They call me Cuban Pete

In light of the kick-off of Reading Week, and the utter redundancy of that title, I present to you the simplest DIY project conceivable; the perfect task for those upcoming, long and treacherous days of (cough) "reading."

I made these earrings on Wednesday from a crocheted doily that I snagged at Value Village. White lace = Spring. If you'd like these gems hanging from your ears too, read the easy-peasy instructions from one of my favourite blogs Honestly...WTF.

On a completely unrelated note, tomorrow morning I commence my epic journey towards the light........the sunlight that is, on the beaches of Varadero, Cuba.

This here junkie needs her vitamin D injection, STAT!

For those of you feeling glum at the prospect of spending another week getting tossed around like a rag doll in the ferocious winds of the Great White North, or desperately hoping that the albino look will be the next big trend, please enjoy this uplifting video clip. 

I mean, let's be honest, how can one witness Cuban Pete shaking his thang and then not feel their own  little jolt of "chick-chickee-boom?"

Until next week, don't forget to like Food, Water, Fashion on Facebook and show me some lovin!

Dragonette Does it Right

This is the song I've be dancing around to tonight in my room. You should too.

http://hypem.com/#!/item/18gy9/Martin+Solveig+Dragonette+-+Martin+Solveig+Dragonette+Hello+Why+are+we+whispering+Remix+

Martina Sorbara of Dragonette

photo courtesy of hangout.altsounds.com

When V.V. met J.C.

Last Monday my friend cunningly coerced me into accompanying her to Value Village, to which I agreed and simultaneously blew off my hot date with the gym (my sincere apologies to my glutes). Lo and behold, this day just so happened to be the much-anticipated (well, maybe just for me) FIFTY-PERCENT OFF THE ENTIRE STORE SALE!!!! (If I was asthmatic, this would have been the moment when a puffer would be KEY).

Um hello? This is the event I have sexy dreams about.

So naturally, like I imagine occurs to most people when visiting this revered establishment, I experienced mildly dangerous heart palpitations and went BUUUCK WILD.

Mustard colours...yum...or not.

I didn't buy this. I SWEAR.

I go gaga for the pieces that I brought home.

 No later than the next day, the good folks at Purolator showed up at my door with a cardboard box and the key to my heart, A.K.A. my new Jeffrey Campbell combat/grunge boots. If you've never heard of my man J.C., the footwear designer extraordinaire, take a look at the Jeffrey Campbell website (warning: you might want to sit down for this).

I am a self-proclaimed shoe ADDICT and I'd take his creations (and the resulting empty bank account) over rehab any day. 

Yes, they have slits in them "à la knife attack." They're like a serial killer's fetish.

I'm starting a J.C. collection. 2 down, 1000 to go.

 I won't be blogging for an entire week starting Sunday. I'm off to Cuba to celebrate graduation with my best friends and in the meantime, maybe give my skin a good roasting; well-done on both sides please and thank you.

I hope that my resulting "total-body-aloe-vera-coating" healing regimen will make me worthy of the champion's title in the epic battle of "Lisa vs. The Canadian Climate."

Let it be known...Winter, I spite you!

Buenos Noches Amigos

Do you DIY?

It's another Sunday. You are beaten and battered from last night's festivities, your appearance is entirely unworthy of exposure to the outside world, and you're room looks like this. Well actually, MY room looks like this. Ahem.

 What ever can be done during this glorious, non-denominationally specific God-given day when you possess not the courage to stray too far from the comfort of your bedroom, NAY, your bed sheets?!


Well fret not my dear readers, because Sundays are fun-days and that means DIY Days which means Arts & Crafts Days which means you get to pretend you are Neil Buchanan from Art Attack for an entire 24 hours! And don't pretend he didn't transform your life too when you were 8 years old.

 So pull out your PVA glue (that's school glue for those of you who were "too cool" for the genius that is Neil Buchanan), because today we are making...
A Boho Headband!

I made this for my bestie, Alessandra, as a Christmas gift. And she knows how to rock it.

 Ingredients:

• 3 ribbons
• Fabric (I used a tulle netting)
• 2 beads or buttons
• Scissors
• Sewing needle and thread
• Paper and Pen

Steps:

1. Taking your three ribbons, tie them together with a knot. It helps to safety pin this knot to something secure before the next step.
2. Braid them like you would hair and tie another knot when you get to the end.  Put this aside.
3. Using your paper and pen, draw and cut out two flowers (one larger than the other). These are your patterns.
4. Trace the patterns onto your fabric, or pin them on, and then cut around them. You should end up with 2 fabric cut-outs of each pattern size.
5. To make a flower, place the smaller sized cut-out on the larger one. Hand-sew them together, in the centre.
6. Next, fold the sewn-together flower in half, and then fold that in half again. Now that it's folded, continue making a few stitches  in the same spot (which is the centre of the flower when unfolded), pulling your needle through the folds. This step will make the flower 3-dimensional instead of flat.
7. Unfold and sew your button or bead onto the centre of the flower. Repeat steps 5-7 for the 2nd flower.
8. Once you have 2 flowers, sew them onto the braided ribbon, wherever you would like them to be.
9. Put it on your head, tie it at the back, and voilà!

