Over the last two weeks I managed to go thrifting twice. I love thrifting but the story of my life is that I never have time for anything so it gets neglected. 

On my first go I picked up three cardigans.. I have a slightly unhealthy cardigan obsession. It's strange... I just feel drawn to them. I've been on the look out for cardigans ever since I started thrifting a few years back but I've never run into anything particularly good. However, when I went this time I surprisingly encountered what seemed like the holy grail of cardigan. I must've lugged 7 or 8 of them into the change room, but I only ended up getting these three. 

My favorite was this huge oversized white knit cardigan. I've been looking for a baggy white knit cardigan ever since my boyfriend bought me this lovely button up shirt. It pretty much perfectly suited what I wanted and it also had these beautiful brass buttons. I basically fell in love with it... even though my mom still criticizes me for dressing like a grandma. 

I got this tan cardigan for when it gets a bit warmer outside. 

This was a simple knit black cardigan which I ended up exchanging on my second thifting escapade. 

On my second thrifting trip I got this sweater and top. I'm always incorporating plain white tops in my outfits so I decided to invest in this nice simple white camisole. As for the sweater... it was knit and faux fur lined and it felt so nice... It was a freezing Canadian day when I went thrifting so I couldn't resist the warmth and fuzzyness... I'm pathetic, I know. 

Also, I thought this tag was way too cute. Only downside to this sweater is that it says dry-clean only. Yeah.. that's never going to happen. Anybody know any good alternatives to dry-cleaning? 

Overall, two great thrifting trips. I want to go again so bad but must resist... everytime I go I find something that I want. Even if it's all cheap... this cannot be good for my wallet or my spending habits. I wish I could've taken pictures wearing everything but once again... story of my life is not having enough time, and thinking about lugging out the tripod... setting it up... running back and forth between the camera and the wall... it's just so exhausting. Hopefully I'll be able to do an outfit shoot in the next week though! 

So it's been one those weeks. The kind of week where you hustle and hustle and after it's done you just want to hibernate forever or die. The kind of week that ends with one of those days that makes you want to go up to mountain, crawl into a cave, just curl up there and never look at your life again. That kind of week. 

Okay honestly, the week itself wasn't that terrible. It was just exhausting. Today was terrible though. After a long week I just forfeited. There were places to go, people to see, relationships to keep up with, but I was just too tired... so I settled in for a Friday night at home in hermit mode. 

My de-stress ritual is food and watching something that either provides comic relief or warm fuzzy feelings.

I love older sitcoms. And I love DVD's. I know everybody settles for watching online and downloading off the internet but I think there's just something more comforting about slipping in a DVD. However, I don't actually like going out and buying DVD's so Full House is the only set I have on DVD (they were a gift). I really wish I had Fresh Prince of Bel-Air on DVD sets. Teenage Will Smith never fails to get my spirits up again. 

Full House is cheesy and sometimes the jokes are so try-hard you grimace. Especially when Bob Saget speaks. But somehow... they make it work. I still love it and everytime I see or hear the Theme Song I pretty much want to cry from uncontrollable nostalgic happiness. 

"Everywhere you look, everywhere you looookkkk..." 

Also, I can't possibly be the only girl who had a huge crush on Uncle Jesse, right? Just look at that smile.

Now that I'm done comforting and spoiled myself it's back to work. I have a ton of piled up homework for volunteering and I haven't even started my sketches for my job yet. Great, even when I'm not working I'm pretty much working. I also want to catch up on some blogs because I haven't had time to all week. 

It's days like these that make me think 'why am I doing what I'm doing?' and it makes me question why I should work so hard in the first place. During the week I work nonstop and I pull through by telling myself that it's okay because I love what I do so it's not really work at all. 

But honestly, it still is, right? I read a quote once that said, "What's the point of doing what you love if you're too tired to do it?" 

And I guess that's exactly how I feel right now. 

My family isn't very traditional. By this I mean we really don't ever do anything for anything. Everything is pretty much futile. Why put up the Christmas tree if we're going to take it down in a few weeks? 

Despite our lack of normal family spirit, we actually kinda pulled together to gather a bit of effort for the Lunar New Year. We had a small casual celebration at our house today (better late than never) and I got handed down this beautiful traditional Chinese styled jacket. 

