Blogger meetup with zombies and opium

Suzanne Carillo and Sherry Dryja (Petite Over 40) of Toronto and Seattle came to town and met up with me and Sue (A Colourful Canvas) this past weekend. The times we had! 

We are proof that you don't need tons of money to have a blast, only a meeting time, a few great outfits, an imagination, a camera/cellphone (we had 3), a thrift shop or two, and a generous dash of bravado. We didn't need the photos but they sure added gasps and hilarity. 

Photo by Sherry, Petite Over 40

Day 1. We hopped the SeaBus to North Vancouver to explore a few thrift shops. Of course we worked up an appetite and stopped at Lonsdale Quay, an indoor market, for nibblers.

Photo by Pizza Shop Woman

On the way back to Vancouver Sue knew exactly how to secure an unobstructed view of the advancing city skyline: the man-spread, such an exemplary example - she really nailed it - but the photo self-destructed. Hahaha!!

That night Suzanne, Sherry, and I went to the Comedy Mix to see some stand-up. The most laughs came when it was over and we discovered that all three of us wanted to walk out; we didn't because we were afraid the comedian would beat us up and laugh at our injuries. In fact, we found ourselves in the next days frequently riffing on his vicious rants, then wondered with alarm, does that count as success!?

Day 2, off to Talize thrift store in Delta by elevated train and bus. So many modes of transportation! Happily, Sue was able to join us.

Photo by Sue, A Colourful Canvas

Of the outfits above, I think only Suzanne bought her dress. Note the squared wings sticking out at my hips - always a flattering look. They were designed to be tucked in and tied inside at the front but I liked them out better. Now I regret not getting this dress, but we had two shopping carts piled mile high with options.

Our intrepid photographer takes a break on the bench conveniently located outside the change rooms. Man-spreading was not required. Sue made that fantastic duster.

On Day 3, in the morning Suzanne, Sherry, and I went on a 90-minute Sins of the City Walking Tour, "Vice, Dice, and Opium Dens," hosted by the Vancouver Police Museum. I highly recommend it. The two others on offer are Red Light Rendezvous and Walking the Beat.

Then in the evening we met up at their hotel dressed roaring '20s style (brilliant idea by Suzanne) to go to the club "Speakeasy." But first, since Suzanne and Sherry had scouted cool locations for photos at the hotel the night before, we needed to explore our inner divas fully. So many great shots...these are only a few.

Photo by Suzanne I think

Of course luxe locations in a fine hotel make it easier to set up interesting scenes, but that wasn't a prerequisite for getting good footage. Sherry farked and posted one of my favourite clips on YouTube. Warning: DON'T WATCH THIS AT WORK!! She calls it Copy of Dancing for Real. I call it Roaring '20s Zombies on Brain Detox.

We filmed this right downtown, a prime example of what I meant by "a generous dash of bravado." Heh. They are awesome!

We also swanned over to another hotel lobby for photos. This place has always been a favourite.

And then we went for a late bite. We tried flirting with our handsome server, aged 24(?) but that was simply wasted energy. He did, however, crank up the charm just before handing us the bill. Do we look that gullible? Heh. 

Later, after we had gone our separate ways and called it day, we realized that we had totally forgotten to go to the Speakeasy. Hahaha!!

On Day 4, we went to My Sister's Closet thrift boutique, of the famous $5 rack, followed by brunch. Then Suzanne and Sherry both returned to family. In this photo Suzanne is wearing the gold booties that she, Sue, and I all tried on during her last visit, HERE.

Whew! Blogger meetups are the best! It was the first time meeting Sherry and I can't wait for us to get together again. It was also a special meetup because Suzanne was celebrating her birthday. By chance my schedule was fairly free too - it's something I can never be sure of in advance - so I could take full advantage of their visit.

