I love Fall! It’s so weird to say Fall is here when you don’t see any tree’s with leaves changing colours. It truly feels like Fall when I see either almost bare branches or colourful trees. Sorry not sorry for those who live in climates where Fall doesn’t look like that.
WHAT I WORE: FAUX FUR & CASHMERE
Just a regular day, strolling the neighborhood I picked out some new and old clothes to create this look. This COS Cashmere toque from the lovely people at Globe Style was styled with some awesome customized pins. Definitely a different style I’ve never tried before. What do you think?
One of my favourite things we did when we went to California a few years ago was shopping! We did so much of it that to this day, I find stuff I bought back then, that I haven’t worn enough of. Like this blouse from a cute shop called Irene’s story that is only available in Cali but you can shop for their items online. I love the hardware detail on the collars. So unique!
Blouse: Irene’s Story (California) // Toque: COS // Faux Fur: H&M // Jeans: Club Monaco // Heels: Zara
I love the packaging! It has a faux snake skin feel to the top and gold siding. I love that it’s in a compact shape, which only means that it won’t take up too much room when travelling and a better mirror shape.
What’s inside the palette:
This Tarte Showstopper Clay palette has six eye shadows and three cheek options. The champagne pink is really shimmery so I advise you to not use it on your brow bones and sparingly on the cheekbones. Unless you’re going for a strobe light look. The blush (fame) is one of my favourite colours for blushes. Especially for olive skin tones it gives you a natural looking glow. Pinks and reds tend to be too harsh for everyday.
The eye shadow colours are great for everyday, however if you’re hoping for the colour to be true once applied to your eyes, then you’ll need to use an eye shadow primer for the lighter shades. The darker colours were actually pretty good on their own. Without primer this is what the shades look like:
Price:
$46.00 CDN – A little pricey for my liking but with everything you’re getting in this one palette wonder, it’s worth it.
You could wear the most simplest outfit anywhere and add pizzazz with anything metallic. It can be in your shoes, accessories or a top. I’m not too keen on metallic pants though :”/ For a friends birthday dinner I wore minimal accessories and went super chunky with my clothes. Loose and flowy for a warm windy evening.
What I Wore: A Metallic Statment
I love boyfriend jeans, jackets and here I am wearing a boyfriend blazer! My favourite thing about this blazer is the high slit down the sides. Makes for a perfect peekaboo to a printed top or dress.
Throughout the week while surfing the internet I came across some pretty cool stories. Here’s a round up of three stories that stuck with me and I thought you should check out as well! Stories of cool innovations.
Hitchbot
A sweet loving robot from Port Credit, Ontario. With a name like hitchBOT you’ve probably already gotten an idea of what this robot does. hitchBOT has hitchhiked across Canada, meeting so many new people and taking pictures during his travels. The pictures include his location and are tweeted right away to hitchBOT’s twitter account. Pretty cool huh? You can follow hitchBOTs twitter account to see the exact location the bot left or is at. Unfortunately, hitchBOT’s experience in the US wasn’t as great as it was in Canada. Someone vandalized hitchBOT and the trip had to end early. (Check out this video about venge-BOT. A little gory but kind of funny)
So the real question here is would you pick up hitchBOT? I would in a heart beat!
VarageSale
Tami from Toronto, while on maternity leave came up with this app VarageSale. It’s a virtual garage sale that is making selling products via mobile easy! Here’s her story.
Creating an account and getting started is quick and easy. If you ask me, I’ve already made a list of what to sell and I’m excited about all the new free space I’ll have in our storage area!
RingCam
Inventors from Michigan put a tiny camera inside a ring box to capture their fiancee’s reaction. What a great idea! Would save people a lot of money on stealth mode photographers, who have to hide behind bushes to get the perfect reaction shot. Well done.
For a casual summer day out, I chose to wear something comfortable yet stylish. Comfort doesn’t always mean sweatpants and flip flops. And trust me, there’s nothing wrong with that combo, it’s my outfit every morning to the mailbox. Ha!
This summers go to outfit for casual everyday has been Maxi & Jean
Let me set the scene for you. It’s a beautiful sunny, windy day. 30 degrees with some points of scattered clouds. A walk around my mama’s neighborhood is to the starbucks down the street, lake views and semi clean sand between your toes at a micro man made beach.
