As announced several days in this post, I have something exciting for you all... so here it is!

I'm giving you a chance to win a gorgeous pair of the Lanvin x H&M statement earrings (they're CLIP-ON, so everyone can wear them)! After camping out in front of H&M all night last Friday, I decided to buy two pairs just to make the 10 hour wait a little bit more worthwhile. However, I hadn't decided on what to do with the second pair yet. But after I wore them in this post and so many of you expressed fondness for them, it became so evident that it would be perfect to give them to one of you! I'm so appreciative of all you lovely ladies who take the time out of your busy schedules to visit and read my blog. The inspiration and community that has come out of my blogging experience is truly unparalleled and makes blogging an all around relaxing, fun and enjoyable activity. Thank you!



this giveaway is now CLOSED.
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I tried making a video for the giveaway instead of writing it all out as per usual, but it badly failed. First, I did it unscripted and found myself at a loss for words again and again. Then, I tried to script it but ended up sounding super stand-offish and fake. I can be a bit shy and awkward in person so that probably explains why it didn't really work out. Either way, here is an embarrassing short video that compiles the attempts that were made... it has no information about the giveaway whatsoever, so it's just for those who are curious!




Good luck!

Designed for the masses, sure, but it is still truly a masterpiece. I'm falling for this necklace more and more each time I look at it: it's easily the favourite piece in my entire jewelery collection right now. Thank you, Mr. Elbaz!







Wearing: Lanvin x H&M necklace, Belle by Oasis dress

I was tagged by the lovely Lianne to do this little 7 Confessions open-ended survey and was honestly pretty excited because I find these sorts of things quite fun! However, it proved to be a bit harder to come up with these little facts than I thought it would be. Nonetheless, here we go!:

1. The sweater I'm wearing was taken from the trash. Well... not literally. A friend of a friend's was giving away some clothes so I decided to look through the goods before he did that. I found this oversized v-neck cashmere sweater among the items and immediately snatched it. Free cashmere? Score! (p.s. in this outfit, I wore it backwards and off the shoulder with another sweater underneath for added interest and warmth)


2. I've dressed myself since the 3rd grade, but that doesn't mean that I was any good at it. In late high school, I basically had two outfits in rotation for every day of the year. It wasn't that my parents didn't buy me clothes, but I only had two ensembles that I deemed "cool" enough to wear to school. I soon grew out of that phase when I realized that dressing well had nothing to do with what was considered "hip"-- a lesson that I hope to pass down to my daughter in the future should I ever be blessed with one.



3. I can drive, but I don't. My boyfriend likes to joke that he's my personal chauffeur... but it's kind of true. *blush*

4. My boyfriend has far surpassed my skills in photography now (as you can see in these gorgeous photos), but I was the one who got him into it. I used to be involved in taking photographs for the school yearbook and newspaper. The camera my boyfriend uses actually belongs to me!



5. I wear a lot less make up on a day to day basis than I do in blog photos. The reason I pile it on (relatively) in photos is because I look dog tired if I don't define my eyes. My "school" make up consists of concealer, a little bronzer and lipbalm. When I take photos for the blog, I add eyeliner and mascara, and recently the occasional red lip.



6. I used to not care for dogs (or any animal for that matter) until I met the little rascal that my boyfriend owns: a teacup yorkie named Dexter. After falling in love with the pup I now absolutely adore them!

7. I would absolutely love to be a personal stylish one day. I will jump at any opportunity to practice!



P.S. I have something exciting for you in a few days. Stay tuned!

Wearing: Zara and found sweaters, H&M knit circle scarf, Forever 21 earrings, MAC lip pencil in Brick

One of the reasons that I didn't end up with any dresses from the Lanvin x H&M collection is because they aren't very versatile. I figure that if I'm going to show up somewhere wearing the same thing as someone else, I'd rather have it be an item that can be styled in a multitude of ways. Though they would look great with a cocktail number, I took my earrings out for their first spin to simply add a punch of colour to an otherwise mundane, layered winter outfit.



