Your Sweet Bippy

Goodbye 2011 and Blogger!

2011-12-31T18:04:00.000-05:00

Photo courtesy kwb74 on Flickr.

You guys! Who blogs on New Year's Eve, anyway? Apparently, I do.

This has been a major year for me. Lots of change, and lots of growth. I'm living in ways I never thought possible a year ago and it is amazing.

One of the changes is to announce that this will be my last post ever on this little blog. Starting January 1st, 2012 (!), you'll be able to find me at my new internet home, jeslacasse.com.

Please update your bookmarks and redirect your RSS readers over thattaway starting tomorrow. (Seriously, y'all, I'm beyond excited!)

I hope you have a safe and fun night tonight - I'm off to ring in the new year with the Ottawa pals I've held the longest. I may or may not be wearing sequins. (But really, let's be honest, I'll be wearing sequins.)

Life In Upheaval

2011-07-23T21:09:00.000-04:00

Photo by Cimexus on Flickr.

Lovely friend!

Just stopping in to let you know that there's going to be a continued summer lull in this space, due to the following reasons:

It's far too hot to have a laptop on my body. All I want to do is sit around in my underpants, eat Freezies and watch Angel.
I'm going on vacation at the end of next month and I'd way rather look up stuff to do in LAS VEGAS than poop around with writing.
I'm doing a lot of journalling and it's taking up a lot of my emotional/creative energies.
I'M MOVING.

There will still be pop ins once in a while, but regularly scheduled blogging is taking a back seat for now. But only for now! Come new house, there is going to be a lot more time and space for blogging -- more on that soon!

Millions of kisses!

Bonus Round!

2011-07-10T15:43:00.000-04:00

More Fashion, Less Victim: Dress For Success!

2011-07-06T12:51:00.000-04:00

Illustration by Edith Head, from tiny banquet committee on Flickr.

Just a little reminder today to let you know that my July column is up over at Apartment613. In it I tackle office dressing when you don't have any clothes, and I recommend a whole bunch of autumn footwear.

Love!

Blog Out Loud Ottawa Reminder

2011-07-05T21:59:00.000-04:00

Hello darling!

Just wanted to remind you that Blog Out Loud is happening this Thursday!

It's at the Prescott, and it starts at 7PM. Do note that it's in the smaller downstairs room, and that the capacity isn't huge, so come early!

I"ll also be on CHUO at around 5:00 on Wednesday to talk about BOLO with the lovely show hosts.

Hope to see you locals Thursday!

What Is Style?

2011-07-04T07:18:00.000-04:00

From calliope_soho’s Flickr.

Whether or not someone “has style” gets bandied about a lot, without a lot of thought to the deeper meaning of the word style. Yes, it refers to how someone is dressed, their haircut, and how they put things together, but it’s not just about having the latest It Bag or a pair of incredible Balenciaga shoes.

Style equals expression. It’s how you put your elements together in the way that’s unique to you. And it’s not just your clothes! It’s how you walk, the way you talk, the pen you use, your handwriting, the dishes you put your food on, the non-verbal cues you send out (here are some great links to body language cues), the theme you choose for your Twitter page... You get the idea! It’s how we express what is in our hearts and minds to the rest of the world.

Style does not slavishly follow fashion. Style marches to its own drummer, and yes, pays attention to fashion, but adapts, absorbs, carefully selects what fits and discards the rest. Style is constantly evolving. Style, whether you like it or not, affects our individual interpersonal relationships. People are influenced by what they can see -- we humans don’t have a lot of faith in each other. Therefore we make judgments based on our senses.

Okay, so I can hear the chorus now: “Why should I care what other people think of me? Isn’t it most important that I care about me and damn the consequences? Why should I strive to be my best when there are people everywhere just getting by? It seems to be working for them!”

Well, yes and no. We all have an ideal vision of who we want to be. Close your eyes. Picture it. Is it exactly how you are now? Probably not. I’m willing to bet that it’s a rather small percentage of people who are actually happy with themselves exactly as they are. And those areas where you don’t match? That’s where the growth comes in. And in many of those areas, a little stylish wisdom wouldn’t hurt at all. The closer you get to the ideal version of yourself, the closer you get to having through-the-roof self esteem, and the closer you get to having amazing interpersonal relationships. And like it or not, your whole entire life is built on interpersonal relationships, from your love life to your career and more.

However, style is individual. How you choose to express yourself is not the same as how I choose. My pink hair, favourite purple sparkly bracelet with my name on it, or my extra-comfy and glittery sandals, these may not be your cup of tea. And that’s alright! It doesn’t have to be! What are your favourite things? How do you express them? That’s where your personal style comes in to play.

Your reputation is part of your style. Make sure it’s impeccable. If it’s not, figure out how to clean it up! Guard your reputation very carefully, because once it’s tainted (and I’m speaking from experience here), it’s very difficult to clean it back up again.

Confidence is part of your style. Enjoying yourself and not caring what others may think of that says far more about you than standing around at a party, too cool to get involved. I actually wrote about this recently, in my post On Enthusiasm.

Be distinct. Be unique. Be different. Most importantly, be you. Express yourself in everything you do. Because life is too short to be the same as anyone else.

Ottawa Fringe Festival Starts Tomorrow!

2011-06-15T09:57:00.000-04:00

Hi my lovely!

Just a quick note to remind you that Ottawa Fringe Festival is starting tomorrow! This is your chance to get out to see a whole mess of new and interesting theatre at low, low prices!

I'm going to the Fringe opening night party tonight, expect to see lots of fabulous pictures in the coming days!

MWAH!

Bippy Love: Too Faced Carribean In a Compact

2011-06-14T08:52:00.002-04:00

I am a pale, pale girl. Evidence of this can be seen here. I'm not as porcelain-skinned as I was in my early 20s, perhaps, but still I'm rather pale. I work hard to maintain my pallor (sunscreen, hello!), but from time to time, yes, I do want some colour.

If you looked back into my past, specifically at the many, many bronzers I've tried, I'm sure you'd be amazed that so many even exist! While I was working as a makeup artist, I had the luxury of trying out not only consumer products, but professional products as well (not to mention getting to try stuff in other pros' kits when we were working together). I never found something that wasn't either orange or far too dark, regardless of how gentle a hand applied it.

Then I stumbled upon Too Faced Cosmetics' Caribbean In a Compact. I was immediately drawn to the name of the colour: Snow Bunny. To me, that conjured up images of raven-haired European beauties whooshing down the Alps in white ski suits and fabulous furry hats! And even though I don't ski, or have raven hair, or have ever been to Switzerland, I definitely thought that was a look I wanted to incorporate into my life.

I like to call Snow Bunny my unbronzer. It doesn't make me look tanned, it certainly doesn't make me look orange; it just gives me the perfect shimmery and sunkissed glow.

The compact contains four bands of colour that you blend together with a brush (I like to use a kabuki brush for superior blending). Champagne, bronze, pink and the palest peach all have a subtle shimmer and make my skin look flawless.

This is my go-to for summer. If you're a pale girl like me, get yourself to Sephora to pick some up, or you can just order it online right here.

Blog Out Loud

2011-06-13T10:43:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday! I hope you had a fantastic, relaxing and productive weekend!

I went to see Daniel McIvor's This Is What Happens Next at the GCTC on Friday, had a spray paint date with my BFF (and champagne!) on Saturday, and made crafts with my man-friend on Sunday. But now it's back to the work week, out of weekend mode, and into awesome!

Here's a question: have you heard of Blog Out Loud Ottawa (aka BOLO)? It's an evening of readings by bloggers, and this is the third year that it's happening.

And you guys, I've been selected to read!
I am so excited and nervous! I would love to see you there! If you're in Ottawa, please come! Here are the deets!

What: Blog Out Loud Ottawa 2011
Where: The Prescott, 379 Preston Street
When: Thursday, July 7th, 7pm
How much: This is a FREE EVENT
Why: To hear some readings from some awesome local bloggers!

Not all the bloggers have been announced yet, but I am excited to hear the ones who have been!

Hope to see you there!

Lunchtime Lookup - June 10th, 2011

2011-06-10T09:29:00.000-04:00

Photo by artnoose.

Hi friend! It's been a fun week on the internet! Here's a roundup of links for you, to entertain you on a Friday!

I'm trying out a new format for these Lunchtime Lookups; I'm going to organize them in the same way I organize my to-do lists, notes to myself, and more!

To feed your brain:

The Awl and the history of red shoes
The Cut on the Vogue cover featuring plus-sized models (Note to The Cut: all bodies are "real" bodies, regardless of size!)
From Etsy, the history of the cheap dress (thanks, Tara!)
Fashionista shows us some horrifying parenting.
NY Daily News Forever 21 threatens to sue blogger. Because no retail store should face any criticism. EVER.
And from Zen Habits dealing with negative people, how to be irresistible at any age and the truth about soy.

To put on your body:

C&C make a pencil skirt with no pattern forget you, $40 American Apparel version!
Craftovision make a lovely fascinator Oh yes, I think I shall.
Elegant Musings' DIY bow belt Why are all these things so adorable?!
The Frisky highlights reversible jeans. I don't think these are for me - what say you?
Honestly... WTF pom pom necklace DIY - adorable!
The Long Thread has a rope handbag.

To put in your home:

CRAFT creepy creepy creepy planters (I probably wouldn't put these in my home, per se, because of all the nightmares.)
Kiki Creates ruffle duvet - I do love me a good, cheap DIY version of a more expensive thing!
Love Charles Vintage decoupage cart
So September moleskine cover tutorial

To put in your munching cave:

CRAFT mojito float OH DEAR
To that end, MAKE gin DOUBLE OH DEAR
Adorable mason jar meals at The Decorated Cookie Blog
Also from Etsy, make your own mustard. Um yes please yum.
Handjobs (For the Home) (Favourite blog name? I think so!) has recipes for almond scented apricot jam and candied lime jalapenos - I know one boy who will be happy with those!
Hangry Pants makes vegan cookie stuffed blondies.

To have fun:

Tatertots and Jello makes giant bubbles.

MAGIC.

I know some of these people! Nifty!

Pretty. Disturbing.

Vegan. Black. Metal. Chef.

PYGMY SEAHORSES. Yessssssssssssssssssss.

Yup. This is what my brain is like. All the time.

Oh Mike Dooley. Love++.

Maria Bamford is my favourite.

That's it, that's all! Have a fabulous weekend!

A Little Bit of Heaven - June 9th, 2011

2011-06-09T10:09:00.001-04:00

Image by Crystal Writer.

Hello my happy little hooligan! I hope that you have had an amazing week so far, and that you’re ready for a great big wonderful love list of amazing! Here we go!

More love in my life than I ever thought possible: I have a man-friend who trusts me, the two best friends I could wish for, and another circle of friends I know I can count on to be awesome! My female friendships are competition-free, which is totally amazing! My love for people is exploding faster and shinier than it ever has before. I am all a-twitter and a-glitter!

Emotional balance: I feel like I’ve finally gotten to an emotional place where my head screwed on straight enough that I can provide emotional support to those who need it. It makes me so happy to be able to be that friend and lover that I always knew I could be.

YOU GUYS my man friend can DO MAGIC WITH CARDS. This is incredible!

Summer: It’s here in all its glory! There’s amazing weather, all the bike rides, hot days, rainstorms, HAIL. What’s not to love about it? Summer is my favourite season, no question! I’ve been seeing flowers every single day! Some of them match my hair!

Shopping with J’aime Jaime: We got her all kitted out at Value Village for summer awesome goodness. Plus an autumn dress that almost made me not want to be friends with her anymore because she looked so good in it.

Co-hosting a yard sale with three of my favourite people. We sold some stuff, but more importantly we got to sit in the sun and play cards all afternoon, and get rid of a bunch of our unwanted things without having them go into a landfill. Plus afterwards I biked around my neighbourhood and found an old typewriter from another yard sale that was left at the curb! And a chandelier for my bedroom!

Dancing at weddings: Jeff and Lauren got married. They were lovely. Fun and dancing and drinks were had. Friends from forever ago were seen. What a time!

Giant Tiger! Their staff is adorable (Jessica, I’m looking at you, kid!). Also, I never want to spend all kinds of money on summer clothes (because I can only wear them for a couple of months), and they have crazy deals on cute things.

I finally got around to changing my wardrobe over and cleaning it out a bit! I am so lucky to have a closet full of things that I love, and I never need to worry about what to wear!

Positive response to my look: Little girls in particular love my hair (“Mummy. Mummy. Mummy. THAT LADY HAS PINK HAIR.”). Getting positive, happy words said about something that I’ve been cultivating and consciously evolving makes me want to work more on it!

Forgetting my phone at home: It’s kind of a nice feeling. I wouldn’t want to do it every day, but it’s nice to know that I can live without it.

Having a plan for decorating my bachelorette pad (tentative name: The Glitter Factory): I have been just existing in my apartment, it’s been a place to hang my hat, but my apartment is adorable and deserves a bit more of a loving touch. Plus, it’s in a neighbourhood that I love; Hintonburg has the most and the cutest puppies!

Changing my handwriting and my habits. My penmanship is getting nicer! I am making my bed every day!

SEAHORSES.

Books! Currently Emma and Memories of a Catholic Girlhood by Mary McCarthy. Reading and holding hands is quickly becoming one of my favourite activities.

This blog and YOU! Without you this blog would have no point! Thank you! And thank you so much for your kind donations! I am so lucky that you like what I’m doing so much! I also love it when you leave comments, because it gives me a bit of a chance to interact with you! More like this, please!

Ottawa! This city is pretty rad! I can pretty much get whatever I need here! The people that I love are here (although we’re losing three people I really, really like this year, and that makes me sad), and it’s close enough to Toronto or Montreal so that I can go there when I need to.

Writing: I’ve been falling back in love with the process and it feels wonderful.

Making things with my hands and having partners in craft. Fun++

Pictures and pictures and pictures. Being someone’s muse is pretty much amazing and is something I have always wanted. MANIFESTED.

PUPPIES. ALWAYS. Image by trialsanderrors.

Music music music: Ani DiFranco – Napoleon; Skee-Lo – I Wish; Colin Meloy – Cupid; Aesop Rock f. John Darnielle (SWOON) – Coffee; Great Lake Swimmers – Your Rocky Spine; Iron & Wine – Carousel; The Extra Glenns – Going to Marrakesh

Honourable Mentions: Spinning in my desk chair * Calling people “nutbag” * “A MILLION WATER” * Getting whistled at by the same parrot twice in one week * Boys who give good text * “What can I put between two quarters to make it look like a roll of quarters?” “Um... 38 more quarters.” * Planning travel with my favourite people * MAKING THIS LIST * Cake pops on the Starbucks patio while I work * Sally Hansen Salon Effects - five days and still going strong! * Getting amazing things in the mail from fantastic people

My little love bundle! What about you? What do you love? What are you thankful for?

