Feeling Pretty

You know how there are just some pieces in your wardrobe that always make you feel pretty?  Well this LOFT top I bought from Extra Petite (see post here) is definitely one of them.  I think it's the pretty colours and it just makes me feel happy - and when you're happy you feel pretty, am I right?

Top:  Loft XXSP

Blazer: H&M size 2

Jeans: Gap Jean Leggings 00R

Boots: Me Too size 7

I think this top is the perfect length and I feel quite put together whether I'm wearing it with jeans or a skirt.  

I'm planning a trip to the US in June, so I hope to score some great AT and LOFT items while I'm there!

Do you have a particular article of clothing that you always feel great in?

Shop a similar look:

More LOFT...

So as an update...I have decided I will be merging my blogs!  It's just getting too much for m to upkeep both, I often get confused as to which one I'm working on so for my own sanity I will be consolidating.  Thank you to EVERYONE who has given me input and has emailed me directly about it.  I am so thankful!   I don't know how long it will take me to merge the blogs, but if you follow me on twitter I have switched over to using one twitter account as well.  I will be moving all my style posts over to Toronto Beauty Reviews and will be posting from there.  I'm hoping to get everything in place by this month!  I would really, really appreciate it if you would follow me over there! :)

Toronto Petite Blogger Meetup

Ok, I totally deserve an award for doing this post in a timely manner :P  Most of my posts are of outfits taken a week, if not more before!  (Is that breaking some blogging rule?  If it is, sorry but oh well!)

I had a fantastic time last night meeting 4 AMAZING and BEAUTIFUL ladies!  We were expecting a few more but some couldn't make it out  unfortunately :(  Hopefully next time!

As Jessy mentioned in her post (she is QUICK) we met at Peridot which is a cute little restaurant / lounge on Bloor Street East in between Yonge and Church.  The food was fantastic and made for a nice girls night out treat.  Thank you to Jessy and Cynthia for organizing!

My lovely dinner dates:

Cat (Petite in the city, Jessy (The Little Dust Princess), Cynthia (Shorty Stories), Lor (Petite in the City)

And on to the food!!  LOL it was quite amusing having all of us at the table taking pictures of the food then tweeting about it - the other patrons must have seriously thought we were nuts!

Our shared appetizer

Mini Spinach&Cheese Pita Puffs 

"Phyllo Puffs Stuffed with Spinach and Cheese, Served With a Yogurt Chive Dipping Sauce"

My Entree

Atlantic Salmon

"Pan Seared On A Bed Of Spinach, Served With Steamed Vegetables And A Plum Tomato Caper Dill Relish"

One of our shared desserts

Tiramisu

"Layered Savoiardi Cookies Soaked In Espresso And Coffee Liqueur With A Mascarpone Crème Filling And Dusted With Chocolate"

Our second shared dessert (my favorite!)

Molten Lava Chocolate Cake

"Made With Lindt Chocolate, Liquid Center, With Local Vanilla Ice Cream And Garnished With Fresh Berries"

And now on to more paparazzi shots ;)

Jess trying on Cynthia's J Crew Coat

My outfit!

Blazer: H&M size 4

T-shirt:  H&M size XS

Jeans:  Gap Legging Jeans size 00R

Boots:  Miz Mooz size 7

Jewellery:  Avon

Jess taking Cynthia's Outfit picture

Cynthia and Lor in deep camera discussion

Not sure what was so interesting :P

Jess and I

It was so fun having other people take your photos for you LOL!  What a fun night just chatting and getting to know each other.  Some people are under the impression that with blogging you're putting your life out there.  Blogging is so one dimensional and only shows a small little aspects of our lives and a bit of what we're interested in.  Getting to know the ladies behind the great blogs was an honour and a pleasure.  Can't wait to do it again!

PS - I'd like to give a shout out to the front desk staff at the Marriott across the street who made sure I didn't get lost in the parking lot :P

Some H&M Finds and Poll results

Despite my avoiding going into malls and stores the last couple of months I did look around an H&M while I was waiting to meet up with a friend.

I found this cute little trench coat:

H&M Trench Coat size 2

Oh and don't be confused by the hair - this was taken pre-highlights and haircut ;)

Loving the back details

It doesn't look so great unbelted but I don't know too many trenches that do.

Close up of the pretty details:

For some reason I forgot to take pictures of the sleeves!  They are slightly long for me, which is to be expected but I would probably have my hands in my pockets all the time anyway ;)

I also found this navy blazer that I tweeted about .  The red version was tweeted about by Cher @TheFuzzyMittens tweeted a pic here and Annie from Really Petite also showed it off.  Sorry, no outfit posts of the blazer yet but it fits really, really well!  I got a size 4 so smaller petites may do well with the size 2.

Shop similar items:

More Anthropologie...

