Meet me in Boston - Not A Model Travel Diaries

This past long-weekend, I took a train from Penn Station, New York to Boston, Massachusetts for a mini-getaway.

I met up with Jenny, Lindsay and Daniel, three of my favourite Canadians who were all doing the same city escaping for the long-weekend. It felt really good to hang out with friends from home. It's kind of like eating a giant oatmeal cookie while wearing fleecy sweatpants or something. The trip made me a teeny bit more excited to come back to Canada in the fall, despite my intense attachment to NYC.

But I talk about New York a bit too much, let's talk about Boston.

Boston is charming and scenic with tons of cobblestone roads and orange brick buildings that love to collect ivy. I especially enjoyed Quincy Market at Fanueil Hall and strolling around the shops of Newbury Street. Daniel (who was also visiting other friends) showed up and acted as the best tour guide and took us to the Boston Public Library (my favourite place) and the Boston Public Garden.

While the pace and nightlife of Boston wasn't exactly something I would return for, I am still craving their clam chowder. It is probably the best soup I've ever had. I also finally got back to shooting with my Canon and it really made a difference in capturing the experience.

Below are a few photos from the first half of the weekend with some photo credit going to Jenny! Enjoy.

Next up: Harvard & the Red Sox

The Social Caterpillar - The NYC Diaries

Don't move to New York, or even visit, if you don't like humans.

I can't tell you the amount of times I almost end up holding hands with a complete stranger, or how many hairy, scary, sweaty limbs brush up against mine on subway platforms or crowded flights of stairs. In this city, I am never alone and yet, I don't know anyone around me. (Okay, I know about 6 people, and three of them I live with). 

I was chatting with my favourite woman in the world, (my mom) about how I didn't appreciate my nice little social circle until I left. Back home, I can call up a long list of people and will be able to find someone to tolerate me for a day of relaxation or trouble. But here it's different, and I have to force myself to be a bit more social, a bit more open. 

And so, on the list of "Social-Out-Of-My-Comfort-Zone-Activities-With-People-I-Don't-Live-With" I: 

• Attended my first beauty event for Lush cosmetics in Manhattan!! (yes, two exclamation marks) 
• Joined a Central Park running group and then subsequently vowed never to go back to aforementioned running group, but tried to smuggle some nice people from it to create my own group
• Went on a casual dinner date at a hip Italian restaurant in Brooklyn. (Note: the pizza received my stamp of cultural approval)
  
  

And while being anonymous can be a bit daunting, there is a lot to be said for solo-exploring in a city where I never have to worry about running into that person. (You know the person who will stop you on the street to tell you all about their summer plans, and new promotion and ask if you're dating anyone and oh where did you buy that dress?!!)

You see, there is a slow arduous process when a caterpillar goes through stages before reaching its final adult stage as a butterfly. For some reason, I've decided to leave my wings in Canada and spend the summer crawling around and trying to form into some better, friendlier, more out-going version of myself.

And whether I gain these wings or not, here's to being a caterpillar.

xx

Friends in Blog Places - When Tory Meets Ralph

I'll admit that I have some pretty talented friends. From photographers to writers to event planners, I love to give a shout-out to people doing creative things.

One of my closest friends and co-workers, Jennifer Choy (or Jennybear) as I like to call her recently launched her very own styling blog. If there is one closet I'd love to raid it's hers. When I first met Jenny I told her that if Tory Burch and Ralph Lauren adopted a Chinese baby - it would be her.

Before I took off for the summer, I used to help her photograph her personal shoots and she recently featured me in a goodbye post. I already miss our weekly sushi dinners and iced coffee breaks but I know she's just a text message away when I need advice on what to match with cobalt blue suede flats or how to skillfully decipher a cryptic message from the opposite sex.

To check out some more great outfit posts and to get in touch with Jen check out: jenniferchoy.ca

 

Sunday Strolls - Not A Model Shoot

We're back! It's been quite a significant amount of time since Stef and I did one of our classic Not A Model photo shoots. We've both been busy, and for most of October Stef was on an adventure travelling around Italy.

While three weeks isn't a devastating amount of time for a friend to be gone, I couldn't wait for her to return. When I moved to Toronto this summer, my support system took a minor blow. While I have a great social network in the city, the people that I grew up with are no longer around the corner, or down the street. Stef was one of the first people to leave our Italian suburbia and move out on her own. When I'm having a rough day, I know that I can call her up, or stop by her restaurant (my personal version of Cheers) and sit at the bar. She listens. She gets it. She doesn't judge. It's that simple.

For this shoot, we decided to use our Sunday hang as a chance to photograph some new stuff. When walking down the street in all-bright-everything, I realized how many people wear black and grey all the time (myself included). Sometimes it's nice to inject some colour into the world.

It's all about recharging with the simple things: your favourite sweater, your favourite friend, an easy conversation; the rest can be solved with a cup of coffee.

For now.

Not A Wedding Photographer - Kiel & Carly

This past weekend I attended the wedding of Kiel and Carly at a scenic little winery in Niagara called Vineland Estates.

This was my first non-Italian, non-traditional, non-banquet hall wedding and I was excited. I met Kiel (exactly a year ago) when we both were starting out at our PR agency. I remember when we had to drive up to Niagara Falls together for a work event, barely knowing each other in my second week on the job. He told me all about his amazing and smart fiancee Carly, and a year later (we were not only great friends) but I was attending their wedding. Along with my two other great co-workers friends, (Kathleen and Navi) we road-tripped it up to Vineland for the big event.

My favourite unique touch was the bride walking down the aisle to Cat Power's Sea of Love, and I also enjoyed the wine tasting before dinner. Carly looked gorgeous, and was one of the most relaxed brides I'd ever seen, while Kiel looked dapper in his trademark plaid and bow-tie. (He wears plaid everyday). We all had a great time and I was honoured to be one of their chosen guests.

Congratulations to them both! Below are some photos. Enjoy. xx

The (almost) end of summer

The end of summer signifies a new start.

Every year around this time we experience the same feeling. It's the way the morning air is crisp instead of sticky, and the scent is reminiscent of lining up at a yellow bus stop with a new backpack. Some people are going back to class, others are coming home from vacation, but while we ease out of the sunshine and into the slumber, there are choices to be made. A new season always signifies something different and I relish in the forced self-reflection.

The change says, "There is no better time to try something new."

While fall hasn't officially made its arrival, I'm going to bask in what's left of those lazy summer rays.
 
Cheers to the last long weekend of summer! xx