More Fashion, Less Victim: June 2011

2011-06-08T11:09:00.001-04:00

Photo by roger_g1.

Just a reminder that you can read my column over at Apt613 right here!

Stay tuned for the one, the only, A Little Bit of Heaven tomorrow!

Product Review: Sally Hansen Salon Effects

2011-06-07T12:36:00.000-04:00

Image courtesy of Sally Hansen.

I am sometimes an impatient girl. Never is this more apparent than when investigating my manicure.

Chips, smudges, sheet prints (yes, I'm guilty of doing my nails right before bed), all can be spotted on my nails.

However, I picked up some of these Sally Hansen Salon Effects nail polish strips on sale the other day, and when I had a wedding to go to on Saturday (and no time to do my nails, much less let them dry), I thought I'd give them a whirl.

I got them in Bling It On, a very glittery pink (of course). The design of these is clever, with both ends being different shapes so you can choose a side based on the the shape of your cuticle (my fingers all have round cuticles, while my thumbs are square, so it was nice to have options). The strips go on smoothly, and once I figured out that you can double up the layers for extra opacity, it was fantasy home manicure city! I was done in about 20 minutes, which isn't no time at all, but I also didn't have to wait for an hour for these to be dry!

I've had them on since Saturday and they look as fresh as the day I applied them. The strips aren't cheap though, running from $8-$10 depending on where you buy them. Yes, that's right, they're more expensive than a bottle of nail polish. However, they are cheaper than a manicure.

I would say that these are an emergency solution for me, as in, "OH CRAP I have to be somewhere fancy and I have no time to do my nails!!!" I'll keep them on hand for that purpose. If they were cheaper (say, $1-$2 a pop) I'd probably use them a lot more often, but then they probably wouldn't be as good a product!

If you like your nails pretty but haven't any patience, try adding these to your arsenal!

Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)

2011-06-06T12:02:00.000-04:00

Photo by pullip_junk.

I’ll be the first to admit it – I’m bad at sunscreen.

That’s not entirely true. I’m bad at putting sunscreen on my shoulders and back at least once a year, which means once a year I get more sun than I should. I’m trying to be better at this, but it’s an uphill battle!

You don’t need me to lecture you on the reasons why you should use sunscreen. But maybe you’re thinking about buying one and you want to know which one would be best for you. Well, there I can help you out. I’ve been looking into it and here’s what I found!

The Environmental Working Group has a great sunscreen guide that outlines which are the best... But here's a little round-up of the best and worst!

The Best:

Alba Botanical Sun Mineral Sunscreen SPF 30
Aubrey Organics Natural Sun Sport Stick Unscented Sunscreen, SPF 30
Kiss My Face 100% Natural Blue Sun Stick, SPF 30

The Worst:

Banana Boat Sport Performance Active Max Protect, SPF 110 ("The letters SPF mean “sun protection factor” and refers only to protection against UVB radiation, which burns the skin. It has nothing to do UVA radiation that penetrates deep into the skin, accelerates skin aging and may cause skin cancer.")
Elizabeth Arden – Eight Hour Cream Sun Defense for Face, SPF 50 ("Even though sunscreen makers like Elizabeth Arden can add stabilizing additives to slow down the pace with which the cream breaks down in sunlight, this product simply does not last for hours and hours on the skin.")
Coppertone Water Babies Sunscreen Lotion SPF 70+ ("This Coppertone sunscreen is one of more than 20 sunscreens with the word “baby” in their name and the chemical oxybenzone on their ingredient lists. Don’t buy them. Plenty of safer products are available.")

Keep in mind, I'm not a health expert! I'm just passing this information along to you. When you do apply sunscreen, here's how to do it right!

Here's hoping you have a burn-free summer!

Lunchtime Lookup - June 3rd, 2011

2011-06-03T17:38:00.001-04:00

Image by Rainbow Photos.

Hoo boy, baby, it`s a late one today! Perhaps this is a dinner-time lookup!

I spent the day thrifting and preparing for tomorrow`s yard sale - if you`re in Ottawa, come on out to Midway Avenue for their yearly neighbourhood sale! And now I`m chilling out in my best friend`s backyard, sipping sangria and providing distractions for you! All for love! Exclamation points!

The Sartorialist has young ladies on bicycles. Yes please. I hope I look this good on my bike! Also, thank you for vintage kissing in matching sweaters. All the love. All of it.

Adventures In Dressmaking has a tutorial for an adorable burlap boutonniere. I believe I know just the young man I would make this for!

Refinery29 and the YSL cigarettes.

Laura Thoughts made this brilliant magnetic makeup board. The Virgo in me is squealing over this kind of storage awesomeness!

Just Something I Made has this awesome expanding file with a vintage book cover. It looks way too labour-intensive for me, but pretty.

Chocolate On My Cranium has a tutorial on how to pretty-up your pens. Dead simple!

Sarah Wilson in defense of the hipster. Yes. I own it. To the same end, Flavorwire's In Defense of Twee.

I don't know if Angela at Oh She Glows is a genius or what, but her recipes never cease to amaze. Gazpacho? I want to go to there. All summer. Also, on my to-do list this week was "make kale chips", so I think I'll be using her recipe for sour cream and onion ones!

Dear See Kate Sew, why is this vintage suitcase chair the cutest thing I've ever seen?!

CRAFT has a how-to for a peg board made with toy animal heads - it's like teeny tiny taxidermy! Love+++!

They also show off this room divider made from old paperbacks, and it makes me think I could DIY this rather simply! And a necklace made out of bubble wrap? What!?

Babble, why do you hate me? Deep fried strawberries, indeed.

Thanks, JRD Skinner!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Chris Tse is an Ottawa lad who is currently competing in Paris at the
International Poetry Slam Championships, representing Canada.
Go Chris!

That`s it, kiddo! Enjoy your weekend! XOXO!

A Little Bit of Heaven - June 2nd, 2011

2011-06-02T10:15:00.001-04:00

Image by kainet.

What is up, candy cup? I hope you're having an incredible week so far!

As I write this, I'm sitting on a balcony high above the city, with the sounds of children playing in a water park drifting up to me, enjoying some lovely sunshine...

But that doesn't matter, as much as I may love it. Here's what matters: it's time for the great big, long missed Thursday love list: A Little Bit of Heaven! Here's what's been turning my crank this week!

The Canadian Museum of Nature: I got taken there on a lovely date recently, and it was super-boss-awesome-fun-time to look at dinosaurs, bugs, plants, and especially rocks!

Being physically active - specifically taking long, long weekend walks and going for bike rides all the time. I find I resent time spent at the gym (although I love going), but doing fun stuff while getting exercise is just fine by me!

To that end, private underpants dance parties! There have been so many of these in my life lately and they are absolutely amazing!

Amazing friends who pick me up from surgery. Specifically, Justin, who is awesome and took time out of his work schedule to come and get me.

Taking photos with toy film cameras, especially my Lomo! I've also been playing with a Vivitar point-and-shoot and using Vignette for my phone when I want something digital. Also, my amazing Android phone, the LG500. Love++!

Dates with myself. Last week I took myself to Fil's, drank Perrier with lemon, ate a grilled cheese on rye bread, read Emma, and listened to my favourite Beatles songs. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamazing.

Photo by J B Hildebrand.

New vintage sunnies that I probably got gouged on but I love them so much that I don't care, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay pinker hair, and eating nectarines (which I like to call protectarines). Also of note, a polka dotted dress with pearls and wearing my non-shorn hair in a ponytail. (Since I only have hair on one side of my head and it`s crazy vibrant violet pink, I feel a bit like a My Little Pony!)

My dad and my gentleman friend have been e-mailing each other because my dad needs advice on a purchase in my friend's field, and it's been really cuting me out!

Honourable Mentions: Cinnabon surprises * Sleeping through the night * $5 food processors * Edward Scissorhands * Setting SMART goals! * Having a dream about jumping on a trampoline * OhMiBod Freestyle * Vintage jewelry picked up for a song at yard sales * Spinach + fruit in a salad * Perfect strangers telling me they love my hair * Especially when they're adorable little girls * Bonus points for being named Bella and being the sweetest girl in the world

Instead of just listing all the songs and music I've loved this week, here are some links to some YouTube clips of them! Un petit playlist, if you will!The Beta Band - Dry the Rain (seriously, kiss someone you really, really like while you're listening to this), Belle Orchestre - Throw It On a Fire (creepy video...), Frightened Rabbit - Backwards Walk, MIA - Fire Fire, Girl Talk - Let It Out, Fuad & the Feztones - Camel Walk (not the best quality, but trust me when I tell you that their record Beeramid is totally worth picking up and I crush on this band hard), oh man, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs YES STILL - Heads Will Roll and Handsome Furs - I'm Confused (the Bluesfest 2009 combo), Wax Mannequin - End of Me (one of the best shows I`ve seen in a while!), and finally, Mr. Oizo - Flat Beat!

I have no idea what this really is but I highly recommend you watch it. My
gentleman friend showed it to me on a night when we whiled away the
hours showing each other stuff we love on YouTube. This is what English
sounds like to a non-English speaker.

What about you, darling dear? What is making you happier than happy this week? What makes you feel rich? How are you loved? Tell us in the comments!

Bippy Love: PR Design

2011-06-01T11:54:00.001-04:00

Image courtesy of PR Design.

Last weekend, after I napped to recover from the Great Glebe Garage Sale (phew!), I woke up and checked in with Twitter, and realized that ArtsPark was happening right down the street from my house!

ArtsPark is an annual event in Hintonburg, with displays of, well, art, as well as more jewelry vendors than you can shake a stick at, if that's the sort of thing you like to do to jewelry vendors.

Well, I jumped right out of bed, threw on a cute outfit, and hopped on my lovely bicycle (Eliza, don't you know) and headed over... After catching up for a moment with Krista of Urbanite Jewelry (I have an amazing pair of earrings of hers, and I love them, and I'd link to them but it's looks like she's sold out for the summer, much like her stall...), I continued around to the other vendors.

I saw some pretty things, yes, but most of them were way out of my price range for the day... Then I came upon the stall for PR Design!

You guys.

This stuff is beautiful.

I bought the necklace that matches the earrings in the photo at the top of this post. Patricia Rodi, who designs and makes the jewelry out of reclaimed materials whenever possible and strives to make them hypoallergenic, was completely sweet to boot and sent me the nicest e-mail yesterday morning, saying in part, "I just wanted to thank you for purchasing that button necklace last weekend at ArtsPark, though I don't know you it seems to fit your personality."

Isn't that just the sweetest?!

In all seriousness, I can highly recommend her jewelry. It's beautiful. And I recommend you snatch it up right now before she realizes what a beautiful thing she does and raises her prices accordingly!

Donate to Your Sweet Bippy!

2011-05-31T09:29:00.001-04:00

Photo by Ken Teegarten.

Hi lovely!

I don't make it a common practice to ask for money. Not even to my parents when times were desperate in my 20s. So I want to be clear that I'm not asking for money now.

People have expectations that the internet should be all free, all the time. Writers shouldn't be paid for their work, right? All photos should be public domain? That's unfortunate.

I'm gearing up to launch my own website, and I'll soon be saying bye bye to Blogger. It's been fun, but it's time to move on up in the world. However, running a website costs money, and while I'd do this for free if I could, it would be really swell to have some extra coin once in a while to help defray the costs involved.

So I'm putting it out there. If you like what you see, and you want to keep it going, feel free to make a donation. The donate button is in the sidebar, just over there to your right.

If you don't feel like it, well, I'm not going to hold it against you. I'm certainly not going to make you stop reading. I don't want you to feel guilty; I just want to provide the opportunity for you to donate, should you feel like it.

Having said that, I'll leave it there. Love and love and love!

On Enthusiasm

2011-05-30T13:29:00.002-04:00

Photo by EpicFireworks.

Yesterday morning, I was out for breakfast with a gentleman friend. As we were eating and watching the half-marathon trot by along Wellington Street, I noticed a really cool-looking couple sitting across the diner from us. I won't get into the specifics about what they were wearing or how they looked, because that's not important, but I got a sense from looking at them that they were the kind of people I would want to be friends with.

However, and here's the kicker, whenever I see people who I think look “cool” (read: cooler than me), I get all panicky and scared and insecure that I'm not cool enough to be friends with them, no matter how much I might want to be!

I said as much to my breakfast companion, and as he watched them leave the restaurant, he said, “Hmm... I wouldn't want to be friends with them. Look at that cultivated air of cool aloofness. That seems like way too much work. And it seems boring.”

We got to talking about the whole cool-aloof-hipster image, and how boring it seems. I decided right then and there that enthusiastic is the new cool.

So, how can you show your enthusiasm? Here are some ways I've been thinking about!

Tell everyone about your hobbies! Be great at them! And if people scoff in your direction, they're not people you want to hang out with anyway!
Wear whatever you want. Don't worry about whether or not it's “trendy” or “in fashion”. If you feel fantastic in it, and you love it, and it's flattering and fits you, then do it! My current sartorial direction is “dress like a cupcake” and I've never felt better!
Love really hard and throw yourself into it. Tell the people that you love that you love them. Put yourself out there. Be brave.
Find things that inspire you, be they poetry, fiction, music, art, photography, whatever. Immerse yourself in things you are passionate about.
Love yourself. This is not to be confused with vanity, of course! But if you love yourself, and are confident in yourself, you can be secure with showing your enthusiasm.
Most importantly, don't judge people based on their enthusiasm! If you meet someone who's passionate about long-distance cycling and helicopters, that doesn't mean you can't learn from them! Perhaps they always wanted to learn the amazing cupcake recipe you've perfected!

How about you, lovely? What are you enthusiastic about? Why don't you tell me in the comments, and we can have a big, enthusiastic love-fest! And you never know, maybe you'll connect with another reader who shares your passion!

Lunchtime Lookup - March 25th

2011-03-25T10:44:00.000-04:00

Photo by Pink Sherbet Photography.

It's Friday! Thank goodness! Even though it was a short week for me, the weekend could not have arrived quickly enough!

To help your Friday go by faster, here are a few links with which to waste some time, my pet!

If you know how to sew, Bitter Betty Blogs has a great and simple tutorial on how to make a box pleat skirt for springtime. I'm picturing a whole spring wardrobe of these in the lollipop colours above!

Remember last week when I posted the link to bubblegum vodka? Well, Leethal has a companion recipe for orange cream liquer, which apparently tastes like a creamsicle... Danger!

There is something about this photo from The Sartorialist that really does it for me - I don't think I could pull it off, but it's fun to think about!

How much do I want this Bluetooth glove? So much! Rachel at Instructables shows how it's made.

Once Wed has a DIY to make ombre napkins, but I'd love to use the same technique to dye sweet little summer nothings... Like the cotton slips I talked about in my Anticipating Spring post!

Zoetica Ebb at Biorequiem has a very comprehensive guide to dying your hair bright colours. I'll just direct people here from now on when they ask about my pink hair...

