Sunday, October 31, 2010

tiaraiconHappy Haunting!

Happy Halloween!!! Enjoy this day of fancy dress-up, candy bingeing and spooking your friends!  I am still in Newfoundland on work so last night I put on my costume; strutted around the hotel room for a few minutes and then retired to the bed! (You know you're getting older when...)

As a fashionista, any excuse to dress up in outlandish and provocative outfits is greatly appreciated! Last year I dressed up as a rock star groupie (a la Rock of Love Bret Michaels style) and this year I pranced around the Sheraton Newfoundland as the Garden of Eve (or Mother Nature as the boy was calling me!)

Even the elephants and primates at the North Carolina Zoo get to enjoy some Halloween fun such as smashing pumpkins to stimulate their mental and physical senses!


Last Halloween: Bret Michaels and Rock Star Groupie



Marley the cowboy


Mamma Sita the Witch

This Halloween: Garden of Eve


Thursday, October 28, 2010

tiaraiconBoots & Bibs

I'm currently half asleep in my hotel room in Newfoundland.  Travelling for work is not as glamourous as I thought it would be-room service is my new friend! The scenary in Newfoundland (or the Rock as its affectionately called) is breathtaking! I will post my Newfoundland pictures in a few days but for now I still have some Nova Scotia pictures to get through!

Boots & Bibs...I have openly expressed my love of boots (here and here) but bibs? What's that all about? That's about my beautiful one month old step-niece named Amelia Juliet Vaughan! My step sister Lauren is the proud Mum and Amelia is a sweetie (and the first baby I've ever picked up due to my fear of harming their soft spot!) While I was home we had the opportunity to have some family photos taken and I have shared some of the better ones -of me that is! ;) below.



Sister, Father, Step-Niece and Educational Baby Toy :)

As you can tell she's a hot commodity- everyone is trying to grab her from me!

I might have been cooing at this point...


A little spit up- just part of the experience!

Outfit:
Grey T-shirt; Black Cardigan and Black Belt- Smart Set
Felt Fedora- Mac & Jac ($10 from Zellers!)
Boots- Thrifted (yes I've been wearing these too often!)

Sister Stephanie; Moi; Father Paul; Step-Mom Lora Lee; Step-Sister Lauren; Step-Niece Amelia and Step-Sister Kathleen (poor Dad is outnumbered- even the three cats are all female!)





The Brown Family in all its glory!

Outfit:
Dress: Smart Set (worn here)
Black Bow Headband: Mac & Jac
Grey Shoes: Andrew Geller (worn here)

Now I'm off to bed- busy day of meetings tomorrow- I promise to be more blogger friendly once I'm back to reality!

Before I go I will leave you with one more image- Happy Halloween from Amelia!




Tuesday, October 26, 2010

tiaraiconPools and Pumpkins

I am currently waiting in the Halifax Airport for my delayed plane to arrive and bring me to the land of kissing cods and drinking screech (a.k.a. Newfoundland).  I am burden down with my laptop case, a very heavy crochet blanket and my huge purse (not to mention my 70 pound suitcase that the boy had to check in for me-hello H&M shopping!)

I spent my short time in NS hanging with the family, lounging in the hot tub, eating greasy diner food and carving pumpkins! Not to mention an impromptu photo shoot by the pool (unfortunately Canadian weather does not fare well for October swimming!)








Outfit:
Pleather Jacket- Top Shop UK
Frilly White Dress- Gifted from Clothes Swap
Black Boots- Thrifted (my favourite pair of the season!)
Ring- Vintage
Sunglasses- Aldo
Chanel Belt- Vintage


What's your favourite way to fall into Fall?

Sunday, October 24, 2010

tiaraiconThese Boots are Made for Walking...

...and that's just what I'll do.  One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you!

Sorry for the delay in posting- I am currently back home in Nova Scotia, visiting family until I leave for my work trip to Newfoundland.  I've been all about the boots recently although I am yet to justify spending big bucks on the thigh high boots *sigh* my thrifted boots will have to do for now!


Yee Haw!

Margarita Sampler at Lone Star


Outfit:
Short Sleeved Blazer- Thrifted
Lace Shirt- Mexx
Army Green Skirt- Gifted from Clothes Swap
Brown Boots- Spring
Earrings- The Bay
Watch- Fossil
Hair Band- Aldo



Outfit:
Cream Shirt- Gifted from Clothes Swap
Red Skirt- Thrifted
Boots- Aldo
Chanel Belt- Vintage
Necklace- The Bay
Watch- Fossil




Butt pockets?!


