And we're back!

Hello everyone and greetings from Montreal!

We had a bit of journey (which starred super-unfriendly staff by Swiss Airlines in Milan, a canceled flight, and the ensuing run through two airports), but we made it back on Wednesday. We are now staying with friends until we move back into our house early new week.

In spite of the millions things we have to do, I have a deep feeling of inner calm after the storm of emotions that signed the weeks before our departure. I feel like I am back in my place, I know where everything is and how to get things done. I look forward to be again one of the people reading or hanging out in a cafe while sipping a cup of coffee. Of course, I miss the glamour, and on a recent visit to my office on campus I could not help but compare the students' attire to that of the students in Milan -- and it was not a glorious comparison. I also miss the food and the fresh vegetables but... it is my target to scout for fresher and tastier vegetables in the markets around town during the summer.

Then there is our house. I went there for the move-out inspection with our tenants two days ago. For the whole car drive, I feel as anxious and excited as meeting a lost love. There it was, as beautiful as I remembered. The garden is in full bloom, a kaleidoscope of colours, textures and smells. I am really grateful to our wonderful tenants who took care it as well (or maybe better) that we would have.

The day after we arrived, I was reading Joslyn's post about a recent trip to her native California. She described the mixed emotion of happiness and sadness when she is there, because she loves the places so much and she dreads the fact she eventually has to leave. It made me wonder what a complex relationship we have with the places where we grew up. I definitely liked spending a year in Milan (as you may remember from this post), and I was deeply saddened about having to leave, but... here is here it feels our HOME, finally.

Stunning design for a baby nursery

Hello everyone! What inspired you when decorating your baby's nursery?

Before our niece was born a couple of weeks ago, there had been another arrival in my husband's family.

It also happens that his mom and her sister are the brilliant designers behind Baroness O. It thus should not come as a surprise that the baby's crib and chest (above) are two pieces of stunning design. You can see more pictures and read about the inspiration behind both pieces here.

Do you think I am too old for that chest? I am totally obsessed by it :-)

The final crunch

Hello everyone! How do you deal with departures?

I am having a hard time with this one, as you may know if you have been following this blog. Add to it that up until this morning we were not even sure we would have been able to leave...

Nonetheless, we are cleared for departure. My son is much better and we are packed. All our nine suitcases. And three pieces of hand luggage. And my son's scooter.

You know which suitcase was the most difficult to finalize? The first one I thought was done (remember this post?). I knew I had to repack since last week, and I had identified on my packing list the items I could have taken out, but I could not bring myself to it. Then half an hour ago, frantically looking for that little bit of extra space for the last pair of shoes, I tried. Yet I could not find them. The suitcase thus remained the same, just with an extra pair of shoes. Let's hope tomorrow morning the airline will not be very strict with its weighting procedures :-)

White for summer

Hello everyone and Happy Monday! Do you wear white for summer?

Bill Cunnigham shot a few stylish newyorkers wearing head to to white last week as temperatures in the city rose. I also came across the beautiful pictures in this post, and I started thinking more wearing white for summer.

I realized most of my summer dresses are actually white or neutral. Nonetheless I am always a bit afraid to wear them when I am out and about with my son for fear of getting dirty easily. I was thus envious of my mother-of-three best friend who came with us on a zoo outing+picnic in white pants, because she went home spotless!

How about you? Any tricks for wearing white? Do share!

On my mind

Hello everyone! Did you have a good weekend?

My son is still sick and I have had quite bit of time to browse around while waiting for his fever to come down after his latest dose of Tylenol (I started writing this post around 4 am on Saturday, and by 5 am I started hearing birds chirping outside). Hence here are a few things that have been on my mind:

Pretty Mommy's lovely home at Design Mom

Making gold tube bracelets with Erica's tutorial -- it has gone straight on my summer list

We talked about this: torn is not my style (but these are great pictures!)

Yves Saint Laurent changes name: what will happen with the bags?

