Style | Rebecca Bree Boutique

Rebecca Rawlinson is a ray of sunshine. And not just because of her sunny blonde hair or her Reese Witherspoon-esque enthusiasm for just about everything. Scratch that. It’s entirely because of her Reese Witherspoon-esque enthusiasm for just about everything. Especially fashion.

After years of dreaming and planning and what felt like years of renovating, she opened the boutique Rebecca Bree, which is such a reflection of her personality and tastes, those close to her have said it is “like walking into her brain.” So I decided to pick that brain…

On her first thoughts

I wanted my own business for about a decade, since I started working retail. I’m never going to be happy working for someone else. I thought Okay, I’m going to start an online store. But that quickly changed because I thought about my daily life and it would be in a warehouse without one-on-one interaction with people and I was like That is not going to work for me. I love people. I love to be surrounded by people, I love to talk to people, I love to style them.

[The Sleep Shirt is by my friend and fellow Vitamin Daily editor Alexandra Suhner Isenberg.]

On darkness and light

I’ve been to a lot of store openings and the décor never really spoke to me. Too much cement, too much glass, not enough décor, not enough colour. I never felt comfortable and cozy, I always felt cold, like I was in a museum.

Vancouver’s a very dark city so I wanted a bright, inviting store when it’s raining. The lighting had to be bright, the paint had to be white.

On learning to let go

This was a huge risk because I’ve been in retail, I’ve been in management but I haven’t been in business.

Before I was like I have to do it all, no one’s going to do it the way I want it done. But now, if I communicate effectively then other people can help me build the store and help me get to where I am. I mean, I remember telling Cynthia how to fold the hand towels in the bathroom.

On Rebecca Bree’s tucked-away location on Fourth Avenue

After three months of searching my realtor sent me this place and I was like No. The windows are too small, I don’t like it. I was very negative about it at first.

But then my boyfriend and I came to visit it and we parked two blocks away and we walked past Aphrodites and Banyen Books and Bioethique, and saw La Quercia across the street. We walked in and it was a blank canvas. There was nothing in here.

My boyfriend and I looked at each other and we were like This is it.

P.S. Follow The Anthology on Facebook and Twitter and you’ll be the first to see behind-the-scenes photos.

P.P.S. You’ll find all The Anthology’s interviews with the likes of designer Rachel Roy, J.Crew’s design directors Tom Mora and Frank Muytjens, and Topshop’s top people right here.

November 12, 2012 by

Dairy-free, wheat-free, sugar-free, vegan-friendly pancake recipe (that doesn’t suck!)

It’s the long weekend! Which means we get an extra day to have a long, lazy, champagne-and-OJ brunch. Now, if your ladyfriends — like mine — have all sorts of dietary idiosyncrasies, you’ll find this dairy-free, wheat-free, sugar-free, vegan-friendly pancake recipe to be just what the naturopathic doctor ordered. Oh, and it’s good, too, so even your dairy-loving, sugar-charged, non-vegan friends will love this recipe, which I modified from one in My Father’s Daughter by Gwyneth Paltrow.

Happy brunching!

3 cups wheat-free flour (I use Cloud 9 Specialty Bakery’s All-purpose Baking Mix)
1 tbs baking powder
2 teaspoons fine salt
3 cups almond or soy milk
6 tbs vegan-friendly margarine (I use Earth Balance Soy-free Natural Buttery Spread)
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 tbs real vanilla extract

Mix the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients in separate bowls. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix, until it’s almost smooth, though a few lumps are okay. Add a touch more almond milk if you want to thin the batter. Scoop onto a griddle set to med-high heat. Flip when bubbles appear on the surface.

Serve with berries, real maple syrup, apple sauce, or whatever your heart desires.

November 9, 2012 by

Bookmark | Miss Moss

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

Graphic designers always have the best blogs. They’re pure scroll-worthy eye candy.

Take Miss Moss, for example.

