a sweet surprise.

A couple days ago, I received quite a wonderful gift but for no occasion whatsoever. These are the kinds of gifts I like the most. It was a little sweet surprise. This skirt has been on my wishlist for quite some time now. I first tried it on mid-summer and immediately fell in love with it.

At the time I didn't have enough money to pay for it so I decided that on my next visit downtown I would snatch it up. Five days later, I revisit Urban Outfitters with more than enough money to pay for the skirt. I scoured the area looking for the skirt but the only one to be seen was on a mannequin. Standing in front of the mannequin puzzled, I asked an employee passing by if there were anymore or if I could have the one of the mannequin. She said if there were anymore they should be there and proceeded to check the size of the skirt on the mannequin; medium. Curse my tiny body! I need an extra small.

Seeing as I was there to buy a gift card for my cousin I went to the counter and as always they ask if you've found everything you were looking for today. Seemingly unsatisfied, I answered no. After I explained to her my problem she went off to the back to make some calls and check their stock. After a while she returned baring the news that only one extra small skirt remained in Orlando, Florida and there was no way of me obtaining it. Seeing how sad I was, my buddy assured me that I would have this skirt and as promised, three months later and $13 cheaper (and then add the cost of shipping), the skirt is here. Such a sweet and wonderful gesture. Thank you so much!

And so without further ado, here is my skirt! I have a new lamp in my room from IKEA that I'm able to twist and turn. It's a nice little tool I can use as a spotlight.

peach v-neck - Aritzia, cooperative printed skirt - Urban Outffiters

I really like this out of focus shot, not sure why.

my one follower.

Last friday marks the day of my one and only official follower's birthday! Okay, so I don't think she's my only follower but the only one with a blogger account who is able to click 'follow'. This is quite sad but nonetheless, I shall honour my one follower! Me and my buddy took a trip to Fairview Mall to fetch a small gift for our friend. I know she wants Aritzia swag so we couldn't go wrong with this gift. Although the gift card is not much, it's something! And something more than the locker wrapping we so carefully planned last year. After an hour of rigorous wrapping this is the result! I absolutely love wrapping gifts. It's something I pride myself on. I know, it's lame but frighteningly true. By the way, the varsity jacket is relevant because it's something off her wishlist from Aritzia.

me & my other half

The gift card is something I cannot wait to draw in my shopping journal! It's so awesome, and reloadable! This means you can keep it forever. So all I must do now is catch up on my drawings. The purchases are piling up and I can't find the time to draw them! Oh summer, how I want you back.

For my one follower's side of the story on this gift head over to Aleya's post!

my baggu

$32 Baggu backpack in nutmeg - Urban Outfitters

Oh, sweet luck! Finally after months of wanting, I have obtained the Baggu backpack! If you haven't heard of Baggu, they're a great little company who started off by producing reusable grocery bags and furthered that into making other kinds of bags. Their bags are recognizable for their solid colour and simple design. The backpack version is just one of many other styles to choose from. In my case though, I needed a backpack for school and my former Gap satchel was too expensive and delicate to uphold to the abuse that is school.

So here I am, a couple months later after discovering Baggu bags existed, and had given up hope of ever having one. When I first saw this bag I immediately emailed customer service inquiring of where to buy one in my area. Unfortunately, the only Baggu's here were the originals being sold at Chapters. Although, she did say the Shabd edition was available at a shop on Queen St. West, quite a good second choice. The Shabd versions are lovely hand dyed, limited edition bags which I wouldn't mind owning. They're by Brooklyn based artist and designer Shabd Alexander; she has some really great stuff if you're in to acid wash and tie dye.

Anywho, back to my story!

This past friday I was downtown for the university fair. The whole thing turned out to be quite pointless to me so within half an hour we were out of there. On a day dedicated to the university fair, we were carelessly strolling through downtown in the direction of the mall. Urban Outfitters is always on my list when I'm downtown because it is one of two that we have in Toronto. I intended to look for this camera bag I had seen online. But to my surprise, misplaced on the front of a clothes rack hidden in that little space under the staircase hung the Baggu backpack in nutmeg. I didn't know it existed at Urban Outfitters but mostly because I don't browse through the men's bags online. It was sheer luck, a bag sent from heaven! And for the rest of the day I couldn't help but walk around with a silly smile wiped across my face. The only sacrifice of this wonderful bag was not being able to buy these on sale, high-waisted shorts from Aritzia. Although I wouldn't have been able to wear them until next year, I would be much happier knowing I have something new waiting for me next summer. It was also a great discount. On the bright side, I have my Baggu backpack and a new pair of Talula acid wash leggings!

