Category — Temporary Torontoist

I love clothes. My mom instilled this affection early in my youth, with her personal sense of style and what some would call flamboyant taste. Capes and red-rimmed glasses. Aboriginal prints and snake-skin shoes.

Building a wardrobe takes time and a keen eye. Over the years friends have asked me to take them shopping, help them take the guess work out of what can be an altogether tedious task. And it is. I hate shopping out of necessity. I rarely do intentionally, instead I explore favourite haunts from time and time, collecting pieces as they find me. This way I can purchase items I love rather than the best I could find in the moment. And you can too!

On a recent trip to Anthropologie, a delightful (and unexpected) anniversary gift from my husband, I carried a pile of twenty items into the change room.

Shopping Tip #1. Grab everything you like.

That way you don’t have to run out of the dressing room half-naked combing the store for that pair of grey corduroys you were iffy on.

On this particular trip, I started with the tops. I am a stay-at-home-mom/sometime writer at present, so tops and cardigans paired with a favorite pair of jeans are my go-to outfit.

Tip #2. Wear jeans, flats, a good bra (for the ladies) and a favourite plain cardigan.

This will allow you to see each item exactly how you’d wear it day-to-day. If you are an uber-planner, toss a pair of heels in your handbag too.

I create three piles of clothes — no’s, yeses, and maybes. In the end it was down to four daily pieces (all from the Anthropologie sale section) or one incredible (full price) dress.

Tip #3. Buy to wear.

If you can’t see an immediate need for a piece of clothing, don’t buy it. I have done this and regretted it time and time again. Save the money, and the closet space, for later.

In this case, I opted for the four simpler items. While I loved the dress, I had no immediate event on the books and, in case something crops up, I have a handful of lovely frocks waiting for me at home.

Final tip of the day…

Tip #4. Buy to last.

Building a wardrobe is about buying quality and developing a personal style. That way clothes can be worn year after year, no matter the style forecast. Purchasing quality clothing does not have to break the bank. I rarely (if ever) buy full price items at stores like Anthrolpologie. Check out sale sections of local designer boutiques (try Dream in Vancouver and Poa Studio in Toronto,) end-of-season sample sales and, my favourite: vintage and consignment shops. I found an incredible little-black-dress for $10 at a vintage shop on Commercial Drive last summer. I promise, it’s possible.

A final note: I am a firm believer in wearing what you want. If you are a man and you want to wear Tretorn gumboots in Gastown, then you damn well should. That goes for white after labour day, too.

Happy shopping!

Season four of Being Erica, my favourite show, premiered this week. It’s the only show I watch and I take it in online because we don’t have cable. If you haven’t seen it, and are a woman between the ages of 25 and 40, watch and love.

A few clickity clacks after the show and I found myself on the mothercorp job board where I found this little gooder. May be worth dusting off the ‘ole CV.

I am looking forward to the launch of Kate Payne’s new book THE HIP GIRL’S GUIDE TO HOMEMAKING.

Monday, September 19, 7 – 9pm. The Drake Hotel, 1150 Queen Street West, Toronto. Hosted by Type Books.

In her own words:

“I’m a grant writer, half-assed domestic goddess, occasional nanny, after-hours poet, committed doodler, trash collector, big-time procrastinator, tea and toast and jam obsessed Austinite. I come from Swedish, German, Irish and British great grandparents. I collect old typewriters; some of them still work. I studied anthropology and sociology in the Sonoran Desert. I worked on an organic tomato farm once. I paper mached gigantic thumbs once, too.”

This is the kind of domestic I can get behind.

Lorna Dueck and Preston Manning together at the Glenn Gould Studio, CBC, May 30.

Follow this link for more information.

So, my birthday came and went in April — the week we moved to Toronto, in fact. And some wonderful family members gave me some cash gifts that I’ve been holding onto for just the right occasion. And I’ve found it! I’m LEARNING TO SEW at The Workroom — an amazing sew and craft by the hour space on Queen Street.

Photo care of Toronto Craft Alert

SO excited.

Madeleine at the Humber River Park, Easter Sunday

I am very much looking forward to a stellar night out tomorrow.

