What I Wore This Week

What I wore this Week #wiw #ootd

What I wore this Week #wiw #ootd

What I wore this Week #wiw #ootd

What I wore this Week #wiw #ootd

What I wore this Week #wiw #ootd

What I wore this Week #wiw #ootd

Outfit 1 – Can’t really see the pieces in that mirror.
Outfit 2 – Plaid Shirt • Zara (similar) | Black Jeans • Zara | Booties • DSW (similar)
Outfit 3 – Dress • H&M (similar) | Leather Jacket • Zara | Purse • Urban Outfitters | Converse
Outfit 4 – Blouse • H&M | Jeans • H&M (similar) | Booties • DSW (similar) | Purse • Urban Outfitters
Outfit 5 – Striped Shirt • Mango | Leather Jacket • Zara | Jeans • H&M | Shoes • Adidas
Outfit 6 – Dress • H&M (similar) | Jean Jacket • Le Chateau (similar) | Shoes • Adidas

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend to my fellow Canadians. It’s nice to get a holiday weekend before the weather starts to change too drastically, although there is a frost warning for tonight so I have to get my Succulents in the condo for the winter. We didn’t do much today. Just did some visits to a few Value Villages. I was looking for a new belt, some leather gloves (the girls took mine to use as “protection” when the were watering the cacti), checking out if they have any good jeans, and we always scope out the shoe section for Converse for the girls. Every single pair we have bought for them (Roo has like 32 pairs) are from Value Village. Then we came home for dinner.

On my to-do list for tonight (Sunday) is taking the shoulder pads out of Merle’s Beetlejuice suit jacket and then finding a good movie still of it so I can see the proper stripe placement. Since tomorrow is a holiday I will tape off the stripes and use the new fabric marker to colour them in. It’s like a super fat Sharpie with a more chalky consistency and I think it will work really well on the fabric based on the swatch test. We found some good fake teeth at Spirit Halloween on the weekend as well, along with makeup and hair colour spray. I’m excited to do a test run to see how it all pulls together. My kids totally take after Tom with a love for Halloween and all things creepy so they all get a kick out of this time of year. Me not so much. I burst in to tears and ran out the entrance of a haunted house once when a live character jumped out and screamed in my face. I can’t even watch The Walking Dead or Game of Thrones, but I’m totally game for a walk through the Catacombs or a Jack-the-Ripper Walking Tour.

While we were in Spirit, Tom bought Merle this totally creepy baby doll in the picture below. She loves it in a Wednesday Adams sort of way. Don’t mind the vampire teeth,  she decided it was a really good idea to chew gum while wearing them and they were stuck in her mouth for a bit. I don’t even really know how to react to that expect shrug and sigh. She takes after her dad with her decision-making skills 😉

Spirit Halloween Creepy Baby Doll

 

Do you like Horror/creepy stuff?

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What I Wore This Week

What I wore this week #whatiwore #ootd

What I wore this week #whatiwore #ootd

What I wore this week #whatiwore #ootd

What I wore this week #whatiwore #ootd

What I wore this week #whatiwore #ootd

What I wore this week #whatiwore #ootd

Outfit 1 – Black T-shirt • Madewell | Jeans • H&M | Converse | Purse • Urban Outfitters |
Hat • Thrifted (similar)
Outfit 2 – Peasant Top • Zara | Jeans • Gap
Outfit 3 – White T-shirt • Zara | Jeans • H&M | Leather Jacket • Zara | Booties • DSW (similar)
Outfit 4 – Leather Jacket • Zara | Jeans • Gap | Shoes • Adidas 
Outfit 5 – Top • H&M | Jeans • H&M (similar) | Booties • DSW (similar)
Outfit 6 – Denim Jacket • Le Chateau (similar) | Pink Blouse • H&M (similar)

I figured out something that I don’t like about condo living this weekend. Certain circumstances can cause extremely long wait times for elevators. I was taking my daughter to a class which really close by so we left only 20 minutes before the class started. On a normal day we would had arrived within 5-10 minutes depending on how pokey they were walking, but this time the elevator didn’t arrive for 20 minutes before we decided to take the stairs. In which I had to carry Merle for 7 floors because she gave up and moved at a snail’s pace. We were already late so by the time we reached the bottom and speed walked there I was ready for a rest 😉 It turns out that one elevator was booked for someone moving, another someone broke the door (by trying to move without booking the moving elevator), which left two for the entire building which has 32 floors. It was ridiculous and I can’t imagine what would have happened if there was a medical emergency or a person couldn’t physically walk down the stairs. It kind of reminds me of when I lived in Peterborough. The city was really terrible at staying on top of the snow and clearing the walks. It would get so bad in the winter you literally had to climb over huge drifts in some places. It pissed me off because I don’t know how elderly people, or people in wheelchairs managed to get around during the snow season. I am thankful that I don’t have to deal with that in this city.

