What I Wore This Week

What I wore #ootd

What I wore #ootd

 

What I wore #ootd

What I wore #ootd

Outfit 1 – Dress • Asos (similar) | Hat • Thrifted (similar) | Shoes • Zara (similar) |
Purse • Urban Outfitters
Outfit 2 – Tank • H&M | Black Jeans • Zara | Shoes • Vans | Hat + Purse above
Outfit 3 – Dress • H&M (similar) | Jacket • Zara | Shoes • Converse
Outfit 4 – Pink Blouse H&M | Necklace • thrifted (similar)

Do you know what is cool? When you find out that a mall you go to regularly has a secret flea market in the basement on weekends. We discovered it this weekend and there was all kinds of great stuff. The girls found a couple of things to add to their Harry Potter collection. Then they found a 2ft tall life-like Gollum that they wanted. Where the hell would you put that? It was $300 anyway.

I’m kind of excited to get a few of the things I ordered this week (a couple of sweaters and a t-shirt). I’ll take some pictures of Instagram in a few days to show them if I like them. If not they will go back and I’ll pretend I never bought them 😉

I recently started taking some Magnesium supplements to try to improve my physical and mental health. I heard that they could help with brain fog and general fatigue which are two things that impacting my daily life. I started them last week and while yesterday I was exhausted (I think that was because of a 3am bedtime and otherwise piss poor nights sleep) today my head felt clearer. I don’t know if they are really starting to work or if it is the placebo effect and will come back next week. I am remaining optimistic though because something has to give.

Have you ever taken a magnesium supplement? And if so did it help you?

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Some Fall Style and Home Inspiration

 

Fall Style and Home inspiration1

I can’t believe we are almost here but we are. I really should know better, because it was always the same when I was a kid. Once my birthday past, the summer seemed to fly by. I’m morphing into panic mode though because I homeschool my kids and I haven’t finished buying all the curriculum we will need. I have Roo going into her 7th year (our 8th year of homeschooling) and Merle is starting 1st. I was excited for a bit because people on my local homeschool Facebook page have planned to start a coop. Which is a weekly gathering of similar aged homeschool students to be taught a subject or two in a group setting. Then I found out it was a Christian group. Which in itself is perfectly fine and the most common type of coop in the homeschool world but it is frustrating when you are a secular family in the minority and it wasn’t mentioned until 2 weeks before school starting. The group is open to people of all beliefs, but we won’t join it because while I can usually skip over any religious talk in other subjects, I can’t in this type of setting and refuse to do that for Science. I need to come up with a science alternative and have spent hours pouring over ideas and plans. Honestly, you wouldn’t believe how hard it is to find a secular homeschool science curriculum. It’s like the unicorn of curricula.

So to take myself off the science ledge I put together some things I like for fall. Things that have been on my want list or in my online shopping cart lately. Back to school shopping was my favourite time of year as a kid because of the new wardrobe (I hated the school part). When we were going through the mall the other day Roo was pointing out all these things she liked and I was laughing because I felt like I was transported back to fall of my 1994-95 school year. Half the things she liked I once owned in a similar version. So funny.

