About Me

I started my blogosphere plan with 4 little words : I can do it.

I first came across blogs in the fall of 2008. My friend introduced me to lookbook.nu and shorty after Teen Vogue (March 09) wrote an article about it. It was then that I discovered seaofshoes and through something else I became aware (and very fond) of Garance Doré and the Sartorialist. Time has passed since and not once have I lost interest in this medium. I without doubt believe that blogs taught me so many things, they have inspired me and gave me infinite food for thought. This is why, partly, I started my blog.

No one would argue that there are many many blogs out there. What makes one sticky, transforming from a quaint web site to a home page?

I was, like the other half of this world, at first very impressed with Jane Aldridge's shoe collection. Blown away. Consider her age for a second! But sadly, to my realization and very unsurprisingly, Jane isn't the only girl in the world with enough money to fill a closet of Alaïas and Demeulemeester platforms. What strucks me to this day is how this girl, my junior by only a year, mixes 2$ thrift shop finds with almost-collectible-runway pieces. She stays grounded despite having Kanye West as a fan, and being invited to Italy for store anniversary parties. Jane Aldridge, you rock!

Another member of my favourites folder is the very french Garance. When I read some interviews of her a weekend ago I was deeply touched. This woman has some serious integrity. She is so funny and honest and talented. I'm waiting for a book of hers because...

I already have her boyfriend's on my bookshelf. I feel like somehow bloggers own it to this man for revolutionizing the blogosphere as we know it.

On top of his obvious charm, he knows what he's doing, a true artist and so romantic. Never before would I stop in the middle of what I'm doing/saying/thinking to admire how the X person across the street is dressed, sighting "Ah,how Sartorialist." 

Another blog I discovered lately and to which I aspire nonetheless : cupcakesandcashmere. Because her posts are so short yet welcoming and generous. Because she covers so many topics (from fashion to food to home improvement) all with absolutely perfect photography. Because she lives in L.A. I visit her site every morning. Other blogs, no matter how much I try, just don't click. Many are good. Fashionvibe(for Barcelona and amazing H&M and Zara finds), maisondesreveries (for lifting up your appetite) and modedamour. Having this said, I am always on the lookout for new blogs.

I'm very excited to see what the future holds for bloggers. Always amazed by how some posts can move oneself. It's their footsteps that I aim to follow.

I am (in) Love & Guido's

Back in April, André Leon Talley wrote in Vogue about an upcoming movie, I am Love, starring Tilda Swinton and featuring a wardrobe by Raf Simons for Jil Sander. I was intrigued, I was interested, I was impatient for the release date. Last Friday, I went to see it. And?

I liked loved the clothes but there wasn't enough of it. Swinton's acting was, as always, amazing. On a whole, the movie was a feast for the eye, something so anti-commercial, you actually feel smart and poised about going to the movies.

Before the film, Monsieur and I went to Guido and Angelina's for supper. Italian, of course this was not a coincidence. We chose to sit on the terrace, because rare are the places with such lovely outside tables, where you feel so chic to be sitting outside, and just as we were finishing our bread, I felt a drop of rain. And some more. So we moved a little to our left (to be better covered by the tents), and changed tables… and changed tables again. For a few minutes we watched people getting head-to-toe drenched in water. And then the sun came back. Gotta love Montreal.

Tortellini gigi al cardinale: rosé sauce with mushrooms and prosciutto, Fettuccini alfredo and Italian Cabernet-sauvignon Banear Friuli grave

Saint-Sauveur's Brûlerie des Monts

Because I'm so bad with posting things on the day of (my blog should be re-named three weeks later), here's something from not one but two week-ends ago. Actually there's really no point of me stating dates here because….

Whenever I have the need to disappear from the face of the earth… I go to Saint Sauveur to Monsieur's chalet. And whenever I do that, I inevitably find myself at the Brûlerie des Monts. Now, this is the only place I know that sells Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. (Not that I drink that (at 10$ an espresso) but just saying…)

On the pictures: Choco-Albino-Alto, a white cake, chocolate cake, more white cake with raspberry coulis and flakes of chocolate. Chocolate marble cheesecake. Lattéccino and a Suprême de noisettes.

On our way to the lake, we were attacked by cute little dogs. I love how everything is so green… a perfect getaway to escape Montreal's +40℃ heat.

Banana Bread

So here it is at last. The banana bread recipe I've been meaning to share with you ever since I got the haircut last week. I was waiting for it for so long, harassing my friend about it, and how unfriendly is it to harass a friend for a recipe for the sake of a blog? 

Right after a haircut, all you want to do is brag about it to just about everyone . So when Lucia called to invite me for supper, pffff… I was prepared (for my hair) to be the highlight of the night. Little did I know she was making this banana bread. Which of course happened to be the highlight of the night.

With some mahi-mahi (my friend proclaimed "the best fish I ever had") and tomato-mango-coriander salad and guacamole and white wine....

Healthy Banana Bread:

• 2 cups Robin Hood Nutri-Flour Blend (or 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour mixed with 1/2 cup wheat bran)
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup ground flax seed
• 1 teaspoon each baking soda and baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups mashed RIPE bananas ( remember bananas MUST be super ripe)
• 3/4 cup plain yogurt (2%)
• 2 eggs ( I usually put 1 egg)
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/3 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, you can put raspberries instead....healthier option :)

The banana bread topped with a mountain of fresh strawberries. Thank you Lucia for the delicious evening! 