Edited by Cape Town-based graphic designer Diana Moss, it’s packed with her original photography, fashion picks and — my personal favourite — mood boards, all of which have a simple, yet colourful aesthetic.

Plus, her Cape Town City Guide lists so many cool boutiques it makes me want to go to there.

It’s a lovely glimpse at a creative life on the other side of the world. It’s worth scrolling through again and again. So bookmark Miss Moss  already and bookmark The Anthology while you’re at it.

[Images from Miss Moss of course.]

November 7, 2012 by

Pinstagram | Cher, Dionne and Violet

The Anthology’s Pinstagram column marries the dream (Pinterest) and the reality (Instagram).

La La Land. Two of my favourite things about Los Angeles? LAX and Beverly Hills.

Sweet tooth. A teeny, tiny, and very delicious coconut pudding at Vij’s Restaurant in Vancouver + a teeny, tiny crystallized violet.

Living in textile. A few bright, colourful fabrics I found at my local sewing shop Spool of Thread + a bright, colourful carpet I’d love to have in my dining room.

Hello, halo. Hers is fake. And since mine is a trick of the camera, I suppose my halo is too. (That MINI, I’m driving? MINI Richmond wants to give it to you!)

Art attack. Opening night of Andrew Grassie’s exhibit at Rennie Collection + words worth walking on.

Taking it easy. My two office mates (on the left) are pretty lazy. I can only image how they’ve been slacking since I’ve been on the road for two weeks. Not in Paris and Roma, mind you, but in Kauai, Kona and Maui.

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

November 4, 2012 by

Thank you | Vancouver Sun

Thank you, Vancouver Sun, for featuring my upcycled stools in the pages of your home and garden section. Y’all are the best!

P.S. Want to keep creeping The Anthology’s features and appearances? (I know you do, mom.) You’ll find the highlights here.

November 2, 2012 by

After | The upcycled stools

It was a long road from the blah brown stools I found at Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore to the stage at the Vancouver Home and Design Show.

But I made it. How? A little paint and a lot of staple gun magic. If you’re into upcycling (so fun! so green!) and you want to reupholster a pair of square stools, you’ll find a step by step (ooooh baby!) guide below. And trust me, if I can do it, you can too.

Unscrew the stool’s top and set it aside.

Prep and paint the wooden part of the stool. And don’t believe your friend Justin when he tells you sanding will take two minutes. It will take much longer, but it’s worth it to ensure the paint won’t scratch off. Prime (if you like) and paint. You may need to do two coats.

Choose your fabric and buy way more than you think you’ll need to allow for accidents and overhang. Fabrics with straight lines and/or symmetrical prints (like the one I chose, which I found at  Spool of Thread) are the most difficult to use because you have to line them up carefully so they don’t get warped. Fabrics with random prints — or none at all — are much easier to work with.

Iron your fabric if it needs it and then lay it face down on a flat surface. Lay the stool top face down on the fabric. Fold the fabric over one edge, paying close attention to make sure lines in the fabric’s print don’t warp. Then, before stapling, tuck in the edge of the fabric to create a kind of hem so it won’t fray.

Pull out that staple gun and start stapling from the centre out to an inch or so from each corner. Don’t worry about completing the corners yet. Repeat this on the opposite side, pulling the fabric taught. Complete the other two sides.

Finish the corners by folding over the triangle of remaining fabric. Pull it tight toward the centre of the stool. You’ll end up with a few pleats, but that’s a-okay. Staple until they’re secure.

Screw the tops onto the legs once the paint has dried.

Et voila! New stools!

[Blouse c/o JNBY, pants by Lifetime Collective, socks from Gap, boots by Matisse, bag by Longchamp.]

P.S. I post photos to Instagram as I go so follow Kelsey Dundon there or on Twitter @TheAnthology.

November 1, 2012 by

Happy Halloween!

I love any holiday that has its own kitschy, catchy tunes. I can’t wait until it’s time to play Hanson’s Merry Christmas Baby again (who am I kidding — I’ll listen to Hanson any time).

