How long is your Christmas gift list?

Hello everyone! Have you started making Christmas lists?

It seems that it is the only thing most people are doing or thinking about these days. This is why I got curious about how many people you are getting presents for. There are obviously those for whom budget is not a constraint, like a woman I recently saw at the Gucci store in Holt Renfrew (I was window shopping, of course). She had a long paper list and she was getting gifts at Gucci for all those people (yes, I was tempted to ask whether she could have squeezed in one more person...).

My husband and I are quite budget-conscious but that is not the main driver of our gifting choices. For my son, for instance, we cap the number of gifts to three, because he receives quite a few little presents and many books throughout the year, from either us or our relatives from overseas (we got two sets of those!). For our families, we do not have the tradition to mail presents to Europe, and we exchange gifts only if we actually meet them during the holidays. In our university departments there is no custom of exchanging gifts with colleagues, and we buy gifts only for our closest friends. This means that my gift list is quite short! How about you? I'd love to hear.

P.S. Don's you love the personalized Santa sack pictured above?

Montrealers don't know sales

Hello everyone! Have you shopped the Thanksgiving sales?

Canada generally follows the European tradition of having season sales after Christmas. Since the onset of the economic crisis, which has brought about more competition from across the US border, stores in Canada had to change their sales calendar to best compete for the same pool of cash-stripped customers. In the past three years, sales have begun earlier and earlier. This year, Holt Renfrew begun a 40% "pre-sale" of Fall merchandise last Thursday, the same day as American Thanksgiving. Many other stores have done the same. Even the stores who had not planned to, last Sunday were having "one day only" special deals.

As I was feeling quite "blah" last weekend, I tried to beat the blues by checking out the sales downtown and possibly score a new pair of winter boots. What was I thinking? The stores were packed with customers who obviously don't know what a good sale is. Holt Renfrew pre-sale applied to such a small selection of merchandise that looking for the right rack was almost like a treasure hunt. In most other places, the highest markdown was 30 percent. I mean, it barely covers the taxes! Since I had urgently to buy winter boots (it was supposed to start snowing today!), I swallowed my customer pride and profited of 20%-off for the faithful pair of Pajar boots that I buy every other year. As happy as I am that I did so, since today it started snowing indeed, I cannot help but drool for the amazing discounts across the border...

Apps in review | Analog apps

Hello everyone! Have you heard of analog apps?

As TechCrunch puts it, analog apps "use physical contraptions to change or alter a smartphone's functionality in a decidedly homegrown way." In other terms, they are physical supports that are designed to interact with a smartphone to expand the capabilities of the latter. The analog app presented in the video above, AbracadabrApp, is the latest project in this category. Its makers are currently raising funds for production, and you can contribute by pledging here (if your pledge is 40$, you will be one of the first to receive the new product once it ships).

The iPhone's integration with a Moleskine notebook is not a new concept. If you want to try it out, you can hit your local Apple store or go online to buy one of Evernote's "Smart Notebook by Moleskine." For approximately 25$, this notebook exploits your smartphone's digital camera to scan and bring into Evernote your handwritten notes.

Analog apps are cool, but all in all I am not sure I am sold to the idea. I take a ton of pictures with my iPhone, but for higher-end, more professional ones (read: the ones I may want to edit and add filters to) I use my professional camera. In addition, there are a number of digital apps that allow you to apply filters to pictures taken with the iPhone, and they make the idea behind AbracadabrApp seem cumbersome. What do you think?

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!

Hello everyone! Did you have a good Thanksgiving weekend?

Any other year, we would have also organized Thanksgiving dinner with a small group of American friends who have lived a long time in the US as we did. This year, however, ours and our friends' busy schedules did not allow us to celebrate together last Thursday. Friday was not a holiday, and we all had meetings, deadlines and courses to teach. Fortunately, we did not skip this tradition altogether, and on Saturday night we were invited by a couple of American friends for a late Thanksgiving dinner. It was a lovely evening, one of the rare adult-only evening that my husband and I lately get to enjoy.

Nonetheless the emotional turmoil associated with my parents' departure after their visit in occasion of my son's birthday, and the upcoming work week charged with many problems, did not make me enjoy it as much as I would have liked. In fact, this morning I found myself particularly drained, and all the excitement for the upcoming holiday season (and my birthday in less than two weeks!) seems to have vanished...


Illustration by Creature Comforts.

Pregnancy Style Diary, week 26 | Maternity wear, take 2

Hello everyone! Remember how I had set off yesterday to look for basics for my last trimester?

