1950s housewife

Today I was feeling 1950s housewife-ish.  But without the cooking, cleaning, kids, husband, and subordination bits.  ;) Okay, so maybe I was just feeling a little vintage-inspired this morning.  

Shirt: vintage // Dress worn as a skirt: vintage // [Costume] Pearls: Forever XXI //

I'm not sure if pattern mixing like this happened in the fifties, but I'll pretend that it did.  haha.  I got this dress awhile back at a half-off day at the thrift shop.  I decided that it was neutral enough to pair with polka dots. I mean, I think stripes can go with polka dots so why wouldn't chevrons?

This $2.50 gem of a find has a pretty full skirt. A full skirt is something you don't usually find nowadays for that kind of bargain.  I felt that it needed to be showcased. 

Tights: TAG // Heels: le château //

I rediscovered these old faithfuls when reorganizing my collection of shoes a few weeks back.  They seemed shorter than I remembered, which made them just sensible enough for my ensemble today.

Off to bake a casserole!  (Who am I kidding? No one thinks that I am actually going to bake a casserole.   Wait... do you even "bake" casseroles or do you "cook" them??)

♥ Meg xoxo

Bows and Gold

Bows, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
You are lovely, girly, pretty.  I mean, you literally hold things together. Bows,  I adore you.

Sweater: Anthropologie {birthday gift from Erin} // Skirt: Forever XXI //

This sweater is love. It has a sparkly bow and a Peter Pan collar sewn into its pattern. What's not to love about it?  I adore shirts with embellishments printed on them. I may or may not have a tuxedo t-shirt, and a shirt with a vest and tie printed on it in my wardrobe.

Tights: TAG // Heels: Call It Spring //

These shoes are too high for work, but I don't care. I wore them anyways. All day. Like a champ.  Also, this is a remix for this skirt.  Some of my colleagues say that I never wear the same thing twice. Which is a lie.  I'm making an effort to remix bold and memorable pieces to show that I do repeat clothes :P

Oh so gold and glittery. 

Add some bows to your outfit.  Trust me; you won't regret it.

♥ Meg xoxo

Sharp Teeth

by Toby Barlow

"Anthony in love is unlikely in its grace, like a drunk with a magic trick. There's no reason it should work, but it does."

A dogcatcher, a private investigator, a couple of rival packs of werewolves, violence, love, loss and loyalty.  These things don't seem to fit together, but they do so well in Barlow's free-verse epic. Barlow writes many parallel stories that tumultuously merge in the heat of an LA desert.  

At the onset, Anthony gets a job at Animal Control, because of a curious job opening.  Other dogcatchers start disappearing mysteriously, as more and more dogs are brought in.  In another story, an alpha named Lark is overthrown by his pack of lycans.  At the same time, another pack is growing and growing. A police officer named Peabody is borderline obsessed with big dogs that seem to both appear and disappear at crime scenes. Anthony falls in love with a wolf who has left her pack, a wolf who will do whatever it takes to keep her secret hidden. 

This story is wrought with tension, passion, and revenge.  Every motivation is because of some kind of familial bond, because someone owes something to someone else, because of loyalty or lack of it.  The main characters are werewolves with no regard for the full moon; they can change whenever they like.  They blindly follow leaders, and murder senselessly.  But, somehow their stories are beautiful.  It's like all of the men and women have this new power that they could never have in their old lives.  They can finally be themselves, love themselves, and love others while they bare their sharp teeth and fur coats. 

Barlow's writing is extremely descriptive and suspenseful.  He had me believing and hoping in lycan love, right up until the last page. 

♥ Meg xoxo

Light up your face with joy

Students behaved and understood lessons. My favourite songs played on the radio. There was no traffic on the way home. The sun shone brightly. I was dressed in tulle, lace, and cowboy boots.  Basically, I was living the dream. 

Dress: Marshall's //  Tights: H&M //

This is a dress (/shirt?) I bought with birthday money.  I am a bit obsessed with tulle right now. I mean, who doesn't love a good tutu?

