September | me on a budget!

I love clothes.  I love new ones, I love my old favourites.  Since being home with my kiddo I've been pretty free with my spending and now its crunch time.  I gotta live within my budget and here it is.  $400 per month for my stuff.  I've decided in order to try and keep myself accountable (aside from the cashola being gone and a hefty visa bill) I'm going to blog about what I've bought...  I read in style magazine and they have a section for 'girl on a budget' or something like that.  Anyhow, this is my version.

So, once a month, I'll blog about my carefully made purchases.  Cuz I love love love new jeans.  And they get expensive.

1.  Audrey Coat -  $228

My big spend was this Audrey jacket from Lululemon.  Who doesn't love lulu!?!?!  I didn't need a new one but I love the cut of this one and with having a little kid to run after I actually don't need a super thick coat.  I got mine in black, but this grey is awesome.

Audrey

2.  Hudson Collin skinny jeans in grey wash -  $99

I love Hudson and I dunno why.  I got these at Nordstrom Rack on a Seattle trip for a steal.

Collin

3. Aritzia - Betsy blouse $50

I got this top for our family pictures.

4. Aritzia - Sweater  $98

This goes over top, but in the heather seche colour (brown)

Total: $475

overbudget.  boo me.  and, no this isn't all i bought.  but i'm working on it.  really.

Photography | sisters J & R

Ooooh how I've waited to blog about these two little girls.  These two finished off a very long day for me but were oh so cute I wished they were mine.  Love how their personality came out so quickly and how easy it was to fill my card with their sweet faces.  Lucky mom and dad are expecting #3 soon, so another gorgeous child to join the world soon!

Cooking: at the dirty apron

Ok, so I've waited to blog about this place because I had only been once, and didn't want to base my love for something on a one time experience.  This weekend I had the privilege of going for a 2nd time to the dirty apron cooking school in downtown vancouver.   The first time I went I did an Italian class where we learnt how to make pasta!  Why bother?  Cause it really is delicious.  Really.  Not gonna sugar coat it though, its a heck of a lot of work but I've done it twice since my class in April (which is a lot for a casual cook like me).  My 2nd trip was for a brunch class.  We made some super yum eggs benedict (fancy style sitting on a potato rosti) and french toast (also fancy with sauce).

Anyhow, back to the dirty apron.  The cooking school itself is top notch.  Fancy Wolf stoves and you get your own working area.  The ingredients are all measured out and prepped for you so you don't spend time doing much other than cracking eggs and chopping this and that.  You learn techniques that I would have otherwise not known existed.  The price isn't cheap, but christmas is coming and its a great opportunity for a girls night event as well.

http://www.dirtyapron.com/

Photography | Little M

Time is flying past me this year at a warp speed.  I feel like it was just yesterday that I met this little girl but it was nearly 2 months ago!  Wow, I could really have been quicker with these blog posts.  Oh well.  This little one was 4 months old at the time of our photo shoot and she was so happy and smiley.  Especially since it was getting close to the evening, I couldn't believe how happy she was.  What a little doll and you can tell she's got daddy wrapped around her finger already.

Cooking: with Gwyneth

I love to cook...but my love for it is pretty fickle.  I have to be in the right mood, have the right ingredients on hand and most of all, have a plan!  So, me and cooking tend to have a love/hate/necessity relationship.  I do enjoy buying stuff though and a new cookbook always gets me working away in the kitchen.  This particular one I have been using for about 6 months and its turned into a go - to for me.  It skips all red meat (fine for me, I don't really like them anyhow).  There is a great selection of pastas and veg too.  Definitely worth a browse, especially since the weather has turned and we are all starting to settle into fall.

This week I'm making sweet potato ravioli and tortilla soup.  Yum!

Photography | Little J

I have fun photographing 2 year olds, mostly cause that is what I know, and I know they are difficult.  But this little guy was not!  We just went on a little walk about through Elgin Heritage Park and he posed his signature pose.  What a cutie.  Here are a few of my favourites from our mini session.

Fashion: did someone say boots?

The weather is starting to change and its time for jeans!!!  Which means its also time for boots!!  I LOVE Frye.  They make a great quality boot that will last you for years.  I got my pair last year and wore them tons.  A great investment (literally) for the weather in Vancouver...from September to May... you are pretty safe in boots on any given day.  I got this pair in brown, called Veronica Slouch.  So comfy and wearable with anything.  Truly.  Not lying!

I also have my eye on this pair.... so cute!