It’s happening again!  The weather is growing warmer, the days are getting longer… and I have come up with a few things that I would love to add to my wardrobe.

Luckily, it’s not a long list.  Yesterday I spent a couple hours re-organizing my closet — freshening the stacks of thin spring knits, going through what fits, and being pleasantly surprised at some of the items that were lost at the bottom of the piles. 

While I am pretty much set for this spring, I did come up with a few items I’d like to add to update my closet.

- high heel strappy sandals: maybe  gladiators or cage style 

- strappy flat sandals: something in a muted metallic or brown

- pretty floral spring dress: to wear with something edgy like above heels and a …

- studded belt: to liven up my super feminine wardrobe of blouses, full skirts and dresses

Since I know the studded belt thing is a huge trend, I am not looking at spending a lot of money on it.  So, of course the first place I decided to browse was Forever 21!  I found these awesome and inexpensive studded belts. Hopefully when I lift my ban again (which will be sometime in FOREVER), they’ll still be available for purchase online.

And while we’re on the topic of cheap belts, these two are pretty awesome too:

It was cold today, and Maya is still a little sick so I kept her home today. The little girls next door came by to ask Maya if she could come play outside (these visits still make me chuckle since I remember when I was “called on to play” by my friends growing up) and I felt a little bad saying no. They always look so disappointed. LOL

Still, Maya and I were able to enjoy a little of the outdoors from the warmth of our house. As the sun was setting, the sky turned beautiful shades of pink and purple and orange. Maya was enraptured at the colours of the sky. She just turned back and forth between smiling at me and looking at the sunset, and just smiled and smiled. We managed to snap a photo of the sunset with my iPhone, but unfortunately the reflection of the sliding doors coupled with the poor quality of a camera phone resulted in this:

Maya was thrilled at the photo in any case, and I am glad we have this memory to share together.

If I’ve been quiet, it’s because I and the entire family have gotten sick again. And just to add some extra fun, we have staggered our colds so that it hit us all a few days apart — Me on Sunday, Maya on Wed, Mo on Friday. Luckily we are all on the mend.

I’ve been on a shopping ban since mid-December and am proud to say that I’ve been a very good girl about it. Since the weather turned nicer, I’ve been dying to get out and do a little shopping. Well as my reward for being so good, I was given a small sum to spend on what I wished. I have to admit… I had so much fun. It just feels so decadent to buy something new for yourself. Since then, I have been successfully squashing the urge to shop again. I burned through all my fun cash/gift card, and I must resist the slippery slope back into over-consumption…

Ever since I saw this picture in the Sartorialist, I have dying for a skirted coat. Well, I happened to wander into H&M and spotted a skirted trench on the mannequin in the window. I rushed straight in, and low and behold… here was the spring coat I was looking for and… it was 50% off! Ahhh, serendipity.

Last weekend it was beautifully sunny and warm, which gave me just the chance to break out my new trench. I really loved how the cotton skirt peeks out from underneath the trench. I added a bright bag for a springlike pop of colour, and the teal of the top is actually brighter in real life.

trench - H&M
skirt - Banana Republic
top - Philippe Adec
shoes - Steve Madden

On Tuesday, it was such a beautiful day that we drove to Niagara-on-the-Lake with my mother-in-law. We spent a beautiful day wandering around the downtown district, dotted with little boutiques, had lunch and took Maya to the playground there (or should I say… Maya took us there as soon as she spotted the swings). I was feeling pretty crappy by lunchtime, but I didn’t want to spoil anyone’s fun and sucked it up like a good mother/wife/daughter-in-law. I paid for it later that night as I collapsed into bed with a bottle of Nyquil.

The jeans are a little long (hemmed for heels), but I refuse to buy any new ones until I lose the last of the baby weight.

trench and belt - Gryphon
shirt - J. Crew
jeans - Joe’s
shoes - Loeffler Randall for Target

Over dinner at my in-laws today, I discussed with my brother-in-law an idea he’s been kicking around for awhile now.  He’s an illustrator with a dark imagination, and he wanted me to translate into word a character he came up with (pretty awesome character I might add), and broaden it into a full children’s story that he will do the illustrations for.

