Raindrops on roses, yo.

( print by Tender Beasts on Etsy )

 
I'm good, I'm good.

See: I've cycled through my woman-time and the six (seven?) levels of grief regarding the bad news (still a secret, though I've told like 18 people now) and I've perked up like my partially-dehydrated houseplants when I remember to water them. Which, by the way, is rarely. But, now my metaphor doesn't work. I'm usually perky. Much UNlike my houseplants. Gah. (Trying not to delete and rewrite. Must. Keep. Writing.)

This sole houseplant is surviving/thriving (somehow). Much like me. (Stop)

I'm bouncing around like myself in new shoes today. These:

But if you were aware of my "Buy Nothing Month" pact with Alex (well, now you are), don't worry: they were purchased last week and just arrived in the mail. Segue: We bought a couch. I could say that we needed one, but not in the way you need, say, water. Or air. But in the same way I need a new winter scarf: the old one is tattered and sorta embarrassing. It was the black spot/sheep in our decor transformation (4 years of on-a-dime DIY blood-n'-sweat). We didn't have the money but it was 70% off and we couldn't wait. Alas, to justify it, we are currently suffering through self-imposed "Buy Nothing Month". Toilet paper and TTC tokens and groceries are exempt. We're even allowing movie rentals, in the event that we watch everything worth watching on Netflix (we have).

Inhale.

I hold my breath while typing.

So, I can't shop, but it's not preventing me from looking. And maybe filling my virtual shopping cart. And maybe hovering a shaky hand over my wallet. But no. We need to pull up our socks. I have baby fever and I told Alex that I want to be preggers in less than 2 years (my mother is, at this very moment, jumping around and popping corks and buying a crib). Whoa.

My sister says that the best part of my blog is that I can never stay on topic. Happy, Jill-mu?

OK, back on track. Yes. I started a "3 Things" theme a while back and planned weekly posts of my top three loves of the week. Flaked out. Then I figured I'd re-brand it as a "Favourite Things" (Sound of Music-themed) weekly post, because being bound to finding exactly 3 things was stifling. I bailed on that too. But maybe a loosely bi-weekly/when-I-feel-like-it schedule will work for me.

Today, I feel like it.

Here are a few of my brand-new very favourite things!

1. DIY Muppets!

Whaaaaaaat? THIS IS THE BEST THING. EVER. OF ALL TIME. Alex is grumpy about it because he can't get a beard AND hair on the same Muppet. But he should suck it up because THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER. Also, he loves Muppets as much as I do. Which is a lot.

2. Dog Print Leggings (and pretty much everything in the Qoo Qoo Etsy shop)

I obviously need these. I am obviously not crazy enough about my dogs. Your dogs. Any dogs, really. I bought a locket last week. It has two slots for photos. Alex didn't make the cut. DOGS IN BOTH SIDES! Everything by Qoo Qoo is so bloody cute. "Buy Nothing Month", you are my arch nemesis. 

3. Ryan Gosling/Polygamy

 

We saw Drive last night. (Another exemption: it was our anniversary. GET OFF MY BACK!). While the film wasn't totally my thing (Art House meets Slasher. Meh.), it was beautifully shot and is TWO HOURS OF DREAMY! Oh, Ryan Gosling. Stop being so damn melt-y. I'll even give up Jason Schwartzman AND Adrian Brody AND James McEvoy for you.

Not since my chest-pain inducing crush on every member of NKOTB (except Danny) some 20 years ago have I felt so utterly heart-smashed over a perfect stranger. And I'm married. Inappropriate, what!? But somehow, as every hetero woman in the world can attest: it's unavoidable. Disclaimer: this is clearly Wonderland and has no impact on my real-life man-crush/house-husband. Though, I have contemplated polygamy-friendly states for our next move. 

I fear for the safety of his next GF. Selena Gomez, much? Ravenous 30-somethings are perhaps more dangerous that their pre-teen counterparts.

