NYE in NYC

Not A Model is off to New York City to ring in the new year! I'm bringing my camera, favourite girls and a sleep-is-for-fools attitude. I just hope we get there since this is what the east coast has been looking like lately. Here's hoping our flight isn't cancelled. Wish me luck! :) 

See y'all in 2011!

Underwater New Year

Dip your big toe in.

Inch by inch. It's too cold, too uncomfortable, too wet. Try again. Daydreaming, making little waves, yearning for the other side, but comfortable on the edge. Always on the edge.

Why can't you just jump in?

The mental preparation continues until someone comes up from behind you. Before words can spill from your lips, your body is catapulted in the air and for a split second you fly. Eyes squeezed shut, body spinning until...

SPLASH!

The shock of the cool liquid surrounds your body. There is no time to think. There is no before or after. Simultaneously, your arms and legs begin to pump and you try to find your way back to the surface. Climbing, rising, almost there until...

Gasps of air, sunshine, burning eyes, matted hair.

You pretend to be angry, frown for effect and then you float on your back, basking in the bliss of the moment. Everything is better now and you knew that you weren't going in until someone gave you that shove.

This is my push for all my readers this year: (myself included)

IMMERSE YOURSELF in every situation, dream, moment.

MAKE a firm decision to either go with it or let it go. Living in limbo for another year is not living at all. 

ELIMINATE THESE WORDS FROM YOUR VOCABULARY: failure, rejection, impossible, comfortable, not good enough, next time, eventually, too old, too young, BUT..

GO after everything that you're curious about, or that you've been curious about until you find something new to explore.

REALIZE that everything is scarier in your head than in reality.

START right now because you don't have to be underwater to feel like you're drowning.

This year, in every aspect of what makes up your life, or what you hope to make up your life

DIVE IN. 

Seasons Greetings from Not A Model

It's that time of year again! With Christmas only a few days away and my winter break officially kicking off in 24 hours, I may burst with anticipation (or exhaustion). I have never been more excited for the holidays. Blame it on the long days of my new "adult-life" or the fact that we finally have a baby in the family to spoil with toys, but heck I can't wait.

Here are my holiday wishes for my Not A Model readers this season. Enjoy!!! Photos by Stef Sgams.

May your days be filled with laughter.

May you indulge in an endless amount of cookies, candy canes and eggnog until you look like this:

May you experience a feeling of joy that doesn't come from anything wrapped or store-bought:

May you let your inner night-before-Santa child out:

 And last but not least, no matter what you celebrate this year: 

Carlucci Designs & My Favourite Dresses

Are you intimidated by that upscale department store? Do you have a big event coming up and can't afford that 4 digit price tag?

Not A Model sat down with Canadian fashion designer Juliana Carlucci and stylist/boutique-owner/dress guru Trisha Mishich to talk gowns and girls. 

Mishich is the owner of My Favourite Dresses, a luxury dress rental shop that offers clients the option to rent international and Canadian designer evening gowns for special events. Trisha dubs her business, "luxury on loan." The shop offers online dress rentals or in-person appointments at her condo in Toronto. The cost of a rental ranges from $50- $300 for 4 nights. "Even if a woman can't afford a designer dress, I want to be able to give her the experience of wearing one," she says. My Favourite Dresses boasts evening wear from Canadian designers such as Marika Brose, Joeffer Caoc and lastly Carlucci.

Carlucci by Juliana Carlucci is an evening dress collection designed by Ryerson fashion design graduate Juliana Carlucci. Carlucci uses imported fabrics for her designs and creates each dress by hand. Her attention to detail varies from hand-sewn silk flowers to Swarovski crystal beading. Her latest gown collection can be rented at My Favourite Dresses or purchased by contacting her directly. The collection (below) is named after all the important women in her life. Carlucci explains that she wants to, "dress the average woman and eventually provide a really good size range so women don't feel left out when shopping."

 

Carlucci (left)

Trisha (left) Juliana (right)

After the interview, we all thought it would be best for me to try on one of the dresses to get the full experience. I chose the "Leah" (rental $155) which is named after one of Juliana's best friends.

As soon as I tried the dress on, I felt glamourous. While it looks 'cutesy' and sweet on the rack, it is anything but. The back is much lower than I anticipated, and it hugged my body like it was made for me. My favourite part is the large fan accent on the front. Below is my gala moment. (Keep in mind I went from schlepy writer mode to red carpet ready with little prep in-between)

You can check out more rentals at My Favourite Dresses on Facebook and for more photos and the full collection check out Juliana at http://www.julianacarlucci.com/

Beyond the Surface

As the holidays are less than a week away and a new year is upon us, I find myself wanting to spend time with the people who encase me in real moments.

