Boo Hoo

A fellow former Kingston turned Ottawa resident who also has an amazing blog, called Hippie Lace, featured a really cool online clothing site boohoo.com on her blog. When Emmett Katherine mentioned that they offer free shipping for Canadians on orders over $35, I immediately had to check it out. They offer great fashionable clothing for men and women along with shoes and accessories for really reasonable prices.

I had been coveting  some leather leggings for Fall, but didn't want to go full on leather for this look. I think that all leather would make my thighs look a little thundery :-) Sorry for the self deprecation but we all have flaws we have to work around don't we? I found the perfect pair of partial leather leggings on boohoo.com:

Madison Leather Look Thick Leggings $30 CND

These are great because the leather panel is below the thigh so my problem area is solved! These retail for $30 (great price point right?) so in order to get the free shipping I needed to spend a little more, so I picked up these super funky earrings that I am really excited to wear:

Cynthia Studded Earrings $10 CND

These two pieces came to $40 CND and will be arriving either Wednesday or Thursday of this week, YAY! I really hope the leggings fit, but if they don't BooHoo has a 14 day return policy. You do need to pay for the shipping to return the item. 

I really don't know why more Companies that sell merchandise online don't offer Canadians free shipping on orders over X dollars, they would get so much more business if they did. I don't know how many times I have talked myself out of buying something online due to the cost of shipping. Boohoo's shipping rates are posted on their website and they ship all over the world.

I hope you enjoy looking through Boohoo.com and I will post the leggings (if they fit) and earrings in an outfit post once they arrive. I hope that the quality is decent as the prices are low, stay tuned to hear what I think!

Papanak Zoo

Good Morning and Happy Monday Everyone!

I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend. I took my first trip to Papanak Zoo located in Wendover, Ontario this past Saturday and it was so fun! We had the perfect weather, sunny but not super hot, to walk around the outdoor zoo and see all kinds of exotic creatures from Wild Boars to Zebras.

 Beautiful picture of a bald eagle in the background and a huge spiderweb in the foreground

 The bear waved hello!

 Bosley, the crazy Baboon!

 Here's the lion getting his lunch on, those are chicken feet sticking out of his mouth BTW.

 The Bear and I

 Posing with the Deer

Having a Donkey lick your hand is a weird sensation! 

Romper: Milk Shop (new!), located in the Market downtown Ottawa

Belt: Suzy Sheir (came with a dress)

Shoes: Clark's (very old and normally wouldn't be my choice of foot ware but we were doing a lot of walking on uneven terrain so practicality won!)

I sadly feel Summer coming to a close and though I really love Fall and how beautiful it is, it also means Winter is right around the corner. I am so NOT a Winter lover, very un-Canadian of me but I gotta keep it real!

To go along with the remaining days of Summer, this song is really fitting:

I have really enjoyed my Summer and I will be doing a re-cap over Labor Day Weekend!

Did anyone do anything new and different this Summer?

A Perfect Summer's Eve

My Roomies and I partook in a local fair at the Rideau Carleton Raceway on a beautiful August evening. This was very "Summer" for me as it took me back to going to fairs as a kid and the evening was warm with a soft hazy light that was something out of a novel. Some of the above pics have a filter applied but the third from the top doesn't and you can see what the light was like.

It was so nostalgic seeing that the same rides and games are still kicking from 20 years ago and it was nice to see families out and about enjoying some good old fashion fun. I don't know how often I see families while I am out and they are all starting at their smart phones rather than interacting with each other; kinda sad but it's the world we live in now I guess. Events that bring us back down to earth like this fair (I hope) will never fade away as they are needed now more than ever!

On a side note I know that I have been seriously slacking with my posts as of late. This is mostly due to some changes in the settings of our work computers that is inhibiting my ability to upload  and edit photos. But I have some pictures stock piled and will take more of some clothing purchases I have made, one of which is a jumper (or are they called a romper?) which is something I never thought I would buy.

Hope you are all enjoying these last days of Summer!

Help I'm...

Happy Friday All!

I have a sort of confession to make, I subscribe to GOOP, Gwyneth Paltrow's website that showcases all things Gwynnie. I know there are definitely mixed feelings out there regarding Gwyneth. She has expensive and superior tastes, her sometimes pretentious comments are off putting and her all around annoyingly perfect appearance is well just annoying; but whatever she's doing is working for her. I think she looks fabulous and she is more beautiful in her 40's than ever before. So for that, I am inspired by her!

