Work Christmas Party 2013

Some of you love them, some of you hate them, but like it or not Christmas Party time has arrived and is in full swing! I had my work "Holiday" party this past weekend and I wanted to share my getting ready process and show you the dress that I hinted at in my last post.

A co-worker recommended that I try Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs to give my legs a pantyhose look without actually wearing them (hate the pantyhose). I tried this easy to use spray in Light Glow and here is a picture of one leg with and one with out. The right is the one with the spray and it does look smoother. The spray stayed on all night too, through dancing and everything. I would definitely use this again to give my pale Winter legs a smoother look.

Oh boy this is scary! No make up and half hair straight, half in a really creepy side ponytail. Just keeping it real y'all! This is what we all really look like before we are camera ready, so there you have it!

My other "trick" of the night, Dr. Scholl's For Her High Heel insoles. They don't take away the sore feet but they definitely help.

Hair and makeup done. If you would like a video of what I used to get this look let me know in the comments.

Voila! Christmas Party ready!

Dress: Dynamite (new), this dress was ALL sequins. I really liked the long sleeves too.

Shoes: Nine West (old)

I bailed on the work party around 11:30PM and met up with Amanda at a Birthday Party. 

Photo credit: A.Co Est 1984

I hope everyone is enjoying their Holiday Season, parties and all. Please make sure to be safe and don't DRINK and DRIVE.

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Gorilla Post: New boots from Target

In a recent post, I mentioned that I visited Target in Canada for the first time at Plae D'Orleans; read my impressions from that visit here. I purchased some new black booties from the Target in Kingston and have started to wear them this week. I was looking for a short or ankle boot with a decent tread and sturdy heel for Winter and I found it! 

Here are some Gorilla shoots of today's outfit with the new booties, they also some in leopard print which I may need to go back and get!

Outfit

Jacket: Agent 99 in Kingston, seen here, here and here (I have been wearing this a lot lately and it is really cold in our office today so I might not take it off!)

Blouse: Dynamite, seen here

Jeans: Jessica Simpson Kiss Me Jeggings, seen here

Boots: Target

Necklace: Dynamite, seen here

Earrings: Le Chateau

Thank you for reading and check back next week for reviews on pore strips (I forgot how much I love using these!) and a comparison on two concealers I have recently tried.

Happy Weekend!

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Outfit Post: Target

Outfit

Sweater: Target

Camo skinny jeans: Target, these are reversible! Other option is a faded back.

Purse: Nine West, purchased in NYC a few years ago

Heels: picked these up in Costa Rica while on a work trip. I don't wear these nearly enough, they are super comfortable!

Last Friday I had to get some work done on my car that required several hours at the dealership in Orleans (suburb of Ottawa). So while that was being done I had a shuttle take me to Place D'Orleans (local Mall) where I finally visited my first Canadian Target store. I had some luck in the clothing department but here are my overall impressions of the Canadian Target:

The good

• Clean, bright store with friendly staff
• New clothing lines to browse
• I bought my first Up and Up product (Target's own line of beauty and household items). It was a lotion equivalent to Aveeno and so far I really like it.
• They have an in-store Starbucks (Yay)
• Loved the shoe selection and the prices were reasonable

The bad

• Prices are not comparable to the US stores. Though I am somewhat pleased with what I paid I expected better pricing on most items.
• Out of stock on almost everything! Like the shelves were almost bare in some sections of the store. The clothing department was also rather bare with limited sizes.

Overall I liked shopping at Target but I expected to LOVE it for some reason. I am loving the above outfit that I got there. The sweater was $20 and the reversible jeans were $34.99; I know I will get a lot of wear out of both of these items so I am happy!

Because the Ottawa Target was out of so many sizes, while I was in Kingston over Thanksgiving weekend I made a trip to their Target to see if I would have better luck. I was shocked at how much better the store was stocked! In Kingston of all places -Kingston is a much smaller town than Ottawa for my non local readers. So I was able to get a really pretty green blouse for work that I had my eye on in Ottawa and I bought black ankle booties that I will feature in an upcoming post. I also bought two soft v-neck T-shirts (can't have too many of those) and a white tank.

Have you been to the Target Stores in Ottawa yet? What did you think of them?