For those of us for whom Zoolander is the ultimate guilty pleasure movie, ("They're break dance fighting!"), Movie Recipes has a recipe for Dirk's Orange Mocha Frappucino... If you dare. *shudder*

An adorable pleated tote tutorial at Thimble - hello my new beach bag!

Have yourself a wonderful weekend, darling! I hearts you!

A Little Bit of Heaven - March 24th

2011-03-24T11:38:00.001-04:00

Me and Katie texting and tweeting away in the front row at fashion week.
As she commented on Facebook, "What did people do at fashion week
before smartphones. Also, we are some pale, pale girls."
Truth.

Hello lovely!

It's Thursday! That means it's time for the great big love list for the week!

I had an amazing week, how about you? Here's what I love!

Katie Katie Katie. There isn't enough that I can say about how wonderful she is. She's a fantastic companion for fashion week (even though sometimes photographers think she is my girlfriend because I tell her I love her all the time and we hold hands so we don't get lost in crowds), she's beautiful, she's stylish… I'm so lucky to have her as a friend!

Roasted, salted peas. Oh my gosh you guys. These are so delicious. They seem like they'd be healthy but they're totally not! They are so good.

Munching on nori. I've started just snacking on nori (yes, the seaweed that you buy in sheets for sushi!), and wow. I love it. It's the right texture and saltiness that I need when I'm craving chips, while being vegetables! It's 10 calories a sheet! (Not that I'm a calorie counter, but still, it's nice to know that it's not going to make my clothes fit funny...)

My morning cocktail. I take a whole mess of supplements every day, everything from multivitamins to extra calcium and vitamin D at night, but I've recently added two capsules of bee pollen (which smell amazing), two capsules of maca root powder and three ginko bilobas. It totally jump-starts both my brain and my body, and it gives me more energy than I thought possible! I think this is maybe the first step in getting rid of my morning coffee, because when I take those I simply don't need it! It may be a caffeine-free 2011 yet!

Meeting Ashley Parsons of Sugarbum Designs! Katie introduced me to her on Saturday night, and I was completely starstruck! She is so beautiful and so sweet! She told me that I looked like a cupcake and that was pretty much the best thing anyone has ever said to me! She has also invited me to spend some time with her in her studio! When that happens I will totally tell you all about it!

Hiring new staff. I met incredible photographer Jesse Hildebrand on the weekend, and he has agreed to come on board as the official Your Sweet Bippy staff photographer! Keep your eyes out for guest post street style columns to come from him, as well as other pictures…

Making big plans. I am making big, big, big plans for this year. I have a huge goal for the end of the year and I am trying to figure out how to put it in motion. I have been talking about a lot of interesting collaborative projects… And lots more in store for the blog!

Scribbling in my Moleskine. I love the way the paper feels.

My fashion lookbook. I sometimes feel like my magazines are precious but lately I've been cutting them apart willy-nilly and have been pasting up the images I like in a sketchbook.

Honourable Mentions: Kissing * Exclamation points * Kiss of the Spider Woman by Manuel Puig * Getting invited to clothing swaps * Anticipating tomorrow night's Girlie Night with my ladies * Foursquare! So dorky! You can totally add me if you want to see what I'm up to! * Curling or crimping my hair

I just remembered this song this morning! Boogie boogie!

They played this on the radio last week and it's been in my head non-stop. You're welcome.

What about you? What are you thankful for? What do you love? What makes your heart sing, you pretty little thing?

Anticipating Spring!

2011-03-23T13:12:00.001-04:00

Photo by Pink Sherbet Photography.

Loveliness!

It's officially springtime! Aren't you excited!?

Even though there's still some snow on the ground, it's not too early to start thinking about summer, and how you can prepare for it! Here are some ideas I've had of things I'd like to get done over the next month or so...

Try a new fitness regime, something that you love and that is fun for you. Apartment613 had an article on staying in shape in strange and wonderful ways, and it made me really want to do some trampolining and to break out my dusty hoola hoop!

Start planning your summer travel. I may be going to St. John's this summer, and if that's the case I need to start really looking at flights and the like!

Get new bedding and pyjamas. There is something so great about crisp sheets in the summer. I really want a set of yellow cotton sheets and a sweet little Betsey Johnson nightgown.

Clean out your closet and plan your sartorial direction for spring and summer - be sure to include lots of colour!

Find a new summer scent - I am currently coveting Love By Kilian, Cara by Farmacia S.S. Annunziata dal 1561, and Mon Parfum by M. Micallef, because I want to smell like cake and all three have strong vanilla and caramel notes to them!

Change up your skincare routine - what your skin needs in the winter is not the same thing that it needs in the summer months! Lighten up on the moisturizer, and maybe find a cleanser that battles the greasies a bit more.

Since you won't have to wear hats for much longer, find little trinkets you can pin in your hair!

Choose a summer anthem - mine is totally "Got to Lose" by Hollerado...

It's just so great and anthemic!

Make a new friend who wants to go for bike rides to the beach with you - I made friends with a girl at work named Laura who is super-fun and loves both the beach and bike rides! We have big plans, I tell you.

Make sure your camera is in good working order, and make sure that it's portable!

Pick up some summer beach reading - I'm going to look for Archie comics at the thrift store!

Plan out what delicious veggie-heavy recipes you're going to try, or better yet contemplate a raw vegan diet for the summer! There's no better time than the summer when everything is fresh and delightful! I know that when I'm eating all vegan that I feel great, and eating raw food gives me such energy!

Drink lemonade with bourbon - this was named my official summer drink of 2009, and I still love it! I can't wait to start sipping it again!

Get new sunglasses - it's fun to try a new look for the summer.

Replace your flipflops with real shoes - with all the great spring and summer shoes coming out, there's no excuse to be wearing something that are barely shoes at all.

Speaking of foot-baring, get a pedicure. Get rid of all that scaly winter nastiness from your tootsies!

Pick up the pace when you walk and take the stairs when you can - your legs and bum will get all toned up for short skirts and bikinis!

Find some second-hand cotton slips, dye them and embellish them to wear over tank tops this summer as dresses - I am totally picturing this worn with short cowboy boots and a great satchel, and in my head it looks adorable.

Make sure your air conditioner is in working order! Now's the time to make sure!

Put some baby wipes and a spray bottle of distilled water with a couple of drops of geranium oil in it in your fridge, along with aloe vera gel or spray. You'll thank me when you can spritz and wipe yourself down with nice cool cosmetics in the heat of summer!

What about you? What are some things that you do to get ready for the change of season?

Things I've Learned From Reading The Bombshell Manual of Style

2011-03-22T11:08:00.001-04:00

Twice a year at work, there's a gigantic book sale that's run for charity. Not only does that mean I get to donate all my books that I won't read again (of which there are always many), but it means I get to pick up new books for a song!

As someone with an unabashed love for self-help books (but less of a love for spending big bucks on the latest craze), this works out pretty great if I don't mind being patient.

At our last book sale, I picked up a copy of Lauren Stover's The Bombshell Manual of Style. I'll admit that I was attracted to it because of the illustrations - they are done by Ruben Toledo, who also did the illustrations for Nina Garcia's The One Hundred.
Toledo's illustrations are exaggerations of beauty, but the palette he uses (especially in his watercolour illustrations) makes me swoon! I just love it!

While I do love the illustrations, and it was an entertaining read (mostly for the glimpses into the lives of classic Hollywood bombshells like Marilyn Monroe and Sophia Loren), I wouldn't recommend it if you were paying for it (maybe get it from the library!).

The author implies a lot of chaos into the life of The Bombshell. Spilled champagne, temper tantrums, missing shoes… Quite frankly, these are all things that make me get really tense! I could never just “enjoy the ride” of a lifestyle like that!

The majority of the pages were used in discussing outer beauty (90 pages) and lifestyle (57 pages), with a mere handful discussing the psychology of The Bombshell (I prefer my self-help with a little more meat on it), and a few pages at the end dedicated to horoscopes and a quiz (because books are no fun unless they're like Cosmo!)

Regardless, there are a few points from the book that I'm happy to take away and incorporate more into my everyday life…

Show your vulnerability
Being beautiful and being brainy aren't mutually exclusive, work on your inner life as much (if not more) as you work on your outer life
Being appealing to people you want to attract is never trashy or trampy
Dignity and confidence!
Believe in the fantasies you create for yourself and make them a reality; if things don't go your way, bounce back and succeed another day!
Enthusiasm is much more interesting and appealing to be around than studied cool
Showing compassion is more important than showing leg

Have you read this book? Do you have thoughts on it? What life lessons would you add to the above list?

Lunchtime Lookup - March 18th

2011-03-18T10:51:00.001-04:00

Photo by Marcelo Trad.

Hello pretty pottets!

It's Friday! It's Ottawa Fashion Week! My brain can't think about anything else!

Here are some things to entertain you on this wonderful day!

Sal at Already Pretty has a great article called Change Your Style, Change Your Life. It spoke to me!

This photo of James Franco by Terry Richardson makes me smile. So does this one of Lady Gaga is amazing.

In the same vein of what I wrote about on Wednesday, Ari at Advanced Style has a story on dressing to impress yourself.

Gala Darling has a great little history of Biba.

Oh dear. Bubble gum and spring fruit-infused vodka at Taylor Takes a Taste.

For the flat-chested among you, DIY ribbon suspenders at P.S. I Made This.

Coilhouse: “I would rather be a cyborg than a goddess.”

Whip Up has a how-to on making jewelry from old t-shirts. I would love to make some of these pieces for the summer!

CRAFT has DIY tassel earrings - although I think I would make these much, much longer!

On Instructables, how-to make a sparkly LED tutu???!!! YES PLEASE. Also, this layered tulle dress!

iHanna made her own 2011 planner. Some great ideas here.
Oreo-stuffed chocolate chip cookies at Amandaeleine. I take no responsibility.

Making living your dream less terrifying, The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss tells us, “Good News! You Don’t Die.”

... love Maegan teaches you how to make your own crystal and grosgrain ribbon necklace. I think I want to make one with pink ribbon for springtime!

Jessica Mullen provides a free downloadable PDF of her Daily Self Love Worksheet - I love this!

I love love love these B-movie purses!

Also, I love this Shrinky Dink bracelet on the Country Living website by Cathe Holden.

That's it for me! I hope you have a wonderful weekend! I'll be at the National Gallery all weekend, but if you follow me on Twitter you can read my tweets about fashion week! And I'll have my thoughts posted next week...

Ottawa Fashion Week Tickets Winner - Is It YOU?

2011-03-17T12:36:00.001-04:00

Photo by André Bergeron.

You guys! It was so nice to have so many entries to this contest! It was also really sweet that so many of you gave reasons for why you wanted to win the tickets… I wish I could have given each of you tickets!

Sadly, there can only be one winner… And the winner is (drumroll please)…

Anna Bailie!

Congratulations, Anna! Please flip me an e-mail to claim your fabulous prize!

The winner of this contest was selected using random.org.

A Little Bit of Heaven - March 17th

2011-03-17T10:10:00.001-04:00

Photo by mccheek.

Hello my wonderful little love minxes! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I hope you are having a fantastic week! I've been making all kinds of fashion week plans, and I've loved reading all the entries on my Ottawa Fashion Week ticket giveaway post!

And guess what you guys? I'm giving them away today!

But first, to whet your appetite, here is un petit liste of all the things that have made me smile this week!

“Britchy” - okay, so at work we have these spam filters, and you can't send a swear in an e-mail or it will not go through. Last week my friend Jaime was out sick and e-mailed me and said that she was feeling “britchy” to get around the spam filters. And I laughed and laughed and have been using it ever since!
Listening to the Pink Mountaintops' record Axis of Evol while baking cupcakes - I had a relaxing day on Sunday which involved baking!
Reconnecting with old friends at random stores - I ran into a friend I hadn't seen in nearly seven years at Home Outfitters on the weekend!
My new phone - an LG Optimus named Ophelia!
Getting taken for lunch dates while I'm at my office job!
LCD Soundsystem in my ears on my way to work!
Staying on top of taking my vitamins - I always feel so much better and have so much more energy when I take my vitamins regularly, although I have been accused of being an old lady when they are all dosed out in my little teacup every day!
Trying out new supplements - I just got some maca powder in capsule form and I'm trying that out. It seems to give me boundless energy!
Grocery shopping - not only is it super-fun for me (because really, let's face it, any shopping is fun for me, and justifiable shopping is even better), but I love the feeling of abundance I get when I come home and put away my groceries and I can open my fridge or cupboards and know that I have so many delicious, healthy things to eat!
Eating breakfast - I used to hate eating breakfast, but I've been sucking it up lately and having a piece of toast with peanut butter, orange juice and tea, and I am always surprised by how awesome it is!

Honourable Mentions: “We're BFFs, Jes. Get it straight.” * 2+hour Sunday afternoon naps * Giving things away on the blog * I got new boots to sport at Ottawa Fashion Week! * Photobooths (again)

This video!

What about you? What is making you squeal with delight on this wonderful Thursday? Tell me in the comments!

And stay tuned later today for the announcement of my Ottawa Fashion Week ticket giveaway!

Act Your Age… Or Don't

2011-03-16T11:09:00.000-04:00

Photo by Elana3.

I was talking to my parents on the phone over the weekend, and the subject of my latest hair colour decision came up, which happens to be Special Effect's Cupcake Pink. One of them (and in all fairness, I can't remember which one) said, with a note of dismay, “I just thought you'd have outgrown that by now.”

I laughed it off and said something along the lines of, “Well, I love it,” and moved on with the conversation.

But after we hung up the phone I got to thinking about the difference between being “age-appropriate” and being an individual who can show their personality through their clothing and presentation.

I also recently got a question for my Apartment613 column (which will be answered in an upcoming column) from Nadine Thornhill, a fellow columnist and wonderful blogger. She asked about the appropriateness of miniskirts past the age of 35 - as anyone who has even a passing acquaintence with What Not To Wear is familiar with the sign that shows up in the credits that says, “No miniskirts over 35”.

Here's the thing about Nadine - Nadine is gorgeous. Like, drop-dead stunning. Like, her husband is a lucky, lucky man. She's also a runner with amazing legs. (I've taken her shopping, and I've seen her in shorts.)

To me, there is no reason that she should shun miniskirts. She has a lot of class and a lot of style, and a miniskirt on her looks cute and summery and kicky and fun, never sleazy, never skanky, and certainly never mutton dressed as lamb.

I think on of the main reasons that the What Not To Wear folk foist so many “age appropriate” rules on their victims/subjects is because the vast majority of them have no sense of style themselves and simply don't know what works on them and what doesn't. People of any age should shun a miniskirt if it doesn't fit and flatter them.

