Ballad of the Absent Mare *

outfit details:
blouse: vintage
skirt + shoes: thrifted
hair bow (actually a bowtie): found at a flea market

Last night Mike invited me to go to his Mom and little brother, Jeremy's singing recital in Hudson. I had no idea what to expect, as I've never been to Hudson, and have never heard his brother sing, but both the town and the show exceeded all expectations!
Unfortunately, because we are very last minute people, we didn't leave ourselves enough time to stop and take pictures of all the pretty white houses, water-side gazebos and beautiful old churches. We did find 5 minutes before going in to take some WR photos in front of the church where they were singing. As whiny as I've been about all this rain, it really has made for some plushy green scenes! Whenever the sun does come out, everything looks beautiful and rich and green! Both Mike's mom and brother sang beautifully and made me want to take singing lessons too, and after the show we went back to his mom's house, where Mike made friends with a pitcher of homemade wine (which he regretted deeply upon waking!)...it was a lovely Saturday night!

Left: Mike and I
Right: Jeremy (Mike's youngest brother) and I getting too excited about some balloons we found!

*Listening to: Leonard Cohen

Oh stop the world and let me off...*

This past Saturday, a dozen or so people got together to sell all the junk we've accumulated over the years in the spirit of Spring cleaning! The weather was on our side and provided us with sunshine and heat all day long straight into the evening! I'd call the yard sale a mild success sales wise, but as far as Saturday afternoons spent in good company, it goes down in the books!
My roommate Stef, good friend Nessy and myself will be doing it all over again this Saturday, and are starting to put some flyers up tonight in hopes of getting a few more people to come check it out!

If any of you live near or around the Montreal area, or know people who do send them down to 342 Beaudoin in St-Henri this weekend for part two of the exciting yard sale extravaganza! It's mostly girls clothes this time around as the old men shoppers snatched up all the electronics and DVDs. We've got a few records and some little furniture (night stands, lamps, etc.) and tons and tons of dresses and skirts and tops and shoes and jewelry! So come down and spend the afternoon with us anytime after 11am!

As for Hank, expect to be seeing him in a lot more of my pictures, he is my new favourite accessory!

outfit details:
dress: Die Golden Gans on Etsy
shoes: naturalizer
shades: kensington market, TO
Ukulele: e-bay
belt: thrifted

*Listening to: Patsy Cline

Jumbalaya On the Bayou *

Outfit Details:
Dress: Borrowed from my Sister
White woven oxford flats: thrifted
Sunglasses: Kensington Market, TO
Bag: Vintage at St-Michel Flea Market
Hank (the Ukulele): Ebay

I've been a closet country music fan since childhood, when my Mom used to dance around the house in cowboy boots singing Honky Tonk Merry-go-round while she cleaned, and my family's idea of dinner music was the Boot Scoot n' Boogie! Unfortunately my ridiculous desire to fit in during most of my adolescence made it a guilty pleasure for me, but now, more than ever, I'm ready to wave my dixie sweetheart flag loud and proud!

The man behind the camera, and the love of my life: Mike

My road trip (which is in 48 days) to Tennessee has a lot to do with my rekindled relationship with Country music. We'll be doing all the Honky Tonks and the Grand Ole' Opry and even paying a visit to two of my favourite females: the Loretta Lynn Ranch and Dollywood!

My love for the music has even been influencing me fashion-wise a little these days, with an emphasis and big Southern curls in my hair and a miniature love affair with denim and gingham! I've got rolls of hay on the brain and even went as far as to name my brand new Ukulele "Hank"!

Hank and My favourite bag

This weekend was beautiful and after my yard sale on Saturday (which I will post pictures of soon!) Mike and I decided to spend the day at my parent's house on Sunday where we read book sin the sun and drank rhum cocktails with my mother and sister! We snuck down to the train bridge my friends used to jump off of (I was always too chicken) to take some train track pictures and sit by the water!

*Listening to: Hank Williams

A sign of life!

It's difficult to start a blog post without rambling on about unimportant and irrelevant things! Despite my major lack of inspiration these days when it comes to blogging, I have come to appreciate all my "internet" friendships with fellow bloggers about as much as my "real life" friendships! I'm constantly impressed by the amount of friendly people out there who make posting so much fun!
That being said, my lack of posts can be attributed entirely to my intensive summer semester at school. My starving-student budget, combined with a lack of time to go thrifting for pretty new things means that there just isn't much to be documented! And when I do have any time to myself, I try extra hard to go out and see family or friends instead of staying cooped up in my room!

