Well, it appears fall has come, bringing with it lots of homework and rainy weather, and so I must try to embrace it best I can. How shall I do so? By spending some downtime sipping liquid chocolate and tasting every macaron in the rainbow! I came across Thierry's Patisserie last week online and made it a goal to seek it out after class. It was the perfect place to go when you're all dressed up like you belong in Paris! And I must say, their macarons were amazing, and by my standards, not too pricey either. I highly recommend their blackberry and raspberry macarons, which each have a fresh berry right in the middle! So tasty! And if you've ever wanted to melt chocolate and drink it as is (and really, who hasn't), then try their hazelnut liquid chocolate. I felt like all I needed was to grab a baguette and some wine to make the experience complete.
I like taking little trips like this, to explore new tasty locales. It's a great mental break and I recommend doing this once a week to keep from the stress of life making you crazy! Dress up too, it makes you feel fresh and fun. And what better way to feel like your in a Parisian cafe? Throw on some red lipstick and heels. If you don't have time to take a whole afternoon off, find some tasty treats, bring them home, make yourself a London Fog, and cuddle up with some homework!
My outfit is inspired by the skirt I'm wearing, which was given to me by my Nana, and gave a little bit more of a vintage feel to the look. It's made of wool, too, which will be perfect for when winter hits. I usually shorten my Nana's skirts, but I like the length of this one;it keeps the vintage feel alive. However, if you're wanting a modern look, get rid of the skirt. Earlier in the day, I wore the long striped shirt to class as a dress with tights, some black flats and an oversized black blazer, for a more comfortable look. This outfit includes my favorite colour combinations, black red and white, and their boldness is a great way to stand out on an overcast day.
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Shirt Dress –Forever 21, Skirt-My Nana’s, Trench Coat-Papaya, Purse & Necklace-Richmond Night Market, Shoes-Wet Seal
I’d like to share with you my little slice of paradise from last week! One of my best friends has left us for 4 months abroad in France, and so it seemed fitting to have a classy little afternoon of treats to see her off! You’d be amazed how full you can get off all these little snacks...by the end of day, as it finally started to get dark, we were too stuffed to move!
I found some lovely glass pieces from Value Village which were perfect for our get together; I had been looking for a beautiful sandwich platter for awhile, and came across one that was just perfect for our fresh cucumber sandwiches. I found the glass container for our strawberry vanilla lemonade at Value Village as well, and I’ll be able to use it in the fall as well for serving wine! I came across the punch bowl there as well, which we used to scoop out copious amount of sangria!
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I found these lovely cameo pieces in a local baking shop called Scoop-n-Save Ltd. and thought they would be an excellent match for my London fog cupcakes. I made mini ones this time, using the same recipe I’ve posted here earlier this summer. I liked the effect piping the icing gave them this time, as opposed to using the tried and true butter knife technique.
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These were probably my favourite snack of the afternoon...I introduce to you: pink lemonade cupcakes! I stumbled upon this recipe trying to find something quick and easy for the party. These are certainly easy to make, and they were so tasty I was eating the leftovers for breakfast and dinner the rest of the week! You can find the recipe here: http://www.ericasweettooth.com/2010/04/pink-lemonade-cupcakes.html They are surprisingly light and fluffy, and have the perfect amount of tartness. I highly recommend them!
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My cake pops were definitely a first attempt... I was hoping to be super creative and put little Chanel C’s on them with black icing, but they didn’t quite turn out the way I’d hoped. Dipping them in the white chocolate was much fussier than I’d expected! I’ll let you know once I perfect this one :)
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One of the lovely girls also brought some carrot cake muffins, stuffed full of raisins and walnuts. They were absolutely amazing! I didn’t know I could eat so many cupcakes in one sitting...but I wanted to make sure I had at least one of everything. If you want something sweet, but not too sweet to give you a toothache, these are a great option. Very filling!
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I am by no means talented with the sewing machine, but it’s easy to use for this mini-project...
