The giant Vancouver mind-meld with friends

It's no longer a blogger meetup; it's a gathering of friends who happen to blog. That's what happens when you start to know women as well as I have come to know Suzanne Carillo, Patti, and Sherry. Sue was of course also included in our weekend, and although she is not in these photos at her request, she was part of our group, twice joining us for the day.

photo by @vancouverbarbara

Below, the excitement as my friends started arriving at Blue Horizon Hotel on Robson Street, who sponsored our stay (see previous post). Sherry and Patti came in the same taxi. How serendipitous that the bus in the background says Vancouver Community College, VCC, because I had to run down there that morning to pick up some awesome outfits that their Fashion Design & Production students had custom-made me during a collaboration. I thought they might be fun for our shoot - and they were!

Sherry wears a blue-cord overall dress that she made herself. So good!

This year we went a bit more "pro" for our photo shoot. My friend Suzy Thomas, @thasooze (IG), a career makeup artist, came to our room at Blue Horizon and did our faces. What a master! As Suzanne said, it was like a face lift with makeup. Too bad it had to wash off, but like the old samurai saying, we must appreciate the beauty of falling cherry blossoms. Or, did I just make that up?

Suzy working her magic on the already-magical Sherry.

In hindsight, we all seemed to have signature poses for the weekend. Clockwise from top-left: Suzanne, the kiss face; Mel, constantly trying to perfect my Zoolander face and FAILING - you open your mouth to simulate stupefaction, then suck in your cheeks for a high-fashion model look; Sherry, Godspell meadow sprite; Patti, '20s Broadway doyenne. 

Once our makeup was done, @vancouverbarbara (IG) joined as a photographer at the hotel, which offered a range of great locations. The newly-renovated pool and fitness area were our primary stages.

Below we are rehearsing for our new movie Pose Hard, a gripping suspense about middle-aged women on a chocolate-fueled selfie rampage through Vancouver. Madam Goochie, a friend of Sherry, was the costume designer.

photo by @vancouverbarbara

Patti is wearing an iridescent stretchy vinyl top designed and made by VCC students Armita Azadmanesh @armita.bl,Victoria Stephenson, and Kiera West @kierawest. The Elizabethan thick vinyl ruff collar and skirt were made by Nataly Kingsley, Cayce Vanderzalm @caycescustoms, and Shadi Arastehmanesh @shadi.arastehmanesh.arts. I'm preparing a separate post about these pieces.

More rehearsal. I'm terribly disappointed that Suzanne and Sherry aren't posing harder, harder!! Twirl, ladies! Twirl HARDER!! Feel the burn!

photo by @vancouverbarbara

I look pensive because I am riding for a cause. Invisible thought bubble: apple rhubard crisp, apple rhubard crisp, apple rhubard crisp. Yeah, Abode restaurant off the hotel lobby area had great food, especially dessert. I should have been riding that bike for real!

photo by Suzy via Sherry, I think

Suzanne fake-testing the water. The pool area was wonderful! We didn't bring our suits and weren't ready to pose in our scanties, nor was the public ready for that, so this is what you get. So very ultra-high-fashion, right? Doing something totally wrong yet so right.

Patti does a Broadway number poolside. Standing ovations from everyone, heaps of bouquets, and sworn allegiances. This is a great shot of the outfit too, but it only came to life because Patti wore it so divinely and with disciplined fortitude. She was definitely hot under the collar. (groan, heh)

photo by @vancouverbarbara

Next, me, pre-shoot, hair in clips for extra sproing. And you can see the makeup job Suzy did. Another failed Zoolander face. I'll call it Melander. 

photo by Sherry

Lounging by the poolside, as one does.

photo by @vancouverbarbara

In this next photo, Suzanne misbehaved. Some may mistakenly think she is trying to steal my shoes. No! She is trying to steal my thunder by hauling me off the deck so she can hog the spotlight! Typical. Hahaha. And I was right in the middle of my Burt Reynolds tribute medley!

photo by @vancouverbarbara

But I got my revenge on them all! Bwahahaha!!! Heh.

