I also write for / Scriu si pentru


I also write for / Scriu si pentru

Revista Tango Romania


Sunday, June 15, 2014

What I Have Been up to Lately

Not much, really. I’ve been pretty busy at work, so I didn’t really get to enjoy much of free time in the past few weeks. One of the previous weekends my family and I went out on a promenade on the shore of the Lake Ontario in Whitby, the Toronto suburb where we reside. The weather was gorgeous, albeit a little chilly and windy on the lake shore, and we walked down the beach enjoying the view of the lake and of the White Lighthouse from Whitby.







Meanwhile my lilac from my garden bloomed, as it blooms about this time of the year – end of May, beginning of June. This year I noticed my lilac was a little late, it bloomed at a later date than I remember it did last year, and I gather its lateness was due to the harsh winter that we had in Toronto this year.


Remember my Valentine blue roses that I showed you a few months ago? Those were the first blue roses I have ever got. I knew about their existence, but I had never seen them “live” before this year’s Valentine, so it was a really nice surprise from my hubby. I kept them in the vase for about three weeks after Valentine, but they were so gorgeous, that I simply couldn’t possibly part with them, so I found a way to preserve them and keep them. I used a hairspray to dry them, and I still have them on my dinner table in my living room, four months later. One of them is in my office at work, on my desk.


I had a new dessert experience recently – macarons. Aren’t they absolutely delicious? I’ve read a lot of comments, reviews and blog posts about them, and they sounded so tasty and decadent, that I said to myself I have to try them. Laduree are, of course, everyone’s number one choice when it comes to macarons, but I am yet to find some Laduree macarons in Toronto. I hear there is a patisserie in Toronto that carries them, but I haven’t had the time to find the place and go there yet. Meanwhile, I thought to try some other macarons, so after a Google search this Friday I found a few places in Toronto that carry macarons. I work downtown Toronto, so the closest patisserie from my office that I found is located at The Bay store from 176 Yonge Street, steps away from my work, and it's called O&B Artisan. I went there during my lunch hour on Friday, and I got these absolutely delightful and decadently delicious beauties. They had five flavours, so I bought two of each. These macarons are made by Bobbette & Belle, which is quite a popular macaron place in Toronto. My family also liked them, and their high price is totally worth it ($25 for 10). On the other hand, they are so sweet (I don’t even dare think of the amount of calories they have), that you have one, and you have enough. Maybe that’s why they are so pricey, because you don’t stuff yourself with a dozen of them at once, you can only have one macaron at a time and you’ve satisfied your sweet tooth, even two at a time is too sweet and too much.



Today is Father’s Day in Canada, and my family celebrate our Daddy, John. Happy Father’s Day, sweetheart! My son Alex had a beautiful gift for his Dad which he made at school, a card and a photo frame, and my gift for Dad was a Christopher Bates black dress shirt.




Photo credit: Victoria West

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Swarovski Unveils the New Collection for Fall-Winter 2014-2015 in Toronto

Recently Swarovski invited fashion media from Toronto to preview the new collection of jewelry and accessories for the upcoming Fall-Winter 2014-2015 season during a fabulous event that took place at Gardiner Museum in Toronto last month (on April 30th). Gardiner Museum is a venue that hosted Swarovski events in the past as well, I attended one of them back in 2011. So this time I had the pleasure of revisiting the museum for yet another Swarovski presentation, along with a friend of mine. The new collection features both women’s and men’s jewelry and accessories, and it will be available in stores and online at Swarovski.com later this year, in August-September 2014.






















Photo credit: Victoria West

Monday, May 12, 2014

Ziua Mamelor

Ieri a fost Ziua Mamelor in Canada, o zi in care am fost rasfatata familiei mele -- trandafiri rosii, felicitari si cadouri confectionate de baiatul meu Alex, o iesire la restaurantul meu preferat unde ne-am delectat cu un sushi delicios.

Imi place ca Ziua Mamelor este sarbatorita in luna mai, care este luna mea preferata pe tot parcursul anului. Nici macar decembrie, luna cadourilor, nu imi place la fel de mult ca luna mai. Imi place mai pentru anticiparea verii, pentru ca vara e de-abia la inceput si ma bucura ca ne asteapta trei luni intregi de vara, pentru ca este luna in care zilele sunt cele mai lungi din tot anul, iar noptile sunt cele mai scurte. Imi place soarele, imi place lumina naturala si energia pe care o primesc de la soare in timpul zilelor lungi de vara, iar zilele lunii mai sunt doar in crestere, nu si in descrestere, de aceea le iubesc atat de mult; pe cand in iunie, odata cu solstitiul din data de 22, zilele incep deja sa descreasca… Imi place luna mai si pentru liliacul care infloreste in gradina mea, si pentru ca e aniversarea casatoriei parintilor mei (ieri au implinit 46 de ani de casatorie), si pentru ca e ziua de nastere a mamei mele, dar si ziua ei onomastica. Si imi mai place luna mai ca in sfarsit pot sa trec la garderoba de vara si sa port cele mai frumoase tinute.

Sa aveti o saptamana minunata, dar si o vara splendida!

Photo credit: Victoria West

Sunday, April 06, 2014

Christopher Bates at Toronto Fashion Week, March 2014

Another season of World MasterCard Toronto Fashion Week is now over. The most important fashion event in our city this spring took place, like usually, at David Pecaut Square, from March 17th to March 21st. Among the participant designers at Toronto Fashion Week this season who showed their new collections for the upcoming Fall-Winter 2014-2015 were Mikhael Kale, VAWK, Laua Siegel, David Dixon, Christopher Bates, Klaxon Howl, Pink Tartan, Joe Fresh, Mackage, Triarchy, Farley Chatto, Rudsak, and others.

Canadian menswear designer Christopher Bates’ show took place on the main runway on Wednesday, March 19th, at 3 PM. The show started with a short film produced by the designer himself, as an introduction to the new collection called “Noctem” and inspired by Oscar Wilde’s writing, specifically by the character Dorian Gray. Then the models took the runway. The key elements of the new collection by Christopher Bates, which in our opinion is his best so far, are dark, black, leather.

Many of the models who strut Christopher Bates’ designs at Toronto Fashion Week work closely with the designer and come back in each of his shows, season after season, but new models are introduced at each Toronto Fashion Week as well. Age is not an issue for Christopher Bates when it comes to choosing the models to show his designs on the runway – twenty-something and up will do. This season, the most surprising apparition on the runway during Christopher Bates’ fashion show was the white-bearded gentleman who modeled a couple of the outfits with just the same grace and elegance as his peers who may be 20 or 30 years younger than him. Definitely not a conventional way to show a collection at a fashion week. Well done sir, hats off!
























Designer Christopher Bates
Photo credit: AccessRunway.com