I found this dress by Necessary Objects in Winners, but when I tried it on it didn’t quite fit right on top. I couldn’t zip up the back past the skirt. The dress was otherwise just too perfect, though, so I bought it anyway!
To fix the zipper issue, I took some inspiration from a dress I saw on someone a while ago at a dance. The back was held together by large horizontal pieces of black elastic. I decided to create this look on my dress, in order to bridge the gap in the zipper on top. I added a sketch below of how I envisioned this working; I found a picture online of a dress similar to what I saw...sorry I don’t have the photo cred, if someone knows where it is originally from, please let me know and I’ll add it in.
I folded over the fabric on either side of the zipper so that the zipper no longer showed. You can see how I sewed down both sides to hide the zipper.
I went over the elastic a few times on each side, just to make sure it won’t rip.
And that’s it! Now I’m so glad I bought this dress, even though it didn’t originally fit. Now it’s one of my favourite dresses!
So I went downtown with the girls to find some good food, ice cream, and shopping! We were starving and came across one of the new food trucks on the streets...and I must say it was fantastic! Maybe it helped that it was a beautiful day, and we ate in front of the Art Gallery fountain, but the sandwiches they are making up at La Brasserie are A-maazing! After that, my friend sent out a shoutout on twitter for someone to give us directions to this place called 'Bella Gelateria'. And thank you to whoever sent us to the right place, because it was soooo tasty! We found it on the corner of the Fairmont Waterfront, and their selection of flavours was robust. Best of all, my decision was easy because...they had Early Grey!! One of the best cones I've had in a long time!
The dress you see me wearing in this post is one I picked up from Winner before summer started up. I'm going to do a post tomorrow on how I got this gem to fit me, because it was not quite perfect when I bought it. I'm so glad I still bought it that day, because it's one of my favourite summer pieces now! There's nothing better than wearing bright colours to make you feel like summer has really arrived!
Sorry for the lack of posting recently, I've just recently had my wisdom teeth out, so my productivity has gone down quite a bit. I promise, more posts to come! Hint: I've got some darling shots from a garden party I hosted for one my best friend's going away...she's leaving us for Paris!
Dress-Necessary Objects (repurposed), Shoes-BeWild, Belt-Urban Behaviour, Sunglasses-Claire’s
Our shoot the other day ended with my photographer and I both covered in mosquito bites..so I sincerely hope it was worth it! There is a long winding trail call the Fort-to-Fort Trail, which hugs the Fraser River near Fort Langley. There is a great park there called Derby Reach, which is great for an adorable picnic by the water. If you follow along the trail from there as we did, you find this abandoned skeleton of a barn you'll see in the photos below. I am very much not a fan of spiderwebs and spiders..so hopping around the barn was somewhat uncomfortable...
I would recommend wearing an outfit like this somewhere along the mediterranian, maybe in Monte Carlo..a nice wide-brimmed white hat would be a perfect touch. I forgot to bring mine along for this shoot, but if I'm ever in the area, I'll have it ready :)
Sometimes we realize we have to much black and white in our wardrobes. It's easy to throw in one colourful item into your outfit, and it makes a world of difference!
I must also point out that Value Village is a great place to find fabulously vintage shoes, which is where I acquired these black, white and grey beauties below. And only 8 dollars! Too tempting to pass up! I suggest you take a peek sometime if you haven't before.
One last thing, I should point out the skirt I'm wearing belonged to my mom, and I have since shortened the hemline to make it a little more modern. It's something you can do at home really easily and BAM! you gain a new skirt at no cost! I've taken lots of stuff that my mom and nana and neighbour have given me and reworked them to make them fit my wardrobe. You'll see more of it in the coming weeks!
Shirt-Urban Behaviour, Skirt-Mom’s (repurposed), Shoes-Fioni, Earrings-vintage, Belt-Urban Behaviour, Sunglasses-Claire’s
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