Middle-aged tweens storm Vancouver

Forget the dainty finger sandwiches! Shelley of Forest City Fashionista came to town for a few days and suddenly life became larger than life - it was triple-whipple-decker life, like a hamburger so honkin' huge you can't jam another slice of pickle into your mouth.

Exhibit 1: Photo farking. We stopped roadside and sidewalk traffic at this busy downtown location. Models/Styling: Shelley and Mel. Photographer: Tripod and "Dick" the magic wand. Behind us is the installation artwork called Alien Terrarium by Elisa Yon and Amanda Arcuri, which is part of a series of public artworks in Vancouver, read about it here.

Bascially, we ate and drank and walked and shopped and vogued and repeated. I even managed to get invitations to a by-invitation-only charity/fashion/art Event:

...an elevated list of key influencers in Vancouver and those who are notoriously savvy in the art scene: a truly high-fashion mix of local socialites and celebrities, models, photographers and up and coming “cool” kids that have both industry legitimacy and international resonance.

That's definitely who we are. Hahaha! I thought hanging out with the local glitterati for an evening with Shelley might be interesting, or at least a good excuse to dress up and sip wine, not that we need excuses. When it was over we agreed that we hadn't been so love-bombed in years. [Edit: my writeup about it is here]

Above is Shelley at the Nordstrom restaurant where on her first day here we mapped out a plan of action.

One night Shelley and I went cocktail-hopping at luxury hotels because, hey, what else do you do when it's raining? We were at a swanky lounge called Bacchus, swilling drinks and eating fries, when a couple we both liked from the Event came in. It's a small world.

This little Moschino wrap at Nordstrom was marked down to $1,500 from $3,000. I have to figure out how to DIY my own, but better. There was a plastic-y tubular skeleton under this mass of fluff, which was annoying but gave the piece body. We found lots of inspiration on the racks but naturally we spent more time at thrift and vintage stores.

EDIT ALERT: This photo was included in a stellar lineup of women at the blog Warning: Curves Ahead in a post called "24 Things Women Over 30 Should Wear." It went VIRAL. Shelley is a STAR! - but then you already know that.

More photo farking. Shelley is a natural model. I swear - she has got the moves! She decided her makeup scheme and I applied it. If you go to her IG, here, you can see her purple brows and gold eye shadow (and other photos of her trip). Stunning! We also both wore our colourful brows to the Event.

Try as I might, in the photo below I couldn't bring out the true colour of this robe - NEON pink, the pinkest pink you've ever seen. I hadn't worn it before because I wanted to fark it to look less robe-y. So far I've only added some silky ties at the front but I knew it would be perfect for our shoot and bundling in the cool weather.

Confession: I'm not wearing a pant slip with these vintage lace pants. Hussy! Slattern! The pink under the pants are tights. The robe provides adequate modesty, but seriously, if you want to freak out about seeing through my lace pants, go for it. Isn't there a fashion rule for women over 50: if the pubes don't stick out, you're okay.

In the next photo you can see a piece of blue masking tape stuck to the hem from one of my earlier failed farking attempts. (Really, the colours are so washed out!) I got that amazing silk blouse a couple of years ago in a giveaway by Thorne Garnet.

And finally, below, my favourite photo. We used my tripod as a hanger for our bags and clothes. Now, you know my cardinal rule for shooting on the streets, right? Don't let anything touch the ground! This is my face when my robe fell down. I squeezed the remote trigger as a reflex response like happens in those murder movies. Thank goodness the sidewalk here wasn't gross. 

These photos are not for VOGOFF, they are too tame, although my facial expression below is slightly Voggy. I still have to put up the guidelines. Yikes!

Shelley and I had brunch with Louisa of Damselfly's Delights and Sue of A Colourful Canvas at Acme Cafe (where I go with Sheila and L when they're in town) on Shelley's last day here. I have a few photos from then and some from the Event, but I figure this is enough for one post. I'll put the others up later. And maybe a little video [Edit: It's in the next post here. I can't stop laughing when I watch it]. Hee hee.

I was not online all week trying to squeeze in all my 3D life activities - hanging out with Shelley and working like a fiend to meet my work deadlines. I don't know when I can catch up with your posts but I'll try.


Hugs to all of you. Aren't blogger meetups the best?! Shelley was everything and more than I thought she would be. Sympatico. Thanks for making the trip, Shelley!!

I'll link the pink up to:
Patti at Visible Monday, Not Dead Yet Style,
Catherine at #iwillwearwhatilike, Not Dressed as Lamb, and
Anne at 52 Pick-me-up: White/Instinct, SpyGirl.

Shelley's post on our get-together is HERE.