Carnival

The other day my friends and I went to Capital Ex, Edmonton's travelling carnival type thing. I hadn't been in a few years, and I had a great time. In actuality it's expensive, crowded, and hot, but I always find carnivals so wonderful! There's somthing about the vibrant colours and bright lights that feels magical. And everything about ferris wheels makes me giddy! I took a lot of photos with a disposable camera, but I haven't gotten them developed yet. I'll be sure to share them once they are though!




Asos Curve dress purchased from Gazel over black ON shorts

Mod Night

Last Friday night one of my friends celebrated her birthday by going to Mod Night at a very cool lounge downtown. Having only gotten the invite a few hours before, I got dressed in a hurry. I don't know much about Mod, and I don't have a lot of Mod-inspired clothes in my closet, but I thought I did okay. Wearing a knitted hat to a bar where I'd be dancing was quite silly, but I just have this internal associating with white hats and Mod! I love thematic dressing, but I was thankful I didn't go too over the top after seeing the casual-but-still-chic crowd there. I had a great time, and I loved the way the skirt of the dress moved on the dance floor!










Dress - Asos Curve UK size 24 (purched from Gazel)
Tights - c/o We Love Colors
Hat - Payless
Purse & loafers - thrifted

Pretty Paisley

Isn't the scenery in these photos absolutely gorgeous? These were taken in Kananaskis as well, and this pretty little marsh wasn't too far from our cabin(the mosquitoes were something awful though). I wasn't sure about this top, as I've never worn a lot of orange, but my friend Sonya convinced to me give it a try. It was really the scoop neck back and $15 price tag that sold it. I paired it with this pretty paisley skirt because orange and brown seemed like a good colour combination, and I love the way it turned out! These pieces of jewellery are some of my favourites right now - the bird necklace that my best friend brought back from Japan melts my heart! As for these sandals I'm smitten! It's a rare day that I find sandals that fit my fat feet, but when I saw these elastic sandals on the Spring Shoes I was hopeful that they'd work. They were only $15 as well, and as they were shipping within Canada it was free and only took a week. I believe I got the last pair, and I'm so glad I snagged them up!







Top (actually a too-short dress) - Old Navy size XXL
Skirt - thrifted size l
Sandals - Spring Shoes size 11
Belt - Northern Reflections size XL
Necklace - gifted
Ring - street vendor


As I mentioned on Twitter last week, I had the privilege of being a part of City Chic first Blogger Lookbook.



The lookbook features a tonne of gorgeous women, and I love seeing how different bloggers style their City Chic items in their own ways. For their next Blogger Lookbook, City Chic has asked their fans to vote for which bloggers they'd like to see featured by "liking" their photos on facebook. What a fun way to engage with customers! Jog on over to their Facebook page, take a look at other bloggers' CC outfits, and vote for the bloggers you'd like to see more from! I would absolutely love to continue to be a part of City Chic's Blogger Lookbook, and if you'd like to see me in future lookbooks, you can "like" my photo here. I don't want to ask too much of you all, but I'd really appreciate it!

Holiday Recap

I had such a great time on holidays! I got back on Friday evening but I've been busy as a bee since then. Unfortunately time management/balancing isn't my forte and I'm exhausted! And just after I'd gotten all relaxed at a mountain cabin. Oh well, so is life, right? :) I have a few outfit photos to share later this week, but for now here are some photos from my week in Kananaskis.


What I wore on my first day at the cabin: Spring sandals, Penningtons jeans, Old Navy t-shirt, and Joe Fresh scarf.





My lovely bike Mabel! There were so many paved trails, great for a novice cyclist like myself.




Alloy sweatshirt, Old Navy shorts


The always idyllic Canyon in Kananaskis country. The water is only a few degrees above freezing, but it's too pretty not to swim in!


I was a bit braver than normal and climbed some rocks with my sister and her partner.





The amount of wildlife we saw was incredible! We saw three female moose, a male moose, deer, plenty of mountain sheep, ground squirrels, and even a Grizzly Bear with her two cubs, from only 20 feet away (thankfully we were in the safety of our car). Seeing bears that close is such a treat, they're majestic! We also had a resident chipmunk, who somehow managed to spend as much time in the cabin as we did. Those cute little guys are sneaky!












A panoramic I haphazardly threw together of the view over Merle Lake.

I had such a good time, and I hope the overload of photos wasn't too much to handle. I'll be back again tomorrow with another post!

Off for holidays!

It will be quieter than usual for the next week or so. I'm off with my family to Kananaskis for a wonderful week of gorgeous scenery, barbecues, card games, bike rides, swimming, and beer. My sister and her partner are even flying up from Vancouver to join us!

It'll be a lovely week, and I'll have lots to sharer with you when I get back. For now, though, here is the most idyllic little swimming cove from the last time we visited Kananaskis. It's incredible!

Full Fat Clothing Swap

I am so excited to share with you what I've been working on this past week! After much uncertainty and a bit of procrastination, I'm proud to announce that on August 14th I will be hosting the Full Fat Clothing Swap. FFCS is a free clothing swap in Edmonton, AB for women sizes 12 and up, and is the perfect occasion to meet like minded individuals (and maybe even a few new friends)!



If you'll be in or around the Edmonton area on August 14th, be sure to stop by! I'm as nervous as I am excited, and I really hope this event will be a success. You can RSVP to the Facebook event here, and if you have any questions you can email me at anomalous_allure AT hotmail DOT com

Happy (belated) Canada day!

I know that this post is a few days late, but blogspot has been eating my posts and it's really frustrating. Here's hoping it works this time around!

Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canadians, and happy 4th of July to all you American folk. I hope you're having a great long weekend!

I had to work on Canada Day and, while I would have preferred spending the day wandering around downtown or relaxing at the legislative grounds, it was still a lovely day. We barbecued burgers for supper and I made a very special dessert.



I've wanted to make a Canadian flag strawberry shortcake since I saw it in a cooking magazine as a child and I'm so glad I finally did!



I followed this recipe from the Food Network's website, but made a few changes. Most notably, I used Greek yogurt with honey instead of sour cream and a half cup of margarine instead of the butter/margarine mixture. It was delicious, but the cake seemed a bit dense, especially for a shortcake. The density of a cake is the trickiest part, in my opinion, and although it wasn't perfect i was very happy with how it turned out. My parents enjoyed it too!



The recipe actually called for baking powder, not baking soda, and thankfully I realised that before it was too late. Whew!

After dessert we headed to the high level bridge to watch the fireworks. They were incredible!



What a perfect way to top off a lovely day. I hope you're all having a wonderful weekend yourselves!