pleats, braids & wedges

1. Ray-Ban New Wayfarers, 2. Straw hat from Club Monaco (2 seasons ago), 3. Heart earrings from Violet Boutique in Victoria, 4. Gap Jean Jacket from 2002, 5. Oak & Fort Ana Dress, 6. Marni x H&M wedges.

For a a few of you who know me well, hair styling is NOT my thing!  Instructions must be simple, product usage must be minimal, so when I came across Joanna Goddard from A Cup of Jo‘s tutorial for a Braided Crown, I thought i’d give it a try!  I think it turned out alright, and its a nice quick and simple up-do to free your neck from the summer heat!  Joanna has a whole bunch of neat hair tutorials on her blog, check them out for some simple but elegant styles!  If I can do it…

This jersey pleated maxi dress from Oak & Fort is one of my favourites for this summer!  I picked it up when I was in Edmonton and I wear it every weekend!  Ryan and I FINALLY saw Dark Knight Rises on Saturday, so I wanted to be comfy, but still presentable for wandering around Downtown!

Photos by Ryan.

Blue, Neoprene & Silver

1. Ray-Ban New WayFarers (RB2132), 2. T by Alexander Wang Jersey Racerback Tank (similar), 3. H&M Printed skirt, 4. Zara silver sandals, 5. Michael Kors watch and 6. Club Monaco Linen Clutch (2010).

As soon as I saw my super stylish blogger friend Kirin of ClosetCast sporting this fun printed neoprene-like skirt, I knew I had to hunt it down!  Kirin is the epitome of California-cool and pairs it perfectly with a chambray button up and her to DIE for Balenciaga tube sandals (jealous)!  Kirin is completely on point with comparing this fun print to those of Peter Pilotto and I like how it reminds me of Alexander Wang’s Botanical prints from his Spring 2012 RTW line!

Since it has been so hot here in Vancouver, I thought I’d pair this incredibly comfortable skirt with a simple blue tank and some silver flats I picked up at the Zara summer sale!   Thanks Kirin for helping me find this great summer skirt!

Mint & Cream

1. Oak + Fort Audrey Top, 2. Vintage belt, 3. Zara Mint Jeans, 4. Club Monaco Linen Clutch (2010), 5. Vintage pearl necklaces as bracelets, 6. Michael Kors Watch, 7. Christian Louboutin Lavender Simple 85mm Patent Pumps (similar here).

On my recent trip to Edmonton, I became obsessed with Oak + Fort.  I knew of the store in Gastown, but I thought I could afford their pieces… I was pleasantly surprised how wrong I was!  The store is full of beautifully simple, chic and architecturally cut pieces at affordable prices!  I picked this Audrey Cream Top for 50$ (along with a few other items I’ll have to post about later)!  I will definitely check out their Gastown location!

I decided to jump on the mint jeans bandwagon.  Mint is one of my favourite colours, and pastels are so huge this season, and these jeans were only 50$ so why not?  I thought accessorizing with a strand of vintage pearls (bought at an antique mall in Victoria) would be all the jewelry i’d need to finish off this simple look!  Thanks to Ryan for the pics!

Raspberry, Lavender & Gold

1. Bracelets (left to right): Gold bangle – Aldo Accessories, Mint enamel bangle – J.Crew (not online, but in store), Art Deco – vintage, Michael Kors Gold Watch, J.Crew Pavé Link Bracelet (not online, similar here); 2. Mike & Chris Maguire Studded Leather Jacket; 3. French Connection Lady Laguna Halter Neck Dress; 4. Christian Louboutin Lavender Simple 85mm Patent Pumps (similar here).

Saturday night was our good friends Suki and Surinder’s 20th wedding anniversary!  Ryan and I dressed up in our party clothes and attended a beautiful party planned and hosted by their talented eldest daughter Romeena (and executed by wonderful family and friends) in Coal Harbour!  We had a blast photographing this sweet and loving couple before the party and so much fun helping them celebrate their amazing and inspiring 20 years together (photos to come)!