And now on to the poll results from my recent Gap Purchases Part 1 and Part 2!

For the Asymmetric Ruffle Front Top 31% voted keep and 68% voted return.

For the Woven Back Cardigan 54% voted keep and 23% voted return.

For the Lace Back Cardigan 63% voted keep and 35% voted return.

For the Zip Sweater 38% voted keep and 60% voted return.

The balance of the votes was for other styling tips.  Thank you soooo much to everyone who took the time to vote and comment ;)  The ruffle front top and the zip sweater are definitely going back and I'm going to try some styling tip with the cardigans to see the versatility of them before making a final decision :)

I thought the poll thing was kind of cool and tweeted about how to do it.  A company called Zoomerang contacted me and I checked out there site to do the polls on part 2 - they were really easy and I think they look much better than the ones from part 1!

Green with Envy

I don't have very many green items in my wardrobe. In fact I think that this outfit contains the two and the three pieces I own! I'm so envious of how so many bloggers are able to incorporate colour so easily and creatively into their outfits. I particularly like the colour green but I think it can be very tricky to wear. I don't really know if this colour suits me or not but since these pieces are in my closet they deserve some wear right?

Sweater: H&M XS

Top: H&M XS

Jeans: Gap Jean Leggings (similar here and here)

Boots: Miz Mooz Gayle size 7

Gah just realized I'm very shiny in these pictures - sorry about that - have to remember to "powder my nose (and forehead!)" before taking pictures. The curse of oily skin :(

Does anyone else find green particularly difficult to pull off? And any styling tips for these pieces?

Shop a similar look:

More Gap...

Taking off the Layers

I'm all about layering, layering, layering. It's definitely a necessity right now. I rushed home yesterday and jumped right into bed watching old movies with the husband ;) - it was supposed to be -19°C and -28°C with the wind chill! I drive to work and have my heated seats to keep me warm -  I don't even know how you ladies that commute in weather like this manage to stay warm AND stylish at the same time!

Here's a typical "layering" outfit and me removing the layers LOL (Don't worry, it's PG)

Jeans:  Banana Republic 0P (similar style here)

Blazer:  Mexx XS

Scarf:  dara dot designs

Blazer unbuttoned....

Blazer off....

Sweater: H&M XS

Scarf off...

Sweater off!

(love the bit of sparkle - makes me feel special :P )

Top:  Mexx XS

Ring:  Avon size 5

Did you enjoy the show?  hahaha TOTALLY kidding!

A similar look

More The Limited...

Loft Wool Pants on me!

Ahhh the famous Loft Wool Pants!  See them on other petites in this Alterations Needed Forum post.  Kelly of Alterations Needed had a size 0P up for sale on the forum so I quickly nabbed them up.  I was a little worried that they wouldn't fit as LOFT bottoms tend to fit tight on me but I like the way they fit.  They DEFINITELY do not look like they do on many of the other petites LOL - I am definitely bigger than some of the other ladies that have these pants. They definitely fit tighter than I envisioned, but I love them all the same.

Loft Pants:  size 0P (buy here) 

Cardigan:  H&M XS

Top:  Mexx XS

I love the charcoal colour of these pants - they go with everything in my wardrobe ;)

You can definitely see they have a more fitted look on me and they are shorter on me as well.  I'm not sure I could roll the cuffs up anymore as they are quite tight around my calves. I can wear them tucked into boots too; they don't bunch up at all.

These pants came just on time!  I have NO dress pants right now - a few I have to get hemmed and a couple are in "repair" mode right now.  Luckily I can wear jeans to work everyday of the week but these pants are great as it's been too icky out to wear a skirt or dress. 

As some of you may be aware anything wool makes me itch like crazy.  I was worried about these pants but I thought since they were lined most of the way I'd be ok.  Turns out I was wrong - I can feel the wool through the lining!!!! I am wearing leggings underneath so problem solved. Most days of the Fall and Winter I wear stockings or leggings under all my pants.  I am always cold so for me this is a necessity. The texture of these pants likely won't work in the Spring and Summer so I won't have to worry about the itchiness then.    

Did anyone else grab these pants?

Shop the similar look:

More Dolce & Gabbana...

Lady Like Cardigan

I tried this sweater on MONTHS ago at H&M but I had already made a few purchases at that time so I left it behind in the stores.  Then later I saw this on Ping and it definitely stuck out in my mind.  I love how Ping styled it.  I'm not as creative as she is so I just threw it on with my favorite trouser jeans.

Cardigan:  H&M XS

Jeans:  Banana Republic size 0P (I found a similar pair here)
Necklace and Earrings:  Avon

I love the feminine details of this cardigan.  The little bows at the pocket area (no pockets!) and the buttons are really pretty too (kins of sparkly!).

