Birthday / Engagement Weekend Part II

Tartufo loves Tartufo!


The morning after! This blog has slowly turned from a 'fashion' blog to a 'whatever is going on in Lisa's life' blog. I promise not to turn it into a wedding blog!

Tartufo came along with us to Jurassic coast where we ate the most amazing UK lobster ever. I got to finally sport my new piece of jewelry in the hotel restaurant as well, where everyone clearly knew exactly what had happened last night. Thank goodness for Mass I said Yes :P

I think this birthday weekend will go down as the best one yet. Hopefully we can have our wedding on Mass' birthday to balance it out :)

Birthday Weekend Part I

If we're friends on Facebook you will have known by now that Mass and I are engaged :) I waited almost two weeks to publicly announce the news so I could let it absorb a little.

Although it still sounds funny (but oh so good) to call him my fiancé, I am definitely getting used to the new change in my life.

The proposal happened at some point during my birthday weekend away in Dorset. The above photos were taken, unknowingly, on my last night as a girlfriend. Won't go into too many details here, but the night before was lovely :)

Giambattista Valli shirt, Nico DiDonna skirt, vintage earrings

birthday

Celebrated my birthday very very early a few weeks ago in Toronto with my closest friends/family around me, though it definitely was just an excuse to see everyone in one place I loved it :)

I think what makes your birthday (today, weeee!) special is not the day you born but the other 364 days of the year that you get to show the people you love (and they to you) that you're truly there for them. Now that I am officially in my late 20's, I have lived the greater part of this decade in another country, away from the people I grew up with. I have been home numerous times over the past 4.5 years and never once did an entire entourage not pick me up from the airport, drop me off and wait until the slight glimpse of me was gone before descending into the parking lot.

For those times, and many more, I am thankful for this day and the rest of the 365 days of the year.

Happy birthday to all those born on 9/11 :)

Profile

If you've seen my facebook you will have seen this as my profile pic, so nothing new here. My parents went gaga over this photo (with only minimal criticism about our shiny foreheads).

Taken on my very early birthday celebration with my Toronto friends aka some of my favourite people in the world. That's my sister. Some people say we look alike, do you agree? She's 6 years younger than me and is sometimes mistaken for the older one. Grrr!

Helmut Lang shirt, J Crew skirt, gifted earrings

Oops, sorry didn't realise the photo is so big!

WeeCap: June 25th & 26th

Weekend Recap for June 25th and 26th in which Gracey goes to the best Jazzercise class ever (EVER), gets some sun, goes to a birthday party (Happy Birthday, Cam!), has a slumber party and spends a Sunday doing nothing.  And I should warn you, this post is light on outfit photos (except for the Jazzercise shots), but I promise I did wear clothes.  I just forgot to get proof.

Also, before I tell you about my weekend, I wanted to show you what my sister, Rosey, did for me.  On Friday night after work I went thrifting with Alex and when I came home, Rosey had created this bouquet of red roses and mock orange for me.  Isn't it beautiful?  I'm telling you guys, she's the best sister ever.

Now on to the weecap proper. On Saturday I woke up early to attend Jazzercise class and I wore this:

 

This is not what I usually wear to Jazzercise, but on Saturday we were celebrating 30 years of teaching Jazzercise for one of the instructors, so we were encouraged to dress in 80s clothes.  You all know I love the 80s, so I was super-excited for this class.  So I woke up early, put my hair into a side-pony and put on my off-the-shoulder Jazzercise shirt and my hot pink leg warmers. 

And the class was fabulous.  We walked like Egyptians to The Bangles, let Belinda Carlisle convince us that heaven is a place on earth and had a last dance with Donna Summer.  Jazzercise is always fun, but this class was even more fun that usual filled with 80s songs and old school routines; in fact, my friend Kory and I are going to try to convince our instructor to have these 80s classes on a regular basis.

After Jazzercise I hung out in the sun until it was time to go up to Portland to visit my fabulous friend Jenny and her gorgeous daughter Cameron:

Cameron had her birthday party at a bowling alley with several of her girlfriends and a couple of her guy friends:

After pizza and bowling, all of the girls (yes, all 10 of them) had a slumber party at Jenny's house, and so did I.  I had no idea that thirteen year old girls screamed and squealed so much, but they seemed to be having a good time; I guess they're just super-excitable in large groups?  All I know is that we adults fell asleep long before the girls did and we were up past midnight, so I'm not sure what time they finally fell asleep.  And when we woke up this morning, it looked like a bomb had hit the living room and the shrapnel was made of teenage girls.  There were girls sleeping on or under every available surface; I swear one girl slept with a sweatshirt as a blanket and a pile of magazines as a pillow.  And the food?  We had pizza at the bowling alley, but they still ordered two more pizzas in the middle of the night, finished up the peanut butter Cap'n Crunch and for some reason had the mayo out.

Sunday I hung out with Jen for a bit and then headed back home.  All in all, it was a lovely, relaxing weekend.

I hope everyone else had a lovely weekend as well,

Gracey

Birthday Owl

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROSEY!!!!

This is my older sister Rosey:

Today is her birthday and she is, hands-down the best big sister ever.  And yes, I will fight anyone who says differently.   She is only a year and a half older than me and we are as close in spirit as we are in age.  Not only did she teach me how to eat watermelon (off the floor, no less), she taught me how to properly rock an Afro:

I think those are candy cigarettes in my hand.  Probably.

I'm still working on the Afro and I usually don't eat while sitting on the floor, but I still value those lessons and everything else my sister has taught me in our more than 30 years together.

