Having A Little Fun

A while back, I had an exciting week where I got to be a part of a photo shoot then an appearance on Daytime Ottawa.  Honestly, doing these things was super tiring but fun.  My anxiety surrounding appearance and being a focus of attention was high.  But I survived. 

Image source: Ottawa Citizen

Looking at the photographs and video still brings up a mass of negative thoughts.  But that should change.  I have hope that it will change.  And I will continue to challenge myself with things that causes anxieties and low self confidence.

Image source: Ottawa Citizen

I want to say a special thanks to Marilou from Twenty York Street for giving me these opportunities.  She was the babe who hooked me up for both of these gigs and the talented, creative force behind 20YS.

Adrian's Conspiracy

Last night I had the privilege of attending Adrian Wu's Resort 2011 video launch. His dresses were all drool worthy. The talented guys from Cloud in the Sky Studios partnered with Adrian Wu. The video is amazing.


Adrian Wu Resort 2011 from Cloud in the Sky Studios on Vimeo.

More pictures and review to come on Twenty York Street, so be sure to keep checking into www.twentyyork.com

RIP IT!

Recently I had the privilege of attending the I AM FASHION: Rip the Fab Lane as a member of the Twenty York Street team.  The show was fabulous.  The models, beautiful and everyone was so wonderful.  I really had a blast.  One thing about the event that I really loved was the promotion of beauty taking many different forms.   The models ranged from what I would call a size 0 to 10, and they were all beautiful. 

If you don't already follow Twenty York Street and haven't seen my tweets, please go and check out the post that I have written about I AM FASHION at http://www.twentyyork.com/2011/06/i-am-fashion-are-you.html.

Photograph taken by the talented, J of YouGotSquared

Also, since I'm dropping a "promotional post" about articles that I have written.  Check out another one at Twenty York Street on my first photo-shoot experience at http://www.twentyyork.com/2011/06/photoshoot-experience-by-ashelle.html

Photograph taken by, J of YouGotSquared

Most people who know me in "real life", know that I tend to shy away from cameras or make awkward faces and avoid the whole situation.  This photo-shoot with Jose & Marilou was really a personal challenge for myself.  As a part of this whole "healing" and "self-discovery" phase that I'm trying to enter in my life, personal challenges are important right now.  Trying out things that previously scared me and conquering those fears is a little bit empowering.  

This photo-shoot experience hasn't changed my reaction to cameras drastically, but it's all baby steps... right?! 

Chic and Demure

This Thursday, April 21st an amazing event is happening at the Museum of Nature.  A fashionable tea party to raise money for the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation.  Recently I did a post on Twenty York Street to get the word out so if you haven't already, check it out.  I'm really excited to be going to report on the Royal ParTea for Twenty York Street.  But of course I have NO CLUE what to wear.  Typical, huh?!  My solution was to send out tweets, and tweet Jeanne Beker herself, who responded: 

 "@loveashelle A chic little suit...

or a demure little dress....

and a hat could be the perfect touch!"

How awesome is Jeanne Beker to tweet back?! Now that I have adequately raided my closet and google "demure dress", I'm still at a lost on what to wear.  Most of the dresses I own are quite short, which doesn't fit the modest description I read for "demure".  So instead of staring at a pile of clothes, I'm going to throw it my dilemma out there to anyone who is out there reading this.

Dress #1: White lace, mini dress from a forgettable discount store

Dress #2: Brown, wrap around dress from Dynamite

Dress #3: Purple patterned puff-mini dress from Urban Behavior

Dress #4: Navy blue with military style buttons, mini dress, gift from Marilou

Dress #5: Cream turtle neck dress from Zara

Dress #6: Pink ruffled mini dress from H & M

Dress #7: Blue with cream lace maxi dress and wool shrug from Forever 21

I apologize for the yellow lighting and phone quality pictures.  It was a super long day with my final exams, appointments, dates with old friends and the all important 5 p.m. power nap.  Let me know if you have any favourites or suggestions on what to wear... I'm totally up for a shopping trip before Thursday and any excuse is a good one.  

