Outfit #1

Now that my collection designs are more or less finalized, muslins (AKA hell) have begun. In one week I turned this...

into this...

One down, four to go.

Decisions, decisions

As it turns out, narrowing down my designs from 30 to 5 to form a cohesive collection proved more difficult than I thought, but here is my tentative 5-piece collection!

I might still do some franken-designing with elements from other dresses that didn't get chosen but like I said, here's the tentative line-up

Final Collection

For my last year of school we have to design and produce a collection of our choice. I've decided to do women's couture eveningwear inspired by origami and different manipulations of fabric. So here are some of my potential designs, but it has to be narrowed down to 5... which do you like?

 

 

Ben & Jerry's new hilarious flavour

If you're a fan of SNL and/ or Alec Baldwin you probably remember his hilarious 1998 sketch "Schweddy Balls" (incase you've never seen it or would just like to relive some of the magic, see below for a small taste of balls) and now you can actually taste them for yourself! Ben & Jerry's has created a new, limited time "Schweddy Balls" ice-cream featuring chocolate malt balls and fudge-covered rum balls in a vanilla and rum-flavoured ice-cream that will be available in stores until the end of the year. Says the company (quoting the sketch), "You won't be able to resist our Schweddy Balls!" Frankly I'm surprised nobody has come up with this sooner, but I do think it's hilarious and amazing nonetheless. Maybe I'll get my hands on some Schweddy Balls.

"I love balls!"

Oh... so THAT'S what she looks like...

I have often said that since Lady Gaga is often so dressed up and so made up and always seems to have a different look every time you see her I was actually unsure as to what she actually looked like. But I shall wonder no more as Lady Gaga appeared on this month's cover of Harper's Bazaar (as well as a photoshoot in the magazine) completely and totally 100% au naturale! It may just be her most shocking look yet.

"Whether I'm wearing lots of makeup or no makeup, I'm always the same person inside."- Lady Gaga (excerpt from the article)

Read more: Lady Gaga Interview - Quotes and Photos of Lady Gaga - Harper's BAZAAR

A song I can't get out of my head

I've had this song stuck in my head for what feels like forever, so to put a spin on this wayback-playback here's the equally awesome cover by my fave band, Red Hot Chili Peppers. I apologize in advance if it gets stuck in your head too... which it probably will.

PS- Totally agree with whoever left the comment about the camera ignoring the now ex-Chili Pepper, John Frusciante, he DID rock that song so hard!

via youtube

Mmmmm.... summer!

For those of you who actually read my blog regularly I am so sorry I've been MIA for so long! I know I've been slacking all summer but I'm going to try to be better. So my first offering to all of you is one of my favourite recipes of my mom's that even I can make- the summer strawberry salad! So let's get right to it.

What you will need:

- spring mix
- strawberries
- feta
- pecans (candied or uncandied, I like candied)
- dried cranberries
- red onion (this one's optional, my mom doesn't put it in but I like it in this salad)

Step 1- If your feta is just a block (like mine) then you'll probably want to break some off into a small bowl and crush it up to your liking.
Step 2- Wash and slice up your strawberries.
Step 3- Throw it all in a bowl.

Now this salad also has a special dressing to go with it (also my mom's recipe) and while the ingredients may sound kinda gross or weird just in list form, you have to believe me it actually ends up tasting good.

What you will need:

These quantities will serve about 4, so adjust accordingly. A little goes a long way with this one!
- 1/2 cup of canola oil
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- a dash of tabasco sauce

Mix well, it should look like this:

Dress to taste... et voila! Enjoy!

:)

It pays to have a say

So since my closet sale has yet to result in any sort of revenue, I was happy to see a small section in the magazine I happened to be reading while sitting outside one day of easy ways to make some extra cash. As odd as it may sound, there are websites that will actually pay people to fill out online surveys for different companies about various products and such, and that even pay you to refer friends! So if you're someone like me who is probably on your computer anyway and can spare 10-15 minutes once in a while to fill them out, it's probably a pretty sweet deal! Hey, if I can do it sitting around my own place AND get paid, I'm down!

Here are some websites you can register with:
Opinion Outpost
MySurvey
Surveyhead
SurveySavvy
GlobalTestMarket
Ipsos i-Say
Brand Institute

Closet clean-out sale

So since my wardrobe is rapidly outgrowing my closet and I'm a little short on cash I've decided to try to sell some of my clothes as I take good care of my things and they are all still like-new! If anyone is interested here's the link, check it out! ShopMyClothes

Here's a small taste of what you'll find:

yag couture charcoal gray sweater

H&M faux-sweetheart layered 3/4 sleeve tunic

Lush striped ruffle front lightweight cardigan

Cutest cookies and shoes to match!

So a while back I stumbled upon this Japanese food and gift shop downtown and was blown away by two things- the variety of foods and snacks that I had never even seen before and how there was little to no English found anywhere in the store, which truly made shopping in there an adventure because other than the pictures on the packaging (which were for the most part completely fun and adorable!), there really wasnt any way to tell what you were about to purchase and eat. Fortunately the few things I chose were just as delicious as they were fun, one of my favourites being a box of Hello Kitty shortbread cookies that came packaged in the cutest box and came in the most adorable shapes I just couldn't resist! I'm such a sucker for Hello Kitty, who knows what else they could have got me to buy on Hello Kitty packaging alone... But if you're in the downtown Toronto area but want to feel like you're in a foreign country, I'd highly suggest going down to Sanko and roaming the isles, I dare you to find some English in there!

The picture inspired me to eat them with some hot-chocolate

The cookies really are that cute!

I love how even the inside is adorably decorated!

... and the bag too!

Look at how cute the cookies are!!

Now onto my second item, Hello Kitty has just released their most recent designer collaboration, this time with Vans shoes! With five different prints to choose from in two different styles (lace-up or slip-on) and some even available in children's sizes everyone can step out in Hello Kitty style! I personally can't wait to get my hands on a pair... if only I could decide which ones to get! Available at shop.sanrio.com