Assuming An Identity

DSC_1326When I put this outfit on I thought to myself “Okay, you’ve become a librarian or a Sunday School teacher, or both. Maybe you’re a librarian during the work week and Sunday School teacher on…Sundays. Either way, you look like someone with a seemingly stuffy and boring profession.” Not really a fair judgement of either occupation – singing songs with children on Sundays is probably a lot of fun and being surrounded by books all day would also be awesome – but you get what I mean. All this to say, the way I dress now seems incredibly reserved to the way I used to dress as a teenager. I like thinking about how we as humans are always changing and evolving. Some people do it a rapid rate, others seemingly stay the same way for a long time as if they have been certain of themselves all along. I’ve always been a person of change. My appearance and dressing myself has always felt like art to me, and as soon as I grow tired of the art I’m producing I change it up, taking on a new aesthetic. I think thats why I love vintage so much. There is always something new to learn about how people used to present themselves. We can take cues from the past and present them in a modern way or we can just downright look like we teleported from “insert your favourite era”. Either way, it feels like a mindful way of getting dressed. Instead of just allowing present trends to dictate the things we wear, we can assume identity through a myriad of pieces that no longer fall under a category.

DSC_1285DSC_1274DSC_1299DSC_1338DSC_1319DSC_1341DSC_1294DSC_1295DSC_1383DSC_1372DSC_1336DSC_1342DSC_1356DSC_1388DSC_1310DSC_1345DSC_1381DSC_1373Blouse & skirt: thrifted vintage
Cardigan: Larkspur Vintage
Hat: Shop Ruche
Purse: vintage via Public Butter
Shoes: Sylvie and Shimmy
Bow tie: handmade

Belle Vie / 26

DSC_1155DSC_1164DSC_1167DSC_1152DSC_11501. It was Meaghan’s birthday last week – I got her these adorable vintage cocktail glasses from BYOB. They had such an amazing collection of vintage glasswares and bar tools – I’m talking pink everything. I’ll have to go back and treat myself to a few cute things at some point.
2-3. On Saturday Meaghan had some pals over to her new place to celebrate her birthday. Our super talented bartender pal Lindsay made us gin cocktails with rosemary infused simple syrup. So good! I sort of regretted how many I treated myself to that evening the following day.
4. Gus loves to sit directly on my lap any time I am trying to work on my laptop and then tries to lick my hands while I’m typing. If you are not constantly giving him attention, he will make sure that you do.
5. The little polar bear, Gus.

Belle Vie / 24

DSC_0959DSC_0982DSC_0958DSC_1121DSC_1123DSC_1122DSC_11161. Such a cozy spot in Meaghan’s new apartment. Man, what I would give to have an apartment with such lovely natural light!!
2. And as I’m going on about how great Meg’s apartment is, I’m also very smitten with her Moroccan rugs.
3. Oh Lola! Such a little nervous nellie.
4-6. Ryan and I went out for dinner at La Carnita – a very similar taco joint to Grand Electric (which I talk about all the time), but this one is closer to our new place, and maybe a bit tastier, actually.
7. Ryan is over the moon for Gus. It really warms my heart.

With A Little Help From My Friends

DSC_0964No, sadly, this is not my home. But it is Meaghan and Nick’s new apartment! Gorgeous, right!? (and of course my blogger brain immediately sees a nice place and thinks of all the photos I could take inside it). On Saturday morning I headed over to check out their new, beautiful digs and drink coffee with Meg. I’m sure some of you out there are like, “ya, whatever, it’s an apartment…you should see MY apartment.” But what you don’t know – unless you live in Toronto – is that finding a place like this, is not easy. The rent is either horrifying, or it gets snatched up within seconds or they just never become available because no one is giving that shit up. But, what we have found is word of mouth is the best way to find a nice place in Toronto. The good places are usually rented to a friend if the current tenant is leaving, which makes sense. When I was leaving the Everglades I had lots of people interested in taking my apartment. Good places just never get listed because there will absolutely be someone you know who wants to snatch it from you. Anyways, that’s my piece of advice for the day. Wanna find a nice place? Tell the internet/fb/instagram/whatever.

This has sort of been my go-to outfit for the last little while – a button up blouse of some sort, and a wool tartan skirt. The cold weather rolls in, and I’m always giving off 60s librarian vibes. I think I said at one point that I prefer dressing for Summer (that was probably when Winter lasted forever and I was hating everything), but I lied. I like this much, much better. Once it got cold, and I started pulling out all my Fall/Winter clothes, I sort of felt like myself again.

I hope you all had a lovely weekend. Mine was actually really great – one of those weekends where you get a lot accomplished, but also had time for friends and relaxation. I have the day off today, but I’ve got lots of photo taking to do, so I should get to that. Bye for now you lil’ freaks.

*photos by Meaghan

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DSC_0978Blouse: thrifted
Skirt: vintage Pendleton via Public Butter
Belt: thrifted

Belle Vie / 23

DSC_0934DSC_0935DSC_0945DSC_0950DSC_09291. Above where Ryan and I rest our heads.
2. Some of our plant babies. My jade and cactus are not doing too well right now, there just is not enough sunlight in our apartment. But Ryan is such a good plant papa, I’m not too worried about it.
3. On Tuesday, Meaghan and I went to the Canadian Whisky Cocktail Competition at The Drake to support our friend Lindsay who was a finalist in the competition. The Drake is a rather famous hotel/restaurant/bar in Toronto. But it’s the sort of place I avoid most of the time…If you live in Toronto, you understand. I normally only head there for fun events…Oscar viewing party, watching the gold medal game for hockey in the Olympics…that sort of thing. And now a cocktail competition. It was so much fun, and I now have a much greater appreciation for bartender’s craft.
4. Lindsay doing her thing! It was so neat to watch her craft her drink – she put a lot of work into her cocktail. I’m just sad that I didn’t end up getting to try it. Meg and I got to try most drinks because we stationed ourselves right at the front of the bar, but her drink didn’t end up getting passed in our direction.
5. The cloud baby. So thankful for this guy each and every day.