Vitamin D Deficiency

Vitamin D: The Sunshine Vitamin
It is made by the body when the skin is exposed to sun. 

For all of you living in Vancouver, I'm sure you've noticed the lack of good weather lately! Little to no sun and lots of rain and/or cloud coverage. Not my cup of tea. On the bright side July is supposed to be hot!

I feel kind of weird wearing bright or light colored pants or tops when it's cloudy out. It's a nice pick me up to see but when it's ugly but you know me, I'll usually incorporate something dark somewhere somehow into the outfit haha. 

These are two outfits I wore in the past week.  Light pants and dark tops.

Jeans | ASOS
Top | Forever 21
Cardigan | Carol Little

Jeans | Urban Planet
Bustier Tank |Wilfred
Blazer | Forever 21

I also picked these up from Old Navy for $8.50! Couldn't resist the pink. 

The only issue I have with them is that they squeak a bit when I walk. Also I have a horrible sock tan despite the fact that I don't wear anything but flats. This will only add to my mismatched feet. Quite the first world pain haha. 

Maxi Skirts & Denim Shirts

Two of my recent purchases to add to the summer wardrobe!

I love this skirt! At first I wasn't really a fan of maxi skirt but the asymmetric hem on this changed my mind. I bought it in black since it can be pretty much be paired with any colored top. You can go neutral or you can go bold with a pop of color. I'm thinking of buying it another one in beige next if I like and wear this one enough.

Some styling I like:

(Source of images: http://www.supre.com.au/LOWERED-BACK-ASYMMETRICAL-SKIRT.aspx?p74094)

Note: it doesn't have that pompom necklace as shown in the model.

Moving On Up

Yesterday my boyfriend had his convocation ceremony from college! It's been a long time since I've been to one and the last was my own from high school haha. I was kind of surprised by the number of people who didn't show up for their own graduation but whatever floats your boat. It just made the ceremony go by faster! I was disappointed the weather was so ugly though. No good opportunities to take photos with the scenery. And my flats were digging into the back of my feet. I couldn't wait to get home and take my shoes off.

They keynote speaker for his ceremony was really inspiring but unfortunately I can't remember his name! All I remember is that he just co-authored a book with John Furlong, CEO of the 2010 Winter Olympics. (ETA: His name is Gary Mason) I loved how he didn't sugar coat what the future may be like for some. That is, it's not going to be all sunshine and butterflies. There will be good times and bad times ahead. He related this to his own life post-graduation and said he couldn't find a steady job in his field of education. He received numerous rejection letters from companies he applied to but rather than throwing them away at an instant he said he kept them all in a shoebox. Why? He did so so that when he made a name for himself and was successful, all of these companies could see what they passed up on. Talk about motivation even when times are tough!

Truth be told, of course we're not all going to be famous and known around the world, but despite that sometimes you have to make the best out of the worst. You may not be where you want to be right away but things can get better with the right attitude and patience.

2006 Balenciaga RH City

As mentioned in my previous post, I said I'd be doing a reveal... A new purse starting with the letter B. If you haven't already guessed, it's a Balenciaga!

Here it is! It's supposed to be more slouchy for that boho look but I propped it up inside with a purse organizer for photos.

Laying Flat


Laying Flat Backside

Braided Handles

What's in it?

I filled the bag with my everyday gear including my wallet, glasses, house and car keys, oil blotting paper, and Burt's Bees lip gloss. The bag only features one interior pocket.

The photo on the right features an 8.5" by 11" folder which unfortunately doesn't fit nicely. It obstructs the zipper but isn't a problem if you don't mind walking around with an unzipped bag. Personally I like my bags fully zipped! 

So 2006 was obviously 6 years ago and you may be wondering why I didn't buy a brand new 2012 City.

Cost Saving

I like being cost efficient! I never say no to saving money when I can.

