Two Thousand & Thirteen

January 3, 2014November 11, 20144 Comments

Since I shared some of my favorite outfits from 2013, it got me thinking about sharing some moments from the year that I previously shared on here. So here goes. 2013, you had some cool times.

Meaghan and I started Larkspur. While we no longer work together, I could not have started Larkspur without her. She taught me a lot and she’ll always be a part of it in my heart.

Kira shot Larkspur’s very first lookbook. We had been bouncing back and forth between ideas for a theme, when the lovely Kira came up with the idea of having a shoot inspired by Wes Anderson films passed. It was such a fun day, modelling with three of my very best friends.

I was lucky enough to be given a trip to Austin, Tx as a Christmas gift. We rang in the New Year listening to country music, drinking $2 beers and hearing people actually yell “Yeehaw!” Such a magical city, full of amazing people.

I shot photos of my best friends beautiful apartments. It was fun to play around with my camera, and also get to share how amazing my friends are. Still to this day they are two of my most popular posts.

Spent the summer outdoors with dogs and dear friends (and these two got married! The Cronins!)

Larkspur participated in our very first Pop-up shop in Mtl, hosted by Penny Lebo. It was such a beautiful and fun day.

Kira shot our second lookbook in Niagara Falls. The day started off pouring rain, so our original plan of heading to the Scarborough Bluffs got kiboshed. Once again, Kira saved the day and we headed to Niagara Falls, the sun came out, and it was the most spontaneous & fun photoshoot. We pulled over wherever we saw something cool and just let the road trip vibes take over.

I spent my birthday swimming (and getting sunburnt) at Elora Gorge with some beautiful pals. We finished the evening off with some beers and a bonfire at Garbage Beach. I felt so full of love and happiness that day.

Matt and I went on many camping trips in the summer. We visited the Bruce Peninsula, The Grotto, Greig’s Caves, NY State, Tobermory, Flower Pot Island, to name a few. I saw and got to hike in so many beautiful places. I realized just how much I love hiking, and don’t think I could go a summer without it from here on out. It’s my happy place.

Did my first solo pop-up shop with Larkspur at the Parkdale Flea. It was pretty stressful since it was so last minute, but totally worth it.

I was given my dream camera, Pentax K1000, as a birthday gift. I made pretty good use of it during some of my trips, and planned a couple fun photo shoots. It was so nice to finally work with analog again, digital just cannot compare.

I went to visit Farm Sanctuary, which was such an amazing experience. This place holds such a dear spot in my heart. I went on and on about it in my post on this place, so I won’t do that again (you’re welcome.)

Annual Niagara Falls visit. I don’t know what it is about this place. Probably just that it’s ridiculously kitschy and makes me smile.

Spent some wonderful days at a cottage celebrating Lindsay’s birthday with some great friends. The weather wasn’t exactly choice, but we made the most of it.

I shot some photos at Coriander Girl, which I ended up being pretty proud of. This remains one of my favorite posts I put together this past year.

Adopted my sweet little girl Gertrude aka Gertie aka Trudy aka Rude Trude.

Moved into a place I can finally call home (well it’s actually been 2 years, but 1 year in this particular apartment). The Everglades, forever and always (okay maybe not for always).

Cool Careers: Alison Westlake & Coriander Girl

October 23, 2013November 11, 20141 Comment

I met Alison about a year ago when Meg and I were putting together a post for Blooming Leopold – sharing some of our favourite haunts in our neighbourhood, Parkdale. Alison is the amazing lady behind the beautiful floral & antique shop, Coriander Girl. Located in our lovely little neighbourhood of Parkdale, she opened her doors in 2009. Alison has such a beautiful aesthetic, and her shop reflects that in the most undeniably sweet & charming way. Seriously, this woman is incredible. Not only is she talented with her wee hands, and knack for interior decorating, she is also such a kind and gentle person.

Alison was sweet enough to let me come by for a few hours, snap some photos of her shop (and little bunny Harry), and talk flowers & antiques with me. She was also kind enough to answer some interview questions so I could share them with you.

How did you get into your line of work?

I was an actress living in Parkdale. I dreamed of opening a flower boutique, not
because of any real experience but just based on my love for garden grown flowers.
I worked for a landscape design company when I was in school and fell in love with
flowers then. I turned 30 and started really questioning my career, I thought, “why
not now?” I put it out there verbally to friends and family that I wanted to open
a flower shop and a friend told me about the ‘for rent’ sign down the street from
my apartment. I met the sweetest little old man who asked me “You take?” I said,
“I take.” With $50 in my bank account, I ran home and spent 3 days writing my
business plan, borrowed $10,000 off of my Nana and opened the doors to Coriander
Girl one month later.