People who clear the haze in my head and erase my to-do list for a little while. For when I'm with them, I'm not thinking about my never ending work inbox or when I should get my next hair-cut. It's effortless, relaxed, sweet, fun, intimate and uncontrived. When these people look at you, they really see you. You are not floating above the interaction, or planning your next move; you just are.

The ordinary moments: morning chats with my mother as we sit in the dark eating breakfast because I hate the light, laughing with friends that I've known since I was 11 over red wine and oven baked pizza, driving in the car with my Dad as he picks me up from the train station, conversations over cups of coffee in a tiny place that no one knows about yet, watching baby Daniel do almost anything for the first time, my sister forcing a hug on me as I pretend to be repulsed by her affection as we laugh uncontrollably. 

Last week, I watched Tom Ford's visually stunning film, A Single Man and the final quote of the movie resonated with me:

"A few times in my life I've had moments of absolute clarity, when for a few brief seconds the silence drowns out the noise and I can feel rather than think, and things seem so sharp and the world seems so fresh. I can never make these moments last. I cling to them, but like everything, they fade. I have lived my life on these moments. They pull me back to the present, and I realize that everything is exactly the way it was meant to be." 

With the fuzzy holidays here, spend time with the people who matter and be sure to tell them so. All we have is now, so why waste it on plastic?

Not A Model's Holiday Outfit Pick: The work party

When you're sipping Prosecco on the 54th floor of the most posh restaurant you've ever been cordially invited to, you must dress the part. At the holiday work party, you want to bring your most polished self forward, without looking too stuffy or too sexy.

Try an eggshell lace shirt to mimic a snowflake and a black fitted skirt with patterned tights to stay seasonally appropriate. Add a rough bicycle chain necklace with pea sized diamonds to add sparkle, as if you needed it anyway. Lastly, boots the colour of an elephant's ear switches up the colour palette and gives you height to climb that corporate ladder.

Since it takes way more work to 'pose' in a photo, I decided to get creative and think of other ways to show off an outfit. My sister thought I was taking 'next day work outfit planning' to a whole other level. Definitely not. 

Shirt: Olive and Oak
Skirt: My mothers
Necklace: XX1
Shoes: Tommy by Tommy Hilfiger

Not A Model asks, What are you wearing this holiday season? 

Where Is My Mind?

Not A Model's thoughts:  

• Why is it so easy for children to believe in Santa Claus, yet so hard for grown-ups to believe in the simplest of things? 
• Has a child ever said, "When I grow up I want to sit at a desk all day?"
• Where do all the candy canes go after the holidays?
• Is it ever acceptable to tell a stranger that there is something in their teeth? 
• If the biggest rush I received last week was from a new shoe purchase, what does that say about my week?
• When I look back on my life, what will I tell my grandchildren? 
• Will any of the people I've met make history?
• I wish I could be breathlessly inspired daily.
• What is the difference between Tuesday and Wednesday?
• Why do we value youth and beauty over everything else?
• I'd give up the chance to meet any famous person to sit down with my grandfather one more time. 
• How many people do we sit across from without feeling a single thing?
• I always wonder if the person sitting beside me on the subway is happy.
• Can happiness be transferred to others like the flu virus?
• It scares me how easily I can become attached and unattached to things.  
• Are we all just in love with ideas?
• I want to create, rather than consume. 
• If we knew that people could read our minds, would we edit our thoughts the way we edit our conversations?
  
  
  
  What's inside your head?

Cold and Floozy

"You look green," my father exclaimed to me as I lay lifeless on the couch after a long week of work.

For the record I'm not sick (and I wasn't blessed with a peaches and cream complexion like those little girls in story books) but I'll admit I do look a little run-down.

Staying healthy becomes more of a conscious effort during the winter months. I always look better in the summer without even trying. My skin is soft, my sinuses are clear and the sunshine on my skin only increases the vitamin D that puts a goofy grin on my face.

In the winter it's all about washing your hands, blowing your nose, moisturizing, eating right, getting enough sleep, bundling up and trying to dodge every germ that comes your way like a stuffed up superhero.

Instead of buying a new blush, I decided to bust out my new juicer. I've read some of the benefits of juicing and my mom thought it would be a good idea to invest in one. I started with a simple apple juice for my first one, but I can't wait to start mixing up immune elixirs and vegetable shakes. I'm sure that will keep my energy up and hopefully my immune system healthy during the blistery months ahead.

And while a green complexion may not be coveted, I am smitten with the new key-lime notebook my sister bought me. Each page has a little quote at the bottom and the blank pages leave little to stifle the sweeps of my pen.

Today's quote: "A year from now you will wish you started today."

Not A Model says, "Start the week on a positive, healthy note and bundle up!" xx