Effortless Style

If ever there was a woman who epitomizes being effortlessly stylish, it is Sarah Jessica Parker.  We all know colour blocking is a hot trend right now, but instead of going the obvious route like these celebs, SJP takes the idea and makes it all her own.  She does this with such ease, but follows the trend down to every last detail including the orange Moët & Chandon champagne box she has under her arm and the pink file folder she has tucked in her red purse.

See what I mean?  Style hero!

Seeing her pull this outfit off so well got me to thinking.  Trends are great but you have to add your own unique flair to them and be willing to skip them altogether if they don't work for you.  Easier said than done, I know.  When skinny jeans first came out, I thought I'd never find a pair to fit around my curves and not make me look like the Kool-Aid man.  But...I waited and waited until I found the right pair and the right shoes and made it work for me.

In the wise words of designer Rachel Roy, make trends work for you, not the other way around!

"Dress for yourself. Don't follow the trends. Observe the trends, read about the trends, and apply them to yourself in a way that feels unique. Not all trends work. That said, try your best to be an individual, because the most attractive people in the world are the ones that are unique and have something different to say."

You've Come A Long Way Baby...

Remember when Victoria Beckham was known to the world as "Posh Spice"?

Well, a decade and a half later, "Posh" is putting out runway collections along the likes of Marc Jacobs and Jason Wu in New York Fashion Week, and now word is that major celebrities want to wear her designs to the Oscars.  Pretty amazing for a former pop singer, huh?

Just goes to show that your past doesn't necessarily dictate your future.  Go VB!

Sweet Revenge

I have sat on my hands, stopping myself from blogging about this toooo long!  Ok, ok, it's only been about 36 hours.  BUT, I had an encounter with an ex yesterday...and I have to say "I WIN!"  If you have ever been a man, woman or child screwed over by an ex, you will both understand and delight in this fact with me and wonder how I waited so long to share it with y'alls.

So, what do I mean by "I WIN"?  Well, let me break it down for ya:

a) I looked hot and he didn't.  I had my hair long and flowy and freshly cut, my eyes were subtly smoky, my outfit put together but also a bit sexy, and for once my nails were perfectly done.  He on the other hand was sweaty, tired and wearing a purple bandana.  Not cute.

(In his defense, he was slaving away in a kitchen preparing brunch for me and my ladies.  He's a chef, works at a cafe owned by my friend's sister, and no we didn't purposely go there knowing he'd be there.  We thought he quit long ago, but he happened to come back to work there recently without us knowing.)

b) I had back up.  I showed up with 3 of my closests friends - like I said we were there for brunch and we always have a good ol' time while we are catching up.  I knew if shit went down and I needed a hug or someone to clock him in the face, I would be ok.

On the other hand, he got lectured by my friend's sister before we arrived.  She told him she thought he should apologize to me if he thought he "had done something to apologize for" and his co-workers overheard.  Poor fella probably felt sheepish in front of his co-workers and imagined himself the target of multiple staredowns from my girls.  For the record there were no staredowns...but also no apologies.  Yes, that's right, he didn't man up, but no surprise there given his track record.

c)  Most importantly, I realized what I hadn't been missing out on all this time not being with him.  Sometimes, you tend to romanticize the qualities that you like in someone, so much so that you forget all their shortcomings.  After seeing him again, I realized that all I was missing out on was an immature man-boy who had two chances to do the right thing and apologize, but was too weak, scared or stupid to take either of them.  And quite frankly, I have no time for people like that in my life, no matter how smart or funny or sexy that person might appear.

So, to sum it up:  I freaking WIN!  

Peace out,

Miss M

Beauty Product Alert: Beauty Balms

A few weeks back, I wrote about facial oils and their multitude of benefits, so I thought I'd share Fashionista's article on beauty balms being equally as beneficial to your skin care routine.  Beauty balm creams or "BBs" have been around for decades, but haven't been popular for years.  Now everyone from Garnier to MAC to 3Lab are getting into the BB trend.

I never did end up trying the Clarins facial oil, but BBs seem like they would be more beneficial to try.  First and foremost, they are supposed to be a multipurpose product...nourishing, detoxifying and protecting all in one.  I think I might try this Boscia version, as it sounds like it would be good for my acne prone skin and works good with my skin tone.

Weekend Project: DIY Fancy Flats

I'm the first to admit that I'm not crafty but I do love being creative, which is why I love blogging and baking.  I'm trying to get into DIY projects more and I came across a tutorial on how to use scarves to make your flats fancier.

Fun DIY project via scarves.net

Thought I'd share this fun idea.  Enjoy!

Let It Go

It's Saturday morning - a beautiful, sunny type of morning that reminds me why I wouldn't want to live anywhere else except Vancouver.  I have tea in the kettle, my laptop powered up and ready to deliver all the news of the day, and a hockey game on tv in the background.  Yeah, I'm Canadian, and there is nothing like hockey on Saturdays.

My tea is almost steeped, when I hear one little phrase from the announcer:  let it go.  I'm sure it was part of a whole sentence, something to do with losing a puck or escaping a hit, but "let it go" is all I hear.

And I can't help but think...among all the frustration and craziness and uncertainty that fills my life right now, this one phrase is the one I need to focus on.

Let it go.  Move on.  Be happy.  And everything else will one day fall in to place.

Walk, Walk, Fashion Baby

The 80s were a decade of excess when it came to fashion - bold colours, flashy accessories and over the top hair.  I was a kid in the 80s, so I wasn't into fashion much at that point, but what I do remember being obesessed with was 80s supermodels - Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford, Helena Christensen, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington,  Claudia Schiffer...the list goes on.  In those days, no celebrities graced the cover of Vogue, Harper's Bazaar or any other credible fashion magazine.  Real, live supermodels did!

Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista,  Tatjana Patitz, Christy Turlington and Cindy Crawford on the cover of Vogue.
These ladies were so big that they even were in a music video together (George Michael's "Freedom")

These days, supermodel is not a word that is tossed around much and you'd find it hard to even think of any except maybe Gisele.  Celebrities from the world of movies, tv and music seem to be on the covers of most major magazines and even big ad campaigns from high end (think Emma Watson in Burberry) to medium price point (Kate Hudson in Ann Taylor).

Personally, I miss the days when the people who were in fashion were true lovers of fashion and were immersed in that world.  Fashion is an escape and an outlet for many people, including me.  There is a certain credibility and glamour that is lacking when you see some B-list actress or singer with a couple of big hits on the cover of W for no reason other than they are famous.  Back in the day, models were often elevated to that "supermodel" status and put on magazine covers because fashion experts like photographers and designers saw something inspiring in them that they wanted to share with the world.  As shallow as it sounds, supermodels helped make high fashion accessible to the masses but not so accessible that the glamour and fantasy of it all was lost in the process.

So what am I trying to say here?  Bring back the supermodels, the glamazons with mile long legs, high cheekbones and the sense that fashion is a fantasy for us all to wish we could live in.