ready for a post all chalk-a-block filled with photos? super! cause it's that time again!

here's some stuff i worked on with sarah over the last few weeks.

first: a black-light shoot shot by brendan meadows. the focus was the hair. very very cool hairpieces all piled on the model's heads. also very cool makeup... some of it was super creepy cause you couldn't see it at all in normal light, and then BAM! BRIGHT ORANGE under the black light. also. mom's post-wedding dress came in very handy as a light-reflector. or. glower... it did great glow-lighting. (there was a real cool mural outside the salon where we were shooting... check it!)















second: a look-book for nicole bridger. winner of the first-annual Fashion Takes Action Design Forward award. this look-book was part of the prize. as all the clothes were provided, we were in charge of accessories and shoes, and helping the designer figure out how she wanted it all to look on the model. i'm a big fan of her stuff. and she (nicole) was a champion of niceness and goodtimes. it was a very pleasant job. i especially like the blue-shorts-suit outfit. favourite. the makeup artist was also named erin. and together we held down the 'scrim' (a semi-opaque sun-difuser-thing). oh. and i can't remember the photographer's name, but he was really lovely. i'll work on that. remembering.











third: a little shoot done in thieves boutique on queen west. thieves is a brand sarah and i encountered at the green shows in new york. sarah put together the shoot in-store to show off their awesomeness. shot by brendan meadows. sadly, i had to go to my other (less cool) job, so i didn't get to stick around for much of it. BUT! i did do the hair! it's hard to see in my not-so-awesome-phone-pictures, but it's a braided crown. i was very pleased with myself. and sarah did the makeup. we're a handy pair!




i'll let you know when any of these shoots are gonna show up in proper form.


we've had a quieter few weeks now, and i've taken to getting up and eating my breakfast at the kitchen table-office with my magazines and some sort of hot beverage. man! what a great way to start the day! i've made it through many of the september issues. in fashion magazine there was an article on endurance sports like the ironman. coool! during this time i am extremely stylishly dressed in my u of a sweatpants and compression socks, and usually some sort of old-man cardigan... it is a very good look. big for fall.




also. gretzky has his own tea. for reals.

the internet is dangertown

you know when you're reading the newspaper online, and you scroll down to the bottom of the article, and there's the 'comments' section, and it is filled with oh so many idiotic/ignorant/just-plain-rude postings that you want to scream? you know? it is one of the reasons i love actual-paper-papers and magazines. no open forum. these things get me all worked up.

and. with the rise of things like blogs and twitter and so on, it just seems like there's more and more ways of saying what you think, without necessarily thinking first. or maybe it's easier to say things you wouldn't say in the real world, because. you know. it's just the internets...

back when i had that little photo spread in the globe - back all those days ago - i was SOOOO excited to have my name on something, and i went and looked online and was all pumped and whatnot, and there were all these comments on how hideous this was, or how expensive that was, and so on and so on. and oh, how sad i got! how sensitive. and defensive. even when i agreed with some of the points in part (sure, the hermes corkscrew was expensive, sure), i wanted to jab back with MY point of view about how it is SUPPOSED to be expensive because it is HERMES and not everyone is supposed to be able to buy hermes, and that's the point of luxury, and blah blah blah... but i didn't. write back. because i guess i saw how it could spiral very quickly into a petty-internet-argument, and it wasn't really important at all. still i felt a bit attacked. even as a lowly assistant.

anyways. the point of this post is that twice in the last week or two, there's been a flurry of blogging-and-whatnot re: drama in the arts community in edmotown. first a thing with latitude 53, and now with teatro and jeff haslam. and i guess i just find it all a bit upsetting. thinking about my hometown, and the communities i love so much, and people getting hurt-feelinged all around because of things said on the internets. and i don't see how it is good for anyone. all this shouting at one another, and 'i say, he says, she says, let's argue online...' i won't go into to it anymore, because of course, i'm a (small small) part of it for writing anything at all. i just have been thinking a lot about the danger of the open forum, and the internets, and. well. yes. i guess that's all. sad-heart.

i'm glad, i guess, that this little wee blog isn't a big blog with lots of followers making it seem more important than it is. just a safe-sized-family-type-blog.



