Shopping haul

ur neighbours to the south are enjoying American Thanksgiving and Black Friday. We celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving back in October, but some retailers here have started advertising Black Friday sales here too. I guess it's to keep us from driving south to do some shopping. I couldn't go to the mall today to check out the sales because I usually have both kids at home with me (my son is not in daycare on Mondays and Fridays) and it's just too chaotic to take 2 kids under the age of 5. I did, however, go to the mall yesterday with my 4-month old in tow. I had to get my in-laws their Christmas presents and while I was there I checked out the sales at Holt Renfrew Last Call. Last Call is sort of like Nordstrom Rack, but better. You just need time to go through all the racks. I always find great deals there. Last year I picked up a Gryphon trench coat for 80% off the SALE price! I think the original price of it was $550? I ended up getting it for around $50. I got one for myself and one for my MIL.
There wasn't an 80% off rack this time, but I picked up 2 things that I'm really happy with. I got 30% off the sale price.

I picked up a gorgeous cream blazer by Beyond Vintage. The fabric is a very soft
Tencel so it's not structured at all, but drapes nicely. The lapel is sequined so it gives
a bit of sparkle. You can still buy it here.

Here is the back. 

The tag had a little story attached to it.

Detail of the sequins.
Originally the price of this at Holt Renfrew was just over $300 CAD, but it was marked
down to $209 and then I got 30% off.

Here is a picture I took of myself wearing the blazer in the change room.

My next item is one of my favourite brands- Equipment. They make the best blouses.
They are mostly all 100% silk blouses and super expensive. I think they retail for over
$200. I got my first one here and I love it so much!
When I saw this top I was immediately in love with it. I love the colour block detail
and the Peter Pan collar. 

If you haven't heard of this brand before you must check it out. They are the softest
shirts and they come in all different colours. Their printed tops are quite beautiful too.
I also saw one with a snakeskin pattern on the collar and that one was lovely as well.

The collar is a dark navy blue colour.

The hem on the sleeve is a bright coral colour. Such great detail!
Originally it was just over $250CAD, but it was on sale for $179 and I got 30% off of
that. I could never justify spending almost $300 for a blouse so to get it on sale was
a great feeling. I know it's still expensive with even the discount, but I know I will get
a lot of uses out of it. It will look great with a skirt.

Here's what it looks like on.

That is all I got for myself yesterday. I got my MIL a beautiful MICHAEL Michael Kors cardigan and my FIL a POLO Ralph Lauren sweater. I also wanted to share a few other things that I picked up a week ago as well as my new bag.

J Crew was having a 40% sale the day I went to the mall last week. I've been eyeing
this Heart Me sweater for a while now. I got it for around $50?

And here is the back.
I got it in size large because I wanted it loose and baggy. It sort of wears like a
Wildfox baggy jumper now.

This is what I was the most excited to get- J Crew's infamous Pixie pants. It's made out
of a really heavy fabric and super comfortable. I've heard so many people rave about
them.  The back of the pant has an exposed zipper with an elastic waistband and the
whole back of the pant has a piping down the middle.

I got it in a size 0. You will have to size down for this as size 2 was too loose for me.

Lastly, I wanted to share with you a present my husband got for me for our 6-year wedding anniversary. Sadly to say I completely forgot about it!

I was looking at this purse when we were out shopping and he went out and got it for
me. It's the small MICHAEL Michael Kors Small Jet Set Travel Tote. You can get it
here. I like the hot pink colour and the small size is so cute! 

It has a little MK charm hanging off one of the straps.

The back. There are belt details on the straps, but you can't adjust the length. 

The back has a zipper compartment.

The front side has a pocket.
You can also close the back much like the LV Neverfulls with the D-ring and clasp closure.

Although I have the small size you can surprisingly fit a lot in this bag. It's a bottomless
pit…

Update

een so busy with the baby (she turns 4 months in 2 days!). Also my in-laws were in town for a month for part of October and November. However, I want to get back in the swing of things and post more frequently. I know I've been totally neglecting the whole basement reno reveal that I was posting back in the summer. I'm still not done with decorating, but who is? I guess I'll start posting little posts here and there of how my basement looks like in my next post. I also have future ideas on what my next project will be so keep your eyes open. In the meantime I'll show you my outfit of the day from last Thursday. I was doing a few errands. I still want to lose about 8-10lbs, but I'm not too worried about that now…

OOTD: Prada Baroque sunnies, Saks cape, J Crew Heart Sweater, YSL arty ring,
J Crew Pixie Pants
Excuse my unmade bed. I was in a rush to go out.

