In-Vested While Grocery Shopping

The lesson from this blog post is: If you are super tired, and super hungry, do not take your blog pics at a grocery store where everything looks so yummy, and so tempting.

Back to the outfit, the last time I wore this vest my friend Jen P left me a note on Facebook, suggesting that the next time I wear it, I should cinch it with a skinny black belt. So, for Jen, I gave it a shot.

My colleague Diane made an interesting observation about the vest: She said I picked one that makes me look like my cat Basil. Um, is that possible? You be the judge: here is a picture of Basil, does the vest look like his fur?

~ Photos by a Mystery Photographer ~

Outfit Details:

Green Top from Forever 21 in Detroit

Pinstriped Jacob Skirt

Fur Vest purchased in New York and also worn here 

Payless Boots

Leaf Earrings from Forever 21 in Detroit

Tights from H&M


Thanks for coming by! Hope you're all having a great, productive week!

Leopard Camo

Please don't mock my intense look as I inspect my neighbour's branches. I like to really get into character during these shoots, ok?

As I mentioned in this post, I have been longing for leopard for a while, and when I found this skirt in New York for an amazing price - featured here - I had to pick it up!

I have really grown to love animal prints, and they can easily be worn as neutrals. You can see a couple of posts of snakeskin prints here and here.


~ Photos by wonderfully talented Chris ~

Outfit Details:

Alfred Sung Shirt from Zellers

Forever 21 Leopard Print Skirt picked up in New York City at Crossroads

H&M Tights and Gold Belt

Bracelets were a birthday gift from my sister Nazia, worn previously here

Picked up this necklace in Vienna, Austria, also worn here

Payless Boots

Gold Hoops from Saskatoon

Belted Patriotism

I absolutely love this belt, my colleague Chris gave it to me and I wear it without fail every Canada Day! Oh Canada Belt!

I know for many being so openly patriotic is kind of uncool, or kind of un-Canadian. It's something we associate more with our neighbours to the south in the United States, but I really love Canada, and all the opportunities and joys it has offered my family. I've had the opportunity to live in four other countries, and I'm glad that Canada (Toronto specifically) is my home.

~ Photos by Nazia ~

Outfit Details:

Jacob Dress and I have it in black also here

Payless Boots

H&M Tights

My awesome 'Canada' beaded belt a gift from Chris H

Leopard Scarf from mom

Earrings were a birthday gift Sana and David also worn here

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Tailored at Tristan & America

This blazer is another one of those items that I've had in my closet for a very long time - I think maybe 11 or 12 years. I bought it at Tristan & America, when I was working there while in school. I never shopped at Tristan before I worked there, and after I left the boutique I haven't shopped there since. The prices are too high. But while I was there I bought a number of great suits, most of which I still have. So if I know that the clothes are generally well made, and last a long time, and it's a Canadian company - why don't I just get over my spending phobia and get stuff at Tristan? I wish that 40% staff discount was a life long deal.

 My awesome brooch from my friend Priyanka.

~ Photos by Nazia ~

Outfit Details:

Blazer from Tristan and America

Ruffle T-shirt from The Gap

Uniqlo Black Skinny Jeans bought in New York City, also worn here

Boots from Winners

Brooch from Priyanka, worn here 

Pearl Earring from Purple Jade

Purple and Red + The Book of Negroes

 To some red and purple might seem like an unusual, maybe even a garish, combination - but those are my favourite two colours and I love them together. And I also like the unexpected mix of an Indian kurti top with a pencil skirt (which is actually a dress). 

~ Photos by Nazia ~


I've just finished reading 'The Book of Negroes' by Lawrence Hill. It was a such a heart breaking, gut wrenching read. Not something I would normally opt for in a fiction selection, since as a journalist we deal with enough 'reality' and suffering, but this was a fantastic read. Did any of you read it? What did you think? And does anybody have any good fiction suggestions? I'm thinking of reading 'The Help' - any thoughts on that guys?

Outfit Details:

Fab India Kurta Top purchased in Mumbai

Purple Dress worn as skirt from Glamorous on Yonge Street, which is no longer open
You can see another example of a dress worn as a skirt here.

H&M Tights

Winter Boots from Winners

The white scarf is a gift from my mom, seen here at Christmas and here in New York City

Knit Hat from Sharon's on Parliament, which is also sadly no longer open, also worn here

Earrings from my cousin Sabrina, worn here on New Years Eve

Two Blouses Make One Top

 I really like this idea of two blouses, with different patterns, layered on top of each other. This idea was inspired/stolen directly from Kristin and her wonderful blog Doll Parade. Thanks for the idea Kristin!

 Sometime I have odd outfit days - halfway through the day I realize that I don't really like the way my outfit looks. On this day, I liked my outfit but the camera sure didn't. I asked three different friends to take pics for this post, but none were working out. Was this some sort of sign from the blogging gods saying 'don't post this outfit - it's not good'? I sure hope not, because here is my outfit.

