Giveaway / Ellen Face Vintage

August 4, 2014November 11, 201411 Comments

When I received this top from the wonderfully curated shop, Ellen Face Vintage, I knew I wanted to shoot simple pictures, highlighting the beautiful detailing of this beaded wonder. I own nothing like it in my closet and took a real chance when I selected it, but when I put it on it made me feel like a princess, and I’m now wanting to fill my closet with beaded beauties just like this one.

Ellen Face Vintage is filled with pieces for everyone of every style – adorable 60s dresses, 70s airy boho, 80s glimmer and sparkle, 90s grunge and a ton of sweet accessories. It is always hard for me to pick from her collection because there are so many things I love. Lucky for all of you today, Ellen Face Vintage is having a giveaway! And one of you could win $25 to her shop to pick anything your little heart desires.

How to enter:

Check out her shop, and comment below with your favourite item (don’t forget to leave your email)
For an extra entry favourite her shop on etsy and/or follow on instagram @ellenfacevintage (and let me know that as well in the comments below)

* Giveaway runs until Sunday, August 10th. A winner will be selected on Monday, August 11th.

Top c/o Ellen Face Vintage
Skirt: thrifted via Common Sort
Hair bow: handmade

Dear Ottawa

July 22, 2014November 11, 20142 Comments

I just got back last night from a very short but so so sweet visit to Ottawa. It was my grandparents 60th anniversary (crazy right!?), so I knew I had to be there to celebrate with them and the whole family. There were faces I hadn’t seen in years, so it was really nice to see how well everyone is doing, and how grown all my cousins are. Unfortunately Ryan was on call for work, so he couldn’t make it down, but I’ll drag him along next time to experience the country’s capital. I was pleasantly surprised to find my best friend Kristen and her other half Sergio were also in town to see Book of Mormon so I crashed their date after the show and we went to eat fancy tacos (no surprise there) at El Camino and sip some beers and bourbon sours. Our friend Jon joined us later in the evening, and honestly the night was so good. It was an evening full of nonsense talk (which is pretty much my favourite) and laughing till our cheeks hurt and our bellies burned. It’s tough sometimes, not being able to see Kristen whenever I want. What we have is really special to me and I miss her so much, but it’s nice to know that even if we don’t see eachother for months, we can always pick up right where we left off like no time has passed at all.

These photos are from some antique and vintage browsing I did with my parents on Saturday afternoon. I have a post planned for this place because it was super cute and full of treasures.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend!

*photos by my mom

Blouse: thrifted vintage
Skirt: thrifted Club Monaco via Common Sort
Bow tie: handmade
Shoes: Seychelles
Tote: Parkdale Flea

Happy Belated

July 14, 2014November 11, 2014Leave a comment

The past few days have been pretty amazing. Friday I spent the day styling the one and only Audrey Kitching which was sort-of insane and it’s kind of hard to believe it actually happened. I took plenty of photos from the day and shoot, so I’ll talk more about that later. These photos are from Saturday, which was my 26th birthday. Ryan and I had brunch at one of my favourite spots, Rustic Cosmo, or as Meaghan’s boyfriend Nick calls it, The Rusty Combo (don’t ask), and then headed to Toronto Island to relax in the sun listening to garage rock and sipping much-too-sweet alcoholic beverages. Ryan took these photos of me at Ward’s Island – my sort-of dream spot if I could afford to live here, and if anyone would actually give up their home. The houses have a wonderfully cottage-y feel and you would never know that just a ferry ride away is crazy ol’ Toronto. After the island we went to Hogtown Vegan, and if you are ever visiting Toronto and like crazy cool vegan food, this is the spot. It’s vegan comfort food, and honestly makes you wonder why you ever ate meat in the first place. The night finished off with drinks at Geraldine’s, a new-ish 1920’s themed bar in Parkdale, (super pricey, but totally worth it) and then to Pharmacy, and like the name insinuates was once a pharmacy, also in Parkdale, but is now a quaint bar where you always run into a familiar face. It was a great day and night. There were a lot of people missing that I wished could have shared my birthday with me, but it seems a ton of my closest friends reside all around the globe now (cries!!). On Sunday I had brunch with Meaghan and Ryan, and Meaghan bought me a jade plant from Crown Flora, which I have yet to name (Ryan also bought me a cactus, who needs a name. suggestions are welcome). I spent the rest of the day cleaning my apartment that looked like a clothes bomb had exploded everywhere (i hate unpacking after shoots) and re-watching Short Term 12, bawling my eyes out (i love a good cry) cause it’s so good and so sad!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend as well! Today I am off work and am going to start prepping things for my upcoming Larkspur lookbook. It kept getting pushed back due to other shoots I was styling, but it is finally happening in the next couple weeks, so stay tuned.