Creature Comforts summer recipes and colour daily inspirations like this one

Asos peplum jacket (above, courtesy of Mattias Swenson) and the Fashion Squad Shop

Melissa Noe's comment on Mara's post: "My favourite time of the day is night time - tucking my kids into bed I get sweet hugs and I love your. No more worrying about disciplining for the day or losing my temper or being the perfect mom." It is exactly how I feel. (Painting by Normal Rockwell, 1921).

What's your mantra to get dressed in the morning? This one may inspire you (and the one 

above is as dreamy as an outfit I can think of, courtesy of The Sartorialist).

A breath (or two) of sea air

Hello everyone! Did you have a good week?

We headed for the beach on Wednesday morning, to regroup and relax before our move back to Canada next week (the same place where we came before Christmas). We arrived by lunchtime, had a great lunch overlooking the sea, and then spent a glorious afternoon by the hotel's pool -- where my son entertained himself in the kiddie pool while my husband read and I sunbathed a bit.

Unfortunately, by Thursday morning my son came down with a mild fever, which got worse by this morning. There has been an epidemic of infectious diseases in his school, and his two closest friend just recovered from the Sixth Disease. When I googled it, I read "Otherwise known as the three days fever, because it first gives three days of really high fever (39-41)." I thought: great, as if we have not had enough of those this year. Will we even be able to leave next Tuesday?

There are those

When I read this post by Joanna Goddard, I smiled. Ah, the beach. I am a sea creature, probably due to my grandmother's Ligurian origins, and partly due to the yearly visits I paid in my childhood to the beach apartment she had my grandfather buy in Liguria because of it (him, who hated the very essence of the sea, sand and salt partnership). 

Put me on a beach, in the sun, and I am happy. This is also why I smiled. We all need a breath of fresh air. The big move is just a few days away. We are thus taking off to Sestri Levante again for three days. You may think: just three days? I would have taken even one in a flash.

There are those who would buy a Matthew Williamson kaftan and a new bikini for such an occasion. Yet when it comes to beachwear I am very frugal. I thus grabbed a cotton shirt coverup at Benetton while I was shopping for shorts for my son, took out my honeymoons bikinis, forked the Marc Jacobs aviator sunglasses I got in Ottawa last year (no car trip would be perfect without it), and I was good to go.

Which is the last reason why I smiled. Minimal packing. Does it get any better than this?


Photo: Pool at Las Brisas, by Slim Aarons (via All Things Stylish).

The June Packing Edit

Hello everyone and happy Summer Solstice! What does the month of June mean to you?

I have been thinking about this since I read Vogue's latest "Body Issue" (aka getting in shape for summer beach vacations). I then realized that to me, June always means packing, and not in a good way. It means packing to go to at least two climate zones, and three different environments, in Europe. This year, it is still the case, and on a much larger scale. We are moving back from Europe to Canada after a year-long stay. Think nine suitcase, three pieces of hand-luggage, and goods to follow.

A lot of people travel in the summer, and posts about traveling and packing abound. I take a slightly different approach than most, and I think it may be helpful to you how. From my experience, the key to packing is to realistically think about two things: 1) what you will be doing at your destination, and with whom; 2) what is the key item to anchor your clothing choices.

The first point goes beyond the family vs couple vacation issue. Even if you are going on a romantic vacation with your hubby, you need to consider whether you'll just relax on the beach for the whole time, or you'll hit clubs as well in the evening. What you will be doing on vacation will also depend on the weather, and that is always the first thing I check. Although obviously weather forecasts can be wrong, average monthly temperatures are a good indication about whether you'll actually use those summer dresses.

The second point is the best packing advice I have ever come across (from a source unfortunately I do not remember). For me, it translates into identifying the shoes and handbags I will wear on the trip, and then matching everything else to these two choices. (When traveling in fall or winter, the other key anchoring item for me is outerwear). This method has avoided me to carry things around that I end up not using. Once you have chosen your key items, most people will then advise you to identify clothing that you can "mix and match". I am not good at mix-and-match dressing, as you may remember from this post. Hence I have developed the opposite strategy: I plan and pack complete outfits. In fact, I pack outfits for my son as well, and I think it makes life easier for everyone. This is especially the case now that he starts getting dressed by himself.

