Doves gliding silently through the cloudy sky.

When my mum was visiting, we took a trip to the Van Dusen Gardens on Oak St.
It. Was. Gorgeoussss.
Hard to believe we went at the beginning of May, wearing shorts, and now the Pacific Northwest is plagued with 13 degree temperatures and rain for days at a time. I hope June treats us better.







Mum, taking notes for her next Art Knapps trip.







My sister and I are heading out of the big city to visit our family tomorrow. It likely won't be that relaxing, but such a nice getaway. And I haven't seen my dad & brothers in a while!

EDIT: from now on, I am uploading photos to zee blog in a slightly larger size than before (more detail!!), so be sure to click on the images to SEE. THEM. BIG.

Happy Anniversary, Mum & Dad

It was my parents' 29th wedding anniversary recently. I had a phone chat with my mum just now and she told me all about their adorable anniversary gift mix-up:

They decided together that they weren't going to buy each other gifts this year but my mum spotted a gorgeous mantle clock that she couldn't resist and bought it as a surprise for both of them from both of them for their anniversary. The chiropractor, Martha, ran into my mum at the jewelers, saw her buying the clock and my mum told her what it was for not realising that my dad had a chiropractor before their anniversary. When Martha sees my dad later on, she gushes about how perfect the gift is and my dad says... what gift? So she says... oh dear, you weren't supposed to know about that were you? Anniversary morning my mum finds a little box on the table and says... we decided we weren't exchanging gifts this year! And my dad says... well I heard from a fairly reliable source that you got me something as well. He buys her a gold necklace and they both get their mantle clock.



1981

Click for detail


Although you can't see it in its glory, the gown was my Grandma's (mum's mum) from the 1940s and I hope to wear it in turn as well. When I visit my grandparents at the end of the summer for their 90th birthdays, I will dig up the first generation of the dress!

Family Photo Album Pt. I

Dad's class, 1958.



Click image to enlarge.

Last summer when I was living with my parents, I took the liberty of paroosing through my grandparents' family photo albums to scan and pillage as many photos as I could get my grimey little hands on.

Having already posted one of these (in the form of the most handsome picture known - ever) , I think I feel a series coming on...

Fashion inspiration-wise: can we please just take a minute to drool over the lady on the right's dress? The detail at the neckline is gorgeous. And how adorable is the little girl smack-dab in the middle of the frame, in the tie-up short sleeved cardigan? So proper. The girl in the same row on the far left, what a stunning face - I wonder what she looks like now...

Oh, my dad is the rascaley-looking one second from the left in the second row.

Strange woes and strange pleas.

There is presently a back-log of unpublished photos on my computer spanning five months.
Friends' visits to Vancouver in DECEMBER, fondue and cheese parties, outfit post ideas, Switzerland AND Austria... I've been keeping this all (and more) from you.



(I really don't know WHAT I was thinking not buying this. Who knows.)

Well, here's the explanation: a few weeks behind in photo editing, hooray, really - I love tinkering about in Photoshop. A month behind, yikes, but I can deal because it's still enjoyable... Five months of photos that need editing? Now it just seems like work - and not fun. Needless to say I'm overwhelmed.



(Our new old sofa. She fits so well in our tiny, white apartment.)

WELL THIS IS WHINEY OF ME.



(Outfit deets include: thrifted & altered dress, thrifted girl's jean jacket, AA over-the-knee socks. And our sofa, Jackie. I just named her.)

So, friends. Help me to stop feeling sorry for myself and get me pumped to share photos with you.

Vancouver! Parties! Europe!

And remind me that photos from five months ago are better late than never and that they are still fun to look at even if they are ancient.

The cat scratched off a bit of my wall decal.

Summer in Vancouver has finally decided to arrive. Fashionably late.



As evidenced by this total babe spotted by Style Quotient.

Starting to know more people in this fair city (after 4 years...) it's somewhat of a game to look through this site - even more so as the photographer seems to stalk mostly downtown (where I live). I almost always see some familiar, pretty little faces that have rightly caught SQ's eye as well.

Because aaaall that made it seem like the total babe & I are bff's, fyi, I do not know her. Not that it matters. She knows where it's at, it's Summer in Vancouver and we shall leave it at that.

Do you remember the name of that la dee doooo song?

Photos are in the loo today!

These are from a few weeks back, en fait. Right before I went to work. I remember that being a great day. After my shift Garth & Cyril picked me up and we smuggled copious amounts of snack food from IGA into the cinema and watched Avatar. And I wished so hard that we had glowing plants.



AA trousers, belt & bodysuit, thrifted Etienne Aigner wedges, thrifted bracelet, watch was a gift from my Granny.





This mid-blink shot had to be included because of this:

Cyril: you look like such a thug. "yeah, I got a lot of shampoo, AND WHAT?"

