Posh & Paisley

Next Time I'm Flying

I bet you're wondering what I've been up to lately. It's been a crazy couple of weeks, and since my summer is only going to get busier, I better get started in on the details.

Last week I was in Quebec, then I came back to Toronto only to leave a few days later for Montreal. I got back two days ago and I haven't had a minute to myself yet.

Coming back from the Montreal Jazz fest, I decided to take a night bus back to Toronto. I've done the Coach bus before, and had a great experience, but this time, I had no such luck. Seriously, I got on to a packed bus only to find that the only seat available was next to a small, dirty man who smelled from 8 seats away. I have no way of explaining such a rancid, horrible, distgusting smell than to liken it to the smell of fermenting bile.

I think I would have suffocated, or thrown up the entire 7 hour trip home, were it not for the kind and selfless actions of a lovely young man, who gave up his seat to me, and endured a long, horrendous ride next to Bile Man.

I was sitting 6 seats away, yet I could still smell the horrible stench every once in a while, and the only way I could get through it was to throw my trusty safety blanket over my head and breath in the heady perfume that lingered upon it. I know it's odd that I'm 26 and still have a security blanket, but I'm telling you, to this day, I always just called it a travel blanket. Something to keep me warm while on air conditioned flights and such, that is until I had to be on that stinky bus ride. That's when I realized my blanket's full capabilities as a safety blanket, and held on to it for dear life.

My blanket is a turquoise version of the above Chambray paisley blanket. I picked mine up in Miami, but you can find it here on the cherishandjoykidstuff.com website.

I'm never leaving the house without my blanket again! I could have died you know, good thing my blanky saved my life!

Money Can't Buy Happiness?

I had a pretty crappy day yesterday, so I bought myself a pair of diamond stud earrings.

They were pretty well priced, so I didn't break the bank or anything, but if you happen to have $32,900 sitting around, I'd suggest you buy this beautiful diamond paisley cuff bracelet from Chad Allison.

It'll surely make you feel like a million bucks!

Just looking at it makes me feel great, let alone if I were sporting it out.

Sigh.

Be still my heart, this one's gonna take more than just a few broken piggy banks.

Painting the Town Paisley

I really enjoyed being in beautiful Quebec City this past week and even had the chance to stop by Trois Rivieres and Montreal on my way back. A couple years ago I spent a few weeks in Trois Rivieres studying French at the University of Quebec and it was really nice to be back there after all this time. I even had the chance to have the most amazing Caesar salad of my life at this little Italian place on the downtown strip.

Montreal was fantastic as well, and particularly so because I had an amazing dinner at an awesome Indian restaurant called Atma. It was a gorgeous little place on the plateau and the food was just simply to die for. Since then I've decided that I love Indian food almost as much as I love Persian food, and that's definitely saying a lot.

Which brings me to a few weekends ago that I spent at Shima and Ram's wedding, remember I told you all about the lovely two days I spent with them? Well, they had some fabulous food and it should be noted that the majority of the food was NOT Persian. The Persian restaurant that they had ordered from (called Shomal or North Restaurant) was a no-show on the second day and quite rude to Shima on several occasions.

It saddens me to have to give Shomal some bad publicity, but even though the food is usually quite fantastic, they definitely need to step it up on the customer service department. I can't imagine how stressed Shima must have felt on her special day without having to deal with mean people on the phone all afternoon. The worst part is that the food didn't even show up, and had she not been so smart and relied solely on their catering services, her wedding plans would have been ruined.

I just hope that Shomal realizes that you can't do stuff like that to people. It's just not right.

Now, I'm sorry for the digression, but the topic of food always gets me excited and ahead of myself. In fact so much so that I didn't even get the chance to mention that today's photo is of me in Montreal, in a pretty paisley number that I picked up from a trendy boutique called Honest Ed's. Ha! If you live in Toronto you'll know that Honest Ed's is no trendy boutique... just go ahead and Google it ;)

If you can tell me exactly how much I paid for this top, I'll give you a prize.

But I'm On The Guestlist!

My feet are aching from all the stilettos and high heels I've been wearing the past few nights. I don't have a choice, I've been at the wedding all weekend and my other friends keep inviting me out. It's not like I can pair a cocktail dress with flats you know.

On Friday my girlfriends and I headed to Tryst for a chichi evening out. I am not a big fan of clubbing, because there's just so much pretentiousness that goes on. Everyone, from the bouncers, to the bartenders to even the girls standing in line, make me ill. The worse is that even after you've bypassed all that, there is still a lot of b.s. that goes on between all the guys and girls that are there to pick up.

