What's in my bag?

Every since I my winter vacation ended and I was thrown back into the real world, I've been suffering from a lack of sartorial inspiration. I'd love to blame jet-lag, but it's been 13 days, so I'm pretty sure the statute of limitations has passed. But, since I haven't taken any good photos of late, let's take a peek inside my bag.

My bag - the lovely Johnson from Aldo. Bought on a whim in September, I quickly fell in love with it - not only does the cross-body strap keep my hands free to hold my coffee in the morning, but the thing holds anything and everything that I could possibly need throughout the day.

The contents:

RayBans, Joe Fresh sunnies, business card holder, bandage holder (promotional item from work)
Wallet, keys, backup glasses, gum
Aldo sunglasses, Columbia glasses, Burts Bees lip balm in fig, more gum, moleskine agenda
iPhone, pens

These are the items that keep me organized: business cards, my moleskin agenda (I'm honestly lost without it), and pens (normally there are more than 3 pens in my purse, but I think I've lost a few lately).

No, your eyes are not deceiving you, I carry around FIVE pairs of glasses on a daily basis - two to make computer and TV screens less blurry, and three pairs of sunglasses

That's my bag!

What's in your bag?

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Petite Adventures takes the West Coast

Although I was home for 19 days, I really have nothing to show for it. Most of my time was spent hanging out with family, eating, drinking, hiking with the dogs while singing David Bowie (my dad pretended to be annoyed, but I know he loooooved my high pitched rendition of "Young Americans" complete with dancing - ahh nature, so serene), and watching hockey - lots of hockey; I wouldn't have it any other way.

Here are a few snapshots from my adventures on the West Coast.


Pre-vacation - I decided the office holiday party was the perfect place to debut my new 'do.

My reading material for the five-hour flight to Vancouver. I wasn't prepared to cry (and to have to ask my hungover seat mates to grab me a kleenex) or finish the book before landing, but these things happen.

 In the car on the way to the ferry. There had been an accident earlier in the afternoon so we sat in line waiting to go through the tunnel for quite a long time - perfect for me to take snaps of my new Joe Fresh sunglasses.

 

Ben and Jake, the loves of my life, and the two laziest dogs in the world.

When not sleeping, Jake spends his time staring you down, in hopes that you'll say he's allowed to: a) eat, or b) go on the couch.

 New socks, very Aspen-esque.

 The monkey tree all decorated for the season.

When the torrential downpours force you to stay inside - and it's between periods - the only thing to do is wear your sunglasses and snap some pics.

 My stocking - the only one that survived the great crawlspace mouse attack on the early-2000s.

 

My uniform for the trip: t-shirt, cardigan, skinnies, scarf, sunglasses, and a top knot. Some might saying this is lazy, but I like to look at it as ultra-relaxed dressing.

About to leave for the spa with mama Petite Adventures on New Year's eve.
No make-up = large sunnies - we know how it's done.

New winter boots - because you know, Sidney, BC, is totally the hotbed for boots that will withstand
-33C temperatures. They were 40% off and small enough to fit my tiny size 5 feet, so I couldn't pass them up; packing them however was not such a good deal.

So there you have it, my snapshots from B.C. As I said, not too many pictures from my 19 days away, but I could totally give you an in-depth recap of "24/7: Road to the Winter Classic," any of the hockey game that took place during my vacay, or dissect Canada's various sports broadcasters, their strengths and weaknesses (James Duthie's my favourite, you?).

That's right, I had my priorities in order.

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I Should Know Better

I should know better by now.

This story starts three months ago, that's when I first spied a luxurious brown faux fur vest at Forever 21. I was immediately drawn to it. As I continued to make my rounds of the store, I kept finding myself back at the vest, but at the time I couldn't justify the purchase: "Where and when would I wear that?!" I thought to myself. And with that I left the vest on the rack.

Fast forward three months and faux fur vests are everywhere and I am still thinking about the vest that could have been mine.

Like I said, I should know better by now.

Last Thursday, I was having a horrible day at work. Writers block combined with conflict drove me to a state of petite rage, so I decided to treat myself to a little lunchtime shopping and my first stop was Forever 21. Sadly, they didn't have the vest I'd been coveting; they didn't even have one that was similar. But they did have one that I decided to make my own.

Behold dear readers, my new favourite look, something I like to call Yeti-Chic.

I was a little nervous about debuting this look at work. I'm the youngest person in the office by a decade and I wasn't sure how my style would go over. 

Thankfully, Yeti-Chic was a hit! Which gives me hope that it will go over well when I decided to introduce my tiny, casual, West Coast hometown to Yeti-Chic at the end of the month.

Although it wasn't the vest I was originally looking for, I'm very happy that it's now a part of my closet!

Here's to a winter of Yeti-Chic!

