I made a top.

Here's my 4-hour top! I'm pretty happy with it. The fabric was on a pseudo-Missoni-fabric rack, and I think I'm going to name the top Miphony. Here's me wearing it and swirling in the park, just before a delicious 100% deep-fried dinner at Oyster Boy:



That evening was followed by Sarah #2's colourful wedding. She wore three outfits (!) with unbelievable jewelry, but I had forgotten my camera. Sarah told me that it's traditional for the groom's mother to give the bride a gift of 11 full outfits, and she had boxes and boxes of the most elaborate earrings and necklaces to choose from for the event. She also spent 10 hours waiting for her hands and feet to dry after the mendhi, and her hands looked remarkable - especially when you'd catch a glimpse of her from afar. She looked like a carved doll:

I should note that their wedding bands were made with wood from an olive tree. Very unique, as you can see from the photo.

But I have to admit that my favourite thing about the wedding was the poutine station, complete with different fries to choose from, duck and beef, cheeses and gravies. I don't think anything says eternal happiness like poutine.

To the mendhi!

The mendhi on Saturday was a big party, with one of the highlights definitely being the half-English/half-Urdu rendition of "I Can't Help Falling In Love With You". There were beautiful saris everywhere, and some of the most astounding earrings I've ever seen. And I tried hookah for the first time. I think it was apple-flavoured.

Here's what I wore. Pretty subdued compared to the saris. And much shorter.


Tomorrow I'm going to try making a sweater for myself. Wish me luck!

Blouse: Second-hand, Sweater: Tristan, Skirt: Mendocino, Shoes: Taryn

Morning sickness.

Um, I went to the J Crew website this morning, just on a whim, and the colours! The charm! So beautiful. It gave me a hot stomach, and first thing in the morning!

Here are some beautiful looks from their website. There's a lot more there, but I had to be selective.

I'm still really happy that we don't have J Crew and Anthropologie in Canada. It keeps these stores special for me, even though they're everywhere in the States.

Also, I went to brunch this morning with some very fine ladies, and Lisa was wearing a particularly fine dress from Anthropologie, which was a surprise from her charming husband. I have such beautiful friends.

Sarah (#1) got married!

And it was just beautiful. She was just beautiful. I'd post a picture of her here and you'd die from the sheer perfection of her, but I didn't ask her permission.

Her dress was a simple and elegant creation made for her by New York designer Jussara Lee.

Here I am in my dress, without my bouquet (boo!) just after the ceremony. You can't see my sweet yellow shoes in this shot. Sasha, one of the other bridesmaids, wore nearly the same shoes. Coincidence.

The wedding took place at Sarah's husband's family farm, which was magnificent.

I feel like I have so much more to post, but I'll do more when I'm out of wedding season. Next up: Sarah #2's mendhi and wedding. With ankle bells! And hallucinogens!

I just think this is kind of cute.

Milk & Bread ring by Melanie Favreau. You have to admit that it's pretty funny.

The date on the ring (it also comes as a necklace) can be customized.

via Canadian Design Resource

I totally made this, part two.

Here's the puffball of a skirt that I finished making yesterday - my first item of clothing! It's made from a bright reddish linen.

There are so many ways to wear this puff, but today I felt it looked crisp with this geometric cardigan. I think I'm going to make another skirt in a pattern (I have a beautiful linen/silk mix in mind), a bit higher-waisted and with pockets. This skirt would be just about perfect for me with pockets.


And here I am, tending to my beloved basil.

I can't express how happy I am to have this new skill. I have so many ideas for garments that I really think I can make. I can barely think about anything else right now...

Cardigan: J Crew, Tank top: UO

Ribbons and knots.

I stopped by the best (and most expensive) ribbon shop in town - Mokuba - to pick up some trim for a Betsy Johnson dress that I found for $6 at Goodwill (!). The dress is just a wee bit short and I wanted to make it wearable, and now that I can use a sewing machine I really have no excuse.

