Festive OOTD

I'm a social media junkie.


Seriously.
I have a personal facebook account with 3 other pages (including Full of Fabulous & Darling Dilemma if you are so inclined to peek...), 3 twitter accounts, 2 blogs, a Google+, an etsy shop & tumblr.

JUNKIE!

But it pays off.... moving to 2 new cities in the last couple years was tough & without social media I wouldn't have met all the fabulous and fantastic people I have! The bloggers, my crafting circle, the derby girls & The Ladies of Twitter (as we have taken to call ourselves).

These ladies are social junkies too, and they understand why I check my phone during coffee, while shopping or during dinner with my husband. In fact it was probably one of them who tweeted me.
As a group we try to meet 'in real life' on occasions.  As many of us gather as are available for coffee dates, potential book club meetings, dinners or lunches. And this weekend was our official 'Ladies of Twitter Christmas Luncheon' at the lovely Bourbon Quarter/Magnolia Cafe uptown.

I decided to get a little festive...

Yes, I am still wearing flats, bare feet... a week before Christmas!

Totally colour blocked & made myself look elf like.

Jeggings; Forever 21+, Tunic; Old Navy, Belt; Torrid

Made the earrings myself.

Hobbes wanted a piece of the action

Thank you ladies for a lovely lunch! I can't wait until our first 2012 outing...

Baby It's Cold Outside

On the East Coast we have been experiencing some seriously mild winter weather. In fact, less than two weeks until Christmas & we have no snow on the ground!


Getting in the Christmas spirit has been a struggle this year, with long work days, no snow & the decision to not put up a tree (we will be flying home to spend Christmas with my family so it seems unnecessary & frankly a bad idea with two cats in the house...).  I decided that a wreath would be an out-of-reach & appropriate amount of Christmasness for our new home & ventured out in the chilly but non snowy day.

It has taken me a long, long, LONG time to find a winter jacket I would even consider buying. So many plus size jackets are unappealing, ill fitted, poorly lined or all three.  I've looked every year, settling on WalMart substitutes to get me through but decided it was time to really hunt one down! LL Bean had a few possibilities but my mother swears their return policy is the worst & suggested Eddie Bauer instead.  I was very impressed with their selection of winter coats, varying in warmth & length.

Being 6 feet tall most waist length coats don't work for me, especially when we are talking about a winter coat. I can't stand having a coat ride up, even a little, leaving my back exposed to cold winter winds!! I chose the Slope Side down jacket specifically for it's warmth, length & colour.

Now I ordered mine last year in eggplant which seems to have been replaced now with a new olive colour - another favorite colour of mine!! It is also available in a grey & cream.

Eddie Bauer, Slope Side $199

My hat is a fabulous Etsy find that I also own in purple, from TangledArts. Super soft, great fit & awesome colours. My mitts are recycled sweater mittens from Eco Fab Mama a local business/online shop that supports the talents of many New Brunswick crafters.

And the idea that started the day... the wreath! I picked my wreath up at the local Pumpkin Patch, a beautiful double wreath that I decorated myself.

Now my life has a little more Christmas in it & I'm feeling a little more in the spirit!

In that spirit I announce the winner's of my most recent giveaway from eShakti!
Melissa from Sigh Gush Gasp & Anita from Thick Threads
are BOTH winner's of $20 gift certificates from eShakti!!! Check your email's today ladies & I hope to see outfit posts with your winnings in the future...

Stay Fabulous
Em
xo

300 Friends & A Whole Lotta Love... eShakti Giveaway

Sometime this past week, in the midst of holiday stress & work chaos my 300th twitter friend found me! With over 300 followers now all I can say is WOW!!


Seriously. Wow.

The fully fabulous folks at eShakti thought it was fantastic too & are helping me celebrate by offering
gift certificates to 2 of my lucky followers/readers!

eShakti offers a full size range from 0 to 26 - how many company's can boast that? As a company who understands that standard measurements don't flatter every size & don't work with every shape, eShakti let's you customize your pieces by length, bust, sleeve style.. even down to your specific measurements AND they will customize for FREE on your first order (starting at only $7.50 after that!)!!

For a chance to win a $20 gift certificate please check out the eshakti website. Leave a comment on their facebook page letting them know Full of Fabulous sent you & which item you want most!

For extra ballots (leave a comment for each):

• follow Full of Fabulous on twitter & tweet about this giveaway
• follow Full of Fabulous blog via bloglovin' or google friend connect (links on right)

Contest closes in 1 week on December 16th at 8pm Atlantic Time & is open to all North American readers. The 2 winners will be drawn & announced December 17th.

