Blogger Sale

blouse - Nordstrom Rack, cropped pants - Rachel Roy from The Bay, heels - Aldo, jewelry - old (I can't remember)

I remember seeing these Rachel Roy fancy pants (and falling in love with them) at The Bay for $120 or $130 last fall. Flash forward to after Christmas during all the Boxing Week sales and I scored these suckers for $35! Not bad, not bad. I wore this outfit to our first Fashion Blogger Clothing Sale held at Phabrik Art & Design last Saturday. A bunch of Edmonton bloggers (Sandy from The Pretty Secrets, Alyssa from The Ordinary People, Vickie from Adventures In Fashion, Jenna from Smitten, Susanna from A Clean, Well-Lit Style Blog, Melanie from Born Lippy, Courtney from The Button Up Blog, Jenn from LUX Beauty Boutique and me!) got together and sold our gently-worn clothing to the public for discounted prices. We had a really good turn-out and it was a lot of fun hanging out with the girls (and Anton and Derek!) and meeting readers of our blogs, who were so sweet! We're hoping we can make this sale an annual event. If you came on Saturday, THANK YOU for shopping our closets and we hope you're enjoying your buys! Most of the items we didn't sell were donated to the iHuman Youth Society.

Here are some photos from Saturday:

All set up at Phabrik, which was the perfect space for an event like this!

Alyssa (right) from The Ordinary People and her friend Joy.

A few pairs of Courtney's gorgeous shoes she was selling.

New friends Melanie and Courtney (It was so nice meeting these two for the first time on Saturday!)

Susanna's AH-MAZING vintage pieces.

Vickie's clothing rack was a hit!

So I was able to do a little shopping myself and picked up these booties from The Ordinary People for $20 : ) HOW COULD I RESIST??
 

WOW

I just have to say Ashlee Simpson looked STUNNING in this gorgeous black lace Alice + Olivia backless gown which she wore to the American Ballet Theater Spring Gala in NYC Monday night. The emerald earrings and the black and gold clutch complete the outfit perfectly, along with her hair pulled up out of the way in soft waves so that the focus stayed on the dress. When I saw these pics I thought, "damn, girl!" and I almost forgot about the time she lip synced on Saturday Night Live and did that awkward hoedown dance. Remember that?

Life Lately

I apologize I've been M.I.A. lately and haven't written a blog post in awhile! It's been a busy last couple of weeks for me but now I'm back to my normal routine. I was very happy I was able to take a mini vacation to Phoenix last week and relax in the hot sun with my family. I didn't get a tan though because I use SPF 110. (I'm so anal about taking good care of my skin.) We celebrated both of my nephew's birthdays while we were there. That cake on the bottom right was from Walmart and it was better than anything I have ever tasted, even better than my favorite Dairy Queen Skor Blizzard. And it only cost 10 bucks!! (Food is so cheap in the states!) Not sure if I can get this same cake in Canada but I'm on a serious hunt. I also did some a lot of shopping at Nordstrom Rack in Scottsdale. I could spend hours in that store. I'll be wearing my purchases on my blog in the near future ; ).

A day before I left for Arizona, we filmed segments for the West Edmonton Mall Mother's Day Makeover Contest with the 3 winners for Breakfast Television. It was my second time as a Fashion Stylist for the contest and it was another great experience. I had the pleasure of taking each of these ladies on a shopping spree at Simon's and The Bay and styling them for T.V. : ) They also got a new hairstyle and their make up done. Unfortunately I don't have copies of their "before" pictures to show you : (.

And that's pretty much what I've been up to lately! This week I'm also gearing up for our Blogger Clothing Sale. If you live in Edmonton, you should definitely attend! There are gonna be some niiiiice clothes and accessories for sale, I can tell you that ; ).

Blogger Wardrobe Sale!

I'm very excited to be a part of this event! It's been a long time coming! Come shop the closets of your favorite Edmonton fashion bloggers Saturday, May 18th at the beautiful Phabrik Art + Design Center near Whyte Avenue. Gently worn, name brand and designer clothing in sizes 2 to 18 will be available for purchase as well as shoes, accessories and more! All at huge discounts. I have a ton of clothing I'll be selling, even some pieces I've never worn. We would love to see you there : ). If you have any questions, please email me or leave a comment in the comment section below and I will respond to it. You can also join our Facebook page for updates where we'll be posting a few pictures of what we'll be selling.