Another problem is that the term “miniskirt” is pretty broad, and can mean anything between approximately 20 centimetres above the knee (about mid-thigh) to just barely covering your lady bits (which, let's be honest here, is really just a wide belt). A miniskirt that shows some cheek is not right for anyone, but a miniskirt that's slightly cheeky? I have no problem with a 35-year-old woman with great pins rocking that!

The thing about clothing and physical appearance, the secret, is that you can wear whatever it is that you want. With a few caveats, of course.

It has to fit.
It has to flatter you. (Even if you love love love orange, if it makes you look like death you should probably stay away from it.)
You have to own it.

We are all free to be whoever we want. If you want to be a walking contradiction, a whirlwind, a mind-bending Sphinx-like riddle, someone who is happy with themselves & doesn't answer to anyone else, you can be! Let criticism roll off your back. Embrace your individuality. No one is stopping you but yourself.
- Gala Darling

Of course, you know that means I'm keeping my hair pink, crimping it from time to time, and wearing whatever outlandish concoctions I come up with from my tickle trunk of a wardrobe!

*****

A reminder that today is the last day to enter my fabulous Ottawa Fashion Week ticket giveaway! The contest closes tonight at midnight.

On a more serious note, the tragedy in Japan just keeps getting more and more horrific to hear about. Please consider giving a monetary donation to the Red Cross. I've added a Hello Bar up at the top of the blog so donations can be made to the Red Cross. Please help in any way you can.

Controlling Your Communication

2011-03-15T10:32:00.001-04:00

Photo by Laila.

I've been writing this blog for a while now, and every once in a while I get asked questions in e-mails by people who are looking for life rather than fashion advice. I usually answer those questions privately, but (with the sender's permission) I decided to answer this one here*.

I had a falling-out with a girl last year (over a guy). I've apologized to her, and while I know that she and I will never be friends, I'm doing my best to just move on with my life. Part of that means I don't read her blog or follow her on Twitter, because I know that she's still not over it and she talks about me on there sometimes. Which, you know, I don't have a problem with, because if that's how she's dealing with it then fine.

The problem comes up when other people start getting involved. She and I have a lot of mutual friends who do read her blog, Twitter, Facebook, etc., and they always seem to want to tell me when she says something that could be even remotely taken to be about me.

I know that she's just being malicious because she's still hurting, and I know that she's not going to stop saying things about me, but I want to make sure that I stop hearing about it!

Every time it happens, I talk to the person who passed the information along and tell them that I don't want to know what she's saying about me, but every time it happens it's another person!

I don't know what to do anymore. I feel like every time I hear something she's saying about me it prevents me from moving forward and I just get angry at her all over again!

This must be very frustrating for you! It probably seems like you are doing everything you can to avoid being brought down by someone else's bad feelings about you. It's good that you recognize that she's still not over it. I certainly hope you know that any criticisms she is sending your way at this point are actually not directed at you! People tend to criticise that which they don't like about themselves.

The bigger problem is how to deal with the communication coming from other people, letting you know what she's saying about you. I think you're taking good, strong steps in the right direction by being very clear about the fact that you don't want to know what she's saying about you to the people who pass the nasty bits of information on, but you know that you need to do more.

Luckily I have a few ideas! (Mostly because I have been in this position myself rather recently…)

First of all, you need to make sure that you are treating people the way you want to be treated - this means that if you are a bit of a gossip yourself, or are saying to people, “Guess what so-and-so said about you on their Twitter?”, you need to stop right now. You can't expect people to treat you any differently than what you put out there yourself.

Gossiping is a very hard habit to break! You might want to try something like what I did when I was trying to stop saying negative things: I wore a rubber bracelet around one wrist, and every time I said something negative I had to change it to the other wrist. My goal was to keep the bracelet on the same wrist for a week. It was hard work, but after a few days it actually got easier!

Secondly, since it seems like you are pretty social media-savvy, you might want to consider issuing a “blanket statement” on your blog, Twitter or Facebook, something along the lines of, “Please don't tell me when I'm being talked about”. It's a bold move, but it may make your life easier if everyone you know sees that. And if they then try to pass along some nasty bit of news, you can just direct them to where you said that!

Finally, if someone comes to you and says, “Guess what she said about you today?”, you can always say that you don't want to know. You need to be firm! Stand your ground.

The most important thing to remember about communication is that the person sending the communications out isn't the one that is in charge of how you receive it. You can always choose to not listen to negative things directed at you! It's just like changing the channel.

I wish you all the best in this!

*If you want to ask me a question, please feel free to e-mail me at jes.lacasse@gmail.com. Also, please don't forget to enter my fashion week tickets giveaway! The contest closes Wednesday, March 16th at midnight!

A Little Bit Of Heaven

2011-03-11T12:41:00.001-05:00

Photo by Pink Sherbet Photography

One of the things I've missed the most about not doing any sort of regular posting is this feature! Compiling lists of all the things I've loved over the last week is such a good way to reflect and to be grateful for all the good in my life!

Let's dive right in!

When my colleagues bring me chocolates - especially fruit creams!
Big chunky platform boots + leggings + (summer) dress + blazer or cardigan - this has turned into my winter uniform! I hate wearing pants (I really, really do), and a skirt with tights is just too chilly to wear in the depths of winter in Ottawa!
Reading the archives of recently discovered blogs!
Pink hair! More to the point, Special Effects' Cupcake Pink!
Ottawa Fashion Week! Plotting my outfits for, dreaming about, scheming about!
Super awesome fun date nights!
Making new friends! I recently became friends with a girl at work on whom I've had a “friend crush” for nearly five years! She bought a DVD and some fabric from me, and we started chatting, and we have so much in common! We are now planning all kinds of fun bike rides to the beach this summer.
Getting set up to sell things on eBay! I'll let you lovelies know when I've stuff up for sale!
Taking better control of my diet - I've once again gotten “nailed to the V” (as Michael refers to it). This means I've gotten back into veganism after definitely falling off the wagon over the Christmas holidays. I had a really hard time getting back into it! I blame cheese. But I'm there again, and it feels great!
Quitting smoking! For good this time!
Putting on my face - there's something to be said for the time you take in the morning to put your face on, no matter what your routine entails. Think about it - you're spending 5, 10, 15 minutes + caressing your own skin. It doesn't get much more radical self love than that!
My Moleskin “book a month” planner! This is the first year I've had one, and I adore it! I love how small each notebook is, they fit perfectly in my handbag! Although only being able to plan a month at a time is pestering me, I've been decorating each month's book with little images I find that I love!
Photobooths - such a super-fun date activity!
Cleaning up the music drive on my laptop - when Michael gave it to me, it was all filled with music I had never heard, and I'm finally exposing myself to it all! I have found some real treats! Like Badly Drawn Boy, godspeed you! black emperor, Los Campesinos!, and all kinds of hip hop!
Double dates! I am going on one on Saturday night!

“Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy.”
- Albert Einstein

Don't forget my Ottawa Fashion Week contest! You can win tickets! It closes next Wednesday (March 16th) at midnight! The winner will be announced on the 17th!

And what about you, my sweet little peach? What makes you happier than happy today?

Ottawa Fashion Week Contest!

2011-03-10T13:40:00.004-05:00

*Sorry loves, this contest is now closed*
My little darling beautiful sweet peaches!

I have been absent from the internet for a long time, because, well, I don't have internet at home anymore! (This started out as a budgetary decision, but has turned into something more…) I'll be getting it again sometime in the near future, but to tide you over, I'm having a contest!

I'm giving away two day passes for Ottawa Fashion week! They are for the Saturday, and have an $80 value!

I am SURE that you want them. So here's how to win:

1. You must leave a comment on this blog post to be entered into the draw for the passes. Please leave only one comment.
2. To increase your chances of winning, you can link to this contest on Twitter! Make sure to include @JesLacasse in your tweet so I know you've done it!
3. Tell your friends on Facebook! Post a link to this contest on your profile page and send me a message to let me know you've done it!

The winner will be announced the morning of Thursday, March 17th (that's right, St. Patrick's Day).

Good luck, my sweetnesses! I can't wait to see the lucky winners there!

Lunchtime Lookup!

2011-01-07T12:33:00.002-05:00

Happy Friday! Here are some internet sweets for you, my sweet!

Ian's Shoelace Site has some really interesting lacing techniques! I just changed the lacing on my winter boots because of this site!

When Parents Text has me roaring every time I read. So does Fake Science.

My friend Jairus made a Tumblr. It's F*ck Yeah, Fishnets and Robots. It's girls in fishnets. And robots. It is, no question, NSFW.

I have a serious love for feathers in the hair. Here's how to make feather and brocade headpieces, and DIY feather barettes! I know what I'm up to this weekend...

I also love bows!

You do know that FOUND Magazine has a "find of the day", right? That has an RSS feed? Computers?

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I'm obsessed with Girl Talk's record, All Day. And you can download it for free here.

Sal at Already Pretty has a great piece on self-doubt and self-love.

If It's Hip, It's Here points out Dolce & Gabbana vermouth. Really, the internet? Really?! They redeem themselves with these amazing paintings of vintage board games, though.

Tavi at Style Rookie posted these pictures with an adorable Manic Panic wig. Apparently I share my lurve of candy-coloured hair with 14-year-old girls.

I am a big, big fan of the earring on the first girl in this post from Facehunter. I may attempt my own DIY.

I don't know how XKCD eavesdropped on a conversation between Michael and me in the past.

Color Me Katie posted my favourite 2010 round-up.

Cathe at Just Something I Made gives us this tutorial for sewing shrinky dinks into jewelry. Adorbs!

JRD Skinner taught me about Franz Reichelt, aka The Flying Tailor.

Isaac Likes speculates on the future of denim.

I hope I gave you a few things to help make the last few hours of the first work week of 2011 go by quickly!

2011: Vision/Mission Statement!

2011-01-02T23:22:00.000-05:00

Hi friends!

Wow, it's been a while, hey? December was a very challenging month for me on a personal level. I won't get into the nitty-gritty (because who needs all that baggage, right?), but I will tell you that I have missed you and this blog very much and I am glad to be back!

Every year at my birthday, I set my resolutions for the year, rather than doing them on January 1st. However, I do feel like I should be setting some intentions for the year this year, so I set out to write a vision statement for 2011 (which is pronounced twenty-eleven in my house, if you're wondering).

So, here's what 2011 is going to bring for me!

I am going to increase my personal shopping and styling clientele 100%. You guys that is a big number. But I am totally going to do it!

I am going to post regularly here. There are a lot of uncertain things in my life right now, but the blog seems to ground me, so I am going to do that in a very real way.

I am going to work my butt off to do the whole Inbox 0 thing. This terrifies me!

I am challenging myself to do one new healthy thing in my life every two weeks. On the short list is cut out cream and sugar in my coffee, go 100% vegan (except for very special occasions), start running again, and incorporate resistance training into my life to a certain degree. I also really want a little trampoline for my living room!

I am going to finish one book a week. I have a massive pile of stuff on my desk that I want to get through first, including Timothy Ferriss' The Four-Hour Body, Mike Dooley's Manifesting Change, and an Isabel Allende book that I borrowed from a friend ages ago!

I am going to work more on the Radical Self Love initiative that I've started but that has somewhat fallen by the wayside in the last couple of months. When was the last time I took a bath in my tiara, I ask you?!

I am going to spend more time nurturing my friendships and less time worrying about my love life! To that end, I am going to no longer have non-reciprocal relationships of any kind. I find I tend to stick my neck out so many times and then I get slaughtered emotionally and I crawl back into my methods of "NO ONE IS GOING TO TAKE CARE OF YOU BUT YOU". I think if I am simply more careful with the initial relationship selection process I'll be just fine!

I will have the organised home of my dreams!

All the while, I intend to live my life while respecting myself and my core values. There are a few other little things that I've written down but that are kind of private for now!

What about you? What are you going to do with your 2011? Tell me in the comments!

Product Ballet: Hair Masques - Kérastase vs. L'Oréal Professionnel

2010-11-29T13:09:00.001-05:00

Kérastase Nutritive Nutridéfense Anti-Dryness Nutri-Protective Treatment for Dry and Sensitised Hair
Vs.
L’Oréal Professionnel Série Expert Absolut Repair Neofibrine Repairing Masque for Very Damaged Hair

Fight!

During Ottawa Fashion Week, I was given samples of both of the above products. Since I had been wanting to try the Kérastase for a long time, I thought I'd give it a whirl first.

So, I started using it. I thought it would help my very dry and damaged hair. (I’m rough on my hair. Too much colour and too much heat styling.)

After a few applications… Not much difference. Not only that, my hair actually felt not as soft as when I was just using my regular Baléa conditioner. I mean, it wasn’t horrible or anything, but it definitely wasn’t anything super-special. I figured I’d use the product up (I’m cheap like that), but kind of couldn’t wait for it to be gone.

Once I used that up, it was on to the L’Oréal Professionnel masque.

YOU GUYS MY MIND IS BLOWN BY THIS PRODUCT.

Here is why I like it more:
1. It smells deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelish, like a boy I used to kiss in high school.
2. It’s thick and rich.
3. It makes my hair super-soft.
4. My best friend Jaime told me my hair looked really good the first time I used it. SHE NEVER TELLS ME MY HAIR LOOKS GOOD. NEVER.

Both products are used in the same way (“apply a small amount to towel-dried hair, leave on for a few minutes, rinse out”), but where the real difference lies is in the price.

When I decided I wanted to do a review of these products, I took some time to look up the price of them on various websites. They seemed to run about the same price – both around the $50.00 mark. But when I broke it down to the price per ounce, this is what I found:

Kérastase: $8.21/ounce
L’Oréal: $2.59/ounce

You guys! That means the L’Oréal stuff (which works better) is ONE THIRD the price of the Kérastase!

The weird thing is that they are both made by the same company. They are essentially the same product, designed to deep-treat damaged hair.

Higher prices do not mean better product! Aren’t you glad I researched this for you?!

If you have dry, damaged hair, or if your hair is in need of a little love this winter, RUN DO NOT WALK to buy L’Oréal Professionnel Série Expert Absolut Repair Neofibrine Repairing Masque for Very Damaged Hair!!!

I tell you this because I love you!

Exclamation points!

Lunchtime Lookup

2010-11-26T07:17:00.000-05:00

Photo by D. Sharon Pruitt

A teeny tiny little Lunchtime Lookup today—it's been a hectic week! Regardless, come on, let's take a tumble around the internet! Here are things I super-enjoyed!

Andy Warhol on Nerd Boyfriend. Dear every boy I know: Please crib this look. Swoon. Glasses get extra++ bonus points.

Sal at Already Pretty with lessons in eBay shopping. I'll admit it here: I've never bought anything from eBay! Should I start looking?

As you know, I love candy, but Coilhouse makes me wonder what the heck is wrong with Denmark?! Also, Charles Bronson killing hipsters.

The Sartorialist on why cardigans look so darn good.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend my kitten!

