hard to keep up!

Things have gotten really busy at work again and the blog has become the ugly step child - forgotten and unloved. I will post again really really soon. I promise!

Surviving Winter with Mike

* Yay! This outfit got featured on weardrobe!

Today, I took a day off. I had a huge project before Christmas and vowed to take a few days off in the new year to relax a bit and help make Winter a bit more bearable. This will likely take the form of the occasional Monday off between now and the end of March. Winter here is very beautiful, there is no doubt about that - but the cold gets to me every year, so I save my vacation days to offer me a bit of respite in February.

The plan today was to hit a consignment shop that I've been meaning to check out for awhile. Sadly, when I got there, there was a huge "Closed Mondays" sign up.

Oh well, a book, a chai (in my favourite mug - Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc - that my amazing husband brought me back from Disney World or Disney Land, I can never keep them straight) and catching up on the blog world it is.

I have also started a sewing project - a red suit. So far, I have bought the fabric and patterns and cut it all out (fabric, lining and interfacing). Cutting out the pattern is my least favourite part of any sewing project and the phase most likely to keep me from finishing. If I could pay someone to do it, I would seriously consider it.

The sewing phase will have to wait until next weekend since I like sewing when there's daylight and the days are currently still too short to do anything during the week. I'll start with the skirt first since the jacket has a zillion pieces and will take me alot longer to finish. At least I'll get some wear out of the skirt in the meantime. Stay tuned for progress reports!

Tomorrow is Groundhog Day, when the groundhog comes out from his burrow and, based on whether or not he sees his shadow, determines whether or not we have 6 more weeks of winter. I don't know why we bother, Winter always seems to last until mid/late March here.

I have been trying to survive winter by getting more involved in winter sports. We've been doing quite a bit of cross-country skiing, including overnight stays in cabins and yurts requiring you to pack your stuff in and out (a yurt is the structure in the picture above - it gets nice and cozy once the stove gets going) but also a bit of downhill (although I like the chalet park best) and skating.

We have a pond-hockey rink at the end of our road that is really well maintained. For those of you who don't know, "pond hockey" rinks are temporary skating rinks surrounded by wooden boards that, every winter, spring up in Canadian cities, big and small, across the country and on which many of us Canucks play shinny hockey (pick-up hockey games involving whoever happens to be at the rink at the time).

Other winter favourites? Beaver Tails (think big flat doughy goodness), caramel apples (I associate these with winter because I usually get them from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory at Mont Tremblant or Whistler), hot chocolate (especially good with a bit of Kahlua), mulled cider or mulled wine, hot tomato soup and stick to your ribs faves like shepherd's pie (I make my own version that I call "urban pie" with ground turkey and mashed sweet potato).

Only a couple more months to go until Spring... I can do this!

Gift of flowers

This dress is one of two given to me by my boss. She has two daughters so I was lucky to get my mits on them! I'm really intrigued by floral prints at the moment and don't have much in my wardrobe so was thrilled to pull this girly floral number from the bag. I can't wait to style it for summer! I'm thinking a big floppy-brimmed summer hat, a long gold cuff and delicate silvery-gold ankle-wrap sandals. This winter, I'll pair it with a sleek leather jacket, wide black belt, black tights and ankle booties.

Out with friends

Going out but not sure what we'll end up doing. I'll be meeting up with friends, one coming in from Toronto that I haven't seen in awhile, and may end up going out, may end up staying in. Best to wear something adaptable.

Recent work-wear

I'm a bit behind in the blogging - things have been super busy. Here are a few recent work outfits:

























OK. I almost never wear jeans to work. I actually feel really uncomforable doing it and doubt I'll do it again any time soon. It was a Friday though so thought I'd go for it.