Another One

The weather has been nothing short of sweltering these past few weeks... Despite the first week of September rollin' on out. Hopefully some fall-like temperatures are on their way because I'm desperately in the mood to throw on a leather jacket and not feel like my skin is melting off. I've been really into this 70's skirt trend with the buttons at the front. I already own a camel corduroy one from Topshop and thought that adding a denim one to the collection would be a great idea. Now it's not news to anyone that denim is probably one of the most versatile things ever so I can totally envision see this skirt perfectly transitioning into my fall wardrobe with some tights and boots.  

I'm bringing in those Western vibes that have been inspiring me lately through the addition of the concho belt. I've been wearing this belt with everything since I've bought it, from jeans to shorts to a skirt, like how I've styled here. It's the perfect throw-on piece and can jazz up a simple outfit. Instead of going for my usual ankle boots that I always wear I went for my burgundy suede ones to help bring some more colour and texture into this outfit. This is one of my fav blouses that despite being 3/4 sleeves is exceptionally breezy since it's chiffon and I tucked it in to show off the belt in all its beautiful glory. 

I've been working everyday for the past 7 days and doing a lot of other stuff in between, so that means a ton of long bus rides to and fro which also means a lot of music listening, but I don't mind one bit. I actually thoroughly enjoy taking the bus for that reason. You get to have some quality "me" time and just indulge in some good tunes. I've had Mac Demarco's, Another One, on repeat since its been released and even went out to purchase the vinyl earlier this week, so I can have it for my own at-home listening pleasure. Another One is a more personal album for Mac where he laments about a girl throughout. But the songs on here are just so damn good. Definitely give it a listen if you ever get the chance, lot's of his signature twangy guitar sprinkled everywhere!  

  

The Way You'd Love Her - Mac Demarco 

The Cosmic Microwave Background

I love this outfit so much I've worn a variation of it one other time aside from this already! Everything about it is easy breezy and no fuss, from the denim cut offs to the oversized button-up. I got this top for my birthday when I was browsing around at Free People. As soon as I saw it I knew it needed to be mine and it was on sale too! I thought this top could be styled so many different ways and would be great for the summer months, with a pair of shorts, like how I've styled here, but also once the colder temperatures began to set in, with high-waisted denim and a faux fur vest. The sleeves were a little long for me, but that's nothing a good cuffing job can't fix.

Hats have totally become my go-to this summer... I can't seem to get enough! I almost want to wear a hat with every outfit I put on at this point! I feel like they just complete any look giving it some added interest and style. I went for my usual pile of accessories and adornment, adding my flea market necklace to the mix. And of course, no outfit of mine would be complete without a pair of ankle boots. When I wear these particular ones I feel as if they make my legs look longer, and heck yeah at 5'2 I'm all about that! Even if it is just some misconstrued illusion.

I've been heavily feeling my Australian's again and listening to the lovely Shiny Joe Ryan & The Cosmic Microwave Background. This is Shiny Joe's little solo project when he isn't jamming with POND or touring with Tame as their roadie, sporting a lab coat and having the best hair in the game. The entire album is a complete gem filled with so many great jams and cosmic waves of sound. One of my favourite songs from the album is "Hold On For The Ride", and it's no surprise with the inclusion of the sitar throughout. The song makes you feel like you're on an actual ride, whilst Ryan's vocals wave in and out throughout the entirety of the track.   

Hold On For The Ride by Shiny Joe Ryan 

Time Festival

Time Festival rolled around two Saturday's ago and I had the pleasure of attending. The lineup was short but sweet, including a few greats, making this one worth hitting up. The day was sweltering to the point where by the time I waited in line to get my ticket scanned and let into the festival, I was already all sweaty and dying of thirst. But I trudged through because DIIV was about to hit the stage.  