4. Dogs jumping rope!

No. I stand corrected. THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER. Maybe I can buy the Qoo Qoo leggings and teach my dogs to jump rope with me and we jump rope together (avec leggings)? Maybe Qoo Qoo will make me custom leggings with the head of "Mayonnaise", the world-record rope-jumping dog (complete with pink/blue ears) as a repeating pattern? Maybe they can make matching leggings for my jump-roping dogs? Maybe Alex will leave me and I will become the dog equivalent to the crazy cat lady. (Don't leave me)

[ Photos via: Pinterest, FAO Schwartz, Guinness World Records, Etsy, Qoo Qoo, Aldo, Tender Beasts, Urban Home, Me ]

Pleather & Lace?

*swoon* 

Beauty or cruelty? [ Christopher Kane dress ]

This is weird. I've been acting as somewhat of an unlikely mentor to a friend who has gone vegetarian in the past year. Unlikely? Yeah, well, I'm a pretty terrible vegetarian. I've learned to adapt in an omnivores' world by flying under the radar: picking things off of pizza, not being fussy about non-meat/meat fraternizing in the pan, playing dumb in the face of poutine (gravy, what?) and taking care of myself food-wise (quietly). I've also been a part-time fish eater, more to make life easier with my fully supportive, yet fully meat-eating husband. Role model material I am NOT.

Then, the question.

My newbie-veg friend asked: "What's your stance on leather?"

Jekyll, meet Hyde. My animal-loving, eco-conscious, (mostly)-vegetarian self does not always agree with my style-crazed, clothes-loving, shop-happy self. They are contradictory. They clash in a resulting ulcer-inducing turmoil. The ever-present inner-struggle: what IS my stance on leather?? I grappled with this for a while, and here is my (wavering) conclusion:

The challenge wasn't in replacing leather with other materials - there are enough options out there. My concern was environmental. I'm as much an advocate of animal rights as I am a steadfast environmentalist (OK, I'm not the best example of either, but I care about both very much). My issue with the alternatives (PVC, pleather, etc.) is that in a lot of cases, they are an environmental nightmare to produce and they never break down in landfills. And, leather substitutes crack and peel easily, forcing me to buy more. I hate waste.

My new-ish shopping philosophy is to "buy less, buy better" so that items last and I am not contributing as much by-product. I try to buy ethically as much as possible - supporting local/handmade, choosing natural/orga materials, snapping up secondhands. Problem: it can be expensive and the options are limited. And I'm prone to last-minute panic shopping.

My veg-dyed green Roots purse is still amazing and I've had it for 4 years. Same with my Canadian-made Jeanne Lottie purse. Also leather. I buy a lot of rubber/canvas shoes in the summer, but nothing beats the real deal for boots & bags. I went the matt+nat route for a while but the peeling and cracking led to too many replacements. That said, it's probably one of the best vegan accessories companies (and Canadian to boot) if you can live with the negative aspects of faux-leather.

The PVC graveyard:

[ RIP old girls...and Nataraj, too :( ]

(Ahhhh. I forget to breathe when I'm rambling defensively.)

Does it make me a very good vegetarian? No. But it's a compromise that I can live with. I can sleep at night (mostly). Do I REALLY need to sacrifice my beliefs in the name of fashion, though. Even if my solution IS (somewhat) eco-conscious?

Well, no.

I admit that I can be smarter about my choices. Here are three no-compromise-necessary style picks that appease both of my starkly different selves. Peace is restored in the galaxy!

1. OlsenHaus Faux leather, in my mind, has become unfairly synonymous with poor quality. This is not at all the case with vegan brand OlsenHaus. I've loved their quirky styles in the past, and I am equally smitten with this season's line-up:

2. Ashley Watson 'Flicker' bag. An even better compromise: recycled leather! Smart design-types are hooking up with manufacturers to turn industrial scrap from say, furniture making, into accessories, etc. Win-win. (In my old bag-making days, I'd do the same with leather from thrift-store skirts.)

