Compelling Colour Combination

Jack White has said that he picked black, white, and red as his former band's colours because those three hues together is the most compelling colour combination in the whole world, boys and girls.

Me? I just picked it cause I nabbed this lovely skirt this afternoon and I thought this looked cute.  How can we really get dressed any other way?

That, and I'll happily take sartorial advice from the White Stripes any day.

I had just the most perfect day off today, friends.  I spent last night getting cocktails with my bestest lady who has recently returned to the glorious capital of Ottawa, slept in this morning, had a cheddar scone and egg sandwich for breakfast, caught up on the internet (yup, all of it), did a bit of shopping, ran into a great friend and spent a few hours catching up over iced coffees.  The night's only going to get better as we help my friend move, and then celebrate another great dude's most excellent birthday.

The birthday boy reads this blog and haaaaates it.  But he looooooves me, so he keeps coming back, haha!  Well here you go friend, I've made it worth the read this time eh?  Even if I'm just talking about how I like to get dressed often!  Happy Birthday while I wear clothes I like!

Speaking of getting dressed often, as summertime closes in around us I'm making a conscious effort to not get so dressed so often.  I mean, of course I will still be wearing things, but I really want to simplify what I wear and simplify my "beauty routine" for lack of a less hateful phrase.  To that end I just wanna wear simple skirts, shirts, shorts, and I've already cut the amount of make-up I wear by half.  I feel better than ever about how I look for it too!  And when I do want to get fancied up, even just a little sweep of eyeliner will do the trick!

Shirt - Forever21
Skirt - Old Navy
Sunglasses - H&M
Belt - Forever 21
Shoes - Aldo
Purse - Primark

But the hair's staying big.  That will never change.

Un-Eyelined yet Bouffantedly yours,

Your friend Lina

Tiptoe Through the Tulips Part Two

Sometimes I worry that I'm stuck in a rut, boys and girls.

I have (largely speaking) the same friends since highschool.  I moved back to my hometown and love it here.  I can do the same thing on two separate weekends and am perfectly happy with it.

Well if that's a rut, then sign me up!

Echoing the previous, this past weekend I had another one of my very best friends in town.  Lilly came to visit me in Bristol back in the day, and this summer we're also going to be embarking on one hell of a trip together.  So to start our Friday this past week, we klatched over lattes, croissants, and calendars to plan our our big cross-Canada/West Coast jaunt.

Not ones to be satisfied with future tourism only, we then played the traveller all about Ottawa too.  After grabbing some ice tea from the old workplace, we set out to walk alllll about the city, stopping at various places for fairgrounds, tulips, pub lunch, booze, the suburbs for a party, and then back to our neighbourhood for a gathering of old friends.

Fashionable Friends and Delicious Drinks

Passing through the fairground

The tulips at Dow's Lake

Hooray for historical relations between Holland and Canada!

Lush ladies with lunchtime lagers

Back-alley wanderings

Birthday panda cupcakes!

Sunset in the suburbs

Did I mention that we did all of this with clear blue skies, a nice light breeze, and the sun shining down on us fondly?  Yup it was the perfect day.

Except for when you give this girl those conditions, she forgets indeed how white she is and gets SO BURNT.  Like, my skin still hurts now burnt.  Like I'm still pretty red burnt.  Like I was never meant to enjoy such a marvellous day and I don't deserve to be so happy and so the gods must punish me burnt.

But was the resulting skin pain and lobsterism worth it?  Of course.  It was the perfect summer day, and I CAN'T WAIT to take the perfect summer trip with this lady as well.

Go play tourist, boys and girls.  It's lovely out there!

Love,

Your friend Lina

P.S.  I'm heading to New York this morning!  I'm going to be there for a week, and then I'll come back here and gush about it.  I know, how ideal is this summer, eh?

Tiptoe Through the Tulips in Tulle

I am IN LOVE with this outfit, boys and girls.

I dreamed this combo up maybe two or three months ago, but wanted to save it for a perfect day.  Well that perfect day was the afore(blog)mentioned Sunday in the tulips with friends.

Let's talk about why this outfit is more than the sum of its parts.  Firstly, it's parts.  This green sweater I thrifted maybe four of five years ago.  I wasn't wearing it (I didn't know how cool cropped shirts were gunna be), so I gave it to a friend of mine.  She never wore it, so she gave it to her sister.  Later that year, I moved into her sister's apartment as she was leaving, and she had left this sweater behind!  I decided to give it a second chance and now I wear it ALL THE TIME.  It's got a great weight, great colour, and fits into my palette perfectly.  The skirt is actually a dress I bought in England, so of course it's laden with sentimental value, let alone sartorial value, for yours truly.  The top is this weird criss-cross bikini thing, so I just folded that under.  It works perfectly as a summer skirt now, so I won't have to relegate it to the pile of English clothes that I love but cannot wear.  Throw in my favourite belt and shoes and I feel like a million-fifties-ish-style bucks!

Sweater - Thrifted
Skirt - Primark
Shoes - Aldo
Belt - Forever 21
Sunnies - Forever 21

Disclaimer: I know there's no tulle included in the post.  But I like alliteration more than accuracy. (See!?)

Put on something nice today, boys and girls,

Love, 

Your friend Lina 

Tiptoeing Through the Tulips

Last Sunday, I had just one of the very best days a girl could ask for, boys and girls.

One of my childhood best friends was in town, so we started the day with our newfound tradition of brunch (I know brunch isn't a new tradition, but us making it for eachother sure is, so cool your jets there).  I made a big ol' fruit salad (which I did not know was her favourite, so ten telepathy votes for me), yogurt, and a poached egg on rye with petso, tomato, and cheddar.  It was the perfect cheesy goodness start to a perfect cheesy goodness day.

We then had coffee with my parents, and got a ride to the bus in my dad's convertible - which never fails to make you feel like a rockstar.  Once downtown we met up with another childhood friend and meandered the tulips in Major's Hill Park, crossed the bridge over the Civilization Museum to dangle our feet in the water and gaze back at beautiful Ottawa, and then ate gelato in a shady stone courtyard whilst discussing the big questions of life, academia, and ambition.

I then had a most lovely of family dinners.  Our neighbours stopped by for drinks and hors d'oeuvres, and then it was onto ribs and mashed potatoes and chocolate cake for the Cromptons.  As my brother took off and my parents settled in for the night, I put on my dancing shoes and off it was to Mod Night for the first time in very too long.  I could not have asked for a more perfect Sunday!

I absolutely adore days like this.  Not only do you have an excuse to eat bourbon-vanilla and nutmeg gelato, but you get to reconnect with who you are.  Having had these friends for pretty much all of my remembered life, they really are part of the fabric of my personality and outlook on the world.  We have so many shared memories, so many years to catch up on, and still so much in common.  It really makes a gal feel special and serves as a reminder that I could never possibly be lonely as long as people like this are in the world.

Enjoy whatever day you've got coming your way,

Love,

Your friend Lina