YAYOBA*: Love The One You're With

Image courtesy of www.thoughtimages.com

Today we were out bright and early for a Sun Run training session. OK, bright in spirit; it's still pretty dark at 6:00AM. One of our chat themes turned to all the crazy things we do to our bodies in pursuit of aesthetics and athletics.

Over the years we have experimented with different eating plans and fitness programs. We have punished our bodies in order to attain that dancer's body or that size 6 wedding dress. Our bodies have put up with a lot; isn't it time we show them a little love?

Let's be grateful for the bodies we have today. Let's look after them with how we eat and how we move. You only get one so be good to it!

*YAYOBA stands for You Are Your Own Best Accessory. YAYOBA posts feature health and fitness related topics.

Rock Your River

Photographs: goorin.com

I try to purchase at least one new hat each season. Hats are a quick and inexpensive way to add some pizzazz to your wardrobe. They're functional too!

We;re lucky because the hat masters at Goorin Brothers anointed Vancouver with their very first Canadian store. Check out their retail location in Yaletown to find the perfect spring headgear.

I'm into one of their latest styles called the River. Uni-sexy styling perfect for keeping out the spring showers.

Nothing to Wear? Solution: Wardrobe Revamp

Let's face it, most of have a LOT of clothing. Ever look into your closet full of nothing to wear? Who hasn't? Looks like a Wardrobe Revamp is in order.

Let an expert help you sort, style and spruce up the clothes you already own. The FSC Wardrobe Revamp will do exactly that: Refresh, Remix and Rebuild.

Refresh: Let's keep what works and ditch what doesn't

• Sort clothes by type
• Remove items you don't use, don't fit or don't love
• Reorganize your wardrobe by garment type (whew!)

Remix: Let's mix new, creative combinations using the clothing you already own

• Style a minimum 10-15 outfits for work and play
• Channel your inner-model as we take shots of you in your new outfits
• Create a wardrobe photo book, featuring YOU, for easy reference (to be delivered following your consultation)

Rebuild: Let's ensure you have a wardrobe that works for you

• Complete a follow-up report of recommended key pieces to purchase
• Sourcing of key pieces (if desired)

Book a Wardrobe Revamp today and maximize your style potential!

Spring Scarves

Scarves are always stylish and this Spring they're hotter than ever. Affordable and accessible, scarves are a great way to update your look.

If you're not sure how to wear this fashion item, check out some great online stylings at The Sartorialist or Net-A-Porter for inspiration. Or, move beyond the scarf to a TUBE, like these lovelies at Oliver & Lilly's (Vancouver).

Photo: Oliver & Lilly's

I Am Not A Fanny Pack

Photo: www.roots.com

Let me begin by saying, I am not being ironic, sarcastic, or otherwise insincere with this post. After recently wrapping up an excessively busy few months, I have a renewed appreciation for a much-maligned item: the fanny pack.

This highly functional and sensible item is now referred to as the "Urban Tool Belt". Many designers over the years have created versions of the Urban Tool Belt but Roots produces my favorite so far. The "Village Pack" is a leather satchel that attaches to a wide canvas belt with a cool, silver-tone buckle.

Worn facing forward, the cool factor is questionable. However, worn low and side-slung or facing backwards, it is utility-hip. This is a great item for anyone who need to be hands-free. Also useful for anyone with a tendency to lose/misplace keys, purses and wallets (no one I know!).

Roots Village Packs come in a multitude of colors but online availability is limited to brown and black.

YAYOBA: The Celine Dion Workout

(You Are Your Own Best Accessory)

The holidays are a tough time for us girls. Believe me - I'm feeling it. I'm feelin' it in the waist band. And we haven't even hit "prime-time" yet.

So to battle the holiday girth-growth, I give you, The Celine Dion Workout.

Required equipment:

• a fine pair of high heels (leg warmers optional)
• a fan (of the air-flow variety)

Optional equipment:

• back up dancers
• fans (of the hand clapping variety)

Keep fit.
Stay Healthy.
Be strong.
The Celine Dion Way.

Pouncing Tiger, Hidden Gem

Howard, The Naked Chef

Percy the Penguin

I know you ladies (and gentlemen) are eschewing the generic in favor of unique, thoughtful retailers and products this season.

I'm here to help - check out Pouncing Tiger. Jhyl of Pouncing Tiger creates whimsical, hand-stitched characters for the enjoyment of children and adults alike. Check out the character descriptions - so funny!


