Outfit #1

1. School Boy Blazer – J Crew
2. High Waisted Skinny Jeans – DSTLD 
3. Blouse D17 – Oak and Fort
4. Ankle Boots – Poppy Barley
5. Pivot Pendant Necklace – Madewell
6. Transport Tote – Madewell

Outfit #2

1. Tank Maxi Dress – Madewell
2. Air Spun Cardigan – JCrew Factory
3. Scarf Mosaic/Marigold + Black – Blockshop
4. Jewelry – Oak and Fort
   1. Black ring 1
   2. Black ring 2
   3. Earings
5. The d’Orsay Flat – Madewell

My first Wes Anderson movie I ever watched was Bottle Rocket back in 1996. I adored the quirkiness, the way it was shot and the wonderful dialogue….then Rushmore came out and I knew this director was something special. What I adore the most about Wes Anderson is the way he shoots his films, his sense of artistic flair and creativity that he brings. Those sets! Those costumes! The writing! The deep character development and the elaborate story telling compel you to absorb yourself into the wonderful creative world that only he can bring to life on screen. I haven’t missed one of his films and I truly respect him as an artist and a storyteller. I’m thrilled that the Academy has acknowledged him. He is a unique piece of non-traditional Hollywood royalty.

I adored the Grand Budapest Hotel; Ralph Fiennes is absolutely brilliant in this role as is the rest of the cast. With 9 nominations, it is making quite the buzz! I hope it picks up a few well-deserved awards!

Win or lose, congrats to Wes Anderson a true artist and master of his craft!

Here’s a few of my favorite songs of his. So hard to pick a few….

A few items on my Lolë wish list

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Tokyo offers quite a bit for everyone to see and is worth spending at least 4 days to take in all the sights.

Just a short train ride outside of Tokyo there’s a hidden gem (in my opinion) especially if you have kids (big or small). There is a Cup of Noodle museum. The museum is located in Yokohama a half hour (or so) train ride from Tokyo. Once you get off the train, it is a short walk (15 mins) to the museum (look for the giant ferris wheel – it’s right across the street). The bonus about this museum is that you get to make your own cup of noodles! I mean it is super, super fun and worth exploring. The museum itself is super modern and interesting but the best part is when you get into the room where you get to create your own cup of noodle! I mean come on! It wasn’t too expensive either, they give you a cup and put you at a table where you design your own cup (pens, glitter and so on) and then you get to put whatever you’d like inside with the noodles at the noodle bar. Then afterwards you seal the cup and place it in a special bag. It’s so much fun! I know it’s for kids but we had a blast. Just keep this in mind – they are closed on Tuesdays!

Since we were short on time but really wanting to go to Kyoto, we decided to make it for the day. It’s a long commute but it was worth seeing, if we had more time, we would have stayed longer. We picked our top three things that we really wanted to see in Kyoto. Those included the Monkey Park Iwatayama, the Fushimi Inari Shrine and the Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion).

To start off we headed to the Monkey Park it’s a bit of a hike up the mountain but it is so worth it. This isn’t a park where the monkeys are kept in cages, these monkeys are free to roam the mountains and we are the guests. There is a cage where the humans go to feed the monkeys so it’s safe for us. Make sure you wear good shoes the hike up is pretty steep and you’ll run into monkeys on the way.

The Fushimi Shrine was our second stop, this is fantastic and worth stopping by to check out. It has thousands of tori gates, which go up the mountain (see map below) and there are several fox statues throughout the shrine all dedicated to the gods of rice. It takes about 2 or 3 hours to fully hike it, which of course we didn’t have but go up a little bit and check out the history.

Our last stop on our whirlwind visit to Kyoto was the Golden Pavilion. This is so beautiful, the grounds are lovely and peaceful and it is such a beautiful building. It is covered in gold leaf and just breathtaking. You can’t go in but you can take pictures from across the pond and walk by it. There are statues throughout the small park grounds and you can throw coins in the lucky fountain. It’s absolutely beautiful to see.