3. Etsy, of course. The handmade aspect has a feel-good-ness about it that kinda overrides guilt about pesticide-heavy cotton and animal hides. But there's also a ton of great eco-fashion here too. And totally non-granola. I love this skirt by Toronto-based Simone's Rose (yay, local) - it's organic and super adorbs.

 

Doorbells and Sleigh Bells and Schnitzel With Noodles.

These are a few of my favourite things.

-The Sound of Music

(Let's just get real sad-like and talk about all of the things I can't afford, shall we? Sigh.)


ONE • 
I intended this post to have a cold weather theme, but then I saw these Jeffrey Campbell peep-toe platform wedges and I really just had to talk about them NOW. (Yeah, peep-toes aren't quite so practical this time of year.) I pretty much love wedges forever, and will continue to wear them even if they go horribly out of style. It hasn't happened yet, luckily. This year they've gone all platform on me though, adding yet more unnecessary inches to my hulking 5'10 frame. Whatever. My Mister is secure enough in his manhood to have me on his arm anyway, even when I'm towering over him. (ATTACK OF THE 50-FOOT WOMAN!!! rawr.) Also, the cutest-of-the-cute singer from San Sebastian has an adorable GF who has a good head on him, I'm sure. 


Anyway, the second pair in this series could be doable in December, as long as I'm not dog walking or tobogganing. Loooooove.

TWO••

A technicolour dreamcoat! I did a stupid thing. I fell in love with a light grey Soia & Kyo winter pea coat two years ago and bought it, forgetting that my super-warm TNA parka was also grey. In terms of outerwear this season, I'm stuck with D-R-A-B. All grey against dirty snow? Horribly depressing. I love both coats, but wouldn't it just be so uplifting to walk around in yellow? Or purple? Or cobalt blue? Oh, I miss colour in the winter. I am totally digging this Spanner jacket. I was inspired to find a yellow swing coat after seeing a girl on the subway in a similar version. Too bad I'm stuck with grey, at least for this year.

 Spanner swing coat $400

 

MALENE BIRGER Justinas Jacket $698

 Phase Eight Tweed Swing Coat $220 (OK, yes, it's grey. But just imagine it in ORANGE!)

Allison Wonderland L'Hiver Coat $298

 Soia & Kyo Snood (are colourful accessories my answer?)

Soia & Kyo down jacket $220

THREE•••

Bed. Ahhhh, I loooove our bed. Back when I had money, I bought a wicked-expensive pillow-top mattress and boxspring. Then, mom bought us a memory foam topper and we picked up memory foam pillows with wedding money. Add a duvet, a coverlet, a mess of throw pillows, two dogs and a fuzzy man and my bed is perfection. It's really hard to ever leave. We redeco'd our entire apartment on a dime and our bedroom is almost finished. The one missing piece is a quilted headboard. I'm fairly crafty and I know I could make one, but right now we're getting by on "essential purchases", and it's tough to justify the $60-or-so that it would cost for some plywood and foam.


In the meantime, I'll just dream. Zzzzz.

(bed images via: esquire.com, SquintLimited.com, homesav.com, decorpad.com, shabbiness2fabulous.com)

Cream-coloured ponies.

So, I'm rethinking my "3 Things" posts. The title has no zing. No "je ne sais quoi".

Then I was inspired. 

I was covering the launch of Seventy Seven, the new flagship store for Kim Newport-Mimran's Pink Tartan line (opens today in Yorkville, by the way), and she had some rolls of brown paper for sale with little packets of linen string. Ahh, such chic wrapping. 

 [ just me n' kim, hanging out at seventy-seven. whatever. ]

I immediately started humming "Raindrops on roses, and whiskers on kittens...". Pretty much one of the best songs. Ever. But I hadn't realized that the paper roll's label ACTUALLY read "Brown Paper Packages Tied Up With String". So clever. 