And secrets revealed: Patti and Sherry are royals. Shhhhh. Yes. They really don't want anyone to know, so their secret is safe here. This lobby chair was their substitute throne for the weekend. I love how they can pretend to be commoners while maintaining their blue-blood dignity and hauteur.

Sherry was highly displeased upon discovering that the shop had just painted her '63 Ferrari GTO in gumdrop green rather than the paisley print she had ordered. Patti, her royal sister (and Broadway doyenne), is tired of dealing with her whims, so bought her a helicopter coated in unpaintable 24K gold.

The Royal Portrait

My grandmother hand-made me the collar Sherry is wearing over 40 years ago, I think. This is probably only the second time it's been worn, the first time maybe for rollerskating. Definitely it will be worn more now.

And some random shots from our time together.

Many thanks to: 

• @vancouverbarbara for her photography;
• @thasooze Suzy for her dazzling makeup skills and photo-taking; 
• Blue Horizon Hotel for the room they generously sponsored; 
• Sam, Manager of My Sister's Closet eco thrift boutique for her hospitality during a thrifting expedition there; 
• VCC for creating such amazing clothing; and 
• my friends for coming all the way to Vancouver. 

I feel like this is an acceptance speech. Hahaha. Yeah, acceptance of how awesome everyone is and the power of positive energy. For more coverage, check out Suzanne's post here, Patti's post here, and Sherry's post here, complete with video

Have a great week, everyone. If you're one of many starting to wonder why you keep blogging, this weekend is one reason I'm still here. The connections I've made with like-minded cool people on this platform and in real life are irreplaceable. 

I'll link something up with Patti at Not Dead Yet Style for Visible Monday. 

photo by Sam, Manager at My Sister's Closet @msc_bwss (IG)

Best staycation at Blue Horizon Hotel

This is a sponsored post, but I tell 'ya, I am absolutely delighted to write it. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Question: When best friends come to Vancouver for a visit, is it be better for me to go home every night to sleep or stay with them at the hotel? Duh!

Thank you, Blue Horizon Hotel, for an excellent weekend of hospitality lavished on me, Suzanne Carillo, Patti of Not Dead Yet Style and Sherry Dryja of Petite Over 40. Sue from A Colourful Canvas also joined in a couple of times.

me, Suzanne, Patti, Sherry (photo by Sue)

F O M O  no more!

(FOMO means fear of missing out)

A staycation has never been so much fun. Blue Horizon, a boutique hotel, was the perfect home-away-from-home for our visit. We had the pleasure of experiencing one of its private bedroom suites. 

Below is what the living room looked like when I arrived, pristine, except for my little wheelie cart on the right. There was a Keurig coffeemaker, a kettle with complimentary tea, and a fridge for storing our leftover nibblers and other snacks. Chocolate treats and chips were in constant view for spiritual training purposes.

Located on the southwest corner, our room was flooded with natural light, which is always good for style bloggers armed with cameras and their most fun outfits, but there were blackout curtains as well. Isn't that a groovy armchair on the left? Of course I had photos in it. 

I call this shot by Suzanne, Upholstery Camouflage. I could have stayed in the room for weeks without anyone noticing I'm there. The groovy vintage jacket and pants were a gift from Suzanne in the summer.

photo by Suzanne

Below, a mirror selfie of me grinning in anticipation of my friends' arrivals from planes, trains, and automobiles from Toronto, Florida, and Seattle. 

And, gulp, check out that view, stunning from our balcony on the 29th floor. The green area is Stanley Park and that main drag is Robson Street, one of Vancouver's preeminent shopping areas. The hotel is walking distance from it all, including the Art Gallery, fantastic thrift stores, the Convention Centre, and more.

Along the water's edge on the left is English Bay, where I sometimes pose with big logs. Heh.

The only thing better than a view like this...

...is a view like this with friends, Suzanne and Sherry.

We enjoyed sunny skies for part of the weekend, but it also rained and even hailed. If we were outdoor athletes, it would have cramped our style, but indoors? Meh, nothing cramps our style except too-tight, sky-high shoes, even then we grin and bear it.

