Monthly Archives: September 2010

DRINKING CHAMPAIGN TO FORGET YESTERDAY

I am currently obsessed with Marina & The Diamonds ; she is FABULOUS! I have been listening to the same five songs over and over again at work. Good thing the control over the office speakers was taken away from me … I have a feeling people here wouldn’t be so impressed with my OCD listening choices.

I have had a few comments that suggest I write less about myself and post more darn fashion related posts//photos.

OK!  Say no more, I will do as you say. Better yet, I am thinking I will venture and possibly host some collaborations with my fellow fasionista friends and fellow bloggers. I am also going to take a turn at taking random street set photos of passer-buyers whom I find fashion savvy. Sound good? …. thats what I thought.

[RANDOM note:: ] The guys at the advertising agency I work at wrangled me into [ somehow? ] playing floor hockey with them, apparently they needed girls, so of course, I wasn’t going to do it alone. I signed my other three girlfriends up!! Naturally.

On a fashion note, L’OREAL//TORONTO FASHION WEEK is OCTOBER 18th – 23rd :: there website is still set for F/W season, they are so disorganized it is insane. I acquire tickets each year, and this year I am using a press pass, but even when I was sent the original information for the venue, it was wrong. Insider secret has it that OCT 1 tickets to the general public will go on sale. So I will keep you posted.

@lisanish & I are tackling a shoe extravaganza sale in which I posted a SAMPLE SALE blog post informing you all of the great [ & now not so secret ] sample sales that Toronto houses. It is not too late, a few of the best are just around the corner.

WHAT I WORE
SWEATER: ARITZIA’s own TNA Cashmere [I know right?]
TANK: Wilfred floral pattern
SHORTS: MAKIO
TIGHTS: BCBG
BOOTS: Grey Vintage Knee High [found in Kensington Market a few years ago]

THE SKETCHBOOK PROJECT

Hey Bunnies,

Just wanted to take a moment to fill you all in on a little secret buzzing around the office. There is a great team over at The Art House Coop who have created an amazing guerilla style art project.

Essentially they want ANYONE and EVERYONE to purchase a Moleskin Sketchbook from their site, along with a topic, and a barcode (for reference). The objective is to sketch around that topic. The idea is to collect thousands of sketchbooks to put on display at traveling museums across North America. People who come to view the traveling museum can also check “out” your book like a Library [remember those kids? lol], the point is to sketch around the subject and show your interpretation of the things that influence you on a daily basis. One quick note, unfortunately for the gang and I, Toronto is not on the list of places [yet ... I am currently writing a letter to the AGO, doing what I do best, persuade lol]. So the only way we will ever see our books is if we travel Brooklyn, where the sketchbooks will live after the tour is over.

Click here for more info, I really encourage you to participate!!

Above are some of the amazingly-faboosh works of art displayed on the website, these are NOT the standard, anything goes, simple to complicated. Even if you’re not an artist I really encourage you to at least give it a try – this is a time to be apart of history.

THREE GENERATIONS OF WOMEN [PART ONE]

WE LIVE, NOT BY THINGS, BUT BY THE MEANINGS OF THINGS.
IT IS NEEDFUL TO TRANSMIT THE PASSWORDS
FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION.

- ANTOINE de SAINT-EXUPERY

I am not saying you are interested in this, you may think it is a little vain and cheeky, and maybe you’re right, but the truth is, I am a product of my surroundings.

Below are photographs that inspire me, some of my Grandma Isabella, Is, Belle or Isabel. My Ma Carolyn and lastly, baby photos of me.

[ HISTORY :: My Grandparents came to Canada in 1953 from Scotland, below are photos of my Grandparents start in Canada]

[The ship my Grandparents took from Edinburgh, Scotland to Toronto, Canada. The "S.S Atlantic" July 7th 1953]

[at a friends summer cottage relaxing before finding a place to live]

[By far my favourite photograph of all time. My Gran was such a writer, probably writing a letter to her family back home.]

[My Papa & Gran posing ; the back reads "the water was quite chilly, it is the Atlantic after all"]

[There first home as a couple. Before here they lived in a apartment at Yonge & Eglington in Toronto]

[my Aunt and my Gran going back to Scotland for a visit, it took a long time for them to adjust to living in Canada]

[the back of this reads "posing" - I love it]

[this is after my Mum is born, I am adding it here because I love that my Gran is posing on the car ; so chic]

[my Gran experiencing her first huge snow fall ; all three of us have snow suite photos, so I felt the need to add this]

[I love her style, she is so chic, she also kept a lot of clothing from the 1950's that I now have - I am so blessed]

I am so fortunate to have piles of photographs to see what my Grandparents did before they moved and after, owning a camera, then, was an expensive luxury and they really did capture a whole bunch of things through out their lives. I am also fortunate that they are still alive, and well, and share stories with me of all the amazing adventures they went on together. Next post will feature my dear Mum, and the last, obviously, me lol.

