Trend Report: Lola Looks at Fall

My sister and I have been very excited about the coming season (and not only for fashion reasons). We have been perusing, discussing, debating and proclaiming. She follows some pretty sweet fashion websites that I think you may also like. I will list them all for you at the bottom. Now I'm going to cut to the chase and show you some of her chosen fall 2011 looks:

Everyone needs an over-sized scarf to wrap around their necks.

Loving the dirty boots. Make sure to shop around for these, as a good pair are hard to find.

I'm not sure I will ever grow tired of cut off jeans with tights or leopoard print. The fashion gift that keeps on giving.

Lola is a big fan of this look. It makes her feel scholarly.

Spunky, and sproketey, the red headband and lips tie everything in.

www.manrepeller.com
www.therefinery.com
www.asos.com  

The Skinny Little Flea

In recent months I've seemed to have shed more weight than the years it took to put on. I have to admit, I'm over-the-moon happy about my new found size. Although, none of my pants seem to fit anymore. Only leggings. And, seeing as though leggings are getting the old clean sweep this fall, it looks like I'm S.O.L for now. Or at least until I go to Florida in 8 days.

Get rid of the leggings, ladies. Save them for home. Put them in the jogging pants category (it's hard, I know).

It amazes me how much our weight fluctuates over the years. I can remember being a fit, tight, 21 year old, looking at the mirror, enjoying what I saw. But what I remember most about that is thinking to myself, this is it, Kenzie, this is as good and tight as your little body is going to get. And I was right. No big surprise there. I think I weighed about 115 lbs at that time. Not a bad weight. Although, my buttocks and breasts weren't as full as I'd like. Anyways.

From 21 to 25 I started to slowly gain a pound a year. When I reached 120 lbs, I was fairly content. It seemed like a healthy weight. It was from the age of 25 to 29 where I began to see a difference. All of a sudden I developed love handles. Me, love handles? You're kidding me. Ah, well a cushion for the pushin as they say, right? No. No no no. Then began the expansion of my thighs. But with that my bum got plumper and rounder (we're okay with that, aren't we?).

I have to say though, that the last year and a half is when I noticed the biggest difference of all. When I first moved to Montréal, I weighed about 125 lbs. Then, in a year I packed on a hefty 12 pounds. That put me at 137 lbs. And at 5"5 I wasn't feeling too pretty. Mind you I had breasts to boot. And that was fun. Sure was. But my excessive chocolate croissant eating and latte drinking was driving me to obesityville.Something just HAD to give. But what?

Where was my motivation? I couldn't find it anywhere!

To sum it all up, in the past month and a half I have lost 17 whopping pounds. How did you do it? Well, you could say it was a blend of things, relationship changes, increase of exercise, moving to a location that forced me to walk everywhere, and of course, my god send: women's kick boxing. I am so grateful to be sitting here at 120 lbs. Feeling sexier and confident than ever. It's amazing how extra poundage not only weighs down your physical self, but how it greatly impacts your mental and emotional self. I feel so much lighter and happier.

Here are some key things I did to shed the pounds:

• No bread. And I mean, No bread.
• No milk. No cheese. No dairy.
• A shake a day. With berries, bananas, etc.
• Fruits and veggies. Nuts and grains.
• The most important tip: CUT YOUR PORTIONS IN HALF.

I'm enjoying my new weight and the wonderful things that come with it. Plus, I feel I'm on the road to being in top form for the snowboard season *gives myself a wee pat on the back*

Friday Faux Pas w/Special Guest: Electro Granny

This past week was Fashion Week in Montréal. A big part of me felt I should be "covering" the latest trends. But then I realized, I don't give a shit. I mean, I'm more fascinated by the odd, bizzare or aberrant. Don't get me wrong, I love the latest, but to me this is more interesting.

Allow me to introduce you to my resurrected retro grandma.

Here is a perfect example of a woman I came across in Canadian Tire. In a way, she reminded me of my deceased grandma. Mostly because of the way she was yelling at the customer rep to come and help her. But I couldn't help but appreciate the way this peculiar lady put herself together, from multiple hair appliques, all the way down to the lime green polish on her nails.

And there you have it. I actually followed this woman to aisle 53, where she was looking for sand paper. I don't know why I find what society would deem as odd people so fascinating, but I do. I wouldn't put this woman in my list of faux pas. No way. She has got something going on here. She's probably the funkiest, funniest, 65+ year old senior lady I've seen in awhile. 

Now for some Friday Faux Pas

The Wandering Farmer Hipster. 

He picked out the right sweater at his local second hand shop, but made a bad decision in the hat department. I am not sure where his head was at when purchasing this partially chewed straw hat, nor what look he was going for, but it made for good entertainment. kudos, kid!

The Lone Frosted Tip.

