August 27, 2014

Black and White on Mount Royal





{Trina Turk top (via Nordstrom Rack, similar options here and here), thrifted skirt (available here), Gap outlet flats (similar here), Maxwell Scott handbag, Anthropologie sunglasses (similar here), Rachel Zoe belt (adore this fun option), J.Crew earrings}

August 25, 2014

Oh Canada: Toronto


Happy Monday! Did you have a good weekend? We stayed at home through most of it still trying to recover after our trip. Maybe we should go on a resort vacation for a change, so that we actually feel rested and refreshed afterwards, rather than deal with sore muscles and sleep deprivation days later. Frankly though, I can't imagine myself lying on the beach for days doing absolutely nothing, when I could be exploring new places instead.

We finally started looking through some of the pictures we took in Canada. Though many of them didn't turn out as good we wanted because of the bad weather or harsh sunlight, we still found quite a few we wanted to share. This set we took during our very brief stay in Toronto. We spent one night in this multicultural city on the way to Quebec, and then once more on our way back. With only a couple of hours to spare we decided to simply walk around and get the sense of the neighborhoods we stayed in.

{Gotta love that little beaver plaque above the door.}

We spent the first night in the Cabbagetown neighborhood, which we really enjoyed. I fell in love with their beautiful Victorian style homes, but even more so with their luscious front yard flower gardens. I've never seen such a wide variety of flowers in people's front yards in a big city with this type of climate. I couldn't help but dream about having my own little secret garden one day.




{Flowers, flowers everywhere!}

So many homes in Cabbagetown have window boxes, which make these historic homes look even more warm and inviting. Can somebody start this trend in Chicago, please? We really don't see them here often enough. It's the simplest, least expensive way to add some charm to a house that needs a little facelift.

{I sure wouldn't mind living here.}

{A typical scene.}


One amazing thing about these dense, overgrown gardens is that they attract butterflies. This particular yard had a whole group of them flying around happily from one blossom to the other. What a magical place!

{Same building, different doorways.}


{Small in size - not in charm.}

{Ontario peaches anyone?}

Walking around the neighborhood we wandered into the Church-Wellesley Village, where we were greeted by rainbow colored pedestrian walks and matching street signs. We also stumbled upon a small fruit stand that carried something rather special - currants. And not just one kind, they had all three varieties: red, white, and black. What's so special about currants you may be wondering. They're not particularly tasty on their own, but it's something that my grandmother used to grow in her garden when I was a little girl. My cousins and I used spend hours picking them off the bushes every summer. Then these bucket loads would be turned into sweet, delicious preserves that would be enjoyed with bread and milk all trough the winter. In my 13 years spent in Chicago I've never seen these berries at any store or farmers market. What a delightful surprise, Toronto!

{Walking on rainbows.}



The second night we purposefully chose our Airbnb accommodations in a different part of the city - Little Italy. We didn't have time to try any restaurants or check out any stores (there are so many great ones), except for Eweknit. It wasn't part of our plan, but I was lured in by the window display, and oh my, what a knitter's paradise I found. Since I'm used to buying my yarn at a general craft store (and being constantly disappointment by their offerings), this was almost too overwhelming.


There's yarn in every color of the rainbow and the best part - every one I checked was made out of 100% natural fibers. Try to find that at Michael's.


They have a great selection of fun fabrics as well. I wish I had more time to look though it all.

{How do you choose just one?}




{Love the use of humor in the traffic signs here.}



So long, Toronto! Hope next time we get to know you a little better.

August 20, 2014

Eyelet Halter Dress





{Anthropologie dress (also love this one) and sunglasses (similar here), Tory Burch handbag (it's on sale!), Gap outlet flats (similar here), J.Crew belt, BaubleBar earrings}

Hello! I hope your week is going well so far. In case you were wondering about the absence of posts last week, we were on a little vacation exploring the Province of Quebec in Canada. I will share some pics next week. In the meantime here is one of a very few outfits we were able to capture while on our trip. I planned on doing a little shoot in every city we visited, however the weather decided to work against us (yet again), and I had to serve as an assistant holding two umbrellas over the cameraman at all times. But we made the best with the time we had. C'est la vie. 

August 7, 2014

French Linen





{Anthropologie dress, belt (similar here and here), and sunglasses (similar here), Coach wedges (still available at some Nordstrom Rack locations), Margot handbag (via T.J.Maxx)}

August 4, 2014

Golden Plum





{Anthropologie shirt, sunglasses (similar here), and belt, thrifted skirt, Coach wedges, J.Crew handbag}

August 2, 2014

Simple Delights

{Fresh flower crown I made at Athropologie crafting event.}

I've always wanted to attend one of the Anthro events, but their timing has never worked with my schedule. I'm so glad this flower crown workshop was held on a weekend, even if it made me roll out of bed earlier than I usually do on Saturday mornings. It's been years since I worked with flowers, I had almost forgotten how much pleasure it used to give me. It was also a nice surprise to find out that the workshop was taught by Kelly Marie, the owner of Fleur - the most darling little flower shop in Logan Square. I've been to her store many, many times, and have always really admired it. 


{Fresh, nourishing, and delightfully fragrant rosewater mist.}

I've heard many good things about this Jurlique rosewater balancing mist. What I didn't realize was that just one small spritz will not only give me soft, moisturized skin, but will also bring back so many memories. It took me a few minutes to pinpoint why the fragrance of rosewater felt so familiar to me. Then I remembered that I used to have something very similar from good old Avon back in my high school days. My mother used to sell their products to her friends and coworkers, so naturally all of my first beauty products were by Avon. Now every time I use Jurlique, I can't  help but travel back in time for a moment.

{A pair of statement pearl earrings.}

These beauties are almost identical to the famous Dior pair, but only cost a (very small) fraction. They also came in seriously adorable packaging, accompanied by a free introduction gift. Nicely done Baublebar! Nicely done!

{Baublebar understands the importance of presentation.}

{A growing collection of prints.}

As I was looking through the prints I purchased over the past year, I realized that all of them share a similar color palette and style. It's as if they were meant to hang together. Now I just have to find the right frames and dedicate some wall space for them.

Clockwise from top left: "Angel of Fertility" by a Lithuanian artist Aurika Piliponiene, "Elephant Dream" by Yelena Bryksenkova, "Fancy Food Fight" and "Oh Savannah" by Kelsey Garrity Riley (I bought these prints at The Paris Market In Savannah, GA and had a pleasure of meeting this talented artist), "Still Life with Live Flowers" by Emily Winfield Martin.

{Cosmos}

Every walk around the neighborhood ends with pictures of flowers. I'm a sucker for things in bloom.