That's all I've got for you this week. It was a good week. There are many more hilarious photos from Talize. I dressed in BEIGE, on purpose. And Suzanne, Sherry, and I all tried on gowns - Suzanne was Molly Ringwald from Pretty in Pink, Sherry wore an '80s Dynasty series dress, and I was Julia Roberts from Pretty Woman. If nobody else posts them, I'll post them later - already this is photo-heavy.

I'll link something up to Catherine, Not Dressed as Lamb, #iwillwearwhatilike. Patti is on a break.

What would you do? Big tip or little tip for the last-minute-suck-up server?

Dots and shoe weirdness with Sheila

First up, another photo from the AARP article (HERE), which I posted about last time. I love this combo - my Emporio Armani suit jacket, vintage pants formerly owned by Mr. Sanchez according to the monogram on the inner waistband, vintage Pierre Cardin tie from our former building manager, polka-dot blouse from Talize Delta thrift store, and brown tie boots. NEXT!

The shrubbery behind me spells out NOSH. It's a restaurant patio.

Last weekend I met up with Sheila of sheilaephemera and her partner L when they came to town to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary. L better watch out - that's some embrace Sheila and I are locked in. Hahaha!

And when they come to town that can mean only one thing, well, two: booze for breakfast (lunch for them) and a pilgrimage to Fluevog's flagship shoe store. I had a tiny beer for the first time in decades, a dark one. It tasted, hm, woodsy, like mulch and moss in a dark green forest, like a musky critter in a cozy burrow, in a good way. These two are corrupting me. Thank you. Sacriligiously, they ventured into this Brown's shoe store. I can almost hear Sheila whimper with desire for those booties, but she made up for it later at Fluevog.

And we filmed a little video. When I think of these two, I can't help but think of shoes, which inspired me to think of this story. An expert and enthusiastic cast and crew cut months off our shooting schedule. L took on camera duties, at which he excelled, and method acting and props took care of the rest.

Despite the depiction of shoenivores, no shoes were harmed during the making of this video. I was harmed when I had to take home all the leftover licorice. Heh.

After we finished filming, we stumbled across a mini shoe gallery in the middle of the sidewalk. What are the odds? Nobody was watching over them. There was no signage, e.g., Scratch & Sniff, Rate My Treads or Shoe Jenga Challenge. Nothing. It wasn't like stuff had been heaved from a condo window after an angry break-up - these were artfully arranged. Weird, right? 

Also weird are those two people on the sidewalk wearing bee-keeper masks. Where's David Lynch?!

We also veered into Used House of Vintage. The 50% off sale that was on two weekends ago is mostly off now, so that put a damper on my enthusiasm. Of course we had to try on sunglasses. I try on these same sunglasses every time I go. When am I finally going to BUY them?! I love this photo of me and Sheila - Insects from Planet 9.

We had a great time together, as usual: filming, then brunch at Forage (where we had our big blogger meetup brunch), then more filming and some shopping before I had to get home. Sheila did an amazing writeup of their Vancouver adventure on her blog, HERE, with lots more photos. I always love her weekend roundups. I also posted their photo on my street style blog, HERE.

Don't forget, L has a blog too - Creative Maestrom, CD and concert reviews for the musically attuned and a Cole's Notes for the rest of us. He's a gifted writer to be sure.

I wore my drop-crotch jeans, made in Italy, with my purple Mozart jacket for our meetup and again a couple of days later. They are undeniably my new favourite pants, purchased for a bargain at My Sister's Closet. Several sizes too large, they are record-breakingly hipslung without showing rear cleavage, and I can still achieve mobility without waddling. Score!

Below, without the coat and positioned vertically. I absolutely wanted to dress like I had just rolled out of bed; I think I got an A+ on that. These pants, I can hike them belted, like I did during the meetup, or wear them hipslung slouchy, which demonstrates the style versatility thrift shopping opens up for me. In a retail store, I would never consider three sizes too big - I'd head straight for my size on the racks, when in fact the hugeness of these pants gives me far more creative freedom.

