Live to eat

This morning my carpool friend asked me what I’m passionate about. She mentioned a colleague whose passion is knitting. She said hers is hair removal (we laughed and said she should be an aesthetician instead of an HR manager), and asked me what mine is. I said, “fashion, books, music, food.” Mostly clothes and food though.

I don’t get people who don’t enjoy food and just eat because they have to. I live to eat. Which is why I’ll probably never be a size 0, and that’s just fine with me. (Well, actually, I’d love to be skinnier, but food wins every time.)

Just some of the things I’ve eaten over the past few weeks:

beef cheek banh mi from Banh Mi Boys, English toffee with Costa Rican milk chocolate and almonds from SoMA chocolatemaker, Vietnamese bún (vermicelli with grilled chicken and nước chấm, Vietnamese dipping sauce), crispy spring rolls (i.e. crack), Skor gelato from Hollywood Gelato, crispy chicken tacos.

Date night with Will on Saturday was at Barque Smokehouse in the Roncesvalles neighbourhood, which was good but a little disappointing, I was expecting more for the price. It was also painfully, painfully hipster.

the cutlery comes with a brush, bucket of popcorn that I demolished while waiting for our mains (service was a little too slow), pulled duck tacos, a giant pile of meat (brisket, chicken thighs, and beef ribs).

A foodie friend and I stood in line on Monday after work to eat at momofuku noodle bar, which opened last week in Toronto’s Shangri-La Hotel. The lines were long last week (was there an Apple store in there or something?), but pretty easy to get into on a Monday at 5 p.m. I still prefer ssäm bar in New York, but I can now say I’ve eaten David Chang’s pork buns in two different countries.

pork buns, Momofuku ramen

The food adventures don’t end here though, Will and my foodie friend and I are going to Montreal over Canadian Thanksgiving weekend with the sole purpose of eating at Au Pied de Cochon (where chef Martin Picard tried to kill Anthony Bourdain) and Joe Beef (home of the foie gras double down). I’m a little afraid that we might die before we make it home.

Ode to bare legs

It was seriously effing cold today. Cold enough that I was wishing for a pair of gloves (gloves!) on my way home from early dinner at momofuku (more on that later). I know fall is officially here, but how about a little more warmth before blasting us with the cold? I need more transition time.

1, 2, 3, 4

I’ve been wearing some new things lately, but I’ve been lax about taking pictures and posting them. So here are some outfit photos I took over the summer and never got around posting. I’ll try to get back into the swing of taking photos on a more regular basis. Until then, even though I haven’t entirely given up on tightslessness yet, let’s call this an ode to bare legs.

I don’t even have a title for this post.

It’s been a crazy week. I work in for a major Canadian wireless provider, and iPhone 5 launch = chaos. So this is all I have this week, just a handful of fashion-y snaps I’ve collected on my freakishly out-of-date iPhone 3GS, and not even a decent title for it.

Also, I’m currently obsessed with PicFrame and making collages out of everything. But if anyone makes fun of me, I’ll just say it could be real scrapbooking instead, what’s worse?

I almost bought this Anthro vase last December, Anthro pencil box with an OWN network-esque inspirational quote, my last pedicure of the season, a table full of colourful Hanky Panky thongs, argyle and miniskirts at Club Monaco, dubious jeans at Club Monaco.

Since I work for said wireless provider, I’m not allowed to upgrade to the 5 until the initial launch is over, which means January next year. So until then I’ll have the ongoing battle in my head about if I actually need to upgrade to iPhone 5 (which really, I don’t) or if I should just hang on to my 3GS until it dies. The horrors of using outdated technology, what a first-world problem.

I wear what I love

"1-zip favouring familiar silhouettes. Left whips and chains behind, I'm boycotting trends, it's my new look this season." - Tori Amos, "Girl Disappearing"

I am definitely not a trendy person. Frankly, chasing after trends every season is exhausting and confusing to me. It’s inevitable that some trends end up in my closet because I shop every season, but I don’t scour the fashion magazines to find out what’s “in” for the season and go searching for that, nor do I shun things because they’re too trendy. I wear what I love, period.

knockoff J.Crew turquoise bubble necklace from Etsy | Jacob sleeveless top | Artizia stretchy knit miniskirt

I’ve always liked the J.Crew bubble necklace, but I couldn’t bring myself to spend $150 on acrylic beads. But $15 on Etsy I can do! I know that’s it’s super-popular right now and everyone with a blog seems to have one, but like I just said, I wear what I love (if I can afford it—it’s not like I can afford a pair of Louboutins right now). Also, I haven’t seen anyone wearing one around Toronto (admittedly, my world in Toronto is pretty small), so it’s not super-popular in my everyday life. I’m the trend-setter! Ha.

