A Few of My Favourite Things For Spring

Hey Everyone,

I was having some trouble thinking of things to write to you about, so I just thought I might be a little lazy and copy Owl’s post about favourite things for Spring, but for me. I hope you don’t mind. : )

Shorts...

If you know me, you are probably going to laugh at this because even though I seldom wear them, I love shorts. Although they have always been practical, now that they are more fashionable there has been a big increase in the variety of styles of shorts, and it has made me fall in love with them. Last year I really liked sequined shorts, scalloped shorts, and seersucker shorts. This year, classic shorts in classic colours top my wish list. My favourite are the Pique Shorts from Banana Republic in white and navy. : )

Banana Republic's Pique Shorts

J.Crew’s Heritage Solids Swim Collection...

Let me just clear something up before I go on: Bathing suits are generally not one of my favourite things, but they are kind of something you have to have, and if I have to have one, I’d like one from J.Crew. : ) They have almost every style and many colours to choose from. I especially like the Ruched Top in black and white. I know that bathing suits are more Summer time than Spring, but you really have to buy them in the Spring because if you wait until Summer, sometimes they have sold out. I had a little trouble with that last Summer, trying to hunt down J.Crew’s Seersucker Bathing Suit (yes, I know. Last Summer seersucker and I were very close ; )

J.Crew's Ruched Bathing Suit Top

A Jean Jacket...

Whenever I see someone wearing a little jean jacket, I always think they are super cute, but I can never seem to find one I like. I have been looking for the perfect jean jacket for the longest time, especially every Spring, and I think that will still be something I’ll be looking for this Spring. If you have any suggestions of where to find a cute, plain one, please let me know. : )

Paige from Swet Home Alabama in her cute, little jean jacket...

Rhubarb...

As you know, pies are my favourite thing to bake and the pie I love most is strawberry rhubarb. With rhubarb season coming very soon, I’m certainly excited to start baking pies, but with its tart nature, rhubarb is such a wonderful addition to many sweet things. From rhubarb muffins for breakfast through to midnight snacks of rhubarb milkshakes and sundaes, this Spring and Summer, I’m looking forward to learning more recipes to utilize such a delightful ingredient. : )





The Bachelorette...

Oh geeze. I want to tell you that I’m really not a big reality TV person, but with mentioning The Bachelorette here, and mentioning Sweet Home Alabama here and in another post, I would understand if you didn’t believe me. : ) I love Sweet Home Alabama most because it is in the South and in the country (two of my favourite places), but I also thought Paige was so lovely and really wanted her to find love, hehe, and that is the same reason I’m excited for this season of The Bachelorette. In watching Emily on The Bachelor a few years back (oh dear, I do realize I just lost any chance I had of winning my argument that I don’t really like reality TV : ), I thought she was so pretty and sweet that I can’t help but want to watch her on The Bachelorette and hope it works out a little better for her this time. : )

Googling Baby Animals...

This is not something that is specific to Spring, but more so my new favourite thing to do anytime. : ) Yesterday, I was playing on Pinterest and saw some pictures of baby animals which were so sweet that this thought came to me: I wonder what would come up if I Googled “Baby Animals”… Well, I can only tell you that the result far surpassed what I had hoped and I found some of the sweetest pictures of the most adorable animals. I recommend it anytime you want to brighten your day. : )

Well, Hello there Mr.! : )

Clearly this Spring I will be wearing shorts, a bathing suit top, and a jean jacket and eating rhubarb desserts while I watch The Bachelorette and Google baby animals, hehe… I think that sounds pretty good to me. : )

Happy Spring!

xoxo

Me Likey - Spring Edition

Hello everyone! It's time for the Spring edition of Me Likey. I am so, so excited about the warm weather and all the fabulous things that come with it. Below is a little list of some things that I'm craving for Spring.

1. Dresses Galore

Below are just a few options I've been drooling over lately.

 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6

2. The Perfect Pair of Sunglasses

Via

For me, the Ray Ban Wayfarer's are the only way to go with sunglasses - I am a traditionalist at heart and will always fall for the black, but the tortoise shell frames are really growing on me. Unfortunately, I am a clumsy girl and always seem to break/ lose/ sit on my sunglasses and usually go through about 3 per year - resulting in me usually buying cheap sunglasses that I'm not worried about any of the aforementioned things happening to. I haven't worked up the courage to get a pair of my very own Ray-Bans yet. But when I do, I will most likely treat them like my baby.