THE OLD WOMAN WHO LIVED IN A SHOE

I’ve spent $40,000 on shoes and I have no place to live? I will literally be the old woman who lived in her shoes!
- Carrie Bradshaw

I believe as a patron of this great city it is my duty to inform you all of the amazing sample sales that do go on here. I know they seem as though they can be hit or miss, but let me tell you, they are [almost] always, worth it.

Below is a quick poster I did for you all to have saved to remember the dates of the deals that are-a-comin’! BEWARE!! These items will make you cry, there are some amazing deals to be had.

I also warn you, if you are serious, the Sample Sale at the Royal York is legandary, arrive early … the reason it says 7AM is because people are there that early … people like me! LOL.

Details of the wedding, what I wore, and my wonderful non-TIFF life to come later this week.

HAPPY SHOPPING BUNNIES :: SEE YOU THERE!!

WHERE DO UNICORNS GO? – SIMON & GARFUNKEL

There is a place, not to far from the city, where I retreat each and every Saturday to Sunday. During the week I am a full-blown-city-slicker. On the weekends, I bring the city to the country.

My Ma lives up north a bit, [not far at all, forty minutes give or take], and it is here where I seem to find the sunlight. It was a strange day Saturday. Not in any particular strange Saturday fashion, just all around strange. It could have had to do with the fact I may have been high on allergy medication, the weather [downpour than sunlight], or maybe that it was the first Saturday I actually had to myself, in about six months.

I ventured off onto dirt roads with my camera in tote. I didn’t have a particular plan. Earlier  that day I thrifted and stumbled upon this amazing italian cotton men’s dress shirt. It was cheap enough, but besides the quality, the pattern stood out to me like a unicorn. I fell for it immediately. [incase you hadn't noticed, I fall in love with everything]. I picked up this red paisley mens dress shirt and a silk french five button-up floral shirt. Complete opposites of one another, but representing me perfectly.

Friday is a pretty big day for me. I am co-shooting a wedding with Jared, we are heading up north [way up north] for the festivities and will, obviously, report back on our success. NEITHER of us have ever shot a wedding before, but we both have shot everything else under the sun, so really, how hard can a wedding be, right? It’s not like people do this for a profession …. lol.

We are scared shitless. Please wish us well.

Also, Miss Tricia Kraus tweeted this little article about a man in NYC who asks his patrons to draw him a panting whilst on their journey in his cab [a clipboard is attached to the back of the passenger seat in his cab]. To date he has accumulated over 30,000 paintings. I think this is miraculous and such an inspiration. I hope one day to be lucky enough to leave behind a fashion illustration of mine. Click here to read more about this fascinating man.

TOP: Thrifted
JEANS: BCBG Cigarette Skinny Jeans
BOOTS: My ma’s old cowboy boots from the 80′s
NECKLACE: Club Monaco Monocle  S/S ’10 Collection

happy weekending bunnies.

PAPER TWEET YO!

Late last week I did the ultimate switch. From Blackberry to iPHONE. Now, you could be reading this and care less, you probably care less about half the stuff I ramble on about, but like the rest of it, this matters … to me at least.

I was THE biggest Blackberry enthusiast. I would literally get into fights [once, almost, a brawl], over how stupid the iPHONE is/was and how Blackberry is the practical every-day-organization solution. To me, the iPHONE was targeted for the ADD crowd who needed to fidget with buttons constantly, and play – all day.

I don’t know what made me switch, I held onto my Blackberry for the longest time because of my blackberry-messenger, but a switch was turned [probably due to all the pressure I get at work, working at a design company carrying a Blackberry gives you a bad reputation apparently], and now, I find myself the owner of an iPHONE.

I don’t hate it. I don’t love it either … it is said, it will take me time to adjust. I am waiting.

The iPHONE has, though, made me less dependent on technology. I no longer find myself checking twitter – because I turned off my notifications … accidently lol. So thus, the paper tweet will come in handy. [ Here is @lisanish 's tweet in response to @nickhiotis : paper tweets were purchased by Lisa on her recent trip to Boston].

This long weekend started off rough, I had the worst allergies I have ever had, making me miserable. Saturday was filled with vintage shopping and thrifting, some amazing finds, I-can-not-wait to share them. Sunday spent with friends and Monday with the boyfriend and pup. Hope you all had a relaxing long weekend, now get back to work!!