For some reason I've also been fascinated with braiding my hair.   My bangs are starting to grow out so they're at that awkward length where they kind of just get in my way.  I decided to try out the braiding thing:

What do you think?  Is it too juvenile?  I got some compliments (from those that noticed) and it definitely does the job of keeping my bangs out of my face.

So, I'm noticing that all my poses are pretty much the same :P  Taking pictures is a lot of work for me and definitely does not come naturally!  I feel really silly posing a lot of the time so does anyone have any tips on posing?

Also please don't forget to enter my giveaway!!!

***Disclosure:  I'm trying out affiliate links.  Clicking on links in this post may yield a small commission.***

H&M Pencil Skirt

I didn't do too much shopping over the holidays - I think I wasn't really looking for anything in particular and I didn't feel like fighting the boxing day / week crowds.

I did manage to pick up this skirt from H&M though; I had been looking for a grey pencil skirt for a while.  I think grey just goes with more items in my wardrobe.  It's not as harsh as black and much easier to work with than brown in my opinion.

Since my work environment is really casual I thought about how I would dress it down a bit and so I paired this skirt with some really casual pieces.

Skirt:  H&M size 4

Top:  Old Navy XS

Cardigan:  Gap XS seen in this post  (yes I'm wearing it AGAIN!)

The top I'm wearing is essentially like long john material :P  It's such a comfy shirt I feel like I could sleep in it.  Here is what it looks like with the cardigan undone.

I took the belt off that came with it since I had planned on keeping the cardigan closed the whole time anyway.  Here is a close up of the pattern of the skirt.

Overall I really like this skirt.  It's fully lined and I think the quality is really good especially for H&M.  I didn't get this skirt on sale, I paid $39.95 Canadian.  But I have been searching for a grey skirt for a while now.  The fit of the skirt reminds me of another H&M skirt I have - the black lace one that many other petite bloggers have.   I have worn the lace skirt several times already and have yet to take a picture!

My one pet peeve with this skirt that I noticed throughout the day that the lining kept peaking through when I sat down and sometimes when I stood up if I didn't readjust the skirt.  I wonder if hemming just the lining a smidge would help at all.  Thoughts?


And I wore my Christmas present from my husband - my single Tahitian pearl necklace :D  <3

Has anyone else seen this skirt at H&M?  I saw it in black and an orangy red colour as well.  I think the size 2 would fit a lot smaller petites well.

H&M Change Room - some familiar finds

I've been seeing all these fabulous items pop up on blogs from H&M so I had to go and check it out!

I've been on the search for some work dresses because I just find in general dresses are so much easier to wear!    I think if I had more getting ready in the morning would be much easier for me.


First was this red dress - only a size 4 was available but I really had to cover myself up due to being completely indecent!

Arm holes were a little big.  Size 2 may have fit better but I think the front would have still gapped.

This grey dress was also a size 4 (there weren't many size 2's in this particular store).  The attached belt was way too big and I liked the fit over all but it was still too big in some areas.

See how the bust and the back (hard to see) kind of gapes open?  And the butt kind of sticks out like I have a tail LOL - this happens to me a lot with some fitted dresses.  Anyone know why this is?  Perhaps a bit tight on the hips?

I remember seeing this next dress on Cher.  It looked so cute on her so I had to try it on.  Pretty sure this is also a size 4.

Loved the ruffle detail but this dress just wasn't for me.  It felt a bit short and it was too thin.  And it was definitely not work appropriate!

I failed with the dresses but I moved on to some other items.

This top I loved!   I think it was XS or size 2 - so sorry I can't remember!   But it was actually a bit tight for me in the bust. 

LOVED the exposed zipper!  I didn't come home with it though...but I'm having second thoughts.

The next items will be familiar.   The skirt was seen on Cher and of course on Alterations Needed.

I'm wearing size 4 here and it fits me PERFECTLY!

I love, love, love this skirt.   As Kelly mentioned it is really nicely lined and I was surprised at how thick it was, not thin and cheap like most H&M finds.   This one I most definitely took home with me!

Next is this blouse as seen on Extra Petite.   She did a great review on this top and a couple of ways to style it.

I couldn't find this top while I was in the store but the cashier found it for me as I was paying.  I took home the size 2 and the size 4 to try on at home.  First is the size 2:

The size 2 fit well but I could feel it was a little snug in the bust and it sat at the widest part of my hips.

This is the size 4.  I felt more comfortable in this one so the size 2 went back.

Wow, sorry this post was so long!   I hadn't been to H&M for a while, so I guess I went a little crazy trying things on - but I only came home with 2 items.  The store is just so overwhelming and I can usually only make it there on the weekends when it's absolutely crazy there!

Anyone else find stuff from H&M lately that I can try and stalk for myself?  :P