Aside from that fall is in full force and I actually wore a toque, beanie, knit hat (whatever you call it where you live) for the first time this weekend because it was cold, windy and rainy. I missed wearing one 🙂 I also tried to clean my closet today but success was definitely not in the stars. Maybe tomorrow, but I am predicating no 😉

How is the weather where you are?

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What I Wore This Week

What I Wore this week #ootd #wiw

What I Wore this week #ootd #wiw

What I Wore this week #ootd #wiw

What I Wore this week #ootd #wiw

What I Wore this week #ootd #wiw

Outfit 1 – Black Sweater • Zara (similar) | Jeans • Zara | Booties • Winners (same) |
Purse • Urban Outfitters
Outfit 2 – Peasant Top • Zara | Jeans • Gap
Outfit 3 – Band Tee • Thrifted (same) | Kimono • Madewell (similar) | Jeans • H&M |
Booties • DSW (similar) |
Outfit 4 – Sweatshirt • Zara (similar) | Jeans • Gap | Converse
Outfit 5 – Cardigan • H&M (similar) | Jeans • Gap | Shoes • Zara (similar) | Purse • Thrifted

Every year at this time the moms in my Facebook groups get on to the topic of “what are you buying your kids for Christmas”. Sometimes it’s hard not to get sucked in with the comparison and ideas from others so you feel like need to buy your kids more because others are buying their kids a lot or “better” things. So bear with me. This post has all of my Christmas present thoughts and ideas as I am trying to avoid the Facebook discussions. I have some notes but If I don’t get them down in a more coherent way I will probably forget them.

It’s Saturday night (as I am typing this) and I have one kid in the bath and one cleaning her room and I am trying to covertly browse/shop for Christmas presents. It’s really hard to buy anything in secret when we go out because there is at least one child always with me. I remember last year we were at the mall in the Disney Store and somehow I was able to smuggle a Cheshire Cat stuffy into the view of the cashier. He saw what I was trying to do and gestured for me to throw it to him when Merle wasn’t looking and stuffed it in a bag for me. It was pretty funny and helped me out that day. My oldest will stay home with Tom, but Merle has a stroke if I leave without her. She has been that way since she was a baby and it is very exhausting. Anyway, because of this I buy 99% of the gifts online now but even that is hard since I can literally see in to each bedroom while I am sitting at my computer and whoever is in them can see me and what I have pulled up on the screen. I have become the master of minimizing windows and having 9 million tabs open. I have also been staying up extra late just so I can shop in peace.

I am glad that I started way back in June and I actually think that I am really close to being done with. The girl birthdays are November 24th, and December 14th so this time of year is quite expensive (hence the super early shopping). This year I have had an easier time buying for Roo than for Merle though. She has a lot of very specific hobbies, likes, and passions now so it’s easy to stick with those and find a lot of cool things. A couple of my favourite gifts I bought her are a Coraline collectible doll by NECA, and a replica Potions textbook from magicworldHP on Etsy. It has 10 reproduction pages with hand written notes from Snape in the margins to make it seem realistic. She is going to love it. I’m stumped for Merle though. She wanted a Kitty Surprise but for some reason they aren’t easy to find in Canada and buying from the U.S. is so expensive. Plus, she doesn’t like the pink one which makes it even harder since that is the easiest one to find. I have been buying her random things like a fake fur blanket, a cat matryoshka doll, a snow globe, weeping angel string lights, an Avada Kedavra shirt (her favourite spell) a Voldermort wand, and a beautiful Wizard of Oz pop up book. This probably seems like enough and it most likely is and she will be happy as shit but I am a good bargain hunter and dollar wise I have spent about $115 (the pop up book cost me $0.01 on Amazon used even though it looked brand new. Everything else I bought when on sale or had discount codes for) and I like to keep them fairly even in dollar value. I think a pair of pyjamas, a few books, and a board game may round us out if I can’t find the kitty surprise.

