Vacation Snapshots

Hey lovelies! I'm back from an incredible week in the Turks and Caicos with my love! I don't have to head back to work until tomorrow so today is all about grey gloomy skies, coffee and donuts, unpacking and sharing a couple of vacation snaps with you. And maybe enjoying a little more Bambarra rum later on...

Below: loading up on libations at The Wine Cellar, what deep-fried dreams are made of at Da Conch Shack, stunning Grace Bay beach, conch ceviche under the palms at Coco Bistro, exploring Middle Caicos in my poor, beat-up chapeau at Daniel's Cafe and Dragon's Cay, a little buddy and the breakfast burrito of champions at Somewhere... On The Beach, and one last look... sigh...

 

Take Me To The Beach!

via fashion gone rogue

Oh how I've missed you!! I'm spending this lovely day off catching up on your blogs and vacation shopping! The boyfriend and I are looking for a week-long sweet escape this May. I thought I had pretty much settled on Turks & Caicos (the Providenciales/Grace Bay area) but now I've started looking into Grand Cayman and Barbados as well. And then I got even more distracted and threw in Barcelona for kicks. Though I'm not sure it will be warm enough in May to take advantage of the beach. Basically all we need is a beautiful beach with fantastic food, not uber-touristy, not too many kids, a place we can explore by foot and rental car, checking out local shops and visiting different beaches... a little nightlife would be great but hey, if partying was the most important thing to us, we'd go back to Vegas. We probably can't go wrong with any of these options but I'm definitely open to suggestions. Where should we go?

Winter Wanderlust

It's that time of year again, kids, when I begin scouring travel sites in search of balmier temperatures despite not having paid off all of my Christmas shopping bills... so what'll it be? A cruise, perhaps? Do you have any envy-inducing holidays on the horizon?

Winter Wanderlust by idlefascination featuring a racerback dress

Alexander Wang racerback dress, $450
CALYPSO ST BARTH triangle bikini, $69
Rachel Zoe linen shoes, $325
Dannijo jewelry, $274
Prism metal shades, $380
NARS Illuminator -Orgasm, $29
Surf Spray 4oz, Bumble And Bumble, £19
Audrey Passport Cover, $32

I'm back! *sad trombone*

Got back from 5 amazing days at the Delano hotel in South beach Wednesday night... and was greeted with the same dreary grey raininess as when I left. I miss the sun, the heat, and that pool!!

Pics to come... pending the friends' permission, of course...

Up in the Air

By the time this post is published I should hopefully be wandering around the airport terminal giddy and bleary eyed, waiting to board a 6:20am flight to Miami! Because if I'm not that means I either overslept or fatally injured myself trying to cram one to many pairs of heels into my suitcase.

Have a wonderful weekend loves!!xx

image via ru_glamour

Summer Dreams

Summer Dreams by IdleFascination featuring high heel sandals

Hervé Léger Geometric jacquard bandage dress
$1,950 - net-a-porter.com
Strapless bandage dress »

Noir Twist Jumpsuit
195 AUD - zimmermannstore.com
Silk rompers »

Milly Biarritz triangle bikini top
$100 - net-a-porter.com
Bikini bathing suits »

Milly Biarritz bikini briefs
$95 - net-a-porter.com
Bikini bathing suits »

Giuseppe Zanotti Snakeskin-embossed T-bar platform sandals
$595 - net-a-porter.com
High heel sandals »

Women's MICHAEL Michael Kors Nadia Thong, Sun or Red
$79 - michaelkors.com
Flat leather sandals »

Rebecca Minkoff 3-Zip Clutch
$295 - rebeccaminkoff.com
Zip clutch »

Black/White Enameled Tribal Drop Earrings
$160 - stylebop.com
Tribal earrings »

BALENCIAGA EDITION SUNGLASSES
250 EUR - mytheresa.com
Glass shades »

Nordstrom Two Tone Straw Fedora
$29 - nordstrom.com
Straw hats »

LE VERNIS GOLD LAME - Chanel
chanel.com

The Great Escape

Carrie's right (check out her comment on my last post): Why try to fight winter? Just make a break for it. And so these days ewhat's been keeping me (somewhat) sane is shopping around for Caribbean cruises. While I can't take off right away, the promise of turquoise waters and hot hot heat in just a short couple of months are enough to keep me going. I've never been on a cruise, and I never really saw myself as a cruise person, but after asking around and getting all researchy, it looks crazy fun: island-hopping days and uber-dressy nights? Yes please! I'll let you know what we decide on, for now, let's keep the tropical glam vibe alive with exactly the kind of editorial my tired, snow-blind eyes need to be enjoying.
Happy weekend!!xx

via fashion gone rogue

Ruby Tuesday

So named for the colour of my eyes today.

Good morning, lovelies! So sorry for the absence but I spent the long weekend in New York! I'm flat broke and exhausted but sublimely happy. At least I was, I'm at work now so not so much with the happy anymore. I just want to go back to bed!

My love and I headed down Friday morning and met up with our friends Saturday night (and more friends Sunday night!). It was gorgeous and sunny all weekend, we did lots of shopping (I finally got the YSL arty oval ring! Woohoo!), walked absolutely everywhere, took little sandwich breaks in Bryant Park ( I love you, spicy hummus baguette from Le Pain Quotidien), had dinner at Butter (which they should consider renaming Salt), after seeing the line-up at Tenjune we opted for the bottle service at Cielo, where we happily made total asses of ourselves and realized how old I was Sunday morning as I slowly recovered, downed lots of yummy Stumptown coffee, enjoyed a gorgeous afternoon in Central Park, scarfed down a big-ass family style dinner at Carmine's and made a brief stop at Woodbury Commons. And the Ace Hotel? Absolutely incredible. I was so sad when we left that the sweetheart at checkout hugged me. Aside from the hours of waiting around at the border coming home it was perfect.

