Pinned Bob

I have done long long mermaid hair, shorter, chin length hair and pretty much everything in between. I always LOVE LOVE LOVE my shorter hair, but about 3 or 4 weeks in I start to miss the versatility and ease of just being able to throw my hair up in a pony tail or messy bun and begin the long process of again growing it out. About 2 years ago I discovered the awesomeness of pinning my longer hair into a messy bob for the day. No more craving shorter hair since I can play with it for a few days then go back to long, easy hair.

The secret is having layers that are the length of the bob you want. Specially in the front. Mine are between shoulder and chin length.

Some gentle teasing around the hairs on my neckline and some pins are all I use. Just pulling three or four sections up in total. I simply tuck the hair under then secure with two pins criss crossed over each other and it seems to hold all day!

A little messy length in front keeps it fun and easy to pull behind my ears.

You can adjust and play with it until it feels about right, there's no wrong way to do it 

And now I am patiently going to wait a few more washes for my hair to tone down to the perfect pastel (oops! got a little carried away with the last colour touch up LOL).

life's short.

Too short to not go on an adventure, each chocolate, or have purple hair. At least for a little while!

Nothing is permanent, but I am not one to take my hair really seriously anyway so I bought these pretty little colours at Sally last week and did a mix of mostly Lavender with just a hint of Azure mixed in to add a little more cool ness to all the warmth in my hair. I barely used any actually, but I did a couple test strips of hair and the straight Lavender was a smidge too reddish on it's own so I'm really happy with my little mix.

I also diluted it all with a little conditioner to tone it down from being too vibrant, and more on the pastel side (but not too pastel off the bat since it will fade naturally to that colour on it's own)

Looks like 2015 is shaping up to be my year of shape shifting hair colours LOL.

xoxo

2014 - 2015

HAPPY NEW YEAR! yes, I know it's been a while. The tail end of 2014 was crazy (as I'm sure it is for everyone!), between the last work at Laurier, working on Quesnell Heights flip, and Birthday's for Wren and yours truly amidst all the holidays, volunteering and general chaos, sitting down and writing here just seemed like an impossibility. I have some really big, exciting plans for the first half of 2015 that I can't share just yet, but I am hoping you will understand that while my blog isn't the same as it once was, I won't be disappearing anytime soon. But in the meantime, I thought I would do a nod back to the blogging days of old with a mix of decor/fashion and general life (of course, you can always catch up with me on IG where I share all of this stuff daily).

In no particular order, here were a few outfit highlights of December:

Forever21 jacket, Joes Jeans, Splendid loafers.

Madewell sweater and jeggings, Joe's Jeans suede boots

Zara jacket, Forever21 sweatshirt and jeans, Spring boots

Zara tribal sweater jacket, Theory leggings, military boots from Claire's (who knew they had shoes in there?)

And just days before the calendar switched over to 2015 I decided to try a totally different look and dyed my hair a silver/violet shade. TOTALLY out of character but I LOVE it. New Year, new look.

Rebecca Taylor sweater, H&M sweats.

hmmmm, what else is new??? Oh yeah, Santa came by. He was very good to Wren since she was such a good girl this year. There was some Frozen toys, a sled, and a giant Lego head to help sort and store her growing Lego collection. She loves this guy so much, as you shake it the different sized pieces are all sorted in different levels.

The super cute toys bags are from Etsy seller Tellkiddo, and they are perfect for those of us who have toys littering the whole house in various forms.

ANNNNND, I suppose one of the biggest changes, challenges and reasons I don't have nearly as much time for blogging is the fact that Toffee went from being an only-dog-child. To having a sister.

Ruby came along in October. Sean has been wanting a big dog for years and time and a litter of puppies seemed to finally align, bringing Ruby into our lives. She is a puppy, so obviously LOTS OF WORK. It's been a while since I've dealt with puppy stuff and I forgot just how busy they are. 

Then just a month later, around the time of my last blog post this little man came into our lives.

Mr. Bean came into our lives after running into traffic and I nearly killed him. Once I stopped and checked to see if he was alive and if he had a collar (he didn't) we saw that he was injured. It turns out he was most likely attacked by a coyote just an hour or so before we found him and he had multiple punctures and attack wounds, along with signs of previous abuse ( I won't go into detail, but it was horrific). It turns out he was microchipped and his previous owner declined to care for him, so we decided to help him back to health, and after a week or so we just couldn't part with him.

