OMFG - Eat What You Love...A Haut Appetit Connection

As Toronto Fashion Week takes over the city, models once again are in the spotlight, ready to be scrutinized by the media, fashionistas and the general public. Whoever said modeling was an easy job has never done it -- only those with thick skin should apply. Thick skin, however, is the only part of a model that is allowed to be thick as rail-thin is still the ideal body-type. I don't care how many fashion organizations vow to use models with body types of a certain BMI, or cast "curvier" models every once in a while: fashion has always featured extremely thin women. Everything else is simply for good publicity or sympathetic smiles from the fashion elite. We're all dying to be thin, thin and thinner.

Well, not all of us! I've been lucky enough to be naturally quite thin (while still being able to eat as much as I please for the most part) and find that the girls I become close friends with in the industry share my view on food: eat what you love, just don't stuff your face. I've never been one for extreme dieting, unhealthy means of staying skinny (read: laxatives and other unpleasant forceful removal..), juice cleanses or anything else along those lines. It's all too impractical for me. Life is for living, and that, in my opinion, includes ordering dessert when out for dinner with your boyfriend, making grilled cheese when you feel like vegging out and doing nothing at home, or sampling all the various gourmet hor dourves when at a party. Anyone who has the willpower to censor themselves every minute of the day with food is probably not the happiest...after all, a starving model is never a happy model. Give me the happy glow of a well-fed woman over the grayish tinge of an emaciated waif any day.

My closest friend from modeling, Elizabeth Minett, (or Minny as I call her) shares a similar philosophy when it comes to chowing down: mainly that we both turn into miserable cows when hungry, and become gentle purring kittens when with a bellyful of delights. Minny and I first bonded a couple years back when we met during a fashion show we were both in....a week later and we were sharing gossip over late-night greasy Chinese food after a night of clubbing. Chow mein? Yes please! Chicken balls? Why not! Fried rice? Of course! It was love at first bite for Minny and I and we've had many a food adventure in whatever city we happen to be in together since then. (Cupcakes in New York, pub fare in London and sushi in Miami, just to name a few!) To know there are other models out there with beautiful figures who enjoy food as much as I do was, and is, refreshing. Minny lands more than her share of jobs making it clear that girls who eat are not just happy, but damn sexy as well!

Minny + cupcake = <3

Minny is a baking enthusiast and has parlayed her passion for all things ooey, gooey and delicious into a blog of her own which follows the world of haute healthy eating from the perspective of a stunning model. We recently took a cupcake tour of Manhattan stopping at several well-known cupcake shops and sampling treats at each one to take tasty notes for her to blog about post-meal....a pumpkin cupcake at Sugar Sweet Sunshine, a vanilla bean cupcake and banana cream pie at Magnolia, a sugar-free cupcake from The Little Cupcake Shoppe...suffice to say it was heavenly!

While sitting around and indulging in cupcakes everyday is not the healthiest of lifestyles, it was a lovely way to spend a day. Don't get me wrong; neither of us chows down on burgers and fries daily, but we do eat when we're hungry and enjoy desserts just as much as we enjoy healthy foods. I feel sexier, happier, and most content when my body is at its natural weight as opposed to being a frail five or ten pounds lighter which would fit industry norms. I don't allow modeling to dictate what I eat, and more importantly how I live my life, and would much rather share a tapas dinner with friends than sit alone at home counting how many grapes I'm allowed that day. Minny and I have gossiped over late night Chinese, chatted over spicy salmon rolls, discussed life crisis's over slices of cheesecake and had girl talk over salads. Food is friendship for us and is part of the equation without a second thought; which is exactly how it is in both our lives. Fashion week, Schmashion week! Girls, once again I re-iterate: eat what you love, but don't stuff your face (unless it's on really good cupcakes..) and you'll be lovely as ever on the inside and out.

For a Minny & Sheilakins approved recipe, Flourless Chocolate Walnut Cookies (Big. Fat. MMMMM), go to Minny's Haut Appetit Blog here!