I can see from the photo above that I need some black riding boots, a helmet, crop, and an estate in England, or, black riding boots, a newsboy cap, megaphone, director's chair, and Hollywood mansion to take this look to the next level. But nunh, rumpled in the concrete studio is a look unto itself.

And below, the polka-dot blouse and Sanchez pants close up. The dots are a vivid baby blue on a brown background, but the inner collar is lime green with blue dots.

That's all for this week. I'll link to Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style when the time comes. And I've also linked up to Catherine, #iwillwearwhatilike, at Not Dressed as Lamb.

I hope you are all keeping your cool, no matter what your weather is. Finally, some sunshine is here - I can't believe it. Hugs to all.

What do you think those shoes were doing there?!

Tidy Kim Novak hair and a blogger meetup

My brain is finally coughing up that big social hairball built up during a whirlwind of activity these past couple of weeks, hence, my tardiness in posting.

And then, several days ago, another media opportunity came up (tba) so I decided I needed a bunch of new photos of springish looks taken in natural light. But there was a tight deadline. So in driving, freezing-cold rain, I trudged downtown in my shaggy muppet coat, lugging a heavy bag and fighting a weaselly umbrella. The afternoon was kind of like that game Whack-a-Mole as I scurried, frazzled, from one dry spot to another. I had fun in a push-my-limits way.

What I wore to the Press Preview

On March 8, I attended a Press Preview reception for Eco Fashion Week, Mar 31 - Apr 2, where I practised Extreme Hobnobbing. Armed with my bonafide business cards, as seen here, I was no longer a fish out of water like last year; I was more like a mud-skipper or other walking fish that fins its way across the mud, awkward, disheveled, and flapping about with bug eyes. Some kinds are alien invasive species. Yup.

Next is my friend Colleen at the Preview. She keeps me apprised of all the fashion events in the city and runs a great blog, Clothes Line Finds, with her daughter Anthea from Toronto. I take notes on her mingling expertise. What a fantastic outfit! Don't miss the glimpse of shoe.

I'm happy to say that I did not plant myself at the buffet table this time, aided instead by the centrepiece bowls of tasty designer potato chips on each bar table in the room. I'll soon write up EFW on my street style blog. But enough of that.

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The BEST thing that happened lately was a blogger meetup. Hurray!! 

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Look at those happy mugs, would ya? Sue, A Colourful Canvas, Suzanne Carillo, and moi (those choppers!). Suzanne came to town and we got two days of her all to ourselves. This photo was taken at Earls (where we ate at the big meetup a couple of summers ago). Suzanne instructed our handsome, young server to keep away our fans, and despite his professional demeanor, he told us he was a wreck inside with the thrill of meeting us. He got a good tip.

We shopped and talked and shopped and talked and ate and ate and ate, like what happens at all blogger meetups, except we didn't have goat yoga, which Sherry offered at her meetup in Phoenix. Just as well - there was merciless schlain (slushy rain) the whole time.

We all tried on these marvellous leather gold booties. Can you believe how fabulous they are? - I'm of course referring to the women, Suzanne in her vintage and Sue in her self-sewn dotted coat with buttons she also made.

On the first day of our meetup we converged at Talize Thrift store in Delta where we shopped until I dropped - you'll have to see the video, coming soon, to know I mean it. We didn't even get kicked out of the store for our boisterous behaviour. In fact, they gave us a discount. Woo hoo! Talize staff treated us like stars, having seen our previous videos, here and here. They were super friendly and accommodating.

I'll let you decide on your own whether Sue and Suzanne bought these outfits. It's kind of a no-brainer. I got a great haul too but my stuff is still bagged awaiting processing.

During our two days' together we also hit Used House of Vintage store, where Sue also shot some great iPhone footage of me and Suzanne goofing off, and the Hermes boutique, where we didn't goof off, a stationary store, Holt Renfrew, and The Room at The Bay for getting ideas - and keeping warm and dry. And we dined at Cactus Club. I swear, meeting blog friends is the best thing!

Edit: ALERT ALERT!!

