Then and Now

Cardigan: J Crew
Dress: Sears
Belt: Forever 21
Shoes: Old Navy

I last wore this dress over a year ago. Then I paired it with light pink and made it ultra girly. I tried to toughen up the feminine polka dots today with some dashes of bold red. I think I like this version better.

Look what you started

Last night, my school's teachers got together to celebrate the retirement of three of our staff members. A lot of younger teachers don't go to these things, but I always make sure I do. It's a great way to show appreciation for what the help and guidance experienced teachers give. Plus it's a chance to dress up and I love that. I wore:

Dress: Martin and Osa
Sweater: Jessica from Sears
Belt: RW&Co
Shoes: Naturalizer
Purse: Coach

This purse holds a special spot in my heart. When RDog got his current job a few years ago, he went to Seattle for a work conference. He came back with this purse as a present for me. At the time, my purses came from mostly Sears and rarely cost more than $20. I didn't know what Coach was and couldn't believe he spent more than $100 on a purse. I will never forget his response to my reaction.

He said, "You're going to have to get used to me buying nice things for you."

Awwww, you're a sweetie RDog. That started the tradition off him buying me a present on any trip he takes. Although now my tastes have progressed and I demand Burberry. :P Maybe this summer, I'll get a Louis Vuitton. How about it RDog? Look what you started.

Casual Friday

Yesterday was the last Friday on the month so it was jeans day! I wore:

Cardigan: J Crew
T-shirt: J Crew through EBay
Tank: Martin and Osa
Jeans: Reitmans
Shoes: Aerosoles

By the way, Martin and Osa has a great sale going on this weekend; an extra 50% off all prices. Unfortunately, I cannot order as they no longer ship to Canada. Hopefully there are lots of Americans taking advantage of the great deals!

Bad KDot!

Sweater: Banana Republics - This has been buried in my "must-sew" pile for about a year. All it needed was about 5 minutes of repair work. Bad KDot!

Pants: Gap - There has been a 20 degree drop in the temperature from Monday to today so pants were a must. I refuse to wear tights; it's almost June folks!

Shoes: Cole Haan

Polyvore to Real Life

Polyvore

Real Life

Cardigan: J Crew - I bought this during the JCA birthday code sale. It arrived last night with a $23 duty charge. Yuck. Someone at Customs Canada hates me. They got me a few weeks ago too ($30 item with $15 in duty).
Tank: J Crew
Skirt: J Crew
Shoes: Cole Haan - I actually forgot about these shoes as they are stored deep within my shoe closet. I was playing with Polyvore last night and saw them in my items. Thank goodness Polyvore is there to remind me of what I own!

Back In The Swing of Things

Cardigan: J Crew
Tank: J Crew
Belt: Forever 21
Skirt: Sears
Shoes: Expressions from The Bay

I was back at school today but only for teacher meetings. I'm a bit rumpled here because I had to sit on a hard wooden chair all day. Ow! It's hard being the student and listening to someone else for a change!

This outfit is very similar to last Tuesday's. I liked that one so much, I copied it today.

Powering through my cold

Today was a beautiful day and I was determined to power through my sniffles and coughing. Dressing nice helps me feel better so this is what I wore:

Dress: RW&Co
Cardigan: J Crew
Shoes: Gap

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

No Outfits, Too Sick

I have no pretty outfit pictures to share as both RDog and I are under the weather. I have a sucky springtime cold and RDog has the horror headache from hell. We've been both taking it easy for the last few days. I am convinced that I will not let this cold beat me however. We have a long weekend of fine summer weather ahead of us and I WILL enjoy it, cold or no cold.

By the way, for any Canadians out there who have recently moved, check your Medicare card to make sure it hasn't expired! We moved three years ago and changed our address at all the important places, or so we thought. RDog had a doctor appointment this week (he doesn't go very often) where he discovered his card had expired. His new card was probably mailed to our old address. So he had to pay for a few doctor appointments and blood work. It didn't cost very much but it was still a pain in the butt. It was also a bit scary because we almost had to go to emergency (at one point his headache was so bad that he was vomiting - I know, TMI, sorry). It gave us an appreciation for what some Americans must feel. Being sick and worrying about paying for a doctor is not cool! And don't worry, his headache has gotten much better today. We think it was caused from a combination of stress and staring at a computer for 15 hours a day. My man is a computer geek. He will soon be wearing a new set of spiffy glasses that will hopefully solve the problem.

Small Pleasures

Sweater: RW&Co
Skirt: J Crew - It may look black, but it is navy
Shoes: These are not the shoes I wore. These are my walking at lunch time and to my car after school shoes. I accidentally left the navy sandals I wore with this outfit at school. On a related note, I love this time of year because I get to take lunchtime walks! The weather is warmer and my lunch hours are free (less extra help and detentions by this time of year). I take so much pleasure in going for a walk at lunch to get a coffee. I look forward to it all morning! So having a pair of walking shoes at school is a must!

I Heart Summer!

Cardigan: J Crew
Tank: J Crew
Belt: Joe Fresh
Skirt: Banana Republic
Shoes: Sears

Happy Monday

Sweater: RW&Co
Skirt: J Crew
Pearls: RDog
Shoes: Expressions from The Bay

I'm having a great Monday so far. The weather is beautiful. I have lots of energy. School went well (I tried a new activity that was neat and I think the kids learned something!). And I'm having BBQ and cupcakes with my RDog tonight. Life is good!

I Never Said I Was Mature

Blouse: Martin and Osa
Skirt: J Crew
Belt: Joe Fresh
Shoes: Keds

I'm a bitter girl tonight. I hate it when RDog is out having fun without me. Sad eh. He's out at a work function (no wives allowed) at The Keg (yum!) while I'm at home blogging. Boooo! But to his credit, he did bring me home sushi, jiffy pop, and a movie. What a good man.

Take that Mother Nature

Cardigan: Tommy Hilfiger
Skirt: J Crew
Shoes: Old Navy

I'm thumbing my nose at Mother Nature. Sure, it was technically too cold to go bare-legged, but for Pete's sake, it's the middle of May and I'm tired of tights. Unfortunately, I snubbed Mother Nature on a day when I had a half an hour of outdoor duty. Ouch, my legs were cold by the end of it.

Fortunately, a student brought me in a big cup of Tim Horton's coffee this morning. I popped it in the microwave to max its warmth and headed outside at lunch. I huddled on a bench keeping my warm cup of coffee on my legs. It was too cold for me to even yell at the kids who walk randomly in front of cars without looking. Today, I just gave them applause when they managed to figure out the walking symbols and walk across the street when the white walking man sign appeared. So there I was huddled on a bench with a coffee cup pressed to my legs clapping for kids who have learned the ins-and-outs of street crossing when two young ladies walked by and said, "She's so weird." Jeez girls, can you at least wait until you've walked by me to insult me!

House House Dreams

Sweater: J Crew
Tank: Costco
Belt: Danier Leather
Sjkirt: Thrifted
Shoes: Naturalizer
Tights: Spanx - I'm wearing tights in May - yuck!

I have to apologize; I've been kind of distracted and not into the whole blogging/clothes thing in the past week. House things have taken top priority. Last week, RDog and I made an offer on a house. Then RDog slept on it and got cold feet. :P He is usually a pretty calm and collected guy so seeing him so nervous was a big sign to me that we needed to put a halt on this house thing. So we did.

We're still looking for the right house and hopefully we will be in our "house house" by this time next year. I have a specific vision of what my dream house is and they don't come on the market very often. "House house" requirements: just outside city limits, 1 acre plus lot, 2 story house with a veranda, separate dining room, BIG closets, newish and lots of room to grow into. We'll find it or build it eventually.