And there we are united on the sofa. I set up my tripod with the remote for this one.

Left to right: me, Sherry, Suzanne, Patti. 

The private bedroom with a king-sized bed was spacious and bright with it's own private bath. The living room area also had a mini wing with a private washroom. Having two facilities in our room ensured peace and harmony throughout our stay. 

You know you're having fun when the photo above starts to look like the one below, and that's just part of it.

I brought two large suitcases stuffed with clothes to play with for our photo shoot. As a local I didn't have luggage restrictions and hotel attendants happily provided extra hangers.

We made full use of Blue Horizon's pool, fitness area, and lobby during our stay. You'll have to wait to see what I mean by that in a follow-up post. Heh.

Our room was set up well for hanging out but we also spent quite a bit of time in Abode, the hotel's restaurant and coffee/cocktail bar. Below is the view from the dining area toward the lobby.

The food was delicious and the service was fantastic. This server is from Australia and we had the pleasure of her camaraderie and care on a couple of occasions.

photo by Sue

It's possible that below we were discussing Abode's famous apple rhubarb crisp with ice cream. I (and someone else - Suzanne!) ordered it twice during our stay. She'll probably post about it. Her photo was waaay better than mine.

photo by Sherry

There's Suzanne with her buddy "Marilyn" in the elevator. The blue patch is a reflection of my phone. Each lift features a fun photo of "Marilyn" in a series of speak/see/hear-no-evil poses. Hahaha! You can read more about her on the hotel website, here. 

There is also a large back-lit cibachrome colour photo of her with curlers in her hair and a martini in her hand in the lobby. Can you think of anything more welcoming and appropriate for our group? I found this partial view in one of my photos. Isn't she great?

Finally, there I am on the last day, captured by Sherry on the balcony.

Truly, getting away, even in my own city, staying at a place that took good care of me, and spending time with good friends gave me a fresh perspective on the world of possibilities ahead.

photo by Sherry

Thank you again, Blue Horizon Hotel, for your role in making this such a memorable weekend. The only complaint I have is that our time was too short. We'll have to do it again!

Stay tuned for our photo shoot post!

I'm still HERE!

They came. We saw. We conquered.

Who? Suzanne, Sue, Sherry, Patti, and me.
Where? Vancouver, BC.
When? June 1 to 3.

And conquered what exactly? Limitations, I suppose.

It was a rare weekend of connection, a time to join with like-minded women, all of us eager to lift ourselves above the quotidian, to dream big, dig deep, reach high.

Of course there was good food, great shopping, laughter - lots and lots of laughter - but I think it was the talking, really getting to the heart of things that matter to each of us, that will stay with me most. I can definitely say that the feeling of empowerment I got from the weekend has come in handy in the days since then.

This is a rather sober summing-up so far, so I have included the following arty video I put together with clips from our time together.

We have photos, photos, and photos! And instead of duplicating them here, pop over to Suzanne's blog where she has done two stellar wrap-up posts: Strike a Pose Blogger Style - Blogger Meet Up 2018 and Breakfast at Tiffany's Prom Do Over. [Edit: Sherry of Petite Over 40 also made a stellar post, HERE, "Blogger Meet-Up Proves Vancouver's Got Talent." You have to check out the video she made too!]

It wasn't until after our meetup that I realized we had played like champion 12-year-olds. Vamp in alleys? Sure. Mock wedding in Talize thrift store in Delta? Why not? Recreate prom and Breakfast at Tiffany in the streets and fancy hotel lobbies? Yep. March together in purple sequin band uniforms at House of Vintage thrift store? Oh, definitely. Sigh.

I like to think that if I had had a daughter, she would have said, "Whoa, Mum, can you organize my next pyjama party?" Hahaha.

So all this happened in early June.

Below are some outfits I have worn since then.

The above vest-y jacket is from Suzanne.

What else?

