Details: Primavera dress, Elizabeth & James vest, vintage bag, Fluevog shoes (all thrifted)

Thoughts: I know this isn’t exactly my “usual” colourful style, but it was one of my fave recent outfits. I love the simplicity of this restrained palette; there is enough detail here that makes it non-boring. Pairing this greige tweed with black looks ever so sharp, for some reason. The contrast creates a richness that belies the simplicity of the outfit.

Details: Ines de la Fressange x Uniqlo shirt, Ralph Lauren jacket, Chico’s necklace, Rebecca Minkoff belt, Issey Miyake skirt, Stuart Weitzman shoes (all thrifted)

Thoughts: Back to my comfort zone of monochromatic southwestern-inspired fits. This skirt is absolutely perfect for it. It has a romantic fullness, but also an edge with the intricate pleating detail. It creates depth where a plainer skirt might look too “heavy”, too much of a black hole, so to speak. Pairing it with a crisp white shirt is instantly classic, and such a great “canvas” for building an outfit. Just change the jacket and accessories and you’re set.

Details: no label top, vintage vest, Cotton Pickers skirt, Echo scarf (all thrifted), Steve Madden shoes (retail)

Thoughts: Remember my obsession with Jo March’s outfits in the most recent adaptation of Little Women? Turns out, I’m still obsessed. I was experimenting with this scarf and it ended up looking a bit like an ascot, which really complemented the vibe. I decided to pull back from looking too “historic” by adding some stompy, chunky, 90s platforms. Which, in a strange way, seems fitting; weren’t we all a little bit in love with Christian Bale’s Laurie in the 90s? Full circle.

Details: Pilcro tank, Gomaye duster, Urban Outfitters pants (all thrifted), Rafael Alfandary necklace (eBay)

Thoughts: I can’t say enough good things about dusters; they’re such an easy way to elevate a simple outfit — and it doesn’t get more simple than black pants and a cream tank top — and as a bonus, you’ll feel like a superhero when you’re going down stairs and the air lifts your duster like a cape. I also can’t say enough good things about these pants. They have a regular waistband in the front, so they look dressy enough, but the back is elasticated which ensures a nice (and comfortable) fit. The material drapes nicely too. They look much fancier than they are, too. It’s always good to have a few, staple pieces like that in your arsenal.

Details: Uniqlo sweatshirt, CoH jeans, Stuart Weitzman shoes (all thrifted), Dooney & Bourke bag (Poshmark)

Thoughts: Ok, if the last outfit was pretty basic — minus the duster — this one scrapes the bottom of the basic barrel. This is one step away from sweatpants … almost literally, since I’m wearing a sweatshirt. But I zhuzhed it up a bit, because I always need to zhuzh things up. I played up the colourfulness of the top with my accessories to create a little extra contrast and visual interest. These red slip-on sneakers are always a good bet for that sort of thing; one of my most versatile pairs of shoes, for sure.

It’s been 4 years since our last family trip to Calgary, and what a difference 4 years can make. This visit turned out to be as “on brand” as I had hoped, but it also highlighted our changing family dynamics. The kids are growing up, which means the way in which we all relate and interact with one another is evolving too. The thing that makes me incredibly happy is that we all still love spending time together; I hope that never changes. I say that because it hit me recently that, as the kids get older and become adults, they won’t be legally required to hang out with us. It will be entirely their choice. It’s a surprisingly hard mindset to adjust to after years of feeling like the kids were, in many ways, just an extension of myself (everywhere I was, so were they).

We approached this trip very much as a team and with a “say yes to everything” motto. That means that anything we saw and wanted to do/try/eat/buy, we did. I wouldn’t say that we are super strict parents at home, but this was definitely a change for our kids, and they enjoyed it to the max. And it was precisely this attitude that shaped our trip from beginning to end … including the (unanimous) decision to come home a day early. It wasn’t because we didn’t have fun; in fact, the opposite. We had a jam-packed 2 days of Doing All the Fun Things and had checked off most of the items on our must-do lists. Our remaining plans were up in the air thanks to the heat warning in effect for the rest of the weekend (which meant that our outdoor time would be limited). Everyone agreed that being home a day early was preferable to being cooped up in the hotel, so rather than force ourselves to stick to the original itinerary, we said “yes” to what we really wanted to do — go back home.

Luckily, we were able to visit the Zoo before temperatures became intolerable and a good thing too, because both the kids swore up and down that they didn’t remember their last visit at all.