Teaser

It's hard to believe that it's already Sunday... Chris is getting a quick XBox fix while I'm uploading some photographs in between boring chores.  Soon we'll be back on the road again to head to Pembroke. We're going to be helping a family member out with some renovations and I also hope to get a quick visit in with my grandparents.  Since 1 p.m. on Friday the time has flown by with tons of running around and fun adventures.  Which I promise to share more on Monday when I hope to have more time.  Until then I'll leave you with a picture of some familiar faces to the Ottawa blogger community:

Marilou {20YS} and I with the friendly guys from Cloud in the Sky Studios

Saturday was such a beautiful and warm spring day in Ottawa, it was especially nice to have a random bump-in at the end of the photo-shoot.   J {YouGotSquared} was behind the lens... he's a super talented photographer who was also very patient with me and my awkwardness yesterday.  Thanks J & ML for a great Saturday morning.  And I can't wait to see the results.  

ROUGE

The first of May is fast approaching. Random month for most but for six babes and myself it's the start of a very special month. One of my bestest friends, Krista, will be getting married on the 21st of May. As a bridesmaid, I try to be informed on the hot trends and DIY tips for all things wedding. But sometimes time slips away so quickly, the wedding date just creeps up and Krista is way too nice to kick me in my bubble butt so that I can stay on task. When I heard about the event Rouge, happening this Saturday, my immediate thoughts went to Krista and how a good bridesmaid would go to take notes. Yes, most of the wedding is already planned but there is still the bachelorette party to figure out.

To enter for a chance to win 2 tickets for Rouge, check out 20 York Streets Blog (click here).

Colour Bomb

The other night I attended Colour Bomb, which was hosted by Hush and Splendid Events. It was nice to see some familiar faces. I'm not usually good at reviewing events because my descriptions are always too short and not poetic.  It was a nice event, great people, yummy treats and pretty things. Thankfully there are others  who have written better reviews, so check out: LoveK, Tinfoils Tiaras, and The Fashion Keeper.  

The next three photographs have been provided by LoveK.  It's really nice of her to lend me these because apparently my camera becomes shy when it's surrounded by big fancy DSLR and SLR.

 Nikki, Julia {The Fashion Keeper}, Em {Tinfoils Tiaras} and me taken by LoveK

 

 

Sandy {Blush Beads}, Julie {Pop Champange}, Justyna {Chichichic} and LoveK

 

LoveK and me

Warning: Yummy Alert!  Cupcakes were provided by Geek Sweets, everyone at Colour Bomb was raving about how good they were. The next four pictures were taken from the website (www.geeksweets.net).  They are my favorites and just a few of the amazing baked goods created by the talented Jenny. 

 Death by Chocolate

 My Little Famine Pony

{How kick ass is the vampire pony?!.. I'm just waiting for Jenny to make a zombie treat}

Scott Pilgrim Rainbow Cake

Call of Duty (COD): Black Ops Cupcakes

These are the only kind of first person shooter game that I like.  Since moving to Ottawa I feel like I'm the only girl here whose boyfriend has an XBox  love affair.  COD is his drug of choice.  I only hope that Jenny of Geek Sweets decides to do this the next time there's a midnight opening of COD. 

~*~ 

But enough about cupcakes, the event was to show case the pretty items of Blush Beads. Most of the pieces reminded me of when I was little and my family used to visit Kingston to shop along Princess Street.  There were so many "hippy" stores, I adored all the beaded jewelery, hemp accessories and wrap-around clothes. The two pictures below were taken from the website (www.blushbeads.com). Again, they are just some of my favorites.  There are a lot of nice items on the site and everyone should check them out.  Especially you Krista, there are a lot of cluster bead necklaces that remind me of you.

Lunching in London

Perky

The Posh Wedding Show

Thank you ML from Twenty York Street for giving me the chance to attend this years Posh Wedding Show. 

There are no wedding bells ringing for me anytime soon.  Chris and I love each other more than anything in this world.  We are starting our life together,  have already been through many "growing pains" and have come out stronger.  Marriage to us is what we are doing now... the wedding part is something that will come when we can afford the one we want.  We've already made the commitment to each other and we don't need a piece of paper to prove it.  

I am however a brides maid to one of my best friends, Krista.   Her wedding is fast approaching so I was happy to go to Posh Wedding Show.  

Center pieces and jewelery was my mission for the night as brides maid.  Krista likes babies breath, white roses and candles, so when I saw this display it was perfect!  I sent her a picture message right away, proud as I could be that I found something that could easily be done as a DIY project. 

Posh was located at the Marriott Hotel in the Summit, which the rotating restaurant overlooking the downtown.  I've never been to that location before and the night view was beautiful. At the show, there were so many beautiful cakes, cupcakes and fashion.  The best part was the great company of ML & J. Poor J had to deal with my 100 questions about his photography.

Marcia B. did a great review of the event, you can get out her post here.

