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Workspace | Anna Cohen of Simply Stylish Mom

The Anthology’s Workspace column takes us inside the creative spaces of some very creative people.

I don’t know how mommy bloggers do it. And I especially don’t know how mommy bloggers do it when they’ve just upped and relocated to Scandinavia. And yet, somehow Anna Cohen of Simply Stylish Mom manages to do it all.

In her own words she takes us through her waterfront workspace — passports, frenemies, toy trains and all…

My family and I relocated to Denmark this month and moved into a lovely river cottage (a converted stable!) My makeshift workspace has been a simple wooden trestle table under one of our cottage’s eaves. I haven’t had much of a chance to decorate so what is featured is either a recent find or something that came in my suitcase from Vancouver.

1. The Vintage: I love myself a good thrift store and so find pieces here and there on my travels. I love this ridiculous sign and these old coffee tins – a nod to my new country of residence and my old frenemy: caffeine.

2. The Electronics: My trusty old MacBook – it’s been given a pretty good workout over the last 5 years and hasn’t let me down yet and our last electroinic acquisition before we left Vancouver: the X-mini speakers I purchased at Caya, these produce a huge amount of sound for their size.

3. The Family: When they’re not nearby, I treasure pictures of my three boys. I love these images taken by  Meagan Baker just before we left Vancouver in the UBC endowment lands.

4. The beauty products: work time (aka my son’s naptime) is also pampering time for me and so I take this time to fix my nails, hands and apply lippy. My current picks are Make-Up Forever (Rouge Artist Natural No. 35), Revlon’s Neon Nail Art, Lippy Girl (Nonplussed) and L’Occitane.

5. The Classics: I can never leave home without a trusty novel in my purse and especially a classic (adult or kids!) that can be read over and over again.

6. The Flowers: Nothing is quite as wonderful as freshly picked (or gifted!) flowers in a room, these were given to me by my husband’s new employers.

7. The Essentials: as we’ve been doing so much travelling and filling out of arrival documents lately, my passport has been handy and while waiting in many airport/town hall/ visa offices queues, I’ve been enjoying reading the Danish Ikea catalogue getting ideas for decorating our place and the WorkinDenmark booklet in hopes of getting a job soon! And even though I live in the iPhone age, I will never part with my Pierre Belvedere daytimer.

8. The Train: when you have two boys, it is unusual for there to not to be a train on surfaces in our house!

P.S. Click your way to Simply Stylish Mom to see how a new-to-Denmark mother does it.

P.P.S. Check out the first post in the Workspace column and find out how Niki Blasina of A Haute Mess smells when she blogs. Click through the second post to find out where Anya Georgijevic of I’m the It Girl started her footwear obsession. Find out how Kumiko Ide of Tribal DDB keeps her workspace fresh to death. Take a look at jewelry designer Justine Brooks’ works in progress and her favourite places to work very, very remotely. And take a look at Lisa Wong of Solo Lisa’s cat-decorated desk.

September 6, 2012 by

Diary | Hanson and Data at the PNE

I must be part carny because there’s nothing I love more than going to the PNE (Vancouver’s exhibition and fair) at the end of every summer. What’s not to love? It’s the land of ferris wheels and ring tosses…

…deep-fried Oreos and $25 hot dogs (I’m not even exaggerating).

Oh, and also these guys. Who you probably recognize from 1997. Or maybe you don’t because Taylor and Zac Hanson are no longer in their tweens (nor is their eldest Hanson brother Ike) but they are as delightfully boy band-y as ever.

You want to know what was the trippiest part of going to the PNE this year? It wasn’t sitting on the bridge of the Enterprise at the Star Trek Exhibition (though I got a real kick out of that), it was hearing grown men sing “MMMBop.”

Thank you, Team PNE, for such a fun evening!

P.S. You know where 2012 has 1997 beat? You can follow The Anthology on Facebook and Twitter @TheAnthology.

August 30, 2012 by

Style | Fall Fashion Trend Presentations

When I sing karaoke they turn down the volume on the microphone. Fortunately, that doesn’t happen here.

This weekend, like last, I’ll be at Metropolis at Metrotown sharing a few of my favourite fall trends and tips for wearing them. So when you’ve shopped till you’ve dropped, come say hi — I’ll be in the Love It or Lose It Lounge at 1:00, 3:00 and 5:00 on Saturday, August 25 and Sunday, August 26.

I promise I won’t sing.

[Photo by Amy Podrasky.]

August 24, 2012 by

Pinstagram | Pineapples, Picnics and Pointy Plants

The Anthology’s Pinstagram column brings together highlights from Kelsey Dundon’s Pinterest and Instagram feeds. In other words, the dream and the reality.

Red earrings by Moss Handmade from Tender Loving Empire in Portland + a stunning red-to-toe look.

One of my favourite lunch spots in Vancouver Nuba + one of my favourite fruits.

My outfit of the day when I climbed the via ferrata to the peak of Whistler + trees that look an awful lot like what you’d find at the base of the mountain.

A succulent on my friend Briony’s porch + brooches I wish I had in my jewelry box.

A purple hazy view of Vancouver from the Cambie Street Bridge+ a purple hazy (and kind of creepy) shot by Swiss Photographer Chantal Michel.

A golden picnic spot at Vancouver’s Spanish Banks + golden brocade at Balmain F/W 2012.

A filing catinet (haaaa!) + purrfect wallpaper by Eric Bagge (haaaa! x2).

P.S. Follow Kelsey Dundon on Pinterest and Instagram, or if you prefer a more traditional route, follow The Anthology on Facebook and @TheAnthology.

