Dressing up

It’s December, and that means dresses! This is my fourth year participating in Dressember. The idea is, you wear a dress every day in December. This is pretty much my regular life, as I wear dresses all the time. I love dresses so much! Dressember is different only because I take pictures every morning.

Since it’s already almost the halfway point, here are my dresses so far.

Day 1

I wasn’t sure about wearing white in December, but I thought I did a pretty good job of winterizing it. Also, I think not wearing what you want is dumb.

Call me crazy

I don’t believe in guilty pleasures. If I like something, I like it. No need to feel guilty about it. Everyone’s always going on and on about how dark chocolate is their guilty pleasure. You know what I like? Milk chocolate. The kind with lots of sugar and fat and deliciousness. And I don’t feel bad about it either.

We all like something that would make other people think we’re crazy. You love hiking in the wilderness for days, with snakes and bugs and being smelly? Good for you! I don’t. You enjoy wheatgrass? Superb!

These are some of the things I like. They might make me seem weird to you, or kind of crazy, and that’s ok. But none of them are guilty pleasures, because that’s the worst oxymoron I’ve ever heard.

Airports

I like airports. If I’m in an airport, it means I’m going on an adventure. My tea costs 7$ and my carry-on bag gets heavier and heavier, but I’m off to see the wizard! Or, the world, anyways. Maybe I’m on my way home, which always feels nice too. No matter how many books I have with me, I will almost always buy one in the airport bookstore. I love bookstores in general, but one in an airport is like an oasis. All those stressed-out, rushed travelers could benefit from a few minutes surrounded by books.

Re-reading books

There are some books I’ve read so often, I can open them at any random page and just go from there. I used to think everybody did this. Apparently not. Oh well, you’re missing out, you know. If you loved it the first time, it only gets better. The characters become real, and their world does too.

November

I’ve mentioned this one before. I like November because it’s my birthday month, but also because no one else seems to like it, and that’s sometimes reason enough. I like rainy days where I am inside, looking out, drinking tea, reading books and writing. Grey is a good colour, because it makes others colours stand out. Walk around in a pink raincoat and yellow umbrella, and watch people smile.

Dresses

I actually don’t understand why people don’t enjoy wearing dresses. They say things like “They’re so uncomfortable”, “I don’t like tights” and “You look so fancy”. If you don’t like dresses, that’s ok. But I love them. They make me feel amazing, and to me, they are 12 million times more comfortable than jeans. I really don’t like insults disguised as compliments (I don’t imagine anyone does). I often get told I’m “fancy”. It’s said in a joking manner, but really, it’s not. I don’t tell you you look so “comfortable” in your jeans. Live and let live people.

I also love a lot of things that could never be considered a guilty pleasure, even by people who believe in those, like my new niece, drinking copious amounts of tea, reading, traveling, venting about life to my best friend, writing, dreaming and planning my dream library.

This post turned out differently than I expected. I think it comes down to enjoying what makes you happy, and not judging other people for what they like. I really don’t get the whole vegan thing, but if that’s what makes you happy, then what does my opinion matter? As a rule, we are gentler with other people than we are with ourselves. So maybe we should all take it easy on ourselves.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to drink tea and eat chocolate in my new dress, while simultaneously re-reading a favourite book and planning my next trip, where I will visit 5 different airports.

Jingle Bell Frock

It’s over. Just like that, December and it’s dresses are gone! I can keep wearing dresses, of course (and I will!) but the whole concept of Dressember and the wonderful little community that goes with it, are on hold until the end of the year.

It’s ok, I’m a big girl. I can think of something to keep me busy until next December. I’m thinking sewing and traveling, with plenty of yoga and reading thrown in the mix. Also, let’s not forget tea drinking, furniture painting and blog writing. The year ahead is wide open and looking quite fabulous!

Here is one last look at my Dressember outfits.

Day 23

I really like this dress, but I don’t think winter is a good time to wear it. So.Much.Static.

Day 24

Christmas eve! Yay! First, a daytime outfit, where I was wearing my boots.

My Christmas eve dress. I love this dress so much! It’s from Modcloth. I wore it on Valentine’s day last year and to a Katy Perry concert in the summer. It’s perfect.

Day 25

Merry Christmas! This dress is also from Modcloth. I love everything about it except for the fact that it’s a little tight at the waist and was not exactly comfortable after I ate dinner.

