Saturday morning at the gym for shoulder day. I was so annoyed being there so early, but of course, so glad I went.
On another note, this is a new top and I felt so yucky in it--despite the picture looking good--which just reaffirms me that if you look good (in your mind), you feel good, so workout clothes you like and feel good in, make a big difference.
Saturday morning something exciting happened, and I know this is a total teaser (like I did on Instagram) but I will be sharing some exciting news tomorrow!
We grabbed Dirienzo's for lunch and had a little picnic with our Tim Hortons drinks.
Elevator selfie with an unsuspecting boyfriend in the background--or perhaps he was aware and just doesn't care.
Later Saturday afternoon we drove down to Kingston to visit Marco's parents. We spent the night and visited with his family.
We hit up H&M and I tried and bought a few new pieces, including this t-shirt and those faux leather leggings.
The next day, before heading home, Marco insisted I try my very first Hoagie. It was super messy but uber delicious.
I purchased these boots last week to replace the three pairs of completely worn out boots I have on rotation. I don't love them as much as the others, but the price was right. I promised myself I would throw out the others if I purchased these, since I needed them... and I have yet to throw any boots out #lightweighthoarder
Once back in Ottawa, we grabbed Nando's and ran some errands.
We ended up at Ikea and I insisted on getting ice cream cones (in -10C weather, no less).
Taking a rest.
When I got home, I added 30 pairs of shoes to my closet sale on my Facebook page, including these boots I've never worn.
And finally, a sneak peek at the items I bought on the weekend from H&M. I'm loving black, navy, and grey lately and don't want to wear much else. These pieces feel so effortlessly me.
Left to right: Navy thin-knit sweater, black t-shirt, black faux leather leggings & black faux leather (front) and fabric (back) leggings
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Hello everyone and happy Monday! I know this isn't my usual Weekend Snaps, but half my photos from the weekend are on Marco's phone and I'm waiting on him to send them to me (saw-rayyy); I will get that up by tomorrow.
In the meantime, I had a really great and exciting weekend and also travelled out of town to Kingston to visit Marco's parents. More on all the weekend shenanigans shortly.
In the meantime, tell me what the best meal was that you ate this weekend? Mine was a little indoor picnic with Marco and our Dirienzo sandwiches. Le yum.
Get. In. My. Closet (preferably in that plum colour... but I'd take black too).
Gah.
And here a cheaper alternative for all us common folk.
It's been quite some time since I shared some recent eats with you, so I've been making a conscious effort to snap pictures of meals and snacks lately to share here.
Protein smoothie: this time I decided to try adding spinach and flax seed to my regular frozen mixed berry, almond milk & chocolate protein powder. It was okay, but I haven't included those two ingredients since.
I try to pack my lunch everyday, but sometimes I get lazy or just don't make the time and this was one of those days. I usually opt for a tuna or salmon wrap on a whole wheat tortilla with veggies and tons of olives but they were out of whole wheat wraps. I decided to get the special, which was a chicken souvlaki pita with Greek salad. I omitted the pita (white bread) and had a lettuce wrap instead.
My breakfast, every morning at work: rolled oats, thawed berries, a heaping amount of cinnamon (to make up for no sugar), flax & chia seeds and of course, a peppermint tea.
This was a spinach salad I made for myself with left over pulled pork from a slow cooker meal I had made for dinner. In the salad is spinach, grape tomatoes, broccoli & pulled pork. I always try to drink tons of water throughout the day and with my lunch.
Dinner at home one night I grilled a chicken breast with Montreal Chicken Spice on my panini press and served it on a bed of coleslaw that I mixed with a small amount of Caesar dressing and hot sauce.
Lunch out one day at Nando's; I love to get the chicken on a pita, but they too were out of whole wheat pitas so I opted for a whole wheat tortilla wrap instead with coleslaw.
A super lazy, and basic meal for one, but I didn't feel like cooking so I baked some chicken with paprika and pepper, then sliced up raw zucchini and had it with hummus.
I had a friend come over for wine one evening so I did up a small cheese plate for us with brie and marble cheese, some brown rice Triscut crackers & red grapes.
Since switching over to Almond milk almost a year ago, I haven't looked back. The other day while shopping I came across Almond-Coconut milk, and while it's twice the calories as the unsweetened stuff I normally drink, I decided to try it since it was on sale. It was amazing and I'm a huge coconut lover so this was like a treat everyday when I got home from work.
Out to lunch with Sarah on a Friday at Chances R and I had the chicken souvlaki on a bed of brown and wild rice with a Greek style salad (I used 1/3 of the dressing).
I don't mind cooking, but for one person it can be a little cumbersome. I kept it basic for dinner this night with some grilled red onion, green pepper and ground chicken. I poured it over some quinoa, put some hot sauce on it and had half an avocado on the side.
My berry protein smoothie; this is my go-to evening snack lately instead of ice cream or a chocolate treat (that said, I'm gorging on Peanut Butter ice cream as I type this).
Left overs for lunch at work: home-made spaghetti with zucchini, celery and mushrooms on whole wheat pasta.
Dinner last night: pulled chicken salad on romaine with strawberries, pumpkin seeds, avocado & dried cranberries
I wasn't kidding about the ice cream (straight from the tub too, how sinful!)--but hey, we all need treats every now and again.
I'd love to hear some quick, healthy meals you're using for dinners; I'm always looking for new ways to mix things up so please share below if you'd like.
Have a great weekend!
Outfit deets:
* Forever 21 coat (old) that you saw on my birthday last year (...speaking of birthdays, I've got a special one approaching quickly).
* Urban Behaviour pants.
* Aldo Klarr boots--my favourite and their first snowfall, worn specially for this shoot, and then quickly brought inside and dried off.
