Shoes: Brown or Black?

One of my favourite breaks to take during the afternoon lull is to browse the very well-organized ShopBop 70% sale section--particularly for shoes. Unlike another favourite site, Yoox, ShopBop's selection is not overwhelming thus making it perfect for a quick 2 minute break at the office. Also, they carry one of my favourite casual brands, Frye (not just for boots!).

Today I discovered these Frye "Heidis" on sale for $59.40.

Certainly, they're not amazing shoes by any stretch of the imagination, but like all Frye boots and shoes, I suspect these are incredibly comfortable and well-made. They're one of the only shoemakers that I can trample around in 4"+ heels all night with nary a blister. Plus, these look perfect for the office in fall. Now, should I get em in black or brown?

(Gut feeling was to go for brown but then remembered that I don't have any non-patent black shoes... hmmm!)


In other news: moving to my new place tomorrow! This was just a quick post, but I fear I'll be MIA again for another few days while I'm settling in! See you in August and am looking forward to catching up on my blog-reading!

In Brief...

All right--so clearly I've been a little busy and thus not much going on in terms of updates. I'm hoping that once August rolls around, things will start settling down. In the meantime, check out some of my favourite blogs in the links on the sidebar (or read Alice and Kev)>>>>

(Moving to Brooklyn Heights and am mad about the new apartment! Beautiful molding, absurdly high ceilings, 12 minute door-to-door commute to work! No complaints... except for lack of central a/c. That's how it goes here unfortunately!)

Accessorize: keychains

I'm currently doing some last minute packing for my "move" to New York tomorrow. Two suitcases and a carry-on is all I'm taking! While packing, look what I discovered!



He's my little Robot Keychain made from old odds and ends of electrical waste, nuts, and bolts. He's missing an ear, and the other one is sort of falling out so I think I'll remove it and keep it safe for him.

I got him last summer at a little knick knack stand in Shanghai. I wonder if he was mass produced or just a one off from some local crafty person; he was the only one of his kind being sold... In any event, he's great and will be my new keychain from now on (it's been a year and a half since I've had a keychain or had need for a keychain--unbelievable!).

Even though I'm an "adult", there are still certain things I own that are distinctly childish: a couple of stuffed pandas, a collection of miniature toys (see below), and well, keychains. Even though I have fantasies of decorating my room with a painted wrought-iron bed (in white) laden with a few select stuffed pandas and such (this might still be a reality; we'll see how I feel in the new home haha), I feel that actually doing it would give friends and potential suitors the creeps. So we limit such childish folly to the small things: keychains. Yeah, you'll never see me sporting a Cartier keychain.

This leads me to ask you: What do you use for a keychain?

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More toys: I got a collection of these little guys in Kunming last year and took this fellow out around Beijing for some photo ops. This little character is sporting traditional Beijing opera-style facepaint and posing with his fellow painted faces outside the Summer Palace.

How to: Get Photographed by the Sartorialist

Excellent graphic from Refinery29

Funny, but also kind of a depressing statement about how unoriginal fashion actually is.

Since starting the blog, I've also increased my own subscriptions to fashion bloggers and uh, well, I have to admit that I kind of enjoyed it more when I was only subscribed to a few. Oversized cut-up t-shirts over tight jeans or short florals dresses kind of gets boring to look at after awhile. This is also why I've personally not been contributing a lot of "What I'm Wearing" posts. I'm not wearing anything that interesting--nothing that hasn't been seen a million times already. Summer uniform of late: white skinny jeans + grey t-shirt + nude belt + some necklaces + nude sandals. Snore.

Don't get me wrong--there are still quite a few of you that I love (I think you know who you are hehe), but the rest... the updates go sadly unread until it starts cluttering up my reader and I hit that "Mark All as Read" button.

I'm hoping I'll have more original stuff (or at the very least, "original" insofar as there won't be a skinny jean in sight) to post once I'm starting work and forced to wear corporate, work-apropos stuff all the time. That is the point of this blog after all.

