My Little Monkey

Dress - Dear Creatures from Emerging Thoughts

Necklace - Prize I won and I don't remember from where *sorry!*

Shoes - Payless

Earrings - Etsy shop, but don't remember which one.

I'm back from B.C.  The wedding was fun, and there's a few funny stories, but I'll get to all that when I have some pictures to post for you!  In the meantime, I'm happy to be home and cuddling with my little monkey.  I missed her and we had a lot of fun going to the swimming pool and park today.  Nothing smells better than your baby's head after you've been away for a while!

And this dress?  Still my favorite. 

True Story:

Baby Girl was licking the rain water off the top of her sandbox. 

I put a stop to it as soon as I stopped laughing. 

Beautiful Scape

Top - hand me down

Dress - Everly

Necklace - Ruche

Shoes - Payless

Emily's parents in B.C. have the most beautiful backyard, and just being around the house was a visual feast.  Don't even get me started on the wonderful forest and mountain scape that surrounded me the entire time.  I could easily live here and get lost in all this beauty.  

Quote of Today:

"Emily, how do YOU spell it?"

Huckleberry Picking

One day Emily and I went Huckleberry picking.  It involved hiking up to the top of the mountain, eating as many huckleberries as we went, and then picking as we went down.

I filled a small bucket.
And ate a large bucket.

The Start of The B.C. Madness

I flew from Toronto to Vancouver, and then got on a tin little propeller plane to take me into rural B.C.  Now, I've traveled a lot, but always on big huge jumbo jets, and this tiny little thing made me wonder if I had to wear a parachute and sit in a cargo plane. But no.  It was quite luxurious inside, just small.

The view from the plane as I came in.

Sitting on the deck just after arriving was super.  Just relaxing with all the mountains around me.

The food has been just so delicious and wonderfully spiced.  The chef is pictured here and not only does he make great food, but he also provides adult beverages to accompany it, music to match, and jokes for a good belly laugh.

Day 1 Outfit:                                                                                                           Day 2 Outfit:

Top - Joe Fresh                                                                                                      Cardi - Esprit

Pants - Esprit                                                                                                          Dress - F21

       Sunnies - F21                                                                                                     Scarf - Street Stand

                                                                                                                                Shoes - Payless

                                                                                                                                Necklace - Ruche

July LookBook Video

Inspired by one reader who asked for a fashion show, I've decided to add a monthly video element to ModaMama:  LookBook Videos.  It'll be a short *under one minute* video featuring a selection of outfits from the month.  Hope you enjoy this addition!

Outfits in order of appearance:
1."Best Dress Ever And Some Shows."
2. "How Do You Like Them Apples?"
3. "Yes, I Still Wear Clothes."
4. "What I Share With You."
5. "These Are My Peeps?"
6.  "I'm Not Here."
7. "Naturally."

*linking up here*

Fashion Icon Misconceptions

Sunnies & Shoes - F21

Dress - Modcloth (sold out)

Whenever anyone thinks of Audrey Hepburn they always think of stark, well-tailored black pieces.  But they seem to forget Ms. Hepburn's incredible affinity for dresses, full skirts, florals, and white capris with brightly colored shirts.  And let's not forget that no one could rock a hot pink Givenchy suit quite like her.  

It's interesting the boxes we put style icons in.  I'm guilty of this as much as anyone, but style icons are just that because of their understanding of fashion and it's malleability. I'm trying to break the boxes I've created in my own head to, both in relation to myself and those I consider icons. 

True Story:

Baby Girl took my big floppy hat and put it on Drake the Dog while he was sleeping.  

How do I know this? 

I saw a small furry butt sticking out the backend of my hat and Baby Girl giggling as she looked at it. 

Naturally

Dress, Sunnies (old) & Bracelets (old) - F21

Sandals - Ruche

 Jacket - Gap

We all know the 'secrets' to living a healthy lifestyle.  It's not magic.  Good diet, plenty of exercise, and low stress.  So I'm not going to tell you any of this.  You know it.  I know it.  We all know it.  But here's what I will say.  My best kept secret to a healthy life?  My amazing naturopath!

