Bamboo boots, Urban Original belt, Aldo necklace, Bay bangle & Mexcian bangle
Lovely readers, I did it again: I cut a shirt into a skirt. I had this Joe Fresh 3/4 sleeve scoop neck top sitting in my closet for a year or two. I really liked it, I did, it just didn't like me. So, during my closet clean out (a couple weekends ago) I was debating what to do with it. I mean, I wasn't ready to part ways with it, not by any means, but at the same time, it was getting worn. It needed a reinvention. So, with my trusty scissors, I cut a straight line from under the armpit and made it into a skirt. Oh, and I'm loooving this skirt. Loving! Others were loving it too. The skirt was getting tons of love. I feel like before I give away any more clothes I must ensure they cannot be cut into skirts, because if they can, well look out. I mean, looks like I'll be adding a few more skirts to my wardrobe for free. And on that note, I have a tutorial/DIY coming on this so you too can make your very own skirt from a shirt - so check back this weekend for that.
So I'm wearing this jacket for probably the fourth or fifth time. It's J.Crew, I picked it up at the thrift score, I mean store, and paid like, peanuts (which technically translates to $7). It was a little big so I put it in the dryer, that helped a bit, not enough, but I just belt it and that makes up for it. Anyways. While working away, I don't know what prompted me to look at my armpit, but I did and what did I find?! A large hole. A hole in my sweet J.Crew blazer. I felt embarrassed. How many times had I worn this jacket and not realized?! Had anyone seen?! No wonder it was at the thrift store! This must be fixed, I thought to myself, or I'll have to spend the remainder of the day keeping my arms down (not an easy feat for someone as enthusiastic as me). I swiftly check the other armpit and sure enough it had a hole too - the exact same size! So I took the jacket off, pulled out my box of safety pins and totally safety-pinned those suckers shut. Now if I would just figure out how to thread my new sewing machine I could fix it in a less ghetto way.
* Reminder: today is the last day to enter my give-away
* Today is the second-last day to vote for me to win the shoe contest on FB.
Vote here. (Check out my shoe room).
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Today is a very special today, it's the day my BBFF (best blogger friend forever - yes, because we're corny like that) turns one year older!
Jamie and I 'met' almost a year ago and 'hit it off' immediately. We always talk about meeting someday and visits to each other's blogs are a daily occurrence. Jamie is such a sweetie and I obviously cannot deny the fact that she is smokin' hot so head on over to her blog and show her some birthday love.
Happy Birthday Jamie!
I love pizza. However, ordering pizza isn't the healthiest nor the cheapest when you want it on a semi-regular basis (read: once a week or so), so I have come up with a way to have my pizza and eat it too (and not feel guilty).
What you'll need:
- Greek pita wrap (I like these because they are thicker, but I always get whole wheat or whole grain, etc.)
- Tomato sauce (any kind will do)
- Loads of veggies (my faves include broccoli, olives, tomatos & mushrooms)
- Any kind of grate-able cheese (I like marble)
- An oven, pre-heated to 400 degrees F
Spread tomato sauce on pitas, layer with veggies and cover with grated cheese
Bake until cheese is bubbly and pita looks done / slightly-crusty
Voila! (I enjoy mine with hot sauce)
Joe Fresh top, Seduction jeans (last seen here), Aldo wedges (last seen here),
Mexx belt, Old Navy bangle, Tiffany bracelet & Le Chateau earrings
I was thinking about making one of my resolutions to be to wear more (dangly) earrings. I always wear my cz / diamante studs and it's very rare for me to wear anything else. I'm much more of a necklace / bracelet person and while some girls can pull of the big necklace and earring look, it's not for me. I always feel naked without a necklace but I have many earrings and I should try and get some use out of them. These earrings are actually a favourite pair and would you believe I've had them for over seven years?! I also bought them in a plum colour and have never seen anything similar since (which.is.awesome). Are you a (dangly) earring person?
I have been cleaning out my closets like crazy. The other night I went through my sweater closet and purged, purged, purged. Some items I will consign, but many will just be donated.
There are a few things I'm donating that I felt could be used for DIY (it's not like I have anything to lose if I'm donating it, right? Right). I decided to make some cute leg warmers with this old favourite sweater from Jacob. In the process, I made a vest too. It was super easy and if any of you give this a try, send me your photos and I'd love to see 'em!
What you'll need:
- An old sweater you don't wear anymore
- Scissors
Cut the sleeves off the sweater & voila
(I like the angle at one end as this looks cute on the feet when you wear them,
however, you could just chop 'em straight)
Dress 'em down with flats for weekend lounging (& wear the vest too!)
Dress 'em up with heels for a night out
If you haven't heard of CSN stores, you are missing out. They offer everything from modern duvet covers to clothing and household appliances. It really is a one-stop shop for all your shopping needs.