Happy Birthday, Rosey!!!  I love you!!!!

In other news, I'm dressed like an owl today:

 

I mentioned yesterday that I have a maybe slight, maybe more-than-slight, obsession with day dresses and this dress is one of the reasons why.  I absolutely adore the feather print and like to think the shape is pretty flattering on me.  Like many of my favorite day dresses, this one is vintage which I think makes it all the better.  And, I thrifted it for about $7.00, so really there is no downside.  I paired it with my owl belt (via Ross) and a similarly-toned metal cuff (thrifted).  I chose these shoes (Nine West via Nordstrom) because they are fairly modern which I hope kept this look from being too costume-y (owl belt aside).

Once again, it's my sister's birthday (hooray!!!) and I'm dressed like an owl.  That is all.

Gracey

baby it's cold outside...

Like my hat?

MONCLER jacket, AA shirt (gifted from sis), CA4LA hat (stolen from bf), RAF SIMON snood (stolen from bf), CHEAP MONDAY jeans, LIUJO belt (gifted from Mass' mom), SOREL boots (gifted from dad), LOUIS VUITTON purse, CLUB MONACO gloves

HUGE apologies for my absence this past week and a half, work has me so drained. The good news is that xmas is near and I'll be home for the holidays, which means more time to connect.

My parents have been in town for the past week or so for my LLM convocation. They couldn't have come at a worse time; there was a snowfall here that didn't stop for a week, something that hasn't happened in London in two decades. I left all my winter clothes at home in Toronto but my dad came to the rescue when he gave me my 26th birthday present of Sorels! I had been looking all over London for them last year (to no avail) and my sis must've gave my dad some good advice. They are so warm! I don't own a pair of Uggs (never will) and hands down, these are much 'cooler' and sturdier.

Above pics are from the Portobello Market (infamous Notting Hill market) from the weekend. They have a ton of fur being sold by vendors and my mom and I picked a couple hats up. She's rocking the one up there, isn't she?

Hope you're having a great Sunday!

Piedmont... in photos

Now for some photos from the trip...

Insalata 31, 41, 51.... (51 ingredients in this insalata! Followed by drinking the dressing by removing the bowl)

Test tube concoctions...a bit too fancy shmancy for my taste.

The hunt with the hunter sans his dog


Cleaned, shaved and served...delicious.

BURBERRY PRORSUM shearling coat, HOBBS dress, MENDOCINO shirt, NINE WEST otk boots, MIU MIU bag

Similar to the runway demonstration of this coat, I was inspired to pair a knee length fitted dress with my shearling. I bought and altered this dress a few months ago for work but found that it had exactly what I was looking for to match the coat. Versatility is one of the many highlighting characteristics to this beautiful piece.

Beyond that are images from our weekend trip to Piedmonte to go truffle hunting. We found one tartufo bianco and two tartufo (tartufi?) neri. As you can see I still didn't give up the coat even in the forest (worn with my trusty Hunter wellies and Oxford University cricket sweater).

Alba has some of the best restaurants in the country, including the gastronomic one we ate at that had milk in a test tube for dessert. Best part of the trip: the truffle and barolo (both located in the Piedmonte region). If you love either, I highly recommend a trip.

BURBERRY PRORSUM

BURBERRY PRORSUM shearling coat, ZARA sweater, CHEAP MONDAY black jeans, ASOS belt, FRATELLI ROSETTI boots, CLUB MONACO gloves

Mentioned in the last post was the passing of my twenty something birthday (ok, 26th, but who's counting) and that Mass did well this year. He surprised me with the Burberry Prorsum shearling I had tried on back in September. Honestly, after trying on this shearling and numerous failed attempts at others, I knew no other coat would substitute. It fits like a glove, has the exaggerated collar, and is so warm it withstands mountain frost with just a t-shirt underneath. Jacket of the season or not, this coat will be worn for many many years to come.

And wearing it 24/7 is exactly what I did all weekend long in Piedmonte, Italy (above pics were taken at our villa in Monforte d'Alba in the densest of fogs). Demonstrated in the upcoming post is another method of wearing it. I might even wear it to my cousin's winter wedding which I am a bridesmaid at, I'm sure she'll appreciate that :P

FALL LEAVES

NICO DIDONNA coat/jumper, ASOS shoes, DANIER gloves

This is the coat from here. It is honestly the WARMEST coat you will ever find outside of a duck downed one. Was almost not going to buy it - thank goodness Nico and Mass talked me into it!

On Tuesday was my 20 something birthday. I actually have to use the word 'something' now because it feels quite old. Anyway, I had a lovely day filled with friends and fun. The greatest girl in London, Janet, organised a small dinner party for me and gifted a fabulous item (shown in a later post...she knows me so well!). As well, Mass did himself good this year but will also show that later because we're heading to Piedmonte in Italy on Saturday to go truffle hunting. Yum! See you in a few.

Have yourselves a fantastic weekend.

Taormina

NICO DI DONNA vest/dress, TALULA dress, BCBG belt, DVF shoes, MIU MIU bag

Last nights in Taormina, Sicily were spent gobbling up as much gelato, granita, seafood, and coffee as possible. I really cannot stress enough how beautiful it is...the city is built on a mountain so you'll always have a view and since its seaside, you'll always have a beach. Sicily is known for their Godfather-like residents to us North Americans but I would rate it high on my list of Italian towns to visit.

Finally, for the past two years Mass' birthday has been spent flying home so I didn't get to send him a proper and formal birthday blog shoutout. Happy Birthday, you really are the greatest boyfriend ever.