Merry Christmas!

It's finally here!! Christmas always seems so far away until the last couple days when it's suddenly upon us! We've had quite the busy last couple of days. On Friday we headed to Boston for two days before continuing home to Halifax for a week and a bit to see family and friends. I'm so excited to be home and although the winter storms did not create the most stress-free travel weather, they sure do add to that comfy, cozy Christmas-time feeling. 

Happy Holidays, everyone! Stay safe, warm and happy with your loved ones :)

red, white & maple

that's right folks, today was Canada Day. It was our first Canada Day in our new city and we celebrated with our best red & whites! Each year I rack my brain trying to put together a red and white outfit [I'm cool like that], this year I was so excited to rediscover this Sugarlips dress in my closet - nothing like a little sartorial patriotism. 

Today also happens to be Jack's and my date-iversary! We had a delicious anniversary brunch at Le Gros Jambon [sah good] and then wandered around the Old Port for the afternoon before meeting up with my sister to see White House Down - what better way to celebrate a cloudy Canada Day, eh? Top it off with burgers, drinks and a surprise Guinness man-cake [baked by my sister] to kick off Jack's birthday week and I'd call this day wrapped. 

Christmas Snapshots

Just a couple snapshots from our Christmas this year. Some of these have made it onto instagram, others just into our phones. For the most part I've been shying away from my computer these last couple days as Jack and I celebrate our first Christmas away from home. It's been an adjustment but we are our own little family and we made it pretty special. We're also incredibly lucky to have some fantastic friends and family in the area who took us in for bits and pieces. 

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas full of family, friends and food... lots and lots of food.

DIY: Christmas Stockings

To make space for my excitement of the holidays, my wedding recap posts will take a bit of an unexpected and brief hiatus. I can't help myself, as much as I am incredibly excited to share my wedding with you all I want to do right now is share these christmas stockings that I made!

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Since this is Jack's and my first Christmas away from home, we want to make it extra special. In part, to kick off our life together but also because we will surely miss our families this holiday season. Stockings were clearly a must! Since nothing in-store matched the vision I had in my mind, we decided to make them ourselves!

I began by guess-timating the size we wanted. Growing up, the stockings at my home were always quite small, while Jack's family had the jumbo size; we chose somewhere in the middle. I sketched out a shape I like that we could use as a pattern.

I didn't have any chalk so I used a silver gel pen I had left over from last Christmas to outline the pattern on the fabric. I outlined and cut the lining first, and the fabric second. A lining isn't really necessary however, I'm hoping that these will be around for a while and I would like them to not become mis-shapen. 

This was the first time I've used my sewing machine since I got it last Christmas. It's been sitting in my closet, unused and intimidating as ever. My sewing was not as smooth as I would have liked but I did it, and the corners aren't too jagged. 

Since I was a little wild with the sewing machine I opted out of using it for the details. Instead I grabbed my needle and thread and sewed our fur trim by hand. I wasn't quite sure how I would sew the accent on discretely when we first chose it but luckily the thread hid the fur easily - so easily! In retrospect, I should have sewn the fur trim onto the top of the lining and main fabric, bringing the lining all the way up to the top of the fur. It would have been cleaner but I'm just happy I got the stockings done in under 8 hours.

I tried ironing on the letters like the directions said and failed miserably. Actually, I think it's safe to assume the glue on the back of the letters dried up over time and failed themselves, but the moral is glue guns solve everything!

To be honest, these aren't perfect. The should-be rounded toe has some very geometric edges and the fur cuff is scratchy on the inside for about two inches but I wouldn't trade them for anything - even these. I love that Jack and I chose all the parts together , and that I sewed them while we watched the holiday classic, Ghost Busters. Perfect way to build a new kind of Christmas!

Topped with a Bow

BB Dakota dress (similar) | Stop Staring belt | Hue tights | Franco Sarto pumps | Matt & Nat clutch (similar) 

One of my favourite parts of the holiday season are the never-ending excuses to dress up!

i.e. Holiday parties, Holiday get-togethers, dinners, do-drops, and just every day fanciness.

You rarely have to feel over-dressed and you always get to feel extra pretty,

just like you did back in the day heading out for the semi-formal.

Although in this case you don't have to switch gears between KC&JoJo and Nervana every few minutes.

We've been stacking our holiday commitments about 3Deep per day and the big saving grace, 

for me, has been relishing in the festive outfits. 

Don't get me wrong, the friends and family we're seeing are pretty great too, but when it comes down to it, 

they don't really hold a candle to this wrapping-paper style cupcake dress. 

Sorry guys, maybe next year.

Happy Halloween!

dance party photo shoot set to Kanye West - Power

Happy Halloweeeen! 

I hope all your weekends were perfect and that you were able to jump-start your Halloween festivities. 

Saturday night, Jack and I dressed up, met up with some friends and headed to a party. 

I must say, these folks knew how to throw a party Sorren-style. 

Their house was decorated to the nines AND there was Halloween-themed food for days. 

Quite honestly, I spent most of the time going from the cupcakes to the cookies to the cheese tray and back again. 

Nothing wrong with that.

For anyone who is stumped or thinks I may be a bunny with a crown, 

I dressed as Max from Where the Wild Things Are this year.

I have been putting this costume together since September, and it was worth it.

I bought the onesie for $20 from Value Village and then DIY'd the rest.

I loved this costume.

It was warm. It was comfy. It didn't require any makeup.

Jack dressed as frog - double entendre.

(As a french person, I approved this costume.)

He found the frog towel thing this past summer and the rest followed.

We made the moustache even greasier by adding mascara.

It worked perfectly. 

The Elusive Work-Appropriate Halloween Costume

Well folks. Once again, Halloween has snuck up on me. It's not like I didn't see it coming, in fact I've been counting down the days since September faded away in my rear-view. You see my darlings, I am a HUGE Halloween junkie. Always have been. It may have something to do with the dressing up, or it may have something to do with the candy - who really knows.

I had planned on doing this post tomorrow however I spent last night sewing away on this year's costume, so I just couldn't contain myself any longer! Last year I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to create TWO Halloween costumes. One was with Jack for a party we were going to, while the second was a slightly trickier, work-appropriate costume. This elusive concept must balance appropriate office-attire with subtlety, offering the ability to be shed if, for some odd reason, your work friends bail. This got me thinking - What wouldn't I mind being stuck wearing, if I was stuck in it all day? Answer - sweat pants. I have always been in awe of people who manage to pull off wearing sweats to work. I don't know if it's ignorance or confidence, but it is a phenomena that has baffled and intrigued me. Halloween offered the perfect opportunity to realize my dream of experiencing this. 

So, I brain stormed. Costumes that incorporate sweats: gym teacher, track and field, university student, real housewife. That was it; I had my gem. I got out my lululemon yoga pants, tank and sweatshirt (collected over a number of christmases), straightened and pouffed my hair and applied my too-dark foundation and a layer of bronzer - forgetting to blend along the jawline, of course. I then used my trusty frosted pink lipstick to highlight my lips and topped the look off with a purse-sized dog, starbucks and giant rock on my ring finger.

It was a hit. The engineers at my company thought I was serious. That in one night, I had given myself a make-over and was now on the prowl. I got double takes and strange looks all day. I would walk into a room and people would clam up. It wasn't until our Halloween social that the record was set straight. I definitely consider this costume, one of the best I have ever thought up - why? because in being subtle I achieved the other essence of Halloween - trickery.

What Halloween costume are you most proud of?