Tales of Victory and Defeat

This Take One and Pass It On update includes tales of victory and defeat.  So sit down.

I left off on a lazy Saturday remixing denim, which was as close to cheating as bracelets, but I did it anyway so that I could wear my latest VV Boutique awesome pink stripe silky scarf.

Pass the pink

 Scarf and knit tee remixed with cargos and charcoal cardi. 

This weary look is not defeat.  Not even close.  I wore this Sunday for church then I hit the sneak peak 50% sale at VV Boutique (club card members could go a day early!) where it was exhilarating madness!  I had to take my daughter with me and she fell asleep en route, woke up and said, "Let's go try on some clothes."  She's 2.  VICTORY!!!!!  

Pass the charcoal

 

 Remixed with green pants, VV Boutique necklace, and two of my finds from Sunday,

French Connection top $4 and...

 Hispanitas shoes $3.50

These shoes retail for $165 and up in my estimation and they were in perfect condition.  These babies might be my best score yet!!!  VICTORY!!!!  I also wore this to my first ever local city council meeting to support my outstanding friends who are were fighting for urban food.  And for their farm to not get bowled over in the near future.  The vote did not go in their favour - defeat - but their attitude and character are remarkable so I have no doubt they will ultimately be victorious.

Pass the french

...

...

...

defeat

...

For the first time in this challenge, I neglected to get a photo.  Of my outfit, that is.  I did snap this

 

so that I could explain my socks to the blogosphere.  And I also snapped this, 

because if you make soup from scratch, you are ethically obligated to post it to Instagram.  FYI, I remixed the French under a gray sweater/tunic from my closet archives, my fave splurge belt and my litmus jeans.  I am mid-way through my second Whole 30 and so the jeans aren't quite there yet, but the soup is.

Pass the belt

 

 Remixed with cargos, pink top circa 2009 and that scarf again!

This wasn't my original plan for my belt.  I was going to remix it with more of my sale finds, but then I remembered that today is Pink Shirt Day - a day to stand up to bullying and show solidarity by wearing pink.  I guess I'm all about support this week.  And I got to wear my scarf again.  VICTORY!

 

Outfit Orientation

Is Saturday over already?  When did that happen?  Maybe my outfits will jog my memory about this week because it's foggy.  We left off in 1986...

Pass the yellow pants

 Remixed with green plaid, green stripe tank and

 heart necklace.

Oh yeah, this was Tuesday, my day off.  I stayed home and ended up dirty.

Pass the plaid

  Remixed with snow leopard cardi, trousers from VV Boutique

and other stuff from my closet.  

This was Wednesday.  Stuff happened, I felt cool with my mixed prints.

Pass the animal

 Remixed with mustard tank from VV and my horrid black pants and great layered necklaces.

This was Thursday when I spent 3 hours with a guy from Apple.

I still feel dumb 3 days later.

Pass the mustard

 Remixed with teal cardi from VV,

J Brand, splurge belt and She Does Create necklace.

This was Friday.  An awesome day where I got to chitty chat with the Kitchen Magpie.

And help people.  There was also that.

And I got to go to Walmart alone so you can see why it was awesome.

Pass the denim

 Remixed with gray v neck, pink sweater and

 a fab *new* silk blend scarf $3.75 from VV Boutique.

This is today, Saturday.  A lot went on.  Including this:

 Lap top, tea, 2yo photographer.  All good.

As it turns out, the outfits did clear the haze.  They anchor the days and orient me to ... well, me.  That's a pretty good way to wrap up my week.

Hot Tub Time Machine Sweater

I am loving the Take One and Pass it On remix challenge!  I think this approach is great for the "real life" woman - the one who has five seconds to choose her outfit, who, eh hem, may not put her clothes away at night and naturally reaches for what what she wore the day before...  For me, real life also means limited photography time and expertise around this joint, so consider my photos real-life-styled!  Let's start a trend! 