Last but not least, be honest with yourself. Are you going to do some shopping at your destination? If yes, don't be ashamed to leave a bit of empty space in your suitcase. Nothing worse than not having room for that beautiful pair of Valentino pumps you found on sale :-)


Photo: Net-a-Porter.

What's your summer event season?

Hello everyone! What events are you attending this summer?

In early May, an email by Net-a-Porter reminded me that summer event season is approaching, and that you should make sure that "your wardrobe is stylishly prepared for every occasion." A couple of weeks ago, an email by Shopbop wished to give me a few more suggestions on the same topic.

Is it me or the events in most summer fashion ads are not for the average woman, let alone mom? I think we can all agree that the rest of us did not be attend the Cannes Film Festival and probably will skip the Serpentine Gallery Summer Party in London. How about music festivals, art openings and movie nights at the park? None of these three are on my schedule either. I anticipate I will rather have a summer packed with events of everyday family life: outings at the park, book readings at the local library, maybe a splash in the pool, a yard sale, biking around town, watching movies with friends at home, and organizing a baby shower for my best friend in Montreal.

All of this calls for off-duty dressing. What will it mean in practical terms depends on the weather we will find in Montreal, which can be quite erratic in summer. I can anticipate you what I will not wear: summer boots, one pieces under skirts, overalls, and shorts (remember this post? Whatever the occasion, they have become a big no-no for me). What I will definitely wear are summer dresses if it is warm, and chunky cotton sweaters with colored pants if it is a bit chilly. Add sandals and a pair of black patent peep-toes (if it rains), and voila. How about you?


Photo: Bill Cunningham at the New York Botanical Garden dinner dance on June 17.

Father's Day in the blogosphere

Hello everyone! How did you celebrate Father's day yesterday?

I read a number of posts that made me spend some time to think about his point of view, which I too seldom do, I realized.

Remember how many moms just wanted a break on Mother's Day? It turns out dad wants a break too, because he feels he is doing his best but mom seldom acknowledges his efforts.

New dad? I tweeted the link to this post a while ago, and if you haven't read it yet, please do. It made me understand so many more things.


P.S. For me, the image above takes the cake as the best Father's Day present, by Jane Aldrige's little sister to their dad "to help him dress himself while she is away." 

The heat is on!

Hello everyone! Is it getting hot where you live?

Here the temperature has hit the above 30 degrees range at the end of last week. It is that time of the year where you leave heel prints in the the cement while you walk even if you are wearing 2", just to give you an idea.

I thus had no more excuses. Winter gear could be packed. After a couple of hours of packing panic on Saturday evening, when I stared at the closet helplessly and I thought I was never going to have enough suitcase space for all my stuff, on Sunday morning I tried to conquer my fears. I was so proud of myself, because my FW clothing has fit neatly into just ONE suitcase, and I am hopeful for the rest. Three cheers for me!


Photo: Travel Mama.

On my mind

Hello everyone! Did you have a good weekend?

I made a major step forward in packing for our trip back to Canada next week, which I will tell you all about soon. Meanwhile, these are the things that have been on my mind lately.

The things bloggers are often afraid to share with their readers, and improving my life a little
(already gone through a couple of challenges, here and here, and not doing too bad so far).

Lucio's Ambienti Spaziali. At New York's Gagosian Gallery until June 30.

Creature Comfort's color inspiration daily (I just discovered this blog and I am addicted).

Vincent Bouterrez photo campaign for Louis Vuitton (more here).

Suzanne Jongman's photographic portraits, which I discovered through this great post.