~ Photos by Dagna and Nazia ~

Outfit Details:

Gap Long Sleeved Blouse from Double Take

H&M Short Sleeve Blouse from TV show wardrobe sale

Uniqlo Black Skinny Jeans purchased in New York along with these

Blue Suede Shoes purchased at Blanco in Lisbon, also worn here and here

Earrings from Blanco in Lisbon

Pearl Necklace from street vendor at Cabbagetown Festival

San Diego Sunset Jeans

These pants always spark a reaction because they are so pink. Or are they? See, at work, we couldn't really decide what colour they were: Peach? Salmon? Flamingo? Well, a couple of my colleagues, who I don't want to embarrass but let's just call them "C-aemon" and "D-hris" decided that the perfect description of the colour is - get ready - San Diego Sunset. I've not been to San Diego, so I'll just have to take their word for it. But friends, not only did these two come up with a fantastic name, but they also wrote AND recorded a song about these pants. I'm not joking. For the sake of not making a complete fool out all of us, I'll just share the chorus with you here:

San Diego sunset,

as we're sharing a slow dance

My heart used to be blue,

now it's the colour of her pants

My colleague "C-aemon" definitely has a talent for labelling outfits, because he is also the one that came up Deconstructed Tiger. Sadly, there is no song for that outfit. Not yet anyway.

~ Photos by Chris ~

Outfit Details:

Kamal Top - Gift from Chris

San Diego Sunset Jeans were from a wardrobe sale at work

Earrings from Rwanda: Gift from Rebecca also worn here

Boots from Kensington Market also worn here

Fashioning Art

 We took these pictures close to the University of Toronto and you can read why below...

 Back in December, I was waiting for someone in a coffee shop. While sitting there, I couldn't help but overhear a conversation between two university students. The young woman mentioned that she was studying to be a painter. Listening to her describe her joy, and what she was learning, it took me back to a part of my past that I haven't thought about it in a very long time: 


 When I was a little girl, and right up into my mid-teens, I wanted to be an artist, a painter specifically. I spent all my free time, after school, summer breaks, vacations, and Christmas holidays sketching, drawing, and painting. Looking at movies and magazines for inspiration and always taking my work to my mother - a talented artist herself - for her approval. 


 But then, taking art classes in high school started becoming a chore. I hated that everything had to be broken down and dissected. Why couldn't I just make beautiful things? Why wasn't that good enough? I ended up studying politics and international development in university, but I continued to take art theory and history on the side. And all these years later, listening to the young woman talk about what her art meant to her, it made me realize that part of the reason I do this blog, maybe a large part, is because it's a sort of painting. I paint myself everyday, different colours, applications, moods, light, always a reflection of the environment and the inspiration all around. And the blog allows me to display art. I don't claim to be a Picasso or a Coco Chanel but I try to pay homage to them and all the great artists here.

Outfit Details:

Banana Republic Dress: Gift from Chris who was also today's photographer

Jacob Waterfall Sweater: Gift from my cousin Sabrina

Madewell Earrings: Gift from my cousins Sana and David from The One of Kind Show

Suzy Shier Bracelet

H&M Tights

Payless Boots

Thanks for dropping by!

Blue and Bun

I've shown you a four times in the past two-three months how to wear your dresses as tops: here, here, here and here. So we were overdue for a post where I use a dress as a skirt. I love this black and white floral print summer dress, and I wanted to find a way to wear in the winter time, so a nice cobalt turtle neck seemed to do the trick.

Wishing everyone a very happy lunar new year!

~ Photos by Chris ~

Outfit Details:

R & W Co. Blue Turtleneck Top

Black and White Floral Dress from Winners

Suede Boots from Urban Outfitters

H&M Navy Winter Tights, Gift from Sabrina and Rohan; also worn here

H&M Skinny Belt

Necklace, Gift from Chris; also worn here

Earrings from Saskatoon

Mish Mash

  I've had these pictures for a few weeks. At first, I thought this outfit was a whole bunch of crazy. On this day, nothing was fitting right (too much holiday treating and self indulging) and I just wanted to get some stuff in the rotation so voila - you get this mish mash of craziness. But looking at the pics after some time, maybe the outfit wasn't as crazy as I initially thought. I kind of feel like an eccentric old lady in this outfit. Anyway, the mish mash mood carried on because we couldn't decide on a place to shoot. So we shot at a bunch of places and hoped for the best.

This necklace was given to me by my friend Dagna. It was her grandmother's from Poland. I love that she would share something so personal with me and I feel honoured every time I wear it. She also gave me the green bracelet I'm wearing here. 

 This blazer was a thrift find, it's too big for me, but I bought it mostly for the skirt which I absolutely love, and I wore here.

~ Photos by Loren ~

Outfit Details:

Blazer: thrifted, you can see the matching skirt here.

Dress worn as Top: Winners

Skirt: Jacob

Hush Puppy Boots bought at Bellini Shoes

Necklace: Gift from Dagna via her grandmother in Poland

Earrings: Saskatoon