Day off

Finally it came, a day off. A real one where I had nothing planned. (I'm excluding the wonderful Sunday that I wrote about last). I got together with a friend and we headed to Duluth street where I finally entered the beautiful cafe Fuchsia that I bike in front of daily to go to work. It exceeded my expectations with their yummy lotus tea and amazing rose chai cookies that I'm still dreaming of. The decor is something I would like to have in my own cafe, "pretty vintage rustic" that's how I describe it anyways. They serve brunch on weekends and I hope to have the chance to stop by there soon to try it out!

-C

Inspiration

I usually thrive on rainy days like today, yet I`m unable to create any outfit today. I`m trying to change up my style to something more sophisticated while adding colour and vintage pieces. Oh and patterns, I love patterns. I really love Eva Karayiannis`s style. I read her interview on T Magazine where she admits "I like things to be casual and comfortable, but also elegant and chic." Comfort is an aspect I`ve been striving for lately. Loose and comfortable clothing mixed with some belts and fitted cardigans and lets not forget, necklaces. Its a rare occasion when I leave the house without wearing a necklace.

Not only is her wardrobe inspiring to me, but I really love her home decor style. A couple of photos of her apartment was shown in the article and I almost drooled at how beautiful and serene her place appears to be. I`m getting side-tracked. So I went to the one place I go to when I`m stuck, Anthropologie. Every once in a while they create looks and unusually I`m really feeling their black and white look. Of course with Anthro, there`s always a pop of colour and some patterns. That`s why I love them, they just get me.

I`m loving this look with the pleated skirt and the wedges. 

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I came up with this. Black pants, plain white t-shirt and my new favourite cardi to give a pop of colour and nice blingy gold collar necklace. Veryyy comfortable and cute. ((Maybe I`ll wear my wedges to work... )) Not so much classy but the simplicity of black and white makes me feel very Chanel even if I`m wearing a dirty t-shirt.

- C

Sunday

Aww, I know I'm reiterating, but I adore having Sundays off. Today I made some wonderful discovers going to Marche aux Puces. Some days are amazing like today, others are pretty general. I went out looking for some original looking vintage frames so I can change my current prescription glasses without paying another 400$. What I found went beyond my expectations. Two frames for 30$ with a handmade in Mexico leather case. What a steal!

I might even make one of them prescription sunglasses. There's a nice place in the Mile-End that does that for 80$. Pinch me I'm so excited!

I also found myself confronted by a large amount of clip on earrings. Finally, I decided on four and a half (one didn't have a pair), most are flowers of course, since my obsession ensues.

 

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The last time Roxanne visited Ottawa, she thrifted the cutest pink blouse. Collars are in right now and we're both loving it, but she felt it was missing a little bling bling. These got me thinking that they would be a perfect pair!

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These I got for my friend Hillary, who has been looking for glass rose earrings for a while. :)

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I found a couple of miscellaneous objects that I had not planned for like two frames for 1$ and a Pabst Blue Ribbon bottle opener. It's a joke because my father always buys me this hipster beer (half out of my request), because his company delivers it daily. I will cherish it forever. Only 50 cents!

- C

Weekend

I`m excited to be getting a Sunday off from work. Besides my little vacation this pass week, I rarely ever get to enjoy the beauty of a Sunday, my favourite day of the week. I`m revelling at the idea of having another day to do what I did last month: drive into the far west and enjoy the end of summer. That day I went to St Eustache and then ended up in Oka. It was quite an adventure to say the least. And that`s why Sundays are the best, they`re always unexpected.

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Found the perfect candle holders to add to the sides of my display for my bedroom.

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Three necklaces for 5$. Love Marché aux Puces.

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Leaving Oka by ferry in hopes of finding a bathing suit to ultimately return to Oka and go to the beach.

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- C

Little Jewel

Last weekend, I embarked into the United States for the second time. It was a very spontaneous and unintelligent move as I`m currently more broke and in debt then I was two weeks ago which I could never have conceived possible. Despite the total lack of finances, I don`t regret going.

We started off in Burlington, Vermont which, may I say, is such a precious place. The beaches there are warm, and the view, the view of mountains is beyond breathtaking that you lose your identity in them. You float there aimlessly, lost in the current staring game with the surroundings of forest and mountains. The second you realized you`ve lost, amnesia kicks in and you can start singing "What`s my name again?" without any alcoholic influences. Needless to say I thought it was fantastic. 

