Somewhere on Wellington street.

YESTERDAY, me and two of my bestfriends walked the street of Wellington under the burning bright sun, seeking the adventure that is absent from our own neighborhood.

Early morning, shades on, camera’s in hand, we were ready.

Let’s Cue the picture overload shall we?

As we arrived at our destination, I was overwhelmed by all the little shops and boutiques that seemed endless. However, nothing floored me more than Tinseltown Christmas Emporium, a store entirely dedicated to Christmas! The 5 year old little girl inside of me was on cloud 9 as I didn’t know where to look or go next. I never wanted to leave.

Somehow this whimsical store merged into this really old classic shop that made you feel like you were apart of another era. The store was called Marie-Antoinette, and I completely understand why, after going through all the detailed tea cups, the over sized clocks written in roman letters, and the flowers that accented Marie-Antoinette’s charm.

As we continued to explore, we fell upon this boutique that looked worn out, so of course we had to check it out. I am so glad we did, it was clustered with vintage pieces from left to right, top to bottom. Everything I laid my eyes on I wanted, or was just purely fascinated by the collection of treasures.

We continued our path to this vinyl store, that welcomed us with groovy music and a kickass vinyl collection, that was waiting for us to look through them for hours. Everything about this store just screamed:“hey! if you’re a music geek please come here, you’ll love it”. From the guitars hanging on the ceiling, to the variety of vinyl collections, to the sitting area where you can listen to any vinyl you want, to the piano waiting to be played, was impressive.

We didn’t stop there. Any store that seemed intriguing, we felt the need to investigate because our curiosity was just too overpowering. We spent a while in this lovely flower shop that had a wide range of cactuses and different flowers whom I cannot pronounce.

The whole point of this adventure in the first place, was to check out this art gallery called the Cube. I was a little intimidated to take pictures in the actual gallery because I did not want to disrespect the artists and such so I just admired the talent depicted on the walls.

What I personally love about art is how misunderstood it is, everyone perceives it in a complete different way. Those different perceptions are what keeps art existing and exciting to all. If everyone had the same idea, or opinion about all types of art forms, what would art come to?

Okay but now back to this art gallery, the Cube, the best thing about this place was their rooftop! We were in awe, because it has been a mission to find an accessible rooftop where we live. This one certainly did not disappoint.

Rooftop picture taken by the lovely Erika Morris.

On our way back from the art gallery to find somewhere to eat, we fell upon this boutique that sells vintage clothing. We were in paradise. They had everything from docs, to feathered hats, to vinyls. This store was winning. I ended up scoring big time by buying this Levi’s light washed jean jacket from the 80’s-90’s! It’s definitely a keeper. We discovered so many classic items in this store, that it was a must to try them on.

Classic Christian Dior veiled  hat.

After walking in the sun discovering all these different stores, we found a place to eat after much discussion because it was so hard to choose from all the options we had, and that does not happen often, trust me. We ate at this really laid back, black and white,themed restaurant that just made you feel really posh. We felt accomplished.

Shortly after that, we walked across the street at this very well put together cafe for dessert.

This cafe was a combination of wood,wine, mason jars, and candles, making you feel quite at home.

Mason Jar chandelier taken by the lovely Nat Mez. 

I never wanted this day to end.

I was so content with where I was, and who I was with.

Adventures are waiting to be sought, you just have to be willing to seek them.

Love,

MC.

09-06-2015

 

''Usually,

I see life in everything,

but today,

everything died''

- he said.

''Perhaps,

it's the absence of the sun''

- he said.

'' _____ be sad with me tonight''

- he said.

''you're that bitter old man

filled with passion''

- she said.

''You're that girl in the pretty flower dress,

who speaks in the most cynical ways''

- he said.

'' I love, love''

- he said.

''What do you love?''

he asked.

'' Art & passion ''

she said.

Love,

MC.

