FALL STYLE PICKS X FIESTA MOVEMENT

Posted by kait / October 15, 2013

Sigh, I love shopping. Maybe I should re-phrase that – I love window shopping online. Browsing through all of my favourite online shops and discovering new designers is quite possibly one of my favourite ways to pass the time. The possibilities are endless and despite not being able to try the clothes on, you still fall in love with them. Last week I shared the Fiesta Movement Style Challenge and got super inspired to stop buying cheap and trendy items and really invest in some great quality pieces. Over the weekend I spent some time putting together a list of new staples that will last me years – surprise surprise! They are all black, of course. I searched far and wide for the perfect items that I would wear time and time again and actually found a lot of them at Canadian retailers like Pink Tartan, Roots and Danier.

If you haven’t heard of the Fiesta Movement yet, basically it is an initiative run by Ford inspiring people to take on a new challenge each month (I loved the adventure theme last month!) and make a video about their experience in the Ford Fiesta. I found the participants style challenge videos particularly fun (watch some great vids here) – who doesn’t love expressing their style? I know that I would be happy to show off in that leather motorcycle jacket above!

Where to shop:

Leather Motorcycle Jacket, Danier

Chrysanthemum Jacquard Skirt, Pink Tartan

Tromp L’oeil Dress, Pink Tartan

Leather Oxfords, J.Crew

Jive Heel, Kate Spade

Where to shop:

Boiled Wool + Leather Jacket, Danier

French Suede Bootie, Roots

Dahlia Bouquet Necklace, Banana Republic

This is a sponsored post and I was compensated for my participation. The opinions expressed are my own.

BE THANKFUL

Posted by kait / October 15, 2013

One of the biggest lessons you will every learn in your life is to be thankful, show gratitude and be the change you want to see in the world. This past weekend was filled with amazing family and friends, coupled with ridiculously good food and wine – a Thanksgiving to remember.

While you should give thanks everyday sometimes you just need that extra special day to share how you feel, especially for people who make find it harder to express their emotions. Wine definitely seems to help loosen up the whole *sharing* thing a bit. I had a really great talk with a family member who I don’t know super well personally but is usually a bit more reserved with his feelings. It was so great to hear how thankful he was to have a big family full of great people and how he is going to make it his personal mission to make dinners like that happen more often.

I definitely find myself feeling like I need to be more grateful and thankful for everything good in my life. Every so often, I just get so caught up in the general busy-ness of it all and I lose track of why I do the things I do and how to be thankful for it all. Writing it down helps so I thought I would share:

1 | So thankful for my best friend and husband, Byron, who I get to share all of my adventures with! I know how lucky I am.

2 | Thankful for my amazing family. I totally won the fam-jam jackpot when I was born. So happy to have awesome parents and a brother that I can call a best friend.

3 | Very thankful for having some of the best girlfriends ever. You know who are you + I couldn’t do it without our coffee dates, shopping trips and wine nights.

4 | Hugely thankful for my career. Some days I still can’t believe I get to wake up and work from home and write for a living. I am so grateful for all of the opportunities I get to partake in and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

5 | Lastly, I am just so thankful to live in such a beautiful city and country. The more I get to explore and see new pockets of Canada, the better. Beautiful, inside and out.

DESIGN LOVE: ADLER PICKS

Posted by kait / October 10, 2013

When we were in Austin, Texas this past August, we happily happened upon the Jonathan Adler shop. A long time fan and collector of Adler pieces, I was so excited to finally be in one of his beautiful and zany boutiques. I was on the hunt for a fun travel souvenir for my M+D because Adler is totally their style too. I ended up settling on a stunning porcelain banana peel bud vase that goes perfectly with my parents’ pop art-esque dining room. One of my favourite parts of the time we spent in the shop was chatting with the incredibly friendly sales staff while touring through their collection of Rex Ray‘s collage work. Not only were the collages stunning in person but it was really refreshing (and exciting) to be around people who genuinely love their job and make it their mission to create an inspiring environment for both their clients as well as fellow co-workers. I mean, how could you not be inspired when you are surrounded by Jonathan Adler goodness?

They just launched their Friends & Family Sale today (runs until Monday) with an amazing flat deal of 20% of your entire purchase. Since I was in the mood to be dreaming up my wishlist for a living room makeover (ie. procrastinating from other housework) so I took a peek through their new collections and found SO many things that would fit so perfectly into my life. The ideal mix of mid-century modern design and a bit of cheeky flash, I fell in love. Yup.

Shop away, my friends! Don’t forget to use the Discount Code: FF2013 when you checkout!

