Suzanne Carillo Style Files

Leather & Sequins

 

Leather & Sequins by suzannecarillo 

The Gift Every Blogger Wants & Scary Squirrel Tales

What does every blogger want? 

10,000 new followers. 

Ah yeah. 

If I had a magic wand I'd grant each and every one of you badass bloggers that wish. 

Instead I have a magic stylus and I created this...

 Pretty sweet right?

Don't look at how long this skirt is on me...my legs look like they are 2 inches tall. I was "trying" to do the whole "midi" thing and well... basically #epicfail. Okay, now I don't feel so bad when Sea of Shoes also looks like her legs are 2 inches tall.

I made this t-shirt for myself but have uploaded the graphic to my Society6 account so you can purchase it in different colours and sizes.

You can also get iPhone covers.

or greeting cards 

 I'm actually in the middle of designing a whole set of Blogger greeting cards. I've got loads of ideas. 

I'm smiling here because minutes before I narrowly escaped being attacked by a squirrel coming over that fence. We have LOTS of squirrels here and they aren't afraid of me anything.

Case in point, one evening I was home alone and had just finished eating supper. I was washing the dishes and heard a light tap, tap, tap. We have a large glass patio door that leads out of the kitchen onto a deck into the backyard. I glanced over at the patio doors,  no one was there. 

Then I heard it again. 

Tap, tap, tap...

I went to check the front door. 

No one was there either. 

I came back and started doing the dishes again.

Tap, tap, tap...

What the?

The hairs on the back of my neck started to bristle. 

It was dark.

I was alone.

Tap, tap, tap...

My mind started to race...

...was it  a pack of zombies tapping on the windows in the basement?

CRAP!

Who was going to save me?

My pug?

Tap, tap, tap...

I was starting to seriously lose my shit. 

Whomever, whatever it was, they weren't giving up. 

Tap, tap, tap...

This time I was sure it was coming from the patio doors. 

Then I saw it.

There, in the very lower corner of the glass door, hidden in shadows I spotted a black wirey looking squirrel with beady dark eyes and a manic tail sitting next to the window. He brought up his little fist and knocked again on the window. 

Tap, tap, tap.

He wanted in! 

Cheeky bastard. 

What did he need?  To borrow a cup of sugar?  

His tail was wildly gesticulating and he seemed agitated. Like he was hopped up on Red Bull and Ritalin. 

Why was he knocking on my patio door? Why hadn't he gone to the neighbours? 

Then I started to think that maybe he was some psycho squirrel that required an invitation into the house like a vampire.  Then, once inside, he would carry out his master plan for world domination.  He would destroy my house and enslave me to an eternity of piling acorns in different corners of the house. 

My mind may have gone a bit squirrely rogue on me at that point and I was starting to scare myself. Like at the point in the horror movie when the person screams into the phone...

"It's coming from inside the house!!!"

That squirrel was seriously beginning to

freak.

me.

out.

I didn't care if he could knock better than any well trained Jehova's Witness...that high strung acorn junkie rodent was not getting in my house.

He knocked again. 

He stared at me,

challenging me with those black beady eyes. 

His tail twitched.

He looked a bit desperate, like he really needed to use the bathroom.

My resolved started to soften a bit. 

I waved at him. 

He waved his tail frantically. 

And then he beat his little fist on the window again. 

"Ah helloooooo lady! Can't you see me here? Let me in!" 

His eyes didn't leave mine.

I stared back, surprised that the waving of my hand hadn't scared him away.

We just looked at each other.

It was a stare stand off. 

Would would give in first?

He seemed pretty stubborn crazy.

I looked at him.

I was determined to hold my ground.

I gave him my best, "Go ahead, make my day... squirrel" look. 

He stared back at me with his best, "Avon calling!" look.

No one moved.

We just stared. 

Finally Zoë came around the corner wondering what all the fuss was about. Once the little freak saw Zoë he took off straight away. That squirrel was no dummy...he realized I'd already been enslaved by a pug years ago. 

 Cross my heart...every word of this story is true, I had to call my parents to tell them just how weird it all was.  