News I am reading

I have always been an an avid book reader, but not so much of a news reader. I guess that, as much as me, you, modern and busy mom, do not necessarily have time to read today's paper, let alone more than one, and god forbid you hunting for the style section amidst all those celluloid layers. I know you are more likely to check the news online, but aren't these constantly changing, and scattered all over the web?

There is a lot of fashion information out there, I discovered. If you are interested about the nuts and bolts of the fashion industry, I recommend you sign up for the daily digest of Business of Fashion, which is excellent. There are, however, not many editorials for the fashion industry's outsiders as us, maybe because we tend to be treated, first and foremost, as consumers.

Hence this digest, which combines fashion and parenting news.

A new study contributes to the motherhood vs. feminism debate by suggesting that feminists are more likely to embrace attachment parenting (Today Moms)

President Obama had dinner with Anna Wintour and Sarah Jessica Parker (Daily Intel)

Man Repeller's Leandra Medine got married in classic Marchesa, and we have yet to see pictures (Racked).

Resort collections, which were shown in Paris last week, etc. are not just vacation flings (NYT).

It's official: Martin Margiela is H&M latest collaboration, hitting stores on November 15 (Reuters).

Would you like to quit your job and move to the country? Amanda Brooks did just that, and left Barneys, and New York (NYT).

The mantra you should embrace, spelled out by a guy: stop thinking, surrender and goop (GOOP).

The Pinterest vs. Facebook faceoff: all you need to know (BoF).

Random thoughts while shopping

Hello again everyone! Planning any fun Friday afternoon activity?

After my major haircut earlier this morning, I set off for what (I think) will be my last shopping outing downtown. As my friend had predicted, sales started earlier this year. After offering pre-sales to selected customers in the past week, even department stores such as Excelsior and La Rinascente have begun offering 40 and 50 percent off selected merchandise.

I have to confess that I did not go downtown to check on the sales. Aside from my recent purchase (for charity) at Convivio, I have not been very interested in shopping lately (remember Belgium?). Rather I went to La Rinascente to check out Celine's new handbag collection for FW12, which arrived in store this morning. I know, I have given up in this obsession a while ago, but I was curious... By the time I got there though (after a rather disappointing lunch at Excelsior), all Luggage models were already sold out. Left were only two large Phantom totes (way too big, in my view) as well as four smaller versions. My favourite among the latter group was a grey suede one. Perhaps the worst surprise was that all prices have gone up quite significantly compared to the previous season, on an average of 200 euros. The Phantom tote I coveted is now 1400 euros, while regular all-leather versions are 1800 euros.

P.S. If you are in town and you like British jewelry designers, you may want to check out the limited editions created for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, on display and on sale at La Rinascente until tomorrow.

Challenge # 3

Hello everyone and happy Friday! How do you feel about new, radical haircuts?

I have a love-hate relationship with my hair. You see, it is wavy. In other terms, neither curly, nor (sob) straight. My hair is also thick, so when blow-dried, it can fuzz up in a fluffy ball. Throughout most of my life, I have had it shoulder-length, an "in between" length I ultimately hated because it made me feel indecisive. During my doctorate, I then found a great hairdresser who cut it short. It was of super-easy mantainance, and made me feel young. A few years later, in preparation for our wedding, I then let it grow out. I wanted to have a romantic hairdo for the occasion and I achieved that effect, but I ended up getting stuck with a one-hour blow-dry & straightening session every time I washed it. Holding on to this session became increasingly difficult as many pregnancy went on, and I had to drastically change it once my son was born. I opted then for the "Katie Holmes" bob that the acress had then just started sporting, and I was quite happy with it.

That was five years ago, and I needed a change. A big one. I also needed a easy-to-care summer haircut that does not imply blow-drying, because honestly I do not even know in which box my blow-dryer is in Canada. The major haircut happened today, and I am happy with it. Just keeping my fingers crossed that I will still like it the first time I wash my hair at home...

Challenge # 2

Hello everyone! Do you remember how I set off on a challenge to improve my life a bit?