#SelfLove

LOCAL WOLVES, had an entry contest for their magazine about our take on self love and what it means to us. Sadly, I didn’t make the cut. But the subject is still very important to me so I thought I’d still share my take on what self love means to me. Enjoy!

What I think about self love?

If you asked me this a couple of years ago, I would of been completely oblivious.

But now at the age of 17 I could say:

Self love is time.

Consistently loving yourself is not the easiest thing, and certainly doesn’t come as quickly as we’d all hope for it to be. Loving yourself demands patience, but it’s all worth it in the end.

Self love is treating yourself.

We are our worst critics, just like we are our worst enemies. We mentally punish ourselves instead of awarding our existence. Be happy! You’re alive!

Self love is embracing your flaws.

The coolest thing about us humans, is that we all have these quirks that make us different, that make us authentic. Embrace what you’ve been given because you are the only you in this world.

Self love is indulging into something you  completely adore because it makes YOU happy.

Whether it’s art, music, traveling, baking, or even having space buns in your hair, if it makes you happy. Go for it.

                                                         

Self love opens your eyes to appreciate the world around us.

Once you feel the love within yourself, you not only have so much more love to give, but you respect and become more aware of your surroundings.

Self love is forgiveness.

Self love is the acceptance of yourself before anyone else.

Love,

MC.

DAY 5.

THANKS TO BLUESFEST,accompanied by my friends, these last few weeks have been nothing but exceptional. I live for days/moments like these but sadly, it all had to end on day 5.

So lets cue the background story shall we? Bluesfest is a music festival that happens once a year in Ottawa. Its where upcoming bands or artists and sometimes even really well known artists come and entertain the public with their talent. Honestly, I had no real expectations for Bluesfest, all I knew was the hype build around it. That is why I was so pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed myself. Every doubt just vanished during those days.

Bluesfest was a combination of: mission impossible of surviving at the gates, meeting the most enthusiastic people, and good vibes!

Bluesfest was separated in different days. I only payed for the choice of a 5 day pass. That meant I got the chance to see people like the Full Flex Express, Kanye, Porter Robinson, Chvrches, and etc, etc perform. We managed to get ourselves at the front gate of the stages for every day we payed for, which is one of our biggest accomplishments there.

Milky Chance perfectly closed day 5 as they sang all my favorite songs alongside the river.

As me and my friends walked away after the last Milky Chance song (Stolen dance of course). We reminisced about our time at Bluesfest and held onto that happiness we felt at that exact moment. We held onto that feeling of freedom. When you're free nothing can hurt you, nothing can ruin you. Nothing could have ruined us during those nights.

If you thought the night was over...it wasn't.

We walked the streets of downtown Ottawa, yelling at the top of our lungs, skipping on the sidewalk, dying of laughter. A few minutes passed by, and I don't know how it happened but we all somehow ended up at McDonald's around 10:30 for a well deserved spontaneous feast. 3 girls, one large fries, and 20 chicken nuggets. Lots of jokes, candids, speeches, and craziness were shared that night.

I guess the lesson learned here was; Once you think of doing something, consider it to the fullest, because if we didn’t consider leaving after Milky Chance to wander...it would have been just another ordinary “great night”. Sometimes its best to not have a plan, and just go with the flow.

Also, it’s cool to think that, to me, those moments were special in its own way, as everything was spontaneous and exciting; I was breathing that night. When in reality, that night was spent so many other ways by a variety of people, living complete different situations, feeling other types of emotions; The world is an interesting place.

Needless to say;

Bluesfest, we conquered you.

Day 5, I'm glad you happened.

Love,

MC.

An introduction.

Hello,

Alright so looks like I’m actually doing this.

I’m Christine (Marie-Christine, Chrissy, Chris, whatever) and I’m 17.a coffee, photography, film, and adventure enthusiast.


Here’s a list of random facts about me, or just things I enjoy in general.

1. Oh Canada.

Born & raised in Ontario. I find this place pretty dull to be quite honest. Although, at some occasions I get to experience views like this, so I guess it’s not all bad.

