Celebratory Weekend!

This lovely weekend we are about to embark on, also happens to be the weekend my birthday is being celebrated! I did a family celebration earlier this week, and will be doing something with my parents on Monday (the actual anniversary of my birth), so this weekend is the friend installment! There will great friends. There will be cocktails. There will likely be dancing. There will definitely be good times. I'm quite looking forward to it!

I wanted to leave this post by setting a certain tone which I thought would be best relayed using the medium of music! But I couldn't decide specifically which song to share so I choose two. First, a great song by Ellie Goulding that will help suggest that "anything can happen" this weekend. I also included Scream & Shout in order to help get everyone (myself included of course) pumped up! 

Happy Friday! :)

 

Ringing in 2013!

Wishing you all a safe and happy New Year's Eve as we welcome 2013! Can you believe it?! 

Festive Duds: Christmas Parties

I always love the holidays because not only can you put glittery things on your Christmas tree, but on your body as well! The more sparkle, shine, glitter the better and more festive you look. Sadly this Christmas season I do not have any "formal" parties to go to that would require a fancy dress or outfit. But that doesn't mean I can't live vicariously through Pinterest! It also doesn't mean I will be wearing anything boring. At every chance I will be rocking sequins and/or festive shoes and/or lots of jewelry! I vow to light up my work lunch and over dress for my low key house parties. Maybe even throw in a red lip just because it's the colour of Santa's hat! But, back to living vicariously through Pinterest, here are a few of my festive faves for Christmas parties...

Probably my fave due to simplicity

Gold!

Black Sparkle

And let's not forget about the potential to throw in some Winter Whites! What are you going to be wearing this holiday season?

It's Christmas!

Tonight is the night that I look forward to every year and get's me in the Christmas spirit! Why? Because tonight is the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show! I've been watching it for years and always made kind of a big deal of it. Having people over, making delicious food, drinking delicious drinks, and turning up the volume! Like most girls, I do like Victoria's Secret. Not just their stuff, but their brand, or rather the spirit of their brand. The show is so fun, loaded with great music, and fabulous looks. I just can't wait. 

Last year I took the fact that it puts me in the Christmas Spirit one step further. My roommate and I put up the Christmas tree and decorated the house (while drinking and eating as mentioned earlier as a crucial step) all before the show began. By the time it was starting, we were able to watch in the glow of our Christmas tree. So fun and perfect. Can't wait to do it again! This year's musical guests include Justin Bieber, Bruno Mars, and Rihanna. These pictures are also a sneak peek tonight's show.

Merry Victoria's Secret Fashion Show!

A Poem Before the Weekend

This weekend in Ottawa is the annual Wine and Food Festival! And what a festival it is. It's essentially a trade show where people wander around in search of sample food and drinks. I like that you can always see your staple vendors - whether a favourite local restaurant, or your favourite brand of wine - but also, it's a great place to try new things out! It's also an excuse to get dressed up and go out (in the afternoon) and have fun with friends. This year a friend of mine is making it her birthday celebration! I anticipate lots of wine and good times. Before signing off for the weekend, I wanted to share with you a quick poem:

Must Have: Black Flats

I think if you could only have one pair of shoes, it should be a black shoe. Now since you can only have one pair of shoes and they happen to be black, it's probably a good idea to make that shoe a flat, for practical reasons of course.

I think a black flat is the favourite-basic-white-t-shirt of the shoe world, wouldn't you agree? They go with just about anything, can be dressed up or down, and are comfortable. Well my roommate and I were chatting about shoes awhile back, and specifically about black flats. I was saying how I had this most favourite pair that I wore everywhere, and since I got rid of them (years and years ago), I've never replaced them. I should say that as I write this I acknowledge that we might have a shoe problem for having this discussion, but it's talks like these that help guide and motivate us prior to our shoe parties! That being said, in the last two months we have both found our black flat staple shoe! I opted for a plain black suede pair (that are as close to the smoking slipper style as I'm willing to go), and she opted for a black suede tasseled loafer style. We each got a more fun pair of statement shoes too - she got some rock 'n roll studded peep toes in classic black leather, and I got a pair of cobalt blue suede wedges. 

Until October...

 As always, roommates shoes on the left, mine on the right. 

Far left studded peep-toe, Sam Edelman; all others Aldo.

I may have been absent for awhile but...

The Shoe Parties have still been taking place! Here's a look at the last 3 shoe parties my roommate and I have held. I suppose when you live together and buy this many shoes it was bound to happen but we both bought the same shoes for July! Different colours BUT STILL, I think that's pretty hilarious. 

Roommate's shoes on the left and mine on the right; all shoes are from Aldo

March = St. Patrick's Day!

So, St. Patrick's Day has come! And gone.  

St. Patrick's Day is probably my favourite holiday of them all! Christmas is pretty darn fantastic, but that feels more like a season full of good spirit than a holiday. I like to do things up (pretty big) on St. Patrick's Day. I'd like to think this year is no exception! Previous years I had stayed in the city... because who travels for St. Patrick's Day? Me now! Here is my quick summary of where I've gone and where I'm going...

Last year: BOSTON. MIND-BLOWING. If you want to know what St. Patrick's Day is all about and how to celebrate it, this is your place! It was on a weekday too and the atmosphere was pretty off the charts.  

This year: MONTREAL. It was good. Really good. Sadly, having been to Boston for this occasion the previous year, it didn't quite provide the same experience. There is certainly nothing wrong with it though. Not to mention, Montreal is one of my favourite cities (not just because it's super close).

Next year: CHICAGO. Never been, but am actually going in a couple weeks. When you Google "where should I go on St.Patrick's Day", Ireland is #1... then Chicago. Appealing? Um, yes. They dye the river green and apparently just go nuts. I mean, if there really is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, it's gotta be there right?!?!

 

A what party? A shoe party!

So this is something that I think is really fun and want to share. In my house, my roommate and I have utilized the space that would normally be an "eating area" off the kitchen in a different way. What we decided to do, was to turn this into a shoe room. Yes, you heard me, we have a shoe room. It's a rectangular room with a full length mirror at one end, adorned by shoe racks (one is mine and one is hers) on either side. On the other end of the room are 2 red tub chairs and a table. It opens to the kitchen on one side and to our deck on the other - so I don't have to tell you what great natural lighting we get! We love this room, as does everyone who sees it! Definitely a perk of living with another girl.

So basically, we've finished decorating and furnishing our house for the most part. One day the idea struck me, that we should work on furnishing the shoe room, and make a party of it! We do like shoes AND parties. So here's the deal: the first Thursday of every month, we each buy a pair of shoes, sit in the shoe room and do a little show-and-tell if you will. We also each buy a bottle of wine, have something special/delicious for dinner, and wear our brand new shoes around for the night. Oh and there's also balloons. Sound fun? It is!

Our first ever shoe party! We made some pretty fine choices if you ask me. Hers are the shoes on the left and mine on the right, both Aldo.