We camped in Burlington and Colchester, we ventured into Winooski. Where ever we went, we shopped for food at Burlington`s City Market Onion Co-op. I never thought that shopping locally and organically would be as accessible in the States. Despite the fact that we were sleeping in a tent, we ate like royalty with help of this place.  While in Vermont, we got our coffee from Uncommon Grounds, a cute café where music ranges from Japanese pop to classical music, quite an eclectic find if I may admit. The coffee is nothing to be envied but it does the trick.

In Winooski I discovered the cutest little shop that I wish I could take back to Montreal. With great coffee, fresh lunches and design your own cupcake to eat instantly (which I could not afford); Cupps was just another jewel to behold. After leaving Vermont, I realized I had been so lost in the moment that I forgot to take any pictures of this wonderland and have only memories to take with me.

We furthered our trip by going to New York City. As Vermont had been camping, New York was luxury. We stayed in a guest room in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Hipster Capital. South of Greenpoint where one of my favourite and now cancelled shows: I Just Want my Pants Back was filmed. Just sayin`. If ever you want a nice place to stay check out Gallery Guest House, right next to Bedford Ave and the water. 

 I won`t say much about New York City because it`s NYC, it`s already known and it`s fun but compared to Brooklyn`s rustic charm, it falls second. I found two particular shops that picked my fancy: Antoinette on Grand St and In God We Trust. ((pictures taken from respective sites))

Williamsburg was like Montreal`s Mile-End, an enclave of good design, good food, and good vintage. And of course, dinosaurs and pigs.

I`m ashamed to say these are the only pictures I took during this trip. Very disappointed in myself. -_-;;; Just another excuse to head back there. If you`re looking for other vintage shops in Brooklyn visit: Here or to just have a good time check out The L Magazine.

- C

Boris

Juin 2012

Aout 2012

Roxanne and I try to fill our home with as many plants as we can afford for our love for nature is too overwhelming to let die by our need to live the city life. IKEA occasionally sells Bonsai trees for reasonable prices and on one of my various trips there I feel in love with Boris. Of course at the time, he had no name but it wasn`t long until he was deemed special enough to name. Certainly a plant that resembles a monster should have a name!

 It was great timing to purchase a new plant since we were both just settling into our new place in the Plateau.  He now resides in the sunroom where he can be found at the highest spot of our bookcase away from the troublesome kitties. I`ve taken a photo of him this morning in comparison to how he originally looked.

- C

Beautiful Decadence

I often find myself wondering about society`s standards of beauty. Often is an understatement because honestly, this thought passes through my mind daily. Weight, dieting, fashion, achieving the look all of those coincide but occasionally, there appears another type of beauty; That of the decadent, rustic broken down places in which we lose ourselves in life.

Especially living in a city like Montreal, where the new and the old mesh together to become something completely different, like art; objects we find everywhere become as such. Don`t get me wrong, I`m not a fan of modern art where a chair positioned in a certain way is supposed to comment on the way we live our lives....fill in more crap...etc,etc. I`m talking objects that fill us with emotions. All this just to introduce to you one of the most fragile thing I have seen.

I was actually out in the West Islands, somewhere around Kirkland when I passed by this. I was so excited by it that it was odd and my friends were quite abashed by my enthusiasm. ((I`m not trying to be pretentious when I talk about this as if my friends can`t see how I see things; in all senses I am quite weird.)) My agitation towards this left over wing was that I had seen one before during the winter on my front steps of my earlier apartment in Verdun. This one was so much more exquisite, for the feathers were still intact and that made it so much more special.

- C

Summer 2012 KIRKLAND

      Winter 2011 VERDUN

Skulls & more skulls

Adding embellishment to plain boring shoes

Bought these plain flats at Ardenne for about 10$ and embellished them with a nice big bow.

You can find this type of crocheted ribbon at your local dollarama.
Easy to sew and inexpensive to make!

Found these cool shaman sticks in this neat ethnic boutique on Mont-royal street. They had animal skulls fastened at the top.  It was originally marked at 150$ but the store owner kept bringing it down from 100$ to 45$ in his desperation to sell it to me.  So items in this store don't really have price tags, it all depends on how well you can bargain or manipulate  with the owner.