clothing swaps & lady dates.

This past Saturday, my gorgeous best friend Preeti hosted a much needed lady date at her new apartment. The seven of us gathered and for a bit of a twist on our scarce afternoon group hang outs, we decided to put together a clothing swap. Hoping to switch the goods we no longer loved for some new gems. We hit the piles of clothing like ravenous vultures and once on the other end all seemed quite pleased with their hauls. And what little left behind was taken in to consignment or given to charity. The rest of the afternoon was then spent gossiping, eating delicious roast chicken Viet subs,drinking a magnum of Napa Valley goodness, watching a shit ton of terrible youtube videos, before closing our evening with a trip to The Common for much needed coffee and more talk. We hugged and kissed just before all the light, slipped to pink and dark skies. Promising to meet later that very night and perhaps hold each other up for just a little bit longer. Fast forward and it’s three a.m. My mind is left wandering and I can’t seem to get to sleep. Images of the day click through my conscious like a fat, plastic View-Master (remember those?), but then it all shifts and  I am left certain of one thing. Simply, I love those girls so very much. Truly. Madly. Deeply. And it is with that clarity and peace that I drift off to sleep.

The photo above is of my favourite score at the swap.
A cute headless Teddy, courtesy of Tiyana and if I remember correctly was bought on our first trip as a collective to NYC from Ina.
Super luxe and bang on trend with the printed knitwear (Givenchy, Balenciga, etc.) non?
Also please ignore my checked boys shorts. It’s been an messy Monday.

Meet Mikey & Nata: Illustrators & my bad ass friends.

I’ve always considered my self incredibly lucky.
When I moved to Toronto a few years ago I would have never pictured my life the way it is now, surrounded by the love of so many incredibly talented friends. At times I marvel at their creativity, light, hard work and the joy they take in creating beautiful things. Be it music, moving pictures, photography, wicked words, illustration or even economic advice. It is because of these very people, known simply as The Family, that I have picked away at my insecurity and I am writing more and more with much happiness and less fear. And for this, I would like to thank them!

First up on the docket, are power illustrators and super besties, Michael De Pippo and Natalia Grosner. Known mostly for their divine design skills, impromptu facebook profile photoshoot parties (am not kidding) and straight-up bitch attitudes.

Michael De Pippo, but you can call him Mikey

This art director, illustrator and designer has been collecting and obsessing over cartoons for as long as he can remember. One only needs to peek about his super swank apartment to spot the unique amassment of toys jammed neatly in to tucked away corners and in to a super cool vintage apothecary cabinet. While I’ve always been a fan of his work (THERE IS A CARTOON ME), his latest is a true testament of love combining his adoration for both vintage cereal box art and the legendary Michael Jackson. The Result? A fun and playful series of pop-art pieces that I’m set to throw up on my wall the second I get my hands on the set!



Images courtesy of Michael DePippo, and if you like what you see (and I know that you do) contact Mikey directly at mdepippo@gmail.com

Natalia Grosner, but you can call her  Nata G.

I’m pretty sure I’ve written about my badass bud, Nata, before. I’ve been hankering over her hip-hop watercolours for ages now, and it’s safe to say that the majority of The Family have a pretty piece hanging somewhere about their abodes. My girl is currently a freelance illustrator with an eye for the perfect pair of shoes, a lust for vitamin D, a deep loathing for Lady Gaga, a love for back-pack hippity hop and has no problem calling you out on your bullshit. She’s got this massive knack at creating cool typography (check out the super model series) and her latest work is so fashtastic I can’t stop talking about it. Taking her cue from Berlin’s Nancy Zhang, Natalia has created these cute and cool  illustrations to celebrate her second love, fashion.



You can check out the rest of the Fall 2011 series over at behance and maybe if you ask ever so nicely she’ll create a custom special something just for you. For inquiries and general fanmail contact Nata G directly at grosner@gmail.com

Next time on ‘What About Your Friends?’ we talk Music with my Funk soul sistas. xo