DIIV hails from NYC and is fronted by Zachary Cole Smith, linked to Sky Ferreira (I love her to death). I'd seen DIIV once before, at a festival in Montreal two summers prior and at that time they had just released their debut, Oshin. This time around, they hadn't released a new album since then, but with a new one set to drop in the very near future (October 2015), via inclinations made from a many a tweets thanks to Smith's Twitter. The set included a few songs from Oshin and a ton of new, unreleased ones. It was great to be able to hear them for the first time in a live setting, heightening my anticipation for the new album. The new songs had their quintessential shoe gaze / dream pop element, but I did notice that these set of songs were definitely more vocal heavy than the last. I guess that's what we can expect for the next album then, to move in a more vocal direction as opposed to letting the musical atmospheric elements take over.   

I think it is better... and definitely more Instagram-able.

I tried Hawaiian pizza for the first time and it's become a new fav!

Ariel Pink went on before Mac Demarco hit the stage and he played a crazy set, equipped with rambunctious hand motions and movements. But once Mac went on, it started to get crowded. This is my third time seeing Mac now and he always puts on a good show. He and his bandmates are the men of the hour, cracking out jokes and just plain absurdities in between songs in the set, making the entire crowd laugh. With the release of Another One, he opened with a track from there, then, moving onto the crowd favourite, "Salad Days". This time around he mostly played songs from his new EP, but in keeping with the usual additions to his set including: "Cooking Up Something Good", "Freaking Out The Neighbourhood", "Ode To Viceroy" (personal fav), "Let My Baby Stay", "The Stars Keep On Calling My Name" and finally, ending the show as he always does with, "Still Together". I had a really fun time, dancing and singing along to all the songs and it was great seeing Mac play in a festival-type setting again. Now here's to the next time I get to see him because I'm sure there will be more times in the future to come!  

Flea Market Treasures

Flea markets are a great place to stumble across interesting finds and pick up things you never knew you needed. I recently hit up a flea market one weekend and I came out with a few amazing things that I'm really loving!

Most of the vendors had at least a crate or more of used vinyl. But within the market there was an actual record store that was all alphabetically laid out and organized, I was in heaven. Vintage and vinyl go together like PB & J so this was an obvious no brainer of complete wonder. The only tip I'd have is make sure you take the record out of the sleeve and examine it for scratches and the like, as since they've been previously loved, wear and tear and sometimes, acts of carelessness, have caused some slight damage to these little guys.

These are some of the records I walked away with. And I'm super happy I was able to acquire so many!

The Moody Blues - In Search of the Lost Chord 

Star Wars OST

The Mamas & The Papas - California Dreaming'

Stevie Nicks - Bella Donna 

The Guess Who - The Greatest of The Guess Who 

Elvis - Forever

Don McLean - American Pie 

The Beatles - The Beatles Story (A narrative and musical biography of Beatlemania)

The Beach Boys - The Best of The Beach Boys Vol. 1

There was also a vendor who was selling vintage cameras of all sorts. This one caught my eye because of it's industrial and modern look. So because of that I had assumed it was from sometime in the 80's but I was wrong. After a quick Google search (thanks Google for always being there for me) it actually dates 30 years from my initial expectation. This particular model was only made from 1953-1956 and takes 35mm film. I'm excited to start using my Argus A-Four! Hopefully a curation of pictures soon to come. 

This was a total last minute find because I was just about to leave the flea market but I realized there had been one place I hadn't looked through yet. So I went in and was able to not only pick up some vinyls but also pick up this pretty cool poster. This poster mentions some of my favourite people on it: Allen Ginsberg, Tim Leary and Jerry Garcia and the event they were at happened in the year of 1969. I thought this was so cool and because it mentioned so many of my fav's I knew I had to pick it up. It also has a really old school print and design on it and that's what drew me in, it actually looks like a flyer they would've handed out or something! 

The last thing I picked up was this gold bib-style necklace. The leaf pendant that's hanging from it is actually a real leaf that's been dipped in gold! When I found that out I definitely had to pick it up! This particular vendor had tables and tables of jewelry, some vintage (one piece dating at 100 years old) and some new. I loved a lot of the pieces but this one specifically caught my eye, and you know, I love a good statement necklace!  

