HAPPY BIRTHDAY,

to my two best friends, Laura and Lisa.
We have been through hell and back together but we just become stronger with each passing year. I am beyond lucky to have these two as my best friends. People often say that it is hard being in a group of friends that include three people because often one person gets left out. I don't believe that to be true at all, at least not in our case. The three of us are so similar, yet so different, and we each have something to bring to the table. The two of them keep me grounded, and they inspire me in a million different ways.

Lisa is like my other half. We have so much in common that it's actually quite frightening, and we've become so close that we can usually tell what the other person is thinking. We bond over our similar taste in music and TV shows. I remember back in high school when we used to spend our lunches listening to bands like Sum 41 and blink-182 on her MP3 player. When we hang out we have a blast trying new and exciting things or just simply by watching TV and eating junk food (multigrain Tostitos for her, ruffle chips and onion dip for me). We bicker and fight like an old married couple but my favourite part about our relationship is that we don't hold anything back. If something is bothering one of us, we're going to let the other person know as soon as humanly possible. We don't play mind games - we just throw everything out on the table. What I admire most about Lisa is strength and her openness. Her artistic abilities are also something that I really admire and are something that I'm quite envious of. Lisa is someone who is, without question, always there for me. It doesn't matter what time of the day it is, or how stupid my problem may actually be, she'll be there to listen and support me no matter what.

I don't really know how to describe my relationship with Laura. We're both so incredibly weird that nothing we do surprises the other any more. She's someone that shares a lot of the same passions as me, such as fashion, and we love to joke around with each other (although the people around us don't tend to get our humour, including/especially Lisa). Laura knows how to bring a smile to my face no matter my mood, and I think her positive energy and bubbly personality is what drew me in to her to begin with. The best thing about Laura, in my opinion, is that she will never judge me, no matter how stupid or selfish I can be. Laura is often the first person to help out when needed and the first person to offer a plan or a solution to an issue. Over the years she has gone from putting chicken nuggets in the toaster to becoming a wiz with her crock pot and her now healthy cooking is something I often crave.

I'll love these two girls forever and their friendship is something I'll cherish for the rest of my life. They, as well as their parents, have become like a second family to me and I really don't know where I'd be if I didn't have them in my life. So thank you girls for the past seven years of my life, cheers for us having at least seventy more.

"The most important thing in life is your family. There are days you love them, and others you don’t. But, in the end, they’re the people you always come home to. Sometimes it’s the family you’re born into and sometimes it’s the one you make for yourself." - Carrie Bradshaw, Sex and The City

Lisa and me being awkward in 2008 | Laura and me being silly in 2009 | Laura and Lisa in 2009

On Skype as they blew out their candles on their birthday in 2010, when I lived in London, Ontario for a short bit.

Apparently we don't have many recent pictures of the three of us - but I adore this one from 2010.

STYLE ICON SATURDAY/ fourteen

I'm happy to say that I'm reintroducing my "Style Icon Saturday" posts. If you're new to the blog and are unsure of what that means, here's a little bit of a break down: Every Saturday I will post about someone whose style I admire. They can be famous, male, female, plus size, someone I know personally and I can even write about brands or specific runway shows that I'm loving at the moment. I believe that it is a great way to showcase the inspirations behind my own personal style, to introduce you to some people with fantastic style who don't have their own blog and mostly, to start getting on track with having some sort of structure and schedule with this blog. I hope you enjoy this post as well as future posts, if you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to leave them in my comment box or send me an email.

Okay, now back to the post!

CHRIS MACMARTIN
This young gentleman right here is one of my absolute favourite human beings. Chris is my cousin, one of my closest friends and one of my biggest inspirations. He puts his heart and soul into everything he does, be it his music (he and his barbershop chorus, Toronto Northern Lights, are gold medal champions as of this year!) or his fashion choices. We aren't currently living in the same city so I knew that next time he came home for a visit we had to find some time to see each other and I had to snap pictures of one of his legendary ensembles. As you can tell from the photos below, this is a man who isn't afraid of colour. He is the total polar opposite of me in that sense; I really have a thing or two to learn from him. When I asked him about his choice of colours in this particular outfit he had this to say, "I used navy as a neutral to do colour blocking. It's fun and summery, and can be used with a variety of looks."

Chris is currently a sales associate at Banana Republic, so staying on trend is pretty much in his job description. He has just about every colour of polo under the sun and his collection of suits is constantly growing. Some of my fondest memories with him were when we used to go shopping across the border in the United States. I like to believe that we fed off of each other during those trips and that we helped each other build upon our personal styles.

To check out his personal website and to find out more about his music/projects, click here. 

CARDIGAN/ Banana Republic POLO|CHINOS|BELT/ Gap
GLASSES/ Ray-Ban SOCKS|WATCH/ Hugo Boss SHOES/ Aldo

* All pictures were taken by me. Sorry that they're so contrasty, it was beyond sunny that day.