Traditional Chinese Jacket - Handed Down 

Embroidered Pencil Skirt - Guess (thrifted) 

Pink Slingbacks - Handed Down

The jacket is actually really nice. It's black velvet with a hot pink silk lining. I matched it with a pair these pair of pink slingbacks that are a size too small and nearly killed me. My mom bought these shoes for her wedding reception about four years back and they haven't really been touched since then (my mom thinks they're too pink and I think they hurt like hell), but they match perfectly with the jacket so I think I've found a new use for them. 

Also, in celebration of Chinese New Year, here is an overwhelming amount of gratuitous pictures of food.

It's not uncommon for Chinese people to make more food than they can eat in celebration of Chinese New Year. I suppose this represents wealth and your own good fortune, because if you have more than enough food it shows that you have a blessed and rich life. 

Happy Chinese/Lunar New Year, from my family to yours.

Infinity Scarf - Gifted 

White Knit Sweater - Thrifted 

Beige Skinny Jeans - Zara 

Heeled Oxfords - Locale 

Over the past weekend I got knocked over by unexpected sickness that kept me home halfway into the week. It's been a while since I've felt that terrible and for the first time in a while, I stopped thinking about blogging, design, visual appeal, all that jazz... 

Which is unusual for me. But when you're just lying in bed, because you can't move your head for more than two minutes without feeling nauseous, what shoes look good with tights doesn't really excite your mind much. 

My lovely boyfriend brought over some small presents while I was still capable of moving... without feeling like dying. 

Once I got over my sick days I was plagued with all the work I had missed out on while I was lying in bed... Great. 

So basically... I haven't been thinking much about blog-worthy things. 

There are pretty much no outfit posts because I have no outfits... I go from uniform to pajama/paint-in-this clothes. It's not fascinating or attractive at all. 

For the majority of this Winter, Canada has been experiencing unusually warm temperature. But recently our temperatures have started dropping and now we have snow on the ground (... a month after Christmas), yay. 

My main concern these days is actually just to stay as warm and cozy as possible, so no, I wouldn't actually wear these shoes outside (not with this snow...). 

Sometimes I really wish I lived somewhere warmer where I can wear skirts and flats and reveal my ankles all year around. But I guess there is something cute about the whole winter-drown-myself-in-as-many-fuzzy-layers-as-possible look. 

There's also a story behind this scarf. A few weeks ago, I went to a karaoke place for my friend's birthday and somebody stole my scarf. It was a nice black cashmere one so I was slightly depressed over it (oh, the melodrama). When my boyfriend found out, he got me this scarf to make up for it. It's warm and cozy and beige. I am forever happy.  

I feel pretty guilty getting spoiled all the time, but I won't lie... it's pretty nice. 

Infinity Scarf - Costa Blanca (secret santa present) 

Blazer - Forever 21

Button Down Skirt - Forever 21

White Silk Blouse - Thrifted

Heeled Oxfords - Locale 

This is one of my favourite safe outfits. It's neutral color'ed and comfy (except for the heels). 

And it's just one of those outfits I feel safe wearing. Sometimes when I wear something that's out of my comfort zone or quickly thrown together I feel self conscious the whole time I'm wearing it. I spend the day fretting and wondering whether I look weird or terrible. Then I continue to mentally make little notes reminding myself to spend more time putting together excessive amounts of pre-constructed outfits so I never have to feel as awkwardly insecure again. 

Aside from my strange ramblings about what looks a completely normal outfit, this was also inspired by/linked to a song. 

I love this song. 

It makes me think of sleeping in, warm colors, the smell of coffee, and dates with the boyfriend (though this is actually a break up song...hahaha..ha..).

Cardigan - Gifted

Belt - Thrifted 

Highwaisted Black Skirt - H&M 

Floral tights - Forever 21

Scarf - Hand-me-down

Shoes - Spring

I actually love these shoes. Sadly, they suffer from great neglect because of the heel height. Sometimes being tall has it's advantages, but as a girl, I really just want to be able to pull off some heels without having to feel like a giraffe. 