(Photo by Kathryn Gaitens)

It was painfully difficult to choose when there are like over 700 ribbons, but the price helped out a bit; I just can't justify paying over $20/m for ribbon at this time in my life. Anyway, I'll post a picture of the finished dress this week - I'm quite happy with how it turned out. I was looking for a striped ribbon that would add a bit of a schoolgirl feel to the floral dress and I think I've captured that feeling. Now I've just got to find a vintage Ralph Lauren blazer to finish the look.

Anyway, the adorable woman who helped me out was wearing a fantastic ring, and she told me that it's made by Brooklyn artist Kiel Mead. His website is fantastic, and he makes jewelry that's both delightful and grotesque (I can't imagine any circumstance where I'd wear a retainer necklace - see below).

I wasn't able to post some of my favourite items from his site - the camera necklace and the amazing belt buckles, so check them out at his site (linked above).

Anyway, this is the ring she had on. Isn't it amazing? It also comes in colour (the little red forget-me-knot ribbon is so wonderful). I think they're so feminine and romantic.

Forget-me-knot ring, from $50 to over $700.

This is less romantic. All I can think about when I see this is how many times my parents dumpster-dived to find my retainer, innocently tossed into some fast food garbage, wrapped in a napkin. I'm so sorry, parents.




In other news, I finished my very first skirt ever today. And I love it. I'll post it soon - I can't wait!

My friends look out for me.

Thank goodness that Trish forwarded me this sweater from Anthropologie, offering that its awesomeness offended her. I also feel like the sweater is slapping me in the face with its self-knowledge that it may, in fact, be the Best Sweater Ever.

I actually experience chest pain every time that I look at the little flowers poking out of that pocket.

Also, I really very much like these shoes.

Why tiny things are so easy to love.

I think I'm pretty typical in my love for tiny cuteness. The other day I nearly berfed when I saw a baby Husky crossing the road. I swear to you it was smiling.

I came across this neato article by Rachel Poliquin in The Believer called The Visual Erotics of Mini-Marriages. It's sort of about why people find small things cute and wonderful, and sort of about really bizarre things that people have done to...celebrate that I guess? or exploit it? I could try to summarize the strangeness, but it's probably better if you just read the article yourself. You'll totally learn something weird.

And here are some small art things that I love.

a tiny street art project - the artist creates little scenes and then leaves them out on the street, usually in and around London. The first one here was left in Victoria, London. You can see the eensy speck in the second photo, to give you an idea of the scale of these projects.

This one was done in front of Westminster Abbey:

I am delighted by the work of Minimiam (Akiko Ida and Pierre Javelle), who create little worlds with food and smartness:

Here's a little offering from Monkey's Paw - The Liliput Dictionary (French and English), published in the 1930s by F.J. Wershoven. They come with the little case!

And a project I've loved for a while, Bill Burns' Safety Gear for Small Animals. The artist, concerned for the safety of wild animals, has produced prototype items ranging from bulletproof vests, helmets and distilled water. He also offers insurance policies for various species of flora and fauna. Work gloves and dust mask pictured below.

So is all this programmed response to small things a direct result of parenting instincts and wanting to protect little ones? Or to wanting to feel powerful in comparison? Or to envying childhood and smallness? Or maybe just because small animals just objectively have cuter and rounder faces than big ones? So many questions.

And also, this is really funny.

Summer Reading List.

All books courtesy of Monkey's Paw.

Senta Maria Runge, Face Lifting By Exercise (1972).

Committee on Recording the American Meat Institute, Pork Operations (1954).

You all should know that my love for pork runs DEEP. 

Helen McCully, The French Have a Word for it: Mayonnaise (1967).

I am feeling culinary ambivalence about this: ew and yum. But mostly ew. But still, yum.

Shahrazad Ali, The Blackman's Guide to Understanding the Blackwoman, 1989.

1. Published by Civilized Publications.

2. "Read it before she does..."

3. Awesome.