SUZANNE put up her post on the meetup HERE. It's PERFECT. 

And it includes video from the vintage shop & Talize. You MUST SEE IT. Hahaha!!

Shameless, shameless

Suzanne flashes a bit of leg in the star dressing room at Used House of Vintage, the most glamourous vintage change room in town.

Edit: I put a new photo of Sue and Suzanne on my street style blog, here.

And below, my entire Press Preview outfit. I love it, especially with my tidy Kim Novak hairdo, all slicked back like that, my black eyeshadow, and Poe lipstick. I used my uni-suspender to hoist the waist of my fisherman pants and a kimono-fabric shoelace around my neck to secure my wallet holster. The day of this function was also terribly windy, cold, and wet, no surprise there, but my hair didn't budge. Hahaha.

All this rambling is what happens when I miss posting for a while. As I said, social hairballs - processing everything that's been going on takes time.

I'll link something up with Patti at Not Dead Yet Style, her Visible Monday party. I'm exhausted! I'll be the one snoozing on the lawn. And next weekend is another big meetup, which, by the way, I'm looking forward to.

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I just found out that the Marie Claire Brazil magazine article I was in is also online. 

You can see it HERE. 

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Please tell me I've covered everything now. Please. Heh. 

Oh yeah, I have also been obsessing over a series on Netflix called Velvet, about a couture ladies' department store (Velvet) in Madrid, Spain, in the late '50s, and the lives and forbidden love between one of the store's heirs and a seamstress/designer who boards in the store. Don't watch it! There are 54 episodes and each one is over an hour long. The fashion, the music, the language... Sigh.

New York and Arizona on a budget

OMG OMG - I'm in NEW YORK!!!
Yup, who made it to NYFW?

OMG OMG - I'm in ARIZONA!!! 

Yup, who made it to  
The 40+ Blogger Meetup in Phoenix,
hosted by Sherry of 
Petite over 40?

Puh, NOT ME and NOT ME!!

I'm so bummed that I missed yoga with goats, which hostess Sherry, in a stroke of genius, included on the itinerary in Phoenix. Diane of Fashion on the Fourth Floor demonstrates great goat yoga style in the photo below. Bwahahaha!

Diane of blog Fashion on the Fourth Floor.

Diane has more photos HERE on her Instagram. I figure I could get my partner O to stand on my back, even though he lacks the requisite cloven hoof. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't relieve himself or eat my clothes or hair while he's up there, but that's part of the excitement, isn't it? Not to mention the sound effects I'd be missing out on with a real goat. At home, I'd just be yelling, "Ow! Ow! Get off me!" O: "But you said..." M: "I don't CARE WHAT I SAID! This is one of my stupidest ideas ever!"

Yup. At the moment, what I cannot manage with world travel I compensate for with photo editing. The backgrounds are from copyright-free/non-attribution photo stock, which I normally avoid - I'd much rather USE MY OWN PHOTOS! which I take when I GO TO THESE PLACES in real 3D life. But this was a self-pity emergency.

So I've been feeling surly, rankled, perturbed, and cranky - which meant I had to do full-on Party Face this week two days in a row [see previous post on Party Face]. It's a recent record. Below, example of eyeliner Day One.

Yes, a classic Mel photo illustrating my black eyeliner and black satin corset, both of which are COMPLETELY obscured here. And as a sop for not being able to have a goat or O stand on my back, I have put a rhinoceros on my arm. I feel much better now. Bet you didn't get that in Arizona, did ya? Did ya? Bwahahaha!

Below, eyeliner Day Two, which includes cosmetic leftovers from Day One, so handy, but a bit messier because I was more pissed off. I wore my thrifted Armani suit to give the brand name an uncomfortable squeeze. I like the designer-with-gutter look a lot. On my lips is Kat Von D's "Poe" lipstick on top of YSL No. 208.

