NY Fashion Week

With NY fashion week wrapping up and London following next week, everyone is looking for next spring’s hot trends. As Kim explained in a recent post things move pretty fast in the fashion industry, but with weather like we have had this past week, it feels right to be checking out next year’s hot grabs!

Some of my favourite designers were showing at the S/S 2014 New York Fashion Week so I definitely checked it out…online…unfortunately.

Here are some of my faves:

Oscar De La Renta is a master mind when it comes to fitting the woman figure, so it came to no surprise when his beautiful dresses filled the runway with romance and elegance.

Chloe is another label I love. I think it is the simplicity and the feeling of comfort I get when I look at the collection, even though everything is in actuality very intricate and beautiful.
I don't think I would wear this jacket in the spring or summer if it is anything like our recent year's but I would buy it just so I could have it for fall or per chance there was a cool enough day for it!


Marc by Marc Jacobs has this amazing print for S/S 2014 that completely caught my eye and although I do not think it will look good on me, if I had the money, I would damn well try!

And finally, for a touch of nationalism and because they are awesome,  DSquared. 

I actually want to start looking for Safari’s to go on, or at the very least start planning a series of Vancouver walks through our various parks just so I can rock this look! Or maybe just go up north with Kim and try hunting. LOL Either way I WILL look kick ass.

I know fall is here (even though this week you wouldn't know it) and I LOVE fall clothes, but checking out these collections has already made me excited for next year. 

-Alex

September D.I.Y.

This weekend I escaped to my cabin for some much needed R&R. It was peaceful, relaxing and completely calming. While not being one to sit idly by, I brought my guitar, some books and all the bits and pieces for a do-it-yourself kind of project. The guitar didn't get touched because friends and family arrived and at my level guitar playing is more of a solitude kind of activity. The books got traded in for some coronas and 3.5 games of Settlers of Catan. But the D.I.Y project was completed and if I do say so myself, I am quite happy with how it turned out.

If you spend any time on Pinterest, you may have seen this idea. You take a box of finishing nails, an unspecified piece of wood and a word or shape to use as a template. You hammer the nails partly into the wood, string thread around it all and voila! You have wall art! This is how I did it:

I scavenged around the cabin for some unique pieces of wood, washed them off and sanded the rough or sharp edges. 

I then took the words I had printed off and tacked them on to the slabs. I printed off quite a few words - Adventure, dream, create, design, laughter - for relaxation sake, I ended up going with live. Nice, simple, short "live".

Start by tapping the finishing nails 1/4 of the way in all around the outside edge of the letters, roughly 1/4" apart. Tip: don't drink a pot of coffee with breakfast when doing this project - a steady hand is key in lining the nails up right and not hitting your thumb.

Once you have hammered all the nails in, peel the paper off. Don't worry about little bits that the nails have caught - you won't see them in the end.

String thread around the perimiter of the letters and then double back to criss-crossing the thread at random. When you start off, leave a tail of thread so you can tie to it when you are finished. 

That is pretty much it. It honestly didn't take all that long. Maybe an hour for the nails and 20 minutes for the thread. And I think it looks great - I even found it a new place on a wall at the cabin! Although, I don't think you need words of wisdom when you are out there...