So maybe my favourite-things-of-the-week posts should be inspired by, well, one of my favourite things - The Sound of Music (and childhood nostalgia, of course). So what should it be? "Girls in white dresses"? "Warm woolen Mittens"? Nope. "Cream-coloured ponies" is by far the most absurd, so I'm going with that. For now. You know I've never been really that good at being faithful to anything. Except boys. Well, this one at least.

And this gives me flexibility to love ONE thing or ONE-HUNDRED-BILLION things each week (I'm aware that it is entirely lame to quote Austin Powers).

Today I love three things. I don't necessarily share Fraulein Maria's enthusiasm for satin sashes and kitten whiskers (at least not enough to break into song), but I do have to go with her on the brown paper packages thing. Gawd, is there ANYTHING better than snail mail? And isn't kraft paper just so romantic?!

So here goes. New format. Yay!

--

These are a few of my favourite things:

ONE •

Brown paper packages (tied up with string). If you don't want to buy designer kraft paper, obviously butcher paper will do the trick. And if flesh makes you squeamish (hi.), use the inside of a paper shopping/grocery bag. That's what my mom used to do. She's so crafty. (Everyone says that I get the creative blood from my dad's side of the family, but don't underestimate my mother.)  Whole Foods still has a "paper or plastic" option, so that's a good bet for bags. Pretty!

TWO••

There are very few things in the world that compliment kraft paper packages better than twine, especially that amazing candy-stripe version above. But I have to say, that Japanese paper tape is in the running. I bought a few rolls to use for the wedding last year. I didn't have any specific use in mind, and I actually didn't ended up finding one, but the wedding was a good excuse, anyway. I'm excited to use it to wrap gifts this year! (If Japanese paper tape was available in WWII Austria, I'm sure the Von Trapps would have been all over it.)

Find it online - Happy Tape is my fave.

THREE •••

I OBVIOUSLY love this. (And it's in theme. Bonus.)

These two are just adorbs. Check out Pomplamoose on Youtube or MySpace.

[ photos via: runlucasrun2 and indierocket on flickr, Rex Features, wardi.dk, goinghometoroost.com, blog.tinyprints.com, mariawrites.com, iamfishgrassisgreener.typepad.com, & Happy Tape ]

3 Things.

 [collar/photo by me, Dudley & Bea]

I have puppy love this week, mostly because I am sooo thankful to have my two babies here while Alex is gone. I grew up in a chaotic (but happy) house, and silence is too weird. Note: the chaos was caused by me 90% of the time. 

(Side note to my mother: I was watching Intervention this week, and a family was being interviewed about their daughter who was the addict and subject of this particular episode. Her mother said: "She was the most exhausting person I had ever met. Even as a child." HAHAHA! I thought of you. :)

So, yeah, I love the chaos created by two terriers. Even if I do complain occasionally. So, this week's edition of my favourite 3 Things is devoted to critters.

ONE •

Verameat jewellery. She has so many pup-themed pieces and I am coveting the Terrier Ring. (*hint, hint*). Select items are available at Rac Boutique in Yorkville. 

TWO ••

Dog Gadgets! A few years ago, I ordered a heated dog bed (I know, I know) from Hammacher Schlemmer, a weird online/catalog company that Alex's brother loves. Dudley hated the bed. But ever since, they have been mailing me catalogs. They have some pretty amazing stuff (gadget-y useful/useless inventions like the always-cool pillow, and remote-controlled beverage cooler on wheels) but two particular items made me laugh hysterically. I love my dogs, but come ON! Introducing: the Dogbrella and the Canine Twitterer. What? (Don't forget to order gift-wrapping :P)

THREE •••

Dennis Marciniak. Dennis is my blogTO friend (he makes me look really, really good when he shoots for my posts) and I found so many great animal shots on his personal site, I had to share. Check out his site daily - there's a new photo every day!