Hope everyone has a safe and relaxing weekend!

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OOTD Collage

Outfit

Tights: Lysee

Top: Le Chateau

Boots: Nine West

Purse: Nine West

Jacket: Agent 99 (Kingston, seen here and here)

Necklace: Unknown, I've had it forever!

iPhone case: Otter Box Camo AP Defender Series

How's everyone's week going? This upcoming Monday is the Canadian Thanksgiving and I will be headed to Kingston to spend the weekend with my Mom and enjoy her fabulous cooking. I've always really loved Thanksgiving because it is a Holiday that is just about spending time with Friends & Family while enjoying a belt busting meal then taking a nap. No presents, no pressure - my kind of Holiday.

Speaking of belt busting, these Lysee leggings that I have on today are the perfect option to wear for Thanksgiving. They have a high-waisted tummy control and are super comfy so you can eat until you burst and not have to undo your pants. Wearing skinny jeans during a big meal is not how I roll :-) 

Lysee tights aren't cheap - mine were $80 CDN, bought online last year - but they have worn really well, are thick and haven't lost their shape. You can dress them up with a nice top or sweater, add some boots and you are good to go. 

What are your plans for the weekend, Thanksgiving or otherwise?

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Outfit: Mix & Match Prints

For those of you that are Pinterest'ers, I am sure you have come across Pins that show an outfit where contrasting prints are put together beautifully. I love Pinning those outfits because it looks so effortless and not too "matchy-matchy". However to actually put a mix and match pattern together can be a little tricky. You want to choose prints that would work without looking like you were dressed by a 2 year old. This being said, mixing prints can add fresh new options to your existing wardrobe and though it may seem out of your comfort zone at first, this can be a fun way to be creative with your clothes.

Here are a few guidelines to help you try out a mix & match print ensemble:

1) Make sure there is a anchor color - what I mean by this is having a color that ties the prints together. Like black does here:

Blazer: Le Chateau

Shirt: Urban Behavior

Pants: Dynamite

Necklace: Ardene (seen here)

2) You can mix similar prints (e.g. large dots with small dots) - this is a good option to ease into the mix and match thing. I love this look here (notice the anchor colors, yellow and black):

Photo source: bellanaija.com

3) Don't go too crazy - You still want to look put together, not sloppy. Don't go from one extreme to the other (see Jesse J below). It helps if your outfit is structured and not a flowy top with a flowy skirt for example. 

Sorry SJP, flowy paired with flowy is a NO:

Photo source: glamour.com

Sorry Jesse J, no anchor color to tie these two patterns together. Come to think of it, I don't think even a "like color" could save a flannel and leopard combo!

Photo source: dailymail.co.uk

4) Stripes are a good neutral for matching prints, you can pair strips with animal print, geometric or floral.

Photo source: ttovogueorbust.com

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Outfit Post: Jeans & T-Shirt

As much as I like to get dressed up in pretty shirts, dresses and skirts, there's nothing like wearing jeans and a simple t-shirt. It's easy, it's comfortable and you can dress it up with a few accessories and out the door you go.

 Jacket: Agent 99 in Downtown Kingston 

T-Shirt: Urban Outfitters

Tank underneath: American Eagle

Jeans: Jessica Simpson Kiss Me Jeggings

Shoes: Novellino

Necklace: Ardene (new)

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Outfit Post: Stripes & Solids

I love this bright striped top and this solid banded skirt paired together. I especially love that the former is super cheap and the latter, not so much but they can be mixed and match to create a great outfit for work or I would even wear this out to dinner with a clutch.

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 :-)

First Haul Post: Beauty!

I have seen several "Haul" posts and videos on some of my favorite blogs but I never had the desire to post one myself. I feel like what I buy is pretty boring and why would anyone want to see that? But I like to view these Haul posts by other bloggers to see if there are any products I might like to try or to get inspired, so.....here we are. My first Haul post! Yay! I am hoping to do a video to accompany this as well later this week so stay tuned for that (that will also be a first for me, yikes!)