(My one gripe: it’s effing noisy. I was jingling my way around my office today. Also, oops, that’s another thing I’ve bought this month.)

These rambling musings on trendiness reminds me of a sort-of friend (we’ve known each other for years but we’re not close) who gets herself riled up ever year about trends. She reads magazines and then immediately declares that she can’t wear any of the trends (without trying any of them). But her sense of fashion is also a little skewed, she thinks Mexx and Banana Republic are the epitome of trendiness, which makes me laugh, and she thinks I’m very trendy, when I’m really not. Stylish/fashionable: yes, I think so, I hope so; trendy: not very often.

Faceless

Still working on getting my eczema outbreak to clear, but I can’t use it as an excuse to work at home this week. It’s not THAT bad. Just to tactless Asian dental hygienists. Brave face to the world!

But not in this photo. I’ve cropped my head out.

Anthro Reflecting Pool Dress (Moulinette Soeurs) | Anthro Anadyomene cardigan (Rosie Neira) | Hilary Druxman necklace | Cole Haan sandals

It’s the second week of September but as far as I’m concerned, it’s still summer. I could start transitioning, but I’m being stubborn and sticking to summer for as long as I can.

Lest my head swells too much…

Something weird happened to me this week. I was walking from my condo on Thursday morning to meet up with my ride to work, and I passed a woman sitting outside Starbucks. She suddenly looked up from her iPhone and exclaimed, “You look so nice!”

Anthro Tartlet Burst Top (Deletta) | Anthro Liquid Acres Skirt (Maeve) | Miss Sixty Tracy shoes

Of course, the first thing I was look over my shoulder to see if she was talking to someone behind me, but there was nobody there. Then I checked to make sure she wasn’t making fun of me, but that didn’t seem to be the case either. So I smiled at her, but I didn’t say anything and walked past pretty quickly.

I mean, I thought I looked pretty good that morning (did my hair, wearing my favourite skirt and my favourite colour), but nothing that I thought elicit compliments from complete strangers. It was nice, but it was pretty weird. And maybe a little sad that I found it so weird?

Of course, once you get built up, you get shot down again. I say it was weird, and it was, but secretly it was really nice. It was great to start my day with a compliment, I was in a great mood all day. But if I were in danger of continually strutting around thinking I’m all that, I’m not anymore.

I had an outbreak of eczema start on my face Thursday night (I’ve suffered from eczema since I was a baby, struggling with it on and off for most of my life), which I thought I had it under control with medicated cream, foundation, and concealer. But I went to the dentist yesterday to get a long overdue cleaning, and the hygienist (Chinese, strong accent, never seen her before) took one look at me and exclaimed, “What happened to your face?!?!”

The exclamation points are probably an exaggeration, but she seemed pretty…repulsed? I explained to her that I have chronic eczema, which she noted in my chart, but only after she asked me how to spell it. Ah, gotta love Asian tactlessness.

So now that I’m Ugly Face, I’ll probably hibernate for the rest of the weekend (normally I don’t care, but now I’m all self-conscious) and see if I’m fit to be seen on Monday morning.

And now here comes the “all”….

So the past two months have been “nothing", but now that it’s September it’s like feast after famine.

 
Anthro Sea Drift Tank & AG Stevie in Turquoise

My first pair of coloured jeans (the AG Stevies really are fantastic) and a new top, on sale. I’m now looking forward to cooler weather so I can wear these jeans.

But if that’s not enough, I jumped on a J.Crew sale and ordered these two.

 
J.Crew No. 2 Pencil Skirt in Double-Serge Wool in Retro Jade and Berry Pink

On sale at $98 (from $130) with an extra 30% off, I got both for less than the price of one at Canadian full-price (C$150 plus 12% tax). Good thing I didn’t buy the turquoise when I tried it on in Vancouver last month.

It’s a little appalling, my two months of no shopping undone in the first week of September. But with things I love, why not?

It was a cracking weekend, it was.

I bought a subscription to the BBC iPlayer  for Will's birthday, so of course I've been making use of it too. This weekend I watched a few episodes of Coupling (my favourite TV show, not to be confused with the horrible U.S. remake they tried to do), and finished Gavin & Stacey. Unfortunately, it means that I've started to adopt some British-isms (and possibly Welsh-isms), and it sounds really ridiculous coming out of someone with a slight Ottawa Valley accent (i.e. Canadian).

Anyway, the long weekend really was cracking. Time with friends, BBQ, salted caramel ice cream, my sister dog, what's not to like?

 

salted caramel ice cream in a chocolate-dipped cone at The Chocolateria; Jedd’s frozen custard; salted butter crunch, more salted caramels, and a grapefruit lip balm.

happy Abby, happy Abby, scratching Abby (also blasphemous Abby for sitting on our Union Jack doormat?), exhausted Abby.