After lusting after the Ann Taylor Elizabeth flats, I swore up and down that if I was able to find a pair of nude flats, I would recreate them myself (at a fraction of the cost).
Enter Ardene flats.
I was so ecstatic when I saw these puppies and when they had one pair in my size left, I almost squealed. Now it was just a matter of choosing between neon pink or yellow for the cap toes (both of which I had already).
Let's get started!
Supplies:
* Ardene flats $15
* China Glaze nail polish $5 (sale)
* Masking tape $1
* Paint brush $1
Tape off a cap-toe section. I eye-balled it but used the bottom of the stitch line around the toes to line up my masking tape so it would match both shoes.
Paint. Paint, paint, paint. Seriously. Neon nail polish isn't very opaque so it took me about 10 coats over the course of three evenings (that up there is about four coats). The good news is it dries very quickly so you can bang out several coats quickly. Another idea might be to use white nail polish first, as a base coat, and then the neon polish.
I ended up just pouring the nail polish onto the shoe, then spread it around with the brush.
I started using the nail polish brush, but it wasn't big enough. Unfortunately the big paint brush was leaving brush strokes, but that's okay for the first eight coats or so. When it started to be more opaque and was looking like I was getting close, I used the nail polish brush for the last two coats so there wouldn't be big brush strokes or patches.
Once finished, seal with a clear nail polish top coat. Before I did this, I put my shoes on, walked around and the cap-toe started to crack. In a panic I painted the clear nail polish on to seal it and it seems to have worked.
* Gap denim jacket (thrifted & DIY'ed), Mexx dress & Suzy necklace
(this outfit is from the day I went to get my hair coloured)
* Old Navy top, Sirens jeans, Aldo wedges & H&M belt (full outfit post)
* Sirens cardigan, Old Navy top, Vigoss jeans & Aldo wedges
* Joe Fresh sweater & tank underneath, H&M jeans & Aldo wedges
* Gap denim jacket (thrifted & DIY'ed), Mexx dress, Givenchy fishnets & Urban Original boots (same as above)
* Garage denim jacket, Sirens tee, Garage skirt, unknown tights, Bamboo boots & Le Chateau necklace
* Smart Set denim jacket, F21 tank, Bongo pants, Aldo wedges & Mexx necklace (full outfit post)
* F21 top, Sirens jeans & Joe Fresh necklaces
* Dynamite blazer (one of my favourite outfit posts ever), Winners top, Sirens jeans, Bumper booties & Mark necklace
* Joe Fresh dress & unknown tights (full outfit post)
* American Eagle cardigan, Winners top, Joe Fresh skirt, Bumper booties & H&M necklace
* Dynamite blazer, F21 top, Sirens dress pants, Joe Fresh belt & Suzy necklace
* Old Navy button-down, Sirens jeans & H&M belt (same as above/full outfit post)
* Joe Fresh jacket, Urban Behaviour top, Foxy jeans, Aldo wedges, Auslini bangle & Bijoux Terner necklace
* A.Co Designs top, H&M pants & Suzy necklace
* F21 top, Stitches lace top, Urban Behaviour skirt, Aldo wedges & Suzy necklace
* Dynamite faux-leather blazer, H&M dress (worn as a top), Stitches skirt & Suzy necklace (full outfit post)
* Alainn Bella sweater (won), H&M pants & Mexx necklace
* Alainn Bella sweater (won), H&M pants & Mexx necklace
* F21 sequined top, H&M tank underneath, F21 pants, Aldo flats & H&M necklace
* Dynamite jacket, Le Chateau pashmina, H&M pants, Gucci shades & Urban Expressions bag
* H&M jacket (thrifted), Dollarama ring & Urban Expressions bag
Freshly painted neon nails
Friday night dinner
Saturday shopping with girl friends
Outfit deets: Old Navy top, TJ Maxx shorts & Walmart shades
Saturday afternoon cocktail on a friend's balcony
Peonies from my mom's garden
Saturday night outfit
Outfit deets: Winners top, Urban Planet shorts, Bamboo flats & J.Crew necklace
Pre-stag dinner: cranberry-walnut-goat cheese salad with grilled chicken
Selling 50/50 tickets at my sister's stag
We get money! (...or I should say, we made money for the bride & groom)
Maid of Honour & Bride-to-be!
Sunday afternoon cocktails...
...sippin' by the pool with the BFF
Home-made burgers on Sunday evening
Dinner for one
My weekend was biz-zay: Friday night I ran some errands after work and did some stag prep for the following day. I ordered pizza, got the stuff done I needed to and was in bed by 10pm. I was so exhausted from a super busy week and needed it.
