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.