Beach Wedding Steez

The countdown is on! 2 more days left of work, 6 more days until Christmas, and 1 week until MAUI! My lovely friend Cat and her fiance Dave are getting "maui-ed" (they have approved the use of this pun) next week on the Hawaiian island of Maui and I am travelling out to see their special day.  I've never been away to a tropical destination during the winter holidays and I am so excited, I can barely sit still. My friend Stephanie and I are arriving on boxing day for the festivities and I am currently trying to figure out exactly what to pack.  We've decided that we are only bringing carry-ons for the trip (this is very brave for me) so I really need to stream line my usual over packing style. Besides the tiny suitcase I am limiting myself to, my next concern was WHAT TO WEAR to a beach wedding.  I've only attended a handful of weddings in the past (this will all change next year) and have never been to a beach wedding so I had no clue how to dress for such an occasion.  After careful deliberation, I have decided on the above outfit for Cat's special day (the VS dress is the actual one that I purchased!).  Long flowy maxi dress, cute but functional gladiator sandals, bright envelope clutch, aviator sunglasses, and of course, 
a beautiful lei!
Let me know what you think! Happy Holidays everyone!

It's just around the corner folks!

CHRISTMAS (or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or whatever you celebrate) seems to be ruling just about everybody's lives right now. Let it be the holiday parties, the decorating, or the last minute trips to the mall to find the perfect something(s), the holidays are definitely in full swing.  I, for one, thrive off the festivities and this weekend I had the chance to really embrace my obsession with holiday season.

On Friday, my girls and I met up for our holiday dinner, complete with Secret Santa gift exchange.  Everyone did very well with the $10 limit (I snagged myself some sweet neon xmas tree pjs-thanks Stephanie!) and enjoyed an amazing meal at 7 Numbers on Danforth www.sevennumbers.com. For those of you who don't make it east of Yonge st. ever (I'm looking at you Downtowners), I highly recommend checking out some of the restaurants on Danforth (between Broadview and Pape mostly).  Less crowded, great service, and fantastic food (even if you're not getting Greek). 

Half the the table, The ladies after dinner, My balls and I (we couldn't help ourselves),The other half of the crew

As someone who is rather fond of Christmas and crafting, I made each of the ladies homemade Christmas cards (with some inspiration from Pinterest, naturally). Glad you all appreciated them gals! They were so much fun to make and I definitely like them better than the generic cards I was finding in the stores. Cheaper too!

 The Ladies' Christmas Cards

I continued with the Christmas theme the next afternoon with a trip to the Toronto Christmas Market in the Distillery District.  I'd never had the chance to check it out down there and now that I have, I will be spending my entire summer there. The entire area is so beautiful with historic buildings and adorable shops (and most importantly, the breweries).  I had myself some "Mulled wine" which Collin described as "Apple cider with some wine poured in".  I'd have to agree with this description, and as unappetizing as that may sound, it was delicious.  The Christmas Market was the perfect way to appreciate the holiday season (and the perfect way to score free booze). I HIGHLY recommend you to check it out next year if you did not have the chance to visit this winter.

The cobblestone streets of the Historic Distillery District all dressed up for Christmas :)

My weekend ended with a trip to the Eaton's Centre with my Mom who desperately needed to get some last minute shopping done.  I somehow had finished all my shopping (how did this happen?!?!) but agreed to accompany her to the apocalypse that is the Eaton's Centre at this time of the year. I am one of the few people I know that actually ENJOYS busy malls during the holidays. They did an amazing job with the decorations this year, erecting HUGE, sparkling reindeer throughout the atrium of the mall. It was a very successful trip and allowed for some quality holiday bonding time with the mere.

And that was my holiday-injected weekend wrap-up for you! I hope that all of you are enjoying the holidays as much as you can. Get those gifts bought, those lights hung, and relax as much as possible. And remember, most importantly...

DON'T BE A COTTON-HEADED NINNY MUGGINS!

30 is the new...

Last night I celebrated my friend Marissa's 30th Birthday.  Always the thoughtful party planner, Marissa's "Roaring 20's" themed party (sending off her twenties and launching into her 30s) was chock full of little details. From the little photo booth with 1920's accessories to the vast array of desserts and "nibblies", the entire room was decked out to suit the theme. Thanks for throwing such a great party love! Happy Birthday!

 The sprawl of delicious treats, the party time nails, the birthday girl and I in our 20s headpieces :)

Upon being invited to this celebration of sending off your 20s in style, I began to think about how I will feel when I reach this "milestone". Historically, I feel that turning 30 meant that you had figured out where your life was heading, where you would be living, who you'd be spending your life with, etc. Thinking about this view, I noticed that those living in a larger city like Toronto don't necessarily follow this trend.  I'm not sure what it is about living in a bigger city that seems to put off this type of "maturing" but most of my friends, although successful and very content with their lives, do not seem to be in rush to "figure things out".  I hope that when I do turn 30 (which will happen in 3 very short years), that I do not feel the pressure to know exactly what I will be doing with my life.  I think that not quite knowing where your life is going, although somewhat unnerving and anxiety inducing, makes things a bit more exciting and allows for a a certain freedom that I don't want to lose quite yet. 

It's the weekend!

So the weekend is finally upon us, and in this busy time of year, it seems to be difficult to find time to just chill.  So last night the boy and I decided to go catch the new flick LIFE OF PI downtown and unwind.  We'd heard it was "A visual masterpiece" (thanks movie poster), and decided it worthy of our $15 (for 3D of course). When 3D first came out, I was drawn to it like a moth to a flame, as the inner child in me was super excited to wear the 3D glasses.  Over the years, it has kind of lost its magic on me, as it seems every movie with even a lick of action is released in this format.  We decided that we would splurge a bit on LIFE OF PI, just to see if it could make me appreciate the art of 3D again.  And you know what? It did, to an extent.  Although most of the movie was using 3D to show depth, there were a few parts where they succeeded on the "WOAH! THAT WAS AWESOME!!!" factor. You know, the moment when something pops right out of the screen and blows you away type of 3D that makes the annoying glasses all worth it.

 
As for the movie, having not read the book prior to viewing (which I prefer to do), I found it very visually appealing and entertaining for the most part.  At times I found the story kind of slow, however, the effects, gorgeous scenery, and exotic animals made up for it (I'm a sucker for anything nature related).  I believe it was the shear passion of the main character that ultimately made the film for me...and the ending sentiments by said character (which I will not spoil!). If you're looking for some time away from the hecticness of the holiday season, I recommend going to see LIFE OF PI/  If nothing else, it allows for some downtime to appreciate the beauty of nature and the strength of the human spirit.

My first official blog post...JEEPERS!

So I've wanted to begin blogging for quite some time now. I have an addiction to really everything social media so this was the next eventual step.  Into the rabbit hole I go. This blog will explore things that (as the name of the blog title states) I think are pretty rad. Shall we start with a definition of "rad?"

"Rad": An abbreviation of 'radical'--a term made popular by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Still primarily used by people on the West Coast who find words like 'cool', 'awesome', and 'tight' to be tired and overused; 'rad' is generally considered to be a much higher praise than the aforementioned superlatives. Also used as a general expression of awe. "Those are some rad shoes." "Oh, RAD."

(Thanks Urban Dictionary) http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Rad

Now that we have that straightened out, welcome to my blog. Looking forward to sharing my thoughts about fashion, home decor, travel, and anything else I find rather rad.