I'm so excited to team up with CSN stores to offer one lucky reader a one-time use $45 gift card for any of their 200+ websites!
Entering is easy:
Follow A.Co est. 1984 through Google
(click the 'follow' button at the top or on the side bar)
Leave a comment with your name & email address
Give-away closes on Thursday, January 20th at 9pm EST.
* Open to US & Canadian residents only (CSN only ships to these two countries)
I mentioned that I purchased seven pairs of shoes (online) the other day and, well, 'half' of them have arrived. These three are all from Aldo and I love them.
The grey ones are my fave and I've worn them twice in a week, which isn't usually the norm as I try to mix it up considering how many shoes I have. They are the perfect shade of grey, a real elephant grey, real suede, and they are easy to walk in and quite comfortable.
I'm not sure about the boots (despite coveting them) I really love 'em but online they are described as, 'Over the knee' and they certainly are not. They barely come to my knees, let alone go over them, so that was a tad disappointing. Still, I really like them and got a great deal on them (50% off), however, they do remind me of these boots that I already own, minus the wedge. Who am I kidding? I'm so keeping them.
The camel-coloured suede wedges are cute, conservative, I suppose, but chic. I love the detail on the heel and they are easy to walk in (honestly, for me at least, almost all wedges are easier to walk in than a regular heel, usually - and I do a lot of walking in my job, for an office job that is). I've already worn them and am a big fan, however, it makes me realize I do really favour peep-toe shoes over closed toes. I just do.
Lastly, I noticed that the boots are the same price I paid ($90) but both pairs of shoes have gone up in price. I paid less than $50 each. However, if you do decide you want them, don't forget to sign up for Aldo's email list to get 10% off your order.
Dynamite blazer (last seen here), Smart Set top, H&M tank, Joe Fresh skirt, Aldo heels (last seen here), Suzy belt, Swatch watch, Michael Kors bracelet, Elizabeth Emily necklace & gifted BCBG beaded bracelet
While cleaning out my closet on the weekend, I came across this skirt, or should I say tank... yes ladies, that's right, tank top. It was a long, stretch cotton tank that I purchased over a year ago and never wore. I loved it, it just didn't love me. It was semi-baggy, but in the wrong places, frankly, just unflattering. I was about to chuck it when I decided to be experimental. I chopped off the top part of the tank by cutting a line straight across the shirt, directly under the arm pits. Voila! Instant skirt! It's actually pretty awesome and I rocked it immediately.
Secondly, do I look tanned? That could be because when I took these photos I had just come from getting a spray tan. So in reality, I shouldn't really look tanned because it takes 6-8 hours for the tan to show up... but I got a (spray) tan a few days earlier, so, I already had colour. I was also wearing my (signature) beige (large) fishnets too but those are no good to put back on after getting a spray tan... unless you want diamond markings all over your legs in 6-8 hours.
Lastly, see the dust on my shoes? No? Well you will when you see the last picture. That's from work. The carpets, I swear, do they vacume those things?! Whenever I wear any leather or shiny shoes they get covered in dust. Not a huge deal... except for when you forget to wipe them off and go to take pictures for your blog and they look all dusty... right...
One of the very first blogs I ever started consistently reading was Veronika's Blushing. A fellow Canadian girl now living in the southern States with her husband and dog Lulu. I was so flattered when Veronika put me in her blog roll, but when she contacted me (and two other bloggers) to participate in a 'round-table-like discussion' on women, self-esteem, and self-confidence, I eagerly jumped at the chance. Check out what we all had to say about the issues here.
{ the day I received the box I snapped these photos with my iPhone as I opened it up }
When one of my closest blogger friends Sharon told me she wanted to send me something in the mail, I was intrigued and excited. Well, the package has arrived and let me tell you, girl spoiled me something good! First off, she spent $27 in shipping costs alone, isn't that wild?! Isn't that so generous?! I know! Secondly, she sent me a whole box full of goodies. Not just one or two things, a whole box full. She decorated the inside of the box with magazine models (you can see in the pic above) and wrapped everything up in her signature print: Hello Kitty. I can't believe everything she sent me. It's ridiculously generous. We've never met in person (hopefully someday we will), I've 'known' her for just under a year, but we've become great friends. She lives in Hawaii, me in Canada, it's like worlds apart, yet, I feel so lucky to have made such a great friend through this amazing place we call the blogosphere.
Sharon, thank you so much for these gifts, I love them all so much!
{ Maui cookies - they are so good }
{ Hawaiian lotion, chocolates & chips, some cute sticky notes & black ankle socks (not pictured) }
{ cute vest she sent with great crochet-like detail at the back }
{ la piece de resistance: Jeffrey Campbell sandals!!
