Santa Stole My Lady

H&M wool hat, Joe Fresh sweater, Bongo jeans, Coach purse, Nixon watch, Rachel Comey boots, Lazy Oaf "OK" necklace.

Bought this sweater this morning on a early morning grocery run with my Mom at Joe Fresh - a super warm wool sweater on sale for $14 is a win in my book when trying to survive these crazy cold Canadian winters.

This outfit is a pretty accurate representation of my winter uniform - crewneck sweater or long sleeve, black jeans, my rachel comey penpals or frye engineers, and limited accessories - usually just my nixon watch and some pearl studs. Something about winter really brings out my inner neutral-tone-loving-pseudo-minimalist.

In other news: I turn 21 in roughly one hour and fifty-five minutes. (Yeah that's right, I'm a Christmas baby.)

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! xx

Let It Shine

Shameless Aritzia fangirl speaking. Just took a look at their Holiday video and officially want everything.



If someone is willing to lend me a grand or two to spend there over the Holidays, I'd be down with that. Or you could just buy me everything shown below.

I'll make a proper holiday wish list (aka one that has more than just Aritzia on it) once I'm done with exams on Wednesday. Can you believe it's only 12 days til Christmas? So glad I finished the majority of my gift shopping in like, July. (Yeah, I'm one of those.)

"Those Are Some Cool Galaxy Pants."

American Apparel Circle Scarf and Fisherman Knit Sweater, H&M Sheer Button-up, Guess Coat, Black Milk Leggings, Cambridge Satchel Co. Satchel, Frye Engineer 12R Boots

Yesterday, I finally received my galaxy leggings in the mail from Black Milk. I love them, but they make me feel like a fifteen year old who hopped out of the Skins cast or something... I haven't decided if it's a good thing or not. In addition, I've always been a steadfast advocate of the belief that leggings are not pants but these have me **questioning everything** - mostly because they're so loud that they're impossible to style as tights. The excessive amount of stares and side-eye I got today while wearing these wasn't helping matters either.

tl;dr version: I'm in a very conflicting love affair with my "galaxy pants" (as one girl referred to them today.)

In other news, a fashion publication at my school called Muse Magazine printed a short piece on my little corner of the web. (Read here, page 35.) To the geniuses at Muse, thank you for actually taking the time to write about my abandoned dumpster baby of a fashion blog. It's much appreciated.


P.S. This music video is making my life.

Drunk On Love, Nothing Can Sober Me Up

Another recent buy, the Penpal boots by Rachel Comey. These suckers are notoriously hard to get a hold of, so when my size showed up on EBay for 150$ less than the usual selling price, I knew I had to take advantage of the opportunity immediately. Definitely competing with my vintage Coach for best buy of the year. Also, outfit posts are kind of a bitch to do without a photographer or a tripod. I guess I'll try again tomorrow...

Black Milk

One of my newer buys, the Black Ribs Swimsuit from Black Milk shot under a black light. Currently nursing a serious obsession with this brand - three more pieces are currently in the mail to me. Deeming it the coolest piece of clothing I currently own. Will post it in an outfit soon.

Music Spam

What I've been listening to lately. Life's been crazy, but I'm loving it. Sorry for the absence. I should probably blog about fashion once in a while, huh?

Roya + the 365

So I started a 365 blog in hopes of being more than a chick with a camera, and more like a photographer. Click here for the link! I'm currently on Day 4.



In other news, I got a job working for a very well known Swedish retailer and I'm super excited about it.

Hope you guys all have a great weekend!

Eat That Up, It's Good For You.

Aritzia (Wilfred) sweater, vintage Coach "Willis" satchel, Nixon watch, thrifted shirt, American Apparel leggings, Kodiak socks and Frye boots.

Photography Credit: Philippe Dorman (flickr/blog/twitter)

This outfit is what rainy days and feeling under the weather in Kingston will do to a girl. I'm dubbing this my "hobo student life" look - looking slightly dishevelled, being way too comfortable, and wearing a fair amount of Queen's girl staples. See Kodiak socks, plaid shirt, AA shiny leggings and the ubiquitous Wilfred cocoon sweater (what can I say, I'm a product of my environment.)

Anyways, it's Thanksgiving weekend and I'm currently spending the weekend at home with my family. Went shopping yesterday (it's apparently impossible for me to be in Toronto without doing so) and got to check out some new imports to Canada, including J. Crew and Topshop. Ended up with some buys from Aritzia, Topshop and H&M - some basic long sleeves, a cute trapeeze-type top with lace panels and a pair of... faux leather paperbag shorts? Haha. Also fell in love with these Weatherby rainboots from J.Crew. My wishlists are seriously getting out of control. #firstworldproblems

Anyways, I should probably be studying for my abnormal psych exam rather than blogging so I'm out of here. Hope all my Canadians have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!

