Today's Outfit: Cozy Casual Weekend

• Joe Fresh angora hat (c/o)
• Joe Fresh cashmere sweatshirt sweater
• Uniqlo denim leggings
• Cougar Boots 'Marla' ankle boots (c/o; not shown, but you can see them in this post)
• Social Experiment cocktail ring (c/o)
• Lipstick: Tom Ford 'Bruised Plum'

For once I have a surplus of outfit photos to share with you in weekly blog posts, so today you're seeing an outfit from two weekends ago while I talk about what I did last weekend. (How's that for a time warp?) On Friday, I met the boy in Richmond so we could avoid the Grey Cup madness downtown. We ended up having a quick dinner at the Aberdeen Mall food court before going to an evening showing of My Week with Marilyn, which turned out to be a pretty good film. Saturday: early morning yoga class, lots of lounging around in the afternoon, a late dinner at Habit with the boy and salsa friends who also decided to stay in Vancouver instead of going to the Seattle Salsa Congress, and coffee at Cafe Montmartre where some other salsa friends played and sang on open mic night.

After going to so many events in the past few weeks and dressing up for most of them, I'm relishing every opportunity I get to dress down. There's something cozy and comforting about simple outfits and warm knits, especially when the weather is as abysmal as it's been lately. As I often say though, dressing down doesn't have to mean looking slobby. Luxe-to-the-touch angora and cashmere, a rich-coloured lipstick and a cocktail ring (courtesy of local jewelry maker Georgia Heraty) elevate this look from a typical sweater-and-jeans combo to something a little more special.

Speaking of "courtesy of" items, did you see the thought-provoking post and discussion about c/o items on the Independent Fashion Bloggers site a while ago? It's definitely worth a read as it raises interesting questions about blogger integrity and it prompted me to try to verbalize my own policies around c/o items. In case it isn't clear from how I conduct myself on this blog: I feature and speak favourably of things I like. If I receive something (like a beauty product) to review, I strive to write an honest, thoughtful review that would be useful to readers. If I don't like something, I either don't feature it or I feature it and explain why I was disappointed.

This is probably one of the most verbose Today's Outfit posts I've ever done, so now I'll turn over the discussion to you, dear readers. What did you do on the weekend? Do you like dressing down or dressing down with an element of dressing up? What do you think of c/o items?