Within the last few years as The Starving Stylist, who would have ever thought my little blog would become such a local troublemaker. . .errr. . .I mean notable personality. This blog that was created was just an outlet for my rampant imagination and a place where I could share my love for anything beautiful, shiny, designer or just plain fabulous.

I may not blog as much as I should because of the lack of time I have. . .Okay, okay, okay. I'm totally lying—I'm just plain butt lazy, but the matter is, I want to thank you, YOU ALL, from the bottom of my Prada loving and jaded heart for following my blog and listening to my constant bitching and complaining.

Thank you to all those who have constantly devoted a second to comment on every blog entry or their precious time to email me with words of appreciation and encouragement. I'm sorry that I sometimes don't respond but don't ever think I've never grateful for them. Thank you.

Thank you for all those who have been courageous enough to approach me even with my chronic bitch face in full action, and just basically introducing yourself while expressing your liking of my blog. From the streets of Vancouver to even one time in New York, to at lavish parties and even at the Yoga studio where I'm drenched in sweat, thank you for your support and it was wonderful meeting you too.

Lastly, thank you to the haters. From the homophobic hate mail to the nasty deprecating comments to even the gossip around town, thanks for talking. By no means am I a celebrity or anything, but being a fashion blogger like myself, where I am on the internet for inspiration or scrutiny, it has made me become thick skinned.


Thanks.



Photographs taken by Niki of A Haute Mess.



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There's nothing like a little retail therapy to fix a bad day right? Well I've been having a rough week—the sort of kind where you would like to crawl into a dark black hole with a giant bag of Cheetos and die. So aside from spoiling myself with a brand new tweed sport coat for the winter (which I TOTALLY did), I spent an evening being pampered at the salon.

Fresh cut, added colour, polished look and a revitalized attitude–This was exactly what I needed and colourist extraordinaire, Calvyn Cass definitely delivered it to me. Calvyn, took my "never-been-coloured-hair" virginity and after experiencing him doing so, I definitely will come back for more. Thank you Calvyn, I hope it was good for you as it was for me ;)






P.S. Have you checked out my interview with the lovely Valerie Tiu for Vancouver is Awesome? Whether you consider me a local celebrity or a joke, it's a damn good interview so read it. THE INSEAM VOL.17: PETER TY


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If I could describe my recent trip to Los Angeles in one word, it would be, OPULENT.

The shopping, the ridiculously good looking people, the confident attitudes, the wild nightlife, the delicious food, [the plastic surgery], the crazy pool parties, the fast rides and even faster lifestyle, everything is over the top—Just how I LIKE IT.

I may be getting ahead of myself, but I felt just right at home. So Hollywood, maybe I was made for your neighbourhood?

How did I spend my birthday?

By shopping on Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles and spoiling myself with some new Louis, Marc, Wang & Miuccia. By having cocktails & wine with 3 amazing individuals by a pool on a hotel rooftop while the Californian sun set was a backdrop. By doing something so scandalous to say out-loud that it allowed me to cross off one of the many things on my bucket list to do before I die. And by indulging in the greasiest meal at In&Out Burger as though calories no longer existed—My birthday was amazing beyond words.

Thank you again for everyone's birthday wishes. I never have felt so special & spoiled with love in my life. Thank you.

He keeps me company when I'm lonely in my quiet apartment and doesn't judge me when I'm prancing around in my underwear while singing every single word to En Vogue's "Don't Let Go".

He doesn't speak, so I never have to worry about him mouthing off about me behind my back nor do I have to worry about him ever cheating on me.

Unfortunately, he's not much of a cuddler, which is his big downfall but thats okay because he's fair for the time being just until I get bored of him like the others and then I'll move on to the next.




haha just kidding.





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You know after making a few mistakes or getting hurt more than a handful of times by those you can't help but adore, you would think you would have learned some sort of life lesson by now. . .nope. I'm clearly stupid.

Losing a limb, have my Prada bag shredded into million pieces or have an eyebrow shaved off, I don't know what it will take before I will learn that some things never change, like people. But I guess what doesn't kill you makes you stronger . . .or in my case, makes you even more bitter and jaded to even vindictive.

means going away and going away means

forgetting."

I recently bid an emotional farewell to someone that has been very important to me in the past year. I know we'll see each other again but with him gone who is going to explain American politics to me? Chivalristically open a car's door for me every time I enter a vehicle? Help me transport a leather couch to one city to another? Trust me with using power tools? Or have a stiff cosmopolitan drink ready for me EVERY time I come home from a stressful long day at work? No one. *sigh*

So instead of hanging myself to death from the ceiling by a McQueen silk scarf, I bought myself the entire deluxe edition of Sex and The City on DVD, a bag of Lays chips and a bottle of vino. I'm going to watch, eat & drink myself into a coma, ALONE.

