Before the movie, we met Keira at the mall, then headed to one of my favourite stores in the Byward Market, Zone. This store is amazing, and has absolutely everything for decorating a kitchen, living room, office, bathroom, and bedroom. My mom bought these for me when I moved in to my residence room to make it prettier:

They’re not made to hold jewelry, but I needed somewhere to hang my necklaces, and it worked perfectly! Rhian loved mine so much that she bought her own set to take back to Australia with her. At Zone they even have butterfly wall decorations that look identical to the ones on Serena’s wall on Gossip Girl- my favourite! Don’t be scared away if the website is in French- the company started in Quebec, and this is it’s only Ontario store. I am buying a Christmas gift for Micaela this year, and I literally called her when I was in the store and needed some guidelines because I was so overwhelmed! If you’re ever in Ottawa, I would definitely recommend going to the Byward Market, and would for sure recommend going to this store, which is also just a short 5 minute drive from Prime Minister Steven Harper’s house! Which yes, you can drive right up to and is absolutely beautiful.

After our movie, our bus stop was right by Parliament Hill, so Rhian got a roommates picture in front of the Parliament Buildings, which are crazy awesome during the Holidays.

Sorry about the picture quality. I probably should have propped my camera on the fence. If you’ve never been to Parliament Hill, you can go right up to the building, as well as walk all the way around it. It’s pretty awesome, and is one of the things I’m going to miss most about Ottawa when I graduate and move home right before Christmas. Moving home has it’s downside (not cheerleading, leaving my friends, leaving this amazing city), but I’m also super excited to be able to see my nieces and nephew whenever I please!

Best part about Wild Rose is that they post a lot of their new pieces on their Facebook page. If you aer ever in Guelph, or happen to live there, book off a few hours of your day and go, you have to dig around but they have a lot of vintage pieces and newer high end designer stuff. I got a Roots hobo from Wild Rose in 2008 and it’s still going strong. It even survived the last four Stampedes, which is actually saying a lot (unfortunately, my cowboy hat didn’t. RIP my favourite cowboy hat). Both are on display in the photo below snapped on the dance floor at Ranchman’s Stampede ’09, which was probably the craziest one yet as evidenced in the picture.

Back to my recent shopping experience. I loooove FCUK so much that it hurts, because their prices are a little too high for my budget. I fell in love with this dress a while back and when I saw it on sale for over 40% off the original price it was begging to come home to my closet. Alas, it didn’t. I left it behind like a sad little puppy waiting for it’s treat.

I moved on to Lucky Brand Jeans, where I never ever shop, because it had a sign outside that said “additional 30% off sale items”. At first I was all pshhh, that’s always too good to be true. But it wasn’t! And there I found budget-friendly success.

Love this top. Apparently it’s called the Acacia Metallic Bead Top, and it’s the absolute perfect top for our humid summers – I feel like easy, breezy, beautiful cover girl when I wear it.  Best part? It was like 60% off the regular price.

Aaaand, I bought jeggings, which were also an awesome deal, and they look great on. On the website they are called Pull On Denim Leggings, but that’s a lie. They are jeggings but apparently Lucky Brand thinks they are too cool to have a product called ‘jeggings’, which I don’t really blame them for. It’s a terrible word. Just like the word ‘Twitter’. I adore Twitter probably too much, but I hate the name. A lot.

This next purchase is actually a public service announcement for tall girls everywhere: buy this tank top from Dynamite. Actually, buy it in every colour. I value a good tank that doesn’t ride up my waist or hit too high above the hips and this one is it. It’s also soft and doesn’t have a built in shelf bra (hate) and is only $9.90. It comes in black, white, navy and you’re welcome.

So in the end I didn’t buy much at all but it was still exciting for me and I felt like a bit of a queen. When my sisters and I were growing up the first thing we would do when we got home is show each other what we had bought, and it was so disappointing to come home to an empty house and not have anyone to show! So this way I get to show the whole world.