Wearing an outfit like this makes me walk like a predator, yes, for skulking around the grocery store, where I went shopping. But cripes, my cool stealth walk was hideously ruined by a useless broken shopping cart with whirly wheels which I had to drag across the floor. I wanted to shout: Look out! I'm heading to the dairy aisle now! It's only neighbourly to give advance warning, right? They saw my hair and eyeliner and hid in bulk foods.

In summary, in terms of clear, full-on outfit photos, this post is a big FAIL, except the first double exposures, which show the Day Two Armani suit with my vintage men's overcoat. To see the full corset outfit of Day One, sorry, you have to go to my Instagram. Really - my apologies. I get tired of seeing myself all the frickin' time.

But now? Today? As I write this I am a vision of serenity even without the goat. My hair too has gone all namasty. Really, I'm not a menace. And no shoppers were harmed in dairy. What a week! And about the blog title, "New York and Arizona on a budget," basically my advice is: don't go. How it pains me to say it. Breathe. Breathe. Find a goat...

I'm linking up to Patti @ Not Dead Yet Style, Visible Monday, and Catherine @ Not Dressed as Lamb, #iwillwearwhatilike.

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And a Huge Warm Welcome! to my new subscribers. So happy to see you!
I'll have to put on the kettle - or roll out the bar cart. Yes. 

Life beyond the screen

Oh look - I'm a real person! With real friends! Bwahaha. Thank goodness for friends. It's one of the big reasons I keep blogging.

I met up with Sue of A Colourful Canvas before Christmas and we had lunch at Vancouver Art Gallery before hitting the streets. We both happened to be dressed in screamingly bright colours. Not really a surprise. I mean, she's not called Sue of A Bland Canvas, is she? I'm wearing my Norwegian onesie. That's the gallery behind us.

After a lot of blah, blah, blahing, laughs, and startled guffaws, we marched down to the fabric store, Dressew, where we drooled all over their fabrics, so much goodness, especially in the faux fur section. Then, we stopped at swanky fashion retailer Holt Renfrew to ogle their merchandise. Sue tried on this adorable beret/hat with a pom pom thingy on top.

I really love Sue's hot pink puffer coat - so refreshing to the eye when most people are wearing dark outerwear.

And I tried on the humongoid hat below. Of course we didn't buy either of these hats but shopping is most of the fun. Holt Renfrew has recently completed a big renovation project so it's much more spacious and deluxe. It's a good thing - Nordstrom a block away is on the offensive. I'll let them duke it out while I do my real shopping in vintage, thrift, and consignment shops, although Sue and I got lots of inspiration here for our own projects.

Our meetup was the perfect way to brace ourselves for the holidays. If it's true that laughter is the best medicine, we were both satisfyingly doped up by the end of the day. Mwah, Sue!

And then I had my first booze of the new year last week when I met up with Sandra of standard.deviations for, uh, booze - a glass of wine during happy hour - accompanied by a pile of fries smothered in too much raw garlic and salt. Slightly pitui, but I forced myself, heh. I tried ordering a shot glass of wine, but they don't sell it in that size.

It was frickin' freezing outside afterwards. This is a picture of me looped and Sandra keeping her cool. The instructions for this photo were: DON'T MOVE YOUR HEAD! [maniacal laughter] My camera was perched on the post box on self-timer for this shot in the dark. But we wildly swung our arms around - just because, hey, wonder what that will look like. Now we know.

We are in Yaletown, Vancouver's warehouse district turned trendy. I remember club-hopping at gay bars here in the early '80s because that's where all the best dancing was. When I returned here after living abroad, everything had changed. Me too, I suppose.

And Sandra again below. Check out her BEAST!! She told me about this coat earlier that week and that's what inspired me to check out the menswear section where I found the traffic cone coat I wore in the previous post. Sandra's coat is probably made of the elusive blue faux mountain mink.

These are just two of the meetups I've had recently. While I was chatting with Sandra on a street corner one morning a while ago, Vancouver Barbara tore by in her sexy little car, beeping wildly, and I flapped a big wave back. I love these chance encounters.

