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!  

Pastel & Ethereal

Sporting one of my favourite looks on this blog to date is this pastel number. This outfit screams, ethereal-summer-fairytale-princess to me. From the drape-y-ness of it, to the floral pattern on the kimono, to the muted pastel colour palette, everything about it makes me feel utterly ethereal. There's also something that is so romantic about the combination of florals and pastels, something that transports me back to a time that includes knights in shining armour and maidens with long flowing hair. 

To offset the pastels I went for one of my favourite brown fringe bucket bags that I got whilst vacationing in NYC one summer. I love the coloured, red and blue beading on it and feather detailing on the side. To make the bag more my own, I tied an old dream catcher necklace I had to it that I purchased from a Native American street vendor and I think it adds a little something to the bag. I love adorning items with little trinkets and pins or anything that will make it quintessentially my own, while still holding personal meaning and value. Personal style is all about making things your own and staying true to who you are as a person and in essence it should reflect your inner spirit. So don't be afraid to be who you are and showcase what you like through what you wear. Trends come and go but your style is forever! So live and let live! 

Bright Blue Day Haze

After yesterday being filled with nothing but rain, rain and more rain and pretty humid and muggy temperatures it's nice to see Mr. Sun's face again! Summer for me is all about the kimono's... they actually epitomize it for me. They're light, flowy and free like a summer's day. I love this kimono I got from Threadsence a while back. It's got the biggest sleeves I've seen, I feel like a bird or a faerie ready to take flight or join a little woodland community and it's in the prettiest shade of pink to boot. It has this beautiful crochet detailing throughout as well and I paired it with this black t-shirt dress and gold coin necklace (clearly one of my fav's). It does the little jingle jangle when I walk, like there's a musical soundtrack to my life, I love it! 

Pictured: in my natural habitat with my real life woodland pet

This summer's been filled with music, music and more music and I couldn't be happier. I wish everyday was a concert or festival. Just to feel the music in your soul and the vibes in the air. People coming together as a collective, sharing an interest in the sights and sounds and just having a good time. Seriously, my favourite thing ever. I'm longing to take a road trip, going from festival to festival during its season. I'll do it one day for sure... But for now I'll just pretend I'm Lindsay Weir on that last episode of Freaks and Geeks with a bunch of Deadheads, following the band around.  

Field Trip Music & Arts Festival

I attended Field Trip Music & Arts Festival on the weekend located in the heart of Toronto. This year's lineup consisted of: Father John Misty, Temples, Alabama Shakes, Marina and the Diamonds and My Morning Jacket. 

As I made my way through the festival grounds I realized I was actually starving! Poutine (if you aren't sure what this is you're likely not the only one as it's a total Canadian dish, that's basically fries in gravy with melted cheese curds...need I say more?) was my weapon of choice; but instead of going for normal ole poutine I went for a Greek-style poutine. Now it was a hard decision on what to choose to eat as there were a multitude of food trucks, with tons of things on the menus, many of which were calling my name, but I'm so glad I chose to get what I did. Now if you're wondering how poutine can be Greek-ified you just add some feta and tzatziki of course! The mix of flavours from the saltiness of the feta and the mildness of the tzatziki in combination with the Canadian style gravy was divine. Jimmy the Greek you definitely know your stuff! Whenever I need my fill of poutine with an added kick I know where to head. 

You know it's a festival when you just want to sit crosslegged in the grass and dig in. 

What really drew me into even attending the festival in the first place was that two of my favourite bands / artists were playing, Temples and Father John Misty. As mentioned previously on this blog post here, Temples is a psychedelic rock group from the U.K. Their sound is a mix of 60's / 70's just like their style. Now this was my third time seeing them in the last year (dedicated fan girl status much?) and I was blown away yet again! Although a large crowd didn't gather around their stage they played a killer show! They played the ever so popular Colours To Life, Keep in the Dark and Shelter Song. And James' renowned black fringe jacket made its appearance yet again. But the greatest thing about the entire set was that they debuted a new song, called Henry's Cake! (Still not sure if that's the actual title). I absorbed every last bit of it in and was ecstatic beyond belief. They're currently working on their follow-up record and I'm excited to see what's in the works and can hopefully see them again when they prepare to embark on another East Coast tour. 