3. Spring Cleaning

I'm cleaning out my closet! Although this is quite a hefty task, and can get a little overwhelming, the purging process begins soon - I usually do this at least once a year. I've amassed quite a few tips and tricks over the years and I put them to good use every year. This may be a little weird to some, that cleaning and organizing my closet is what I'm looking forward to for Spring, but truthfully, it's just a great feeling. Getting rid of old clothes, donating and organizing is my idea of a good time!

4. Cocktails and Patios

How about a deliciously, sweet-arse sounding cocktail - the creamsicle?

Found via Dark Rye - an awesome online magazine from the people behind Whole Foods

Of course this list could go on and on. Spring and Summer are my favourite times of the year. The sun shining ensures I get up on the right side of the bed every morning - well almost every morning ;)

What are you all excited about for Spring? A great piece of clothing? Cleaning and organizing? Do tell.

Tata for now. xoxo.

To Stipple or Not to Stipple?

That is the question.

Something I am always playing with is makeup that claims to give you a flawless/perfect/airbrushed look. I have to admit (though I hope you don’t judge me too much) I always think girls like Miss America and Miss USA are perfect and have the most beautiful makeup, and I’m always trying to figure out their secret! : ) I know that it is probably professional makeup artists, but still, I think there is no harm in trying out different makeup with the hope that it will give me a similar result at home.

If there is any claim whatsoever of looking perfect with a product, you can probably find it in my makeup collection, especially for foundation. I have very light skin, and while I don’t tend to get a lot of them, whenever I do have a pimple it will always leave a tiny mark afterwards. So I always wear foundation and I tend to like ones with more coverage so my little spots won’t show through and my skin will look perfect. : )

I have tried liquid foundations, mousse foundations, and most recently the airbrush foundations. I find liquid foundations a little heavy and dated, but I loved the mousse foundations. Specifically L’Oreal’s Magic Smooth Soufflé foundation (it is such a sweet name too! I would much rather wake-up and put on a soufflé, than regular makeup, hehe). As for the airbrush foundations, at first I found them too sheer but then after first using primer and applying the foundation with a stipple brush, I think I may have found the trick. ; )

For anyone not so familiar with the art of stippling, just dip a stipple brush (just the white part of the bristles) lightly into a small amount of liquid or cream foundation. Then gently dot the brush with foundation in short strokes over your face until it is blended. Repeat as necessary until you have the desired amount of makeup. One of the biggest benefits of stippling is that in using such a gentle approach, you can apply makeup on top of makeup and still have a very soft finish which isn’t cake-y. Although you can stipple with your fingers or a foundation brush, I found a stipple brush to provide the lightest and most seamless application while still covering any imperfections. : )

If I was less shy, I would have taken a picture to show you, but for now you’ll just have to take my word for it. ; )

Have a wonderful day!

xoxo

To Banana Republic's Shoe Designers, With Love ; )

Hi Guys!!

Have you seen/heard about these shoes?

They are the Laurel Colour-Block Pumps from Banana Republic, and boy are they lovely! : ) I think they are just the prettiest shoes I have ever seen. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’m the only one who feels that way as they are currently sold out on the Canadian website, and from when I last checked, the American one too. Ohhhh darn!

If you have never paid attention to Banana Republic’s shoe collection, I recommend you do. Not to be too biased because I think they do everything well, but like J.Crew’s shoe collection, their shoes are one of the chain’s strongest points.  I bought my first pair of shoes from Banana Republic (the perfect black ballet flats… I miss them to this day!) when I was in high school. I probably wore them everyday in the Spring, Summer, and Fall through my later years of high school and all through college. I think it was the best $100 I have ever spent and I have had a soft spot for their shoes ever since. They have every classic style you need, and they often have shoes/boots/sandals in the loveliest tan colour that goes with everything, too!

I’m considering taking a little drive across Canada and the US to all of the Banana Republic stores until I find the Laurel Pumps.  If they are anything like my beloved perfect black ballet flats, I think it may just be worth it… ; )

X’s and O’s. : )

Spring Bling

Good morning WORLD!!!

What a beautiful day it is today.  The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, I may even hear harp music playing ;)  This fluke of warm weather that we're having lately is making me so happy and excited about Spring.  Usually in March, it's about 6 degrees, so it's hard for me to even start thinking about what to wear in the warm weather.

Since yesterday was the first day of Spring, and actually felt like it, I thought I'd share some of the jewels I have been eyeing lately for these warm Spring days. 

For all seasons, I think the best way to keep your outfits looking trendy is by adding a nice piece of statement jewellery that is on trend for the season.  I've got a couple options below (high and low price points) which I think would be a great touch to any Spring outfit.