Haut Appetit's Flourless Chocolate Walnut Cookies!

The Sport of Celeb F*cking

I don't really follow sports. I find baseball boring (although going to games is an excuse to drink beer during the daytime without judgement), hockey mildly interesting (mostly for the fights that break out and and again, non-judgmental early drinking), and basketball marginally the most interesting, if only to go to games and spot the hardcore bling of all the baller wives who attend games from across the court. Many of my model counterparts, however, pay for more attention to sports than I ever could. For them it's not activities that take place on the field or in an arena, and don't involve any balls....actually wait. Maybe not. I'm alluding to the subtle, yet entirely present sport of celebrity hook-ups! That's right...the game of schmoozing and whatever happens after schmoozing with celebrities simply because, well, they're celebrities.

My darling hometown of Toronto is an interesting little habitat to observe celebrity behavior. Not blase and jaded like New York where Manhattanites can walk past Sarah Jessica Parker and the twins on the way to Magnolia without blinking an eye, (and where non-New Yorkers pretend to be just as uncaring if only to fit in), or downright shameless in fame adoration and the road to get there like in L.A, Toronto falls somewhere in the middle where everyone freaks out and wants to be seen with celebrities, but only if they're seen in a way where they don't appear to care. As if you just so happen to be hanging out with George Clooney because you two obviously run in the same circles -- and not because you heard he was going to be at some film fest party and pulled every string you had to inch your way to the edge of his table and take a picture where you're just barely in the same frame. Potato, potato. It's not just our secret gawking that makes Toronto unique, but also how comfortable it is for celebs here. Maybe it's that the T-dot is relatively low-key, or that they think we Canadians are just generally nicer and won't snitch on scandalous behavior, but whatever it is, celebrities certainly figure they can get away with more when shielded by the Great White North.

Our sheltered home and native land makes it so that celebs are more accessible than they would be in other cities...if you know a few club owners, are a model or a scenester in any way, chances are that you have a few star stories to share. And so, with celebrities frequently in town to shoot movies, do press tours or promote clothing lines, it has become something of a competition for many local girls to see just how many they can snag. I've seen this game in action; a young, sort-of attractive male star in his heyday will come to town, get wined and dined by high-end restaurateurs and venue owners, and taken to the hotspot of the night. And then the picking begins...usually his handlers will scope out the models or other attractive ladies who are there and bring them over to the star until he finds one he likes. Sleazy? Definitely. But somewhat understandable given the situation. I mean, why fish for something that you can get hand-delivered to you? With that in mind, it completely boggles my mind how many girls I see swoon, giggle, then eventually leave, with all these douches. They don't even have to be attractive! Just as long as they're famous. It's tit for tat: the star gets to add one more notch to his post of international banging and the chick gets to smugly know (or let her friends know is more like it) that she totally put the moves on Chace/Adrien/Gerard or whatnot.

If you're a spectator of this sport like I am, it's all very amusing and entertaining. I've been pulled from the sidelines every once in a while but am really not one for athletics...or being hit on by egotistical dudes who get their handlers to make introductions. Otherwise it's a fun game to follow....celebrities, models, scandal, and parties? Totally trumps sweaty dudes throwing a ball around if you ask me. For those participating, please continue to do so at events and clubs where we spectators can all continue to catch games -- especially during the playoffs, otherwise known as TIFF! Have fun, keep score, and for the love of fame don't forget to use protection -- we all know nothing's worse than having to sit a season out because of an "injury". All together now, Team Canada!
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OMFG...TIFF, TIFF, TIFF!