A Little Bit of Heaven (Formerly Things I Love Thursday)

2010-11-25T06:34:00.000-05:00

Photo by D. Sharon Pruitt

So, I changed the name of this little feature from Things I Love Thursday (which I cribbed from Gala Darling), to A Little Bit of Heaven. Little Bit of Heaven is a dessert that my mom used to make for church pot luck dinners, and although I can't seem to find the recipe anywhere online (nor could I eat it anymore, now that I'm a vegan), it was one of my favourite things in the world. It had a graham cracker base, and whipped mocha middle, and toasted almonds on top. It was light and fluffy and not too sweet, and it was absolutely delicious. Typing that out made me taste it all over again!

Anyway, I thought it was the perfect name for this feature! Things I adore, things that make my mouth water, things that make me happy. A Little Bit of Heaven indeed. On with the list!

YOU GUYS IT IS MY OTHER BEST FRIEND'S BIRTHDAY TODAY! First of all, I am the luckiest girl in the world because I have TWO best friends! B) I am super-lucky that one of them is Jaime. Finally, it's her birthday! Some readers may remember Michael's birthday back in March, but I don't have a bunch of photos lying around of Jaime. So instead I submit for your approval this cover of the Dik Van Dykes "Birthday Song" (which was the only version I could find on YouTube). Happy birthday, buddy!

I kind of wish the audio was better on this, and maybe the lyrics aren't 100% work appropriate...

Sticking up for myself. This is kind of a big deal to me right now, because I've never really done it before. But I started realizing how much people that I trust as my friends bring me down with negative comments and sometimes say downright insulting things to me (in public, no less), and how that's not OK. So I'm learning to say, "Don't treat me like that, I don't like it." Unfortunately, this means that if they continue to treat me that way they need to go from my life, which is a really hard decision to make. And sometimes they say things that are so mean that I have to have a little cry (that happened last Tuesday). But really, if people are mean to me, why should I want them in my life anyway? I don't. Everyone deserves to be treated kindly and with respect, especially by their friends. I demand to be treated the way I treat others.
Lavender incense. It fills up my bedroom nearly every night with its lovely, smoky, relaxing goodness.

This photo of blog sponsor @renwest completely makes my day. He posted it on Twitter last week and I thought I was going to have a fit I squealed so loud! It totally reminds me of a picture I had pasted into one of my journals in the mid-1990s of a baby with its eyes all big and watery and sad.

Making new friends. This has been a very exciting year for me! I have taken on the challenge of talking to new people, getting to know them, and learning from them. I try to give what I have to offer, and so far it's been absolutely amazing! My life has been completely enriched in incredible ways.
Honourable Mentions: old men who call me dear, lemongrass curry tofu from Springroll House, going to the theatre, glittery eyeliner on rainy days, fairy lights woven around my bed frame, daydreaming about chandeliers to hang over my bed, plotting international living, discovering little girls and I have the same favourite colour (pink, of course), giving friends advice and them actually listening to me.

How about you? What's on your list of things you adore this week, things that give you that little bit of heaven? Share with us in the comments!

Product Review: Joe Fresh Style Fresh Glass

2010-11-24T05:56:00.004-05:00

Right after Ottawa Fashion Week, I entered a contest! Miss-SLY was asking Twitter to answer a trivia question about which Canadian fashion celebrity we thought she might be interviewing. I guessed Jeanne Beker, and guess what you guys? I totally won! I never win stuff! So that was pretty awesome.

I won a Joe Fresh face palette (review coming soon), and when it came in the mail (which was totally awesome, I love to get mail!) it came with a bonus: Joe Fresh Style Fresh Glass lip gloss in Cosmopolitan!

I am pretty picky about lip glosses. I find most of them to be too thick. But since it was free, why not try it out, right?

I’m glad I did!

It’s a minty gloss, usually associated with plumping lip glosses. Which I’m generally not a fan of, as I find they can be too minty, which hurts my sensitive little lips! But this has just the right amount of mintyness, with a lot of shine and minimal stickiness. Not as low-stick as Rimmel’s Sweet Jelly lip gloss (which I believe has now been sadly discontinued, although it looks like Royal Glass might be an adequate replacement), but not as super-sticky as MAC Lipglass (which I love the shine of but hate hate hate the texture). It lasts a long time and it looks like this:

Give me a kissssssss!

For the price, I definitely think this is a decent lip gloss and would buy it again. MWAH!

Commenting Policy

2010-11-23T06:23:00.000-05:00

Photo by Mixy Lorenzo

Dear my favourite friends and kittens, and casual readers who I also think are awesome,

As this blog grows in popularity, something is happening. People are actually commenting on what I write. This is a good thing. This is what I want. I encourage dialogue—talk amongst yourselves, I am happy to join in when I can. This is a very exciting time with the growth of the blog and everything, and I’m excited that things are happening.

However, last week I had my first every negative comment on the blog.

Wait, that’s incorrect. I’ve had comments along the lines of, “You’re wrong and this is why,” but those I have no problem with. I don’t actually see those as negative comments on the blog in the least. It’s part of having an open dialogue with my readers—I want to know when I’ve messed up.

This comment was not like that. This was a personal attack, sent from a familiar IP address. I won’t get into the details of what it said (although I did reference it on Twitter the day it happened), because it’s not important.

It’s important for me to remember that when I am being criticised for just doing what I do, it’s actually not about me. People are cruel for all kinds of reasons, and it’s not up to me to figure out why they decide to take that anger out on me. They just do, and I hope they figure out a way to do it better, because that sure isn’t a positive way to live your life.

So, sadly, it's time for Miss Jes to lay the hammer down. Negative, personal, hurtful comments will not be tolerated. I screen comments for a reason. Personal attacks attempted to be posted on the blog will be deleted, marked as spam, and IPs will be blocked.

I am working very hard to keep this blog and all online presence as a positive space. Of course I have issues–everyone does. Everyone in the whole entire world. But I don’t need to play them out online, and I certainly don’t need them played out for me.

I love you all to bits and bits forever!

In Which Jes Learns To Give Up Some Control

2010-11-22T13:32:00.002-05:00

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, Texture Hair Salon has come on board as one of my blog sponsors. Last week I had the opportunity to go in and have my colour done by the lovely Sam. My cut was handled by the insanely talented Ramsey.

When Ramsey, Sam and I were first talking about my hair, I gave them carte blanche to do whatever they wanted to with the colour. But, as I had been growing my hair out for two years, I really didn’t want to touch the length. I was happy having long hair. I could pull it back. Which I did, most days. When I wore it down I was often frustrated with the texture, it just seemed somehow poofy at the bottom, and I did not love that at all. But I had been growing it for so long! I didn’t want to touch it!

Anyway, I went in for my appointment, and Sam started in on my colour. We decided the bangs were going to be Rhianna red, whilst touching up the black everywhere else. As she was lifting the black out of my bangs, and I got an look at the contrast between them and the rest of my hair, and thought a bit about the shape of where my hair currently was, I made a big decision.

I called Ramsey over.

“Cut it off. I’m over long hair.”

“Yes, you are. Good.”

After the colour was done*, I tripped over to Ramsey’s chair (not my fault, they kept feeding me wine!). We started to discuss the cut, and I told him what I like: blunt lines, asymmetry, sophistication. Since he had just returned from Paris where he had taken some Vidal Sassoon courses, we decided on a very steeply angled bob.

He stood behind me. He raised his scissors. I winced.

A large chunk of hair fell to the floor. “Well, that’s that then.” I couldn’t change my mind if I had wanted to at that point.

Finished hair! Photo by Ren West.

I am so glad I let him do what he wanted! I am so pleased with my new cut! It takes no time at all to blow-dry, it falls beautifully, it’s bouncy, it’s got a certain Ramona Flowers quality to it, judging by the amount of men who have been hitting on my since I had it done. My life is so hard, I know!

Thank you so much, Sam and Ramsey! I can’t wait to come back and do more experiments in cut and colour with you! If you need a cut or colour, I can highly recommend them.

Having said that, please note that while Texture Hair Salon is a blog sponsor, I wouldn’t have them here if I didn’t believe in what they do.

*Usually removing box dye takes very strong bleach to lift the colour out of my hair, and when I’ve had to do it in the past I’ve left the salon with my head feeling tender and burnt, but I was most impressed with whatever they used on my head to avoid my feeling like that.

Lunchtime Lookup

2010-11-12T09:29:00.000-05:00

Photo by SweetOnVeg

My mother is visiting this weekend, so I might be a little scarce around the internet. Have no fear that I'll be responding to comments and e-mails again come Monday! In the meantime, a short little roundup of links to keep your Friday entertaining.

Casey's Elegant Musings has this nifty little how-to on making a 1950s-style bow headband.

Musings of an Inappropriate Woman talks about three steps to fabulousness.

Natalie Joy pointed me in the direction of Nerd Boyfriend! I love it! Nerdy boy looks and how to get them!

Isaac Likes J Press for Urban Outfitters—a perfect illustration of an amazing capsule wardrobe for men.

At McSweeney's, Blanche DuBois' American Apparel Photoshoot. Funny!

Super Kawaii Mama talks about developing a unique style—if you're just starting to branch out your wardrobe, this is a must read.

Fashion Tribes Blog with a sneak peek at the Smithsonian's documentary on The History of the Hope Diamond.

Miss-SLY ran some street-style photos from Ottawa Fashion Week, and yours truly was in one! Neat! Katie too! You can click to make them bigger!

We adore you.

Have a fantastic weekend! I adore you, too!

On Remembrance Day

2010-11-11T08:22:00.000-05:00

I don't wear a poppy. I don't wear red on Fridays.

I get a lot of criticism for those two things.

I understand the point. I support our troops in that I want them to be able to come home safely to their families. I respect and appreciate everything our veterans did in the wars that proceeded my life.

I am thankful and grateful that I get to live my life in the way I choose because of their sacrifices. There is military blood in my veins.

However, I do not want anything I do or say to be misconstrued as supporting our current government's missions overseas, particularly in Afghanistan. I think our government has made a severe error in judgement and continues to do so the longer this mission continues.

Thank you, veterans. Thank you for the choices you made. I am glad you came home safely. I can't imagine the pain you've seen.

Thank you, Canadian Armed Forces, for what you do. Thank you for the choice you make. Please come home safely. I wish you painless days until you can be back with your loved ones.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Ottawa Fashion Week in Photos: Days One and Two

2010-11-10T06:40:00.000-05:00

Backstage at Ottawa Fashion Week.

During Ottawa Fashion Week, I had the opportunity to meet photographer André Bergeron. I noticed him at first because, well, let's be honest, I thought he was handsome in that "I'm a rugged photographer with an unshaven face" kind of way. And yes, I think that's a very attractive look for a man.

Anyway, of course I was visually keeping tabs on him throughout the weekend, and I noticed that unlike most of the photographers who stayed pretty close to the end of the runway, he was moving around and getting shots from all over the place. So I thought, "Maybe he might like to contribute some photos to my blog!" I introduced myself, gave him my card, and on Monday he e-mailed me saying photos were ready for my blog if I wanted some!

And I was so pleased! They are so great! Thank you so much, André!

Emilia Torabi. These pants had a great black ankle band.
I would like them, yes please.

Lovely menswear detailing at Trive by Modasuite.

Sustainable fabrics at Nixxi.

An amazing pearl scarf at MICALLA.

Lovely draping at Elroy Apparel.

Summer casual at LABEL Clothing.

If I were a high-up in the government I would
only ever wear Andrew Majtenyi's clothing.

Eee hats! At Jana Hanzel. SO PRETTY.

All photos copyright André Bergeron. Thanks a million!

Nina Garcia's One Hundred: #96 Wellington Boot

2010-11-09T05:56:00.001-05:00

I'm slowly trekking towards owning everything in Nina Garcia's book The One Hundred, or at least everything in there that works for me. My newest and most happifying* acquisition is my new pair of wellies.

First, some background information on my history with rubber boots. I love rubber boots. I love wearing them, I love looking at them, I think they are some of the cutest footwear a gal can own. And they are important in climates where it sometimes rains! Or where it rains a lot! There is something very satisfying about sloshing through particularly deep puddles on one's way somewhere knowing that one's feet are staying warm and dry.

However, I have a problem with the standard pull-on rubber boot. You see, due to a rare, hereditary muscle disease called Thomsen's, my calves are quite large around. Pull-on rubber boots never fit me. They always scrunch up in a weird way before they go all the way up.

I was bemoaning this to The Boy in the summer, when he mentioned Ilse Jacobsen's boots. He told me that they sold them at Vanilla on Elgin Street between Cooper and Somerset (I'm sorry, but they don't have a website). And he told me that rather than pull on, they laced up.

Well, being the frugal girl that I am, I couldn't very well justify going out to buy a new pair of rubber boots right away, as my pink boots from Zeller's were still doing the job just fine. But once they started to leak last month, and I mentioned it to The Boy, he promised me a trip down to Vanilla as soon as we got the chance.

The day before we went, I called to make sure they had them in my size. They had one pair of the white ones left (the colour I was craving), and lo and behold! It was in my size.

We went to Vanilla, I slipped my feet inside, and I fell in love.

They fit a dream. They went over my jeans. They were woolly and warm inside and felt just like a hug.

ON MY FEET. Best hug ever.

The boots are made with natural rubber in Hornbaek, Denmark, by hand. They are a quality boot. With warm socks, their heavy tread should be able to get me through most of the winter.

Have I mentioned that I love these boots? (Also: love The Boy for the present.)

*Yes, I know "happifying" isn't a word, but I made it up because of how much I love these boots.

Product Review: Balea Fresh Blends Shampoo and Conditioner in Honey Nut

2010-11-08T08:57:00.000-05:00

In my ongoing quest* to find bath and beauty products that make me smell like cake and candy (because those are my favourite smells), I picked up some Balea Fresh Blends shampoo and conditioner in Honey Nut at Shopper's Drug Mart.

I alternate between cheap and expensive hair products, and while these weren't super cheap, they were less than $10.00, which is a requirement for me with drugstore brands. And they smelled heavenly.

Unfortunately, that was where my love affair ended.

While I adored the way these products made my shower smell, I did not adore they way they took care of my hair, and that's more important than their smell. I had to use a lot of the shampoo to get my hair clean (sometimes three latherings with a very generous amount of product), and the conditioner was nothing special either. My hair didn't have that silky finish I look for.

Balea brand is made for Shopper's, and is positioned as more "high end" than Life brand (the Shopper's store brand). But quite frankly, I've had better experiences with Life brand products!

Sorry Balea and Shopper's. This is not the brand for me.

*If you know of any bath and beauty products that smell amazing that you can pass along to me, please let me know in the comments!

Bonus Round: Salt Water Taffy!

2010-11-06T11:45:00.042-04:00

On the first night of Ottawa Fashion Week, my assistant Katie and I realised that the canapes that the organisers had sprung for were not going to cut it for us, hunger-wise. (This was due to the the fact that there were so few of them that the poor servers were literally being chased by ravenous fashion show attendees.)

