Spring has always been one of my favourite times of year. After months of hiding under puffy coats and bulky hats it’s time to get out into the city again and BE CUTE!
Unfortunately, this Spring has been postponed due to COVID-19 and the need to practice Social Distancing (and I do hope you all are doing your part). Instead of brunching on patios and sipping wine, er, soda in the park we are all stuck in our homes.
But, just because we are Social Isolating doesn’t mean that we can’t still be cute! If you’re like me, you still have to walk your furry friends a couple times a day and even if you don’t have dogs to take care of it is still recommended that you get out at least once a day to take a solo walk, jog or bike ride.
Staying active and getting fresh air is important for your mental health during this lock-down, and as long as you stay 6-feet apart from others you can do so safely and FASHIONABLY.
For my afternoon/evenings I like to take the time to get dressed up for what I call my Furryball-Fabulous strolls!
My (properly distanced) friend snapped this photo of me during one such adventure in Toronto last week.
This is an easy to put together look that mixes old and new from my closet and is functional for the activity it’s being worn for – waling these guys.
Me and Frodo Doggins out on an afternoon Furball-Fabulous Stroll during the first week of lockdown in The6ix of COVID-19
In the early days of Spring it’s still a little dull outside, so I like to stick to a basic black and white look. It’s chic and timeless. I start to mix more colour into the look as the days get warmer – like nature itself!
Here, I’m wearing bomber jacket made of sweatshirt material from Forever 21. It’s a stable of day-to-day wear this time of year. Surprisingly warm and light it’s practical without being bland.
I accent it with a Kelly Green crossbody purse, a graphic popcorn Tee (both Forever 21) and music note socks from Soxxy Socks. 🙂
Animal print continues to be a 2020 on-trend vibe … and I happily oblige with my tiered leopard print skirt (from Shein, I think).
It’s muddy in the springtime in Canada so I need to wear boots, but they don’t have be ugly. Timbos are popular for a reason, you know!
I round the look off with a chartreuse headband from Addition Elle and a girl shouldn’t go anywhere without her Dior Sunnies!
This entire look is without nylons – it’s spring – RELEASE THE LEGS!
We may be in a global pandemic, but that doesn’t mean we still can’t look great!
How are y’all remaining sane and managing your mental health while Social Isolating?
I took a mini break from the blog last week and went on a road trip to Rochester, NY for a fun Lindyhop dance weekend called Slow Dance Soiree
Even with the CAD$ still being in the toilet … THIS was the look of my apartment AFTER the trip!!! 😮
YEP!!! Mama did some serious shopping this trip! So welcome to my Fall Shopping Haul Post – let me tell you what I found in my travels to NY State!
VILLAGE GATE MALL, ROCHESTER, NY
We took our own sweet time driving up to Rochester, NY … taking all the side roads to really see the city Friday afternoon on our drive up. My travel mate was on the hunt for a specific high-end liquor which lead us to a restaurant in the Village Gate Mall.
Naturally, if we’re in a mall… I’m gonna need to poke around to see if anything needed to be mine 🙂
Here’s what followed me home:
There was a little wee shop in a deep, far corner of this mall that had the cutest little things!!!
I’m so sad that I didn’t pickup a biz card to give them a shout out in this post. Sigh…
Unicorn Earrings!!! (There was some discussion around these being Pegasus … but they’ve clearly got a horn + wings … so that makes them 100% Unicorn) 😉
Giraffes and Penguins with balloons!! The cutest socks ever … $3 each!
Across from this shop was a hair salon that was having a WIG SALE!!! Naturally, I had to try on every single one! 😀
I think I provided a source of entertainment to all the shopgirls and patrons as I pranced back and forth to get a glimpse of me in their mirrors.
Here’s the one I settled on…
My $10 wig from the Vivica A. Fox line… to give me an entirely different look!
I’m wayyyyy too chicken to actually cut my hair this short. But now I get the best of both worlds with this $10 wig – harnessing my inner Viola Davis and giving me that powerful How To Get Away With Murder look. 😉
FASHION OUTLETS OF NIAGARA FALLS, USA
I’ve been to the Fashion Outlets of Niagara Falls, NY many times. And its sorta a hit-or-miss place for deals and fab finds. But since we’re driving by it anyways we HAD to stop in and see what was up. 😀
And here’s the results of that:
NINE WEST
EVERYTHING at Nine West was 50% off!
These rang in at $45 … totally worth it even with the USD$/CAD$ exchange. Super comfortable. Super fashionable. Super practical being flats with rubber soles.