Now, to continue my French readings where I dozed off last night on the couch... Le grand débat sur l'identité nationale! FREN 334 final = 8:30 AM tomorrow. Ugh, really?

She looked upon the earth with wisdom in her eyes.

Today is so fantastically nice out! C & I had lunch at Thai Basil on Thurlow St on the patio(sidewalk). It was lovely. I just ran errands in a cardigan and bare thighs. Bare. Glory.
Now, sunless tanner, walk my way.

Your's truly in December '09 (notice candy cane in frame & baubles on orchid), a sunny but frigid weather day. I stumbled upon this in a folder and thought it looked nice.



H&M cardigan, Cyril's UO shirt, UO skirt, AA tights, Caroline's thrifted heels, thrifted coat.

Cookies are being made as we speak, y'all. And it's a double batch. Containing an entire 500g jar of Adam's peanut butter. And a whole cup of butter. Maybe you can come over. Maybe.

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to school we go.

I have a hard time believing this is all going down at 7:30 in the morning. But here we are, 7:23am it is! Luckily, coffee was drunk prior to 7:23 as were eggs and grapefruit eaten.



Blouse: thrifted by my mum, AA tights & dress (as skirt), Caroline's thrifted shoes.



And now I'm just left to watch the crows and seagulls destroy the dumpster outside our apartment because a certain restaurant stuffs it to the brim and then leaves the lid open. And the landlord says we aren't to have a recycling bin because it attracts a mess? Uh-huh...

7:30 and this puppy's wrapped! Let's get ready for school.

Hello Mr Fox.

The blogging world is such a cozy little spot to be. Especially when you can run into and draw inspiration from beautiful spaces like: Hello Mr Fox.

The foxy lady herself, Hannah, always looking so comfy and adorable.





Always churning out gorgeously detailed photos with such a warm feel.





Hannah just announced she will be opening a shop in the near future! And when the girl consistently finds beautiful things like these... enough said. I am so excited.









(These pieces are from all around Hello Mr Fox, not necessarily from her shop.)

Sigh, so romantic!

I don't think I have said anything about it yet, but I got a job in fashion! It's probably not what you would think I mean by "in fashion" but it's a start and an in and I really enjoy it so far.

Otherwise, Switzerland/Austria photos are still patiently awaiting treatment in my computer - well not too patiently. As are, embarrassingly, far too many others. So now that the dreaded Wednesday is over, I have more time to spend being creative/productive in my own little space!

Naps, oh beloved naps, how thee haunt me.

This outfit was from the day I gave a horrid French grammar presentation. Other than that it was a very nice day - one of the first real warm days of the year.



Thrifted & altered girl's jacket, Mango jeans, AA blouse, Fletcher by Lyell for UO cardi, Granny's old brooch, Payless oxford heels.



You know that thiiiing... that thing you tell yourself to make your life(assignment deadlines) seem more manageable and not as though it(they) will smash your head in at any minute and that it(they) is(are) creeping up on you and that one day you will realise ALL YOUR ASSIGNMENTS ARE DUE basically TOMORROW.
Yeah... that thing. "When I just get past next Wednesday, my life will be back to chill-town".
What about until next Wednesday?! Horror, that's what. And we haven't even touched exams yet.

Boohoo, student life, I know.

Good thing we didn't have to clean up all that cheese this morning.

I like looking at street style blogs in the morning in my pyjamas.



It gives me the courage to get dressed.


This lovely thing happened to be on one of Vancouver's street style blogs, Style Quotient, this morning.
I love everything about her outfit; the messiness of it, how she manages to rock black leggings with a white dress/skirt (something I just cannot do) and pairs them with brown boots no less. The tones are neutral and safe in that way but I applaud her on breaking up colour like that - again, something I shy from. And that angel white, wispy hair? Love.

Now dressed and ready for school...

Wie isch es gsi? Ungloublech

The most perfect day I could imagine. Was this day.

Breakfast: farm fresh egg, crusty/fluffy bread, swiss cheese, nespresso and fruit.



Chocolate factory: cheap "flawed" chocolates...



... including unlimited samples. UN.Limited. Unlimited.



Thrift shopping: taking 10 steps outside the chocolate shop only to reach one of the most magnificent Brockehüser of my life, can it get any better?



If only my suitcase were bigger and my pockets deeper.



Dinner: a dangerously delicious fondue made by the lovely Fabian. Homemade fig bread dipped in garlicy winey cheese? Damn, just. Damn.



800g of heroin. Er, cheese.



Evening: discussing philosophy, politics and English literature. I adore.



To be honest, though: every day I spend in this town - in this country - on this continent - is perfect. I'm really not exaggerating either. One week left.