We decided we would bring snacks with us the rest of the week. The next day, Katie and I compared what was in our bags—The Boy had packed me carrot sticks, mixed nuts and water, while Katie's bag was full of... Candy. To be more precise, apple drops, lemon slices and Taffy Town Salt Water Taffy.

Katie is my sugar pusher. She's the manager of The Candy Store in Westboro, and my girl knows her treats. The Candy Store is one of my favourite shops in Ottawa, unlike the hustle of Sugar Mountain, The Candy Store is calming and relaxing, and I know that my candy is curated by some very knowledgeable staff. In fact, Katie wrote about the taffy here.

Anyway, about the salt water taffy...

She brought two flavours with her, grape and key lime. Oh my gosh. Transcendent. The taffy is the right amount of sticky, a whole lot of sweet, and the key lime flavour? Amazing. I'm not a huge fan of grape-flavoured things, but the grape taffy was slightly flowery-tasting and quite nice as well.

Get yourself to The Candy Store. They also sometimes have cupcakes and macarons. And if you're planning an event, they can cater a candy buffet holy wow oh my gosh I want a party where I have a candy buffet. What more could you possibly ask for?

The Candy Store is located at 350 Richmond Road, between Lululemon and MEC. Thank goodness it's not on my way home from work.

Ottawa Fashion Week: Trendspotting

2010-11-05T08:38:00.000-04:00

Photo by John Smith.

My sweet little kittens, do not lose your mittens! I finally got all my thoughts down on paper about Ottawa Fashion Week!

But I’m teasing you a little, I know, because it’s not here! I wrote it for Apartment613.

It’s super-easy for you to read it, though. Click here for What Ottawa Fashion Week Means For You: Trends for Spring/Summer 2011.

Lunchtime Lookup

2010-11-05T08:05:00.000-04:00

Mmm canned food.

A lot of people hate on Anna Wintour, but not Isaac Likes! He says Anna Wintour is awesome, and I tend to agree. Also discussed, the controversy over the latest Calvin Klein Jeans billboards. (Possibly NSFW, triggering.)

The Sartorialist had a photo of these string curtains all in knots. I love the delapidated look of this!

Gala Darling designed some shoes (in collaboration with Jeff Silverman)! Of COURSE, you know I want them!

Ari at Advanced Style had this great post on dressing how you feel, not by your age. Also, even though I had fun at Ottawa Fashion Week, I wish I had been at this show instead.

My friend Ariel asked me the other day how she should style her new sequinned jacket. It looks like The Budget Babe has a pretty solid lock on how to wear one.

A Glamorous Little Side Project (an offshoot of This Is Glamorous) shared this beautiful capelet. I definitely could rock that. I could also rock this haircut in a major way.

It's a little late for Halloween, but CRAFT has this great tutorial for making masks out of album covers. I would make a Kenny Loggins one to wear in the bath. And I luuuuuuuurve these lacy long socks! Hello winter knitting project...

My Fashion Life announces the Derek Lam crowdsourced collection. Awesome.

Oh, McSweeney's Internet Tendency. You always make me laugh. A Tibetan Buddhist Monk Tries to Figure Out Who Stole a Rock From His Zen Garden. Bad language alert!

Ashley at Dare to Unravel on vice and virtue.

Yikes Machine on gratitude. "You guys, I cried." So did I, reading this lovely piece.

If It's Hip It's Here showcasing sweaters knit from dog fur. That's all well and good, but what does it smell like when it gets wet? Yikes. (Via Gala Darling.)

I DON'T CARE WHOSE NAME IS ON THEM THEY ARE FOREVER HORRIBLE.

Are you beautiful? Of course you are! Faces of Beauty posts reader-submitted photos in the hopes of encouraging self-love and acceptance. Radical self love indeed! I love this!

You Look Fab talks about determining when an item looks dated.

Cyanide and Happiness: why you shouldn't ask if an outfit makes you look fat.

The Cherry Blossom Girl had some Halloween costumes that were super-sexy without being slutty. What a concept.

What did you find on the internet this week?

Things I Love Thursday

2010-11-04T07:15:00.002-04:00

Won't you be my love?

Here's a little list of things I've been loving this week!

You guys! My little blog has its first sponsor, Texture Hair Salon!
Walking arm-in-arm with The Boy!
Going to used book sales! I picked up some excellent reads this week, including Peter Pan, How to Win Friends and Influence People, and Tuck Everlasting! My goal is to read a book every two weeks...
The Boy's been reading me one of his favourite books (Slaughterhouse-Five by Vonnegut). I absolutely love being read to! He is so amazing, I don't even need to ask, he's been saying, "Shall I read to you now?" Swoon.
I got bunny ears at the drugstore. I've been pretending I'm a bunny. A lot. And I've been saying, "I'M THE EASTER BUNNY HOP HOP" with a Rochester accent, from the old Great House of Guitars commercial. And then I giggle like crazy. It amuses me to no end.
To that end, getting back in touch with my whimsical, sparkly side!

Corgis!

Thai food!
I made a big decision this week to no longer seek approval from those who will never provide it. I don't need validation from anyone other than myself! As long as I'm doing what I love, I'm happy. And I am! So hooray!
"Your legs and feet look like sexy swans."
Ghost stories told in old houses. (The Turn of the Screw was so scary.)
The (sometimes agonisingly) slow progression towards actually being a vegan, not just not eating animal products. I am really starting to get there!
PAJAMA PARTIES.
Crossing things of my to-do list. It's so satisfying.
My new personalised address labels! Thanks Ren!

The Boy's middle child has a reading response journal for school. Her mom
e-mailed me this on Monday. The song is "Oh Rainbow". The Girl's response
is "Oh Rambo". That's pretty much my favourite thing ever.

Ottawa Fashion Week. Wow. Just, wow. It was my first one ever. What an incredible experience. I can't wait until next season! I am going to try to do Montreal next season, as well as Ottawa.
Coming home from working late at Fashion Week to find a dinner of pasta with vegan mushroom cream sauce waiting for me. It's nurturing things like this that make my heart sing!
Foggy, crisp autumn mornings like yesterday's.
Winning contests! I used to never win contests! I guess my luck is changing, or I'm changing my own luck! Thanks, Miss SLY!
"You look like a big, sexy kitty!"

These videos:

I've been watching this video a lot this week. Because Kurt's my favourite character on Glee, and Gypsy is one of my favourite musicals.

Here's the full version, with the lovely Bernadette Peters.

"He ejaculates in my wound." Brilliant.

This video's been making the rounds in the blog world for the last couple of weeks. Watch it, please.

If there's one thing I love more than anything in the world, it's men in drag with one thing off. Keeping a masculine aspect. Like his moustache.

Have No Fear!

2010-11-02T08:11:00.001-04:00

My friends, I promise you that my coverage of Ottawa Fashion Week is on its way! I have been busy transcribing my voice notes and organising my thoughts!

To tide you over in the meantime, here's my column at Apartment 613 this month—the subject: menswear.

Ottawa Fashion Week coverage later today, fingers crossed!

Bonus Round: Lady Gaga vs. The Eurythmics!

2010-10-30T07:17:00.000-04:00

Image by Mariel Ashlinn

I'm not going to lie to you: I love Lady Gaga. Not enough to buy tickets to see her in Ottawa in March, and not even her music really, but I love the spectacle that her life is. I love that she takes fashion risks, that her whole life is a performance.

I spent a big chunk of my last Sunday morning watching the video for "Bad Romance" over and over again...

And then The Boy pointed out that it is bears distinct similarities to video for The Eurythmics' "Missionary Man".

It's interesting: the same medical/monster themes, but while the Gaga video is much cleaner and visually sanitised, it is definitely much more sexually charged.

Although Annie Lennox in that catsuit? Yes please.

What are your thoughts?

Lunchtime Lookup

2010-10-29T05:30:00.000-04:00

Photo by D. Sharon Pruitt

While I often love the photography at The Sartorialist, this girl and this girl both blew me away with their beauty.

Ari at Advanced Style shares Rose Sachs' Top Ten Ways to Stay Stylish and Look Great at 98. I love her lorgnettes! I want a pair!

This K. Beaton cartoon made me laugh so hard it's not to be believed.

The CRAFT blog has this great tutorial on making Halloween shoes. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to make a bunch of pairs just for wearing! I would make these devil horns to go with, of course. I also love this kid's costume for an old-timey strongman. His name is obviously Phinneas. AND OF COURSE THEY HAVE GAGA COSTUMES I LOVE HER.

CRAFT also had these gorgeous tatted ankle corsets; I would love to learn to tat just to make some! Also, a how-to on ruched leggings. And one on what looks like a very labour-intensive felt applique technique on a cardigan. That one looks like too much work for me.

More my speed: Mark Montano's Amazing Lace candle holder.

Before You Were Hot is my new favourite timewaster online. Celebrate your ugly duckling beginnings!

Still don't know what you're going to be for Halloween? Thread NY has a fashion-conscious top ten.

This photo of Christ Elliot as Terry Richardson totally made my day. (I know that it's not very PC to like either of them, but I can't help but enjoying the antics.)

Cyanide and Happiness share my love of a good punctuation joke.

The Budget Babe tries out some eco-friendly laundry detergent.

Angie at You Look Fab talks about layering jackets over dresses. (Via Already Pretty.)

Nubby Twiglet wears (and somehow rocks) a whackadoo Rick Owens jacket.

The Fashion Tribes Blog had a little "what to wear" for London Fashion Week, but it translates to Ottawa as well!

Finally, the Verhext wedding invitations that make me never want to get married. Not because they're not beautiful, but because I could never compete! (Via Gala Darling.)

What's turning you on this week on the internet? (Get your mind out of the gutter, you.)

Things I Love Thursday (TiLT)

2010-10-28T06:44:00.001-04:00

My new Freecycled candles!

Following the advice of Gala Darling, I've decided to start showing gratitude in my life for all the little things that make my days brighter. I've started keeping a list in my DayRunner and whenever I think of something lovely that I like, I write it down.

So, we've got ourselves a nice little new feature—every Thursday, I'm going to post a list of things I loved, found wonderful, and was thankful for this week!

Let's jump in!

Things I love to do: building outfits for Ottawa Fashion Week; getting caught singing in the elevator; bringing my lunch to work; feeling organised; ironing; cleaning; being a lady

Silly activities with The Boy: making up fake slam poetry; The Boy in my tiara

My amazing friends: drinking tea with and getting clothes from Mariel; Katie's amazing green tea and coconut vegan ice cream

Little luxuries: having my back washed in the tub; cream soda in champagne glasses; sandalwood incense; stickers on calendars denoting special days; red heart-shaped candles scored off Freecycle; people who are good sports; red shoes; socks with heels; animals with people names; heart-shaped accessories; maps; lavender linen spray; watercolours; sunset light on camera-turned faces; big sunglasses; teacups; flocking; The Boy being warm; opening new toys; new books; the art of Maurice Sendak; young adult literature; art supplies; field guides; tarot cards; puzzles

Food: sandwiches made with two potato patties and guacamole; cupcakes for dinner; cupcakes for breakfast; President's Choice Black Olive Tapenade (I am putting that sh*t on everything); sushi; Good & Plenty; tea; grenadine; root beer; Bottlecaps

Cosmetics: Avon Glazewear Shine Lip Gloss in Mauve Moment; Clinique Almost Lipstick in Black Honey

This great NFB short: The Egg

Questionable Moments: Le Château Window, Rideau Centre

2010-10-27T07:22:00.001-04:00

Seriously, what?

OK, I've held off on posting this for quite some time, hoping maybe it would grow on me.

I'm not a fan of paisley at the best of times. But it's alright if it's an all-over paisley in an interesting colour scheme.

THERE ARE PROTOZOA ON YOUR TIE!

What do you think?

Wishlist: October

2010-10-26T07:06:00.000-04:00

Photo by J. S. Zolliker

Here's a brief rundown of things I'm lusting after at the moment (Yes, I know, conspicuous consumption and all that, but a girl can dream, can't she?):

I'm trying to be more organised, so I'm using my DayRunner again. I'd like a mirror for the inside of it, like one of these locker mirrors, which I could easily hack to attach to the inside back cover. I could also use another business card holder for the inside of it.

I love these pink heart rhinestone studded iPod headphones!

As I mentioned on Twitter, I am seriously lusting after this sterling silver and cubic zirconia skull ring... I can see it with so many of my outfits!

I'd like my own tripod for outfit photos, so I don't have to keep borrowing The Boy's.

With winter coming on (whether we like it or not), I need a lip balm to put in my coat pocket. My choice this winter is The Body Shop's Cocoa Butter Lip Care Stick.

Legwarmers! I like skirts! I walk to work! I hate being cold!

Star Girl, by Jerry Spinelli. Because I no-so-secretly adore young adult fiction.

Salon/spa gift certificates. I'm trying like mad to save money at the moment so I can quit my job and do the fashion and style thing full-time, but I miss regular haircuts and pedicures!

Tall black Michael by Michael Kors boots. Swoon. These boots need to be in my life and in my closet. Dear beautiful boots, please come home with me and be my forever loves.

I love Lula magazine. Subscription? Yes please!

A well-stocked liquor cabinet! I've been consuming, but not replacing. I'm even out of plonk wine!

My closet seems to be expanding exponentially lately, and it looks like I'm going to need some more pants/skirt hangers.

What are you lusting after lately? Tell me in the comments!

Preview: Ottawa Fashion Week

2010-10-25T18:00:00.000-04:00

Anna Wintour face.

Well, let's call it what it really is: Ottawa Fashion Weekend. I am doing my best to reserve judgement, but I'm going into this whole thing with my skeptic glasses on. It takes a lot to wow me (what can I say, I'm very particular), and from what I can tell so far I just might be wearing my Anna Wintour face.

Here are my initial thoughts on the designers who are showing this weekend...

Friday:
Emilia Torabi: Clothes seem matronly at best. Web site is strange to navigate, no information on where to purchase or ability to purchase online.
Keera Sama: There's definitely something interesting going on here. I'm curious as to what she's sending down the runway for S/S 2011.
Trive by Modasuite: Very cute indie rock boy wear. Nothing exciting or groundbreaking, but it should be a nice little bit of eyecandy at least.
Nixxi: Simple, wearable knitwear with a bit of excitement. Think American Apparel with some edge.
Karen McClintock: A jewellry designer, I'm particularly fond of her Hepburn Collection. Again, curious to see what S/S 2011 will hold for her.
Micalla: More jewellry - GORGEOUSGORGEOUSGORGEOUS. I am dying over her stuff, especially the orchid cuff. DROOL.
Elroy Apparel: Sustainable clothing, which usually makes me yawn. From the look of previous collections, it could go either way, I could be really interested or really, really bored.
GoldenFish Swimwear: Clothing and swimwear, from the looks of their website. I'm actually excited about this show.