TIFF. The one acronym synonymous with arguably the best week of parties in our fair city of Toronto. The one week where A-list celebrities cram themselves into every available hotel and restaurant in Yorkville, and trendy spots of the downtown core. The one week where Toronto gets more international exposure than it does all year. The one week where networking at a party might lead you to an actual producer, not just some one who says he is. And finally, the one week where  the city extends it's liquor license to 4 a.m. and we all know we have to go hard. There is no halfway when it comes to the film festival, and anyone who has done it before knows there's a strategy....unless you want to end up a waking corpse by the end of it. (I'll save you the been-there-done-that trouble: being a walking zombie is never fun.)

TIFF has a different purpose for everyone. When I was fifteen, my best friends and I ventured to Yorkville for our first fest with the sole goal of seeing as many celebrities as possible. For a young teen it seemed absolutely magical to see Nicole Kidman, Anthony Hopkins and Denzel Washington to name a few waltz by us...we even talked to some of them. (She was unearthly stunning, he was intimidating and Denzel must have been having a bad day because he was a total ass. I forgive you Denzel. Being approached by three wide-eyed tween girls sputtering incoherently wouldn't exactly thrill me, either. ) As I got older, chasing down stars lost its appeal and it was more about the partying. I'll admit that during more than a couple TIFF's I would come own each night no earlier than 7 a.m. I solely blame the annual Nikki Beach pop-up. Nothing keeps a girl out for late nights like a schmoozy St. Tropez atmosphere and an abundance of bubbly!

However, I know for many TIFF is about networking their faces off. A logical decision given the caliber of industry personnel who are in town and out and about during the fest! I've never been one to get whipped into a frenzy about the possibility of meeting a Hollywood director or whatnot, but my interests have always been in fashion and events. I do however see the value in meeting not just big time producers, but film makers of all kinds since the possibilities and opportunities are endless. Any meeting with passionate people serves you well at the end of the day, in my opinion..."it doesn't matter what you do, as long as you do it well."  are wise words.

For the next ten days, the power is in the party. No matter if it's day time industry gatherings, cocktail hour receptions, evening lounges or full-on 4 a.m bangers, each and every TIFF event if over-flowing at the brim with people just waiting to provide you with interesting opportunities in the future. You can almost see the sparks of collaborative ideas as they bounce between individual to individual. As a promoter, my two partners and I will be throwing a plethora of 4 a.m. bangers of which I'm positive will reap benefits for business. (...and pleasure. I'm only human, and a party girl at that.)

When it comes down to it, networking, partying, and a love of film aside, what makes TIFF so great is the energy it brings to the city. There's a united feeling of pride in our venues, our people and our atmosphere that has provided Hollywood with refuge for a week in the Great White North. There's a reason film fest here is second only to Cannes! (And Cannes being in the stunning south of France, where exclusivity is built in and the birthplace of Diddy's all-white party...well, we're happily second) So no matter how many douche-bag faux-stars you see strutting around the city with their sunglasses on at night hoping to get mistaken for Ryan Gosling, remember that they're just excited to be part of something great. And that's what Toronto is during film fest -- nothing short of just fantastic.
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OMFG - Guest Blog for South Molton Street Style!

Hi loves,
My dear friend Anna in London has created South Molton Street Style Blog (recently named one of Vogue's top 20 Fashion Blogs) and I've written a guest blog on fashion essentials for it! Check it out on OMFG and at SMS Style here! Don't forget to comment and vote for me!) 

As a born and raised Toronto girl who has visited London on several occasions, I must say we style mavens on both sides of the pond can relate very much to each other! We can relate to the wretched winters we both must endure (while still trying to look cute), we can relate to a fascination with all things royal and thus an enduring preppiness in our collections, and finally we can relate to having not just winter to deal with, but a whole array of seasons! (Yes, Miami fashions only work for about a month or two for us Toronto/London girls...the rest of the time it's layers, layers, and more layers!) But don't the pesky weather fool you...we savy and smart girls have cultivated a practical yet utterly fashionable look all our own! Here are five fashion essentials for every Canadian girl, British girl, or just plain stylish girl at heart!