As soon as he described the character to me, and his general ideas… I immediately knew the tone I wanted to use, and I could see the richness of the world.  I couldn’t wait to put Maya to bed tonight so I could get it down on paper (er… computer). 

I haven’t been this inspired to write in a long time.  Everything is so clear, it’s like a movie that I’m watching in my head.

dress - J.Crew
necklace - vintage (was Mom’s)
shoes - Nine West Ruffled

Finally things are getting back to normal. I’m wearing make-up, my hair is shiny and I even put on some heels!

dress - J.Crew
tights - H&M
shoes - Payless
bag - Foley & Corinna

My outfit that I wore to dinner with the family and in-laws, just hours before the stomach flu hit me. I decided to wear all black. I wonder if I had a premonition…

dress - Gap
cardiwrap - Banana Republic
belt - Banana Republic
boots - Frye

My apologies for the lack of posts lately. It seems the stomach flu has hit hard at our house. Maya and I have just gotten over it, and now I’m busy nursing Mo back to health. After that, I will be thoroughly disinfecting the house so as to not ruin the (short-term) lives of any visitors.

See you in a few days!

Amazingly, I have reached and passed my shopping ban goal. I promised myself that after the shopping spree (ie: recession fueled deals) of late 2008, I would not shop for myself until March 1st 2009. At the time (mid-Dec), it seemed like a fanciful and hard reaching goal. Nevertheless I was determined not to fail… if only, just to prove to Mo that I could do it.

The first few weeks were the hardest. But once I got over the urge to shop, it became easier and easier. Now, it’s almost as easy to not shop, as it was to shop once upon a time. It was a good habit to break, and I hope that I can keep it up… even after I allow myself to start shopping again.

One thing that helped me attain my goal was the fact that… online shopping is almost non-existent in Canada. For instance, I was perusing Old Navy’s site this morning and their J.Crew knock/off of the Tartine cardigan is available in a slew of pretty spring colours… and… on… sale! I have a huge weakness for cardigans, and seem to have a goal to collect them in all the colours of the rainbow (and then some). If Old Navy had shipping to Canada, I surely would have broken down by now.

Now that I’ve actually surpassed by goal though, I am toying with the idea of seeing exactly how long I can go. It would be interesting to see just how strong I am. And when I do finally break down, it’ll be for something that I really love. Which, seeing how well stocked my closet is, should be the justification for a new purchase anyway…

Lately, I’ve become obsessed with the idea of owning a cape.  The only thing is that I’m not sure if it works enough with my current wardrobe to make it worthwhile.  While it would look super cute with some of my shorter skirts and dresses, I rarely wear pencil skirts or slim trousers/jeans.  Just too much junk in the trunk, and no one wants to look at my post-baby hips.

When I went thrift shopping a few weeks ago, I was hoping that I’d magically come across a vintage treasure.  No such luck.  

If I had the money to spend, and the wardrobe to justify it… I would go ahead and add this Paul and Joe Sister cape to my repertoire.  It’s perfect.  Classic, clean-lined and this shade of grey (my colour obsession over the last year or so) makes the perfect neutral. (It’s also on sale from Urban Outfitters. *double sigh*) Why oh why is my birthday in September and not now?

UrbanOutfitters.com > Rendez-Vous by Paul & Joe Sister Normandy Cape

More love from Forever 21…

Pleated Ruffled Dress

I adore this dress so much! The colour is perfectly in line with the muted shades for spring yet won’t wash me out like the beiges, soft rose and taupes of the season. The pleated skirt would disguise my post-baby pouch and the oversized buttons and pleated ruffles are just adorable!

It’s a good thing that this dress isn’t available online from Forever 21 Canada, otherwise, I’d be crying over my ban right now. And I would be tempted to hunt it down in the stores, but I get overwhelmed when shopping in the B&M. *sigh* Money saved I suppose…