Saturday:
LABEL: I was so bored looking at their website I can't even tell you. Also: don't try to emulate American Apparel's photography style. It's tacky.
Courtney Flood/Julianne Robichaud: There's no website for this pair, which is too bad. Their stuff from last season looks pretty cute, it could turn out to be very wearable business wear with a modern edge.
Andrew Majtenyi: Very cool dresses in interesting prints, from what I can tell from his website. Could be a good one to watch.
Jana Hanzel: More than nodding, Hanzel's pieces point wildly towards Mad Men-era glamour. Which, to be honest, I'm kind of sick of seeing everywhere. Something new please!
Judy Design: Whoa. If you insist on having music play on your website, please don't have the f-bomb in the first line of lyrics! I mean, I'm no prude, but come on, this is your public image here. I couldn't look at the clothes without thinking "trashy/clubby", and I think the music had a lot to do with that.
Rachel Sin: Underwhelming, and the Nelly Dress reminds me of something from JWOWW's (now canned) Filthy Couture collection. (Note: this is not a favourable comparison. See above for Anna Wintour face.)

Sunday:
Sugarbum Designs: I own a Sugarbum piece, and I love it a lot. Ashley Parsons has a very artistic eye for clothing and is probably the closest to anything remotely couture we'll see at OFW. I wish she constructed her things better though, it seems she doesn't really know how to fit clothes on bodies.
Yola Couture: Humdrum snooze yawn. ANGRY yawns.
Soltys & Snajdr: Another sustainable line, but being positioned as a luxury brand. From what OFW posted on their site, I'm not seeing it.
Adrian Wu: I'm pretty stoked about this. I could see ingenues on a red carpet in this stuff.
Birds of North America: I am SUPER EXCITED about this show. SO PRETTY.
Kania Couture: While her pieces are cute and wearable, I don't see any difference between this and stuff you'd see at maybe Sirens. "Couture" it isn't. (Wow. I'm not trying to be mean! I just have very strong opinions about fashion!)
Jessica Biffi: A Project Runway Canada alum, I'm curious to see what she's bringing to the dance.

Friday, October 29th:

Saturday, October 30th:

6:00 LABEL, Courtney Flood/Julianne Robichaud
7:00 Andrew Majtenyi
8:00 Jana Hanzel, Judy Design (at your own risk!)
9:00 Rachel Sin

Sunday, October 31st:

6:00 Sugarbum Designs, Yola Couture
7:00 Soltys & Snajdr, Adrian Wu
8:00 Birds of North America, Kania Couture
9:00 Jessica Biffi

Ottawa Fashion Week runs from October 29th to 31st. You can buy tickets here.

Grandmere Gaby, 1912-2010

2010-10-20T13:37:00.000-04:00

Friends, I apologize for my lag in posting lately. My beloved Grandmere, Gabrielle Lacasse (Morin), passed away recently at the age of 97.

I have been doing a lot of family things and have not had much time for blogging and life stuff. I will be returning to blogging next week.

Please, no condolences - Grandmere Gaby was one of my style icons and the reason that I became the stylish person that I am. She will be missed, of course, but mostly she should be remembered for the sweet, giving, wonderful woman that she was.

It Was a Naked Lady Party!

2010-10-12T14:18:00.005-04:00

On September 26th, I opened my home to 11 ladies and their cast-off clothing.

I had five garbage bags of clothing to get rid of (hooray for drastic unexpected weight loss!), so I decided to invite some ladies over to root through the clothes, bring their own things to get rid of, and generally just have a great afternoon.

As I sorted the clothing, I was concerned with how cold my apartment was–I was in a sweater and jeans with wool socks on and was still freezing! I shouldn’t have worried. Half an hour after the ladies arrived, we were all down to our underwear and the windows were fogged over! My apartment is small and there was a lot of giggling.

Favourite quotes of the afternoon: “All of my favourite ladies are in their underwear. It’s a good day to be Lauren!” and “I never thought I’d be giving someone my card in my underwear.”

We ate. We drank. We tried things on.

For the whole week following the e-mails and Twitter messages came pouring in–people couldn’t stop telling me what fun they had, and how many great clothes they ended up with!

I’ll be holding another one at the end of January. It looks like every four months or so is going to be a good frequency for this.

Do you hold or attend clothing swaps? Tell me about your experiences in the comments!

Street Style: Marie Michell

2010-10-08T07:52:00.000-04:00

The boots were what grabbed my attention.

Meet Marie Michell. I ran into her on my way to work yesterday, and I had to stop her to ask about her boots. They were the perfect shade of grey, with a tiny bit of cute corset-style lacing at the top on the side.

She told me she found them, at all places, at Sears in the summer. You could have knocked me over with a feather! Sears is definitely not the place I was expecting her to tell me she found this fabulous, fashion-forward fall footwear!

She was also wearing an absolutely darling little hippie-print dress* and tights. She told me she had just dropped her kids off at school and had taken the day off. If more moms made the effort to look this cute to just drop off their kids, I'd be out of a job!

Marie is a very sweet and stylish woman, and we have plans to meet up for drinks in the near future.

What do you think?

*Marie, if you're reading this, please tell me in the comments where your dress is from!

Nina Garcia's One Hundred: #2 Animal Print

2010-10-06T12:55:00.000-04:00

All photos, Andrew Alexander Photography.

I have loved animal print since I was a kid. It was the eighties. My mother was horrified. But man, did I ever want leopard-print everything.

In high school I had a leopard-print belt and headband. I wore them with a black turtleneck and tight black jeans (what would now be referred to as "skinnies"), and I thought I was the chicest thing in the school.

I have to admit, most of what I own in the way of animal print is in the leopard variety; it's my favourite skin pattern (followed closely by zebra).

Oh dear. Those shoes are too big. It's hard to be a stylist for yourself!

Hooray to Nina Garcia for acknowledging that animal print is chic (of course, only in the colours that nature intended and only in small doses)! Now I can prove it to my mother!

A Huge Thank-You!

2010-10-05T14:17:00.002-04:00

Photo by Andrew Alexander Photography.

Wow! I have been receiving an incredible response to my new column, More Fashion, Less Victim, over at Apartment 613! Thank you so much, everyone! Particularly, thank you François for the go-ahead and my dear Andrew for the push in the right direction and to get moving. Big ups to Andrew Alexander for taking such great pictures.

I am just completely overwhelmed by all the kind words and responses. Thank you so much. I can’t wait to continue this adventure.

Next month I cover menswear. Please feel free to e-mail me your questions! Check back here tomorrow for the continuing series on Nina Garcia's One Hundred.

Colour Theory For Non-Artists

2010-10-01T08:41:00.000-04:00

I was recently asked about combining colours in outfits. How is it done? How can I do it? How do I avoid looking like a douchebag?

Many people find colour intimidating. There are so many colours out there! If one doesn’t have an art background or a good eye for such things, how does one know what goes with what?

Luckily, there is a ton of information available online, and I’m going to do my best to dispense some wisdom as well.

When you first start playing around with colour, you might do well to try out neutrals with a “pop” of colour. Think brown pants with a red top, a white summer dress with an aquamarine belt, or a navy suit with a deep indigo dress shirt. It’s a simple way to incorporate colour into outfits without having to worry about whether or not it “matches”. It doesn’t have to match, it just “goes”. Neutrals (black, brown, white, navy, grey, tan) go with everything.

It seems deceptively easy, but a more challenging ways of dressing when it comes to colour is to dress in a monochrome outfit. This is probably easiest to pull off with all black–because of variations in manufacturing, not all navies, browns, or other colours are the same, and often don’t even have the same base colour–but can be done with any colour. Just be careful of looking like Grimace in all-purple! With monochromatic looks, remember that you’re not just looking for one saturation* or brightness of the same colour. A red dress can look very stunning with burgundy tights and a pink bag. It is, in the words of Tim Gunn, a lot of look. Tread carefully in monochrome outfits that are not neutral.

Not a fashion icon.

Complementary colours are colours which are directly across from each other on the colour wheel. Examples would be red and green, blue and orange, and yellow and purple. Again, a little tough to pull off, but totally doable. Let’s say you have a purple sweater dress. Like, exactly the purple that’s above in the colour wheel. Look at the yellow directly across from that–would you wear tights in that colour with that purple dress? Probably not. But if the tights were a toned-down version of that colour, it would work. Like, if the tights had more grey in them. Mmm. Mustard-y.

So, you’re managed neutrals with a pop, monochrome that’s not black and complimentary colours. “Challenge me, Jes,” you say. Fine. I will.

Split complementary.

A split complementary is when you take one colour on the colour wheel (let’s say for the sake of argument in this case, amber), and rather than pairing it with its complementary colour (indigo), you use the two colours on either side of its complementary (blue and purple). That’s right, this outfit has three colours. For example, an amber top with a blue suit and a purple bag and shoes. Hot.

As a side note to the split complementary, you can also combine colours that are one jump away from each other on the colour wheel–take the amber out of the last combo and put blue with purple. (Or red with orange, or yellow with green, etc.)

On the colour wheel, you’ll notice a triangle in the middle. You can draw this triangle between any three colours equidistant on the colour wheel. Drop one of those three colours, and you’ve got yourself a two-thirds colour combination. Blue and red for example, or purple and orange. Again, make sure that it’s not all very saturated colours!

A few other things to remember when it comes to colour theory:

* Light colours emphasise, dark colours de-emphasise. Big butt that you want to hide? A black skirt will be better than a white one.
* Warm colours emphasize, cool colours de-emphasise. Still want to hide that lovely booty? Put it in a navy skirt, not a red one.
* Play around with colour. If you don’t know if things go together, try them out! Be bold in your experiments! If it doesn’t work, there’s always tomorrow!
* If you really don’t know what colours go together, look at existing colour combinations. Look to magazines to see how ads combine colours. Use store windows not to tell you what to buy, but to figure out the colours that they put together. Even nature is full of inspiration!

For more information on this topic, Academichic has four fantastic posts (lessons one through four) on this subject, with awesome illustrations. Do check them out!

Are you experimenting with colour in your wardrobe? Let me know how it’s going in the comments!

*Saturation has to do with the amount of white in a colour. The more white, the less saturated a colour is. Red would be saturated compared to pink. Basically, the purity of a colour.

Personal Shopping: Michael Sheridan

2010-09-29T06:10:00.000-04:00

Michael Sheridan trying on dress shirts at Mexx.

It’s no surprise that I love shopping. I love shopping with men even more. And I love making men feel great about themselves in the process.

On September 19th I had the pleasure of taking Michael Sheridan shopping. Michael has just recently changed jobs within his department at the Canada Revenue Agency, which means an increase in pay, travelling for work (he’s in Summerside at the moment), and giving training to employees. All of which mean it's time to step it up in the wardrobe department.

I’ve known Michael since 2004, and his personal style has definitely evolved in that time. When I first met him he wore mostly faded jeans, beat-up Blundtstones, and paisley shirts over band T-shirts. His style now is much more refined, while keeping the same cute, casual aesthetic he’s always had.

First on Michael’s list was dress shoes, and while we were making our way toward the men’s shoe department at The Bay at Bayshore, we came across a rack of ties that were 30% off. Michael and I pulled out seven slender Ben Sherman ties, and we winnowed that pile of ties down to four that he liked best.

Michael was reluctant to look for shoes at The Bay since he claimed that he had looked there before and hadn’t found anything that he liked. I convinced him to let me take a look “with my eyes”, he agreed, and I zoned in on these Calvin Klein beauties:

Calvin Klein shoes–hot.

Michael tried them on and fell in love*.

Following The Bay, we headed to Banana Republic. Michael had been browsing their website and since he was in the market for a suit, he thought that they might have one that would work for him. While we were there I pulled some additional items for him to try on, including this sweater:

Look how handsome!!!

Because I’ve known Michael for so long, I have to admit to getting a little misty over this outfit. He looks so nice. If you’re a nice girl reading this blog, he’s single! What a catch!

He also tried on a white and a grey long-sleeved T-shirt to wear under long-sleeved shirts in the winter–the white was far too sheer, but he did pick up the grey.

However, he was looking for a suit. So when he tried on the one he had been looking at online, he was hoping that it was going to work for him. Unfortunately, because Michael is on the shorter side, the proportions of the jacket were wrong for him. The top button was quite low on the torso, and the jacket was too long, making it look like he was a little boy playing dress-up in his father’s suit. Michael was disappointed but I knew we would find him something else.

And find him something else we did! We spent a good 45 minutes browsing the racks at Mexx, sending Michael off to the dressing room with a very large pile of things to try on, including this suit:

Winning suit!

The fit of the jacket was perfect through the chest, and the only tailoring that needed to be done was to hem the pants and take up the cuff on the jacket slightly. This was the suit for him.

Tailoring is important.

Michael is fortunate to be a bit of a clothes horse–it’s pretty rare that he will try something on and have it look strange. Case in point, every item he tried on at Mexx was golden. He ended up buying the suit, a pair of dress pants (grey windowpane plaid flannel), a belt, and six dress shirts. Maybe he bought more? Probably. I don't remember. I’ll have to arrange a time that he and I can get together to take some pictures of him in his suit once it’s back from the tailor’s.

We had a great day. What do you think of Michael’s purchases? Tell me in the comments!

*He has since e-mailed me to tell me he has worn them to work and they have proven comfortable, albeit a bit pinchy during the breaking-in process.

Meet the Newest Apartment 613 Columnist!

2010-09-27T14:36:00.002-04:00

During the Fringe Festival, I had the opportunity to meet François Levesque of Apartment 613 at the bloggers' meet and greet. We chatted a while and connected, and I approached him a few days later about doing a column for them. I was thinking fashion advice.

Well, they totally went for it! I was stupidly busy with moving and the like for the remainder of the summer (also why the blog has been neglected for a while), but I am pleased to announce that my first Apartment 613 column comes out next Tuesday, October 5th! It will be appearing the first Tuesday of every month. And I’m having a contest!

Whoever can come up with the best name for my Apartment 613 column will win an as-yet-to-be-determined prize! I really don’t know what it will be, but I promise it will be cool! To enter, leave a comment with your idea for what my fashion advice column should be called!

Also, please don’t hesitate to comment with your fashion dilemmas and questions, or you can email me at yoursweetbippy (at) gmail (dot) com. I am so looking forward to this new adventure!

Fashion of the Fringe: Brad MacNeil

2010-08-27T07:24:00.000-04:00

OK, so remember how yesterday I talked about Brad MacNeil being my Fringe crush? Just look at him, people. He dressed like this every night. Not only was he charming and hilarious as the cohost of Chats With Cat in the beer tent, he looked incredibly dapper doing so. His outfits were usually variations of the above theme—dress shirt, blazer, jeans, good shoes. He's effortless and comfortable, with the right degree of style.