1. The LBD
The little black dress has been a staple since the days of Hepburn, and is still just a relevant, and sexy, today. Except gone are the staunchly structured and prim and proper silhouettes of yesteryear which have been replaced with endless renditions of the modern classic. I myself must have close to ten LBD's, all of which make regular appearances in my social life!
This delicate crocheted LBD from Urban Outfitters is daring, demure and different all at once. Wear it sexy with nude sky-high sandals, or wear it hip with chunky platforms. Scope it out here!

2. The Sexy Heel
Canadian girls are made to withstand the cold. Even in the dead of winter, you can see us venturing out on a Friday night in our finest heels, minis, and not much else....save for a fabulous fur coat to throw on top of it all! Sure, we'll put on tights as to not look totally insane, but whoever said heels and 6 inches of snow do not mix was lying. When you're a fashionista, everything goes with heels. While chunky pieces may be the trend at the moment, I've always been a fan of footwear that is feminine and sexy, sexy, sexy. The latest trend of "flatforms" merely doesn't cut it for yours truly. Why drag down your feet in heavy unsightly shoes when you can doll them up in delicate creations? Exactly. I have more footwear than one girl needs in a life time, and my next addition will be these darling pieces of heaven from Topshop. Sky high, multi-textured, classic on color scheme and still entirely feminine? I'm in love.
Check them out here!

3. The Slouchy Cardigan
While summer dresses are perfect worn solo in the hot months of July and August, when fall and winter roll around, we transform them into layering pieces to be worn with tights, belts, heavy leather purses and that perfect slouchy cardigan. Oh, the slouchy cardigan! Such a sweater is not only cozy for chillier nights, but also the right amount of tasteful and pretty to make yourself look like a gorgeously bundled package. This one from Free People is organic, unique and versatile and would just divine belted over a little knit dress, tights, and lace-up booties.
See it here!

4. The Warm Winter Coat
I've tried being cute with coats. I've tried being trendy with coats. But when it comes down to it, you need to be warm with coats...because when it's minus twenty outside and the blustering wind gusts towards you, no amount of impractical-yet-pretty detailing on your of-the-moment coat is going to save you from being in bed with the flu the next day! It's all about practicality while still looking stunning for fall and winter coats, and no one has done better in this area than the tried-and-true Burberry. These coats are works of art in their craftsmanship and mouthwatering in design, making for the perfect warming essential. No gusts of wind will get through this wool trench, and the fox fur collar makes for a luxe, yet practical addition. Picturing this coat with flat knee-high leather boots, an extravagant fur hat and knitted gray tights almost makes me wish winter were coming sooner! Almost.
Check it out here!

5. But enough of winter talk for now! After all, it's still summer and absolutely gorgeous outside. Little summer dresses are a staple for all girls, and I like them, surprise surprise, to be feminine and flirty! While sleeveless minis might be overtly sexy, longer sleeves, or longer hemlines with daring details make for a less-obvious yet still sensual outfit. This belted, bell-sleeved mini from Rare is a lovely dress that showcases your long, luscious and tan summer gams without giving it all away at once! Throw in a warm breeze, a glass of sangria, leather sandals and posh black sunnies and you've got yourself an ideal afternoon of lounging. I'll drink to that!
Scope it out here!

And there you have it girls, a practical yet sexy fashionistas must-have essentials for all seasons. Whether it's going to music festivals, out for a swanky dinner with your love or a wild night of clubbing with your girl friends, it's the clothes that make the girl, so make yourself a stylish being.
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Social party networking...OMFG

What are we looking for when we go out? When I was 15 it was a bouncer who I could wink at so he wouldn't know my New Brunswick ID was totally fake (thank you, sketchy "souvenir" shop on College Street) but now, nine years and countless nights out later, what is there left to do?