but that being said, i wouldn't mind getting some free stuff. so. balenciaga. i would be thrilled if you sent me the following sweater-dress. i love it so. thank you. (photo from style.com)



or. alternatively. i would be thrilled if, deux fm, you sent me this great hooded number. (deux fm is one of the labels that showed in the green shows in new york. the one with the good good hair, and great great dresses. it is a canadian company, which i think is great.) (photo from deuxfm.com)

back in black

my right big toe is sore. i have cash dollar bills in my bag. i am serving again.

hoooraypants! i'm employed!

tonight was my first training shift at my new restaurant. fressen. check it out!

http://www.fressenrestaurant.com/fressen/index.html (how do you make that a link? man. i'm the worst blogger ever. html what?!)



it's all a bit bonkers there. there aren't sections, and no one person looks after a table. everyone does everything. what? i know. weird. but it seems to work well. it did tonight at least. there were a few times where i wasn't sure i had a handle on what was going on everywhere.. but it WAS my first day, so that's probably to be expected. in no time i was taking orders, and doing most of what any of the servers would/should be doing. fast learning curve! there were two ACTUAL servers on, and me. and we were pretty busy. and they were nice and thankful to have me there. after there were dips (humous, etc. something with lentils...) and the lovely wholegrain baguette and focaccia they serve. and dessert. a chocolate terrine with jack daniels and walnuts, and a cashew chocolate mouse. with fruit. and there was a glass of wine, and sitting talking with the other waitresses. i feel good about this place. it feels a bit upper crust-y. possibly chaotic and possibly warm and home-like. possibly both.

here's my fantastically thrilling first day outfit. yeah black!



(not pictured, my shiny shiny black patent brogues, and folded down black socks. of course.)



please note the awesome detail on the shoulder of this new black work shirt. extra major bonus points because the shirt is kind of a wide box, and thus super spacious in the armpit zone. perfect for to serve in.

meanwhile. watch out for air mattresses. they are dangertown.



please notice the woman's left arm. or. lack thereof.

more picnic, more croquet

behind the scenes for the globe and mail picnic spread! this job was exciting for many reason. being credited in print for the first time... in a national newspaper no less! rad. and having a name like globe and mail to throw around meant we could pull some pretty great stuff from some crazy places... hermes, chanel, holt renfrew, the room (the bay's high-end boutique)... and because it was such a fast turn around, we were able to pull pretty much right off the floor. (usually a spread won't go out for a month or a few months, so you have to pick clothes from the next season... items that will be available when the story is printed.) we pulled a ton of stuff. a TON! also. shopping for kid's stuff was pretty fun.


just some stuff we picked up... no biggie.


our 'top three' ensembles presented to the editor. i was particularly into the blues/gingham set, but the head-to-toe-white-eyelet-for-her was pretty spectacular too.


i thought long and hard about running off with this amazing chanel ring. being a bandit on the open road in style... probably a bad idea. but... maybe... ...


a selection of our props and accessories.


putting everything in place.


i gave a little croquet breakdown for the model. she picked it up well.


for me to eat!


it had REAL GOLD on it. REAL GOLD! i should've sold it to 'cash for gold'... damn.

like a quiet thing in socks*

" 'I feel too much. That's what's going on.' 'Do you think one can feel too much? Or just feel in the wrong ways?' 'My insides don't match up with my outsides.' 'Do anyone's insides and outsides match up?' 'I don't know. I'm only me.' 'Maybe that's what a person's personality is: the difference between the inside and outside.' 'But it's worse for me.' 'I wonder if everyone thinks it's worse for him.' 'Probably. But it really is worse for me."

extremely loud and incredibly close - jonathan safran foer





























where the wild things are, egon schiele, jules bastien-lepage, alexander mcqueen, akseli gallen-kallela, bernard defour, julian opie, infra, the meadows, gustav klimt, charles burns, igby goes down, andrew wyeth.