I have really toned down my shopping over the last few years, I used to spend way to much $$ on random trips to Shopper's Drug Mart to buy stuff I really don't need. Then it ends up cluttering my space and I LOATHE that. However, I had a ton of Shopper's Optimum points to use and there was a promotion this past weekend that if you used X amount of points, you got like $15 - $20 extra to spend. For those readers not from Canada, Optimum points are earned when buying products from Shopper's Drug Mart that you can accumulate to earn money towards buying more products; the more points, the more "free" $$ you have to spend.

So while in Kingston this past weekend visiting my Mom, I headed to Shopper's to spend my points to get things I really don't need. But it was for free so no guilt!

Here's what I got:

Revlon Lip Butter in Sugar Frosting; Bought this Lip Butter before but I didn't love the color, this shade is more me :-) It goes on smooth with pigment that you can actually see and it's moisturizing. Get's an 8/10 from me.

Olay Regenerist Resurfacing Night Elixir; I have used this before and liked the results but switched to a cheaper brand to save $$. Since this was freebie I will gladly use this again. It's a serum that exfoliates at night while you sleep giving your skin a blast of moisturizers and it get's a BEST rating from Paula Begoun! I give it a 9/10 right now but over extended use I am hoping this will help with my fine lines.

I have read countless reviews of this deep conditioning hair mask from Macadamia and wasn't sure if it would live up to the hype. I used it once this weekend and I wouldn't call it a miracle product but I definitely think that this works. I have naturally curly/wavy hair that I highlight every 9 weeks so it gets DRY and DULL looking. This hair mask made my hair feel softer, made it shiny and smells fantastic . It contains silicon  so that is what coats your hair to make it soft. It is pricey at $32 for this 500ml tub but most reviews say that it lasts a long time. That will be the deciding factor if I buy it again. Remember to only use hair masks once (max twice) a week, overuse will actually damage your hair! I give it a 8.5/10 as the product did work but I will need to wait and see if it lasts as long as reviewers claim it does to justify the price. I also don't know if I like the idea of my hair coated in silicon but it seems to work!

So there you have it, my first haul post! I hope to have a Vlog to accompany this post up by this Friday. It will give more of my thoughts on these products plus a couple of bonus products not included here. WARNING: I don't currently have video editing software (does anyone know of any free downloads?) so the Vlog will be rough and uncut! 

Product Review: Essie Nail Polish

Hi Everyone and Happy Friday! 

Like many of you lovely ladies, I love nail polish and having my nails neatly manicured is one of the small (but great) pleasures in life. It just looks....well, polished (pun intended!) Having tried just about every nail polish brand you can think of, one that I have never used is Essie. Being a Pinterest'er, I was always seeing Pins about Essie showing tons of the really fun colors they offer.

So while strolling through my local Shopper's Drug Mart I spotted a nice looking display of Essie Nail polish and oh look.... it's on sale! The price was regular $10, on sale for $3.95, I would be crazy to pass on a deal like that so with nothing to lose, I picked up a bottle of Essie A List; an opaque cream polish. According to the Essie website, this is an award winning product and has become a classic. 

I found that applying the polish was easy; the formula is on the thin side so that makes it easy to work with, especially when applying red which can get messy. The polish is creamy and seemed to set pretty quickly so you have to work a little fast, other wise you could get streaks. I applied two coats and that was enough to get the color where it needed to be. I didn't use a base coat but I did apply a top coat and in two days there have been zero chips. Not far enough in the wear to really see if this product is chip resistant but I have applied red nail polish before that has chipped the next day; top coat and all. I really like the color of this red, it is on the blue-ish side which I prefer to an orange tone. It is a true classic red that is shinny and will pop enough to get noticed. I have had several compliments on this color already and it's only been a couple of days. 

Overall I give this a 9 out of 10 only because the product performed the way I would expect it to but hasn't WOW'ed me. I would buy Essie again but probably only when it is on sale, $10 is too pricey when you can get a good polish for about $5.

Here are some Gorilla Shots of today's outfit where you can see that I am a little worse for wear, got into the sauce last night so I am at about 70% capacity today :-)

Dress: Le Chateau (old)

Shoes: Aldo (old)

Bracelet: Unknown (gift)

I hope you find this product review useful and if you are on Pinterest, follow me!