Day 26

This is my official “It’s the day after Christmas so I’m not doing anything” look. I was wearing yoga pants under the dress. Super classy.

Day 27

When I bought this dress, I was shopping with my best friend and she compared it to something Zooey Deschanel would wear. Of course I had to buy it.

Day 28

Another very casual look. Comfort was key here.

Day 29

Pink makes me happy, so I smiled all day in this dress!

Day 30

I bought this dress without trying it on, so it’s a little big. I’ll fix it, but it was ok for one day.

Day 31

Day look courtesy of Emily and Fin, via Modcloth. I ordered this dress just before Christmas, so I didn’t think I would get it in time for it to make an appearance in Dressember, but it’s so fabulous, it got here on time.

Evening look. Some sparkle for new year’s eve!

Before I leave you, one last look at all my dresses for the month. 35 dresses in 31 days.

And that’s it. For now anyways. I’ve ordered a couple more dresses, so no worries, I’ll be back soon!

Be happy, be bright, be you

We’re two weeks into December, which means in 10 days, it’s Christmas eve! I’ve been wearing a dress a day, as per Dressember rules. The week ahead is my last at work until the holidays, and I have quite a few party dresses I’d like to wear, so I might be a little fancier than usual at work. The thought makes me smile!

And now, for my weekly wrap-up of dresses:

Day 8 – Very comfortable dress that did not make an appearance last December, as it needed to be mended and it took me a year to do it.

Day 9 – Busy day as it was my class’ Christmas play. I wanted to wear something comfortable, but also cute, of course! I wore this dress’ twin last week, in purple.

Day 10 – It’s hard to pick just one favourite dress, but if I absolutely had to, it would be this one. It has pockets! Need I say more?

 

Day 11 – Little black dress that ended the day covered in glitter from snowflake making.

 

Day 12 – Pretty blue dress that, for some unknown reason, I don’t wear very often.

Day 13 – My Minnie Mouse look. I love this dress and always wear it the same way. Also, here is a picture of me twirling, so you get a sense of the real me. I’m a twirler.

 

Day 14 – A grey dress for a grey day. The sun came out for a little while, so it wasn’t too gloomy. Also, it was Sunday, I was wearing a dress, there was tea and Christmas music, so I was happy.

And that’s week two. Now, excuse me while I go pick out next week’s dresses!

 

Fashion quiz

Tomorrow is December 1st, which means it is the first day of Dressember. What is Dressember, you ask? Why, only the most wonderful time of the year. It is a month of dresses. Kind of like the 12 days of Christmas, only it’s 31 days, and it’s dresses, not birds and ladies dancing (although, one will dance more while wearing a dress, it’s a fact).

Dressember used to be just about the dresses, but it’s now associated with the International Justice Mission, to help victims of violence. You can wear your dresses to raise money for a good cause. I think it’s fantastic, but since I give to different charities, I’m wearing my dresses just for fun! However, I encourage you to visit the website and make a donation if the cause speaks to you.

In the spirit of Dressember, I’ve decided to put together a fashion quiz, you know, one that will reveal your true identity with a series of multiple choice questions. Here we go, grab a pencil.

1. You’re going shopping on a Saturday afternoon. What are you wearing?

a) heels, a miniskirt and a designer bag

b) jeans, boots and a cute top

c) sweatpants and running shoes

d) a raincoat with nothing underneath

2. It’s your work Christmas party, yay! You show up wearing…

a) an evening gown, diamonds and Chanel number 5

b) a red dress, black tights and a sparkly necklace

c) the same clothes you wore to work

d) a tiara

3. You’re hopping on a plane to Costa Rica. What’s your travel look?

a) a silk skirt, big floppy hat and huge sunglasses

b) leggings and a tunic or dress

c) pyjamas

d) a bikini, so you’re ready when you get there

4. What do you wear to go running? (Pretend you go running)

a) a stylish, color coordinated outfit, including leggings, top, shoes, headband and earphones, complete with bouncy ponytail

b) whatever leggings and top were clean

c) track pants from the 90’s, the kind you can rip off like a stripper

d) a bathing suit and cap, since you’re training for a triathlon

5. It’s your day off and you’re staying home. Some knocks at the door. You answer wearing…

a)  a suit, heels and pearls

b) jeans and a t-shirt

c) an old university t-shirt,  scrunchie and maybe pants (or maybe not)

d) a bathrobe that’s not quite closed

And now, for the results of this very accurate quiz, which was researched quite thoroughly and in no way written just now, while I sit on the couch with my scrunchie and my yoga pants.