I ended up getting these Mephistos in black.  Although they kind of look like a sleeping bag, my feet have never looked smaller (well, as small as a size 11 can look), and have never been warmer in the snow and slush.  They fit like a comfortable running shoe, because that is what they used to be.  Mephisto’s Allrounder running shoe was so popular, they decided to add onto it and make it a boot. Best decision they ever made.

This year for christmas I decided that I wanted nice leather boots, that were also waterproof and comfortable.  The search started, and I started to get irritated.  If the foot fit, my calf was too big for the boot.  If all I needed was one size up and they didn’t have it, my calf fit perfectly.  I have size 11 feet with larger than normal sized calves, which doesn’t translate well to buying a nice pair of boots in Rideau Centre.  On Monday I decided that I was going to buy boots that day, and went into a store I wouldn’t regularly go into- Aerosoles.  I’d never even gone in that store before, but my first time in there I found the perfect boot. They had size 10 AND 11, and these boots have a calf extension zipper.  And you know what? The circumference around the calf is so large without it, I don’t even need it!  It is nice if I am wearing a pair of pants that don’t tuck in with it zipped normally though.  So to sum all of this up. I love my boots!

Kate and Hailey are coming to Ottawa this weekend with 2 of our aunts and I couldn’t be more excited to see them and show them Ottawa!  Kate hasn’t been to visit since I’ve been in school here, and I think that a visit with Hailey is the best way to make the first visit memorable.

So we are saving the day with a few photos from the day.

Katelyn and Laura and their bambinos at the craft show:

Me, Kate, and Erica at home:

Kate and Razzle after a long day:

Levi in the Christmas tree:

There was some great stuff at the craft show. Here are some of our favourite things.

Kate thought this would be cute in the baby room:

This memory game that Raspberry would LOVE (and everything else at this shop):

We liked the snowboarding baby shirt at this booth, and the guy said he had one with skiers too “to make mom and dad happy” which is exactly right since Kate is a snowboarder and Mr. Kate is a skier. I should also had that Kate and I loved his accent.

Armed with our coupons we hit up the store and had an absolutely fabulous time! We were greeted by Laura, who was excited to meet me and knew all about the  Fiveblondes blog. It was so exciting to meet a reader! (Hi Laura!) The store looked amazing, they sell everything from funky high top Puma sneakers, to classy Marc by Marc Jacobs heels, to casual Blowfish ballet flats. There is seriously something for everything in this store. Including something for me! So Natalie and I set on our journey to find something that was perfect and so very “Leah.”

After trying on many amazing shoes, snacking on Crave cupcakes, vitamin water, Red Bull and gummy bears and having a blast hanging out with all of the other bloggers and online writers, I narrowed it down to these pairs:

Pictured: Campbells studded heels, Frye cowboy boots, Modern Vintage booties.

I absolutely adored the studded heels, and even did an impromptu model shoot with them because they were so popular. This made Natalie laugh, because truthfully? I have really, really ugly feet.

I decided upon the Frye cowboy boots, because they made me feel like a million bucks and were so incredibly comfortable on my feet.And $500 boots for free? You’d have to be crazy to pass up a deal like that.

Nat used her 50% off coupon to buy a new pair of Uggs, and overall we  had a great time at Little Burgundy, the staff were so kind and friendly and the shoes at the store were uh-mazing. Thank you Little Burgundy! I’ll be back for sure.

We decided to make a night of it to break in my new boots but that’s a whole other story altogether …

Here’s the winner on Michelle:

And on Lauren. Pictures weren’t allowed since this was before we decided to buy them,  so Katelyn was trying to be sneaky and didn’t want to warn  Michelle or Lauren she was taking a picture, hence the lack of heads.

I think they are completely adorable, and I’m a little jealous – I want one too!

