D.I.Y. Wednesdays – Drinking like a Fancy Ponts

January 16, 2013November 11, 2014Leave a comment

The greatest part about being neighbors with all your best friends, is that, in Winter, when everyone feels like hibernating, we can still hang out! This past Saturday, Kira had us over to her house to play a heated (not really) game of Cards Against Humanity, and make drinks.

On one of my many afternoons perusing Pinterest for craft ideas, I came across a link to a Martha Stewart list of cocktail recipes, and since we had some fancy bourbon around the house, I figured, why not? I’m not very used to drinking fancy, I’m a beer or gin-soda kind of girl, but these cocktails were actually really easy and fun to make, and made me feel like some kind of a Mad Man (or something).

Mint Juleps

8 Fresh Mint leaves plus one sprig for garnish
2 2/3 ounces of Bourbon
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp water
1 cup crushed ice

Stir together sugar and water in a mint julep cup (or 8-ounce glass) until sugar dissolves. Add mint, and muddle gently using a muddler or a wooden spoon. Fill with crushed ice, and add bourbon. Stir until outside of cup is frosted. Garnish with mint sprigs.

Presbyterians

2 ounces whiskey or bourbon
2 ounces Club Soda
2 ounces Ginger Ale
2 dashes of bitters (recipe says Agnostura, we used lavender)

Fill a highball glass with ice. Add whiskey, club soda, ginger ale, and bitters. Stir and serve.

Whiskey Sours (Pitcher serves 8)

*Please note that there is a discrepancy between the ingredients shown and the ingredients listed, that is because this is not the recipe we ended up using because we didn’t have triple sec and forgot to buy orange juice….but the one we ended up making wasn’t quite as good as this one.

Maraschino Cherries (for serving)
1 cup lemon juice from 8 lemons
4 cups orange juice from 8 oranges
1 cup triple sec
2 1/2 cups whiskey or bourbon

In a pitcher, combine orange juice, lemon juice, triple sec, and whiskey. Serve over ice, topped with an orange slice and a maraschino cherry, if desired.

Camp Book of Deer SS 2013

January 15, 2013November 11, 20142 Comments

“There are plenty of unofficial barometers in life to give us little hints that we’re getting older. One of the saddest is being just a little too old to hightail it off for sleepaway camp. While we won’t be sharing cabins with strangers or sleeping on the bottom bunk anymore, we can still dress the part. Enter: Book of Deer.” – Alison Baitz from Refinery 29

I came across the label Book of Deer when I was wasting time browsing Refinery 29 at work last week.

The label was started by Edinburgh born Ellidh Ho, who grew up in Hong Kong and then went to London to study at Saint-Martin’s College (does that make everyone else think of Pulp, too?). She eventually ended up back in Hong Kong, where this label was born in 2010.

Most of my favorite memories of Summer as a girl involve canoe trips to a place called Spider Island, making tin foil dinners, going to bed with my hair smelling like lake water and firewood, and singing camp songs while I hiked with eight other giggling girls. So, it isn’t any surprise to me, that I’m drawn to their SS13 collection, which is inspired by sleepaway camp (and even includes a dress with a glow-in-the-dark print of fireflies trapped in mason jars).

And, while it’s true that I have consciously been trying to steer my wardrobe away from cutesy as I get older (the label describes itself as having a “distinctive element of cute”), I can’t help it if the lovely printed fabrics -which are all hand drawn, digitally printed, and original to the brand – adorable fabrics and easy to wear pieces caught my eye. Plus, let’s face it, I don’t think I’ll ever stop liking peter-pan collars.

Posted by Meaghan

Austin, Tx – Part 2

January 14, 2013November 11, 20142 Comments

On our second day in Austin, we really didn’t take that many pictures, on account of the majority of our(my) time was spent shopping. The first evening had also fooled us into thinking it would be a lot warmer in Texas than it actually was. After shopping for about 1 hour I had to go back to our hotel to change into something a little warmer. Which was disappointing, as I was wearing one of my favourite dresses that Meg and I actually share custody of. We both fell madly inlove with this dress in the summer and decided to purchase it together.

