New beginnings

Picture source

Everything runs its course and it's time this blog came to an end.

Follow Nathalie's blog - crafty stuff.

Follow Diana's blog - just stuff.

Happy reading,

Nathalie & Diana

The Lime Shop in Toronto this weekend

Diana and I will be in Toronto this Sunday Oct 24th for Canzine (held at The Great Hall). Come by and say hi. We'll have a small run of the Mr. Robot 2.0 grocery shopper (exclusive for events). German Shible, my brother and the artist of this charming robot image will also be there selling his illustrations and small press comic. Be sure to stop by his table.

My linoleum block printed bookmarks for Canzine. Made out of heavy weight cold press paper and acrylic paints.

Current reads and inspiration: Marc Jacobs by Bridget Foley and Rob Ryan's This Is For You.

Hope to see you this weekend.

::: Nathalie

MAC's Venomous Villains, Out Today

Disney's evil bunch, Cruella De Vil, Evil Queen, Mileficent and Dr. Facilier all have their colours for MAC Cosmetics debuting today. The collection includes Beauty Powder (which I'm not keen on), Lipgelée, Lipglass, Lip Stick, Eyeshadow, Eyeliner, Blush, Nail Lacquer, Greasepaint Stick, Magically Cool Liquid Powder all in the characters signature colours.

You can bet I'll be at MAC early to get first dib's on the Evil Queen's Toxic Coral Lipstick and Bite of an Apple Blush. (It seems fitting since she was a favorite of mine growing up.) Be sure to get yours soon because these will probably sell out quick.

::: Nathalie

The Clothing Show 2010

Day One: Shop set up. We changed the layout again one hour before doors open.

New product alert! We introduced our collection of handmade, handprinted tea towels at the show.

It's our last day at the Clothing Show and while we're sad to leave, we're just looking forward to going home and relaxing for the remainder of the weekend. Thanks to everyone who's stopped by.

Nathalie & Diana

Nudie fragrance's for your man

Sometime I feel like I live in a cave. I subscribe to 5 magazines and pick up more off the newstands each month, but apparently it's not enough to keep me informed. I just found out about Marc Jacobs new men's fragrance, Bang.

I recall Diana telling me about a contest on MJ's facebook page and how one of her friends won a Marc Jacobs Stam bag. Diana neglected to tell me about his new fragrance. Knowing Diana's bag envy, she was probably more focused on her friend having won an MJ bag.

::: Nathalie


PS - I should comment how Geoff always laughs at men's fragrance ads. He wants to know who exactly they're targeted towards, seeing as your typical straight male probably doesn't respond to these ads (teehee).

The Impromptu Picnic

Paint splattered chambray shirt; Current/ Elliot. Linen Skirt; See By Chloe.

Bracelet; The Lime Shop. Gold Watch; Michael Kors. Suede Zippered Bag; Alexander

Wang. Crosses Shopper; The Lime Shop. Yellow Sandals; Steve Madden.

Hanging out at Kensington Market with Diana last Friday downing Coke's and beef patties in coco buns. Sitting on my Lime shopper to keep my SBC skirt clean. There's yet another use for your tote bags.

-Nathalie

Net-A-Porter Sale

Net-A-Porter is having an awesome sale with further reductions and new reductions and reductions on reductions! (Can you tell I'm salivating?)

I got the Rebecca Taylor Dotted Denim Jacket for 50% off. I wanted some other stuff but my size seems to be selling fast. Probably for the best.

::: Nathalie

Lady Gaga, Alejandro

Man, isn't Lady Gaga just intriguing?

Classic: brown Gucci and Wayfarers

Friday afternoon I got off work early. Picked up the bff and drove to the Yorkville Anthro. Returned stuff. Went to Gap. Returned stuff. Stopped by Holts for the sale. Bored, bored, bored. Bought Ray-Ban's to go with the new Gucci. Never thought I'd be into Wayfarers or a classic brown leather handbag. Never say never.

::: Nathalie

Guide: Summer Skin Essentials

Nathalie's Summer Skin Care

Just because we love her personal style - here's Olivia Palermo and her pretty minimal makeup.

Summer is here and with it comes the sweaty melty face from wearing a little too much makeup in the hot weather. My solution is to keep it as light and minimal as possible.

A.M. Facial Care

After washing with Neutrogena's Facial Cleansing Bar, I prep my skin with Cucumber Herbal Alcohol Free Toner. Then I dab on Abyssine eye cream, which "diminishes the look of fatigue" and doubles as a wrinkle preventive. I give this a few seconds to absorb before applying Ultra Facial Tinted Moisturized with SPF 15 in medium. I've blogged about it before- this stuff is awesome! It's replaced my M.A.C foundation and I use it year round.