I will not deny it, I started with the small things, like waking up early and have a bit of time to myself. It somewhat worked a couple of days ago (remember this post?) and yesterday, and not at all today. Since I am trying to be self-indulgent, I surrendered to the fact that not every day is created equal (trying to embrace Max Greenfield's mantra). And because I was not stuck up about enforcing the waking-up-at-6-am rule I actually discovered, or better remembered, something about myself. I have never been a morning person. When I was studying for my PhD, I used to work until 4 or 5 am, and then sleep until noon. My most productive hours were those last ones before going to bed then as much as, I realized, now. That last hour before going to sleep, and often the last 10 minutes before switching the light off, is when thoughts and ideas accumulate in my mind. Often, I switch the light off and then turn it on again for a few minutes to make notes. Yesterday evening, for instance, I did it because I had not written down an important milestone that my son has experienced (I keep track of those on my iPhone): his first grown-up playdate, where he was picked up from school by a friend's mom, had lunch at his friend's house, and then went to the park where I joined him.

Back to the point. In the past couple of days, I tackled a second challenge: not give up on this blog. You may wonder why I was thinking about giving up on it in the first place. The things is that, in spite of the deep personal satisfaction and enrichment I get from it and from you, lately I have been going through a difficult moment because of our imminent departure and I felt I had nothing to write. I felt that, compared to the hollow I feel in my soul because I am leaving my aging parents alone in Italy while I go back to my normal life in Canada, to talk about fashion and clothing to buy was shallow and meaningless. Add to that the fact that, as of June 1, my sabbatical leave has ended and I resumed my actual job. I will not be teaching until October, but in the meantime I need to reconnect with my colleagues, my students, my research, and the rest of my academic life. I was thus (and I am still) uncertain about the time I can devote to this blog.

I decided not to give up, and you know what? As soon as the decision was made, it felt like unlocking the door to my creativity. Did you notice the flow of new posts that have been pouring in? I hope you liked them.

P.S. I was looking for an image to add to this post and I found this picture by Diana Maria Briceag at 500px titled precisely "Don't give up, believe in your dreams." I think it is beautiful, don't you?

Stylitics

Hello everyone! How do you put an outfit together?

I take mental notes about how to wear things in my closet based on what inspires me in magazines, online, or on the street. Sometimes I go as far as pulling out pages from magazines and scribbling notes on the side. The problem is that I seldom go back to these notes in the morning, when I am rushing to get through the door on time, or even if I lay out my outfit the day before (remember this post earlier today?). I wish there would be someone there to tell me: "Remember? You can wear this top with that sweater" on one of those mornings where I am staring helplessly at my closet's contents without any inspiration (it is morning, after all), and then I inevitably reach for my usual pair of jeans and cashmere sweater.

I have thus been giving some thought about how to achieve this goal without hiring a personal assistant. In this quest, I was excited about the launch of Stylitics, a New-York based startup online service that promises to do just that: keeping track of your outfits, and making recommendations on their basis as well as the current meteorological conditions.

I signed up and have done a quick test of the service by entering what I am wearing today. Rather than snapping pictures of my outfit, I used the built-in database to search for the items I have on, which I have recently purchased. I found the top, but not the pants' brand (Max & Co, a Max Mara affiliate), so in the latter case I used a similar item. My main disappointment is that today's outfit is not as nicely displayed on screen as I would have hoped. In addition, I can see how time consuming would it be to enter all my clothing items in the database.

How about you, would you try such a service, and how would you use it?


Photo: Stylitics screenshot.

The morning rush

Hello everyone! What is your strategy for getting dressed in the morning?

I ask because when I saw the picture of the beautiful Jane in this post I thought: "This is what she put on in less than 2 minutes? Really?" I was thus glad when over at the Lilac Pages I found another mom who lays out her clothes the night before to avoid the morning rush dressing panic...

Crazy fashion

Hello everyone! Have you hit the seasonal sales yet?