This is why I'm pretty happy that I'm off to Quebec City for the rest of the week, and I won't have the opportunity to be dragged off to any more clubs. Of course that doesn't mean that I wont be wearing any more heels, and in fact I've already packed quite a few of 'em for my trip already. If I had these paisley Luichiny Duchess bow sandals, you know fully well that I'd take them along as well, no matter how much my feet hurt. Just check out the green pair, for these, I'd even be willing to endure a night out at the most pretentious of all the uber trendy clubs.

Let Them Eat Cake!

What a weekend! It came and went in a flurry, a wonderful whirlwind of activity that made up my friends Ram and Shima's beautiful wedding.

Two ceremonies, two days, lots of people, gorgeous flowers, an awesome white tent, bucket's of rain, tonnes of food and heaps of dessert. I can't even begin to tell you how much I ate as I might seem like a gluttonous beast to some of you.

There seemed to be many, many cakes. A cake to suit just about everyone's preference, and I alone ate about 5 different cakes in a span of 3 hours. There was their beautiful wedding cake, then a fantastic nutty cake called Love Cake, a caramel cheese cake, a chocolate cake for Ram's Father's birthday, and then a sweet vanilla cake just to round up the lot. There was definitely no shortage of a sugar high for me this weekend.

It's a good thing that I did a lot of dancing, as I don't think I could have managed to squeeze myself back into the car if I hadn't otherwise. For me, cake + Dancing = Bliss, so all this wedding fun made me want to have a wedding of my own. I mean, I know that I don't really care to be married right now, but I'd really like a wedding celebration. I'd love to be able to throw a big ol' party and serve this elegant paisley cake by suzellescakes.com. It's so beautiful that I can already taste the sweetness of the icing on my tongue...

Wow. Sometimes I even surprise myself. I really think that 50 Cent should change the lyric's of his song to "I love you like Sanaz love cake", cause then you definitely know that would mean a heckuvalot!

Ogling Paisley

A rough night yesterday. My good friend Shima is getting married on Saturday (can't wait for the big day!) and the girls and I decided to take her out for a night on the town.

The night started out innocently enough, with a beautiful wine and cheese spread, good music and great conversation which steadily evolved to a loud, crazy night of clubbing at Menage nightclub.

Boy has the scene ever changed at that place. It was tough finding anyone over the age of 22, and so instead of guy watching from the comfort of our VIP booth, I contented myself with ogling the stylish ladies in the club. I happened to see two paisley prints, but only one stood out as a stunner for me. It was a dark blue halter that aside from the colour, largely resembled this one by Charlotte Russe, an inexpensive San Diego based company that I find does paisley really well.

Note the gorgeous weaved collar and open tie back and the ultra low price of $20. Where else can one find such attention to detail for twenty bucks?

Definitely not at any club I know. In Toronto, twenty dollars won't even cover the tip you're expected to pay the annoying hostess, that's on top of the cover charge, the drinks and bottle service, and of course the cost of all the hot new clothes/shoes/accessories needed to go out in the first place. Clubbing in Toronto is tough, but thankfully, wearing paisley to any occasion doesn't have to be.

Warm Welcome Home

It's good to be home. For me, nothing beats a warm summer night in Toronto and that's exactly what I got to enjoy on my first evening back at home from Florida.

In the early evening, my cute date and I took a relaxed, leisurely stroll through the beautiful campus of University of Toronto (my alma mater) and we both marveled at the sight of the grand, century old buildings.

We couldn't help but conjure up black and white images in our minds of students who had walked through the same halls and saw the same sights that we were seeing before us.

I think that I must have been around in another lifetime, and that is why I am so drawn to old buildings and to the classic shape of my wonderful paisley. I am a sucker for the feeling and sense of nostalgia that I feel when surrounded by antiques and paisley motifs.

When looking at the picture of this fabulous room with the warm paisley wallpaper, I can't help but feel a slight tug at my heart and feel right at home. Cole & Son makes the Rajupur paisley wallpaper you see here on the walls of the entryway of Bush Interiors' West Hollywood office and I first found this photo on one of my all time favourite blogs, called the Scoop. I think the room to be the perfect combination of posh and paisley, and would probably be less likely to travel if the room were mine. I mean, why would I want to be parted from a room like this?

 

Environmentalists Are Hot!

