Every Which Direction

While not a lot of exam-revision happened yesterday, a lot of lovely friend time did. I knew I would be trekking around the city all afternoon & evening so not surprisingly I tried on about 10 outfits before I struck on the right one. Pretty clothing aside, the item I spent most of my time wearing is an oversized men's tee of some sort, for lounging at home. Pretty much 99% of my blog posts have been brought to you while wearing one. So I thought why not style one to wear out? 


I ended up pairing a forest green soft wash men's t-shirt from Banana Republic with my well-worn (& eternally wrinkled) salmon-coloured high-waisted Zara trousers. Pop on a statement necklace, some classic sunnies, & a pair of platforms... good to go. Thankfully my Michael Kors Hamilton tote coordinated well because it's one of my few bags large enough to fit my camera & other city-trekking essentials. Really must add a new one to the (never-ending) wish list.

Lovely Kris in her pastel pink jeans from the Gap, dutifully holding Sabrina's birthday cupcakes for me.

In the afternoon I met up with Kris (of Back Alleys & Boulevards) for a little vegan lunch + shopping. It was my first time at Karmavore & I absolutely loved it! Later we roamed the beach & Seawall soaking up some sun. We were stopped by Ben of VanStreet who snapped us for his street style blog (I look totally awkward, but because I know hope you'll still like me, here's the link). After some misadventures resulting from my awful sense of direction, we finally made it to a party for Miss Sabrina's birthday. It was so nice to see everyone I haven't seen since February, I really didn't want to leave! 

With the lovely birthday girl herself (pardon the flash!)

Two of my favourites from BR. Alex appears to be my #1 blog fan so I thought he'd like to see this here ;) 

On one last note, I know I've been mentioning my upcoming German exam a lot lately. Thankfully this is probably the second last time you will have to hear about it, as the terrifying thing is happening on Tuesday. In a divine effort to study non-stop I won't be posting again until it's over & done with. This also means I won't be getting back to most of your emails until Tuesday evening. I just wanted to let you all know I haven't forgotten about your amazing blogs, I just need a couple days to focus! So with that said, thank you so much for reading & I'll be back in action soon! :)

I was wearing:

Men's soft wash t-shirt - Banana Republic (here)

High-waisted trousers - Zara (old)

Hamilton Tote - Michael Kors (here in USD)

Nude Suede Foxy Platform - Jeffrey Campbell

Necklace - Zara

Wayfarers - Ray Ban (here)

Nova Scotia Recap

After a ten day hiatus I'm back to the blogging world! I've been in Nova Scotia the past 10 days, revisiting old haunts & friends in Antigonish, family in Halifax, & examining an endless array of bacterial culture plates in a microbiology lab in Wolfville (you know you're jealous ;). It rained 8 out of 10 days & I was clad in a highly attractive white lab coat for the most part, so hopefully you'll understand why the blog remained untouched. I also had only a point & shoot with me, so my apologies for the lack of photos! 

In a quick recap of my week: 

Antigonish (the quaint little town I went to university in) was fun to revisit; indulging in delicious food at my favourite cafe & playing catch-up with people I haven't seen all year. In Halifax I got to meet one of my newest little cousins, the adorable Sam (whose closet may well rival mine). Finally in Wolfville (where I had to go for a Microbio lab) I eased the pain of poor weather & daily dealings with E.coli with great company & some pretty serious cuisine indulgence. It was my first time visiting the teeny tiny town, which I can now say without a doubt is the most delightful of Maritime towns! The plethora of Victorian houses is to die for, & the restaurants... oh my! I was amazed at the sheer amount of restaurants & bistros (each with vegan menu options, hallelujah!) for such a small population. They were all top notch & highly recommendable. Admittedly we ate out for every single meal. Whether I magically gained 10 lbs in the process remains to be seen haha. It was a lovely time none the less. 

