Pinstagram | Sunshine, stripes and sangria

The Anthology’s Pinstagram column marries the dream (Pinterest) and the reality (Kelsey Dundon’s Instagram photos of places and faces in and around Vancouver).

Earned stripes. My favourite striped Topshop maternity dress and a shirt that would look great on my baby girl once she outgrows all her onesies.

Faster than a… The world’s speediest (and blurriest) Jack Russell Terrier puppy and another kind of speedy beast, this time in wallpaper form.

Good enough to eat. A gourmet bakery-made Pop-tart from Vancouver’s Bigsby the Bakehouse and gilt Oreos.

Mirror mirror. A quiet corner of my living room (lamp from Pottery Barn, mirror from The Cross in Vancouver) and stunning(ly expensive) mirrored pitchers.

Sunshine in a bucket. A bunch o’ daffodils outside Quince Fine Florals and a bushel o’ apples turned into sangria.

Flower power. An orchid fit for my desk (thanks Nick and Shevawn!) and a floral bikini fit for the beach.

P.S. There are more photos where these came from so add The Anthology on Facebook.

May 16, 2013 by

Art | Alison Francis Photography

As far as I’m concerned it’s the bigger the better when it comes to photos. In fact, this one by British Columbian photographer Alison Francis would look amazing the size of a living room wall. As wallpaper, even.

Her work is on display at The Whip in Vancouver until May 29th and her prints are also available on Etsy. Happy viewing!

May 16, 2013 by

Art | Become a playwright; get a makeover

I met Shannon Rupp years ago when I was a young arts writer and since then she’s become a friend and a mentor. In this guest post, the culture critic shares the odd experience of watching an old friend portrayed on stage by a dashingly handsome actor.

As an arts journalist I’m used to interviewing performers who are nothing like the characters they play but I just had the reverse experience. Watching an actor play someone I know very well and sort of polish him up.

My old pal Mark Leiren-Young turned his Leacock Medal-winning memoir, Never Shoot a Stampede Queen, into a one-man show featuring Zachary Stevenson as him — a rookie reporter in his first job.

It’s just so weird hearing those funny stories I’ve heard forever coming out of some stranger’s mouth. Mark spent that first year of his career toiling at the Williams Lake Tribune and dined off the stories ever after.

It’s very funny. At 22, Mark was a naïf who was pranked by an editor trying to tease the gullible out of him and terrorized by beauty contestants known as Stampede Queens.

He thought he was going to a sleepy little town to earn his spurs as a reporter and he found he had landed in B.C.’s crime capital. He ended up covering stories he could sell all over the world. It’s a great story about growing up professionally, but a bit disconcerting for his pals because Zach and Mark look nothing alike.

And they sound nothing alike. And as Zach practically danced around the stage portraying a dozen characters in addition to Mark, I realized they dance nothing alike. Mark, whose two left-feet are legendary, would have tripped and fallen off the Granville Island Stage.  So I asked him what it was like seeing someone else acting out his life and, in some ways, being a better him.

“Oh, so weird,” said the journo-turned-author. “I had trouble watching at first. But then I figured that it was like getting an extreme makeover: Zach is way cuter than ever was.”

Stampede Queen runs until May 25 at the Arts Club Granville Island Stage and readers of The Anthology get $10 off tickets(!) with the promo code “buddyholly.”

May 14, 2013 by

Style | Cut it Out

Geometry was the only part of math I could tolerate in high school. Had it involved triangles like those at last night’s Met Costume Institute Gala, I might have been a better student. These cut-out dresses are certainly not as punk as some of the looks on the red-carpeted stairs, but they add up to some kind of spectacular.

Clockwise from top left: Emma Watson in Prabul Gurung, Carey Mulligan in Balenciaga, Taylor Swift in J. Mendel, and Dakota Fanning in Rodarte.

May 7, 2013 by

Art | Barbara Cole’s Underworld

My walls are covered with massive photos. One that Vancouver-based photographer Braden Paul took at Sasquatch Music Festival, another Barry Gnyp took for the Freedman Shoes SS/12 campaign I directed, and some I took travelling.

If I were to add to my collection, Barbara Cole’s ethereal underwater prints would be a (wet) dream.

The Toronto-based photographer’s Underworld series will be showing at Bau-Xi Gallery in Vancouver, May 16th – June 1st.

[Images by Barbara Cole]

May 1, 2013 by

The Cool Kids | Vonbon Organic Cotton Baby Blankets

What does a newborn need a billion of? Diapers, obviously. And blankets.

Of the latter there are two kinds I love most — bamboo muslin swaddles by Aden and Anais and organic cotton blankets by Vonbon, a new line of luxury baby accessories handmade in Vancouver.

I love their prints, I love their soft durability and I love their brilliant burp bandanas. Spit up never looked so good.

Thank you, Lewis family, for introducing me!

[Images by Vonbon]

May 1, 2013 by

Home | Tiling Away the Hours

I’ve been thinking a lot about tiling my kitchen walls. Not just the backsplash, but the entire walls — floor to ceiling, corner to corner. It would be quite the undertaking, but it would be beautiful, no?

It sure looks great in this mid-century home on Apartment Therapy, and these homes on Remodelista.

[Photo by Elle Decor, found here.]

April 15, 2013 by