We also celebrated my son’s birthday by taking him to eat at all his favourite places. If my son has a love language, it’s definitely food. Although, to be fair, we are a family that enjoys eating, haha! The “yes to everything” motto meant extra stops for desserts and trying new things like bubble tea. They were able to burn off some of the sugar high at the hotel pool, one of the most popular “destinations” on our trip.

We also had a lovely time in Inglewood. As planned, we stopped in at Fair’s Fair Books and went on a little book shopping spree. And by “little”, I mean that everyone shopped to their heart’s content.

My other must-see store, Cody & Sioux, was more of a disappointment; I didn’t find any of the pieces on my shopping list so, alas, it’s back to thrifting and Poshmark as far as that goes. Can you believe that none of these cowboy boots spoke to me?

After that, we stumbled on a few more fun places, including an arcade bar open to kids (much to my kids’ delight), a mid-century modern furniture store (much to my husband’s delight), and another bookstore (much to my delight).

Yeah, I bought more books. In fact, I bought nothing but books on this trip (and one random pair of jeans). I even persuaded the whole family to join me for quick stops at a couple of Value Villages, and all we came out with was … more books. I’m not mad about it. My To Be Read pile is about to get LIT!

We did go to the CrossIron Mills premium outlet mall outside Calgary as well, which was a big hit with the kids — we almost never go to malls at home, so there is a novelty factor. I think the prices were a bit of a shock to them, used as they are to mom’s thrift shopping, but they did enjoy a taste of shopping autonomy, not to mention the food court. For me, the mall was a bit of a disappointment, which is not unusual. I’m so used to thrifting that I find myself bored by the limited selection in regular stores; the only one I tend to enjoy is Winners/HomeSense because it has that same chaotic energy as thrift stores. The Polo outlet store was the biggest disappointment of all. There were only a few pieces that looked interesting and really had that Papa Ralph energy for me, and even those weren’t sufficiently “wow” to justify the retail price. The rest of the store looked very generic; I blame it on the fact that this was a “factory” store not a regular retail establishment. What I did find interesting is that they were selling both the Polo AND the Lauren Ralph Lauren brands; I thought that the latter was owned by a different company these days, and not under the same umbrella as Polo. I guess I was wrong.

All in all, it was a nice mini getaway, and it has us all hyped for our next summer adventure.

Details: Revel tulle overlay (thrift), Margiela skirt (swap), vintage jacket (gift), Marsell shoes (swap)

Thoughts: It’s been a while since I’ve done a “goth” look, and it felt nice to change it up. I would call this more of a “dark romantic” vibe than anything, which nicely fits in with my general aesthetic trends these days. The jacket was a gift from a dear friend on Instagram, who found it at her local thrift shop and thought it seemed very “me”. She wasn’t wrong! I love how a black background can transform a pattern — whether paisley, as here, or florals, for example — and give them a totally different feel.

Details: Diesel top (thrift), Margiela skirt (swap), Marsell shoes (swap), necklace (thrift)

Thoughts: This is an edgier look for me, but I was inspired by the two recent finds: this layered tank top (silk!!) and chunky necklace. I had been looking for a large, architectural, black necklace and this one fits the bill really well. I think it’s resin, so it’s much lighter than it looks. But in some ways the key piece here is the knit column skirt. It’s such an incredibly versatile piece — I’m wearing it in the first outfit as well. It works with a lot of different aesthetics and can be layered easily as well. Plus, being a knit, it’s super stretchy and comfortable.

Details: Toni T dickie, Susan Bristol vest, Ralph Lauren jacket, COS pants (all thrifted), J. Crew shoes (consignment)

Thoughts: A little RL-inspired outfit – this formula always works for me. But I decided that I didn’t love the jacket as much as I thought I would when I bought it. Whenever I’m thinking about purging an item from my closet, I like to give it another shot before I make my final decision. I liked this outfit, but not because of the jacket, so it confirmed that it’s time to move on. I passed on the jacket to a friend to see if she’d like it (and she can donate it if she doesn’t).

Details: Vince top, LizSport jacket, Everlane pants (all thrifted), Coach bag (ebay), Mia shoes (retail)

Thoughts: I’m so glad that I rediscovered this bag — look how the red makes this subtle pattern mix pop! I chose black (rather than denim) because I think that sharp contrast also makes the colours of the jacket and top stand out more. After pondering my options, I decided that a geometric pattern would be the best match for the southwestern pattern; I tried circles before, and now stripes.

Details: Gap dress (Poshmark), Aspeth coat (thrift), Brave belt (thrift), J. Crew shoes (retail)

Thoughts: Here is last summer’s fave dress … still a favourite this year. It’s so comfy and easy to wear, and I love the colour. I chose this terracotta coloured jacket to complement the turquoise and it works really well.