Been an awful good girl...

As promised here is my wish list of accessories, shoes & bags for this holiday/winter!

Available in grey as well!

I wore these beauties for the recent fashion show put on by Boutique Zekara & haven't stopped thinking of them since.  They are tall, lined & even though they aren't a wide calf fit, they fit me perfectly.

While searching thru knits on ASOS for a friend I stumbled onto this beauties & since they are currently on sale, I'm thinking they would make a perfect gift to myself.

Of course if someone beats me to it, I wouldn't be horribly disappointed!
Alright so some other fabulous finds that I've got listed as high priority for this winter are...

A new Fossil bag from Manchester Shoe Salon!

OPI Muppet collection available at Salon's like Element5 Spa in Market Square, Uptown Saint John!
Or maybe something gorgeous & sexy from the amazing plus size, online lingerie store, Hips & Curves from my sweetie...

Morgana Long Line Cotton Steel Boned Corset $160

And of course no holiday, or season even, is complete without plenty of fun new accessories!

Fun, bright fabric necklace from LaurenceCollection $35

Bracelet from DarkRide $42

Earrings from talented local jeweler Wild Woman Jewelry! $28

Cherry necklace from itsastitch $27

So now that you've seen what's on MY wish list... how about you share what is on yours??

Santa Baby...

Let's just ignore the elephant in the room... the one that hasn't written a post in awhile cuz she was moving & being overworked? K, thanks!


So some how fall whizzed by & we are in December already! Once the 1st rolls in I find myself consumed with decorations, to-do lists & shopping. Although frankly, when am I not thinking of shopping??

instagram'd beauty

Since it is that time of year when I save all my pennies for my adorable GingerKid & handsome hubby I thought I would put together a Christmas wish list of my own.  There are far too many beautiful winter items I've been dreaming of & if my husband or mother just happen to read this post (which they assure me they do actually read the blog...) & find some gift giving ideas, so be it!

At the top of my list is this amazing wool dress, or tunic from eshakti!  I adore everything about it - colour, cut, pockets, and check out that collar!! I envision feeling toasty warm in the wool, with leggings, tights or even some skinny jeans underneath.

Polka Dot pencil skirt $55, Metallic Knit shift dress $61, Chino Pants $41

These lovely winter selections are all from the ASOS Curve line.  Maybe I've got a thing for red but their particular shade of red this season, almost a cranberry, is my favorite!!
I want to make all these beautiful pieces mine & the fact that their shipping & returns are free makes shopping with ASOS an awesome choice.

The Peggy Dress, $195

Of course I can't let the chance pass by to mention the Cherry Velvet dress I modelled at a local fashion show recently. Local shoppers can find this Canadian line at Boutique Zekara but the dresses are also available online.
* Honey, I'm sure any one of our friend's would gladly show you the way there.. & I'm sure Karen or Donna would even show you to the dress - just sayin' *

Up next my wish list of accessories!

Novembegram

road travels, chevron tights, runway debut
runway look, pennington's treats, sparkle
a friday night, glammed up, bridge work

mermaid, raybans, new nail colour
made up, adorbs, port
owly, fair trade, birthday girl

Recently I wrote a post about bravery & my pursuit of it.  When Katie from Boutique Zekara called me recently & asked if I would be a model in their upcoming fashion show I quickly said yes without hesitation, feeling brave.
I felt less brave the night of though.  Silly girl I am, as I now look back at the night & the photos taken by local photographer Beaver Smith of bigdayfoto & realize my age & size (& of course hair) made me a fun addition to the runway.  I may not have felt brave in the moment... but I feel pride after the fact & that is an accomplishment as well.

You might recognize this dress as the one I almost bought for my brother's wedding in September.  It is from Cherry Velvet. Super cute!

In fact all these pieces are from Cherry Velvet! This is one of their new styles & I can't lie... it wanted to come with me!! It is styled up a bit here but I had leggings under it at one point & it would be great for casual too.  It might have walked out ON me if it wasn't pretty much sold right off my back! Boutique Zekara has other styles, fabrics & colours though for those of you who just fell in love with it.

Of course this holiday dress from Cherry Velvet was the show stopper! There were actual oooh's and some aaahhh's as I walked down in this gorgeous number! This dress is a brocade & I felt like I was glowing in it when it was combined with my hair.  My husband is almost insisting I buy this one...

So I moved outside my comfort zone, walked the red carpet & in the end feel braver for it... Success!

And finally, for those of you who entered my Birthday Giveaway with Manchester Shoe Salon.... the winner is Julia Hurst! Coincidentally Julia also has a blog, Fortunate Fool so I can't wait to see her post  what she purchases with her $50 gift certificate!