"Howard is looking for someone who will accept his passion of cooking naked. He wears his apron to avoid any unfortunate accidents but loves leaving his bum hanging out for all to see. His nakedness is partially to blame for his difficulty holding down a job as a chef, but probably more to blame is the fact he refuses to cook with anything but rubber chicken.

Howard is a silver fox and looking for someone that doesn't mind and old bum hanging around." Pouncing Tiger, Etsy

Pouncing Tiger is for the art collector, the young, and the young at heart.

We're So Vain: Tired Eyes

A friend arrived last night at 12:30 AM. Then of course, we stayed up until 2:00AM chatting. Ugh.

Eye cream is my friend today. My BEST friend lately is Kiehl's Cryste Marine Firming Eye Treatment. Very nice.

Perhaps it's just wishful thinking on my part, but this cream really does moisturize the eye area and reduce lines. I love it and don't leave home without it.

One Easy Piece

American Apparel

Danskin

Capezio

Whenever I use the term "one-easy-piece", it's usually in reference to polyester, 70's attire. But, I've recently been searching out a "one-easy-piece" AKA "unitard".

Tights. Maybe it's just me but they never seem to stay up. So, why not wear a unitard to solve the problem? Unitards aren't super-easy to find but I did locate a few options. American Apparel's version is probably the most accessible but it's also 95% cotton which means it will fade more than it's synthetic sisters.

One obvious draw back of the unitard? Full undress when nature calls.

Rrraaarr!

Love, love, love all the animal prints and exotic skins that are strong again for fall. Bought a leopard fedora recently - to be worn on "brave" days. Two rules apply when wearing animal prints:

1. Best with black (or at least a solid color like the red above).
2. Keep to a minimum (1 piece).

It won't be tough to find animal print at all price points this fall so take your pick and wear it proudly!

We're So Vain: Healthy Lips

I visited the The Brow Studio last week for my usual 15 minutes of suffering for beauty. While in the torture chamber/waxing chair, I was rubbing my poor, chapped lips. The technician stopped and said, "Do you want to get that?", referring to the huge chunk of dry skin hanging off my lower lip.

Gross. And embarrassing.

When my eyebrows were finished, the lovely lady recommended a few lip-care products. She told me if I used B Kamins Lip Balm, my lips would be moisturized and fabulous within 24 hours. I was skeptical.

Guess what? She was right. This stuff is money. And I do mean MONEY - $21 bucks worth. Totally worth it. Especially going into the deep, dark, desert winter.

Bonus Points: SPF 20

Achtung!: The Tote

Absolutely HAVE to share this hilarious story with you!

The tote is an indispensable item for work and recreation. I'm currently carrying a cavernous, black tote that holds everything - workout gear, laptop, wallet etc.

Last Friday I was running late for work. In a mad dash to jam everything I needed into my tote, it went like this:

• The everyday necessities (wallet, sunglasses etc) were already in the bag (at the bottom).
• Next, I threw in my gym gear: towel, shoes, clothing and the "unmentionables"
• Realizing I hadn't eaten breakfast, I reached for a banana and threw it in the tote.
• Remembering I needed a snack for work, I grabbed an English cucumber out of the fridge and threw THAT on top.
• Ready to go, I heaved my bulging tote over my shoulder and raced to the office.
  

I start my day at 7:00 am and the door to my building requires a pass card before 8:00 am. The card resides in my wallet (at the bottom of my tote). After two (unsuccessful) attempts at waving my tote in front of the card reader, I realized I must dig to the bottom to retrieve the pass card.

As I lowered my tote to the ground to rummage through it, I noticed a construction worker standing beside me at the door, obviously needing to be let into the building. So, as I'm pulling stuff out of my tote to find my card, the first things I removed were:

• one pair of bright blue, lace skivvies
• one banana
• one, very long, cucumber.

You can't make stuff like this up!

Wonder what the guy thought I did for a living?

Shoe Slave: Back to Booties

High-heeled, creeper boot, Phi.

Tabitha Simmons suede and leather ankle boots

Via Spiga, Jaden patent leather lace-ups.

Oh thank goodness fall arrives soon! Let's return to our shoe-staple, "The Boot", with impunity. Boots somehow feel wrong in the summer. Simultaneously hot (temperature) and irrelevant - not good. Rows of boots stare at me from my closet all summer long. And all but the cowboy boots (you know, that Stampede thing) go unworn.

This fall seasons brings yet another round of gorgeous boot options. Loads of flat styles of choose from again - small mercies for those of us living in snowy cities. Piles of black, rocker-inspired spuds, platforms and black leather. Love it all.