My group of friends are all around my age (mid-twenties), have all been out and about a ton, (in Toronto, in other cities, drunk, sober, on drugs, not on drugs, dirty underground things, upscale celebrity things, you name it and we've probably done it. Twice.) and are now we're all....well a little bored. The scene here in my darling city is a little conservative to say the least and the industry players usually don't travel outside of the safe, but overly-gentrified areas (King West, blah blah blah...I might suffocate from familiarity the next time I'm out on King West.) and usual crowd (suburban folk make up the majority). Sure, I could go venture to something entirely new and go out in, say, Ossington, where things are decidedly more hipster, but are there really no options other than mainstream ginos and not-so-indie hipsters? Surely.

Location be damned. It's not about where but who that makes a quality party now. It seems as we grow older, our mindset changes from not just the seeking out of a good time, but a good opportunity as well. The busiest parties, events, hootenannies, shindigs and what-have-you in Toronto are the ones where attendees know the mingling crowd will be one of a professional standard. And I'm not talking about the late-night girl professionals who work the King West crowds. (Ha.) Rather I'm talking about the people in this city who are creating business opportunities by pursuing their passions, and thus creating opportunities for others as well. Magazine launches, after-work corporate happy hour-esque mixers, big name charity galas and social media unveilings guarantee a like-minded crowd; if your current train of thought is business-savvy, ambitious and determined. They also happen to make the best, and even (at times) craziest, parties. Money, brains, and a young, handsome group of the city's top folk ensures that the party is not only marketed to a tee, but that it's planned to one as well.

Gone are the days where the most talked-about rager happened spontaneously in so-and-so's grimy after-hours space filled with dirty-yet-pretty rave kids, a plethora of drugs and un-posed-yet-posed Polaroid photos....we're in our mid-to-late twenties now and want to go places where we don't have to worry about scandalous pictures leaking onto Facebook. (Well, on most nights anyways.) What sells nowadays are ideas, ideas, and more ideas, and meeting with idea-producing individuals in a schmoozefest of an atmosphere is, well, ideal! Perhaps it's also because as we get older more of us are in relationships too which hampers the idea of going out and getting crazy. Just because we're in relationships doesn't mean we don't want purposeful partying as well! It's just that the purpose is making business connections instead of, um, physical ones, to phrase it politely.

So I guess the answer to what we're all looking for after a certain point when going out is to better ourselves; through social savvy and essentially selling the ideas we have to others in hopes to collaborate. Add chic martinis, out-of-office haute attire, good beats, & a beautiful venue and you have yourself the new coveted party scene for twenty-somethings: the social network event. Zuckerberg may have put it online, but the rest of us are keeping it going in person.
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The Twenty-something Curse -- OMFG

Toronto summer, where art thou? I was just about to step outside in what the Weather Network promised was 20 degree weather when it started pouring. Not refreshing spring showers either, but full on Asia-style it's raining freaking fat cats and obese dogs pouring. Suffice to say I'm indoors instead nestled between a cozy blanket, my darling little blog and a mug of green tea. Patio season will just have to wait.

I've been situated in front of my laptop for most of the day now doing what I feel like I've been doing for the past lifetime -- looking for a job. Modeling and dabbling in promotions for nightlife in the city has been enough to keep my afloat since my return from Singapore, but let's be honest; neither is a steady nor very fulfilling industry and at 23 (and turning 24 in less than a month with horror slowly sinking in) I feel like, and have been feeling for a while now, that there is something more for me that is hopefully financially sustainable as well.

Equipped with a double major in Urban Geography from what I think is the best school in Canada (U of T repping!) hasn't been as reassuring as one might think...I realized not too long after graduation that a life of soil samples and demographic statistics wasn't one I was, or ever would be, passionate about. The idea of being chained to the helm of an office desk working nine to five and clocking in and out literally makes me uncomfortable and modeling and nightlife just isn't intellectually stimulating enough for me. So where to start?
I feel like I've written more than a few blog posts about being twenty-something, dazed, confused, yet somehow unrelentingly motivated to be doing....something. And, the truth is, I'm still stuck in that in-between gray area of being young enough to not freak out, yet old enough to start feeling a little purposeless. Case and point? I woke up the other day and my to-do list consisted of doing laundry and picking up a check. Yup. Those two things and that was it. A little purposeless may of been the nice way of putting it; I felt about as useful as a used stamp.