We were lucky enough to be staying on South Congress Ave, which is home to an abundance of vintage and antique stores, and some delicious ~~wildly unhealthy~~ food. It was a bit unfortunate for Matt, as generally most vintage stores carried only women’s clothing. I am however, quite fortunate to have a boyfriend who will never complain about my lengthy and tedious quest to pick and try on clothing. Uncommon Objects was one of my favourite stores. It was a bit overwhelming at first, but if you have the time and patience, you can leave with some pretty amazing antique finds. I didn’t buy anything for myself, but I bought a little jewellery box from 1912 for Meg.

Austin also has an amazing array of food trucks. Gourdough’s has some pretty insane donut selections – yellow cake batter with fudge, apple pie filling with cream cheese icing, caramel and peanuts. Mighty Cone puts just about anything in a cone – chicken, shrimp, hot dogs, avocado. It was also vegetarian friendly which I thought was nice.

our hotel

yummmm! Gourdough’s!

In the evening we went to see The Body Shop at The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. I don’t normally like going to see movies while I’m on a trip, but Matt had told me about this theatre, and I knew we had to go. They have a full dinner and drinks menu (and bottomless popcorn!!!) that you can order from at any point throughout the movie. I wish Toronto had something like this. It makes the experience of going to a movie an actual event. Before the movie we took a walk around downtown Austin, and took a peek inside The Driskell Hotel built in 1886, which is said to be haunted.

Next week I’ll share with you my third and final day in Austin. For the time being I’ll dream of that delicious donut that made my teeth sting so much. Hope you all had a great weekend. Mine was filled with lazy TV watching and silly card games with some good friends.

*photos by Matt and I

First Outfit:

Dress: Vintage
Tights: Target
Cardigan: UO
Shoes: Bass
Bag: Vintage

Second Oufit:

Shirt: Vintage DKNY
Pants: Cheap Monday
Trench: H&M
Socks: Target
Shoes: Bass
Bag: Vintage
Beret: Thrifted

Shop Update

January 10, 2013November 11, 20141 Comment

Hey guys! We added 6 new items to the shop today. Come on over and take a gander!

dress&skirt

1. ~~Vintage 90’s Floral Print Maxi Skirt~~………….. 2. Vintage 60’s Orange Peter Pan Collar Daydress

3. Vintage 70’s Houndstooth Daydress………………….. 4. Vintage 90’s Navy Longsleeve Blouse w/pleated front

5. Vintage 80’s Red and White Polka Dot Blouse……………..6. Vintage 80’s Red Lacoste Cardigan

D.I.Y. Wednesday – Easy Bunting

January 9, 2013November 11, 20141 Comment

This week’s installment of D.I.Y. Wednesdays is another lazy one I’m afraid (we’re going to get better, we promise!). Still, this bunting, albeit incredibly easy to make, is a fun craft and makes for a pretty darn cute decoration!

All you’ll need is:

Some cute looking fabric or paper that you don’t mind cutting up (Alex used leftover fabric from some curtains she made, and a dress she hemmed – and I used a map of Toronto!)
Scissors
A hole punch
Some twine, yarn, ribbon or string of any kind
A ruler or pre-measured triangle cut out to ensure your pieces are the same size

For starters, cut your fabric or paper into equal sized triangles. We measured and cut one out of cardboard and used it as a template. If you want to go the extra ~~mile~~ inch, you can finish the edges of your fabric using a serger or a zigzag stitch to keep it from fraying. If you’re using paper, make sure you lay it out flat, and maybe even dry iron it so it doesn’t curl up.

Once you have your triangles, use a hole punch (or if you don’t have one, like us, use a nail) to punch a hole on both top corners of each triangle.

Next, string your yarn/twine/ribbon/string/etc. through the holes. We used short lengths of twine between each piece, and tied knots at each corner. You can also thread it through the holes and have the string run along the back of the piece of paper/fabric. Up to you. Leave a little length of cord on either end of the bunting to hang it with.

Find a spot in your home where you’d like to hang it – the edge of a shelf, or above a table, or really anywhere you’d like – and tie it to some nails, or thumbtacks. You can let the middle sag a little like we did, or hang a nail in the center to make a sort of double dip.

This will likely be one of the easiest crafts you’ve ever made, but it’s a really fun way to decorate your house for a party, or just in general.