Gingham Layers

Happy Friday once again!

So I put myself on a spending freeze at the beginning of September. It didn't go so well, seeing as I still bought stuff. I got three Phillip Lim bags (obsessed), the Phillip Lim leopard scarf, the checked blanket scarf from Zara, a pair of leopard heels from Target, a camel blazer from Target, and a plaid button down from J.Crew Factory. No Spend September = failure.

While my so-called spending freeze didn't really stop me from spending altogether, it did make me stop and think about what I was purchasing. All of the above items are things I am going to use/wear a lot, and I put a lot of thought into each of them before pulling the trigger. 

While my no spend challenge wasn't a success for September, it made me more conscious about what I was actually buying overall.
I am continuing my spending freeze (which basically means not buying everything I see - but still buying the odd thing) until December. I want to be able to buy the people I love some nice Christmas gifts!

So, it's really cold here this morning. There is frost on everything and I saw snowflakes yesterday. For real.
It isn't parka weather yet though, so luckily I can still get away with wearing outfits like this!

I am glad gingham is still on trend for this fall, seeing as I have this shirt in three colors. I never really wore them that much last winter when I bought them because I didn't really know how to style them...but now I have lots of ideas!

I snapped up this black gingham button up, as well as a green one, on clearance at Old Navy for $8 each. I hope they come out with more colors this year.

Here is a shot of my neck bling.

Notice there isn't any.

Why?

Because I am completely disenchanted with all of my necklaces right now!

I keep putting them on and then taking them off because I am tired of wearing them. 

I keep looking at all of the ones available on Groopdealz or Very Jane and I am not really interested in any the ones being sold right now. 

This is a drastic change from springtime when I was obsessed with everything I saw and wanted ALL of it. 

Anyone else feel the same?

Sweater: Old Navy (old) (similar) / Shirt: Old Navy (old) (similar) / Pants: Rock and Republic via Nordstrom Rack / Watch: Fossil /
 Bag: Phillip Lim for Target / Flats: Tory Burch 

Hope everyone has a great weekend - I am off to my cousin's wedding in Winnipeg!

Fingers crossed for no snow.

Photography by Kimberley Massey

Weekend in the Mountains

Rather than dwelling on the fact that is unfortunately Monday once again, I'm going to reflect back on a great weekend!

Considering views like this are just over an hour down the road, I don't spend enough time in the mountains.  I really wanted to make it up there to get pictures of the amazing fall colors this year, and luckily Devin and I got a great weekend when both of us had no plans, so we spent some time in arguably the two most beautiful towns this province has to offer - Banff and Canmore.

Took a hike up Grassi Lake trail near Canmore. It was a really easy hike with great views.

 Canmore from the trail. I didn't take any pictures in Banff because I have been there so often! I try not to take the place for granted but clearly I do. 

The trail crossed lots of little freshwater streams. Hard to believe these were the source of all of the crazy flooding we had here earlier this year. 

My Saturday outfit: 

Vest: J.Crew Factory (sold out but possibly available in stores) (similar) // Shirt: Old Navy (old) // Scarf: eBay (Amazing and crazy cheap!) // Leggings: Nine West via Steinmart // Boots: Payless (old) (similar) // Bracelet: J.Crew (sold out) // Sunnies: Rayban

Used my best friend Auto Timer to snap a picture of us on Sunday!

As beautiful as it was up there - it was a few degrees colder too. I'm happy to be back at a lower altitude with milder fall temperatures..I'm seriously not ready for my thick coats yet!

I had a few people on Instagram say how much they would love to visit Banff and I was surprised by how many people were familiar with it! It's easy to forget it's world renowned. If anyone has an questions about it (from a local perspective) that the interwebs can't answer - don't hesitate to e-mail me!

Hope everyone had a great weekend! 

Casual Sophisticated

So fall is officially here, and Calgary didn't waste any time getting to the cool temperatures.
A few mornings this week it was below freezing already.

I just want fall leaves and moderate, sweater weather type temps...can we have that for a couple of weeks please Canada? THANKS!

I am admittedly jealous of all of my insta bff's who are in the southern states and are still wearing shorts. 

Jealousy aside, I do love fall fashion. Especially blazers.

When I was putting this outfit together...it felt like there were too many elements or like I was adding too much. But, I think everything came together nicely and I learned that I should probably stop second guessing myself. 

I call this look "casual sophisticated" because I would wear it to work but I was also wear it for something casual...except maybe with flats instead!

I got this scarf from Sole Society a few months ago. I actually only bought it because I wanted to bump up the full cost of my order (when I was getting my studded pumps) to get the free shipping. I actually saved myself money on the order by getting the scarf because shipping is that expensive to good ol' Canada. 

Anyway, I'm glad I got it and it's nicer in person - it's a really neutral plaid that goes with everything!

