I Don't Know if this Counts as Doing Something

This weather is turning me into a crazy-person. It's so fantastic that I feel like I'm actually on holiday - like somewhere fantastic - and it's bringing out my spend-instinct.

Having said that, I do love the spend-instinct - especially in others. Last night, out at my friend Hilly's for dinner, she had so much fun looking at my new loot and listening to my shopping exploits, I wanted to charge her a little fee :-) She told me the fee was dinner, and to get the cheese plate from the dining room table.

I decided to go out mid-aft, just to look around in the shops and to people-watch. My, was the watching good. There were chic ladies in embroidered caftans (like we live in Palm Beach), trophy ladies in bandage dresses (like we live in Miami Beach), young ladies in bikini tops (um, seriously? like we live in freakin' South Beach?). It's so bizarre when the weather warms up here. People lose all sense of proportion. And by that, I do mean that most of those outfits were too small.

I felt so dull wearing jeans, a stripey top and and a black waterfall sweater. Sure, I was over-dressed for the heat (I was going to be out well into the night so I needed to plan for the temp drop), but I default to outfits for October. Note: I did wear my orange bag and my Arche sandals (purchased in Eur last summer) and, by nightfall, I looked entirely adequately mid-May. Other Note: I realize that those sandals are hideous in that photo (see link above), but on one's foot, they transform. I swear! Plus, it's like walking on a cloud.

Anyhow, can you blame me for feeling drawn towards Anthropologie? That place is like summer in 5000 square feet. Every time I ask someone at work where she got her new, cute item X, and she replies "Anthro", I'm intrigued. But I never purchase at this shop. It's too boho for me. The set up is too crowded (so a lot of cute items aren't readily visible). It's also, dare I say it, it's a bit "young". I mean, how many shoulder buttons and sleeve ruffles can a girl wear to the office?

Mind you, the shopping goddess was on my side yesterday. Also, I was in it for the crazy so I tried on everything in the store. May I just reiterate, this place would be much better if it took a minimalist approach. Garments inevitably look crappy when there's no white space.

I got these pants (which cost more in Canada):

They're so NOT me. But I'm getting sick and tired of what is me. (You know how that happens...) So I'm branching out.

I also got this top, which totally is me:

I bought it in black, because almost-white grey makes me look dead. But this colour shows off the beautiful line and drape of the garment.

Then I ambled over to the Gap - cuz who doesn't want to mingle with the entire universe, frenzied by the chance of half-price shorts, all at once? Note to People: They're cheap to begin with. Don't smack into me like it's Filene's basement on Boxing Day!

I found this dress, on sale for 30 bucks??:

Weirdly, I'm drawn to black right now - a shade that rarely impresses me. What does impress me about this dress - and frankly it looks better on me than on the gorgeous lady above - is that it highlights all of my slender toned bits (neck, shoulders, arms, legs) and you cannot begin to guess the state of my lower abdomen. Or whether I've eaten BBQ in the last 2 hours. Plus dessert. It also looks great with skinny jeans underneath - a look we have more use for in Canada, than that depicted above, at least for 9 months of the year. Also, in case you're thinking - wow, that's short! - that woman is approximately 8 inches taller than me. But it is a short-ish dress. Show off your legs, ladies, that's what I say. One other thing, in case you're interested in buying it online, the sleeves are quite snug. I bought a small, after trying an XS. The two sizes fit the same in the body (hello sack!) but the arms were notably snug in the shoulders and arms in the XS.

When I took it out of the bag to show Hil, she was momentarily horrified and could not believe that there might be a chance in hell that it would look anything other than horrid. (I will warn you that it looks ridiculously bad on a hanger. Those are the things I secretly enjoy trying on. There's so much potential for excitement.) But I put it on and she was shocked - in that way I love to shock people - and agreed that's a perfect basic.

I followed this up with a cocktail at the Holt Renfrew restaurant. I do love sitting at the bar and chatting with the peeps. I had this hilarious-named fresh juice called Holt's Happiness, which is marketed to rejuvenate and "youthen" the drinker, what with its composition of beet juice, acai, grapefruit etc. Naturally, I directed them to booze it up; with a bit of vodka and Cava it was a delight! I felt both youthened and aged at the same time! Gotta love a neutral.

After a bit more window shopping, I picked up some double-cream blue cheese, hopped on the subway and went to Hil's. And what a beautiful evening it was.