When Cats Fly

{Aritzia's Flying Cats}

Has anyone been to Aritzia lately?  Have you noticed the window display?  Lol, I think it's hilarious.  I don't know how they come up with things like this, but Aritzia's new "magical flying cats" have taken over the store windows.  They even have their own cat tail/tale (read it here) to explain their mystical existence, and are apparently so popular with customers that they'll be on sale starting Nov. 23rd on a first come first serve basis.  So if you're looking for the weirdest Christmas gift ever, the search is over. 

-image via Aritzia-

A Musical Interlude

{The Arkells - John Lennon}

When I was in first year university my best friend was a boy who was rarely found without his guitar and spent many an evening playing songs by artists I'd never heard of in an attempt to broaden my musical horizons....an effort that was more or less wasted on a girl who loves Britney Spears.  Fast forward 7 years and the boy has a band, The Arkells, and they're kind of amazing.  I got a chance to see them perform at one of their Olympic shows earlier this year in Vancouver and they killed it.  Their debut CD Jackson Square is awesome (and available here - along with some pretty cool merch) but if you can go see them live cause it's a sick show.  Check out my favorite track above.          

One Fine Day

{The 1010 Project}

London's Victoria Hannan organized a really cool project.  The concept: 10 images, 10 photographers, each taken on 10/10/10.  The result is 100 gorgeous photographs of a single, lovely day, captured from 10 different points of view across the world that showcase the beauty of the quotidian.

{10/10/10}

-images via 1010project.com-

Fired Up

{S/S 2011}

One of the major trends for Spring/Summer 2011.....fiery shades of yellow, orange and red.  While many shows were dominated by white and muted celestial hues some designers broke free and had some fun with bright, exciting colours in their new lines.

From left to right by row: Michael Kors, Victoria Beckham, BCBG Max Azria, VPL, Fendi, Costume National, Commuun, Lanvin & Marc Jacobs (his model's styled like a hot tranny mess but I think the outfit's really interesting and gorgeous).

-images via style.com-

Pumpkin Patch

{Frootogo Orchards}

This weekend my family made its annual trip to the pumpkin patch to pick up some decorations for the front of our respective houses and traipse around a farm for the day.  It is seriously one of my favorite days of the year.  We were lucky enough to get perfect weather and even ventured into the pick your own area to get some pumpkins straight off the vine.  While a few of us may have gone a bit overboard at the farm, it's hard not to when there's also fresh-made cider, pies, jam, stew and locally grown vegetables.  I was also pretty excited to have somewhere to use my new camera! 

Shades of Black

{Andy Warhol, Portrait of Conrad Black, 1982}

My favorite Warhol painting is not a can of Campbells soup, or silkscreens of Elvis.  It's a portrait of Conrad Black - or set of 4 to be exact.  Fiercely intelligent, ruthlessly ambitious, master of sagacious wordplay, and occasionally even self-deprecatingly funny (as seen here), Canadian expatriate Lord Black of Crossharbour was the 3rd largest newspaper magnate in the world until fraud charges saw his fall from grace and landed him in a US federal prison.  Despite his (alleged) legal transgressions, there's always been something I hugely admire about Conrad Black.  He's not just smart, he's clever and almost incomparably shrewd.  And he created his empire in print media, how could I not like him.  If I were a rich girl I would have one of his Warhols hanging in my home office.  And it would seem I'm not alone....the above portrait, auctioned by Christie's in 2007, made headlines after going to an anonymous private collector for considerably higher than its top estimate.  I love Black's expression in it, and the sense of naïve arrogance he projects as a young man.  One of the remaining three portraits can be seen in person at the Vancouver Art Gallery, the other two reside in private collections, one being CB's own.

Paparazzi

{Nikon D5000}

I'm picking up my new Nikon D5000 tomorrow and I am BEYOND excited!!  Once I get past figuring out what all those buttons do it will also mean good things for the blog as I hope that eventually the vast majority of the photography will be original.  Best early birthday present....though it looks like my weekend will involve a lot of reading manuals!

Special thanks to my common-law brother-in-law Jon for all of his advice and leads in choosing the right DSLR.

Moving Up

Having moved to a new loft a couple months ago I have finally hit that point where getting my stuff settled in has passed and I am anxious to get some new furniture and accents to polish the space up and make it look more homey.  I'm even debating repainting the whole place because while there's nothing wrong with the neutral colour throughout, it's looking more than a little dingy and scuffed after god knows how long on the walls.  Here are a few rooms that I really like and am planning to use as inspiration.  Before and after shots of my place hopefully soon to follow...

-images via design*sponge-

Heritage Biker

{Burberry Prorsum S/S 2011, London}

On Wednesday the last of the runways lines in Paris signified the wrap-up of the major S/S fashion shows.  It's already been a couple of weeks since the fashionistas invaded London to see the British collections, and yet I am only just writing about what was by far my favorite of the bunch - Burberry Prorsum.  Perhaps it was that I had trouble editing down the looks to post...and I'll admit that in the end my shortlist is not so short.  But how could it be?  Burberry Prorsum might be the only line where I would wear every single womenswear piece they sent out.  It's not just stylish, it's undeniably luxurious and cool.  Designer Christopher Bailey dubbed the collection Heritage Biker, drawing from Burberry's traditional past and juxtaposing it with the sexy edginess that the label is embracing today.  It's an unlikely pairing of ideals, but it more than works.  And as always, nobody does a coat like Burberry.  

-images via style.com-

Irish It Up

{Katie Quinn Davies' Chocolate Guinness Cake w/Cream Cheese Icing}

I have to credit design*sponge with this post, as it was there that I came upon this amazing-looking Guinness cake by Katie Quinn Davies...recipe here.  A chocolate cake with cream cheese icing and Guinness added for moisture?  Yes, please.  (Sidenote - how cool is her angel food pan?  Mine's heart-shaped and makes everything that comes out of it look sadly dilapidated.)  My birthday is coming up and I am already thinking of coaxing some member of my family into making it for me (hi Kate).

*UPDATE* My sister made this for me and it was unreal....highly recommended!

-photographs by Katie Quinn Davies-

Relative Locations

 {Les Bassins}

 {Institut Culturel Suédois}

 {Jardin de Roses}

 {Vue de Belleville}

 {Reykjavik}

 {The Old Graveyard}

 {Valley Reykjadalur}

{Whale Watching}

Photographer Ami Sioux had an amazing idea for a book.  She asked 50 people living in Reykjavik, Iceland to draw maps of their favorite places in the city, and then she followed the maps to find and photograph them.  Last year she did the same thing in her home base of Paris.  The results are Reykjavik 64º08N 21º54W and Paris 48º49N 2º29E, travel/photography books filled with the cities' hidden gems, capturing the places and experiences that have become significant to their inhabitants and serving as a sort of resident's guide.  The photographs are amazing, but what I really love is that she included all the hand-drawn maps that accompany them, each with its own personalized character and charm.

-images via Ami Sioux-