There really is nothing like a peroxide disaster. You can never make the exact same mistake twice. And in that sense, it makes it mildly fascinating and somewhat artistic, depending on how you look at it. Otherwise, well, I think you and I both know it looks outright ridiculous. If I were her, I would save face and just cut it off. The hair is dead anyways. No big loss there.

Trailer Trash Boys Reject.

This photo was graciously provided from a reader. What I liked in particular was the angle of this shot. This man seems so big, yet I get the feeling he feels quite small. Is that a mullet or a rat tail? Why not throw some side burns in for good measure, yeah, side burns are cool. I'll put my black beater on to show my muscles (hey, I can see they're developing, so others may, too). Also, my collection of scorpion tattoos are sure to make girls swoon. I'll finish this look off with an alligator tooth on a chain that my grandma gave me. Gold stars all-around!

The Life of a Couturier Connoisseur

Wow. Where do I begin?

The weird, the wonderful, and the only one I've seen turn sweat pants and a sweat shirt into couture: Jean Paul Gaultier. I finally went to the exhibit. And I am very glad that I did.

Take a look at JPG from my eyes.

 I hope that you enjoy it. I'm not going to write anything else and let the photos speak for themselves. For more information on the exhibit click here 

The Results: Deep Fried Food Challenge at The Ex

I knew ahead of time that I'd have to be strategic about what I ingested prior to this challenge. I went out for brunch that day with friends and opted for the yogurt and homemade granola. I thought this would set a nice base for what was about to literally be shit on by the most gut-wrenching, unhealthy food imaginable. For the most part, I think it worked. And, it turns out that the challenger I was up against, Trav, had the exact same thing for breakfast.

This is great. We're off to an equal start. Things are looking good.

Let us begin on this fun food adventure.

We started with a classic: the doughnut with cinnamon sugar. 

These little guys were quite tasty, although a bit on the doughy side. All in all, a good start. But 18 doughnuts later and you're pretty sick of them. Now for something salty...

The Classic Pogo Stick drenched with your selection of condiments

Things need to start getting a little dirty. We're just skimming the top. We decided to take a stroll to the food building. The Ex is freaking huge. It's un-believable. From a dog show, to a global market of the most amazing, inexpensive items, to a human cannonball demonstration. Everywhere you turned there was something or someone to look at. It was complete sensory overload. We then began a hunt for Deep Fried Butter but Trav came across this:

Scrumptious Deep Fried Macaroni & Cheese with Cheese curds. And a selection of dipping sauce for extra finger-licking goodness.

I was craving something more sweet, so I opted for:

The Deep Fried S'more. 

Gimme, gimme, gimme S'more. S'mooo good.

After a short, yet big rainstorm, we came across Mr. Dave Smith Jr., son of Super Dave. He was about to do a human cannonball stunt, so we stopped to watch. It was very entertaining, to say the least. He shot 75 feet up in the air and landed on a net. It was awesome.

The hunt for Deep Fried Butter continued. Even though we were pretty exhausted of eating solely Deep Fried foods, we knew it needed to be done (or at least I did, I'm not so sure about Trav). Anyways, we found the Deep Fried balls of fat on our way out. I didn't know what to expect. And although they are presented in a very delicious and tempting manner, don't be fooled! They are just god-awful disgusting. I don't even know how else to describe them. 

Deceiving to be delectable balls of Deep Fried batter filled with yet more Greasy instant Fat creating Disgustingness.

Sprinkled with Icing Sugar and a choice of Toppings.

Little did I know to take cover when I bit into this little ball. This should help depict exactly what happened. I warn you, they are not pretty at all. And I am certainly not proud. 

But hey, I have to share it. 

Grossed out?

I don't think I need to say anymore about that.

So, to sum it all up, I lost the challenge. After that first ball, I just couldn't do it anymore. I was on the verge of vomiting. I felt like I was hungover without even drinking a single drop. It was just awful. I ended up in a food induced coma. The rest of the night was a complete write-off. But hey, I had a great time. And it was all worthwhile. What a perfect way to end off a fantastic summer. 

The Deep Fried Food Challenge

I decided to come home to Toronto for the weekend on a whim. What could I do, I wondered? Something that's fun, unique to Toronto and doesn't cost *too* much. The Ex! Simple as that. Indeed, that is what I've decided. To go to The Ex. With my ex, of course (and we're awesome friends now, so it all works out). But I wanted to step it up a bit, you know? Add a little spice. 

This is where I conjured up the idea of having a Deep Fried Food Challenge. 

After hearing about all of these great deep fried items from deep fried butter and Oreo's to a Krispy Kreme doughnut cheese burger, it just seemed like something that needed to be done. 

So, I messaged my ex and asked if he was up for a challenge...

Tomorrow is the day. I'm going to stay in, get a good nights rest and mentally prepare myself. This is going to be fun at first, but I foresee it getting painful very, very fast (not to mention expensive). Anyways, all of that doesn't matter. It's all about the experience.

Well, I don't know what else to say, other than: bonne chance à moi !