I’m not sure what I am getting for Tom. I saw a collection of Kiss records for a great price that I know he would appreciate and would love for his collection. My next problem to figure out is to find a spot to put our Christmas tree because there is a bookshelf in the spot we put it last year and there really isn’t many other options. I may actually have to move the entire room around to find a spot.

Where do you hide your Christmas presents?

Previous years it has been easy but as they get older they get sneakier. I have them all in random different areas since there is not much storage space. I literally have a little hand sketched map and notes of where I put each one so I don’t forget.

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Some Shopping Honesty

New Fall items #fallfashion

No. 1 – Brown Sweater • Zara | No. 2 – Grey Sweater • Mango | No. 3 – Tie waist Sweatshirt • Zara | No. 4 Strappy Flats • Zara | No. 5 – Jeans • H&M* | No. 6 – Peasant  Shirt • Zara | No. 7 – Adidas Gazelles • Urban Outfitters
*I Included these jeans because they are quickly becoming my favourites even though I bought them in June.

I’m going to be honest. I have bought a few wardrobe items lately. Last month you know that I bought two sweaters. One to replace a worn one, and the other because I realized last winter that I didn’t have enough sweaters. I may actually get another oversized cowl neck or a cardigan for winter as well to round out the selection. I just haven’t really looked. In June I bought what are now one of my favourite pairs of jeans, and I recently bought a peasant shirt and a black tie waist sweatshirt as well. I spread it out somewhat so it doesn’t seem that bad, and I am sure to many that it isn’t because in the grand scheme of things I have seen people drop 5x that amount in one shopping trip. Although I still feel a little guilty since I am trying to cut it down as much as possible.

Over the weekend I cleaned my closet and did a shoe inventory while the girls attempted to clean theirs. I decided that a few shoe wardrobe holes I would like to fill are ballet flats and sneakers (I have converse but I want a more sneaker style). Tom forgot to buy me my birthday sneakers until I kindly remind him on Friday, so they should arrive in the mail soon. He said, “whoops, you should have reminded me”, and I responded that, “It was no biggie and I was just going to buy them myself.” which prompted him to order them. Passive aggressive? Yes, but sometimes he needs a little nudge or reminder. If I didn’t make sure to buy everything then the kids would have nothing on any holidays or birthday’s so I am not ashamed 😉

I had some black flats that I bought three years ago but I didn’t love the way they looked so I recently donated them since they didn’t get any wear. I’m sure someone will get a lot of use out of them.  They were the d’orsay style and although I love the look of d’orsay they seemed emphasize how narrow my feet are and make my ankles look skinnier.

Note: This isn’t a woe is me post, but it is my own personal issue that has carried over from my teenage years. I wore a uniform in high school and people always, always made derogatory comments on how skinny my legs and ankles were. They would even say I had an eating disorder and nicknamed me ATV (anorexic tapeworm virus). Nice huh? It got to the point that I would wear several pairs of tights at a time trying to make my legs look fuller. That stupid mental shit stuck with me and I am still super conscious of legs and ankles and never fully comfortable baring them. Long story short, I donated my flats that I wasn’t comfortable in to make room for something that I was, and after about 9 months I found the above ones at Zara on the weekend. I like them a lot. A strappy flat with a twist. They seem quite comfortable even with a sore toe.

So the moral of this story is don’t keep what doesn’t make you feel good about yourself and sometimes you need a seasonal closet refresher even though you are trying to be a minimalist 😉 

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What I Wore This Week

What I Wore This Week #wiw #ootd

What I Wore This Week #wiw #ootd

What I Wore This Week #wiw #ootd

What I Wore This Week #wiw #ootd

What I Wore This Week #wiw #ootd

Outfit 1 – Leather Jacket • Zara | Striped Shirt • Everlane | Jeans • Zara |
Booties • DSW (Similar)
Outfit 2 – Sweater • Mango | Jeans • Gap | Boots • The Frye Company
Outfit 3 – Jean Jacket • Le Chateau (similar) | T-shirt • Urban Outfitters | Jeans • Zara | Booties • DSW | Purse • Thrifted
Outfit 4 – Blouse • Express | Jeans • H&M* | Booties • DSW (similar)
Outfit 5 – Cardigan • Mango | Tank • H&M | Jeans • H&M | Vans
*I cut off the bottom of these jeans because they were supposed to be ankle jeans but obviously not on a 5’3″ frame. Sometimes you have to take shit int o your own hand 😉