Hardly any martinis were consumed prior to the whole event.

Is this really me blowing kisses?

When you're a slave to a pug...

anything is possible.
 

Linking up with: Happiness at Mid-Life - Throw Back Thursday   The Pleated Poppy What I Wore    Get Your Pretty On - I Feel Pretty,  My Girlish Whims - Your Whims Wednesday  

Adventures In Zip Lining - How To Have Major Crotch Whiskers

My sister flew across the country to visit me in September and while she was here we did the normal lady-like things you'd expect...shopping, eating, drinking, shopping, repeat.

 The reason I'm not drinking my usual martini is because we were at a Thai restaurant and I needed to try one of their specialty drinks. 

The water pitcher on the table with the yellow top sings like a tropical bird when you pour water out of it. 

Yeah I'm wearing patterned jeans to hike.  It's a blogger thing.

NOT

We were out having lunch and shopping and I didn't bring other pants to change into when we got to the park. As it was we had to change in the car and there was a guy parked next to us the whole time. #bloggeroverexposed. 

We also went to see this...

It was a very wild & funny ride my friends...it goes beyond where you think they will go. Just so you know, the writers were the same people that wrote South Park. And they go ALL THE WAY and then some.

We loved it.

The wild and crazy was only just starting though...as we decided to become "Weekend Warriors" zip lining, suspension bridge tree canopy touring, rappelling and kayaking.  

I've been zip lining before in Costa Rica and loved it...so another go around this time with my sister was a blast.

And yes...I'm a tree hugger...

This was my sister saying goodbye at the 40 ft rappel. I must admit this part had me scared. You have to manoeuvre around at the edge of the platform and then dangle over. Believe it or not...I have a fear of heights.  I put on my big lady panties that day and got through it though. 

The gal in front of us made it worse because she was super scared. It took her at least 10 minutes to get the courage to go down. 

 

How do you like the outfit? Now this is how to layer ladies! I mean how many times can you wear a baseball cap and a helmet on a fashion blog? 

Zero. One

The gloves are a bit gauche though don't you think?

And the harness is doing nothing at all for my crotch whiskers. It does act as a very good external bra though. 

Yeah...that little red helmet zipping away into the unknown is me : ) 

It may not look like it, but this suspension bridge was the scariest for me. You can't tell from the photo...but you are high up...super high up. Our wonderful guide got 4 of us out there at once and proceeded to have all of us lean with all our body weight on one side of the bridge...faces down...stomach flat on the cables. We were laying down, horizontally staring at the vast valley below. 

At this point I may have screamed. 

More than once. 

The whole bridge was tipped.  It felt like it was going to flip around on us any second. 

This really got the adrenalin pumping. 

I felt a bit like Wonder Woman after that.

 

The next day we had a bit of a more tranquil setting...kayaking down Big Creek. 

The biggest deal on the kayak trip was the bathroom...which, as you may have guessed is in the same place where all the other animals in nature do it...in the bush, with one major exception...there was an actual toilet seat.  Someone took four planks of wood and stuck a toilet seat on top. There wasn't even really a hole. You still had to squat all the way down, almost to the ground, but at least you were sitting on a toilet seat! LOL It was weird.  I don't know how that makes it environmentally friendly.  Who am I to judge though...I'm no survivor woman.  One of the other gals on the trip did bring a roll of toilet paper with her...clearly her survival skills are far superior to my own. 

I had never been to Long Point and I can tell you that the beach was vast and the sand was very soft. It went as far as we could see in both directions. It reminded me of the eastern Florida coast, but it's not the ocean...it's  Lake Erie.

Finally I wanted to share one of the wonderful jazz singers from the South Coast Jazz festival. This is June Garber.  I was as impressed with her outfit/nails/lashes/hair as I was with her singing. This woman doesn't let her age dictate a thing.  

I apologize in advance if the camera is a tiny bit wobbly. I had several glasses of wine by that time.

The venue was inside the Burning Kiln winery and you can see some of the vats when I zoom out to the people dancing. 

 

I think every weekend warrior event needs to end with a few glasses of wine and some good music. 