If you chose mostly a: You should wear whatever you want!

If you chose mostly b: Keep wearing what you’re wearing, you look awesome!

If you chose mostly c: Dress for yourself, and no one else!

If you chose mostly d: You freaking rock!

And now, since a post needs a picture, but I have none of Dressember, because it only starts tomorrow, here is a picture of my birthday dress. It will be making an appearance sometime during the fantastic month that is Dressember.

What would Zooey Deschanel wear?

I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m not very good at fashion. I like what I like (mostly dresses), so I wear a lot of the same kind of outfits. I like bright colours and sparkle, but sometimes, putting together an interesting outfit can be challenging. It’s one of the reasons I wear so many dresses. You put it on, and voilà! you’re done.

I like Zooey Deschanel’s style, and recently discovered What would Zooey Deschanel wear? It’s a website with outfits she wears, both in real life and on her tv show, New Girl. Now, I can’t afford all of the exact same pieces, but I decided to try to recreate some of my favourite looks.

First up (actually, only outfit so far) is a mint green dress with yellow cardigan. I wouldn’t have dared to put these colours together, but it looks great and very appropriate for spring. My pieces were a little different, but I’m going for inspiration here, not copycat-ing.

On New Girl, Zooey’s character Jess is a teacher, like me. I decided to recreate this pose too, although I opted not to stand on my desk!

This last picture isn’t actually that great, but I wanted to include at least one photo that had my shoes in it!

What do you think? Am I channeling Zooey Deschanel / Jess Day?

 

I heart dresses!

I’m always impressed by fashion bloggers. They can take one dress and wear it 14 different ways. They can make jeans look fancy and an evening gown look casual. I’m not particularly fashion-y.  Fashion seems like a lot of work. You have to know what colours are “in” and what 80’s looks are good and which are bad (to me they’re all bad. It’s a been there, done that kind of thing.) You will never catch me wearing anything with a peplum, but I understand that’s fashionable. Or it was, maybe it isn’t anymore. See? So much work.

I think I’ve created my personal style, but everyone does that, whether we want to or not. What you wear becomes your style. I tend to favour dresses. I love them for several reasons. Here is a list, because I like lists.

Reasons dresses are awesome

1. They make me feel pretty.

2. It’s only one piece of clothing to choose and put on.

3. Jeans (and most pants) hate me.

When I put together an outfit I love, I will wear it that way over and over again. I will wait at least two weeks before wearing it again, but if it was awesome when I wore it, why would I change it up?

Since Valentine’s day was on Friday, and I have several dresses that could have worked, I decided to do a theme week. Nothing too out there with flashing heart headbands and ribbons or anything, just Valentine’s day inspired dresses.

Day 1

I love this dress (Obviously. I love all my dresses.) One of my students told me I should have saved it for Valentine’s day, so I told her my plan. Of course, she thought it was brilliant.

Day 2

While I don’t have one favourite dress, this one is always described as “one of my favourites”. Also, hearts. Love.

Day 3

This was an “I’m sick and I do not want to get up and put on clothes and talk to people” day. I wasn’t feeling great about this look, it felt unfinished (maybe it’s my inner fashionista trying to get out). When I got to school, one of the six year old boys in my class said “Wow! You’re so pretty. You look like a ladybug.” Who needs high fashion when you’re compared to the loveliest insect in the world?

Day 4

This is an awful photo. I actually hate it when people write that, because if it’s such a bad picture, then why did you post it? In my case, it’s the only one I had as I was still sick and in no mood to take pictures. I set the camera lower than usual so my tights would be in the picture since they’re the star here, but it’s got a weird “I’m looking you up and down” vibe to it. Oh well, pretty tights, comfy dress.

Day 5

My official Valentine’s day dress! I actually ordered this dress in November to wear on Christmas eve, but I only received it in January. I didn’t think it would be so shiny, which makes it more or less appropriate for work, but whatever. It’s pretty and that’s all that matters.

If you look at my Dressember post, you will notice that most of these dresses have been worn in the exact same way before. Like I said, why mess with a good thing?

And now, for your viewing pleasure, some dress bloopers. Because we all love it when other people look funny.