Thursday’s post will be epic. You are warned. =)

TOP: Jacob & Co stripped long-sleeve
LEGGINGS: BCBG MAX AZRA zipper skinny
SHOES: See by Chloe
BAG: Rudsak [montreal company] 2009 black carry-all

TO MAKE YOU FEEL MY LOVE – BOB DYLAN

This past weekend was jam packed with things to do, fall is around the corner [literally]. Parties, weddings, & events are coming to an end and my weekends from now until Christmas are packed!
The boyfriend and I spent some quality time with one another [and our families] this past weekend. We have the most hectic schedules and see one another once a week [as it seems, for now]. Our “extra” activities have taken up as much free time as we have to give. From volunteering to coaching, we are booked solid. Luckily five years of being together has proven we work best when busy.
Boyfriend rewarded me with a surprise photo shoot session. He is a wonderful photographer, and really only likes to take photo’s when it is his idea … [luckily for him, I sorta made it seem so].
So here is a preview of our photo shoot, I am in the process of switching over from wordpress to a domain (and with that comes more bandwith)… until then I will link my flikr account so you can view our romantic alice is no longer in wonderland photo shoot.
My grandparents are Scottish. They hail [hail lol] from Edinburgh, Scotland. My gran is a city girl, and my papa grew up on the shores. They are complete opposite, and to this day, it is magical. My papa worked on the airplanes during WWII, and my gran worked at the city paper. On weekends my gran would visit the port and see my papa, this was when they were courting. During the war my gran attended many [many] dances. She was an unbelievable dancer, she was classically trained in ballroom, and to this day, hums the tune from the big bands whom played on magical summer evenings in Scotland.
This dress was hers. It is my most prized possession.
I have a strong history with most of my vintage dress collection [I have over 50+ formal dress wear]. I like to imagine what the dresses saw, what they represent. A first kiss, a proposal, a wedding, a baby, a magical night. A dress, on its own, represents an occasion … and my dresses represent many.
DRESS: Vintage
SHOES: Vivienne Westwood
Photo’s taken by my love. My boyfriend. [Thanks babe].

YOUR FAMOUS? I HAD NO IDEA.

Last night I attended a really fab event hosted by @photojunkie & @casiestewart. The event was called GEN Y TO, a place for fellow twitter-media-crazed-PR-HR-AD geeks to get together and see if they can actually carry a conversation over 140 characters long. Although I never got a chance to chat to everyone, I did manage to meet some amazing people, and of course, have an amazing evening.
I decided to not check my blackberry whilst attending the event, you know, kinda stick it to the [twitter] man and see if I can hold out. Even though all these people attending the event are tech enthusiasts it was [endearing?] to see how people would be having a conversation with someone, while not looking at them, buried deep into their iPHONE.
I, instead, took a different approach. I brought my pink moleskine, orange sharpie and got to work on getting me some TWITTERGRAPHS*.
Now, you may of thought it was lame, seeing as I could of pulled out my blackberry and simply added them [you] right then and there, but not only did I manage to break the ice, I managed to meet the people I set out to, who I find extremely interesting, talented and down right hilarious.
Watch out, maybe next time I’ll be asking you for your TWITTERGRAPH*.
Below are a few of the people I was dying to meet, people who inspire me, and people I met who made my evening.
Have a beautiful sun-filled weekend bunnies.
[I've created a noun peeps lol] TWITTERGRAPH* noun ; a sub-like autograph in the form of their handle taken from someone from the twitterverse to whom you met in person.
click on any of these names to follow these fabulous people via twitter. @amazerall @michaelnus @lisanish @clickflickca@joelreilly @jgrdnr @nickhiotis@jennastothers@mariaaguilar @canadian88 @ionlyliveonce @randeepk & @hawleydunbar @atubanos @40deuce @karmacakedotca @summer_luu & @sidewalkhustle

IT’S A CRUEL (CRUEL) ; CRUEL SUMMER AFTER ALL. – CRUEL SUMMER ; ACE OF BASE

And so it is time, to say our good-bye’s … until next year, sweet summer. I will be counting down the days. [FYI Christmas is in FOUR months].

I think the only regular person I blog about is my dearest Jared, my photographer buddy. I blog about him more than anything else these days. I can’t help it – he is just so talented!
Below are some shots he took whilst me not paying attention on our adventure to the island a week or so ago.
Although Summer is almost over I look forward to posting A/W shots of fashion. My S/S fashion is very boho/vintage but my A/W is a mix of classic vintage. Also I own hundreds of boots. I can not wait to show them off. Hope you enjoy you weekend, this week has been so insane I can not believe it is Thursday. Tonight [on my agenda] I will be hanging with the GENYTO crowd at London Tap House, if you’re going, come say HI!