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I said that I want to wake up beside the boy on a sunny weekend morning overlooking downtown Vancouver.  Which I’ll actually get to do very soon since he’ll be moving to Coal Harbour next month.  I’m looking forward to spending the summer wandering around downtown and exploring the city.  (His response when I asked? I don’t want to wake up inside my own anus-later he added “anywhere is fine as long as there’s good internet”).

This is what I said at first, but then when I started thinking about it I wasn’t so sure.  For a long time I believed that I never wanted to wake up anywhere besides Vancouver, but now I’m starting to think differently.  Maybe it’s just that the travel bug is itching again and that once I’m out of the city for awhile my appreciation for it will be renewed.  Because I think I could give a lot of different answers to this question now.  I’d like to wake up in Glasgow with my cousins still drunk from the night before.  I’d like to wake up in Tokyo to the sound of busy salarymen rushing to work and stranded club-goers stumbling onto the first train home.  I want to wake up to the smell of my dad cooking breakfast and sitting around the table as a family (something we haven’t done in a long time).

What about you?  Where do you want to wake up?

Minkpink sweater

I got a fantastic deal on this Minkpink sweater from Stylexchange.com Regular $120, I nabbed it on sale for $35.  I’m too self conscious to wear it without a tank underneath though-the tummy is NOT as toned as it may look in that photo I swear.

Skulls ahoy!

I saw a couple of people on Lookbook wearing this skull tee from Zara-it was the last one left at Metrotown (and my size!) so I think I really lucked out.  And beside it, my new McQueen scarf (may he RIP).  I had thought about getting the classic B&W, but I like that the grey is a little bit softer.  My dad HATES skulls and was all excited that I bought some designer scarf-then he saw it and said “THAT’S what he’s famous for?!”  Oh fathers

nOir pyramid stacked rings

I’ve been looking for a nice ring for awhile, and I love these stacked pyramid stud rings.  It’s a bit loose though…wish it had come in half sizes.

I’m sure people would rather actually see these things ON me, but a) I’m lazy and b) I don’t really want to make this an outfit blog.

Summer wishlist:

Gilfy zippered fedora (from Japan)

Aldo Parlour bag (for when I don't want to carry lots of crap around)

Charcoal grey blazer (this one's from Uniqlo)

Studded/destroyed denim shorts (Blank Denim)

Cheap Monday skinny jeans in "Used"

I also want to find a really sheer loose white tee, some new sandals, and a new swimsuit since I’m all booked up to go to Honolulu the end of August for a wedding!

What was your favourite Olympic moment?  I have to admit, the Zip Line was pretty killer-but the crowds on Sunday were a close second.

Ice bar at Monk McQueens

Inukshuks near the Canadian pavillions

Robson street on Sunday

Bhangra dancing on Robson

Molson Canadian house

We saw all these people going across upside down, and we said “yes! we’re doing that!”.  Then we started to climb up the scaffolding.  And I was scared shitless.  Honestly, the hardest part was trying to walk down the 4 little steps before you jump off.  But it was AWESOME!

Excuse the last 15 seconds-I had my Olympic mittens on which made it impossible to press the “stop” button.

Hey Rosetta

Opening act Hey Rosetta was surprisingly good (as well all know most opening acts aren’t worth showing up on time for).  The 6 guys are from Newfoundland and had a really interesting mix of instruments-the band includes a violin and cello, and some songs incorporated sounds as random as a kid’s Fisher Price xylophone and an empty beer bottle being clanked.  The music was mellow and fresh and the lead singer had a fantastic voice-we were definitely impressed.

Then, the main act-STARS came on!  They played a great mix of old songs and new tracks from their upcoming record.

Stars

Unlike a lot of bands, Stars doesn’t have a big fancy stage show-it’s all about the music.  Stars is the only band that sound even better live than they do on the CD.  Torquil and Amy’s voices are just so smooth and clear live.  Last time I saw them they played more of my “all time” favourite songs (this time, of course, they were trying to promote some of their new songs instead) so I was a little disappointed by that-the show was ended with One More Night but I wish they had picked a more upbeat song instead.

Torquil and Amy

Although their lyrics aren’t the most upbeat, there’s something about their music that I always find really soothing.  There aren’t many bands that have a man and woman singing together-but with these two it just works.  I’m so glad that they were chosen as part of the Cultural Olympiad-they are such a fantastic example of Canadian music.

