I'm so bad! Last night I went to bed without setting my hair again, so I had to put it up again this morning. I never learn *sigh*
I actually don't mind putting my hair up - it's nice to get it out of my face and to have a different look. Instead of victory rolls I basically shoved my hair into a gazillion bobby pins, topped it off with a flower clip, flat-ironed the front fringe and called it a day.

Flower clip/pin: H&M

It's not very neat, but my duties for today are: write 3 stories, shoot 2 events (an RBC Cup tailgate party and a choir) and call it a night. First off I'm headed to the Battle River Animal Protection Society to do a story on their monthly adoption days and try my best not to bring home a puppy (I can't, they're not allowed!). I'm driving for that because I'm not too sure where it is, but the other two events are close to home, so if the weather smartens up and it doesn't blow a gale I'm going to finally take the bike out - so I need hair that can be squished into my lovely lavender helmet!


I decided that I wans going to funk it up for make-up, as opposed to my usual nude shadow/brown eyeliner/black mascara combo and do brown eyeshadow and teal liner to match my shirt. I'm also wearing lip gloss instead of lipstick to go with the whole casual vibe.

Blouse: Twig (Camrose) | Jeans: Jean Warehouse One |  Socks: H&M

I'm wearing jeans today because of the aforementioned cycling excursion (I'm chicken and don't want to try it with a skirt yet) and because it was cloudy when I got dressed. Now it's sunny and +7. Oh Alberta!

Yes, I took photos with my DSLR this time, thus the awkward mirror shots and what not. It took me so many tries to get the back of my hair - the ultimate Hail Mary. Finally I just focused, switched to manual and started shooting. The hardest thing was getting my head in the shot, since I had to look the other way.

One of my favorite vintage blogs is Lottie Loves, run by Brit-turned-California super-mom Lottie. One regular feature of her blog is Finishing School, where she alphabetically runs through goals and post challenges for her followers to complete. Since I'm late to the game, I am going to start posting backwards from the latest, starting with O and then try to catch up. She posts them one a month so if I'm on the ball I will catch up in no time!

Your Challenge:

This is not a hard challenge but may require some thought to take action.

Drink three small bottles of water, at least, a day. Carry a bottle around with you and take regular drinks from it regardless of feeling thirsty.

Do this for a week and I can guarantee that you will feel an improvement in your concentration levels, energy and skin.

This in turn impacts on how you feel about the way you look, how you act, how you actually look and how confident and comfortable you feel. Yes, seriously, water helps all of these things so don’t under estimate its importance.

So, do you drink enough water?  Let me know how you get on with this challenge.

I lucked out, since I think O is the easiest one! I try to drink as much water as I can, as I know how important it is to keep hydrated. I get really cranky as well, so it's better for everyone when my fluid levels are up.
I'm on my second bottle of water today already (at 11 am) and it's nearly done. When there's water (or anything) in front of me I will just mindlessly drink. I can't count the number of times I've brought an empty mug or bottle to my lips repeatedly even though I know there's nothing in it. It's basically a matter of getting off my butt and filling the bottle again.

Blue bubbly water bottle by Contigo. Gifted

I really love this bottle that my mother gave me for Christmas because I don't slop all over myself (as much) because you need to press a button in order for the valve to open and it automatically closes as well. So no more slopping or accidentally spilling it all over myself.
Even today I feel better, refreshed and awake, and I'm sure my concentration will improve as soon as I relieve myself (TMI, but it is one downfall of drinking a lot of water).

The next Finishing School challenge is Posture - great timing as I had fantastic session with a massage therapist where we talked about computer-related posture issues.

Until then,
Laurie

Today is my day off. Since my editor and I are the only ones that work on the editorial side of the paper, we have a different schedule than most people. Over 14 days we both get 4 days off, but we can't take them at the same time.
I work the weekend (Fri, Sat, Sun) so I get Thursday off. Vince worked last weekend, so he gets to work Thursday and gets Friday, Saturday Sunday off. Then we switch. It's a good system, I think.

Anyway, I have a pretty laid back agenda today: Massage, fix up the ole bike (she's spent the last 4 months under a pile of snow, so I may have to look into getting some rust off!) and do some laundry. So I'm wearing this old wrap skit (that I have to pin and wear tights with, because that Alberta winds love to show off what's under the skirt), a new simple teal tee from H&M and some straw saddle shows from a local vintage shop, circa 1980s.

Top: H&M |Skirt: shop from back home, it's super old | Tights: Joe Fresh | Shoes: Imagine Vintage in Camrose

Messy bed and you can see my pjs. My apologies!  Flower clips (pair): H&M

OK, I'm not sure what I've gotten myself into but I've started yet another blog (my Tumblr and my more work-related Wordpress also both exist).

However, Retro Reporter focuses on my adoration of vintage style and how it affects my work as a multi-media journalist in Camrose AB.

So now for a vintage-style disclaimer: I am not, as some would say, true vintage. I do not own any day-to-day clothing older than 2004. I have some shoes from the 80s, a purse from the 50s and a nightgown from the 50s. Everything else is modern, so if you don't like that I suggest you steer away now.

I love modern conveniences, like smartphones, the internet and computers. Without any of it, I wouldn't have found a wonderful community of like minded people (like The Fedora Lounge!) However, I do believe that we've started living in a society that has a mindset that waste is okay and I have a problem with that. So I've decided to start living a bit more frugally, make do and mend (once I learn the mending bit) and to try and steer away from modern, harsh cleaners and instead use the old staples of borax, vinegar and baking soda.

I love women of the 1940s because they had to adapt to new roles in the workplace, especially labour intensive roles that they weren't used to. But now, we live in a society of comfort and feel the need to wear pajama pants and bunnyhugs unless we're going on for a night on the town. My foremothers of journalism looked professional and were taken seriously, which is my goal as a young reporter. If I dressed like other 20 year olds, I doubt the adults I interact with daily - like politicians, business people and academics - would take me as seriously. I also take myself more seriously with this current look.

It can be difficult at times. I've gone from shooting accident scenes to interview local bands, all in skirts and kitten heels (The RCMP looked pretty terrified at letting me climb into a ditch to get to the car, but I survived), so I know it can be done. I just get funny looks from people, that's all.

I hope to blog about my clothes, my job, my attempts at living more vintage (in terms of cleaning, walking and cycling instead of driving) and even the vintage aspects of my city, Camrose.