Accessories: Dolce & Gabbana glasses.
Guess what you guys? I'm the newest Ambassador for Clearly Contacts! Heyooooo.
We did a fun little interview and they let me pick out a new pair of glasses. I chose these chic cat-eye frames because I've been wanting to get a pair and this was the perfect opportunity. They are pretty bold, but I love the plastic frame and the gold plate detail on the arm.
As soon as I placed my order I knew exactly what I wanted to pair with the glasses to make them pop: this oversized leopard coat--which btw, I'm wearing a leather jacket underneath for additional warmth--black skinnies and boots. It was pure luck that huge snowflakes began to fall from the sky and we experienced some milder weather so we could shoot outside.
Hope you are all having a great weekend--almost weekend time--and if you're in need of some glasses, pop over to Clearly Contacts and use discount code ACOSTYLE to get 25% off your order.
Photos by Serena Rivard.
I'm cleaning out my closet and everything must go!
As I mentioned yesterday, I've created a place on my Facebook page for all the items I'm selling off from my closet. I'm trying to par down, as it's overflowing and I tend to hold onto things longer than I need to.
The sale will run until the end of February and whatever is left is going my local consignment shop.
Click on over to check out the sale, I have added over 100 items, with more items added last night. I still need to go through my skirts, shoes and accessories, so keep checking back.
Happy shopping & feel free to email me with any questions you might have.
Outfit deets:
* Forever 21 faux leather jacket which you've seen with coloured pants in the summer time (and some seriously unflattering photos, ha).
* Winners trapeze tank that I've worn so much it's getting worn out--as in, there might be a small hole somewhere.
* Urban Behaviour Brazil pants--I own three pairs of these because they fit like a glove, I wear black skinnies often, and they were $20.
* Aldo wedge boots which you've seen back in the Fall when I had the wedge shortened.
* Accessories: F21 cross-body clutch, MK watch, gift leather bracelet, Gorjana-Griffin bangle & Call it Spring ring.
So, if you haven't noticed, I have had a few exciting changes happening on my blog in the past couple weeks. One, of course, was the re-design which I'm really pleased with and plan to keep it this way for a bit, and secondly I've brought on a photographer for my outfit posts, which I'm really excited about.
When I started A.Co est. 1984 four years ago, it was a style blog and over the years has evolved into more of a lifestyle blog. I love sharing bits and pieces of my life with you, and don't plan to change that, but have been wanting to incorporate more style back into it. As that's truly where my passion lies, and some of my work as a Style Consultant, I really want to bring that element back to this space.
I have been loving using a cross-body clutch for several months now and have been alternating between this rose-gold coloured one I picked up from Forever 21 over a year ago, and my olive coloured Aldo one. I've been using them both so much they have started to tear a bit where the strap meets the bag.
I find that I'm using my Phillip Lim 3.0 for Target bag everyday which holds my heels, lunch, cosmetics bag, and my clutch, which is perfect. I need a big carry-all to tote everything back and forth, but when it comes to running errands or going out shopping, I simply can't be bothered with a big purse right now--I love having my hands free! I can see myself continuing this into the warmer months as it makes it so much easier for everyday life.
I have a few more changes up my sleeve and in preparation for that, I'm cleaning out my closet. I mentioned it on Facebook and Twitter that I'd share some clothes for sale, if anyone is interested and have started with some dresses I'm selling. Come on over, if you'd like to take a look. More to come!
Photos by Serena Rivard.
Friday night laundry night with my hand-me-down cart. #lifesaver
Once I finished hanging all my laundry, I started to clean my room and ambitiously decided to start a pile of clothes I'm ready to part with… and the pile and closet haven't been touched since then…
(more details coming soon).
Sidenote: I haven't seen this much space on the bar in my closet since before I moved in over two years ago.
Tacos with friends at 10pm.
Saturday morning Marco forced my butt out of bed at 9am--too early--to hit the gym. That said, a slight motivation was knowing I had some new workout clothes to wear--I said slight.
Photoshoot sesh on Saturday during the day--looks coming this week.
On Saturday night we had a horrible snowstorm and I had dinner plans for Melissa's birthday outside of town. I left early and took my time and was only a few minutes late.
We ate at Babbo's and I had a gnocchi, which was pretty good--I have this dish maybe once a year and always feel weird not having veggies or meat in my pasta, but always really enjoy the splurge.
…no, I literally woke up, brushed my teeth, threw on a beanie and went home.
Sunday was my best friend's family baby shower and I played photographer.
See the shower I threw for her HERE.
Outfit deets: Fun & Flirt top, Sirens pants (they are maroon), Liliana wedges (new!), The Bay necklace & Joe Fresh bangle.
On Sunday evening I went to a Superbowl party where the food and drinks were a plenty and everyone was cheering for the Seahawks and in turn, a very happy party.
January has come and gone and I'm so pleased because it's the longest, coldest and most depressing month of the year! We've had no exception here in Ottawa either, we've been averaging temps of -30C (sometimes worse) on the daily and it's awful. One month closer to summer? I'm in.
In January I rang in the new year with Marco and friends with some sparkly photo props. I worked out every weekend, set some resolutions, got a pedicure with Sarah and bought some new shoes.
I had an impromptu date night--and had two margaritas--with my boo, wore non-snow boots for once since it was damn cold but at least it was dry, and threw a baby shower for my best friend.
I went to Izakaya, which wasn't so great, enjoyed the view from my apartment and shared my everyday make up. I was chosen to be a Style Ambassador for Clearly Contacts (I promise, more is coming on this), did some damage at Marshalls scoring several new workout clothes, tried out matte nail polish and celebrated my Grammy's birthday.
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