What is this - 1979?

I had two choices for Casual Friday this week: the usual skinny jeans, flats and some sort of t-shirt and cardi combo...or this 1970s-inspired number. I debated for a while. The wide-leg jean is all the rage on the blogosphere, but here in sheltered ol' Ottawa, they haven't really taken off, meaning the chances for getting looks on the bus is increased. But I didn't care. I went for it and was super happy I did.

Blouse: Jacob

Wide-leg Jeans: H&M

Clog Sandals: Target

Belt: Urban Behaviour

Bag: Next (UK)

Earrings: Smart Set

I bought these clog-inspired sandals at Target in Syracuse a few weeks ago (another trend that hasn't taken off in Small-awa). I just love them and am having so much fun with them! The jeans were a purchase from Montreal a few years back but haven't been out of the closet until this week...they're super light weight making them perfect for the summer!

In other news, I had an excellent weekend - partied with some fab girls from work on Friday night, relaxed on my parents' new porch at their place yesterday, went for an excellent rollerblade with my neighbour this morning (hooray for living next to the Parkway on Sunday mornings!), shopped with D's sisters and took a nap. Refreshing! Love me some summer.

xo J.

NY Times Great Homes and Destinations

I'm a bit of a news junkie...on my iGoogle, next to my Gmail and Google Reader widgets, are about a dozen RSS feeds for various news outlets, including the New York Times. As much as I love the articles and news coverage from the paper, by far my favourite feature is the Great Homes and Destinations section. 

The slideshows allow you to escape for a little bit and get a glimpse of cool and impressive houses around the world. And the "What You Can Get For..." let's me dream about what kind of house I'll be able to afford one day. A great way to waste spend some time!

xo J.

Soup...eh?

In February, my mentor, friend and boss, K, announced she was leaving her position in our office to pursue her dream: to start her own gourmet soup business. Incorporating her love for good, homemade food, and recognizing the lack of healthy, quick options for working parents such as herself, she started Soupe, Hé! making homemade, seasonal soups that are available frozen from several gourmet food locations in Gatineau. 


Today marked the first week of the local farmer's market outside my work building for the season, and Soupe, Hé! made it's market début. As a result, I ate goooood tonight! I love market day!

The soup is K's Caramelized Onion and Almond soup....and it was delicious! I drizzled a bit of extra virgin olive oil on the top (I love the texture of the oil with the creamy soup). The fresh greens were also purchased at the market ( I drizzled a little olive oil and balsamic on them), as was the Rosemary Garlic bread from my favourite bakery, Art-Is-In. LOVE!


xo J.

Back in Black

Hiya friends,


I'm back from my little hiatus. No reason in particular for being away so long...the weather's been amazing and I've been enjoying summer in our little city. I'm so very sorry for being away so long...I've missed you blog-world! 


Here's what I wore a few weeks ago...D was taking photos and wasn't inspiring me (how dare he) so I decided to be less serious. 

Note to self: belt this outfit next time.


Dress: Apricot (UK)
Cardigan: Old Navy
Leggings: Jacob
Petal-coloured kitten heels: Jules and James (Zellers)
Earrings: Expression (The Bay)

I was clearly never a trained dancer...terrible form!


I've become a huge fan of these cheapie shoes - I've been wearing them all over the place! The perfect height and I just can't get over the colour...and they were $20! Zing!


So you might have noticed a little blog update. I've used what very basic Blogger skills I have to re-decorate around here a little bit. A little more simplistic and summery, I think. Oh! And I now have a blog email, so please give me a shout! I'd love to hear some feedback, questions or suggestions (karma-friendly only please).


I'm back kids!


xo J.

Product Review: Lush Lip Scrub

While I was home sick last week, I had plenty of time to browse, read and then RE-read a bunch of magazines that have piled up over the last little while. This is always dangerous for me...after flipping through so many ads and product reviews, I WANT IT ALL. OMG.


Ahem.


I wish I could tell you which one reviewed lip scrubs. I can't find it for the life of me, but alls I know is I was sick, my lips were dry and gross and the magazine told me Lush's scrub smoothed and moisturized. DONE.

Shop

As soon as I was well enough to drag myself off the couch, I headed straight to the mall to pick some up. I've never purchased a Lush product before...I like the idea of homemade, natural beauty products, but I find their stuff a bit overpriced and the store is not on my regular shopping circuit. But this product has converted me, ladies - it's amazing!


I used to be someone who didn't think I needed to exfoliate my lips. I moisturize, and use Blistex religiously. But after using the Sweet Lips Scrub, my lips have never felt so soft and smooth - and they look much better too, especially when I use a lip pencil or lipstick. And the that chocolate smell! Amazing.


Who knew a little pot of flavoured sugar could bring me so much happiness? But call me a convert...After this positive experience, I can't wait to try out some other Lush products!


xo J.

Back to the grind

After a fantastic trip with two of my best ladies (no, no photos yet - soon my pretties, soon.) I ended up getting super sick and got dressed only once last week. Friday was my only real day at work, but it was beautiful outside so although I feel like junk in these photos, the weather was too nice not to take photos. (Bonus: I get to show off some swag I picked up in the UK!)

