There are so many things I love about living on the West Coast of Canada. Chiefly among them, the fact that I am able to run outside all winter long! But that doesn’t mean I don’t need good gear. In fact, I am a huge proponent of quality running duds that keep me both warm and dry. For my second post with Live Out There, I highlighted four beautiful pieces any runner would be lucky to have!
4 West Coast Winter Essentials to Keep you Active, Warm and Dry
Here on the West Coast of Canada, it’s not just about staying warm in the winter, it’s also very important to focus on staying dry. Good, water-proof or water-resistance clothing is essential for those long training runs, day-hikes, and bike rides. Plus, when you look amazing in your active-wear, it’s much easier to get out, stay motivated, and feel great doing it.
Continue reading about my 4 must-have pieces here.
I’ve been trying to save up my sweet cash dollars for a while now, what with the upcoming summer months being chock-a-block full of fun and fancy things (like trips to NY, and Ashland; weddings galore, and my five-year wedding anniversary, to just name a few.)
Now, stashing all my hard earned moolah under my mattress hasn’t really been all that hard – what with how unbelievable busy I have been since the birth of the new year, and me not being an overly extravagant person (outside of my personality, of course).
But yesterday I was in London Drugs, hemming and hawing over two brands of nail polish – practically having a conniption fit over which one I should purchase – when my lovely husband turned to me and said, “Vanessa – they are $4.99 each. I think you can maybe splurge and get both.”
My response was rather short.
“Huh,” I said.
Huh indeed.
So I did. I purchased them both.
And I am (kind of?) proud to say that I only spent about five minutes worrying about whether or not I had gone overboard.
But that’s when it hit me –
I AM BECOMING A CRAZY OLD MISER.
For real dudes.
I am Scrooge McDuck, incarnate.
(The fear that this strikes in me is only partially quelled by my long-standing desire to go swimming in a giant vault filled with nothing but gold coins.)
Side bar: As a child, I used to think about the logistics of what exactly doing the front crawl in a pool of coins would entail. I thought about this A LOT. I mean, if you just dove right in (off of a diving board and everything) wouldn’t you just concuss yourself on the massive pile of coinage? And if you DID manage to break through, wouldn’t you just DROWN in the literal manifestation of your ridiculous wealth? For reals, that idea – of drowning in a giant pile of metallic (I know it’s gold, but I just think of how terrible pennies feel and smell) awfulness is enough to bring on a panic attack.
ACK.
Must. Think. About. Other. Things.
Okay, back my curmudgeonly ways.
This isn’t to say that I’m scrimping on the bare necessities (nor Mother Nature’s recipes). I like to think that I still exit the house looking swell, and I’m definitely eating foods filled with enough nutrients to stave off the scurvy and the rickets.
I’m just stopping myself from buying anything that I don’t absolutely NEED, even though there are tons of things out there that my little, silly heart so very much WANTS.
I mean, I think it’s normal to get to a point where you look at your clothes (in particular your work clothes) and think to yourself: I CANNOT EVER WEAR ANY OF THIS STUFF EVER AGAIN.
I think I’m also thinking this stuff because the weather REFUSES to cooperate and I’m still wearing much of my winter wardrobe despite the fact that we are almost at the end of April.
Let me break out the bare legs and dresses damnit!
And I really think there is something to be said for learning to really understand where it is your money is going, and how you can optimize your saving potential BLAH BLAH BLAH.
But then the other part of me is all: I’M TWENTY-EIGHT! LET’S PAAAAAARRTY!
*Eats peanut butter M&Ms and cupcakes for dinner*
So in an effort to find some middle ground, I went out the other day and purchased these amazeballs (YES I SAID IT) pants:
I mean, how epically fantastic are they OR WHAT?
AND THEY ONLY COST FIFTEEN SMACKEROOS!
(Or clams, or bones, or whatever the cool kids are calling them these days.)
Meanwhile Marc, being the HUGEST anti-fan of patterned pants is totally thinking, “She could have just bought three more bottles of nail polish!”
Alas, he will just have to walk two steps in front/behind of me whilst I’m out rocking these pantaloons.