More than once I caught myself peeking at his ring finger. (Which, I'm sad to report, has a band on it.) But look how handsome!

I'm going to be putting in some serious work on the blog over the next few days—the movers have come and got my stuff, and I don't get it back until next Wednesday. The only thing I have to entertain myself is the internet. So I might as well blog!

My Summer Crush.

2010-08-26T14:52:00.001-04:00

OK, so during Fringe Festival I had a "fringe crush". Yes, I had been there with my boyfriend, but hey, if someone as charismatic and handsome as Brad MacNeil so much as looks your way, of course you're going to swoon a little.

So imagine my surprise and delight when today on Twitter I saw this message from @thebradmacneil: The #mysummercrush finale will have a fashion theme. If @JesLacasse doesn't show up it's a failure.

So of course I'm going.

My Summer Crush is put on by Ottawa's own CRUSH IMPROV, directed by Al Connors. (I saw the Company of Fools production of A Midsummer Night's Dream that he did this summer, and it was great!) It's part of the Summer Fling Festival at Arts Court. Saturday night is the last show, and it is apparently something to do with the fashion industry. (Well, I know a little more than that but I don't want to give it away.)

Tickets are a measley $12.00, and the show starts at 8:00 in the Arts Court Studio.

Now I just need to figure out what to wear...

On self-esteem.

2010-08-20T18:00:00.001-04:00

Recently, I have come under criticism for acting like I'm "all that". (Someone actually used those words, and I wanted to tell them that 1995 wanted its catch phrase back, but even 1995 doesn't want it.)

Here's the thing: of course I have issues with my self esteem. Show me a woman who claims she doesn't, and I'll show you a liar.

For your enjoyment, here is a (partial) list of things I have a problem with when it comes to my body and me as a person:

I have been struggling with my weight since the mid-1990s. From my mother telling me that the last time I looked good was in October of 1996, to working in the fashion industry, to trying to shop for clothing, I have not been satisfied with my weight for over a decade.
My breasts are large. Like, can't-button-a-shirt large.
My nasal labial folds are getting more pronounced.
My eyes are small.
I'm lazy.
I'm dispassionate.
I'm selfish.

However, and this is the important bit, none of these things matter. Because I am generally an upbeat person, with a huge laugh, an amazing group of friends. I have been told time and time again that I am too self-aggrandizing when I say things like, "I'm amazing," or "My life is awesome." Even worse, I've been told that I'm faking it and that I'm actually miserable.

But you know what? I'm not. I truly love my life. I am working to change myself every day. So what if I like nice clothing? So what if I lust after the newest Chanel nail polish?

My life rules. So does yours. I like you. I like me. Anyone that tells you that your life is somehow less than you know it to be can, in the words of my mother (who isn't always awful), take a long walk off a short pier.

Now, I'm going to get on my bike, go and pick up a bottle of wine, and have dinner with my friend and talk about our goals. So there.

Your Sweet Bippy is On the Move!

2010-07-20T08:07:00.003-04:00

Well, the blog isn't, but I am!

At the end of August I'm going to be moving from Hintonburg North in Ottawa to... Wait for it... Dunh dunh duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuunh... Hintonburg south. I'm basically moving three blocks and just crossing Wellington Street.

However, expect blogging to be more sporadic than usual during this upheaval... I've already packed my Nina Garcia books, my magazines, my winter clothes...

However, I am happy and proud to announce that I have been invited to write a bi-weekly fashion advice column for Apartment 613! Please leave any fashion connundrum questions in the comments, or e-mail them to me directly if you have the means to do that, and look for that coming up soon! All questions, will be kept anonymous, so even if you have embarassing questions about, I don't know, weird stain removal, please feel free to ask!

Nina Garcia's One Hundred: #72 Red Lipstick

2010-07-20T07:57:00.002-04:00

What woman doesn't love red lipstick? Even if they claim not to, there is a glamour and a cachet associated with it, and if you think you can't wear it, you envy those who can.

In my ongoing Nina Garcia's One Hundred series, number 72 is red lipstick. It seems I can't go to the drugstore without walking away with another one. And Sephora? Forget it. I am constantly on the lookout for the perfect matte red lipstick for myself.

Of course, Garcia is a name-dropper, and some of the ones she cites are Chanel Red No. 5, MAC Ruby Woo, Clinique Angel Red, CoverGirl Really Red, Lancome Red Desire, Anna Sui Rouge Chine, Mary Kay Red Salsa, Elizabeth Arden Slink, NARS Fire Down Below, and Trucco Blood. I have tried most, if not all, of these lipsticks, and not one has worked for me.

The thing with red lipstick is that there are so many factors that figure in to which one is right for you—the shape of your mouth, your skintone, your hair colour, your preferred wardrobe, and so on.

I have found my perfect shade: Revlon Matte Lipstick in Really Red. Runners up include MAC's Liza Red (part of the Liza line from a bunch of years ago, sadly discontinued—you might get the same colour out of Lady Bug but the finish is different) and Kat Von D's Painted Love Lipstick in Hellbent.

However, I wouldn't have gone anywhere near the Revlon lipstick ten years ago. My skin and style in my mid-twenties could never have carried off such a heavy, matte red slash of a mouth (no matter how much I wanted to channel Diana Vreeland). I was relegated to wearing more sheer, glossy reds, which didn't compete with my clear skin and bright eyes. (Oh, how I long for those days...)

If you are on the search for a signature red lipstick, fear not! The ideal one for you is out there. Much like shopping for the perfect pair of jeans, you have to try, try, and try some more. And if all else fails, take me with you!

A Teensy Break

2010-07-11T14:30:00.000-04:00

After taking time to recover from Fringe Festival, I had (very minor) surgery last week. I'm recovering and will resume regular blogging starting tomorrow!

Nina Garcia's One Hundred: #23 Cosmetics Bag

2010-07-03T18:53:00.007-04:00

Nina Garcia (of Project Runway notoriety) has written several books (The Little Black Book of Style and The Style Strategy come to mind), but my favourite book of hers by far has got to be The One Hundred: A Guide to the Pieces Every Stylish Woman Must Own.

Inspired by the renovations to her apartment, Garcia wrote a book about the pieces she kept going back to in her wardrobe. The staples, if you will.

I have some of the pieces listed in this book. I don't have a lot of them. But in my efforts to become more stylish, I am definitely looking at this book as an invaluable resource.

And of course, I'm going to blog about my style adventures, attempting to bring my list from some to all. (Over time, of course. There are some serious cash outlays in this book. In my opinion, worth every penny.)

So, number 23. The cosmetics bag. Of course, Garcia talks about owning high-end luxury ones (she counts four Prada cosmetic bags in her arsenal), but for me that just doesn't work. I bring my cosmetics bag with me absolutely everywhere (thank heavens for my Lug bag), and a pretty Prada (Louis Vuitton, Bottega Veneta, Tod's) bag would just get ruined in my travels. For that matter, a simple LeSportsac or MAC bag would quickly be spoiled. So it's free giveaway bags for me! My current one is a plastic number from Clinique's last giveaway at Sears.

Of course, it doesn't matter so much what kind of bag it as much as what's in it. Let's take a look at Garcia's list, shall we?

La Roche Posay sunscreen
Kiehl's lip balm
Guerlain bronzing powder
Nivea Sun Oil spray
Kerastase Hair Drops (Which appear to no longer exist?)
Mario Badescu Drying Lotion
Helena Rubenstein Force C Cream
Maybelline Great Lash mascara
MAC eye shadow (I have to say, I'm not a fan, give me Smashbox or anything else, really.)
Bobbi Brown Long-Wear eyeliner
Tweezerman tweezers
Shu Uemura eyelash curler

Which is all well and good, if you've got tons of bucks to spend on a basic cosmetics kit, but if you're anything like me, you don't. So, here's what's in my makeup bag. (I feel oddly exposed, sharing all this...)

Avon Tinted Moisturizer with SPF 15 (most days this is all I wear as a base, at least in the summer)
Urban Decay Primer Potion (This product is my #1 must-have. Hint: when you think it's gone, cut the bottle open and there's a lot more left inside! Scrape it into a little pot and you've got twice as much as you thought.)
Avon Ideal Shade Concealer Stick
Clinique Up-Lighting Liquid Illuminator in Natural (Freebie!)
L'Oreal True Match Roller makeup (Which I hate, and use with a sponge instead of the roller it came with. It's just dreadful, and takes forever to get right, but I'm such a cheapo sometimes that I can't throw things out if I can make them sort of work.)
Revlon PhotoReady Powder in Fair/Light (Which is awesome.)
Avon Pro Brow Enhancer in Black
Revlon ColorStay Liquid Eyeliner in Blackest Black (For the signature cat eye, of course.)
Clinique High Definition Lashes mascara in Black (Freebie as well! But I love it so much, I would buy it.)
New York Color Blushable Creme Stick in Berry New Yorker

These items are supplemented with whichever eye shadow and lipstick I decide to wear on any given day.

Wow. I feel super-exposed.

Lunchtime Lookup: Weekly Link Roundup

2010-07-03T13:03:00.002-04:00

It's been a pretty quiet week here, as I've been attempting to recover from my week-long Ottawa Fringe Festival binge. Andrew tells me we saw 25 or so plays in 10 days, and I'm going to have to take his word for it without going to my notes. I have a lot more Fringe Fashion pictures to share with you, as well as more notes on costuming, but for now it's time for a weekly roundup of links!

Jezebel talks about the Post-Breakup Haircut. And if it goes badly, there's always the strangest headgear (I would hesitate to call these hats) from Sao Paulo Fashion Week. Also, in the WTF category, Vogue's fall mission statement.

The Business of Fashion talks about Jil Sander and Burberry.

My Fashion Life lets us know about The Shop Pulse website relaunch.

CRAFT brings us a Twister Raincoat!

YouLookFab discusses the appropriateness of business sleeveless. And asks would you wear a butt booster? (For the record, I might.)

Vogue UK shows us that Richie Sambora's clothing line is as tacky as can be expected.

According to Gawker, Christian Siriano will put his name on anything.

Tavi is guest-blogging at Jezebel and discusses the difference between being a label-whore and being truly fashionable (using Daria as an example, of course).

MSNBC talks about poor, poor American Apparel.

NYPOST tells us that this summer's It Bag is in reach. (I think my mom has one of these.)

The Telegraph talks about the world's most expensive suit. Don't mind if I do!

I haven't read Advanced Style for a while, but this post brought me back.

High Snobiety shows some gorgeous jewelry. How badly do I want the silver skull pendant? VERY.

At The Cherry Blossom Girl, Alix tries out a new look. For those of us who remember the 1990s, this might not be the best look.

And because I like to look at cute boys, Hypebeast brings us the Extra Butter summer 2010 lookbook, the Goodhood spring/summer 2010 lookbook, and the Us vs. Them summer collection.

Fashion of the Fringe: Joseph Bembridge

2010-06-25T18:29:00.002-04:00

Joseph is a dancer with Inertia Productions presentation of The Duck Wife, which I wrote about here .

What can I say? Just look how cute he is! So put together... His shirt makes me think about doing a DIY thing with an old V-neck American Apparel T-shirt that I have.

I love his look.

I also love that this is the first Fashion of the Fringe photo I've taken that's half decent. Small victories.

Fashion of the Fringe: Bob Wiseman

2010-06-25T15:43:00.002-04:00

This is Bob. Bob used to be in a little Canadian band known as Blue Rodeo. Bob is very cute. Bob dresses like an adorable person. I love to see him around the Fringe to see what he’s wearing.

Bob’s show, ACTIONABLE, is a blend of songs, words and PowerPoint presentations reflecting on litigious situations Bob has landed in since embarking on his solo career in 1991. Often funny, sometimes poignant, this show is a must-see for any musician.

I wasn’t familiar with Bob’s solo work before seeing his show, and afterwards I immediately emailed Dave Tough, the pianist for my band (The Inbetweenies), to tell him how much his songs reminded me of Bob’s. He sent me the following response:

“Bob Wiseman was a huge influence/idol of mine about 20 years ago when his first solo stuff appeared, so I'm unsurprised and pleased at the comparison. I opened for him in the fall at the Black Sheep.”

So I have only one degree of separation, musically, from Bob Wiseman! Cool!

Anyway, about his outfit… It could have been clashing, it could have been garish, but it just all worked together so perfectly. The yellow of the shirt was the same intensity of the red of the tie, and both colours were tied together by the plaid in the pants.

ACTIONABLE has three more shows at the Mercury Lounge during the Fringe Festival, tonight at 7:15, Saturday afternoon at 1:00 and Sunday afternoon at 2:45. It’s $10.00 at the door, plus your Fringe button. If Fringe isn't really your thing, you can catch Bob at Raw Sugar tonight for a $10.00 c0ver.

Lunchtime Lookup: Weekly Link Roundup

2010-06-25T13:08:00.004-04:00

Of course, I've been at the Ottawa Fringe all week.

And I've been pimping Fully Fringed.

I've met some people from the Centrepoint Players.

I've met and blogged about someone from Australia.

I've had a lot of wine with a cabaret singer and her pianist.

But enough about me. There's lots more going on.

Jezebel points out that Target is selling a facist T-shirt. And then lets us know that Target pulled the shirt. To clear the taste of that debacle out of our mouths, they let us know when Justin Timberlake does it right.

Alix at The Cherry Blossom Girl made these sweet little movies.

Sherry on the Daintytime blog makes some beautiful mending.

Style Rookie Tavi (who knows way more about fashion than I do) does a great resort collection roundup.

Julien Macdonald tells Wales Online that there's no room for plus sizes in fashion.

Hint is rumour-mongering that Nicola Formichetti (of Haus of Gaga noteriety, as well as Vogue Hommes Japan fashion director) might be stepping in at Thierry Mugler.

The Independent tells us about a covetable English vintage festival with style. They also bring us this slide show from Sao Paulo Fashion Week (note: possibly NSFW, nip content).

CRAFT Magazine points out just how much of an environmental impact one pair of jeans has. And it's things like this that make me wish I had babies.

Go Fug Yourself do a little roundup of three Katy Perry outfits. (I have to say, you guys, I'm mostly with them on all of these. Except I like the last one the best.)

Audrey Hepburn Complex always posts amazing photographs. Really.

Ecouterre shows us jewelry by Tine De Ruyesser made out of money.

I need a nap and to do laundry. Fringing will continue for the next couple of days. So many roundups. I'm going to be there full-force with my camera this weekend, so if you're coming I hope you step up your game!

Fashion of the Fringe: Thea Nikolic

2010-06-24T17:02:00.002-04:00

This girl knows how to dress. Every time I’ve seen her at the Fringe festival, I have been completely blown away by what she was wearing. And this little 1940s-style ensemble is no exception.

Thea isn’t involved in any shows at Fringe this year, but she is adjudicating and apparently taking bribes. Just look for this very well-dressed young lady. She’ll probably be carrying around her new iPhone.