Merry Christmas

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and all together Happy Holidays! I'll be spending mine with family and friends, and then I'm off to Hawaii! I hope your holidays bring you as much cheer and joy as mine have brought me!

[ an awkward Christmas greeting to you all ]

gustav klimt

Gustav Klimt is an Austrian artist that my friend Kirsten and i discovered in Vienna while travelling. (ha- I say that like no one knew of him before. Obviously he was previously discovered, back in eighteen eighty-something). Anyways, we fell in love with his colorful paintings and I've since accumulated a large picture from Ikea of his "Water Serpents II" painting, and a small plate painted with "The Kiss". I've also shown one of his paintings here. Anyways, here is a few of my favorites:

[ The Kiss ]

[ Judith I ]

[ part of his "Three Ages of Women" ]

As you can see most of his paintings are based on women and a little bit of 'eroticism'.

P.S. I was watching Rihanna's "Only Girl" video and paused it at this particular moment because it was reminiscent of Klimt's "Water Serpents II" (which is what brought me to this post).

[ Rihanna's Only Girl Video ]

[ Water Serpents II ]

holiday folk

On Friday night, I went to Vogue theatre with some friends to watch the "Jon and Roy Holiday Special". The show was awesome, it was so full of energy and the crowd was so into it (exluding when Damien Jurado was playing and these 3 girls decided that would be a good time to have a conversation...long story short he told them to shut-it in the middle of his set!). All of the bands were from the West Coast - Victoria, Vancouver or Seattle. Anyways, the show started with Adam Knight and his "Friendly Friends" (his words). He had hilarious commentary in between songs and his Versicolour album is my new favorite.

Next was Current Swell, then Ryan Guldemond (from the band MotherMother), Damien Jurado and of course last but not least was Jon and Roy! I have to say I didn't know much (or anything) about some of these bands, but I loved every second of this show and I look forward to any other with these bands that I can see in the near future!

love letters

Today I finished a week straight from hell! Just kidding, it wasn't that bad. But I finished 2 finals this week, a presentation, and a photoshoot (and survived!). So once getting home and realizing I had nothing due or to study for until the weekend, I decided to open my little box of treasures. Whenever I've felt lonely or just wanted to be reminded of the special people in my life, I'll go into this box and read all of the letters, poems and treasures that I've accumulated over the years. Some are from boys, most are from friends, and others are super cheesy Disney princess Valentine's day cards from highschool. They're all very special to me and hold great meaning and memories. I have some awkward poems, some long letters from during my travels or from right after, some postcards, flower petals, stickers, and many other things. I'm a very sentimental person, and I just love looking back and reading these things that remind me of my wonderful life and how many great people I've been lucky to have met or known throughout my life. So this post is dedicated to all of you - thank-you for making me who I am, for making my life what it is, and for just being a part of it. You all make it that much more worth while!

[ my letter box ]

xxx

designer highlight: heidi merrick

Recently I came across the designer Heidi Merrick on another blog that I read. While this stuff is quite pricey, there's tons that is on sale (and even on uber-sale! yes!). However, my favorite pieces are unfortunately full price - from the Fall 2010 and Spring 2010 Collections:

fine finds

A few things that happen in a new city... are experiencing new things, and finding new places. One place that I have recently discovered is called "Fine Finds" in Yaletown; a cute little shop filled with clothes, beautiful leather bags, hand knit wool scarves, cute shoes, unique hand-made jewelry, a "kids corner", trinkets scattered throughout and the most hilarious gift cards I've ever read. While you might not like everything in the store, you're bound to find something as their stock seems to never deplete!

[ Fine Finds - 1014 Mainland St. ]

I ♥ sample sales

For all of those lovely fashionistas that love clothes AND love a good deal...this website is for you! Unfortunately it doesn't include Edmonton (sorry!) but has many other major cities and keeps you updated on all the sample sales around! Today I attended one here in Vancouver, and snagged myself some great deals :

[ j brand houlihan zip cargo in vintage west point ]

[ soaked in luxury polka-dot cardigan ]

PLUS a few things for my mum & sister.

ilovesamplesales.com

[ P.S. aren't you loving my mirror pictures? I really need a tripod ]