What came first, antique love, or floral love?

I always thought antique love came first but when I really think about it, I was
making floral bracelets out of dandelions when I was 7.

All-time favourite bloom?

All time favourite bloom remains Queen Anne’s lace. It grows wild everywhere
including the fields on my mom and stepdads farm. Those fields were so romantic
to me as a teen. I’d curse the sky, crying over some lost love, wistfully dream about a
new crush, dream about traveling the world, all the while surrounded by these little
lacey snowflakes, no two exactly the same. They’re just so exquisite. Second to that,
any garden rose really, Astrantia is also a top 5 and Scabiosa too. It’s like choosing
your favourite child! How can I possibly do that?!

Favourite recent antique find?

A chippy old drop leaf table from one of my favourite
auctions on lower Roncesvalles. But I have an obsession with mason and apothecary
bottles. There has to be a 12 step program out there somewhere.

Advice for anyone aspiring to open their own shop?

DO IT! If you think about all the reasons you shouldn’t do it, you won’t do it.
So stop thinking about it! Dreaming is great but doing is so much better. And if it
doesn’t work, you can always un-do it.

How would you describe your aesthetic?

My aesthetic is a soft, neutral palette with floral accents, lacey textures. I always
say if it looks like you found it in grandmas closet, I’ll probably love it! Nothing
too contrived design wise. I like a house that’s lived in and comfortable but not
cluttered. With florals, the look is natural, like they were just picked from the garden
and loosely arranged.

Where do you look for inspiration?

I find inspiration anywhere from a city stroll to a country bike ride. I’m a sucker for
design blogs and magazines. A favorite Sunday afternoon is often spent catching up
on blogs and curling up with a favourite gardening magazine and endless cups of
tea.

Favourite non-vase vase?

Favourite non vase would be anything old that holds water, from an old milk bottle,
to a watering can. I love using tea cups and creamers for wee arrangements. Old tins
are a staple for us.

Describe your process when styling a wedding.

When styling a wedding, it’s really about marrying the brides vision with our
aesthetic. We always make sure the couple loves the look of what we do because it’s
quite specific. The service we offer is unique in that we work with a local grower
and most of the florals are coming straight from local gardens. We ask our couples
for their colour scheme and most people are just so excited to see what’s blooming
the week of their wedding and they trust us to make beautiful arrangements from
what’s in season. We encourage our couples to supply their own vessels or rent
antique ones from us.

Where do you like to get your flowers?

Our flowers come from a local grower, My Luscious Backyard and we frequent the
markets near the airport for specific things we need that our local grower is unable
to supply.

Tell us a little about your home.

Our home is like the shop, creamy white walls, chippy furniture and doilies
everywhere. When I can, I bring home flowers and put them in every room. That’s
how I know I am doing what I love because even after a 14 hour day, I’ll still arrange
flowers for me and my husband.

Do you host any workshops?

This Winter I’m so excited to finally introduce a series of floral workshops at the
store. It’s been a part of my business plan since that day I signed the lease and ran
home in tears.

You must feel incredibly accomplished.

To watch my wee business grow from a tiny seed into something so remarkably
rewarding, to check the boxes of all the things I had hoped for my business but can’t
believe actually came true. I realize just how powerful the laws of attraction can be
when you decide you deserve happiness.

Thank you so much Alison for sharing a bit of your life with us!

Cool Careers: Taylor Zorzi

February 6, 2013November 11, 20145 Comments

I have always been in awe of Taylor’s job as a Visual Merchandiser and now as a Display Coordinator. She started this career working for iQ Living here in Toronto, where I first noticed her natural talent for creating some of the most interesting and exciting window displays I have ever seen. She now currently works for Anthropologie and they are so lucky to have her as part of their team. I asked Taylor if she would be so kind as to let us interview her and have her share some of her window displays and things she has created with her two magical hands. So without further ado…Taylor Zorzi

How did you get into your line of work? What did you study in University?

I took a completely absurd and unrealistic four-year program at Ryerson University. OK, let me preface that by saying, this was, upon graduation, my dream program. The program, New Media, is a multi platform fusion of sculpture, robotic arts, physical computing, programming and performance art. We spoke a lot about user interface and interactivity, social networking and environments. We wrote a lot of code in a lot of different languages and used that code to manipulate, transform and communicate to make move or interact a medium of our choice, mine predominately being sculpture. Anyways, the potential for a realistic, successful career out of this program seemed so….impossible. So I tried to cover my bases and started working alongside some super talented people in our sister program at Ryerson, Film. Here I honed set dressing, art direction, production design and prop making. So in short, I graduated with credits in new media and experience in film. Then after working in retail for a bit after school to help pay off some of my student debt, I used my portfolio to get myself a job as a merchandiser at a store on the Danforth (a street in Toronto), who happened to have the largest Window I had ever seen, and I just thought I could treat it like a film set. I was naive to think it would be that easy.

