MOM LOVE: A Gift Guide

Model mom, Natalia Vodianova, in a sweet editorial for Vogue. Photo: Vogue.

Originally posted in The CLOSET

When I had my first baby, it took me a some time before I felt like a mom. I mean, I definitely felt like a mother when instead of being at a club at 1 am, I paced the floors with an inconsolable newborn. And I certainly felt the full depths of motherhood when on a grocery run for diapers, I realize I already had one stuck to my leg. While those first months of momdom are as unselfish as they come, I still just wasn't on board with the whole 'all you need is love' mentality, gift-wise. Don't get me wrong; there is nothing more amazing than the love of your children, from the smiles and giggles to those rare quiet moments when your beautiful baby is sleeping. But at first, I didn't understand how my mom could have been so genuinely thrilled when we'd give her scraps of scribbled-on paper for her birthday. Now my kids are 3 and 5 and I have to admit, nothing gets me more excited than when my kids come home from school with a homemade card that they've thought up just for me. The tears flow, I get all snivelly (just like I thought I never would) and I cannot possibly imagine a more perfect gift.

Except for those times when you've had months of sub-par sleep, zero breaks from the toddler tyrants who take, take, take ALL. THE. TIME. and then, despite all that glorious love you feel for your little ones, then you want stuff. Like, pretty, impractical, no-kids-allowed stuff that make you feel more like a woman than a mom. Ahem. Just me?

SEE THE GIFT GUIDE HERE...

Reality Check: Spring's Most Wearable Trends

Photo courtesy Smart Set.

Originally posted in The Fashion Scoop

Designers send so many 'must-have' trends down the runways that it can be pretty tough to keep up. And sometimes, if we're honest, we don't really want to keep up. While some look amazing in the glossy pages of Vogue, or on Cara Delevingne's stick-thin bod, not all trends work for every day. We've rounded up 12 spring trends we love because they're a) beautiful and b) actually wearable, which will help us look chic and feel amazing as this new season gets underway. Excited? Us, too...

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SPRING TREND ALERT: Rainbow Brights

Models on the runway at Chanel's Spring 2014 show at the Grand Palais. Credit: Giovanni Giannoni/Fairchild Photo Service.

Originally posted in The CLOSET

I've just returned from an incredible week in Cuba (sigh...can I go back now?) celebrating one of my best friend's weddings. While I was packing up my brightest things, it made me wonder why we don't dress like we're on vacation all the time? So many of us choose the most practical things on the racks, the things we'll get the 'most wear out of' which is not only terrible sentence structure but is also incredibly depressing. Getting the most 'wear out of something' is a sentence that should be promptly abolished, don't you think? I mean timeless and well-made are important sartorial attributes but practicality is only part of the equation.

My head might still be in the clouds but in my vacay-ted state of mind, I say let's start only buying things that make us happy. The rainbow bright looks that Karl Lagerfeld sent down the Chanel Spring '14 runway are a perfect example of fashion joy. Why choose one fav colour? Every-hued pieces let us have our rainbow cake and eat it, too, and while you might not have worn so much colour since grade 1, spring is the perfect season to get insanely colourful. To feel appropriately adult-like, I've toned down these rainbow-hued finds with stark black & white which has an instant grounding effect on every look, keeping you looking modern and grown-up without taking away any of the fun.

With wedding season top of mind, I've shown four pretty looks that would be perfect for any bride or wedding guest, but would be just lovely for loads of other occasions, too...

SEE ALL THE LOOKS HERE...

SOLE MATES: Your Under-$100 Spring Shoe Guide

A pic from the Vince Camuto Spring '14 Campaign. Photo via Vince Camuto.

Originally posted in The Fashion Scoop

We are moving this weekend and if you haven't moved lately, let me remind you - don't. Just don't. The grass might look greener, but is slightly brighter grass worth the hours and hours of packing, back-breaking box-lifting and complete mid-life chaos? Simply pick up a pair of green-tinted glasses at Claire's (it's St. Patrick's Day on Monday so the timing couldn't be better) and promptly ban MLS from your web browser. It's too late for me - you still have time to save yourself. 

There is, however, a silver lining to this stormcloud of moving chaos; it's called inventory. After going through boxes, sifting through receipts and tearing apart my closet, I have confirmed the suspicions that my husband has had all along. I am, in fact, a shoe hoarder. Case in point:

You don't have to be a graphologist to see the frustration in my husband's handwriting on the moving boxes above. I believe the word 'sentimental' is actually in the shape of a furrowed eyebrow. I mean, sentimental shoes? Really? I do have all kinds of compelling justifications for that box - my kids' first baby shoes, my dad's old shoes, my first pair of pointe shoes, the heels I wore when my husband and I got married etc. etc. but of course, this is just one box of many including summer shoes, winter shoes, and 'vintage' shoes that I'm sure my daughter will love to wear one day. Oh, and then there are the boots - ski boots, winter boots, rain boots etc. etc. etc.  

It goes without saying that I am seriously smitten with shoes. But because we're moving, I have actually managed to give away a fair number of out-of-date, worn out kicks to (naturally) make way for some of spring's most covetable sandals, heels and ankle boots. And let me tell you, there are plenty to covet this spring.

Because it's always nice to buy anything for under $100 these days, I've focused this guide on all under-$100 shoes, perfect for wearing the very minute the snow melts...

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(Happy Friday! And please wish me luck with this shmove!)

THINK SPRING: Bright Buys to Wear Now

Photo source: Ciaté.

Originally posted in The Fashion Scoop

Maybe it's all this talk of March Break (I know, I know, you are SOOOO excited to go to Turks & Caicos), but I feel like my fashion choices right now have a decidedly defiant feel. You want to snow for 3 days straight? I'm just going to wear my bright yellow blazer. Booyah! You want to blow white-outs across the road so my frostbitten hands have to constantly death-grip the steering wheel. Fine. At least my nails are painted in OPI's 'Kiss Me, I'm Brazilian'. While you snow and sleet in this never-ending winter, I'm mentally lounging on a yacht in my breton striped shirt and laissez-faire loafers. In yo face!

Because when it comes right down to it, the mind is in fact stronger than the matter. And my mind is made up - it's March in a few days and it IS spring, no matter what you do, Old Man Winter. I wave my floral scarf high in the air to you. Can we just call a truce?

Read on for my favourite early spring buys to wear right now....

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