Last post left off on my Valenbirthday VV Boutique shopping outfit:

No, I didn't pass the following on but forgot to mention I scored it (for 25% off!). 

Perfect condition and all those colourful hearts!  How could it not go home with me on Valentine's Day?!

Pass the charm

 

 Once again, I insist I am not cheating!

My kids surprised me with the dangly heart charm for my birthday.

So, here's my charm remixed with:  

 

 Scarf $3 VV Boutique

Orange pants $3 VV Boutique

Mauve Gap sweater from my closet.

Okay, the real reason I remixed the bracelet is because I wanted to wear my new scarf scored from my shopping expedition.  Before this scarf, I hadn't thought of wearing my mauve sweater with my fave orange pants, but I loved them together!  Thank you for inspiring me, Scarf!

 

Lightweight yet bulky, perfect to transition to spring.  In 17 months. 

Pass the scarf and sweater

Remixed with DKNY cords $9 VV Boutique

and an orange layering tank because sometimes I channel my matchy matchy underneath.

Floor debris compliments of real life.

Pass the pants

  

 Remixed with my retro sweater $5 VV Boutique

White scarf and accessories from my closet

Nothing too exciting but I liked layering my "choose" necklace 

and my She Does Create nest necklace and earrings, 

and it strikes me how accessories change the look of this sweater.

  

I wore this ensemble to church, then to a ski race and dinner with friends.  Here's chalet bathroom photography proof:

Goes great with my pink snow pants!

It was this moment that I realized what my sweater reminded me of...going back in time to the 80s!  (No hot tub required, only VV Boutique!)  Indeed, I had to cut out the shoulder pads, but otherwise I thought the dropped shoulder and 3/4 sleeves looked dolman modern-ish, and the colour is EVERYWHERE.  Proof:

My friend's mag.  

Buy it and you will see my hot tub time machine sweater colour everywhere.

I was wondering if the sweater was too eighties, but two of my Splurge Sisters on two different occasions assured me it was on trend in colour and geometric pattern.  I thought so.

 Pass the hot tub time machine sweater

 Remixed with a white layering tank, silver accessories and yellow pants.

While getting dressed for wear one, it occurred to me to pair my springy hue up with more springy hues, and I instantly knew it would look awesome with yellow pants.  Because everything does.

Went skiing again today and felt like a fashion maven knowing I had on my yellows under my snow pants!

Bonus points if you caught the other reason my eye was drawn to this sweater....Anyone?  Anyone?  (Hands up if you saw Ferris Bueller in the theatre in the 80s wearing a sweater like this.)

Give up?

It matches my iPhone5 case and PROVES that this colour and my VV Boutique shoulderpadless sweater for $5 are totally modern.

Valenbirthday VV Special

I had every intention of writing this up last night, then my 2 year old woke up and screamed for 3 hours.  Good times.  And further explanation of why I crop my haggard head off sometimes.  Anyhoo, as my awesome friend Janet shared, Valentine's Day happens to be the day when I have to update my Blogger profile.  Which I'm stalling on.  Don't judge me.  And for my 29th 35th oh fine 39th birthday, I got the best gift ever: 1.5 hours in the middle of a weekday all by myself to shop at VV Boutique.  There was even a sale: 25% off which beats the Super Savers Club Card birthday discount of 20%!  For the first time since Fashion's Night Out, I'm going to share some of my VV Boutique shopping experience.

Quick backtrack before we start...

Pass the emerald cardi and blue polka dot scarf

Remixed with CK striped dress.

Polka dots and stripes are made to go together.

 

 I left the house with the cobalt belt but decided it was too matchy matchy and left it in my van.

A skinny cobalt might have been okay...

When I tried the belt without the cardi in the morning, I didn't like it, 

but when I took these photos while hiding from my kids in the closet, I liked it more.

Pass the layering tank

It is NOT cheating!

Remixed with BR red polka dot button-up and J Brand denim.