Did you always know this was the job for you?

Never. I really had no retail experience prior to iQliving and I had zero merchandising experience, and to be honest I didn’t like retail. It was so far segregated from Fine Arts that I truly believed a career as a merchandiser would never be rewarding enough for me, and it really wasn’t. I adored window dressing at iQ but I dreaded merchandising inside, I just had no passion for it. For a long time I thought of it as the work part and it was sort of the sacrifice I had to make to be able to continue to carry out my windows. So as I started to fall into my career as a Visual Merchandiser, obviously I heard more and more about Anthropologie and the job that they offered of Display Coordinator.

What’s your favourite part of your job?

Having my own workshop is incredible. There is sort of an entrepreneurial vibe to Anthropologie, we have a lot of control over our own stores, which constitutes to the amount of passion people have for their positions. There is an incredible sense of entitlement in regards to artistic decisions I make at work and this is very rewarding. The other amazing thing about Anthro is I am a jack-of-all-trades. This can be at times the greatest challenge to the position but it is also why there is no other retail environment like Anthro. Every project I am divulging into a completely new and at most times foreign medium. This holiday we made animals completely out of different types of paper, and for our sweet shop I had to make cupcakes and pies out of cardboard. Last week I perfected the sewing machine and next week I will be working with casting in cement. It never slows down and you would be crazy to complain of boredom, ever.

How does working for Anthropologie differ from iQ Living?

In everyway possible. At iQ I was a Visual Merchandiser completely absorbed into the world of retail. At Anthro, I am a Display Coordinator alongside people in the retail environment, basically an in house artist.

Do you decorate your own apartment as creatively as you do windows?

I have the best intentions and the worst follow through. Both my fiance and I have crazy schedules so our home serves as a hub for comfort and recovery with a few good looking moments here and there.

Are there other creative things you like to do outside of work, or does your job satisfy your creative needs?

Absolutely I want to do other projects. Its weird, as creative as I get to be at work, it will always be work. That’s also the only way I can look at it as so I can separate myself from it everyday after 5. You can get so attached to this work that it can engulf you and there is no line between work and play…because work sort of is play. I’d like to do a project on the side…. that is just personal…. no goals, no expectations…. if I don’t like it I don’t have to commit, it would feel nice to not have to take my art so seriously.

Are there other careers you think you’d like to get into in the future?

My ultimate goal, after Anthro, which is no time soon, is to get into retail design; setting up floor plans, building fixtures, setting the aura for a store based on the actual architecture and navigation of the space itself. I am always itching to be in other spaces. My true passion has nothing to do with the object itself in art, but the way objects live and breathe in a space and I want to examine that in as many different stores and windows as possible. Ambitious, I know.

Any advice for aspiring people?

Try to find and meet people who feel the same way that you do about art and life and where they meet. Ask them as many questions about their successes and failures and make a plan for yourself based on those.

Keep an eye our for this girl, I know she’ll be doing great things in the years to come. And thank you to Taylor for sharing part of your life and insight with us.

Posted by Alex

City of Craft

December 10, 2012November 11, 20143 Comments

This weekend was insanely busy for both Alex and I, but we knew we needed to make time to squeeze in at least one of the million craft fairs going on in Toronto this weekend. We wandered over to City of Craft Sunday afternoon, and it didn’t disappoint. I’m always amazed by craft fair vendors, who travel with all of their merchandise, and set up the most beautiful tables and still manage to look perfectly put together and not frazzled in the least. Having a few friends who have had tables at fairs like this one before, I’m fully aware of how much preparation is involved, and everyone does such an amazing job!

We didn’t get to spend nearly as much time browsing as I would have liked, but we did run into my friend Yana from Montreal who is the genius behind Supayana. She designed a collection of baby clothes not too long ago (as well as an amazing collaboration with Olivia Mew!), and if I had even one friend with a baby girl, you can bet those cosmic kitten baby leggings would have been in my bag in no time.

Being at things like this always gets me feeling like I need to do way more crafty projects, so, hopefully the motivation sticks and I can come up with some exciting new DIY posts!

For a list of vendors who were selling at City of Craft, click here.