For an example of some of the items featured on her website, here's a really cute tiered ruffled skirt featured on the GOOP website:

Looks like something you could get at Forever 21 for like $20-$35 right? Oh no, not on GP's website, it's a whopping $345! Yes, you read that right! Completely unattainable, pretty but ridiculous. However, I am inspired to find a similar skirt that is reasonable and still cute. And I did!

Once in a while GOOP features really cool websites and one that I really enjoyed looking through is Help Remedies. It's a site that offers quick fixes for those annoying little problems that pop up in our everyday busy lives and also mixes in some humor along with the their handy remedies, like this Help I've Never been kissed!

These kits are also reasonably priced $4 + shipping and can be ordered through the website. They come in cute conveniently travel friendly containers and you can mix and match to make sure you have everything you need to be prepared for anything.

Thanks to GOOP for featuring these handy little packets on their refreshingly different website.

*GOOP has not sponsored this post and all opinions on here are my own.

Vlog - Joe Fresh Dress Find

So, because my first attempt at a fancy edited Vlog didn't work out, I did a Gorilla Vlog in the change room at Joe Fresh. It's rough and uncut, LOL!

Sorry for the shaky camera and the weird sideways thing I do at the end.

What do you guys think of the dress? It was $24.99 and I think it will be great for work, even though I have too many dresses already :-)

Blazer and Jeans to Work

I am lucky to work in an office that is pretty business casual. We aren't client facing so we can get away with more casual office attire (some take it to the extreme in my opinion). That being said we really aren't "supposed" to wear jeans Monday through Thursday, but I did today anyways. Solid colored denim doesn't look as sloppy as faded or ripped jeans does so I lived on the edge today and wore my white Jessica Simpson skinnies to work and dressed it up with a blazer.

 Blazer: RW (old)

Top: Halter Top from Victoria's Secret

Jeans: Jessica Simpson Forever Skinny

Shoes: Nine West (below)

I also think that this would be a great look for a dinner date. The top is a halter so you can go from office to dinner easily if you added some jewelry like nice earrings and a bracelet. I think a necklace would be overkill with the straps of the halter.

What is your office attire normally like? Do you have to dress in a suit everyday? (If you do, I feel for you!) Or is your office more casual like mine?

Vancouver - July 2013 Recap 1

I have returned from one my best visits to Vancouver that I have ever had! My Dad, 3 older Sisters and my little Brother all reside in and around the Vancouver area so I try to visit them when I can. It's so hard to be so far away from Family! This post will be picture heavy so you can continue on after the jump.

This visit was AWESOME! 

I left last Saturday and landed in Vancouver around 8PM local time -  I had the luck to sit next to the stinkiest guy on the plane for the better part of 5 hours - UGH! Two of my Sisters and my Niece picked me up at the airport and we headed over to Angela's place for some apps and to relax. My body clock was 3 hours ahead so we kept it chill and I tried to get a good night's sleep because in the morning we were headed to Whistler!

 Six hour layover in the Toronto Airport

 Still waiting......*sigh*

The next morning we picked up some food and got ourselves organized to hop on the Sea to Sky Highway, one of the most picturesque and breathtaking drives in the world.

View from the car on the Sea to Sky Highway

*As a side note, all of my readers know I LOVES to eat! I have three very important meals that I HAVE to have every time I am on the left coast:

1) White Spot burger - Triple O Sauce is the draw

2) Fish & Chips - Halibut is my fav which you can rarely find in Ontario

3) Sushi! - Nuff said

So we crossed the first item off my list my stopping at a White Spot on the way to Whistler in beautiful Squamish, BC.

 The White Spot and the Chief in the background

Angela had organized this whole trip to Whistler including the hotel, the dinner and a terrifying but thrilling Zip Line Tour, provided by Zip Trek Eco Tours - more on that in a minute.

We arrived at the Delta Suites in the afternoon and checked into our suite which was SWEET! We were at the end off the hall so we had front and back balconies, a full kitchen, a living room a bedroom and bathroom and a whole separate other bedroom and bathroom as well. Much needed when you have 4 women in the same hotel room!

 View from the Front Balcony

View from the Back Balcony

Peak to Peak

 Our Suite!

We walked around the village, relaxed and made our own cheese and meat plate with wine and it was truly BLISS!

 The Olympic Rings

 Walking in Whistler Village

My Sisters, Laura Lee (Lolly) and Angela

The next day we were up early to get ready to Zip Trek over Whistler Mountain. I have to admit, I don't love heights so I was a little nervous but excited to be outside my comfort zone. I kept telling myself "This is a once in a lifetime experience, so enjoy it!"