Don't let the sun in the photos fool you. It's insanely cold these days (way too cold for Vancouver standards!) with temperatures dropping to -8 degrees Celsius in daytime (American friends, that's 17.6 Fahrenheit!) which leaves little to no inspiration to dress up, because all efforts are to just keep warm!









Wearing: Obakki wool dress (only skirt seen), Banana Republic merino wool cowl neck sweater, Forever 21 ruffle vest, Jacob belt, Zara wool coat (last year) and booties, Hue cable knit sweater tights, Lanvin for H&M earrings

{The window display that teased us all night}

At 10:30pm on Friday night, Joanne and I went to camp out at the Lanvin x H&M launch in Vancouver. Yes, you heard right: 10:30pm. We initially hadn't planned on going until 3 or 4AM, but a tweet that informed me that there were already people there at 4PM alarmed us a little so we went much earlier than planned. It was freezing and a blizzard was expected that night, but when we got there easily 30 people were already ahead of us. Tents, chairs, air mattresses: you name it and they were present. We set up camp with nothing but our ugly down parkas, a thin sleeping bag (which my boyfriend told me to bring last minute, thank goodness) and hopeful attitudes, then sat, sat and.... sat. About an hour later it started snowing... hard. The hired security guards handed out red H&M umbrellas to the crowd and so our side of the street looked like a sea of scarlet. And so we continued to wait, with lots of passerbys (many intoxicated) asking us what we were waiting for, following up the question of whether we were seriously lining up for clothes after our response. After a few of those, nobody in line bothered to answer anymore and it probably appeared that this bunch of poorly dressed (guess it can be attributed to the cold), retail-crazy individuals were more than a little bit rude.


{Around 3AM... chatting with the bf to pass time}

It took a while, but morning did end up coming and finally the wristbands were handed out. After accounting for late coming line-budgers we were to be the 3rd group in: 8:40AM. Immediately after receiving our wristbands we went to Tim Horton's and warmed up for 1.5 hours, trying our best not to fall asleep. At 8:15 we decided to check out the men's section, which was basically a free for all, to scope out items for our guys. We were shocked to see that there were literally only a handful of the blue shirts and 3 brown newsboy hats left, along with a few "scarves" (if you could call them that). I guess they underestimated the men! From what I heard, the sunglasses were the first to go and were by far the most sought after item.

At 8:30 we headed back to the fenced off women's section and eagerly waited our turn to go in. Aside from an annoying bunch of Chinese girls behind us who kept giving us dirty stares to check if we had the magic tickets under our sweater-covered wrists (I moved my hand up to see if they really were, and sure enough their eyes followed like a dog following a treat) and who later pushed past us to enter, the long awaited 15-minute experience inside went pretty smoothly as a whole.

And what did I end up with? The coveted red statement necklace and earrings, plus the ruffled skirt in both colours (still deciding whether to keep one or both). I had my heart set on the leather gloves but no such luck: only one pair left in size large. I regret not getting the cascading ruffle dress because it was 100% silk and actually quite good quality but I just couldn't justify the hefty $200 price tag, even if it was sort of "Lanvin". As for the yellow dress that I so admired, I didn't even end up trying it on! Looking back, I think I was just too tired from a night of zero shut eye to think clearly.


{one of my precious spoils of war!}

Will I do it again? As I told Joanne, only in the unlikely events that Valentino Garavani or Oscar de la Renta were to ever do a collection (or if Alber Elbaz decides to grace us with another one). And if that were to ever happen, I would probably be one of those crazies with a tent set up and foldable chairs in hand. It's important to be prepared! Thanks bestie for being crazy with me!

Note: Sorry for the lack of photos in this post, especially in store! Again, I was just too tired after getting in. Slept like a dog from 11AM all the way through to 6PM on Saturday.

