day to night

hi everyone! i'm sorry my posts were so scant while i was away. i hope you entered the giveaway though! yesterday's petite fashion challenge was so fun! it was a great idea to try to get an entire outfit compiled for less than $100. everyone's entries were fantastic (check out the list of PFC bloggers here)

tonight i'm going to a client dinner/event right after work. i often am not organized enough (aka i'm too lazy *coughs*) to suit up for work and bring another dinner outfit. this is why i'm such a big fan of dresses. the right one can take you from day to night seamlessly.

what i look for:

1. a great cut - a dress doesn't need to be expensive. if it is cut well, and fits properly, that is all that matters. a nicely tailored dress with great lines translates to a professional and sophisticated look no matter what the occasion is.

2. material - the material of the dress has to be sturdy enough to withstand a day sitting at the office and then moving forward to another 3 to 5 hour event. you don't want to look like a wrinkeld mess upon arriving at the evening event. so any rayon/linen material is a no go. i look for good silks, or cotton/silk blends. suiting (wool blend) material holds up well too.

3. room - so this is the too much information section. TMI! TMI!! i don't wear form fitting dresses if i am going from day to night. you don't know if stress-induced or unfortunate lunch choice-induced bloating will happen. a form fitting dress, while sessy and normally perfect for a night out, can also be potentially constricting and uncomfortable. i look for dresses that are forgiving around the waist for this.

outfit for day:

outfit for night:

this is a nanette lepore dress (the style name is "feelin' lucky". i took a 0 in this. it is a tiered fringed tweed-like material. a really fun dark navy dress with an empire waist, pleats at the waist and pockets. pockets pockets pockets!

do you get giddy when you see pockets in dresses? i totally do. lol.

an easy way of going from day to night is to sparkle it up with jewelry! the lemon teardrop necklace i'm wearing is lightweight too - but just enough colour. a big thank you to t+j designs!

(outfit - blazer: zara, similar here; dress: nanette lepore, here; brooch: chanel; necklace c/o t+j designs, here; shoes, christian louboutin nude patent yoyo; bracelets: gold bangles and jeweled gold/gray bracelet: t+j designs, here and here, aldo accessories for the remainer)

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petite fashion challenge #16: summer wedding

This month's PFC is hosted by Lauren, from petite on a penny (go here for a list of all PFC participants and links to their entries)

the challenge

Summer Wedding--Create an outfit for a summer wedding (the dress code is up to you). For bonus points (and this is what I'll be doing!) try to make your whole outfit, head to toe, come in under $100! (Or, exclude shoes and accessories to meet the $100 mark.)

i'm so excited to be participating in this month's PFC, especially after my husband told me that we have just received 2 wedding invitations - one for july and one for august. so i looked in my closet to figure out what to wear for both weddings with this petite challenge in mind.

for wedding #1, i thought a fun splash of colour would be great. last summer, i found this dress on sale on anthropologie (moulinette soeurs splashed palette dress) for $89.95. this dress retailed 228$. 

outfit 1 - dress: anthropologie; necklace: pop of chic, similar here; bracelets: t+j designs, here; hermes clic clac in rouge and gold hardware; sparkley bracelet: the bay.

for wedding #2, i decided to go for the bonus points and thought of an evening reception. i had a j crew marielle dress in solstice floral that i got in the spring extra 30% off sale and scored for a whopping 32.69$ (it retailed 218$). with my accessories, this entire outfit (without shoes) totalled 72$.

outfit #2 - dress: j crew (33$); statement necklace: t+j designs (18$); big cuff: joe fresh (3.50$ - yes.. 3.50$); yellow sparkley bracelet: the bay (10$); multi colour tri-bracelets: aldo accessories (14.95 minus 50%)

the rock star of the outfits are a pair of louboutin numero prive in mini glitter. it's a wedding! we must have glitter! sparrrrkles!! blingy but subdued a little.. :)

tip for affordable formal dress finds 

one thing that i do around sales period (like about now) is look out for dresses i can wear on special occasions on second cut or last cut. the prices around this time are very reasonable if you are patient enough to stalk check the websites regularly. in addition to weddings, i go to many functions either for work or community/volunteer events over the course of the year, and you can only recycle those dresses so often. so i do buy "in anticipation " of future events.

i also find zara to have imminently reasonably priced and really fun dresses for less than 120$ there, so if ever i would be in a bind, i'd also go there first.

hope you enjoyed these outfits - it was really fun to try to figure out how to do this within a budget! 