Outfit:
Dress- Atmosphere UK worn here
Black Blouse- The Gap
Belt- Smart Set
Black Boots- Thrifted
Grey Tights- Primark UK
Black Ring- Aldo
E Necklace- Gifted from my BFF Elizabeth :)

I hope I didn't overload you too much with photos! Just remember boots are made for walking!!!

Friday, October 22, 2010

tiaraiconClothes Swap Party

One woman's ratty handbag is another woman's new purse for Fall.  And that is the reason why I decided to host a Clothes Swap party.  My friend had hosted one a few months ago and it was a great success- we all ended up with some great new pieces and the rejected garments went to charity.  So last Saturday night, the boy and the cats were confined to the bedroom, and the girls came over to shop from each other's wardrobes.  Something that I was very proud of was that I brought out my apron and did some cooking for the party (and those of you who know me will be in shock and awe at this revelation!)

First up- the Decoration!

This involved a solid day of cleaning (I am not known to be a neat freak in any capacity) as well as some inventive decor.



British Fashion magazines courtesy of my Mum
 
Harvest gourds; Indian Corn and Sunflowers for the food table
 Next up- the Food!
I conducted some preliminary research on party food and then whipped up some fun dishes such as Sweet Pepper Poppers (off the TGIF menu) and Cucumber.

Sweet Pepper Poppers

Prep 25 minutes, Bake 20 minutes
Makes about 50 poppers

Ingredients:
Olive oil no-stick cooking spray, Pam®
2 pints baby red, yellow, and orange bell peppers and/or jalapeƱo chile peppers
1 package (8-ounce) cream cheese, softened,Philadelphia®
1 cup shredded pepper-Jack cheese (4 ounces), Tillamook®
2 green onions, finely chopped
1 cup fresh chunky salsa

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Lightly coat a baking sheet with cooking spray. Set aside.
 Let stand for 30 minutes.


2. Cut each pepper lengthwise through stem. Using a spoon, scrape out seeds and veins. Set aside.


3.  In a medium bowl, stir together cream cheese, shredded cheese, and green onions.


4. Fill hollowed-out peppers with cheese mixture. Place peppers on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until heated through.



5.  Once cooked, top each pepper with a spoonful of the fresh salsa.


Salmon-Cucumber Hors D'oeuvres
Prep 20 minutes.  Makes about 2 dozen.


Ingredients:
2 English Cucumbers
Herb and Garlic Cream Cheese,  Philadelphia®
Smoked Salmon
Fresh Dill
 
1.  Peel the English Cucumbers


2.  Cut the peeled cucumbers into thick slices and scoop out the centre with a melon ball scooper (I used a teaspoon)



3.  Top the cucumbers with a teaspoon of cream cheese, a slice of smoked salmon and a sprig of fresh dill

Mint Chocolate Gluten-free Cupcakes from 5 Cupcakes in Ottawa and Apple Cinnamon Streusels

Can't forget- the Drinks!

I made a 'Celebrity Punch' that was dangerously delicious and I bought a cheap-o Chenin Blanc for the girls (although perhaps due to the copious amounts of punch consumed- we accidentally drank the expensive Chenin Blanc my boyfriend had bought- luckily he doesn't hold grudges!)

Celebrity Punch

Ingredients:
6 Lemon slice 
6 Orange slices 
2 750-ml. bottles Ginger Ale  or one 2 litre bottle
2 cups orange juice 
10 oz.  gin
10 oz.  rum 
1 l. grape juice 
Small jar maraschino cherries 

Mixing instructions:
Pour chilled spirits and fruit juices into punch bowl with large cake of ice and stir well. Gently stir in ginger ale and jar of cherries, including juice. Garnish with fruit slices. Makes about 40 4-oz. servings.




Party Favours - Grownup Goody Bags!

Don't you remember how you used to get goody bags after each kid's Birthday Party you went to? These were my favourite part of the parties so I thought I would make grownup goody bags for my guests! I bought jewellery on sale from Smart Set ($1-$2/piece); Ring Pops (the edible jewellery) and Kisses from Bulkbarn decorated with personalized stickers from Wrappers Uniquely Yours (cute idea but not worth the price) and Pink takeaway Chinese boxes from Chinatown decorated with fashion pins from Chapters.  Oh yeah- and after all this effort I forgot to give everyone their goody bag when they left- doh!







And most importantly- the Clothes!

I cleared out numerous pieces of rejected clothing from my wardrobe and the ladies brought some great pieces from their closets.  At the end of the swap we ended up with 2 industrial sized garbage bags of clothing to give to a local women's shelter! (I will be wearing my new clothing items sporatically throughout my blog posts so stay tuned!)