Paparazzi

{Nikon D5000}

I'm picking up my new Nikon D5000 tomorrow and I am BEYOND excited!!  Once I get past figuring out what all those buttons do it will also mean good things for the blog as I hope that eventually the vast majority of the photography will be original.  Best early birthday present....though it looks like my weekend will involve a lot of reading manuals!

Special thanks to my common-law brother-in-law Jon for all of his advice and leads in choosing the right DSLR.

Moving Up

Having moved to a new loft a couple months ago I have finally hit that point where getting my stuff settled in has passed and I am anxious to get some new furniture and accents to polish the space up and make it look more homey.  I'm even debating repainting the whole place because while there's nothing wrong with the neutral colour throughout, it's looking more than a little dingy and scuffed after god knows how long on the walls.  Here are a few rooms that I really like and am planning to use as inspiration.  Before and after shots of my place hopefully soon to follow...

-images via design*sponge-

Heritage Biker

{Burberry Prorsum S/S 2011, London}

On Wednesday the last of the runways lines in Paris signified the wrap-up of the major S/S fashion shows.  It's already been a couple of weeks since the fashionistas invaded London to see the British collections, and yet I am only just writing about what was by far my favorite of the bunch - Burberry Prorsum.  Perhaps it was that I had trouble editing down the looks to post...and I'll admit that in the end my shortlist is not so short.  But how could it be?  Burberry Prorsum might be the only line where I would wear every single womenswear piece they sent out.  It's not just stylish, it's undeniably luxurious and cool.  Designer Christopher Bailey dubbed the collection Heritage Biker, drawing from Burberry's traditional past and juxtaposing it with the sexy edginess that the label is embracing today.  It's an unlikely pairing of ideals, but it more than works.  And as always, nobody does a coat like Burberry.  

-images via style.com-

Irish It Up

{Katie Quinn Davies' Chocolate Guinness Cake w/Cream Cheese Icing}

I have to credit design*sponge with this post, as it was there that I came upon this amazing-looking Guinness cake by Katie Quinn Davies...recipe here.  A chocolate cake with cream cheese icing and Guinness added for moisture?  Yes, please.  (Sidenote - how cool is her angel food pan?  Mine's heart-shaped and makes everything that comes out of it look sadly dilapidated.)  My birthday is coming up and I am already thinking of coaxing some member of my family into making it for me (hi Kate).

*UPDATE* My sister made this for me and it was unreal....highly recommended!

-photographs by Katie Quinn Davies-

Relative Locations

 {Les Bassins}

 {Institut Culturel Suédois}

 {Jardin de Roses}

 {Vue de Belleville}

 {Reykjavik}

 {The Old Graveyard}

 {Valley Reykjadalur}

{Whale Watching}

Photographer Ami Sioux had an amazing idea for a book.  She asked 50 people living in Reykjavik, Iceland to draw maps of their favorite places in the city, and then she followed the maps to find and photograph them.  Last year she did the same thing in her home base of Paris.  The results are Reykjavik 64º08N 21º54W and Paris 48º49N 2º29E, travel/photography books filled with the cities' hidden gems, capturing the places and experiences that have become significant to their inhabitants and serving as a sort of resident's guide.  The photographs are amazing, but what I really love is that she included all the hand-drawn maps that accompany them, each with its own personalized character and charm.

-images via Ami Sioux-

Portrait of a Lady

{Valentino S/S 2011, Paris}

Paris, the last of the big 4 Fashion Weeks.  Where a month of glittering collections culminates with shows by some of the world's oldest and most celebrated design houses.  Today, after Karl Lagerfeld reinvented the Grand Palais with his colossal tour-de-force for Chanel, a slightly more subdued affair took place across the Seine at la Halle Freyssinet.  The simple elegance of Valentino has defined the brand throughout decades and this afternoon's S/S lineup succeeded in carrying on in the tradition of everything the design house has come to be known for.  Classic, beautiful, and refined in cream, black and signature Valentino red....who can help but want to be a lady when it looks this good?    

-images via style.com-

Nuit Blanche

 {Kim H. Adams, Auto Lamp, 2009}

{Michael Fernandes, Arrivals/Departures, 2010}

{Ryan Gander, Just because you can feel it doesn't mean it's there, 2010}

{Max Streicher, Endgame (Coulrophobia), 2010}

{Martin Arnold + Micah Lexier, Erik Satie's Vexations (1893), 2010}

{Sandra Rechico, 1850, 2010}

{Agnes Winter, Monument to Smile, 2010}

 {Mammalian Diving Reflex, Nuit Market Starring the Toronto Weston Flea Market, 2010}

This past Saturday Nuit Blanche took over the streets of Toronto for its annual installation of dusk 'til dawn contemporary art.  In its 5th year, the art festival was bigger and better than ever with imaginative, creative pieces, which you can read more about by clicking on the titles above.  Unfortunately, the party's only for one night, so I'm already marking my calendar for Montreal's edition, the High Lights Festival, this February.  

-images via Nuit Blanche-