Blazer: Jacob (similar) (similar) // Tee: Gap // Jeans: Rock and Republic via Nordstrom Rack // Scarf: Sole Society (similar) // Pumps: Guess via Marshalls // Bag: Michael Kors // Watch: Michael Kors // Bracelets: J.Crew and J.Crew Factory

As always, thanks for reading. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Photography by Kimberley Massey

Finally Feeling Like Fall

We have had a crazy warm September here, so I've still been wearing my summer clothes while watching fellow fashion bloggers layer up for fall. 

So when the day came that it was only it 9 degrees (Celsius, people) I ripped this vest off of the hanger in my closet so fast I'm surprised I didn't tear it.

Yes, I am a member of the infamous herringbone vest frenzy. 

As soon as I saw a few people post pictures of the new J.Crew Factory version on Instagram, I immediately called the store up the road in Edmonton to see if they had it. We don't have a factory store in Calgary yet (my wallet is thankful for this often), but I have a friend in Edmonton who understands my shopping craziness and she agreed to go pick it up for me (thanks Eiblis!)

This was before it showed up online for 40% off with free shipping. 

So I ordered it from there, saved myself $50, and asked her to return it (sorry Eiblis!)

And now I have the vest.

This is what my hair looks like after half an hour in the rain. 

I finally gave in and painted my nails with a fall-ish color. I'm wearing Essie's "Berry Naughty" which I haven't seen in stores yet because I think it's a winter color, but "Bordeaux" is on the shelf right now and it looks pretty similar!

I got these boots at Nordstrom Rack for $50 while I was in Arizona.

A few weeks later when I was back home, I saw them here at the Bay for $150! A full hundred bucks off is pretty appealing.

Vest: J.Crew Factory (sold out but possibly available in stores) (similar) / Shirt: Old Navy (old) / Leggings: Calvin Klein / Boots: Hunter / Watch: Michael Kors / Bracelet: Groopdealz (old but lots of options on Etsy!)

Hope everyone had a great week and I hope the weekend is even better.

Photography by Kimberley Massey.

Rhinestone Camo

I love camo, and let me just say how excited that I am that it  is everywhere in stores right now. I feel the same way about military green in general - I love the color for fall, and I think it's easy to throw together a casual look with it.

I snagged this jacket at Bluenotes for $25 (they call it a shirt but it doesn't feel anything like a shirt - it's rough material and it looks way better worn open like a jacket.) 

I liked the material, and I especially liked the rhinestone details on it.

Jacket: Bluenotes / Tee: Gap (old) (similar) (similar) / Jeans: American Eagle / Watch: Nixon / Sunnies: Rayban / Shoes: Converse

I can't resist a little extra bling. I thought it was such a cute addition.

Technically I'm cheating and wearing white after Labour Day but sometimes I just can't resist breaking the rules.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Feeling Overdressed at Work and Fall Favorites

Happy Friday friends!

Today I'm going to talk about something that bothers me about my office job.

 Let me start off by saying that no one in my office ever looks like a slob by any means, but no one is really on the same level as me when it comes to dressing for work. For the guys, it's black pants and golf shirts. For the ladies it's also black pants, but maybe with a cardigan or some sort of printed blouse. 

There's maybe one or two other gals in my office that wear bright colors. One of them has great taste, I see her in Stella and Dot jewelry sometimes and she has an amazing collection of jewel tone blouses that I would love to steal. The other one seems to shop exclusively at Gap as she has lots of nice blazers...in fact I saw her wearing this one and immediately went out and bought it for myself.

Anyway, to get to the point, I always feel very overdressed at work.

My mom has always said that it's better to be overdressed than underdressed, and while I agree, sometimes it is tough to show up to work and feel like I stick out like a sore thumb.

On more than one occasion I have shown up with my hair curled or wearing a bright colored top with a statement necklace and people will say: "My, you're dressed up today."

Now I know it's not really a negative comment, but at the same time it makes me feel like I look ridiculous, even if I don't.

A part of me wants to just ignore it and continue wearing my mint blazers and my giant flower necklaces to work, buuuuut a stronger part of me continually dresses down.

Anyone else feel the same way?

Anyway - on to the good stuff.

This outfit combines my two favorite things about fall: comfy, oversized, open knit sweaters and red.

It is also an outfit I assembled pretty much completely of steals from Winners. As I am still going strong on No Spend September, everything I am wearing here is from last season, but there's lots of similar stuff in the stores right now! 

Sweaters: Winners find (old) (similar, similar) / Pants: Nine West via Winners (old) / Watch: Fossil / Bracelets: Joe Fresh  (old) and vintage / Bag: Louis Vuitton / Shoes: Impo via Winners (similar, similar)

Decided to include a full shot of the shoes. I am in love with them. They were $40 at Winners and I think they're the perfect fall heel.