I see myself living in these shoes for all of Fall – bring on the rain and sleet! ❤
I dunno what it is, but the Payless stores in the States just seem to offer better selection and sizing.
So when I found it was BOGO days – Buy One, Get One – it made the purchasing decision easy!
Aren’t these the perfect booties?! I didn’t wanna go with black or brown…like everyone else.
So when I found these hunter green ones – it was love at first sight! $39!
I’m all about finding adorable flats these days – sadly pumps are no longer something I can comfortably wear all day – plus, flats allow you to be dance-ready always 😉
These black tassel flats were marked down to $15 …. but with BOGO, ended up being $7!!!
FOREVER 21+
Ya’ll know I love me some Forever21+, but shop there as sparingly as possible to avoid looking like every other plus size girl getting her street-style on.
But these thin hi-low tank tunics in the perfect Fall colours of army green and wine red were only $14, how could I leave them on the rack?
And then I found this!!!!
Do I even wear sweatshirts? No! But that’s beside the point! Just look at the adorable puppies of all kinds on it!!!!
Puppy sweatshirt $20… Unnecessary spending at it’s finest – 😛
Michael Kors
One of the main reasons for me stopping in on this outlet mall on the way home was to buy a new FALL purse.
I’ve been using the same cross-body MK purse since 2012 – It has only now started to look worn… which means replacement is necessary 🙂
Found this bad boy in the clearance section … which meant an additional 25% off – woot! woot!
This dessert suede and leather messenger bag with optional cross-body strap stole my heart!
I didn’t intending on buying TWO MK purses – but just look at this one!!!
Perfect size! Lots of visual interest + tassel! Bonus!
Netural enough to go with nearly everything, without being black. AND optional cross-body strap.
Both of these pursues rang in just a bit over $100 each. #winning
Target
No cross-border shopping trip is complete without a stop into Target!
I didn’t find much that caught my eye in terms of clothes/accessories/shoes — but their home section was on fire!
ALL Lighting is on sale at Target until Halloween (or at least that’s what the sign said when I scored these) Making each of these sets $11!!!!
Found some electric blankets (unphotographed) which helped kick-start my xmas shopping. And found these adorable mini globe string lights.
I’ve used one set to make my bedroom more romantic and will be saving the other to amp up my balcony next summer!
There you have it friends!! My Shopping Haul!!! All prices I’ve listed were in USD$ …. Soooo when you do the conversion to CAD$ they might not have been such “deals” anymore. But it doesn’t matter!!! I loved all my finds and they needed to be mine.
The week began with a post I called Edgy Officewear — there was quite a few comments on the PPMeow Facebook Page encouraging me to do more office appropriate looks on the blog. (Thank you for the feedback and interaction … it really does help me create content that YOU want to see & read…so keep those comments coming!)
It just so happens that I’ve got to head into the office 3 days in a row this week. HAZZA!!! If you’ve been following the blog for a while, you know that I’m one of those fortunate/unfortunate people who get to work from home most days…so planning work wear this week was a real treat for me. Nerdy-Nerdsony thing to say – yes, yes, I know. 🙂
I’ve been more daring these days with mixing patterns in my looks. When I first picked up this fabulous stripped cropped blazer from one of the many blogger racks at this year’s BigDeal Toronto event, my first thoughts were…
BEETLEJUICE! BEETLEJUICE! BEETLEJUICE!
But the cropped style of this blazer and the classic black n’ white combo really hooked me …..and the price: $10!!! Yup! It needed to come home with moi! (Stay tuned for a complete event recap blogpost for BigDeal Toronto soon friends).
Being both petite (short) AND plus sized, finding perfectly fitting dress pants are the biggest nightmare ever. Buuuuuut I have fallen in love with Old Navy’s Pixie Pants … they fit perfectly even after several washes. (Click here to read my post on discovering this line of fabulous pants.)
Let me apologize for the gloomy photoshoot – it was a rainy day in Toronto and I only remembered to take pictures of this outfit AFTER a full day at the office…hence the wear down of makeup and disastrous hair. I was pooped! I dunno how you normies do it – going into the office everyday! Ew! 😉
How I Got The Look:
Striped cropped blazer, Forever21+; Black jewelled tank, Reitmans; Red pants, Old Navy; Leopard fur heels, Calvin Klein; Michael Kors bracelet watch and simple gold earrings.
I round the look off with a chartreuse headband from Addition Elle and a girl shouldn’t go anywhere without her Dior Sunnies!
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