And they will be rocked, oh yes.
I mean, I’ve got to look good when I’m out not buying anything, right?
So yesterday on Facebook I was tagged in a friend’s post that began, “Calling all my fashion-forward friends…”
Wait, what the – ?
I nearly fell off my chesterfield.
ME!? Fashion-forward!?
How utterly dumbfounding, and, if I’m going to be quite honest, pleasantly flattering.
It’s not that I don’t think of myself as “fashionable” (I think I have the capacity to rock an outfit every now and then), it’s just to be singled out as such gave me pause. I couldn’t help but wonder – how much of my identity, or self-perception to I take from my outward appearance, and the clothing with which I decorate my body?
And then I thought – AM I OVER-THINKING THIS WHOLE THING?
And I thought, “YES. YES I AM.”
Cool your jets there Judith Butler.
I then opened my laptop and what would you know? The brilliant, beautiful, amazing, and totally fashion-fabulous Laura from As Time Goes Buy had tagged me in a wonderful post she had written about her sartorial and shopping preferences, and I thought – THIS MUST BE A SIGN.
I WILL NOW GO AND BUY ALL THE CLOTHES.
(Don’t tell my husband.)
But before I leave the house to go bankrupt myself at Club Monaco, I will first answer a series of questions, because as a professional question answerer, that is what I do.*
*A girl can dream, can’t she?
Would you consider yourself a shopoholic?
I would not. I would however consider myself a try-it-on-aholic.
I am one of those rare weirdos who LOVES trying on clothes – of ALL kinds. I don’t care if it’s wackier than a three dollar bill, I will shimmy into that velour onsie and then pee myself laughing at my reflection.
As much as I get a kick out of modeling totally nutty clothing,my true favourite thing to try on is a beautiful dress. Sometimes it busts my heart into ten thousand little pieces knowing that I cannot bring every frock home with me, but alas, that is just the price that I have to pay when playing these dressing-room games.
How would you classify your style?
A real mixed bag. I love incredibly feminine pieces (see: my love of dresses), but I also love wearing suits with ties, men’s pants, and my husband’s cardigans.
I also (mostly) subscribe to the fashion philosophy that says if I am showing off my legs, I’ll probably cover up my top half, and vice versa.
Of course, I’m also one for breaking the rules.
Otherwise, the beach would be exhausting.
What store can you NOT leave without buying something?
Hmmm, tough question.
I would say Joe Fresh.
Mr. Fresh and I are VERY close.
Also Dairy Queen, but that is for completely different reasons.
Where do you find the best deals?
Hands down, Joe Fresh and H&M. I’ve scored some amazing deals at both of these stores, and I would say that the majority of the clothes currently populating my wardrobe were purchased from these fashion emporiums.
I also do well at Forever XXI, and Club Monaco (but only from the sales rack, for the latter, unfortunately.)
What designer are you willing to splurge on?
I would say it’s less of a designer, and more certain pieces. For instance, I paid good money for my Fidelity jeans, and four years later people are still asking me if they are brand new. I also bought Timberland boots three winters ago and they are amazing and keep me sane through the coldest of months.
If I could actually buy any designer wares, I would be all over Marc Jacobs and Miu Miu.
All over them like a bad rash.
Do you have a “go to” shopping outfit?
In the summer – an easy, breezy, beautiful sundress.
In the fall – jeans, a t-shirt, and thick cardigan.
In the winter – thick tights, a short skirt, a warm sweater, and good boots.
In the spring – long dress, light sweater, and a trench coat.
What is your “guilty pleasure”? (not including clothes)
[CENSORED]
Hahahaha!
Hmmm, I’m not sure. Maybe my ever-growing lipstick collection?
And 7/11 apple fritters.
THEY ARE SO GOOD.
What is one piece of clothing you can’t live without?
This is so tough!
My fashionista answer? A really great pair of jeans.
My real-life answer? My running shoes.
Who is your style icon?
This is also a terrifically hard question.
I’m really not sure.
I absolutely love Jenna Lyons – JCrew’s president and official fashion badass. She mixes feminine and masculine looks so well, and always looks absolutely immaculate.