And now, I love you with Elevator Love Letter-the very first Stars song I heard many years ago.

Asos.com

Imagine my horror when I open my inbox to see THIS image at the bottom of an ASOS.com newsletter.  Socks with sandals.  A “new trend to try” and apparently seen at the Burberry Prorsum S/S10 show just recently.

I’d like to think I’m pretty open minded about fashion, although I usually take a lot longer to adopt trends (I was vehemently against skinny jeans when they first appeared…..and then I found a pair that actually worked.  Now I don’t own anything else!).  But, really, there’s some things you just know you’ll pass on (for me, leggings as pants, although certainly not a “fashionable” trend in my opinion, is something I’m happily waiting to disappear).  First of all, you really have to have legs like a Burberry model (and be tall enough!) to prevent your legs looking like little stumps.

At least my dad has nicer legs than this guy-and always wears white socks

Second of all, how can I condone a trend when I’ve been nagging my dad for a decade on this total fashion faux pas.  ”If it’s toocold to wear bare feet, PUT SHOES ON DAD” is continually repeated every summer in my household.  Hasn’t anyone seen those Washington Mutual commercials featuring the classic northwest’s “socks with sandals guy”?  Do you REALLY want to sport a trend that is loved by middle-aged fathers all up and down this coast?  A google search of “socks with sandals” gives the most hilarious combination of runway photos and men with tube socks and hiking sandals.

What do you guys think?  Is this a trend you’ll be embracing or passing up?  Any other spring trends you’re horrified by?

Streets of Glasgow

After so many years since being back, I was afraid I had created this idealized version of Scotland in my head and would only be setting myself up for disappointment when I arrived.

Instead, I fell in love with it even MORE.  Glasgow is such a vibrant, interesting city.  There’s not many places where you’ll see 400 year old sandstone buildings next to a shiny modern office block.

And the booze…the booze is so cheap!  My cousin took me out to the West End of Glasgow for a pub crawl one night, so we weren’t in some shady pub (like the one next to his flat that gets their booze out of a truck parked outside), and even then the drinks were almost half the price as a club/bar in downtown Vancouver.

The weather was pretty brutal-it never went above 0 and the snow just wouldn’t go away (well, at least outside the city).  But it didn’t stop us from going out and enjoying our trip.  We went to Edinburgh for the day with my uncle, and the city was just breathtaking covered in snow.  We walked up to the castle, stopped in the bar at the whisky museum (300 kinds of whisky…how can I resist?), and took a look at the very oddly extravagant Scottish Parliament buildings.

Parliament Building

Skyline of Edinburgh

Glasgow shopping is great-Buchanan Street and Argyle Street run perpendicular and have most of the big high street shops, as well as a couple of department stores.  Argyle Street is a bit younger, with Topshop, Primark (F21 is way better-I wasn’t very impressed with Primark at all), H&M, Zara, etc.  Buchanan is a bit more high-end; All Saints has amazing knits and tees, while Princes Square holds some high end boutiques (including Vivienne Westwood) and fancy coffee shops up top.  House of Fraser is what the Bay COULD be, with lots of mini brand boutiques and a really great assorted of low-to-high merchandise.

My grandparents in the paper! How cute are they? (Click to read)

The wedding anniversary was on Saturday-it was so good to see my family again and spend time with my cousins.  I promised myself that night not to leave it so long between visits-family is so important and you can’t just let that go.  Seeing my grandparents dancing together after 60 years of marriage made me get a bit emotional-especially seeing the whole family standing around them clapping and singing.  In true Scottish fashion, everyone was pretty sloshed by the end of the night (nothing like seeing your uncles stumbling over the dance floor-although it covered up the fact my younger cousin and I had no idea what we were doing during the group dances!).

Getting back was rough, British Airways cancelled our flight so we had to frantically book another flight (we had SO many issues with BA-will never be flying with them again).  I wish we could have stayed longer, but hopefully I’ll make it back soon.  Family is so great that way-it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been away, you just pick up where you left off.  Scotland always feels like home to me, even though I’ve never lived there.

Coming home from seeing the Olympic torch this morning, the first thing I hear from my dad is “Did you know Alexander McQueen is dead?”  I was completely speechless.  I couldn’t believe it.  But there it was, on the front page of the Scottish paper.