Summer Makeup

Like I said, keep it light and everything will be good. My olive skin is prone to dark under eye circles and some minor discoloration so I use YSL's Touche Éclate in #2 to even out the skin tone. This concealer is pricey at $50 but it stays in place and doesn't fade, which is nice. I set everything with Korres Multivitamin Oil-free Powder in MVP3. For sunny cheeks, I use Korres Monoi Oil Bronzing Powder in Sunglow Light, which is the best bronzer I've tried. It gives a nice colour, not too orange, not too brown and stays on for hours. After applying L'Oréal's Original Voluminous mascara in Black, I curl the lashes with M.A.C's eyelash curler. Finally I finish with a tinted moisturized lip by using either Korres Lip Butters or Kiehl's Lip Gloss. When I don't care for the tinted mouth, I prefer the original Rosebud Salve.

P.M. Facial Care

Wash and tone as usual. At night I prefer Kiehl's Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado. Then I follow with a light moisturizer - Neutrogena's Oil-Free Moisture for Sensitive Skin. I like it since it's light and doesn't have unnecessary fragrances. When my skin is feeling particularly oily, I'll use Kiehl's Rare Earth Pore Cleansing Masque, which nicely gets rid of the slick-fest.

::: Nathalie

Blair's dress on Gossip Girl, 322

While Diana is obsessed with the upcoming Banana e-store, I'm obsessed with Blair Waldrof's dress on Gossip Girl's season finale, "Last Tango, Then Paris" (E. 322).

The dress is by New York designer, Sariah Carson, and you can find it in her Fall 2010 collection. I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for this one!

But seriously, how good was the finale?! Season 4 needs to start NOW!

::: Nathalie

Review: MBMJ Zippy Heart Tote

I got my Zippy Nylon Tote today and it SUCKS! I spent $25 on stupid customs only to return it.

My brother said "That's Marc Jacobs? It's like he's playing a joke on everyone."

Before knowing it was MBMJ, Amy said "Ooo! That bag looks cheap. Return it."

After I told her it's MBMJ, Amy said "Whaaat?! You can get something like that at Pacific Mall for $10!"

Marc by Marc Jacobs Zippy Heart Tote Review:

• Thin cheap looking nylon.
• Unlined.
• No pockets
• The cute little bobbles keeping falling to the bottom because the zipper doesn't secure it in place.
• Thought the heart pouch was removable, but it's not. It only acts as a pouch to hold the nylon tote inside. Even then, it's hard to zip up.
• Disappointing. My brother said it best: It's as if Marc is playing a mean trick on us.

For $168 USD girls, save your money and put it away for a rainy day. This one's going back.

::: Nathalie

Emotional Shopping

MBMJ Zippy Heart Tote - the heart shaped leather pocket unzips to a pouch.

Sometimes I fall for a bag, or a pair of shoes or whatever for no apparent reason. That's how I feel about the Marc By Marc Jacobs Zippy Heart Tote.

I've been looking for it at Holts, but with their limited selection of cool shit, it's no wonder they don't have it. Shopbop is pretty good with their stock but we Canadians get slammed with duty taxes.

This is how I justified my new purchase:

I've been super stressed at work, I won't be getting the MBMJ Mousy Flats (Marc Jacobs shoes just don't fit my feet!), I have tote bag envy since Diana bought her MBMJ and I had a 15% off coupon at Shopbop that ends tonight.

So, I hit the checkout button on my iPhone.

I feel better now. Sorta. I'll feel much better once I get some sleep.

::: Nathalie

Shopbop Coupon Code: INTHEFAMILY15. I do believe the coupon ends tonight. It was a 2 day deal.

Stencil Fun!

Stenciled my tote bag the other day. YAY! Check out the tutorial on the Lime Shop blog.

::: Nathalie

Shoe Score: D:2 N:1

Diana is the proud new mommy of DVF's.

Diana's man, Zach, canoodling her shoes.

Nathalie's next conquest: MBMJ's LOVE I FLATS from SSense

Diana and I have a sick habit of bragging about our conquests to each other. Shopping conquests that is. After 5 seasons of obsessively collecting the latest handbags, we've moved on to a new infatuation; shoes. (The Michael Kors' in our shoe collection don't count. We're talking fresh start.)

It started with my Miu Miu's. Then Diana got Tory Burch's. And in the meanwhile, we were both on the hunt for the perfect Gucci flats. I'm also saving for Marc Jacobs navy grosgrain mousey flats. (Diana thinks mousey flats are lame. Whatever.)