On April 27, I was in the Irish Examiner newspaper, which I forgot to mention before. The article, "Over 50s slaying it on Instagram," is HERE. I love the photo they used. Heh.

I had a post all planned out long before this one but then that GDPR thing hit the web. The penalties for non-compliance are formidable: 1) Up to €10 million or 2% annual global turnover – whichever is higher. Okay, I can only dream that 2% of my annual global turnover is more than €10 million. The whole exercise made me feel irrelevant. And oh so tired. So I ended up taking an unplanned blogger holiday. Plus I needed a break anyway.

I'm more rested now. But about GDPR, I have a privacy policy almost ready. But please know that if you want to unsubscribe to my email posts, just click the link at the bottom of the email from Bag and a Beret.

One last thing. I was interviewed by Margaret Manning of Sixty and Me a couple of days ago. We did four little episodes. The first two are open.

Fashion After 50 *SHOCKER*! Should We Borrow From Men's Style?

Fashion After 50: The Search for Funky Treasures

It was fun. It was a lot of work too because I like show-and-tell style, but, as usual, I wasn't organized enough to show you 70 percent of what I had ready. Hahaha.

That's it for now. Big hugs to all of you. If you have come back to read this, thank you! And thanks for your patience.

I'll link up to Patti at Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style and Catherine at Not Dressed as Lamb for #iwillwearwhatilike.

New Year's Eve bash!

Laughter! Music! Dancing! Drinks and canapes! A swirl of glitterati! 

There was a huge New Year's Eve bash last night. A glamorous one. Somewhere. Not here. 

That didn't stop me from having my own mini gala in the concrete atelier. And I swanned around home for a little while speaking with drawn-out fake British/French/Russian/Spanish/Marlon-Brando accents, with a few Japanese words thrown in, wearing my Morticia Addams-on-Skittles dress.

In the above photo I think I look like the hood ornament of a big classic car, striking a pose front and centre above the grill, obstructing the driver's view, hair blowing wildly as I speed down a highway on the outskirts of Vegas perhaps. 

Yeah, it's a look I'd like to duplicate more often with or without the gown. To boldly go. If I were living in California in the 1920s, I think I would have enjoyed wing-walking.

Above I am doing Julia Roberts-as-Pretty-Woman opening the jewellery box from Richard Gere before flying off to the opera, scene is here. That movie HORRIFIED me!! The message was wrong, Wrong, WRONG!!! So I am doubly vexed when I find myself referencing it, like I am now.

I don't need expensive gems or clothes to make me happy. My magic loupe, custom-made by O, is priceless. He sells them in his Etsy store, here. And cool rings too. Those ones have a price but they are still priceless.

The dress is thrifted, purchased at Talize a couple of years ago on an expedition with Suzanne and Sue. When I posted on it before, here, I was concerned about the puddling hem, but, pffft, with these new platform shoes (posted here) there is less drag. Plus, this gown is machine-washable. Looking back, I don't know what the fuss was about. And my carpet is clean if you're not wearing reading glasses.

That's my index finger there, not my third finger, a "come thither" not a "feck off" gesture - although, now I look at it, my facial expression could be interpreted either way. Gaaa!!! Mixed signals like this could lead to disaster.

What this shot should be saying is, "Hey, 2018, c'mon, c'mon! I'm ready." In fact, for this photo, in my head I was asking the server to bring me another martini.

The vintage baby-pink ruched gloves were a gift from an estate. I made the purse from a wood matryoshka. O custom-made the hardware. I designed it as a teacup carrier, but it works just as well as a hand bag and it's perfect for this gown.

At the concrete-box party, they ran out of martinis, so when I got home I headed straight for the strong stuff. You got it: coffee with caffeine. Oo-wee, now we're living! With butter-pecan-flavoured creamer!!!

The dress features an off-the-shoulder design, but on me, for some reason, it kept slipping into off-off-the shoulder territory. I should have used my suspenders. There was no real danger of a wardrobe malfunction because I was wearing an undergarment contraption, although that kept slipping too.