Ping Pong Paddle + Cover

Icon Duchess Wristlet

Stepped Chevron Ski Hat

A STYLED LIFE X FIESTA MOVEMENT

Posted by kait / October 8, 2013

Shopping in the fall is an annual tradition I have participated in since the early days of prepping my wardrobe for the first day of school. Even now that I work from home, I find myself poring through Vogue, Lucky and some of my fave British fashion mags in search of the newest fall trends. There is something just so special about the first time you wear wool in the autumn or pull on a chic slouchy toque on a cool afternoon.

I’ve been trying to pare down my wardrobe and only buy pieces that I love and are quality. I am working on a style board incorporating all of the pieces I currently love in my closet and creating a ‘uniform’ of sorts so that I don’t end up buying a bunch of random pieces that don’t really go with anything. Fittingly, the Fiesta Movement‘s theme for October is #style. What is the Fiesta Movement? Well, I’ve been sharing the movement since last month, you can see my posts about #adventure here and here. Bloggers share the movement while Fiesta Agents from all over the world take on the monthly theme and shoot amazing videos sharing their mission!

I loved these two videos from Deanna Bobbi and Jay Taj both showcasing their Style Trends for the fall. Deanna created a lookbook at the mall trying on new fall trends whereas Jay documented the town of Santa Ana. I love getting inspired by cities and I often create outfits with a certain city like San Francisco, in mind.

I am really looking forward to sharing my style board next week with you. I think it will really help me shop more efficiently and I will be less likely to end up with a messy closet bedroom everytime I get dressed. Simple, classic pieces that I can wear again and again and mix+match are what I am looking for. What are you adding to your closet this fall?

This is a sponsored post and I was compensated for my participation. The opinions expressed are my own.

LET’S BOWL!

Posted by kait / October 7, 2013

Does anyone else love bowling as much I do yet somehow simultaneously suck at it? I love everything about the bowling experience, right down to the vintage-y bowling shoes and pink marbled bowling balls. But somehow, when I get up to the lane I just cannot take myself seriously and I end up rolling some goofy between-the-legs-backwards ball towards those pins. Sometimes it works out for me and others? Not so much.

We recently had the chance to check out the NTNL on 10th‘s new bowling alley just a couple days after it had opened. First of all, can I just say how excited I am that bars are completely becoming more and more interesting all of the time? Community tables, ping pong and now bowling. Things are getting more interactive and fun. I like this direction.

NTNL Bowl was just a blast. The alley is just as gorgeous as the rest of NTNL except of course it has beautiful long bowling lanes with plenty of plus seating. The shoes are classic (I was the first person to wear the ones above!) and music is fantastic. We even heard rumours that there is going to be DJs and bands playing down at the alley which is something I would definitely get on board with. The alley is not without it’s quirks however. If you have a fear of clowns, you may want to avoid certain parts of the bar. Hint: there is a GIANT clown head on the wall. Just watch yourself.

I think the NTNL chefs and mixologists had a lot of fun working out the bowling alley menus because it is all Mexican. Strictly a taqueria, you can order up delicious tacos and churros to your hearts content! And the cocktails all have tequila in them, making this a super dangerous place because, you know, you get pretty thirsty while you are bowling! As per usual at NTNL, tons of great beers available too.

I can’t wait to head back to bowl with a bunch of friends to bowl the night away. Maybe a bowling team should be in the works? Though I really should start practicing…

A POST-FLOOD GARDEN

Posted by kait / October 1, 2013

It is quite amazing that despite a devastating flood, the Mission gardens continued to grow. This is what a garden looks like when you haven’t tended to it for two months. Piled high with silt left by the flood, magically the lettuce, sweet peas, sunflowers and zucchinis continued to grow. We spent a whole afternoon digging away at the silt trying to reach real soil again – it was backbreaking work – that silt is like concrete when it is dry. I am amazed anything survived at all. We managed to harvest some cherry tomatoes, a yellow zucchini, a couple small carrots and a bunch of sweat pea blooms.

It was really disappointing however to see how much didn’t grow especially after we had spent so much time carefully planting each row and tending to it every couple of nights. That was before the flood though and you just can’t fight nature. We’ve got to go back this weekend and clean it up before the snow comes. Those sunflowers will be the most work – we need to chop them down into little bits so that they compost easily. They are practically trees. Turns out they can grow in just about any kind of condition. I’m impressed.

I hope that next summer we can count on a full harvest without any floods but of course, we can’t predict anything at all. Though I am pretty sure there will always be an abundance of rhubarb in the garden no matter what happens. I love the snapshot below of the head gardener Georgina holding the biggest rhubarb leaf I have ever seen in my life. I guess all of the “nutrients” (ie. waste) in the silt really helped it reach gigantic proportions. Rhubarb pie for days, folks…