I have no idea how much the City RH retails for at Holt Renfrew right now but the price on the Balenciaga website lists the price as $1545 USD. I actually bought this bag from an online consignment store based in Toronto (www.constylement.com). They sell 100% authentic merchandise and the owner is a member of the PurseForum. This is the first bag I've purchased through consignment and I'm not disappointed. I know normally you'd want to inspect every inch of the bag in person before buying and I didn't which was a bit risky(!) but the bag came perfectly as described and matched photos. I definitely think you need to be cautious when doing this but if you find a consigner who is reputable and is known for selling quality merchandise that is described to a T, your chances of putting yourself in a risky situation are lower. Also when buying consignment I recommend you check to see what the store's policies are regarding returns, exchanges and satisfaction. 

Condition

The condition is excellent for a 6 year old bag which was a huge determining factor. No rips in the leather, no scuffs on the corners, the handles aren't broken in or soft, and the tassels weren't splitting. Also it came with the dust bag and extra tassels which is a nice bonus! I have a pet peeve when I see bags for sale that don't have the dust bag included.

Quality

I spent a lot of the time on the PurseForum researching Balenciaga's. Leather quality seemed to be a very popular topic on the forum. From what I gathered the leather from 2012 isn't very good at all and a lot of people said they were unhappy. Some members reported that their leather was dry, and papery and overall they were disappointed paying a premium price for non-quality. That definitely put me off. 

Naturally the next step I took was to look up 2006 leather quality. This bag is made if chevre, or goat, and many PurseForum members prefer chevre vs. agneau (lamb) leather which is also used by Balenciaga on some bags and as of recently (I think). See thread here. Basically from what I've gathered, chevre leather is thicker, smooshier, has better color saturation, and overall is better quality. Overall, Balenciaga bags produced in 2006 have a lot of mixed opinions on both sides of the spectrum. Some say it's their favorite leather and others say they thought it was veiny, thin and papery, not the best. From what I read of people describing their 2006's there is just a lot of variation between bags! Some people have veiny, dry bags while others said their 2006's were smooshy and thick, just as Balenciaga usually is. After examining the photos on Constylement, I came to the conclusion that the bag didn't look veiny or dry and I'm glad I trusted my judgement! People also say leather can vary between color within years. I think members also came to the conclusion that 2003-2005 leathers are the best and so far they haven't been replicated in quality. In my opinion I think it just really comes down to preference and what qualities you look for in a bag. Not every bag is the same!

I'm happy with my purchase and hopefully this bag will live a long life. It's already 6 years old so I hope to see many more years to come!

Oops..

So much for regularly blogging. Not sure why I became such a lazy bum but don't fret I'm still around!

As per usual school is consuming my life, even in the summer! But on the plus side that means graduation will come sooner :)

I haven't been up to much lately in terms of shopping. I've shopped online twice since returning from my trip a month ago hence the lack of content here.

Here's two things that were part of my order. I wore this outfit yesterday to a family BBQ!

(I just noticed the ant trap on the floor. Ants are invading my house since it's getting hot out! Yuck.)

Blazer | Forever 21

Floral Romper | Forever 21

Watch | Michael Kors

Side thought: I never wear rompers. I have one other one but it's ridiculously sheer so it never gets worn. Awkward question but does anyone else hate wearing rompers and having to go pee?? lol. While I love this romper the straps aren't thin enough to be slipped off easily. It actually has 2 buttons on each shoulder and every time I have to go I have to unbutton one set of straps, etc. Kind of annoying!

Anyway, the blazer and romper were so cheap so I couldn't pass them up. They were $18 and $7.

Some other things I ordered from Forever 21:

Contrast Trim Button Up $12.50

Lace Trimmed Tank $12.50

Crop Swing Tank $11.80

As for my other purchase, it's in the mail, but if you're curious it's a new purse.. starts with the letter B (but not a Birkin haha I wish). I'll do a reveal when it arrives. It was purchased from a consignment store in Toronto. Details to come soon. It's supposed to arrive May 30!