The best part of this? I would wear this to work.

Have a fab weekend!

Photography by Kimberley Massey.

Pinspiration

If I have something in my closet that I love, but I have no idea how to style it, I either turn to Instagram or to Pinterest to get ideas. 

I am still discovering my style and what works for me, so it's not always easy to just pair things together and know if it looks good. Not to mention I don't always have the time for outfit planning!

My mint cap toe shoes were another one of those things I had, but didn't know what to wear them with. Then during a Pinterest scroll session, I found a picture that gave me perfect inspiration for how to wear them:

My version:

Sweater: Old Navy (old) (similar) (similar) / Jeans: Seven7 via Steinmart (Available on Amazon) / Clutch: Tory Burch (old) (similar) (similar) / Necklace: Bootlegger / Watch: Michael Kors /  Bracelet: Stella and Dot / Shoes: Chinese Laundry via Winners (Available on eBay and Amazon)

I bought this clutch second hand for an absolute steal. I take the time to cruise Kijiji for designer stuff when I have money to spare. Kijiji is a website really similar to Craigslist (but way better!) and it is really popular in Canada - I don't think very many US cities have it. I have found so many great items on there that it makes it tough for me to buy stuff for full retail price!

My mom bought me these shoes at Winners after she heard me obsessing over the Target cap toe shoes earlier this year (this was back when Target wasn't in Canada yet.) Needless to say I am fortunate to have her as my retail partner in crime and I am happy she picked these up for me.

So, the shoes got a day out after gathering dust for months.

As for me thinking I didn't have anything to wear with them...wrong again Ashton!

Have a great Wednesday.

Photography by Kimberley Massey.

LBT

Hey there! Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Mine was filled with NFL football and catching up on all of my TV shows. My blood pressure still isn't back to normal after watching Breaking Bad last night!

I saw a few ladies on Instagram wearing the infamous Little Black Tee from Old Navy. I thought it was cute, but never intended to buy it, until I saw it on the clearance rack in store for $7.99! I decided to give it a try and I am so glad I did. I love the material, I love how it fits, and I love how it is so versatile as it can be warn dressed up or casual. 

I decided to see how it would look dressed up with one of my favorite blazers.

Tee: Old Navy (sold out) / Blazer: Bluenotes (old) (similar) (similar) / Pants: Nine West (old) / 

Shoes: Payless (old) / Bracelets: Pave Link: J.Crew, Bangle: J.Crew (old) (similar) / 

Sunnies: Rayban / Bag: Just Fab

I decided to keep this look fairly neutral, because graphic tees aren't necessarily something I would usually wear to work...but this way, I could sneak it in!

Have I mentioned how fabulous my photographer is? She is my beautiful friend Kim! Make sure you check out more of her work here or find her on Instagram!

I love this shot of my arm candy! 

If you're bummed because you missed out on grabbing this tee online or in store (trust me, I have been there...flashback to the Shocking Pink Mari Sandals from J.Crew) my best advice is to make your own! Black t-shirts are cheap at WalMart, Target or craft stores like Michaels. Grab some iron on letters or take the shirt to one of those kiosks at the mall - and you are good to go!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Photography by Kimberley Massey.

Magnificent Mint

The stores are beginning to fill up with fabulous blazers in tweed with elbow patches all the way to burgundy and emerald green. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but before I kiss all of my summer colors goodbye in favor of fall colors, I would like to pay respect to my favorite color of summer: mint.

I found this blazer at The Bay back in June, but I never wore it. I put it on multiple times but ended up taking it off in favor of something cooler because the weather was just too warm to wear it.

Well, with a few weeks of official summer left but with the daytime temperatures dipping just a little, I decided to give this blazer a day out before my whole closet turns from mint and white to camel and black.

This outfit is inspired by Tara at Mix and Match Fashion.
Saw her look on Pinterest and loved it!

Blazer: Allison Daley via The Bay / Blouse: Urban Planet (old) (similar) (similar) / Pants: Nine West (old) /

Clutch: Accessorize / Watch: Michael Kors / Bracelet: Craftistikone on Etsy / Shoes: Sole Society

These pumps are one of my favorite purchases as of late. They are a mid heel so they are easy to walk in, and they are crazy comfortable. The shopping addict in me really wanted to get them in black too, but I talked myself out of it. 

Highly recommend!

Anyone who follows me on Instagram knows that I am challenging myself not to spend in September!

My online shopping habit got a little out of hand in July and August, so it was time for an intervention. 

If you have been feeling guilty about how many packages have been arriving at your door lately, try the challenge yourself! You might be surprised how many pairs of shoes and sweaters are being neglected in your closet. 

As always, thanks for reading!

Photography by Kimberley Massey.