I really like to "rough" it.  

Have you tried any adventure sports? What was the scariest/most fun? I might need to add something to my bucket list.  

How To Wear A Bold Printed Maxi Skirt

First a little back story on the skirt...

Skirt & t-shirt - Anthropologie, Booties - Nordstrom (old), cross body leather bag - vintage

When we "popped in" to Anthropologie I swore off any regular priced items.

That is a given. I'm sorry but I just can't pay $70 for a t-shirt.

When I took three items into the fitting rooms and one of them didn't fit I was relieved. 

I swear!

Then I put on this skirt...

Awww...

crap.

And the t-shirt...

double crap.

When I came out to show my husband I told him in no uncertain terms...

"Please...just do us both a favour and tell me this looks awful on me. Just say it."

 

I gave him an out and he didn't take it. 

Enabler.

The good thing is they were both on sale, the skirt less 50% and the t-shirt less 70%. 

So how do you wear a bold printed maxi skirt?

With attitude of course.

"YO YO YO! I got me a maxi and she dah star o' dah show!"

Just let that maxi skirt be the high maintenance diva she is and don't let any other pieces compete with her splendour. 

Easy peezy.

Do you have any ways of tricking yourself out of buying something you know you don't need? Please...share! My methods aren't working.

PS...I wore another boldly printed maxi skirt from Anthro

Or a smaller printed maxi here. 

 

Linking up with Mis Papelicos: Share in Style

Whatever Whenever

 

Whatever Whenever by suzannecarillo 

Burgundy For Fall

 

Burgundy for Fall by suzannecarillo 

Surprising Secrets About Sylvia from 40+ Style

Some of you may read Sylvia's blog from 40+Style. It's not a personal style blog, it's a professional blog designed to aide women seeking guidance and inspiration on dressing themselves after 40. 

Since her blog is more professional than personal I'd like you share a few interesting things I learned about Sylvia when I was in the Netherlands and stayed at her place. 

First off, she was kind enough to let a total stranger come and stay at her wonderful newly decorated house in Haarlem...which is gorgeous BTW.

Before I went to Holland I'd connected more with Anja and Greetje through their blogs than Sylvia. Anja managed to convince Sylvia that it would be "a good idea" to have me come and stay at her house while she finished up some home renovations at hers.  Sylvia generously agreed to this arrangement.

We both promised not to slit the other's throat in the night so we figured that was a good start.  

A little story about when I first arrived at Sylvia's house...we got to know each other rather quickly due to special circumstances, the stairs up to my room were so narrow and steep that my suite case couldn't be carried up. Instead, I had to unpack everything in the living room and Sylvia helped me take it piecemeal up to my room.  You get to know someone a lightening speed after carrying their sundries and undies upstairs.

This is what I came downstairs to find on my first morning at Sylvia's place...

How is that for welcoming? 

Does this look like a woman that suffers from severe Ornithophobia?

No?

Well she does. Big time. Just so you don't need to look that up it means a fear of birds. We had to move inside while eating at an outdoor patio because there were too many pigeons scrounging around and it was stressing Sylvia.

Little quirks. Everybody's got them.

When I first saw Sylvia she was seated in her living room in front of her computer...working away on her blog.  She is a Wordpress/SEO/ blog builder genius.

I came to learn later she is also a dedicated perfectionist, overachiever, workaholic with laser sharpe business focus. She works hard and gets things done. 

Sylvia has no time for BS. Like NONE. I find this refreshing. Like so many people from the Netherlands she is blunt but I think Sylvia has perfected this skill to a level above and beyond most other Netherlanders. No messin' about with her,  you always know where you stand. 

She is highly motivated and dedicated to improving herself which challenges those around her to improve themselves and raise their own personal expectations.

She doesn't waste time. Even when she is on a road trip or in the train she will listen to podcasts to constantly upgrade her skills to enable herself to approach problems from a new perspective. I really admire this. 