I have not really taken advantage of the sales this year (gasp). I believe most department stores and boutiques in the US and Canada should be around forty percent off on spring and summer merchandise by now, but sales in Europe have yet to start (although my fashion mom coach predicts they will begin earlier than usual because of the economic crisis).

As the sales have taken momentum, pre-fall collections have gradually seeped in with their muted colors and occasional touch of animal print and red. I am totally not in the mindset for them yet, but clicking through the Neiman Marcus' website earlier today I came across the "smoking slipper" trend.

Since I do not have a pair of decent slippers and back in Canada I live in them, I thought it could have been a perfect occasion to kill two birds with one stone, if you pass me the expression. Then I looked at the prices and I thought: WTF! (pass me this acronym as well, sorry I feel a bit PMS today). 500$ for a pair of slippers? I am sorry, but they do look like slippers much more than "luxury loafers". I am speechless.

P.S. More crazy fashion here.


Photo: Neiman Marcus.

Apps in review | The quest for the perfect note-taking app

Hello everyone! Do you use apps?

As you may remember from my tribute to Steve Jobs in light of his recent passing (in this post), I could not live without my iPhone and iPad. I use a number of apps and tried many more. In the blogosphere there are numerous posts reviewing apps that can best entertain your kids of all ages, but I find there is a lack of attention to the apps that will make your own life easier. These are rather the apps I am reviewing in this post. I am not entirely sure this will turn into a series but... I have at least a few apps to review so it well might!

According to Sarah Jessica Parker in the movie "I do not know how she does it" (which I reviewed in this post), every mom's mind is constantly occupied, if not hijacked, by "the list" -- the over-reaching, never-ending list of reminders from "baking pie for school fair" to "finish work report." If you are like me, "the list" has spilled over from your head to a multitude of post-its, paper notes, digital notes, napkins, vocal reminders, which together have taken a life of their own into a insatiable Leviathan. Hence, my quest for the perfect note-taking app. I think I have tried most of those available on the app store, and I have very recently arrived at a truce with my notes, lists and reminders.


I like to compartmentalize, so the first distinction I made was between to-do lists and other notes. For to-do lists, I rely on two main apps:

DO IT TOMORROW. This is a great app for quick reminders, such as "buy milk" or "make doctor appointment". Reminders are synced between my iPhone and iPad, which was one of the essential characteristics I was looking for. Although it serves the same purpose of a million other to-do apps out there (including Apple's own REMINDERS built into iOs 5), I love the simplicity of DO IT TOMORROW, where I can write my reminders as if on a regular paper napkin. Plus, if I do not get around to do everything on my list, I can painlessly move it to the following day without too much guilt :-)

THINGS. I use Things to organize my larger personal and work projects, each with their own sublists of things to do. For instance, when we go on a family trip, I generally create a project for that, and then sublists for the things I need to accomplish when packing, getting visas, close the house etc. I recently read that THINGS should soon allow for iCloud syncing, which will be the most welcome addition since now I have to go through the cumbersome process of syncing notes with the use of my laptop as intermediary device.


For general note-taking (including my blogging notes and posts), I rely on four apps:

NOTES. My quick notes go here, and they get synced over the Cloud with all my Mac devices (including my laptop).

EVERNOTE. My home-related and personal notes go here, because they originate from a number of sources (including web-based ones) and I generally need to have access to them from anywhere.

CHAPTERS. My work-related notes are stored in multiple journals in CHAPTERS. This is the only app that I have only on my iPad, but with PDF exporting, I can access the journals from my computer if I need to. So far, I have not yet felt this need though, because CHAPTERS turns my iPad into a real digital notebook that I always carry when I need to.

AWESOME NOTE. Last but not least, this is the app I use the most. It contains my diary and all my blog-related notes. The main drawback of AWESOME NOTE is that is does not allow export to PDF, so I am still nervous about my growing note collection solely backed up through iTunes. For this reason, I have also tried DAILYBOOK, an excellent diary and note-taking app that also allows multiple journals. Yet it does not allow to move easily entries from one journal to the other, which is essential for me, so I went back to AWESOME NOTE.