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2nd. blog. giveaway!

the reception and support i've received from you all on this blog has been just so amazing. it has been wonderful to meet new people from around the world and to read your comments. i've discovered new blogs, new friends, and gotten to know and meet such fascinating and amazing people. thank you!! 

after i bought this gorgeous gold orchid necklace from friedasophie (worn here), i thought it was such a delicate and beautiful piece that i knew it would be a perfect giveaway gift.  so, let's be necklace twins!

How to Enter

1. please follow this blog (there is a column on the right hand side of the blog and "follow" to join this site via google) - or on facebook, here. if you already do, you can skip this step!

2. please follow me on Bloglovin by going to this link. if you already do, you can skip this step! AND

3. please put in a comment under this post or on facebook confirming you've done these 2 steps. don't forget to say hi!! 

4. you must complete these 3 steps to qualify.

5. each person gets one entry - the giveaway is open to all readers: Canada, US, & international!

Contest closes on Thursday, June 14 and the winner will be announced on Friday June 15th.

Good luck and spread the loooove!!


xox P

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P's travel adventures: 1 bag, 5 days

travel adventures: 2 cities in 5 days, and 1 carry-on. the 2 cities involve totally different people, so i get to cheat a bit, manoeuvre, and repeat the pieces in some form. luckily, the hotels where i stay have an overnight dry cleaning service too, so that is a definite bonus.

as you may have read in the petite fashion challenge post (here), i avoid checking luggage. this is what made the final cull. i'm also going to shop one of the days away, and must make room! but it's hard - i tend to overpack (case in point, after i took these pictures, i threw in a black pearl necklace, cream petal tank and yellow cardigan). if you had space for one more thing, what would you add?

(left row, top to bottom): 1. j crew navy pinstripe suiting dress (which i wore here), similar here; 2. joe fresh white t-shirt, here; 3. j crew silk black and white polka dot 3/4 sleeve blouse, similar here; 4. zara white fantasy fabric blazer (which i wore here), here)

(right row, top to bottom): 1. ann taylor sleeveless lace/crochet sheath dress, similar here; 2. j crew schoolboy blazer (which i wore here), similar here; 3. gap slim cropped pants (which i wore here); 4. gap sexy boyfriend jeans (which i wore here).  not shown are my work out clothes, PJs, and a pair of black and nude closed toe pumps. i'll be wearing flats on the plane. 

day 1 - i start all-day meetings as soon as i land, so i'll be travelling in the suiting dress and red blazer.

after work, i am meeting my girlfriend for shopping and dinner (in that order. we have priorities, people!) so this outfit will be fun. *this necklace is reversible too, and the other side is solid gold*  (edit: get the necklace for an extra 30% off using code: LOVEU30)

day 2 - another meeting. polka dots (unless she gets usurped by a local buy the night before. fingers crossed) with black cropped pants and the white zara fantasy blazer to switch it around. (although red blazer was more fun to photograph.)

day 3 - a travelling day, so it's the white joe fresh t-shirt and distressed boyfriend jeans, with the yellow cardi for the plane.

day 4 - another meeting. the suiting dress with white fantasy blazer to the rescue! 

i'll be going to a more formal dinner that evening. the planned outfit will be the AT sheath, with a simple necklace. 

day 5 - last day of meetings! repeating the black gap cropped pants, white joe fresh tee and the red j crew blazer. or, i could wear the dress that i wore the night before as a skirt, with the polka dot top over it and belted. or... well, with these pieces, the permutations are fun to imagine for any given day!  

the accessories help change around the outfits (j crew pearl necklace, old, similar here or here; red and b/w polka dot belts, aldo accessories; crystal statement necklace, j crew, old, similar here; j crew black/gold bubble necklace, here; tobi collar necklace, here). 

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colourblock office

hi all! happy hump day! today is my last civilized office day, and then i travel for work. not really looking forward to taking 4 flights in 5 days and travelling to 2 different cities. it will involve meetings each day i'm there, dinners, and of course i should try to work out while i'm away (it's the right thing to do..)  packing for this round of trips will be awesome. 

my bestie is also going away this friday as well on a mini-holiday, and she's leaving her packing to the last minute, because she really hates it. when i go away with the family, i pack for 4 people, so i have to start a week early and it's the efficient machine mom that emerges. when i go alone, i tend to overpack because i procrastinate.

do you like packing for trips?

