Honest Ed’s is a funny place. It makes me feel a combination of excitement and depression when I’m inside it.
It’s so old fashioned with it’s flashing lights, it’s antique entertainers eight by tens, and hand painted signage. There’s the smell of cheap, Chinese plastic, thick in the air – obviously toxic.
But then I find certified organic shampoo for sale, and all is forgiven.
You can’t go in expecting to find exactly what you want, but often you’ll find something you need anyway.
We’re sitting in a friend’s shady, cool backyard, with a couple of beers, and their dog who we just tuckered out – pretty much completely.
It’s a fancier part of the Annex, bordering on Yorkville and it’s fun to imagine living in one of the beautiul old victorian mansions somday, ripping out the walls and finding treasures and secrets burried inside.
Despite the rather European calliber of strikes in this fair city, it’s been a swell summer so far, and I’m willing to bet it will continue to be one.
I’ve been realizing something: there are only 3 months left to the wedding. So I’ve also been realizing: it’s time to get cracking!
These past few weeks I’ve been trying to focus on the invitation. As an illustrator and a designer, this is probably one of the most important elements for me… Therefore it is also the most nervewracking! It may just be ephemeral to some, but to me ephemera is so so important!
I’ve been letting ideas steep in my mind, but rather than infuse me with inspiration, they’ve kinda overwhelmed me.
Thankfully, I think I’m finally on to something via Anna Melcon Bond’s lovely Rifle Design.
She. Is. Amazing.
She does some of the most adorable, pretty, illustrative, invites I’ve ever seen, and opened up a whole new world of what an invite can be to me. Check her out! She may just blow your mind too (and her blog is pretty darling as well)
Now I’m excited. This is gonna be good guys. You’re going to like what I’ve come up with!
Yesterday, we took a little wedding related day-trip. We went to Guelph to visit the Biltmore hat company – one of the last places in North America still making gentlemen’s hats the old fashioned way, and have been doing so since World War One.
We went to the factory outlet there, and got a pretty good deal on a beautiful little pork-pie for Liam’s wedding ensemble. In case you were wondering (and I just know you were) Liam is a 7 and 1/8 hat size.
While we were there we also tried on various fedoras, trilbys, bowlers, ten-gallons, newsboys, and boaters! Fun!
I picked up new glasses this week.
I wanted something a little more nerdy, but also sophisticated, and I think I achieved that.
I went all the way to the crazy, gigantic, asian mall here (also known as Pacific Mall) to find them, as I heard from a fellow blogger that there was a good little glasses kiosk there.
The frames I found are by SALT – which is apparently a very trendy california company whose styles are worn by all the celebrities. I just liked that they were a sturdy, classic design, made of a funky, gradated, grey plastic (I’m a sucker for flashy, layered plastics).
We love pie. You know that. It’s a major theme for our wedding, for goodness sake!
So when we heard there was a new pie shop open in our neck of the woods, we had to swing by and check it out.
The place is calledthe Pie Shack, and it’s a cosy little beachy spot with lovely communal harvest tables, and a doghouse outside for the requisite, resident puppy.
But more importantly, the pies! Oh the pies!
They are indescribably good – buttery and impossibly flakey – I have a sneaking suspicion that the pie dough is not exactly regulation. A sign mentions that those with nut allergies might be wary, as there is almond in the crust, but I feel the secret is that it is more akin to puff pastry, or a croissant. Imagine: layer, after buttery layer of flakey delight!
I got a slice of apple pie, and there was an option for cheddar, so I took it. Because if there’s one thing I love more than pie it’s cheese, and if there’s one thing I love more than cheese, it’s pie served with a side of cheese, and the only thing better than that, is when the cheese is MELTED ON TOP OF THE PIE… DROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL…
Yeah. It was good stuff.
We have been making beer at a local u-brew in preparation for the wedding. Not only does this save us money, but it is a whole lot of fun to experiment with!
We’ve found a spot that can make pretty much any kind of beer you can dream up – so far we’ve made an easy-on-the-corriander belgian white beer, and next up is oatmeal stout with a whisper of coffee!
Despite the rather cool weather we’ve been having we managed to find a sunny afternoon to enjoy our beer in our new lawn chairs (they were Ikeas’s last two in the whole province. I love their bright red colour – it really pops against the grass, and makes them feel funky and retro and maybe a little european to me).
I went to a costume sale last weekend where a bunch of vintage clothing sellers, and movie costumers were selling off old stock. I expected to find a few wedding related bargains, and boy, did I ever!
I came home with a lovely old antique kimono that I’m going to wear when I get ready – vintage boudoir style! It is bright green, with pink lotus flowers painted on it, and a bright pink silk trim on the inside, that coyly peeks out (it doesn’t seem to photograph so well, unfortunately – at least not with my crappy little iPhone camera!). It’s much brighter than I originally pictured, but I’m a pretty bright person, and it matches my bedroom – so I think I could probably hang it up in there as art when I’m not wearing it (double score!).
It was – get this – 30 bucks! And it’s real, direct from Japan! The idea of vintage clothing – clothing someone else wore once – sometimes creeps me out a little, but I love the idea that some little Japanese girl once wore my kimono – maybe to a happy picnic under cherry blossoms!
I still need to figure out some sort of belt for it – I was thinking of going a non traditional route and buying one of those metallic bow belts from American Apparel. But if I find an more appropriate obi-like solution, I might go in that direction too.
My parents recently got back from a lovely vacation in Greece and Turkey, and brought me back (along with Ouzo, Turkish Delight and olive oil soap) something I’ve wanted for quite a while:
A pouf!
It’s not the fanciest pouf (it’s large, unembellished and a plain off-white) but it makes the perfect ottoman for my vintage velvet club chair…
And a good cat bed on occasion.
The best part is it comes unstuffed, so it didn’t take up a huge amount of room in my parents luggage, and it was TEN EUROS.
Which, if you’ve ever looked at purchasing one on this continent is about 1/10th the price you find them for here.
Haven’t done one of these in a while, so I thought I’d dump some of my recent fave, really sweet online finds for DIY wedding projects here. Hopefully I’ll have the time to implement a few at my own wedding (but the DIY projects are already piling up around here!).
My engagement party dress was a liberty print, so obviously I’m a sucker for the stuff, but it’s also such a sweet idea to sew a tie for your groom, and groomsmen! And easier than you’d think.
A secret message sewn unto a handkerchief turns into an adorably personalized pocket square for your groom. This one’s really special.
Sweet, easy little fabric flowers to tuck in a buttonhole.
I think these are a great idea, but it’s the presentation that really sells it!
An adorable, easy little project that could be used for centerpieces or favours!
Christine on vivian’s website
Kayla on honestly Kayla on illustrative invites Christine on illustrative invites
Courtney on mexi market