  1. Room Darkening Curtains – I don’t know how people can sleep without a dark room. Maybe they get up when the sun rises? I have always wished that I was that type of person but I am a roll over and make a pillow tent to avoid the sun person. At 37 years of age I need to accept that and gets some damn darkening curtains because the pillow over the head makes me wake up with a headache. I saw these curtains at Ikea last week.
  2. Fall Sweaters! I’m not going to lie, I bought these two.  The grey one arrived yesterday, the brown one should be coming Monday. The brown one has some awesome wrist ties. I love interesting accents on an otherwise plain sweater.
  3. Grey Sweater from above – This is a sightly shorter, wide sleeve sweater. It will look great alone with high waist jeans or with a longer t-shirt/tank layered under.
  4. Cropped ankle jeans – A 5’3″ any time I get excited about an ankle jean and try them on they fit like regular jeans 🙁 I would love to give these a shot though. Damn short legs, I might have to cut a pair off myself.
  5. Bralettes – I have said I want some for a while and have yet to bite the bullet. I only have two bras that I wear regularly, I just alternate. My size isn’t a size you find in the store very often (28DD) so I order them online which can be pricey. But wearing underwire daily is a literal pain and since I don’t have a large chest I would love to get a few bralettes for under t-shirts and sweaters. They seem loads more comfortable.
  6. Some cool barstools – one of the things that I want in our future home is an open kitchen with a breakfast counter that has barstool seats. I love the wood/black combo of these.
  7. Throw – Where I am partial to neutrals I am also very partial to bright/colourful/patterned accents throughout. This vintage, handmade throw checks all the boxes.
  8. Black Chelsea boot – I want these. They are great for fall with cropped jeans (if I ever find a pair that actually looked cropped on me).
  9. Black Leather Crossbody – I have a brown cross body and would like a black one too. Regular leather, not suede since it is partial to stains and marks when it gets wet which is hard to avoid in the fall.
  10. Red Adidas Gazelles – These come in a variety of colours. I think I narrowed it down to black or red even though the green is awesome.
  11. Black Adidas Gazelle – Same as above.
  12. Yellow Rug – my living room rug is ugly. It is big (covers a very large area and helps to muffle the sounds of loud children. It was cheap, and totally does the job but how amazing would this bright yellow one look?
  13. White Book Case – Quite a few years ago we bought 4 large bookcases to house my collections. They are in a dark black/brown wood and are starting to wear. I want to slowly start replacing them with white ones. This style from Ikea with the partitioned shelves is awesome.
  14. Mirror – This flower shaped, painted mirror would be a beautiful addition to any room. I don’t have a lot of empty wall space (weird shaped walls and windows in random places) but I could probably find a place to squeeze it in.
  15. Oversized t-shirt – Once again, I just ordered this. I love how comfortable oversized tees are. This striped version also comes in a thicker striped pattern. I couldn’t decide which one I wanted as usual.

I notice that I haven’t bought a lot of new things over the last few months. One pair of jeans during a 2.5 month period. But now that it is almost fall it is inspiring me. I wanted a couple more sweaters and t-shirts so this is a good start. What I really need aside form underwear and towel 😉 is a pair of winter boots. I haven’t owned a pair for 6 years since Tom puked both in and on my last pair (which is a story I will share later).

Do you have anything new on your list for fall?

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Tis the Season for some New Underwear

Weird Title? Bear with me and I will get to that in a minute, but you need the back story first which is that I am having trouble adjusting my financial mindset. Where we were 5 years ago and where we are today are two totally different worlds. Five years ago we were on the verge of needing to use the food bank and today while we aren’t rolling in it, the anxiety and depression over how we are going to pay bills isn’t constantly on the forefront of our minds. Five years ago Tom and his mother decided to shut down their goldsmith shop that had been a family business for many years. (hard decision but a dying trade in the land of box stores). He went on to a brief interlude (several years actually) in the music industry but in life it felt like we were continually beating a dead horse and we needed a change. Through friends and connections he found a job in the tv/film industry and his hard work has finally paid off over the last year or so.

Even though we can’t be frivolous with money, if we need something we can afford it (within reason obviously because this is an expensive city) but I am still having issues letting go of the purse strings. I went to get dressed the other day and when I was putting on my underwear (tmi) I almost ripped the effing waistband off just by pulling them up. My fingers ripped right through the fabric. This has happened to 4 other pairs, most of them are in a sad state.

The same week I was drying off after my shower and tore my towel almost completely in half. There is about 3 inches of frayed fabric holding it together. I’m not kidding. Apparently I dry off too vigorously. I haven’t bought new towels or underwear in years. YEARS. I’m serious. I think the towel is from college. Don’t quote me on that but it’s pink and I bought lots of pink things back then. Even my hair was white blonde and pink.

Rustic Shelves via Home and Cottage

Photo via Home and Cottage
And while I would love a beautiful zen shelf full of expensive, fluffy towels like the above photo I will settle for  some colourful ones from Ikea that I can buy for under $10.

These things don’t rank high on my necessity scale so they never get replaced. My underwear drawer is not sexy, and my linen closet is a mish-mash of a million different colours of towels in different conditions (I actually don’t even have a linen closet. Sheets and towels are in my closet because I have the big one). This is the mindset I am talking about though. I know that I needed to replace old items but I could never justify it buying them. Something else always seemed like it was more important and got precedence. I figured if they still did the job then there was no need to replace them,  and I say that with all honesty as I sit here wearing holey underwear. I have accepted that it is time for an upgrade.