Decoding Craigslist Rental Ads (New York)

"Charming" - serious, visible flaws that might be considered "charming" to the blind
"Cozy" - fits a twin bed if you're lucky
"Near [X Neighbourhood]" - not at all near by any human-scale of comparison
"10 minutes to Manhattan!" - Jersey City
"No Fee!" - Fee is hidden in the rent
"Great for students!" - share a kitchen and/or bath
"Awesome deal!" - no kitchen and/or windows
"Spacious" - larger than 200 sq ft

Absence makes the heart grow fonder...?

Sorry for the lack of updates! I'm currently in Toronto staying with my Mother and helping her renovate her home. As such, I've been spending the past few days involved in hard manual labour (removing wallpaper and painting the walls). These hands are actually callused! The last time these paws were callused was circa 1990, 1st grade recess, monkey bars--hah!

Also, I'm moving next Thursday and starting a new job on the 20th and need to do some last minute apartment hunting with hopes of getting a place to actually call home by August 1st. Ahh, busy! If you know of anyone with something available in New York, let me know!

WIWT (Wedding) Weekend: 04/7/2009

Man, am I a great looking panda or what?

While my American friends south of the border celebrated Independence Day with burgers and beer, a few of us had gathered our things and headed north to Toronto for the celebration two souls in love (with cake and champagne!--ahem, French 75s!).

The daytime ceremony was held in a beautiful cathedral downtown, a time and location that was perfect for this summery, embroidered, floral dress I purchased last year. Check out the awesome embroidery detailing on the mustard-coloured flowers!

While I realize a few posts back that I mentioned wanting an asymmetrical dress for this very occasion, I've since decided to make a turn toward thriftiness! Aside from saving money, I know I have enough in my existing wardrobe (as was made painfully evident in my recent bouts of packing and repacking). Anyway, if you want true thriftiness, craftiness, and sustainable clothing, go check out "The Uniform Project"--one woman's quest to wear one dress for one year! Now that's dedication!

Floral dress (Phillip Lim 3.1) / strapped sandals (Modern Vintage) / Panda head

Drink: French 75

Concocted by legendary French WWI pilot, Raoul Lufbery, the French 75 is my new favourite summer cocktail. Apparently he liked champagne but wanted more of a kick, which is exactly what we were thinking when we ordered ours perched in the aerie of the Globe Bistro.

Ingredients:
- gin
- fresh squeezed lemon
- sparkling wine (or more properly, champagne)
- touch of sugar

Prepare in the following ratio (or thereabouts--just don't skimp on the gin!):
- 1 part gin: 0.5 parts lemon: 1.5 parts sparkling wine: sugar to taste

Liking it so much, we headed to the liquor store the next day and picked up a bottle of Tanqueray, a couple of bottles of cava, and a few lemons; back at the hotel, we ordered room service to bring up six champagne flutes and a knife.

Unsure about the proper proportions of the alcohols at the time, we sampled different mixtures and enjoyed an afternoon of comfortable drinking before heading off to the wedding pleasantly tipsy.

After the reception, fellow wedding-goers came back to the hotel with us to drink the rest of our purchases (hence the extra champagne flutes). It was a smash hit! Will definitely be keeping it in mind for future entertaining purposes.


Oh, housekeeping!

A good party idea: mix a punch bowl of gin, lemon juice, and sugar. Keep unopened bottles of sparkling wine nearby and serve freshly made French 75s as the guests want them!

The happy afterparty revelers. 6 flutes were clearly not enough.

Hope the rest of you had a great Fourth o' July weekend! Though I was in Canada not celebrating the red-white-blue, I certainly partied like I was! (Minus the barbeque hehe)

My Muse: Remembering Kelly Kapowski

We contributed to the latest post on the fashpack.com with a nostalgic trip back to the early nineties. From the gracefully assembled collage by Jozee, we can all enjoy the stylings of a certain Ms. Kelly Kapowski.

For more, click here.