Outfit photos by Ryan (thanks!)

Party Pieces…

A sneak peek of the outfit and accessories I’m wearing tomorrow night!  Time to break out my lavender Louboutins!

Freshly Pressed!!

My outfit post “red, mint & blue” with photos by Ryan was featured on WordPress’ main page “Freshly Pressed” today!!  I am SO flattered and thrilled, thank you to everyone who visited, liked and commented and of course, to WordPress.com!  I’m so grateful!! You’ve all inspired me to keep posting!  xoxo

Scarf, Shades & Spring!

1. Ray-Ban New WayFarers (RB2132), 2. vintage scarf, 3. Mike & Chris Maguire studded leather jacket, 4. Elizabeth & James black camisole (also seen here), 5. Club Monaco chartreuse clutch, 6. J Brand 811 mid-rise bright royal skinny leg jeans. 7. Michael Kors watch.

This long weekend has been the first weekend in a long time where I’ve actually really needed my sunglasses, though still a tad chilly, I wore my favourite leather jacket and silk vintage scarf that my Mom gave me!  Ryan and I walked around Stanley Park and snapped some pictures on Saturday afternoon, the weather was so wonderful!  We had a peek at the nesting great blue herons, walked along the sea wall and then visited one of our favourite liquor stores and picked up a 6-pack of the new Okanagan Spring Apricot Summer Weizen!  It’s a beautifully light fruity beer, perfect for the start of Spring!  Photos 1, 2, 5 & 6 by Ryan, rest by me.

Dots & Dior

1. Rag & Bone Leigh Jacket, 2. Dior Gaucho small saddle bag, 3. Zara contrasting polka dot blouse, 4. JBrand jeans, 5. Vintage belt (gifted to me by Jeri and Rob – it was previously worn by a Johnny Cash impersonator – not kidding) , 6. Zara leopard booties.

My friend Tracy just gifted me a beautiful Dior bag that I’ve been coveting for years, THANK YOU TRACY!  I couldn’t help but pull silly doofy faces for pretty much 100% of the nice photos Ryan was kind enough to take of me in the Park (sorry Ry), so these outfit shots are the best of the bunch (awkwaaaard)!  Hopefully you can get the idea of what I love about this simple outfit, polka dots and leopard – simple but still interesting?)

Ryan and I wandered around downtown Saturday, running some errands and enjoying the lovely weather!  We came across the first magnolia tree i’ve seen out in bloom this spring, and in the span of the 5 minutes we stood taking pictures, about 10 people also stopped and snapped it’s amazing blooms!  Probably my favourite flowering tree!  Hope you had a great weekend too!

Outfit shots by Ryan, magnolia shots by me.

red, mint & blue

Oxford shirt from Gap, Red 1969 legging jeans from Gap, Mint belt from H&M, Michael Kors watch, Classic cream Toms Shoes, Mike & Chris studded Maguire leather jacket, Ashley Watson Warbler bag, Kio Yamato KP-083U glasses.

Ryan took a few pictures of my new work outfit (with his new Canon 5D Mark II baby – Thanks Ry)!  I’m really loving bright pant colours (I now own cobalt, mustard and red pants), and Gap has lots of great options right now (including a beautiful emerald green coloured legging jean)!  It’s starting to feel a lot more like spring, the bulbs are blooming, its getting warmer outside and we decided to walk along the Park and up Robson to grab a quick (and always delicious) snack at the Roaming Dragon (again), and this time we snacked on the fried rice balls (of course) and tried the Tuna Tataki Sammys! Deeeelish!  Hop over to Ryan’s blog to read his review!

New Shoes from Zara!

I hit the Zara sale and picked up 2 pairs of fun new shoes!  I’ve never actually owned anything animal print, and I’ve been eyeing leopard shoes for a while now, so I was super happy they had a pair of leopard booties on sale for 50% off!  I missed nabbing these silver patent bluchers last fall, but they had brought a few pairs back to the Robson street store, and I finally got them for 50% off!  Can’t wait to wear my new shoes!