Grey Long-Sleeved Tee: Jacob
White Jeans: Gap
Gladiator Sandals: Target
Scarf: Primark (UK)
Messenger Bag: Next (UK)
Sunnies: F21


My one-bedroom apartment has a lot of perks. It's a bit dated (think: mid-1970s high rise construction) but is a fair size, inexpensive and in a pretty trendy neighbourhood. But, the one thing I love the best about my apartment is the view.  

And what do I do to enjoy the view on a Friday afternoon after work? This (with a cold bottle of brew):

See those buildings in the distance? That's where I work. *shudder*


Trip photos by the weekend, I swear! 


xo J.

Home Again

A-hoy-hoy.

I've returned safe and sound from my UK travels with a new love for afternoon tea, scrumpy (and pretty much every other alcohol made from apples), and Toffee Crisp chocolate bars. Unfortunately, the following things have prevented me from posting until today:

• Blogger Blackout 2011
• A post-cross-Atlantic flight cold.
• Jet Lag

But, I have some good photos to share, and an outfit photo I got D to help out with Friday but didn't want to post in case the Blogger issue hadn't been fixed....they'll all come this week, I promise!

xo J.

Packing

Thanks to this 4-day weekend, I had plenty of uninterrupted time to pack for my trip. So I had a little fun with it. I turned on some jams (hellloooo UK playlist!) and played dress up for a bit putting some outfits together for my days and nights in Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow and London. 


Here's what I packed for two weeks in the UK:

five tanks

(Top-Bottom):  lace-backed tank - Smart Set; blue tank - F21; navy henley tank - F21; fuchsia tiered tank - Old Navy; watercolour tank - American Eagle

three tees

(L-R): white v-neck tee - K by Kersh; grey v-neck tee - American Eagle; peach artist tee - JCrew

five long-sleeved tops

(L-R): striped tunic - Jules and James; striped button top - F21; navy striped top - Zara; black crop top - American Apparel; v-neck rolled sleeve top - TNA

(PS: I only packed three striped tops...I have about 7 and had originally planned to bring 2 more!)

two 'other' tops

pink shirt-sleeved sweater, lace linen tunic - both H&M

two cardigans

both Old Navy

two 'going out' outfits

Paisley Tunic - H&M; Black Mini-Dress - Urban Behaviour

(Note: I don't plan on going out only twice...I just plan on hitting up casual pubs more than dress-up clubs...I think.)

two pairs of jeans and one pair of shorts:

white cropped jeans - Gap; dark jeggings - Old Navy; khaki cuffed shorts - Gap

(Not pictured - three pairs of black leggings - essential!)

two jackets

green army-inspired jacket - H&M; black rain jacket - Columbia

two scarves

leopard-print scarf - Gap; pink scarf - gift from D's parents

four pairs of shoes

OTK boots - Suzy Shier; gladiator sandals - Target; flats - Spring; chucks - these puppies are so old I can't remember where I bought them! 

three bags

black canvas cross-body bag - H&M (I bought this when was on exchange in Tampere, Finland in 2005 and I've brought it on every trip I've taken since then); small brown saddle bag - XOXO via Beyond the Rack; black leather clutch - Gap

too many accessories

silver bangle - F21; silver chandelier earrings - Expression via The Bay; silver teardrop earrings - Expression via The Bay; large pearl studs - F21; bronze half-moon earrings - Smart Set; Indian-inspired green loops - gift from J; black lace earrings - H&M; bohemian leaf earrings - F21; gold peacock earrings - H&M; sunnies - F21; b&w feather earrings - Aldo; long charm necklace - Target; long gold leaf necklace - F21

And for fun? My ipod (I've finally jumped on the Angry Birds bandwagon...I know, about time right?!), The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton (my book club's next pick) and The Rough Guide to Britain (after 2 strikes with 2 separate Lonely Planet's, I'm trying something new).

And so that's it lovelies. As of tomorrow afternoon I'm off! I didn't have time to organize posts while I'm away, so please stay tuned and I'll be sure to come back as soon as I can! Have a lovely couple of weeks!

xo J.

Pre-Departure

Lovelies,

I'm SO sorry for being away so much. I'm full of excuses - the boy finished school moved home for a few months and I've been preparing for my trip to the UK on Tuesday which meant both busy home and work life. Blah blah blah.

Sooooo, guess what?! I'mleavingfortheUKonTuesday!!!!!!!!! So. Excited.

When booking our flights, J, M and I had trouble finding some good dates for flights at good prices. We ended up choosing Air Transat and saving a bunch, but were at the mercy of their infrequent flight schedule. And as a result, we're home for the Easter weekend (meaning we can't use the 2 extra days off to save from using vacation days) and can't leave until Tuesday. This means waiting. And I hate waiting! I just want to go now! I'm just SO excited! Wheeeee!

