Today I am not going to go shopping, because at this point I am physically and financially exhausted from it. Instead I'm going to stay home and read with this song in my head, and be excited for The City.

I always seem to get into color or pattern moods, and this week as I've been to almost every boxing day sale in the city, I keep getting pulled in by lilac colored things. Maybe it's the springy freshness that I like.

~Penelope bag from Coach
~Lilac of May French soap from Mistral
~Things I Wish My Mother Had Told Me by Lucia van der Post
~Ruffle blouse from Banana Republic

I really regret not bringing my camera with me now, because coming home this time feels different than before. I was really itching to leave Ottawa, and now that I've been away at school for a year, seeing it with new eyes has made me realize how much I love this city.

I'm not someone who plays video games often, but I always get excited for the Rayman spinoff games of the characters Raving Rabbids. They are the cutest villains ever. Now that I'm home with access to a Nintendo Wii, my very knowledgeable little brother and I are going to rent the newest one, Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party.

They may be loud, but they live in a very pretty apartment!

I finished all our shopping and wrapping last night with Mom. We usually try and make it fun by having a good snack with it or movie.

I love this book so much, I've looked at it before at Chapters and finally found somebody to give it to. I picked it up for my fashion major friend and her new baby sister.

Time to go home for Christmas! I have the December issue of Domino to save for the plane, but this beautiful room caught my eye.

Before I go and spend X number of hours in the darkroom...
this story is so cute.
also, when I grow up, I want to look just like this lady.
Those shoes are perfection.

I love seeing pictures of other people closets...or in some cases clothes rooms (like everyone's favorite from Domino, Jenna Lyon's wardrobe) Maybe it seems personal since they're usually hidden behind doors, and makes it interesting to see the way somebody organizes their clothes and shoes. Either way, mine doesn't look anything like these!

~ Le Fashion > jaime wears black
~ apartment therapy
~ Domino
~ The Selby

I'm about to continue shooting my final photo assignment for the year, and am feeling so indecisive. I change my mind every week and have mixed feelings about majors, double majors, and opportunities in the future. Which city should I go to for what? I wrote a list of my top five dream jobs at the beginning of the year, and I still would love to be involved with any of those things. I need to start meeting people who are doing what I want to do, and find out how they got there.

~Photo by Amanda Arcuri

If you were to reach into my imaginary make-up bag, you'd find these things (except for the giant bottle of chocolate shampoo...) Inspired by yesterday's post, having a peek at other girl's favorite things and wanting to try new yummy-looking things.

Make-up always looks so glamorous before Christmas. It's so hard to resist the lovely packaging.

~ Kate Spade
~ Sephora

I've always loved the idea behind the What's in your bag? flickr pool. So many times I've found myself looking through, not being able to stop clicking next. Some possessions are in messy piles, others are organized lovingly by their owners. They really show an interesting portrait of the people they belong to.

Also it's just fun to be snoopy and see what kind of makeup and other things girl's keep in their pretty purses. (a lot of Marc Jacobs fans!)

~bag 1
~bag 2
~bag 3
~my bag

After class tonight, I went to Thornbloom's first night of a Christmas ornaments sale, peppermint hot chocolate and brownie in hand, I impulsively picked out an entire set for my future Christmas tree.

I had to search for this blouse after watching Gossip Girl last night and seeing it on Blair. I found out on Chic Intuition that it's by Bill Blass. Hopefully I'll see a similar version that's a little more in my reach!

A quiet day in today since it was a holiday, but a nice, cozy one.
Like these pretty rooms I saved to my desktop the past few days.

~ a cup of jo
~ loveology

also Ryan's new (and very funny) blog; a half-warmed fish

I would love this 10 book set of Penguin Classics in these new gorgeous cover designs by Coralie Bickford-Smith. They are all books I haven't read yet but have been wanting to, and I think how beautiful they are would add some inspiration to. Ultimately, I am judging a book by it's cover, and how pretty it would look on my bedside table.

There are a lot of designers doing chandelier-inspired jewelry in the spring '09 collections. I've been trying to resist looking through them since it isn't even winter yet, but Lanvin especially caught my eye.

also this pretty flowery one found by Joanna Goddard during New York Fashion Week from Lizzie Fortunato.

I've happily added the word "greige" to my vocabulary, meaning the wonderful blend between grey, and beige. I've already accepted that I'm pretty boring when it comes to, oh, everything where color is involved. Is glitter a color? Because I think it's my favorite.
neutral + black + element of sparkle = everything I find pretty

~Domino galleries

I love this quatrefoil purse by Comme des Garçons I found in Domino magazine's gorgeous November issue as an editor's pick. Ryan and I had a fun day at the school galleries and I bought my first CD in months, In Ghost Colours from Cut Copy.

20th Century Art History got cut short, again, so tonight was lattes and cupcakes instead.

I don't usually like to reveal how much I love Gossip Girl, but there, I do. I especially love bitch Blair Waldorf's character, so when I found out today who was responsible for all of the "Eleanor Waldorf Designs"
I was pretty excited, and now I want to stuff the whole Abigail Lorick collection into my closet.

I'm finished midterms, so yesterday I went to the mall to celebrate, since shopping doesn't typically fit into my schedule. I found so many pretty things at Club Monaco, which is always the first place I go into. It was extra sweet though because students now get 20% off all year long! Which helped ease some indulgent guilt. Now it's just explaining to my Mom how a dress, purse, and two tops worked their way into my budget....
I saw this book there too, The New English Dandy, which is filled with photos of handsomely (and over-the-toply) dressed men. I've added it to my book list, it's like a solid copy of The Sartorialist with only guys.