Although my first outing for maternity wear had been quite disappointing, I decided to give it another shot and went to two places: Apso Bibi and Bloom Maternity.

Apso Bibi (5274 Boulevard Saint Laurent, Montreal) was a great place to discover. It carries a good selection of brands (from Citizen of Humanity jeans to Isabella Oliver dresses), but I found that its most attractive feature is a really convenient price-quality ratio. Flattering dresses range from 100 to 200 CAD, and come numerous styles. I tried on several ones, and left with a great black wrap dress with removable feather pin, which I will be able to wear as a day dress (without the pin) as well as an evening dress for the upcoming holiday season. I will probably go back for the side-ruched blue dress as well...

Bloom Maternity (4937-B Sherbrooke Street, Westmount) is a store I already knew well. I have made frequent trips here during my first pregnancy, as well as this one, mainly to buy designer maternity jeans or have my own ones converted into maternity style (remember this post?). Yesterday I was a bit out of luck because in the past few weeks the store has been running a big sale, and it was waiting to restock. I had my eyes on a great pair of black pants, which unfortunately were too big, and I am looking forward to go back once my size gets back in stock.

Together with the pants, the main item that I have not been able to cross off my list are knits. Even upscale maternity stores like Apso Bibi or Bloom Maternity carry a small selection of cashmere or merino wool knitwear. Do you have any suggestions?

P.S. In the two pictures of Apso Bibi at the top of this post, you can admire Stephanie Chiriqui's stunning pictures. I have been long wondering whether to have professional pictures taken while I am pregnant and now I am quite tempted. Did you do it? Would you recommend it?

P.P.S. Click here for more posts in the "What I wore through my pregnancy" series.

Pregnancy Style Diary, week 25.6 | Working on the basics

Hello everyone! Would you like an update about my quest for the pregnancy wardrobe basics of my last trimester?

Basics are those clothing items we always reach for first in our closet. I have looked back at the clothes that have made me feel most put together so far, and at the upcoming events I will attend in the next three months. Taking into account the items that still fit me, and the fact that temperatures will continue to drop, here is what I have come up with:

• 1 pair of black or dark grey pants, straight and/or cropped in order to be tucked nicely into winter boots;

• 2 oversized sweaters (not too thin to avoid embarrassing transparency issues, and not too chunky to avoid the "stuffed" look);

• 2 t-shirts for layering (under the sweaters above as well as under the jackets I already own);

• 2 long-sleeves sweater dresses;

• 1 evening dress for the upcoming holidays (thank goodness I am not celebrating with the same people every time!).  

I am off to the local maternity store on the hunt for item # 1, so expect a report soon!

P.S. Click here for more posts in the "What I wore through my pregnancy" series.


Photo: Nordstrom.

The handbag face-off

Hello everyone! If the price tag would not be a concern, what would you pick, a Celine Luggage Tote or Saint Laurent's new Classic Duffel?

A lot of digital ink has been spent to discuss the impact of Hedi Slimane's arrival at Yves Saint Laurent, whether in relationship to his new aesthetic approach or to his decision to change the brand's name.

The latest chapter in this novel has to do with the designer's redesign of the brand classic duffel. At least a few have praised the sleek, extra-minimalist design. Purseblog, however, has taken a stand against the bag's future popularity, because "it's not much of anything." I am siding with Purseblog on this one. Given the price tag (close to 3000$), I would rather opt for a Celine luggage tote or any of Chloé's latest productions. What about you?

The holiday sweater

Hello everyone and happy Monday! Are you into holiday sweaters?

Although we are not yet past Thanksgiving, the retail and fashion business have been into holiday mode for almost a couple of weeks. Enter the reign of the holiday sweater, which is always featured around this time of the year. I am generally not one of the followers of this trend, because I find that the holiday sweater brings about the much-laughed-about stereotype of a knit hand made with good intentions, but impossibly ugly (remember the movie Bridget Jones Diary, just to cite one?). Going through Net-a-Porter's selection for this year, I fell in love with one though: Phillip Lim's snowflake embellished wool sweater (pictured above), which has the right amount of sparkle but is subdued enough for my taste. Then again, with a price tag of almost 500$, is it the piece you would invest in for the holiday season?

Pregnancy Style Diary, week 25.2 | Damage report

Hello everyone and happy Sunday! If you would have to identify the key pieces of your pregnancy's last trimester, what would they be?

I have taken an extremely minimalist approach to this pregnancy when it comes to clothing. I was lucky, because I sailed through the first trimester in my own summer dresses, the few pairs of jeans I tweaked into maternity style lasted until a few days ago, my new favorite ruched dress had approximately the same lifespan, and I could fill the gaps with my own clothing. So far. Now my closet looks more like the leftover rack of a successful sample sale than the carefully edited selection it was just three weeks ago.