Update: Check out the interview I did with the Edmonton Sun about the event here. We were also featured in the Edmonton Journal : ).

Any leftover clothing we don't sell will be donated to the iHuman Youth Society.

Greenery

blouse - J Fresh, pants and rings- H & M, clutch - Top Shop, heels - Aldo, 

gold cuff - Banana Republic, rings, pendant - I forget but maybe Aldo??

I know I just wore these pants in this outfit post a few weeks ago but I can't help it, they're my go-to fancy pants when I want to pair a bright top with black and white bottoms. I got them last year at H & M. I haven't bought anything from H & M in a long time, actually I haven't purchased any clothes from any store in ages, which is really unusual for me! I've been trying to wear clothing I already have in my closet and save up for high-quality pieces that I really want. I no longer buy just for the sake of buying. (Let's see how that pans out when I go to Arizona next week and visit Nordstrom Rack!) These days I have to really love something before I hand my credit card over. It's amazing what I can buy when I don't spend my leftover money solely on clothes! Like books, and workout DVD's and healthy food! : )

The Perfect Outfit

                                                               photo credit: Vanessa Jackman

I'm one of those people who likes to wear black, even in the spring and summer  (is that depressing?) so I am in love with this outfit Elin Kling is wearing here. I'm also a big fan of dressing simply and comfortably and I'm guessing I could probably sleep in these pants, that's how comfy they look! But I wouldn't dare sleep in them because they probably cost hundreds of dollars.

Have a great week! 

Six Picks (What I'm Loving Right Now)

Kelly Oxford's "Everything Is Perfect When You're a Liar." It's a book of essays the hilarious Twitter Queen and hot mom of three wrote and it's laugh-out-loud funny. I read it in two days. I've been following Kelly Oxford on Twitter for a couple of years now (along with her other half-a-million followers) and when I found out she had a book coming out I pre-ordered it right away. I don't normally buy books either, I borrow them from the library but I knew this one was going to be good and that I'd read it more than once. And what's really cool is that she was born and raised in Edmonton! (She's now living and working in Hollywood.) This book is a great read, right up there with Tina Fey's "Bossy Pants" and Mindy Kaling's "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?" Funny stuff, kids.

VOLUSPA candles. I got mine at LUX Beauty Boutique. The containers for these candles are gorgeous, don't you think? And they burn forever. This scent is quite light. D. can't stand strong-smelling candles, he says they give him a headache so this one is perfect for our home.

 This perfect Walker Leather Biker Jacket from ALLSAINTS.  Must. Save. Up. 

Tracy Anderson workouts. I started doing the mat workout DVD on the left a couple of years ago and I liked it but I thought it was reeeeeally hard. I ended up yelling expletives at my T.V. and talking directly to Tracy as if she was in my living room: "Do I really need to do FORTY REPS on one side?! And how come you're not even breaking a sweat and I'm drenched?!" Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when I thought I'd stop being such a wuss and give it another try and I did it 4 times last week and even ordered the Metamorphosis DVD pack to switch things up a bit. Still waiting for it to arrive in the mail...Hey, if I can get a body like Gwyneth Paltrow's (who is one of many Tracy's celebrity clients), I'm willing to do the work! Just not 6 days a week like Tracy recommends. Really, who has time to work out 6 days a week?! GWYNETH PALTROW DOES. 

I was given a couple of samples of REN's Glycol Lactic Radiance Renewal Mask at LUX Beauty Boutique's Birthday last weekend and all I can say is OH MY GOD. My skin felt and looked tighter and brighter after using it. It didn't irritate my skin at all, which I thought might happen. I need to go back and purchase a bottle!

