Bag Snob: CHLOÉ Marcie

It's my dream to have a gorgeous bag in every colour of the rainbow, for every occassion.  A big dream I know, but hey, if you don't set goals for yourself, how will you ever be successful?

The latest on my list is CHLOÉ Marcie Medium leather tote in a beautiful brick colour.  Imagine this bag with a pair of fitted dark jeans, crisp white shirt and a blazer.  A chic way to go casual, no?

CHLOÉ Marcie Medium leather tote via Net-a-Porter

Project Sleep

There are countless studies out there that talk about the benefits of having a good night's sleep...and by good night's sleep, the "experts" mean 8 hours a night.  Most people don't get enough this much sleep for lots of reasons, hence, many of us suffer from poorer health than we should.  I am one of these people.  I love my sleep, but I am almost resistant to falling asleep.  I cannot for the life of me relax enough to get to sleep these days and it is driving me crazy.

Part of my problem is that it takes me a long time to wind down and my "routine" has not a set time nor a set timeline.  Instead of fighting this, I've given into my inner sleep clock and decided to start relaxing much earlier in the evening  so that I'm ready to sleep by the time I hit the bedsheets.  I'm on day 4 of this and so far so good, though one minor hiccup yesterday when I exhausted myself from spending the day wardrobe purging.   Relaxing earlier means switching off the computer earlier, preparing for the next day much earlier (getting lunch together and outfit picked out) and eventually getting into bed much earlier.

It's hard to imagine a time where I could function fully on just four hours of sleep (ah those were the days, weren't they?), but now getting to bed a bit earlier and getting that extra bit more sleep is helping me feel much more productive throughout the day.  Fingers crossed that this is the start of a permanent, more healthy attitude towards sleep!

$23,000 Can Get You...

A new car, a decent start on a down payment for a home (I live in Vancouver people), a college education, a pretty awesome trip around the world...I could go on...

Or it could get you this purse, owned by Christina Hendricks, designed by Farbod Barsum.  Is it worth it?  You be the judge:

The Isabella from Farbod Barsum, made from American Alligator and will set you back about $23,000.

Fashion = Fun

I know I just stated the obvious with that title but waking up earlier for my new job this week and trying to get myself looking put together has been a chore.  I went to my tried and true uniform as a fallback and while it saved me the energy from trying to be creative and put on something cute, it got pretty boring pretty quickly.  Yesterday I finally realized:  I'm bored of this uniform!  I need to get away from cardigans over tops with dress pants and do something different with my work wardrobe!  Bonus: my new department is more relaxed and I'm no longer managing anyone, hence I don't need to be as "professional" as before (though of course there are boundaries to this!).

After this realization, I knew I needed to perk up my wardrobe with a few fun but functional items. so last night I headed to the mall with a friend of mine, and made some purchases.  I didn't spend a lot but it was enough to reinvigorate me and help me get back to the root of it all, which is:  fashion is fun!  So don't take it too seriously and play with it a little!

Royal blue leopard print jeans...can I pull these off?  Yes!
From Material Girl and they are only $30!

More leopard print? You bet!
From Old Navy.

Truth and Beauty

The fashion world is up in arms about designer Tom Ford's blunt comments on supermodel Gisele Bundchen becoming "too old" for the industry.  Though I don't agree that she's getting old (c'mon the girl is 32!),  I can see why he would feel that she has a tough time ahead of her as she becomes less relevant in the fashion world:

"This sounds negative, but when you're considered one of the most beautiful women in the world, it's very, very hard when that starts to slip away. It's hard to feel good about yourself when people react to you differently. And, Gisele, I hope you're not reading this, because it's going to sound so negative but I know through some of my best friends who are really famous actresses — I'm not going to mention their names — who were at one point considered to be among the most beautiful women in the world at different periods of time, and how hard it is for them emotionally. So, I hope Gisele is prepared for that, because it's so difficult."

He speaks the truth!  If everyone constantly is telling you are "x" for a signifcant portion of your life, then if you slowly lose that quality, how could you not feel less like yourself?  It is a natural part of dealing with aging to consider how you might be less attractive and want to preserve that, so imagine trying to handle that when it's your job to be beautiful and desirable all the time.  I do feel a bit sorry for Gisele...but then I remember how rich, smug and self-agrandizing she can sound and then I don't anymore!

The September Issue: Glamour Magazine

In the quest to spend less of my money frivolously, I stopped buying magazines on a regular monthly basis a while ago.  I honestly didn't miss my monthly edition of Glamour, InStyle, Self, etc, etc because I was starting to feel like there wasn't anything unique or useful in them that I couldn't find somewhere else (i.e.:  blogs, websites, Pinterest).  This month, I did make an exception and picked up Glamour magazine's September 2012 edition, guest edited by Posh Spice herself, Victoria Beckham.  Truthfully I was only interested in reading about her, because I'm a big fan but I was pleasantly surprised by the entire issue.  There are great touches of insight about fashion from Victoria (as well as some "real life" stuff like her favourite quinoa pasta recipe), as well as tons of interesting features by talented bloggers like the Man Repeller, Emily Weiss from Into The Gloss and a funny commentary on changing your man's style by the delicious Jason Sudekis from SNL.   

I've already read the issue from cover to cover twice and am now obsessed with it as my fashion bible for fall.  Pick this one up now ladies (and men)...it's definitely worth your $5.99!

Spice Up Your Life

In case you missed it, the Spice Girls performed at the London 2012 Olympic closing ceremonies tonight.  As a major, major fan of the group I think they looked amazing and rocked their performance.  As predicted by me, they got a huge ovation from the live audience...sorry One Direction, you need to bow down to the legends that these ladies are!

Don't they look fabulous?  Age has served the Spice Girls well.
I love the raspberry mini dress that Baby Spice aka Emma Bunton wore.

Not only did she get to re-live being a pop star but Victoria Beckham (aka Posh Spice) also got to show the world she's also a fashion designer during the "supermodel" segment of the closing ceremonies when Georgia May Jagger wore one of her dresses.  

Georgia May Jagger in a golden Victoria Beckham design.