August 24, 2012 by

Diary | Posing and Smizing, then Posing and Smizing Some More

More often than not I’m the one operating the wind machine, but the other day, I was the one getting winded. One of my very favourite Vancouver-based fashion photographers Evaan Kheraj snapped my picture (can’t wait to share them with you!).

He was all “Don’t move, stick out your neck, lower your chin, shift your gaze over there and smile.”

I was all awkward as heck. “Now you know how the models feel,” Evaan said. And now I know why they get paid the big bucks.

Thanks again, Evaan!

P.S. Smize your best smize and follow The Anthology on Facebook and @TheAnthology.

August 22, 2012 by

Diary | Making Like Mick Jagger at Ex Nihilo Vineyards

What do Mick Jagger and I have in common (aside from the fact that we’re both rock and roll legends)? We both enjoy the same drank: Ex Nihilo’s Sympathy for the Devil ice wine.

As I sipped and swirled my way along the Kelowna Wine Trails — where I visited wine cellar pyramids  and played vineyard frisbee golf — I couldn’t wait to try the nectar of the rock gods.

(Hi Mick!)

It was one of my favourite parts of the series I hosted for Tourism Kelowna and Vitamin Daily (you’ll find a behind-the-scenes recap here). So take a look and see if you can’t get no satisfaction…

Thanks for having me, Tourism Kelowna, Vitamin Daily and Ex Nihilo! Thanks again, Bent Matter Productions!

P.S. Make like Mick Jagger (I wish) and follow The Anthology on Facebook and @TheAnthology.

P.P.S. Watch the first instalment of the series at Summerhill Pyramid Winery here and the very psychedelic second instalment at the Vibrant Vine here.

August 19, 2012 by

Bookmark | The Jealous Curator

In The Anthology’s Bookmark column we explore some of the most inspiring places on the wild, wild web.

Turns out jealousy can be a beautiful thing. Especially when it comes to The Jealous Curator, a blog filled with art that “inspires & depresses” Vancouverite Danielle Krysa.

She’s a designer and artist herself, ya see, and her entire blog is based on the “Damn, I wish I thought of that” feeling we all experience from time to time.

Being neither a designer nor artist myself, I get nothing but joy from scrolling through the photography, paintings, sculptures and embroidery collages she finds.

Never has the green-eyed monster been so beautiful. So bookmark The Jealous Curator already and bookmark The Anthology while you’re at it.

[Images via The Jealous Curator, obviously. First by Philip Barlow, second by Anna Duthie, third by Geoff McFetridge, and fourth by Larissa Haily Aguado.]

August 17, 2012 by

Beauty | Painting Leopard Print Nail Art, Step by Step (Oooh Baby!)

A manicure by Christina Culver at Beauty Mark isn’t really a manicure at all — it’s more like watching her transform the tips of your fingers into tiny little canvasses. Here, the nail artist takes us step by step through vibrant leopard print nail art, which is something you just might be able to replicate because the whole point is to get all Jackson Pollock-y.

So how does she do it? These four easy(ish) steps…

1. Like any manicure, start with a base coat (you have no idea how long it took me to realize that this is the key to long-lasting nail colour — I use Revlon’s Quick Dry Base Coat at home). Then pick your bright. I chose Butter London’s Come to Bed Red, but a bold pink or blue would look smashing too.

2. Start your leopard spots, painting them randomly on each nail — two on one nail, three on another, four on another, etc. They trick is to make sure you vary the size and shape of the spots so you avoid a matchy-matchy look (“There are stickers for that,” Culver says). The silver she used is Tart with a Heart.

3. Layer more colours in the same family, like West End Wonderland, Diamond Geezer, and The Full Monty. Again, make sure you vary the size, shape and number of the spots.

4. Transform the spots into dots with thin sweeps of black polish, like Union Jack Black.

Add a top coat (I love Deborah Lippmann’s Addicted to Speed Ultra-Quick Dry Top Coat) et voila! Juicy nails!

Thanks again, Christina!

P.S. Put those beautiful nails to the test and follow The Anthology on Facebook and @TheAnthology.

P.P.S. You know what I did after Christina painted my nails? Climbed a via ferrata and they didn’t even chip(!).

August 15, 2012 by

Art & Design | Play of Sunlight

I love this shot, taken in Ukraine by fashion photographer Aleksandra. And the more I looked at it the more I realized it reminded me of something.

Play of Sunlight, a bromide print by American photographer Louis Fleckenstein circa 1912, at the Museum of Photographic Arts. The mood of each shot is so similar, no?

They make me want to put on an ankle-length dress and go chill in a field with the sunlight in my hair. Want to come with?

August 14, 2012 by

Pinstagram | Flower Power, Poodles and Monarchs

The Anthology’s Pinstagram column brings together highlights from Kelsey Dundon’s Pinterest and Instagram feeds. In other words, the dream and the reality.

Flower power on my desk + a flower-powerful fashion editorial.

Bedazzled earrings from H&M + a bejeweled poodle.

Criss-crossed lights at Phantogram’s recent Vancouver show (love them!) + a criss-crossed dress.

An anchor befitting the navy (shot near Vancouver’s Waldorf Hotel) + a navy blue-clad monarch.

My summer reading (nerd alert! I’m currently working my way through Game of Thrones) + a summer reader.

Windswept trees on the side of the Sea to Sky Highway (en route to Whistler) + windswept hair.

P.S. Follow Kelsey Dundon on Pinterest and Instagram, or if you prefer a more traditional route, follow The Anthology on Facebook and @TheAnthology.

August 13, 2012 by