back to reality

mexico was awesome and i really wish i was still there, especially considering the extremely lousy weather i’ve returned to here in vancouver! it was sooo hot (around 32 degrees celsius, which is close to 90 degrees fahrenheit for those of you in the u.s.) with like 95% humidity!! so that meant a lot of time spent in the pool or the ocean. we stayed at a resort, but still wandered into town, which involved a good amount of walking! here are a few shots to share with you:

super tropical!

cool street

yummy shrimp taco

the view from our room!

off to mexico!

the bf and i are leaving tomorrow for a one week holiday in puerto vallarta, mexico – a much needed vacation! i’ll be updating as soon as i’m back with a little synopsis + some photos, so stay tuned! adios amigos!

what i’m wearing: my new fav top!

plaid top: kostym (a newish label from the people that brought us cheap monday!)

black top: esprit

black jeans: citizens

shoes: geox

multi-use scarf: mociun

i bought this top just over a week ago, and i think i’ve already worn it like 3 or 4 times! i just love it!!

theory

i’ve always been a fan of theory, and their fall ‘08 collection doesn’t disappoint, it simply reaffirms my love for them! their designs are classy, sophisticated, yet have that edge to them. and they use the most gorgeous fabrics. take a look at just some of the looks. oh and check out their site ’cause you can play around mixing and matching tops and bottoms for different looks – it’s kinda fun! i wanted to post some of the photos here, but couldn’t ’cause the site is done in flash, so instead here are a few from shopbop:

fifi lapin is just so cute

if you haven’t ever checked out fifi lapin, you really must! the pics are adorable!!

from fifi lapin

m.i.a. (and not the artist)

i went out of town on an impromptu roadtrip to oregon over the weekend. the bf and i left early friday morning and arrived in portland by early afternoon. i have to say, portland is a totally fantastic city. it’s a lot like vancouver in many ways actually. the vibe is pretty chill there- they are, after all, the most liberal (or democratic, if you will) state in the u.s.a (according to my bf anyway!).

we also went to the coast for one of the days and that was gorgeous! it was a bit cloudy but still breathtaking. the sand was so nice and there were these huge sea stacks. if only we had more time, then we could have gone further south than we did!

i unfortunately didn’t get to do all that much shopping cause the bf wouldn’t have any of that, not that the shopping was extraordinary or anything, or at least didn’t seem that way. however, i did wander into forever 21, saw some cute things, but due to time constraints enforced by the bf and not a lot of $$ to spend, i parted with just a few bangle bracelets! i also saw these really cute gladiator-esque sandals at nordstrom, which i may have to search for online.

and finally, we visited the MOST AMAZING bookstore i have ever been to in my life! it’s called powell’s books. it’s huge and they have EVERY book you can think of! i think we spent nearly an hour in there and each walked out with about 3 or 4 books.

needless to say, if you’re looking to do a roadtrip this summer, i definitely suggest considering oregon. oh, and they have awesome beer, thanks to a large selection of excellent micro-breweries.

at the oregon brewers festival

puuurdy flowers

too cute not to share

our kitty

i will NOT buy

i have decided to curb my spending habits and nix the shopping addiction! i have been motivated by fellow blogger punkystyle to ditch the spending in favor of SAVING! it’s now my goal to save save save! i am going to attempt to save $1000 by the end of august. i’m sick of being broke due to my spending ways! no more bags!  no more “i need this!” wish me luck!! i think i’m gonna need it!

heather braun-dahl

i truly admire the work of heather. her ceramics (and paintings!) are simply divine. i could spend all of my hard-earned coin on her stuff, EASILY. this past weekend she had an open studio, so naturally i had to stop in.

this just shows part of what was on display. another woman who was there at the same time as me commented on the fact that heather had made a few little ceramic pendants and when she remarked on an owl one, i had to snap it up! i LOVE owls. i think they are incredibly fascinating and beautiful creatures. here is a photo of my new necklace pendant:

totally bummed out

i’m really crushed at the moment because i’ve lost my rogues gallery scarf. it’s now been missing for a little over a week. i have searched high and low for it. i must have dropped it somewhere – i know, i should have just been wearing it, but it was quite warm out early last week! aaron thinks i’m silly to be so cut up about a scarf – he says “it’s just a scarf.” but i mean, it was my favorite scarf AND it wasn’t cheap. i may have to buy another one from the rogues gallery online store as the block doesn’t have it anymore…

fresh.

not too long ago, i was down in seattle on a shopping trip with a friend, and of course we had to stop in to sephora. i ended up just purchasing a bar of soap (as i’m not quite the make-up junkie she is). but not just any bar of soap! the best smelling soap in the world: fresh nectarine milk soap. wow, i’m hooked.

get excited!

PORTOBELLO WEST is this sunday, may 25th!! unfortunately, i won’t be around to go. make sure to check out:
- patina designs (denise makes the most gorgeous handmade leather bags EVER)
- filou (fiona louie’s beautiful silver and gold jewellery)
- dahlhaus ceramics (heather’s stuff is understated and tres cool)

instead i’ll be in regina with aaron visiting his mom. she reminded us that the cathedral village arts festival is on while we’re there.

we attended last year with her and it was great. tons of stuff going on, like music, food, vendors. so looks like we’ll be checking it out again. last year i scored this fab bag made by a local regina designer, lindsay edwards of conform & collide:

can’t wait to see what i find this time!

i heart nicole bridger

i just love all of the pieces from local vancouver designer nicole bridger’s collection. i am especially in love with this one AND it’s all eco-friendly. sigh.

the scarf of all scarves

i can’t get enough of this scarf from rogues gallery. i wear it almost every day. it’s so soft and it goes with everything! i will be sad when it’s too warm out to wear it. definitely my best purchase of this season so far.

new kid on the block

so here i am writing my very first post ever for our new blog “cup of style.” i say “our” because this is a sort of collaborative effort. well, let me explain…

i, danielle, have been enjoying reading blogs (mostly fashion and style-related ones) for some months now. my boyfriend, aaron, has asked me on several occasions “why don’t you start your own blog?” i thought, ya that’d be cool.. wait nah, i couldn’t do that, or could i?

meanwhile, aaron has been musing about writing a vancouver coffee blog himself (oh ya, btw, we live in vancouver, canada!). we both love coffee; he a fan of the americano and i a fan of the capuccino, or sometimes a good ol’ cuppa joe. we love trying new coffee shops around town, and also frequenting some of our favorite haunts (our town!!) in search of the city’s best!!

so i said to aaron, “why don’t we start a blog together?? we’ll throw in some style, some coffee, random cat photos (we love cats!) …”

the result will likely be a mish-mash of stuff (but mostly style and fashion, hee hee!) hope you enjoy it!!