Hippie Chic

hippie chic; Free People floral peasant tunic
Tunic, Free People (via consignment); leggings, maternity?; shoes, J. Crew Factory; bag, MbMJ (via Adrien)

My usual style leans more towards the preppy side than the boho, but this tunic intrigued me. And, because it was cheap, I decided to allow myself to be intrigued into buying it. I’m happy I did because I kinda seriously love it.

hippie chic; Free People floral peasant tunic
windy!

It’s very floofy and tent-like, but what points it loses in the figure-flattery category, it more than makes up in comfort. I have no idea whether it’s supposed to be a tunic or a dress, but I decided to err on the side of not showing my 34-year old butt. What I’m most pumped about, though, is pairing it with my moto boots this fall. NOT THAT I’M WISHING FOR FALL. Nope, not at all. As excited as I am by the remixing possibilities, I am more than happy to postpone them indefinitely. Hear that, Mother Nature?

Cartier trinity ring
Details – rings, Old Navy, Winners, Cartier; bracelet, Simons
hippie chic; Free People floral peasant tunic
obligatory over-the-shoulder shot

Don’t run off just yet, I have a quick review for you. I was in Old Navy last week, and this super cute striped dress caught my eye. I love the subtle fit ‘n flare silhouette (bonus sleeves!), so I had to try it on in a few colorways. Cue the changing room selfies.

Old Navy elbow sleeve dress
Awesome, so-so, pass

As you can tell, they all fit slightly differently. My favourite, the red/black colorway, fit the best and had the nicest hand-feel. The black fit the worst (more on that in a minute), and its fabric felt the cheapest to the touch. It made me look … lumpy. I’m not that lumpy. I have no idea how this is possible, given that we’re talking about the same dress, made out of the (supposedly) same material. Speaking of poor fit, what the hell is going on with the black:

old navy elbow sleeve dress
Insta-belly, if that’s a feature you enjoy in your dresses (but seriously, wtf?)

For reference, I’m wearing my usual Old Navy size (small, but obviously fits large). Unlike a lot of similarly cut dresses, the waist of this one didn’t sit super high on me. Also, it’s a nice length (just slightly above the knee on me, and I’m 5’7). Definitely give the red/black version a try if a striped dress is on your shopping list. It’s currently $32, but I’d wait for a sale.

Staycation Adventures: Edmonton Zoo

J. Crew Chino shorts; edmonton zoo
Shorts, J. Crew Factory; top, Anthropologie (via eBay); sandals & necklace, Old Navy; bag, MbMJ (via eBay)

Our family summer vacation this year was a staycation. Edmonton is a pretty cool place to hang in the summer, so this wasn’t as depressing as it would have been if we were talking about our mid-winter vacation. The kids like need to stay busy, so we cooked up a week’s worth of local adventures to keep them entertained.

One of our stops was the Edmonton Zoo. My last visit was about 7 years ago, and it wasn’t much to write home about, so my expectations were low. And they got blown out of the water! The city has done a tremendous job of expanding and modernizing the zoo, and making it very kid-friendly.

Edmonton Zoo
Urban Farm @ Edmonton Zoo

The boy loved the urban farm, although he spent most of his time there running away from any animals that got too close … only to start following them around as soon as they walked away. If this is in any way a window into his future dating strategies, his teenage years should be interesting.

We even had a little celebrity sighting when we spotted Lucy the elephant take her morning stroll. Lucy became famous a few years ago, after being at the centre of a court battle between PETA and the city.

Edmonton Zoo; Lucy the elephant
Miss Lucy the elephant

The zoo is full of cute animals but, really, it’s all about these gingers for this lady:

red panda; edmonton zoo
Dat face tho
red panda; edmonton zoo
o hai, is it time to get up?
red panda; edmonton zoo
nope!

Call me biased, but they are the cutest, ever, period. Well, this little guy’s pretty cute too:

edmonton zoo
Arctic exhibit … now with extra local flavour

All in all, a really fun morning adventure. If you’re looking for ways to keep the kidlets entertained this summer, definitely give the Edmonton Zoo a try.

J. Crew chino shorts; Anthropologie Fei floral peasant blouse
Non-photo bombed

Stay tuned for more staycation adventures. And a few more shorts outfits, because holy heatwave, Batman!

Growing Out a Pixie Cut: A Visual Guide

Right off the bat, let me break the bad news: I have no magical secrets for growing out a pixie cut in any shorter time-frame than that generally dictated by your hair. To grow out a pixie, you need two things: patience, and a sense of humour. OK, three things. You will also need a good hairstylist. I have no patience, my sense of humour is questionable, but I do have an awesome stylist. All in all, it could have been worse.

Let’s go back to the beginning: spring 2011. My hair was a little bit longer than it is now, a bit past my collarbone. I had just finished growing out pixie cut #1 (total time invested: almost 2 years). Naturally, my thoughts turned to cutting it, again. I’m gonna blame this one on pregnancy hormones, because get this – I became convinced that getting a bob would be the most practical thing to do in view of my son’s impending arrival. No time for long hair with a newborn, etc. Chop chop.

Except that I forgot to take into account the fact that, in order for a bob to look nice, my hair would still require straightening and whatnot. I was a perpetually panicked first-time mom, so the most basic of grooming tasks seemed overwhelming at the time. When my son reached the grabby, hair-is-a-fun-chew-toy phase of baby development, I used that as an excuse for pixie #2. So it began.

growing out a pixie cut
In the beginning … iffy style choices and all

I sported the prototypical first-time mom pixie cut for a good 6 months before the postpartum haze finally lifted, and I realized I’d made a terrible mistake. As I started to prepare to head back to work, I also started mentally preparing for the more tortuous task of growing out my pixie cut. Again.

Here is what it looked like, a couple of months in.

growing out a pixie cut
September 2012: the start of the long road

I can’t give you any technical details, but my stylist basically trimmed my hair every 8 weeks or so, making whatever slight adjustments she deemed necessary to allow growth to happen in a (mostly) becoming fashion.

I won’t lie. There were many, many terrible mornings. During the worst of it, I woke up every day looking like this:

Image via
Image via

I didn’t get to really celebrate growing out of that phase, because I moved right into this one. (I looked mostly like George, in case you were wondering. Sans ‘stache.)

Image via
Image via

Musically, at least, this was huge progress. But, basically, for what felt like the most eternal eternity (but was maybe something like 2-3 months), I did this every time I looked in the mirror.

Yes. Yes, indeed.
Yes. Yes, indeed.

Fiiiiiiiinally, I inched back into bob territory. This took about 9 months or so, counting from the time I decided to start growing out my hair. On the left side, you can see the tail end of my Bieber phase. On the right, pregnancy bob #2, which looks very much like pregnancy bob #1. Circle of life, etc.

growing out a pixie cut
Growing out pains

During my second pregnancy, I made another big decision. Thankfully, this one turned out to be a smarter one. I got a perm.

growing out a pixie cut
That looks … painful. The perm wasn’t bad, tho

I wrote about my perm before, but it was basically my attempt to make myself stick with the whole growing-out process. The perm adds texture and volume to my hair, and removes the need for styling on my part.

Strangely, there wasn’t much noticeable growth in the first 6 months or so after I got the perm. Still, my follicular situation was looking ok. (I got a re-perm in December 2013, but nothing drastic changed.)

growing out a pixie cut
Not much happening …

I feel like I “turned the corner” on the growing-out process sometime around March, when my hair started grazing my shoulders. After that, things started to pick up. This was the summer when I completely overdosed on beach spray, which gave me awesome Medusa hair, and also completely dried it out.

growing out a pixie cut
Getting there …

I finally got a re-perm in August, and was surprised when my stylist told me that my ends looked fine and didn’t need a trim. I guess I have indestructible hair, or something. (Not really. I’m assuming the “secret” is the fact that I’m too lazy to blow-dry my hair, and I rarely straighten it.)

growing out a pixie cut
Perm #3

And here we are. Just about 2 years in, my journey is complete. I’ve grown out my pixie. You know what this means, right?

Psych.

I’m growing it some more. Maybe another 4-5 inches. Then I’ll cut it.

Just kidding.

I think.