I've got 2 weeks crammed with German lessons ahead of me, but I'm feeling pretty refreshed & ready to get my blogging mojo back. Outfit photos to come tomorrow so stay tuned :)

[A couple quick photos in & around STFX university; obligingly shot by my weekend hostess Jenna Gillis, on our way home from sup Saturday evening]

Cold Comfort // New In

Despite my power-of-vegan-health-claims, the cold front here has finally given me a comeuppance. So for the time being, I'm stuck in bed, between endless packs of kleenex & literary diversions. 

There are several things brightening my day however; so I thought I'd share them with you! The primary one was the arrival of my first c/o item from OASAP.com - a lovely vibrant batwing top. To my delight it is the perfect shade of orange for Spring. As soon as my cold passes I'll be sure to put up an outfit post including it. I've shown it above with my H&M bangle which is no longer MIA (it was in one of my jewellery boxes all along, silly me); & hung below, to give you an idea of it's general shape. 

Delicious vegan zucchini brownies a la Mom. 

An eclectic pile of bedside books to keep me entertained + The Devil Wears Prada; one of my favourite 'sick day' movies.

Last but not least, Zen providing kitty company. 

I'd love to pass the entire day browsing blogs & responding to comments, but we unfortunately only have dial-up at home & it takes an average 40 minutes to read & respond to a single blog post (positively medieval I know). As soon as I'm able to leave the house I'll be back to my usual commenting frenzy, promise!

What are your sick day comforts? 

Snowy Atlas Mountains

However much I abhor the cold, I can't help but love the scenery I'm currently surrounded by. I definitely don't consider this an outfit post, just a little "this is my life currently & this is what I happen to be wearing" sort of thing. For those of you who follow me regularly, the pants & satchel are both recent purchases, from H&M. I envisioned the fun purple pants (which definitely need to be paired with heels as you can tell by the excess length) more so paired with white mary-jane wedges & a summery top, but Newfoundland is a far cry from Spring still. Please forgive my lack of smiles & red nose, as it was truly excruciatingly cold!

All in all though, we had a lovely afternoon. Driving among the endless snow-capped mountains, listening to Elton John & Regina Spektor with dear Mom; stopping every five minutes for photos. I must say however, no photo can do it justice. You're constantly surrounded by mountains & ocean & frosted trees. I don't know about you, but being in the midst of something so tranquil & naturally beautiful really makes me feel glad to be alive. 

Bottle Cove itself, one of my favourite spots in the world. You can't really encompass the entire thing, as I was shooting with a zoom lens, but it's truly amazing. The beach is lovely in the summer time; as are dare-devil antics of climbing out among the cliffs.

"All you need is love" .... And perhaps a pair of socks?

**One last note: I've gotten a bit of feedback over the past week stating that some readers have been unable to post comments on my blog recently. It's something that I'll be looking into over the next few days, as it's an incredibly frustrating issue. In the meantime, if you do experience problems with my comment box I'd really appreciate an email letting me know (serpentinestreets@gmail.com). Thank you for your patience & thank you for reading! :)

True Winter & Notions of 'Home'

First of all - my apologies for the terribly rushed last post! It was written at the airport so speedily that I instantly forgot what I wrote & worried over poor content & the possibility of grammar mistakes my entire flight. As far as I can tell I merely missed out on telling you half of what I wanted to, & used the word 'amazing' far too many times haha. 

But that was days ago. Today I'm settling in, unpacking things at a glacial pace & taking everything in. The snow, the familiar people & places, the prospect of this big change in general. Despite all efforts to stay positive, my second thoughts kicked in the minute I hit Toronto. The plane arrived in Newfoundland to a balmy - 24ºC.... how delightful! I've been in some state of freezing ever since, combating the cold with layering on as much clothing as possible (key example above). Kitten lita's unfortunately aren't the best of snow gear (key example below). Today was gorgeously sunny however, so my highly enthusiastic mom & I decided to drive about looking for photo op's. Unfortunately the roads were so bad & the snow banks so high that we didn't exactly get what we were looking for. Perhaps another day! 