Carey Mulligan is also fabulous, and I also really, really want to be her friend.
Hopefully after this happens she will lend me much of her wardrobe.
Because stealing from her is going to be bloody hard.
…
So there you have it! My fashion sense in a nutshell.
Thanks to the lovely Laura for tagging me – do check out her site. You will be inspired.
And I also encourage all of you to share – what makes your wardrobe tick?
Do you ever wake up in the morning and feel the urge to dress like Amélie?
I do.
So this past Wednesday I put together this little outfit:
I snapped this photo whilst out on a walk-around of Forever XXI’s latest megaplex, a monstrosity currently talking up a huge chunk of (incredibly valuable) downtown Vancouver real estate.
FYI – upon dressing myself this way, I had no choice but to help a blind man make his way to the metro station, all the while whispering in his ear, describing all the comings and goings of the busy streets we travelled.
Okay.
So that actually didn’t happen.
Ho hum, pigs, bum.
Anywho, I only found myself at Forever XXI because I had a lunchtime hankering for some dressing room mischief, and I had arrived with the express intention of trying on absolutely bonkers clothing.
However, this plan fell by the wayside pretty quickly, as upon my entrance to the store I was greeted by a number of darling dresses, and I realized that I would much rather try on a bunch of adorable pieces than wreck myself laughing over a completely crackers floral jumpsuit.
(But only just.)
I scampered about, scooping up a few things here and there, and eventually purchased two dresses, of which the following is one:
I actually wore this dress last night at my stand-up show, along with a black and gold sweater, and brown scarf.
I like to think that I looked like the most beautiful bruise in the world.
And guess what! I’ve been booked into doing two more shows this month, so I’ll be jamming tonight AND on the twenty-fifth. Meep.
Even cooler? These are both Friday shows, which I can only surmise to be proof of the fact that I’m moving on up in the comedy world.
Oh baby.
So in honour of Friday awesomeness, let’s get this fry-on on the stove.
Colour me surprised.
So I was loitering about Sephora like the creeper that I am (okay, I was actually just using the store as a short-cut on my way back to work from lunch) when I saw this:
HOW TERRIBLE IS THIS – I CAN’T EVEN.
Thirty new shades you say?
Why, how utterly generous of you Clinique!
I mean, had I been in charge of this campaign I would probably have gone even bigger and marketed the whole thing as: “Fifty shades of beige!”
Good grief.
I mean, first, how many different variations of white can a company possibly make?
Maybe Clinique should spend some of their research and development dollars on creating a product (or, you know, products) geared toward the myriad of women out there whose skin tone doesn’t fall under the general category of “eggshell.”
Canada is pretty darn multicultural. The concept of diversity (and the fact that when diversity exists it should not be ignored) isn’t that hard to understand.
If anything, advertisers should be interested in providing a diverse, inclusive product, seeing as though it’s pretty common knowledge that the larger client basis a company appeals to, the larger their revenue.
Honestly, I totally get the creeps when confronted with this kind of crap – like when I see nylons or pantyhose (PS I HATE THIS WORD SO MUCH) labelled “flesh tone.”
Flesh tone for WHO?
I tells ya – white privilege. Coming to a store near you.
Next!
Feeling crepey.
Sunday morning, post-rain soaked run breakfast of strawberry Nutella crepes and coconut water.
NUFF SAID.
Bergman chic.
I took a photo of this sweater in H&M the other day because this style will never stop making me laugh.
I believe Noel Fielding put it best, when, wearing a sweater very similar to the one above, he said that he looked like a 1970s Swedish film director.
And I will never stop thinking otherwise.
Also, if you are unacquainted with the absolute madness of Mr. Fielding, I would recommend introducing yourself as soon as possible.
Disclaimer: the latter show is totally nuts, so if you don’t like anything as odd as Kids in the Hall, this might not be the stuff for you. Just stick to Buzzcocks and IT Crowd.
…
So that’s all she wrote, you beauty cats you.
The west coast weekend weather is supposed to be off the charts brilliance-wise.
Rant and Roll 