And that last shot shows you the tulip skirt at the bottom, the Morticia Addams pose. It's really quite a divine dress. I have a sequin mini dress that I had intended to wear to the party, but decided to save it for another special occasion.

So 2018. Hmm. Not sure what to make of it yet. So far, so good. I hope you all have a stellar new year ahead. It can't be worse than 2017, right? RIGHT!?!!! 

Cheers. Hugs all around. Thank you for reading.

I'll link this up with Patti at Not Dead Yet Style, Visible Monday. And with Catherine at Not Dressed as Lamb, #iwillwearwhatilike.

How to pose the RIGHT way. A meetup. And Marie Claire magazine.

There have been lots of posts around lately about blogger fatigue. (See list at the bottom of this post.) To that I say, of course we are sick of blogging, and the reason is clear: simply, we're not doing it right. We're bad posers and we don't wear the right clothes. Fear not - help is on the way!! This week I share with you some excellent posing tips I picked up online.

So yeah, we may hate social media, but it's also our mythical highway to Viral Nirvana - or, in my case, a gravel road shortcut with pot holes, dead-ends, construction, and signs saying "No gas for 10,000 miles," and my favourite, "Treacherous conditions. Does anyone know you are here?" But best not to worry about that. Our GPS says to take the road less travelled and it is never wrong.

WRONG POSE
Below. Oh no, oh no, oh no. I am looking normalish! Bad. This is a prime example of bland, I-can't-believe-I-ate-the-whole-thing-shock, if-I-don't-move-I-will-remember-everything, nothing-going-on-in-there posing. Who wants to see that? I can already hear screamy Frau Farbissina: "NEXT!!!" (She is from the Austin Powers movies, ex. here.)

RIGHT POSE

Get your "squinch" on. I learned about squinching from New York/LA photographer Peter Hurley in his YouTube video, "It's all about the Squinch!" He's great! And he uses exclamation marks. 

He didn't explain it like this, but the trick to a good face is to think about chocolate, plots, and sexy secrets. Think about ways to adapt your leaf-blower into a duster. Think about what's under Fabio's gold lamé shorts. Okay, better not. Think about how fast a train must travel if it leaves point A at 11:00 and needs to arrive at point B at 1:03 if B is 7,031 km away, and will Sarah bring apples?

I know this pose but I always called it something sleuthy or high-noon cowboyie.

Squinching is a squint, but only using your lower lids; your upper lids aren't supposed to move. See? My face is sooo much better now: a face of intrigue, of mystery. It says, yeah, I ate the cheesecake, what are you going to do about it? Viewers will stop and stare, then say, we better get outta here, she's up to no good. Much more fun.

If you go extreme, it can look like you have indigestion, which can happen along that lonely road.

Below I am squinching again. And again, it looks like I've got stuff on my mind: how can I fit in a couple more hours of sleep, that workout really sucked, I have to write another blog post?!

But this photo is not for demonstrating the squinch. It's to show you Hurley's next tip, which he calls, "Hold Your Sub to look slimmer in photographs!" for upper arms. The "Sub" refers to a sub sandwich about 5 feet long. This is really brilliant.

WRONG POSE
Note my upper arms. Simple flesh bags. Nothing wrong with that, but they could be better.

RIGHT POSE
I didn't have any 5-foot subs left in the fridge so I decided to Hold the Broom. Just hold the broom. Okay, frig - I just wanna ride the broom. (It's an old broom and I don't know why it's still in such good condition!?)

Note how my upper arms curve inwards at the top now, looking waaaay more toned than reality. It's the best kind of non-fake fakery. I told you it's a good tip. I think Hurley really meant this pose to be for upper body photography, with the sub off camera, but why limit ourselves? We could all carry our brooms everywhere, look fabulous (at least our arms), stop sweeping our floors (check!), and open a bar called Coven.

In the next photo I am doing dramatic squinching and Holding the Sub Broom. It's like you can read my mind: what do you mean brooms are for sweeping? Are you a doofus?