Til' Death Do Us Part

Three recently purchased items I have an unnatural attachment to:

Photography Credit: Philippe Dorman (flickr/blog/twitter)

1) Rebecca Minkoff MAC (Morning After Clutch) -- I've always wanted the MAC and after seeing it significantly discounted at the RM Endless summer sale, I decided to take the plunge and go for it. Glad to say it was not an impulse I regretted (I've had far too many of those) - the bag is extremely wearable, roomy on the inside, organized, and has just the perfect amount of badass.

2) Aldo "Qualheim" boots, aka the poor woman's Isabel Marant Dicker Boots.  -- There's a reason the Dicker boots are so popular - they're practical but fashionable, and they somehow go with pretty much every outfit imaginable (who knew tan boots were so versatile?) Unfortunately my "inspired" Aldo pair is a bit tight in the toe so I'm taking them to a cobbler to get them stretched - here's to hoping they'll be wearable after this. My love affair with these boots has gone to far for me to give up on them now.

3) Nixon "The Time Teller" -- This watch is seriously my favourite purchase since my Frye boots (which I could go on about for days.) Even the simplicity of the name only accentuates what I love about this watch - its minimalistic principles - the way something can be stripped down to it's bare bones, and end up being even more luxurious. I got this watch for 100 USD, and most people have been surprised at how little I paid, especially considering the average "fashionable" watch (ex. Micheal Kors) runs around 300 bucks.


Anddddd now I'm banned from buying luxury goods anything very long time. (Or at least until the next expensive item catches my fancy...)

God Only Knows

ASOS dress, H&M clutch and belt, Aldo heels, bangle borrowed from the world's most awesome mother.

Another post that I've had lined up for roughly a billion years. Wore this to my cousin's wedding a couple weeks ago, which was a) tons of fun and b) one of the most hipster affairs I've been to in a while. My cousin wore TOMS to get married and DJed his own reception (to the styling tunes of Peter, Bjorn & John, and the like.) This outfit came together at the last minute in a complete panic, but ended up being exactly what I envisioned - don't you just love when that happens?

Disclaimer: These pictures were taken at the end of the day, after the wedding. I did not go with a crinkled dress and a really bad hairstyle, but that's what a wedding will do to a girl sometimes.

I haven't taken outfit pictures in so long and while I;d like to have a good reason, I don't - I've just been super lazy. Although I guess not having access to my Dad's dSLR anymore is a good excuse? I'm seriously just waiting it out until he gives it to me - I think this Christmas might be it, kids. Cross your fingers for me.


P.S. Thanks to Lex (personalblog/tumblr/twitter)for taking these pictures for me this time, and countless others.

A Human to a Mob, to a King, to a God?

 

This is probably an appropriate time to mention how much I suck at blogging. I've had this post queued up to post for almost two weeks now.

Alas, they've been a ridiculously busy to weeks. I got a pretty intense new piercing (will share soon!), moved back to Kingston, started the new job, started school in a new program (newly minted Psych major right here) and survived Frosh Week festivities, which I consider an achievement in and of itself.

There are so many great things about returning to school that I almost forgot about the studying part. I should probably get back to that...


P.S. Thanks to Hales (blog/music blog/tumblr/twitter) for taking these photos! And check out her blog, it's certainly worth a read.

Cole World

H&M Waistcoat, Forever XXI top, Bongo Jeans, MBMJ Flats, Vintage Coach "Willis" Satchel.

Things this outfit taught me:

a) I had truly forgotten the joys of non-skinny leg jeans
b) Lace tops, even with a waistcoat on top, will definitely get you noticed
c) I might actually be fine with this whole 70s revival trend thing... in very, very small doses.

That aside, today is my last day in Toronto! Tomorrow, I'm heading back to Kingston once again for the start of a new school year. While I'm pretty sad to be leaving my favourite place in the world, I would be lying to you if I didn't say that I am excited beyond belief to go back to studying, partying, seeing my uni friends and generally living student life (ridiculously laid-back at times, and with stress levels completely through the roof at others.)

But before all that, today I'm taking my sister downtown for a little sisterly bonding day, and tonight we're seeing J. Cole live! I'll leave you with this; single shot videos make my life.

One, Two, Three, Four

Lanvin is one of my all-time favourite brands. It's well-executed, luxurious and elegant, which are qualities I am coming to respect more and more as I get older and learn more about not only fashion, but style. I love Alber's willingness to have a little fun with this campaign - often times, brands work to hard to seem avant-garde and push the envelope.

Sometimes, it's okay to have a little fun.

I'm Daydreamin' On A Strawberry Swing

H&M Blazer, Vintage Coach "Willis" Satchel, Wilfred Silk Tank, Bongo Jeans, MBMJ flats, "Roya" Necklace from MyNameNecklace.

