Mostly from my walk home today.

Except for the orange ones, which are a gift from my mother. She likes to buy me flowers before she leaves from a visit. These ones have been doing surprisingly well.

Okay, so i was a little late in the game on this one, but good old Ottawa came through for me in the end.

I’m kind of loving Peter Philips right now. He’s the Creative Director of Chanel Makeup, and reading about him pretty much everywhere got me a little intrigued.. What can I say?

I had not purchased nail polish in a very long time (10? 15 years?) Sure I’ve had my nails done in the meantime, but I’ve never actually felt the desire to diy…until now.

For those not in the know, last year Chanel’s limited edition Jade polish was fetching serious cash on ebay, after selling out at makeup counters. And this season’s polish, Particulière, is also doing quite well for itself. It is gray taupe in colour, and it’s lovely. The models wore it very well in the Spring RTW Collection, as have nail polish addicts since.

As part of the Spring Collection, Particulière arrived in stores this winter, but it wasn’t until a few weeks ago that I decided to actually look into it. By which I mean, I had to have it. So I walked over to the Bay and inquired, it was sold out. They did have a waiting list, and the girl at the counter made it sound promising. Nonetheless, I then went over to Holts, which was also sold out. They weren’t taking names, but they were reordering. Okay Toronto, I might expect something like this in New York, but Toronto? Are people really this makeup enthused? I next headed over to Andrew’s. Whoever would know they even carry Chanel makeup there. Turns out very stylish women – also sold out!

After this unsuccessful 20-minute adventure in makeup counters, I decided to put the mission on hold.  I didn’t need it that badly or anything.

The next weekend, I was in Ottawa. Walking through the Market, I decided to pop into the Bay at Rideau Centre – I mean, the makeup counters are right by the entry. It’s hardly a big deal to just walk through the doors and check it out. Approaching the unattended Chanel counter, I spotted the tester. Which is a good sign. At least they did stock it at some point, even if they don’t have any more for sale. Since nobody was around, and I didn’t feel like waiting, I decided to explore the hidden drawer behind the display where they keep the makeup – is that wrong?

As there is my photo of the bottle above, I see no reason to further suspend your disbelief. The visit was successful! Finally!

The women in Ottawa have it right, I mean really, what’s the big deal about a new shade of nail polish?

I fell in love with these Ines Rosales Tortas De Aceite on a trip to Central Market in Dallas. Since then, my lovely aunt has been sending some along for me from time to time. At the Spanish themed wine tasting my friend hosted this weekend, I brought some with me and we had them with goat cheese, which I had never done before, and it was amazing! The tortas are sweet, flat, biscuits with olive oil and anise and they work so well with the goat cheese.

For breakfast this week, I am having them with goat cheese, pear tea and honey.

This is one of my favorite green teas. And with all the rain this week, it’s definitely tea weather. I first tried it at a hotel in Hawaii and when I ran out (it was unseasonably cool for Hawaii), I inquired at the front desk and they gave me a lot more – I still have some!

Since we’re on the topic, if you find yourself in Honolulu, I would highly recommend Fatty’s Chinese Fast Food, 2345 Kuhio Ave. Really good tofu and vegetable noodles.

Montreal

Taking pictures of chocolate might be one of my favorite things. Aside from well, tasting it of course. After reading about the Mast brothers online and in magazines, I decided that I must experience this chocolate in real life.Thankfully, a friend was going to New York and I printed out a list of every place in Manhattan that carries them. These were purchased at Murray’s Cheese Shop on Bleecker, and they did not disappoint.

Rick and Michael Mast’s chocolate factory is located in Williamsburg and the packaging is so beautiful.

I love visiting home and going through my mother’s old art books. I remember the beautiful Helga Pictures by Andrew Wyeth, and a big old Picasso book with a curvy gold embossed paper over the spine.

Some of my favorite illustrations are by Fritz Büsse in the book Farbiges München. I really like his illustration style: loose and sketchy, but still fine and detailed. Even his use of colour is sparing – not quite unfinished, but not all super clean and highly rendered. Definitely an inspiration.

You can click on each image to view it larger

I normally don’t take pictures at my parents’ home, but this time I wanted to document some of the home decor trends that have endured with them over the years. A bit unusual and eclectic I think, their style could never be described as conventional or minimalist! Looking through my pictures, I didn’t take as many as I would have liked – but I do have more on flickr. Hopefully from these close ups, you can still get an idea…

Lots of metallics and browns, some fun wallpaper, various accessories and artwork collected from abroad, and always lots of plants!

I love going home at Christmas and seeing that my mom has brought out all her holiday dishes, hand towels, candles, and table runners. It feels like Christmas instantly! This year I brought back with me an old holiday mug from my grandmother. I thought the colours were great and I like the 1 in 2001 as a silver tree with red dots.

Do you have any holiday-specific dishes?

After seeing it in a picture taken by a friend in Tokyo this November, unaware of the make and model number, I decided that this would be an awesome camera to own. Partly on account of the orange. Also on account of the awesome. So then I looked into it. Turns out it is the Leica M7 Edition Hermès. A very nice camera to own indeed. And for a mere $14 000, it can be yours! (If you’re one of the first 100 that is)

So for now I decided just to draw it.