I found this bench on the side of a walking trail. I loved it immediately.  I mean, the quote is amazing. And the bench was casting polka dotted shadows on the snow. Gorgeous.

Boots: Target // Socks: Topshop //

Every single time I wear these boots, without fail, someone asks me where I bought them. I proudly tell them "Target", but pronounce it "Targé," to be fancy.

Upcloseandpersonal with lace.

I was feeling girly this morning, and put my hair up in maiden braids. This hairstyle obviously demanded lace and flowers. My tights have a subtle floral pattern on them... subtle is a bit new for me - I'll let you know how it goes. :)

Wishing you joy today, 

♥ Meg xoxo

Wedding Season

by Darcy Cosper

"Getting married these days is like, I don't know- using leeches or bloodletting to correct an imbalance of humours, instead of taking a rational twenty-first-century antibiotic."

Joy is a twenty-nine year old ghost-writer, New Yorker, and girlfriend to a gorgeous photographer named Gabe.  Joy is both committed to Gabe and to her strong anti-marriage stance.  The good thing is, Gabe never wants to get married, either. Everything looks for good for Joy, at the onset of this novel.

By the unlucky hand of fate, Joy is forced to attend seventeen weddings in six months.  Among those seventeen, Joy dons a bridesmaid dress to just under half of the ceremonies.  Joy goes to dozens of parties, showers, dress-fittings, and weddings.  She gets in arguments with her friends because of her views on marriage; she is even kicked out of one bridal party because of her ideas. She fields questions time after time as to when she and Gabe will finally tie the knot.  

I liked Joy at the beginning of the novel.  She seemed like a strong woman, who stuck to her convictions.  Throughout the novel, I felt tired for Joy.  I mean, she is wholly against marriage, and she has to attend so many weddings and wedding-related occasions. In the end though, I was confused and a little disappointed by Joy. She loses so much by the end of the novel and I'm not sure for what ends.  I like the fact that she is able to stick to what she believes in, but it's not clear to me at all why she believes in it so strongly in the first place.

I loved the idea of Joy, as a concept.  She reminded me of one of Austen's heroines: strong, determined, and ahead of her time.  Sadly though, as a character, Joy seemed selfish and childish at times instead of strong-willed and passionate.  

Have you read this book? Let me know what you thought of it.
♥ Meg xoxo

So long Christmas hols...

I managed to fit all of my new gifts from Christmastime and spoils from Boxing Day/ Week into my closet.  Success.  With that, I bit adieu to Christmas holidays, and bonjour to back to school. . . with a weekend look. :)

Dress: Marshall's // Tank top: Walmart // Belt: borrowed from another dress //

Orange is my absolute favourite colour. I used to have tons of orange clothes, so I started buying other coloured clothing.  Now I think I'm lacking in the orange department. This dress is technically a summer dress, so it needed a shirt and tights under. . . and probably a cardi on top.

Tights: Target // Boots: borrowed // 

Aren't these boots fab?  I got all dressed up, and realized that I only had snow boots to wear.  Luckily, these borrowed beauties were just my size.  Yay.

Please excuse me while I go twirl around in my dress. 

♥ Meg xoxo

Black Olives

by Martha Tod Dudman

"And I don't know now, jouncing around in the back of his Jeep, don't know if I love him and miss him and am sad that he left, or if I'm out for vengeance. Maybe both."

Virginia sees her ex-boyfriend David at the grocery store one day, while browsing through the store's selection of olives.  They have been broken up for 9 months after dating for 10 years.  Virginia's story, though, only lasts one day.  She hops in the back of her ex's Jeep, spends the afternoon there and the evening in his house.

During her time in hiding, Virginia worries about being caught for breaking and entering, and about what she will say to David when he inevitably finds her.  She thinks about their relationship, the good parts and the bad parts.  She blames herself for him cheating on her and leaving her the New Year's Eve before. They had been together after each of their first marriages had fallen apart, and she didn't want to get married again. 

