not your grandmother's mink.

Real fun 'fur' the whole family.

There are some really key, important, wonderful things that any gentleman (or lady, on another note entirely..) could do in order to have me devote myself to them, and only them, for all eternity. I'm really a simple lady if you look past the crazy hair. In addition to sending grammatically correct text-messages, the ability to give a really great shoulder rub, and the requisite secret passion for classic rock, I'd love to date a man who could appreciate and love my appreciation and love for fur. I hope to maybe meet a fellow one day (besides my loving father who spoils me so) who could shower me with vintage stoles, wraps, hats, and coats that even Lindsay Lohan would want to make off with. That would really ruffle my feathers.

Granted, I'd love to be able to afford all that stuff myself, but with another 5-6 years of school ahead of me and my assumedly to-be-tip-heavy job that won't be starting until summertime, for now a girl's just gotta dream.

When I have babies, and I'm not too busy churning my own butter at the family farmhouse, I'd love to pull a Kate Moss and use a stole as a baby sling. Winnipeg would not understand, but I think if I steered clear of the steps outside Fashion Week, I could probably remain unscathed in Toronto- and terribly cute at the same time!

So for now, boys, listen up! I'd gladly take either one on the left or the right. If you feel like there needs to be something in it for you, just imagine rolling around on it in front of the fireplace at the farmhouse I mentioned earlier. That I'd be happy to do fur you.

(you caught me) smilin'.

Between school during the weekdays and travelling to small Ontario music festivals with two new friends (and classmates) selling bakewares some weekends, I'll be working here this summer.



See you on the patio, lovelies. I hear the horse bresaola is spectacular.

a moment on the lips, forever on the hips (is okay by me).

In case you were wondering (and apparently I need to start a food blog & also buy a Digital SLR)...



The menu for last night's dinner party entailed:
-Filet Mignon wrapped in bacon, topped with a Dulchetta Gorgonzola shallot-cream sauce
-Buttermilk fried onion straws
-My secret recipe for garlic smashed potatoes (I stand by firmly that nobody makes better mashed/smashed potatoes than I do)
-Balsamic grilled baby asparagus

Total caloric intake? 1,467,634.



The entire cost of a dinner for six was roughly $100- not including wine. Considering the six of us finished off half a box, three magnums, and a regular 750mL bottle of red in just under 4 hours... the wine probably cost more than the dinner (And not only in price; I may or may not have thrown up my meal.) $100 for an absolutely wonderful dinner for six just blows my mind, and the fact that two first-year (first month, really) culinary students could pull off such a fabulous (and well-timed!) meal makes me the happiest girl in the city. A dinner party like it's 1929 all over again.

The filet itself we bought at St. Lawrence market. The cost of seven pre-bacon-wrapped-filets? $33. We grilled them off & then roasted them in a hot cast iron skillet.. in hot duck fat. Not only did we get the beautiful grill marks of a BBQ on my Breville panini grill, but roasting steaks after a quick sear always gives you the perfect pink centre; something my dad would tell me after his prerequisite post-BBQ margerita(s).

As for the sides, we made up the gorgonzola sauce. Obviously blue cheese is delicious in absolutely any form, but you can't really go wrong when combining it with about eighty thousand other forms of fat. Two shallots, a ton of butter to sweat them in, 35% heavy cream, and one $10 block of gorg resulted in fucking H-E-A-V-E-N. The asparagus we blanched, marinated in balsamic vinegar, and then grilled last-minute while the steaks were roasting off.

For the onion straws, I adapted this recipe from memory. I also took a little from the onion ring recipe I used for this epic dinner that I took from Anthony Sedlak's The Main. They turned out so well that I was surprised when I went to clean the kitchen this morning that my overnight guest didn't grab the rest to take on the streetcar to work, he loved them so much.

I'd give you my secret recipe for the best roasted garlic mashed potatoes in the world, but I'm afraid I've simply got to go eat the leftovers.

writing you a letter, looking for my heart pt II.

Who doesn't love getting mail?

Returning from a (successful) job interview and a leisurely coffee with my Toronto hairdresser-slash-confidante, I checked my mail for the first time in about a week. If I look past my overdue credit card bill, a form from the Canada Revenue Agency reporting how much was taken out of my RESP, and several bills from Bell, it was really good today. Not only did my new Toronto Life and Fashion (hey, the subscription was free!) magazines come, but so did my tickets for the now-sold-out Neko Case show in April. I'm always convinced that when I order tickets on the internet they'll never make their way to my door but of course I was wrong again.

Last night I hosted my first dinner party after moving to Toronto and it was a grand success. Starting with an extremely decadent (buttery...rich...) dinner and ending with a lovely (drunken... slurring...) sing-a-long with a friend & frequent dinner guest in my bed, I woke up feeling pretty satisfied in more ways than one.

It's been a good day.

small talk.

In retrospect, I can't believe I dated someone who would date someone who has what I like to call "Homesense Art" on their walls. You know, like those god-awful Tolouse Lautrec prints of bustling french bistros and can-can dancers at the local Moulin Rouge. I can appreciate art with the rest of them, but did you really get that on sale at Winners? Did you buy it with a gift certificate? Did you go enjoy a nice rib dinner at Applebee's afterwards and talk about how much money you saved and how great it'll look on your 'eggshell' walls? Are you going to go home and check your AOL e-mail account? Will Don't Stop Believin' be the song at your wedding?

Toulouse Lautrec was a sick man as a result of inbreeding (his parents were first cousins). I think the lady I'm referring to is a bit sick for other reasons.

I ordered this slip off e-bay tonight on a whim.




A beautiful, full-length black silk BACKLESS nightgown. Doesn't hurt that I have an almost identical one in soft pink already.

I love vintage lingerie. I would swim in it if I could. I often lounge around my apartment in a slip and several strands of pearls. I wear lipstick when I do my laundry & my vacuuming. I don't even care if there's anyone else around to see it, although it's also nice if there is. When I was sixteen, I spent $200 on a black corset for Valentine's Day for a boyfriend from some shitty mall lingerie store and wore it under everything I owned. Not to suck my stomach in, or anything, but mostly just because I thought it was really glamourous and beautiful. I used to own several garter belts. I love thigh high stockings and lace and satin n' shit. Next thing you know, I'm going to start bathing in gin.



Apparently I like to think I'm Miss Hannigan from Annie. You know, the part of the film where she gets drunk and croons Little Girls & wears lingerie and lounges around in satin. I absolutely adore Carol Burnett. (Un)fortunately, with my new haircut I look a little more like Orphan Annie.

Next on my list, and my credit card bill, is this:



It's mine as soon as one of you has $1,195 to lend me. Plus shipping. This beautiful YSL Amber fox fur coat is my reason for living, and it's not even hanging in my closet yet. I've got a pretty great collection of furs on the go; I have a short mink, a fox fur, a mid-length sable, a couple faux-furs and a new stole (assumedly fox) with silk lining and a pocket that perfectly fits my flask. My Ragpickers finds will tide me over until my mother tires of her full-length mink that I've had my eye on for years, or until Daddy Warbucks decides he could do with another curly haired, dimpled wonder in his life. Whichever comes first.

The sun finally came out in Toronto today which allowed some ladyfriends and I do to some thrift & fabric shopping after the requisite Sunday brunch. It was really nice. From The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow to You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile in less than 72 hours.

Not bad. Not bad at all.

one of these things first.

Be my life.