My favorite booth by far was the bel. with all the beautiful handmade jewelery. I kept drooling over the hairpieces.  Here's some pieces that I went back for to get a second look. All the pictures below were taken from bel.'s website so if you want to check out more just click here.

bel. tiara hairpiece

bel. fireworks hairpiece

bel. floating necklace

Ottawa Fashion Week

Ottawa Fashion Week 2010, has come and gone. I was really excited to go, because I've never been to a fashion show before.  The idea of going seemed so glamorous.  Saturday was the only day I could go, so I got tickets for Morgan and myself.  It was going to be a girls night.  

Before Morgan came over I raided my closet to put together an outfit.

Of course none of these outfits made the cut.  By the last outfit of my black skinny jeans and purple tank, I was ready to burst.  That feeling of having nothing to wear was too overwhelming.  Morgan was due to come over to my place in a few hours, so I hit up the closest mall to pick up some new items.  It's not always the best idea to shop when you feel like you have nothing, because there's that tendency of buying too much.  But I tried to keep a clear head on what I wanted and not purchase everything in sight. 

I got a pair of essential - thick cotton - black leggings, a super cozy blue/grey sweater, a deep purple sweater, an adorable ivory rose headband and a dark grey bennie.  Done.  My style for the fashion show was going to be far from glamorous.  Just fresh & casual.  

When Morgan came over my tension just faded and we got down to the business of dolling up.  She is super talented at styling and I was very appreciative that she helped me out with my hair & false lashes.

The fashion show was amazing! I wish that we could have gone to all of the nights.  Both Morgan and I promised each other that next time we will prepare ahead of time to make sure our schedules are free for the whole week. 

The line-up Saturday night included: LABEL, Flood and Robicheau, Andrew Majtenyi, Jana Hanzel, Judy Design and Rachel Sin. It was so hard to pick out which designer was my favorite because they were all so good and different from each other. 

Flood and Robicheau had amazing bright colours and playful designs. The collection was fun!  Next summer my "got-to-have" is a bright jumper from F&R collection. 

Judy Design had a great rocker feel to her clothes, they were urban and wearable!  The music selection was great.  The opening song was Marilyn Manson, and poor Morgan got a punch in the arm from me due to my excitement (sorry Mo, but when Chris isn't around, I tend to punch the nearest person when I get too excited).  Each outfit was awesome, eager to see more, I was sad when her lineup was over. 

Jana Hanzel threw in a nice twist of having a violin musician playing at the beginning of her line-up.  The outfits to follow were classy and beautiful.  I wanted so many of them to add into my "work-appropriate" collection.  I loved the enlarged bows and flowers the models wore in their hair. 

Rachel Sin *sigh* xo is all that can describe her.  Je adore! I envied all the ladies who walked around the gallery wearing her dresses.

One of the big highlights of that night for me was meeting the beautiful ML, from Twenty York Street. She's a super talented Ottawa fashion blogger.  She's also really nice! If you haven't checked her out yet, do it!!!  She has great taste and is down-to-earth. It was too bad that we didn't have much time to chat but she was super busy with meeting & greeting others.   

I think this photograph is the best representation of how awkward I felt in front of the OFW poster. ML had her friends pointing cameras at us then Mo with my camera...  Too many cameras!  Which one to smile awkwardly at?!?!  My anxiety confession to ML relieved some of my nervousness because she was so friendly.  We laughed, I sighed.. after 2 minutes of photo-taking I had enough. 

after OFW self pics

 

 

My biggest regret was not taking a picture of Morgan.  She looked so pretty!!!  She always looks beautiful, but she was especially dolled up for OFW.  I continuously peer pressure her to start up a blog.  Mo would be so good at it!  She is so talented, that I know that she would be tons of followers and people adoring her style.

My second biggest regret of the night: leaving my camera in my purse for the majority of the time.  But thank goodness for fellow Ottawa Bloggers!  Including Twenty York Street, there are two other beautiful bloggers in town that I follow and enjoy reading.

Methodical Melrose has written a great review of Ottawa Fashion Week.  What I like about Melrose's is that she has great style.  Her clothes are what I would love to have in my closet. Then there's Pop Champagne, who has reviewed each day: One, Two and Three of OFW.  She also has an interview with the very talented designer, Adrain Wu.  Champagne is funny and full of fun celebrity gossip, local events and fashion.   It's everything that defines Pop. I like reading her "Around Ottawa" section, the events she follows are  interesting.  So check out all the wonderful links above to see the beautiful fashion trends and read the talented bloggers.