It's seriously like a hundred degrees here in Orlando. Today I even sat in the shade, and I was still melting into a gross sweaty puddle... lovely huh?

Actually, it really is very lovely here, and I'm enjoying myself thoroughly.

One thing that I don't enjoy, is seeing that the people of Orlando are not very environmentally friendly, and the amount of waste that I've seen produced in one day, just by my resort alone, is probably more than what all of Prince Edward Island produces in a week!

Disney has finally started offering recycling bins in its parks, and this seems to be the only step that Orlando has taken towards helping out the environment. Air conditioners are blasting so hard, that I have to wear a sweater whenever I'm anywhere indoors. People drive big, gas guzzlers everywhere and idle in long drive-thru lines at every opportunity they get, and when I hand back the plastic shopping bag handed to me by a clerk (I put everything I buy in my reusable canvas tote), they usually look at me like I'm crazy, and roll their eyes when I tell them I'm trying to save the environment one shopping bag at a time.

Guess no one in Orlando got the memo about global warming...

So people, please don't forget your Eco-friendly bags before you leave the house to go grocery shopping or to the mall. If you don't have one, you can always make one like the cute one above by alliCdesigns, who sells them on Etsy.

I really hope that Orlando steps up and starts accepting some responsibility for their ways, or else, pretty soon even those up in the Yukon will be complaining that they are melting in hundred degree whether, and I'm not talking in Fahrenheit people. 

Just More Paisley To Love?

When I first heard about this guy who was suing an Orlando based dating agency, I thought that he just seemed petty and crazy... but now, after being in Orlando for the last three days, I can't help but sympathize with the guy.

You see, he claims that the agency promised him sophisticated, professional and slim women. Instead all the women that he has ever been introduced to were “predominantly and severely overweight, and of low social economic status.”

Now I don't know about the low social economic status part, but I do know that he is one hundred percent right on the money with the predominantly and severely overweight part. I am astounded by the number of overcrowded fast-food restaurants I see, by the large portions that everyone loads on their plates, and by all the rolly polly children I see everywhere down here in Orlando. People are not exercising and they eat like crazy here!

I also don't understand the constant reliance on their huge gas guzzling cars. People should definitely try to walk a little more around here instead of constantly blaming the heat and the lack of sidewalks.

Today, my sister and I chose to take up the challenge and actually walk the 3kms to a bunch of the local tourist attractions. We found that the Orlando heat is actually quite nice to walk in, meaning that when well equipped with water and comfortable shoes, the heat was actually a nice dry heat, and a nice contrast to Toronto's humid, smoggy, 40 degree Celsius summer weather that we are used to walking around in.

Also, we debunked the no sidewalks myth, and found beautiful tree lined sidewalks that the city has so graciously spent hard earned tax dollars on. The entire time we were walking, we only saw two other people walking, and they were tourists from England. To prove today's sidewalk escapades, I am including a few pictures.

See, lots of sidewalks! And we didn't die of heat exhaustion.

Now, there is nothing wrong with packing a few pounds to your frame, and I personally love a bit of meat on the bones, so as long the heart is kept happy and healthy. Exercising, walking, going to the gym, a healthy lifestyle is what it's all about.  People just have to make sure to put on cute clothes like the one above by Baby Phat and feel good about themselves and I'm sure that then the agency-suing schmuck would definitely love a strong, healthy confident, plus sized woman. It's all about how you carry yourself!

Guido! More Mojitos Please!

I am sitting in a kaftan by the pool side, in Orlando, as I write this.

It's a blistering 33 degrees Celsius and a humidex of like a hundred. I'm starting day one of my vacation with my little sister Kiana.

I am so excited to have a few days to myself and with my dear Posh & Paisley, to revamp and recharge. I am so psyched to get back to posting everyday, as it's so unlike me to be skipping days and missing posts.

I'm going to keep this post short though, because I haven't slept in about 43 hours and I keep dozing off mid-sentence... I'll surely get you all caught up in the next few days though, don't you worry.

I found this Ted Baker paisley kaftan on the Asos online fashion store, and it is out of stock. Lucky for me, I've already spotted it in one of the Orlando malls, and I want to go back for it. The only thing is that Orlando seems to be Paisley heaven, and in the six short hours here, I've already spotted a gagillion paisley things everywhere! Now I just wish I could remember which store it was that I saw this kaftan... Good thing I have a whole week of shopping and exploring on my hands anyway.