I am looking forward to the end of semester in late June, and the beginning of my little road trip with Mike, which I'm sure I'll be documenting here! Maybe I'll get to meet some of my wonderful blogger friends!!
Just to show you how desolate my closet really is these days, here are two seperate occasions in the last month where I am wearing the exact same H&M dress which I bought last Spring!
In the first set I'm sitting in the park with Lola and in the second I'm at my friend Mel's new loft playing the accordian (horribly) for a crowd of disgruntled friends!!!

I hope all of you are enjoying the Spring weather as much as Lola and I have been!


** I am writing this at a ridiculously early hour, on very little sleep and apologize if it takes you in 15 different directions..I can't tell if my thoughts are coherent anymore!**

Socks and Sandals

Sometimes it hits me just how easily influenced I can be when it comes to fashion. These pictures of Chloe Sevigny at Coachella are a perfect example. How one person could single handedly make me change my mind about something that has so long been an unquestioned "fashion don't" is beyond me! But she just looks so cute in her little 90s floral dresses and socks and birkenstocks, and it's got me all confused!

Tonight Mike's roommate is having a birthday barbecue and I think it might be the perfect opportunity to try this out. Of course, I'll probably dainty it up a little by wearing some nylon socks and my granny sandals instead of the bulky sports socks and hiking sandals...but it'll be out of my comfort zone none the less and I've been meaning to get out of my mini fashion rut. Every time we get into the in-between seasons I get all uninspired, and it doesn't help that I'm desperately trying to avoid shopping while I'm in school! So as strange as this inspiration may seem, it's something I can try with the clothes I already own, and it's the first thing that's got me excited to put an outfit together in over a month!

This weekend I'll be barbecuing, driving out to Plattsburgh with 4 beautiful girls and doing some reading in the sun (fingers crossed for good weather)!!! Monday is a holiday here, is it a holiday in the US as well?

Inspired by: Marlene Dietrich in Blonde Venus

I haven't had any time to make any new discoveries or shop for any new outfits recently, so I've been taking comfort in old favorites. That's probably why I was so excited when I received the Marlene Dietrich Glamour Collection from Zip this week! Four wonderful films filled with all the glamour, sass and drama that Marlene is famous for packing into her films!

It got me thinking about what type of look I'd like to sport at the wedding Mike and I have been invited to this summer! I came this close to shelling out way too much money for a beautiful 40's Floral number which just about broke my heart, but I convinced myself to put it back on the shelf by reminding myself how much better it feels to find the perfect dress yourself, instead of walking into a fancy vintage shop where they've picked all the pretty items out for you!

What decade should I try to channel? Should I try to find a 1920's dress and wear some long pearls? Or should I go for a more conservative 40's look? Or maybe the 60's? Any ideas? Miss Dietrich definitely has me wanting to go all glamorous 30's, but I'm not sure I could pull it off....

Deadbeat Blogger

Top: Urban Outfitters
Shorts: E.R.A. Vintage
Shoes: Aldo
Sunglasses: Thrifted
Flowers: Inspired by Luella colors!

With the weather so nice I haven't had much interest in sitting by the computer. I still read my favourite blogs with my morning cereal but spending any time in front of a screen makes me restless. There is also the fact that I lent my sister my camera for her trip to Prague, which means documenting Mike and my various adventures is difficult!

Anyway, the picture above is from about a month ago on the very first sunny day we had in Montreal! I walked home from work and stopped in at my favourite vintage store in the city and bought myself the loveliest pair of yellow shorts which still brighten up even the rainiest day even from within my closet! I guess part of me was inspired by the A.P.C. summer collection, although that pair doesn't fit anything like these, and I would have needed to pair them with an absolutely adorable little sailor blouse, but none of that matters, these are my happy shorts!

stolen from Rhiannon 's blog

Summer classes have begun and they are super interesting! I kind of like the intensive 6 week format cause it doesn't give you time to slack off. And as fast as the winter semester went by, I have no doubt this one will fly by as well and then I'll be just a couple of weeks away from my road trip to the Southern US with Mike!
What kinds of things are you all looking forward to this summer?