*photos by Ryan

Dress worn as shirt: H&M
Shorts: TLO
Hat: vintage via a wee shop in MTL
Shoes: thirfted Giorgio Armani

I want to ride my bicycle

July 7, 2014November 11, 2014Leave a comment

I recently got my bike fixed (Ryan used to be a BMXer so I’ve got my own personal bike repair man right at home) and have been biking as much as possible. I told myself at the beginning of this month I would not buy myself a metro pass so as to force myself to ride to and from work everyday (weather permitting), as well as anywhere else the weekend takes me. Dressing yourself for biking can be a challenge if you are someone like me. Ideally you’d wear shorts and a light shirt – that’s a pretty standard biking outfit – but well, I like to switch it up. I’m not always a shorts and shirt kind of girl. Many things must be considered when choosing an outfit that is biking appropriate. Since I wear dresses and skirts mostly I have to be careful that the dress/skirt has some moving room (sorry to my a-line minis) and is a comfortable length so it doesn’t fly up exposing your unmentionables. Midi skirts are perfect, but I have come to realize I don’t own as many midi skirts as I thought. This dress is an ideal biking outfit (also the print on it?! right!?), – and I had almost completely forgot about it in my closet because I consider it very much a Spring/Summer dress and wear it in no other season – it checks off all the boxes for appropriate bike wear, but I cannot wear this everyday, for obvious reasons (smelly!). I was reading on the internet how I could wear my shorter skirts/dresses without worrying about them blowing up in the wind. There is this neat trick where you tie a nickle (or penny or quarter) with an elastic band underneath the bottom of your skirt and it weighs it down for the ride. I tried it out on one of my short, lightweight dresses over the weekend and it worked wonders. Problem solved! Now to figure out how to wear hats without them flying off your head.

*photos by Ryan

Dress: vintage (hand-me-down from Meaghan)
Boater hat & belt: thrifted vintage

Marilyn Monroe Moments

July 2, 2014November 11, 2014Leave a comment

This dress was a mistake for weather as humid and windy as it was yesterday. When I bought this dress I specifically thought it would be a nice summery dress because of how light-weight and airy it feels, but I was wrong. I always forget Toronto doesn’t really get dry heat. It’s a sticky, humid, ‘sweat between your butt cheeks’ type heat that can only really be fought by leaving as much skin exposed as possible (danger to fare-skinned folk). I was indeed correct about how light-weight it is though. It’s the type of light-weight that if there is any gust of wind, a few people are going to get a flash of your buns, so it was really not ideal for me to wear this dress while taking photos so close to the beach. Think of the infamous Marilyn Monroe ‘Seven Year Itch’ scene, but way less sexy and charming. Needless to say, I was panicked to get home after taking these photos. I spent the remainder of this day in a lace short-sleeve button up and high waisted denim shorts (and no socks! it’s amazing how much warmer you feel with socks on). I do love this dress though. I’m a huge fan of stripes (typical.), but this may very well be the only striped item I own these days. In my goth days I rocked a pair of Beetlejuice pants, but they are no more, and may they rest in peace.