was pretty low key this year. I don't talk about personal stuff much on here so I haven't mentioned on the blog that my husband and I separated four months ago at my request. It hasn't been an easy transition since we were together for 17 years but I'm feeling happier. I think you can see it in my photos taken since September.

T-shirt: Smoking Lily Hama Hama Top (bought in Ottawa earlier this year)
Skirt: Smoking Lily (gift from my mother)
Shoes: Fluevog Truths | Marina (no longer available)

My mother bought me this skirt and the maple key design is an almost perfect match in colour to the t-shirt.

Looking at these pictures I'm very patterned today with the octopus on the shirt, the print on the skirt and my tattoos....

....but from the back, it's a blank slate. No patterns, no prints, no tats.

I've only worn these shoes a few times, and never to work. I like their pointy toes which appeal to the 1980s girl in me.

My sister gave me this bracelet for Christmas. It's Manet's  "Rendevous of cats".

I think my family knows me well.

Drawing crazy patterns on your sheets.

I forgot to bring my camera to work today so I had to take these in my living room. It's completely dark here at 6pm now so the quality isn't very good. But you get the idea.

I'm wearing a lot of patterns today. Striped shoes, floral skirt, the hosiery has an argyle pattern, and my top has skeletons and moths printed on it. The cardigan is just a black cardigan but it is cable knit.

Cardigan: Part Two (from a local store)
Top: Smoking Lily (last worn here)
Skirt: Desigual (last worn here)
Shoes: Poetic License (last worn here)

(you can see Dougal peeking out under my skirt. So many inappropriate jokes could be made here.)

Here's Merlin. He hates being picked up. Hates it so much. Poor thing.  He loves me though. He likes to sit on my lap at night while I'm watching TV, especially when it turns cold, which it's doing now.

Tomorrow I should be back taking my photos in front of the grey door.

Moving on the floor now babe you're a bird of paradise

Yesterday after work I went to a mall downtown to which I don't usually go. I avoid it because there is a very lovely shoe store in it that is very dangerous. Not only that, I went into a store that I don't usually go into because they usually just have boring clothes.

Much to my surprise I found a few really cute things, including this blouse.

Necklace: Fireworks
Blouse: Papillon from Samuel and Co.
Obi belt: Megan Mae
Pants: Smoking Lily (last worn here)
Shoes: Liebling (last worn here)

I buy a lot of dresses so I don't really own a lot of blouses so I forced myself to only look at separates. I found two blouses but I ended up with a dress anyway.

This blouse is silky and soft and the print is little birdies!

See, birdies! Cute little birdies.

So happy tomorrow is Friday! WHOO!

Auntie Megan

Today I saw that the weather was going to be cooler, only 15C, so I happily decided to wear tights and boots! WHOOO! Fall is the best time of year for this fashionista.

It's also the best season in Nova Scotia. Nice cool days and nights. The ability to wear layers and boots and coats and all those great clothes.

Look! I cut off the top of my head. Whoops.

Top: Annie 50 (last worn here)
Skirt: Smoking Lily
Boots: Fluevog Heron

On Saturday, my friend who owns a consignment store downtown alerted me on Facebook that she had just received these boots, barely worn, and in their original box. And in my size. Uh, yeah I'll take them.

Funny photo! My neighbour's kids were on their deck while I was taking my photos. My neighbour is from Hong Kong but her kids were born here. They call me "Auntie Megan". Well, the 3 year old calls me "Auntie Morgan" for some reason.

Anyway, I was waving at them and voila! I get a cute photo out of it.

I was still talking to them here. They must think I'm a total weirdo. Well, I am!

Now I remember why I never sit on my deck though. ;)