$30 acid wash leggings - Aritzia

$79 $55 twill & leather satchel - GAP

P.S. that little plushie sitting in the corner is Amos; my little friend that I created.

roses & runny noses.

It's such a gorgeous colour and it makes my eyes happy. I couldn't resist accepting such a wonderful rose! But although it's very easy on the eyes, it's not so kind to my head. It's really a shame that I suffer from allergies. Who would have thought that I would be allergic to roses. I guess it's not the actual rose but the pollen inside? At least I got some great shots of it. With the sun shining like this in fall I had to take pictures of something. It looks so pretty laying in my new but previously owned top.

under a fig tree

It's about two weeks into school now and it hasn't exactly been a smooth ride. The first couple days are always a slow start-up but this next week I'm looking forward to! At last inner-school freedom, and if you go to my school you'd know what I mean. Secondly, premieres of my favourite shows! (House & Glee) These will be wonderful little things to look forward to after an agonizing Monday or Tuesday. Oh school, please be good to me.

On the bright side, there are things I do like about school. Like my religion & the arts course last year, for instance. I had the best time doodling up a little comic about the life of Buddha as one of my assignments. The great thing about this course is that art-driven activities replace all the spots where normal assignments would be in the regular, non-art world religions course, including the essay (boo yah). This is honestly the greatest form of studying for me. So ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you snippets of "The Life & Times of Buddha", an original (or not so original) comic by me! And may I just add that I love saying Siddhartha Gautama. Siddhartha Gautama, Siddhartha Gautama, Siddhartha Gautama. You try it!

This is Buddha reaching enlightenment under a fig tree.

He's oh so happy.

the elephant in the room.

Quite some time ago, back in May, I was working diligently on my english homework. Clearly I was distracted. The gleaming golden sun coming through my window was hard to resist so I collected my models and started shooting. If you know me, you know that I really like elephants but mostly ones that I can fit in my palm. Elephants and owls that is. But anyway, these are a few photos of my pachyderm friends. Since I didn't have a blog at the time I never shared any of my photos and they collected virtual dust in their folders upon my computer desktop. But now that I have this outlet expect more posts like this. I took manymanymany photos but these are just the cream of the crop!

My own piece of Fredflare.

Look at those little love birds elephants!

mustard craving.

Oh hi there, Aritzia Fall/Winter collection. It pains me to see such wonderful but expensive clothes. I long to own just one article of mustard coloured clothing and the new aritzia apparel are tempting me! The skirt, the top, the jacket, the shorts, and even the shoes. But unfortunately, I don't think they sell the shoes.

Upon my last visit to Aritzia I fell deeply in love with a leopard print scarf. As I picked up the scarf in search of the price tag, an employee approached me with excitement in her eyes, "Isn't it a great scarf?!". I quickly agreed with her and we both gauked over the beautiful piece of cloth. After she left I finally discovered the price tag; $68. Woe is me. But I have hopes that one day it will go on sale and be mine!

Besides this scarf, the nude Wilfred harem pants, Wilfred cotton cashmere sweater, and Wilfred vintage lace dress are some of my other top picks. There's a T.Babaton funnel coat in a camel colour I absolutely love but it's so ridiculously expensive I won't even go into detail. The Talula mittens are also adorable. I just think mittens are so cute!


Aritzia gift card anyone?

obsessive consumption.

I have a shopping journal! Please do not mind the terrible title page. If you can't read the small print, this shopping journal is inspired by "Obsessive Consumption". It's an adorable book by Kate Bingaman-Burt of quirky drawings of all her purchases. Since February 2006, Kate has been drawing one item she purchased every day. The item that she purchased that day, that is. She continues to post her drawings on her blog.

I've never been so good at filling up my sketchbook so I figure this would be an excellent way keep the drawings comin'. Although, I'm not going to be buying something everyday. That's ridiculous (and ideal!). But I will draw most of my purchases, just not the ones that I eat within the hour. So just the ones that make it home? Anyway, here's a few snapshots of some of the things I've drawn lately.

Until next time!