Saturday was completely planned out and then at the last minute everything got turned upside down. Instead of going to get my hair done, my colorist had to reschedule with me at the last minute. I decided to take advantage and since I was meeting one girl friend, invited another along which led to an impromptu shopping trip to Joe Fresh (I returned an item I picked up in Wasaga beach, no, not the gold jeans) where I scored some sweet denim trousers and two colourful sports bras (more on that later). Afterwards I ended up going back to a friend's house to sit on the balcony with a cocktail.
Afterwards, it was home to get ready for my sisters and her fiance's stag, which was being held at a pub that night. One of her bridesmaids and myself organized and the other members of the wedding party were fantastic that night. The wedding party arrived early to have dinner and discuss the plan, then it was on at 8pm. We had a raffle (with amazing prizes: gift baskets, gift certificates for various restaurants, etc.), a 50/50, a card-flip game and an amazing game my Dad came up with that involved a big stump (an old hydro post, cut up) and nailing a nail into it with as few 'whacks' as possible. It brought out all the macho men (and women!). It was great! The night went almost perfectly and we made the couple quite a bit of money (hoorah!) for their wedding.
Sunday I went out to breakfast with some friends, which was fun and then we lazed pool-side all afternoon. It was wonderful and several friends and neighbours joined us, and being it was above 30 degrees, it was the perfect day for it. That evening I went home and did laundry and made home made burgers. A beautiful weekend all in all and looking forward to the next one.
I have been running for about a year and a half. I ran for almost two years and gave it up for a year before taking it up again. Never in my life did I think I could be 'a runner'. I used to look at people who ran and think, 'How can they run?' And then silently, 'I could never do that...' And here we are several years later, and I'm running. Whoa.
If you read my blog, you might know that I workout but I'm often dragging my butt to the gym (or to the streets) to get my fitness on. It's not that I don't like being active, I do, I love being in shape and being healthy but I also suffer from that thing most people do: I love to sit on the couch and veg out. Ha. However, I love treats and dessert and all those delicious things so to feel less guilty about it all, working out is a compromise, I suppose.
For me, working out has always been an evening thing. After work, head to the gym, do a class or get on a cardio machine, put in my time and go home. However, since the weather has become nice, the idea of running on my lunch hour popped into my head.
Okay. I know what you're thinking: who works out on their lunch hour?!
Well, that's certainly how I was thinking before. It's rushed. You get all sweaty. There isn't enough time.
Well guess what?
It is a little rushed. And you do get pretty sweaty. And you certainly don't look as good as you did in the morning. But. There are showers. And hair dryers. And if you pack accordingly, it can work out (get it? Work. Out... 'eh? 'Eh?!)
That said, I knew going by myself wouldn't last long, so I asked one of my best friends if she'd be down to go running once a week on our lunch break. And get this: she was totes down. So we started running on our lunch break. Several times per week.
We just finished our fourth week of running-on-lunch and average anywhere from three to five lunch hour runs per week! Crazy, right? But it feels so good! We try to aim for 5km and even did a 6km one day (that ones a little tight to get out and back within an hour). We are consistently bringing our time down (we are around a 32 minute 5km) and keeping each other company. It's pretty nice. Minus the hardcore-ness of it all.
So the other day, after weeks of carrying a water bottle during runs (before I always ran indoors, on a treadmill with those handy water bottle holders), I suggested we maybe check out 'those geeky looking running belts,' because it's annoying carrying a bottle while running and to be honest, I cannot run without water (not. even. an option.). My girlfriend laughed but was totally down and so we took a little trip to MEC. Sure enough, they had several to choose from, and being the great friends we are, we bought the same one. Twinsies!
We took out our #handsfreehydration belts for the first time today and are both instantly converted. 'What a luxury!' she cooed as we ran our 5km today, and it's true. Totally hands free, you barely notice it and we only paid about $20 for our belts. Score. Who are the geeky ones now?!
(BTW, I love using the free app RunKeeper to track our distance, speed, time, and pace. You can change your settings to whatever you want; I have a voice come on every 5 minutes to tell us how long we've been running, the distance thus far, our current speed and our average speed. At the end, there is a section to write any comments you may want to include about your run, for instance, 'That was death,' or, 'I'm never going to run again'.)
Outfit deets: F21 sports bra, Garage tank, La Senza yoga pants (that I cut into shorts), Suzy sunglasses, Nike shoes, eBay iPhone arm band & MEC running belt.
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