1 - 2 - 3 - 4

Neons, pastels, big bauble-y jewels - all big trends for Spring.  I personally think that adding statement pieces such as any of the above, can really take your outfit from Blah to BAM! Just imagine that yellow necklace with a white shirt and some teal coloured jeans - YOWZA!  Watch out people, you're going to get whiplash when I'm walking by ;) (Totally joking on that one, perhaps they'll get whiplash from turning away haha)
Now it's your turn - how do you feel about adding jewellery for certain seasons to keep yourself looking trendy?  Do tell...

Tata for now! xoxo

Home Sweet Home

Guess what?
The boy and I are BUYING A HOUSE! Yep, you heard it right. We are becoming full-on bonafide grown ups! We are scheduled to close on May 31st and I am sooo excited! I am just dreaming up and doodling down ideas for our new home and I couldn't be happier. So buying a house, being ridonculously crazy busy at work and trying to find some "me" time in there has caused me to ignore the blog as of late, and for that I am truly sorry. I will do better, I promise :)

Here are just some of the spaces that are making my mind race with ideas for OUR home :D...cue happy dance!


 

All photos can be found via my Pinterest

And that's all she wrote good folks.

Tata for now. xoxo.

Debate Club: Black Wedding Dresses?

I thought we could have a little fashion debate! : )

Today's topic:

Vera Wang's Fall 2012 black and nude wedding dress collection.

My initial stand:
In general it is pretty safe to say that I like style and decorating rules to be clear and concrete. Although I hope I'm pretty flexible, when it comes to style and decorating, I don't take a whole lot of risks and am pretty steadfast in my preferences. One of them being, white or ivory wedding dresses. Although I do favour tradition, I like white and ivory wedding dresses more so because I think they are timeless, and on such an important and long-remembered day, timelessness would be one of the things I would be aiming for style-wise. Timeless designs are important too but I understand styles change, and if given the choice, I would take more liberties with style than colour for a wedding dress.

Thinking...
However, there are times when I really do think people can pull off coloured wedding dresses. Case in point: Elle Woods! We all remember Elle Woods from Legally Blonde fondly (Oh no... Just me? : ) On her wedding day in the movie she wore a light pink wedding dress and light pink was so synonymous with her that it just wouldn't have looked right if she weren't wearing a light pink dress. That is kind of how I feel about black wedding dresses too! Black is such a strong colour and tends more so than many others colours to become almost an offshoot of someone's personality and therefore has the ability to make a distinctive but complimentary statement. I don't think that there are many people who are synonymous with mocha (a previous coloured wedding dress trend), but just as light pink matched Elle Woods so well, black would match others very well. Possibly even others like me. : )

Bending...
Another important distinction that separates black and nude wedding dresses from other coloured wedding dress trends is that black and nude are basic colours, like white or ivory, which have that timeless appeal I was going on about earlier. : ) Will a black wedding dress, if it fits with your personality, look like a poor decision in 20 years? It is possible, but so too could a white dress. Will a mint green wedding dress (another previous coloured wedding dress trend) look like a poor decision in 20 years? I think this is much more likely. I guess what I am trying to say about black and nude wedding dresses here is that they, unlike most coloured wedding dress trends, are better able to preserve the traditional and classic look of a wedding dress despite having such a bold and modern twist.

Convinced! : )

The one on the right is my favourite. ; )

Seeing how soft and delicate they are, even in black won me over! Would I choose a black wedding dress over white if I were getting married, I can't say, but I do think they're lovely, and certainly a valid option to consider. See I told you I was pretty flexible! : )

xoxo

P.s. I am happy to report that I still haven't found anything that doesn't look nice in black. : ) Challenge me, I dare you. ; )

Just a Little Retraction... : )

Not too long ago, triggered by a longing for Gwyneth Paltrow's beautiful and minimal gowns of the 90's, I wrote a little post about Paltrow's style and I may or may not have (gently) implied that despite recent improvements, it was not what it once was. I know that every so often everyone gets the pleasure of eating their words, and I think I am about to get a big, old mouthful of mine. : ) If you look at the picture below of Paltrow at the Oscars this past week, you might understand why...

Gwyneth Paltrow in Tom Ford

This dress is so pretty and elegant and it looks so perfect on her, that based on it alone, I am pleased to welcome Gwyneth Paltrow back as a style icon (joining Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and Lauren Bush, in case you were wondering ; ). Never have I been so happy to say I was wrong. : )

xoxo

P.s. I also just wanted to tell you about this little TV show I found called Sweet Home Alabama on the country station (CMT). It is like The Bachelorette, but the contestants are divided into Country Guys vs. City Guys. Some of them are pretty cute, and the bachelorette, Paige (a country girl) is so lovely and sweet. It is my new favourite show to watch! : )