After Temples' set I swung on over to the next stage to catch the remainder of Father John Misty. Father John Misty is the alias Josh Tillman, ex-Fleet Foxes drummer, *wipes tear*, goes under. He's crazy and eccentric and his on-stage antics make him a fun artist to watch.   With the release of his newest record, I Love You, Honeybear, I've seen him become bigger than ever. He's headlined a lot of festivals this year and done a lot of touring and the album is awesome to boot. If you're into 60's sounding folk with strong musical accompaniment  and songs written from the deepest crevices of your little heart you'd probably dig his sound. He played a mix of songs ranging from his first album, Fear Fun, to his most recent release, pleasing new and returning fans alike. He's just an awesome act to see all around. Definitely check him out if he's ever in town! 

A festival is never complete without an outfit on fleek! I put my best festival outfit foot forward and ended up wearing this black romper that has awesome crochet detailing and bell sleeves, channeling my inner Woodstock (the usual). Equipped with a rust coloured floppy hat and oversized sunnies I felt like a total 60's babe. I kept the accessories to a minimum, with just a single gold moon necklace and some rings. My trusty black ankle booties were a must because the weather looked gloomy and the potential for a downfall was high (and luckily I did because it ended up raining just a bit). I was humbled and honoured when a photographer asked to snap a pic of my outfit and when multiple people came up to me to tell me they liked it! Totally made my day even better! So thank you to all those kind people. Field Trip was absolutely fabulous and I'm so glad to have gone! And now till next year and another killer line-up!     

Wishing I Was At Coachella...

FOMO (fear of missing out) is hitting HARD. As weekend one of Coachella comes to a close the feelings are real. Another year passed, another year I didn't attend. Seeing everyone I follows Instagram pics made it look amazing, as I'm sure it was. I watched my fav's from the comfort of my bed via the live stream throughout the weekend. Tame Impala kicked off my Friday night. They were amazing as always and started off the set with my favourite song of theirs off Innerspeaker and even included the two new singles off their much anticipated third LP, Currents. Almost as good as their music was their light show. It elevated the entire performance and put you into a psychedelic bubble of bright lights and cool synths and guitars. Oh and not to mention Kevin was rocking his bearded Jesus look with signature tie-dye tee *swoons*. On Saturday, Jack White was one of the last acts of the night and his set brought on nostalgic vibes to last summer when I had the pleasure of seeing him. I grew up on The White Stripes, learning their songs on guitar and praying I could be 0.5% as cool. Jack can shred like no other and his riffs are to die for, perfect festival music. I love the way he eases into every song and puts his own spin on them when performed live, he even snuck a Raconteurs song on there. No performance is ever the same. You have to see him live at least once in your life. To end off the weekend Mac Demarco performed. I love how positive, silly and happy he always is on stage and it really radiates out onto the crowd. He's such a presence, I love his entire being. He played a lot of stuff from 2 and ended the set in typical Mac fashion, a crowd surf! After that ramble... Onto the outfit!    

To somewhat put my Coachella blues at ease I put together a Coachella inspired outfit, for a pre-spring day. The weather was gorgeous on Saturday and gave me smiles all around. I watered my plants, opened the shutters wide, letting the sunlight flood in, put on a record or two and spent a majority of the afternoon just relaxing and getting ready to head on over to PF Changs for dinner. I recently purchased this crochet fringe kimono from Garage and I'm in absolute love!! Everything about it is so "me". This is probably one item I'd always wanted to have in my dream wardrobe and now I do! 

I love myself some good accessories and with this outfit it was no exception. I got my favourite pair of sunnies from Urban Outfitters that I purchased on a whim one night when seeing The National. One of the best "on the whim" purchases of my life, by the way, they've served me so well. I chucked on my actual favourite necklace of all time. It's gold and has coins that jingle-jangle when I walk and I feel like epitome of a janglin' soul (guess that Edward Sharpe lyric?) when I wear it and walk around. It makes everything so much more fun and festive sounding.  

I paired it with the leather leggings you've seen a million times but are now acceptable to wear without feeling your entire leg go numb from the cold and my booties from Urban Outfitters. 

Kimono   /   Top   /   Leather Leggings   /   Necklace    /   Booties