It took us about 6 hours to put them together and set them up. Our ceilings are just a bit over 8ft we had to build them standing up so that was great fun. Ikea is innovative though and it was quite easy to set the base units up just time-consuming. What took us the longest was setting up the drawers and KOMPLEMENT pieces. The two of us took our time and read the instructions and slowly built them piece-by-piece. I haven’t purchased any doors yet as I wanted to test things out first to see how I like it and go from there.

I am so thrilled with the result! I can actually see my clothes and find things easily and getting ready in the morning is so much faster and I feel really organized! My clothes aren’t all in a bunch in the back corner of my closet and I can actually see what I have and quickly grab it. I’m sure I’ll add more and adjust them as I go but for now it seems to be working out.

I feel like down the road, we might knock the closets down in the bedroom and convert it into a giant Pax wall. I absolutely love these things and highly recommend them.

I decided since I already had a Malm dresser and Stave mirror to set them up in between the two units to see how that works. So far so good!

What we purchased

2 PAX base units

1 KOMPLEMENT pull out tray

1 KOMPLEMENT glass shelf

2 KOMPLEMENT clothes rails

4 KOMPLEMENT drawers

3 KOMPLEMENT shelves

1 KOMPLEMENT pull-out pants hanger

For moisturizer, I really like Dr. Roebucks Face. Dr. Roebucks in an Australian company, all natural product line and isn’t tested on animals. The Dr. Roebucks face cream is BPA and paraben free and has Vitamin E, Macadamia Oil and Rosehip oil to name a few. I love how it smells and I love how it works! I have very sensitive skin so I don’t like to use products that are heavy in perfume and this one is just right. In Canada, you can find it at Murale and a few Shoppers Drug Marts carry it or you can get it online on their website. I know it’s expensive but it lasts me 4-6 months and you don’t need to put a lot on.

For makeup, I prefer a tinted moisturizer to foundation in the summer months and use foundation in the winter months. I really like a like called 100% Pure out of California. Totally cruelty free and all natural products are used to make the makeup. It’s absolutely fantastic!

I’m a huge fan of the tinted moisturizer which is made with fruit pigments.  It has SPF 20 built-in and goes on smoothly and lasts. In the winter months I switch to the water foundation and mix it with a dab of the tinted moisturizer. The coverage is great and I find it lasts and makes my skin have a nice even complexion.

Another product I really like is the fruit pigmented powdered blush and there are lots of colours to choose from!

You can order it on their website. They usually have additional deals when you purchase online which are worth it. Sadly it isn’t free shipping though to Canada unless you spend over $105 but I think it is to the US.

If you’re in the US, you can pick it up at some Walgreens but I can’t find it anywhere in Canada. It is pricey but for chemical free and cruelty free products it’s worth it.

I’m all for cruelty free, chemical free and supporting these companies! Hopefully they become the new “trend”!

Tokyo is very large but easy to navigate and very safe. We don’t speak Japanese but we managed just fine. Tokyo is divided into districts. Essentially each area offers something interesting and unique. The subway map looks very intimidating and it took us a little bit to figure it out but once you get going it’s easy and is a great way to travel around Tokyo.

One district over is Shibuya -Ku which is where the famous Harajuku is and Shibuya. Harajuku is cool but packed! So expect line ups everywhere and go on the weekend to check out the crazy clothing they wear. I’d suggest a stop at Shibuya to take in the busiest crosswalk in the world. It is something to see and experience. Do cross at it and take it in from the ground but then go up (there’s a Starbucks with seats) and just sit there and watch the crowds. It is absolutely amazing to watch!

Then check out the Tokyo Tower which reminded me of the Eiffel tower in size and scale. Roppongi is also around there and is more night clubs and the bar scene which didn’t really interest us that much but we went during the day to quickly check it out and I wasn’t overly impressed. The Tokyo Tower is neat though. Especially at night. Our hotel was right around there, its super safe, quiet and quite a nice area with small restaurants and parks.

Another “sky view” we enjoyed was the Tokyo SkyTree. Get there early to avoid long line ups and be sure to go all the way up and spend time taking in the cool views from up there.