She is a fast walker. She isn't that much taller than me, (I walk NYC fast) but Sylvia is twice as fast. She is like a whippet...thin and fast. I had to jog a little to keep up with her. This might be because she is a big sports enthusiast and like almost all type A personalities also intensely focused on personal achievement in physical activity and sports. She plays tennis regularly and fits in Zoomba, combat fitness, yoga or Pilate's. She is a firm believer in detox retreats and does them regularly. Don't be fooled by all of the heavy draped layers of fabric she often wears that hide her enviable figure, this woman has the great toned lithe body of a of a twenty year old. I saw it first hand when we were playing dress up.

This was one of the outfits I chose for Sylvia...I love her in it.

She has either a hollow leg or a very fast metabolism, very likely both. I saw her eat almost an entire package of her favourite Dutch cookies while we were in the car on the way into Amsterdam and not gain an ounce.  It isn't surprising that almost every photo I have of Sylvia shows her eating something...she enjoys eating just as much as me, but unlike me doesn't have to worry about it showing up on her thighs 5 minutes later.

Sylvia made it her personal mission to ensure that I tasted and understood some of the traditional foods of the Netherlands including what they eat for breakfast...which is basically candy sprinkles on buttered toast.

I also split my first Dutch Apple Pie with Sylvia.

My stomach is still thanking her for that chocolate bar she gave me last minute. I really wish I'd brought back about 50 of them. Everything they say about Dutch chocolate is true BTW...

Sylvia is up for more than you give her credit for.  This is undoubtedly the most surprising thing about her. I thought we would get huge flack from her with our wacky idea to play dress up and have everyone wear someone else's clothes and be photographed in them but Sylvia was all game. In fact a bit of her alter ego surfaced (say Aloha to Magenta Marilyn) and we had a blast.  

 

She wasn't as keen on the whole moustache idea.  If I recall correctly it went something like this...

Sylvia, "What are those for?" pointing while making a face at the fake moustaches sitting on the table...

Anja, "To wear when we get dressed up."

Sylvia, "What for? "

Anja, "Just for fun."

Sylvia, "That's a bit silly."

Anja, "That's the point." 

Despite her reservations she played along and was enthusiastic as well...I was delighted.

She isn't too focused on being an adult all the time to let go and have some fun which surprised me because she can come across as rather serious.

She is adventurous, even more-so than the other two gals which was another big surprise for me. She embraces opportunities even if they are out of her traditional comfort zone just for the experience. This is probably because she has lived in so many different countries.

She was willing to try my martini (which BTW I had to explain to the bartender how to make) and even agreed it was quite tasty. She was game to try a few other things with me as well, however I agreed that what happens in Holland stays in Holland... and my lips are sealed. 

She contributed openly to conversations that I thought would make her feel uncomfortable and vulnerable and was hilarious when doing so. I felt that she was always willing to "rise to the occasion" so-to-speak. 

She has a very specific sense of style, prefers quality over quantity and a very powerful sense of self and self worth.  

She is aware of her weaknesses and chooses to focus on her strengths.  She is intense, strong, funny and engaging. 

She can walk through a store in 10 seconds flat and know if anything interests her or not. 

She comes across as confident, fearless and determined. 

She has a good generous heart, a wonderful laugh and a warm personality, all of which are not self evident until you are able to break down some of her professional barriers. 

Sylvia taught me not to judge a book blog by its cover. I feel very lucky to have had the chance to have met her in person. But don't take my word for it...visit her blog. She has begun to open up more about her life and her loves and you can start to see some of the adventurous person I met while in the Netherlands.

Thanks again for letting me stay at your place Sylvia! I owe you one : ) 

 

PS:  if you want to learn some crazy things I learned during my visit check out 10 Things I Learned While In Holland That Have Nothing To Do With Cheese, Windmills or Clogs. 

If you want to get to know the other ladies I visited check out Anja the artist from The Curly Traveller here: Spilling The Beans On The Ladies Of The Netherlands - Part One or the film I made of the art installation that she calls home.

Read about Greetje, the lady that lives to laugh from No Fear of Fashion here: Everything You Wanted to Know ABout Greetje & More

Date Night - What To Wear To A Jazzy Night Out On The Town

We've been hitting a few jazz clubs and jazz festivals lately. 