I remember the first time I saw McQueen, it was the chessboard show, with the models as life sized chess pieces.  I was completely floored.  This was a far cry from the typical straight-up-and-down runway even the most unique of designers adhered to.  I thought “this is what fashion has been waiting for”.  This man was like nothing we’d ever seen before.

The fashion world has lost a great talent today.  But more than anything, the world lost an artist.  An innovator.  Someone who pushed the boundaries and didn’t believe in the word “ordinary”.  Someone so young and with so much talent shouldn’t have left so early, and especially in the way that it happened.

I truly hope that the McQueen line stays alive and continues to stun the world for years to come.

EDIT: The fate of the line is now under question.  According to an article from The Cut, Gucci Group is unsure if the line will be continued as it may not be financially viable for them without Lee at the helm.  There is question of who could possibly be similar enough in terms of visionary in order to replace the “l’enfant terrible” of the fashion industry.

However, I heard something very interesting from someone at the Alexander McQueen store in Las Vegas (I called to place an order for a scarf as Holt Renfrew in Vancouver is apparently sold out according to my Twitter contacts).  He said that there is someone who could take over for McQueen.  Lee’s assistant (I believe he said her name is Sarah) has been with him ever since college and, while Lee himself designs all of the couture-wear, most of the ready to wear are her own designs.  She is well versed enough in his archives and his style to confidently continue the line.  The question is-will the McQueen family allow her (or anyone) to continue on the line using his namesake?  Or will Gucci Group decide to scrap the line regardless?  I truly hope that they consider this woman to take over the line.  It is tragic enough to lose such an iconic designer, but what a loss it would be if the line he built up over the past couple of decades will come to such an untimely end as well.  For his sake, I really hope this isn’t the end of McQueen.

The task ahead

It’s the last week before classes are off for the Spring Gongshow (aka Winter Olympics), which means I am both frantically trying to get assignments done and exams written, as well as going on coffee-fueled grading binges (if you didn’t read my earlier post, I still work as a TA at UBC).

I was out on campus today to meet with my prof so we could go through some of the marking-it’s quite straightforward but the sheer AMOUNT may just kill me.  I had a project and accounting midterm this past week, so I only just got to it now…and she’s hoping to get to them Friday.  Good thing I have a ton of Starbucks VIA sitting around.

Being back out at UBC again today made me feel so nostalgic towards my alma mater (although it probably helped that it was a gorgeous sunny day out!).  Even though I never really made myself much of the community there, I can’t help but feel a strong connection to the place who brought me so many amazing friends and memories, as well as some of the most tumultuous and excruciating moments of my life.  But isn’t that the way it is-everything seems so much better looking back, doesn’t it?

Marbellous cookie from Blue Chip-my pre marking treat (and sugar boost)

I haven’t had too much Olympic spirit (I’m more indifferent than anything) but today driving out to UBC and seeing the Olympic village and all the big tour buses and the flags hanging down from the balconies…I started to get excited!  I can’t wait to cheer on Canada and show off the fantastic city I live in.

Alright!  I managed to cross something off my list from last weekend.  I went to the home of one of the boy’s lovely coworkers, who just moved in to Woodwards.  My god, the place is spectacular.  Her view stretches from Canada Place and the water, to Victory Square, to City Hall up on 12th ave.  It was spectacular all lit up at night.  Apparently the gym is on the top floor overlooking the city-I definitely have to tag along for a workout one of these days!

Woodwards W

Seeing the view made me realize just how central this development is in downtown Vancouver-you can literally see everything from it.  I have to admit though, I still don’t think I’d be happy walking around there at night by myself.  While Robson is busy (well, busy enough) even in the middle of the night, walking along Water Street felt eerie-the place was practically deserted (okay, it was a Thursday night, but still).  I really do hope this development helps to bring some much-needed change to the area (for ALL residents, including those who don’t really have a place of their own to call “home”).

View of Canada Place

I feel REALLY bad for her neighbours though.  She’s on the 22nd floor, and the W is only visible when you go out on the balcony and look out to the left.  But the people next door…it is literally right in front of their window.  I wonder how they sleep at night?

Speaking of condos, the boy just bought a place in Coal Harbour!  I’m really excited about it.  The place needs a lot of work-I’m hoping we can do the work ourselves but it’s going to be a huge effort.  But, most importantly, I get to make the ultimate IKEA trip.  It’ll be nice to spend as much of the summer downtown as I can (or at least as much as he’ll let me mooch off him before he starts looking for a share of the food bill!).