Well, the zoom works.

This photo tells the story of a bird trying to fly. Unfortunately, she’s a chicken, so she’s not going anywhere because chickens can’t fly.

Did you know giraffes sleep standing up?

Dressing up

Now that it’s January, I haven’t been wearing dresses every day, as Dressember is over! As much as I enjoy wearing a dress every day, it was nice to have a little break, because it was so, so cold!

Here is the rest of my December in dresses.

Day 21

I love this dress, but I don’t wear it very often, because it’s not a great colour for me. Maybe I should wear it more in the summertime, when I look a little less pale.

Day 22

I believe it was snowing and I wasn’t going anywhere, so I opted for a comfortable sweater dress and leggings. Dress is from Old Navy.

Day 23

I changed the colour of my hair. I love my hair dark. I wanted a picture outside, but it was cold!

Day 24

I had ordered a dress from Modcloth specially for Christmas eve, but it still hasn’t come! Thankfully, I had a lovely back-up dress!

Day 25

Merry Christmas!

Day 26

Day after Christmas poker game. I didn’t win!

Day 27

Enjoying my time off, being all comfy in my slippers!

Day 28

This dress is basically a very long sweatshirt. It’s like wearing pajamas all day!

Day 29

A book and lattes kind of day.

Day 30

I’m almost out of days in December, but not out of dresses!

Day 31

Happy New Year!

And here is a look at all of my dresses for the month. 32 dresses in 31 days! Until next year!

All I want to do is wear pretty dresses

Last year, in December, I took part in Dressember. It’s a fantastic, amazing, fun, challenge where one wears a dress every day in December. It was my first year participating, but I found a great online community of Dressemberites who made it even more fun! Some of the people have been doing it for a few years.

This year, however, there was a twist in the December world. The person who started the challenge in 2009 decided to align Dressember with a charity. She chose the International Justice mission, which is great. What’s not great is that someone is claiming ownership of a word, a challenge, and a community. Our old Dressember facebook page was deleted and we had to change the name of our group. Lots of people donate and fundraise, but for various causes.

Even though I’m apparently not supposed to use the word anymore, it’s still Dressember to me!

Day 1 – Movie, bookstore and lattes, just like day 1 last year (different dress!)

Day 2 – On Mondays we wear purple! (Some days have themes or colours. It’s just for fun, you don’t have to do it.)

Day 3 – Max Studio dress. These dresses always fit me and look awesome, so I have to be sure I’m ready to buy before I try!

Day 4 – On Wednesdays we wear pink! Hand me down dress from my mama.

Day 5 – Hardtail leggings (my favourite) and dress from a friend who bought it, then decided she didn’t like it.

Day 6 – BeBop dress. One of my favourites. I bought it in the summer, and thought I’d have to put it away for winter, but it “winterizes” very nicely.

Day 7 – Purple silk party dress from Kensie. From a friend who didn’t want it anymore. Lucky me!

Day 8  – Comfortable dress for making cookies all day.

Day 9 – Purple Monday, this time with flowers.

It’s not too late to join in the fun!

Junebug

No, I am not particularly fond of insects, I just think it’s a cute name (for a bug that is anything but cute!)

June was a great month, as it was my third 30 day yoga challenge! I can’t believe the “Do yoga every day for a week” goal on my list of 101 things to do in 1001 days turned into three month long challenges! Amazing.

June was such a busy month, I didn’t blog about my challenge as much as I thought I would. I didn’t take many pictures either. The thing is, it felt less like a challenge (for the first half, anyways). I was going to yoga three to four times a week anyways, so going everyday wasn’t quite as difficult as you would think. The second half happened at the same time as report cards, field trips and end-of-the-year crazyness, so it was a little tougher to motivate myself to go to class, but I think all the yoga helped me deal with everything.

Now, on to the best moments of my month caught in pictures!

Midsummer Madness

30 day yoga challenge

Goody bag from the lovely ladies at Pure Yoga Ottawa

Learning a new yoga pose. Bird with a broken wing, grasshopper or dragonfly, depending on who you talk to!

Going to the library book fair.

Spending father’s day with my dad.

Seeing the Supermoon. Awesome.

Going ziplining with my students. Kids are brave.

Viking day with my students.

And, with the end of June came the completition of my 30 day yoga challenge and the start of my summer holidays! Bliss.