Carte à gratter

from a photograph of The Sartorialist, scraperboard

I don't know what happened to me today or what I put in my coffee this morning.

I was at my art class earlier finishing a work (the one above) when my mouth opens and blabs out:

Can you give me a design project?… I finish work at 3… I have SOOO MUCH FREE TIME. (Now in my mind this means something like this: a collection to draw, outfits to coordinate on paper, some fashion illustration).

She (my art class teacher) (who knows me since forever) (who is my biggest mentor) stops for a second and goes:

Make me a bag.

That has a place for a cell phone. And a lunch. And a wallet adjusted inside. That is big and soft. With adjustable straps.

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So I'm sitting there, smiling.

PEOPLE, see you in one year. I have a bag to make.

Haircut

This was not the first time I was cutting my hair short, but I think even if it's your 10th time, when you cut enough hair to donate, for half a second (or two), you get a panic attack.

Now I have friends who get a panic attack when they chop 2mm off. That's different. Friends who go to the salon every once in a decade. Who cry when the hairstylist messes 1 inch up.

I'm not like that. I can't sit straight in my chair because I'm bouncing off with excitement, in my mind screaming thinking  CHOP IT offff....

And who'd have the courage to go this short. Not you I bet.

And when the final scissor snip is behind me, the hairstylist thanked and tipped, I hop down the street feeling so light I can fly...

Moi, the hair donator, I'msoinlovewithmynewlyshorthair.

And you?

Ofkoress I'm obsessed

Ever since I got back from Germany, my complexion is illuminating, my hair uber shiny, my skin head to toe moisturized like never before.

You see, I'm always on the lookout for the newest best cosmetic product. I countlessly hunt for a new brand. A new magic potion. That will dimish the size of my under-eye dark circles. Make my skin glow. My pores shrink. My hair reflect light like no hair reflected light before.

And here I was in Munich, trying to explain to my cousin that in Berlin I found it, a brand which makes products of natural purity, which costs a fortune in Montreal, but made in Germany, there they cost puff… nothing and there's so amazing and…

Naha, my cousin says.

What?

It's not good

"What do you mean it's not good?"

It's not as natural as it claims to be. You know what's good?

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(and here, readers, open your ears real good)

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Koress.

So there you go. I'm absolutely obsessed. I practically threw away every product I owned in pre-koress times. (And before I used to collection my magic potions. Now, I can't wait to get home to finish my Koress samples (because my cousin got me so many as soon as the secret was out). As soon as I finish them, I'm buying the store. Scratch that, I'm flying to Athens and buying the whole brand.

That's how good it is.

Le Nautique

This place is so nice. It's the best place to be to watch fireworks, but beware, on those nights it's really crowded. Come any other day to enjoy this resto-bar's great music and atmosphere. It really has style, you know. They renovated it a year or two ago and it's so nice. Whenever I find myself in the Old Port in need of a drink, I go there. Oh and they rent yacht boats downstairs too, you know.

Whoa!?

Last Thursday, I was having a back-from-Europe breakfast when my friend Savvy walks in...

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Whoaaaah, can you pause for a second. Turn around. Again. I need the address. Now.

These shoes are so fluorescent blind people can see them. They're the most summer shoes I've seen in a long time. They're from eighty six. The Front Row. Bring some shades so your eyes don't hurt. And upon purchasing, accept that your face won't be looked at for a while.

Last day in Germany- Nymphenburg

On our last day in Munich we visited the Nymphenburg Palace.

This a another great meal my cousin cooked for us prior to leaving. I asked for this recipe and he mumbled something like there is none (he didn't want to share).

cucumbers, salad, red onions, avocado, garlic

summer residence of the rulers of Bavaria

200-hectare (490-acre) park in the back, one of the world's biggest inner city parks

swans in the pond

coffee and ice cream

such a carnival presentation

all in all, so much fun! Looking forward to coming back to Munich.

This trip was so exciting-seeing Karl in Paris, clubbing in Berlin's skyline, visiting family in Munich...

It was also no doubt an exhausting vacation and it feels great to be home :)

Austria

Two days before coming home, we decided to go to Salzburg, Austria. Hometown to Mozart, movie location of Sound of Music, this city is called Austria's charming capital of kitsch. We visited Schloss Mirabell (beautiful gardens, me pictured below). 

This is a street called Getreidegasse with beautiful signs hanging in front of each store. Notice the McDonalds M sign in the back. 

We went to lunch at Wilder Mann which was on this street. This was a traditional Austrian food place with a waiter wearing short puffy Austrian shorts (I almost couldn't help but laugh).

Monsieur had a Bauernschmaus

I had a Zwiebelrostbraten-it was fantastic.

And then we had not one but three desserts! Actually it was four, the forth one didn't make it on camera. 

Eispalatschinke, Kaiserschmarrn, Apfelstrudel and Nussöpala.

The first picture is the kais... a pancake crumble with a delicious jam, the second one is an Apple Streudel, so much better than the Pillsbury kind, and the last one was my pancake filled with a hazelnut paste (not at all Nutella) (and then my cousin took the same thing but with ice cream inside)(and I didn't even know I could do that).

This is what Austrian architecture looks like

Mozart chocolates were EVERYWHERE.

This is Festung Hohensalzburg, a castle dating back to 1077. It has a museum inside and the view from the top is magical. Next time, I'm visiting Vienna!