After we finished with dress shopping, we went for lunch at a Thai restaurant that Michelle and I always go to together. Here’s Lauren and Katelyn at the restaurant:

And Michelle and I:

I enjoyed some bubble tea:

Then we had a successful little shopping trip. Katelyn got this funky ring:

So Michelle P and Leah – hope you are happy with the choice! I am certain that you will be though. The dresses were at their cutest last time we were at the store and all the girls were wearing them at the same time, which makes me very excited to see them all wearing them on August 15th. It will be a whole lot of hotness.

Now let’s talk shoes. What colour/style of shoes would you pair with them? My wedding colours are bright yellow and pink.

I’m really not a very girly girl. I only wear makeup if I’m going out, I never wear high heels and I am not an accessory girl.  I’ve had few purses in my life, most of which I ‘borrowed’ from my sisters years after they stopped using them.   I’ve always really wanted a purse that I loved but just never found the one.  And I finally got fed up of putting my wallet in other people’s purses while shopping and using my pocket as a purse.

These are a few of the purses I used in the past:

(there are a few missing from the collection, mostly my fave- a white purse with hearts on it, super cute and very “katelyn”)

Top left: Burton make up bag, that I loved so much had to be used as a purse.  Pink purse that was used a few years back.  Gravis purse ‘borrowed’ from Erica, Volcom purse given to me by my Mother in law. Black Gap purse ‘borrowed’ from Erica and used most recently.

Enter my best friend Liz and her purse obsession.  We went to the mall on Saturday and went to basically every store we could think of that would have purses and still came up empty handed.  I wanted a black purse that was bigger then my other purses I had used, and I wanted it to be sort of slouchy.  Apparently that kind of purse was hard to come across.  Then we went to Winners and I died and went to purse heaven.  Whenever I go into Winners I always walk through the purse section, but never take the time to actually look at the purses.  Not this time. There was a point on Saturday that I had 4 purses on my arms to decide which I would like the best, and to keep my hold on them in case someone else decided one of those were the one.  And as it turned out none of those were the the one for me, because I ended up choosing one that I pointed out to Liz but decided it was too big, kind of like a duffel bag.  After I took all the stuffing out, and looked at myself in the mirror, modeling it,  I decided it was the one!

It’s not black, it’s not slouchy, but I love it.

It’s green and brown, two of my favourite colours (and totally matches my duvet cover, which is a bit weird).  I’m so excited to have a purse that can hold everything I need and not have to squeeze it all in.  The purse is a Mat and Nat, which is pretty funny because Erica and Micaela both have Mat and Nat purses, and Lauren just bought a Mat and Nat wallet last week. Total coincidence.

What do you think?

Ps. this is my 3rd post in a row, sisters get writing!

I started my teaching placement this week and obviously this calls for new teacher clothes. I refuse to be one of the drab teachers that I remember from my elementary school years. Here is my newest teacher outfit.

Top: H&M
Pants: RW&Co

This is a better look at the top. Check out that mirror, I cleaned it earlier today and that was before I even knew I was going to take this picture. Go me.

I’m channeling my inner Lauren, and my inner Annaleigh from ANTM (who got completely robbed, don’t even get me started!) with these peace sign earrings (from Payless). Love them. And no, when I am teaching, I will not be wearing a red bra under the see through top.

I might do this all week for my teaching outfits, if anyone wants me to. I’m also challenging all of my sisters to blog one outfit from the week, by next Saturday!

PS If anyone wishes to teach me how to edit photos easily so I don’t have to put the unedited version online for all the world to see, that would be appreciated.

