One of the best parts of the Marc Jacobs brand is the sense of humour. While other luxury brands tend to take themselves so seriously, Marc Jacobs operates with a bit of cheek. I mean, how many top designer brands have a dogwear collection called Bark Jacobs?

BookMarc is the new stationary collection by Marc Jacobs. I can imagine this will go down a treat with all of the high school students who are fans of Marc Jacobs. I remember one of my students telling me her and all her friends used to buy Marc by Marc Jacobs when they were in high school She was surprised to find out I hadn’t done the same (obviously not, the brand didn’t exist.) She asked me what luxury brands we used to buy as teenagers, and I had to explain that fifteen years ago, teenagers didn’t buy luxury brands, nor were they interested in them. We bought streetwear and fast fashion. Luxury school supplies would have seemed a farce in those days, but I guess nowadays, when 14 years olds aspire to buy Chanel, and Hermès has 18 year old girls as brand ambassadors, a designer pencil case seems like a great idea. And they look really fun too.

All images from the Marc Jacobs website.

My new house!

Today I am a homeowner. It is very exciting (it certainly better be, as I’ve had to cut my shoe budget to virtually nothing for the next few months in order to afford the house.) Our house is in Brackendale, BC. Most of you will think, where the hell is that? To answer your question, it is outside of Squamish, which is a small town halfway between Vancouver and Whistler (the famous ski resort.)

The next question usually is, why the hell would you want to move there? Actually, only Vancouverites ask this. Most of my non-Vancouverite friends, especially those who have also survived big city living for at least ten years, can usually understand straight away why I’d want to move to a town of 15,000 in the mountains. We left London because we were sick of tiny apartments and a shitty standard of living. We moved to Canada for big open spaces, and so we could own a house with a big backyard. Vancouver is very expensive, a house in the neighbourhood I grew up averages at 2 million dollars, and I don’t have that kind of money (unless maybe they accepted shoes in lieu of cash.)

Since my husband and I love the Squamish area, and we aren’t afraid of a 50 minute commute (much better than the 90 minute commute I used to do in London,) we started looking for houses there. My mother said that I should move to the trendy, young areas of Vancouver, and I told her that I did not move to Vancouver to try and replicate my London lifestyle. I used to live in a cool area of London, and I didn’t move to Vancouver to live in their small town version of a “cool” neighbourhood. I don’t want a tiny apartment on Main street, where most people look like they are trying too hard all the time, or a house in the “trendy” neighbourhood of Strathcona, an area that you need to share with crack addicts. No thanks, I want space, a big house (4 bedrooms, to be exact) and I want to live in a community where I don’t to worry about locking my door or discarded needles in my backyard.

So Brackendale it is. We are moving sometime in September, and of course I’ll keep you updated on how that is coming along, as I try and juggle another house move, this time during the fashion weeks. Lastly, I should point out that Brackendale was definitely favourable over Squamish, for one very good reason. For those of you who don’t know, Squamish is where all the outdoorsy types go to mountain bike or hike. I can assure you that my husband and I will also be partaking in “outdoor” activities, but our idea is slightly different, we consider drinking beers in the backyard, preferably in a hammock, to be our outdoor activity of choice. Which is why we chose Brackendale. Squamish’s tagline is “Canada’s Outdoor Recreation Capital,” which frankly is terrifying and send shivers down my spine. Brackendale’s tagline is “Winter Home of the Bald Eagle.” Now where would you rather live?

Todd Selby, the photographer behind the blog The Selby is in your place (known for its photography of beautiful homes and apartments) visited the Louis Vuitton family home and the Louis Vuitton bag workshop in Asnières. Here are some of the images, to see the rest of them, check out his blog. I love getting an insider look into these traditional companies’ workspaces, and I am guessing this is a great time for Louis Vuitton to show off the craftsmanship of their goods, considering the complaints over their last advertising campaign.

See more Pretty Pictures:
Richard Avedon
David LaChapelle
Makeover Madness by Steve Meisel

Dezeen, my absolute favourite design blog, features these Stefan Strumbel cuckoo clocks last week. I love them. My friend Erin has a really amazing cuckoo clock, and I’ve been yearning for one of my own recently. I’ll take any one of these. Unfortunately for me, Stefan Strumbel is an artist more than a designer (the rest of his stuff, on his website, is AMAZING), which means that 1- these clocks aren’t probably available for sale in a normal shop, and 2- if I could find one, it will probably be very expensive. Boo!

Photographs by Oliver Rath or Sarah Davies, and were found on Dezeen.

As I was planning my move back to Canada last year, the things that got me most excited were the prospects of cars and dogs. Fast forward one year and I have no dog (but will do soon!) and a car that’s not exactly as cool as I had hoped (although much cooler than an SUV.) But the plan is to get a muscle car, very soon. Here are some amazing ones at the Grease n’ Grind show yesterday at Pat’s Pub. I’m more of a Ford Mustang or Pontiac Firebird type of girl, but I have a soft spot for this Chevy Impala as well.

Every time I get sick of the fashion industry, I threaten to change career path, and there are usually only a few options. One of them is working in a video store (sitting around watching videos all day = fun, but there isn’t much money involved), surf bum (hanging out on the beach surrounded by surfers = fun, but I don’t know how to surf) and the other is a florist (playing with flowers all day = fun, but the reality is poking yourself with thorns, dirty hands, and waking up at 3am to go to the flower auction. And dealing with brides.) Regardless, I am somewhat envious of my friend Jessica who has her own flower shop, Quince Fine Florals.