We arrived on the mountain and got geared up.

My Sister Bonni, me and Lolly - We are ready!

This post will be picture heavy so you can see more after the jump!

Sadsies

Oh my God! What a Gong show last night was. So I filmed a video that was inspired by A.Co on 50 Facts About Me. I then discovered that I had video editing software installed on my Windows Vista Laptop. YAY! How awesome is that?!

Once I finally got the hang of adding titles, transitions and trimming the video, I was on a serious roll and really proud of myself. The video was looking pretty darn good for a first try. Other than the fact that I said "Ummmm" like a hundred times and I have a lot of weird "on-camera" habits that I need to break, my first Vlog was really taking shape. 

Then things went south......

Windows Vista being the piece of crap that it is, repeatedly made my video editing crash. The sound would just go mute, then the screen would go black with only titles showing, then just black screen. AGH! I would have to restart all over again, and again....and AGAIN. Finally at midnight I just gave up. So I am so SAD that this video won't come to fruition and be posted today. The Vlog was a long video that was filmed in high quality and I just don't think that Windows Movie Maker could handle it.

So next time I try to film and edit a Vlog, I will make it a shorter lower quality video and hopefully that will prevent WMM from crashing again. If you have any tips for me, please leave them in the comments, I would totally appreciate it!

SO FRUSTRATING!

On the positive side I got to spend quality time with my God Daughter who is just shy of 15 months and THAT was the best part of my day. 

So I will sign off for now as I am leaving on a jet plane to Vancouver for a family visit tomorrow for 7 days. I will be taking a lot of pictures and will try some videos as well.

I will leave you with the last picture taken of my Sisters and I at a wedding a few years ago. Can't wait to see them!

Left to Right: Bonni, Angela, Me and Lolly (Laura Lee)

Take care MelMac'ers!

Not Meant to Blog Today... But I am anyways

I think that the Blogging Gods are trying to tell me something; I am not meant to blog today!

I had taken pictures last night when I got home from work for a post on my work outfit for that day (which I loved) and they all turned out blurry! I couldn't tell that from the camera's view finder when I had taken them but when I went to edit those pics today.... ALL BLURRY!

So rather than post sub-par pics I decided to ditch them.

Yesterday while at work I also scouted out a maybe perfect spot for some outdoor outfit pics using Google Earth. The previous spot I had found randomly is just too far away. This location looked private with good light and it was closer. So looking at Google Earth I am like "okay so turn left here, right here and the street is about there.... okay got it". While out for lunch today I drove to where I thought the spot was and I drove and drove and drove. Even got out the GPS and I still couldn't find it! AHHHHHH! 

So with that, I give up on my outfit posts for yesterday and today, it's just not meant to be. I will review where that location is more thoroughly and hopefully I can begin shooting my pictures there soon. I don't consider myself directionally challenged but finding this place is like trying to get into Narnia for crying out loud! LOL

Also, I would like to notify my readers that I will be traveling to Vancouver this Saturday for one week to visit my BC Family! I am super excited as I haven't seen them for a few years and I love returning to my home town of Vancouver where I was born and lived until I was 12.

That means I won't be posting next week. I was thinking about getting one of the many lovely bloggers that I admire to guest post for me during my absence but I didn't want to impose on any of these busy ladies. So there will be no new posts next week, but when I return I will have TONS and TONS to post about and I can't wait to show you how beautiful Vancouver is!

I am babysitting my God Daughter tonight so I hope that after the little munchkin has gone to bed that I can film my first Vlog! I was going to do a recap of my first Beauty Haul but I got inspired from A.Co to do a 50 Facts About Me Vlog so maybe I will do that instead. That will require some editing though so please bare with me as I am new to all of the video editing Vlogging stuff. I think it will be fun though!

That's all for now, sorry for the long ramble and the lack of posts but I will be back with vengeance, I promise!

Love,

MelMac XOXOXOXOX

Lace Dress

 Dress: Dynamite (old)

Heels: Aldo

Necklace: Dynamite

Anklet: Magpie

Just a quick outfit post taken Gorilla style this time. I forgot to bring my camera with me to shoot a quality photo so iPhone will have to do for today! What do you think of the anklet? I recently saw one of my favorite fashion bloggers, Sincerely Jules, wear one and I think this will be a come-back trend. I have two anklets that I wear sometimes, one gold and one silver (shown above) and I think they look really cute. I used to feel that anklets were a little too 80's looking or white-trashy but I am thinking they need a come back! Plus it's another cute piece of jewelry to wear :-)