Does anyone else have the same issue or am I alone in old underwear and ratty towels? 😉 

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What I Wore This Week

What I Wore This Week #ootd

What I Wore This Week #ootd

What I Wore This Week #ootd

 

What I Wore This Week #ootd

Outfit 1 – Tank • H&M | Blazer • H&M (similar) | Jeans • H&M | Booties • DSW (similar) |
Purse • Urban Outfitters (similar) |
Outfit 2 – Kimono • H&M (similar) | Black Pants • Zara |
Outfit 3 – T-shirt • Madewell | Shorts • H&M (similar) | Sandals • Etsy | Hat • Thrifted (similar) |
Outfit 4 – Maxi Dress • Zara (similar) | Shoes • Vans | Crossbody • Urban Outfitters

I am writing this while sitting in front of the window and watching the rain. It hasn’t rained for more than 5 minutes the entire summer and I am soaking it all in. I hope this brings some relief to the farmers because this has been a hard summer for crops.

While the humidity is maxing out the thermometer it has brought my thoughts to fall, so I went through some of my sweaters and long sleeve shirts to take an inventory. My favourite grey sweater from the last 3 years has a huge snag in the front of it. It was folded neatly on my shelf but it was on top, so I can only assume that the cat was walking through my clothes and got a nail caught (he has extra toes with extra nails and I have to keep them clipped because he gets them stuck on everything). I usually just weave the snag back in and smooth it out to make it not noticeable but it is smack dab in the middle of the front and it’s really obvious 🙁 this prompted some online shopping Friday night (so exciting I know, but wine and the last dregs of birthday cake were involved, Tom was still at work, and the kids were in bed so it was awesomely quiet to me).

I first hit up Zara where there was some amazing jeans that I quickly put into my basket to come back to later. Then when I came back they were gone, like totally disappeared off the website. I can only assume that they were listed before they should have been so they pulled them, because when they sellout of sizes they keep the page up where you can get an email notification when your size comes in. I’ll be stalking the site to see if they put the pants back up because they were fantastic.

On my perusal of the Mango site I found a great replacement grey sweater. I ordered a small and am questioning if I should have sized up to get a roomier fit. I hope it looks as good as the photo because I have actually been wanting a grey sweater in a style like this for a long time and never found one that prompted an instant buy.

I can’t wait to wear sweaters again. Are you over summer too?

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What to Wear in Italy and France Outfit Options

Italy and France Travel Outfits

What to Wear in Italy and France Outfit Options 1-10 #travellight #packinglight #travel #traveltips

Outfit 1 – Black Tank | Kimono | Distressed Jeans | Crossbody | Booties
Outfit 2 – Black Dress | Grey Scarf | Hat | Tote | Sneakers
Outfit 3 – Grey Tee | Dark Denim | Leather Jacket | Sunglasses | Crossbody | Booties
Outfit 4 – Jumpsuit | White Blouse | Tote | Flats
Outfit 5 – Pink Dress | Sunglasses | Crossbody | Flats
Outfit 6 – Striped Shirt | Distressed Jeans | Tote | Sneakers
Outfit 7 – Black Dress | Black Sweater | Purple Scarf | Crossbody | Booties
Outfit 8 – White Tee | Dark Denim | Grey Scarf | Hat | Tote | Flats
Outfit 9 – Jumpsuit | Kimono | Crossbody | Booties
Outfit 10 – Pink Dress | Leather Jacket | Sunglasses | Crossbody | Sneakers

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What to Pack for Italy and France – Packing Light

What to Pack for France and Italy Packing List For September #travellight #packinglight #traveltips #travelTank • H&M | Grey T-shirt • H&M | White T-shirt • Mango | Striped Long Sleeve • J. Crew |
Cotton Blouse • Madewell | Kimono Shirt • Asos | Sweater • Mango | Light Jacket • Mango |
Casual Dress • Madewell | Pink Dress • Mango | Dark Denim • Mango | Casual Denim • Gap |
Jumpsuit • H&M | Hat • Madewell | Neutral Scarf • Madewell | Colour Scarf • Garage  |
Sunglasses • Nanette Lepore | Sneakers • Adidas | Flats • Mango |
Boots • Dolce Vita | Tote • Express | Crossbody • Botkier |

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