EVENT | MYR1AD 2013

A couple weeks ago, I attended the first-ever MYR1AD fashion show and exhibit, presented by Ryerson fashion students. I was covering the event for Faze Magazine and one of my fellow contributors was actually helping to run the show! I was impressed with the final product and the pieces that were showcased. Ryerson has some very talented students, that's for sure!

Here's a screenshot from Faze.ca:

Full article - http://www.faze.ca/categories/style/2013/myr1ad.html

More pics:

UPCOMING | Mats Gustafson @ Bookmarc

FYI New Yorkers!

Such lovely fashion illustrations!

- Christina

Follow my adventures on Twitter: @christinaaa28

INTERVIEW WITH: Tyler Shaw

At the last Faze event, I got to interview one of the night's performers, Tyler Shaw. He's a fellow Vancouverite and it was nice chatting about what he's been up to since winning MuchMusic's Coca Cola Covers contest back in 2012 and his experience as a Free The Children ambassador. The full article will come out in an upcoming issue of Faze Magazine, so I won't let out too many spoilers, but here's a fun and quick lightning round from the interview.

Something you can’t leave the house without:

Guitar Pick.

If it's a rainy day outside, where would we find you?

In my house. I have a little home studio so I'm always in there.

What one item would you bring to a deserted island?

My guitar.

If you could invite 3 people (alive or dead) over for dinner, who would you choose?

Justin Timberlake, Elvis Presley and Taylor Swift.

First thing you notice in a girl:

Nose.

Most embarrassing song we’d find on your iPod:

I have Backstreet Boys and Spice Girls. I don’t know if I still have "Barbie Girl," but I may have taken it off. 

What is your spirit animal?

A wolf. 

 Keep an eye out for the article in Faze Magazine!

- Christina
Follow my adventures on Twitter: @christinaaa28
-->

EVENT | Rock The Boat ft. Classified

On November 8th, the Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto was turned into a ship for Rock The Boat, an event hosted by Captain Morgan featuring a concert by Canadian rapper Classified. Complete with pirate props, sailing decor and even screens on the walls projecting rough waves, it (almost) felt as if we were actually partying on a boat. It was an interesting event to say the least. Oh and we got a couple free mixed drinks made from their signature rum. It was a rocky start though, with a crowd that awkwardly stood around. But it wasn't really their fault...the DJ was horrible. We were all pretty anxious for the actual show – hello Classified!

Once he hit the stage, it got much, much better. He's actually so great live! He even brought a girl up on stage, who performed one of his songs with him. Props to her, she knew every word. My friends and I somehow made our way to the front couple rows and despite the pushing/shoving/tall people problems, it was awesome.

The DJ who played after Classified, who kept the party going, was SO much better than the one from earlier. This was when the hip hop came out and got everyone pumped.

Haha Captain Morgan IRL. He even crowd-surfed.

CLASSIFIED

 

- Christina
Follow my adventures on Twitter: @christinaaa28

MUSIC | The Paper Kites

Earlier this month, I got to see Australian indie-folk band The Paper Kites perform live in Toronto during their first-ever headlining tour. They played at the Horseshoe Tavern and it was packed. I got the chance to interview the band's leading lady Christina Lacy and we chatted about their debut album, their group dynamic and what it was like touring in the US with Canada's own City and Colour.

If you haven't heard of their music yet, you should. Here's one of my favourites, "Bloom"

Check out some of my pics from the show:

Christina Lacy on touring with City and Colour:

"It almost felt like we were cheating. Usually you start off with these really small venues and work your way up, but we kind of just got shoved into these huge venues and getting to play for his crowds, which were much bigger than ours. So that was a really cool first experience of playing in America. And Dallas Green was just lovely and his whole crew was really cool and took care of us. I think it was the perfect start to playing shows overseas."

"It's always fun to perform the favourites that people seem like they're excited to hear. When they hear the intro, they know the song. I don't think I'll ever get sick of that. It's so cool when you start playing a song and people's faces light up because they recognize it and for us, it's so weird. It's strange." - Christina Lacy

"My advice is to do music for yourself. You need to be able to write for yourself and write about things you want to write about. My attitude is like write and play for yourself and if other people like it, and therefore that makes you successful, then that’s kind of a bonus. We never ever thought we’d be playing here in Toronto. That was never our intention. We were playing songs and writing songs that we thought were good and that we enjoyed, and the fact that other people got on board was a really big bonus and something that you could ever plan for. You can never start into music with the aim to be successful." - Christina Lacy

I love their music video for "Young," a track off their album States.

