As I mentioned in my last post, the second part of my vacation was a staycation in town. It involved a little bit of everything: taking the kids to fun activities around town, eating out, thrifting (natch), reading, and some home DIY (more on that tomorrow). The one thing I DIDN’T do was work on my long-neglected book. Sigh. Let’s leave that lament to another day and talk about clothes, shall see?

My experiment with minimalist style continued apace, though it is, of course, both a work in progress and a relative concept. As much as I adore black, there will always be colour in my life and my wardrobe. I don’t want to deliver any false promises here. But I am working on streamlining my approach to getting dressed, through a mostly intuitive process, to reach what will hopefully be a definitive style. It’s been an interesting experiment so far — at times fun, at times frustrating. There have been times when the vision of an outfit I’ve had in my head doesn’t end up being fully reflected in the reality captured in my daily OOTDs, or when the result doesn’t feel as “good” (on me) as I would have liked. Which leads me to wonder if people like Jenna Lyons, Elisa Nalin, or other women famous for their personal style ever have moments of sartorial self-doubt.

Such questions aside, I’ve had fun experimenting with my casual wear, and pants in particular. Who would have thought?

I love black and grey together — it’s such a crisp, polished combo. However, these pictures are convincing me that I need to ditch these jeans. (Love the cut, but the wash is meh.) I haven’t had much luck finding a replacement pair yet, but I’m not deterred; it’s only a matter of time.

I already had a pair of mustard yellow Pilcro cords, but when Nicole offered me these chinos, I couldn’t refuse. Mustard yellow is my jam. I wouldn’t normally wear a button-down shirt on what was, for all intents and purposes, a weekend, but it proved to be a perfectly comfortable option. This print is a bit zany, but the black and white palette reins it in. I need more black and white prints in my closet.

Can you believe it? I finally found a pair of white jeans that (a) fits, (b) isn’t see-through, and (c) was inexpensive enough for me to risk buying. I’m too much of a klutz for white clothing of any sort, but I’ve been so tempted over the years by other bloggers looking oh-so-cool in their white jeans. Thrifting saved the day, allowing me to take a risk without a huge downside. I wore these pants on a day when the kids were in daycare, just to tip the scales in my favour a bit more.

Oh, hey, look: I got a new watch too. This one was not a thrift find (I wish!), but it was a bargain nonetheless, courtesy of Winners. I love Skagen watches so, so much.

And thus my vacation recaps conclude (sniff) … for the time being. I have a long weekend coming up in a few weeks, when I’m hoping to run away to Calgary with my husband for a short adult getaway.

It was a long time coming this year, but because July was such a hectic month for me, work-wise, our annual family vacation was very much an impromptu affair. For the first part of it, we went to Calgary to visit family for an extra long weekend, and used the opportunity to see a few sights along the way, including Canmore and Drumheller.

I’m not kidding about the lack of planning involved, and that includes my packing. I didn’t get around to it until the night before we left (at 8 am in the morning), and I didn’t have a lot of time to think about it. For probably undoubtedly the first time in my life, I under-packed — underestimating how long (and dirty) days on the road with the kids can be. A few extra outfit changes would have come in handy, and not for any style-related reasons. Luckily, inspired by my minimalist experiment (which finds its fullest expression in my casual wear), I ended up packing mostly dark, easily interchangeably pieces.

For the record, here’s what I packed: 3 tops, 2 pairs of pants, 1 sweater, 3 jackets — because the weather was forecast to be erratic — and 2 pairs of shoes. I also packed a maxi dress, but then forgot to pack sandals, which ruled it out as a wearable option. Oops.

I don’t have a photo of my outfit from day 3, but it involved a striped top, the same black pants as Day 2, the olive jacket from Day 4, and my trusty Chucks. That day happened to be my birthday, and we spent it in the mountains, enjoying the sunshine, beautiful scenery, and some seriously amazing fudge (see below).

Here’s a picture of my birthday fudge — simply delicious. I’m already planning my return to Canmore, to stock up.

Of course, I did a little thrifting:

The Calgary thrift stores I was able to check out had decent selection, but the prices were slightly-to-significantly higher. Unexpectedly, Goodwill (rather than VV) was the biggest culprit in that respect. I also dropped into Vespucci (consignment) but was disappointed once again by the prices. I was somewhat surprised by that experience; a while ago, the newspapers were full of reports of Calgary c-stores brimming with hugely discounted designer goods as a result of the recession. Clearly, bargains are relative.

On our way back to Edmonton, we made a detour to Drumheller to visit the dinosaur fossils and exhibits at the Royal Tyrrell Museum. The drive there was unexciting, to put it as diplomatically as I can — most of it crossed the flatest of flat lands I have ever seen. We did enjoy taking in the sights in Drumheller, and especially the museum. We’re planning to go back once the kids are a bit older and have more stamina (and appetite) for a good hike around the “badlands”.

Part two of my summer vacation was more of a staycation, but I did use the opportunity to continue my experiment with minimalist dressing so stay tuned for that recap coming up on Wednesday.

It’s no secret that I’m not a huge fan of pants, and have struggled in the past with my lack of desire to wear them. I simply don’t get as excited about pants outfits as I do about dresses or skirts. Add in my minimalist experiment, and the struggle is all the more real: how to to make a pants outfit interesting? Well, this attempt turned out ok. One bright piece, a simple print, a little bit of sparkle. Definitely makes black anything but boring, right?

I haven’t worn these Loft pants nearly as much as I thought I would, and they’re now a little loose (and oddly itchy — how have I not noticed that before?) so I don’t think I’ll be wearing them much going forward. It’s a shame, particularly as these are an example of a very intentional (as opposed to impulsive) purchase. Has that ever happened to you — finding that you’re not wearing an item nearly as often as you anticipated you would?