With my granny-inspired style sensibility, I can't quite bring myself to confidently wear some of the fierce-looking fashion footwear. So this Jaden boot by Via Spiga was the perfect solution! A granny boot with a vicious heel in black, patent leather. Love. I think the Jadens were fall 2008 (picked them up for a song) but they're perfect this year as well. So cute with leggings and a sweater dress.

Shock and Awe!

In my quest for the perfect earphones to help alleviate treadmill boredom, I picked up these Nixon earphones. I must say, they were not the ideal solution, but the sounds was pretty perfect and they were comfortable. They fit the bill until, two months ago, they stopped working. Expecting a customer service nightmare, I procrastinated.

Well, I just hung up the phone from a very helpful women at Spare Parts Chinook Centre. Guess what? The Nixons are warrantied for one year. All I have to do is take them to the store, and they will deal with them for me. Even better? I don't have to go through mountains of old receipts to find the bill. I actually gave Spare Parts my customer information upon purchase.

How good is this?

Get Your Polish On

We finally have our summer! So, if you haven't done so already, get your pretty toes on.

The best pedicure in Calgary can be had at Macaronies in Kensington.

Macaronies' newest esthetician, Kim, is the lady to see. I broke from my French pedi tradition and opted for sparkly red (OPI Little Red Wagon) last visit. Love it. I also love the mini-OPI polish bottles. Do you ever use up a full size bottle of nail polish before it goes gloopy or you fall out of love it? I don't. Minis are the perfect solution.

Lee National Denim Day

Almost everyone I know either wears jeans every day or on "casual Fridays". That means everyone can participate in the Lee National Denim Day to benefit women's cancer programs. This is US-based charitable organization but funds to find a cure benefit women everywhere.

Organize your workplace and raise money on Friday, October 2nd.

Carine Roitfeld. Sigh.

Photo: Hedi Slimane

This morning, I happened to click up on an image of Carine Roitfeld, editor of French Vogue. Love, love, love her. You simply MUST read this February 2008 New York Magazine featuring Ms. Roitfeld - it's an absolute classic. A few quotes:

“I do not like comfortable,” Roitfeld says. She has outlawed sneakers and what she calls “Hugg boots” in her office because “they are hugly.”

Regarding a trip to Thailand:

“You think this will be so glamorous,” she sighs. “You have the idea in your mind and then you get there and the people in the hotel …” She grimaces and gestures hugely in the hip area. “There were lots of people who were so fat and like that.”

About the first lady of France, Carla Bruni:

“For us it is good. She is very glamour. She can fit in the clothes."

So good. If you want more....

Just Charming

Image: Juicy Couture

Image: Tiffany & Co.

I'm all over the charm thing. It's fun jewelery you can mix and match to your mood and outfit. The clip on charm, like this Juicy Knight's Helmet, is perfect for fashion chameleons. If you have a standard, link bracelet, you can change it up any which way.

Juicy offers loads of clip on charms in both gold and silver tone. Or if you want to go up market, you can spend a little or a lot on charms at Tiffany. Have the jeweler add a lobster clip if want the removable option.

Anthropologie in Alberta!

Wheeee! Such great news on this cold, wintry day. Anthropologie is soon to open a store in West Edmonton Mall in Alberta. If you love Anthropologie as much as I do, this is cause for major celebrations.

They even sell items that are made in Canada, like the cool Nine Pin Earrings above - very cool.

It almost makes going to the mall bearable.

Almost.

Sound Styling

I've taken to carrying copious amounts of food around with me at all times. Part of my healthy-eating, YAYOBA kick. The dusty, beer-chillin' cooler bag just wasn't maximizing my style. So began my search for a cooler bag - focus on the COOL.

Through my search I have deduced that cooler bags fall into one of three categories:

1) Utility: think Walmart, red and navy with plenty of zippers
2) Obnoxious: think Budweiser and Harley Davidson
3) Impractical: think faux-Burberry design, large enough to hold a few carrot sticks and a bottle of expensive water.

The solution I found really has its' own category - Burton.

You know I love Burton luggage. Big fan. Should have known Burton would create the smartest cooler bags too. The Lil' Buddy even has a set of battery powered speakers you can plug your iPod into. The sound's not Sennheiser but it's pretty fun to have music with your cooler.

Good side zip compartments, sturdy zippers and loads of funky prints. Love it.

Check out CNET's review: