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{ Monolo Blahniks worn last week (purchased in 2008) }
Checkout my Instagram gallery: detail shots from my past two weeks.
And find me on Instagram! Bisous!
P.S. I will be contacting recipients of the LOVE + MARK’D cards giveaway today!
Friday night I visited the One of a Kind Show at the Vancouver Convention Centre and happily discovered lots of treasures. I even picked up a couple gifts, thereby completing my Christmas shopping! (Yesss!)
Lusting after these bracelets by Biko Jewelry of Toronto.
Colorful make up bags by Vancouver’s Erin Templeton.
Geoffrey Lane, also of Vancouver, makes these classic scented soy candles. I picked up two “holiday spice” candles in tin containers. Perfect for gift giving. I kept one and burnt it Friday evening while I was cleaning my apartment post OOAK Show, it filled every room with the most delicious scent.
I’m a sucker for caramel and grey colored leather: hand-waxed bags by Hoi Bo of Toronto.
Also part of the Friday evening festivities at OOAK, we were treated to a teaser performance by the Goh Ballet, who is putting on a classic rendition of the Nutcracker this season! This will be my third time attending, I am such a fan of the Goh Ballet!
One of a Kind Vancouver does end today, you must visit before it goes!
Have a fab Sunday.
{Barefoot Contessa soy candle (c/o)}
{I’ve been searching for some sort of pen and pencil holder lately, and this packaging for the Barefoot Contessa candle works perfectly! (And by works, I mean matches, aesthetics tend to trump functionality at this haus)}
{New make up brushes c/o Joe Fresh – I’m particularly delighted with the lipstick brush, as I accidently smushed a good portion of my Chantecaille lipstick into the cap. Don’t you just hate that?? Especially when it’s about $15 worth of lipstick smushed into the cap…}
{My fascination with nutcrackers grows. My Christmas decorating is done in two ways: 1) with nutcrackers and 2) with all things winter wonderland ie: white, crystal or frosted}
{A miniature moose head for the wall, currently sitting on a side table, from Front & Co, home of some of the best window displays in town!}
{Dior heart-shaped bowl (a crystal version here) with mini candy canes and my new favorite accessory: Social Experiment ring (c/o)}
{Pink fur earmuffs from Holt Renfrew – another fabulous pair here - lucite hook rack from Urban Barn}
{A delicious vaseline based lip balm by Perfumeria Gal, c/o Barefoot Contessa, hand towel from HomeSense}
{Making plans – a moment before heading out to last night’s London Drugs Revlon & Almay event at Sugar Studios – picture tweeted here! They sent a white stretch limo to pick us up… I could get used to that! Wearing: JNBY sweater dress (c/o), La Senza stockings, Zara boots}
Oh, and have a look at this: APT with LSD featuring Aerin Lauder – hello glamorous.
And one more thing that makes me happeee happy: a card, that along with five others, is on its way to San Francisco to the home of a favourite fashion blogger… (Get yours here)
{Wednesday night The Cross Decor & Design held their 8th anniversary party; here are my snaps! The store looked just uh-mazing. I picked up a few delicious Voluspa candles. Mmmm..}
*Sigh* So pretty.
I’ve recently been adding festive touches to my home as well (and posting them to instagram!), as seen above and here with my silver santa, Noel, glittering pine cone, silver bow and nutcracker decorations!
Have you started decorating your home?
There’s been an online surge of quotes for the home lately, and having had an empty frame hang on my wall for some time now, I thought I’d create my own set of thoughts for the wall. But rather than be the usual life loving girly quotes, I decided to write a mix of positive thoughts about myself and a few big goals. While it may seem a dash narcissistic, having positive reinforcements in our spaces can really do wonders for the daily outlook, not to mention that having your goals in front of you helps bring them to fruition! Here’s my DIY:
My supplies:
{Ikea frame and mat, permanent gold marker & brown packaging paper from the local dollar store, Martha Stewart glitter glue pen & gun metal colored glitter}
The result: glittering reminders
Very pleased. What do you do to remind yourself of your goals and special attributes? Lots I hope! Bisous!
{Quick pic as I’m in full cozy-party-planning mode getting ready for a whole lotta ladies to come over tomorrow! In the works: mini cupcakes galore, fall themed treats and of course oodles of cards – new designs too! Wearing: Neff hat (c/o), Jay Manuel Attitude sweater c/o Sears, JNBY pants (c/o), Prada mary-janes from Bergdorfs! Oh how I miss NYC…}
A few of my favourite new LOVE + MARK’D card designs: (click on each to review on Etsy!)
Back to work! Have a great weekend!
Part of living the good life, or what I consider the good life, is doing things that make you feel good. I call the feel good things those little things that give you that small but important zing of self pride and accomplishment, like making your bed in the morning, cooking porridge for breakfast instead of pouring a bowl of cereal, cooking dinner instead of eating out, mailing your friends a hand written note instead of messaging via Facebook and baking treats for your loved ones. I think it has to do with making something with your own hands, you just can’t help but feel good after. So I decided to whip out the whisks, bowls and parchment cupcake wrappers!
I used two flavors: chocolate and orange-swirl vanilla and then topped the cupcakes with decorative pumpkins and green sprinkles. Truth is, I aimed for an orange swirl, but ended up with more of an orangey-tint, not the desired result but it worked. My favorite part was stuffing the icing into the ziploc bags (my version of piping bags – corner snipped), and swirling the icing into pumpkins and vines. (The decorative icing was vanilla with food coloring – lots of red and even more yellow for the orange.)
Yum! I’m happy to report they were a Thanksgiving dinner hit! All eaten. (A girl always loves it when her baking goes over well!)
{I took this picture yesterday evening while I was working – trying to work. Someone had to get in the way}
{A little rearranging: this mirrored table used to live next to the couch, but now resides near the front door. We’ll see what boyfriend says about his first picture on the blog, though you can’t tell much from that photo, except for that we were are very happy! I love the shape of this glass bowl; it holds our keys to luxury (apparently the keys allow access to luxe spots around the globe, I’m not sure if they’re of much use to us here, but they’re pretty!), and Marie’s pearl collar}
{Carrier bag from Harrods. This Marc by Marc Jacobs bag came to me by way of a sleepy phone call from my sister when she was visiting New York. She was leaving the hotel room to do some shopping and called me to see if I wanted her to bring me back a bag, it was very early morning for us in Vancouver and I sleepily said yes, get whatever, I’ll pay you for it when you’re back. I didn’t realize at the time I was saying yes to a rather expensive little bag, but I’m so glad she brought it back and that I have it! As you’ve seen, I wear it a lot!}
{I mentioned my Dior heart-shaped bowls here (in a semi-ridiculous/fabulous post), when I had just purchased them from the Dior Maison store in Paris on Avenue Montaigne, and here when I filled them with tiny, glitter-filled containers for a new project, but I never showed you the bottom! Note: There’s a great APT with LSD feature on Vogue.com with Devon Radziwell (an Upper East Sider – Anna LOVES those), who loves to shop at the Dior Maison store too!}
Very much looking forward to a small soiree this evening at the Four Seasons Hotel hosted by Count Down Events (and catered by Yew! Yum!). They are all about the finishing details so I’m sure it will be gorgeous! Must bring camera.
P.S. I hope you have a pretty umbrella – it makes these rainy Vancouver days nicer!
P.P.S. Tomorrow is the last day to order your Odessa nail colour from vegan nail polish company: Soulstice Spa for 50% off on NailPolishCanada.com! Just enter the code: styleodessa for for your discount! I love it!
I really love the elegance and functionality of instruments used on boats, particularly classic boats. It started a few months ago when I spent a weekend with my Dad on his boat and discovered my new love for boat accessories, particularly a brass barometer used for telling the weather that he had mounted on a wall. I mentioned this to him and lucky me, yesterday he presented me with my very own barometer. Now I need a giant brass cleat…