In fact, today I did just that: I moved the few items of clothing that still fit me onto one small rack. They are:

• 3 pairs of maternity jeans
• 1 pair of dressy maternity trouser jeans
• 2 long sleeves dresses (one of which is at the end of its rope, so to speak)
• 3 sweaters (one of which I will have to discontinue in a week or so)
• 1 evening sweater

That's when I began drawing a plan about how to dress for the remaining 3 months of this pregnancy, and when all those articles and blog posts about "wardrobe basics" came to mind. Stay tuned.

P.S. Click here for more posts in the "What I wore through my pregnancy" series.

Pregnancy Style Diary, week 25.1 | Puffer time

Hello everyone! Have temperatures dropped where you live?

In Montreal the winter is gradually seeping in. So far, I have been able to rely on my trusted Aspesi light puffer, which has somehow been able to bend a few law of physics and accommodate my belly in its size 4. Time has come to retire it though, as I fear that the zipper may soon give up.

I am not one of those people who can go through the Canadian winter with just a coat, so puffer shopping, here I come. Unfortuntely, choices are limited. In fact, they seem to boil down to one of two alternatives: the M coat (pictures above), or a cheap polyester variety.

The M coat seems quite promising: it is a down puffer (read: warm), comes in an array of colors, and can be adjusted from pre- to during to after-pregnancy. As my mom correctly pointed out when I tried it on, the pregnancy version is quite ugly though. The price tag is also close to 500$, definitely more than I am wiling to invest for the last three months of my (probably) last pregnancy.

Today I thus took a trip to my closest Winners. I found a great-looking, 100% down puffer in 2 sizes larger than my usual one for 150$. It is slightly big on the shoulders, but who cares?

P.S. Click here for more posts in the "What I wore through my pregnancy" series.

"You are what you wear" is not just fashion talk

Hello again everyone! Do you want to know some very interesting science related to fashion?

I am relaxing on the couch after a quite hectic couple of weeks, and I am finally catching up with reading and blogging. We all know that clothes hold the power to influence how we feel about ourselves. It turns out that this is not just fashion talk though. A study published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology earlier this year (and that I got acquainted with thanks to the latest issue of Flare, no less) shows that how we perceive our clothes directly influences how we feel in them. These findings fit into a growing scientific field called embodied cognition, which boils down to the idea that we think not just with our minds but also with our bodies, including the clothes we wear. Cool uh?

P.S. The New York Times covered the study as well, in case you are interested.


Photo: Illustration from Birdie's Big-Girl Shoes by Sujean Rim, via Be the best version of you... while wearing heels.

MMM for H&M: Did you go?

Hello everyone and happy Friday! Did you go yesterday to the launch of the Maison Martin Margiela for H&M?

I had actually forgotten it was yesterday. In my mental calendar, the launch was today, November 16. Right before lunch, while I was downtown looking for a new puffer jacket (more on this later), I started seeing people with the MMM for H&M shopping bag, and I realized I must have gotten the day wrong. Not that I could have possibly lined up at 7 am in my present condition, although I surely entertained the idea (remember this post?). Nonetheless, as I rushed to H&M, I was a bit bummed that I missed the event.

This turned out not to be true though. At 11:45 am, H&M in downtown Montreal was fully stocked with the whole collection, in a number of different sizes. I think that the reason is that the much-hyped collection, which I had also been lusting over for weeks, was really not worth it. The quality of the clothing was appalling low. The white puffer, which I had considered buying, looked like a cheap duvet that you could find in the back racks at Target. Most disappointing to me was the quality of the leather goods. The shoes and boots with the perspex heels that I had fallen in love with in the lookbook were made of a plastic-looking leather, and were poorly engineered for support and comfort. Last but not least, the beige leather shopper was so heavy and cheap-looking that I would never considered wearing it.

It took me a whole of 15 minutes to get in and get out. Wasn't I glad that I had not woken up at 7 am.


Photo: The "silent march" for the launch of the MMM for H&M collection by Fashionologie.

Library fun

Hello everyone and happy Wednesday! Did you go to the local library when you were little?

I never did. Libraries in Milan were stuffy old places totally unsuitable for a kid. I grew up thinking that libraries were the opposite of fun. In senior year, I had to go to the Central Library for some research, and it was not a pleasant experience even at that age.

That is why I immediately loved libraries in North America. They are places where you want to go and hang out, reading a book or doing your stuff. Discovering our local library in Montreal after my son was born has made me fall in love with libraries all over again.

Today I took my son to his weekly "Book reading and Crafts". A librarian first reads a couple of books to the kids, and then they have to make a small craft inspired by the books. My son loves it!

It is just one of the many activities that the library organizes, whether it is an Halloween scavenger hunt and "Spooky Craft" session, or a meeting with Mo Williams' Piggy and Elephant. Our library was indeed one of the things that I missed the most last year when we were in Italy. Does your local library organize any fun activities for kids? I'd love to hear.

Birthday party Jedi training

Hello everyone! Have you ever hired a hero for your kids' birthday party?

That's exactly what we did for my son's 6th birthday party last Sunday, and it was a real blast. A Jedi master came first to train the kids in the art of lightsaber fighting, and then they completed their training by facing no other than Darth Vader. All my son's friends left saying it had been the best birthday party ever!

If you live in Montreal, I totally recommend Hire-a-Hero for your parties!

Memories from Washington DC

Hello everyone! Curious about what we ended up doing in Washington DC?

In my last post, I was at the airport about to leave for the US. Although we did not stay there very long, once we came back we have been busy with such a flurry of activities (my parents coming to visit and my son's 6th birthday party -- more on this later) that last week has completely slipped through my fingers.

We had a wonderful family holiday in Washington DC. During the summer, we had also taken a couple of short trips, but I had been so tired at the beginning of my pregnancy that I could not really enjoy them. This time, I am much bigger (my mom says that I look like I was eight months pregnant!), but I was not too tired and we walked around a lot without me feeling too exhausted -- which was a big confidence booster.

Aside from doing, once again, the "usual" tour (White House) and going back to a few of our favorite spots (such as the Air and Space Museum and the Zoo), we did a lot of new things. We admired the National Monument at sunset from the top of the W hotel, which was a truly spectacular view, and we visited the National Geographic Museum, which I totally recommend if you are in town. We had great food (my mouth is still watering for the red beets risotto we had at Ici Urban Bistro in the Sofitel) and even better kids' food (a stop at the Dupont Circle Hotel for their breakfast Bento box is a must). We hung out with some of our best friends and their kids. And then there was that blue box. No other shopping for me, but it was all worth it!

We're on our way to Washington DC!

Hello everyone and happy Friday! Do you have any fun plans for this weekend?

We are on our way to Washington DC to celebrate a dear friend's 40th birthday. I have been dreaming about this trip for months and we have a lot of activities and shopping planned (hoping that neither me nor my son will come down with the flu that has kept my husband in bed for the past two days). Follow us on Instagram for updates about our trip!

P.S. I love travelling with my husband, because we get access to the airline lounges...

Memories from Halloween

Hello everyone! I hope you had a wonderful Halloween or, if you are among those who had to postpone it because of hurricane Sandy, you are going to have a candy blast soon.

I think that this year we totally made up for last year's small and unusual celebration in Europe. We did the local library's Halloween scavenger hunt last Saturday night, a spooky craft session on Monday afternoon, and a Halloween party plus trick-or-treating last night. The most important thing missing was my husband, who had to stay at home sick with the flu, although this year, for the first time in ages, he even had a costume. Well, we'll save it for next year for sure!

P.S. What did you wear to take your kids trick-or-treating? Every year that is an issue for me, but this time my pregnancy made it easier by forcing me to wear my regular clothes!

Pregnancy Style Diary, week 22.6 | Time for dresses!

Hello everyone! When your pregnant belly started bulging out, what did you find to be most comfortable, pants or dresses?

As you may remember (evidence here and here), I am a pants person. The first thing I got tweaked during this pregnancy were my jeans. Nonetheless, I know defeat when I see it. The above-mentioned jeans are getting tighter and tighter by the second, and dresses are looking more and more attractive.

This beauty by 10 Crosby for Derek Lam arrived in the mail 10 days ago from Shopbop. I always wanted to try this line, and I wanted to be a bit more experimental during this pregnancy. Plus, the color seemed totally appropriate for the upcoming holiday season.

When it arrived in the mail, I was impressed by the quality of the garment. The fabric is thick and not at all transparent (something I was worried about from the picture on the website). Nonetheless, when I put it on, I thought the color was really too "out there" for a woman in my condition, so I put it aside. This morning I had a presentation at work, and I decided to try it on again. It was love at first sight! The color was still vibrant but I felt very comfortable in it. The only problem: in the meantime, my belly had grown too much, so I'll have to return it :(

P.S. Click here for more posts in the "What I wore through my pregnancy" series.