After finding my dream dress and locating it in a store in Markham, I decided last Saturday was finally the time to go. So I gathered up my entourage – my mom, Erica, Katelyn, my best friend Michelle, my Oma, and Kent’s mom and we headed off to Toronto for the day. The first store we went to was called Pearl Bridal. Katelyn and I picked it out because of it’s adorable website and because we liked the lines that they carry and we were not disappointed. There were two young, fashionable girls there to help me, who listened to every preference I had and added some of their own picks into the mix too. If I told them I liked everything about a particular dress except for one aspect, they would immediately find a dress that was the same minus the one aspect that I didn’t like. One of them worked there and the other had just flown in from New York because she was the sales rep for Platinum by Priscilla of Boston. They were having a trunk sale (showing the dresses that are not out in stores yet) at Pearl Bridal this weekend which was so lucky for me. I loved lots of the dresses, so many of them they were exactly my style – slim, silky, and chiffon-y. I will admit that even their big poufy ones were lovely too. Another lucky thing for me was that some of the Platinum dresses had come straight off the runway and flown here with the sales rep. One thing I was dreading about dress shopping was that I was afraid they would all be huge on me. I didn’t expect that dresses straight off the runway would fit me, but miraculously they did and I loved them for it. I did fall in love with one of them and if I had $6000 to spend on a wedding dress, well this would be the one. Luckily, I do have a mom who can make wedding dresses.
We totally forgot to look at bridesmaid dresses upstairs at Pearl, which was a huge shame because they probably had some rockin’ ones. I may have to go back for that… luckily it’s straight down the road from Kent’s parents house.

After a long drive (thanks to me and Katelyn, sorry everyone!) we headed to our next stop. I won’t tell you the name of it because our experience wasn’t stellar. The whole point, however, visiting this store was for me to try on my all-time favourite dress and this goal was realized. Here’s the dress, if you don’t remember from my last blog post:

The store was PACKED so full of dresses that I could hardly think straight. Before we went upstairs to where the wedding dresses were kept, a group of girls came down the stairs and told us that they just had the worst experience and walked out on the salesperson. Not off to a good start! So I headed upstairs and an older lady came into the room and said “So I like plain dresses. Do you like plain dresses?” thought you were supposed to find out what the bride wanted, not try to tell her what she should want! So then my entourage sat on the couches (okay, the “over 40′s were told to sit on the couches, the young girls sat on the floor), and the lady said to me “take off your pants.” I had to change in front of everyone including Kent’s mom! About ten times since this is how many dresses I tried on! It’s much more fun and much less awkward to walk out of a change room and have everyone tell you lovely you look, rather than having to change right in front of them. Awk-ward. Anyways, I got to try on my favourite dress and I did love it, but not as much as I loved my new favourite dress! It was actually a LOT poufier in person. So that is really good to know and I’m glad I went there for that reason. Katelyn and Michelle had a particular dress (one of the only ones that wasn’t shoved in and that we could actually see!) they wanted me to try on, and it took them about 10 minutes to convince the saleslady to LET me try it on. I think I’ve said enough to give you an idea about this place. All in all, the experience at this store was pretty hilariously awful, but I guess those are the ones you remember and laugh at for years to come. I know we will!

So that’s my dress shopping experience so far! My mom is going to make my dress and I think I’m going to go with the first one, although I need to go dress shopping a couple more times so I know for sure. Katelyn said not trying on enough dresses was one of her regrets about her wedding (maybe her only regret?) and I don’t want to have that regret. It’s the only time I get to try on wedding dresses so I should live it up. I also figure, why stop at one white dress? I’m going to get a cute short one and wear it to events before the wedding, like showers and my bachelorette part! I’m thinking something along the lines of this:

I’m going to stop because I’m going wedding dress craaazy! Must move on to other wedding matters.

I decided to put an end to my anti-heel feelings because I have an occasion coming up that I want to wear heels for. Another problem is that when I go to the mall I just get distracted by all the dresses! I love dresses and right now is the perfect time to dress shop! So after trying on way too many dresses and not allowing myself to buy any even though they were all perfect and beautiful, I ended up with these:

They are from Nine West and I am very very happy with them. I love the clunkiness of them and they look really good with skinny jeans. The salesgirl and I were trying to decide between nude (which I tried on first) and black but as soon as I tried them on we were both like BLACK! So black it was.

Here are the nude, what do you think? The dress I’m wearing them with is black and white.

I also got these. Just cheap casual gladiatorish sandals from American Eagle.

So… tell me what you think!