Wearing my vintage Coach Willis satchel along with my MBMJ flats, which has definitely become my go-to accessories combo to add a little refinement to any outfit (as you'll see in upcoming outfit posts, haha.) I seriously don't know what I did before I had this purse, but I can assure you it will not be leaving my hands anytime soon. The quality is fantastic, and you can tell this bag came from an age where luxury items were meant to last generations. I don't think you can say the same for the bags that Coach makes today - to be honest, I'd be hard pressed to even call today's Coach bags luxury items.

These pictures were taken the weekend before last, when I took an impromptu trip up to Kingston to to go job hunting for the new school year. I was a little hesitant about spending 70 bucks to go to Kingston for a little more than 24 hours but I guess it paid off, because I got hired on the spot! Glad I have a part-time job to fund my shopping habits & hopefully a great reading week trip.

For this week though, I plan on enjoying my week of #funemployment between the end of my summer job and the beginning of school/start of new job. #funemployment consists of: lolling around in bed til noon (which I haven't actually been able to do so far, because my internal clock is still used to waking at 5.30am), baking, watching excessive amounts of TV, chilling with friends, eating good food, and generally enjoying life. I'm looking forward to it.


P.S. Thanks to Kirstie (travel blog/fashion blog/tumblr/twitter) for taking these photos.

Love At First Sight

So it's official: I'm now the owner of a beautiful, handmade, 15" yellow Cambridge Satchel - and I couldn't be prouder. As soon as I got home, I ran outside with my bag and my camera to get a decent shot of this beauty before the sun went down. As I was laying in the grass this little kid walked by, laughing "Mom, she's taking pictures of her purse!" Now this might be a wild guess, but I suspect he may have been talking about me. Oh, the things I do for blogging.

For any fellow Torontonians interested in acquiring one of these, I bought mine at A2Zane, a wonderful little handbag shop on Queen West. Be sure to stop by - not only do they have some great, unique stuff, but the owner is also super nice.

Anyways, I'm off to go on my friend's boat for the weekend! I have quite a few recently purchased goodies to share, but I guess that will just have to wait until nest time. Have a great weekend, loves.

#nowplaying

What's been on repeat lately. Heading to NYC tomorrow, hopefully I come back with something nice to show you!

Also, went shopping today and although I bought purely summer items from the sales racks (denim cutoffs, silk tank tops, crop tops and the like) I somehow managed to end up buying all these items in either white, grey, or black. Boring, or a genius way to transition to fall?

Since I like to pat myself on the back, I'm going to go with the latter.

What A Melancholy Astronautic Man

Joe Fresh Shirt, Bongo Jeans, Aldo Sandals, Asos Earrings, secondhand bangle from Mom.

The outfit I wore for lunch at Canoe this past Sunday. After searching all summer for the perfect menswear inspired silk shirt (and contemplating blowing my student budget on an Equipment blouse more than once), I found my perfect match in the unlikeliest of places - Joe Fresh, and on sale for twenty dollars no less.

Also, checked out the TopShop capsule collection at the Bay downtown, and I must say that I'm excited for TopShop to come to Canada in Spetember. Now all we need is a Uniqlo, and shopping in Toronto may not be so bad after all...

Summer(licious) in the City

For years my friend Vanessa and I had been talking about taking the jump: participating in Toronto's biannual two-week prix fixe restaurant festival that allows the plebes like myself to dine at the top-tier restaurants in the city without breaking the bank.

The photos above are from my three course meal at Canoe this past Sunday: the Chilled Holland Marsh Leek & Potato Soup with Marinated Baby Shellfish & Chive Oil, Wellington County Flatiron Steak with Smashed Cookstown Fingerling Potatoes, Corn & Wild Leek Aioli, and Lemon Thyme & Apricot Semifreddo with Almond Nougatine. That was a mouthful.

The previous Saturday, Vanessa and I, along with my friend Haley also dined at Sassafraz for Summerlicious and I honestly wish I had remember to charge my camera battery the night before. The restaurant was beautiful - well lit with lots of natural light (important for food photography!) with a great ambience, very chill but still upscale. I loved the fact that Sassafraz in located right in the heart of Yorkville; it's the perfect place to take a hopping break and eat a great meal with your girlfriends. (That is, when I'm grown and making the kind of money that is needed to pay for a regular meal at this restaurant.)

Canoe didn't necessarily have a worse atmosphere, but it was different from Sassfraz and one I was less comfortable in - Canoe is more of place for Toronto's execs to wine and dine over business. However, the food at Canoe was fantastic. I recommend that any fellow Torontonians try out either next Summerlicious (or Winterlicious!) A three course meal at either of these restaurants for $25 is a steal, and I encourage you to take advantage.