Hopefully I can venture back some time soon because there's always something new and that's why I love them, because you can come across so many unique finds that are one-of-a-kind, that no one will have because they're either vintage or total one-off's. And you can also discuss the items with the vendors because there's bound to be an interesting story attached to some piece or you could possibly learn something you hadn't known before! 

A Day In The Woods

I recently spent a Sunday up north in the woods. I actually love the outdoors, and especially like to spend some time to recharge away from everything in times of stress. Working a couple times a week, writing weekly for an internship, being in summer school, writing and taking pictures for this blog and still managing to do a ton of fun things in between isn't always easy to balance, but I've managed these past four months and I'm proud of myself! I also, haven't compromised myself in any way, I've managed to do it all.    

Spending some time in the outdoors was great. Everything about nature is beautiful. The way the sun peeks out through the branches of the trees. The many sounds of birds calling to one another. The light wind that's brought about from the nearby waves of the lake. It'd be a dream to spend a week in a little cabin in the woods, secluded from everything and everyone, with no cellphone service or wifi to check your emails or various social media pages, completely unplugged. The company of others and nature would be enough to stimulate the over stimulated mind. Over all it was a beautiful Sunday, and I'm in hopes that many more of that caliber can be had in the near future.  

Of course s'mores were made by an open fire. I'm the queen of this delicious treat! 

Bohemia

Summer's coming to a close but the temperatures want to stay and I'm cool with that because I get to sport more of my summer wardrobe. I opted for the classic maxi skirt and crop top combo but turned the knobs all the way up to the highest notch of bohemia. And it's all in the accessories. But... before I get to that, let's discuss the foundation pieces that make up this outfit since you gotta start somewhere.  

I'm currently on that blue and white kick and clearly taking cues from yesterday's jumpsuit outfit post. Something about blue and white is so fresh and crisp. The colours not only remind me of Santorini but also of the beach, the hues of blue from the water and the grainy white sand. I also love the button detailing all the way down the front of the skirt. It totally gives this skirt a definite vintage 70's vibe that of course, I'm totally digging. The white crop top was obviously a no brainer.  

Now let's move onto the fun stuff, the accessories. I piled on the jewels. I went for my favourite statement necklace, the gold one with the jangly coins, that's been featured a many a times on this blog. As for my arms, I was having a party and decided to go to town because life's too short to not drown in jewels and adorn your body with all things pretty. I got some different coloured beaded coin bracelets, a gold cuff, some basic gold bangles, a charm bracelet with some cool charms and some embroidered patterned bracelets I got from Mexico. Some of the bangles were a bit too big for my wrists, as they kept slipping out every time I put my arm down. But I decided that they shouldn't go to waste and I slid them a little higher up until they created a makeshift arm band. I felt like this was a totally ingenious idea and a good way to make use of a bracelet that might be too big for the wrists. I went for my usual cluster of rings and a turquoise beaded ankle bracelet (unfortunately not pictured, as it got lost amongst the layers of maxi fabric) that I also picked up in Mexico.   

Santorini Dreams

The weather's been sweltering these past few days and I couldn't be happier. I'll take this heat over the dreaded winter that's soon to come any day. In the midst of all this I've been keeping pretty busy as well. Working, writing, doing school work and just plain living! This summer's been a blast and I'm still riding that vacation high! I decided to keep it simple in this outfit and one piece can do the trick sometimes.  

I got this patterned jumpsuit from a little shop in Mexico and I love it to pieces. The blue and white colour scheme reminds me of the multitude of landscape pics I've seen of dreamy Santorini. But the pattern on this one piece speaks for itself. It's so vibrant and full of life, full of summer fun. And not to mention, it's loose silhouette has helped me combat the summer heat. I love a good pattern and anything that's billow-y so this piece is a must in my summer wardrobe. I can't wait to get a couple more wears out of it before it's time to tuck it away until next year!