* from the god of small things - arundhati roy

the magician and the dream-maker

this last weekend two of my top favourite people got married. to each other! and they did it surrounded by a whole pile of my other top favourites. art school friends! amazingly stylish and wonderful friends. it was a beautiful day with beautiful weather and beautiful clothes. i think it would have to be referred to as the style event of 2010. i will now pretend to be a real style blog for a moment. here are some of the great outfits. (note. there was a picnic (pique-nique, actually) in the afternoon, pre-ceremony. there was, therefore, opportunity for a costume change.)



the bride and groom in their first outfits. hats!



croquet champion.



bride! made her own dress. (and most of the desserts too.)



groom! pointing!






it was like she stole a picnic blanket and made it into a dress. it was like she was awesome. (she was. and is. awesome.)






collar on the left. cream coloured. shirt on the left. white. sassy.



even the bartenders looked exceptional.


there were many more outfits worth posting, but i don't have any decent photos displaying them. so that's what you get!

and. what i wore. (taken in my room at the hotel selkirk. which was upgraded for some reason. supergreat!)


picnic outfit. the bride made this too.



ceremony/dinner dress.



i'm really happy with the earrings.


many thanks to a & j for being a constant inspiration to all, and to all the peeps for being the coolest, kindest, sharpest bunch of friends a girl could ask for. i missed you, and miss you. xoxoxoxoxoxo

on sadness

so yesterday i watched 'the education of charlie banks' while i was 'getting stuff done'. i thought it would be funny. because it has that funny kid in it. you know. the one from adventureland. the one who looks like michael cera, but older. it wasn't funny. really. it was much more sad. somewhat predictable, maybe... but. sad. a coming of age type story. i'm guessing it had some parallels to the great gaspy, but i haven't read that yet, so i can't say for sure. it was a pivotal book in the movie. ANYWAYS!

in it, there was this song. which i have heard before, i think.... but it sure did stick with me this time. it was very well used... and i've had it in my brain ever since. and it is called 'the sad song'. and it is by fredo viola. here it is:



and the thing is, it does make me very sad. this sad song. and i wonder. is there something scientific about it? is it, musically, the correct grouping of notes to create sadness? is there such a thing? sure, minor is usually pretty sad. but... well... that's something for you musician types to think about. decode it! go!

anyways. in light of that song, i thought i'd write about sad stuff. a bit. like.



GLEN HANSARD! (the swell season.) oh man. great concert. mel and i went to see them play at the queen elizabeth theatre, and it was great. so great. great great. you know that shouty-singing-yell thing he does? well. when you're in a smallish-theatre-room, that shouty-singing-yell is mighty powerful. makes your heart feel weird. makes your arm hairs hurt. makes your ribcage expand-collapse all at once. it is good. for the encore, he came out alone, and sang 'say it to me now' away from the microphones. all acoustic and whatnot. and the lighting was from either side, throwing this giant sad-glen-shadow up on the sides of the theatre. super-raw-times. they went on to play a pile more songs, but i was kind of hoping they'd leave it at that. 'now we've devastated you. go on home! thanks! goodnight!'



mel, marc, my new friend stuart, and i went to dim sum.
to be fair, it wasn't really sad. it was delicious. but the last time i went to dim sum was sad. (remember, emma? remember how i cried a bit, but pretended not to. yup. that wasn't so good. that time.) so i get to include it in this post. also, i like adding new characters to blogstown. too. marc is a repeat character now. and you get to meet stuart! i mean. no exclamation mark. sadclamation mark...





also sad. mel bought some blow up floaty devices for the pool. and we went out with one of them that day, and it wasn't as hot as it had been earlier when we got to the pool. so, that's pretty sad. and. i haven't been back to the pool since. and that was, like, a WEEK ago. SAD!



katie came to visit me! but then she left again. sad. (okay, to be fair, my life here isn't all that sad. i may have run out of sad things to talk about. go with it.)

we went to christie pits pool. which is FREE! overrun by children, but FREE! however, the young lifeguard wouldn't let me do any cool dives. 'no back dives!' he said, as i turned around at the end of the board. 'i'm not doing a back dive. i'm doing an inverted dive.' i said. 'uhhhhhhh... no inverted dives.' he said. i don't think that is really a rule. i think he made it up on the spot because he was confused. stuuupid kid.



later that day, katie and i spent some time people watching in kensington park. man oh MAN were there characters there! amazing. two of our favourites, especially in their sharing of the same space: the ultimate-douche (pardon my language) and the spacy-hippie. he was all shirtless, talkin' business on his cell, flexin' his muscles, bein' the hottest thing in that there park. man was he hot. man did he know it! man. he was important. and flexing. and she. was doing what can only be described as erotic-yoga. she really loves the earth. it was brilliant. people watching is the best.



that's about it for now! since i haven't put any art or fashion on here in a while, here's a drawing of a dog i did a while ago. he's kind of sad, no? sure.