I look forward to more meetups this year. The friendships I've made through blogging are the best thing about it.

I'll end this post with this photo from Yaletown.

In my wine-addled state, at first I thought an alien ship had photo-bombed our shot. But no - using my magic loupe, I realized that this looked creepily like flesh! Ghost hand?! Or had my own hand become so obviously rhino-hided this season I hadn't even noticed? It couldn't be a bicycle seat, right?

Then, using my superior powers of deduction, I realized that my camera on the post box had tipped downward on self-timer for an excellent shot of my leather glove tucked under the lens to prop it up. Brilliant.

Why don't they sell shot-glass sizes of wine? Why?

There are some outfit photos on my Instagram if you're interested. HERE. That's all.
Have a great week all youse guys.

Thrifting tips video! and a problematic gown

A gown I love, but can I wear it? Well, technically, yeah I can, but the design has a puddle hem. Great for cleaning sidewalks. Great for dusting floors. How about I just stick a bunch of Swiffer dusting cloths under it and swan around the house as part of my glam-up-my-life project?

I have no choice but to be carried when I wear this gown. But seriously? No matter how romantic that sounds, being carried is usually not terribly comfortable in real life, especially in a dress with drop shoulders and strapless underthings.

This outfit is like Morticia Addams on Skittles. Too bad my hair fell down.

I took this photo of the dress in the concrete box. So much better here I think.

And then there is the fear of being dropped, hard, awkwardly, or slipping slowly, inexorably out of deceptively muscled arms until I end up with one leg half-dragging/hopping through the dirt. Piggy-back would work but only if I knew my carrier well and had a riding crop and rallying cry. "Onward ho!" Maybe not - why do words change meaning?

The fireman's carry would work, two people with crossed arms, chair style. Oh yes. Yes, that would be splendid, but I'd need to find two people who get along to accomplish that - harder than it sounds. I simply will not act as no man's land between two warring factions with their fists near my buttocks.

Below I practise the safety position.

I could hoist the dress and carry the hem or get someone else to lift my train, but then what's the frigging point, right? You are probably thinking, brides handle these awkward situations all the time - well, heck yeah, it's kind of an inauguration for what's to come in marriage, isn't it?

I could actually give up and walk normal style in the dress and let the hem do its dirty work, but I cannot ignore the increased risk of tripping and falling on my face (which, by the way, I did when Suzanne visited, I was not wounded). And now that my life odometer recently turned over again (the reset is faulty and doing it is perhaps even illegal!) there is the risk of bone breakage.

I would never, ever sit down here. Hahaha!! 

Let's say I do get to my swanky destination clean and unharmed, dignity intact, the clingy nature of the dress means I would still be picking at my garment immediately upon arrival, preferably in the privacy of a bathroom - oh yes, exactly where I want to be (eyes roll), looking almost fabulous next to the toilet. Not only that, I'd be wasting precious trough time at the buffet and bar, assuming the other glitterati hadn't cleaned them out already, not having been detained by a prior summit meeting on the Puddle Hem Situation (PHS).

I am looking forward to advances in remote control helicopters which could safely air-lift me to such events in such hems. All I would need to do is clothespin-shut the bottom of the dress so that gawkers on the ground would not get any free shows or showers because I'd probably be scared out of my wits - which could, now I think about it, also be problematic.

Sigh.

I bought this gown from Talize thrift store - I don't remember, but I think Suzanne pre-picked it for me (she also did that for my fave maxi denim coat). I'm glad it was only $16. If I charged by the word for this blog post, the cost would have dropped considerably already. Hurray! Not a waste of money after all. For those of you muttering "scissors," wash your mouth out with soap.

AND -

As I mentioned in my previous post, I met up with Suzanne Carillo for a day of high tea, thrift shopping, and my first-ever evening at a comedy club, and then a few days later Sue of A Colourful Canvas joined in too for a day of thrift shopping, filming, and dinner that lasted hours and hours, during which time we solved all our problems forever. Yay!