Hurley has another video called "It's all about the Jaw!" about how to create a defined jaw line, which requires sticking out your neck and chin and putting your forehead forward. In real life it looks ridiculous, but it looks great in photos with young models. When I try it, I get fantastic definition too - of my jowls and string neck.

The amazing photographic 3-D effect of sticking out my neck.

Plus, sticking out a neck with poultry-like tendencies is not a good idea, especially around Thanksgiving. I suspect that doing this pose while standing on my head would be a big help, although I'd have to watch out for bags over (under?) my eyes.

And there you have it. By employing these simple techniques, soon we'll all see tons of traffic on our blogs and sit waving to each other on the backroads to Viral Nirvana. If you get a clean break, be sure to honk as you go by. I'll cluck back.

Stay tuned for Part 2 on how to dress right.

In all seriousness, I love Peter Hurley. He is funny, engaging, and knows how to make people look their best. It's good entertainment and information. Have a look.

AND... A BLOGGER MEETUP!

Carolyn of blog Handmade by Carolyn was in Vancouver from Australia and we local blogger gals rallied. It was like meeting a star! - Carolyn of the handmade clothes, of the handmade shoes, of the handmade boots! Revered sewista of finished seams. She and her husband C had been travelling on the Northwest Coast of Canada and the US and, happy day, they fit in some hours in Vancouver. He took this photo of us.

Left to right: Sveta of blog Sewing Sveta and IG @svetadolsi, Barbara of IG @vancouverbarbara, Sue of blog A Colourful Canvas and IG @acolourfulcanvas, Louisa of blog Damselfly's Delights and IG @damselfly.ca, Carolyn of blog Handmade by Carolyn and IG @handmadebycarolyn, and me.

We played hard in what little time we had, including a trip to some fabric shops and one of my favourite local alleys. I'm putting in this photo below so I have something to link up with Patti's Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style and Catherine's #iwillwearwhatilike at Not Dressed as Lamb. More photos are on Carolyn's and Barbara's social media.

It's so cool too that Carolyn was also wearing her loupe from O. We were loupe-de-loupe! See HERE on Barbara's Instagram.

PS During "brunch," we (except Barbara, driving) had grapefruit mimosas and I had bacon and egg porridge with maple syrup, the perfect drink pairing. Interesting.

AND FINALLY,
Some months ago I sent photos to Marie Claire Netherlands for an article they were doing. I was very excited, naturally. And then I heard nothing. I thought they killed the story. Then on Instagram recently, I got a comment from @roosevaels saying she had seen me in there!?

I wrote to MC again and they said, "Yes, so sorry, we forgot to tell you." So I'm in the May print issue of Marie Claire Netherlands, which is happy news. Bwahaha! Along with Sarah Jane Adams @saramaijewels, Lyn Slater of Accidental Icon and @iconaccidental, and Helen Van Winkle of @baddiewinkle. HUGE THANKS to Marie Claire for including me!!!

Because you can't buy the issue now, it's from May, I'm including the piece on me below. In Dutch, I don't know what it says. "She loves smelling stinky running shoes and eating ladybugs!" Don't believe a word of it. (Bacon in my porridge was true, just that one time though.)

EDIT: Greetje of No Fear of Fashion has translated this article. Thank you!

The machine translation said "All that beige and stretch will bump you off." Hahaha. Close.

And that's my report, done. Yippee!! I know, I know, this could have been several posts but I like doing it in one fell swoop. I hope you made it! 

This is not squinching.

And I'm not really done-done - I've been to other great blogger meetups and to an excellent Slow Clothes fashion show, where Vivian, my personal style client, strut the catwalk. She was soooo good, like a younger Vivienne Westwood.

Okay, NOW I'm done!
May your days be filled with hope and good food! Also, I have responded to all your comments from the last several posts. I really enjoyed it. You guys are the BEST!

-------------------------------------------------------
The posts about blogger and/or social media fatigue are here:
Suzanne Carillo: Why Bother Writing? Why I Love To Hate Social Media
Samantha at Fake Fabulous: 5 Reasons I Don't Like Social Media
Shelley at Forest City Fashionista: I've Lost The Will To Blog