It’s in Kerrisdale (actually, Mackenzie Heights) so just a hop and a skip away from my house, and it is exactly how I’d imagine my flower shop to look like, if I had the time, knowledge, skill, money, and will to open my own. Jessica was destined to work in the floral world, she trained at Thomas Hobb’s, one of Vancouver’s best florists, and her middle name is Blossom.

Here are some photos of her shop, located at 4870 Mackenzie Street, Vancouver. By the way, she is selling those Chanel No5 scented candles I mentioned a while back, as well as the latest scent in the candle range, Shalimar. Scroll down to the bottom to read Jessica’s floral tips, and to see some pictures of her bouquets.

Above, Jessica Blossom Clark, founder of Quince Fine Florals. I love the idea of having a job where your uniform is a striped apron and a pair of Hunter wellington boots! Here’s a few of Jessica’s floral tips.

For the home - Make flowers last by changing the water every couple days and re cutting the stems, it DOES make a difference in terms of longevity.

If you are a bride – Try to work with what’s in season to keep your budget in check. Right now feathery frothy peonies are available in blush pinks, dove whites and a gorgeous dark crimson.

For special events – Think outside the box: A charming centerpiece for an evening can be as simple as a cluster of planted succulents atop pebbles. Succulents are a readily available mediterranean style cactus that last throughout the summer and have a very modern minimalist look.

Here are some of Jessica’s arrangements.

A Collection A Day, day 97.

I have added two new blogs to the Searching for Style Reading list, the first one is Swiss Miss, which is a great design blog with lots of visual content and very few words. The other one, which was introduced to me by Swiss Miss, is A Collection A Day. Here’s a blurb from the blog explaining the concept:

“This is a blog documenting a project that will span exactly one year, from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010. On each of those 365 days, I will photograph or draw (and occasionally paint) one collection. Most of the collections are real and exist in my home or studio; those I will photograph. Some are imagined; those I will draw or (occasionally) paint.”

This is such a pretty, cute, lovely concept and the images are such a pleasure to look at. Here’s a few more of my favourites.

A Collection A Day, day 22.

A Collection A Day, day 107.

A Collection A Day, day 74.

A Collection A Day, day 5.

A Collection A Day, day 111.

Graham and Brown Skulls wallpaper.

My friend Kendra sent me a link to this wallpaper, by the British company Graham and Brown. Its $125 a double roll. Wallpaper is totally underrated in home decor these days, look at how amazing the floral paper looks in Butter Bakery. I am definitely going to look into wallpaper when I redecorate.

Butter Bakery in Dunbar has the most incredible floral wallpaper.

Butter Bakery image: Flickr / Lydia Fizz

I am back in Vancouver and am loving going through my suitcase full of new clothes and accessories. But this week is pretty manic, so I don’t think I’ll get a proper chance to unpack until the weekend, although I have already asked my husband to buy me 20 new hangers. That’s a lot of new clothes!

Here are the last of my London photos, starting with a visit to my friend Michaela’s house. She is a jewelry and set designer, hence the fantastic apartment and the beautiful jewelry.

Michaela’s living room, with a fully equipped bar, we have had some good nights in there, in fact, some of the best poker nights ever!

Her bedroom is also amazing, mixing boudoir, western, and rock’n'roll.

Here is some of the jewelry she is working on at the moment.

Michaela had just returned from a two week holiday to New Orleans, Memphis, and Nashville, so after we had a quick catch up and chat we headed to Big Red to see some friends who had just returned from South Africa and one who was leaving for Poland the following day (we are so international!)

Michaela and Michal.

Michaela's amazing rings. The more the merrier.

Michelle and Dixie.

London was fantastic, thanks to everyone who made my trip amazing!

Check out the other London Photo Diaries…
London Photo Diary Part 1
London Photo Diary Part 2
London Photo Diary Part 3

My trip is coming to an end of Saturday, and I never thought I’d say I am happy to be going back to Vancouver, but I am really looking forward to going home. I love London, and I certainly love my friends here and the shopping, but I am sick of public transport, non stop rain, and the fact that everything here is damn expensive.

Here’s some photos of Dean Sidaway’s work/live space in Whitechapel. I stayed there for a few days.

I love flipping through old copies of the Face. It was a great magazine.

A great example of Absolut Vodka guerilla marketing in East London.

Only in East London would you find a bank called Habbibsons. It made us laugh so hard.

Sunday afternoon in The Old Blue Last, a very “trendy” pub in East London.

Me and Chris Low, international man of mystery.

One of my oldest London friends, Tom, whose eyebrow has just turned silver, with the beautiful Hay sisters, Catherine and Susan.

On Wednesday we went to Garlics and Shots, one of my old London hangouts. It is a restaurant, with a “vampire bar” downstairs. Everything on the menu has garlic in it (that includes the beer and the desserts.) We used to know a lot of the staff there, who are all Swedish and fun, but unfortunately on Wednesday there was a miserable, rude, grumpy asshole serving us.

Garlics and Shots on Frith Street, London, the other branch is in Stockholm.

Tasteful signage inside the restaurant.

The signature drink, a "bloodshot." Tomato juice, chili, garlic, and vodka.

The delicious garlic bread.

All the tables have parsley on them, to help mask the garlic breath.

Jenny Drag ate the prawns.

Dominic.

James + Matt = Best Friends.

Jenny Drag and Judi. Judi is proof that you don't need to be a supermodel or celebrity to be able to regain your figure after her pregnancy. She had a baby three months and and is back to a flat stomach.

This is who greeted me when I was staying at Justine's place. I never knew I'd grow to love such a tiny dog, but Chilli is cute.

Check out the other London Photo Diaries…
London Photo Diary Part 1
London Photo Diary Part 2
London Photo Diary Part 4