And when I feel like waking up, I will start blogging regularly again. . . or at least make an effort to. No promises.



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One of my 2011 resolutions was to start blogging regularly. Pfffft. That hasn't been much of a success like any of my other new years resolutions of eating "healthier" or start working out again. I just don't have the time anymore...okay I lie. I just don't have the effort.


Anyone else out there guilty of breaking their 2011 New Years resolutions already?



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Excuse the lack of blog updates in the past week. I've been more than frantically busy with packing and moving into my new home. Instead of spoiling myself with fancy clothes and designer shoes over the holidays, I was busy buying bed linens and shower curtains. I still don't have a couch or a coffee table…and my freaking bed doesn't get delivered until the following weekend—whoever said air beds are comfy must have a spine of steel.

My mum used to say that at the rate of my materialistic spending, I would be homeless living out of my Prada bags for the rest of my life…but what she should have said was that I was going to be in an empty home with no furnishing. Well maybe I can stack all my shoe boxes and turn it into a coffee table or something?–Très Avant Garde? Non?


Happy 2011.




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Despite the tremendous pride I may have for my blog here, I don't tell many about it because to be honest, they probably either already know about it or will eventually know about it without me even peeping a word.

I went out on a coffee date with this guy once. He knew about The Starving Stylist but just couldn't wrap his head around the concept of blogging especially fashion blogging. He would ask me questions like, "Soooo… you have a website and you like …take pictures of yourself to put on it?... With clothes on or off?"

With a giant eyeroll so far back that I nearly went blind, I responded (as politely as I could), "It's a fashion blog, so with clothes on. If I had my clothes off… well I wouldn't be wasting time here when I can be elsewhere racking up money for everytime some perv clicks on my site."

…Needless to say, there was no second date and my snarky bitch remarks are probably why I'm still single. Oh well, there are always new shoes to keep my happy.





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I recently received an email in the past week that was a cry for help.

That cry for help wasn't looking for fashion advice or wanted to know what Spring 2011 trends were bursting on the runways but instead, It was a cry for guidance and someone that would listen to them because they were being bullied in school. I honestly couldn't feel anymore privileged to have someone want to seek any advice aside from fashion from me, especially when that person lives as far as the other side of the continent. With the disturbing suicides among LGBT youth in the past month or so due to bullying, I was happy to share my story in a response email of aid to my loyal reader and at the same time, I figured I might as well share it with everyone now in hopes of helping anyone going through the same problem.

I grew up as a kid with a huge target on my back for bullies in high school to fire at. I stood out like a sore thumb in school because I was different—flamboyant to be exact. There was not a lunch time that I didn’t dread getting verbally abused or there wasn’t a P.E. class where I wasn’t a dodgeball target. People vandalized my school locker and slipped notes of hate inside of it. I hated going school just as much as bullies loved to hate on me.

I tried taking my life, a few times actually and I have scars on my body to prove it. I was erratic, destructive, hurt, lonely, and irritable—I was suicidal. I may have had many friends and tons of support around me while in high school but I am the first to admit that I have trust issues and it takes quite some time for me to open up to people. . .and to be honest, I still do.

The only way I have learned to get through everything negative was just to be true to myself and to promise that I would try to continue living on regardless of how hard things may be because 'it' gets better.

Another HUGE highlight of my recent trip to New York City was being able to get together with my childhood friend from North Carolina, Quan.

From appreciating each other’s Xanga diaries to being each others support systems during difficult heartbreaks and to now, strutting our fabulous selves down the bustling streets of Manhattan together, it’s been more than amazing long distance friendship.

You're an extremely talented person Quan with an incredible eye for design and detail but most of all, you’re a wonderful friend. You're my brother. So, save me a seat in front row next to you if you make it to Paris Fashion Week before I do & don’t forget, closeness has nothing to do with distance.

Check out Quan’s portfolio HERE.

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New York as I know it. . .or well at least the highlights of my trip:

-Without the need to bat my lashes or sleep with a flight attendant, I was more than fortunate to be upgraded to fly first class to New York. I sipped on champagne, watched a film, stuffed my face with truffles like a spoiled brat and slept peacefully on a reclining bed with down filled comforters—It was truly amazing!

-My boys and I were mistaken more than a few times by strangers asking if we were models or whether we were in the acting business because of how constantly polished looking we were EVERYWHERE we went.

-I spent more money on the first day of shopping in SoHo than the cost of the entire plane ticket & hotel accommodation.

