2012

2011 was an incredible rollercoaster of a year. A year of many firsts of both the great (opening our store, launching our collection, learning to drive & making wonderful new friendships) and the not so great variety. I'm not one for making resolutions and when I do the usual "avoid my list of foods that irritate my belly" it only lasts a few weeks before I can no longer avoid the inevitable grilled cheese sandwich (sweet sweet gluten and dairy, my enemies how I love you so). This year I'd like to make some though and that is to be more aware; more mindful of the precious present & of those around me. I hope my social interactions will leave my companions feeling warm, loved and heard. I hope that I can keep my tongue tamed and used for words of encouragement & focused on all the wonderful moments & people life has brought.

Here's to the New Year! <3

hairy christmas!

My christmas present came two days early when my terrific brother-in-law, Gavin, mixed up his very own cotton candy pink and slathered my canary yellow locks in it. You can visit him for your own mermaid hued hair do at his salon (owned by his pops) in Phoenix!

Visit Gavin here!

Off to eat mountains of cheese and paint ornaments!

<3 

Sophie and Eloise

Some pictures from back when beautiful Sophie was visiting.

We're off to Arizona tomorrow morning and from there onto Ottawa (a very confusing suitcase this is going to make for). I've still loads of packing, cleaning & eating to do before we head out at the happy 4am hour! Hopefully I'll have a chance to update a few times more before Christmas but just in case, a very merry christmas to all of you! I hope you all have a fantastic time with friends and family this holiday season. <3 Here's a little mix of songs that I listened to on repeat this year: in love.

Petra, Julia, Tavi, Pippin & Bobo

During fashion week I had the unexpected pleasure to host a trio of beautiful (and extraordinarily talented) young ladies as they turned my livingroom into a teen dream of plastic and pink (specifically my teen dream, heh). They were working on a video tutorial for Rookie Magazine, which if you haven't already heard, is pretty much the best thing to happen to teenaged interneters since livejournal and makeoutclub? I sometimes feel really weird that I (a grandma) find more identifiable and inspiring content on there than any other space on the internet. I am so in awe of this group of young folk who are unashamedly exploring their opinions and beliefs in such a public space, something I've never been able to do outside the safety of the friends only lock on livejournal. 

Take a gander at their project here!

Petra's photos for Rookie here.

Tavi's stories for Rookie here.

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montclair

Landon and I were afforded the rare opportunity of riding in a car last Friday! We took a trip to bucolic New Jersey for the day with Jordan.

I must confess, this entry was made solely for procrastination purposes, should really get back to work now :-/. Have a safe and Happy Halloween all! Just in case you haven't had a listen yet, I've three halloween mixes here: Vampires, Monsters & Supernaturals.

Promenade

My favourite feature of our vintage playboy collection has always been the little "day in the life" photo series of their centerfold (especially the series on Miss January 1967, Surrey Marshe). This lot that Landon snapped the other day while running errands in our neighbourhood reminded me a little of those features.

The yellow dress has long been a favourite but it's worn out and (much like the rest of my closet) on it's last legs. If any of you vintage enthusiasts should ever come across this dress or a similar dress and you're not going to snap it up for yourself please, please let me know, I would love to have a back-up!

Hope you are all enjoying a long weekend full of "Barbe-quois"!

(ps. I feel like these pictures make me look like Molly Shannon's character on Seinfeld. )

TLO + JL slippers!

It is with great pride and jubilation that I present our collaboration with slipper company, Jacques Levine! If you're at Curve expo this weekend pop by the Jacques Levine booth to get a closer look at their latest collection including the two styles we worked on with them!

You can also follow Jacques Levine on tumblr for insightful posts from the man himself musing on vintage shoe advertisements and styles. Check it out, it's truly fascinating to read. I had the pleasure of meeting him a few months back and he was absolutely delightful and had a memory for details like I've never encountered before (my own memory is such garbage I can scarcely remember what I had for breakfast).

Mostly I just want to say: YOU GUYS, SLIPPERS! What is more decadent than a glamourous pair of mules to lounge about while in your underthings? The best thing about these "slippers" is that with their leather soles they're as good for outdoor activity as they are for indoor. I plan on never taking mine off once I get my hands on them (tried stuffing my 7.5 foot into the sample size and while they fit it had an awful Cinderella's stepsister effect that did not do these dainty shoes or my duck feet any favors). Have I ever mentioned here that all the redheads in my family (apparently, I've only just recently met them) have webbed toes? I haven't got them but I thought it was a strange coincidence that the redheads only would have them. Redheads, such a are a strange lot we are.

wearing: She Should Have Stayed in Bed & The Bed and How to Make It. 

where the heart is

Feeling much better now that I'm actually out and on my travels! Thank you for all your kind and thoughtful words of encouragement. I confess I was being a bit melodramatic about the whole thing but I couldn't help but feel weepy when there were two (err three) adorable furballs curled up nearby that I was about to leave!

I'm leaving the chilly mid-west today and am onto Los Angeles to start prepping and sending off lingerie and goodies for our upcoming pop-up shop. We've found some truly exciting pieces while buying here that I cannot wait to see all gussied up and hanging in the shop (our very first almost sort of shop!). The next two weeks are going to be a whirlwind of activity and I'm pretty excited about all of our current endeavors! Hopefully will remember to properly document this time both in pictures and words O_O.

black and light

Spent entire day with kittens purring on my lap. It is heaven with these two (though my professional life is somewhat suffering and my legs are all scratched up from kittens trying to climb them). Landon and I are proving to be the perfect hypochondriac parents, we count their sneezes, bowel movements, number of times they eat each day, are they playing enough (they are), are they sleeping enough (they are), is Bobo's belly swollen or did she just eat too much (she's just growing, like cats and children often do), pretty much anything you can possibly worry about we do (and then we talk about it non-stop to our very patient, very obliging friends who no doubt are suppressing eye rolls at our "new parent" routine). Honestly, I don't know how you parents of human children do it! I think I will have a heart attack from worry once I have walking, talking and texting (ewww) human child. I think of all the times I absent mindedly forgot to call my parents when staying out late and cringe to think of my young ones doing the same. Sometimes I worry when Pippin is under the bed napping for too long! O_o

Anyways, it's just about time for the kittens to wake up and jump around the bed and I promised myself I'd be asleep before that happened tonight to avoid the temptation of playing with them until three in the morning. Ru-roh, I see I am too late! Pippin just poked his head up and yawned at me! Dun-dun-dunnn.

(ps. you can't really see it but I'm wearing two of my favourite pieces of negligee from lovely lady Kristine of The Exhausted Etiquette!)