A la prochaine! #nofilter #latoureiffel

A la prochaine! #nofilter #latoureiffel

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French talking about French food.

French talking about French food.

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This is La Roche Posay, France. #nofilter

This is La Roche Posay, France. #nofilter

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My nook in my 12-Century hotel room in France, visiting La Roche...

My nook in my 12-Century hotel room in France, visiting La Roche Posay.

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A bit of Paris in Canada

When I lived in Paris, one of my teacher friends (a true Parisian) loved that I was from Canada. She visited our great country before, and she just adored Toronto and Vancouver, but Quebec was another story. With a flick of her hand, she told me she was blasé about her time there. It was too much like home. Ever since then I’ve had a love for Quebec, a nostalgic one that reminds me of my days in Paris. The cobblestone roads, the quaint cafés, and the boutiques. Oh the boutiques. 

I visited Quebec City twice in the last four weeks. My boyfriend had a conference there and I was his plus-one. The second was to pick up an award!! While he was in meetings and seminars I walked Old Quebec City wide-eyed to find a store that only sold Longchamp bags and a café that sold pains au chocolates but called them chocolatiers. I ventured out of the area to discover rue Saint-Jean. It’s much more Quebecois, if I can say that. The clerks barely speak English and the merchandise was chic, not touristy. I was able to squeeze in a bit of shopping during both trips on what is now my favourite rue. 

Jupon Pressé

790 rue St-Jean

Walking into this store feels like you’re snooping in the closet of a girly but stylish friend. Everything is meticulously merchandised, placed perfectly right. My personal style isn’t frilly, girly or even a bit retro, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have an appreciation for it. The peter-pan collared tops, polka-dot dresses, bright clam diggers had me wishing I could pull it off without looking like a primped beast. But I did find this amazing top, which funnily reminded me of photos my mom has of herself in her early 20s. Paired with patent pumps, caramel leather jacket and black waxed skinny jeans, and it’s perfect for me.

Point D’Exclamation! 

762 rue St-Jean

This shop is just as girly but a bit more like a step-sister’s closet because of the darker colours the interesting mix of wares it sells. One wall is completely shelved with jewelry, and each column showcases a different designer. There’s also a bow-bar (shown), a wall of bath balms, bubbles and soap along with chic dog apparel and shappy chic decor. There’s also another wall double racked with what looks to be handmade and locally designed fashions. (The remaining wall is the front window, of course). As you may have read before, I love shopping for fashionable souvenirs, such as makeup made where I’ve visited. And this store had the sweetest fleur de lit earrings I just had to have. 

Esther P 

873 rue St-Jean

Now, I didn’t buy anything from Esther P. Huge regret. But I was just coming off of paying property taxes, income taxes and the horrible sales tax (aka, HST) and I wasn’t ready to splurge on any investment pieces. I did scope out the gowns for a possible wedding dress for myself, but I just wasn’t ready for that either. With brands like Robert Rodriguez and Ella Moss, I needed just another six weeks to be comfortable buying such a treat for myself. There were sales, though, but I didn’t want to indulge.

Ha! #loftgirl

Ha! #loftgirl

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Pinky Swear

A combo of @sally_hansen Satin & @essiecanada Ballet Slippers. #notd

Nail Service

When I was asked about my favourite nail colour for summer, I just had to go with something tried, tested and true. It’s kind of a colour-detox if you will. Although, I still crush over a flirty pink, a spicy orange or a pretty lilac, everyone needs this colour in the bag of polishes.

Wahoo!!

Wahoo!!! @emiliedingfeld & I won an award for our @glowmag story http://glow.shoppersdrugmart.ca/articles/hot-topic

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