-I bought a jumpsuit or what I like to call a male romper at Opening Ceremony and trust me I look cuter in it than an 8 month old baby teething.

-Met Amanda Lepore while out on the town and [window]shopped at Prada in SoHo with Jay Manuel just steps away from me in store. (I would have lost my SH*T if it was Ms. Jay instead of Mr. Jay though.)

-I got lost in Brooklyn while having a bit too much to drink and stumbled into an abandon sugar refinery, which turned out to be a huge nightclub.

-I was more than flattered for being recognized from my blog & as the Starving Stylist by a delightful reader from New York while shopping in SoHo. (Hi Reah! I hope I didn’t spell your name wrong! Sorry!)

-I held on to dear life every time while being driven around in a cab in New York. People drive like maniacs in this city! I either got almost hit by a car or got into a car accident like 235,529 times during my weeklong visit.

-FABULOUS eats at the Standard Grill in the Meat Packing District, El Quijote in Chelsea & Felix in SoHo, which are probably the only three meals I could recall ever having on the trip. Less eating = More $$$ for shopping & clothes.

-I got lost inside of the HUGE Barneys New York on Fifth Avenue. I’m NOT kidding. I literally spent 2 hours looking for my friends inside of the store!

-I added my name on the wait list of like 3-months at Mulberry for the Oversized-Alexa bag in Oak.

-Sunday night at Greenhouse with the boys. Amazing venue, amazing friends and more than AMAZING time.

-I was a complete dorky tourist with the “Ooohs” & “Ahhhhs” while in the middle of the magnificently grand but seizure inducing Time square.

-Being the loud and antsy person I am, I caused a bit of mischief at the Met Museum. . .I never laughed so hard while getting yelled at by security so much in my life for something so minor in my life!

-Stumbling into the lobby of my hotel at 4am every day after a night out not looking as prim as the way I first left was definitely unforgettable. All of the front desk associates probably think I’m a HUGE loon but with nice shoes.

-There was a 9 hour flight delayed when I was returning home to Vancouver. I slept at the airport waiting for my flight home like an upscale homeless person on the benches with a Louis Vuitton Keepall as a pillow.

Overall, my trip was more than amazing with many more experiences that would take up more than just one blog entry or are really, just too private & most intimate to even share with everyone.



Whatever happened in NYC doesn’t stay in New York or go on my blog but will remain in my "heart" instead. [insert sappy awes & Disney Soundtrack now].




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Good bye everyone. I’m off to New York for the week and if love is easy to find like a pair of Pradas on sale at Barneys while I’m there, you best believe that I won’t be coming back home.




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I didn’t get what I wished for on my birthday but that’s alright because with so many amazing friends who love and care about me in my life, I couldn’t ask for anything else better on my birthday.





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My trip to the historically beautiful city of Toronto this past week has definitely opened my eyes to something refreshing. 90% of men in a bar wore business suits, high heels were considered 'casual' attire and obnoxiously flashy Ed Hardy & they're spawn of look-a-likes were rarely ever seen in this city. My lord, even shopping at The Hudson’s Bay Company in Downtown Toronto was totally the ‘IT’ thing to do especially when they’re carrying ultra fine labels like Balmain, Proenza Schouler and John Galliano.

Fashion aside, I truly enjoyed my trip and I am greatly thankful for the friends who took time out to show me the city. Toronto has definitely left a positively-firm impression on me to the point of myself picturing already living there... But until then, Vancouver will always be called my home.



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My life may be in the wrong direction and at a upwhirl spiral of life saddening events but with much needed patience and correct steps taken from now on, will I hopefully find myself pointed in the right direction.




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Flirting with flight attendants for free cocktails on the plane, pillow fights at 5am in the morning with hundred dollar silk pillows, poppin' champagne at 11am at David Yurman, fierce walk-offs in broad daylight on the Vegas strip to even partying VIP with a Real Housewife of Orange County, there was absolutely not a single dull moment I had in Vegas.

But my absolute fondest memory of this trip was being able to touch and hold 1 of the 45 jaw dropping shoes that was literally straight off the runway of the late Alexander McQueen’s Spring 2010 RTW collection. I batted my lashes and pulled my shirt lower in order to had them take the masterpiece out and show it to us but unfortunately I wasn’t allowed to take a photo of it (I guess I wasn’t showing enough meavage). When asked how much these shoes costs, my throat swelled up and my eyes bulged in shock. Holyyyy Lord! Let’s just say that these bad boys would cost about 4 months rent in a nice place in Yaletown Vancouver!

The experience I had while I was away for just the weekend was incredible and definitely unforgettable. But too bad I’ll have to live off plain rice and soy sauce for the next handful of months to pay off all my Vegas purchases.



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