Professor of Magic

I thought I looked like I stepped out of the Free People catalog.  

M thought I looked like a teacher from Hogwarts. 

I like both options ;) 

Wearing:  Vest: Marshall's // Skirt: Free People // Shirt: Garage // Moccasins: Minnetonka

Reading: Raven Girl  by Audrey Niffenegger

Posing: on one of my favourite pedestrian overpasses

I love this vest.  M tells me that it's not a vest at all.  I love it just the same.  Is a piece of fabric with an open front and two arm holes by any another name still a vest?  (Or something...) 

And the skirt.  I bought it in NYC across from the giant Christmas tree in Rockefeller Square, while M waited happily in the warmth.  I love it, and the memory associated with it, too :)  

Off to plan some magic lessons :)  

♥ Meg xoxo

PS.  Isn't the sky crazy blue in these photos? #nofilter, just so ya know...

Swing Life

Three things:

1. This tire swing can hold my weight. And it's awesome. 

2. This long pants romper is actually tall enough for me. 

3. This hat makes me feel so boho chic. (That's totally a way to feel. . .)

Cardigan: Zara // Romper: Marshall's // Moccasins: Minnetonka // Hat: Target //

Posing beside the tire swing was fun. . .

Posing on the tire swing was way more fun.

Cardigan: Zara // Romper: Marshall's // Moccasins: Minnetonka // Hat: Target //

While I was looking over these photos, I kept hearing Swing Life Away by Rise Against in my head:

We live on front porches and swing life away,

We get by just fine here on minimum wage.  

If love is a labour, I'll slave till the end, 
I won't cross these streets until you hold my hand.

♥ Meg xoxo

The Art of Falling

by Kathryn Craft

"When the curtain rises, I will be born anew."

Penelope Sparrow wakes up in hospital bed - bumped, bruised, broken, and lucky to be alive.  The professional dancer had fallen from her fourteenth story balcony and landed on the roof of a car belonging to the neighbourhood baker.  

In her book, Craft details Penelope's painful process of rehabilitation and physiotherapy.  Throughout the novel, more and more is revealed about Penny's life as dancer.  Her tumultuous relationship with her choreographer.  Her constant struggle with her weight and size.  Her strained relationship with her mother.  Her place in her dance company.  As Penelope remembers the night of her accident, she and the reader are made to wonder: was it an accident after all? 

The characters in the novel are rich and well-developed.  Penny makes friends with Marty, the guy whose car she landed on, and Angela, her spirited roommate in the hospital.  Penelope learns about real friendship outside the competitive realm of dance. 

Not a trained dancer myself, I enjoyed Penny's coming to terms with her body and its talents and abilities.  Her story of growth and possibility gives me hope for new beginnings.  

A recommended read. 

♥ Meg xoxo

Stripes and School

Today may have been my best first-day-of-school as a teacher, ever. Everything rocked. Starting with my outfit. And ending with a kid whose running shoes made Darth Vader sounds. . . but that's a story for another time.

Dress: Anthropologie // Heels: Nine West // Umbrella: gift from T // 

Stripes. Bows. Pockets. Clear umbrella.  Delightful.

Dress: Anthropologie // Heels: Nine West // Umbrella: gift from T // 

Hot rain on the first day did nothing to dampen my spirits.  Puddle splashing is still ever-so satisfying to me.  

I'm startin' this year off on the right foot.  How about you?

♥ Meg xoxo

True North Strong and Free

Happy belated Canada Day :) M and I celebrated in the nation's capital.  Decked out in [matching] red and white, we celebrated all day and all night long.  The fireworks were the best I've ever seen; it was like a finale the entire time.

Tank top and t-shirt: Old Navy // 

Tank top, shorts, flip flops; Old Navy // Purse: Target // Tattoo: Dollarama //

Shoes: Converse // Shorts: Bluenotes //

I hope you enjoyed your Canada Day (/Fourth of July) festivities as much as I did. 

♥ Meg xoxo

Summer breeze; makes me feel fine...

Every skirt should come with a summer breeze. This pretty pink lady always gets me lots of love when the breeze takes it just right. 

Shirt: Forever XXI // Skirt: Anthropologie // Belt: borrowed from another dress // Sandals: Steve Madden //

The gold sole and strap on these sandals take them up a notch in my books. I had to take them off to walk around on the beach, though.  I think I blinded some fishermen while I was carrying them around. Whoops.

Shirt: Forever XXI // Skirt: Anthropologie // Belt: borrowed from another dress // Sandals: Steve Madden //

Carrying my shoes in hand resulted in dirty feet, which are the true first signs of summer ;) 

Skirt: Anthro // Sandals: Steve Madden // 

See the breeze take the skirt? Perfection.

The ONLY full-length picture with my heels on turned out blurry. C'est la vie, I suppose. I was was too busy floating in the breeze to double-check the photo afterwards. 