I've been thinking a lot about the concept of 'home' recently. The city pictured above is the place I first called 'home' but I hesitate to apply that term to it now. It's been 5 years since I lived here permanently & 'home' has been between Nova Scotia, Ireland, & Vancouver; wherever I was living at the time. I've always considered myself a bit of a nomad & don't think I've found the perfect place quite yet. Maybe it doesn't even exist. The 'home' that's on my mind mostly is a quaint flat in London or Vienna. Hopefully it'll materialize sooner rather than later ;) 

For now I'm substituting the snow of NL for the rain of Vancouver; the winter scenery for the shopping; the basic foods for the organic ones. I'm missing the incredible people I left behind in Vancouver most of all. Hopefully I shall see them all again soon! Until then I'm taking comfort in a constantly filled fridge, my big cosy bed with fleece sheets, & a chauffeur + magically gas-refilling car ;) Last night I had a fabulous catch-up with an old friend over dinner & wine, & surprised my grandparents with a visit. Today I was treated to a dance performance by my favourite 3 year old & revelled in the adorable antics of my much-missed kitty. Things could be much worse! Tonight I intend to bake a delicious casserole, then curl up & watch the third season of Californication in bed. Hopefully tomorrow the jetlag will be over & I can get focused on my German coursework! I sense some serious productivity coming my way. After all what else is there to do on a glacial day?

Questioning my sanity for being outside in such cold! I layered my black military style coat with my faux fur vest (both from Zara) & paired it with my kitten lita's (my winter-worthy footwear being pretty limited... will definitely be investing in some new shoes asap!) & Karen Walker sunnies. Thick winter pants are also lacking in my wardrobe currently; so I settled on these ancient bellbottom pants. Hopefully this cold snap will end soon so I can brave the outside sans coat for photos!

Tomorrow I'll share my lovely new Spring purchases with you! 

Expect some serious contrast from the wintery photos above ;)

On Airports & Goodbyes

I'm writing to you lovelies from YVR Airport... boarding in about 15 minutes. I just wanted to quickly share a few photos with you of my last few days here in Vancouver.

Had a lovely last day with Kris yesterday. We shopped, we ate, we talked non-stop. I'll show you my new purchases as soon as I get things unpacked in NL (so excited about each new piece! Think Spring + Pastels ;) We stopped by Mucho Burrito on Davie to say goodbye to one of the nicest guys in the world (I frequent the place tri-weekly) & get one last amazing Shawna-approved burrito. And just when we thought the day was over, we ended up talking for 2 hours straight over tea. It was perfect :)

The amazing Kris! One of the nicest, most amazing girls I've ever been lucky enough to meet - I am going to miss you so much! And something I'm dying to mention: Kris actually just began her own fashion blog Back Alleys & Boulevards which I would love for you all to check out! :)

A delightful goodbye present from Kris - a bag of vegan chocolate goodies from Karmavore :)

Tea with Miss Sabrina! We completely lost track of time & talked non-stop for hours. You're amazing girl - can't wait to see you again!

The most amazing dessert ever. Vegan apple crisp with Tofulatti icecream on top. So good I went back two nights in a row for it.... I kid you not. 

And last but not least, a new clutch which just arrived from ASOS! It's cute & fun & I adore the colours. Excited to see what I can pair it with. Thoughts?

Okay, boarding has begun & I'm in a huge rush. Will post tomorrow when I've settled! Hope you're all having an amazing week & thank you for reading! :)

Weekend Recap

Just a little bit of life. Although this could also be titled as the 'weekend of poor lighting' I'd like to keep things on a positive note ;) Photo op's aside, I had a lovely weekend; simple but sweet. Friday night I trekked an hour through the rain (hence the worse than normal hair) to attend a farewell party for my friend Irena. It was wonderful seeing the people I don't often get a chance to see, & I also met some lovely new folks as well. 


Saturday, post-work, Kris & I had our traditional food+movie friend date. After lusting over the beautiful bright garments in BCBG we had a delightful supper at the Templeton on Granville (cutest little vintage diner), followed by seeing the movie 'Big Miracle' (aka the whale movie), which we both loved.