Vest - Forever 21; Shirt - Joe Fresh; Jeans - Mavi;
Belt - Jacob; Boots - Aldo; Watch - Fossil
Mug - HomeSense

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Brown Sugar

I wear a lot of black. Like, a lot. I grew up in a house where black clothes were the only clothes, so really it's genetics. And, I'm okay with it. Black's chic and classic; and, best of all, goes with everything.

But, I'm trying to break out of that habit. So lately I've been turning to it's cousin - brown - to mix things up a bit.

As I've mentioned before (here), I tend to shy away from browns because of my hair and eyebrows - I always think it's going to be too much. But I have to say the colour's really growing on me - if not only because it give me an opportunity to wear some of my blue, and very often neglected, clothes.

It's all about equal opportunity wearing here at Petite Adventures! And who wouldn't want to wear these clothes when they look so sweet?!

Sweater - Zara; T-Shirt - Smart Set; Skirt - Aritzia; Boots & Necklace - Aldo

Zebra for Day

Recently, I decided to secretly replace my normal clothes with some for a little more funk. I ventured out into the world to research whether or not Zebra print is appropriate for daytime. The results may surprise you.

I've owned this dress forever. I came across it on a rack at H&M and had to have it, despite it not exactly being the right size. Since that fateful day I've worn the dress maybe two times - one of those times was to an 80s night. Regardless of it's lack-of-wearability, I never seem to get rid of it when purging my closet, because I know that one day I will wear it.

That day came a couple of weeks ago.

I paired the dress with a plain button up, blazer and my new Aldo booties to allow the Zebra to pop!

A close-up of my new ALDO Genista Wedge Boots courtesy of ASOS

And pop it did!

Pairing the dress with basics definitely made it more office appropriate, although I'm not sure it's going to become a staple.

Blazer - Talula; Blouse - Jacob; Dress - H&M; Boots - Aldo Watch - Fossil

But it sure was fun to do the research!

Everybody, Everywear

Today, I'm linking up (for the first time) with the Everybody, Everywear challenge, which this month is coloured tights.

My first instinct was to wear all black, to make the tights pop; but then I figured I'd mix it up with a touch of grey and a little bit of purple.

Sweater, Dress, TIghts - H&M; Shoes - Nine West (Thrifted)
Nail Polish - Sally Hansen Slick Slate

Check out the rest of the other entries at Everybody Everywear. Looking forward to the November challenge!

Halloween

This year I had two very different Halloweens to prepare for: one work related; one wild and crazy.

Halloween #1

For my first Halloween celebration of 2011 I chose Liz Lemon, Tina Fey's character from 30 Rock as my inspiration.

I already own all of the clothes, so this was an easy decision. 

To complete my outfit, I printed out a screen shot that I'd taken of Liz Lemon's actual ID badge from the show and had a speech bubble taped to a chop-stick that read BLERG - one of the character's signature phrases.

The costume was hit and miss; half of the office knew who I, the other half did not. But, those who were fans of the show got a huge kick out of it - which is what I was going for.

Tank - SmartSet; Shirt - Aritzia; Sweater - Zara
Jeans - Mavi; Shoes - TOMS

 Halloween #2

For Halloween weekend I traveled to Kingston to visit my best friend. For this festive weekend my inspiration was Lady Gaga and her meat dress. I take absolutely no credit for this costume idea - a friend of mine came up with it; I just stole the flyers from Hartmann's and made it happen.

The Tuesday before Halloween weekend I took a trip to my local grocer and took handfuls of their flyer, from which I cut all the meat ads. My bag full of papers got me a lot of strange looks and questions at the register, but I pushed through the embarrassment and soldiered on.

I carted it all down to Kingston and got to work on putting it all together. I glued the meat to a dress I got for $8 from Old Navy - and I can't even begin to tell you how shocked I was that this costume was coming together so easily and quickly. At least that's what I thought at first...

The problem started when I tried to get into the dress. I managed - with much help, what are best friend's for! - to wiggle my way in and only did minor damage, but with so much time left before the party, I was able to do a few quick repairs and patch jobs. But then came the task of bending and sitting - these were not easily accomplished. I spent much of the night standing, until I decided that I'd preserved the meat long enough - it was time to give my feet a break! Even then, the costume more or less survived - it's amazing what a little glue stick can do!

The wig though, that was another story. I bought a wig from Zellers that was described as a flirty, pop star wig and the photo shows a lovely, blond, wavy bob. That is not what I had when I opened the package. I had a matted mess that over the course of the night turned into an afro.

But I rocked it as best I could!

Dress - Old Navy; Wig - Zellers; Earrings, Ring, Sunglasses - Aldo
Watch - Fossil; Bangles - unknown tiny store in Kingston

 I have to say, this costume was a huge success. Most people weren't sure what I was, but as soon as I explained that I was Gaga in her meat dress, everyone burst out laughing - exactly what I was going for for Halloween!

I'm not normally one who celebrates Halloween, but after the amazing time I had this year, i might be a convert.

How was everyone's weekend? Did you dress up?