Although I have not yet used it, I am also in love with the MOLESKINE app. I am hoping to use it for my sketches soon though!

The "improving my life" challenge

Hello everyone! Do you like Mondays?

I do not. Mondays are too full of expectations for what I'd like to accomplish during the week, and because I know I seldom get down to the bottom of my to-do list, they make me feel inadequate.

I wrote this sentence on a personal sharing impulse that I am planning on embracing a bit more often on this blog. In fact, I had started writing an entirely different post yesterday evening: my contribution to "The things I'm afraid to tell you" challenge started by Ez at Comfort Creatures a bit more than a month ago. My post was a raw account full of negativity and allusions to the things that are wrong in my life at the moment. I finished it and realized that I do not want to embrace negativity any more. Hence, I challenged myself to improve, one thing at the time, and to be self-indulgent if I do not make it.

This morning, I tackled item # 1. I love to wake up before everyone else, and have the time to straight-iron my hair, or to spend half an hour on Pinterest, if I want to. I thus put the alarm for 6 am this morning. I was a bit doomed though, because I have slept too little in the last four days. I did finally wake up at 6:30 and washed my hair. Then the housewife in me took over and I decided to tidy up a bit, sort the laundry, and... my son woke up earlier than usual, so I straight-ironed my hair in a rush as usual. You know what though? I did not care. I did it on purpose, because I preferred to cuddle up in bed with my son instead. And since I vowed to be more self-indulgent, I put a big check on item # 1 as well.


Photo: Martin Gunnarsson.

Convivio

Hello everyone! Would you wear a matching handbag and wallet?

This morning I went to check out Convivio, a (predominately) clothing fair benefiting the Italian National AIDS Association (ANLAIDS). When it started, in 1992, it was a VIP-only event held at the Castello Sforzesco. Today, it is a large benefit that draws about 60,000 people to Fiera Milano City, the downtown outpost of Milan's exhibition centre, which happens to be located a block from where we live.

The idea is that contributing brands donate a few items that are then sold at about half price, with all revenue devoted to ANLAIDS. I had seen a preview (here), but today the selection remaining was quite limited. Brunello Cucinelli had a total of 10 pieces in unlikely sizes, and Gucci had only its limited-edition canvas totes created for the event. Nonetheless I was able to score a incredible bargain, in the form of this studded Etro shopper with matching makeup bag and wallet. It felt good to give back, for once!

Memories of Belgium

Hello everyone! Did you have a good week?

We came back from Belgium this afternoon. It was our last trip before we move back to Canada, and we were incredibly lucky because our niece Nina was born a bit ahead of time and we were thus able to meet her. She is really the cutest! (and can you believe that the hospital cafeteria served delicious waffles?)

We were also able to do all our favorite things such as having lunch at my in-laws' golf club upon arrival, going on many explorations in their garden (which includes a few acres of protected forest, my son's favorite part), rediscovering my husband's old Playmobil (totally vintage), and relaxing on the hammock. When the rain came, we retreated playing at Technopolis (and we were a bit puzzled about how to scan a lobster at its kid supermarket), patting virtual dinosaurs at the Museum of Natural Sciences, and exploring the African Museum. We braved the rain in Planckendael, and discovered that my son's favorite elephants were made of wood. I even squeezed in a couple of hours of shopping in Leuven, and discovered my new favorite handbag store along with some cool interior decorating at Essentiel. Surprisingly, and thank to a not-interested-in-buying-anything spell (who knew they even existed?), I came home empty handed though. Aren't these memories so much better than a new sweater?

P.s. If you are going to Antwerp, you need to go and eat at the restaurant Jardin Public. The best nouvelle cuisine I have ever had for big and small palates, and an outdoor playground. Do I need to say more?