Tommy Hilfiger Dress

Happy Hump Day MelMac'ers! I wanted to start taking outdoor outfit pictures for the blog because I have a snazzy new Nikon camera that I am slowly learning to use properly. So I headed out on my lunch hour today to scout out a place to take said pictures with a cool back ground that would also offer privacy. Fellow bloggers, know what I am talking about; you don't want to be the weirdo talking selfies in plain view. 

So I drove, and I drove, then I drove some more.....then I hit a gravel road (I am now in the middle of nowhere if you can't tell), then I drove a little more to reach a dead end that was a parking lot for a hiking trail. Though not convenient this spot was private! So with bees buzzing around I managed to snap a few shots. Hope you like them!

This dress is a favorite of mine, I bought it at Tommy Hilfiger in the Trainyards (a box store plaza here in Ottawa). With the extreme heat we are experiencing, our office has declared that we can wear "Friday" attire for the remainder of the week to keep us comfortable. We do have A/C so I don't really know what the point is but I will take it! 

This dress is super comfortable and you can wear it endlessly -- for shopping, golfing or a casual day at work like me :-)

Before I went on my scouting adventure I stopped at my "go-to" salad bar for lunch, Farmboy which is also located in the Trainyards. 

How good does this look?

I used the Food setting on my camera for this shot

Let me know if you like this location for pictures in the comments below. I will continue scouting for a location that is closer to get to, but for now this spot is pretty and private. However, I can see getting to this location being an issue in the Winter months :-)

A Quick Out-the-Door Outfit for Summer

Yesterday I recapped my weekend of lazy sunbathing, a trip to the salon to get my hair did and a dinner out to Moxie's. I wanted to post my super easy and very affordable look that I threw on to go to the Spa where I get my hair cut and highlighted about every 9 weeks.

As we had incredibly HAWT weather in Ottawa this past weekend, most of my time was spent laying by the pool. To head to my hair appointment I wanted something comfortable and easy to wear so I turned to a bright yellow tank that I picked up at Wal-Mart a few weeks ago and my black Target skirt. To add a bit of style and interest I threw on a bracelet and some necklaces. Paired with some basic Flip Flops and VOILA! A super comfy and stylish outfit that cost a total of $48 all together, jewelry included though the bracelet was a gift so that was omitted from the price.

Top: Wal-Mart $8

Skirt: Target $12

Flip Flops: Fairweather $10 (on sale)

Necklaces: Ricki's ($10) & Dynamite ($8)

Bracelet: Unknown

Summer is Finally Here!

I know some of you may not agree with this but I LOVE this heat! I long for these types of hot humid days in the dead of winter when I am scrapping off my car, swearing all the while :)

I don't have too much to post about as the majority of the weekend I did this.....

LOL!

I did manage to peel myself away from sunbathing to go out for drinks and dinner with some girlfriends on Sunday evening. We headed to Moxie's in Orleans to celebrate a birthday. Moxie's is a chain restaurant in Canada that offers a chic funky atmosphere and a variety of apps and main dishes to choose from. It's a great place to go to for after work drinks.

 I will have to say I wasn't totally pleased with this visit to Moxie's. I get it.... people (men especially) don't really go there for the food. The waitresses are all gorgeous and that's the main attraction so you should know that going in. We had to send an entree back (burnt) and some wine (musky tasting) so that was a disappointment.

Even so, my meal was pretty decent. I ordered off their Summer Menu and got the Linguine Arrabiata With Pancetta & Lemon Mascarpone. The chorizo sausage added spice and the tomato-lemon undertone was a nice flavor. Mixing in the mascarpone made the dish creamy but still light tasting. Overall, about a 7 out of 10, I can make better pasta at home ;-)

Photo source: www.moxies.ca

I wanted something light to wear as it was so hot, too hot to sit outside even. So I went for this dress that I first wore on my trip to Prince Edward County. It's easy to throw on and very light. I had my hair cut & highlighted on the weekend so it was straight, which was hard to maintain with this humidity!

Dress: Vero Moda

Shoes: Aerosoles, seen here

Clutch: Le Chateau

Sunglasses: Coach

Necklace: Dynamite (seen too many times to mention!)

Overall, it was a pretty relaxing lazy Summer weekend. What did you get up to this weekend, how did you beat this heat? Would love to hear from you!

Love,

MelMac oxoxoxox