A brief explanation for a relatively tame ensemble:

I wanted to wear red for Valentine's Day, but wanted to have an easy shopping outfit,

As in, I could remove the button-up and try on pieces in the aisle without flashing.

Not that this happens at VV Boutique, but I like to be prepared.  Just in case.

It's my duty as a professional.

With my shopping outfit ready to go, school party snacks prepared and dropped off, toddler tucked into day home, I tried not to speed to the nearest VV Boutique!

 The candidates...

 

Let me introduce you to Happy Pants.

If the crotch is smiling at you, put them back.

 

 The no's.

 The maybe's.  Stay tuned to see what went home with me!

I scored some books, scarves and other treats for my sewing friend.  All in all, it was rejuvenating and just one of the many blessings on my Valenbirthday!

Let the Children, I mean Wardrobe, Lead the Way

I'm not an every day poster, in case that's not obvious.  So the Take One and Pass It On remix is challenging me to get photos every day.  Not always easy.  Sometimes my glamour team is otherwise engaged and we end up with selfies at 10pm.  

Pass the blush top 

 

Remixed with chevron ponte knit skirt, charcoal tank, gray cardi, gray tights and Miz Mooz pumps.

 I will confess that it took me a few tries to find a remix that worked.

It's interesting to me how when I finally "land" on the right outfit, it just feels right.

Does this happen to others?  Or should I have more coffee before I pontificate on my ensembles?

Pass the tank  

 Remixed with a white tank, emerald cardi, J Brand denim and this fab new scarf gifted to me by my favourite Megan.

Jealous?  You should be, she's an awesome friend! ;)

Bracelets from She Does Create. 

Creative photography is my ploy to distract from bad self-photography.

I'm learning a lesson from this challenge.  Whenever I try to plan outfits ahead of time and then work backwards, it doesn't work.  This should come as no surprise - it's the forward momentum that is inspiring.  So I'll stop from here on out and just let my pieces lead the way!

 

Pass it On Part Two

My plan was to do the awesome wardrobe remix strategy "Take One and Pass it On" coined by the awesome style blog Sarah's Real Life for at least one week, and I'm still going strong.  Even though Sarah is 10 11 12 years younger than me and she's in law school and has a disclaimer on her blog and takes fabulous photos and writes well and has good posture and comes up with fantastic ideas, I cannot help but push any shred of envy aside and simply love her style!  I'm finding her archives inspiring - on trend but still unique and, indeed, wearable for real life.  I figure, if I emulate her approach I will instantly become 27 and get a full night's sleep... if I could just stop reading through the archives.

Here's where I left off:

Day 5 - (just passed the mustard tank)

Day 6 - Pass the bracelet

Remixed with vintage secretary blouse, Sperry's and my new favourite pants,

Green H&M ankle crops $9 from VV Boutique. 

 

Passing accessories is NOT cheating!  Just check Sarah's rules.

You can argue, but remember, she knows the law.

 

 This pose is to show you my secretarial sock bun.

And also because I can hear my inner Tyra Banks saying

"Sure you can do face-front, but what about profile?  I don't see 'model'..."

Day 7 - Pass the pants

 

 Remixed with chambray, Ugg-type much cheaper boots, Eddie Bauer puffer vest.

Once you have Frye boots, you kinda forget about the rest, except when you're taking 3 kids swimming.

Then you just want to have something cozy to look forward to after walking barefoot in public.

On another note, don't you love how these pants go casual so easily?  Swoon. 

Day 8 - Pass the chambray

 

Remixed with Ann Taylor cargos and StyleMint tee.

This photo is at the end of a very long day, but I'm sporting something special... 

Day 9 - Pass the Word

 

 Did you catch that?  I passed the necklace.

Remixed here with the green pants, Love 21 Blush top and black Oxmo tank.

 

My family gave me this Lisa Leonard One Little Word necklace  with my word for 2013 for my special day today.

I was baptized today and that is pretty awesome.