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

Vincent Cassel, The Night Man

Vincent Cassel stars in the latest YSL advert directed by Black Swan’s Darren Aronosfky and is
Okay so I am not bothered with the technical formalities of this video.
Let’s keep it real, Cassel playing a jigalo is all kinds of hot and is making me think of all kinds of dirty.

Don’t believe me? Peep the video yourself. Swoonstown.

current state of mind

He called it limerence, that of which I am afflicted with.
“A mild case, not to worry.”

Upon hearing this I was gratefully relived at first, for the briefest moment.
As I was worried that I had become some sort of desperate obsessive.
But then again, how was this any better?

“Don’t worry, we’re all a little crazy.” He continued. “Celebrate your scars, polish your wounds.”

when tommy met anna: a heart story.

I won’t blame you for skipping this post, as it’s about the most gabbed about event of the season so far, but I must say something as it was such a rollicking good time! The Room at The Bay keeps swinging it’s madcap sartorial punches by hosting some of the best parties of the year, and this was certainly no exception. Queen of eclectic glamour, Anna Dello Russo, fluttered in to town to celebrate her love affair with click-happy Tommy Ton. While I minced about in my latest white lace dress acquisition trying to blend in, Toronto’s big money spenders and fashion forward elite strutted their stuff like true stylish peacocks. There was Jil Sander, Celine, McQueen and dollar signs galore. I of course was most pleased to see ADR rocking my favourite British Designers like Mary Katrantzou’s lamp shade wonder and Giles Deacon’s band-aid dress.

But enough of my chatter! On to the photos! (please note I took none of these as I wasn’t bothered to drag my massive SLR about.)


Flare Magazine’s Ryan Cheung and I papped by the Globe and Mail’s JJ Thompson







The above four shots (including the featured image) are by the incredibly talented Jason Hudson of  These Roving Eyes.
There is no sense lugging a camera about with real talent like this to take some incredible shots, and to view more of his images check out his coverage for The Bay’s latest online magazine the B-Insider.

books in my room: a study, part 1.

love in the time of cholera.the bell jar.the beautiful fall.pride and prejudice and zombies.the bluest eye.just like tomorrow.the prophet.after dark.porno.bride stripped bare.on the road.the imperfectionists.the unbearable lightness of being.the wind-up bird chronicle.bonjour tristesse.that mad ache.on beauty.sex,drugs and cocoa puffs.catcher and the rye.when veronica decides to die.lady oracle.the beach. siddhartha.the beautiful and the damned.elegance of the hedgehog.demian.madame bovary.tropic cancer.norwegian wood.le petit prince.