And then there is today. When not working, Sundays are so nice: I usually have a quiet morning followed by a productive evening (fingers crossed that's the case today). I'm spending the morning curled up on the couch with wholesome oatmeal, a tasty berry+hempseed smoothie, & a computer chock full of New York Fashion Week shows to catch up on! Planning on doing a little Valentine's Day themed photo shoot later this afternoon, & glueing myself to my German text book after supper. Wish me luck! 

The lady of honour is in the white & I am of course wearing the red Dolce Vita shorts. Big thanks to Irena's dad for taking this one for us :)

Granville Street on our search for some edibles

Rocking the ponytail (a rare occurrence).
Wearing: Banana Republic faux fur coat, BCBG animal print blouse, Michael Kors watch & bag, Dolce Vita wedges

Oh so amazing vegan lentil loaf from the Templeton

Sunday morning pleasures :)

And that my dears, was what my weekend comprised of. Obviously quite envious of all the bloggers attending Fashion Week in NYC right now (living vicariously through Style Scrapbook & BryanBoy at the moment), but I'll take what I can get. Hope you're all having a great weekend as well! :)

Quiet Mornings // New In

1. Catching up on Bloglovin' on a rainy morning. 448 posts to read? Completely normal.

2. Gluten-free pancakes with vegan chocolate chips, vanilla agave syrup, & frozen raspberries

3. My favourite mug; delightfully sarcastic, it was given to me by my Mom years ago. Everywhere I move or travel, this guy comes with me

4. New top from Zara. The top portion is a great rusty-brown, contrasted with a sheer mustard asymmetrical piece on bottom. It's a great basic. Don't you just love sales? :)

Something I cherish above all else is having quiet mornings to myself. I revel in the complete silence & prospect of doing whatever my heart desires. It's something I've always done. When I was a little girl I would wake up at 5am, tip toe to the kitchen to make a small snack, & read Jane Austen & Lucy Maud Montgomery for a few hours before the rest of the house came alive. These days aren't much different. I make a delicious vegan breakfast of some sort (which I always eat in bed), answer the emails which have piled up during the night, & then catch up on my blog reading or writing. No distracting music or TV, just quiet time to read & think. It's my personal way of achieving balance. 

Do you have any morning rituals or time set aside just for you? I'd love to know! I'd also like to do a little shout-out to those of you who have just started following! Don't worry, I've set aside time tonight to answer all your lovely comments :) For the time being, I'm getting ready & headed to work. Fingers crossed I'll have a new outfit post for you all tomorrow! Until then, have a fabulous day <3 

One for One

The past few days here in Vancouver have been exceptionally beautiful. The sun has been shining non-stop & everyone has been outside soaking it up. For me, yesterday was absolutely perfect - the kind of day you feel so glad to be alive. Along with two lovely ladies I had a delightful vegan lunch at the Naam, strolled along the Seawall, & got lost wandering around Stanley Park (photos below). Today, unfortunately, has been quite the opposite. I've been home sick... staring longingly at the sunshine & envious of everyone enjoying it. So here I am in bed, with my favourite fluorescent orange tunic (above) to brighten things up. As such, I unfortunately don't have a new look of the day post to share with you guys today but stay tuned & I'll conjure something up for you! Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed my day :)

How is your weekend going? 

<3

Sneak Peek // Faux Fur

Hello lovelies! Here is a preview of my latest 'look of the day'; complete with winter green, faux fur, & a darling little owl. Quickly snapped on this gloomy afternoon, I was glad to get it in at all considering my crazy work schedule & looming to-do list. As much as I want to hide in bed & wish it all away, I know it'll all get done if I take it piece by piece.

I went out walking in the rain this morning before settling down to an attempt at productivity. For a misty Sunday the city was unusually alive. From delightful pigeons trying to avoid the rain, to a man on a bicycle whispering me crude things; between endless snobby sales girls, & a toothy smiling homeless man, a million thoughts passed through my head. Life is interesting.

On that note I'm off to conduct an apartment cleaning spree, conquer my German homework, & catch up on my blog reading. Be sure to check back tomorrow for my full outfit post :)