I don't go to a regular General Practitioner anymore.  I go for my regular yearly check- up, and if I broke my leg I'd go to a hospital.  But when it comes to my day-to-day quality of life, sickness, and other ailments I see my talented naturopathic doctor, Jennifer Forgeron.  She has literally changed and saved my life as well as the lives of some friends I've sent to her.  She helped me to heal myself when 7-9 specialists *from oncologists, to hematologists, to rheumatoid specialists* had no idea of what was even happening to me.  I think the idea behind naturopathic medicine is the key: help the body heal itself.

Now, I'm talking about homeopathy, herbs and Chinese medicine.  These ones have definitely proven their mettle to me.  And the key is to find a really good and very capable naturopathic doctor.  They are not all made the same.

That's my two cents.
This in no way replaces the advice of a qualified health care professional - whether natural or not.


*linking up here and here*

I'm Not Here

Necklace & Sunnies - F21

Dress - from Ruche

Shoes - Payless

Bag - Matt by Matt&Nat

This week I'm away in B.C. for my friend Emily's wedding.  I'm taking pictures and making more CoffeeTalk vids and I'll share all that with you when I return *I'm working on the assumption that you guys enjoy that sort of stuff. If you don't, well...sorry I got nothing*  

The magic of pictures and falling way behind on outfit posts due to giveaways and the two linkys that I've ever done (please see below) is that I get to share these nuggets with you while I'm still away!  Neat huh?  Okay, maybe not that neat. 

Maybe I'm just easily amused.

True Story:

Seeing Baby Girl's little bum wiggle as she runs for the pool and the ruffles on her bathing suit sway in time is perhaps the cutest thing I've seen all month.

*Re: Linkys - this will not be a common thing - so please don't expect it - tomorrow is a linky that will run once every two months and that's the only one I plan to do. Sorry, but linkys on ModaMama is not what I'm about.  It's nothing personal against those who run them.  I enjoy them on other blogs.  It just doesn't ring true to me.  Thank you for your understanding.*

Random Sundays: Bikes or Bison?

A walk in High Park Zoo was the highlight for Baby Girl.  

But the animals had to compete with this bike that also caught her attention.

Major July Prizes!!

Blog  /  Facebook  /  Twitter  /  Shop

Blog  /  Facebook  /  Twitter

Shop  /  Facebook  /  Twitter

Blog  /  Photo Blog  /  Twitter

A necklace, pouch, flip flops and ad space!  

Some really cool stuff going to one lovely winner. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Pole Dancing? Oh My!

Yup, you read that right.  I went to pole dancing class.  It was my friend Emily's bachelorette party and this was what was planned: class followed by drinks and good food at a local bistro.  Of course, I couldn't let the night go by without buying her a huge tiara, magic wand, and boa to wear all night.  And the ladies all sported matching tiaras too!

I'm pretty sure everyone had a good time.  I certainly did.  Especially escorting a certain happily-silly bride-to-be home!

Nerd Mecca

 Dress -   *similar*

Sunnies - F21

Shoes - H&M

Rings - F21 and Threadsence

Necklace - from Poland

I've been watching all the updates and fun panels, and articles that have come out of the latest Comic Con and it has made me realize that I, this huge huge nerd, have never once traveled to this Mecca of nerdom.  How can the lady who has seen every episode of Star Trek, BSG, Buffy, along with pretty much every sci-fi movie ever made have never been to Comic Con?  How can I, who cried within the first 5 second of The Next Generation theme song while pregnant, call myself a nerd having never gone?  How can I quote FireFly episodes when there's this black void in my life?

It's a gapping hole on my nerd resume, really.  An embarrassment.  Something akin to calling yourself a chef without knowing how to work a stove. Or being a New Yorker and never even glancing at the Empire State building once.  I must rectify that.