I know you have all been waiting on baited breath for my search for a white blazer for the Halloween costume dilemma but I found one 😉 Not only did I find one but I also found white pants, a white button down, and a tie. I think that someone either donated their child’s wedding party outfit or it was for a religious ceremony. Either way it was a good score for under $20. Now I just need to figure out how to paint the stripes on it without ruining it. I’m definitely not a super crafty person so I do best with step-by-step instructions like this one. This picture makes me laugh so hard. Not only does she have severe hat head, it also so painfully obvious I need to remove the shoulder pads and the pants are too skinny. I’m going to look for a less tight option (and I totally which emojis worked on here because this is where I would put the laugh till you cry face. This is so funny to me).

Merle Halloween Costume Start

My girls room is a complete shit-pit. It is a combination of them having way too much stuff (if I had a do over I would totally have a minimalist attitude towards their toys from day one) and not sticking to my guns when it came to making them keep things tidy and put away after every use. I am going to blame that one on past depression and not having enough energy to make it even worth my while at that time. But those are excuses and shit has to change so I pulled out a large bin that is full of Barbies, Barbie equivalents (i.e. Monster High) and Barbie paraphernalia and dumped it in the middle of their floor. They now have to go through everything and keep what will only fill to small bins. Everything else goes back in to the large bin along with whatever else I think needs to go (because if it is left up to them they would keep it all) “this broken piece from a toy I can’t find? Oh I need to keep that.”  They inherited the hoarder mentality from their dad. I am pretty sure it is a gene that passes on. I swear it.

Shit is about to get real in this house because I am TIRED of all this crap. Any tips aside form Marie Kondo. I have read both her books and want to hire her.? 😉 

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What I Wore This Week

What I wore this week #ootd #wiw

What I wore this week #ootd #wiw

What I wore this week #ootd #wiw

What I wore this week #ootd #wiw

What I wore this week #ootd #wiw

Outfit 1 – Maxi Dress • Zara (similar) | Blazer • H&M (similar) | Vans
Outfit 2 – Kimono • H&M (similar) | Jeans Shorts • H&M (similar) |
Shoes • Zara (similar) | Sunglasses • Ray-ban
Outfit 3 – Kiss T-shirt • Thrifted (similar) | Jeans • Gap
Outfit 4 – Tank • H&M | Jeans • H&M | Purse • Urban Outfitters
Outfit 5 – White T-shirt • Zara | Jeans • Gap | Sandals • Etsy |
Hat • Thrifted | Purse • UO

This past week was pretty low-key since we started our back to school with two kids this year instead of one and my toe is still effed up so my mobility is slightly limited. Well, not limited so much as I am super slow 😉 While we did some school work with Merle last year it was only for about 15 minute intervals on most subjects unless she asked to go longer. This year has amped up for her so juggling between two kids is taking some time to find a good groove for us.

I try not to set a time schedule because it just gets frustrating when that doesn’t go as planned so I just use my weekly planner to give a basic outline of what I would like accomplished each day. This one is perfect for what I need and I have it in hot pink, although it took forever to find it. I am still a stickler for pen and paper. Whatever doesn’t get done gets bumped forward. Some days you get everything plus more done and other days you find you have gone off on rabbit trails for subjects that they have shown interest in and that is okay too. I’m still trying to get their bedtime going at a more reasonable hour which isn’t going well. Both have always been night hawks who were nightmares to put to bed as babies, but once they fell asleep they were out for the entire night until late morning. That has stuck and it makes for a slow start each day. Here is to finding our groove this week.

Sunday we went to Value Village so I could try to find pieces for the girls Halloween costumes. Merle wants to be Beetlejuice and Roo wants to be Coraline. We managed to find a yellow jacket for Roo, and a burgundy cross body. We found the blue wig last week and she already has rain boots, so aside from a star sweater and striped tights she is good to go. Merle’s I am having issues with. I gave up trying got find a striped blazer so I opted for a white one instead that I could paint some stripes on. I thought I would easily find one but the white blazer is becoming extremely elusive.  I saw a few on ebay from China that are inexpensive but I can’t guarantee they will arrive on time 🙁 If you have seen a child size white blazer or a woman’s xxs (I don’t mind a little oversize) that doesn’t cost a fortune can you send me a link? I would be grateful.

If you have kids have they picked their Halloween costumes yet?

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