Kick off your shoes, hike up your skirt, and go splashing in the shallows. I might have. 

♥ Meg xoxo

Book hangover

Pictures on Pinterest lead me to believe that I've been suffering from a book hangover. A book hangover is defined as the "inability to start a new book because you're still living in the last book's world." After I binge-read Dark Places, I started and stopped reading two or three books because I couldn't get into them. Don't worry; I have been wearing fancy / eclectic / creative outfits though ;) I just haven't had a book around. . .

Stay tuned for an outfit post.  It's on its way.
♥ Meg xoxo

Dark Places

by Gillian Flynn

"The actual stuff my family owned, those boxes under my stairs, I can't quite bear to look at. I like other people's things better. They come with other people's history."

Dark Places tells the story of the days surrounding a gruesome murder, allegedly committed by a teenage boy named Ben Day, as a type of sacrifice to the devil. Each chapter is from one of the characters points of view.  There's Ben's story, along with his mother's, his aunt's, his sister Debbie's, Michelle's, and his littlest sister Libby's.  Their narratives paint a grim picture of their impoverished life in Kinnakee, Kansas. These stories are inter-spliced with modern-day Libby's story.  Libby is the only surviving member of the Day family that was present on the night of the massacre, other than Ben Day - prisoner and murderer. Out of money and filled with anger and depression, Libby is forced to confront her past, think about the 'dark places' of her childhood and revisit the horrifying night when her big brother killed her sisters and mother.

This story was gripping, haunting, disturbing, and thought-provoking.  Did Ben actually kill his whole family as a sacrifice?  Was he really disturbed like everyone said?  Did he mean to kill Libby too, or did he mean to save her? Did Ben commit the murders at all?  Was Libby over-coached by lawyers as a young child to wrongly accuse Ben of murder?  

Flynn did it to me again.  I was obsessed with this story and with trying to figure it out.  After Gone Girl's intense plot twist, I was searching for clues.  I was pretty proud of myself; I thought that I had the ending all figured out. . . Or did I?

Read it. That's all. 

♥ Meg xoxo

Dress down Friday

I've been wearing high heels nonstop since the snow and sludge has vanished from the sidewalks.  Here are some high heels on a casual Friday :)

Shirt: Joe Fresh // Scarf: Target // Jeans: Old Navy // Heels: Target //

This top is actually lime green in real life.  Someone told me that I looked like "a breath of fresh air" the day I wore this.  Aren't compliments lovely?

Shirt: Joe Fresh // Scarf: Target // Jeans: Old Navy // Heels: Target //

Dress down days at my place of work allow for very casual ensembles on the part of my co-workers.  I like to dress-up my dressed-down pieces with chandelier earrings, bold scarves and studded high heels. :)  

Shirt: Joe Fresh // Scarf: Target // Jeans: Old Navy // Heels: Target // Bag: White Elephant // 

I love this bag times one billion.  And I believe it too.

Heels and scarf: Target // Jeans: Old Navy // 

Look out dry pavements, high heels are coming at you.  That is, until I usher in the warm days of summer and the simplicity of bare feet. . .

♥ Meg xoxo

Peace, love and doughnuts

Erin and I took a little road trip a few weeks back.  We stumbled upon this very cute shop and then I stumbled upon this top.  And ta da! Doughnuts, for your viewing pleasure. 

Sweatshirt: Rue 21 // Jeans: Old Navy // Moccasins: Minnetonka // 

Sweatshirt: Rue 21 // Jeans: Old Navy // Moccasins: Minnetonka // 

Don't might the white socks.  What was I thinking?  haha.

SO. Many. Doughnuts. 

We got maple bacon.  So delish. 

I wish I was eating a little doughnut right now, instead of this apple.  Sigh* 

♥ Meg xoxo

My first love

My first love is orange. The colour, that is.  Way back in kindergarten, I was living the dream with the orange crayon all to myself while the other girls were fighting over pink and purple.  I used to have A LOT of orange clothing.  Now I just have more than the average person. . .

Cardigan: GT Boutique // Tank top: Old Navy // Skirt: Forever XXI // Mocs: Minnetonka //

This skirt got me a lot of comments the day I wore it.  People just get alarmed about fashion for all of the wrong reasons, in my opinion.  So what if I want to wear a summer maxi skirt in the dead of winter?  That's why they invented thick tights.  Duh.

Cardigan: GT Boutique // Tank top: Old Navy // Skirt: Forever XXI //

 Skirt: Forever XXI // Mocs: Minnetonka //

It was super windy when I took these. I may have had a fleeting thought about the thinness of the material and that it may do better in the summer, but the thought passed. 

What colour lifts your spirits and makes you smile when you wear it?

♥ Meg xoxo

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares

by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

"Of all the places I've been, this is the one that seems the most like a place a red notebook would take me."