(outfit - top: diane von furstenberg, cahil; skirt: j crew: no. 2 double serge pencil skirt; shoes: zara; watch: michael kors; bracelet aldo)

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gingham shorts

yesterday, we had a traditional family celebration for my nephew, who is one month old. my job as auntie was to do the last minute food prep running around for my sister while all of our the kids were in swimming lessons. when she handed me the list of things to do, i promptly removed my wedges, and borrowed her flip flops.. :p

when j crew had their extra 30% sale a while back, i stocked up for the kids' summer wardrobe. the boys go through jeans, pants and shorts so quickly, they are lucky to have something last the season. there is no such thing as hand me downs either because boy 1.0 kills all clothing, so it doesn't even make it to boy 2.0. needless to say, anything on sale for them has to be purchased tout de suite. so a funny thing happened as i was surfing the site, i found these pink gingham shorts. they may have snuck into the order. *i plead temporary gingham-induced insanity*

do you sneak in things when you shop for others? anyone take in the "1 for them 1 for me" rule? :)

and finally, a few pics that i took yesterday of the little man:

the cake topper, 

made by our fab friend Kerry (with her wonderful boy A)

a little dragon, for baby Evan.

(outfit - top: lacoste, here; shorts: j crew factory, similar here and here; belt: club monaco, old; espadrilles: valentino, old, similar here)

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union jack

happy sunday! what a wonderful weekend so far. we finally have some faboo weather and it was so nice to be out in flip flops for a change! i hope this warm weather holds.. i finally got a hair cut. my hair is so thick and grows quickly, it gets pretty heavy. so for the warmer weather, we must have taken off about 287342 pounds of hair. LOL. it's still pretty long, but much more manageable. do you make drastic changes when the seasons change?

i don't normally tend to match my clothes, but when i went to zara and picked up this union jack tee, it worked with what i already had on (it was a fluke, i swear). with the roses overlay, the print is so fun. it's quite sheer - very very lightweight. i'm wearing the medium. the small would have been fine too, but they didn't have one so i got the medium which is pretty loose. i also liked how not fitted it was and frankly, at 16$ really, you can't go wrong. i also picked up a jean jacket, which instantly made my 16 year old self who wished for a jean jacket back then.. very very happy. 

(outfit - t-shirt, zara, similar here; pants: citizens of humanity thompson skinny jeans, reviewed here; bracelets: hermes kelly double tour, asos spiked bracelet; nail polish: on fingers, chanel "distraction" and toes, chanel "blue boy") 

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gap boyfriend jeans

good morning! another jeans friday and i was tempted to wear these gap "sexy boyrfriend jeans" (find them here) but it would not be work appropriate. i switched out to dark wash skinnies instead.

i did want to share with you these particular ones because they're petite friendly. 

right out of the box, they are folded for you as in the website picture. however, when i unfolded them, i saw that they were right at the perfect length for me to wear flats as well. in these pictures, they are unfolded so you can see the length of the jeans, but i'd also have worn these jeans folded up a few times. this is a great length for petites.

sizing-wise, this is a looser fitting jean. the waist is a bit big considering that i'm wearing the 25/0 and there is space which i don't normally get with gap pants. however, i don't think i want to go to the 00 because the point is that these are supposed to be baggier jeans. (also.. thoughts of "fat day jeans" came to mind). these are also 100% cotton, so unlike that have elastane, i don't think these will stretch out.

i found these neat hair elastics (goody brand) a few weeks ago. i always carry around elastics to tie my hair up into a ponytail, but these have a metal-looking band, so when you wear it around your wrist it looks like you're wearing bangles! so my hair elastics became part of my stack today. LOL. a lady on the elevator said "OMG look at her spikes. don't piss her off today!!" it was nice that she didn't use her inside voice.

(outfit - blazer: zara, old, similar here, or here; top: j crew colourblock tee; jeans: gap sexy boyfriend jeans, here; shoes: christian louboutin rose indien yoyo, similar here; bracelets: spikes, asos, here; kelly dog iris)

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