Guess what, fiends! Today is the day I look forward to all year because I finally, shamelessly get to play the Ghostbusters theme song. Again and again. I’m not kidding — I’m goblin it up as I write. It’s all the treat I need. Well, that and this outfit.

But if the thought of putting that song on repeat for 24 hours straight frightens you and you’re wondering witch songs to haunt your neighbours with tonight, may I recommend these spooktacular tunes from the playlist I put together for Vitamin Daily?

It’s creepy and it’s kooky, mysterious and spooky and all together ooky. It’s frightfully ghould!

[First image found here, second image found here, third image found here, fourth image found here.]

P.S. Follow The Anthology on Facebook and Twitter so I can haunt you wherever you are…

October 31, 2012 by

Workspace | Melissa Knight of Miss Melissa

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

She blogs, she vlogs, she bakes. Melissa Knight, better known as Miss Melissa, is the bubbly blonde behind the personal style site named, well, Miss Melissa.

In her own words she takes us through her closet/desk/vanity…

1. I had two options when deciding where to create a work space in my suite. Option one was in the kitchen where I would be arms length away from snacks and option two was in my closet. Taking into consideration my love for snacking and the fact that the room I turned into a closet was technically supposed to be a den to begin with, I opted to put my desk in my closet.

2. My brother framed one of the photos I took of our gorgeous city and gave it to my for Christmas. It’s really the only nice thing he’s ever done for me so I have it hanging above my desk as a reminder that miracles really do happen. No, I’m just kidding. I just really love how he framed the photo.

3. My desk moonlights as my vanity so it’s also where I keep my jewelry. I’m admittedly not huge on accessories so most of the time they are just sparkly decorations.

4. My laptop. The one place my work life and blog life unite. If someone ever steals my laptop they are going to be really confused as to what the heck I do.

5. I’m in a constant struggle over whether or not I want to fully embrace technology (no seriously, it took me years to switch from VHS to DVDs). I love my iphone and I use my laptop all the time but there is something about making to do lists or jotting ideas down in a notebook that just makes me so happy.

6. I always have work and blog business cards on me because I never know who I will run into. Sometimes I’ll bribe someone into taking one of my blog business cards by offering them a Big Mac card with it.

7. Caffeine in a pretty mug. Need I say more?

P.S. Click your way to Miss Melissa to see the fruits of her workspace.

P.P.S. Check out the first post in The Anthology’s 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. Take a look at Lisa Wong of Solo Lisa’s cat-decorated desk, Anna Cohen’s converted stable in Denmark, and Alicia Quan’s yellow suitcase desk storage is definitely an idea worth stealing. And peep the latest Workspace post: Erica Lam’s desk, where nail polishes outnumber books 2:1.

October 29, 2012 by

Style | Sterling Shoes Fall/Winter 2012 Campaign

We shot Sterling’s fall/winter 2012 campaign in the middle of summer (take a look at the behind-the-scenes shots) and now that it’s autumn, it’s finally in stores. And I couldn’t possibly love it more.

It was shot by Evaan Kheraj, styled by Luisa Rino, and art directed by yours truly, the same team that put together the spring/summer 2012 campaign (take a look at the behind-the-scenes shots and the finished products).

It makes me want to frolic in the autumn sun. Stellar, no?

[Models are wearing Lifetime Collective, Kersh, Press, Cecile Benac and in the first photo, my ring.]

P.S. Follow The Anthology on Facebook and Twitter and you’ll be the first to see behind-the-scenes photos.

October 25, 2012 by

Trippin’ | Kauai’s North Shore

Right now, I’m in Hanalei Bay on Kauai’s north shore. Or, more specifically, I’m looking out over it. Let me tell you, this little gem of a spot should be on your travel itinerary — the hiking, the stand-up paddle boarding, the beach-laying…it doesn’t get any better.

But if you’re in Vancouver — or heading that way — I’ve shared a few of my favourite spots to eat, drink, shop and snowshoe on CheapFlights.ca. Happy trails!

October 25, 2012 by