Thank you again to the wonderful Natalie from Manchester Shoe Salon... I'm heading uptown today to purchase my big new bag that I've had on layaway, as a birthday gift to myself!

Easy Breezy

Back in St. Andrews I ventured down to the main road, Water Street, feeling a little brave since the tourists are all gone for the season. I had a certain store front in mind for some photos...

One of my favorite local boutiques, PGal's Closet has a summer time location in St.Andrews & it's store front perfectly matched today's outfit!

Addition Elle chevron tights, shoes from Payless

This was my first time wearing my new Forever 21+ skirt & I wasn't entirely prepared for it's light weight meeting up with the fall breezes!

The 'polite' breezy shot... lol

My birthday is just 2 days away, which means there are only 2 days left to enter my Birthday Giveaway - have you entered yet?
Also means I should pick out something to wear!!

Fall Fabulous, Forever 21 OOTD

Blouse; Reitmans. Vest; Torrid. Jeggings & shoes; Forever 21

This week I've spent more time driving to work than actually working so I needed outfits that would come out still looking good after being seatbelted in.  Luckily my Forever 21 order arrived just in time!

These shots are from a favorite New Brunswick town, St. Andrews. In the summer it is bustling with tourists, locals & those of us locals on day trips. Come autumn though the town becomes quiet again, and I might just like it even more... 

Love my fabulous leopard flats!!

The streets are quiet & traffic moves by slow & unhurried. The boardwalk & shops uncrowded & I can see everything I want to see...

And of course outfit photos can be taken without strange looks, which is always a bonus.

Hair tip? When in the wind, go for the 'messy' look...

These Forever 21+ jeggings are fabulous! So fabulous (at $13.50!!!!) that I might have bought 4 pairs.... expect plenty of jegging sightings in the blog future.

Since I love my province & this little town, I thought I would leave you this; Rick Mercer's recent visit here to whale watch!

In case you missed Friday's post, I am having my first giveaway in honor of my Birthday! Make sure to enter before the 11th for your chance to win!

Boutique Talk & Birthday Giveaway

So many boots they couldn't all fit into one post!

This time Monique takes centre stage in these Rieker Booties & Fossil bag. She can correct me if I'm wrong but I think this was Monique's favorite combination. I heard her exclaim more than once 'I just LOVE the key!!' about this cool Fossil bag & that red zipper detail had us both swooning.

Rieker Kadie bootie $140 & Red Leather Fossil Purse $180

Truth be told, I've eyed the Fossil 'key' bag up more than once in tan, purple & mustard! The fact that there are so many colours to chose from might be the reason I don't have one yet... choices, choices...

This next look is La Canadienne's Red Patent Leather (Waterproof) “Tula” bootie.  Take note people... I'm wearing a heel! I seemed to have discovered that I actually can walk in a small heel or wedge, thanks to Natalie's advice.  I haven't worn even a small heel in about 15 years since I had an accident, breaking my ankle.  The weakness in my ankle has meant no heels (and no derby with Monique... yes another awesome derby girl!!!).  These patent red leather boots were too good not to try on just for a photo though...

La Canadienne Red Patent Leather (Waterproof) “Tula” $265
Cabrelli Red Cheetah Clutch $55

Turns out, if the bootie (or boot) comes up high enough it is just the support my ankle needs to let me walk with a bit of heel! Just the sheer glee of walking in these fabulous Victorian inspired booties almost had them walking right out the door with me...

Rieker “Thelma” $155
Fossil Grey Leather Purse $200

So for our final look of the day, Monique tried the Rieker "Thelma" bootie (with another one of those fantastic Fossil bags... seriously Mon, just buy one!!) How awesome does she look, staring out that window (dreaming of a place where it wasn't snowing I'm going to assume)?
Thank you Monique for being such a good sport, trying on all these beautiful boots & trudging out on our first snowfall.

And now for the most exciting part, more exciting than all these fabulous boots to look at.....
Manchester Shoe Salon is giving all of my local readers a chance to win a $50 gift certificate in celebration of my birthday!!

To enter & win you must;

• be local (enough to travel to SJ & collect your prize)
• 'like' Manchester Shoe Salon on facebook & leave a comment on their wall saying that I sent you

For an extra entry you can;

• 'like' Full of Fabulous on facebook
• tweet about the contest (make sure to link to the blog & include @FullOfFabulous so I can find your entry)

The contest closes on my birthday, November 11th, at 11pm AST, 2011 (yep...11-11-11!) & the winner will be announced that weekend!

Good luck & stay fabulous....