Let me explain what’s going on with my hair here. It’s summer time and if I’m out under the sun for hours then I need to have it off my shoulders and out of my face. It’s all a part of the whole comfort thing. A simple pompadour front, achieved with a few bobby pins always does the trick. The rest of my hair usually goes up in a bun, ponytail, or as seen here in a low bun at the nape of my neck.
I bought this topshop clutch purse a long while back and it’s one my favourites. Big enough to keep my essentials like keys, phone, lip balm and a small coin purse/wallet. Also, small enough to not feel it on me at all and works as a perfect splash of colour for any outfit.
The maxi dress never gets old or out of fashion. At least it hasn’t for years now. So recycling your maxi dresses from previous years is totally do-able. Yes, that is exactly what I did here. This dress is from Guess and I don’t even know when.
The light jean material shirt over a maxi is perfect for going in and out of freezing cold air conditioned places. Also I’m not a fan of tube dress maxis so this covering the top allows me to wear them with comfort. Do you pair your maxi dresses with a top? A cardigan or perhaps a blazer? Tweet at me and let me know 😉
Happy Plugs – I just got my first set last month and I love them! They really are jewellery and headphones combined! I have the rose gold and they look so good with my rose gold accessories. If you have a favourite colour or have a friend who loves a particular print, I’m certain you can find matching Happy Plugs for him or her. Makes for a great Secret Santa gift.
Vitabath Holiday Scents – Lathering yumminess. I love these holiday scents and they make for great presents because they come in a duo set.
Jelly Doughnuts – Instead of the usual box of chocolates, why not get that someone gourmet doughnuts? They have an amazing selection for the holiday season too! Check their website for locations in Toronto.
Marsala – You heard the big news right? Pantones colour for 2015 is Marsala. So why not give your fashionista friends a head start and get them something in Marsala to rock right into the new year? I know there has been some backlash of why this colour was chosen. But you can’t impress everyone. I personally love the colour and it can be worn through your outfits to your everyday make-up looks.
Cuppies – Here are my fave sites to get a special someone that unique cup they’ll be using all winter season long for their hot coco’s and lattes: Creature cups, Davids Tea & Royal Albert for the dainty.
November was amazing! What a month, full of adventure, meeting new people, travelling with my love, spending time with my besties and soaking in lots of information. Have you ever wondered why you have more busier and productive months than others? It’s actually very simple. You invest your time to be at places where you’ll get opportunities or that may encourage you to find them = a busier month.
It’s so easy to get stuck in a rut and find yourself going through your day, weeks, months and years in the same schedule, saying the same things. Things like, “I can’t wait to do this..” or “I’m going to build/make/start….” and then not do anything at all. Why do this to yourself? Essentially you’re holding yourself back. I’m sure you can think of a million and one reasons of why you are and how hard it is to start. Really, all it takes is you beating on your craft, talent and beating, beating until something comes out of it. Metaphorically speaking of course.
You’ll see that managing your life, your schedule and when you have time for particular projects will all lay out the way you want them too. November was a jam packed month for me, because I made the time for these events and I allowed the opportunities to come to me by being present. Whether it’s being present at a networking event, present on your social platforms or present to sit down and work hard at what you do best. Just be present. Put everything else you have on hold, if it really means a lot to you and you really want it. Everything else can wait.
November in a nut shell:
South Korea/Japan Trip
November started off with this amazing two week trip. I’ve posted a KYOTO OOTD and a summary of the famous Naksan Park in South Korea but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I have so much more to share about this trip. I can’t wait for all these posts to go up. The cultures, people and experiences were amazing. People have asked me, would you go back? I most definitely, would.
Spark Sessions
First weekend back I was ready for a bloggers conference like no other. I was a bit sceptical at first, whether I should attend this event due to the agenda. I felt as if I already had a good idea of where I wanted my blog to go, what I was going to do in terms of short/long term goals and all that technical stuff I had down due to my experience with web and social media. After all, my day time job is being an Online Marketing Specialist. However this weekend was more than a weekend of passing knowledge. It was an opportunity to meet industry people, people I’ve already spoken to via emails, tweets and other forms of online communications. Best of all I met some great bloggers!
