balloonatic birthday shoot

Along with cake, one of the best bits of my 27th birthday last month was the arrival of this giant, confetti filled, pink and gold tasseled, helium balloon from Balloonatic. Omg, right? It was such a thing of beauty to have floating around! Balloonatic & Co. is a women owned and operated business headed up by the lovely Crystal, who shares my penchant for many of the finer things in life including florals, lace, sparkles, and stationery (day planners especially!). Based in my hometown, Balloonatic do local deliveries and ship their beautiful creations all over Canada. Crystal was so kind as to let me design the balloon of my dreams for a birthday photo shoot; I dressed to match in a pink pinafore from The Whitepepper, shoes from Asos, and a beehive as tall as I could get it.

in transition

Hello readers, it's official, I'm a university graduate! After many years I've earned my honors bachelor's degree in Women's & Gender Studies, and am no longer a student for the first time in ages. My amazing necklace from Twerkstorian says it all regarding what I've been up to since finishing exams (Fresh Prince & Full House are my current Netflix addictions), but I have big plans for the blog. I can't wait to get into the swing of regular updates; while I get my act together, I'll let these recent Instagram snaps from my daily life serve as a preview of what's to come. Hooray!

van city

Earlier this month Liam and I spent a wonderful long weekend visiting friends and seeing Kindness in Vancouver, which is by far my favorite city in Canada. The weather was gorgeous (especially for the beginning of March) and we walked everywhere from our downtown Airbnb, stopping often to take pictures of the blossoming trees in my case. Vancouver's natural beauty is impossible not to appreciate as it's surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and Rocky Mountains, which never fail to move me. There are also so many amazing restaurants, bakeries, and coffee shops in Van that one is truly spoiled for choice; we managed to sample sushi, noodles, burgers, macarons, bagels, and more in only a few days, and all of it was seriously delicious. Our petite getaway was a much welcome change of pace from school/work, especially before the final stretch to graduation in May!

more wonderland

To commemorate the unofficial end of this seemingly short summer, here are the rest of the photos from my recent trip to Britain with Mallory (the first set is here). This was by far the highlight of my vacation as well as my year and I've been excessively nostalgic while drawing up this post. When I visited London at age 20 it blew me away by being even more beautiful and iconic than I had fantasized about for so long, and I felt instantly light and happy there for the first time since my dad died four years earlier. Since then I've been lucky enough to return a few times but this latest UK trip will most likely be my last for awhile, since new destinations including New York, Berlin, and Reykjavik have been seriously tempting me. No matter where I go England will always occupy a special place in my heart, which it has helped to mend on more than one occasion.

wonderful wonderland

I have only been home a week and already miss Britain so much. After three years away from my favorite places in the world, I was thrilled to be in the UK again. My friend Mallory and I devoted the majority of our time to London in all of it's sparkle and splendor; the city fills my heart to the brim at every turn and is the source of so much inspiration for me. We also took a quick trip to Glasgow to visit another dear pal, and to marvel at the brooding Scottish beauty and never ending rain. I posted a ton of phone photos on Instagram already, and also managed to take lots with the camera I got for Christmas. Above is me in front of a familiar flat off Brick Lane, and below are a few of my favorites from our travels with more to come.