You may be thinking that this project is too daunting for you at your undeveloped level of craftiness. Well read on, ye of little faith.

The Über-Chic Headband for Dummies

Take a long circle of fabric (I cut this one off the bottom of a shirt), wrap it around your head a couple times so it is very loose, and tie a knot onto the side of the headband so that it looks like a rose (Well, at least I think it does). And look, you are sprouting flowers from your head! A-M-A-Z-I-N-G

Please excuse the photo quality, I am saving up for a "big-girl" camera right now! 

And if this still doesn't tickle your fancy, check out www.hitentertainment.com/artattacK/ for even more ideas of the highest inspiration.

Send me photos of your creations, and if I like em', I'll post em'! powerl@uoguelph.ca

While you're at it, check out my friend's blog. She's got some great stuff going on! gilded-youth.blogspot.com/

To Infinity...and Way Beyond

Dearest Blogger and Blogette friends, (I will ignore the fact that there are probably a grand total of two of you.)

Since I am the new kid on the block in the big ol' blogosphere, I think it only proper manners that I invite you to get to know me a little bit better. So, we will now commence the "Lisa 101" sessions.

Today's Lesson: The "Future" and Other Topics of Conversation to Avoid (well, until you no longer can)

As I said in my very first ever (!!) blog post a couple of days ago, I will be graduating from university (how this occured, I have no idea) in as few as 2 and a half months. I feel like only a little while ago I was sharing a teeny tiny dorm room with 3 other girls, drinking far too much Coors Light and Canadian than I care to remember (or am incapable of remembering for that matter), living off of a magical meal card which, strangely, seemed to never run out of money, and finding myself in a constant state of awe that there were so many members of the male species amassed onto one plot of land, day in, day out.

Oh, to be a first year again...

But, lately I feel like I have been teetering on the edge of the here & now and the FUTURE (those of you in similar situations may cringe.........now.) Since this past summer, my lack of an answer for the always popular and ever-irritating question, "What are your plans for next year/the future?" has been plaguing me to the very limits of mental stability.

But after much deliberation, a couple of allotted bawling-my-eyes-out sessions, a few intense pep talks (thanks friends!) and a narrowly avoided self-prescribed mid-mid-life crisis, I decided last week to take a giant leap of faith and do exactly what I want to do.

So now, my answer to the aforementioned question is......

DRUM ROLL PLEASE....

Starting next January, I am going to be studying at the John Casablancas Institute in downtown Vancouver in its Fashion Arts Diploma program. (cue Hyperventilation)

In the past half a year, the world of fashion has become my obsession, my passion; I would go so far as to say a possibly detrimental addiction. (For example, the only thing other than chocolate that you may ever chance to find me drooling over is clothing. Can you say RED FLAG?) The fashion scene is the only place in which I can imagine myself in the next few years of my life and as long as all goes as planned and OSAP takes pity on me, the next part of my life looks VERY exciting through my eyes.

So here goes nothing....

GIRANAMOOOOOOOOOOOO

Check out my school at http://www.jcinstitute.com

And check out this short video which shows some images from student-styled and photographed fashion shoots at JCI. Fashion shoots that I too will have a chance to be involved in!

Follow my blog with bloglovin

Firsts

Welcome to my blog!

FIRST... Introductions: I am a 20 something student/soon-to-be-graduate (a.k.a. Hobo) living on the cusp of the "what comes next?" This blog will be a regular compilation of my wishing, wandering, and wondering laid out bare for my own personal expression and for your (hopefully!) enjoyment.

If you share my unhealthy addictions with FOOD (insert salivating), WATER (or other consumptive liquids...), FASHION and all of their subcategories, follow me on Blog-lovin (a website that updates you regularly on your favourite blogs, bloglovin.com) and maybe this will be where you can get your regular fix!




The following are topics of the utmost importance, which I will gab shamelessly about:

A) FOOD:

1. Ooey-gooey-delicious recipes (I love to try new recipes and then share the results which are either brilliant successes or, more often than not, epic failures. But always interesting.)
2. Peanut butter (nuff said) (actually I lied, there is more to say, the PB sandwich has gone so far as to inspire some lost, confused soul to create a hat in its image. See below. What shameful but hilarious representation.)

3. Moosetracks Ice -Cream!!! (or a similar gelato if available)
4. Spanakopita (impossible to say 5 times fast, but impossibly DELICIOUS)(and Greek)

B) WATER:

1. Red Wine (ain't nothing better) (p.s. Do these actually exist? Brilliant? YES. Tacky as hell? Double YES.)

2. Yoga (I'm having a mild love affair with it)

3. Working out (relevant because I drink copious amounts of H2O during)

C) FASHION:

1. Fashion is art (this, I do believe)
2. Vintage clothing (expect many fabulous finds from Value Village, my go-to shopping destination/heaven)
3. DIYs (nothing is more gratifying than wearing something designed & made by moi-même)
4. Other art forms (music, theatre, concerts, books, etcetera, etcetera)




If you fancy a dose of A, B, C, or all of the above, tune-in for a fresh shot of my musings on these and other subjects of fancy.




Now....to bed! It is far too early in the morning for me to have serious plans about waking up for class. Oh god. Bring on the week!