My first pair ever! Isn't Sharon the best?! }
Now that you've drooled over the amazing Hawaiian goodies and been saying to yourself, 'Wow, Amanda is so lucky to have such a great Hawaiian friend', head over to Sharon's blog and show her some love (and tell her to get better because she's been under the weather the past couple days).
Chelsea, the girl behind the blog Maritime Shopaholic, contacted me after she'd caught a glimpse of my shoe collection and asked if she could feature me on her blog. I was obviously very flattered and honoured, so head on over and check it out.
Jacob oxford, Smart Set one-sleeved sweater, Urban Behaviour skirt (thrifted & last seen here), unknown tights,
Aldo shoes (last seen here), Joe Fresh necklace, Bay bangle & Mexican bracelet
Can you believe I purchased this oxford and one-sleeved sweater both over eight years ago? It's true, and I'm still wearing them (rare!). I recently had this sweater taken in so it would be more fitted (something it never was and always bothered me) and I am now getting more use of it than ever before. I do tend to hold onto clothing for quite some time, but usually not this long and this is actually a combination I wore so many years ago and here we are, all together again.
Givenchy tights, Le Chateau bangle & Lia Sophia ring
It's rare for me to not incorporate colour into my outfit, but I felt like doing something monochromatic on this day and really love how it turned out (new fave personal trend? We shall see... ). I was also pretty much a poster board for Mexx on this day, which is rare as I tend to mix as much as I can. However, I just purchased this top on Boxing Day and have had this skirt for two years (as if I'm trying to say, 'It's not like I saw it on the mannequin and made it mine' - ha).
Happy 1.11.11 !
{ all the now-free hangers }
Something I dread doing is laundry. It's not the simple task of washing the clothes and hanging them to dry (I don't mind this so much, it's certainly rewarding to see all your favourite clothes clean and yes, I must hang almost everything due to my height - one small shrinkage for some could be a very large shrinkage for me), it's the daunting task of finding a place to put the clothes once they are clean. It's no secret I love to shop and have accumulated tons over the years, it's the storing of all these clothes. Currently, I use half of the walk-in closet, 9 (out of 16) drawers in our bedroom furniture, the office closet (sweaters, hoodies & jackets) and 3/4 of the spare bedroom closet (dresses). Wow, writing it out makes it seem like even more (ha).
On Saturday, I was folding massive piles of laundry, dreading the part where I'd have to find a place for it all, when I started to clean out one of my dressers. Just out of nowhere, I started to purge. I went through all those drawers and made a huge pile of stuff. I didn't stop there. I marched into our walk-in closet and went to town. I was ruthless - and it was shocking. I made two piles: donate & consign. I ended up with two massive garbage bags full of clothing (donate) and a spare bed piled with clothes (consign). - over 200 items. I literally spent all day and night purging and cleaning - exhausting but well worth the end result.
I invited a girlfriend over to paw through everything and she took 32 items and it barely made a dent. The best part? I still have closets full of clothing (that I love) and have made space. Yes, it's still full, but I can actually push hangers to the side and slide the clean clothes in without using my bicep muscles. Score.
{ spare bed full of clothes - this picture was taken after my friend took home her share }
{ more clothes & one of the two garbage bags }
{ I reorganized my drawers and pulled out the bottom one to
find missing undies and tops I thought I'd lost forever - woohoo! }
{ AFTER: walk-in closet}
{ AFTER: dress closet }
As far as organization goes, I keep like-items together and colour coordinate in my closets (I find this helps for getting dressed). In the picture of my walk-in, I have two clothing bars. On the top bar I keep sleeveless tops that are colour coordinated which run into button-downs/oxfords. On the bottom bar I put tops with sleeves and cardigans, also colour coordinated. Above the top bar is a shelf where I keep all my 'in-rotation' purses and clutches. I didn't get a chance to tidy this up so I didn't photograph it.
The dress closet is colour coordinated and for each colour and I go from sleeveless to sleeved and if there is anything with a pattern, it goes at the end of the colour block.
What you didn't see:
* Sweater & jacket closet (I didn't go through this closet as I'd cleaned it out not too long ago)
* Drawer organization (I'll save this for another post)
Ever since discovering NYX eye shadow over a year ago, I've been hooked. So hooked that I consistently choose it over all other eye shadows I own, including MAC. The formula is a fantastic, it goes on smoothly and lasts. The variety of colours is excellent, and they run about $7 each (at drugstores). I ran out of my favourite colour ('Ultimatum') about a month ago and have been using a combination of what I already have, as they'd been sold out when I tried to replenish my stash earlier. I popped into the store to pick it up and was on the hunt for a cool, grey-silvery shadow. Mission accomplished (and the grey goes on exactly how it looks in the pictures, it's perfect and exactly what I was looking for) and while there I picked up a sweet baby pink shadow too. Bonus, all the shadows were $2 off - score.
153A Ballerina Dream - 25 Silver - 155A Ultimatum
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