Dark Jade

Skirt, J. Crew (via consignment); top, Elie Tahari (via consignment); cardigan & necklace, J. Crew Factory; shoes, Calvin Klein; bag, MbMJ
Skirt, J. Crew (via consignment); top, Elie Tahari (via consignment); cardigan & necklace, J. Crew Factory; shoes, Calvin Klein; bag, MbMJ

I rarely wear black tights to work, though it’s not because of any prejudice against them. Black tights are a godsend in the winter. My problem is that I can’t mentally reconcile black tights with anything other than black shoes … and I love me a bright coloured shoe. Anyway, I figured that there was enough colour going on with this outfit that I could safely forego any punchy footwear, and give my nylons a break.

I love, love, love this shade of jade (or teal, whatevs) from J. Crew, and it works so unexpectedly well with other colours, like purple. It’s definitely one of my “power colours”. Are power colours still a thing? Who knows. Another thing I didn’t know until after I got dressed in this outfit? That this skirt is a size 10, rather than a size 6. That’s what happens when you change sizes as often as I seem to do. The waist now sits at my hips, which brings the outfit dangerously close to “sad sack” territory – though I think it manages to skirt it (ha ha!) juuust barely thanks to the fact that it’s a petite size. The hem is a little bit shorter so that, even sitting low, it hits a little bit above “middle-aged schoolmarm” length. Realistically, though, I will have to retire this skirt for the time being – which is extra sad considering that I only just bought the matching colour pumps. Matchiness defeated *sad face*

whomp, whomp?
whomp, whomp?

Work Christmas Party, 2015

Hotel MacDonald, Empire Ballroom
Hotel MacDonald, Empire Ballroom

Merry Christmas Eve, you guys! I hope you are enjoying a lovely time with family and friends tonight … and in the meantime, here’s a look at my office Christmas party this year. Hey, this blog is nothing if not timely, right?

So, this is my 7th Christmas party at my current firm, and the first one that I helped to organize. In case you couldn’t tell from that header photo, this event is kind of a big deal on our office’s social calendar, so organizing it brought back flashbacks of my wedding planning, um, adventures – the good and the bad. Luckily, everything went off without any apparent hitches, and everyone seem to have a good time. The theme this year was Japanese tea garden, by the way. We basically wanted an excuse to use those gorgeous, pink blossom table overlays – and lots of orchids.

chandelier treatment
no one swung from the chandelier 🙁

Oh yeah, I wore stuff:

Dress, Lela Rose for Target (via eBay); belt, Anthropologie; shoes, J. Crew
Dress, Lela Rose for Target (via eBay); belt, Anthropologie; shoes, J. Crew
wearing my grandmother's jewelry
wearing my grandmother’s jewelry

This was also the first year we reserved a hotel room for the night of the party, which meant … that we could finally partay, baby!

no lipstick :(
2 am … hassling the hotel decorations

It was all a lot of fun … until the next morning, when we had to get up early-ish to go home and rescue the grandparents from kidlet duty. C’est la vie. Seize the prosecco, and make merry!

Tales From the Thrift: Anthro Madness

As the title suggests, I found a lot of Anthropologie pieces lately in my thrifting expeditions … which, sadly, haven’t been as frequent. Blame work, and travel, and the never-ending book edits :/ But, never fear: not-so-frequent (for me) thrifting trips still yield plenty of winners, and almost-winners. Let’s take a look!

Tudor fire sale
Tudor fire sale

Someone was a fan of the Tudors. I wonder what happened?

Moulinette Soeurs dress ($16?)
Moulinette Soeurs dress ($16?)

I love Anthro pieces pretty indiscriminately, but this dress seemed very 90s to me – and not in a way I felt compelled to revisit.

Maeve skirt ($10)
Maeve skirt ($10)

Cute, but something about the shiny, polka dotted fabric just didn’t work for me.

LOFT skirt, $10
LOFT skirt, $10

Cute, but not my size. I hate when that happens. I need to shop with a posse, so I can make sure these pieces go to a good home.

RACHEL Rachel Roy dress ($18)
RACHEL Rachel Roy dress ($18)

Can you believe I passed on a Rachel Roy dress? I love RR dresses! But I felt like this one might be too much of a shapeless sack, and I worried about the polyester being staticky. In retrospect, I regret not getting it. Figures!

no name :(
no name 🙁

Someone, somewhere, would make this look amazeballs. Maybe?

Tabitha blazer ($7)
Tabitha blazer ($7)

Too big, and a bit too twee for me.

Tabitha dress ($13)
Tabitha dress ($13)

This, on the other hand, came home with me – perfect for the holidays, I figured. There was a small rip along the zipper, that looked like (and was) an easy fix, so I asked for a discount and took it home happily. Christmas Eve outfit, sorted! If only I could say the same for my Xmas gift shopping …

Prada shoes ($31)
Prada shoes ($31)

At the price, and considering the condition, I couldn’t pass these up. They were, sadly, about a size too big for me. I tried wearing them once, but couldn’t make them work. I threw them up on ye old blog sale page, but no one wanted them, so I gifted them to a friend.

Maeve skirt ($10)
Maeve skirt ($10)

I love this skirt so much, even if it’s a bit too twee for my age. It gets a lot of compliments, so it was a good use of $10.

J. Crew dress ($11)
J. Crew dress ($11)

I also can’t resist anything J. Crew, so I had to buy this Fabiola dress even though it was 2-3 sizes too big. I thought about selling or gifting it, but ended up keeping it because I love it a lot. Belted, it looks quite nice.

Ok, your turn: what were your thrift scores this month? And if you’ve got any thrifting questions for me, hit me up in the comments.