Below is the video I edited together from filming we did at Talize thrift store in Delta, BC, not too far from Vancouver. The story was put together by Suzanne based on her blog post 20 Thrift Shopping Secrets for Quality Treasures. Would you believe we jotted the ideas down on a napkin at the comedy club? Heh. Other shoppers seemed to think we were having too much fun. Indeed we were. You can see this dress in the cart near the end of the video. Heh.

TA DA!! 

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There's more news but I shall spare you. If you've made it this far, you need a gold medal for diving over the finish line. It's busy here. Good.

I'll link up with Patti at Visible Monday, Not Dead Yet Style, and Catherine at #iwillwearwhatilike, Not Dressed as Lamb. For not actually wearing the dress except in the stairwell so far, I certainly got around. Heh.

Hope you are all WELL!!

Styling grey hair, and a blogger meetup

Oh dear, oh dear, I'm levitating again. There's something about orange and pink that defies gravity.

That's a new top from the $5 rack at My Sister's Closet eco thrift boutique - wispy orange chiffon, probably home-made, with open cape-style sleeves that shield my arms from the sun. I adore the people who sewed this and then donated it instead of chucking it. It looks so great with these pants. I'm also wearing my lace-up sandal-shoes with the block heel.

And my neon orange vintage sunglasses; I don't often wear them. My hair also defied gravity today. Speaking of hair...

This week I made a video about how I do my tower hairstyle. Simple. Here it is. I put it in the context of a series called Secrets of the Schtars in case I want to do more. Heh.

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****Secrets of the Schtars!****

Styling Grey Hair: Tower Hair
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I wore lots and lots of makeup because I can - actually I had planned on doing a comedy video but decided at the last minute to do a hair tutorial for my sticking-straight up hair.

I don't go to salons anymore. I don't colour my hair anymore either. For now at least. Luckily, O has a talent with scissors and he cuts my hair at home.

His cuts give me two go-to styles, which I LOVE, worn down like a pixie cut, as seen above in a still from the video. And straight up with tower hair, like below.

I know that a lot of you already do standing-up hair, in a variety of colours too! It's really so much fun. But I enjoy the down look as well, demure, sophisticated, and/or androgynous. I think I have all bases of my personality covered with these two looks.

Let me know in the comments if you have questions. It's pretty straightforward.

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And a blogger meetup!

Last Friday I had the exquisite pleasure of meeting up with Vancouver Barbara, who attended the blogger meet-up in Vancouver last summer, Louisa of Damselfly's Delights and Sue of A Colourful Canvas.

We started out with lunch at the landmark Sylvia Hotel next to English Bay, as seen above, then made our way to Dressew fabric store and Atex Fabrics where we all happily added to our fabric stashes. We topped off the day with a stop at Purebread bakery.

Hats off to the one blogger, who, in her absence, still managed to be the life of the party - Suzanne Carillo. Off and on all afternoon we swore like sailors in her honour, especially in Barbara's car as we careered through Vancouver streets. Feckin' eh.

Everyone looked fantastic and was wearing something they had made or thrifted. In my case, my robe was from Shelley, Forest City Fashionista. But even more impressive was the warmth, humour, intelligence, and talent of these amazing women.

I didn't get many photos of the bunch, which speaks to how much fun we were having, but I did manage to get a few sidewalk shots for my street style blog, here.

Meeting people I've met through blogging in real life, that's the best, like meeting celebrities! I hope you get a chance to have meet-ups too.

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One more photo of my orange outfit for the road.

Also, if you tried to listen to my CBC Radio interview and couldn't, I uploaded a YouTube version of the clip to make it more accessible. It's on this post.

I'm linking up with Patti at Not Dead Yet Style for Visible Monday and Catherine at Not Dressed as Lamb for #iwillwearwhatilike.

Have a great week!

PS: Whew. Last night I was suddenly having quirky layout issues with Blogger! But a dear woman named Meutia posted a coding fix. Wow, I am soooo thankful for these people who share their expertise.