I caught June Garber at The South Coast Jazz festival September with my sister...they made a video of the event and if you look very carefully close to the end my sister and I are in the video...right at the back on the upper right side at 4:35 mark you can see my sister's head and me screaming and clapping behind another guy's head in approval.

 

LOL My 1 second of fame blocked out by a guy with a very large head.  

Story of my life.

We went out again last night to the Reservoir Lounge this time in downtown TO and caught Sophia Pearlman and Mary Mckay.

What a BLAST we had! 

Here is a video of Mary Mckay rockin' a song I didn't know but now love...

 

Everyone was right into the vibe. The atmosphere and food was great, the martinis were flowing and the music was sensational! We stayed for over five hours.

We are definitely going back. 

I can't believe we've lived in Toronto for ages now and never discovered this place until now. I have a feeling visiting new Jazz clubs is going to a new favourite past-time of ours. 

This is what we wore...

Dress - Nanette Leporé, similar or this maxi with a cherry pattern is amazing! Blue blazer - Le Château, similar Boots - similar

Sorry I don't have a better photo of this dress with the blazer. We took these photos in a rush before we left for the club. 

The dress my newest consignment store find. It is Nanette Laporé. The jacket Le Château and both are consignment. The boots I've had for at least 15 years, maybe longer.

Isn't the dress unique? The seam detailing and cut are fantastic but the cherry patterned fabric is really the ...

ba dum dum...

cherry-on-top. 

You know I had to go there.

Robert went with what he thought was classic rat pack style. A black suit, white shirt and black tie. 

I must admit I really love him in this suit. 

What about you? Do you take time to discover the cool things to do where you live? 

What was the last thing you did for a date night?

 

Linking up with:  The Pleated Poppy What I Wore    Get Your Pretty On - I Feel Pretty, 

Really GREAT Easy Halloween Costume Ideas For Adults

I've found the perfect costume for my husband for Halloween...an extremely well dressed werewolf.

Seriously???

How freakin' cool is that?

Meanwhile...I could go as his latest victim attacked while coming from the opera wearing a fabulous shredded gown drenched in blood.

Or someone like this...

Or if we want to play it more relaxed this is this great Bonnie and Clyde couples costume...

I love to dress up for Halloween.

We stopped giving out candy years ago. I would often be home alone and there would be "kids" that were 20 years old coming to my door asking for candy. 

Plus every year we would always have left-over candy that I would be forced to eat. 

Now if we are home we turn out the porch lights and just pretend we're not home. The scrooges of Halloween. 

If I can scout out a good party to go to all dressed up though I'm there. 

 

What about you? Do you have plans for Halloween? Will you be dressing up? Does your partner like to dress up?

You Are The Wind Beneath My Skirt - How NOT To Take Photos For Your Style Blog

The days of taking my photos outside are quickly dwindling to an end with the return of colder unpredictable weather. 

I tried my best and it started out okay...

But then it quickly turned into this...

I will spare you the Marilyn moment while I was walking back from the camera and my whole derriere was exposed. You couldn't even tell I was in the skirt. I looked like a headless cocoon with legs.

Here are some of the tips I can provide you with on how NOT to take photos for your style blog...

Shoot into direct sunlight.

People drive themselves crazy looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Shoot in super strong winds.

It'll make your skirt or hair look like it is trying to kill you.

So I broke down and went inside.

I know I'm still wearing my sunglasses. I really dislike indoor shots of myself without eye makeup on and honestly, I just couldn't be bothered. #lazystyleblogger

Sweater - TJ Maxx similar, Shoes - Rockport these Fyres are GREAT, Skirt - thrifted but this one is so pretty!, Bag - vintage this one is stunning!, Faux leather jacket - H&M but this one is leather AND on sale.

I picked up this vintage skirt at a thrift store when we were visiting Ottawa for $2. It looks like it came straight from Anthropologie. Well...minus the $200 price tag of course.

Are there any tips you can pass along on how NOT to take photos for a style blog?

I just know there are some good ones out there : ) 

 

Linking up with the lovely Patti for Visible Monday