The next shoe purchase would have been mine. But then, Diana emailed me pictures from her iPhone. She bought DVF's! Argh!

Diana's designer shoe collection: 2

Nathalie's designer shoe collection: 1

::: Nathalie (signing off with shoe envy)

Always Use Protection

I bought my Alexander Wang Tina Zip Clutch back in February and meant to protect it's soft, beautiful, navy suede skin with Danier Leather's leather and suede protector. I just never got around to it.

I would pull crazy things like switching my purse last minute if I woke up to a rainy morning. Even better, if I happened to have the purse on me and it would start to rain, I would wear it cross body style underneath my coat and look like either a misshaped pregnant lady, or someone who was going to bust out something crazy underneath her coat. I didn't care. As long as my purse was covered from water, that's all that mattered.

We got some pretty heavy rain last week. My brother and I had driven back to my place together and as I unlocked the front door of the house, he took the gentlemanly courtesy of unloading the car with our bags, including my purse, which usually rides in my back seat when I have a passenger. Anyway, my brother's a smart man and knows my handbags are my babies, (I have issues, I know) and so he sandwiched my purse between two other bags.

Unfortunately, it was somehow exposed to some drops of rain which have left permanent markings. I've since taken the time to spray it, but the damage is done. Remember ladies (and gents), always, always, ALWAYS use protection.

::: Nathalie

Denim Goodness

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. My mind has been occupied with baking and crafting. I better watch out or I'll be joining Diana at Booty Camp... (no offence D. It's awesome you're going.)

Anyhow, I've been meaning to post about my latest fashion obsession. BLUE! Denim shorts, chambray shirt dress, blue and white striped sundress, blue and white striped cropped, loose t-shirt. I'm not kidding. Those are the last few items of clothing I've bought. If it's blue and denim, I want it! (I'll post pics soon, promise.)

But guess what I saw today on Shopbop? The MBMJ Quilty Denim Lila Satchel. So adorable! Would I look like a total freak in all blue?

::: Nathalie

With A Little Love

I got my Little City order yesterday of Yulanda Yee's Cinnamon Hearts.

I remember instantly falling for the simplicity of this photograph. Yulanda always had a way of capturing inanimate objects and making them absolutely beautiful by breathing life into them.

Anyway, I'd intended on buying this piece when Yulanda was still with us and it broke my heart to purchase them the day after she passed.

The Little City folks okay'ed it with her family first, and once approved, I was notified and told that proceeds would go to the Lymphoma Foundation of Canada.

I bought 2 pieces, one for myself and one for Diana, who had known Yulanda for years from their younger blogger days.

I'm glad to have this piece to always remember her by. Even if, I don't think I could forget her. She was an amazing, talented, good person. I miss our dear friend a lot.

::: Nathalie

Meet the new addition to my family.

I have an announcement.

I am the proud mother of a brand new pair of Miu Miu Buffalo Ribbon Cocco's. I picked them up at discount rack at Browns, from $475 down to $199.

Diana saw them first and nearly lost her mind. Size 6 1/2 sitting with the size 8's. When she showed them to me, I nearly lost it.

Now when someone says, "Cute shoes." I can respond with, "Thanks." (This is my queue to flip my hair like I'm the shit.) "They're Miu Miu."(Just kidding.)

::: Nathalie

(I realize the jeans in the fourth picture are completely inappropriate for these babies.)

Who needs "influence"?

The real deal, MBMJ Petal to the Metal Cross Body

Alexander Wang rip off bags at H&M, $14.95

The real deal, Nathalie's Alexander Wang Tina Zip Clutch

If you read our blog, you'll know that Diana and I are handbag snobs. It just kinda happened one day. After buying our first designer bag, there was no way we could go back to anything else. Since then, we've been able to spot which designer "influenced" the significantly less expensive version.

This past weekend, we ducked into Town Shoes for a quick look. Diana handed me a bag that looked strikingly like the Marc by Marc Jacobs Petal to the Metal Cross Body.

"When did they start selling MBMJ?" I asked. But it wasn't. It was their house brand.

Then today, at H&M, we walked by a display of Alexander Wang Tina Zip Clutch "influenced" bags. I'm gonna pull the snob card here and tell you that I have the real deal in my closet. So I asked Diana "Am I a sucker for spending big bucks on my bag or does H&M suck for replicating it?" Diana's a good friend and told me H&M sucked. Plus, their version is pretty awful as "influenced" items goes. Apparently $14.95 gets you the latest "it" bag.

::: Nathalie