And now I'm here. Blearly eyed and foggy headed. Is it 5pm yet?

image via fashion gone rogue

Aces Wild

4 day week this week! And next!

I'm headed to New York City with my love for the weekend. We leave Friday morning and a couple of my girlfriends will arrive on Saturday! Definitely looking forward to lots of shopping, great food, fun bars, a little Central Park, some MoMA action and hopefully seeing our New York friends again. My boyfriend and I chose the Ace Hotel, which I am so, so excited about. Check this place out below.

So, wonderful readers: I'm looking for some New York nightlife recommendations. Feel free to share your favorite restaurants and shops too! Bring 'em on!!

images via Ace Hotel's Facebook page

What happens in Vegas...

...stays on your Visa bill.

Sorry for the lack of posts this week, I've been having trouble thinking about anything but my trip to Vegas!! My love and I will be leaving in the morning and a couple of friends are meeting up with us on Wednesday. Since we're not gamblers on the menu we have lots of shopping, partying and fantastic food! I can't wait! Off to pack!

See you in a week! xx

Souvenirs

I'm back from my week off in Punta Cana! My travel companion and I have decided to call the trip "eventful". The weather wasn't as sunny as I would have liked but the beach was beautiful, the hotel grounds were lovely, full of lush vegetation and peacocks and flamingos roaming around, the food was good and at first glance the room was fantastic. Until the giant cockroaches showed up. I'm talking sci-fi prehistoric beast gigantic. I could have ridden one to the lobby bar instead of taking the tram. (Actually, we never took the tram that continually ran through the resort and were appalled at people's laziness). Almost more off-putting than the cucarachas were the relentless men, more specifically some of the staff who seemed utterly perplexed by the fact that we had no desire to sleep with them and were actually happy and satisfied with the men waiting for us at home. But dodging them actually became a pretty entertaining game and I laughed harder during this past week than I have in a long time. I'm not laughing now, though, as I seem to have brought home a very angry stomach bug and can't eat anything. The flight home was hell to say the least. So I'm feeling pretty miserable at the moment but being taken care of by my love and the memories of snorkeling and swimming with sharks and stingrays and actually having some pigmentation for a change (not to mention the fact that Canada just snagged the Olympic Gold Medal in Men's Hockey! Yay, Canadia!) have me smiling anyway. Back to work tomorrow. Aaaaand there goes the smile...

Island in the Sun

Happy Valentine's Day!!

So sorry for the absence, I've been obsessed with searching for vacation packages for a impromptu getaway with an equally fed-up, sun-starved friend. Our boys can't make it, unfortunately, but we just needed to get away and relax. And since my brain is so completely in beach mode I just can't bring myself to become immersed in NYFW, I'll just have to round up my favorite looks when we get back. We're booking tomorrow. I've never taken a trip during high season before so the prices were a little higher than I expected but I have no doubt it'll be worth every penny. I can't wait!!

image via fashion gone rogue

New York City Girl

First of all, Happy New Year to you all! Hope the holidays were sweet to you! 2010 is looking very promising, I feel the potential spectacularity of it all in my bones! So sorry I fell off the face of the Earth for awhile there, the boyfriend and I took an impromtu trek down to New York on the 28th and only drove back up on the 31st, during which I was internet-less, which was a nice little break.Little did we know when we left that we'd chosen the most bitterly cold and windy time to stroll around Manhattan. I misjudged my American neighbors as meteorological drama queens and assumed that my Montrealer status left me impervious to what they considered "cold", so the giant parka stayed behind. Big mistake. The photo above isn't mine as there was no way I was gonna stop moving long enough to whip out the camera and snap a photo. And there was certainly no way my gloves were coming off. But my love for that city hasn't waned. We spent the first day shopping around. I finally got to go to Topshop and it was a total zoo, presumably because the entire second floor was on sale. I missed out on that Christopher Kane dress I wanted because only the small sizes were left but I got a cute black and blue striped cardigan with gold buttons. The next day was more agreeable and we met up with some old friends (one ex-pat + one local= two wonderful people I was ecstatic to see), grabbed some bagels, checked out the Museum of Natural History since none of us had ever been, and then had a gargantuan supper at Carmine's. The drive back on New Years Eve was rough: gridlock traffic and accidents galore all morning and with the couple of extra shopping stops we made (had to see what was left of the Rodarte for Target collection. Answer: nothing I wished to take home with me) we only got home around 10pm, so we skipped the New Years party (sorry friends!) and settled down at home with some Grey Goose and Season 1 of the X-Files. And I couldn't have been happier!

Two tickets to paradise...

...would be the ideal Christmas gift. But it ain't gonna happen. I can't complain too much since I did get to go to Maui last May and it was incredible but the memories aren't enough to keep me warm. Neither is this editorial from Vogue China but it's beautiful regardless and I don't know about you but cold-weather images really aren't appealing to me at this particular (epically frigid) moment.

via studded hearts

Sleep in Heaven

The first reason this photo caught my eye is that it's absolutely adorable. But the more I look at it the more I'm sure that's the courtyard of the Sleep in Heaven youth hostel in Copenhagen where I spent a few nights in 2003... does anybody know?

via wildfox

Missing Maui

This past May my boyfriend and I were lucky enough to travel to Maui with our friends from Calgary. We rented a condo through VRBO, cooked a lot of our own meals and enjoyed tons of bubbly on the lanai. It was absolutely incredible and thinking back on it has me counting the days until retirement...