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

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

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!

Outfit Snapshots

Just a few little snaps of my favorite outfits last week.

I bought this J.Crew top (on sale here) for our family Christmas Eve gathering and it has become a staple over the past month. The stripe obsession is still strong!

 

Can we talk about fleece leggings? I don't see these on the website, but these ones from Old Navy have becomes my pajamas, my leggings, my pants. Basically they are a second skin. AND they were on sale in store for $10. Yup, I picked up enough to get me through a week without doing laundry.

 

No fleece-legging kind of day is complete without a fun, comfy shirt. I see she has discontinued this Holla! shirt, but my buddy Tessa always has the softest and cutest tees in her Cake For Breakfast store.

 

Chunky socks + suede moto boots = happy feet

I love these brown motorcycle boots from Zara, in fact I pretty much love everything when I go to Zara. It's a problem really.

 

No fashion-based post can be complete without my little fashionista (dress here). She is Valentine's ready, with hearts or pink/red on nearly every outfit these days. I think she has discovered her favorite holiday!

1 dress, 3 outfits

 

I stopped into Old Navy last week for a few pairs of leggings for the Wrennie girl. I think that was the first time I set foot in there for like a year! I pick up the occasional item for her there but rarely look around for myself...mainly because, well, one too many jean try-ons have gone wrong there for me (not to say they don't look amazing, but I think fancy jeans have ruined me for run-of-the-mill denim. Goodness, that sounds horribly pretentious, doesn't it?). But I quickly glanced through the ladies items when I saw that all sale items were an extra 30% off and found this adorable J.Crew-esque denim dress. 

On sale for $7.99... PLUS 30% OFF! are you kidding me? (here is the link, but it doesn't seem to reflect the in-store price)

I literally walked out with about 5 outfits for Wren, plus this dress and a pair of leggings for me and it was about $60. Yeah, I felt pretty impressed with myself that day.

I tend to buy very few new clothes throughout the year, instead I invest in a handful of quality, long-term pieces every Winter (for the Spring/Summer) and every Summer/Fall for the Winter and then I'll toss in a little bit of trendy stuff from places like Forever21. 

Since I only invest in a few new things, my closet really isn't all that packed with options and I prefer to rework my basics in different ways or with accessories. And a basic like this is so fun and easy to make different outfits with.

Outfit 1

-roll the sleeves

-add an infinity scarf (from Gap last summer, similar here)

-layered over leggings or tights 

Outfit 2

- Layer crewneck sweater over top (mine is a cashmere Rebecca Taylor sweater from last Spring, but here is a nearly identical one at a great price!)

- throw on a bright, chunky necklace (I found this J.Crew one at Goodwill once upon a time)

I find I layer like this A LOT in the winter, wearing even Summer dresses with sweaters over top. Since our Summer months are so short in comparison to Winter I feel like I need to get my use out of them somehow and this is an easy way.

Outfit 3

-add a military style jacket (this one is from Antropologie a few years ago, similar here)

-a few long necklaces

-throw on some motorcycle booties (from Zara)

I can already tell you that the last military look will be my go-to this Spring. I tend to add some sort of military inspired item to pretty much every outfit these days, usually in the form of combat boots. But this a much girlier version of my usual military obsession.

Glitter & Gold Fall

I have been in denial about this whole Fall thing... It has been warm, sunny and very Summer like here. Until this week.

Even though it's been nice in the afternoons the mornings start out pretty chilly. Which can only mean that fall is coming despite my efforts to pretend otherwise.

The cold morning issue is a biggie for me because Wren and I walk to school every day. So I am all about this big sweatshirt trend that is happening right now, in fact I think I've been ahead of this trend for years now because I love me some cozy sweatshirts. It is probably the only time in my life I'll get to say that so let me have my moment, k?

 I love that it is totally cool to be dressed down (of which I am habitually an offender) and that sweatshirts are even getting a little glam! So I headed over to Forever21 recently to load up on affordable additions to my sweatshirt collection.

And of course a few other items jumped into my bag...

Here are my Fall must haves, all total for less than $130!

Utility Jacket

Sparkle, sequins and military. The perfect blend of girly and masculine.

If you need 1 thing in your life it is this chunky infinity scarf.

chunky infinity scarf

aviators, polka dot barrette

I have been putting bows under my buns and top knots for a little unexpected preppy touch.

I NEEDED this sweatshirt. A rare In The Fun Lane fact: I LOVE me some Kendrick Lamar music.

similar sweatshirt

A few more bedazzled sweatshirts rounded out my fall wardrobe additions. I have seen the Old Navy ones everywhere lately, but I find these ones feel much thicker (kind of important in the great white north) plus they had more gems and were cheaper. Win win win!

Sequined 82 Sweatshirt, Bejewelled grey Sweatshirt

gold ring set (in silver online)

boy I'm glad I bought the sunglasses, I nearly blinded myself driving the other day with all the sun flares coming off my own shirt.

Have a sparkly day (even if it's chilly out there) and happy shopping!