In the meantime, I'm getting this house in order so we can sell it quickly when the time comes. My latest project is painting our living room and dining room. This painting thing is hard work, especially in a creaky old house. I'm taking a break tonight and will be catching up in the blogging world. I have a long list of blogs to read!

Everything in it's Right Place

Dress: Liz Claibourne (thrifted). I found this dress last weekend and love it. It has a cute little gingham pattern. But I wonder if it is a little too long. What do you think; does it need a hem job?
Belt: H&M
Shoes: Naturalizer

I'm listening to Radiohead today. Everything in it's right place has got to be one of my favorite songs. That's RDog rubbing off on me. It only took ten years together for him to convince me that his favorite bands are the best. :P

Blah, blah, blah

Pants: Sears - These are great high waisted sailor pants that I got on the weekend. For some reason, I choose to wear them with a shirt that doesn't show off their high waisted fabulousness.
Blouse: Forever 21
Shoes: Naturalizer

A bit plain jane today but blame RDog, he picked it out.

Am I making up words today? Blogger is doing the red squiggling line under waisted and fabulousness. Why - they are totally great words, even if I just made them up.

Happy Mother's Day

My mother and me, circa 1985.

Over the past few years, I have realized a few things about my childhood and parents. Although my brother and I didn't have many material possessions, we were a lot more fortunate than many children out there. It took a few years teaching in a low economic status school for me to realize this.

A lot of children didn't have we had; two loving parents in a healthy, wonderful marriage, parents who were involved in our life and cared for us, parents who taught us the value of education, parents who encouraged us to be the best we could be and better our lives.

I truly believe I am where I am today because of my parents. I have so lucky and thankful to have them in my life.

Feeling Like a Rebel

Cardigan: J Crew
T-shirt: J Crew
Necklace: J Crew - I believe this is called the Infinity necklace. I love, love it. I highly recommended to those who like to search for J Crew pop-backs. It's sold out now but it may reappear as J Crew items often do.
Jeans: Reitman's
Shoes: Sears

I was a total bad ass today. It wasn't our normal jeans day but we had a provincial professional development day and I figured I wouldn't get caught if I dressed down. There is such a huge amount of teachers at these meetings, I don't see many from my own school. I still felt like a bit of a rebel.

Let's Get Physical

Dress: Sears
Cardigan: J Crew
Belt: RW & Co.
Shoes: Naturalizer
Necklace: RDog
I'm been humming Let's Get Physical all day. Darn Glee.

Conflicting

Cardigan: J Crew
Blouse: Tommy Hilfiger
Necklace: J Crew found on EBay - I"m pretty sure it's a fake
Skirt: Cassis
Belt: Danier Leather
Shoes: Expressions from The Bay

Another warm day filled with stomach pains from my nerves. We finally came to agreement with the house by the end of the day. The seller did give a wee bit with the price and we decide to add the condition that we need to sell our house first. It makes us feel more comfortable with the whole process. So I have a few days of painting, packing and cleaning ahead of me. Hopefully our house will be on the market by this time next week! I'm excited and scared all rolled into one! I think there's going to be a couple of crazy busy months ahead of us.

Feeling a little queasy

I'm feeling a little queasy tonight. No, I'm not pregnant. We made an offer on a house tonight. Eeeek! It's scary stuff! This could be the "house, house", aka the house we stay in for a long time. Here's what I wore on a hot day while I sweated with nervous excitement all day.

Shirt: Mexx
Skirt: Martin and Osa
Necklace: Reitman's
Shoes: Old Navy

We should find out if they accept our offer tomorrow - eek!

Maxi Train

I've been wanting to hop aboard the maxi train for some time now but had trouble finding a maxi dress that didn't make me feel like I was five months pregnant. I found this one at Old Navy a few weeks ago that fit the bill. I had to size waaaaaay down to an extra small. It feels nice to take an extra small instead of my usual size medium; an example of how vanity sizing can feel good.

Dress: Old Navy
Tank: Old Navy
Scarf: Old Navy
Sandals: Clark's