At times I think I get too caught up in trying to make an outfit "interesting". During those instances, I stress myself out when getting dressed by trying to find a certain 'je ne sais quoi' about the ensemble. Today I was reminded that often times the key is to just choose basics with surprising details: a warm snood covered in faux fur, an unfussy silk top in a beautiful cobalt, a simple cardigan with weaved metallic thread and a no-nonsense kitten heel with a bold leopard print. These are elements that can give an otherwise inconsequential outfit that extra little something.















And why was I laughing so hard in the last shot? Because after I took my cape and snood off, my photographer boyfriend didn't have free hands to help me hold the items so he styled them his own way instead. He humoured me and allowed me to snap this photo of him to post after I told him my readers would love to see it:



Hope you're having a lovely day!

P.S. By the way, the last time I asked for suggestions a number of you said you wanted to know more about me/my personal life. I've been trying to incorporate it somehow but I really don't know what to write! So if you happen to be curious about anything, please ask. If enough questions are gathered I will do a post to answer them.

P.P.S. Dear friends, I'm not sure if you know but I recently started a Facebook page here. It would be wonderful if you could support by clicking the "Like" button. Thank you!

Wearing: Zara cape, trousers and kitten heel leopard pumps, H&M fur snood, Kyumi New York silk top, Wilfred belt, BCBGMaxAzria necklace, Amrita Singh ring, LOFT metallic cardigan

The plan to get up early to take photos outside didn't really work because it ended up being as dark and gloomy as after dusk for the whole day, so we had to get creative with some indoor photos. Luckily, I thought that this flared and pleated skirt had a hint of 50's housewife to it, so the well-lit laundry room seemed perfectly fitting!











Wearing: H&M cardigan, Zara silk top and pumps, Love 21 skirt, necklace courtesy of Harriet Grey

Black, Gold and Red... my colours of choice to be adorned with for the winter festivities.

Just a few of the items that are waiting to be worn and reworn, mixed and matched:
BCBG necklaces, vintage lace pencil skirt, Michael Kors Beverly clutch, Butter London polish in West End Wonderland

Just a fun one to tide the blog over until better weather shows up and clearer photos can be taken. I'll be the first to admit that Hunter boots seem a bit overdone and so predictable by now, but this tomato red pair has served me well and are going on to their third winter of wear. Plus, how liberating is it to be able to jump up and down in ankle deep water without getting the least bit of water onto your feet?!

Happy Weekend!







P.S. For those of you who asked about the red lip, the pencil is Brick by MAC!

Wearing: Jacob lace oxford, Zara skirt, Vince wool cardigan, vintage belt, Amrita Singh necklace, Hunter wellies

These amazing Wolford tights have been in hiding ever since my boyfriend brought them back from his trip to Europe this summer. I've been saving them because I can't bring myself to put on a pair of tights so expensive, especially since my usual sheer ones tend to get ripped the second I start pulling them on because of carelessness. However, thanks to super cautious, fingernail free wearing and pulling off as well as Wolford quality, I am happy to say that they are still unscathed after the first wear!











Excuse the lack of smiling in these photos. If you're interested in why, it's because in between a full day of classes and errands, we cannot fit in the time to take photos while the light is still out now that daylight savings is in effect! I feel very bad because I've been taking my frustrations out on my dear boyfriend, who has been nothing but patient and amazing. But to hopefully allow you to understand a bit better, this is the third set of photos we've taken since the last update and sadly, this was the only one with photos deemed good enough to post. I need solutions! Please help??

Wearing: H&M blouse and fur snood, Zara skirt and peeptoes, Wolford tights

When I came across this vest, I knew I had to have it. Cozy, cable knit and best of all ruffly, this full-of-detail piece was perfect for the luscious fall backdrop today. It reminds me of this coat from Zara, but at 1/3 of the price! I am also happy to say that I've found my ideal shade of red lip colour (or at least I think I have)... in the form of a lip pencil from MAC! What do you think?

Wearing: Jacob sweater dress, Forever 21 ruffle vest, Joe Fresh tights, Zara booties (can't stop wearing), House of Harlow ring, borrowed belt, pearl earrings from India