I love my Prada sunnies! Such a statement piece.

Forgot to add my new MICHAEL Michael Kors Small Jet Set Saffiano Travel Tote that
I got from my husband for our 6-year anniversary back in October 21. I completely
forgot :-S

Also wearing my Kate Spade watch that I talked about here.

And my beloved YSL Arty Ring. I've been hearing that ever since YSL's new Creative
Director, Hedi Slimane came on board they are discontinuing the Arty rings (and
some other YSL products like the Chyc Cabas to name a few). Is this true???
I may have to get some more Arty's before they are gone forever…

New purse

emember when I mentioned a while back that I got 25% back in gift card for my purchase of the YSL Arty Ring at Holt Renfrew? Well, I didn't read the fine print properly and I realized I only had until the end of May to use that gift card before it expired. Originally I wanted to get the Kate Spade Gramercy Grand Watch in gold, but to my dismay it was sold out! I guess I waited too long to get it. I only had a couple of days left until May 31 so I started stalking Holt Renfrew during my lunch break trying to find something that appealed to me. I didn't want to get something just for the sake of buying something. I wanted something that I would LOVE. Well, I found something that I LOVE. I'm not a huge Michael Kors fan because I find that everyone has it and I'm so sick of seeing everyone with the Michael Kors watch, but I was immediately drawn to the colour and the style of this bag.

This is the Michael Kors Hamilton tote in Saffiano leather. The colour is called Tangerine.
It's not the slouchy Hamilton tote that I've seen everywhere with the chain and leather strap. This
sort of reminds me of a Birkin.

The colour is just gorgeous. The leather is really sturdy so I don't have to worry about being too
careful with it. 

The size isn't huge, but I like it. I'm not a tall person- I'm 5'3" so this size is perfect for me.
The purse comes with 2 straps- a short handle and a long, removable handle. I mainly use the short
straps so I tied the long handle in a knot so that it's not dangling everywhere.

Early Christmas gift

have been wanting these MICHAEL Michael Kors Slouchy Harness Boots for a very long time. I first saw it a few years ago when it first came out, but at that time it was over my budget so I had to pass up on it. I think it was close to $300 at that time. I saw these in the mall today and they were on sale for $159! I think now the regular price of it was $198? A lot cheaper than $300 a few years ago. It came in black and gray, but I had to go with gray as I looooooove anything gray. You can see Sophie Monk wearing the brown version below.

Sophie was so skinny back then so the boots really slouched by her ankle, but on me I don't have that problem. I can either hike the boots up to my knees or scrunch it to around my ankles.

My husband and I take the stress out of Christmas shopping by going to the mall together and picking out our gift. That way he's not guessing on what I might like (he's been wrong many times!). I was actually looking into getting these beautiful Miu Miu peep toe pumps, but they were all out of my size. I was so bummed because I really wanted them, but now I'm glad I found these. I was able to buy a couple of other things too since I saved money by not buying the Miu Miu pumps.

I snagged a pair of jeans from Zara. They are the Light Coloured Wash Effect Stretch Skinny Jeans. I used to buy designer jeans all the time, but now I can't justify spending $300 on jeans when the $80 jeans fit and look just as nice. One of my favourite pairs of jeans in my closet is a pair of Cheap Monday jeans and they are only $80. Plus, these Zara jeans looked HOT with the Michael Kors boots. I can't wait to wear them.

Lastly, I dropped by RW & Co at the mall and picked up a 3-piece kit of the EOS lip balms that I've been wanting ever since I saw it all over YouTube. I thought Shoppers Drug Mart had it, but all the locations I checked out didn't have it and even the websites stated that they didn't carry the lip balms. I think they only carried the EOS Shaving Creams? I happened to search on the EOS website and it said RW & Co carried them. I was confused because RW & Co is a clothing store and I never thought they carried beauty products. Well, I was wrong! They had a small section where they had little nicknacks and lo and behold they had the EOS lip balms! I bought the 3-piece kit (comes with Pomegranate Raspberry, Sweet Mint, Honeysuckle Honeydew) because it came with a little silver mesh pouch and it was $16. They also sold individual ones, but they were like $6 a piece? I know that's a lot more than what they are selling those in the States, but I really really wanted it. I tried the Pomegranate Raspberry one and it's smells AMAZING and it feels so nice on my lips. Love!