2. Music

Music has been an essential in my life. It’s just always been there, and is something so familiar and comfortable to me. With that said, my music taste is all over the place. Some days I enjoy: The Smiths, The Kooks, Young the Giant, The Arctic Monkeys, Alt-J etc etc etc. Other days, I’m more into stuff like: Kanye, Kid Cudi, Frank Ocean, J Cole. Followed by some nights where I'm sobbing over songs by:  Tom Rosenthal, Coldplay, John Mayer, Ben Howard, Ed Sheeran, Milky Chance, Lily Allen, Lana del rey and so on, so forth. The genres go on and on, but I’m trying to keep this short and sweet. I am an absolute mess when it comes to music but that is something I will never apologize for.

3. Writing

Ah yes, then there’s writing. Let's cue the background story shall we? Ever since I learned how to write, that’s all I pretty much did. I wasn’t much of an artist (cries), which is why I spent a lot of my younger years writing words that didn’t fit together, composing the most silliest songs. When I grew out of my “becoming a popstar” phase,I moved on to journaling. I would receive a ridiculous amount of notebooks for some reason. I would bring them with me, secretly jotting down anything I felt or anything that happened that day on my lap as the teacher would teach us how to draw a circle.Writing didn’t become as special to me, as when in 7th grade I learned that if you put words in some kind of way, followed by a few rhymes, that you could create something unique and that’s how my creativity flew off. A lot has evolved since 7th grade. So this blog is kind of a new phase I’m experiencing in my life - Welcome.

4. Books

Pretty much the same story for writing, I adopted the love for reading at a very young age. I romanticized the idea of perceiving a plot, a character, or a setting, a complete different way as another person would. Reading is rad, suspense is rad, love stories are rad, dystopian books are rad, books about mythology are rad (yes I’m talking about Percy Jackson), and books about philosophy are rad. Books are just a great thing.

5. Candles

As I get older, stress increases. As much as I try to chill during stressful times, it does get difficult. A cure I’ve discovered during my little episodes are candles! Which can be followed by great music, or a book, journaling, or even just laying on my bed taking a breather. Nothing makes me more at ease than time alone, as a nice scented candle is burning on my night table. I am such a girl, sue me.

6. Disposables

I am a photography enthusiast. I enjoy pictures, just like I enjoy capturing moments. But most importantly, I enjoy collecting those moments.

That’s where disposables come in. The fact of instantly and physically having a memory in your hand is not special, it's not outstanding, it’s beyond that; it’s just something else. Film has it’s own characters. Film is not dead.

7. Traveling

The love of traveling hasn’t become a current favorite since recently. I’ve always been in love with the idea of traveling because of the books I’ve read or the movies I’ve seen. This has all changed, after a school trip to Peru. I fell in love with flying, I fell in love with city lights, I fell in love with culture, I fell in love with food, I fell in love with art, I fell in love with the unknown; I fell in love with the world.

Coming soon: Vietnam.

8. B&W

This is dedicated to b&w film; whether that's photographs or movies. B&W productions capture something I can’t put into words. It does something that colored motion pictures can’t.

Now enjoy this classic b&w picture of Audrey Hepburn.

9. Rainy days.

A lot of people disagree with me on this one, which is completely fine! But man. Rainy days are everything. It’s calming, it’s comforting, and it’s unexpected. Unexpected in the sense where there’s either going to be a storm with lighting or thunder. Weather or not there’s going to be a rainbow at the end. Rainy days ironically bring me a lot of joy. Burn a candle, read a good book, watch Dead Poets Society, or listen to the voice of Alex Turner in the background as it’s raining. You’ll never be as content as that moment right there. Or I could be completely wrong, and it could bring you sadness. If so, forget everything I just said.

Usually I am pretty bad with first impressions, so hopefully this wasn’t too bad, if it was...Just bare with me, I’m trying.

As for what this blog will consist of?

I don't quite know.

But that’s kind of the point of it?

There is none.

Love,

MC.