I even have a Star Trek original series mini-dress and vulcan ears.

Don't ask. 

True Story:
Baby Girl was sitting on Andrew's lap, and decided she had enough. 
To get down and go play, she grabbed what was most convenient in order to hoist herself off:
his 'family jewels'
She has no guile. 

*linking up here*

These Are My Peeps?

Dress - Mystic (similar)

Ring - Ruche

Earrings - F21

Shoes - Payless

Sometimes I look around my neighborhood, shake my head, and think,"I live in a psychiatric community."  Take a walk with me: 

There's the shaking of my house because of you know what.  And the crazy couple that has occasional loud arguments - always at 1-3 am in the morning - and he throws her out of the house each time.  We have the requisite lecherous older man who seems to think no woman is off limits.  Then the couple with the dog who decorate their house like the holiday threw up on them *I love these guys by the way*

The guys who turn their backyard into one big party place with bonfires and torches every year.  Oh, and the house where the children are always naked. There's the small apartment building where they all seem to be related...sort of creeped out by that.  And the house with the two dogs that bark like they're on doggie steroids.  One of whom is also dipping into a stash of helium, I'm convinced.

We also see the guy who refers to Drake *all ten pounds of him* as "Killer" and not ironically.  There's the lady with the dog who always wants to tear your throat out.   The man who fishes in our local pond daily at 8am.   And a guy who spends his day standing on his front lawn *I have no idea why*

I'm not sure if I'm the straight man out, or if there's something I'm just not seeing and these are really my peeps, you know?

Maybe I'm the crazy woman who takes pictures of herself. 

*sigh*

Quote of Today:
"LPs are like shoes to you."

*linking up here and here* 

What I Share With You

Hat - Zellers

Shirt - ?

Shorts - Gap

Shoes - Lulus

Through a recent comment, I had a great conversation with a reader named Dawn about some issues she brought up in her post, and issues I brought up in my first post.  We were discussing the issue of privacy and our choices regarding that. Namely, posting our child's pictures on the net and sharing intimate details of our lives. I don't post full face shots of my girl.  It's my choice to maintain a level of her privacy. *Please don't assume that this in any way takes away or belittles your choice to post your child's pictures*

Dawn also brought up the issue of whether you can have a real connection if you don't share everything.  I responded with this:

 "I try to be as open as I feel comfortable - which isn't everything - while guarding her privacy.  Also, you can still make connections.  I don't tell the friend I have coffee with everything about my life, but that doesn't mean the connection is any less genuine.  I don't tell co-workers everything and again, they are real connections.  So no, I don't think you have to share everything to have a connection as long as you're genuine in what you do share."

I just wanted to bring you in on this conversation and say that while you may not know the intimate details of my life, what I do say to you and what I do share is 100% me and sincere.

That's the best I can offer.  Hopefully, that's enough.
*linking up here*

Yes, I Still Wear Clothes

  

Top - thrifted

Skirt - Gentlefawn

Shoes - H&M

Earrings, Hat & Sunnies - F21 here

Necklace - c/o This Enchanted Pixie

I realized that because of excitement and things coinciding at the same time, I've only had two outfit posts for you last week.  Please don't in any way assume that this will be the norm. Nor should you assume that I went naked the rest of the days.  I assure you I did not.  Decency and the laws are intact.  I did indeed get dressed, and will be playing catch up on some posts.  It also helps me to be a bit behind on outfit posts as I'm going away for a week at the end of the month.  So I'll still have something to keep you entertained. That's if, you know, you find me entertaining.  Which I'm in no way assuming you do.  Personally, I find myself to be a riot, but I'm grading on a curve here you know?

P.S. Did you check out the super cool premiere of Posthuman - a series I star in - on SFNtv.com?  You can totally watch it online for free!

P.P.S.  This Enchanted Pixie is offering free shipping all week - just a little bonus for you!

*linking up here and here*

Random Sundays: Walk

Baby laughed and ran the entire way.