In his house while he is out, Virginia looks through David's things, looks for traces of herself, and for clues about his new lover(s).  She is able to come to terms with her tremendous sense of betrayal and loss, by dreaming up scenarios of conversations with David. 

I felt nervous for Virginia while she was in hiding. I mean, what would happen if she got caught?  I also felt sorry for her, and for her situation. The summary in the front cover of the novel says, "Any woman who has ever lived and loved will find herself swept up in Virginia's mesmerizing journey."  That was definitely the case for me. 

♥ Meg xoxo

Christmas Concert!

This was my outfit for the day of the Christmas concert at school, a couple weeks back, and the last of my Christmasy posts.  M warned me not to get too crazy with the festive accessories as the parents were coming :)  Thanks.

Dress: Anthropologie // Cardigan: Zara // 

I know, I know.  The tights are a lot.  haha.  St Pat's and Christmas CAN mix accessories.  One of my students told me that I looked like an elf.

Tights: Old Navy // Shoes: Payless //

I was wearing red heels during the day.  But I had changed into these red flats for the drive home.  Oh well, c'est la vie.

Gorgeous.

Isn't lace the prettiest?  Maybe I should make some floor-length lace curtains.  Mmmhmm. That would be lovely.

♥ Meg xoxo

Friends With Boys

by Faith Erin Hicks

Friends with Boys is another graphic novel. It has awesome illustrations and great dialogue. I think that reading graphic novels is cool; there are pictures to read as well as words.

"I don't get why people don't like the Leia hair. It combines two of the greatest things in the world: science fiction and breakfast pastries."

At the onset, seventeen year old Maggie is starting high school, after being home-schooled for her entire life.  At home, she had her three older brothers to interact and learn with.  Although they attend the high school where she is beginning her school career, Maggie feels alone in the big world that is a public high school.  

Maggie's story is all about her finding her niche in high school.  She makes friends with Lucy (her first female friend) and her brother Allistair.  She gets to see her big brothers in different lights than at home. At the same time, Maggie has to deal with being haunted by a 19th Century ghost of a widow of a ship captain lost at sea. 

I love Maggie's tomboy style and attitude.  She tackles issues head-on, and isn't afraid to like what she likes. I'm finding (and have been told) that I like a good coming of age story.  Maggie finds herself and I liked it. :) 

♥ Meg xoxo

Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life

by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Geeky confession time: M and I read all of the Scott Pilgrim graphic novels. We've seen the movie... a few times. We've even dressed up as SP characters for a Halloween party.

"Okay, this might seem kind of vague, but do you know a girl with hair like this?"

Scott Pilgrim is cool - he's 23, in a band, and is "awesome", as stated in his rating box.  He plays bass in a band called Sex Bob-omb, lives with his gossipy gay roommate Wallace, and is dating Knives Chau, a 17 year-old high schooler/ fan girl who he met on the bus.

This all changes when a mysterious girl rollarblades through his mind. (This phenomenon is explained in the novel.)  He meets her and falls for her straight away. Soon after he is challenged to a duel via e-mail, which he ignores. At a gig with his band, he is forced to battle one Matthew Patel.  Scott learns that if he is to date Ramona Flowers, the literal girl of his dreams, he will have to defeat her 7 evil ex-boyfriends first.

O'Malley is extremely talented.  He writes exactly how 20-somethings talk. And he tells his story exactly how a 20-something would. He labels people, items, and passes time vaguely by writing "sometime later." His characters are super interesting and well-developed.

The movie SP vs the World starts off pretty much exactly like this book.  Sadly, all of the other volumes are condensed to fit into the movie as well, though. On the bright side, O'Malley's style of storytelling is brilliantly transferred to the big screen.  I think that all of the characters are perfectly cast, except Scott himself. Scott deserved to be a little bit more badass than Michael Cera. 

Check out this book (and the rest in the series) first before you watch the movie! 

♥ Meg xxxxxxx