This book pretty much explains itself in the title.  Lily and Dash have a notebook filled with dares.  It's a bit more complicated than that, though.  Lily writes the dares in a notebook and leaves it on the shelf at a used bookstore.  Dash finds it, and follows the instructions in the book, and writes back to Lily.  A quirky relationship ensues with one person writing in the book, and leaving it somewhere for the other to find.  

Authors Cohn and Levithan, of Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist, team up once again for a cute sort of quest tale.  Although unlikely, I did believe it as I read it.  Both Lily and Dash's parents were out of the country for Christmas, leaving them both free to roam their city and follow dares from a red Moleskin.  Their city happens to be NYC, which lends itself well to sort of kitschy Christmas locations and timeless landmarks for Lily and Dash to visit in their quest to get to know, and later meet one another.  

I think I loved Nick and Nora more than Lily and Dash.  But that's not to say I didn't like them and all of their oddities. They each get their own voice, chapter by chapter, which is a device I adore. I also loved the setting, since M and I had been to NYC for New Year.  I could picture the hustle and bustle, the giant Christmas tree, and the dazzling lights around Lily and Dash.  

It's a quick read, so read it and let me know what you think.

♥ Meg xoxo

Happy St Pat's

It was Dress Like a Leprechaun Day at my school today.  I ♥ spirit days times one million. Maybe even more than that.  haha.

Cardigan: Old Navy // 

Cardigan: Old Navy // Leggings and shirt: Joe Fresh // Skirt: Hot Topic // Socks: Claire's // Shoes: UO //

And to think, some of my colleagues just wore a green shirt.  Pshaw. Go big or go home, my friends :)

Bow tie worn as headband, and necklace: Dollarama //

Shoes: Urban Outfitters // Socks: Claire's //

These sequin shoes are moving their way up my [long] list of favourite shoes.  Oops, they can hear me... I LOVE you all, my darlings.  teehee. 

I hope your day was filled with all the green and orange you could handle. 

♥ Meg xoxo

Easter egg

One day this week I decided to wear all of the pastels in the world.  Which may or may not have led to people calling me an Easter egg.  I've learned from M, though, that an Easter egg is like a hidden gem or an inside joke in a video game. Obviously that's the reference that was being made here ;) 

Sweatshirt: Old Navy // Necklace: Forever XXI

There's a dress under this sweater, which might explain the bulkiness.  I think that a shorter sweater might have solved this issue, but whatevs... it's winter, you're allowed to look bulky.

Sweatshirt: Old Navy // Dress: JC Penney // Tights: Target // Shoes and Necklace: Forever XXI // 

Sweatshirt: Old Navy // Dress: JC Penney // Tights: Target // Shoes and Necklace: Forever XXI // 

These minty green tights were an impulse buy that I don't regret one bit.

Dress: JC Penney // Tights: Target // Shoes: Forever XXI // 

Not pictured, but actually paired with this springy outfit: my winter parka, boots, mitts, hat and scarf.

Happy long weekend, 

♥ Meg xoxo

A Long Way Down

By Nick Hornby

"The truth will set you free.  Either that or it'll get you a punch in the nose" 

A Long Way Down is about four strangers who meet on the top of a tower block (read: high-rise building) on New Years Eve.  Why are they on the roof of said tall building you ask? For their own reasons, each of the characters has decided that they can't go on living anymore and are prepared to hurl themselves off the top.

Depressing?  Nope.  Preachy / we-are-saved ? Nope.  Hornby's blackly humourous narrative switches back and forth between the members of the "Topper's House Gang" seamlessly.  Martin, Jess, Maureen, and JJ each tell his or her own story in his or her own distinct voice, so believably.  I mean, while I was reading I thought that I might bump into Jess at the club, or JJ at the music shop.

The characters break the fourth wall and talk to the reader about their lives, hopes, and plans.  This device made them even more believable and real.  I listened to this as an audiobook; the voice actors add a depth to an already deep and intricate story.  

I highly recommended this read.  Nick Hornby, of High Fidelity and About a Boy delivers once again.  Let's hope the movie adaptation is as good as the others. 

♥ Meg xoxo

Radiant snow.

Snow. It's piling up in small mountains at the edge of my driveway.  It's stuck in and around my tires.  It's causing traffic collisions and slippery roads.

But, sometimes the sun hits it just right; suddenly the snow is glowing and everything is sparkly and the world is radiant and I love it all. 

Dress: Old Navy // Scarf and belt: Ardene // Moccasins: Minnetonka //

Black maxi dress + poncho-esque scarf + moccs = ♥.

Dress: Old Navy // Scarf and belt: Ardene // Moccasins: Minnetonka //

Find something that gives you your sparkle and shine today.  Spin around in your poncho in a random parking lot if that makes you happy. I mean, why not?

♥ Meg xoxo

PS These were taken on Monday, when you could actually see some pavement.  Not so much today...