Google HQ
I’ve always wanted to go to Google HQ ever since the first tech site wrote about how modern and funky their offices are. Particularly the silicone valley head office. Especially if you’ve seen this movie:
Miracle 10 is a line of clinical skin care products formulated by The Plastic Surgery Clinic in Yorkville. There’s so much to do in Yorkville. Shopping, restaurants and lots of boutiques. I’ve been to a few different hair dressers and spa’s in Yorkville and none have really stuck to me, where I felt like, I’m definitely coming back to this place. I’ve been using Miracle 10 products for 3 days now and I’ve got to say that I’m impressed. I’m using the Miracle 10 products for a 10 day challenge and can’t wait to share the results!
Elle Magazine VIP event
What a great event! I can’t wait for the next Elle Magazine VIP event. Events like these are the best to go with your girl friends. It makes for the perfect outing. Best combo to a great night out is a group activity and then food. Here’s the full post.
When the weather outside… changes, and the temperature starts to fall, the only thing left to doooo, is
dress warm, dress warm, dress warm.
I absolutely love this sweater. It’s long, warm, different and Alexander McQueen.
If you follow me on Instagram, you may remember me mentioning how much I adore this hairstyle. The top knot! It’s my go-to hairstyle for this fall. I have a tutorial post coming up for you. It’s so simple!
Between Bathurst and Spadina, South of Queen Street is graffiti central.
Living and growing up downtown has given me appreciation for the hustle and bustle of the fashion district. Lunch period during middle school days were spent getting lunch and window shopping. Getting groceries from chinatown was a regular day routine and then Sanderson library. So many memories. The fashion district name derives from this area of downtown Toronto being home to clothing manufacturer businesses back in the day. Just take a look up when you’re shopping in this area and notice the old victorian like roofs on top of most of these stores. Especially standing at the corner of Queen and Spadina.
Other then wholesale, limited edition, vintage and designer shops along this south side stretch of Spadina Ave, you can also take a walk down graffiti central where you’ll see work by Deadboy, Poser, Spud, Fdoe, THINGS and Gregory Alan Elliot to name a few.
Just another day downtown in the neighbourhood I know best.
One of my favourite things is to go where I’ve never been..
And so our road trip journey to Connecticut began.
It’s a long drive but definitely worth it. Especially if at the end destination you’re reunited with one of your best friends. You’ll need lots of snacks and a big case of water bottles. Keep the long drive interesting by keeping conversations going and maybe even throwing some mini dance parties during your drive. Don’t worry, there are lots of opportunities to stop and get food or go shopping at outlets. We passed 3 outlets and stopped at 2.
Here are some highlights and tips if you’re visiting New Haven, CT or Cape Cod, MA.
When you get to New Haven definitely visit the highest peak, East Rock. You can either hike to the top or drive. Once you’re there, the view is spectacular. Pack your lunch, because it’s a great picnic area!
You must try this breakfast place in New Haven, very close to Yale University, The Pantry! This was the most delicious breakfast I had during this trip. The Oreo pancakes were to die for! It was the best of both worlds of sweet and salty.
Cape Cod, sticking out into the Atlantic Ocean is the eastern most portion of Massachusetts. There are beaches and cute little strips of old school stores to explore. Shopping for interior items for your home is best in Chatham.
We stayed at the Ocean Club on Smugglers Beach in Cape Cod and the beach was just a short walk from our room. Everywhere we went, we noticed sculptures and signs made from sand. They kicked off the summer with these displays of sand art all around Yarmouth. You could even download a map of where they all were and go on a sand sculpture tour of your own!
The rooms have a serene nautical feel to them and it truly feels like you haven’t left the beach. With seashell paintings and side table lamps, a cute light pink kitchen by the den area and a fireplace. Looking out the balcony you can even see the ocean.
Greenwich is not too far from Cape Cod, so if you have a chance, take a short drive and have your dinner or grab some gelato at the La Fenice Gelateria.
Make the most of what’s left of our summer and go for an adventurous road trip!