But really, I love Easter weekend, so it's nice to be home. I love 4-day weekends, and there's something about holidays where everything is closed, forcing you to do something nice like take a walk or even just stay home and enjoy time with loved ones. D and I have had a great couple of days voting, lunching, going to movies, going for walks in the neighbourhood, watching playoff games at the pub...and it's all made even better by knowing I don't have to go back to work this week! Yay!

Here's my simple and comfy outfit I wore to go prom dress shopping with D's sisters yesterday...an exhausting but fun day!

Shirt: American Eagle (stolen borrowed from D)

Grazer Cigarette Pants: BDG from UO

Flats: Spring 

'Scuse the photo...D took them and we were in a super rush. But this was the perfect spring shopping outfit. Unfortunately it's still not warm here in Ottawa (it was SNOWING on Thursday and it's been super windy and cold) so I still can't bring out the skirts and sandals :( Thankfully London is unseasonably warm right now so I'll get me some spring this week!

Happy Easter!

xo J.

FBFF - Friend Friday: Gratitude

I know, I know...I've been somewhat of a stranger lately...I've been unbelievably busy with life that I haven't had the time nor energy to post outfit photos. The boy moved home last week which is lovely, but we're still settling into a routine, so I'm a bit off-kilter with my days and haven't had a chance to take photos, etc.  But thanks for sticking with me! I'll get the hang of it eventually, I promise!

Today's FBFF is another great topic - gratitude (it's also the one-year anniversary of FBFF! Yay!). There are so many people in my life I'm grateful for, so am super pleased to have an excuse to give them a shout out (not that I NEED an excuse!).

When it comes to me personally - I owe a lot of who I am to:
My parents. Hands down, they are the most important people in my life and I am eternally grateful for everything they have done for me and my brother. Don't get me wrong, they can make me mighty frustrated and I don't always see eye-to-eye with them on my life choices (or theirs!) but when I think about everything they've done for us and the sacrifices and hard work they put into raising our family, it makes me tear up just thinking about how lucky I am. My parents started with very little, but were always able to give my brother and I more than we ever needed in life...and while it wasn't always as much as others around us were given (we went to high school in a pretty well off neighbourhood and definitely didn't have as much as most), they worked so hard to give us a better and more fortunate life than they had. And in doing this, I think they taught my brother and I strong values of hard work, being good people and respect for others...all qualities I try so hard to carry with me as I become a "grown up" myself.

Of course I also owe a lot of who I am to my bf, D. We have had our (sometimes un)fair share of difficulties in the 4 years we've been together (mostly due to the last 2 years being long-distance) but he has been an amazing support and best friend to me and I love him more than anything. He has always accepted me for who I am and has always encouraged me to be myself, no matter what.

D and I at Machu Picchu, Peru in August 2010

When it comes to me professionally - I owe a lot of who I am to:
Keeping with the fam theme, I'd have to say first and foremost my mother. She started working when I started primary school and showed me that it is possible to raise a family and be a strong, professional, successful woman at the same time. She literally started from the bottom - as a typist - and has worked her way to a respectable policy job that she is proud of. And I've always looked up to her for it. But I also owe a lot of who I am professionally to the amazing people I work with. There are a few very difficult people in my workplace to deal with, but there are even more amazing people who not only support me immensely, but also make me laugh on a regular basis and who make coming into work fun. These people have become very close friends over the years I've been in my job and I can't imagine making it everyday in my work without them.

When it comes to the art of blogging, I'm grateful to these people for helping me through some rough spots:
Well, I'm still so new at blogging, but I'd like to give a shout out to my girl Nini for encouraging me to finally get my blog up and running (something I'd always wanted to do but never had the courage to actually get it done).

I'm also grateful to my other friends IRL who have blogs and help encourage me: J, M, and R.

Third, I'm grateful for Lisa from archives who was the very first (non-IRL-friend) comment on my blog (hahaha, is that creepy?)! I was flabbergasted that anyone out there in blogger-land had even read my blog, and better yet, left a great comment to boot. That one comment really made me feel really legit as a blogger!

Finally, I'm grateful for everyone who has followed me on Friend Connect, commented on my posts with such encouraging remarks, or who has even just visited! I still find it amazing that anyone is interested in what I wear or what I have to say, but I'm so grateful for each and every one of you!

One blogging challenge I'm grateful happened because it made me stronger was...
Starting a blog! Getting over that hurdle of just sitting down and starting a blog was NOT easy. Before-hand, I focussed too much on worrying about what people would think or that my clothes and my stories weren't "good enough". But just starting and getting myself out there helped me SO much...it helped me realize that I don't actually give a crap what the nay-sayers might think...and that if I want to post my outfits, I will! And seeing others out there in the same boat as me, or those who enjoyed fashion blogs as much as I did really helped encourage me and get over the fear.

To my readers, I'd like to say...
THANK YOU! Blogging really is a community, and without each other, we'd never be here. I am so grateful for everyone's encouragement, sweet comments and support. I may not have the most popular blog, but that makes each and every reader that I do have all the more special.



Love love love!


xo J.