the trippiest moment of all...

Let me introduce you to my new favorite people in the whole wide world ever... JumpFromPaper. 

I discovered this totally quirky, cool, and stylish brand while following some of my favorite girls from Emma Approved, @joannasotomura and @dayeannehutton (if you haven't seen it yet... seriously, get on the bandwagon.  It's my new one true love).  Anyways, I can say that I was more obsessed with figuring out the optical illusion of their photos rather than actually grabbing myself a bag, but when I finally visited their site, I was drawn in immediately.  

Handbags, clutches, backpacks and more, there is seriously something for everyone at JumpFromPaper.  As quoted on their site, I Give Myself Permission To Be Me, so I thought *what the heck*, my order went in, and my package arrived, like, five days later?  Taiwan to Canada in five days flat, no extra shipping, and a totally unique, curious, and hilarious reveal when I finally got the box open?  Excellent.  I can honestly say, this brand is like no other I have ever seen, and I couldn't wait to put my bag into action! 

What better opportunity than church on Sunday?  I teach a whole bunch of 4 and 5 year olds, and WOW were they intrigued!  Not only them, but the single guy who sat next to me on the pew?  I choose to believe my new bag drew him in as well *wink*.  I'm not going to turn down attention, so I swung that bag around to show it off from every angle... especially head on, where things get sooooo trippy.  While this design doesn't lend itself to carrying a freaking purse full of stuff - and let's face it, sometimes I have a freaking purse full of stuff to carry on Sundays... I was able to manage my scriptures, attendance sheets, crayons, keys, phone, stamp pad, stamps, AND lip gloss...pretty dang good I'd say!!

And man, was I on point or what?  Not only did my bag intrigue those little ones, but my blouse... GEEZ, you'd think they'd never seen kittens on a blouse before.  I swear, they've never paid such close attention as they did on Sunday, between the bag and the blouse, I had them hooked! 

All in all I'd call that a winner winner chicken dinner kind of day.  And it was the long weekend.  And it hasn't snowed in a while.  And I figured out how to make my own cardboard cutout of Cinderella, so really, I'm counting myself pretty lucky right now!

...stephanie

 

sad endings and happy beginnings...

So many of you may know from reading through my blog that my sister and I own a dance studio.  We have made the incredibly tough decision to close the studio at the end of this year, and with it, our wonderful daily interactions and connections with a precious bunch of girls that we love with all our hearts.  This announcement has made me appreciate every moment we have left, and to find the joy in even the toughest of situations, since I know they'll be ending soon.  While there have been a lot of tears, there has also been somewhat of an epiphany, that sometimes the end is just the beginning, and you never know what great things are around the corner.

Never so true were the following words:  The past is your lesson.  The present is your gift.  The future is your motivation.  I will always treasure the lessons I've learned from the many students that have passed through our doors.  They've made be aspire to be a better person, a better teacher and motivator, and have always challenged me beyond what I though capable.  Our present is a gift, one that we appreciate daily, and I am so excited to see what happens beyond this experience!

Keeping on my black and white theme, I thought I'd pull in a little sparkle to an older but well loved dress.  This Chevron the Right Path belt in black from Modcloth seems the perfect compliment to my thoughts this week, as I do truly feel in headed onto the right path!!

... Stephanie

You just can't go wrong...

While black and white has always been a perennial favourite on the runways, many designers have chosen a delicious mix of patterns and textures for their Spring 2015 collections.  Can't say this doesn't make me delightfully ecstatic, since my wardrobe literally consists of black, white, blue, and coral.  And really, aren't the best things in life black and white?  Oreos, zebras, crossword puzzles, tuxedos (swoon), and *hello* SNOOPY??! 

From DVF to this adorably chic Tanya Taylor, black, white, and (my always and forever top pick) coral, it looks like my wardrobe is set for the next few months!

And since I aspire to all things amazing and wonderful, my own fashion pairing of black, white, and coral is in the offering.  I've finally received my first MYNT 1792 shipment, which unfortunately did NOT contain the Tomato colored Mosaic Tunic I ordered, but rather the b&w version.  Thanks to some speedy and extremely kind assistance from Jose in the customer service centre, a return shipment label was generated with instructions for exchange.  At that point though, I decided I look terrible in any shade of red (I mean, hello - what was I thinking?), and so decided to roll with the punches as they say.  

I choose to think of this as an accidental mistake, which turned out to be quite fortuitous for me.  SCORE!!

 

Mosaic Tunic in b&w... MYNT 1792

Drape Cardigan... Penningtons

Straight Leg Denim... Addition Elle

Skull Print Scarf... Penningtons

... Stephanie

 

It's ALL about Modcloth today...

HONESTLY, was there ever anything cuter than a dog blouse?  I mean, other than an actual dog? *insert adorable picture here...*

gaaaaah... adorableness... here... bzzzzzzzz... aaaaaaaaaaack.

Ok, back to my life, Modcloth seriously changed everything in 2013 when they added a plus-size line to their already amazing selection of (just about everything), including clothing, shoes, accessories, house & home goodies, and really... need I say more?

AND THEN, I discovered the Falling in Puppy Love tunic.  More like falling in real, deep, passionate, swirly loooooooooove.  I mean, I was already obsessed with Modcloth, ordering dresses upon dresses upon dresses as costumes for the dance studio, but then to know that such a wonderful brand also cares about all women - well, can I say Swoon.  The tunic was better than I anticipated, true to size and came with all the speed of a usual Modcloth order - ie. extremely fast.

According to the company, their plus-size business has doubled since June 2013, and is their fastest growing category.  Not a surprise, considering it has been and probably will continue to be difficult to find amazing, fresh, and beautiful plus-size clothes out there, that also don't break my piggy bank.

Soooo, with that in mind, I post my ootd and for many days to come, I'm sure!

Falling In Puppy Love tunic - Modcloth
Leather Panel Skirt - Penningtons

... Stephanie

Haha TRICKED YOU!!!

Oh blogosphere, you really thought you could trust me, didn't you.  60 sweaters in 60 days??!?  WTF, I can't even manage 8 sweaters in 8 days.  While I honestly thought I could do it, clearly my procrastination and apathy has proven otherwise, and here I am... January 6, 2015.  GRANTED - holidays are busy but all told, the real truth is that I'm a lazy person and if you could see me right now, you'd see my head hanging in shame.  SHAME I tell you.

*shakes head*

Okay, this is an aspirational blog, so here and now I solemnly that I will do better, I will be better, and gosh darn it, I'm worth it!

First off, can we just talk about these amazing frames I just got???  Literally obsessed, so thanks a lot Ray-Ban and SmartBuyGlasses for my first pair 50% off!!

Secondly, I would just like to shout out to Nicolette Mason (@nicolettemason) for turning me onto MYNT 1792... thanks a lot Nicolette!!  While my wallet is a little lighter, I simply cannot wait  for these arrivals - which I've been handily informed are ON THEIR WAY!!  *please excuse me while I squee for a moment.*

I will certainly be returning to this company for more beautiful and elegant selections as my budget allows!!

Anyhoos... that's about it for now, can't wait to see what 2015 has in store!

Stephanie