This was the simpler base I had for my outfit. I pretty much styled everything around the scarf and I feel like it definitely makes the outfit, but this base is good on it's own too. Clearly not something I would wear to school, but it would be nice for an evening date or girls day out. I think the cardigan keeps it from being borderline promiscuous and brings it over to the cute side. Mhm... girls are pretty sneaky, aren't they. One day I'll do a post about how Juxtaposition solves everything.

I had two inspirations for this outfit. The first one was just the scarf, because I am currently infatuated with it, and the second was the album cover for The Weeknd's 'Echoes of Silence'. 

 Is it strange that I was inspired by an album cover? Because when The Weeknd released 'Echoes of Silence' I almost forgot about the music because I was so entranced by the cover. 

Bright vivid bloody red, you can see the hints of it on her lips. It's a suggested beauty. 

I actually love all of The Weeknd's album covers. They have the same effect as his music, I can't really explain it… it's almost this strange nostalgia for a moment you never lived. They make me want to put something together for all of his album covers. 

Obviously I'm just embarrassing myself because I wouldn't be able to do those covers justice, but they're still amazing inspiration nevertheless. 

I wish I could've edited the pictures to match the style of the cover a bit more but I really wanted to get this post up (excuses, excuses). Oh well, there will be better outfits. 

"Wear your best outfit tomorrow and make a better one tomorrow. "

Denim Shirt - Thrifted 

Black Skirt - H&M 

Lace up boots - Aldo 

I wore this outfit to go on my school trip to the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) today. I always dress down for things that involve my school because the majority of the people there are the jeans & t-shirt type. My school is Catholic and a uniform school so I've never really understood the dress-ordinary concept. If you only have a few chances to dress up during the year, why waste it on a pair of skinnies and a polo? Why?! 

It baffles me. 

Also, I really wish somebody would wear a damn skirt to school in the winter. I mean I guess it's kind of nice being the only one and kind of feeling unique in my personal style... but after a bit the judgement starts to wear in. 

Girls always ask me if I feel cold wearing a skirt with leggings or tights... but it's the exact thing as wearing our kilt with leggings or tights... which 70% of the female population at our school wears, all year round. It seems not everybody really understands my logic here because somehow wearing a skirt when it's not summer is, ultimately, just "slutty". 

Luckily, I don't have to follow what anybody says so I just wear what I want anyways. It would be such a waste only wearing skirts in the summer... I mean, we live in Canada. Do you know how short our summer is? 

I didn't think I would be doing many inspiration posts because usually when I read fashion blogs I'm the type to just scroll past those to look at outfits... (guilty) 

Also, whenever I write about actual collections I feel like just an ignorant child, mindlessly talking like I actually know something when I actually know nothing at all. Which is probably what it really is so I'll try to keep this post as wordless as possible. 

I first saw Kahlo's latest collection (image above) a few months ago and I thought it was pretty compelling but it wasn't until today when I went to go explore their 2011 Collection, 'A Vacant Canvas' that I was completely captivated. 

 

 

Clean, simple and fierce. 

I'm in love with the neutral colors, the classy style, the slight sexual tension and those shoes. 

It's visual perfection. I think I'll always believe in the quote, 'The simplest things are the hardest to design.' 

Since nobody reads this blog yet, I'm going to use this opportunity to write an immature post about my life that nobody really cares to read about while also testing out my blogging functions. Two birds with one stone, whatttt. 

  

My winter holidays passed so fast that I can barely even remember how I spent most of it. I blame the Toronto Schoolboard for letting us off from school two days before Christmas. Because really, nothing gets us more in the Christmas spirit than cramming homework. 

I was really blessed these holidays though, because I had a lot of very loving people around me. I'm not just saying this because I got awesome gifts, the people are actually just amazing. 

 

Right after Christmas was Boxing Day... followed by boxing week. It was a pretty mild Boxing week for me. I picked up a pair of beige skinny jeans from Zara and a pair of heeled Oxfords from Locale for half price. In this case it was definitely quality over quantity. 

As I write this, I'm still trying to figure out what this blog will be used for. I feel like I'm trying hard to narrow it down so I don't completely mutilate this blog with six hundred categories but in the end the only way I can really explain what I will be putting up is "everything that is worth putting up". 

Okay, bring on the six hundred categories.