0 - WELCOME

Welcome!

Hope you are all doing well. I don’t know about you, but February felt very long and was a bit of a whirlwind. I was in Toronto celebrating Lunar New Year with my family, followed by NYC for my birthday, and Hong Kong for the past few days. I’m currently a week into a trip to Asia to attend a wedding and see relatives — it feels so good to be back. This month, I’ll still be abroad for the most part, along with some fun trips when I am back stateside. Apologies for the delay in releasing this month’s newsletter! I am now in Chengdu, and VPN is always a fun situation in China :)

Thanks to everyone who participated in my giveaway on Instagram with Hudson Wilder in celebration of the two year anniversary of this newsletter! I love HW’s glasses/mugs and use them all the time. Stay tuned for my second (and final) giveaway next week — this time with one of my favourite beauty brands!

1 - FASHION

White Coats

There’s something so chic (and dangerous) about a long white coat. I've never really entertained the idea of white outerwear because I’m the type to immediately get it dirty, But, we all have to live a little, so here we are, with a dirty white coat because I stepped on it by mistake. I’ve been wearing mine with a classic sweater and jeans, and look forward to pairing it with a long sweater dress when the weather warms up. Below are others that I have in mind:

Wishlist

Last week, I did an Instagram Q&A and unfortunately did not get around to answering all of the questions. One of them was around the things on my wishlist, so in a tardy fashion (sorry Pauline!), here’s what I have in my shopping bag at the moment:

Fine Jewelry

Last month I mentioned my latest favourite clothing brands; along the same vein, here are the fine jewelry brands that I’ve been obsessing over lately. Don’t blame me if you become equally addicted:

• Brent Neale: Brent Neale’s jewelry is equal parts whimsical and unique. I love everything, but particularly her Bubble Pendant and Knot ring. She has a great Instagram as well

• Tabayer: I love the sculptural nature of her pieces. I have my eyes on the gold Oera ring above

• Jessica McCormack: Please just bury me in her Oval Diamond Torque Necklace

• Arielle Ratner: Arielle’s jewelry is elegant and understated. I love her Ear Climbers and Flora Earrings

Five Things I Bought

Below are five things that I bought and loved last month:

2 - TRAVEL

Long Haul Flights

Unfortunately, flights to Asia remain dreadfully long from North America. I always sleep on planes, but this time around, I barely slept on the way to Shanghai (maybe thanks to excitement?). Either way, time went by… very… slowly… despite having brought 3 books and downloaded many games to keep me company. To prepare for long haul flights, I try to follow a few tips:

• Adjust time zones immediately. Once I get on the plane, I set my phone and watch to the destination time zone so that I can adjust my activity/sleep schedule accordingly

• Hydrate. I always bring a water bottle with me on flights and refill it at the airport/on the plane. I lather a lot of cream (and sunscreen) every few hours and also spray my face with a mist (my favourite is Tata Harper’s Floral Essence) to keep my skin hydrated

• Wear compression garments. I like wearing compression leggings and socks to reduce puffiness and swelling from sitting for long periods of time

• Walk around every few hours. I try to walk around every 1-2 hours to move the body and improve circulation. I always feel bad on flights if I’m in the window seat and have to get past people… but circulation is important!

• Go in with a plan. My plan was to sleep for 1/3 of the way, and be awake for the rest by watching movies and reading books. Obviously this was upended, but I still went in with a general idea of how I wanted to spend my time

• Try a jet lag app. I tried a jet lag app for the first time (Timeshifter), which helped to frame my days leading up to my flights by incorporating caffeine, light exposure and sleep. I thought it was pretty helpful — your first trip is free on the app, so it’s worth a try!

3 - OTHER

4 - PARTING NOTE

Spring is (hopefully) around the corner, so if you’re in need of a style refresh, don’t hesitate to reach out!

Until next month, friends.