In Ginza (the shopping district) check out Uniqlo it’s 11 stories of clothing and you can find stuff that will fit you if you’re from North America! I’m aware that this store can be found in North America but this store is their flagship and is really worth checking out. The prices aren’t too bad either (for Japan) and I found some unique t-shirts (that actually fit me) that they don’t have elsewhere.

Next hop on the subway and head over to my favourite store Muji. This store has amazing housewares and clothing and furniture. Simplicity and oh so Japan! It is a gem and has to be checked out. The flagship store can be found in Yurakucho and is huge! It has a really, really good café and also has their prefab houses which are so cool to check out! This flagship store carries items that you won’t be able to find anywhere else in the world and is worth taking the time to walk through and take in the entire line of items that Muji carries.

Finally to end a shopping day, go to the “Kitchen District” Kappabashi which is, between Ueno and Asakusa. It’s where restaurants go to buy all their knives, dishes and it has everything you can imagine! Right down to plastic sushi and other foods! If you’re into cooking check it out, it is so interesting and there’s good deals on all sorts of things.

I’ll write about our adventures in Kyoto and other areas of Tokyo and surrounding areas that I had an opportunity to visit in another post. I can’t wait to go back to Japan some day and explore it even more! For more pictures visit my Instagram account and for my hotel reviews visit my Trip advisor account.

When walking through a show home remember that they make them all fancy and pretty to entice a buyer. Make sure you ask what is a standard item and what is an upgrade. Get them to walk through the house with you and point out all the upgraded features so you have an idea. Remember that every upgrade = $$$.

Go downstairs in the basement. I know it’s not exciting but look at the floor down there is it full of cracks? Check the furnace is it leaking? Check the hot water tank. Is there a bathroom roughed in? How many windows? Is there a sump pump? These things make your home function so it’s really important that they are good quality. You’d be surprised how many builders don’t include specific things.

Step two when you like a builders show homes is to check out some spec homes. Normally a builder will have many quick possession homes, which are homes that the builder builds to plan that aren’t show homes. Go see these, they will be half built but it will give you a really good idea of the quality of workmanship and also to see plans that aren’t full of bells and whistles. Sometimes you can even see homes that other people are in the process of building. These will give you good ideas of how to alter the plans and what is possible.

If you like a specific plan, work with a builder to customize it to your liking. Do it now because when the house it built, changing structural things are very expensive. Ask them to print you out a rendering of the new plan, all the builders I’ve spoken to will work with you to make the changes you want. Try and find a builder that is willing and flexible with the design and layout so that you can make it work for you. Don’t feel pressured and ask questions. Talk to other people if you can who have built a house. They will be a vault of information and will tell you small things to look for.

We have walked through probably 20 show homes to date and many, many spec homes all over the city. I’ve spoken to a hand full of builders and I’m slowly narrowing it down to one builder. I ask a lot of questions and I’m sure I annoy them but who cares! It’s your house!

Still making our mind up if we want to go down this long road. The average build time is about 1 year right now so it’s going to be a long, long road!

One of my favourite rooms that she tackled was the master bedroom of her modern minimalism design (page 227) inexpensive Ikea cabinets and a unique headboard which brings the room to life  and of course the Eames chairs which are my favourite thing. I always dreamt of having a house like this.

On one of her recent TV episodes she built a cookie cutter house from scratch in the suburbs and made it unique. Although these episodes were of a huge 3000 square foot house, which is way too big for us, it got me thinking that maybe I could look into building my own house and adding things to it to make it unique on a much smaller scale and budget of course!

So we have started the process of looking into possibly building a house. Have you ever looked into building a house? It’s insane! All the details, the rules and regulations, its very restrictive and yet very appealing to have something new. So here we go! We’ve been researching builders, areas, layouts and designs and walking through many, many show homes to try and find one that works for us. There are only two of us, and a puppy right now so we don’t need anything big.

Sarah Richardson mentions to skip on the size and focus on something smaller and enhance the space using the upgrades they have (wisely of course) so this is what we plan to do! Am I anxious about doing this? 100% yes – so many things could go wrong but excited with the endless good things that will come out of doing this as well!

Fingers crossed we find something that works for us.