He is a spunky, funny little man and while he still has some anxiety after his attack he has come so far in the two months we've had him we just can't imagine life without him.

All of Wren's fur babies! Wren is the one who is most in love with all these guys. She is such an animal lover and to have three dogs to play with and train is a dream come true for her.

2014 ended on such a full, happy note and I am so excited to make 2015 amazing. 

xoxo
Holly

Possession Obsession: Poppy Barley confetti flats

Hi guys!! I am still alive, still kicking and still hustling to get Laurier done! I will show you some in-progress shots tomorrow. I'm still trying to get the hang of this school schedule with Wren plus fit in the all-time-high level of projects I am tackling. It's all very fun and exciting but sitting at the laptop to do a blog post seems like a luxury I just don't have time for yet. But I am in the process of simplifying and setting a schedule that will allow me to pop in more (at least once a week I'm hoping!). 

But speaking of Popping!! I just had to share my current obsession: Poppy Barley's confetti flats!

You may recall me including a pair in my 'Like Want Need' post back in June, they were on my NEED list!

 

Don't they just scream 'Holly!'?

I am so lucky to say I now have my very own pair! The colours and pattern had my heart off the bat, but I was most excited by the fact that they are custom fitted. You see, I have wide feet. Like embarrassingly hard to fit wide feet. It makes nearly all cute flats besides runners very close to agony to wear. There are always a surplus of bandaids in my purse for this very reason, but not any more!

These are a heaven sent gift from above that have changed my view of comfy and cute footwear.

The only problem? The bottoms are even freakin adorable and it nearly killed me to wear them outside the first time in fear of dirty-ing them LOL. 

See? even wide feet can be cute and cosy now! If you even kind of think you need a pair of these I highly suggest snapping up a pair because there are only 77 to go around!

Sunny Style

FINALLY! Summer is officially arrived and I can't tell you how excited we are in our house. We may have even prematurely hit up the local spray parks a handful of times as an excuse to break out the beach towels and some fresh watermelon.

My look this summer is a little more va-va-voom than in years past thanks to my new glasses from ClearlyContacts.ca and a bright red, vintage inspired swim suit. 

I can't even get over the awesomeness of these tortoise shell-like frames from Derek Cardigan, which are a little out of my comfort zone (I'm typically an aviator gal) but on steady rotation.

And thanks to Clearly Contact for this weekend only you can get 20% off any pair of sunglasses PLUS free shipping. Just use code: SUMMER when you checkout! 

What is your poolside look for this summer? (or how you wish you might look because the reality is I'll be rocking these to hide the fact I am not at all glamorous most Summer days at the pool, covered in sunscreen and sweating like crazy).

If you, too, are far from glam and need a disguise, or even if you are the queen glamazon Clearly Contacts wants you to vamp it up this Summer in your own pair of Derek Cardigan sunglasses! If you are a Canadian resident all you have to do is enter below for a chance to snag your very own pair on the house (sorry to all my beautiful US and worldwide readers, I promise I'll have another great opportunity for you soon!).

THANKS CLEARLY CONTACTS! and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Camera Style

My sister bought me (this) camera strap for my birthday a couple years ago and since then I've enjoyed keeping my camera looking good. The bloom theory strap she bought is absolutely stunning and I've gotten a ton of compliments when wearing it. But while I adore it and it is perfect for events and such, when I'm photographing a dusty construction site or taking shots of a project with paint still on my hands it probably isn't the best idea to use it. 

So, I've started to create a little 'wardrobe' for my camera strap, which consists of her fancy outfit mentioned above and a little green number. Then my buddy Amanda set up her latest camera strap benefit sale a couple weeks ago (seriously, is there anything this girl can't do?) where I saw this ruffled, pink and polka dotted number and knew she would be perfect for Paris! 

Now, my only dilemma is going to be getting Sean to take shots for me with this around his neck.

Sadly for us, but great for Amanda's cause, her sale sold out pretty quick.

But how cute are some of the shops on etsy?

like this one from Bluebird Chic

And this one from Bloom Theory would be lovely for summer. It looks so comfy!

