playing favourites

I was tagged by Sophie to share my favourite pieces from my closet. She said, "i think taking a peek into someone's most-valued-pieces in their closet can be quite revealing. it also brings to light the depths of sartorial experience beyond just coveting beautiful, 'fashionable' things... your favorite dress, jacket or pair of shoes embodies memories and has transformative powers that make it special beyond its materiality alone."

Although a lot of these are fairly recent acquisitions, they are my current favourites. This makes me feel as though I'm all over the place, but I really am all over the place in what I love.

My floral leggings. When I wear these I feel a little bit as though I am wearing pyjamas, but I love them. The top two pairs are from a Spanish company called Oysho. The pair at the bottom is from Permanent Vacation.

I got these vintage Kork-Ease shoes from Etsy, and I'm pretty sure they had never been worn before. The bottoms were perfectly clean! I love the A.P.C. Corkies, but these ones were $35. Of course, I have yet to wear them, but I intend to wear them all summer long, and with tights in the spring.
Alternative Apparel modal silk boyfriend tee. This is the first thing I grab when I don't have a specific idea of what to wear. It sits at the top of the pile of clothes I throw on the chair in my bedroom. It's sheer, but it's perfect for layering. The silk makes it feel so nice against my skin. I just love it.

Grace portfolio clutch from Jessica Jensen. This is probably the most grown-up thing I own -- it's perfect for when I want to act my age, which I do sometimes, although very rarely. I got it at a sample sale at the Gladstone, caught up in sample sale madness (women grabbing six bags at once! My goodness).

I've mentioned this Mociun tie-front dress before. I wear it quite a bit. And every time I do, other girls tell me how cute it is and ask me about it. I started carrying Robber business cards because of this dress!

I have been just crazy about the colour peach for the last year or so and I'm glad it's still around. That issue of Russh is from last year, and this is the most recent Frankie. The other day I bought this new Essie nail polish called Tart Deco. It's a bit coral, a bit pink, and very perfect. I keep looking down at my nails and smiling.

in bloom

Last night I came home from work to find that Erica had arranged for the delivery of this beautiful bouquet from Coriander Girl for me. Isn't that the sweetest thing? Thank you, Erica. It was completely unexpected, and so thoughtful.

They were delivered by the owner of Coriander Girl, Alison, and it was a pleasure to meet her. Alison, if you ever decide to hold flower arranging classes, please let me know! I think there are at least a few of us who would be interested in flower school.

Nothing makes me happier than flowers. Between my pretty, woody, lavender-coloured bunch and this branch from Nikole, I can pretend it is now springtime. I wish I knew how to identify them!

These pictures were taken with my Diana+ with the Instant Back+, which takes Fuji Instax Mini film. I bought the back on impulse, and it took me a while to become comfortable with it. It's a fussy little thing, and I have wasted quite a lot of film! Sometimes, though, instant film is so gratifying, and as an 8-pack of Polaroid film from the Impossible Project would cost me a total of $74.50 USD with shipping (!!!), I'll stick with Fuji.

These are not the crispest pictures, but I love them. I took them with the bulb setting & with crossed fingers.

aurora borealis

Tonight I find myself thinking about the northern lights and how I would love to see them, one day. I saw faint traces of the lights once, when I was a kid. They are so hauntingly beautiful.

(Click on the images for source and often, location.)

the next day

Cleanup after the party wasn't too bad (thank you to Geoff for doing most of it as I slept in). When streamers get wet they stain the floor, but in our case, that's an improvement! In this last picture you can see that streamers got caught in the molding when they shot out of the party poppers. I left them there.

hooray, erica

The birthday girl, waiting for guests to arrive (I made her wear that tiara)

Yesterday was Erica's birthday. About a month ago I had the thought that I should host a birthday party for her -- I couldn't stand the idea that she would be homesick on her birthday, and we can go for drinks in a bar any old time, really. Because I always listen to these sorts of thoughts, I sent her a text message straight away to confirm. I was happy when she liked the idea.

I invited a lot of "blog friends," and it ended up being a bit of a ladyparty! Three boys total. Incidentally, I forgot to invite a few people, but thanks to the success of this one, I will have more parties! Our backyard is perfect for picnics.

I wanted this party to be really messy. I loved these pictures of Chinese New Year celebrations on Lena Corwin's blog, and took inspiration from them. I bought glitter, confetti, and party poppers, and everyone went home with glitter in their hair and heart-shaped confetti stuck to their clothes. We only exploded two of the party poppers I bought -- party poppers are loud! I didn't want to alarm our downstairs neighbours too much. If we didn't have downstairs neighbours I would have exploded ten of them. The colourful streamers are so joyful.

I insisted on golden hats, and when I couldn't find any that I liked, I used glitter. Erin and I glued it on the night before. I wound up with glitter in my wine, and now her antique rug has a glitter layer over top.


For supplies, I went to Balloon King, which is a hidden gem of a party store. I ended up going with peach and gold and white decorations. 60 white balloons. I attached gold letters to the frothy peach banners; the other banner says "Hooray."

I also bought this unicorn piñata, after hemming and hawing about it for a while and wringing my hands in the aisles of Party Packagers. Would people think it was too silly? But I bought it, and it was so much fun! I filled it with confetti and chocolates and cinnamon hearts. No regrets. I just went for it and bought kittenface noise makers while I was at it.


Erica made these pretty cupcakes. Nikole generously provided the cake, which she MADE, which was a thing of great beauty. So amazing. I didn't take any pictures of the cake or during the party, but luckily, others did! Celine's pictures are here, and Karyn took quite a few lovely pictures as well. It's so exciting to see other people's pictures.

Thank you so much to everyone who came, and we'll see those of you who didn't make it next time. It was a really special, prosecco-filled night and I'm so grateful to all of you. Hosting a party for someone else is a really wonderful cure for the winter blues! Definitely a good addition to the emergency list.

Happy birthday, Erica!

stymie

I really love these shirts from STYMIE. The line is a collaboration between Julie Cloutier and Claire Nereim (incidentally, I got these notecards in the mail last week, ordered specially for a lovely double birthday party, and they are so amazing). Their alphabet is the most unique one I've ever seen. I always appreciate a combination of art and fashion!

Pssst: for a 20% discount, use code "SDNEIRF" ("friends" backwards!) at checkout.

heidelberg

heidelberg2, originally uploaded by victoria_h.

Geoff has the opportunity to go to Heidelberg, Germany for a few days next week. He'll be giving a presentation at the university and will be rather busy with that, and it seems as though their weather is the same as ours at the moment (i.e. hovering around freezing). Still, I hope he can do some exploring. Have any of you been there before? Are any of you from there? Do you have any tips? If you have the names of any shops or restaurants to pass along, I would appreciate it. I am very excited for Geoff as it will be his first time in Germany.

He may also have the chance to visit Frankfurt for a day or so, as well. I wish I could go! But alas.

mociun hand printed fabric

I love this hand-printed fabric by Mociun that is available at Beklina. I finally did a little garment sewing for myself this afternoon and wished I had a yard and half of the black one at the bottom.

valentimes

This last picture is me in the red silk dress I mentioned here. I was testing the camera only to realize it was still set to the aperture settings used for this picture. I kind of like this strange result, though.

Happy Valentimes! Make the best of this corny day! You don't have to be with someone to enjoy something heart-shaped.

diana mini

About two years ago, I bought the Diana+ camera made by Lomography. I don't remember how I came across it, or what made me buy it. I think I was attracted to the promise of "dreamy" photos. The style of pictures it takes is one of my favourites; I love the fogginess, I love the unpredictable quality.

One thing I learned (or rather, re-learned) from the 365 challenge is that I get bored really easily. I'm not too happy with many of the pictures I have posted, but I'm stubborn enough to keep at it. As an incentive, I ordered a Diana Mini camera and the flash. The Mini takes 35mm film, which I can walk across the street and have developed for a few dollars. I have to scan the negatives myself, but there is a Digital Imaging lab where I work that I can use for free. It took a long time and I got fingerprints and dust on the negatives, but it worked.

I am definitely enjoying this little camera.

yulanda...

We were going to share a plate of sweet potato fries when you got better.

Since I heard the terrible news, I've been thinking about your grandpa, who I never knew, of course, but who you used to have lunch with all the time. You used to take the streetcar that goes past my house to go see him.

Others have written more, and better, here and here. Thank you, Kate and Kristin.

Please take the time to read Yulanda's archives, if you haven't already. I am grateful that she brought us such beauty.

floral tee happiness

Have you been reading Jane Flanagan and Tricia Royal's new blog on ReadyMade, Off the Rack? It's as wonderful as you would expect from two women who keep such insightful, inspiring personal blogs.

I was so flattered when Jane sent me a link to the post she wrote today: Style Inspiration: Floral Tee. She thought of me when she wrote it! So sweet! When I saw the post, I immediately began to laugh because I already own that t-shirt. I have the black version, as below. I bought it at Robber last Friday when Geoff & I stopped by to help hang feathers. I then proceeded to wear it three days in a row. Like you do when you get something new that is exciting to you.

For a few seconds I wondered if I had already mentioned the t-shirt somewhere -- but I don't think I did! Jane is just that good.

I also have the rosebud earrings from Atlantic Treefox, a tulip skirt made from the Wiksten pattern in the exact colour of the Gemma skirt, and wow, what I wouldn't do for those brogues! I think Jane has created my spring uniform for me.

Jane, thank you. I love it. It's perfect.


(Incidentally, a few of you have mentioned to me that Alternative Apparel charges quite a bit for shipping to Canada, but if you're in Toronto, Robber carries a nice selection.)

call & response

self portraits, originally uploaded by tinydoll.

Something I've been thinking about a bit lately is the business of replying to comments. When I comment on a blog, I rarely go back to check for a response, but sometimes the blog author will send me an email response, which is nice. My comments on other blogs are not as frequent as I would like them to be (but who has that kind of time?). When I do leave them, they are usually meant as a bit of praise, or agreement, or encouragement. I never expect a response. Sometimes they don't actually merit one.

Still, I feel badly about the fact that I rarely respond to comments here, because I appreciate them. I've spent some time thinking about an efficient way to do this. I've decided that from now on, I will do what Tommy does and I will reply to comments below the next post, starting with my next post.

How does that sound?

formspring

36/365, originally uploaded by fieldguided.

I'm a little nervous about this, but I created a formspring account.
Update: I've disabled it for now.

beautiful things

Sweet Hannah Elise tagged me to list 10 things that make me happy, but in classic winter mode, it's become increasingly difficult for me to follow through with anything at all. Instead I will just share a few things that have been making their rounds, things that I find beautiful.

Lou Doillon featured in a promotional video for Vanessa Bruno, via Hello Mr Fox and Scout Holiday.

Pretty sequin embroidery photos via Emma Cassi.

This post about pink hair on Little Lost Love (original image source here).

I've also become obsessed with wearing lace again. My obsession with lace is clearly cyclical. I am on the hunt. Also: red dresses. Not for Valentine's Day. I ordered an '80s red silk dress recently and am crossing my fingers that it will fit and look okay on me. I am pretty sure it will give me special powers. It has great shoulders.