Image Journal presents…

An evening of Readings, Music, and Discussion with Musician Miranda Stone and Writers Deborah Joy Corey, Luci Shaw (!!!), and John Terpstra. If you’re in the Toronto area head to the Glenn Gould Studio, 250 Front Street West - April 28, 7pm.

Details here.

Here are a few pictures of our house in progress.

We wake up, have breakfast, unpack, play, eat lunch, unpack, look for stuff on Craigslist/IKEA.com/CrateandBarrel/wherever.com, buy groceries, fire off some emails, eat dinner, do a pile of dishes, baby bubble bath, tuck munchkin into bed, tidy, read, bed. Repeat. It’s coming together. We pick up our teak bed set tonight!

See the full set of pictures here.

Our house is chaos, but we love it.

We love the stained glass, the hardwood floors, Madeleine’s aubergine room, and the piano room with the view of our winter-ravaged backyard. We love our neighbours who have lent us heaters and a hand while we went without heat our first week here (turned out all it was a dead battery in the thermostat, oops.) We love that the next door neighbours have teens keen to babysit and that I met a lovely lady named Reve whose sister wants to nanny part-time. I love that my midwife group is only a five minute drive away. I love that the kids go fishing in High Park and that there are fall fish runs in the nearby Humber River. I love that a hippy-(read: Vancouver)-looking mama told me that.

I am making lists, taking names. We bought a used Subaru and a sweet marigold couch straight out of the seventies for our little reading nook, for $40.

We are piecing it together, together.

(House-in-progress pictures to follow)

A friend, my counselor Anne, recently helped me see that growing up I couldn’t really rely on family markers so I have grown to rely on the specific markers of a city to create a sense of self, a sense of place. When I move I lose my markers and, in a sense, myself. So it’s important to stake out my daily routines in Toronto right away.

I have never been so thankful for the necessity of food. When we arrive we’ll have breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We’ll also need to go outside so Madeleine and I don’t go stir crazy swimming in a sea of unpacked boxes. So, we’ll walk. We’ll stake out the neighbourhood. Find our coffee shop. Befriend our neighbours. Start looking for a church. We’ll find the fruit and veggie shop. But we’ll do it slowly.

I’ll set small goals: one thing in the house, and one thing outside, a day. And piece by piece we will build a new life.

And yet, our hearts will stay rooted to our loved ones at home. My sweet stepmother who yesterday, on my birthday, stood at the bottom of the stairs, her eyes a swell of tears, as she swung Madeleine in her arms. And my dad, a tower of wisdom, honesty, love. And my mother and stepfather, ever-givers. And my grandmother who, every time she calls, leaves me with a doxology: “May the Lord bless you and keep you.” And my brothers and their lovely wives, and their sweet children who I desperately want to know and be known by. And my amazing sister-in-law Brittany, aka May-May, our housemate who Madeleine runs to as she speeds up on her motorbike at supper hour. And my friends, so many of whom have made the journey to Bowen and rejoiced in this sweet gift of a home, and helped me talk through the fears, and who are never more than a phone call away.

And they still will be. And we have skype. And we have airplanes. And we have a guest room. And we will work at it. And, as my Dad reminded me yesterday (as we swung Madeleine round their gardens – One, two, three, oopsie-daisies — like he did me when I was little) that it will be hard and lonely but that God’s grace is sufficient for us. And I cling to this truth as I type this on a final Pacific morning.

And the things I am looking forward to in Toronto (all tidily tucked away in a file folder I have titled HOPE) are:

• walks along the Humber River
• creating a home in our house
• coffee dates with Annie and Miles
• going to Lil’ Bean and Green Cafe
• exploring U of T
• an incredible retreat/writing assignment in P.E.I. in May
• making new friends
• finding our church
• exploring the St. Lawrence Market
• day trips to the Toronto Islands
• new seasons, new colours
• hanging laundry in our backyard while Madeleine plays in the sandbox
• getting a bike
• the Distillery District
• setting up my space — a room of one’s own — a creative studio/workspace on the main floor
• visitors
• connecting with my Aunt Astrid
• work that keeps me connected to B.C. — www.art-bc.com, sheloves, the light
• flea market /antique store finds
• hanging our art
• voting for Gerard Kennedy
• Toronto Fashion Week, Luminato, IMAGE and Comment journal events, One of a Kind show
• hosting our house-warming party