And don't forget, Amanda is bringing Be Crafty to us Edmonton girls this June! 

We have limited seating available (plus early bird pricing!), which you can get all the details on here.

Come, bring a friend, or make new ones and enjoy a good old fashioned mess.

And to everyone who's signed up so far, I can't wait to see you there!

It's May and Paris is Calling

I seriously have the most wonderful friends and family ever (sorry if that sounds braggy, but it's true!). My best friend Alexis just turned 30 last month and you may recall that I turned the big 3-0 in December, Sean is also joining the 30 club in June so we decided to join forces celebrate in the most graceful, exciting and fabulous way imaginable: in Paris! (Alexis's hubby, Tom, can pretend he is celebrating 30 too *winking at you Tom*)

forever21 top, sunnies, old Urban Outfitters skirt but similar here.

We are embarking on our adventure of London, Paris and Nice in just over a week and I am getting super pumped to be doing it with my favorite people ever. It is kind of amazing to think that Alexis and I have gone from Junior high sleep overs all the way up to touring the City of Lights together. The only thing I know I will be missing is little Wrennie while she bunks out with my Parent's for a couple weeks. Lots of facetime will be on the agenda.

I can't wait to capture it all for the first time and share! Any must see spots/restaurants you've been to?

Outfit Snapshots

It's funny, when it comes to shopping some people just love digging around and to other people that is just too time consuming and frustrating. I can see how some people would feel that way, and many of my friends tell me that is why the get so overwhelmed and frustrated with stores like Forever21. If they don't see it on a display they don't dare start searching the hundreds of racks. But I totally enjoy that type of shopping and have a blast killing an hour doing that.

My only complaint is the 6 item rule for the fitting rooms! I love trying various combinations on and my pile is like 20 items deep at any given moment. 

I fell in love with the pattern on this skirt, but as a casual girl I decided to find a cropped sweatshirt to pair it with. This way the awesome silhouette is still visible, but I feel like I'm not too over dressed.

sweatshirt, skirt, necklace from Urban Outfitters.

It's like my favorite outfits from the early 90's are back. Leggings and sweatshirts. Just based on comfort alone I have no idea why these took so long to come back.

leggings, 

sweatshirt, Zara cargo pants from last spring.

Since it can still be cool here sweatshirts are my staple. Seriously, you've never met someone who wears as many as me. Sean just shakes his head.

My Beyonce obssession reached new levels when I found this one. Sean thought I was just a big Ice Cube/Westside Connection fan... He obviously doesn't understand the Queen B love.

sweatshirt 

overalls

Yeah, I think I'm set for Spring to finally make her debut. 

Outfit Snapshots

 Just a few of the moments I managed to look somewhat pulled together over the past couple weeks, also known as those times I took off my cozy sweat pants. Because it went from unseasonably warm to sub-arctic temps in a matter of days. Which really messes with my shoe choices!  

I even managed to downgrade from parka status a couple times! But not for long.

Urban Outfitters Military & leather jacket (I don't see it online but found it in store on sale)

Forever21 'homies' heart sweatshirt

Juicy Couture jeans

Call it Spring ankle boots

Rebecca Taylor blouse

Forever21 cardigan

Joe's Jeans

Forever21 Love/Joy sweatshirt

Joe Fresh beanie

Forever21 blush coat and sweatshirt

Juicy Couture jeans

Zara boots

This post has opened my eyes to the fact that all my favorite jeans are grey... 

Perhaps I need to branch out a little.

Happy Wednesday!

Friday

I am getting geared up for warmer days! Taking inspiration from my grade 1 hyper-color filled wardrobe it seems...

I just can't help it!! Neon pink and orange just fill me with energy and pizzazz, no matter how much I have fought it. 

A quick browse of the sale rack at H&M netted stackable bracelets ($3) and a J.Crew-meets-tribal inspired necklace ($7). 

 

The softest, comfiest pair of shoes ever by Splendid (here) migrated north, to my closet. They may actually be my first pair of oxfords! If pink soles didn't win me over I don't know what would have.

 

Whoever wins the Raybans will definitely need them if we bump into each other wearing all my new neon gear.

Hope your weekend is as bright as my spring outfits!