I am strangely optimistic though (as I charmingly find most others I know in similar situations) and probably a tad overly confident in my skills, whatever they are (Being uber-social? Constant blogger? Active social networker? Pretty when dolled-up? More valuable than you may think!) when it comes to the job-hunt. For now, I'm applying to temporary office jobs (partially to feel useful, partially because I want a new purse and it will  need to be Balenciaga) while still searching for....well whatever it seems all twenty-somethings are searching for. The perfect job, that allows me to be creative, travel, be paid well and contribute to this world in a big way. Sounds ridiculous? Maybe. But the more I focus on it, the more I know that eventually, in time, it will manifest itself.

Call it the curse of the twenty-something; we're naively optimistic, blatantly confident and have blind faith in a perfect something-or-the-other that's bound to happen. I wouldn't have it any other way.
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OMFG - Spring Fever!

The weather in Toronto has slowly been getting a little nicer and nicer....and with everyday that the thermometer creeps towards the positives, the entire city lets out a little sigh of relief that maybe Spring really is just around the corner! Unlike other cities where it's warm (or warmer) year round, Torontonians like myself are so used to the dull, dreary days of winter that we're all officially insane when Spring fever hits! It hits us. And it hits us hard. I think this may be the only city in the world where you can see people on the streets wearing flip flops and winter boots on the same day. We experienced a day where the warmth hit the double digits a little while ago and, despite being only ten degrees, it was probably the busiest clubbing night I've seen in a while and throngs of girls (your truly included) headed to the clubs in what I would normally wear in the summer. See? Officially insane when Spring fever hits.
The winters here being brutal as they are (this is The Great White North after all, cosmopolitan as we are) put even the cheeriest of Canadians into a bit of a bind and causes what I like to call "Toronto-hate Syndrome". Oh, we've all been affected by it at one time or another. You know the feeling...when you want to have a fabulous night out but the idea of putting on a slinky outfit and your most dangerous heels just seems -- well, dangerous, considering the icy streets and snowy mounds you'll have to navigate. The cramp on your night leads to a breathy sigh of "I hate Toronto!" and thus the syndrome begins. It's a snowball effect from then on in, where every weather-related disaster, no matter how small in scale, leads to a full-on case of hatred for our at-time geographically impaired city. The scene gets stale fast during the winter months partially because even the most persistent of clubbing troopers find it hard to make it out there when it's twenty five below and blustering winds ruin even the most coiffed hair-dos and also because everything just seems a little monotonous when given a bleak gray scene as a backdrop.
Well my darling Torontonians who are still in the city...Snap out of it! (For all of you who jetted out of here, I'm shooting you a slight evil eye. But only because I'm jealous. And because you suck.) I love our little city and the credit it deserves is usually taken away by 1) either New York envy (we really can't help that it's so close.) 2) the winter blues. Since NYC isn't going anywhere without the appearance of either King Kong or Godzilla, I think it's safe to say the winter blues are something we can easily all conquer. Luckily the worst of it is over and with March only a couple days away, Spring's green grasses and dewy air are truly just around the corner. Nothing spreads happiness faster than a little sunshine and I'm looking forward to the epidemic beginning as soon as the first rays hit the ground. As for the dry spell clubbing-wise; it's only one if we let it be one! I don't know about all of you, but I'm the type of person who will have a good night out as long as I'm surrounded by friends (and a couple bottles..come on now) so a night where we all mission it out, albeit in sexy little outfits under our puffy down-filled coats is definitely worth it. And, if you truly want to show everyone what we Canadians are made of, you'll find your way out in a sexy little outfit and that's about it. Blame it on Spring fever. But we're all about ready to be a little insane once it hits.
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