i capture the castle

Last Sunday, while in Mexico City, we went to Chapultepec Castle, located in an enormous park that I wish there'd been more time to explore. The castle was located on a small hill (a five minute walk at most, but there were scores of Mexicans in lines waiting to take a little train up and down). It was a great little trip, and I definitely want to plan my weekends better from now on. I never would have discovered the castle in my usual wandering way, and I think it's pretty much unmissable.

Outside there were gardens and wonderful panoramic views of the city, inside were sumptuously furnished rooms, historical exhibits, and some of the requisite Mexico City murals. The one above is by Juan O'Gorman (such a Mexican name!) and really represents the nature of the city: chaotic, full of people and big ideas.







Mirror mirror on the wall...


While I thought waiting for the train was a bit silly I wouldn't have said no to a ride in this...


I dressed with comfort and unpredictable weather in mind; matching the patio was a happy accident!




statues of the niños heroes, or six child cadets who died defending the castle at some point in its history... sorry, I must have not been paying attention during that exhibit!


Outfit:
silk shorts: oysho
t-shirt: random
bag: stolen from my mother
sandals: aldo

Mexican Monsters

I had a great three day trip to Mexico City, even better than the previous ones because I actually planned some things to do for once. My usual routine when travelling is to show up and wander the streets, waiting for interesting sights to come and punch me in the eye, but since I'd already done a lot of wandering in this city and I didn't have a guide book, I hit up Trip Advisor for some ideas.

That led to us going to the Museum of Folk Art (Museo de Arte Popular) which I highly recommend to anyone visiting the Mexican capital. One of my favourite things about Mexican culture has always been its skeletons and skulls, its monsters and fighters, and all the magical and colourful components of a mythology based partly in Pre-Colombian culture, partly in Catholicism, and partly, I think, in the mad mixture of the two.

There was nothing fusty in this museum, it was a well-edited and well-displayed collection (pieces ranged in age from Pre-Colomibian to early 21st century), housed in a dramatic white building that was once an art deco fire station. Today I'm sharing with you a few of the monsters...





I'm sparing you guys pictures of me because, after a seven hour bus ride and changing in the hotel lobby bathroom, I looked a bit like a combination of these two guys, except with redder eyes:





Won't you be mine?


The rest of the band!

And last but not least, I loved this lady's feather eyelashes and delicate cut-out robe! Fashionable, no?


Most photos by my boyfriend, who was on a roll that day, and also still had some battery in his camera!

do you like my Look?!

Before I read blogs I probably would never have thought of owning another pair of floral shorts (after all the ones I had as a kid). In recent years I've been a bit anti-shorts, in favour of skirts and dresses, and even a bit anti-floral. I'm pretty girly in my clothes, but not particularly in my personality, so I've always drawn some kind of wobbly, frequently-crossed line at floral prints. It seems that this summer is the summer to break all rules, thanks to seeing both shorts and florals done really well on many blogs. And I have to say, if I'm going to make an exception, these shorts were well worth making one for!

And a big thank you to Guadalajara for the weather, flowers, and graffiti!









Outfit:
Floral shorts: Oysho
blouse: my sister's
citrine necklace: self-made
shoes: Liz Claiborne

mad for orange

Here's the thing. This dress is probably my favourite of all my dresses, so I kind of wanted to showcase it first myself... However, my sister Shona just looked so cute wearing it the other day, that I can't help but post her outfit. I hope you enjoy! But afterwards, please forget it again, so that you can tell me how wonderful this dress is again when I wear it myself!






waiting for the bus is a bit of a family passtime





I'm just walking out the door now, for three days in Mexico City. My boyfriend has some paperwork to do, so we're taking advantage of that to visit again. It's a fantastic city! My boyfriend's company is flying him (lucky) but Shona and I are stuck with a seven hour bus ride. Blechh... See you all on Monday!

Outfit:
dress: Pepe jeans; hat and converse, Shona's own.

baubles and beads

Living out of a 23kg suitcase all the time (plus about 15kg of carry-on luggage) means that I really have to edit what I bring every time I move. Luckily, my parents haven't yet objected to the fact that most of my belongings live at their house, and that I drop in twice a year or so to switch things up. And of course, whenever anyone visits me, I make them bring some things and take others away with them...


obsidian, tourmaline and silk neckace

One thing I usually bring too much of is jewellery. It might seem that jewellery is small and inconsequential and weighs very little, but it adds up like you wouldn't believe. So this time, I decided not to repeat the same old mistakes. And guess what? I brought too little.

So when my sister came last week, I got her to bring me some things I'd been missing.


citrine necklace--I love this necklace to bits but it's so heavy I always have to wear it on the plane! Still, it's worth it, I think citrine is one of the most beautiful of stones.


coral and white glass bead bracelet

All the above pieces were made by me when I worked at a bead store: the best crappy job ever!


I like clunky rings but since I have tiny fingers they almost never fit me, so instead I have more delicate pieces.


My Canadian grandma's opal ring and my English grannie's wedding ring. That one I actually brought back from England recently. I'm kind of allergic to it, but I wear it anyway. And a picture of the Canadian grandma and the English grannie, both of whom I miss very much.


I always consider these two rings to be the two sides of myself, really. I've written about Whitby Jet before, and the jet ring I always associate with the town my father is from, and therefore my father's side of the family. Meanwhile, the other ring is opal, which is my birthstone, and also my mother's birthstone, and her mother's.



And finally, some earrings my mom gave me for Christmas last year in my stocking. When I opened them, I thought they were very nice, but they were on a cheap white card, so I said something like, "Wow, these aren't at all bad for being from Shopper's Drug Mart!" Which is where you expect things you find in your stocking to come from, correct? My mother's response, unfortunately was, "Shopper's Drug Mart? I bought those in Chile!" Oops. They are now always referred to as "the Shopper's Drug Mart earrings."

If you had a 1/2 kg absolute limit on your jewellery, what would make the cut?

morning on the sands

The second day at Puerto Vallarta was just as nice as the first, and even lazier. After breakfast I collapsed under the umbrella and didn't even bother to read, just looked up at the blue, blue sky.

For once I managed not to overpack as well. One pair of shorts and a top, one swimsuit, a playsuit, and a dress for the Saturday night. You won't be getting pictures of that one though; it was red and I was a bit red, and the overall I looked a lot like a lobster!

I can't wait until the next trip to the beach...






Hmm, if you want your hat to look elegant on Sunday, you probably shouldn't use it as a pillow on Saturday...






an iguana snacks among the frog mariachi statues!

Outfit:
playsuit: Zara; necklace and hat, my sister's; sandals (in hand) Aldo; happiness, complete

life is beachy

My sister, my boyfriend and I spent the weekend in Puerto Vallarta and had a great time! I was sure to, since I just really wanted to go to the beach, but Puerto Vallarta was actually even better than I expected. Since it was a place I'd heard of even from Canada, I assumed it would be crazy touristy. There are certainly a lot of tourists, but there's also still a town feel to some of the old streets, a beautiful seawall full of statues, and views of unspoilt mountains. We had a great two days!



Anthea, of one of my favourite new blogs Embracing Style, recently posted about the crochet comeback. To be honest, I hadn't really thought of it as a comeback before that point, and my initial thought was, "nah, I'll give that a miss." I associated crochet with my grandparents bringing back endless supplies of style-less crochet and tie-dye from their trips to Cuba....
But then my sister showed up with this shirt my mom had brought us back from, yep, Cuba, and I remembered that I actually really liked this shirt, and always wanted a hot-weather excuse to wear it. So here I am, cruising along with the crochet comeback!








Yes, this is a man paddling his dog along on a raft. Why? I have no idea, but the dog didn't seem to mind!










Bra strap, grrr. You win some, you lose some. ; )

Outfit: My sister's shorts and necklace, crochet top from Cuba, several layers of sunscreen and blue nailpolish!