Amanda Bynes' Twitter page. I was hesitant to post this because she's obviously suffering from a mental breakdown and I don't want to come across as making fun of her (but I will come across that way, I know). I really do hope she gets some help as she clearly needs it. But, I have to be honest with you, I check her crazy Twitter page twice a day! With tweets like "I want Drake to murder my v*gina," and "I can't wait to go down on this food," reading her feed is sometimes the highlight of my day, and of course very entertaining. She's a complete train wreck and I can't help that I find her utterly fascinating, kind of like when Britney Spears was going off the deep end circa 2007. I felt sorry for her, but I couldn't help watching her downfall. It's like when you drive by a car crash, you can't not look, you know? You can close your eyes but you know you're gonna peek!

Happy Almost Friday!

Studly (And a Giveaway Winner!)

jean jacket + top - Zara, pants + jewelry - H & M, purse - Rebecca Minkoff, shoes - Dolce Vita

I'm really into studs and I'm not talking about my boyfriend Ryan Gosling (although I'm into him, too.) I love studs on jackets, pants, shoes, iphone cases, anything. The STUDlier the better ; ). So of course this jean jacket caught my eye right away when I saw it last year at Zara. It's the perfect fit, too. Last week my friend asked me if jean jackets were still "in" and I told her, "Of course!" Pair it with a dress, or a tee and some shorts, anything goes! Just make sure you wear something under it, unless you're posing for Playboy.

The winner of the LOFT Bracelet Giveaway is Melanie from Bornlippy! Congrats! Please email me your address!

GM Collin Review

You may know this already but I love cosmetics and skincare products just as much as I love fashion so I was more than happy to review a few products from GM Collin. GM Collin was founded in France in 1957 but since the early 1990's the skincare line has been manufactured and adapted by a Montreal-based company called Dermo-Cosmetik Laboratories, to suit the North American climate which, where I live, is EXTREMELY dry. I used the products (more about each of them below) for 4 weeks. In the above pictures you can see three photos: the first one I took before I started using GM Colin, the second one is 4 weeks after and the last one is of me with makeup on. (I had to include one of me with makeup on so I wouldn't scare my readers away! I was very nervous posting photos of my bare face but there you have it!) I should mention here that I continued using Retin-A, which I've been using for years, and my Vivier Vitamin C Serum in conjunction with these products.

What impressed me most about the products was how deeply hydrated and moisturized my skin felt after using them. I don't think I can go back to using my regular day and night cream after experiencing GM Collin. Before, when I applied concealer to my under eye circles (which are horrible, see here), especially in the winter, the concealer would dry and seep into my fine lines and "crack", it would look very crusty in that area. That doesn't happen anymore, plus my eye circles aren't as dark now and my skin is also much clearer.

To read more about each product I used scroll down:

Hydramucine Cleansing Milk - It actually felt like I was washing my face with milk! This cleanser is very creamy and did a great job removing my makeup, while using my Clarisonic and didn't irritate my sensitive skin.

Hydramucine Treating Mist - I used this right after the cleansing milk and it left my skin feeling fresh and hydrated. Also helps to absorb the products you put on your face after using the mist.

Hydramucine Optimal Cream - I used this during the day, before applying my makeup. The cream is velvety-smooth and super-moisturizing. Makes my skin feel so soft. The only thing that I don't like about this cream is that it doesn't have SPF in it. I wouldn't wear it in the summer, I would use GM Collin SPF 30 Cream instead.

A.G.E. Total Defense - This is an anti-aging cream packed with 8 antioxidants and 5 peptides that combat the signs of aging. I used this at night, all over my face and under my eyes. I found that it decreased the appearance of my fine lines, evened out my skin tone and made my skin brighter. I don't like the packaging though because whenever I tried to open the cap, the whole top would come off and I'd have to screw it back on!

Instant Radiance Anti-Aging Eye Patches - Loved these! I put them under my eye area for 20 minutes and they really did instantly reduce the appearance of my fine lines, under eye bags and dark circles. These are very soothing for the delicate skin around the eyes and great for the morning after a long night out ; ).

Overall, I was really impressed with this skincare line and what it had to offer. And even though these products were sent to me free of charge to review, I would purchase them myself. They are a little pricey but so worth it. I make sure to invest in high quality skin care, especially now that I'm out of my twenties and I have to think about wrinkles and aging! I want to age gracefully. Plus, the skin is the largest organ in the body, you need to treat it well : ).

To find out where you can buy these products in your area you can visit this site and call:1-800-361-1263.