THE SWEETEST THINGS | Valentine's Gifts They're Going to Love

via American Eagle

As I sit here finishing up deadlines while eating strawberries and watching Zayn & Gigi do Pillowtalk like only 20 year-olds can, I'm feeling strangely inspired. You'd think I'd be bitter, since my strawberries haven't been covered in chocolate in forever (that sounds bad). You'd think I'd be jealous because Gigi...well, she's just not fair. But instead, I'm making it my Valentines mission to bring back the romance. I'm still young(ish), I've still (kind of sort of) got it. And while it's tempting to Zamboni over Valentines and pass it off as a commercial hot mess, I see nothing wrong with celebrating romance. After all, life's so busy that I think we could all use a yearly reminder to bring it.

Vaughan Mills asked me to handpick the top V-Day gifts for men, women and kids this year, so I'm sharing my picks with you. Hope you like! Or should I say, looove...

SEE MY TOP V-DAY PICKS HERE...

X's and Ohh's

Photographed by Max Wanger. Via Decor8 Blog

Originally posted in The CLOSET

Lost? Confused? Not even sure where to begin? Love might be a battlefield but we're here to help you navigate it. We've rounded up the winning gifts that are guaranteed to impress your Valentine this year, plus a few sneaky tricks to make your main bae remember just how v. awesome you are.  Happy (almost) Valentine's Day you sweet things...

SEE OUR V-DAY GUIDE HERE...

VALENTINE'S 2015 | Day-to-Night Date Looks

via ELLE

Originally posted in The CLOSET

I have a little problem with you, Valentine's Day. It's not that I don't appreciate what you're trying to do here. I get that you just want us to love and eat candy. I like love and I also like candy. I totally get what you're selling. It's just that I don't like being forced into a heart-shaped box where romance starts after 7pm.

My favourite idea of love is the all day kind. The kind that starts early in the morning when my husband makes me a cappuccino with a heart-like pattern in the foam. He claims it's something much more inappropriate, but I'm a romantic so I like to believe it's a heart. Love shows itself throughout the day when my 4 year-old son gives me a Lego spaceship he built with a little Lego 'mommy' in the back toting a giant spacegun and a little Lego 'him' in the front wearing a bikini from my daughter's Lego Friends beach set. It doesn't make any sense but love rarely does. So I give him a kiss and tell him I love it, because I do. The rest of the day will be filled with signs that I'm loved - squeaky toys dropped at my feet by our ever-loyal Westie, random emails from my mom and sister, texts from my best friend and an exhausted kiss goodnight and subsequent zzzzz from my husband after hours of trying to get our kids to bed. Love, it turns out, has more layers than any long-stemmed rose.

Whether you're single, attached or somewhere in between, let this Valentine's be a day to celebrate all the love in your life. And if you happen to be annoyed by everyone in your life at the moment, at the very least you can always love clothes. I've put together 3 adorable outfits that will take you oh-so-sweetly from breakfast to dinner this Valentine's Day. I'm not suggesting that you wear all 3 outfits, but you know that I wouldn't discourage it either. They say that above all, you should love yourself first, right?

SEE ALL 3 LOOKS HERE...

READ MY LIPS | They Will LOVE These Perfect Valentine's Day Gifts

Photo by Patrick Demarchelier | via Vogue Russia

Originally posted in The LOOK

Like birthdays, Christmas and Mother's Day there's always a guy just wandering the mall around Valentine's. You can spot him instantly, holding a pink scarf up in the air, all 'what is this thing?' here, inching his way, head down, sunglasses on, into La Senza there. Books of poetry are perused, card aisles are scoured. And then an hour later, an 11th hour trip to Laura Secord inevitably ensues, followed by a desperate pitstop at the florist on the way home where he'll pick up the first red thing he sees. Cue the violins. 

Some women mistake flowers and chocolates for not caring but it's the whole painful preamble we often miss out on. The part you see in the movies that makes your heart swell, and makes you wish you had a guy just like that. And quite often, he's standing right there in front of you, box of chocolates and wilted carnation in hand, ready for a nap because it has been a really LONG day at the mall. Okay, make that a really long hour, but shopping time is like dog years for most guys. 

Well, lost souls, this gift guide should help. I've got the most lovable Valentine's gifts picked out for you, whether you're crushing, dating or already fully hitched. Plus, I've got some super sweet ideas for men and the wee ones, too because we get it - we're all busy, too. 

Happy Valentine's Day my loves. Hope your day's full of love, lust and low-to-no stress.

SEE THE GIFT GUIDE HERE...

#SpreadLeLove with Le Château

Alex and I ham it up for the camera. #nopresh

When Le Château asked me to be a part of their #SpreadLeLove Campaign along with some of Toronto's top fashion influencers, I jumped at the chance. I mean, me and my little blog? I didn't know I was on the radar, so YAY! 

The shoot was designed to celebrate the many different types of love, all while wearing looks from Le Château, of course. So, I headed to Le Château at Toronto Eaton Centre and found a gorgeous Made in Canada red coat, & classic white shirt, a perfect pair of black pants, plus a pair of Spiderman-esque webbed booties that I knew my superhero-obsessed boy would appreciate. As for Alex? Well, he didn't have a choice, either in taking part or in what he was going to wear, because I didn't really tell him. There were no pep-talks, no fussing, generally no lead-up at all to the photoshoot except, 'Wanna wear your favourite fox shirt? They're going to take our picture for Valentine's Day.' Fingers crossed.

Luckily, our boy handled it all beautifully. I picked him up early from school, we drove to Toronto, then had a blast hamming it up for the camera. The adorable lookbook just arrived in my inbox and I had to share it with you first. Scroll through the slides below to see all the pics including: 

• Afiya Francisco and her adorable boys
• Power fashion couple Alexander Liang & Justine Iaboni
• Maple Media crew Chris Turner, Sarah Kooner and Marianne Litman
• Daniel Desforges and Julio Reyes
• Ryan Emberley and Sabrina Maddeaux
• Casie Stewart and Lauren O'Neil
• Erica Grenci
• Le Château's Lucy Song and Tu Tieu 

Thank you so much for including us in the fun Le Château! Okay, back to my blogging now. Sigh...I miss my modelling days. I mean modelling day...whatever...

xx