Keep an eye out for the full article in the next issue of Faze Magazine!

- Christina
Follow my adventures on Twitter: @christinaaa28

UPCOMING | Lori Goldstein @ Bookmarc

FYI New Yorkers!!

- Christina

Follow my adventures on Twitter: @christinaaa28

MY LIFE | Halloween & More

Welcome to my life.

I'm starting up a new section on my blog featuring the random events that happen in my own life, the life of a twenty-something college girl living in the city. During this past summer in NYC, I documented each week and shared my experiences via photos, but I stopped once I got back to Toronto. But with everything else going on now, I figure why stop? I'm going to be writing about the stuff that goes on in my personal life, so feel free to join in on the fun (or ignore these posts if you'd prefer haha).

To kick things off, I'll start at Halloween. For the past couple years, Pocahontas has been my go-to costume. A friend of mine let me borrow it a while ago and it's kind of just stuck around. -->

But this year, I wanted to give the Disney character a rest and try something else. But as usual, I left it until last minute, which resulted in me rummaging through my entire closet looking for something—anything– that I could possibly pull off as a costume. After nearly giving up, I pulled out the over-sized t-shirt I bought in New York with the MTA subway system on it (for $5, I might add). Wonderful. So this shirt, which was long enough as a dress (perks of being a shortie), was my impromptu Halloween costume. Basically the perfect choice for me since I have an obsession with NYC (a full blog post on its way on that issue).

EVENT | Be Extraordinary hosted by Faze Magazine

Faze Magazine loves to throw fun—and free!—events for all the lovely young ladies throughout the
year and the most recent one featured awesome performances, beauty stations and for the first time ever, a fashion show. I was helping out behind-the-scenes all day, so I don't have a ton of pics, but a photo gallery will be posted up soon onto Faze.ca!

 Yummy treats, swag bags and a gorgeous venue!

UPCOMING | Hilton Als @ Bookmarc

FYI New Yorkers!

- Christina
Follow my adventures on Twitter: @christinaaa28

UHHU Dance Workshop

I've been dancing since grade five and I'm so glad I made the decision to continue even after I moved out to Toronto. During my first year here, I auditioned to be a part of the Urban Hip Hop Union (UHHU) dance team—such a great experience. Since making it onto the team, I've met amazing people and competed with them at the annual Ontario Universities Competition for Hip-Hop (aka O.U.C.H). Now in my last year at Ryerson, this also marks my last year dancing with this incredible team, who has really become like a second family.

Anyways, in addition to competing at O.U.C.H, we also hold events and workshops on campus to bring people together for the love of hip-hip. I got to teach the first dance workshop of the year and I had a blast. Here's the choreography that I taught:

This year's O.U.C.H takes place on November 23rd at the Toronto Centre for the Arts.

Here's a sneak preview of what we've been working on - meet some of my team:

For more O.U.C.H info, check out www.ouchdance.ca

- Christina

Follow my adventures on Twitter: @christinaaa28

EXPERIENCE | Warby Parker

I've written a few blog posts on the cool glasses-with-a-cause brand Warby Parker before, but I finally got to make an in-store visit and experience it for myself. I met up with the company's Online Media Manager and he gave me a grand tour of their SoHo location and the run-down of how they became such a successful business. I love how they take extra time and effort to take their customer service to the next level. Things like their in-home try-ons, helpful YouTube video responses, and a strong social/community presence, are all reasons why this company has risen to the top.

I asked what the brand's top sellers are for this season and here they are (I'm a fan of the Ripley!) -

HOLCOMB | Marbled Sandstone, $145

RIPLEY | Oak Barrel, $145

WILKIE | Greystone, $95

Take a look around the awesome 121 Greene St. store:

Delicious Food Show 2013

Last weekend, I checked out the Delicious Food Show at Toronto's Better Living Centre and it was filled with yummy treats, delicious drinks and culinary celebs. I was only able to attend on Friday Oct. 25th, but the show went on all throughout the weekend. Check out some of my pics:

GIVEAWAY | Another Huge Beauty Prize Pack! [CLOSED]

Happy November everyone! Today is a happy, happy day - not only did the Starbucks holiday drinks arrive (& our fave red cups!!!) but I've also got another huge beauty prize pack to give away to one lucky blog reader.

This week, here's what you can win: